From Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ===== ===== A man named Leonard comes into a crowded room, sits down, and begins to react as if in a trance. After a moment he stands and claims to be Delos – an ancient being who is there to answer questions with his "enlightened" expertise. One by one, people ask him questions. As Delos begins to get tired Leonard re-assumes his body and his "friend" Don enters to say that Leonard needs rest. "Delos", in fact, is an invention of Leonard and Don (actually his business manager). As they discuss their upcoming schedule, Leonard suddenly speaks in an ethereal voice but doesn't realize what has happened. In a pre-interview for a television talk show, Leonard speaks in the voice again claiming television takes advantage of the weak-minded. Don and the producer are shocked to hear this voice from Leonard. As Don and Leonard discover, this new voice is not under Leonard's control. Don even suggests going to a psychiatrist. At the psychiatrist's office, Leonard channels the voice again and tells the psychiatrist that his wife's death was not his fault. Although what the voice says must be true, the psychiatrist is frightened and scares Leonard away. As Leonard is about to go on live television to make Delos a star, Leonard channels the voice and apologizes for his previous deceit, and says paying someone for a glimpse into their soul is foolish. He continues by telling the live audience that people would pay anything to a scent of magic. Thus, the masquerade is ended. After the truth is told, Leonard and Don are confronted with the reality. Leonard honestly doesn't understand what happened but Don decides to leave him regardless. Suddenly, the voice speaks to Leonard directly: it tells him that since Leonard asked to be able to speak the wisdom of universe he should accept it and that it should only take about twenty or thirty years. ===== Louise Simonson is a doting housewife who comes to collect her daily mail. The mailman notices a nasty bruise and says it could happen to anyone but look after it. She excitedly brings in mail from her sister to her abusive husband Jack. Jack reminds her that she should fix his lunch and she reluctantly does so, then asks if she can open the package. She opens the package and reveals a black sculpture that looks like a doberman pinscher. Jack thinks it's a dig at him so he hates the gift. Louise is cleaning broken plates off the floor after Jack hated the eggs she made. He had also apparently beat her as well. When he attempts to leave on a fishing trip, a doberman attacks him and leaves. While unscathed, he is frightened and departs on his trip. Louise has a friend over and she comments on how Jack beats her. Jack returns from his fishing trip and he comments on the nice dinner Louise set up for guests Phil and Claire. While Jack and Phil are discussing an affair Jack is having with a woman named Denise, Louise overhears. Somehow, the sculpture disappears and Louise's rage gives it life. The dog attacks Jack in the garage but when he tries to shoot it with a gun it vanishes again. Without evidence, the police aren't able to do anything. Jack pushes her and she finally confronts him. The dog appears everywhere Jack tries to go and he tries to escape but the dog is relentless. Jack begs Louise to call it off and the sculpture breaks. Jack laughs but the dog doesn't go away. Louise controls the dog and makes it stop attacking him. Louise packs up and leaves. Jack attempt to stop her but the dog reappears to protect her. She tells him he is wrong for what he did to her and she pulls away from him and leaves. ===== Hallie Parker is a disillusioned author of children's books, believing that her stories don't appeal to the "video" generation. Aside from writing, she is passionate in reading children her stories in the local library. However, since new forms of entertainment are overlapping the old her audience has dwindled. One day a young woman named Nancy Harris requests the author's autograph for her son Brian who is sick. Hallie, apparently overcome by Nancy's request, says she would love to come to him and sign it in person. Mrs. Harris is excited and deeply grateful. When she arrives, Hallie discovers Brian to be very sick indeed, with prescription bottles and oxygen tanks at his bedside. Hallie takes her book over to show him the autograph she wrote out for him and decides to read to him from her book. They truly enjoy their time together. Brian asks her if she will come back and read more but Hallie, who is moving to Arizona, tells him that she isn't sure. At her home, Hallie tries to sleep but is interrupted by sounds of laughing children. She is confronted by blowing drapes and moving rocking chairs. When her real estate agent visits with a young couple looking to buy her house, she shows signs that she really doesn't want to leave. During the tour strange signs that children have been in her house appear, such as a baseball breaking her window and roller-skates are found at her stairs. Soon afterward, Hallie discovers the book she brought to Brian. Thinking some child might have stolen it and brought it there she calls the Harris house. She discovers that Brian has died and there is no way his book could've been there as his parents had the book buried with him. Hallie is confused but then hears voices upstairs, so she goes to investigate. She finds ghostly images of Brian and other deceased children. Brian wants Hallie to stay and read them stories and to comfort them. Initially she is shocked but then is relieved when she realizes that she is now useful and has a reason to stay in her home. ===== Joseph and Harriet Blackstone, and Joseph's mother Lilian, are immigrants from England on the SS Albert into the South Island of New Zealand in 1860s. After settling the two women into accommodation in Christchurch, Joseph travels to the foothills near the Okuku river to build their Cob House. Joseph returns to Christchurch once the house has been built and the three of them set off to start their new lives on their farm. The harsh first winter brings with it problems which threaten the viability of their farm, but Joseph's chance finding of gold in the nearby creek changes the situation. Not telling Harriet about the find, Joseph abandons the farm and travels by boat to Hokitika on the West Coast of the South Island where major gold strikes have occurred. After Lilian's death, Harriet also travels to Hokitika and delivers that news to Joseph. The search for gold, the 'colour', goes on in difficult conditions. Joseph's encounters with Will Sefton, a young man whom he met on the boat bringing them to the West Coast, and Pao Yi, a Chinese gardener befriended by Harriet, add flavour to the dynamics of the searching couple's relationship which has become distant and strained. Joseph's guilt surrounding events in England prior to their emigration impact on this separation. ===== Bhimrao Ambedkar studying in Columbia University library and is approached by Lala Lajpat Rai to join his home rule league but Ambedkar refuses to do so as he came here on the scholarship of his highness Sayajirao Gaekwad III of Baroda State. Ambedkar is unable to afford studying in America so he also works part-time jobs washing plates and cleaning. One night Ambedkar is reading the Manusmriti which reminds him about his childhood days as the way upper caste treat the lower caste people. The first incident is the way shopkeeper sells saree to his mother by first putting water on the ground and then rubbing the saree on muddy water and then throws it towards his mother. When Ambedkar approaches to a barber to cut his hair, Ambedkar argue with the barber if you can cut the buffaloes hair why not mine, the barber replies him that you people are more filthy and dirty then buffaloes, dogs and cats. In school days Ambedkar was keen to learn Sanskrit but his Brahmin teacher didn't want to teach him Sanskrit because if an untouchable person learns it, It will pollute Sanskrit language and after getting insulted by teacher when Ambedkar comes crying from school as he is insulted by his teacher his father console him and tell him not to cry as goats are sacrificed for the rituals and not lions. He passed his M.A. exam in June 1915, majoring in economics, and other subjects of sociology, history, philosophy and anthropology. He presented a thesis, Ancient Indian Commerce. Ambedkar was influenced by John Dewey and his work on democracy. In 1916 he completed his second thesis, National Dividend of India - A Historic and Analytical Study for another M.A. In October 1916, he enrolled for the Bar course at Gray's Inn, and at the same time enrolled at the London School of Economics where he started working on a doctoral thesis. 1917 The term of his scholarship from Baroda ended, so that he was obliged to go back to India in June with his work unfinished; he was, however, given permission to return and finish within four years. He sent his precious and much-loved collection of books back on a steamer—but it was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine Ambedkar went to Baroda State to work as a probationer in the Accountant General's Office . A scholarship of 11.50 British pounds a month, for three years, was awarded to the young Ambedkar and per the agreement he has to serve baroda for 10 years after the completion of his studies. However, upon arriving in Baroda, he realized that none of the Hindu hotels would allow his to stay due to his lower caste. He found a Parsi inn, but here, non-Parsis were not allowed to stay. He and the Parsi inn-keeper reached a compromise, where by Ambedkar gave his name as a Parsi, and was allowed to stay. After joining the new office as a new senior officer (Probationary officer) being an untouchable the peon of the office doesn't give him file in his hand he throw files on his table, Ambedkar feel thirsty and ask for a glass of water, the peon says there is no water when he goes on to drink water from the pot, Upper caste people finds this very uncomfortable and insult him and he is not allowed to drink water from that pot as they think by his touch it will pollute the water so they tell him to bring his own water and call him dirty and untouchable. After a few days of stay in Baroda it is discovered by other Parsis, that he is not Parsi and on the eleventh day of his stay, a group of angry Parsi men, armed with sticks, arrived to remove him from the inn. He had to leave the inn that very day, and not having a place to stay, was forced to leave Baroda and return to Bombay to find work elsewhere. In Bombay, Ambedkar applies for the post of professorship as professor of political economy in Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics. On the first day of his job the students makes fun of him thinking what this untouchable will teach them does he know how to speak English. In the staff room when Ambedkar approaches towards water pot to drink water a professor named Trivedi doesn't like it and insults him. Ambedkar is approached by Shri Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur and Ambedkar starts a newspaper called Mooknayak in the year 1920. Ambedkar took a conference in Mangaon in Kolhapur it was attended by Shri Shahu Maharaj. The Maharaj declared in a prophetic vein "You have found your saviour in Ambedkar and I am confident that he will break your shackles". ===== The storyline follows Morag Gunn from her tough childhood in Manitoba, Canada to middle-age adult life. A key theme of the movie is Morag's search for love. The story also introduces unique characters from the Manawaka series. The film provides a glimpse into many ways that society creates outcasts socially. The film also explores mythology, as illustrated by Christie's Scottish Piper Gunn, Métis hero Jules Tonnerre, Morag's novel and songs by Skinner and Piquette. As Margaret Laurence's crowning achievement, The Diviners shows that truth and love can be "divined" in many ways.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106734/ ===== {| cellpadding="5" style="width:40%; float:right; font-size:85%;border-collapse:collapse; background:transparent; border-style:none;" |- | width="20" valign=top | 20px | align="left" |... she fell back upon the dust, amongst intimations of the nightmare which threatened to re-shape itself around her. Her trembling only gradually subsided as she lay fingering the ring threaded into her fringe of leaves... 20px |- | colspan="3" | A Fringe of Leaves, p 223 |}A young Cornish woman, Mrs Ellen Roxburgh, travels to the Australian colonies in the early 1830s with her much older husband, Austin, to visit Austin's brother Garnet Roxburgh. After witnessing the brutalities of Van Diemen's Land, the Roxburghs embark on their return trip to England on the Bristol Maid. However, the ship runs aground on the coral reef off Fraser Island on the coast of what is now Queensland. Ellen is the only survivor from the leaky vessel in which the passengers and crew travel to the shore. She is rescued by the Aboriginal people of the island, and she later meets Jack Chance, a convict who has escaped from Moreton Bay (now Brisbane), the brutal penal settlement to the south. It is Chance who escorts her through the dangerous coastal territory south to the outskirts of the settlement, but who refuses to accompany her further and returns to his exile. She returns to "civilisation" transformed and tormented by her experience with Garnet in Van Diemen's Land, with the Aboriginal people, and with Chance. The novel sets in sharp relief the distinctions between men and women, whites and blacks, the convicts and the free, and English colonists and Australian settlers. The contrast between Ellen's rural Cornish background and the English middle class she has married into is also highlighted. ===== On 11 February 1990, Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison after having spent 27 years in jail. Four years later, Mandela is elected the first black President of South Africa. His presidency faces enormous challenges in the post-Apartheid era, including rampant poverty and crime, and Mandela is particularly concerned about racial divisions between black and white South Africans, which could lead to violence. The ill will which both groups hold towards each other is seen even in his own security detail where relations between the established white officers, who had guarded Mandela's predecessors, and the black ANC additions to the security detail, are frosty and marked by mutual distrust. While attending a game between the Springboks, the country's rugby union team, and England, Mandela recognises that some black people in the stadium are cheering for England, and not their own country, as the mostly-white Springboks represent prejudice and apartheid in their minds; he remarks that he did the same while imprisoned on Robben Island. Knowing that South Africa is set to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup in one year's time, Mandela persuades a meeting of the newly black-dominated South African Sports Committee to support the Springboks. He then meets with the captain of the Springboks rugby team, François Pienaar (Matt Damon), and implies that a Springboks victory in the World Cup will unite and inspire the nation. Mandela also shares with François a British poem, "Invictus", that had inspired him during his time in prison. François and his teammates train. Many South Africans, both black and white, doubt that rugby will unite a nation torn apart by nearly 50 years of racial tensions, as for many black people, especially the radicals, the Springboks symbolise white supremacy. Both Mandela and Pienaar, however, stand firmly behind their theory that the game can successfully unite the South African country. Things begin to change as the players interact with the fans and begin a friendship with them. During the opening games, support for the Springboks begins to grow among the black population. By the second game, the whole country comes together to support the Springboks and Mandela's efforts. Mandela's security team also grows closer as the racially diverse officers come to respect their comrades' professionalism and dedication. As Mandela watches, the Springboks defeat one of their arch-rivals—Australia, the defending champions and known as the Wallabies—in their opening match. They then continue to defy all expectations and, as Mandela conducts trade negotiations in Taiwan, defeat France in heavy rain to advance to the final against their other arch-rival: New Zealand, known as the All Blacks. New Zealand and South Africa were universally regarded as the two greatest rugby nations, with the Springboks then the only side to have a winning record (20–19–2) against the All Blacks, since their first meeting in 1921. Before the game, the Springbok team visits Robben Island, where Mandela spent the first 18 of his 27 years in jail. There, Pienaar is inspired by Mandela's will and his idea of self-mastery in "Invictus". François mentions his amazement that Mandela "could spend thirty years in a tiny cell, and come out ready to forgive the people who put [him] there". Supported by a large home crowd of all races at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg, Pienaar motivates his teammates for the final. Mandela's security detail receives a scare when, just before the match, a South African Airways Boeing 747-200 jetliner flies in low over the stadium. It is not an assassination attempt though, but a demonstration of patriotism, with the message "Good Luck, Bokke"—the Springboks' Afrikaans nickname—painted on the undersides of the plane's wings. Mandela also famously arrives onto the field before the match wearing a Springbok cap and a replica of Pienaar's #6 jersey. The Springboks complete their run by beating the All Blacks 15–12 in extra time, thanks to a drop goal from fly-half Joel Stransky. Mandela and Pienaar meet on the field together to celebrate the improbable and unexpected victory, and Mandela hands Pienaar the William Webb Ellis Cup, signaling that the Springboks are indeed rugby union's world champions. Mandela's car then drives away in the traffic-jammed streets leaving the stadium. As Mandela watches South Africans celebrating together in the street from his car, his voice is heard reciting "Invictus" again. ===== The series focuses on the characters of the elite Marine Corps team the Leatherneck Raiders and their lives in the Pacific theater of World War II. ===== Famous ballet dancer Alexey Temnikov (Sergey Bezrukov) dedicated his whole life to the stage, performing in various halls around the world. The press referred to him as "genius of dance" and compared him with Mikhail Baryshnikov. But in the 1990s, Temnikov suffered a serious spinal injury, which interrupted his dancing career. Alexey returned to his native town in the suburbs with a population of 70 thousand people and opened his own dance school-studio and an apothecary business. After 20 years, Alexey's life does not change, he still lives in his hometown, where he teaches dance. He has a girlfriend named Marina (Karina Andolenko), who is pregnant with his child. Also, Alexey finds out that he has a 12-year-old daughter Chiara, who wants Alexey to teach her dance. But Alexey does not show any initiative in marriage or being a father. After teaching his dance classes, Alexey locks himself up in his office, where he regularly asks himself: "What will be left from me after I'm gone?". But soon the old trauma, once again makes itself felt. He finds out that soon he will not even be able to walk, which to Alexey is the same as death. Sometime ago he created an original ballet set to Prokofiev's music, but did not yet have the courage make a public performance out of it. Alexey becomes convinced that now is the time for him to make a comeback and to stage the ballet. ===== India's no.1 family comedy entertainment channel, SAB launched India's First Gangster comedy, ‘Gunwale Dulhaniyan Le Jaayenge’. A comedy about a family of gangsters, this new show reveals a perspective of values and morals of a family of gangsters. Being associated with crime and criminal activity has been the tradition of this family and the current generation strives to uphold these unique values. Set against this unique backdrop, the normal domestic lives and daily chores of three generations living together make the show ideal bait for a rib- tickling comedy series with endless possibilities. Garnished with craziness, the show features stalwarts of television like Sudhir Pandey, Hemani Shivpuri, Vijay Kashyap and Sushmita Mukherjee. ===== Laali, a very poor teenaged girl, lives in a small village in the Indian state of Bihar with her parents, two younger sisters, and a brother. They belong to the Musahar caste and live at the bottom of the social hierarchy. They go through many trials and tribulations. Laali and her father have to support the family with little or no money. Laali was married as a child and had not yet had her gauna (the ritual in which a married woman leaves her parents and goes to live with her husband). A strong-man named Balli goes around her village, offering money in return for poor girls. He tries to buy Laali and eventually succeeds. He sells her to a rich zamindar, Thakur Loha Singh. Laali's parents lie to her that she is being sent to her husband through a gauna ceremony. Loha Singh intends to give Laali to a businessman in exchange for a business deal, which, however, falls through. Therefore, Laali is kept by Loha Singh. He wants to use her for getting a grandson to carry on his family name. Both his sons are married, but the elder one, Ranvijay, has only daughters while the younger, Shekhar has a barren wife. Loha orders Shekhar to get intimate with Laali in order to produce a male heir. Shekhar, in love with Siddhi, opposes the idea but starts to respect and care for Lali after meeting and talking to Laali. He tells her to stop waiting for her husband Ganesiya, who will never come. From the beginning, Laali likes Shekhar but feels sad for Siddheshwari, his wife. Siddeshwari tells Shekhar that she wants him to get intimate with Laali for the sake of having an heir who will be their son. Shekhar tells this to Laali and they get close. At that same time Shekhar, encouraged by his mother, fights his father's ill-treatment of Laali, whom he sometimes keeps tied in the cowshed, and other poor villagers, especially women. In the meantime, Loha Singh decides to relegate Siddheswari to the outhouse where Laali is kept and gives Laali Siddheswari's chamber to live in to keep her comfortable during pregnancy. This move is opposed by all the members of the family, including his wife Sumitra, Ranvijay's wife Nandini a.k.a. Buxarwalli, and Shekhar. Enraged at this insult of his wife, Shekhar plans the theft of the jewels on the body of Lord Shiva in the mansion's puja room to raise the money to take Siddheswari away from his father's house, which he finds oppressive. He manages to take her out of the house but fails to take the jewels which fall on the ground outside the house. Laali, to save Shekhar, takes the blame for the theft. Siddheswari is dismayed by Shekhar's decision to run away with no money in his pocket and forces him to return home. There he finds his brother trying to mutilate Laali's fingers on charges of the theft against his mother's instructions. All this happens when Loha Singh is away on a thirthayatra. In the meantime, Loha Singh and Sumitra Devi's daughter, Ratna arrives with her aunt (bua) to her parental home for a vacation. Ratna takes an instant dislike for Laali, sensing her control over her brother, Shekhar, to whom she is extremely close. She wants to join a college for higher studies but is prevented from doing so, by her aunt and father, who start looking for a groom for her. He soon finds one -- the son of a state-level minister, who is a criminal and childhood friend of Shekhar's. At first Ratna, attracted by his parents' wealth and prestige, wants to marry him, but on the day of the wedding realises the mistake she had made. A fight ensues in which Mukul, to whom Ratna is engaged, brandishes a knife at Ratna. Her mother, Sumitra, by mistake shoots Mukul and Ratna, killing them. Laali, who is witness to the scene, once again takes the blame and is arrested. Shekhar at first believes the charges against her but later realises that she had taken the blame to save his mother. She is jailed and is presumed dead in a car accident. Eventually, Shekhar saves her, but continues to dislike her, hurt by her complicity in his sister's death. Then, Sumitra disappears, having been kidnapped by Gangiya (the household maid, who is also Loha Singh's mistress), Siddeshwari, and Ranvijay because she had heard them talking about Siddheswari giving a gun to Ratna. One day at a mandir, Nandini is shocked to see Laali; she tells Laali about Sumitra and takes her to her in-laws' mansion as a servant. Laali attempts to find Sumitra. Gangiya, Siddeshwari, and Ranvijay go in to kill Sumitra, who is now hidden in a storeroom, but find that she has left. Laali then shows herself to Shekhar, who is shocked and tries to throw her out. She swears by her unborn child that she is only here to find Sumitra. Shekhar is shocked to know that Laali is pregnant and decides to help her by forcing Siddeshwari out of the house. Soon Laali has her son. Ranvijay and Gangiya plan to kill the baby but fail. Laali wants to breastfeed her son, but Loha Singh refuses to allow that. In anger Laali threatens Loha Singh with a knife, to which he responds by threatening her with a gun; the situation is resolved when Loha Singh eventually gives his permission. Shekhar then invites Laali's family to live in the mansion because of a misunderstanding regarding the death of Laali's sister Rekha's husband. Rekha then meets Shekhar's cousin, Madhur, who falls in love with her, and they plan to marry. In the meantime, Gangiya plots to burn down the mansion, she instigates Jamuni and tells her to marry Ranvijay. Jamuni follows her mother's orders and she burns the mansion. She escapes while everyone else tries to get out. Laali and Loha Singh know that Gangiya is responsible. They find her and threaten her with a gun, but she throws chili powder in Loha's eyes and blinds him temporarily. Shekhar seeing Loha Singh with the gun in his hands wrongly thinks that he means to shoot Laali. He tries to shoot his father but accidentally shoots Laali. She falls down a cliff and is presumed dead. But she is actually alive. The next day, a funeral is held for Nandini, Siddhi, the younger of her twin daughters, and Laali. Shekhar is mentally ill because of losing Laali. Although it is revealed that Seven years later, she is alive but has no memory of the past. she was rescued by some villagers and the doctor, who his wife dies but before she does she tells him to marry Laali because she is a good woman and had helped them a lot and saved his daughters many times, although he never does because he doesn't know of her past, Laali begins to think that the story of the patient the doctor told her has something to do with her and somehow finds the flute familiar, since then she begins to remember some corrupted bits of her past. Time passes but in the end Laali after going to Loha's Mansion asks him to tell him the truth about her past if he knew it but he says that he knows nothing, but then she pushes him into telling her and he agrees and suggest to re-act what happened in order to make her remember and he does that Loha Singh now wants to become the Sarpanch of the village, for which he lobbies the MLA of the constituency into which his village falls. The MLA is first skeptical of him, but Loha Singh promises muscle power to the MLA, who comes to his house for dinner and demands either Laali and Jamuni in return for the post of Sarpanch. The girls go into hiding and Loha Singh sends out Ranvijay to find them. Laali hides Jamuni inside the mansion. Loha Singh forces Gangiya to tell him where Laali is. She confesses and Sumitra attempts to stop Loha from getting her. Loha slaps Sumitra, who had strayed into her husband's den of criminals, and supposedly kills her. Actually, she isn't killed, kept alive by Gangiya, and continues to harass him as a ghost, even as he campaigns for the Sarpanchship. She even influences a local policeman to help Laali and Shekhar file Laali's candidacy for the post of Sarpanch. Eventually, Sumitra comes out of her hiding, forcing her husband to confess to all his crimes. He is sent to jail by the present Sarpanch, an elderly man of the village, and Laali is elected as the Sarpanch unopposed. Loha however is now helped by the MLA who brings him out of jail, and asks him to deal with Laali. He returns to his home and instigates the villagers against her, causing a rift between Laali and her sister Rekha. But the rift does not last long since Siddheswari's sister, Surabhi Singh, the only surviving member of her family, which had been burnt in a fire, comes to Loha Singh's house in the guise of a doctor who had been injecting Laali with syringes that makes her mentally insane and thinking that she's Siddheswari, conspires to set the house on fire once again. The house is set on fire, killing Surabhi, and no one else. Suman who had been behaving oddly with Laali comes to her senses, and agrees to return to her father's home, leaving Madhur to marry Rekha finally. In the middle of all this Laali again gets pregnant. A dance party comes to their house to celebrate the occasion. In that dance party is Riddhi, Ranvijay's long-lost elder daughter, who was removed from the mansion when Ranvijay and Jamuni took it over. At first, Loha Singh and Ranvijay, not knowing who she is, try to shoo her away with some money. But she refuses to go. Laali finds out about her from an orphanage where she had been staying in earlier and rescues her with the help of Shekhar from a local goon called Kallu Bajrangi. In the ensuing fight Loha Singh, who had earlier shown her the door even after knowing who she was, is finally overcome by emotion and shoots Kallu Bajrangi, who had in a show of power burnt down Loha's anaj. The show ends with Laali and Shekhar and their two children sitting in front of a tree with "Shekhar-Laali" curved into its bark! ===== The story revolves around Roshan Chawla, a popular sweet shopkeeper in Delhi whose generations were all males yet he yearned for a girl from his expecting daughter-in-law. And after all, his expectations came true- he had a granddaughter, named Chandni for whom he had been waiting since forty years, and the whole family rejoices. But their joy was unaware of the upcoming turmoil they had to face- while Chandni was still an infant, she was bereft of her mother who was killed in a riot, leaving his father mentally disturbed. As she grew up, she not only falls in love with Rajveer, a charming young male, but also has a dual responsibility of sustaining her father. But her love story with Rajveer wasn't going to be easy, it still had obstacles to face. Chandni fall in love with Rajveer during the Goa trip. Chandni got married with Paramjeet, a boy who told he is from Canada but he lied to the innocent girl's family for money. Paramjeet took the girl to a village and lived their pretending to chandini's family that they are in canada. He is also married already to another lady which Chandni finds out about when she gets married. Chandni's family thought that she is happy in Canada with her husband. One day Rajveer discovered about Chandni, he found her and saved her by calling the police and exposing the truth to her family. Later they get married. ===== Willy Loman has led a life consisting of 60 years of failure. Loman's wife supports him, but he soon begins to lose his grip on reality and slips between the past and the present, frantically trying to find where he went wrong. ===== Feluda is approached by an established businessman who claims to have mistakenly swapped his suitcase (bakso) in a train with one belonging to one of his co-passengers and now wants Feluda to put it straight. This simple looking problem lands Feluda, Topshe and Lal Mohan babu in Shimla, and into a realm of deceit and mystery involving a long forgotten diamond and a priceless manuscript,A Bengalee in Lamaland. Besides the trio, there is Dinanath Lahiri, the rich kind-hearted businessman, his nephew, Prabeer Lahiri who is a striving actor but too much obsessed with his only weakness, his voice. The other three characters in this story are the ones who were with Dinanath Lahiri in his first class compartment: Mr.Pakrashi who is a manuscript collector, Mr. Brijmohan and Mr. Dhameeja who got his suitcase exchanged with Mr. Lahiri. Feluda's investigations finally put the wrong-doers behind bars. ===== In Echo Park, California, Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) and his best friend Morgan Grimes (Joshua Gomez) make an unsuccessful attempt to escape Chuck's birthday party hosted by his sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster). Despite the efforts of Ellie and her boyfriend, "Captain Awesome" (Ryan McPartlin), for Chuck to socialize with the party's female guests, Chuck dispels the women by explaining how years earlier his Stanford University roommate, Bryce Larkin (Matthew Bomer), had him expelled and began a relationship with Chuck's girlfriend, Jill Roberts. Meanwhile, Bryce, a rogue CIA agent, is shown breaking into a top-secret government computer center and downloading a vast amount of data to his PDA before destroying the computer. As Bryce attempts to escape, he is shot dead by NSA agent Major John Casey (Adam Baldwin), but not before emailing the data to Chuck and self-destructing his PDA. After viewing the rapid series of images, Chuck experiences a series of "flashes"The episode establishes that a user who has subliminally retained the Intersect data receives feedback from it in the form of what Chuck labels "flashes". Chuck has several flashes throughout the episode. of data, triggered by things he hears and sees, including a strange man (Nickolas Pajon). In Washington, D.C., Casey is informed by the National Security Director (Wendy Makkena) and CIA Director Langston Graham (Tony Todd) that the computer Bryce destroyed was a government database called the Intersect, which the NSA and CIA used as a joint resource to identify threats to