From Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ===== Typhoon is a classic sea yarn, possibly based upon Conrad's actual experience of seaman's life, and probably on a real incident aboard of the steamer John P. Best (according to the book by Jerry Allen on the "Sea years of Joseph Conrad", first published in 1965). The author of the mentioned book - an American journalist - did not reveal in her book any further details. Joseph Conrad himself described it as a "recent and much-discussed incident" (Author's note to the novella). The "Typhoon" describes how Captain MacWhirr sails the SS Nan-Shan, a British- built steamer running under the Siamese flag, into a typhoon—a mature tropical cyclone of the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean. Other characters include the young Jukes - most probably an alter ego of Conrad from the time he had sailed under captain John McWhirr - and Solomon Rout, the chief engineer. The novella classically evokes the seafaring life at the turn of the century. While Macwhirr, who, according to Conrad, "never walked on this Earth" - is emotionally estranged from his family and crew, and though he refuses to consider an alternative course to skirt the typhoon, his indomitable will in the face of a superior natural force elicits grudging admiration. ===== Link Jones (Gary Cooper) rides into Crosscut, Texas to have a bite to eat, then catch a train to Fort Worth, where he intends to use the savings of his community of Good Hope to hire a schoolteacher. On the train platform, Sam Beasley (Arthur O'Connell) speaks with Link briefly, rousing the suspicions of the town marshal, Sam being a known gambler and con man. When the marshal comments that Link looks familiar, Link gives him a false name Henry Wright. Aboard the train, Sam joins Link, learns of his mission in Fort Worth and claims he can be of help. Sam introduces him to the Crosscut saloon singer, Billie Ellis (Julie London), insisting she could make an ideal teacher. Their conversation is overheard by Alcutt, a shady-looking passenger. When the train stops to pick up wood for additional fuel, male passengers help load the train but Alcutt remains on board, feigning sleep. From a window, he signals three horsemen, Coaley Tobin (Jack Lord), Trout (Royal Dano) and Ponch (Robert J. Wilke), who attempt to rob the train. The armed guard on the train thwarts the attempt. Link tries to intervene and is knocked unconscious. The train pulls away, with Alcutt riding off with Link's bag containing Good Hope's money. Alcutt is wounded as he and the three other robbers flee. Link revives to discover that he, Sam and Billie have been left behind, many miles from the nearest town. Link leads them on foot to a ramshackle farm, admitting that he lived there years earlier. Link sends the others to wait in the barn, given Billie his coat to wear. Link enters the run-down house and finds the train robbers hiding inside. Coaley is suspicious of Link's claim that he simply wants to rest for the night. They are interrupted by aging outlaw Dock Tobin (Lee J. Cobb), who is startled to see Link, his nephew, whom he raised to be a killer and a thief. More than a dozen years earlier, in order to go straight, Link abandoned Tobin and the old man laments that nothing has been the same since. He introduces Link to the others, including Link's cousin, Coaley. Disturbed by the revelation of Link's true identity, Coaley demonstrates his toughness by shooting Alcutt, who is near death from his wound. Realizing the danger of his situation, Link brings Sam and Billie in from the barn and lies to Tobin, telling him that Billie is his woman and also that he purposely set out to find Dock after being left behind by the train. Tobin reveals his long-held ambition to rob the bank in the town of Lassoo and asserts that Link's return to the gang makes that possible and will breathe new life into them all. In order to protect the lives of his companions, Link agrees to participate in the holdup. After Link and Sam are sent outside to dig a grave and bury Alcutt, an increasingly drunken Coaley decides to force Billie to strip. Her cries alert Link and, when he returns to the cabin, Coaley holds a knife to his throat while continuing to demand Billie remove her clothes. When she is nearly undressed, Tobin steps in and ends the situation. He tells everyone to go to sleep and sends Link and Billie to sleep in the barn. Claude Tobin (John Dehner), another cousin, arrives the next morning and is displeased at finding Link there. Tobin rejects the suggestion of Claude and Coaley that it would be best to kill Link and the others. They all depart on the four-day trip to Lassoo in three wagons and two on horseback. When they make camp on the trail, Link seeks revenge for the brutal treatment of Billie at the ranch and goads the brutal Coaley into a fistfight. Link beats his cousin severely, then forcibly strips him of his clothes. Deeply humiliated, Coaley attempts to shoot the unarmed Link, but Sam interferes and is shot instead. Tobin then shoots Coaley for disobeying him. During the trip, Billie bemoans the fact that Link is a man worth loving but that she cannot have him. He says he has a wife and two children in Good Hope. Gary Cooper With the town of Lassoo in sight, Link volunteers to go in and do the holdup job, secretly hoping that in town he can seek help. Tobin insists that he be accompanied by the mute Trout. It turns out that Lassoo is a ghost town, its bank deserted except for a frightened Mexican woman who has the two at gunpoint when Trout coldly shoots her. Link uses the woman’s gun to kill Trout. He then awaits the arrival of Claude and Ponch. In a drawn-out gun battle, Link kills Ponch first, then eventually and with some regret - because as children the two of them had been fairly close - Claude. Returning to camp, Link discovers to his horror that Billie has been raped and beaten. He goes in search of Tobin, who is on a cliff nearby. Link calls out to his uncle that he, like Lassoo, is a ghost and is finished. Tobin is ranting and starts firing his gun and Link finally shoots Tobin and reclaims the bag of Good Hope's money. Riding back to civilization, Billie tells Link she loves him but, knowing that he intends to return to his home and his family, she is resigned to the fact that she must resume her singing career and proceed alone. ===== A confirmed bachelor, after spoiling his would-be and half-hearted proposal to his girlfriend of three years (whereupon she leaves the country on assignment for work), discovers that his eccentric grandfather has died and left him the family business under the conditions that he be married by 6:05 p.m. on his 30th birthday (which, unfortunately for the bachelor, is the very next day), that he not be apart from his bride for more than a week at a time over the next 10 years of their marriage, and that they must attempt to produce a child sometime during the first five years of their marriage, leading to the bachelor, his friends, his grandfather's friends, and a priest to scramble over the next few hours in search of a bride. If Jimmy fails, business competitor Oden Sports will buy the company. Shannon Billiards would not last a week. Meanwhile, Anne has second thoughts and returns to her apartment, which she shares with her sister Natalie (Marley Shelton). Natalie talks Anne into going home to go visit their parents in Napa for the night. A desperate Jimmie opens a shoebox full of photos of old girlfriends, and begins to track them down. First he sees Stacey (Rebecca Cross), an oil futures trader, who turns out to be engaged. Second is Zoe (Stacy Edwards), a clingy window dresser. Jimmie goes to see her, but just after promising he'd never leave her for another woman, he runs off after a woman in the street whom he incorrectly thinks is Anne. He returns to find Zoe has set a mannequin on fire in effigy of him. He strikes out with a melodramatic opera singer (Mariah Carey) and a tough-as-nails cop (Jennifer Esposito). Soon his list is depleted, but his last choice accepts— brittle, chain-smoking socialite Buckley (Brooke Shields), who detests Jimmie but wants his money to prop up her family's waning fortune. As the priest tries to conduct the ceremony, she gradually learns the other conditions of the will: she and Jimmie must have children within five years, spend no more than one night apart per month, and stay married for at least ten years. Horrified, she drives away. Anne misses Jimmie and heads back to the city. Trying to locate him, she calls Marco to arrange dinner with Jimmie. Desperate, Marco had earlier placed an ad for a bride in the newspaper. He figures a few women will show up at the appointed time and church for the offer. As everyone scrambles to help Jimmie save the family business, Jimmie realizes the "effect" of marriage, as the kindly priest reveals how he took on the priesthood after his beloved wife died, and that he was proud to be married and produce a wonderful family in the process. Realizing that he truly loves Anne and is ready to 'take the plunge', Jimmie, after being up all night, rests in the church where Marco had promised to deliver a bride. He awakens to find hundreds of women dressed as brides waiting for him. After trying to settle the women down, Marco lies and says it was all a prank. This angers them, and they try to rip the two men to shreds. Marco reveals that Anne is on her way back, so Jimmie flees to the train station, ordering a cake on the way. He makes it there after escaping the would-be brides. He finds Anne in the train, but she has discovered a newspaper with its front page asking, "Would you marry this man for $100 million?" with Jimmie's picture beside. She is upset, but he professes his love for her and they reconcile. Natalie finds a discarded wedding dress in the station, and Anne puts it on in the bathroom. She opens the door to see hundreds of would-be brides run past, chasing Jimmie. Jimmie flees. He eventually climbs up a flight on a fire escape ladder and shouts for Anne, as the would-be brides gather en masse below. The priest begins to conducts the ceremony over a loudspeaker from inside a police car, causing many 'brides' to attack the car, and chaos ensues. Anne, in the crowd, makes her way through and up to Jimmie. Natalie yells at everybody to "Shut up!". Anne convinces the other women to be happy and let it be her day. The priest finishes the ceremony by pronouncing them husband and wife, to cheers from all, and Jimmie and Anne kiss. They made it just in time before the deadline of 6:05 p.m. to inherit a 100 million dollars. She then tosses her bouquet into the teeming crowd below. ===== In 1918 in France during the last months of the First World War, four infantrymen - the Bavarian (Fritz Kampers), a young man known as 'the student' (Hans-Joachim Moebis), Karl (Gustav Diessl), and the lieutenant (Claus Clausen) - spend a few rest-days behind the front. The student falls in love with a French peasant girl, Yvette (Jackie Monnier). Back at the front, the four suffer again the everyday hardships of war: dirt, trenches and danger of death. The Bavarian, Karl and the lieutenant become trapped when part of the trench collapses and the Student digs them out. Later they are mistakenly fired upon by their own artillery due to a misjudgement of distance and are again saved by the Student, who as a messenger risks his life to relay instructions to the soldiers setting the firing range of the artillery. Karl receives leave, returning to his starving home town and promptly catches his wife in bed with a butcher. Embittered and unreconciled, he returns to the front. In his absence, the student is stabbed in a melee; his body lying in the mud of a shell-hole, only one hand sticking out. An offensive by the Allies begins, supported by tanks, and a mass of French infantry breaks through the thin German lines. During the defensive battle against the French, Karl and the Bavarian are seriously wounded, covering the remaining members of the group. The lieutenant has a nervous breakdown and falls into insanity. Shouting "Hurrah" non-stop, he salutes a pile of corpses. He is admitted to the field hospital together with Karl and the Bavarian. While the lieutenant is being carried though the hospital, many injured soldiers can be seen. In a fever, Karl sees his wife again and dies with the words "We are all to blame!". He is covered up, but his hand is hanging out the side. A wounded Frenchman lying beside him takes the hand in his and says "comrades, not enemies". The final message "End" is displayed with a question mark. ===== In Mid-17th century France, a young Louis XIV struggles for his throne, beggars and thieves haunt Paris and brigands roam the countryside. The fifth child of an impoverished country nobleman, Angélique de Sancé de Monteloup grows up in the Poitou marshlands. Her logical destiny would be to marry a poor country nobleman, have children and spend her life fighting for a meager subsistence. Destiny has other plans in store for her. At 17, on returning from her education in a convent, she finds herself betrothed to the rich count, Joffrey de Peyrac (Joffrey Comte de Peyrac de Morens d'Irristru, Lord of Toulouse and Aquitaine), 12 years her senior - lame, scarred and reputed to be a wizard. For the sake of her family, Angélique reluctantly agrees to the match but refuses the advances of her husband. Peyrac respects her decision and does not pursue his claim to conjugal rights, wishing to seduce her rather than use force. With the passing of months, Angelique