the government. Casey is ordered to track down the recipient of Bryce's email in California. At work at the Buy More, Chuck is approached at the Nerd Herd counter by Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski). After Chuck fixes Sarah's phone, she leaves him her phone number, but he decides not to call her. He arrives home to find an intruder stealing his computer. After the computer is dropped and destroyed, the intruder escapes and is revealed to be Sarah, a CIA agent. Sarah takes Chuck on a date to find out what he knows. Sarah spots and quickly dispatches an NSA team following but flees with Chuck when she spots Casey. Sarah leads Chuck up to the top floor of a skyscraper and attempts to call in an evacuation while Chuck explains what happened when he uploaded the Intersect. Sarah then aims her gun at Chuck when Casey arrives on the roof. Sarah warns Casey that Chuck uploaded the Intersect and tells Chuck that their mutual friend Bryce is dead. Chuck then flashes on the building where the visiting General Stanfield (Dale Dye) is giving an address and puts together all the pieces from the flashes he had been having: the stranger in the Large Mart is a demolitions expert and has set a bomb to destroy the conference. Chuck, Sarah, and Casey locate the bomb in the conference hall and Chuck defuses the bomb by deliberately infecting the machine with a computer virus. Sarah reassures Chuck that he will remain at the Buy More, while she and Casey watch over him. He is to work with them until they can discover a way for the Intersect to be removed from his brain. All she asks is that Chuck trust her. ===== Tokyo Sonata is about a middle-class family in Tokyo, the Sasakis, which consists of Ryūhei Sasaki, his wife Megumi, and their two sons Takashi and Kenji. Ryūhei has a good office job, but is suddenly fired because Chinese workers are cheaper. While attempting to find a new job, Ryūhei encounters an old classmate on the street, Kurosu, who has also recently been downsized. Kurosu uses a feature on his mobile phone that plays the ring tone periodically, so that it may fool others into believing he is still employed. This intrigues Ryūhei, who decides to hide the fact that he has been fired from his family. While the two men hopelessly try to find new work, Kurosu's wife slowly begins to suspect her husband's unemployment. Kurosu is later found dead together with his wife from gas poisoning in a double suicide, thought to be initiated by Kurosu. Takashi, the oldest son, joins the US military and is deployed to war in the Middle East. Kenji, the younger son, wishes to learn to play the piano, even though his father refuses to allow him piano lessons. Kenji takes lessons secretly, and pays for them using his lunch money. Gradually, Kenji develops a strong relationship with his piano teacher, Miss Kaneko, who urges him to pursue his musical ambitions. When his parents find out about Kenji's secret piano lessons, Megumi, who is generally closer to the children, is supportive, but Ryūhei is so furious that he attacks his son, accidentally causing him a minor concussion. One day, Megumi, while alone at home, is taken hostage by an unemployed man who broke in looking for money. The robber forces Megumi to drive a car he has stolen previously. After a long drive, he allows her leave the car to use the restroom where she has the opportunity to escape. However, she encounters her husband at the mall working in his secret job as a janitor and decides to return to her captor saying that she cannot return home. That night, Megumi, Ryūhei, and Kenji all have experiences away from home in which they confront the full extent of their existential disquiet. Kenji attempts to help a friend run away from home, but the latter is caught by his father. Kenji tries to leave town by sneaking onto a bus, but he is caught. Unwilling to answer the questions of the police, Kenji is charged as an adult and kept in a group cell overnight. He is released the following day when the charges are dismissed. Megumi and the burglar drive to the beach together, where they spend the night in a wood shed. Megumi resigns to the robber's sexual advances, but he ultimately is unable to go through with the act itself. Megumi consoles the robber that he is not a failure, saying that he is the only person who can be himself. Later that night, as the robber sleeps, Megumi spots a strange light on the horizon over the sea. She goes out to look for the light and falls asleep on the beach. The next morning, the robber has driven the stolen car into the ocean, and Megumi returns home. Meanwhile, as he cleans the bathrooms at the mall where he works, Ryūhei discovers an envelope stuffed with cash behind one of the toilets. He pockets it and encounters Megumi while fleeing the bathrooms, from whom he runs away. Ryūhei then despairingly wanders into the Tokyo night, is hit by a truck, and left for dead. He lies on the side of the street amid some leaves and sleeps there overnight, only to find himself waking up in the morning unharmed. He deposits the envelope of cash in a local lost-and-found bucket, and is the last to arrive back at the house, where the three family members share a meal together without mentioning the events of the previous night. Four months later, Ryūhei appears to be engaged in his cleaning job. Takashi sends a letter home from the field, noting that he has realized that the U.S military is not the only right side and that he will stay in the Middle East to search his happiness there. The final scene depicts Kenji performing "Clair de Lune" from the Suite bergamasque at his audition with Megumi, Ryūhei, and his piano teacher watching. His performance is flawless. ===== A washed-up Hollywood star is flown to England to play the title role in King Lear at "Stratford" believing he will be appearing onstage at the legendary RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Instead he finds he has signed on with the "Stratford Players" in the Suffolk village of Stratford St John. He goes to the United Kingdom with his career deteriorating and having problems with his daughter who is an aspiring actress on the fringes of the New York theatre. The local villagers are somewhat of a motley crew and are naturally delighted to have such an - albeit unsuccessful - star playing with them. Reynolds plays a typically selfish American with no time for manners, and displays an appalling lack of class, considering himself too big for this lowly setting. The transition to humble actor, happy to play with the British actors takes some time, but eventually he is reconciled with his estranged daughter and realises that he is no better, in terms of talent and intelligence, than his amateur colleagues. ===== At a barbecue in suburban Melbourne, a man slaps a 3-year-old boy across the face. The child, Hugo, has been misbehaving without any intervention by his parents, "the steely-eyed Rosie and the wimpish Gary".Armanno, Venero (2008, 8 November) "Smack dab in the middle class", The Australian The slapper is Harry, cousin of the barbecue host and adulterous businessman whose slightly older son, Rocco, is being threatened by Hugo. This event sends the other characters "into a spiral, agonising and arguing over the notion that striking a child can ever be justified. Some believe a naughty boy should be taught some discipline, others maintain the police ought to be brought in to investigate a common assault" with a range of positions in between. ===== The game's plot is about the son of two Kendo champions named Musashi. He strives to become as great at Kendo as his parents. The entire story centers around the world of Kendo and its up-and-coming competitors. The anime is broken up into two parts. The first part follows Musashi's early years in grade school while the second part follows his high school years. In the first episode, Musashi befriends an Akita puppy who is by his side throughout the series. ===== A wealthy Jewish homosexual film producer is making a film based on Puccini's opera Tosca and a famous German diva is cast opposite a difficult English actor. As filming gets under way on a sound stage in Rome, World War II in 1939 escalates around them threatening the film's completion. ===== The documentary takes Skreslet and fellow summiter Pat Morrow back to Base Camp, where they recall the traumatic and triumphant events of 1982. Pat Morrow has contracted a mystery illness that might prevent his return to the mountain. As part of the climbing party, Laurie Skreslet has brought his estranged nineteen-year-old daughter, Natasha. She has hardly seen her father in ten years. The Climb follows the events leading up to the 1982 Canadian climb of Everest. It examines the drama of the journey up the mountain as Skreslet and Morrow piece together using their emotional recollections of the events that happened twenty-five years ago, while on the trip back to Nepal and Everest's famous base camp. The film shows events as they unfolded on the mountain by using archival footage shot in 1982 while being narrated by Skreslet and Morrow. ===== College students Vivia, Jennifer, and Phoebe decide to pledge a sorority at their university, Briggs College. During hell week, the sorority's housemother, Mrs. Henshaw, urges the women not to hold their initiation rituals at Pratt House, an abandoned fraternity nearby. Mrs. Henshaw goes to Pratt House and, in an overgrown garden outside, visits the tombstone for a man named Allan. She implores that, should the students do enter the house, that Allan leave them alone. Upon going inside, Mrs. Henshaw is bludgeoned to death by an unseen assailant. The day of the initiation, Vivia, Jennifer, and Phoebe break in to a fraternity to steal clothing as part of their hazing ritual. Inside, Jennifer is confronted by Blake, who swiftly takes romantic interest in her. Back at her dorm, Jennifer is met by her shy classmate Martin, who returns a book she dropped outside. That night, the women arrive at Pratt House for their hazing ceremony. During the hazing, which includes the women be forced to hold raw eggs in their mouths, the lights begin to flicker, and the group are terrified when glasses begin flying off a table by themselves. Vivia goes downstairs to investigate noises, and when the women follow, they find her bound to a guillotine and watch her be beheaded. Vivia suddenly emerges from the shadows and picks up the severed head, revealing the entire scenario to be an elaborate prank using a dummy. The following morning, Martin gives the women a ride to the sorority to receive news of their acceptances or rejections. All three are selected, though Vivia learns that her prank was the only reason for her acceptance. Veronica, the sorority's leading member, demands Vivia recreate the prank during an upcoming April Fool's Day masquerade party at Pratt House. At a committee meeting for the university's Greek society, Professor Zito recalls the hazing ritual 22 years ago that resulted in Allan's death by a guillotine. That afternoon, Jennifer, Phoebe, and Vivia set up the prank in Pratt House, and Jennifer tells them she did research showing that Allan was involved in the occult and had conjured evil; she also cites news articles about people going missing in the house, never to be found. Later, Professor Zito inspects the house, and is electrocuted by an assailant in the basement. At the party that night, Vivia's prank is hatched during Veronica's toast, and Jennifer is dragged into the basement by a hidden cord while the partygoers watch in horror. In the basement, Jennifer and Vivia laugh and quickly prepare Vivia's guillotine stunt, when Jennifer is suddenly overcome and possessed by a spirit. She returns upstairs in silence, and worriedly tells Blake she needs to leave. Vivia follows, aborting the guillotine stunt. As the party filters out, Pam, a sorority sister, is killed with a trident by someone dressed in a diving suit. The same assailant beats Veronica to death with a hammer before using the guillotine to kill Albert. Blake is subsequently lured into a bathroom. Numerous partygoers are dispatched in swift succession, and Vivia discovers the dismembered body of a delivery boy named Virgil in the refrigerator. Vivia flees upstairs to retrieve Phoebe, and the two find Blake's drowned corpse in the bathtub. They are subsequently confronted by Jennifer, who reveals herself to be possessed by Allan. Jennifer pursues them with the trident, causing the stairs to collapse as they climb them. They attempt to escape through an upstairs window, but Jennifer throws Vivia to the ground, breaking her legs, before propelling after her. Phoebe climbs down the wall and begins beating Jennifer with a broken board before impaling her through the chest, killing her. Phoebe consoles Vivia, but it is soon apparent that she has been overtaken by Allan's spirit. Police arrive and whisk the two women away together in an ambulance, as Vivia pleads not to be left alone with the possessed Phoebe, who smiles maliciously at her. The ambulance drives away in the night, while Vivia still screams. ===== ===== Brady Darby's Story Sixteen-year-old Brady Wayne Darby and his eight-year-old brother Peter live in Touhy Avenue Trailer-Park with their alcoholic chain-smoking mother Erlene; Erlene's husband had abandoned her shortly after Peter's birth. Brady, who dreams of buying a car and fleeing the trailer-park, has obtained a part-time job sweeping up the local launderette—from which he often takes a share of the coins in the machines' boxes to supplement his wages. At school, he is on the Football Team; however, he generally does not perform well academically, which causes him to be cut from the athletic squad—with a suggestion from the coach to try the Drama Club. Thomas Carey's Story Forty six-year-old Thomas Carey, a pastor who has never been long at one church, finds a posting in Georgia. While going there, he and his wife Grace visit their twenty four-year-old daughter Ravinia, a law student at Emory University of whose spiritual position they have great concern. The Careys are eventually driven out of this posting by the Selection Board chairman, who has decided hypocritically (as his own five sons have a combined-total of eight marriages) that Thomas Carey is a poor example of a Christian, having not raised Ravinia properly. They eventually move to Adamsville, OH where Carey is appointed as the chaplain of the Adamsville State Prison, a super-maximum-security facility which houses a death row. ASP's warden, Frank "Yanno" (so nicknamed due to his oft starting sentences with "yeah, no"—a nickname he dislikes to hear) LeRoy allows inmates condemned to death to choose their method of execution, assuming they will choose between: * hanging (he boasts to Carey that ASP is one of the few prisons to still have a gallows) * electrocution * gas-chamber * lethal-injection When they reach Adamsville, Grace Carey is diagnosed as having a severe form of leukemia, for which inducing remission is possible for short-term, but not permanently. Brady Darby's Conversion After Brady, now 30, is convicted of the horrific murder of twentythree-year-old Katie North (whom he believed to be in love with him), he is sentenced to death speedily—and though there is a mandatory appeals process which can take several (at least three) years, he informs his lawyer that he will be uncooperative so that his execution will be guaranteed. He is taken to ASP in Adamsville. After his 90-day administrative- break-in period, Brady asks for a meeting with Carey, and is mailed a literature packet (which includes The Romans Road and a modern-English translation of the New Testament). Within a month, he asks for a personal visit from Carey so that he can "confess Christ with his mouth". About six months into his time at ASP, Brady chooses the method of his execution—crucifixion, complete with thorn-crown and spear-pierce of his side after his death—which surprises not only Carey and Ravinia, but even Yanno who initially reacts that Brady must choose from the four methods he has in-situ. Ravinia is, however, able to persuade Yanno on this, as Brady's idea is to show exactly how ugly and cruel that first-century Roman punishment was. As Ohio's Director Of Corrections and its Governor argue against the appeals—successfully—and anti-death-penalty activists protest against the planned execution, the Government Of Israel donates a cross specifying it as "roughly of original Roman dimensions". Eventually, Brady's request to be crucified is granted—but his requests for thorn-crown and post-mortem piercing are denied. As the date draws closer, Brady sees his mother claim on TV that she "had raised him to know Jesus" and that she is "glad he is coming back to his faith", and then wailing that she cannot fly from her current address in Florida to visit her son. The International Cable Network, which is covering the execution and its leadup, flies her to Adamsville for a visit. Brady, meanwhile, reads the Bible aloud for other inmates, hoping that some of them will also convert. Category:2008 American novels Category:American Christian novels Category:Muskingum County, Ohio Category:Novels set in Ohio ===== The pilot of a space vessel is carrying important cargo vital to the survival of humanity. The pilot is attacked by space pirates and forced to land on the planet Oo-Topos. After landing the pilot is captured and imprisoned in a fortress on the alien world. The pilot must escape confinement, retrieve the precious cargo taken from the crashed ship and get off Oo-Topos with it in order to save the human race from extinction. ===== The film is based on the true story of Bob Champion (portrayed by John Hurt), who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1979. After treatment with an operation to remove the diseased testicle and chemotherapy, Champion recovered and went on to win the 1981 Grand National on Aldaniti. ===== The story begins in Greenwich Village, New York. The main character, Mike de Wolf, is a struggling pianist. His friend, Horace Hackett, is an author and popular pulp fiction writer. Hackett is portrayed in the book as a skilled writer able to quickly produce voluminous amounts of material for pulp magazines. Hackett writes under stress, as he is facing a deadline. Hackett attempts to persuade his book publisher that he has almost finished writing his latest novel, while in actuality he has already depleted his advance payment prior to coming up with an idea for a story. Hackett's publisher pressures him and he rapidly decides to place his friend Mike as the central character in his story. Hackett writes about Mike as the villain in his book, a swashbuckling adventure story. Mike enters the bathroom of Hackett's basement-level apartment, and hears the sound of someone typing on a typewriter. After electrocuting himself, Mike loses consciousness. He subsequently awakens to find himself on a beach in the year 1640, as a character within his friend's novel. He inspects himself to find he has a saber attached to his person, and is wearing strange attire. Mike learns he is regarded in this world as the villain, Spanish Admiral Miguel de Lobo, a "pirate potboiler". He knows that the villains in stories written by Hackett often do not come to a favorable end, and is therefore anxious to exit the situation safely. Mike recognizes the specific work into which he has been transported: a tale by his friend called "Blood and Loot". Assuming the role of the villain, Mike realizes he must face off against a formidable opponent in the story, its protagonist named Tom Bristol. The story takes place on the high seas in the Caribbean during the 17th century during a conflict among colonists. When a major event occurs, Mike hears the sound of a typewriter in the sky. Mike's reality literally changes each time the author makes a change to the story. Mike realizes that during times when he hears the audible sounds of the typewriter, his actions and words are not of his own volition, and when such sounds are absent he is able to make decisions for himself. Mike falls in love with a woman in the story, and grows frustrated after realizing that she is just another of Hackett's fictional creations. At the end of the work, Mike returns to New York, and is left with lingering doubts whether he is still a character in someone else's story. He muses whether a "typewriter in the sky" is creating the world. Mike looks up into the sky in search of this mystical device or its controller: "Abruptly Mike de Wolfe stopped. His jaw slackened a trifle and his hand went up to his mouth to cover it. His eyes were fixed upon the fleecy clouds which scurried across the moon. Up there – God? In a dirty bathrobe?" ===== ===== Peter Derns is a recently divorced father and executive for a cookie company in Portland, Oregon, who just been released from a clinic after being treated for paranoia. On his first day back at work, he is upset to find that his company has been taken over by a major food conglomerate who are making cutbacks. Peter's ruthless boss and supervisor, Charlene, demands a complete report by Peter on a new product the following day. When Peter's personal assistant, Lance, takes off, he frets that he will never make the deadline. But to Peter's good fortune, the company assigns him a temp worker, an attractive young Stanford graduate named Kris Bolin. Kris quickly endears herself to Peter by solving product issues and proving herself unflaggingly loyal and quick-witted. Simultaneously, various people around the office meet with unfortunate "accidents," beginning when Lance is maimed by a paper shredder, forcing him to take an extended leave of absence. Peter's workplace rival, Hartsell, is subsequently found dead in his stalled car from a wasp sting, while Jasser is later found hanging in his office in an apparent suicide. Each of these successive deaths give Peter unearned promotions in the company. When Peter inquires about why Kris would take such a low-earning position given her educational background, she tells him she prefers to work temp jobs in order to see how she fits within the company, and that she has yet to find the "right fit." In conversation, Kris explains that a photo of a man and child on her desk is her estranged husband, Mark, and daughter, Lizzy. After Peter refuses Kris's advances for a sexual relationship, he finds himself the subject of various professional troubles that threaten his career. Believing he is being sabotaged and gaslit, Peter suspects his old friend from a rival company, Montroe, as well as Charlene, whom he theorizes may be trying to save her career by destroying his; he also suspects Kris. Peter begins researching Kris's past with the help of Sara, another secretary, and discovers that Kris's former boss died mysteriously. He also learns that Kris never attended Stanford. Peter confronts her, but she denies his accusations. The following morning, Peter is shunned in the office after someone frames him for leaking confidential company information. However, Kris comes to his aid by accepting responsibility for the "computer error," which earns Peter's promotion to vice president and Kris's promotion to marketing executive. As a reward, Charlene sends Peter and Kris to the company's bakery on a weekend retreat. En route, they find that the brakes to Kris's car have been tampered with. After checking into the hotel, Peter gets a message from Charlene about an emergency at the bakery. Upon going there, he finds a dead security guard, and Kris, who appears to be suffering from a mild concussion. He is subsequently hit over the head by an unseen assailant. In his disoriented state, Peter wanders out of the office to see Kris struggling with Charlene along a catwalk. Peter intervenes to prevent Charlene from strangling Kris to death. In the melee, Charlene falls from a plank and is left hanging from a railing. He attempts to pull her up but she falls to her death, but not before saying "The picture". Months later, Peter is rebuilding his relationship with his wife Sharon and their son, and has been made president of the company. As he settles into Charlene's former office, he discovers several identical framed photos left behind of Kris's husband and daughter; he is shocked when Charlene's secretary, Rosemary, explains that picture frames were a cheap gift from her to Charlene, and that the pictures in them are stock photos that they came with. Recalling Charlene's final words, Peter realizes that she too had detected Kris's duplicity. Peter confronts Kris about the photo, and accuses her of orchestrating the bakery incident to kill Charlene, and possibly him. Kris again tries to assuage him, explaining that she presented the photo as her husband and daughter as a means of discouraging male co-workers from hitting on her. Peter, finally realizing that Kris is a master manipulator and sociopath, knows he cannot prove her culpability in any of the events. To rid himself of Kris once and for all, Peter simply fires her, and orders her detained until the police can escort her out. ===== Wildlife photographer Katy Mazur is sent to Africa on an assignment by her fiancé Dex Dellum to track down the rare bird falcon talon. While there, she meets a parachuter named Grant Orion, whom she has an affair with. Little does she know, he is there to rescue her from becoming a target of an assassin organisation. ===== Nancy's friend Bess has been hired by Special Effects, a River Heights company, to decorate Albemarle's department store for the holidays. When Bess discovers that her friend Ali Marie is now working at that store, she is thrilled — the two of them can have lunch and try on clothes for fun! However, when some dresses are swiped, Ali is accused of stealing and the party is over. Sure of her friend's innocence, Bess calls Nancy to help find the real thief. With all the suspects and misleading clues, Nancy and her friends are running in circles — and the holiday shopping rush isn't helping! But with all the difficulties they figure out that Bess's boss Wayne is the real thief. Category:Nancy Drew books Category:2002 American novels Category:2002 children's books Category:Christmas novels ===== The storyline focuses on a group of youngsters who decided to live in the subway tunnels for various reasons. Everyone of them brings his own history and dreams. Teenagers take part in a casting to a theatre, but they do not succeed and because of that decide to organize their own musical on the subway station. After success of underground show, they get a job offer from the theater which previously rejected them. A dilemma whether to go for money or for dreams appears. ===== Nancy, George and Elsa are enjoying a horse ride, when Nancy's horse falls into a hole while attempting a four-foot jump over a post- and-rail. Elsa is a counselor at Green Spring Pony Club summer camp, which has been vandalised by unknown persons. The owner, Mrs Rogers, is getting worried. Nancy, disguised as a counselor, tries to figure out who the culprit is. As more incidents happen, the more Nancy realizes she has to work quickly. Will Nancy and her friends be able to keep the Green Spring Farm going? ===== An injury to Inspector Ghote's commanding officer prevents him from attending an international police conference on drug smuggling that is to be held in London. Inspector Ghote is ordered to go to England, attend the conference, take notes and produce a presentation on behalf of his superior. On arrival Inspector Ghote is met by his cousin and his wife, who run an Indian restaurant in London. He intends to stay with them for the duration of the conference but quickly learns that they expect him to find their missing 17-year-old niece, Ranee, who is nicknamed "The Peacock" for her bright attitude and dress. In between attending the conference Ghote investigates the girl's disappearance, has his high expectations of Great Britain dashed by a grey and grimy London and tries to acquire a gift to take home to his wife. ===== Inspector Ghote is tasked by his Superintendent to attend the London police conference and present a prepared speech. On arrival at the airport, Ghote is met by his cousins, Mr and Mrs Datta, who run a London restaurant. Their niece, 17-year- old Ranee - known as the "Peacock" for her brightness - has disappeared. The family suspects her boyfriend, 35-year-old pop music star Johnny Bull. Ghote interviews the Peacock's friends, who believe she has been murdered but don't know who did it. Ghote pays a visit to Johnny, who claims to have not seen the Peacock since she disappeared and has taken up with another girl, Susan. Johnny, a self-confessed opium user, informs Ghote that the Peacock herself acquired drugs from a local public house known as the "Robin's Nest". There, Ghote extracts a confession from the owner of having supplied opium to Peacock. He learns of a protection racket being run by the Smith brothers and is surprised to find that the Peacock's uncle, Vidur Datta, is an opium user. Later, Ghote manages to confront the Smith brothers at their home, only to find himself in immediate danger. He is rescued by a passing policeman, who warns him not to interfere with a Scotland Yard investigation into the brothers. Finding no help from the British police and believing he is at a dead end to his enquiries, Ghote decides to drop the case. Mrs Datta quickly changes his mind by making it an issue of professional pride. Ghote keeps watch on the Smith home the following night and gains access while they are out. While talking to their mother, he learns they were in police custody during the Peacock's disappearance. Returning to the "Robin's Nest," Ghote accuses the owner of lying and attempting to steer him into harm's way. However, Ghote satisfies himself that the man could not have murdered the Peacock. Ghote attempts to interview Johnny again, but fails to get past Susan. He learns that Johnny will be at a particular recording studio that afternoon. Returning to the conference, Ghote listens to a superb presentation and learns that his own presentation must follow it the next day. He begins to become nervous about addressing a crowd. At the recording studio, Ghote conceals himself and eavesdrops on Susan, realising that Johnny could not have kidnapped or murdered the Peacock. Ghote is scolded by the Dattas for his lack of progress and develops a cold as a result of the British climate. He finds the conference has moved into a much larger and grander room for the conference's final day, when he will give his speech. Nervous and irritated by the tardiness of the conference's emcee, Ghote makes a botch of his presentation. Frustrated and angry at everything that has happened, he adds what he has learned about Johnny's opium habit and walks out. That evening at his cousin's restaurant, Ghote realises he has solved the mystery of the Peacock's disappearance. Ghote accuses his cousin, Vidur Datta, of murdering the Peacock because she was blackmailing him with his secret opium habit. The body is concealed under the restaurant's rubbish. No sooner has Ghote forced Mr Datta to confess than the police arrive, eager to congratulate him on the information he supplied about Johnny. It is revealed that Johnny has confessed to smuggling drugs in the Indian harmonium he used for his latest songs. ===== After a gathering with Chuck, his family and Morgan for pizza, Sarah returns to her apartment where she is assaulted by a masked intruder. Following a short and inconclusive fight, her opponent unmasks herself to reveal an old DEA friend code-named "Carina" (played by Mini Anden) who has come to request Sarah's help in recovering a stolen diamond. The following morning Chuck sees Carina on his way out of his apartment while she's loitering outside by the fountain. He joins Casey and Sarah in a briefing with their superiors, and they are ordered to assist Carina with the recovery of the diamond from Peyman Alahi, who they believe intends to use it to finance drug smuggling operations. Sarah introduces Carina to her "team," though Casey and Carina are already acquainted. Carina is immediately curious about Chuck but Sarah deflects her interest. Before they can leave Morgan sees and is smitten by Carina. Later, Carina approaches Chuck at the Buy More to question him further, but he evades her when Sarah arrives. Sarah confronts Carina, and while Chuck watches with Jeff and Lester, Morgan pesters Chuck to be fixed up. Chuck relents and asks Sarah to fix Morgan up while prompting her to refuse, but Sarah agrees anyway. The four spend the evening at Chuck's house, where Chuck lets slip that he knows about Carina's past missions. He receives a late-night support request while working on-call for the Nerd Herd and arrives at the location to discover that Carina faked the call to get him away from Sarah. She reveals that only someone with very high security clearance could have seen her file, and when Chuck attempts to deflect her questioning Carina attempts to seduce him. She also reveals that Sarah and Bryce were together before he went rogue. The next day Chuck, Sarah and Carina infiltrate Alahi's compound for reconnaissance, using Chuck's flashes to map out his security systems. They sneak into the vault where the diamond is kept, where Alahi confronts them. Sarah and Carina take advantage of his infatuation to learn about the security around the diamond. While Sarah distracts him Carina and Chuck take a closer look, and Chuck flashes on a high-voltage security system. Carina improvises and uses a fire extinguisher to safely remove the diamond, and escapes to the beach. Carina plays on Chuck's trusting nature to make off with the diamond and leave them on the beach, though Chuck and Sarah are rescued by Casey. Casey is sent to recover the diamond from Carina, but she plants it on Morgan, who came to her hotel to see her. She is cornered by Casey, but easily seduces him. Sarah arrives to find him in his underwear and handcuffed to the bed. While playing video games with Morgan, Chuck stumbles across the diamond when he goes to grab a game out of Morgan's backpack. He flashes on the gem and realizes it's not a drug diamond, but is being used to fund terrorists. He calls Sarah with the revelation, but she and Casey have been captured by Alahi, who demands its return. Carina breaks in and tries to steal it back, but Chuck plays on her conscience to help him rescue Sarah. Carina and Chuck confront Alahi to arrange the exchange in the lobby, while Casey escapes confinement upstairs. A fight breaks out, and while Sarah and Carina take on Alahi and his men Chuck flees with the diamond and locks himself in the mail room. He quickly addresses a package and, when one of Alahi's henchmen breaks in, threatens to drop it in the mail slot as he doesn't know where it will be going. Casey arrives and disables the goon, and Chuck accidentally drops the diamond. Beckman and Graham congratulate the team on stopping Alahi. As the briefing ends a package is delivered to Graham, containing the diamond. The team and Carina say their farewells, but not before Carina tries to come on to Chuck one last time. When he asks her why, she leaves him saying that she always goes after what Sarah wants. Chuck tries to deflect the comment but Carina tells him not even Sarah knows it yet. Chuck later brings pizza to Sarah's apartment to discuss his trust issues with Carina. Sarah smiles to see Chuck noticed she doesn't like olives (she picked them off her pizza during the opening scene with Chuck's family, and the double-date with Morgan and Carina). Chuck says that the fact she doesn't like olives is the only thing he knows about her that is real. He asks her if she can at least tell him something real about herself, such as her real name or where she grew up, or even her middle name. With each one Chuck asks of her, Sarah remains silent. Giving up, Chuck says he's going to get napkins. As he walks away, Sarah whispers "It's Lisa. My middle name is Lisa." ===== Children play outside a rural Colorado home. They belong to Orville Beecham (Charles Dierkop) and his three wives. Two masked men pull up in a truck and wait for the children to go inside. They proceed to kill the three mothers, who are sister wives, and the children. The police arrive before the father, Orville, who returns to find his family massacred. Arriving on the scene with the chief of police, Barney Doyle (Daniel Benzali) is a Denver newspaper reporter, Garret Smith (Charles Bronson). They were having lunch with a wealthy local businessman, Homer Foxx (Laurence Luckinbill), to discuss how to get Barney elected Denver mayor when Barney was called about the murders. Garret does a news story on the massacre. Orville is in a local jail, there "for his own protection." Orville is reluctant to talk to Garret but does reveal that his father, Willis Beecham (Jeff Corey), may have been involved. Willis lives in a compound with his followers. He is an excommunicated fundamentalist Mormon who practices polygamy, as do his son and followers. Willis is the sect's prophet. Willis tells the reporter that he believes that it was his brother, Zenas Beecham (John Ireland), who killed Orville's family. Willis and Zenas are alienated from each other by a doctrinal dispute. Garret, aided by a local editor named Jastra Watson (Trish Van Devere), begins to investigate if Zenas could be behind the killings. Zenas lives in a different Colorado county on a large farm that happens to sit on an artesian lake that a large corporation, The Colorado Water Company, has wanted for years. Zenas tells the reporter that Orville probably killed the family of his own son because Willis preaches blood atonement. The symbol of both brothers is an avenging angel, which is alleged to be an early Mormon symbol with a doctrinal counterpart reflecting the idea of blood atonement. As soon as Orville is released from jail, he returns to his father's compound and plots to attack Zenas in retaliation. Garret tries to warn Zenas, but it's too late. Armed men back each man and they open fire. Garret gets them to agree to a cease fire, but a third-party shoots Zenas (not one of the followers) and the shooting begins again. Zenas and Willis both are killed. Garret realizes what is happening—The Colorado Water Company is behind everything. The company has hired an assassin (John Solari) and a junior partner (Gene Davis) to murder Orville's family, counting on the feud between the brothers to eliminate the rest. Garret is approached by the junior assassin to make a deal, but the senior assassin kills his partner. It turns out the person who hired the assassin is Foxx, the businessman trying to get the police chief elected mayor. The assassin shows up at a fundraising party for Doyle thrown by Foxx, where he attempts to kill Garret. The reporter gains the upper hand and gets the assassin to reveal that it was Foxx who was responsible for all of the murders. Foxx steals the chief's gun and kills himself. ===== An unmarried, middle-aged woman accidentally becomes pregnant by an internationally renowned pianist and decides to keep and raise the baby on her own. ===== It is the story of the longings of a middle class executive to rise in stature and greater social acceptability. The young man still trying to find a place in the corporate world puts up an innocent bluff to a young girl he chances upon. His deception increases till they become disastrous for him, and for their relationship. ===== Finding a young child in the wreckage of a strange aircraft, a farmer and his wife raise the boy as their own. Growing up to become a newspaper reporter, he takes on a double life of a super hero when smugglers threaten the peace. ===== For a native New Yorker, Stewart Lewis (Gabe Kaplan) has a strange—some would say twisted—ambition: he wants to own a country-music club. His wife and kids hate the idea. Despite their misgivings, Stewart moves his family to Luckenbach, Texas, where he bought the Nassau County Cafe, a joint that has had nine owners in the last six years and sports a sign that says "Always Under New Management". While his sidekick Roscoe Clark (Guich Koock) stands by, Stewart lets fly one-liners and bad puns. The series featured an episode with guest appearances by Robert Hegyes and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, who were two of Kaplan's co-stars on Welcome Back, Kotter. At one point during the episode, Hegyes' character tells Lewis, "You should have been a teacher." ===== The story begins at Excel College with the introduction of the basketball champion and college stud, Samrat Shergill (Mohit Sehgal) and the college diva Dia (Navina Bole) and their buddies Benji and Uday. Also studying at Excel are sisters Nupur Bhushan (Rati Pandey) and Gunjan Bhushan (Sanaya Irani Sehgal) who left rural Morena for Mumbai. While Nupur is carefree and believes that one day she would find the man of her dreams, Gunjan is an introvert and though being the younger one is more responsible and spends most of her time studying. They are cousins of the "Queen Bee" Dia, and "Dodo" Uday. Dia is horrified by the news of their arrival to Excel and does everything in her power to make their lives miserable, but in vain. Lead athlete and college star Samrat and his close friend Benji (Abhishek Sharma) are Dia's friends while Mayank Sharma (Arjun Bijlani) is introduced as the geeky Greek god of Excel, a close rival and later a close friend of Samrat. While Gunjan is reluctant to make friends so early, Nupur tries different outfits to look modern but ends up as a fashion disaster. Both sisters are ragged by Dia and gang. While Mayank rescues Nupur from being locked at the men's washroom, Samrat disguises as a shy studious guy to make fun of Gunjan and later saves her from drowning in a pool. Nupur receives Mayank as a project partner, dance partner and travelling partner, while Gunjan gets pushed into a talent parade by Samrat and returns the support by tutoring him. Some misunderstandings build between Nupur and Mayank and he refuses to represent the college with her in a competition. Dia dislikes the closeness of Gunjan with his best friend and tries to bring down Gunjan in several ways but fails. Nupur and Mayank end up fighting most of the time but eventually Mayank falls for Nupur when they go for the intercollegiate meet. He even saves her from goons which leads to injury in his shoulder. Gunjan becomes friends with Samrat when she realizes that he was helping her build her confidence throughout the RJ hunt wanting nothing in return. Samrat and Dia begin losing the spark in their friendship as he starts spending most of the time with Gunjan. Meanwhile, Uday starts liking CJ. After the Holi party, Mayank drinks bhang and under its effect apologizes to Nupur for the misunderstanding that happened earlier while Samrat drops Gunjan home and meets Dia outside her house thus trying to balance both friendships. As time passes, Gunjan misinterprets subtleties from Samrat and begins to harbour unstated love for him just as he clarifies Gunjan to be his closest friend, unaware of his own feelings for her while being oblivious to her one-sided love. Mayank, disregarding his love, feuds with Nupur, though later they too become best friends. Sheena (Preeti Keswani), a talented and attractive actress, enters Excel along with Ranvijay (Khushank Arora), a daredevil rich and spoilt playboy. Sheena and Samrat strike up a relationship. Ranvijay almost hits Gunjan and Samrat with his bike, troubles Benji while he was with Samrat and flirts with Dia which angers Samrat. Samrat dislikes Ranjivay and warns him to stay away from his friends. On seeing Samrat and her friendship weakening day by day, initially reluctant Dia accepts Ranjivay's friendship as she feels that this would make Samrat jealous. Gunjan tells Samrat that Sheena will not allow their unique friendship to continue and also asks him to stay away from Ranvijay. Samrat reluctantly agrees. Ranvijay gives Dia a lift till college on his bike while Samrat offers lift to Sheena. They both have a bike race till college in which Samrat wins. He later rebukes Candy (name given to Dia by Samrat) for taking a lift from Ranvijay despite having her own car. She replies by saying that he's not the only cool guy in college and others can be happening too, indicating Ranvijay. One day, Samrat and Mayank end up having a fight with Ranjivay and his goons in which Samrat gets hurt. Angered by the event, Dia slaps Ranjivay in front of the entire college and breaks their friendship. Ranvijay decides to take revenge on Samrat and Dia. He uses his charm to win back Dia's trust and makes her fall in love with him. After rejection from CJ, Uday falls for the newly appointed Dramatics teacher, Tamanna. The entire gang bags a role in the college play while Uday organises it. Mayank-Nupur, Samrat-Sheena, Dia- Ranvijay are paired together. Dia and Gunjan do not like Sheena's closeness with Samrat but don't say anything. During rehearsals Mayank realises that his love for Nupur is inevitable and decides to make Nupur realize that she also loves him. During the college play Mayank dramatically confesses his love for Nupur on stage and they begin a relationship secretly from others. Later, Dia plans a surprise Birthday party for Uday and invites Ranjivay but doesn't invite Sheena. Samrat is upset with this and confronts Dia. Dia tells him that Sheena's wavelength doesn't match with their group and that they talk to her only because of him. Dia also tells him that Ranvijay has proposed to her and that she's not said yes to him and wanted to ask her best friend first before taking any decision. Samrat explains that there should be a strong friendship between two people before getting into a relationship, in response to which Dia questions the reference of friendship made by him, should it be like Samrat and hers or Samrat and Gunjan's. This leaves Samrat baffled. Dia changes the topic by saying that he takes a lot of time in friendship but not in case of love mentioning that Samrat and Sheena's relationship is going at rocket fast speed and there was no time for them to be friends first. Samrat and Dia decide that they will try to be friends with Ranvijay and Sheena respectively for their best friend's sake and even agree for going on a double date. At a subsequent party, Sheena frames Gunjan for trying to drown her but Samrat doesn't believe her and supports Gunjan and breaks up with her. After leaving the party, Ranvijay frames Samrat for a drunk driving accident. He also insults Dia by revealing that she spent a night at his house when she got drenched in the rain, thus fulfilling his revenge.The gang manages to prove his innocence in court and both Sheena and Ranvijay leave.Dia has a change of heart, she now respects her siblings and friends more after seeing their support during her low phase. Mayank tries to cheer her up saying that this incident has brought 3 positives things in her life- she got more closer to her best friend-Samrat, she got close to her family and she also has a chance to make some new friends like him. While Dia is surprised to see the newly changed Mayank, Nupur is extremely happy that Mayank not only cares for her but also for her entire family. During the brief time spent in jail Samrat realizes his intense love for Gunjan because of others' remarks since that day. When he mistakenly calls Dia by Gunjan's name (Chashmish, as he often calls her) while saving her from falling off the ladder, he realizes that Gunjan is all over his head. Later, Gunjan believes that he has heard her extensive confession, and through a series of unfortunate circumstances, neither of them communicates their feelings leading to an extension of their friendship and a misunderstanding. At this point, both sisters are hurt from their relationship difficulties and decide to immediately take a leave from Excel for an upcoming family wedding in Morena. After the sisters leave, the gang feels lonely knowing Dia and Uday would leave soon as well for the function. Mayank, wanting to apologize to Nupur for hiding their relationship and scolding her, follows her to Morena and enters the Bhushan household posing as Nupur's childhood friend 'Bablu' who has come to consider marrying her. Samrat and Benji reach Morena as Dia and Uday's friends. Samrat finally expresses his love to Gunjan on the night of Dusshera. Mayank promises to commit to Nupur. Mayank suddenly finds out that his mother lost her job and leaves immediately without telling anyone. Nupur assumes their relationship is over and is furious. Her parents, Shashi and Ratna, form a negative opinion about Mayank. Ratna faults Samrat as well for his disruption during a religious ritual and asks him to leave immediately. Touched by Samrat's apology, Shashi hands him the responsibility of his daughters. The gang leaves for Mumbai. Back at Excel, with Samrat's plan, Nupur tries to convince Mayank but in vain. She faints while running to stop Mayank, Nupur and Mayank are able to sort out their differences and Mayank confesses his love to her in front of public, Samrat and Gunjan are delighted to hear this conversation via Benji while being locked in a room which was initially set up for Mayank and Nupur. Samrat and Gunjan go on their first date. Mayank's mother finds a new job in Bangalore. While Mayank is gone, Ratna and the Bhushan family decide to get Nupur married and send the match, Bablu, to college. This new character is Adhiraj (Nishant Malkani), Nupur's childhood friend and expected suitor. Adhiraj mistakes another Nupur to be the Nupur he is looking for. The gang takes advantage of this and Adhiraj and the new Nupur begin to like each other. The new Nupur gains everyone's trust and befriends them. However, she feels a strong affinity for Samrat. Her extreme concern for him creates a doubt in Gunjan's mind. The new Nupur insists Samrat to teach her basketball - an excuse to stay close to him. Meanwhile, Gunjan finds her passport and it is revealed to her that the new Nupur is actually Suhani Shergil. Mayank returns to surprise his friends and comes to learn of what the gang has been up to and convinces them to tell Adhiraj the truth about Nupur. On questioning, Suhaani tells Gunjan that she is Samrat's long lost sister and how Samrat lived alone from a young age and begrudged the entire family because of his parents' bitter divorce. In the custody battle, he was separated from his sister and has since believed that his mother chose his sister over him. Suhaani had been living in London with their mother before coming to Excel to reunite with Samrat. Gunjan agrees to help her reunite with Samrat. Samrat is irked by the habit of Suhani of reminding him of his past, he often ends up losing his temper and shouts at her. While he's confused of his extreme behaviour towards Suhani, he gets concerned when he mistakenly hits Suhani with his basketball. But again ends up scolding her publicly when she asks him of his guilt of hitting someone the same way in his childhood. However, Gunjan always plays the peacemaker. Suhani cooks Samrat's favourite dessert about which nobody knew and this makes him suspicious. Suhani ties a good luck charm on Samrat's hand wishing him all the best for the upcoming match in which Adiraj and Samrat both were participating. Later, Mayank and Nupur learn about Suhani's identity. In a party, Samrat compliments Suhani when she was dancing which makes her really happy. When Samrat hugs her while dancing, she is overwhelmed and couldn't control her tears and runs away for the party. Samrat goes behind her and gets severely injured while trying to save her from getting hit from a bike. Suhani panics and takes him to the hospital with the gang's help. Adiraj questions Suhani about her feelings for Samrat when he sees her in a miserable condition in the hospital. Samrat also confronts her about her concern and the fact that she knows everything about his likes and dislikes. He rebukes her and suspects that she is hiding something. He refuses to take any rest unless Suhani answers all his questions. On further questioning by Adiraj and Samrat about Samrat and her relationship, she breaks down and kneels in front of Samrat. She reveals about them being siblings. While, Samrat refuses to accept her, Adiraj feels cheated knowing the reality of her not being Nupur Bhushan. Samrat rushes to college and breaks open Suhani's locker to find evidences of her being his sister. He gets infuriated to know that Gunjan and his friends new about Suhani's identity and they too hid the truth from him. He refuses to talk to anybody including Dia who tries to sympathize with him. Adiraj also misunderstands Suhani's intentions. When Suhani tries to stop him and trips on the stairs, he turns around to find Samrat saving her from the fall. Samrat schools Adiraj for hurting Suhani. While Samrat and Suhani reconcile and he takes her home, Adiraj decides to part ways with her. Adhiraj discloses this deception to Shashi who then forces Nupur into marrying Adhiraj. Gunjan and Samrat also reconcile when he hears her crying on the phone about Nupur and Adiraj getting married as Adhiraj consents to the marriage in his anger at Suhaani's betrayal. Mayank however cheers up an upset Nupur by attending all the wedding functions in disguise and promises her that he will not let the wedding happen. On the wedding day, Adiraj is finally told that the gang played this prank on him because Nupur loves Mayank and he must believe that Suhaani is truly in love with him. Adhiraj soon decides to call off the wedding, but before he can tell his father he is accidentally knocked out by Uday, so Mayank reluctantly replaces Adhiraj at the wedding ceremony. Mayank and Nupur are wedded, but Shashi disowns her as he feels betrayed and humiliated because of their rash actions. With nowhere to go, the couple turns to the gang for help. The gang makes a temporary arrangement for them to stay in a beautifully decorated college classroom for the night. Dia finally calls Mayank as brother-in-law which makes him realize that he is family now. Soon, the couple shifts to Samrat's guest house. Gunjan and Nupur have a disagreement with Gunjan being understanding of their father's anger and Nupur objecting to Gunjan and Samrat's supposed indecent proximity at their second date. The sisters soon restore their relationship when Nupur protects Gunjan from being eve-teased by thugs. On Valentines Day, Adhiraj proposes to Suhaani upsetting Gunjan who had expected a proposal from Samrat. Gunjan tells Samrat about the importance of marriage before leaving the party alone. The same armed thugs corner Gunjan and try to harass her when Adiraj comes and saves her by fighting with the goons. During the fight, Gunjan gets shot and is rushed to hospital. Adiraj is sent to jail accused of trying to kill Gunjan by shooting her. After Samrat's heartfelt proposal Gunjan recovers to find herself paralysed from the waist down. At the hospital, Shashi forgives Nupur and once home tells Gunjan that he approves of Samrat. Gunjan, however, remembers Samrat not being ready for commitment of marriage, before the accident and thinking of herself as a burden, assures her father that she is not in love with him. The thugs try to throw acid on Nupur and Gunjan who are saved by Mayank and Samrat. Next, Nupur battles the culprits - a well-known corrupt politician and his brother by putting her life in danger and gets them arrested and becomes Excel's role model. Because of the accident, Gunjan is not confident about standing and walking on her feet. Despite Samrat's several attempts she fails to even stand on her own. The gang finally decides to go for a vacation with the goal of making Gunjan walk again. At the resort, the gang makes a story about a king's ghost who kills everybody in his path. The gang implies Samrat's impending death by the king's spirit for Gunjan when Samrat truly gets unconscious and falls in danger's path. Gunjan however is unable move and asks for help and the gang runs to help Samrat seeing a road roller coming towards him. But eventually Gunjan bolts up and runs to save his life, thus recovering fully. They celebrate Gunjan's recovery by dancing. While Samrat dances with Dia, Benji gets jealous and asks Samrat to allow him to dance with Dia. Benji starts developing feelings for Dia. The gang returns home with their relationships strengthened but their happiness is short-lived when a baby girl, as a prank, enters the life of Samrat, Mayank, Benji, Adhiraj, and Uday with a letter falsely claiming that one of them is the father. Boys and Girls hire detectives to find out about baby's real father and mother suspecting that it is someone from the group. Doubts rise on Samrat and Mayank when Riya- Principal's daughter visits Excel college who is doubted to be the baby's mother. Samrat and Mayank indulge in an argument when Samrat finds out that in the first year Mayank kissed Riya while she was still Samrat's girlfriend. Later, Riya rebukes all rumours and leaves. The girls bond together against the boys to participate is several tasks to prove themselves more responsible than them. Mayank saves Gunjan from a serious accident in one of these tasks which makes Nupur guilty as she was only thinking of winning and did not stop to help her sister whereas Mayank didn't mind losing to save his family. After a series of mishaps it is finally revealed that the entire gang was on a reality show. Suhaani breaks the news that she has to return to London. Adhiraj decides to go with her and get married. A famous director, Neil Oberoi, comes to Excel for an open casting call. He is an old friend of the Bhushan sisters and has a soft spot for Gunjan. After purposefully casting Gunjan, Neil's growing closeness with Gunjan makes Samrat overprotective. Through this, Gunjan learns that Neil is in love with her due to which she leaves the film and reconciles with Samrat. Meanwhile, Mayank and Nupur enrol for the same job scholarship and Nupur wins it. Mayank and Nupur split after a row, and Nupur goes to Delhi. Later, Mayank and Nupur sort out their differences and retake their wedding vows and Samrat confesses his love to Gunjan. Samrat proposes to Gunjan and she happily accepts and later they consummate their love. Benji also reveals his love to Dia. Mayank and Nupur decide to go to the United States leaving nothing behind. As Nupur, Gunjan, Mayank and Samrat speed to the airport, the brakes suddenly fail due to which Samrat careens the car off the road and the principal characters are involved in a life-changing accident. 3 year leap The story then takes a three-year leap where the group believes that Nupur died because of Samrat's reckless driving. Samrat, now a trustee of Excel College, has been living a lonely life as punishment, continually recalling Gunjan and death in between drinks. Mayank works in a private company and lives with the illusion of still having Nupur around in her void. Gunjan, now a grievance counselor, is emotionally shattered. She doesn't speak with Samrat anymore as she too blames him for her sister's death. Ashwini or Ash is an orphan closely counselled by Gunjan. He collides with Samrat and out of empathy helps him past his guilt. Mayank accepts a post for professor at Excel at Mrs. Shergill's insistence. At a point, both Mayank and Ash takes Samrat's advice to move forward. Rohan or Ro, another student, clashes and falls in love with Ash. Ash and Rohan both look up to Samrat. Mayank carries out all rituals on Nupur's death anniversary while Gunjan doesn't show up to offer prayers. When Mayank meets Gunjan, she addresses him by his name not as brother-in-law which she used to call him before. Mayank realizes that she is avoiding any talk about Nupur to hide her grief. Mayank suggests Gunjan to become a counsellor at Excel. She eventually accepts curious to know about Ash's mystery man who is actually Samrat. Mayank sees Samrat in a vulnerable state without his friends. Mayank even saves Samrat from falling off the cliff when he was hallucinating about Gunjan being present there. Later, Mayank forgives Samrat as he realizes he was also responsible for the accident. Samrat, now colleague to Gunjan, continually attempts to woo her and make her smile again. After a few days, Dia makes a return. She is a big fashion designer now and keeps travelling around the world. When she returns, the first person she meets is Mayank. Mayank is delighted to see her. When she addresses him as brother-in- law, he gets extremely happy. She tells him that while she was in China, she met her spiritual side and has been having dreams about Nupur calling her. Mayank tells her that she is all imagining it because she was her sister and was very close to her. However, Dia is not convinced and asks Mayank about the accident and Nupur's death because she was not in the city when the incident happened. Initially reluctant Mayank gives in to Dia's insistence and tells her that they themselves received her body. He further tells that her face got damaged and was unrecognisable because she suffered a lot of burns. Dia is shocked to hear this and tells him that it's impossible because as far as she knows there was no fire involved in the accident. In fact, it was Gunjan who got severely injured and Dia was there to take care of her in the hospital. Nupur was in another hospital. Mayank checks Nupur's death certificate where he finds that the cause of death is burns which according to Dia was not possible. He curses himself for missing out this detail for so many years. DIA and Mayank visit the doctor who treated Nupur 3 years back and the doctor's tells them that he was treating 2 patients named Nupur on the same day. After investigation the doctor informs them that they handed over the wrong body to them and Nupur Bhushan is indeed alive. He further tells Mayank and Dia that Nupur Bhushan has been living in a mental hospital since the last 3 years. Next day, when they visit the mental hospital, they are informed that Nupur was discharged 3 days back and are given an address of her. Dia and Mayank visit that address and get fis-heartened to know that Nupur emptied the house yesterday only. Mayank however doesn't give up and breaks into the house through a window along with Dia. Dia is shocked to see this side of Mayank. On searching the house, they find a number and when they call on it, they hear Nupur's voice. Dia leaves the city for work while Mayank infirms Gunajn and Samrat about his findings. Gunjan doesn't believe Mayank and shuns herself from comfort and hope. Samrat, on the other hand decides to help Mayank find Nupur. While on a trail with Samrat and Gunjan, an emotionally incapacitated Mayank drives away alone and crashes into a tree. By fate, Nupur finds Mayank and takes him to the hospital. Eventually, the three find her but Nupur consistently and rudely refuses to recognise them. They convince her to stay with them for seven days during which each of them realises that Nupur is hiding something. On the fifth day Nupur's fiancé, Dhruv physically and verbally abuses Nupur to a point where she emotionally surrenders to him. Although the trio fails to confirm Nupur as Nupur Bhushan, after a few days Gunjan suspects Dhruv to be the grown-up Chintu, a psychotic boy from their childhood school who was admitted to a mental hospital and was also one of the reasons which led the Bhushan sisters to shift to Mumbai. It is revealed that Nupur has been pretending to not recognise them out of fear of Dhruv. Dhruv had also caused the accident three years ago. His intent was to kill the others and keep Nupur for himself. Samrat then openly challenges Dhruv and conducts a plan where he sends Mayank to Gunjan's house, while Nupur is meeting Gunjan. Mayank talks to Nupur, which leads Nupur to cave and admit the truth. Dhruv arrives at Nupur's house but is caught red-handed attempting to shoot and kill Nupur. With the help of Rohan and Ash, the police come out and arrest Dhruv. Mayank and Nupur reunite at home after three years and Samrat and Gunjan attempt reconciliation though they still remain only platonic. Gunjan uses the rekindled love after the play and the happiness from the adventure in obtaining Nupur to consider her relationship with Samrat mended. Nupur now rejoins Excel as a student to complete her studies. While Nupur is at college, seeing everyone else's life back on track, Samrat decides to quit being trustee of Excel College and begins dreaming of basketball. In response, Gunjan, currently between being a friend and life partner, throws an MBA program on him and submits his application on his behalf, being oblivious to what he wants to do. Samrat however lies to Gunjan to keep her pleased and simultaneously begins an all-female basketball team in which Ash takes part. Samrat, upset with Ash bunking classes, forces her to get a letter signed that excuses her from class. Unable to reveal Samrat's secret team to Gunjan, Ash tries to get Mayank's permission but with no success so she forges Mayank's signature. Mayank, thinking Nupur also did this, rusticates her from the college. However, when Ash gets to know of this, she tells Mayank the truth. Mayank feeling sorry for his distrust apologizes to Nupur but she does not accept it. On the other hand, because of Ash's confession, Gunjan gets to know Samrat is secretly coaching basketball, she confronts him about still attempting to lie to her face. Now, the sisters are angry with the boys and the boys, knowing their mistakes, takes several different attempts to persuade them. Uday makes an entry here. Finally, after days, Mayank convinces Nupur before going to bed by pointing out today was their first date anniversary and they have a lifetime of fighting ahead of them. However, Gunjan under the impression that Nupur and Mayank have not patched up, stayed strong to girl power and continued rejecting Samrat's apologies. Uday now interacts with an unconscious elderly man in a wheelchair who won a '5 crore Best Family' lottery; telling everyone else he is dead and has a family who is in need of this money when in fact Uday wants to pocket it. Under a false pretense, everyone works together to enact the supposed family this man would have had for an inspector. This family happens to be an idealized version of what the gang already has: intense love, fighting, and an inept Dodo. While doing this Uday loses the money to the unconscious man and Gunjan discovers that Nupur and Mayank are back to terms. Later, the gang also manages to save Excel College from being demolished from the hands of Dhingra, a builder cum goon. Now finally as things start to settle in life Gunjan realizes that she never deserved such an unconditional and persistent lover in her life. In fact, she feels she needs to apologize to Samrat for all of the times she has held him guilty for things he had never done. When apologizing on the night of Diwali, Samrat for the first time in three years notices his given engagement ring back on Gunjan's finger. Samrat then makes a grand plan to propose to Gunjan, which all goes sideways. Nupur finds out that she is pregnant and decides to hide it. Samrat finds Nupur's pregnancy strip and confronts her over the phone. Nupur finally reveals her pregnancy. At first, Mayank pretends to be angry but then he comforts her by saying that Nupur had given him immense pleasure by telling this to him. Samrat proposes to Gunjan later that night in a very romantic, intimate, and heartfelt way and she accepts. They have a church wedding: a lifelong dream for Gunjan. Dia, Uday, and Benji return to the show for the wedding, which serves as a coming together of Benji and Dia as a couple again. After the ceremony, a leap of six months is shown with all four living in Pune. Samrat and Gunjan are happily married and successful in their respective careers. Nupur goes into labor and gives birth to male twins. The show ends with the gang returning to Excel one last time and expressing their views on College life. ===== Meat Boy lives with his girlfriend Bandage Girl. One day, Bandage Girl is kidnapped by Dr. Fetus, an intelligent fetus in a life support suit. Meat Boy then goes after Fetus, until Fetus burns down the forest and tries to kill Meat Boy in his "Lil Slugger", which is destroyed after Meat Boy tricks him into running into a bunch of saws. Fetus escapes to a abandoned hospital, where Fetus unleashes C.H.A.D., a giant monster made of blood. Meat Boy shows the sun to the monster and redeems him, but then goes after Fetus, who goes to his Salt factory. There, a clone of Meat Boy made of human Feces called Brownie is created, leading to a race between the two, presumably killing Brownie. Fetus goes to Hell, where Meat Boy discovers that every time he dies, his