discovers the talents and virtues of her remarkable husband - scientist, musician, philosopher - and to her surprise falls passionately in love with him. But Peyrac's unusual way of life is threatened by the ambitions of the Archbishop of Toulouse, and soon arouses the jealousy of King Louis XIV, who disliked nobles who were independent of the monarchy and tried to block them from developing power in their own regions by keeping them occupied at Versailles for most of the year. Louis, anxious about Joffrey's growing influence and fearful that he will start another Fronde and overthrow the monarchy, has Joffrey arrested and charged with sorcery. Angélique tries to single-handedly take on the might of the royal court. She survives several murder attempts and overcomes insurmountable odds in an effort to save Joffrey from being burned at the stake, but to no avail. Alone and desperate, Angélique plunges into the darkness of the Paris underworld, intent on revenge and fueled by her determination to survive. Angélique realizes that her underworld existence is unfair to her sons, who belong to one of the greatest noble families in France. She works to regain her family's rightful inheritance that had been stolen from them by the monarchy. She blackmails her cousin Philippe du Plessis de Bellière, a favourite Marshal of the king, into marriage. ===== The story centers around four gay friends who have recently graduated from San Torum High School. Andy (Michael Carbonaro) is an awkward, sex-crazed character who frequently masturbates with his mother's fruits and vegetables. Jarod (Jonathan Chase) is a handsome and fit jock who is quite insecure. Griff (Mitch Morris) is a nerdy, well-dressed guy who is secretly in love with Jarod. Nico (Jonah Blechman) is the most flamboyant, outgoing, and effeminate of the group. The four of them decide to make a pact to have sex by the end of the summer. Each boy proceeds to pursue sex in different ways, with both tragic and comedic results. Nico tries to secure an online date with a man named Ryder (Matthew Rush), but ends up with the grandfather (George Marcy) of their lesbian friend Muffler. Jarod seeks out fellow jocks, including a baseball pitcher named Beau (James Getzlaff), while Griff tries to earn the affection of Angel (Darryl Stephens), a male stripper; Jarod and Griff leave these men to have sex with each other instead, because they are in love. Andy, having failed to seduce his long-time crush, his math teacher, Mr. Puckov (Graham Norton), has a threesome with the rejected Beau and Angel. Much of the humor comes from how awkward each boy is at romance and how naive they are about sex. Each plot backfires horribly, until the boys finally begin to change their attitudes towards sex at the end of the film. ===== A garbage can spaceship is seen flying near Earth. The same garbage can is then shown inside an antique shop owned by Captain Manzini. A boy named Dodger is being assaulted by four older teenage bullies in a park. Juice, the leader, steals Dodger's money and drops him in a puddle. Dodger goes to Manzini's antique shop, where he works. Manzini takes Dodger's clothes and cleans them while warning him to stay away from the garbage can. Later, Dodger sees Tangerine, Juice's girlfriend, who seems to be the most compassionate member of the group towards Dodger, and he tries to persuade her to buy something from the shop. Dodger is attracted to Tangerine and covertly smells her hair while she is distracted. The other bullies enter the shop and attempt to rough up Dodger again, but he manages to outwit them. However, during the tussle, the garbage can is knocked over and a green ooze spills out. The bullies then bring Dodger into a sewer, handcuff him to a rail, and open a pipe, pouring sewage onto him. Dodger is then saved by little mysterious people named the Garbage Pail Kids. Manzini returns and is upset that the Garbage Pail Kids have been released from their can, but he introduces Dodger to each of them: Greaser Greg is a leather jacket greaser with a violent attitude; Messy Tessie is a girl with a constantly runny nose; Windy Winston is an insane boy who wears a Hawaiian shirt and often farts violently (on his card, he was depicted as a nervous musician); Valerie Vomit is a girl who throws up on command; Foul Phil is a whining hungry baby with halitosis who constantly asks characters if they are his "mommy" or "daddy"; Nat Nerd is an obese acne-riddled boy who dresses up like a superhero and wets his pants frequently; and Ali Gator, the group's leader, is an anthropomorphic half-person/half-alligator who has an appetite for human toes. Manzini explains that the kids are forbidden from going out in public, because they will be attacked by the "normies" (normal people), and that he can't get the kids to go back into the garbage can without magic. The next day, Dodger goes with Tangerine to a nightclub where she sells clothes she designed. Dodger behaves awkwardly when Tangerine removes her shirt to sell it. Dodger then hides when Juice shows up. Meanwhile, the Kids steal a Pepsi truck, flatten Juice's car with it, and then have a campfire in an alley with stolen food. The next morning, the Garbage Pail Kids recover from food-induced hangovers and give Dodger a jacket they sewed. The jacket impresses Tangerine, and she asks Dodger to get more clothes so she can sell them. The Kids make more clothes for Dodger after stealing a sewing machine and singing an annoying song about working together, but then get bored and decide to wear disguises and go out in public. They go to a theater playing Three Stooges shorts and behave obnoxiously. Ali and Winston go to a bar where they start a fight (which was caused by Ali eating someone's toes) with bikers, who are soon won over by the Kids' heroics, after which they celebrate with beers. Meanwhile, Tangerine sells the clothes and begins to prepare for a fashion show based on them. She meets the Kids and is repulsed by them, but realizes that she can take advantage of their designs. The night of the fashion show, Tangerine locks the Kids in the basement of the antique shop so that they don't escape, and soon they are captured by Juice and his gang who bring them to the State Home for the Ugly, a prison where people too ugly for society are brought and executed. People there include the "too fat" Santa Claus, the "too bald" Gandhi, the "too skinny" Abraham Lincoln, the "too wrinkly" old man, and the "too silly" clown. Manzini and Dodger help them escape and head to the fashion show. The Garbage Pail Kids trash the fashion show and rip the clothes off the models, while Dodger gets into a fight with Juice. Juice and his gang are later arrested and it is implied that they may now finally be locked away in prison for a good while. Later that night, Tangerine apologizes to Dodger and asks to be his friend, but Dodger doesn't accept her apology due to her greed. Captain Manzini tries to sing the Garbage Pail Kids' song backwards to coax them back into the garbage can, but the Kids sneak out and ride stolen ATVs away to cause more havoc. ===== The story involves a multinational oil company's attempts to gain oil rights in Vietnam by supporting an arms deal. ===== The novel is split into three parts. The novel begins with Michael K, a poor man with a cleft lip who has spent his childhood in institutions and works as a gardener in Cape Town. Michael tends to his mother who works as a domestic servant to a wealthy family. The country descends into civil war and martial law is imposed, and Michael's mother becomes very sick. Michael decides to quit his job and escape the city to return his mother to her birthplace, which she says was Prince Albert. Michael finds himself unable to obtain the proper permits for travel out of the city so he builds a shoddy rickshaw to carry his mother, and they go on their way. Soon after escaping, Michael's mother dies in a hospital. He lingers for some time, carrying his mother's ashes around with him in a box. Finally, Michael decides to continue on his journey to Prince Albert to deliver his mother's ashes. Along the way, though, he is detained for not having the required travel papers, thus being assigned to work detail on a railway track. After his job on the railway track is finished, Michael makes his way to the farm his mother spoke of on Prince Albert. The farm is abandoned and desolate. Soon, Michael discovers how to live off the land. However, when one of the relatives of the real owners of the farm arrives, he treats Michael like a servant. Michael dislikes this treatment so he escapes up into the mountains. In the mountains, Michael goes through a period of starvation while he becomes aware of his surroundings. In his malnourished state he finds his way down to a town where he is picked up by the police and is sent to work on a work camp. Here, Michael meets a man named Robert. Robert explains that the workers in the camp are exploited for cheap labor by the townspeople. Eventually, there is an attack on Prince Albert and the workers of the camp are blamed. The local police captain takes over and Michael escapes. Michael finds his way back to the farm but soon feels claustrophobic within the house. Therefore, he builds a shelter in the open where he is able to watch his garden. Rebels come out of the mountains and use his garden. Although Michael is angered by this he stays in hiding. Michael becomes malnourished and delirious again because he has not come out of hiding. He is found by some soldiers and is taken to a rehabilitation camp in Cape Town. It is here that Michael is identified as "CM," an abbreviation most likely signifying "colored male." At the rehabilitation camp, a doctor becomes interested in Michael. He finds Michael's simple nature extremely fascinating and finds him to be unfairly accused of aiding rebels. Michael becomes very sick and delirious because he refuses to eat. The doctor tries to understand Michael's stubborn ways while attempting to get Michael released. However, Michael escapes on his own. Upon his escape, Michael meets with a group of nomadic people who feed him and introduce him to a woman who has sex with him. He returns to the apartment where he and his mother lived in Cape Town, the same apartment and city he had tried to escape some time ago. Michael reflects on the garden he made in Prince Albert. Some commentators notice a connection between the character Michael K and the protagonist Josef K. in The Trial by Franz Kafka. The book also bears many references to Kafka, and it is believed, "K" is a tribute to Kafka. Comparisons have also been drawn between the novel and Heinrich von Kleist's novella Michael Kohlhaas, based upon the protagonist's name and similarities of plot, though it is often suggested that Coetzee's work is an antithetical response. ===== The residents living in the South Korean countryside around a U.S. military base are affected by its presence. These include an unstable, near psychotic American soldier (Mitch Malem) who survives on a diet of LSD and rage, Eun-ok, a girl with one defective eye, Jihum a lonesome boy and Chang-guk, who lives in an old abandoned U.S. Air Force bus with his mother. She has taught Chang- guk English in an attempt to prepare him for their new life in the United States, reunited with his father who she mails regularly, although the letters are always returned "address unknown". ===== At age 34, Army Air Force pilot Major Robert Lee Scott Jr. (Dennis Morgan) is considered too old to fly in combat, but he is recruited and volunteers to fly in a secret bombing mission from the Philippines against Tokyo, the Japanese capital. When the mission is cancelled after his arrival in India because of the fall of the Philippines, Scott is promoted to Colonel and assigned to fly transport aircraft. He flies dangerous, unescorted missions over The Hump from Burma to China in order to supply aviation gasoline and other much-needed supplies to the three squadrons of the American Volunteer Group, the Flying Tigers. Over time, Scott persuades General Claire Chennault (Raymond Massey), the commander of the Flying Tigers, to let him fly with his experienced airmen, like "Tex" Hill (John Ridgely), who have been fighting the Japanese as mercenaries while technically being members of the Chinese Air Force. Scott gets his chance to finally fly one of their Curtiss P-40B/C Tomahawks, engaging in aerial combat missions and becoming a double-ace while flying with the Tigers. On Independence Day, the 4th of July, during a surprise bombing and fighter raid on Japanese-occupied Hong Kong, Scott once again engages in combat with the infamous Japanese fighter ace nicknamed "Tokyo Joe" (Richard Loo). Although Scott's engine is hit and losing power, he suddenly drops his landing flaps, which quickly reduces his speed. "Joe" flies past and Scott sights him in his cross-hairs, firing at the Zero with his six machine-guns at very close range, setting "Joe"s fighter aflame. Scott says in triumph over his radio, "There's your six-feet of China, Joe, now go fill it up". The burning Zero fighter spins out of control and crashes, as Scott's damaged P-40 continues to smoke and lose altitude. When Scott doesn't return to base, and no further word of him is heard after several days, he is presumed killed in combat. As Chennault begins to write a letter to Scott's widow, he hears a growing commotion outside. A nighttime, torch-lit, gong-playing Chinese procession enters the Tigers' compound, carrying the injured Scott, who is bearing "Tokyo Joe"s Samurai sword. After