corpse goes to Hell. Little Horn, a Meat Boy-esque monster made up of these corpses attacks Meat Boy and is killed after hitting his head 3 times. Fetus escapes and triggers a nuke, which opens a path to the top world. Meat Boy is lured to fight Larries Lament, 3 worms who inspire the Larry Jr. boss from Binding of Isaac, who he kills. In the final level, Dr. Fetus runs after Meat Boy, who destroys the bridge he is on, destroying Fetus's life support system. Fetus tries to kill Meat Boy and Bandage Girl by blowing up his facility, but Brownie appears and saves the two. ===== In the future, the eyes of all humans are revealed as intelligent unto themselves, having merely used humans as their hosts. They leave their bodies and fly to the moon, develop weapons, and attack the human race, capturing several Asian countries, including China, Thailand, and Korea. Humanity sends two blinded pilot brothers, Mickey R. Dole and Mackey I. Dole, who both possess a sixth sense, to defeat the invaders. The pilots cover their eyes with different methods - a double eyepatch and shaded glasses. Each pilot's custom fighter uses a different attacking technique. ===== Marianne (Greta Garbo) is a poor French country girl who goes to Paris in the 1860s to seek her fortune as an actress. As she rises to success in the theatre, she must choose between the romantic attentions of two men. The first is Lucien (Lars Hanson), a poor but passionate young soldier who deserts the army to be with Marianne and goes to jail after stealing a dress to give her. Her other suitor is Henry Legrand (Lowell Sherman), a wealthy middle-aged Paris producer who offers her fame and fortune. ===== Zakes (William Ash) and his girlfriend Beth (Christine Bottomley) are driving along the rain-drenched M1 motorway at night, stopping at every service station so he can put up posters in the restrooms as part of his job. The two bicker continuously about their fragile relationship along the way. Beth soon falls asleep in the passenger seat. Moments later, failing to spot their exit, Zakes carelessly cuts up a large white truck, skids in the road and barely avoids a collision. The tailgate of the truck flips up, revealing a naked woman bound and bloodied in a cage, screaming for help. Before there is time for Zakes to get a closer look, the door is slammed shut. Panicked, he wakes Beth up, telling her what he saw. They immediately call the police but are unable to tell them the number plate as it is covered in dirt. They describe the truck and where they are, and the police say they will take care of it. While stuck in the queue of traffic, Zakes gets out of his car and goes up to the truck. He manages to slide his hand underneath and take a photograph using Beth's phone, but it appears to be nothing but a white blur from the flash. As the traffic starts moving, the truck drives away and Zakes refuses to follow it as he has one last stop to make. Beth is furious and another argument arises, as she claims that he takes no responsibility and isn't bothered about anything other than himself and his job that he hates. At the last service station stop, Beth tearfully ends the relationship and walks away. She calls her friend to come and collect her. Believing she will change her mind, Zakes decides to wait in the car for her. He then sees the truck from before pull up and watches a man in a dark, hooded jacket get out and go inside. Zakes follows minutes later to try and find Beth, but she is nowhere to be seen. While checking inside the women's restroom, he is thrown out by two security guards. He tries to explain that he is only looking for his missing girlfriend but they don't believe him. Zakes then finds Beth's necklace in the staff car park round the back of the station and believes she has been taken by the man in the truck, which has now left. Deciding to follow it, he returns to his car to find his tyre has been punctured by a group of rowdy football fans. Zakes steals a car from the station and starts driving. Meanwhile, one of the security guards decides to look through the CCTV footage from that night to see if Zakes was telling the truth. He finds footage of Beth entering the station by herself and sees that she leaves through the back door with a man in a hooded jacket. Suddenly, he is killed by the other security guard, who is shown to be connected with the kidnapping as he calls the driver of the truck and warns him that Zakes is probably following. At the truck stop, Zakes flees from the car and enters the site on foot. It is full of white trucks that all look identical. A police car then arrives and the officer arrests Zakes, believing he is trespassing. Handcuffed in the back of the car, Zakes explains what he is believes has happened to Beth and begs the police officer to check all of the trucks before they go. When the officer does, he is attacked and killed by the hooded man, which Zakes witnesses. He manages to escape from the car and runs into the woods nearby, followed by the man. He arrives back at the service station but Zakes knows he can't call the police for help as they believe he is a criminal, so he steals another car and drives it back to the site, adamant Beth has been taken there. He parks up nearby to catch his breath. Suddenly, a bloody woman comes to the window, claiming she has been kidnapped and is in need of help. Zakes lets her into the car but tells her he needs to find his girlfriend. His phone battery dies and Zakes remembers he saw a farm house not too far away. He decides to drive there in order to call for help, now he has a witness who can back up his story. The elderly couple living there cautiously invite them in, and offer them a cup of tea and the chance to clean themselves up while they wait for help. The woman Zakes picked up offers to call the police but cuts the phone line beforehand, revealing that she too is part of the plan. She then calls the hooded man, telling him she will take care of Zakes. The woman cuts the power in the house, kills the elderly couple and then attacks Zakes. He wakes up with his hands nailed to the floorboards. He manages to get free just as she is about to kill him, stabbing her in the eye with one of the nails. Bleeding and exhausted, he takes Beth's mobile phone and heads back to the truck site. The area has a security system triggered by anyone that crosses the intersecting red lasers. The elderly couple's dog triggers the system, causing the area's flood lights to come on. The truck driver investigates and finds only the dog. Zakes, who was hiding in the truck, comes out once the coast is clear, and he manages to get to safety before the security system resets. Outside, he finds Beth chained up in a cage. Frantic, she tells Zakes the keys are with the man, who is showering in a nearby hut. Zakes goes inside and finds several other women locked up and gagged. He manages to get the set of keys from the man's clothes on the bathroom floor and returns to Beth to help her escape first, promising he will be back to help the others. It appears the women are being used for human trafficking. While trying to find the right key, they hear the man coming and Zakes has to flee. A cat-and-mouse game soon begins when the man realises he is hiding in the site somewhere. He calls the woman's phone, which Zakes has on him, and follows the ring to where he is. However, Zakes has left the phone on the seat on an empty truck and is hiding in the forklift nearby. When the man steps into the right spot, Zakes pushes a button in the vehicle, and the crane releases a heavy load onto the attacker, killing him. Zakes then runs back to help Beth who has already freed herself using the screwdriver he gave her. One year later, at a truck stop, a driver is seen picking out a book with the title "Traffic" on the cover. It seems Zakes has written a non-fiction story based on the events he and Beth went through. The driver is revealed to be the security guard who killed his partner. He purchases the book and goes to his truck (an identical white truck as the killer from the film) and drives off. ===== Newspaper reporter Vanessa Trojan (Lindsay Calkins) is sent to "Anywhere, Washington," to do a feature on two female racing legends. When the women, Jo Leene Dodge (Melene Marie Brown) and Betty Petty (Kimberly Lynn Layfield), take her to a rockabilly house party, a glowing light appears in the night sky and people begin to feel ill. The party ends with a huge fight between Jo Leene and her jealous rival Vikki Lee. The next morning Vicki Lee has disappeared, leaving only a few severed fingers on the seat of her car. Jo Leene is accused of her murder. But when more people turn up missing or dead, Anywhere's only detective, Detective Lloyd (Jimmi Davies), realizes that this is much bigger than a simple murder case. ===== The film revolves around Nandhan (Suresh Joachim), a Sri Lankan youth who kidnaps Meera Jasmine, a Minister's daughter and a television journalist. The Minister (Suman) is helped by the Director General of Police (Rajeev) and his subordinate (Bose Venkat) to rescue Meera. Things take a turn when they get an interesting demand from Nandhan seeking the release of a Sri Lankan national detained by police. Why and for what the demand is forms the crux. ===== ===== Ageha Shiroi finds out her sister, Hibari, is pregnant and she will have to be married in less than a month. When shopping with her friend, Mamoru, they meet Yukari Arisaka and Mitsuya Kuromine. Ageha finds out that the bridal store that Hibari is going to is owned by the two men. But during one of their visits, Ageha loses her temper about the wedding and accidentally injures Mitsuya's hand. To make up for it, Ageha decides to help finish Hibari's wedding dress. Soon after the wedding in volume 2, Yukari offers a part-time job for Ageha at V.B.R. Ageha accepts this job, not knowing that it will ultimately change her life, and cause her to make new friendships-and even love. ===== A boy named Bobby, gets a lesson in school about how to properly massage his gums to take care of his teeth. After class is dismissed, Bobby is offered by one of his friends in to an ice cream shop to have a sundae and go fishing. Bobby refuses because his extremely strict, spoiled, cold-hearted, and mean father (Billy Bletcher) wouldn't let him. On the way home, Bobby finds a beagle named Joseph and takes him home. They sneak into the house where Bobby cleans him up in order to convince his father to keep him. However, Bobby's father, who wakes up just in time to hear Joeseph's barking coming from the upstairs bathroom, angrily scares Joseph away and Joseph hides in the house. He then cruelly and unfairly sends Bobby to his room without supper for disobeying him. Muttering about his son, he steps on a rollerskate and falls down the stairs. He brutally walks back upstairs to Bobby's room to punish him, but Bobby is not there and he begins looking for him. The gnomes and elves on the wallpaper in Bobby's room come alive and knock Bobby's father unconscious and take him into the forest scene in the wallpaper. He wakes up in a stock before a judge and jury, where he learns that he is charged with being "neurotic and erratic." Joseph the beagle appears in the scene and gives a false testimony that the father "hit him, and then he kicked him." The jury finds that he "has no mentality" because he does not massage his gums, and is "childlike in his dental knowledge" despite the fact that he attended college, and so finds him guilty. The judge then reveals himself to be Bobby, and he sentences his father to the "youth machine," which turns him into a baby. Bobby's father wakes up from Joseph the beagle licking his face. His behavior changes when he sees the Ipana toothpaste sign that concludes that Bobby is smart and begins acting kinder to him. Bobby, his father, and his friends all go out for sundaes and go fishing in the river. ===== ===== The Cake Eaters is a small-town, ensemble drama that explores the lives of two interconnected families coming to terms with love in the face of loss. Living in rural America, the Kimbrough family are a conflicted bunch: Easy, the patriarch and local butcher, is grieving over the recent loss of his wife, Ceci, while hiding a secret ongoing affair for years; Beagle, his youngest son who was left to care for his ailing mother, works in the local high school cafeteria by day but has a burning passion inside that manifests itself through painting street signs; and the eldest son, Guy, has been away from the family for years while pursuing his rock star dream in the big city until the day he learns of his mother's death and that he has missed the funeral. Upon Guy's return home, relationships between the characters begin to unravel: Beagle's pent up emotions connect with Georgia Kaminski, a terminally ill teenage girl wanting to experience love before it is too late; Easy's long-time affair with Marg, Georgia's eccentric grandmother, is finally exposed to the Kimbrough children; and Guy discovers that in his absence his high school sweetheart, Stephanie, has moved on and started a family of her own. Consequently, The Kimbroughs and Kaminskis manage to establish new beginnings in facing their varied relationships. ===== When Teresa (played by Vanessa Bauche) was left in Mexico by a husband who hiked it up to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, she followed in search of him with the help of Fenton (played by Jesse Aaron Dwyre), a grocery-store stock boy, but little does her new companion know of the mystery surrounding this mistress and her equally enigmatic ex-suitor. This emotionally ambitious and frequently comedic feature follows the two as they travel across Montreal, often encountering colorful characters who lead them to the final denouement, where Teresa will have more explaining to do than she ever expected. ===== Betty Anne Waters' life revolves around her brother Kenneth, who is now in jail for murder. Despite Kenny's knack for getting in trouble, they have always been close. After the murder of Katherina Reitz Brow on May 21, 1980, in Ayer, Massachusetts, Kenny is initially brought in for questioning by Sergeant Nancy Taylor, but released. Two years later, based on new testimony from two witnesses, Kenny is arrested and tried. The evidence presented at Kenny's trial is entirely circumstantial, but he is convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. The three main witnesses against him are Sergeant Taylor, his ex-wife Brenda, and ex-girlfriend Roseanna. Three years later, Betty Anne lives with her husband, Rick and two sons, Richard and Ben. She is frantic that she has not heard from Kenny, who calls her every week from prison, and finally discovers that he tried to commit suicide. Betty Anne decides to go back to school and become a lawyer so she can exonerate him, but her husband is skeptical and unsupportive, and eventually they split up. As Betty Anne struggles with being a working mother attending law school, flashbacks reveal that her mother was callous and uncaring, forcing Kenny and Betty Anne to fend for themselves. The two were very close, but frequently got into trouble, and were eventually taken away from their mother and sent to separate foster homes. Betty Anne continues to visit Kenny in prison, working in a bar while going to school, but her busy schedule causes her to miss a planned outing with her sons, who decide they would be better off living with their father. Struggling in school, demoralized and exhausted, Betty Anne stops going to classes, until a friend from school, Abra, comes to her house and prods her to just get up, get dressed, and get back to class. In a study group, Betty Anne learns about the new field of DNA testing and realizes that this could be the key to overturning Kenny's conviction, as only blood types had been matched at the time of the trial. She contacts attorney Barry Scheck from the Innocence Project. The backlog of cases will mean waiting at least 18 months unless she can pass the bar exam and find the blood evidence from Kenny's trial herself to have it tested. She passed the bar exam and now she is working hard to get her brother out of jail. At first she is stonewalled, then told the evidence was destroyed, but she refuses to give up, and she and Abra embark on an odyssey to recover any evidence that might still be stored away somewhere. In the process, Betty Anne learns that Nancy Taylor was fired from the police department for fabricating evidence in another case, which deepens Betty Anne's suspicions about Kenny's conviction and the evidence presented at trial. She is told that the evidence has been moved to the courthouse but after 10 years it was destroyed. Refusing to give up, she and Abra travel to Ayer and personally ask the courthouse supervisor to look through the records and the evidence is found. The DNA results come back and establish that the blood was not Kenny's. Betty Anne and Kenny are overjoyed anticipating his release, but Martha Coakley, of the District Attorney's office, refuses to vacate the conviction, claiming that there was still enough evidence to convict Kenny as an accomplice. Kenny is convinced that no matter what, the authorities will find a way to keep him in prison to avoid admitting their mistake. Betty Anne is heartbroken again, but refuses to give up after Barry advises her that their discovery not only proves Kenny's innocence, but also that the main witnesses against him were lying. Betty Anne, Abra, and Scheck visit the other two main trial witnesses, Kenny's ex-wife and his ex- girlfriend. Both tearfully confess that Sergeant Taylor coerced them into perjuring themselves at Kenny's trial. With an affidavit from Kenny's ex-wife and the DNA evidence, Kenny's conviction is vacated and he is freed from prison in June 2001. Betty Anne is able to persuade his daughter, Mandy, whom he hadn't had any contact with since she was a small child, that he never stopped trying to reach out to her while he was in prison. He is able to reconnect with his daughter, and is reunited with his sister and her sons. ===== "With a smirk and a bow I greeted the old witch," original oil painting by Hermann C. Wall (1875-1919) published in "The Scarlet Empire" by David M. Parry, chapter 14, p.140 John Walker is a young American socialist, active and dedicated. Yet his personal poverty, and the slow progress of his cause, leave him despondent. In a fit of depression he decides on suicide by drowning: he hurls himself off "the long pier...called the Suicides' Promenade" at Coney Island. He loses consciousness—but is revived by a man in a strange diving suit; Walker at first mistakes him for a kind of fish/man. In fact, the man is a surgeon engaged in research; he explains to Walker that they are in Atlantis, at the bottom of the sea, and gives the American a cursory explanation of the nature of Atlantean society. (He cannot say much; Atlanteans are limited to a thousand words of speech per day, as measured by the "verbometers" they wear.) Socialist literature found in Walker's pockets suggests to the Atlantean authorities that Walker might be acceptable to their regime. (A few other Americans have penetrated to Atlantis in the past, though no one from the Earth's surface is there when Walker arrives.) The American is assigned to a barracks; the doctor who serves it is appointed his guide in all things Atlantean (and is given a dispensation to speak more than 1000 words per day). Together, the surgeon and the doctor become Walker's closest companions in his new life. The people of the domed city dress in red; their buildings, and even the cigars they smoke, are of the same color, giving their society its nickname, the Scarlet Empire. At first, Walker (or Citizen No. 489 ADG, as he is designated) is delighted to have awakened in a socialist state; but his enthusiasm quickly fades as he experiences the capricious irrationality and the privations of life in a dictatorship of the proletariat. He soon learns that his guide, the doctor, shares his repulsion from Atlantean life. Walker meets, and quickly falls in love with, a beautiful young woman, No. 7891 OCD; since she has no name, he comes to call her Astraea—"the last goddess of heaven to visit the earth". Yet he is shocked to learn that his new love is condemned as an "atavar" (from "atavism"), a reactionary individualist, a dissenter who cannot or will not conform to the dictates of society. As such, she is confined to an insane asylum (another anticipation of Soviet times). Atavars are given chances to conform; the recalcitrant ones are fed to a kraken outside the dome of Atlantis, in a ceremony reminiscent of the Christian sacrifices in the Colosseum of ancient Rome. The plot quickly resolves into Walker's struggle to rescue Astraea and escape back to the surface. The Atlanteans keep all they recover from the surface world in their Hall of Curiosities; its contents include everything from ships' figureheads and waterlogged books to enormous heaps of jewels and gold coins. In his research work, the surgeon comes into possession of a sunken miniature submarine; Walker and the doctor decide to use the vessel to escape. Their plan reaches a crisis when Walker is caught consorting with the imprisoned Astraea; the two are sentenced to be devoured by the kraken. Yet the hero and his friends manage a suspenseful getaway from the Atlanteans. Walker, Astraea, the doctor and the surgeon depart in their (treasure-laden) submarine; in a confrontation with the attacking kraken, they fire a torpedo, which kills the monster and also punctures the dome of Atlantis, destroying the city. Walker and friends reach dry land. With the advantage of enormous wealth (the appropriated Atlantean treasure), they manage to make their way through the individualistic capitalist world. The surgeon and doctor distinguish themselves in science and medicine; Astraea and Walker enjoy a long happy marriage. After her eventual death, Walker writes the story of their adventure. ===== ===== Choma is an untouchable bonded-labourer in a village who is working along with his family for a landlord, as he belongs to a backward class.Shampa Banerjee, Anil Srivastava (1988), p65 Due to his social status, he is not allowed to till his own land, something that he desires most. Though he managed to rear a pair of bullocks that he found straying in the forest, he cannot use them to till the land. He comes in contact of Christian missionaries who try to convert him giving him the lure of the land, but Choma does not want to let go of his faith. He releases the fury that fate has beset on him, by beating his drum. He has four sons and a daughter; two of his elder sons work in a distant coffee estate trying to pay off the debt. One of the sons dies of cholera and the other one converts to Christianity by marrying a Christian girl. His daughter, Belli works in the plantation and falls for the charm of Manvela, the estate-owner's writer. She is raped by the estate owner, who then writes off Choma's debt. She returns to Choma's home telling him of the reality. His youngest son drowns in a river, with nobody coming to save him because of him being an untouchable. He then finds his daughter in an compromising position with Manvela. With anger, he beats her and kicks her out of the house. To defy his fate, he starts tilling a piece of land and then chases off his bullock into the forest. In the climax, Choma shuts himself in his house and starts playing the drum till he dies. ===== The story starts in 1924 with Kathyayani, widow of Nanjunda Shrothri, who lives with her in-laws Shrinivasa Shrothri and Bhagirathamma and their servant, Lakshmi, in Nanjangud. After the loss of her husband, Kathyayani did not take to a widow's garb as her mother-in-law wished because her father-in-law thought it would be too much for the young woman to bear. Shrothri, a scholar in Indian philosophy and the shastras, is occasionally visited by priests and professors for his opinion on an intricate problem in the scriptures. In one such event, Sadashiva Rao, a college lecturer in Mysore, visits Shrothri to discuss some matters of Indian philosophy. Listening to the two men talk, Kathyayani's thoughts turn to college. Despite a little protest from Bhagirathamma, Shrothri encourages his daughter-in-law to pursue her BA degree, which Nanjunda had been studying for before he had drowned in the nearby Kapila river. At the university, she meets the brother of Sadashiva Rao, Raja Rao, professor of Shakespearean drama and organiser of the Dramatics Club, with whom she falls in love. Simultaneously, Sadashiva Rao embarks on a massive five-volume project that would detail the cultural history of India from the days of the Indus Valley Civilisation to present times. With an initial grant from Shrothri of Rs. 1,000 and funding from the Maharaja of Mysore, Sadashiva Rao embarks on a tour of India to visit various libraries, monuments, and archives to conduct his research. During his visit to Ajanta, he meets with a Sinhalese couple and their daughter, Karunaratne, a historian of Buddhism from Cambridge. Rao is enchanted by the woman's sharp mind and dedication to her research, and invites her to continue her studies at his university. Ratne takes Rao up on his offer as she has some admiration for his work, and over the course of her doctoral degree and work with him as his research assistant, falls in love with him. Sadashiva Rao, already married to Nagalakshmi, is concerned that society will see his interaction with Ratne, which by now had become quite informal, as improper. He is also frustrated with his wife for not being able to take part in his intellectual life, which was all that mattered to him. Rao offers to marry Ratne despite his earlier marriage and live in a bigamous relationship. Ratne is hesitant at first, but only for a short while. She agrees, and the two get married. Needless to say, Nagalakshmi, a dutiful and loving wife, is devastated. Around the same time, Rao's younger brother, Raja Rao marries Kathyayani. The widow wrestles with the notion of remarriage, especially as she is aware of the dishonour it will bring to the Shrothri family, but ultimately gives in to the material pleasures of a married life. Unable to face her dharmic father-in-law, she writes him a letter and departs from the house with just the clothes on her back. The Shrothri family is shocked, even more so as Kathyayani has abandoned even her four-year-old son for Raja Rao, but Shrothri goads them back to some level of equanimity after the catastrophe. As the years pass, Nagalakshmi, despondent, finds peace in religion, and the old Shrothris continue the burden of domestic life, denied the pleasures of retirement, first by the death of their son and then by the abandonment by their daughter-in-law. Kathyayani, after the initial enjoyment of marital bliss, suffers three miscarriages and wonders if her fate might not be in some way a divine judgement on her actions. Similarly, Rao falls sick as he churns out volume after volume of his magnum opus. Ratne, who had framed her marriage to Rao in intellectual terms, loses both her parents to old age and begins to feel the pangs of motherhood. Unfortunately for her, Rao is quite weak, and any time spent on her pregnancy and maternity leave might mean that their five-volume project may remain incomplete. One day, Kathyayani suddenly comes across her son in her English class – after her bachelor's, she had studied for an MA and become a teacher along with her new husband. Unable to restrain herself, she invites him home and inquires about his family. When he tells her that both his parents are dead, Kathyayani feels his rejection more keenly than had the boy hurled insults at her or demanded an explanation from her. Her health deteriorates due to her mental anguish, much to the worry of her doting husband. Rao also hovers near death as the strain of his work wears him down, as does the guilt of abandoning his first wife, Nagalakshmi. In the meanwhile, sadness once again descends upon the Shrothri house with the passing of Bhagirathamma. Battered by fate, Shrothri barely manages to hold on to his mental calm. He decides that it is time he took sanyasa and begins to put his affairs in order. He arranges for his grandson to be married to the daughter of a respected Sanskrit teacher in town, and bequeaths two acres of land to Lakshmi, who had served the Shrothri family from her father's days. In the midst of sorting out his papers, Shrothri finds an old letter addressed to his father, cursing the man for cheating his brother out of his share of the ancestral property. Shocked, the old man investigates the accusation. As an old tale of greed, jealousy, and other human weaknesses unfolds, Shrothri is aghast to find that his father was not Nanjunda Shrothri, but some priest who had been chased off after impregnating his mother. This had been arranged so that Nanjunda Shrothri Sr. would have an heir to whom he could pass the ancestral property to, without having it pass to his brother. Shrinivasa Shrothri decides to track down his uncle's descendants, but when any fail to turn up, he gives away all his property and wealth to needy people in the village. His grandson, Shrinivasa Shrothri Jr., is supportive of the decision, as he too would not like to taint himself with ill-gotten wealth. In the closing act, Sadashiva Rao, racked with guilt, returns to live with both his wives under one roof. Within a day of his having made his peace, he passes away. He had just finished his five-volume work. Ratne, when she raises the topic of Rao's research with his son (from his first wife), Prithvi, informs her that he doesn't care for history or philosophy and that he is a science student. Shrothri leaves for his sanyas, but decides to visit his daughter-in- law to see her one last time – he hadn't seen her since she left around 20 years ago. As he enters the Rao house, Kathyayani, no longer her radiant, beautiful, self but a pale emaciated shell, is in her final moments. Shrothri sends for her son, his grandson, and is shocked to find out that the young man knew of his mother but had rejected her – he had hoped that the junior Shrothri would have been raised better. While they await the grandson's arrival, the old man is surprised to find out that Nagalakshmi's aunt was his wronged uncle's daughter. Shrothri Jr., or Cheeni as his mother called him so many years ago, enters, and as he tries to pour some water down his mother's throat, she too passes away. Ratne has made preparations to return home to Ceylon, and Shrinivasa Shrothri finally leaves for his sanyas, telling his grandson that his first duty now was to perform the death rituals for his mother. ===== In Paris in 1944 Tank Corps Sergeant Boysie Oakes kills two Germans attempting to assassinate an Intelligence Corps officer named Mostyn. Twenty years later Mostyn's memories have transformed Oakes (who is in reality cowardly and hedonistic) into a fearless master assassin though nothing could be further from the truth. Mostyn recruits Oakes into the Secret Service where after a training course he is given an enviable lifestyle. Oakes' function is to "liquidate" security risks for the State. Oakes hires a mild mannered professional assassin to do his dirty work for him. Going for a "dirty weekend" leads to Boysie being captured by enemy agents who involve him in an assassination plot. ===== Young sisters Annie and Grace squeeze in one last game of "Tracking" with their dad at the seashore, the beach by Point Nepean. There is a storm coming and it is getting dark. Annie, younger by eleven months and more agile than Grace, scrambles up the side of a steep hill. Grace struggles to follow when suddenly the ground falls away. The search for her begins, but is hampered by bad weather. The police become convinced that the young man, Kip, who found Grace's backpack on the beach, and Ted, who was too inebriated to remember much of what he did that night on the beach, may have had something to do with her disappearance. The police initially are unable to successfully interrogate Ted, but as the story is gradually assembled, it looks worse and worse for Kip and Ted, the longer Grace cannot be found. ===== Born in 1930 to a recently widowed Englishwoman on a homestead in rural Natal, little Peter Philip is schooled in the ways of England by his mother and the ways of Africa by a Zulu nanny, whose son Tonderai is also his best friend. Their easy life is forever shattered, however, when the farm's cattle are claimed by rinderpest. PK's mother succumbs to a nervous breakdown, and he is sent away to a conservative Afrikaans boarding school while she recovers. Being the only English student at the boarding school, PK soon earns almost universal contempt from his scathing Afrikaner fellows—particularly an older student, Jaapie Botha. Botha's abuse and his inferiority complex strikes PK with a severe case of nocturnal enuresis, a habit which he eventually overcomes with local sangoma Dabula Manzi. In conquering his nightmares, PK is given a chicken (Mother Courage), which becomes his closest companion. Botha subsequently captures PK and Mother Courage and has them tried before a mock court while elaborating on the depth of his hatred for the British--a people he holds responsible for atrocities committed during the Second Boer War. The Afrikaans boys hang Mother Courage and kill her with a rock. When PK physically retaliates against Botha, they attempt to execute him in a similar manner but are interrupted by a teacher who later oversees Botha's expulsion. With his mother dying, PK finds himself living with his grandfather in Barberton. He eventually seeks a mentor in Karl "Doc" von Vollensteen, a lonely German musician who lost his family in Europe. Doc warms to PK and under his guidance PK soon becomes an excellent pianist. He is interned as an enemy alien at the onset of World War II, but PK continues to visit him regularly in prison. Doc introduces the boy to Geel Piet, a Cape Coloured inmate who trains him to be an excellent boxer. Piet also impresses on PK his mantra: "first with the head, then with the heart". A maturing PK begins to express sympathy towards black prisoners, who are detained under appalling conditions. He works with Doc to distribute contraband among the Africans, writes their letters to home, and shares their many sufferings. The war does not end happily for PK, as Doc is repatriated and Piet is killed by a white warder. PK goes to study at the prestigious Prince of Wales School in Johannesburg. While attending a boxing championship, he is enamoured by Maria Marais, daughter of a leading National Party official. Since her strict father will not permit them to see each other, they begin dating in secret. On one such outing they are introduced to Gideon Duma, a prominent boxer in Alexandra, a black township. Duma's passion for resisting apartheid inspires PK, and he begins teaching English at an African school. Maria's father, incensed by the couple's ongoing relationship and PK's ties to a multiracial gym, leads him to request a formal investigation by one of his South African Police contacts, Colonel Breyten. Breyten and his sergeant, an embittered Jaapie Botha, place PK under surveillance for subversion. His clashes with the police (which result in detainment of numerous people he knows) come to a head when Duma is severely injured and Maria is killed during a raid on their school in a conservative church along with numerous other innocent people. Maddened by grief, PK considers going to study at Oxford in England, but is consoled by a recovering Duma who shows him that all his teachings have finally shown progress and reminds him of all the good he can still do in Africa. Botha leads a violent raid on Alexandra the following night which results in Breyten's death at the hands of an enraged villager. Botha threatens to shoot Elias Mlungisi, the local boxing promoter, only to be confronted by PK. They fight, and PK easily beats his childhood enemy. A vindictive Botha is still bent on killing him with a hidden pistol, but an arriving Gideon Duma dispatches the policeman with a cricket bat before he can fire. Now wanted fugitives from the apartheid government, PK and Duma vow to continue a campaign against racial injustice with the aid of the other survivors. PK's closing narration identifies meaningful voices during his life, from his nanny, to Doc and Geel Piet, Dabula Manzi, and (finally) Maria. ===== Annie Rooney (Shirley Temple), the 14-year-old daughter of a struggling salesman, falls in love with rich, 16-year-old Marty White (Dickie Moore). While at first, Marty's snobbish friends give Annie the cold shoulder, her jitterbug dancing skills impress, and soon, she is a welcome addition to their circle. Marty's wealthy mother and father, who own a rubber-making business, are not as easily persuaded of Annie's worth. But when her father manages to invent a new form of synthetic rubber, her triumph is complete. ===== Hilde Latymer, Sir Hugo's former secretary and for nearly twenty years his wife, discusses literary business by telephone. Hugo joins her and displays signs of nervousness at the impending arrival of Carlotta. He explains to Hilde that his affair with Carlotta "lasted exactly two years and we parted in a blaze of mutual acrimony". He does not know why she now wishes to see him again after so many years. Carlotta arrives. Hilde introduces herself and leaves Carlotta alone with Hugo. Their reminiscences of old times together mix sentimental and waspish memories. The atmosphere becomes tense when Carlotta asks for Hugo's permission to reproduce some of his love letters to her in her forthcoming memoirs. He refuses, and she offers to return them to him, as they are no further use to her. However, she has in her possession other letters written by Hugo – to Perry Sheldon, whom she knew in his dying days, and who, she says, was "the only true love" of Hugo's life. Hugo admits that in the past he had "homosexual tendencies". Carlotta dismisses this, and tells him, "You're as queer as a coot and you have been all your life."Coward had second thoughts about this line, and in the printed text he changed it to "You've been homosexual all your life and you know it." See Hoare, Philip, "As Mr. Britannia, Coward Waived the Rules", The New York Times, 12 December 1999; and Coward, p. 410 She reproaches him for his neglect of Perry, his former lover, and also for his pretence of heterosexuality which has made his novels and especially his autobiography dishonest. Hilde returns. To Hugo's amazement she knows all about his affair with Perry, and she persuades Carlotta to return all the letters that Hugo wrote to him. Carlotta gives them to Hugo. In return, Hugo changes his mind about his letters to her, and gives his consent to their publication in her book. Hilde shows Carlotta out, and returns to find Hugo reading his old letters, "deeply moved... with a sigh [he] covers his eyes with a hand". ===== A girl called Rebecca has just had a row with her best friend, Sarah, because of Mandy, who is pretty, girly type, who can sometimes be quite nasty and rude to Rebecca. Both Rebecca and Mandy thinks that Sarah is their best friend. One day, the girls discover a pond. Rebecca spins a tale, saying that it is a witch's pond in which a witch drowned. Sarah seems to be impressed. Then Mandy, trying to get Sarah's attention, says that the pond wasn't deep enough. Sarah seems to think the same thing. Rebecca goes in the pond to prove it, but Sarah leaves, saying that Rebecca is a baby. While she is in the pond a toad grips at her foot. Rebecca finds out that the toad is Glubbslyme, who is the witch's familiar and has magical powers. Together they seek revenge on Mr. Baker, a man who is fed up of Rebecca because she always ruins her flower beds. They also seek revenge on Mandy. In the end Rebecca and Sarah become friends again. ===== Antonio Trabbi is a greedy old man with a very rough personality and obsessed by money. He deprecates charity and love and has no friends or love interest, being lonely and avoided by people. On Christmas Eve he is visited by the ghost of his former business partner, who warns him about his life-style and announces the visit of three spirits, who will show Antonio past, present and future Christmas days. During the night, the three spirits actually appear to Trabbi, showing him his sad past, the bad reputation he has with everyone and the bad outcome of his actions, which will lead him to a lonely death and to terrible punishments in Hell. When Trabbi wakes up he is greatly distressed by the visions and eager to change his life, starting with that very same Christmas Day. ===== Andras Vayda (Tom Berenger) grows up in a turbulent, war-torn Hungary, where he procures local girls for the occupying G.I.s during World War II. Disappointed by the girls his age, he meets Maya (Karen Black), a married woman in her 30s, who tutors him in love and romance. Maya is only the first of many mature women whom Andras will meet through his teenage and young adult life. ===== Cathy and her older brother Rob grow up without their parents on an estate in rural England in the early 20th century. Their mother had abandoned them for a better life in southern Europe, and their father was committed to a sanatorium. They live with their grandfather and are brought up by one of the servants, Kate. Their governess is Miss Gallagher, but the siblings hate her. Cathy and Rob have little contact with the outside world, and as they get older, they grow closer. An older, wealthy neighbour Mr Bullivant befriends Cathy, but she is more interested in her brother. Cathy and Rob's contact becomes more intimate and eventually sexual. Miss Gallagher finds out about their liaison and threatens to expose them to their grandfather. Kate notices that Cathy is pregnant and assumes the father is Mr. Bullivant. Cathy wants the pregnancy terminated before anyone else notices, and Kate arranges an illegal abortion for her. Cathy is depressed about losing her baby, but tells no one, not even Rob. To prevent Miss Gallagher finding out, Cathy leads her deep into the nearby woods, ostensibly to show her some wild flowers. Cathy, knowing she will not find her way back home on her own, frightens her with ghost stories, then abandons her. The next day Miss Gallagher is found dead of a suspected heart attack. Cathy is overcome with guilt and withdraws. She and her brother drift apart. Rob and Kate become close and they leave for a new life in Canada. The Great War starts and all the local boys of age depart to fight in France. Mr. Bullivant serves on a hospital ship. Rob returns from Canada, without Kate, but leaves soon after for France. Cathy later receives news that her brother is missing, presumed dead. After the War, Mr. Bullivant returns and persuades Cathy to travel with him to France to see her mother. Cathy has no interest in her, but agrees to go. In Brittany she finds and reunites with her mother. ===== Elena (Irene Azuela) and Sebastián (Ángel Onésimo Nevárez) are a teenaged brother and sister who have been reunited at their home while looking after their ailing mother, singer Eugenia Díaz (Claudette Maille). Eugenia has been diagnosed with cancer and doesn't have long to live, and it has fallen to Elena and Sebastián to care for her in her last months, with Elena (who is older) spending her days with her mother while Sebastian goes to school and looks in on Eugenia in the evenings. Elena is obsessively caring for Sebastián, but while he loves his sister and mother, he seems detached from the affairs of his family. He's more drawn to his roughneck schoolmate Juan (Bernardo Benítez). As the reality of Eugenia's fate becomes clearer, Elena and Sebastián's confusion about love, mortality and family becomes more acute, and circumstances become even more muddled when they take in a boarder, Aurora (Jessica Segura), who falls in Sebastián's wealthy schoolmate Ismael (Ramón Valdez Urtiz). ===== The story takes place in 15th-century Spain. Canarian forces rise against Castille. Backup troops arrive on the island of Gran Canaria for aid due to the rising power of the Grancanarians. However opinions about the war differ in the royal class. Guanarteme the king and his daughter want peace. On the other hand, the warrior leader and the high priest want war. One day, Castillian officer Don Hernán falls in love with the king's daughter, despite the difference in their status. The high priest poisons the king fatally, and then tries to marry the princess. Soon after, the embassy of Castille, including Don Hernán, arrives for the peace. His confession of love in his camp causes war. The princess and the high priest marry, despite the Castillian troops advancing. The princess runs away with the high priest to the mountains of Tirma. Don Hernán follows them and does not let the princess fall off the cliffs with the high priest. However, she is disgusted by him and utters the torn Guanche oath. ===== ===== Chisato Mineta (Maki Horikita), a 20-year-old homeless girl who moves about from parks to net cafes. Her mother died of illness, and when her father disappears after earning an incredible 100 million Yen debt, she is chased out of her home. Chisato spends her life running from debt collectors living as a homeless person. One day she gets caught by debt- collectors to force her to pay the 100 million Yen debt her father left behind. Where then a president of a huge toy company (Okura Shinzo) comes and rescues her by paying off the debt but then tricks her into marrying him. She then finds out that he only has one month to live and is in need of a "wife" to take care of him. If she stays married to him then she does not have to pay back the debt but if she leaves then all the money has to be returned immediately in cash. A month later, she finds out that the president actually has more conditions than just being his wife. She must also live in the Trick Heart Castle with his six sons, all adopted to be successors of the company, and act as their mother for three months in order for the debt to be fully paid. However, each son has hidden himself away from the rest of the family and treat each other as mere strangers that live in the same household. Will Chisato be able to open up their hearts and turn these strangers into a loving family? ===== ===== Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department is assigned a high-profile anti-corruption case, one in which the principal figure has long since fled to the United States and beyond the reach of the Chinese government. But he left behind the organization and his partners-in-crime, and Inspector Chen is charged to uncover those responsible and act as necessary to end the corruption ring though he is not sure whether he's actually being set up to fail. The investigation takes him from Shanghai all the way to the U.S. where he meets his colleague and counterpart from the U.S. Marshall's Service, Inspector Catherine Rhon. ===== In May 1932, Ras Hailu Tekle Haymanot involved himself in a plot to free his son-in-law, the deposed Lij Iyasu. Iyasu had been under house arrest and in the custody of Ras Kassa Haile Darge since 1921. After freeing Iyasu, Hailu planned to re-capture him and to turn him back in to gain favor with Haile Selassie. Lij Iyasu did escape, but the role Ras Hailu played in his escape became known and Hailu was taken into custody himself and deposed. A tribunal found Hailu guilty of mendacity, corruption, tax evasion, and treason.Haile Selassie, Volume II, p. 147 Hailu Tekle Haymanot went from a comfortable house arrest to imprisonment. He was replaced as Shum of Gojjam by Ras Imru Haile Selassie, a loyal cousin of the Nəgusä Nägäst.Marcus, Haile Selassie I, p. 122f ===== ===== A Welsh captain (Ken Scott) and his crew are dispatched to the Spanish-controlled island of Tortuga, where famed privateer Henry Morgan (Robert Stephens) has defected from his support of the English empire and is running a strictly piratical venture, stopping any and all vessels, including British carriers. Since the captain cannot attack the island without incurring the wrath of the Spanish government, he must go one-on-one with Morgan himself. A comely female (Leticia Roman) inadvertently stows away on the captain's vessel and becomes the de facto central focus of the story (Morgan doesn't appear until the latter half of the film). She is initially deposited on the nearby island of Jamaica, where she makes a halfhearted play for the colonial governor, but eventually readjusts her sights on the captain himself. In the meantime, the captain fully engages in pursuing the pirate Morgan. ===== ===== Previously infallible actuary Milton Haskins is mortified when he misplaces a decimal point which would have cost the Nutmeg Insurance Company money if it had not been caught. He also loses a brand new promotion. Depressed, he lets wisecracking carny Goldie McGoldrick talk him into getting "with it" and joining Acres of Fun, a traveling carnival. They discover that Milton can tap dance (due to his mathematical skills) and sing. He gets to show off his newfound abilities when a performer shows up drunk. Milton dances and sings "Down at Baba's Alley", and the act gets three curtain calls. Milton's fiancee and former secretary, Vivian Reilly, tries to get him to resume his old, humdrum life, but he likes it where he is. Bunny La Fleur, Goldie's girl, talks Vivian into coming along so she can try to change Milton's mind. Meanwhile, a mysterious person tries to search through Milton's suitcase, and when Milton shows up, throws a knife at him. On the train, Sally (at the instigation of Herman Bogel, the carnival's accountant) asks Milton about insurance to find out more about him. Vivian overhears what sounds like Milton being too friendly with Sally from the next compartment, though Milton is actually dealing with Sally's dog Boopsie. That causes a rift between the couple. Later, Milton is startled when Vivian shows up in the middle of his act and starts doing a fan dance (though it is clear she is fully, if skimpily, clothed). When he drags her off the stage, the audience riots, and they all end up in jail. That leaves the carnival in dire financial straits, and owner Jason "Pop" Carter in danger of losing it to potential buyer Mrs. Minerva Henkle and unable to post bail for most of his people. Bogel reveals that he is now working for Mrs. Henkle. Faced with ruin, Pop reluctantly agrees to sell. Nutmeg executive Mr. Bixby pays for Milton and Vivian's release on condition that Milton go back to work for him (and pay for it out of his salary). At a business meeting, Milton advises the company to keep his original mistake; it turns out that what Nutmeg loses with the reduced rate is more than made up by the large number of new customers. Then Vivian shows him what she found out about Mrs. Henkle from the company's files. The couple hurry back to the carnival and convince Pop to fight to keep it. They put on a show, starting with just the five of them, then use the receipts to gradually bail out the rest of the carnies. When Bogel and Mrs. Henkle show up to take possession of the carnival, Milton proves that she defrauded Nutmeg, collecting on a life insurance policy a week ago for her husband, presumed lost at sea and legally declared dead seven years later. Milton identifies Bogel as Mr. Henkle by the tattoo on his chest. Since the payout was used to buy the carnival, Nutmeg is the new owner, so Milton and Vivian can work for both. ===== The play simultaneously examines the creative process behind Beethoven's Diabelli Variations and the journey of a musicologist, Katherine Brandt, to discover the meaning behind why Beethoven was compelled to write thirty-three distinct variations on a simple theme by a minor music publisher. The progression of her Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and her relationship with her daughter are also themes of the story, as is Beethoven's growing deafness. The action takes place both in Beethoven's time and the present, switching back and forth between the two. However, at certain key points, characters from both time periods appear on stage to deliver lines simultaneously, emphasizing the parallels between the exploits of both sets of characters. ===== ===== Major Alex McAndrews is escorted into an extremely secure facility where he meets with a General Greg Slater. The general explains that two months prior, a hole appeared and a bright light started to emerge. Scientists believe it is a gate to somewhere and that if it closes, they may not be able to open it again. Slater explains that four volunteers have entered but never returned. Slater wants Alex to be the fifth volunteer. Alex, dressed in a spacesuit, enters the hole and a frenzy of light and flashes. He blacks out and awakens later in what looks like a meadow on Earth. There is atmosphere to support life, but no sign of the "gate." He meets one of the earlier volunteers, Kincaid, who is accompanied with a strangely dressed woman named Baret. Baret claims they are in Heaven. The other volunteers arrive. They have determined from star maps that they are nowhere near Earth, and there is no way to return from this side. The indigenous people welcome them to their peaceful idyllic community. Alex remains suspicious. Back on Earth, the government decides to send another volunteer. Alex discovers that the volunteers lied about the gate. It is still there but can only be seen at night. The volunteers claim that if they went back the government would send in the military and ruin the paradise they have found. Alex disagrees and escapes to go back. Baret follows him and begs him not to return. Alex reports what he found and discovers that the government will indeed use the gate technology to further war-like goals. Alex decides to return to the community. He destroys the computer and runs through the gate. Back in the community, Alex explains to Baret that without the computer, the gate can never be reopened. ===== The story follows Tatsumi Oga. He is a first year student at a school for juvenile delinquents called Ishiyama High. The story starts with Oga telling his best friend, Takayuki Furuichi, the strange story of how he found a baby. One day while doing 'laundry' by the river, he saw a man floating downstream. Oga pulled him to shore but the man split in half, revealing a baby boy inside. This baby turned out to be the son of the great demon king, and Oga has been chosen as the one to raise him, along with the baby's maid, Hilda. The manga follows Oga's life as he tries to raise the child while enrolled at Ishiyama High. In the early chapters, he attempts to 'pass on' Beel to other students at Ishiyama, thinking that if he can find someone stronger and more evil than himself, the baby will attach himself to that person instead. He decides to try to pass the baby on to the Tōhōshinki, Ishiyama High's strongest four students. Oga meets and fights Hajime Kanzaki, the first member of the Touhoushinki and the one who is closest to dominating the school; however, Oga defeats Kanzaki, which causes Beel to find him even more appealing. Later, Oga then discovers a peculiar symbol etched on the back of his right hand. Hilda explains that it is the fly king's seal, more commonly known as the Zebul spell, and serves as the family crest of the royal family. The appearance of the seal means that he has officially made a contract with Beel. She also explains that the more evil the bearer of the seal is, the more complex the design of the seal will become. Oga attempts to prevent the seal from growing by avoiding fights with other students, but gives up when Himekawa, the second member of the Touhoushinki, captures Hilda and Furuichi. Oga then infiltrates Himekawa's base to rescue them and defeats him by using the Zebul blast for the first time. The consequences of using the seal's power cause the crest to stretch across his arm. Hilda comments after looking at the crest that the amount of energy it used would have driven a normal human mad. While visiting the park, Oga then meets a girl named Aoi and her brother, Kouta. Oga asks her immediately to go out with him, which causes a misunderstanding that stays within Aoi's heart. Oga tells Beel to fight Kouta, possibly as a joke, but Kouta accepts the challenge and easily pushes Beel off a bench. This event sparks a rivalry between the two babies. It is later revealed that Aoi, who was in disguise the whole time, is in fact Aoi Kunieda, then, the leader of the Red Tails and another member of the Touhoushinki. Aoi, who was then away from school during the earlier events of the manga, has returned to Ishiyama High to defeat Oga in order to prevent him from causing any more trouble within the school. When they encounter each other in battle, she realizes that she has already met Oga in the park, but he doesn't recognize her. After he dodges her attacks twice, he notices Beel's interest in Aoi and asks her to become Beel's mother. Although he means for her to replace him as a parent, his request causes another misunderstanding similar to the one in the park. The fight is postponed, and Hilda soon arrives to give Beel his milk. The MK5 make their debut in the story, only to be defeated in a five panel pattern which appears again later in the story. After the fight, Beel senses something which turns out to be the last of the Toushinki, Tojo. Oga, however, does not notice. Aoi sees Oga and Hilda's fight with the MK5, and believes the rumors that they are husband and wife. She is challenged by Hilda to a fight so she can test her ability, but the fight ends quickly with Hilda deciding that Aoi isn't on the same level as Oga. At the same time, Oga is confronted by Chiaki and Nene. Two female students tell Aoi that Oga injured the two of them, which later turns out to be MK5. Aoi fights Oga to avenge her two classmates, while Oga assumes that she wants to accept the role of becoming Beel's parent. At the same time, Nene wakes up in the infirmary and goes to warn Aoi of MK5's trap, which turns out to be Miwa's scheme. MK5, however, prevents anyone from interrupting Aoi and Oga's fight. Nene is about to get shot, but Natsume appears and fights with MK5 to allow Nene to tell Aoi. She was unfortunately too late, as Aoi seems to have defeated Oga, and she comes just in time for Miwa and Ikari to take over. Oga suddenly gets back up and defeats Ikari and Miwa with ease. It is then shown that Furuichi and Hilda have been watching the whole time. Oga, Furuichi, Hilda and baby Beel go to the beach in search of Tojo to hand baby Beel over to him, not knowing that this is a plot set up by Kanzaki and Himekawa, who want Tojo and Oga to crush each other. Aoi goes to the beach as well to warn Oga of Tojo's strength. Oga and the gang have troubles searching for Tojo and are sent on a wild goose chase. Oga decides to write a letter of challenge to Tojo and have Aoi pass it to him. Aoi attempts to tear it up, but one of Tojo's henchmen finds it. They are supposed to meet between the two rocks at 5 PM. Oga is confronted by the MK5 once again, but quickly defeats them and arrives late. Tojo has left after crushing several motorcycle gangs, which inspires Oga to find Tojo. Later, baby Beel starts feeling sick and it appears that he's come down with a cold. However, Oga's tattoo mysteriously vanishes, and later that night Beel disappears. Hilda kicks Oga out of the house and leaves to find help in the demon world. Oga goes off to find Beel, but runs into Tojou, who, as it turns out, has Beel on his back. After a scuffle, Tojo comes out as the victor, and asks Oga to challenge him again sometime. Once Oga gets home, he is in a surprise to find Hilda there waiting for him, with a strange demon doctor known as Dr. Furucas, and his assistant, Lamia. Furucas reveals that the cold is actually Beel's way of coping with a rise of his power, by keeping the energy within himself, and that he cut off the link between him and Oga to protect him. Lamia then injects Oga with a drug that allows him to re-establish the connection with Beel. Oga then goes to confront Tojo with the aid of the three other Tohoshinki. Once he makes it to Tojo, Beel returns to normal and goes back to Oga. Tojo and Oga then have one final duel in which Oga is victorious, but baby Beel's influx of power causes him to destroy Ishiyama. Due to their school being destroyed, the students of Ishiyama can only go to their sister school, Saint Ishiyama. Initially, they are constantly looked down on, but after a volleyball match against the Six Knights, the negative views towards them stop. During the volleyball match, Oga's demonic power is displayed due to a fight with someone who had a grudge on him, though it is covered up by the Saint Ishiyama president who claimed that it is just a trick. The president turned out to be a demon himself. A new teacher soon arrives to replace the one teaching the Ishiyama group, knocking out both Oga and Tojo on the same day before carrying them to the classroom. The teacher, Zenjiro Saotome, later appears when Oga, Hilda and Aoi are attacked by Hecadoth, and puts up a fight against the demon. Later, Naga and Graphel, the other two demons who came to the world in search of Oga, appear before Saotome, but Saotome uses his Spellmaster spell to attack them. After realizing that he is a Spellmaster who is too powerful for them to win against, Naga uses a teleporting jewel to take the three demons back to Demon World. After that, Saotome, the spellmaster, although having Oga refuse, ends up training him. After successfully powering up, Oga confronts the demons and defeats them. He later battles with other human-demon contractors and is brutally defeated before eventually gaining more strength and defeating the strongest contractor. The last chapter displays him returning from an adventure to the demon world with another baby on his shoulder. ===== Inspector Burke of Scotland Yard concentrates all his forces on the capture of London Letter, a notorious criminal leader in the Limehouse district who possesses both Rinty, a splendid dog, and a man-beast monster called The Monk who ravages and kills at his master's command. Burke almost apprehends the gang in the midst of an attempted theft, but Rinty's uncanny perceptions foil Burke's coup, and Foster is killed for betraying the gang. When Rinty loses in a fight against another dog, Burke's daughter, Dale, rescues Rinty from London Letter's abuse, and he becomes devoted to his new mistress. At the criminal's order, the monster kidnaps Dale and imprisons her. Burke and his men wound London Letter while on his trail, and Rinty finds him dying. In a ferocious battle, Rinty kills the monster by tearing out his throat. ===== Sarika (Deepshika) is a single mother who lives in Mumbai with her physically challenged daughter Anjali and works as an editor for a magazine. One day she gets a phone call from a female reader who is upset because her submission was not printed. The caller seems threatening so Sarika notifies her friend, D.C.P. Chaudhary, but he is unable to provide any assistance. Then late one night Sarika gets a visit from Chaudhary and Crime Branch Inspector Sunil Ranade, who inform her that a businessman had been brutally knifed to death with a blood-smeared swastika mark on his forehead. They inform her that they re-dialed the last number from the victim's phone number and found that it was her work number. They also informed her that they suspect that the killer is a woman who has killed another male in Delhi in a similar fashion and her modus operandi appears to be to kill married males who are unfaithful to their respective spouses. They provide her with a recording machine in case the killer calls again. The female does call again and attempts to befriend Sarika, but gets upset and evasive when questioned about her identity and whereabouts. Shortly thereafter the police find another dead male victim, but the killer never leaves any clues. ===== Miguel introduces Dexter to former football player Billy Fleeter (Jeff Chase), a debt enforcer who kills other gamblers to pay off his own debts. Dexter is initially hesitant when Miguel suggests that Dexter teach him how to murder Fleeter, but the two go to a casino where Dexter tries to explain Harry's "code" to Miguel. They later break into Fleeter's house and, although they find the murder weapon, Dexter says that they need evidence proving that Fleeter has the incentive to kill again. Dexter finds a ledger recording each of Fleeter's bets and returns with Miguel to the casino, where they prepare an unused storeroom for Fleeter's murder. Before they move to kill Fleeter, somebody recognizes Miguel in the casino and Dexter calls off the plan. Dexter is angered when Miguel criticizes Harry's code, but he agrees to go ahead with the murder after Miguel mentions that he severely beat his own abusive father and found it to be one of the most satisfying moments of his life. They drug Fleeter and take him to the storeroom, when Miguel stabs and kills him. While cleaning up the crime scene, Dexter has a vision in which his father tells him that sharing the code was a mistake and that Dexter is now responsible for Miguel's actions. Debra finds a hidden bag of marijuana in Anton's apartment and asks Quinn about his previous charges for drug possession. She discovers that Anton had been working for Quinn unofficially and that he is not legally obligated to disclose any information to the police. After telling Anton that he no longer has to work as an informant due to a "clerical error", he disappears. Debra and Quinn continue to work the Skinner case, believing may be a tree-trimmer. One of the contractors they interview, George King (Jesse Borrego), tells Debra about one of his suspicious workers, Mario (Jerry Zatarain). When Mario tries to flee, Debra and Quinn arrest him. Mario pleads to be sent back to Nicaragua at the mention of King's name. Debra later visits Anton's apartment and realizes that he has been taken by The Skinner, who recently trimmed the trees. Rita is unusually temperamental due to her pregnancy. She complains to Miguel's wife Syl (Valerie Cruz) that Dexter refuses to help with the organization of their upcoming wedding. Despite having told Dexter that she did not want an engagement ring, Debra and Dexter choose one for Rita, and she apologizes for her behavior. Meanwhile, defense attorney Ellen Wolf (Anne Ramsay) tells LaGuerta that she thinks that Miguel is going out of his way to make her job harder. After killing Fleeter, Miguel makes an unannounced visit to Ellen's house. ===== As luridly described in a film magazine, the Kaiser has plans to conquer the world while all of the other nations are engaged in peaceful pursuits. The Germans enter France and their U-boats work like sharks in the sea, and after many insults the RMS Lusitania is sunk, causing the United States to enter the war. Before Bernstorff (McEwen) leaves the country, he establishes a spy system headed by Otto Goltz (von der Goltz). Under his orders, German agents burn factories, wreck trains, stir up labor troubles, and interfere with American war work. Goltz marries a young American woman and brutally drives her to her death. Her sister finds her in a dying condition and takes her home to die. A young brother goes after Goltz, who is running a nest of spies where bombs are being made. Dick Gregory (Mason), an American soldier, sees Goltz on the street dressed in an officer's uniform on a day when a confidential order was given out that no officer was to wear one. Dick follows him and finds the nest of spies. Under his command the regiment wipes out the nest and Goltz while trying to escape is overtaken by the brother of the young dead woman and is killed. Meanwhile, American forces are pouring into France so fast that the Kaiser sees his dream crumbling and dies like a rat. ===== Terry Anders is a fourteen-year-old boy who lives in Cleveland, Ohio. When both of his parents abandon him, he decides to go on a cross country adventure to find an uncle that he vaguely remembers after assembling his father's abandoned Blakely Bearcat kit car project. Along the way he befriends two Vietnam vets, Waylon and Wayne, with whom he enjoys life on the open road. This book is about their adventure together as they travel across the country. Category:1993 American novels Category:Novels by Gary Paulsen ===== Sabki Laadli Bebo is the story of a family which yearns for a girl after having three boys. Kukku Narang (Kanwaljeet Singh) and his wife Amarjeet's prayers are finally answered and the family is blessed with Bebo, who gradually becomes everybody's laadli (favourite). Bebo (Shivshakti Sachdev) meets Amrit (Anuj