a physical examination, despite Scott's assurances that he is fine, the doctor grounds him because of his age, combat fatigue, and recurring Malaria. He has to sit-out the largest air-raid against the Japanese ever planned in China. As Scott listens through an open window to the mission briefing, Chennault arrives at a command decision. He tells Scott that a new, larger P-40 fighter, with a more powerful engine and additional firepower, is his to fly for one final mission, a gift from "the old man". Elated, Scott goes to the plane, fires up the engine, and rapidly gets airborne. He quickly climbs skyward to join the squadrons of fighters and bombers formed-up and heading east toward certain victory. ===== The plot concerns a spiritual battle within Tokyo during the early 20th century. ===== The crew celebrates Freedom Day, a day where one can do anything they want, regardless of the consequences. Dr. Zoidberg seems passionate about the holiday, as he loves the idea of freedom, something he did not have on his home planet Decapod 10. At the big Freedom Day celebration in Washington, D.C., Earth President Richard Nixon's head unveils the Earth flag "Old Freebie" to celebrate the spirit of the holiday but the flag is eaten by Zoidberg. Zoidberg feels this is an expression of his freedom on Freedom Day; however, the rest of the crowd sees him as a traitor. Zoidberg is chased around town and takes cover in his planet's embassy. Zoidberg is put on trial and the crew hires lawyer Old Man Waterfall to represent him. Zoidberg is found guilty and sentenced to death when he refuses to apologize publicly. After Earth's army storms the Decapodian embassy to seize Zoidberg, the Decapodian ambassador to Earth summons the Decapodian military to retaliate. The Decapodian army easily defeats Earth's defense forces and Earth is enslaved by the crustacean extraterrestrials. Later, Fry, Leela, Bender, Zapp Brannigan, and Kif, deciding the time has come to fight back, steal a heat-seeking missile from a museum exhibit and launch it toward the Decopodians’ newly constructed Mobile Oppression Palace. However, the palace is "cold-blooded", like the Decapodians themselves, and the palace continues its destructive rampage. It eventually crushes Old Man Waterfall for standing in its way, whom Zoidberg respected for defending him when no one else would. Zoidberg then lights a flag on fire. This shocks and angers the other citizens, but Zoidberg explains that he does so in order to preserve the freedom that the flag represents and throws it toward the Mobile Oppression Palace, attracting the missile and thus destroying the palace. Zoidberg is declared a hero and is honored by Nixon at a ceremony, where he unveils a new Earth flag, out of which Zoidberg is allowed to take a bite. Zoidberg concludes that Earth, not Decapod 10, is now his true home planet. ===== The series follows the adventures of Gary Wallace (John Mallory Asher) and Wyatt Donnelly (Michael Manasseri), two socially inept high-school students in a fictional California town. Together, using Wyatt's computer, they try to create a computer simulation of a perfect woman in order to practice communicating with girls. However, a freak lightning storm brings her to life, creating Lisa (Vanessa Angel), a gorgeous genius with the powers of a "magic genie". In the pilot episode, Gary claims that creating Lisa is possible because he "saw it in a John Hughes movie", referring to the original Weird Science film. ===== The Perilous Gard takes place in England during the 1550s. The lead character, Kate Sutton, is a lady-in-waiting to Princess Elizabeth (the later Queen Elizabeth I of England). Her sister, Alicia, inadvertently gets her exiled to a castle named Elvenwood Hall, also known as the Perilous Gard, where she finds that the daughter of Sir Geoffrey Heron, the master of the hall, vanished under mysterious circumstances that implicate his brother, Christopher Heron. Kate soon discovers that, although the seeming death of little Cecily was an accident, Christopher is still so overwhelmed with grief that he has exiled himself from castle life. When Kate learns of the local villagers' fears that the "Fairy Folk" will kidnap their children, she guesses that Cecily might not be dead after all. She tells Christopher of her suspicions, and he, unbeknownst to Kate, comes up with a desperate plan to save Cecily. Meanwhile, Kate stumbles into the underground world of the Fairy Folk, who intend to use Christopher's desperation to their own advantage. The Fairy Folk are ruled by the Lady in Green, who believes that only a sacrifice can help her people hold their own against the advancing modern world. Kate detests the Lady in Green at first, but the two of them have much in common. Both are strong-willed, highly independent, and capable of enormous self- discipline. Kate's refusal to be drugged or manipulated in other ways soon gains her a measure of respect among the Fairy Folk. Little by little she gains knowledge of their underground kingdom, while her view of the Lady in Green gradually changes. Kate begins to understand and even to respect the Lady in Green. In the end, however, Kate chooses to leave the Fairy Folk in order to save Christopher, destroying the fairy kingdom in the process. Christopher then takes Cecily to London to live with his sister Jennifer. When Christopher returns he proposes to Kate, and she accepts. Kate is granted freedom when Queen Elizabeth I ascends the throne. ===== Set in 1870, Hardy plays Dr. Henry Tibbett, a Mississippi country doctor who is called on by a travelling circus trainer to cure his sick elephant. After the doctor heals the grateful beast, the elephant becomes so attached to him that it starts to follow him everywhere. This leads to the trainer suing Dr. Tibbett for alienation of affection. ===== Yun Jin-sung (Song Ji-hyo) and Kim So-hee (Park Han-byul) are best friends studying ballet at an all-girls art school. However, their friendship turns sour when they find themselves competing for a single spot in a Russian ballet school. Jin-sung learns from an odd student named Eom Hye-ju (Jo An) of an old legend that if a person climbs the twenty eight steps leading up to the school's dormitory and finds a twenty ninth, then a fox spirit will grant that person's wish. Curious, Jin-sung climbs the stairs and comes across the twenty ninth, happily wishing to gain the spot. To her surprise and anger, So-hee is selected instead. Jin-sung declares her hatred toward her and accidentally sends So-hee down a flight of stairs during a scuffle. So-hee is left unconsciousness and hospitalized. Jin-sung learns that So-hee is no longer able to study ballet due to her injuries from the fall. She tries to apologize, but receives no reply and leaves guilty. The next day, she learns that So-hee has committed suicide. As the fight between the two was witnessed by several others, Jin-sung is now looked down upon by the students, who believe that she intentionally pushed So-hee out of jealousy. Jin-sung's wish comes true and she gets the spot for the ballet school but her fellow students treat her coldly. Affected by So-hee's death, as she was the only one to treat her with kindness, Hye-ju attempts to keep So-hee's belongings for herself, but is ridiculed for it, mainly by Han Yun-ji. She climbs the steps and wishes for So-hee to come back. So-hee returns as a twisted spirit who possesses Hye- ju. The possessed Hye-ju confronts Yun-ji for bullying her and stabs her to death. Jin-Sung encounters Hye-ju, who tries to convince her that she is So- hee. The spirit of So-hee makes Hye-ju light a match, leaving the troubled girl to perish in flames. While Jin-sung is preparing to leave for the ballet school, she is haunted by So-hee. Unable to endure it, she tries to climb the stairs again in order to wish her away. Before she can reach the top, So-hee appears and holds her as Jin-sung confesses that she didn't hate her and simply wanted to be happy. Believing that Jin-sung does not love her as much she does, So-hee crushes Jin-sung's stomach with her arms, killing her, then vanishes. Some time later, a new girl moves into the dorm room that Jin-sung once occupied. A picture with Jin-sung and So-hee on it is seen on the floor. In the photo, So-hee's irises disappear, implying that she still remains. ===== An American reporter, Sara Scott (Turner) is working in London during the last year of the Second World War and begins an affair with a British reporter named Mark Trevor (Connery). Sara is conflicted on whether to marry her rich American boss (Sullivan) or the charming young reporter she is having an affair with. Finally, she chooses Mark, only to find that he is married and has a son back in his hometown. The two separate shortly thereafter, then decide to stay together and work out their problems. As the war in Europe is ending, Mark Trevor is killed in a plane crash, sending Sara into mourning. Her boss, after a few months, convinces her to catch a ship back to New York and work for him. However, before she goes, she goes to Trevor's very scenic seaside hometown in Cornwall and lives for a time with his young widow (Johns) and son as she works to fashion Trevor's war reporting into a book. She is conflicted about telling Mrs. Trevor the truth about her relationship with Trevor, but finally does so, causing Mrs. Trevor to emotionally break down and order Sara to leave. However, she makes amends with Sara at the station. ===== At the tail-end of World War II, Choi Bae-dal is a young Korean man who longs to be able to fly fighter planes. Stowing away to Japan in order to join their air force, Bae-dal's first experience of the country is when a con-man tries to steal his money. Bae-dal discovers that the man is a fellow Korean called Chun-bae (Jung Tae-woo), who has survived the harsh treatment of Koreans in Japan by turning to petty crime. With their different motives: Bae-dal driven by desire for action and Chun-bae needing to escape from some gangsters, the two Koreans stow away in a truck to the air force training camp. The commander in charge of the camp is a pompous imperialist called Kato (Masaya Kato). Having mistreated the two Koreans, he is amused by Bae-dal's fighting spirit and says that if Bae-dal can beat him with his inferior "foreign" fighting style (Taekkyon), he will release them. The two men fight with Kato easily defeating Bae-dal, but an American attack on the airforce base allows Bae-dal and Chun-bae to escape. Later, Bae-dal is found helping Chun-bae to run a pachinko stall in a Japanese market place. When local gangsters try to take protection money from Chun-bae, Bae-dal tries to defend him but is beaten up and humiliated by the gangsters. His ordeal is ended by the intervention of Bum-soo (Jung Doo-hong), a martial arts expert from his home town who had also emigrated to Japan. Bum-soo invites Bae-dal back to the circus where he, and many fellow Korean immigrants, work and where he is attempting to build a decent standard of living for his countrymen. After some persuasion, he agrees to teach Bae-dal some of his more sophisticated fighting style. Meanwhile, Bae-dal has taken to working as a rickshaw driver, honing his fighting skills by defending Japanese women from the rapacious advances of American servicemen. His success at protecting the women makes him something of a local hero, although his real identity is not known. One of the women he protects is the beautiful Yoko (Aya Hirayama), with whom he strikes up a romantic relationship. When Bum-soo is killed by local gangsters, the Koreans from the compound vow revenge and attack the Japanese gangs. The fight ends abruptly for Bae-dal when he is knocked unconscious by a blow to the head. Bae-dal, vowing to never again lose a fight, retreats to the mountains where, living in his karate gi, he trains day and night; running in the mountains, lifting tree trunks and using makeshift training equipment to harden his body and fighting spirit through austerity. Returning from the mountains, Bae-dal takes a Japanese name: Masutatsu Oyama, and sets about challenging the best fighters Japan has to offer. Wearing his ragged karate gi and looking like a cave-man with his unkempt appearance, Oyama challenges the first dojo he passes. He defeats every fighter in the dojo - often with only a single strike. As word of his notoriety spreads, Oyama's actions come to the attention of the head of the Japan Karate Association - the former Air Force camp commander Kato. Kato is hugely offended that a foreigner would not only try to learn Japanese martial arts, but would consider himself worthy to beat Japanese fighters. Nevertheless, Oyama continues to defeat every fighter that Japan has to offer, including competitors in karate, judo, ninjutsu, aikido, and kobudo, becoming a sensation in the Japanese media. Oyama explains to Yoko that, although he is scared of dying, he is more scared of living as a cripple, and this is why he is willing to sacrifice anything to win. When the organization sends one of his followers to challenge and kill Oyama, the agent is instead killed by Oyama. Learning that the man he killed had a wife and son, Oyama feels a great deal of guilt for his actions and tracks down the family to apologise and offer to work for them to make up for killing the father of the household. Oyama surrenders his uniform to the wife, vowing to never again fight in martial art duels. Although initially angry and unaccepting of Oyama's offer, after fulfilling the son's wish of being carried to the top of the nearby mountain to view the sunrise, he eventually convinces them that he is a man of honour and not a violent thug. The wife asks Oyama to take back his uniform and become the best fighter in Japan. Returning to the city, Oyama finds that Kato's martial arts association has threatened his own family (Kato is not involved) and demanded a challenge between Kato and Oyama. Dressing in his weathered gi once again, Oyama treks out to the countryside location where Kato is waiting for him. Easily defeating Kato's henchmen, Oyama then faces a final showdown with Kato himself. Although it is clear that Kato would like to see Oyama dead, Kato's ankle is broken after receiving a kick in the fight sequence. When Kato stands up, he falls to a one-knee-down position, Oyama shows mercy to Kato, by stopping 2 cm short of punching him squarely between the eyes, defeating him in combat but not killing him. At the end of the movie, Oyama is shown fighting with a bull, grasping the horns and digging into the ground to stop him, and finally delivering a bone-shattering chop to the center of the top of the head. ===== In 1899, Dr. Alexander Hartdegen is an inventor teaching at Columbia University in New York City. Unlike his friend David Philby, Alexander would rather do pure research than work in the world of business. After a mugger kills his fiancée, Emma, he devotes himself to building a time machine that will allow him to travel back in time to save her. When he completes the machine in 1903, he travels back to 1899 and prevents her murder, only to see her killed again when a horseless carriage frightens the horses of a horse-drawn vehicle. Alexander realizes that any attempt to save Emma will result in her death through other circumstances. Distraught, Alexander travels to 2030 to discover whether science has been able to solve his question of how to change the past. At the New York Public Library, a holographic sentient librarian called Vox 114 insists that time travel to the past is impossible and is the realm of fictional authors such as Isaac Asimov and H.G. Wells. Alexander looks up himself and learns that he was reported missing in 1903 and dismissed as a crackpot. Alexander travels to 2037, when the accidental destruction of the Moon by the lunar colonists' demolition team has begun rendering the Earth virtually uninhabitable. While restarting the time machine, he is knocked unconscious and travels to the year 802,701 before reawakening. When Alexander comes to, he learns that Earth has now healed and the human race has reverted to a primitive dystopianThe Time Machine Review. scifimoviezone.com (Unknown publish date). Retrieved on September 4, 2020. lifestyle. Some survivors, called "Eloi", live on the sides of cliffs of what was once Manhattan. Alexander is nursed back to health by a woman named Mara, one of the few Eloi who speak English. He observes the broken moon and suggests that maybe his teachings led to this future. One night, Alexander and Mara's young brother Kalen dream of a frightening, jagged-toothed face and a creature calling their name. Alexander informs Mara of the dream, and she tells him they all have that dream and notices that his watch is missing. The next day, the Eloi are attacked and Mara is dragged underground by ape-like monsters called "Morlocks" that hunt the Eloi for food. In order to rescue her, Kalen leads Alexander to Vox 114, which is still functional after 800,671 years. After learning from Vox how to find the Morlocks, Alexander enters their underground lair through an opening that resembles the face in his nightmare. He is captured and thrown into an area where Mara sits in a cage. Alexander meets the Über-Morlock, who explains that Morlocks are the descendants of the humans who went underground after the Moon broke apart, while the Eloi are descended from those who remained on the surface. The Über-Morlocks are a caste of telepaths who rule the other Morlocks. The Über-Morlock explains that Alexander cannot alter Emma's fate, because her death is what drove him to build the time machine in the first place: saving her would be a virtual impossibility due to temporal paradox. He then reveals that the Morlocks have brought the time machine underground, and tells Alexander to return home after he gives Alexander his watch and the answer of why he cannot change the past. Alexander gets into the machine, but pulls the Über-Morlock in with him, carrying them into the future as they fight. The Über-Morlock dies by rapidly aging when Alexander pushes him outside of the machine's temporal bubble. Alexander arrives at the year 635,427,810, revealing a harsh, rust-colored sky over a wasteland of Morlock caves. Accepting that he cannot save Emma, Alexander travels back to rescue Mara. After freeing her, he starts the time machine and jams its gears with his watch, creating a violent distortion in time. Pursued by the Morlocks, Alexander and Mara escape to the surface as the time distortion explodes, killing the Morlocks and destroying their caves along with the time machine. Alexander begins a new life with Mara and the Eloi, while Vox 114 becomes a teacher to the Eloi children. Back in 1903, Philby and Alexander's housekeeper Mrs. Watchit are in his laboratory discussing his absence. Philby tells Mrs. Watchit he is glad that Alexander has gone to a place where he can find peace, then tells her that he would like to hire her as a housekeeper, which she accepts until Alexander returns. Mrs. Watchit bids Alexander farewell and Philby leaves, looking toward the laboratory affectionately, then throws his bowler hat away in tribute to Alexander's distaste for conformity. ===== In the opening scene, Grendel briefly fights with a ram when frustrated with its stupidity. He then mockingly asks the sky why animals lack sense and dignity; the sky does not reply, adding to his frustration. Grendel then passes through his cave and encounters his mute mother before venturing out into the night where he attacks Hrothgar's mead hall, called "Hart" in Grendel. Later, Grendel reminisces about his early experiences in life, beginning with his childhood days of exploring the caves inhabited by him, his mother and other creatures with which he is unable to speak. One day, however, he arrives at a pool filled with firesnakes, which he enters. Upon exiting, he eventually becomes wedged and trapped in a tree. Helpless, he eventually falls asleep, only to wake surrounded by humans. Although Grendel can understand the humans, they cannot understand him and they become frightened, which leads to a fight between Grendel and the Danish warriors, including Hrothgar. Grendel is barely saved from death at the hands of the humans by the appearance of his mother. During Hrothgar's rise to prominence, a blind poet appears at the doors of Hart, whom Grendel calls "the Shaper". He tells the story of the ancient warrior Scyld Shefing, which enraptures and seduces Grendel. The monster reacts violently to the power the beautiful myth has on him and flees. Grendel continues to be enraptured by the tales. After seeing a corpse and two lovers juxtaposed, he drags the corpse to Hart, bursting into the hall and begging for mercy and peace. The thegns do not comprehend his actions and see this as an attack, driving him from the hall. While fleeing the men, he curses them, yet still returns later to hear the rest of the Shaper's songs, half enraptured and half enraged. When Grendel returns to his cave, he attempts and fails to communicate with his mother, thus leaving him with a sense of total loneliness. He becomes filled with despair and falls through the sea, finding himself in an enormous cave filled with riches and a dragon. The omniscient dragon reveals to Grendel that the power of the Shaper is simply the ability to make the logic of humans seem real, despite the fact his lore possesses no factual basis. The dragon and Grendel cannot agree about the dragon's statements that existence is a chain reaction of accidents, and Grendel exits the cave in a mixed state of confusion, anger, and denial. While listening to the Shaper, he is spotted by sentries, who try to fight him off again, but he discovers that the dragon has enchanted him, leaving him impervious to weapons. Realizing his power, he begins attacking Hart, viewing his attacks as a perpetual battle. Grendel is challenged by a thane named Unferth, to which he responds mockingly. Grendel awakens a few days later to realize that Unferth has followed him to his cave in an act of heroic desperation. He continues to mock Unferth until the Dane passes out from exhaustion, then takes him back to Hart to live out his days in frustrated mediocrity, stopping him from having a heroic death. In the second year of the war, Grendel notes that his raids have destroyed the esteem of Hrothgar, allowing a rival noble named Hygmod to gain power. Fearing deposition, Hrothgar assembles an army to attack Hygmod and his people, the Helmings. Instead of a fight, Hygmod offers his sister Wealtheow to Hrothgar as a wife after a series of negotiations. The beauty of Wealtheow moves Grendel as the Shaper had once before, keeping the monster from attacking Hart just as she prevents internal conflicts among the Danes. Eventually, Grendel decides to kill Wealtheow, since she threatens the ideas explained by the dragon. Upon capturing her, he realizes that killing and not killing are equally meaningless, and he retreats, knowing that by not killing Wealtheow, he has once again confounded the logic of humanity and religion. Later, Grendel watches as Hrothgar's nephew Hrothulf develops his understanding of the two classes in Danish society: thegns and peasants, then further explores them with a peasant named Red Horse, who teaches Hrothulf that government exists only for the protection of those in power. Grendel watches a religious ceremony and is approached by an old priest named Ork, who thinks that Grendel is their main deity, the Destroyer, and engages him in conversation. When three other priests approach and chastise Ork, Grendel flees, overwhelmed with a vague dread. Watching the Danes, Grendel hears a woman predict the coming of an illustrious thegn and then witnesses the death of the Shaper. Returning to his cave, his mother seems agitated. She manages to make one unusual unintelligible word, which Grendel discounts, and then goes to the Shaper's funeral. Later, in the cave, he wakes up with his mother still making word-like noises, and once again feels a terrible foreboding. Grendel reveals that fifteen travellers have come to Denmark from over the sea, almost as though the way was set before them. The visitors, who reveal themselves to be Geats ruled by Hygelac, have an uneasy relationship with the Danes. Upon their arrival, Grendel notices the firm nature of their leader, Beowulf, and the fact that his lips do not move in accordance with his words, and sees a great lust for violence in Beowulf's eyes, convincing Grendel he is insane. At nightfall, Grendel attacks. When he believes that all the men are asleep, he breaks into the hall and eats one man. Grabbing the wrist of another, he realizes that it is an alert Beowulf, and that he has grabbed his arm. They wrestle furiously, during which Beowulf appears to become a flaming, dragon-like figure and repeats many of the ideas that the dragon revealed to Grendel. The Geat slams Grendel into the walls of the hall, then rips off Grendel's arm, causing the monster to flee in pain and fear. Grendel proceeds to toss himself into an abyss (whether or not Grendel jumps is left up to the perception of the reader), and dies wondering if what he is feeling is joy, understanding what the dragon meant by the accident statement, and cursing existence. ===== The film opens up with an assassination attempt on the king of Joseon Dynasty at some sort of reception. The attempt is foiled by a special security squad, and specifically by its leader, Gyu-yup. A series of deaths of prominent politicians leads to a nighttime battle in which one member, a female, of what is apparently an assassin duo, is captured. Gyu-yup recognizes this female, and after her torture in prison (of which Gyu-yup is left in charge when she refuses to divulge any information), the film flashes back to Gyu-yup's past. Shortly after the Japanese invasions of Korea in the middle of the Joseon Dynasty, a military unit of elite soldiers (made up of students of the Clear Wind Shining Moon sword school) is created to ensure the peace and the security/safety of the country. In its center, the two best swordsmen, Ji-hwan and Gyu-yup, are also two inseparable friends. But a political coup d'etat plot (it is referred to as a "rebellion" in the film) forces Gyu-yup, threatened with the death of his entire unit of elite soldiers, to not only kill his fencing master, but also Ji-hwan, who is seeing the female assassin from the night battle, Shi-young (who was also a warrior at the time, and the daughter of the school's fencing master). Having had to behead his master, kill his best friend and his best friend's lover, and lead his troops against members of their own training school (as one character protests, "we have killed the brothers with whom we shed blood"), we are led to understand that Gyu-yup loses some part of himself. The film returns to the present, five years after the events in the flashback. Gyu-yup is known as a cold and cruel commander, nicknamed "the human butcher." The discovery of a sword during the night battle that carries the seal of Gyu-yup's old unit (such swords, with the exception of Gyu-yup's, were apparently