Sachdeva) at a railway station. She assumes he is Shravan, the person whom her family have found as her suitor but later discovers that he isn't. On her wedding day, it is revealed that Bebo is an orphan who was adopted by the Narangs leading to the wedding being called off. Amrit consoles Bebo and they become friends. Amrit falls in love with Bebo. Karan, Simran's brother, also falls in love with Bebo. Simran blackmails Bebo and asks her to marry Karan. Bebo decides to marry Karan, while the whole family disapproves. The blackmail is discovered and her family instead gets her married to Amrit. Amrit's sister-in-law Gursheel, makes her sister, Goldie the daughter-in-law of the Narangs by tricking them. Wanting the Narangs' property, Goldi accuses Amarjeet for a fire and Amro and Kuku are sent to jail. Bebo and Amrit uncover their truth. Goldie, Gursheel and Bablu are sent to jail and Amarjeet and Kuku, now proved innocent, return home. Amrit gets a new job and at his set he meets a girl who looks exactly like Bebo - Rano, who falls in love with him. She stays with Bebo and her family and becomes jealous of Bebo and Amrit, so she makes herself look like Bebo and makes Bebo look like Rano. Rano tells Bebo to meet Rano's husband Tiwari on a cliff where she hits Bebo with an iron rod and pushes her off it. Bebo recovers and starts living with Tiwari. Tiwari's jealous wife tries to harm Bebo but she runs away where she sees Amrit and Rano marry. Rano kills Babul. Bebo films the murder and shows it to the police and proves that she is the real Bebo. The Narang family forgive Rano. Bebo and Amrit are in an accident, and a new family kidnaps Bebo and lies to her that she is part of their family. Arjun Khanna, who lost his real wife, is pretending to be Bebo's husband. This family gives the entire authority of the Narang house to Goldie and Gursheel. Bebo's family is told that Bebo and Amrit are dead. Bebo tries to find out Amrit and she comes to know that Amrit was killed. She decides to stay back at the Khanna family and seek revenge for his death. Actually, Amrit is being held captive by Vijender, Arjun's brother. Discovering that her real family is being tortured, Bebo enters their home as Nimmo, a maid. She cures her mentally upset father and helps him to regain his memory. Meanwhile, Vijender convinces Amrit that Bebo cheated on him with Arjun and Amrit now wants to kill Arjun and Bebo. On Amrit and Bebo's marriage anniversary, Bebo and her family plan to take their wealth back. It is revealed that Vijender killed Arjun's wife. Vijender, Kamini and Anchal are put in jail. Bebo goes back to her parents thinking that Amrit is dead. In a temple, Amrit follows Bebo to kill her. Bebo sees Amrit and takes him to her parents' house. Amrit still thinks that Bebo is cheating on him with Arjun. After a series of misunderstandings, Bebo and Arjun show Amrit the truth who then throws Gursheel and Goldie out of the house. A mysterious girl (Manjeet) is in jail and calls Kuku Narang. He goes to the jail but does not know the girl - the girl gives a letter to Kuku, he reads it and then bails her out and takes her to live in their house. Kuku then revealed that she is his niece, in other words she is Kuku's younger brother's daughter. Manju falls in love with Amrit. Saru has a baby girl who is named Kanuk by Kuku. As Gursheel and Goldie stay at the women's hostel, Goldie decides that she doesn't want money but wants her family. Goldie goes to apologize to the family, who accept her on Kuku's request. Manjeet confesses her love for Amrit who says that he doesn't love her. While trying to shoot Bebo, the lights go out and Manjeet gets shot. Bebo is blamed for the murder, who then has to go to court. Eventually Gursheel turns a new leaf. The family develop a plan to find Manjeet's shooter by putting Manjeet in the hospital. The killer believes that she is alive and goes to kill her and is revealed to be Veer, who was her colleague and loved Manjeet and wanted to get revenge for mocking his love. ===== The novel centres around Timoleon Vieta, a little mongrel dog with black and white patches of fur and eyes that are describes as being as pretty as a girl's.Bailey, Tim. Timoleon Vieta Come Home, by Dan Rhodes, The Independent, 29 March 2003. Timoleon lives with Cockcroft, a retired, gay composer, who lives in a run-down farmhouse in Umbria financed by the occasional royalties he receives from the theme tunes he wrote. He reminisces about his failed career and former lovers, but is surprised when a man claiming to be a Bosnian shows up at his door with a business card he says Cockcroft gave him in a bar in Florence; Cockcroft often has such drunken weekends when he attempts to pick up men. In return for the occasional odd job and weekly fellatio, Cockcroft provides him with accommodation, but Timoleon Vieta, who is a good judge of character, takes against the Bosnian, and the dislike is reciprocated. Cockcroft is forced to choose between them and agrees to abandon the dog in Rome. The remainder of the novel is about Timoleon Vieta's journey back home, and the people he briefly comes into contact with, as he tries to make his way back to his beloved Cockcroft. ===== Based on Gujarati backdrop, it features the story of two brothers who live together in a same house with their families. ===== Nancy thought she was playing the part Esther Rackham, the sister of the Rackham brothers, who carried out a big robbery at the Mahoney Anvil Company in River Heights, putting River Heights on the map. In the fifth volume of the Nancy Drew series Lights, Camera... a film producer planning to make a television movie based on the theft named "Stealing Thunder" comes to River Heights. The production is set back many times because of strange accidents. After it appears that Nancy has solved this case, she is now ready to play the part of Esther. However, when the cameras start rolling again a huge fire breaks out on the set, setting production back yet again. Will Nancy be able to solve this mystery, before the director says "cut"? ===== New York lawyer Allister Park is inexplicably torn from his normal existence and thrust into a series of parallel universes. Each morning he discovers he has become someone else, in a world changed from his own, initially finding himself in worlds where the American Revolution failed and France won the Napoleonic Wars. Ultimately he finds himself a bishop in the alternate New York City of New Belfast, in Vinland, a North America colonized by descendants of the Vikings and now divided between Norse-derived and native polities. He determines that this new world's differences from his own stem from two divergences in the course of history, relative to his own world. The first was that King Oswiu of Northumbria was persuaded by Celtic Christianity, rather than the pre-Schism Roman tradition at the Synod of Whitby in 664 AD. The other was that the Franks lost the Battle of Tours in 732 AD, aborting the later rise of Charlemagne and disrupting the formation of France due to continued Umayyad insurgency and occupation. This meant that Italy placed itself under the protection of the Byzantine Empire, given that the Celtic/Roman schism had rendered Roman Catholicism weaker than it was in our timeline. Gorm, a Danish monarch, succeeded in unifying the British Isles and Scandinavia, which stayed united thereafter, despite intervals of disunity. In the tenth century, one "Ketil Ingolfson" discovered North America. However, Europe had nowhere near the population scale that it possessed by the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in our own timeline. This meant that Vinland's growth was truncated as Native Americans recovered from the arrival of European germs and epidemic disease and engaged in political consolidation. By its twentieth century, Vinland has a parliamentary democracy with several political parties and an elected legislature. "New Belfast" (New York) is its largest city. In technological terms, they have automated vehicles and aircraft, albeit steam powered in the latter case, as well as telephones in its alternate 1940. The displacement of his consciousness turns out to have been incidental to a plot directed against his other self, Bishop Ib Scoglund, whose campaign to extend civil rights to Vinland's native inhabitants, the Skrellings, has aroused opposition. However, that opposition also attracts foreign intervention, most notably from Sioux-dominated Dakotia, which encompasses Ohio, Wisconsin and the extreme eastern areas of North and South Dakota in our timeline. To get home, Park must continue his counterpart's struggle while somehow unraveling the mystery of how to reunite the minds of all his selves with their proper realities. Ultimately successful in these goals, he decides the life he has built for himself as "Scoglund" is better than anything he would be likely to achieve in his original life, and elects to remain in Vinland. At the very end of the story, the International Court appoints Skoglund/Park as a member of a trouble-shooting international tribunal established to deal with disputes among the various American nations. ===== The story begins with a struggle between the helmsman, who narrates, and a stranger who refuses to accept his position, takes over the helm and drives the narrator away. The helmsman goes to his shipmates to complain and get their help, but, although they agree that he is the true helmsman, they seem to be hypnotized by the stranger, and do nothing to drive him away. When the stranger tells them not to disturb him, they withdraw, leaving the narrator to wonder, "What kind of people are these? Do they ever think, or do they only shuffle pointlessly over the earth?" The story was not published in Kafka's lifetime. It first appeared in Beschreibung eines Kampfes (Prague: Verlag Heinrich Mercy Sohn, 1936). An English translation by Tania and James Stern was first published in Description of a Struggle (New York: Schocken Books, 1958). A comic-book adaptation of the story, illustrated by Peter Kuper, is included in Give It Up!. ===== Filled with flashbacks, it is the story of Lieutenant Hearn (Cliff Robertson), an aide to General Cummings (Raymond Massey), who treats Hearn as a son and a friend. The General believes that commanding officers ought to inspire fear in their subordinates, in order to enforce discipline. Hearn expresses distaste for these views, preferring instead that soldiers should have mutual respect for each other, regardless of rank. Hearn is eventually transferred to lead an intelligence and reconnaissance platoon on a dangerous reconnaissance mission. The platoon had originally been led by Sergeant Croft (Aldo Ray), who now must serve under Hearn. Croft is a professional soldier with a reputation for cruelty. Hearn's relatively idealistic approach is contrasted with Croft's desire to win at all costs. When Hearn considers abandoning the mission due to excessive Japanese presence, Croft tricks him into underestimating the enemy. This eventually leads to several deaths in the platoon, and Hearn himself is wounded. Some of the men head back, carrying Hearn on a stretcher. Croft presses onward with the remaining men. Croft is killed in action, but his men accomplish their mission, relaying vital intelligence to headquarters. Hearn's men consider leaving him to die, as they can escape faster on their own, but decide to continue carrying him despite the risk. Upon receiving the platoon's report, a subordinate of Cummings orders an immediate large-scale assault on the Japanese position, scoring a major victory despite Cummings' harsh scepticism. The survivors of the platoon, including Hearn, make it back to headquarters. Once there, Hearn tells the chastised Cummings that the men who carried him on a stretcher did so out of love, and that the human spirit will always be too strong to be cowed by any terror imposed by other men. ===== During an encounter with a Celtic force, a Roman legion is magically transported to another world when the two opposing leaders' swords touch. The Roman force and Celtic leader find themselves in an empire called Videssos. This empire hires them as a mercenary force to help defend their lands from an enemy nation, Yezd. It quickly becomes apparent to the leader of the legionaries, Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, that the Empire is rife with political intrigue. With steadfast loyalty to the Emperor and a certain bull-headedness, Marcus manages to safely navigate the particularly dangerous political landscape and advance the place of himself and his men. At a party to celebrate the arrival of the Romans held by the Emperor Mavrikios, Marcus, slightly inebriated, slips on the floor and bumps into the emissary of Yezd, Avshar. He tries to apologize, but is rebuffed and a duel results. Marcus wins, but chooses to spare Avshar rather than kill a helpless man. Avshar then sends an assassin after Marcus, but the assassin fails and the Emperor uses this attack as an excuse to declare war upon Yezd. Avshar leads the enemy army of Yezd nomad warriors against Mavrikios' Videssos soldiers and mercenary forces. When Avshar casts a magic spell at the commander of the left wing, Ortaias Sphrantzes, the entire wing of the army is set into chaos as Ortaias turns his horse and flees at full speed. Only the quick actions of Gaius Philippus, the sub-commander of the legion and the aid of a clever ally Laon Pakhymer kept them from falling to the nomad forces. Mavrikios, seeing his grand army destroyed, led a charge of his personal bodyguards directly at Avshar, hoping that he could at least take the life of this one great enemy. He fails and is struck down. His brother Thorisin, leader of the right wing of the army is forced to flee and Yezd has won the battle. Both Ortaias and Thorisin declare they are emperor of Videssos after the battle, but Ortaias, with the help of his Uncle, controls Videssos the City. Civil war erupts. Eventually, Thorisin emerges victorious as the citizens inside Videssos the City turn on Ortaias and open the gates for Thorisin's troops. It is revealed that the leader of the city guards put in place by Ortaias was none other than Avshar in disguise. Avshar manages to escape the city. In an attempt to bolster his forces, Thorisin sends emissaries of his own to other countries to recruit more mercenaries for his Empire. Unfortunately, before he can organize any such force, a group of his own mercenaries turn on him and declare the western half of the empire their own. Thorisin sends a force, including the Legionaries, to the west to put down the rebelling mercenaries while he dealt with threats to the east. Half the western army turns in favor of the usurping forces and Marcus is forced to take over and do the best that he can to follow Thorisin's orders. He engages in guerrilla tactics that eventually bring down the mercenary usurpers. As he is bringing the leaders of the rebellion back to Thorisin in Videssos the City, he is betrayed by his wife who frees her brother and the rest of the prisoners. He returns to Videssos in shame. While suffering through the betrayal of his wife, Marcus begins a relationship with Alypia, the Emperor Thorisins niece. When discovered, he is hauled to jail to await his fate. Thorisin sentences him to death, but commutes the sentence provided that Marcus, alone, remove from power a heretic to the west. Marcus agrees on the condition that he can openly suit Alypia. Thorisin agrees and sets Marcus on a boat to his destination. After successfully defeating the heretic, Marcus flees the city in front of an advancing barbarian army (his own Legion coming to rescue him.) He signs up with a caravan train and ends up going to Mashiz, capitol of Yezd. There he witnesses the overthrow of the King of Yezd by Avshar. Fleeing Avshar, Marcus manages to escape in the company of an army of Nomads who have come to seek revenge upon the Yezd. Together they flee to the east to find Thorisin and plan a campaign against Avshar and the Yezd. At the final battle, Avshar kills the Videssian Patriarch and seems on the edge of total victory when Marcus and Viridovix touch their blades to one another again and the released magic transports Avshar to another world, apparently Skotos' hell. These acts lead to Marcus being granted title and significant position in the empire and his marriage to Alypia. ===== The plot begins when a young ninja name Kanzo Hattori is searching for his master in order to complete his training. While searching for his master, he encounters a young 10-year-old boy named Ken'ichi Mitsuba and makes him his temporary replacement master. In order to develop Ken'ichi's confidence, they went on many adventures together. The game was aimed at a young audience the same way that the manga and anime did. ===== The story begins with Peter Parker standing among other reporters on the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama, photographing this historic moment. Suddenly a limo pulls up and reveals another Obama. The Secret Service does not know what to do, so Peter, who quickly dons his Spider-Man costume, asks both questions that only the real Barack Obama would be able to answer. When he asks what his nickname was during his college days, the actual Barack says his true name, and the fake one is confused and angry, causing him to reveal his true form, which turns out to be the super-villain known as the Chameleon. This gives Spider-Man the opportunity to capture the Chameleon and the Secret Service arrests him. Obama tells Spider-Man that he is a fan of the hero and thanks him. Afterward, as Obama swears his oath as President, Spider- Man is shown sitting at the top of the Washington Monument, where he thinks Obama notices him.The Amazing Spider-Man #583 ===== ===== Angela Petrelli has gathered the family--- sons Nathan and Peter, granddaughter Claire Bennet, and Claire's adoptive father Noah--- at the abandoned settlement of Coyote Sands, and prepares to explain what had happened there. It is revealed that back in 1961, the site had been a relocation center, sponsored by the government, to study people with abilities. Angela and her sister, Alice Shaw, were two of many individuals that were sent there. The young Angela soon meets the younger Bob Bishop, Daniel Linderman, and Charles Deveaux, who is revealed to have telepathic abilities. Alice, who is revealed to have the ability to control the weather, remains suspicious of the project's intentions, headed by Chandra Suresh, with Dr. Zimmerman also working there. Angela insists they are here to be treated, but Charles and the others convince Angela they have essentially become prisoners. The four soon hatch a plan to escape from the compound, though the boys convince Angela that Alice must remain behind, as it would slow them down. Angela lies to Alice, saying she has had a dream that in order for Alice to be safe, she must remain there. That night, Chandra Suresh calls Alice in for treatment, but she refuses and ends up causing a storm with raging winds and deadly lightning. The ensuing chaos escalates in a riot, resulting in the deaths of most of those in the camp. Later, Angela meets with the three boys at Coyote Sands Cafe (where she had shared a dance with Charles earlier), explaining she has dreamt of their future and that they must form a company, and do terrible things ("It's a necessary evil"), to keep people like them safe from others. In the present, Angela begins to think that Alice may still be alive after a vicious sandstorm quickly whips up in the area. The group also finds Mohinder Suresh there, investigating what his father had been doing there. At first, Peter thinks what they are doing is wrong (i.e., digging up the graves) and flies off. Nathan tracks him down, and the two reconcile their differences to come back and help. However, they return to find only Claire, who explains that Angela has disappeared after venturing into the storm. Peter and Mohinder search one side of the settlement for her, while Noah, Nathan, and Claire search the other. Claire discovers the cover for the "Alice In Wonderland" book that Alice had with her at the time and laments that everything she's been through has maybe caused her to grow up too fast and become an agent (which she never saw herself doing with her life), as Noah and Nathan try to lift her spirits; Mohinder laments that his generation is doomed to repeat their parents' mistakes, as Peter tries to help him absolve his guilt. In reality, Angela was knocked out during the storm, and awakens in an old bunker nearby. She finds her sister Alice there, now old like herself, who had been living there ever since Angela had left. Angela apologizes for what she had to go through, and then reveals how she had lied to her by telling her she would be safe by staying there. Enraged, Alice begins whipping up another storm, though Peter and Mohinder come to save Angela. Angela tries to convince Alice to come back with them, to her new family, but Alice refuses and mysteriously disappears outside. The group then decide to leave, though Mohinder declines Peter's offer to go with them, saying he still hasn't found it in him to forgive himself. Later at the Coyote Sands Cafe, Angela looks on at the group, implying she intends to start another company with them. Nathan gives Angela the "Alice In Wonderland" book, reunited with its cover, and helps Angela overcome her guilt over losing Alice again, and they walk back to the table together. Peter states the importance of forgiveness and the strength of family, and Claire asks about their next move. Nathan tells Claire that he will own up to his mistakes and speak with the President in Washington. Claire draws the group's attention to what appears to be Nathan himself giving a press conference on TV; Noah recognizes him as Sylar. ===== The story appears to be centered on the investigation of the Book of the Silver Cross, an ancient Belkan magical tome, and that tome's accompanying Dividers, magical weapons with currently unknown powers. Thoma Avenir, while travelling, discovers a girl named Lily Strosek trapped inside a strange research facility. When Thoma rescues Lily from her confinement, she grants him a new magical device that refers to itself as one of these Dividers. However, unbeknownst to them, a group of people known as the Huckebein family are also using these weapons to cause large amounts of chaos and destruction, leading to an investigation by the Time-Space Administration Bureau. Before long, Thoma and Lily find themselves caught up in the ambitions of the Huckebein family and the investigation of the Bureau. ===== Just beyond your own peaceful world is a universe ruled by chaos and unimaginable evil. The fabric of both universes has always kept your world safely protected from its reach...until now. An enemy of the kingdom has stumbled across a dangerous and ancient artifact. The artifact's power to unlock a gateway between your world and chaos has been released. A great paradox has begun. Now, your world has begun to change. Bizarre deadly creatures of metal and flesh roam the lands, their origin a complete mystery to those who survive their attacks. Odd contraptions and structures of steel and steam have begun to replace once quaint medieval villages. The order of the very universe is shifting... and somehow, you know there is a connection between these bizarre changes and your own newfound power to shapeshift. Chaos has begun to ravage the kingdom, and the very magic which preserved the order of existence is fading. It's up to you to find the artifact and face the madman before the magic that holds the universe together is lost forever. Battle all-new enemies, travel to new worlds, and develop your strengths. Only you can reverse the paradox and prevent the total destruction of both worlds! ===== ===== ===== Federal agent, Terry McVey, who goes undercover as a cowboy staying at the Silver Bar Dude Ranch to investigate the disappearance of Frank Adams, a noted engraver, which is possibly connected to a counterfeit money case.Richard Jewell & Vernon Harbin, The RKO Story. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p167. ===== Taking place at a remote laboratory in the year 19XX, a three-staff research team consisting of Dr. Knavik and his assistants the TWIN sisters Cecile and Lucia is studying the exploration and usage of ESP. One day while Lucia was getting ready for work, an explosion burst from the lab. By the time Lucia got there, Dr. Knavik was all right, but Cecile had disappeared. Dr. Knavik explains that part of his experiments involved running tests on a variety of monsters, but eventually the subjects rebelled and took Cecile with them. As Lucia follows the monster's track, Dr. Knavik gives her the ESP Booster, a device he created that will enable the user to wield psychic powers. ===== In 1937, two years before World War II, a spinster named Miss Bentley has returned to Lake Como to spend a month's summer holiday to heal herself from the grief of her father's recent death. While there, she meets a bachelor named Major Wilshaw and develops some feelings for him. However, a young American girl named Miss Beaumont arrives and flirts with the major out of sheer boredom, leading him to believe she's actually interested in him. ===== The opera has a non-traditional plot structure split between two acts, with three scenes in each act. The subject of the opera is the biblical figure of the Antichrist, and the consequences of the Antichrist's activities on Earth. It begins with the Antichrist being sent into the world and ends with the Antichrist's final destruction. In between these two structural points, each scene illustrates an aspect of the Antichrist in the world. ===== Sumika Murasame is a high school girl who is in love with her female best friend Ushio Kazama, but is unable to confess how she feels as Ushio only likes girls she considers to be "cute" and "small", while Sumika is tall and athletic. Sumika discovers one of her classmates, a boy named Masaki Akemiya who likes her, started cross- dressing to catch her attention, but inadvertently was hired as a model. Sumika and Ushio get to know two girls in their class who are a couple, Tomoe Hachikusa and Miyako Taema; Tomoe wants to start a "girl's club" where only lesbians can join but is wrought with opposition. Sumika agrees to go on one date with Masaki, who comes cross-dressed as his female persona Akemi Yamasaki. Sumika becomes involved with her classmate Azusa Aoi, a quiet girl and aspiring writer who plans to attend a dōjinshi convention fueled by her love of yuri author Orino Masaka, which is the pen name of Ushio's older brother Norio. Sumika gets roped into helping Azusa and attending the summer convention as well, despite wanting to spend time with Ushio. After the sports day competition and cultural festival, a short German high school girl named Charlotte Münchhausen (nicknamed Lotte), comes to stay at Sumika's home and dojo to train in karate. Sumika, who had quit karate because it is not "cute", starts training again to help in Charlotte's training, much to the joy of Sumika's father. Ushio is unhappy about Charlotte's training and merely wants her to be a gentle, cute girl. Charlotte gets sick after running in the rain during training, and after Ushio confronts her about it, Sumika lashes out, distraught how she cannot become any cuter or smaller. Following Tomoe's suggestion, a female karate club is formed with Sumika as the president and Charlotte as the vice-president. After Ushio starts realizing she has romantic feelings for Sumika, she starts to worry that Sumika may stop being friends with her. Masaki stops being a fashion model after being traumatically exposed as a cross-dresser. After Sumika and her friends enter their second year of high school, two first-year girls named Mayu Semimaru and Koino Matsubara join the female karate club. Sumika is troubled over her relationship with Ushio, which has an adverse effect on her karate performance, much to the disappointment of Mayu. Sumika starts to get more involved with karate training to take her mind off of Ushio and in doing so, inadvertently distances herself from her. Ushio breaks down in depression because of this distancing, which results in Ushio breaking her arm, but is able to make up with Sumika. Tomoe accidentally implies to Ushio that Sumika has romantic feelings for her, much to Ushio's surprise, and Ushio finally accepts that she has fallen in love with Sumika but decides to become less dependent on her friend before confessing because she believes love will always fail for her. Meanwhile, Mayu realizes that she might have romantic feelings for Sumika as well, which distracts her in a karate tournament. Later, Sumika runs for student council president, though runs into various problems concerning rumours about her, and is forced to recede when Mayu ends up punching another student for insulting Sumika. As such, Ushio ends up becoming the new student council president. ===== After Robin gets upset about the gang not watching her show, they all agree to watch Robin's 4:00am talk show. Ted informs them that Karen broke up with him after finding Robin's earring in his bed. Ted discovers the matching earring on Marshall's dresser and mutes the television to confront Marshall, believing him to have sabotaged his relationship. Lily confesses that she was the saboteur, as she had been in some of Ted's prior relationships, including with Robin. She justifies her actions using the "Front Porch Test"—an indication of how they would all live together once they grow old. Scenes are shown of Marshall, Lily and Ted in the far future playing bridge, their interactions with Ted's potential partner driving Lily's present actions. Robin returns home to learn that her friends missed her event-filled broadcast due to the argument. Lily insists she did not want to break them up, but merely to consider their future together, a suggestion that seeded the conversation that would lead to their breakup. Ted heads into the bar the next day to find Karen waiting, having had the situation explained to her by Lily. Karen hands Ted an apology letter from Lily, who has prepared a fine dinner in Ted's apartment for him and Karen. Ted breaks up with Karen, though, after she says Ted cannot ever see someone as manipulative as Lily again and he imagines what the future would be like without her and Marshall. Returning to the apartment, Ted asks Robin to be his "plus one" and they enjoy the meal Lily prepared. They wonder whether or not they would still be together if not for Lily's intervention. Ted then makes a mock proposal to Robin, asking her to be his "backup wife". She accepts. Marshall wears a nightshirt to the pajama party to watch Robin's show, while Barney wears a silk suit. Barney insists his clothing choice is superior, citing the possibility of attractive women coming to his home at night and seeing how good he looks, but then admits how unlikely that is and uncomfortable the "suitjamas" are. Marshall convinces Barney to try a nightshirt instead. Barney and Marshall delight in their nightshirts, having a dream about flying together in them. Barney starts wearing nightshirts to sleep. A week later, an attractive woman shows up at his apartment at night but, upon seeing his nightshirt, she decides to leave, much to Barney's chagrin. ===== Luca (Marcello Mastroianni) is a man who runs a mill and he is married to Carmela (Sophia Loren), a beautiful wife, set in Naples in 1860. But his wife's beauty catches the eye of Don Teofilo the Governor (Vittorio De Sica), who sets about to have Carmela. He has Luca arrested on trumped up charges, and then tries seduce Carmella. She resists, so he tells her he can free Luca, but there are strings attached. ===== The main character, Mary, is brought up by her guardian Mr. Raymond in a loving environment, separate from the prejudiced and patriarchal society of Britain. This unsullied childhood begins to shift, when at the age of 11, two brothers, William and Edmund Pelham, come to live with and be educated by Mr. Raymond. Mary soon develops a close friendship with William, and on two separate occasions their games make Mary run into Sir Peter Osborne, who lies in the neighboring house. On the first occasion, William convinces Mary to steal grapes from the neighbor's garden, but is caught by several young men, one of which being Sir Peter Osborne. Sir Peter Osborne threatens to kiss Mary but she is able to escape before he is able to. On the second occasion, Mary attempts to save a hare from a hunting party during her games with William, and Sir Peter Osborne whips her several times with his horse whip before forcefully kissing her. As William and Mary grow older, Mr. Raymond sees that he must separate them in order to maintain his promise to the boys' father; that he should keep them from any acquaintance that might negatively affect their future as men of fashion and wealth. He sends Mary to live with a friend, Mr. Neville, and his family. During this time, Mary is saved from being swept away to sea by a boat of seamen, one of which is Sir Peter Osborne. After returning her to the Nevilles, Sir Peter Osborne makes several offers to pay a visit to Mary and shows up at the house on several occasions, all of which are denied by the Nevilles. The rest of the novel details the trials that Mary encounters upon the death of her benevolent guardian Mr. Raymond, and her subsequent reliance on the charity of those around her. ===== María Sánchez Amaro is a woman from a wealthy family, educated in the moral habits of the 20s, whose live revolves around three men: Alfredo, the seducer, whom she married and procreate a child, Enrico, mature man, noble and protector, with whom he formed a second marriage, and Antonio, who teaches her the promise of true love. After suffering abuse and betrayal by Alfredo, she is alone with her daughter when he goes to jail. She goes forward with his beautiful voice, but when he was released he returns to harass, María falls into the arms of Enrico, captivated by his love and goodness, and therein lies the love and protection that she has always yearned. Antonio then appears, as a man who received protection from Enrico when he fled his country, accused of a crime he did not commit. Enrico does not only work but also gave him the same affection that he gave his own son. Antonio falls madly in love with the wife of the man who most wants and respects, and she does, too, although both try to resist this tormented and impossible love. ===== In the original Leprechaun (1993), Daniel O'Grady (Shay Duffin) captures the Leprechaun (Warwick Davis) while in Ireland, takes his gold and smuggles it back to his home in North Dakota, unaware the Leprechaun has followed him. Confronting O'Grady and demanding his gold the Leprechaun is injured by O'Grady and sealed in a crate with a four-leaf clover, though before O'Grady can kill the creature he suffers a stroke. Ten years later the Leprechaun is accidentally released by Tory Redding (a then-unknown Jennifer Aniston) and her new friends, and goes on a killing spree in search of his gold, which Alex Murphy (Robert Gorman) and Ozzie (Mark Holton) had discovered. After the Leprechaun reclaims the bulk of his gold he is defeated when Alex shoots a four-leaf clover down his throat with a slingshot and Alex's older brother Nathan (Ken Olandt) blows up the well the Leprechaun falls into. In Leprechaun 2 (1994) the Leprechaun seeks out a new bride in modern-day Los Angeles, one thousand years after an earlier attempt to claim a bride was foiled. Claiming a fussy teenage girl named Bridget (Shevonne Durkin), the descendant of his original choice of a wife, the Leprechaun holds her captive in his lair and terrorizes her boyfriend Cody (Charlie Heath), who had taken one of his gold coins. In the end Cody saves Bridget and defeats the Leprechaun by impaling him with a spike made of wrought iron, one of the few substances that can harm a Leprechaun. Leprechaun 3 (1995) begins with the Leprechaun, having been changed into a statue by a magical medallion, being sold to a Las Vegas pawn shop. Assuming his original form when the clerk removes the medallion, the Leprechaun kills him and goes on a rampage through Las Vegas in search of one of his wish granting coins, which is passed from hand to hand. The Leprechaun is ultimately defeated by college student Scott McCoy (John Gatins) and Scott's new girlfriend Tammy Larsen (Lee Armstrong), who blast his gold with a flamethrower, causing it to vanish and the Leprechaun to burst into flames. Taking place in the future, Leprechaun 4: In Space (1997) has the Leprechaun abduct and begin courting snobbish alien princess Zarina (Rebekah Carlton), seducing her with promises of wealth. After being blown up by a group of marines who rescue Zarina, the Leprechaun is reborn on the marines' ship via exploding out of the groin of one of an unfortunate man, Kowalski. He then goes off in search of his stolen bride and gold, killing all those who get in his way. After being turned into a giant via an enlargement ray, the Leprechaun is ejected into space by the survivors of the massacre, Tina Reeves (Jessica Collins), Books Malloy (Brent Jasmer) and Sticks (Miguel A. Núñez, Jr.). Set in Compton, California, Leprechaun in the Hood (2000) has the Leprechaun being turned to stone once more, this time by pimp Mack Daddy O'Nassas (Ice-T), who uses the Leprechaun's mind- controlling magic flute to become a successful music producer. Years later, the Leprechaun is unknowingly changed back to flesh and blood by a trio of wannabe rappers led by Postmaster P. (Anthony Montgomery) who rob Mack Daddy, taking the Leprechaun's gold and the flute from him with the intent of using the objects to become successful. Hunted by both Mack Daddy and the Leprechaun, Postmaster P., after his friends and Mack Daddy are killed, is brainwashed into becoming a servant of the Leprechaun. Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood (2003) begins with the Leprechaun stalking Father Jacob (Willie C. Carpenter) trying to get his gold back, only to be dragged into the ground by demonic hands when the priest uses four-leaf clover laced holy water against him before dying from a heart attack. One year later the Leprechaun's gold is discovered by eighteen-year-old Emily Woodrow (Tangi Miller) and her friends, who use the gold to fulfill their wildest fantasies, unintentionally releasing the Leprechaun, who goes after Emily and the others to get his gold back, killing everyone who gets in his way. On the rooftop of the abandoned community centre Father Jacob had been building using the Leprechaun's gold Emily and her boyfriend Rory Jackson (Laz Alonso) defeat the Leprechaun by knocking him and his gold off the roof and into a pool of wet cement below, where the Leprechaun sinks and becomes trapped. Leprechaun: Origins (2014) starts with a young couple, Catherine and Francois, being killed by an unseen force near a symbolised Irish monolith. Later it entirely centers on four American college students touring in Ireland. They come across the monolith from the opening scene, partially intending to study the history symbols but unaware that it is where all hell broke loose for the young couple. Hamish McConville (Garry Chalk), a friendly Irish man they meet at a bar when they stop, tells them the story of history about the village they are seeing - a mining centre that was used for cavern-obtained gold until it ran out, causing the population to decrease. An initially unseen force starts raiding the cabin they are left at by their transport provider, and they eventually realise that they are being sacrificed by Hamish and his son Sean (Teach Grant) to The Leprechaun (Dylan Postl) to atone for the decrease and eventual loss of the gold supply. The deadly and homicidal Leprechaun (Irish: Tuath De Danann) hunts the college students throughout their perilous struggles to survive its onslaught, which ends with it being decapitated by Sophie (Stephanie Bennett), the surviving student, and Hamish being killed by the creature in retribution for double-crossing them as the village's final sacrifice. Leprechaun Returns (2018) centers on the first leprechaun (played here by Linden Porco) who escapes from the well into which he was barricaded 25 years prior by Tory Redding (Jennifer Aniston), her father and her friends who accompanied her at the O'Grady house, where he originally found them and terrorized them to get his gold back. In the present day, he returns to terrorize Laila Jenkins (Taylor Spreitler) and her sorority sisters as well as two men staying with them. With this storyline, all previous films but the first have been retconned, making it a direct sequel that takes over from Leprechaun 2 (1994) until Leprechaun Origins (2014). Laila, a university student, is bought to her sorority home by Ozzie Jones, which sees actor Mark Holton reprising his role, and Tory is revealed to be Laila's mother who has died of cancer, having lived much of her life fearing the creature's return. After dropping Laila off at the house - the same house from 1993, now branded with the AU sorority symbol - he drops his phone while unloading her luggage, and upon returning to retrieve it, he is spat on from down the well by a splash of green water, some of which he swallows, and during his getaway he begins experiencing stomach pains, leading to the creature rebirthing himself and escaping. He kills Ozzie by tearing out of his torso before appearing at the house, killing two of Laila's sorority sisters and the two men. He is eventually electrocuted and ignited, causing the house to explode, but after Laila and Katie (Pepi Sonuga) escape and are driven back to the university campus, he is revealed to have reanimated and is last shown flagging down a truck for a drive to Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota. ===== Mario and Santiago are both in love with the same woman, Martha. Martha becomes pregnant by Santiago and together they raise two daughters, Gabriela and Julieta. Mario and Santiago are involved in a diamond smuggling ring headed by Adolfo Avila, who murders Martha and blackmails both Mario and Santiago into taking the fall for it. Santiago flees with his young daughters, using his skills as an actor and master of disguise to assume the new identity of Fausto Guillén and the girls grow up unaware of his past as Santiago. Twenty years later, the now wealthy Mario discovers that he is dying, so he seeks out Santiago and asks him to take his place. But Adolfo murders the ailing Mario, and Santiago is forced to hastily adopt Mario's identity in order to throw Adolfo off track, while keeping from the girls that he is not Fausto, but Santiago. Meanwhile, Gabriela meets Santiago's adopted son David and they fall in love with each other. But Gabriela's physical resemblance to her mother Martha attracts Adolfo's attention, placing everyone's lives in deadly danger. ===== In 1983, off-duty policeman Reiden picks up a suspicious couple, Kei and Ai, who claim to be father and daughter but appear to be close in age. Reiden thus becomes involved in a fight between them and the female fighter K2 who is chasing them. Kei draws out his latent ability to the maximum by a Legendary "Trigger" and Ai blows away K2. The night sky splits and strange space is shown. Their enemy is the secret society "Fraud" of para-psionics, which is commanded by Kuu Ragua Lee. Kei, Ai and Reiden meet the assassins whom Fraud sends out one after another. ===== After a long humbling year temping as a traffic cop on a studio lot, Jody is faced with the hard decision of taking the only well-paying industry job she has yet been offered — editing porn at Grind Productions, a profitable adult film company run by former porn star Irene Fox (Kristen Johnston). At first horrified by the prospect of exposing herself to the cockroaches of the film industry, not to mention the effect it would have on her strict Jewish parents, Jody has a remarkable change of heart when she realizes that Grind has all the facilities she needs to make her own low budget movie — on the sly of course — but things get complicated when Jody meets Jeff Drake (Matthew Davis), the charming Herr Director of adult films. Jeff, also an award-winning filmmaker, once had his own dreams of making "real" films, but now is a hard-worn cynic who masks his disappointment behind a façade of irony. In Jody, he sees the idealism he once had, while Jody starts to face her own sexual hang-ups as she begins to get aroused by the porn she so harshly judges. Jody and Jeff get close to each other, but she gets hurt when she sees him making out with one of his actresses, Sindi, who was actually taking advantage of Jeff in his drunken state. The movie made by Jody is well received by critics, and Jeff is also nominated for an AVN Award for his movie. Jody wants to set things right with him; she accepts help from Bliss, the lead actress in both Jody's and Jeff's movies, but with different identities, and pretends to be her to gain entry at an award function. On stage, when Jeff receives his award, he announces his retirement from the Adult Industry to move on. Jeff calls Bliss for special thanks. He realizes that Jody is in disguise as Bliss, and they kiss.Synopsis findingbliss.com. accessed September 8, 2011. ===== At the start of Sweet Blue Flowers, Akira Okudaira, who is an entering high school student into Fujigaya Girls Academy, becomes reacquainted with her childhood friend Fumi Manjōme whom she has not seen for ten years. Fumi is attending Matsuoka Girl's High School where she quickly becomes friends with a handsome third-year student named Yasuko Sugimoto. Akira joins her school's drama club with her friend and classmate Kyōko Ikumi, who is in love with Yasuko, though Yasuko turns her down. Akira meets Kyōko's fiancé (in name only) Kō Sawanoi. Yasuko and Fumi become a couple, and Fumi comes out to Akira who is at first unsure on how to act, but still tries to support Fumi's new relationship. Akira's drama club does an adaptation of Wuthering Heights for a drama festival; Fumi helps out with her friends Yōko Honatsugi, Misako Yasuda, and Miwa Motegi. Yasuko breaks up with Fumi, who learns that Yasuko's older sister Kazusa is marrying a teacher at Fujigaya named Masanori Kagami whom Yasuko had fallen in love with. Time passes after the wedding, and Yasuko decides to study abroad in London after graduating. Miwa and Akira's older brother Shinobu start going out, and Fumi tells Akira that she was her first love, much to Akira's embarrassment. When Akira and her friends enter their second year of high school, an energetic first-year student named Haruka Ōno joins the Fujigaya drama club. Akira and Kyōko are split into different classrooms, and Akira meets a tall girl in her new class named Ryōko Ueda. The high school division of Fujigaya does the play Rokumeikan with Akira, Kyōko and Ryōko playing lead roles, though Ryōko only agrees to act because Akira also agrees to act alongside her. Fumi and Haruka become friends, and Haruka confides in Fumi that she suspects her older sister Orie may like women. Not knowing how to respond, Fumi seeks advice from Akira, but ends up confessing her love for her instead. Kyōko does not want Kō to break off the engagement, but he ends up finally breaking up with her. The play goes well and everyone praises the actress' performances. Over summer vacation, Akira suggests to Fumi that they go out together after thinking deeply about it. ===== This is the first book in the Second Sons Trilogy. The novel is set in the fantasy world of Ranadon, where there is no night time. Two suns orbit the earth and bathe it in light constantly. A religious sect known as the Shadowdancers claim this is the work of the Goddess, a deity both benign and merciless, whom most in the world believe in. The back story is that many years ago the second sun mysteriously vanished and left Ranadon in the Age of Shadows. At the insistence of the self-appointed High Priestess of the Shadow dancers, Belegren, the lion of Senet, a powerful and devout man named Antonov, sacrificed his baby son Gunta, after which the second sun returned and so it has been ever since. Dirk Provin, the second son of the Duke Wallin Provin of Elcast, saves a wounded sailor from a shipwreck, brought about by a volcanic eruption and consequent earthquake. Through the course of the man's recovery it is revealed that he is in fact, Johan Thorn, the exiled King of Dhevyn who was utterly defeated by Antonov during the Age of Shadows, and is now the most wanted man in Ranadon. News of this reaches the Lion of Senet himself, who arrives with Belegren the High Priestess, on Elcast, and the secret web of lies which had been built up around Dirk and everything he ever knew begins to slowly unravel, as the apprentice physician comes to realise that others are slowly drawing their own plans around him. ===== This novel picks up two years after the events of the previous one, with Dirk fleeing Avacas a wanted man and seeking sanctuary in the Baenlands. Obsessed with Dirk's capture Antonov arrests Morna Provin at her husband's funeral and announces that he will have her burned at the stake come Landfall. Despite the best efforts of Tia and Reithan Dirk still finds out and demands that they attempt to save her. The other major plot follows the domestic quarrels of Alenor and Kirsh, who is still besotted with the acrobat Marquel. At Dirk's suggestion, Alenor invites Marquel to Kalarada willingly in the hope that keeping Kirsh distracted will give her some measure of control over her kingdom. Arriving on Elcast too late, Dirk has only time to beg Tia to end his mother's suffering. She refuses at first, but forced to listen to Morna's screams, Tia relents and shoots the former duchess through the eye, ending her pain. The two escape with Master Helgrin and row back to the Wanderer, watching as Reithan Seranov's diversion burns Antonov's flagship to the waterline in retribution. Tired of running, Dirk announces that night that he is going to Omaxin in an attempt to break through the labyrinth and discover the truth that sent Neris Veran into madness. The strain of her husband openly flaunting a mistress takes its toll on Alenor and her relationship with Kirsh grows fractious. She eventually begins an affair with the captain of her guard. ===== After a massive earthquake in Tokyo 25 km under the sea at a magnitude of 8.0, two young siblings Mirai and Yūki, who were visiting a robot exhibition in Odaiba at the beginning of their summer vacation, struggle to reach their parents in their house in Setagaya, assisted by a female motorcycle courier named Mari, who is striving to reach her own daughter and mother in Sangenjaya. Together, the three of them brave the partly ruined city and try their best to make it home safely. ===== Arlo, a ten-year-old orphan boy, lives in Genopolis, in a university called the Inn of Court, where he is looked after by his mentor, Doctor Ignatius. One day Arlo makes a horrifying discovery. Instead of being a Citizen, he is actually one of the hated Naturals, who had been abandoned by his Natural parents when he was born and taken into the care of Doctor Ignatius, ostensibly to research emotions and pain for scientific purposes. However, Ignatius is also leader of a secret resistance circle against the Rulers of Genopolis, and plans to destroy Genopolis by bringing back pain to its Citizens. However, Ignatius’s plans – and Arlo – are now in danger because a new Ruler of Genopolis has been appointed who is opposed to any research that could bring back the past. From the moment that Arlo first sets eyes on the new Regis, he feels a powerful connection, and knows that if he falls into the hands of the Regis then his life will be forfeit. Meanwhile, Usha, an eleven-year-old slave-girl, lives in drudgery, serving her ninety-nine-year- old Citizen mistress who she calls Auntie. Usha is a Gemini, a member of a clone-class who have been bred in the pharms, and whose orders are only to obey her superiors. However, Usha soon becomes aware that Auntie’s intention is to use her to clone her own dying body. Waking up in panic on the operating table, Usha escapes, but with the whole of Genopolis on her tail, there is nowhere that she can run to. Arlo escapes from the Inn of Court and the murderous Regis, and with his dog Rem is sent first to the Inn of the Maia, a female Inn of Court, and after that to a rich man and his family, sympathisers of Ignatius's cause. However, in the escape, his beloved dog Rem is lost. Wandering through the sewers, the underworld of Genopolis, Usha falls in with a gang of abandoned children, who have been thrown out of society because of becoming disabled through accidents or illness. Their ringleader, Ozzie, inducts Usha into his gang, and for a time they live by pilfering from the warehouses by the port where the food is delivered from the pharms. After a botched robbery, Usha is kidnapped by smugglers and sold to the Circus, a semi-illegal underworld gladiatorial arena, where criminal Citizens, escaped Gemini and the occasional captured Natural fight against themselves, and against genetically-engineered monsters. The laboratories of the pharms (which provide food, replacing the historical farms) have created hybrid animals along the lines of classical monsters using genetic fusion technology; the Minotaur, the Gorgon, the Cockatrice and the Sphinx. Usha is dispatched to fight in the Circus, where she befriends Talia, a female gladiator, and the other slaves. In the pits of the Circus, Usha meets Arlo's dog Rem. When Arlo comes to the Circus as a guest of the rich man, he sees Rem and runs into the pit to be reunited with him. Together they escape from the Minotaur who is hunting them, and disappear into the sewers once more. Usha, Rem and Arlo, together with the friends they have met in the Circus and Ozzie's gang from the underworld, escape the island of Genopolis by boat, and find their way to the Natural outerlands. Here they are reunited with Arlo's sister, Kira, and join the Natural tribe. Meanwhile, back in Genopolis, the Regis broods over the missing Arlo and plans his revenge. Continued in: Fearless (c) 2009, Scholastic Books) ===== Four young men join a college and develop a friendship with each other. The four also meet various young ladies and romance them throughout their semester. The question remains that will they be able to follow through with love lives after this term and will they also get passing grades at the same time? ===== The subtle connections of a deputy sheriff, a Nashville-bound singer, an ex-con, and a single mother will intertwine in this tale of small town life. Tommy Carson (Shawn Christian) works around the clock to keep the peace in Prospect, but Donny (John Hawkes), who is on a downward spiral, makes this even more difficult for the deputy Sheriff. Rhett Ryan (Chris Pine) discovers that the desire to follow his dream conflicts with his desire to be with the woman he loves. While Samantha (Bre Blair) does love the singer-songwriter, she comes to realize that what's best for her daughter (Kali Majors) and their future may not be what's best for him. Les (Adam Hendershott) just wants to fit in with his big brother's friends, but his overbearing mother (Lin Shaye) desperately wants him to stand out. ===== James (Niven), the Duke of Brampton and the richest man in England, is so trusted by King Charles II (Sanders), he is able to have two of the King's loyal friends executed for treason. The second is the father of Lady Mary (Blyth). She travels from France to London to seek justice. While there, she meets Michael Dermott (Purdom), a soldier who fought to restore Charles to the throne. He and many others were never paid for their services, unbeknownst to the King. He therefore turned highwayman. He and his comrades rob the Duke and come into possession of the Duke's notebook. In it are listed twelve rich and powerful people, as well as details of their possessions. Two names are crossed out; it does not take long for Michael to realize that the other ten are in peril for their lives. Michael first tries to blackmail the Duke, but without much success. A fence named Simon betrays his hiding place. Michael and his comrade Jack (Moore) escape from the Duke's soldiers, though Michael is wounded in the shoulder. Adventure abounds as the Duke tries to retrieve his property before it can be used against him. ===== ===== The Roman Empire has been unable to fully conquer Britain, reaching a harsh stalemate in the North. The Picts engage in guerrilla warfare against the Romans along the Glenblocker forts and the Gask Ridge at the southern border of the Scottish Highlands. At the Roman outpost of Pinnata Castra, Pict warriors led by Vortix and Aeron kill the entire garrison, taking only the second-in-command, Centurion Quintus Dias, because he can speak the Pictish language. Brought before Pict king Gorlacon, who has united the northern tribes, Dias is brutally interrogated, but escapes on foot. A messenger from the fort reaches Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Roman governor of Britannia, who hopes to obtain favour with the Roman Senate and transfer back to the comforts of Rome. He dispatches the Ninth Legion under General Titus Flavius Virilus to eradicate the Pict threat, providing him with a Celtic Brigantian scout, Etain. Marching north, the legion rescues Dias from his pursuers. Etain leads them into an ambush where, surprised by flaming pitch-wood 'boulders', they are massacred and the wounded Virilus is captured. The few survivors – Dias, the legionaries Bothos, Thax, Brick, Macros and Leonidas, and the cook Tarak – set out to rescue Virilus, finding him at Gorlacon's village. Sneaking in at nightfall, they are unable to break his chains, and he orders them to return to Roman territory without him. In Gorlacon's hut, Thax suffocates the king's young son to prevent him giving them away. The next morning, Gorlacon burns his son's body on a funeral pyre and forces Virilus to fight Etain, who as a child witnessed her parents raped and slaughtered by the Romans; she kills him with a spear through the heart. Gorlacon sends her after the legionaries at the head of a group of mounted warriors, including Vortix and Aeron, to avenge his son's death. The Romans plan to travel north away from Roman territory, to throw the Picts off their trail, then head west and back south. After several days' pursuit, the Picts continually catch up with the fugitives, who jump off a cliff into a river to escape them; Tarak is killed before he can jump, and Macros and Thax become separated. Dias’ group camp for the night while their pursuers camp across the river. Dias and Brick raid the enemy camp, killing two men and wounding a third, who reveals they are being pursued because of the death of Gorlacon's son, which Thax had kept secret. Etain has launched her own attack on the Romans, and Dias and Brick return to discover Leonidas dead and Bothos wounded. Dias, Bothos, and Brick find the forest hut of Arianne, an exiled Briton accused of witchcraft who learned Latin from a nearby Roman outpost. She gives them shelter, food, and medical attention for Bothos. When Etain and her warriors arrive, Arianne hides the Romans under her floorboards. The Romans leave in the morning; Arianne, having become fond of Dias, is saddened to see him go. They find the outpost abandoned, with an order declaring that the Roman troops have retreated south by order of Emperor Hadrian. Seeing Etain's warriors approaching and tired of running, they set up a defensive position inside the fort. Brick is killed, as are Vortix, Aeron, and the rest of the Britons, with Dias finally killing Etain. Taking the Picts' horses, Dias and Bothos continue south, reuniting with Thax. Reaching Hadrian's Wall, now under construction, Thax threatens Dias, afraid he will report his dishonourable actions. They fight, with Dias choking Thax to death. Bothos, joyfully riding toward the Romans, is mistaken for a charging Pict and shot by an archer. Devastated, Dias reports to Agricola, who worries that news of the legion's annihilation will lead other tribes to revolt. Fearful of his reputation being tainted by a military failure, he decides the Ninth Legion's fate should remain a mystery and Dias must be silenced. Dias foils the attempt on his life by Agricola's daughter Drusilla. Badly wounded in the thigh, he knocks Drusilla unconscious and escapes from the camp, returning to Arianne in the forest. The film ends with Arianne kissing him after he falls from his horse. ===== The film takes place at an undetermined point in the future, when humanity has developed advanced robotic technology with enhanced artificial intelligence. This includes the use of cybernetic organisms (or cyborgs) called the TR-4 (all TR-4s are played by Paul Logan) for general labor. After being reprogrammed by the newest model TR-5, the machines instigate a cybernetic revolt against humanity, bombing cities and sending thousands of armed, identical TR-4 androids to eradicate all human life. A band of survivors, led by small-town Sheriff Reed (A Martinez), battle to make it through and defeat the TR-4s. During their journey, they encounter a mysterious man, Kurt Ross (Jeremy London) who possesses a weapon that can disable any TR-4 it hits. Ross also has intimate knowledge of the TR-4s and is heavily implied to have met Reed in the past. With Ross's help, Reed's group struggles through several battles with the TR-4s and ultimately locate an airship used by the machines to travel. Ross proposes that they travel to the space station where the TR-4s originate from and shut them down remotely, but they must first acquire fuel for the ship. They find the fuel, but Sheriff Reed is shot in the leg by a TR-4. On the ship, the survivors discover metal beneath Reed's skin, causing him to begin questioning his existence. Ross reveals that Reed is actually one of the first TR-5s, planted in the community with Ross as his handler. Reed's memories are all implants based on Ross's own memories. Bronson (Dustin Harnish) becomes paranoid and believes the other survivors are also androids, but Chloe (Lauren Walsh) persuades him by revealing she is pregnant. At the space station, the group battles the TR-4s en masse, resulting in Bronson's death and Tiffany (Lucinda Rogers) becoming separated from the others. Ross attempts to shut down the TR-4s but the control console fights back, repeatedly locking him out. Suddenly, the TR-4s all shut down, and Ross ominously realizes their power is being funneled to a much worse problem – the giant TR-5 that caused the rebellion in the first place. The massive robot appears and kills Ross with a blade mounted in its arm after shrugging off his EMP weapon, then attacks Chloe. Reed appears and baits the TR-5 into an airlock, and Chloe ejects both it and Reed into outer space. The TR-4s come back to life despite Tiffany hitting the shutdown switch, but when she rips the cords from the control box, they all die simultaneously. Chloe, Tiffany, Tanner (Mark Hengst), Laura (Krystle Connor) and Chloe's unborn child are left as the only survivors, possibly of all humanity. ===== Hossian Miya (Utpal Dutta) is a Bengali Muslim trader who offers his community an idealistic vision: He wants to establish a little utopia on an island (Moynadeep) in the Padma delta and offer them a better life there. It is apparent that Hossian Miya has a flourishing business there, because he has recently purchased a huge boat because of expanding business. He doesn't care if the people who populate it are Hindu or Muslim. It is 1947, just before the partition of India, and the Hindu fisherman Kuber briefly accepts an offer by Hossain to ferry some of the community's cargo from the island. He would be fishing, except that the fish he usually catches have been driven away by a big storm. In the process of getting the cargo, he gets to see what the colony is like and, even though he is fully aware of the gripes of a former colony member and the limitations of it, comes to share some of the utopian vision. When Kuber returns to his home and a variety of unfortunate events make it in his best interest to leave, he knows just where to go. However, people who return from Moynadeep after working there has a different tale to narrate. Rasu (Sunil Mukherjee) and Aminuddin (Rabi Ghosh) say that Moynadeep is infested with lions and tigers, and there is forest all around. Rasu has fled from Moynadeep deserting his wife and children there. Aminuddin, too, refuses to go back to Moynadeep again. Kuber has a wife and daughter and was recently blessed with a child. His wife is beset with a leg deformity, and his daughter is grown up and engaged to a local man. Kuber goes to pay a visit to his relatives from his wife's side. On return, he brings along his sister-in-law Kapila (Roopa Ganguly) with a ton of small kids. Kapila was married but is now estranged from her husband. A sneaky amorous relationship develops between Kubir and Kapila. Staying with a deformed wife and coupled with amorous gestures from his alluring sister-in-law Kubir succumbs to her wishes of passion play. However, Kapila's husband re-appears and takes her away with him. One day a storm rises in the Padma River and leaves behind a trail of destruction. Kuber tells his wife "Padda amago joto daay abar totoi loy" (It is true Padda gives us a lot, but in return it also takes a lot from us). The storm wreaks havoc in the village. Hussian Miya offers to lend a helping hand to the villagers. He does so, but in return he takes their thumb impressions as proof of his help so that he can use it later to exploit them. Meanwhile, Kuber's daughter's marriage breaks down. Rasu proposes to marry her. Even though Rasu was close to Kuber, he refuses to accept the match because of the age difference between them. Rasu becomes furious and threatens to ruin Kuber. He succeeds in his endeavor. Kuber is fabricated in a theft case, and police is now trying to nab him. He flees to Hussain Miya for help. Hossain Miya tells he can absolve him of the theft charge, but in return Kubir must go to Moynadeep. Kuber agrees to the offer. Kuber goes to Moynadeep. A new life unfolds for him there. These concluding sequences from the film add up to a compelling climax. ===== Fred Miller (Tony Randall) must prove that his new design for an underwater home is viable by convincing his family to live in it for 30 days. His son and daughter (Gary Tigerman and Kay Cole) are members of an emerging pop rock band (Richard Dreyfuss and Lou Wagner) whom they invite to live with them during the experiment. Their temporary home, which Miller dubs the "Green Onion," is 90 feet below the surface of the ocean and is filled with super-modern appliances and amenities for house-wife Vivian (Janet Leigh), all designed by Miller. A hole in the floor provides direct access to and from the sea. The group are soon joined by a live-in seal named Gladys and a pair of dolphins (Duke and Duchess), which stay close at hand and fend off unwanted sharks. They are confronted by many obstacles including a rival designer (Ken Berry) from Undersea Development, Inc. who begins to cause problems.Weiler, A. H. Hello Down There (1969) Undersea Rock 'n' Roll, (1969-06-26) The New York Times, retrieved 2009-03-19. Meanwhile, the band's single has gotten the attention of record executive Nate Ashbury (Roddy McDowall), who decides to sign them sight-unseen. He takes the liberty of booking them for an important television performance on The Merv Griffin Show without first communicating with them. After learning that they are inaccessible under the sea, he proves that the show must go on and that he will go to great lengths to reach them. They get their airing on television, but the U.S. Navy is put on alert by the sounds of music coming from the sea. A naval fleet is dispatched to investigate what must surely be a Communist plot! ===== The Temple begins in Oxford, where Paul Schoner meets Simon Wilmot and William Bradshaw, caricatures of the young W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood respectively. They encourage him to visit Germany, hinting that Paul might prefer Germany to Britain because of Germany's liberal attitudes towards sex and the body. During this section, Paul is introduced to Ernst Stockmann, a fan of his poetry who later invites him to visit his family home in Hamburg. Paul visits Ernst Stockmann, meeting his wealthy mother and friends, Joachim Lenz and Willy Lassel. During his time at the Stockmann household, Paul experiences the liberality of German youth culture first-hand, attending a party at