destroyed and at least not in use by this time, so the only other person who could be wielding one is Ji-hwan) confirms the fact that Ji-hwan is back as well (and not dead as Gyu-yup had thought). The current king (the usurper general who, in Gyu-yup's flashback, is the commander who forces him to choose between the deaths of his men and leading his men against Ji-hwan, Shi-young, and the training master) himself becomes embroiled in what amount to attempts to cover up his tracks and betrays at least one of his foremost commanders by ordering his assassination. The king then plans an excursion aimed at drawing out Ji-hwan and Shi-young (who we are made to understand was allowed to be freed by Ji-hwan in disguise under Gyu-yup's watch) into the open where they are meant to be killed. The excursion (of which Ji-hwan and Shi-young become aware) takes place, and the king is almost killed by Ji-hwan, but he is momentarily distracted by the death of Shi-young at the hands of the king's elite bodyguard and troops. The king, stabbing Ji-hwan with a heretofore hidden dagger, pushes Ji-hwan away; and the king continues to look on as Ji-hwan battles more troops. Almost defeated, Gyu-yup, finally moved by compassion and his past relationship with Shi-young and Ji-hwan, comes to Ji-hwan's rescue. He pleads for his and Ji- hwan's freedom (Gyu-yup had promised his neck to the current king during the rebellion in order to save his own troops from execution, and the now-king took this to mean this promise was binding in perpetuity), and when that is met with silence, he and Ji-hwan engage the troops that have surrounded them. The movie ends by freezing the old friends, united in battle again, in action against the usurper king's troops. ===== A German Barque merchant ship is attempting to return to Germany from Brazil at the end of August 1944 via a crossing of the Atlantic which is full of enemy shipping and warships. With a crew of twenty-two men and five nuns as passengers, the boat makes its remarkable journey, but after being severely battered by a storm, is wrecked off the coast of Scotland on the Washington Reef in the Outer Hebrides. The conclusion may sound familiar to some as Higgins has obviously taken some ideas (especially the ones regarding the shipwreck) from an earlier novel he wrote called 'A Game For Heroes', in which German soldiers and British citizens try to rescue the crew of a ship that has foundered off the coast of the Jersey islands. Once again, the protagonists are enemies that come together to help each other in time of need. ===== ===== On Earth, the days are getting hotter and hotter. The crew, looking for an explanation, watch an old movie about global warming. The film explains a temporary solution for global warming was found by dropping a mountainous slab of ice into the ocean on a regular basis to cool it. The Planet Express crew is assigned the task of gathering a new slab of ice to drop in the ocean. The crew goes to Halley's Comet, but finds that it is out of ice. With no ice left, the world's top scientists are called to a conference in Kyoto, Japan. Ogden Wernstrom uses a giant mirror to deflect 40% of the sun's rays, but a stray asteroid causes it to reflect the rays into a highly destructive beam. Professor Farnsworth reveals that robots, with their high-pollution emissions, are the cause of the crisis. The scientists, led by Wernstrom, decide to destroy all the robots on Earth. Meanwhile, Bender is moved to tears after witnessing a news report on the migration of turtles due to the heat and decides to rescue one from Holland. When questioned by the crew Bender says he has many things in common with the turtle. He claims that both have a tough outer shell but a rich inner life. More importantly, he also confides the inability to get up if he falls directly on his back. Earth President Richard Nixon's head organizes a party for the unsuspecting robots on the remote Galapagos Islands, where he plans to destroy the entire robot population with an electromagnetic blast from an orbiting EMP cannon made from Wernstrom's mirror. Bender, who was at the meeting of scientists and thus knows of the plan, decides, for the sake of the turtles, that he will accept his fate and attend the party. At the party, Bender is overheard saying that all the robots are doomed, causing panic. Farnsworth arrives with Fry and Leela and delivers a solution to the robots; every last one needs to blast their exhaust vents at the same time, straight up in the sky, in order to push the Earth farther from the Sun, thus cooling the Earth and causing the EMP cannon to miss its target. During the panic Bender and the turtle are knocked onto their backs and cannot get up, leaving not enough exhaust to move the Earth. As Bender is lamenting his fate, the turtle rocks from side to side and rolls to its feet. Shocked and inspired, but not to be shown up, Bender does the same, allowing him to release his massive exhaust, just barely saving the robots from the EMP. Farnsworth receives a medal of pollution for his work, and the extra week caused by the new orbit of the Earth is declared Robot Party Week. ===== Terry (Steve Guttenberg) asks his boss's wife Sylvia (Isabelle Huppert) to his apartment after an office party and the two go to bed. Later, while he is in the bathroom, she hears screams outside and goes naked to the window. Seeing a man attacking a young woman, she opens the window and the assailant runs away. When the media report the murder of a young woman near Terry's flat that night, he thinks the police should know what Sylvia saw but, to protect her, claims that it was he who was at the bedroom window. At a police lineup, neither he nor the victim Denise (Elizabeth McGovern) is able to pick out the attacker, Carl. Despite the feeble evidence against him, Carl is put on trial for the assault and during the proceedings his lawyer proves that since Terry is short-sighted he could not have witnessed the incident. Carl goes free, leaving not only the police and the prosecution but also Denise and Sylvia aghast at Terry's ineptness. In the courtroom, Carl recognised Sylvia as the woman at the window. Desperate to warn her, Terry finds her at a ballet performance and tells her she must go to the police, but she refuses all further involvement. As he leaves, he sees Carl's distinctive truck parked outside and rushes in again. He is too late, however, for in the dark she has been stabbed fatally and dies in Terry's arms. He takes refuge with Denise, who first seduces him and then offers him a chance to redeem himself. She wants revenge, and with him devises a plot to provoke Carl into another attack. Disguising herself, she goes to a bar where Carl is drinking and signals her availability. Terry follows her as she leaves to go home and, when Carl attacks, the two are able to repel him. He escapes, only to be caught by the police who Terry forewarned. ===== Roland, a 7th former who has been caught shoplifting, is given an unusual assignment: to spy on a mysterious girl in his class who is studying alchemy. Jess Ferret is an eccentric girl who likes playing with words. However, an enemy from the boy's past wants the girl's power and is using him for information. Roland eventually finds out that he is not unlike Jess and her abilities, but gets them both into a situation which endangers their lives. Alchemy has similar themes to two other books by Mahy, The Changeover and The Haunting. The book won the senior fiction section of the 2003 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards. ===== Having massacred an Indian village with his gang, scalp hunter Duncan rides to the nearest town to discover that he is now an outlaw, as scalp hunting is now illegal. Duncan murders the sheriff and begins burning the town. In the town, Duncan meets Lynne, the town doctor, who conspires with Duncan to steal a train full of the bank's money. Three female entertainers and their manager overhear talk of the plot and ride to the next town of Esperanza to warn people. Several of Duncan's gang attempt to kill them, but their scheme is thwarted by Navajo Joe. Joe steals the train back from Duncan's gang. He asks the townspeople of Esperanza to pay him to protect them from Duncan, demanding, "I want a dollar a head from every man in this town for every bandit I kill." The townspeople reject him, as they "don't make bargains with Indians." Lynne's wife Hannah persuades them otherwise. Joe sets a trap for Duncan, but is caught and tortured, and Lynne and Hannah are killed. Rescued by an old man who leads the female entertainers, Joe again steals the train and wipes out Duncan's gang. A showdown occurs in an Indian cemetery, where Joe reclaims the pendant that Duncan had stolen from his wife when he murdered her. As Joe turns, Duncan shoots him with a hidden gun. Injured, Joe grabs a tomahawk and throws it, hitting Duncan square in the forehead. With Duncan dead, Joe sends his horse back to town, carrying the bank's money. The townspeople are surprised that Joe has kept his word and are relieved that there money has been returned. Estella, disappointed in the attitudes of the townspeople and grateful for what Joe has done for them, sends Joe's horse back to be reunited with him, leaving his fate ambiguous after his fight with Duncan. ===== The story focuses on Kaley Markowic, a young snowboarder who suffers a career-ending head injury during a competition, and loses part of her memory. While trying to recuperate from her head trauma, she discovers that the memories of others are being consumed by an ancient monster known as the Mnemovore. Kaley's amnesia leaves her immune to the monster's attacks, and the only one who can stop it. ===== The maid of the title is red-haired, dog- loving Wilhelmina "Billie" Bennett, and the three men are: * Bream Mortimer, a long-time and long-suffering suitor of Billie; * Eustace Hignett, a shy poet who is cowed by his domineering mother but secretly engaged to Billie at the opening of the tale; * Sam Marlowe, Eustace's dashing cousin, who falls in love with Billie "at first sight". The four of them find themselves together on a White Star ocean liner called the Atlantic, sailing for England. Also on board is a capable young woman, Jane Hubbard, who is in love with Eustace. Wodehousian funny stuff ensues, with happy endings for all except Bream Mortimer. ===== Duke Davis (Cooper) is a stage-show promoter in love with Ethel Andrews (Horne), a popular singer in his company dubbed "the Bronze Venus". Duke finds out that big-time promoters from New York City want to propel Ethel into the big leagues, but Ethel, out of loyalty and love for Duke, refuses to leave his small-time show. Duke, in a selfless act, orchestrates a deception to force Ethel to leave his show in order to better her career. However, the loss of the Bronze Venus causes Duke's own career to collapse and he soon finds himself working on a travelling medicine show where he goes from town to town, introducing a series of specialty musical acts and helping to sell Doc Dorando's all-purpose elixir. But when he hears that Ethel's New York gig is a flop, Duke goes to New York, where he is reunited with her. Soon after, Duke combines his stage show, the medicine show and Ethel's singing into a top nightclub act. ===== Aspiring artist Ben Willis develops insomnia after a painful breakup with his girlfriend, Suzy. To take his mind off Suzy and to occupy the extra waking hours he has recently gained, Ben begins working at a local Sainsbury's supermarket, where he meets colourful co-workers. Among them is his colleague Sharon, with whom he soon develops a mutual crush. As his personal means to escape the boredom inherent in the night shift, Ben lets his imagination run wild. In particular, he imagines that he can stop time so that he can walk around in a world that is "frozen" like the pause of a film. He imagines female patrons of the supermarket stopped in time, allowing him to undress and draw them. Finally the ability to stop time becomes real. A series of flashbacks occur with each progression of the plot, accompanied by Ben's narration and an examination of the effect the situation had had upon him. He explains how he always has been impressed by the beauty of the female body: how he, as a young boy, witnessed a Swedish boarder walk naked from the shower to her room. In another flashback, the young Ben and his best friend Sean share Sean's discovery of his parents' adult magazines, and Sean pays a neighbourhood girl called Natalie fifty pence to show him her vulva. Other neighbourhood boys repeat this trade. Ben's boss, Alan Jenkins, recruits the staff for a weekend football game and, after an embarrassing defeat, 26-Nil, Ben freezes time again. This time he discovers that he is not alone when he sees a mysterious stranger who is able to move inside the frozen world as he can. When Jenkins throws a party to honour his own birthday and as a consolation for their defeat, Sharon asks Ben to be her date, to which he eagerly but nervously agrees. While there, Ben encounters Natalie, who is now a stripper, as well as his ex-girlfriend Suzy, who implores him to try their relationship again. Ben refuses her advance but she kisses him, just as Sharon witnesses from afar. Sharon angrily leaves the party. Ben realizes Sharon has seen the kiss, and freezes time. After spending several days "frozen", Ben concludes that although he can stop time, he cannot reverse it to correct the mistake. He eventually seeks to explain himself to Sharon at her apartment, and a confrontation similar to the film-opening breakup occurs. Sharon henceforth does not show up to work at the supermarket. As a practical joke, colleagues Barry and Matt phone Ben; Matt poses as an art gallery owner who is interested in displaying Ben's drawings, and schedules an appointment for Ben to present more to him. When Ben arrives as agreed, the reaction of the owner quickly reveals that he has been pranked. However, the gallery owner is nonetheless interested in Ben's work and decides to exhibit Ben's drawings. Sharon receives an invitation to the exhibition and visits. She is moved as most of the pieces depict her and she happily greets Ben, congratulating him on his success. The finale occurs as Ben shares his ability to stop time with her and the two step outside into a time-frozen snowfall. ===== The novel's protagonist tells the story of his life lived back and forth between Chile and California. He focuses first on his early youth spent in California, using the films that he saw as a way to characterize this time in his life. He rather suddenly has to return to Chile in his early teens, coming home to live under Augusto Pinochet's regime, a major culture shock for him. ===== The plot primarily follows Colonel Vorotyntsev, a General Staff officer sent by the Grand Duke's (supreme commander, Russian Army) headquarters to the Russian Second Army invading East Prussia under command of General Alexander Samsonov. Vorotyntsev has been sent to find out exactly what is happening with the Second Army; a second General Staff colonel has been sent to the First Army with the same mission. Distances were so great, communications so poor, and the Russian Army so badly prepared for war, Vorotyntsev was sent to find out all he could about conditions at the front and then report back to the Grand Duke. By August 26, the opening day of the 4-day Battle of Tannenberg, Vorotyntsev comes to realize that he cannot return to his headquarters in time to make any difference in the outcome of the battle, and stays with the Second Army to help out where he is able to. Numerous side plots involving other characters, both on the battlefield and elsewhere, fill out the novel. The unprepared army's failures mirror those of the Tsarist regime. A famous episode in the earlier version of the novel narrates the state of mind of General Samsonov, the Russian commander, after his disastrous defeat in what came to be known as the Battle of Tannenberg. Samsonov, tormented by the scale of the defeat and his fear of reporting this failure to the Tsar, eventually commits suicide. His body is found by a German search party, a bullet wound in his head and a revolver in his hand. ===== Kepesh is fascinated by the beautiful young Consuela Castillo, a student in one of his courses. An erotic liaison is formed between the two; Kepesh becomes obsessively enamored of his lover's breasts, a fetish developed in the previous novels. Despite his fevered devotion to Consuela, the sexually promiscuous professor maintains a concurrent affair with a previous lover, now divorced. He is also reluctant to expose himself to the scrutiny or ridicule that might follow from an introduction to Consuela's family. It is implied that he fears such a meeting would expose the implausible age gap in their relationship. Ultimately, Kepesh limits their relationship to the physical instead of embarking upon any deeper arrangement. In the end, Kepesh is destroyed by his indecisiveness, the fear of senescence, his lust and jealousy. Consuela never subsequently finds a lover who can show the same level of devotion to her body as Kepesh had. After some years of estrangement, she asks him to take nude photographs of her because she will be losing one of her breasts to a life-saving mastectomy. Most editions display a cover picture, Le grand nu (1919) by Amedeo Modigliani. In the novel, Consuela sends Kepesh a postcard depicting Le grand nu, and Kepesh surmises that the figure in the painting is her alter ego. ===== Naoto Tamura, a new detective in Central City, is killed by a Bionoid Monster in the line of duty. Doctor Kenzo Igarashi, a man whose experiments had been responsible for the Bioron syndicate's existence, brought the man back to life as a cyborg detective, Jiban. Eventually Madogarbo and Rhinonoid killed Jiban, who returned to life again as Perfect Jiban (basically the same design as the original, but with a blue-colored metal body and three new weapons). In the finale, Biolon destroyed Jiban's base and transformed Madogarbo into false Jiban. Jiban defeated his duplicate and ultimately Gibanoid, the true form of Biolon's leader Doctor Giba. The victorious Jiban then learned that Mayumi Igarashi, the one civilian that knew his secret, had been his missing younger sister all along. ===== The film centers on a Spanish tapas bar and the love lives of the loosely interconnected people in the neighborhood surrounding the bar. The pairs of lovers include a middle aged woman and a young man; an elderly, drug dealing woman and her terminally ill husband in poor health; the tapas bar owner and his estranged wife; and two Chinese immigrants. ===== Stephanie is infuriated to learn that her boss/cousin, Vinnie, has hired her arch-rival Joyce Barnhardt as another bounty hunter. Vinnie tells her to "be professional" and focus on tracking down her latest FTA: Maxine Nowicki, a waitress accused of stealing her ex- boyfriend's car and jumping bail. Eddie gives Stephanie a coded message from Maxine, that references some "property", and explains that Maxine has some embarrassing love letters he once wrote to her, and promises Stephanie an extra $1,000 to let him talk to Maxine before she delivers her to the cops, which Stephanie agrees to. Looking for help cracking the codes from her neighbors, one of them steers her to a nephew, Salvatore Sweet, who has a knack for such things. "Sally" is an aspiring rock musician who made his big breakthrough performing in drag. With Sally's help, Stephanie decodes the message, which leads her to the second, and third, and so on. Maxine's trail takes Stephanie and her hangers-on—Sally, former-prostitute-turned-backup Lula, and even Stephanie's Grandma Mazur—all over Trenton, to Point Pleasant, and even to Atlantic City. Stephanie encounters Maxine several times, but never manages to capture her. Along the way she interviews Maxine's mother and her friend Margie, learning that someone else has been visiting them and demanding Maxine's whereabouts, going so far as to scalp Mrs. Nowicki and cut off one of Margie's fingers. Alarmingly, someone is stalking Stephanie, leaving threatening notes warning her to stay away from their boyfriend. When the stalker throws a firebomb through Stephanie's bedroom window, Stephanie is thankfully not home, but her apartment is almost entirely destroyed. In fright, she takes her hamster, Rex, and goes to stay with Morelli at his house, and she and Morelli finally resume their intimate relationship. The stalker is found to be Sugar, who Stephanie and Morelli apprehend at a nightclub. One of Eddie's friends confides to Stephanie that Eddie passed him a counterfeit $20 bill, and Morelli admits that he has been working with the U.S. Treasury, monitoring a suspected counterfeiter in the area. When Eddie Kuntz disappears, Stephanie talks to his Uncle Leo and Aunt Betty, who appear unconcerned and refuse to answer any questions. A bit later Stephanie goes snooping through Leo and Betty's basement, and finds a corpse wrapped in a garbage bag. Leo and Betty catch her and are about to kill her, when Lula distracts them with a gunshot through the window, allowing Stephanie to run and call for help. At the same time the police arrive to arrest Betty and Leo, Eddie Kuntz appears, having been kidnapped by Maxine and released after being tattooed with derogatory slogans. A tip from Eddie's friend sends Stephanie and Lula to the airport, intercepting Maxine before she can leave the country. Joyce Barnhardt actually makes the apprehension first, but Stephanie and Lula, deciding they have earned the "collar", tase Joyce and leave her unconscious behind the wheel of her car. Mrs. Nowicki and Margie are also waiting at the airport, but Stephanie lets them go, since she has no authority to detain them. Morelli reports that the investigation has turned out very well for the police: Leo is a retired enforcer for the mob in Detroit; twenty years ago, he stole a set of well-made counterfeiting plates and later decided to set up business in Trenton, washing the money through a dry cleaner's owned by another ex-Mafioso. Eddie helped with the counterfeiting, and couldn't resist bragging to Maxine about what a "big shot" he was. Maxine was once in love with Eddie, but he was abusive and unfaithful, and she planned the perfect revenge: after she was bailed out of jail for stealing his car, she pretended to make up with Eddie, persuaded him to show her the plates, then stole them. The coded messages were a game to torment Eddie, who was desperate to get the plates back, but Maxine did not anticipate that Leo would go hunting for her himself, including mutilating her mother and Margie. He also killed his partner, the dry cleaner (the body Stephanie found in his basement). Eventually, Maxine demanded $1 million in genuine money in exchange for the plates, and Leo complied. Maxine was planning to leave the country with her mother and Margie when Stephanie caught up with her. Stephanie and Morelli's sympathies are firmly with Maxine, and Morelli adds that no additional charges will likely be pressed against Maxine—there is no evidence of the blackmail, and Eddie is too humiliated to prosecute her for kidnapping—so Maxine will likely serve a short jail sentence for the original auto theft charge, and then be free to join Mrs. Nowicki and Margie and enjoy her million dollars. Morelli invites Stephanie for a celebratory ride on his Ducati motorcycle. Stephanie, afraid of being relegated to the "helpless female" role in their burgeoning relationship, demands that he make the ultimate concession and let her drive. Morelli concedes, but says she will owe him later. ===== The only Failure-to- Appear (F.T.A.) Vinnie has for Stephanie is so minor league (Briggs), that she focuses her attention on the mysterious disappearance of her Uncle Fred instead. Mabel gives Stephanie some photos she found in Fred's desk of half- opened garbage bags, containing dismembered human body parts. She insists the photos are recent, and very unusual for Fred. Stephanie sees enough to identify the body as a woman's, and gives duplicates of them to her on- again/off-again boyfriend, Detective Joe Morelli, who passes them on to the sergeant in charge of the case. Mabel tells Stephanie that Fred had been furiously pursuing RCG Waste Haulers to get his $2 back because they skipped picking up garbage at his house one time. RCG (Ruben, Grizolli, and Cotell) had refused to refund him, because his payment wasn't in the system - they demanded to see his cancelled check. He was on his way to bring a copy of that to RCG when he disappeared. While Stephanie is starting to look into Fred's activities, Bunchy shows up, mysteriously demanding that Stephanie find Fred for him. Since the Fred mystery is on her own personal time, Stephanie is facing financial hardship and out of desperation she takes a job with Ranger's security company to make ends meet. Ranger assures her the jobs are morally justifiable, if not entirely legal, but Stephanie is (again) over her head while tagging along with Ranger's men. The activities start with "Interior decorating" -forcibly evicting the occupants of a drug den in a slum apartment building - which ends up in an explosion when the main being evicted is shot by an old lady in a pink nightgown, and the explosives he has attached to himself go off. Further activities include chauffeuring a sheikh; and distracting a deadbeat in a bar while his car is repossessed. To add to all of Stephanie's problems, Morelli informs her that Benito Ramirez, the psychopathic boxer who attacked Lula and threatened her in One for the Money has been released from prison thanks to the work of expensive lawyers. Ramirez begins stalking her again, playing his game of psychological torture with her. Meanwhile, Ranger lets her use a Porsche Turbo as a "company car" while working for him, which is both exciting and nerve-wracking. On the Morelli front, she is trying to keep her distance because of their relationship goals mismatch, but seeing him with Terry Gilman makes her see red. Fred's disappearance looks increasingly serious when RCG's receptionist Martha is found shot to death. The next day another employee, Larry Lipinski, apparently commits suicide, leaving behind a note confessing to the Martha's murder. John Curly - an employee at the cable company accused of ripping off customers - was hit by a truck. Stephanie matched the gruesome garbage photos partially to the picture of Larry and his wife used at his memorial, especially since she had 'mysteriously disappeared' around the same time. Stephanie, Grandma Mazur and Bunchy question the wife of the guy being cheated by the cable company, and found out John Curly had taken all the related cancelled checks. Further investigating reveals that both the cable company and RCG are routing a small percentage of customer payments to a different bank - skimming funds for personal use. While she is investigating, a bomb blows up the Porsche, thankfully without hurting anyone. She shares her suspicions with Morelli, who confirms that the Trenton Police and federal authorities