which he drinks too much and meets Irmi. his later love affair. Paul, Ernst, Joachim and Willy also visit Hamburg's notorious quarter Sankt Pauli. In Sankt Pauli, at a bar named The Three Stars, Paul meets some young male prostitutes who claim to be destitute. It is on this evening, while he is drunk, that Paul agrees to go on holiday to the Baltic with Ernst despite being uncomfortable in Ernst's company. When Paul and Ernst arrive at the hotel by the Baltic where they will be staying, Paul is distressed to find that Ernst has booked them into a shared room. Paul feels suffocated by Ernst's clear affection for him and tries to deter Ernst by telling him that he is not interested. Afterward, Paul ponders Stephen Wilmot's quasi-Freudian premise that it is kindest to offer love in return to those who love you, especially if you do not find them attractive. As a result, when Ernst comes on to Paul in the hotel room, Paul accepts his attention and they have an uncomfortable sexual encounter. In the morning, Paul is keen to escape the hotel room, and runs down to a beach, where he meets Irmi again. They have a more satisfying sexual experience on the beach. In the next chapter, Paul goes on a trip with Joachim Lenz to the Rhine. On this trip, Joachim makes it clear that he intends to fall in love, but there is little indication that he and Paul could be lovers. Nevertheless, Paul is distressed when Joachim books him an adjacent hotel room so that he can stay with a young man named Heinrich who he had met on the beach. In Part Two, "Towards the Dark", Paul returns to Germany in the winter of 1932. Spender admits in his introduction to the 1988 edition that both parts had taken place in 1929 in reality, but that he moved this part forward to winter 1932 to increase the sense of foreboding (as Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany later that winter). In this section, Paul visits several of his friends again, most notably Willy Lassel, who is now engaged to a Nazi woman, and Joachim Lenz, whose relationship with Heinrich is struggling. Heinrich has made friends with Erich, a fascist man. Paul meets him and is disgusted and disturbed by his ideology. Soon after, Paul visits Joachim again and finds him with a cut on his face, staying in a trashed flat. Joachim tells Paul how one of Heinrich's Nazi friends had threatened him and destroyed his possessions after Joachim defiled a Nazi party uniform belonging to Heinrich. This discussion about their former acquaintances is the end of the novel. ===== When wealthy American expatriate Cornelia Wheelwright (Robson) is informed by her longtime lawyers that her late father swindled his partner, Fortune McCallister, out of $700,000, she acts decisively. First, because James Amory is the only lawyer in the firm to be outraged by the injustice, she hires him and fires the rest of the firm. His first task is to locate all of McCallister's heirs. It turns out there is only one: granddaughter Pam McCallister (Lane). Pam works in Lacey's Department Store and lives in a boardinghouse in New York City. To find out what kind of person she is, Cornelia becomes a fellow tenant. Cornelia also meets Pam's boyfriend, composer and piano player Pete Rowan (Reagan). Cornelia then has Jim give Pam a million dollars. Pam is excited at first, buying gifts for her boardinghouse friends, and her boyfriend, who lives across the hall from her. Much to her surprise, her friends and boyfriend seem to change overnight. They are not as overjoyed at her good fortune as she imagines they would be, and rather resent her. As the last straw, her boyfriend tells her she's an Elsie Dinsmore and breaks it off with her. Pam finally decides on a course of action that makes her happy, as well as those around her. ===== Due to the detailed nature of the overall story within the novel, the plot has been divided into Backstory and Modern Day respectively in order to provide a more coherent timeline for the events depicted in the novel. ===== The film is set in ancient China, probably during the period of the ten kingdoms when China was divided into a number of rival kingdoms. The state of Yan, founded by the Murong tribe of the Xianbei nation, has long been a target of attacks by the Zhao army. Princess Fei'er of Yan becomes the new ruler after her father, the Emperor, is killed in battle, with general Murong Xuehu assisting her in defending their kingdom from invasion. Prince Yan Huba, nephew of the deceased king and a treacherous minister in Yan, schemes to take the throne from his cousin and he sends his men to assassinate the princess. Fei'er survives the attempt on her life but is seriously injured. She is rescued later by a mysterious hermit named Duan Lanquan and lives with him for a period of time until she recovers. The two of them develop romantic feelings for each other during that period of time. However, she ultimately must decide whether to fulfill her duty to her kingdom or follow her heart. Empress Fei'er chooses to returns to Yan later and succeeds in resolving the conflict between Yan and Zhao. However, Huba is still plotting to take the throne and he leads his men to kill Duan Lanquan and Murong Xuehu. On the verge of danger, Empress Fei'er manages to kill Huba personally and put an end to Huba's evil plans, all while restoring peace and harmony by maintaining good relations with the other ten realms. ===== After playing an impromptu instrumental number using household appliances and outdoor noise, Bret and Jemaine are paid a visit by their landlord, who demands he be paid for the last two years of rent in American dollars (the duo have been paying in New Zealand dollars). Lacking the funds, Bret and Jemaine visit Murray for solutions, who is unable to offer them anything promising, except a musical he's been writing since becoming the band's manager. Broke and evicted, and after being rejected by Murray and Dave, they find themselves with no choice but to move in with Mel and Doug. At Mel's home, Bret falls into a dream and sings a Russian sailing-themed song, in which he is slowly cannibalized by Mel and Doug, under the disguise of Petrov and Yelyena. Meanwhile, Murray starts rehearsals for the hopeful off- Broadway musical detailing the journeys and misadventures of Bret and Jemaine, who play the lead parts themselves. However, it turns out Murray has confused Bret's life with that of Luke Skywalker. Life at home with Doug and Mel is hard, with frequent arguments arising between the two. Drama comes to a head when, after offering to play the harp for Bret and Jemaine, Mel tells Doug that harp-playing is very feminine. Doug and Mel decide to separate and, like children from a broken home, Bret and Jemaine are forced to live with separate "parents": Jemaine with Doug, and Bret with Mel. After their musical's opening night, the embassy members Murray invited become suspicious of the musical's frequent theme of illegal immigration. Bret and Jemaine are questioned and subsequently deported to New Zealand. Mel and Doug passionately reunite after Mel sees Doug gracefully playing the harp on stage. The final scene of the episode shows Bret and Jemaine returning to their jobs as shepherds at a farm somewhere near Mount Ruapehu, with Murray working the tractor. ===== John Reilly, an American national, finds himself in an African hospital where, he learns, he has spent the last two years due to a head injury. He remembers nothing of his past and is accused of being a spy. The film also features Helen, a woman Reilly believes might be his wife. ===== In this novel by John Wilson set during the Battle of Stalingrad, three participants — two soldiers and a boy — are caught in its horrors. Their story is told over seven days of fierce and deadly street-by-street fighting. Vasily is a patriotic Russian soldier determined to rid his country of the hated Nazi invaders — if he can stay alive long enough. Conrad is a German tank officer, part of the seemingly unstoppable force sweeping eastward over the steppe, expecting a quick victory over Stalin's ill-trained and badly equipped Red Army. Between them is eight-year-old Sergei, whose home is the maze of rubble that used to be the city of Stalingrad. None of them can know that their fates will be intertwined as the cataclysm engulfs them. In the middle of the conflict is eight-year-old Sergei who lives in the cellar of his former apartment, scavenging among the ruins of his hometown while the Germans and Russians wage war on one another. Thousands of bodies litter the streets, and yet, Sergei is not bothered by any of this, being hardened by the horrors that he faces every day. He dreams of being a famous sniper one day and ridding his homeland of the "Fascists". ===== Inspector Ghote has just been promoted to inspector and is on leave before taking up his post in Bombay Criminal Investigation Department. This he hopes will allow him to spend time with his heavily pregnant wife, Protima. Sir Rustom Engineer, the retired Police Commissioner of Bombay, asks Inspector Ghote to investigate the motiveless apparent suicide of Mrs Iris Dawkins, whose husband was an old friend of Sir Rustom's before Indian independence. The case has already been investigated by Inspector Darrani, an old rival of Ghote's from police training college, but Inspector Ghote soon learns that the tragedy is not what it first seems to be. ===== Quick Gun Murugun is an unlikely superhero, a South Indian Tamil cowboy whose duty is to protect the world against arch villain restaurant owner Rice Plate Reddy, who wants to create the ultimate non-vegetarian dosa. The film revolves around the adventures of Murugun along with his love-to-be Mango Dolly and Locket Lover. Murugun is a typical vegetarian cowboy who made himself into Quick Gun Murugan. He has to do something good for the world, so he believes that vegetarianism is the need of the hour. Murugun enters into a battle that spans time and space, from a small south Indian village to Heaven and then finally to cosmopolitan Mumbai across 25 years. He is torn between Mango Dolly, who loves him secretly, and his first love Locket Lover. His loyalty is put to the test. Mango Dolly gets hit by a bullet. While dying, she expresses her love to Murugun. Realizing that he too loves Mango Dolly, he tells her that he too loves her and that she can "stay with him". Finally, Murugun is able to succeed in his mission by defeating Rice Plate Reddy. ===== Fania Fénelon, a French Jewish singer-pianist, is sent with other prisoners to the Auschwitz concentration camp in a crowded train during World War II. After having their belongings and clothes taken and their heads shaved, the prisoners are processed and enter the camp. Fénelon is recognized as being a famous musician and she finds that she will be able to avoid hard manual labor and survive longer by becoming a member of the prison's female orchestra, the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz. In the process, she strikes up a close relationship with Alma Rosé, the musical group's leader, as well as the other members of the band. Realizing that the musicians get better treatment than other prisoners, Fania convinces the guards and members of the orchestra that another prisoner she had befriended, Marianne, is actually a talented singer. Although Marianne performs poorly at her audition, she is allowed to join the orchestra. Playing for the Nazis, however, robs the women of much of their dignity and most of them often questioned whether remaining alive was worth the abuse they constantly suffer. ===== The number 0 wants to climb up an apple tree, as he watches the numbers from 1 to 20 in counting order, then 30 to 90 by tens, and finally 99, climb it. But as they all come before him, there is no room for him, so 0 starts to cry. After all the numbers are in the apple tree, 0 hides behind the tree when several bumblebees come and say that it is their tree. While counting backwards, the bumblebees fly around them, causing all the numbers (except 10 who was hiding, but including 99 who immediately disappeared), to tumble out of the tree. Also while tumbling out, 11 gets bent up, 8 gets a crack, and 6 gets twisted. The number 0 now knows where he would be in the apple tree. He goes to the top of the tree and joins with 10 to make the number 100, which scares all the bumblebees away, and all the other numbers come back out and cheer for the numbers 10 and 0. ===== The confessions of a sadomasochistic sexually obsessed patient disclosed as fantasies during Manhattan psychiatrist sessions begin to permeate the troubled doctor's subconscious as erotic dreams. This leads to a heated love affair. At the same time a series of shocking murders occur with evidence suggesting it is her new lover/patient. ===== The film begins with Jack Dobson, a homicide detective from Palm Beach, flat on his back with a bullet in his chest. It is then told in flashback form, leading up to the events that led him to this fate. Jack has been receiving threatening letters. He and his partner Steve Frayn conclude that the source must be a mob figure whom Jack is about to testify against in court. But another possibility is that someone could be causing trouble for Jack's brother, Michael, who is in an election campaign for public office. Women begin turning up dead with lipstick traces left by the killer. A woman Jack has begun seeing, Ellen Schofield, could be involved. But when Ellen sees Jack leave a restaurant with a woman who soon becomes a victim, suspicion is cast toward Jack himself as the killer. Jack eventually reveals that he was raped as a child by his former 1st grade teacher, Gloria Wurtz. While speaking with Michael, Steve learns that it was by his own mother who raped Jack. Steve decides to go forward with his own investigation but, in the process, winds up having sex with Ellen, much to his wife's (who he earlier celebrated his seventh wedding anniversary with) and Jack's (who now sees him as a traitor) dismay. After Ellen turns up dead, Jack decides to take Beth (Steve's wife) with him to a secluded getaway home, immediately following Steve confiding in Jack that he trusted him. After finding evidence that Jack is indeed the killer, Steve and Michael rush to the getaway home where Jack and Beth are. Jack is holding Beth and is seemingly about to strangle her when Steve yells at Jack to freeze. Jack pushes Beth aside and draws his gun, but is shot by Steve before he can get off a shot. Then, Jack (in narrative form) says "I guess you probably thought that I was some kind of hero when you first saw me laying there, at the beginning. Wrong. But the story wasn't over ...... not yet." Eventually, Michael is revealed to be the real killer. Jack's murder was faked, as he wanted to give Michael a false sense of security that he was dead, and responsible for the murdered women. Michael is set up to seemingly be alone with a woman in a hotel room. After he attempts to strangle the woman, Steve bursts into the room with his gun drawn, and tells Michael to freeze. It is then revealed that Jack is not dead, much to Michael's shock. Jack tells Steven and the woman to leave the room, so that he can talk to his brother alone. As they are embracing, Michael manages to take Jack's gun. Michael then commits suicide by shooting himself in the temple. The movie concludes with Steve asking Jack if he's ready (after his brother's funeral), to which Jack replies, "I will be." ===== In the film, three Jewish children fleeing the Nazis take refuge in a French convent. The children attend a boarding school run by a Catholic nun, Sister Gabrielle (Loretta Swit). The children arrive while the school is putting on a Nativity pageant, and in a quick act of thinking, Sister Gabrielle pretends the three children are her students. The Jewish children remain in the school for some time while the Nazis that are patrolling the area, led by an SS Major (Robert Joy), hunt for them in the forests surrounding the convent. Sister Gabrielle takes great lengths to keep the children's identities a secret, but the major is suspicious and continues to believe that they are likely hiding in the school. Meanwhile, the three children have to cope with negative attitudes towards Jews from Catholic students at the boarding school. The Jewish students are able to gradually win over their classmates by teaching them about Judaism. Eventually, the entire school helps in the escape by dressing the Jewish and Catholic children in each other's clothing during a school play. This stunt confuses and distracts the Nazi pursuers, who focus on the wrong children while the real Jewish children flee towards the border and escape into Spain. ===== Paulino Córdoba, Gabino Roura, Rodolfo Huerta, and Matías Quiroga have been friends since their childhood. As adults, their priorities change and a sin threatens to destroy their friendship. Paulino is the owner of the hacienda El Milagro, which produces and distributes apples, and is married to Rosario, with whom he has two children, Lucrecia and César. Rosario has always shown preference for her son and openly rejects her daughter. Rosario's servant, Delfina (Magda Karina), essentially raises Lucrecia alongside her own son, Manuel, and they become like siblings. Lucrecia's best friend is Julián Huerta; they both share the same likes and eventually, as the years pass, come to also share a great love. Gabino Roura is a clever and ambitious man who kills his wife, Inés, in order to seize her fortune. Gabino manipulates his friends and his children, Carmelo and Teresa. He is the owner of the best farming lands, which he rents out to Paulino in order to control the distribution and marketing of the apples. Rodolfo Huerta is the teacher in the town of San Pedro; he is an upstanding and hard-working man who is married to Justina, a sensual woman who is dissatisfied with her husband's simple lifestyle, and they have two sons, Julián and Josué. It is Justina Almada who detonates the serious conflicts that threaten to destroy the friendship between Rodolfo, Paulino, and Gabino. Matías Quiroga, the priest of the town of San Pedro, sees with a heavy heart that his friends are now enemies and are the principal obstacle for Lucrecia and Julián's love. Unfortunately, Lucrecia and Julián are involved in an accident that costs César his life, and although they are both innocent, Rosario believes them to be responsible. Depression seizes Rosario, who always merely tolerated her daughter's presence. Her resentment forces Paulino to send their daughter away and to distance himself from Rodolfo Huerta's family. As a result of his infamy, Julián is tormented by the denizens of San Pedro, who nickname him El Chamuco (Mexican slang for "the Devil"), the pain of which he must carry for the rest of his life. Years later, Julián and Lucrecia come across one another, when Lucrecia returns from school, and their love flourishes once more. Although their parents are in opposition, Julián and Lucrecia are prepared to fight for their love, and they count on the support of Delfina, her husband Modesto, and Manuel, who in spite of his love for Lucrecia helps her to be happy with Julián. Lucrecia does not return to San Pedro alone, but accompanied by her cousin, Renata, an envious girl who is prepared to seize everything that is Lucrecia's. In San Pedro, Paulino suffers an economic crisis and Gabino demands Lucrecia's hand in marriage, but the very jealous Carmelo steps in and kills his father. Julián is unjustly accused of this crime and Lucrecia is forced to marry Carmelo in order to prevent her father's financial ruin and to save Julián from jail. Julián leaves San Pedro to Veracruz, convinced that Lucrecia betrayed him. Three years later, Lucrecia lives drowning in sorrow as Carmelo's wife; furthermore, she has lost her land due to Carmelo's ineptitude. In San Pedro, the townspeople talk of the arrival of an outsider who has bought Los Alamos. Lucrecia discovers that this outsider is none other than Julián Huerta, who is now engaged to his ex- girlfriend, Lorena Mendizábal. Carmelo finds out that Julián has returned and a war unleashes between the two for Lucrecia's love. Julián plans on leaving Lorena, but she lies to him that she is pregnant with his child. Meanwhile, Lucrecia gives Carmelo divorce papers, and he responds by ripping up the papers and raping Lucrecia. When Lorena finally accepts the fact that Julián does not love her anymore, she wants to take revenge by killing them both. One day, while Lucrecia and Julián are in the fields, Lorena tries to run them over, but fails, crashes against a truck, and goes flying out the windshield; consequently, ending up with a disfigured face. Carmelo, furious that a judge has approved of Lucrecia's request for divorce, takes revenge by burning down the warehouse full of apples that Paulino owns; Paulino is accidentally trapped in the warehouse and dies from smoke inhalation. At his funeral, Lucrecia faints and discovers that she is pregnant but does not know who the father is. Rosario finds out that Lucrecia was raped and for once takes Lucrecia's side; however, when she finds out her daughter is pregnant, she urges her to have an abortion. Carmelo, on the run from the police, kidnaps Lucrecia; later on, Julián saves her. Throughout Lucrecia's rescue, Renata is accidentally shot and dies on the way to the hospital. After returning home, Lucrecia confronts her mother about the hatred Rosario has always shown towards her. Rosario finally admits her secret: Lucrecia is not only Rosario's daughter, but she is also her sister, because Rosario was raped by her father and became pregnant with Lucrecia as a result. Finally, Lucrecia and Julián are married. Rosario does not attend her daughter's wedding but watches from afar with tears in her eyes. Months later, Lucrecia gives birth to a son whom she names César, in memory of her brother. Lucrecia leaves Rosario with César so that they can spend some time getting to know one another. After Lucrecia returns to the room, she sees her mother and son have fled; she assumes the worst. They soon discover Rosario has left the baby on the bed in Lucrecia's brother's room, and goes to the river where her son died and drowns herself. Three years later, Lucrecia stands by the river and throws two white roses into the river: one for her brother and one for her mother. Although saddened by the loss of her family, she is joined at the river by her husband and son, whose strong blue eyes reveal him to be Julián's child, and the three live happily ever after. ===== Abner Meecham, an aging Tennessee farmer discarded at a nursing facility by his lawyer son Paul, flees the old folks home and catches a ride back to his country farm to live out his days in peace. Upon his return, he discovers that Paul has leased the farm to an old enemy and his family. Not one to suffer fools or go down easy, Abner moves into the old tenant shack on the property and declares that he will not leave until the farm is returned to his possession. But Lonzo Choat, the new tenant, has no intention to move out or give in to the demands of the old man. Abner catches Lonzo beating his daughter with a garden hose after she was caught returning from dating a forbidden boy, and Abner scares Lonzo off by shooting a pistol in Lonzo's direction. The next day Abner has Lonzo picked up by the police, and Lonzo's wife Ludie is upset that she has to pay for bail, which they cannot afford. When the Choats come back from town, Lonzo is visibly upset, and kills Abner's dog Nipper and hangs him from the porch of the tenant shack. Abner disappears for two days, and the Choats suspect he has finally given up. Instead, he returns with Nipper's stuffed corpse, and sets him on the front porch and tells it to stand guard. Abner and Lonzo get into an arguing match in which Lonzo threatens to burn the shack down with Abner inside. The argument culminates with Abner pointing a pistol at Lonzo, but Lonzo easily disarms Abner. The police are summoned the next day, and Abner is forced to move out, partially by Paul, who believes he has lost his mind. Abner admits defeat and says he'll move out by the next morning. Instead he tells his neighbor that Lonzo has threatened to kill him by burning the shack. Abner, haunted by recurring dreams of his long-dead wife, then sets the shack ablaze, but stumbles while trying to exit, and he is rescued by Lonzo. When Abner awakes, he is in the hospital with Paul by his side. He accepts that he will move into a retirement community, but insists that he will plant corn in his small garden there, instead of tomatoes as his son suggested. In the final scene Abner visits his house one more time; the house has been vacated by the Choats. ===== The movie deals with Bhadra (Sriimurali) living in a slum, His group has rivalry with another group headed by Vijay (Vijay Raghavendra), a middle class guy, they both love a city girl (Raai Laxmi), their rivalry intensifies with the girl choosing Bhadra over Vijay. How things get on from there is the story. ===== During World War II, after the Soviet invasion of Poland, young Polish army officer Janusz Wieszczek (Jim Sturgess) is held as a POW and interrogated by the NKVD. The Soviets, unable to get him to admit that he is a spy, take his wife into custody; from her they extort a statement condemning him. He is sentenced to 20 years in a Gulag labour camp deep in Siberia. There he meets those with whom he later plans an escape: Mr. Smith (Ed Harris), an American engineer; Khabarov (Mark Strong), an actor; Valka (Colin Farrell), a hardened Russian criminal; Tomasz (Alexandru Potocean), a Polish artist; Voss (Gustaf Skarsgård), a Latvian priest; Kazik (Sebastian Urzendowsky), a Pole suffering from night blindness; and Zoran (Dragoș Bucur), a Yugoslav accountant. Khabarov secretly tells Janusz that he is planning to escape south to Mongolia, passing Lake Baikal. Smith cautions Janusz that it is Khabarov's way to discuss escape plans with newcomers, to maintain his morale, but nothing will come of it. At times Janusz seems to hallucinate the front door of a country home and adjoining window ledge, which holds plants and a rock he attempts to reach for. Janusz follows through with the escape with Smith, Valka, Voss, Tomasz, Zoran and Kazik during a severe snowstorm that covers their tracks. Kazik freezes to death the second night of the trek, after losing his way back to the campsite while looking for wood, and the group buries him. After many days of travelling across the snows of Siberia, the group reaches Lake Baikal. There they meet Irena (Saoirse Ronan), a young Polish girl, who tells them that Russian soldiers murdered her parents and sent her to a collective farm near Warsaw, where they treated her cruelly, so she escaped. Smith realises the inaccuracies in her story, as Warsaw is occupied by the Germans; nevertheless, despite his misgivings that she'll slow them down and tax their meager food supply, he agrees with the group to let her in. Smith eventually cautions her about the lie and says he will not tolerate any more, in response to which she admits that her parents were communists but the communist rulers killed them anyway and sent her to an orphanage. When the group reaches an unpatrolled border between the Soviet Union and Mongolia, Valka, who idolizes Joseph Stalin and does not know what he would do elsewhere, decides to stay. The rest continue to Ulaanbaatar, but soon they see images of Stalin, Khorloogiin Choibalsan and a red star. Janusz realises that Mongolia is under communist control and since China is at war with Japan, tells the group they should take refuge in British India. As they continue south across the Gobi Desert, lack of water, sandstorms, sunburn, blisters and sunstroke weaken the group. Irena collapses several times and soon dies. A few days later Tomasz collapses and dies. Smith is on the verge of death, but after being motivated by Janusz, Zoran and Voss, decides to rejoin the group and the severely dehydrated four find a much-needed water source. Soon after, they reach China by passing through the Great Wall. As they reach the Himalayas, all of them on the verge of death, they are rescued by a Tibetan monk who takes them to a Buddhist monastery where they regain their strength. Smith decides to go to Lhasa with the help of one of the monk's contacts, who will smuggle him out through China. Once there, he anticipates he will be able to connect with the US military, his return to America ensured. The remaining three continue to trek through the Himalayas and soon reach Sikkim (India, previously Nepal) and get assistance from villagers. The Indian government helps them reach their home peacefully. At the end of the film, Janusz keeps walking around the world until 1989, when the communist regime in Poland is ousted from power. The final scene of the film shows Janusz, 50 years after being taken captive, again envisioning the door and reaching for the rock; this time he takes a key hidden beneath the rock to open the door and reconcile with his wife. ===== American lawyer Henry Strauss (Robards) is preparing to return to Germany for the first time since he left in 1933 following Adolf Hitler's rise to power. He is seeking to renew an "enchanting friendship" of his youth with aristocrat Konradin Von Lohenburg (West). Strauss was the son of a Jewish doctor and the friends did not see that around them the rise of Nazism would lead to their separation. Their travels together and philosophical discussions against the elegant background of 1930s Stuttgart form the main part of the film, told in flashback. The older Henry's search for his childhood friend leads to a startling revelation as he discovers what became of Konradin after Hitler took power. ===== A photographer named Corrado (Mastroianni) snaps a picture of Antonietta (Loren). When it shows up on the front page of a magazine, she wants to take him to court over it. He then tries to convince her that he can connect her up with powerful men and introduces her to Count Gregorio Sennetti (Boyer), who can make her a movie star, but things do not turn out well when the count's wife shows up. ===== Visa Vuorio (Tobias Zilliacus), a 35-year-old team leader at the Helsinki city gardening department, is suffering from a terminal neurological disease and only has a few months to live. Because of this, he is a member of a therapeutical support group for people suffering from terminal diseases. Visa's life changes when a young female reporter, Hanna Manninen (Helena Vierikko), arrives at the support group offering to write a series of articles about Visa's life story. While visiting the doctor, Visa hears there's been a mix-up of samples, and he is in fact perfectly healthy. However, he does not want to tell this to either Hanna or his girlfriend Riia (Susanna Mikkonen), as he wants to avoid shocking them, and doesn't want to lose the experience of having an article series written about him. He only confides in his best friend Harri (Jarkko Pajunen), who unknown to him is in love with Riia. Visa and Hanna travel to Copenhagen together, and they fall in love with each other there, but don't dare to confess it to each other yet. Back in Helsinki, the support group organises a great party, where Visa is invited as a speaker. On stage, he admits being perfectly healthy and confesses his love to Hanna. However, Hanna is shocked by this, and turns him down. Instead, Hanna's ex-boyfriend Ilkka seeks a new relationship with her, and proposes to her in a restaurant in Porvoo. Visa takes desperate measures to stop this, but at the restaurant door, he realises he is in fact sick after all, and passes out on the street. Visa is taken to a hospital in Helsinki, but he takes the first chance to escape and crash Hanna's and Ilkka's wedding to admit to being sick after all and confess his love to Hanna. He kisses Hanna, and almost immediately, falls dead on the ground. ===== In a quiet New England town, the body of shy teenager Jason Green washes up on the shore, and the police soon claim that the death was a suicide induced by steroid addiction. However, Terry Novak, a fifteen-year-old aspiring boxer, is not so sure, especially considering that Jason was an artistic person who had no interest in sports, and thus was not the type to be taking such drugs. Assisted by his friend Abby, he begins an investigation of his own, and soon learns that asking too many questions can lead him into serious danger. ===== TV personality Carrie Madison goes to visit crackpot scientist Dr. Hartmann who has invented a teleporter to another dimension. On the way she gets into a car accident with electrician Dan Roebuck, mainly caused by earthquake tremors, which effectively destroys Dan's pickup, and they argue. While demonstrating his machine to Carrie, Hartmann disappears. Dan comes to the house looking for help; while he and Carrie examine the machine they, too, disappear. Carrie finds herself alone in what appears to be a prehistoric world in a parallel universe, called Vonya, where time runs differently. Unable to find the Doctor, Dan and Carrie must figure out a way to get back home. Before they can do that, however, they must deal with tribes of savage cavemen, as well as a brutal warlord named Kleel who has taken a liking to Carrie and seems to be unusually well-supplied with Earth technology... ===== Monsieur Chargon comes to Eaton Place with his daughter (Madame Chargon) and his daughter in law (Madame Huguot). They are refugees of the War in Belgium and they tell the story of death and terror. Monsieur Chargon (Cyril Cross) is the father of Madame Chargon and the grandfather of the little boy Jean-Paul (Ian Hoare) and the little girl Celestine (Lisa Moss). His wife went missing and was never found. His son and grandson were killed in the fighting at the hands of the invading Germans and his little granddaughter died . Madame Chargon (Karen Glaser) is the daughter of the old man Monsieur Chargon. Her husband was executed by the Germans. She came together with her little son Jean-Paul (Ian Hoare) and her little daughter Celestine (Lisa Moss). Madame Huguot (Elma Soiron) is the wife of the old man's son. She lost her husband and son (only 16 years old) in the fighting and her little daughter in her arms was killed in bombing. Only the daughter's doll remained.A Patriotic Offering www.imdb.comA Patriotic Offering - updown.org.uk =====