are investigating the same crimes. Vito Grizzoli is co-owner of the garbage company, so at first the police suspected money laundering, then they realized that someone is skimming from Vito's profits. Vito is cooperating with the investigation, but prefers to keep the police at arm's length, so he uses Terry (his niece) and Morelli as intermediaries. "Bunchy" is actually a federal agent named Bronfman, who thinks that Fred somehow stumbled on the scam, and that is why he disappeared. As the information starts to fall in to place, Allen Shempsky - the bank manager - breaks into Stephanie's apartment, ties up Briggs and ambushes Stephanie, holding her at gunpoint. He says he and Tipp started small, skimming a modest amount just for occasional gambling stakes, but started taking more and more. Larry and Curly got involved, and it started to unravel when Larry's estranged wife, Laura, found out and demanded part of the money. Allen and Larry killed her, Fred happened to see them dumping her body and so Allen killed Fred. Allen also killed Martha, then Larry, and then Curly. He had set the explosives in the car Stephanie was driving when he realized she was close to figuring things out. Allen is about to kill Stephanie, when Ramirez jumps into the window from her fire escape. Allen empties his gun at Ramirez, killing him, and allowing Stephanie to flee outside and borrow her neighbor's gun. Before she can return to her apartment, Allen escapes. Stephanie had already promised Ranger to chauffeur Ahmed back to the airport. While she is en route, with Grandma Mazur in the front seat, Briggs calls, having hacked the bank's records and found out that Allen was booked to fly out of the airport within the hour. With Grandma and Ahmed's help, Stephanie apprehends Allen, who confesses where he buried Fred. Stephanie learns Allen was actually stealing from Larry and Curly (who were skimming from Vito). Returning home from Fred's memorial service, Stephanie decides it is time to make a choice; she dresses in a slinky cocktail dress, then calls one of the two men in her life and asks him to come over. The novel ends without saying which one she called. ===== Stephanie's latest quarry is Eddie DeChooch, a septuagenarian semi-retired mobster who was arrested for smuggling cigarettes into New Jersey from Richmond, Virginia. Stephanie finds him in a state of abject depression at his home, but he eludes her and, while searching the house for clues, Stephanie finds a dead body in his shed, an elderly woman named Loretta Ricci, shot multiple times. Stephanie soon learns that she is not the only one searching for DeChooch; two Mafia types, Benny and Ziggy, are following her around and making themselves at home in her apartment, while her boyfriend, police detective Joe Morelli, wants to question DeChooch about the dead woman in his home. At the same time, Stephanie's friend "Mooner" is worried because his friend and roommate, Dougie Kruper, has disappeared. At home, Stephanie's dinner with her family is interrupted by the surprise appearance of her older sister, Valerie, with her two young daughters, whose "perfect" life in California came to an abrupt end when her husband abandoned her for their teenage babysitter. Over the next few days, Valerie proposes a number of radical schemes to get her life back under control, ranging from following Stephane's example as a bounty hunter to becoming a lesbian. Stephanie learns that DeChooch is searching for something, and tries to tempt him into the open by claiming to have whatever "it" is. Connie Rosoli, the office manager for Stephanie's boss, finds out from her Mafia-affiliated family members that DeChooch is looking desperately for a human heart! When DeChooch was in Richmond, the Mafioso he was collecting the cigarettes from, Louis "Louie D." DiStephano, died of a sudden heart attack. DeChooch telephoned his boss back in Trenton, but misheard his boss's instructions to escort the body back to Trenton for burial ("bring the fart to me") as instructions to bring Louie D's heart back. DeChooch cut out Louie D's heart and brought it back to Trenton, but now he's lost it, and Louie's widow, Sophia, is demanding that he get it back. DeChooch kidnaps Stephanie's Grandma Mazur and demands the heart in exchange for her. Stephanie manages to rescue her by swapping her for a pig's heart from the butcher shop. When Mooner also disappears, Stephanie tracks him and Dougie down, with Ranger's help, in the basement of Sophia DiStephano's home in Richmond, where she has been torturing them for the location of the heart. Ranger and Stephanie free Mooner and Dougie, though Sophia manages to escape. Mooner and Dougie confess that DeChooch tasked them to take an ice cooler to Richmond, but they had no idea what was in it, and it turns out that a neighborhood dog ate the heart from the cooler while it was unattended, and Dougie inadvertently delivered an empty cooler to Sophia. The only thing left is to arrest DeChooch. Stephanie confronts him at his home, and asks him if he killed Loretta Ricci. He says no; Loretta gave herself a fatal heart attack while trying, over-enthusiastically, to rouse him from impotence. He shot her body in frustration, and also to conceal the real cause of death (because it was too embarrassing). Sophia appears, holding both of them at gunpoint, and demanding that Stephanie cut out DeChooch's heart, as "an Eye for an eye". Stephanie manages to subdue Sophia, who is arrested by the police. DeChooch admits that he is too tired to keep running, but insists, for the sake of his pride, that he be brought in by Ranger, not a woman. The novel ends with Ranger approaching Stephanie in her apartment, reminding her that they have "unfinished business" - specifically, she promised to spend a night with him if he helped her capture DeChooch. ===== The prologue begins at the point where High Five ended, revealing who Stephanie picked: Ranger or Joe Morelli. Five months later... Stephanie's latest FTA, Carol Zabo, is attempting to avoid jail-time by jumping off a bridge to drown herself. Stephanie talks her down by promising to persuade the man who reported her not to press charges. Returning to the bonds office, Stephanie is handed a nightmare assignment: Ranger has gone FTA, and Stephanie has to track him down. Apart from her attraction to and respect for Ranger, Stephanie knows that his skills as a bounty hunter are far beyond hers. Ranger was scheduled to appear in court for a minor charge of carrying a concealed weapon, but he is also wanted for questioning related to a fire in an office park, where Homer Ramos, the son of notorious international arms dealer Alexander Ramos, was killed. Stephanie is afraid Ranger might be suspected of murdering Homer, and even more afraid that he might have actually done it. To complicate matters, Stephanie also has to deal with: *Being followed by two hit men, waiting for Ranger to make contact with her; *Being followed by her nemesis, Joyce Barnhardt, expecting the same; *her eccentric Grandma Mazur moving into her apartment after an argument with Stephanie's father; *being saddled with a giant, voracious dog named Bob; Stephanie initially agrees to dog-sit Bob as a favor to the police officer who arrested Carol Zabo, in exchange for him dropping the charges, but then realizes that the move is meant to be permanent; *having to track down the high-bond FTAs normally given to Ranger, including a psychopathic killer/rapist, Morris Munson. Ranger makes contact with her (without giving her the opportunity to capture him) and asks her to do surveillance on the Ramos family's properties in Jersey. When she drives past the Ramos compound in Deal, she is surprised when Alexander, the Ramos patriarch himself, jumps into her car alone and offers her $20 to drive him to a bar so he can smoke without interference. Over drinks, Stephanie pretends to recognize Alexander from news coverage and expresses her condolences over Homer's death. Alexander is dismissive, saying Homer was "stupid and greedy", and caused his own death. Breaking into the Trenton home of Alexander's eldest son, Hannibal, Stephanie and Lula find Homer's ex-girlfriend, Cynthia Lotte, searching the house for the jewelry and the silver Porsche that Homer gave her as gifts. They find the Porsche, with a dead man sitting behind the wheel, shot through the head. Cynthia insists on driving away with her Porsche, so Stephanie and Lula are forced to help her shove the corpse out the door, before Stephanie reports the crime. A short time later, Cynthia is also found shot to death, behind the wheel of the Porsche. Growing impatient, the two hit men, Mitchell and Habib, kidnap Stephanie and bring her before their boss, Arturo Stolle. Stolle says she is to act as the bait for Ranger, but she escapes through the window of the warehouse room they lock her in. Needing to make contact with Ranger again, she asks Carol Zabo to ambush Joyce Barnhardt and ensure that Stephanie is not followed to her meeting. However, this backfires when Joyce orders Stephanie to deliver Ranger to her, or else she will press charges against Carol and likely prompt her to attempt suicide again. Stephanie and Lula manage to trick Joyce into kidnapping an old acquaintance of Lula's who marginally resembles Ranger. Stephanie confers separately with Morelli and Ranger, and she figures out the mystery. Ranger explains that Arturo Stolle's normal "slice of the Trenton crime pie" is human trafficking, but recently has diversified into drug dealing. He recruited Homer Ramos to be the bagman for his operation, believing that the other Jersey crime factions would be hesitant to cross Alexander. But instead, Homer's actions upset the boundaries between the factions, where previously the Ramos family has restricted their illegal activities to arms, while the mob has enjoyed a monopoly on drugs. Ranger has been acting as an intermediary between the factions, hoping to prevent a crime war. Eventually, the mob decided to have Homer assassinated. Stephanie shrewdly guesses that Homer's death was faked, and Alexander and Hannibal have been hiding him in their houses until he can be slipped out of the country. When she returns home, Stephanie is confronted and held at gunpoint by Homer, who has been searching frantically for the bag of money he was carrying to the meeting with Ranger. It was originally in the trunk of the Porsche, and he first thought that Cynthia had taken it, but now believes that only Stephanie could have it. Before Homer can shoot her, Ranger appears and subdues him. Later, Morelli gleefully reports to her that Homer has given the police and the FBI enough evidence to indict both Alexander and Hannibal, and that Mitchell and Habib, arrested for kidnapping, have likewise turned evidence on Stolle. In secret, Stephanie learns that, after she drove away in the Porsche, Cynthia unwittingly threw the gym bag filled with money out of the trunk while cleaning it, and it was picked up by Stephanie's friend and sometime-FTA, "Mooner" and his friend Dougie. She decides to let them enjoy it. After Stephanie spends the night at Morelli's house, they are confronted the next morning by his mother and grandmother, who scold her for taking advantage of him. To her surprise, Morelli assures them that he plans to marry Stephanie. ===== Stephanie is asked by her parents' next-door neighbor, Mabel Markowitz, to find her granddaughter, Evelyn and great-granddaughter, Annie, who have disappeared. During a messy divorce with her ex-husband, Steven Soter, Evelyn was forced to post a child custody bond, and Mabel used her house as collateral. If Evelyn is not found, then the bond company will foreclose on her house, and the money will be forfeited to Steven. Mabel asks for Stephanie's help, since as a bounty hunter she is the closest thing Mabel knows to a detective. Stephanie is unable to refuse, even though she is not a private investigator. After interviewing Evelyn's bondsman, Les Sebring, and Steven Soter, Stephanie is baffled; Steven was domineering and abusive, and Evelyn had no friends or other family members she might go to in an emergency, and no one has any idea where she might have gone. Steven seems to be less concerned about Annie's well-being than he is eager to get his hands on the bond money. While snooping through Evelyn's apartment, Stephanie encounters her landlord, a local crime boss named Eddie Abruzzi. He warns Stephanie that if she knows where Evelyn is, she should tell him, or else he will "declare war" and she will be "the enemy." Stephanie's mentor, Ranger Manoso, explains to her that Abruzzi is an avid wargamer, and tends to frame everything in quasi-military terms. At the Plum home, a new crisis arises when Stephanie's "perfect" sister, Valerie, gets fired from her job at the bank. Stephanie's mother turns to her in desperation, and Stephanie improvises, setting Valerie up with Albert Kloughn, Evelyn's hapless divorce lawyer. Kloughn's practice has been slow in taking off, so he soon becomes attached to Stephanie, following her and Lula around in trying to apprehend fugitives and investigate Evelyn's whereabouts. As she is trying to track down Evelyn, Stephanie is unnerved to realize that she is being stalked. First, someone leaves a bag of wild snakes attached to her apartment door, then a large tarantula on the seat of her car. Worse, men dressed in animal costumes are following her around. An attack by one of the men destroys Stephanie's car, then a second. When the men try to kidnap her, her mother sees them and impulsively runs over one with her car. Finally, Stephanie comes home one night and finds Steven Soter on her living room couch, shot through the head. The police investigate, and when she asks Joe Morelli how the body got into her apartment without any of her neighbors noticing, she is horrified by his answer: Soter's body was sawed in half at the waist, and the pieces were carried in with two large bags, then taped back together. Stephanie realizes that Abruzzi is "conducting psychological warfare" against her, believing that she knows where Evelyn is. Ranger asks around and finds out that Abruzzi is searching obsessively for his most prized possession: a medal that once belonged to Napoleon. Abruzzi, besides being a wargamer, is an avid collector of military memorabilia, and believes the medal is a lucky talisman. Ranger admits he doesn't know why Abruzzi would think Evelyn has the medal, but obviously he does. Then Ranger informs her that he is collecting on her "debt" to him, and, since Stephanie is on a "break" from her relationship with Morelli, she consents to have sex with Ranger. With Soter's death, the child custody bond is no longer necessary, and Mabel is relieved to be told that her house is safe, but Evelyn does not resurface. Stephanie eventually tracks her to the airport, before she is about to leave for Miami with Annie. Evelyn explains that Steven was in debt to Abruzzi, and was scared of him, but Abruzzi considered Steven a member of his "command", and so invited Steven and all of his "troops" with small children to Abruzzi's daughter's birthday party. While she was there, Annie wandered into Abruzzi's office and palmed the medal, thinking it was a party favor. Now that Evelyn is finally free of Steven, she has arranged to sell the medal to a collector in Miami for enough money to start a new life. She knew Abruzzi was threatening Mabel, but she couldn't come out of hiding or go to the police, knowing that "the law moves too slowly for a guy like Abruzzi." Stephanie, seeing how scared and desperate Evelyn is, lets her and Annie go. When Stephanie returns to her apartment, Abruzzi's men appear in a van, holding Valerie at gunpoint, telling Stephanie to come with them or they'll kill her sister. Stephanie complies, and Valerie is released. Stephanie is brought to Abruzzi at a safe house, and he begins torturing her - searing her arm with a hot poker - for Evelyn's exact location in Miami, which she doesn't know. Before he can do more, Valerie, who has followed them, jumps into the van and drives it through the wall of the house, allowing both her and Stephanie to escape. Running home, Stephanie calls both Morelli and Ranger. After listening to her story, Ranger excuses himself, and a short time later, Abruzzi is found dead in his car, with a note saying that he has killed himself over some recent business failures. Stephanie is unnerved to know that Ranger has killed Abruzzi to keep her and Evelyn safe, but she and Morelli silently agree not to pursue it any further. ===== Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter and amateur detective, who with a combination of luck and intuition usually gets the job done (though often by accident). She's got all the normal concerns in life: the rent, her family, men; yet all of her concerns are topped by the minor fact that someone is usually trying to kill her. ===== Stephanie's cousin and boss, Vinnie, has written the visa bond for Samuel Singh, an Indian immigrant working temporarily in New Jersey. Now he has gone missing, and his landlord, Mrs. Apusenja, insists that Vinnie track him down. She claims Singh is engaged to her daughter, Nonnie, but Nonnie appears more concerned for her dog, "Boo," who went missing at the same time. Partnered with Ranger, Stephanie begins with TriBro, Singh's workplace, owned by three brothers, Andrew, Bart and Clyde Cone. While Andrew is helpful and Clyde is very enthusiastic about the case, Bart Cone gives Stephanie the creeps. Her boyfriend, Joe Morelli, does a background check and finds that Bart Cone was a suspect in the unsolved murder of a woman named Lillian Paressi. Circumstantial evidence tied him to the crime scene, but the indictment was dismissed when the DNA evidence proved negative. After returning home from TriBro, Stephanie is unnerved to find a bouquet of white carnations and red roses, accompanied by photographs of a murdered woman. She also receives some rather creepy emails. Based on the Apusenjas' description of his habits, Stephanie identifies Singh's only friend, an Indian man named Howie that works at a nearby McDonald's. While she is questioning him outside the restaurant, a passing motorist shoots him between the eyes. Stephanie only gets more nervous when she questions Lillian Paressi's friend, who remembers that Lillian also received a bouquet of carnations and roses. Andrew Cone excitedly calls Stephanie to tell her that Singh has applied for a job in Las Vegas, and his prospective employer called TriBro for a reference. Stephanie sets out for Vegas, accompanied by her sidekick Lula and Vinnie's secretary, Connie Rossoli. They rescue Boo from the home of a woman Singh was living with, but Stephanie gets a call from Morelli, who was informed by the Vegas police that Singh's body was found in a car at the airport, shot execution style. Afraid that the "Roses and Carnations Killer" has followed them to Nevada, Stephanie and Connie quickly return to New Jersey; Lula, afraid to fly again, decides to drive cross-country with Boo for company. Drafted to attend a birthday dinner for Morelli's uncle, Stephanie is even more unnerved when Morelli's spooky Grandma Bella claims to have "visions" of Morelli being married with many children, but losing his wife to a violent death. Ranger assigns his security company's employees to keep Stephanie safe, but two of them are badly injured while following her around: Tank, Ranger's right-hand man, suffers a broken leg when a fugitive jumps out his window and lands on him; later, when Stephanie's pregnant sister Valerie goes into labor, her water breaks over the second man, Cal, who faints dead away and suffers a concussion hitting his head on the floor. Stephanie's new niece, her older sister Valerie's daughter with Albert Kloughn, is born. She is named Lisa. Stepping outside the hospital to get some air, Stephanie is accosted by a teenager with a gun, who calls himself "Fisher Cat" and tells her she is the prize of a "game" - the winner is the one who succeeds in killing her. Stephanie disarms Fisher Cat with a groin kick, but is knocked unconscious by his stun gun. When she regains consciousness, Fisher Cat is dead beside her, shot twice through the head. Morelli examines Fisher Cat's laptop and finds that the game is run through an online chat room, by "The Webmaster." Unwilling to let go of her suspicion that Bart Cone is the Roses and Carnations Killer, Stephanie goes back to the TriBro factory to confront him, only to discover that the Webmaster is the youngest brother, Clyde (his "Webmaster" appellation has less to do with his online role in masterminding the game than with his lifelong passion for Spider-Man comics). Clyde killed Lillian Paressi, which is why Bart was circumstantially linked to the crime, but the DNA evidence was inconclusive. Clyde also killed Howie, Samuel Singh, and Fisher Cat. He has also kidnapped Lula and Albert and wired them to a bomb in another part of the factory. Still playing his "game", Clyde draws a gun and stalks Stephanie through the factory floor, but Stephanie manages to find a gun concealed in Bart's desk and return fire, killing Clyde. Ranger and Morelli arrive and defuse the bomb, freeing Lula and Albert. After spending the night with Morelli, Stephanie is greeted the following morning by his mother and Grandma Bella, who admits that the woman in her vision was someone else's wife, but "maybe she was just sleeping." ===== Stephanie and Lula happen to be waiting outside a deli when a young man in a red Devil mask runs outside after robbing it, only to find that his getaway bicycle's tire is flat, Lula having shot it while trying to disprove Stephanie's doubts about her marksmanship. "Red Devil" throws a Molotov cocktail into the store, but the owner throws it back before it explodes, accidentally destroying Stephanie's latest car. Her boyfriend, police detective Joe Morelli, warns her that gang activity in Trenton is worsening, and "Red Devil"'s gang, the "Comstock Street Slayers", may decide to target her, especially if he believes Stephanie can identify him without his mask. By coincidence, Stephanie is driving her latest FTA, Salvatore "Sally" Sweet, and her Grandma Mazur, to the police station, when she notices Red Devil and several gang cohorts at a fast food drive-through. She calls the police, but the gang opens fire with automatic weapons, wounding her friend, Officer Eddie Gazzara, though not seriously. Furious and terrified in equal measure, Stephanie tries to think of a way to neutralize the gang, especially since she refuses Morelli's attempts to keep her under house arrest at his home. Stephanie's mentor, former Special Forces soldier and bounty hunter Carlos "Ranger" Manoso, loans Stephanie the use of a truck from his security company's fleet. On a whim, she follows the truck's GPS system to its previous location, which turns out to be a high- security office building with a luxurious apartment on the top floor, where Stephanie decides to wait out the crisis, at least until Ranger returns from his out-of-state trip. Although she feels that she and her family members are safe for the time being, she can't relax until the gang is no longer a threat to her. Stephanie catches a break when she recognizes her latest FTA, Anton Ward, as the Red Devil. She, Connie Rosoli and Lula bail Ward out of jail and spirit him to their boss, Vincent Plum's second home in Point Pleasant, intending to interrogate him about the gang's intentions, but none of them can sufficiently intimidate him. When Ranger returns from his trip, Stephanie takes him to Ward, who quickly confesses: after the Slayers' Trenton "captain" was killed, the gang brought "Junkman", a ranking member of the gang's Los Angeles branch, to fill the vacancy, but to prove himself to the gang, he is required to kill a list of targets, including two rival gang members and one police officer (which he already has), and finally Stephanie. As a bounty hunter, Stephanie has apprehended several members of the gang in the past, all of whom consider it humiliating to be brought to jail by a woman. Stephanie is sickened to hear that the Slayers' plan is to kidnap and gang-rape her before Junkman kills her. Ranger offers Stephanie the continued use of his apartment, but when Morelli tells her that someone tentatively identified as Junkman has been arrested, Stephanie considers the threat over and rushes out to attend her sister Valerie's bridal shower. Stepping outside the hall, she is kidnapped without warning and brought to a children's playground where the Slayers hold court at night. Before she is attacked, however, Sally Sweet, whose band was playing at the shower and saw her being abducted, drives his school bus onto the scene and opens fire on the gang members with a fully automatic Uzi, killing several, including Junkman, and causing the rest to flee. Before the police and Ranger's men arrive, Stephanie places dropped guns into the hands of the dead Slayers to ensure that it appears they fired first and Sally acted in defense of himself and her. Morelli and Ranger, amused at having been "upstaged by a man in a strapless dress," congratulate Sally for his heroism and mention that the city has posted a $10,000 reward ("ten big ones") for Junkman's capture. ===== Stephanie Plum has had enough - enough of grappling with fugitives in garbage piles, enough of being constantly shot at, and enough of having her cars blown up on a semi-regular basis. So she quits her job as a bail enforcement agent and resolves to get a normal job and a normal life. However, events conspire against her. Her three attempts at a normal job - working at a button factory, the Kan-Kleen Dry-Cleaning Service, and serving fast-food chicken at Cluck-in-a-Bucket - all end in disaster, partly because someone is, once again, attempting to kill her. It's someone she knows, and someone who knows her too well, but, as her on-again/off-again boyfriend, cop Joe Morelli points out, she's made a lot of enemies. At the same time, Stephanie is trying to avoid having to wear an eggplant-colored gown as maid of honor at her sister Valerie's upcoming wedding. The wedding itself hits a snag when Valerie's hapless fiancé, lawyer Albert Kloughn, makes an insensitive remark about her weight at a family dinner, and she vows not to get married unless she can lose at least sixty pounds in less than ten days. Stephanie becomes convinced that the man stalking her is Spiro Stiva, the fugitive son of the Burg's favorite undertaker, Constantine. Spiro disappeared when Stephanie and her Grandma Mazur inadvertently burned down the Stiva funeral home in Two for the Dough, and now it looks like Spiro is back for revenge. *A car bomb claims Stephanie's Saturn as her ex-boss, Mama Macaroni, is trying to drive away in it; *Stephanie's last customer at Cluck-in-a-Bucket heaves a bomb through the drive-through window, and Stephanie catches a glimpse of a heavily scarred face before he drives off. *While escorting Grandma Mazur at a funeral viewing at Stiva's parlor, the same scarred man runs over Morelli with a car, breaking his leg. Stephanie's mentor, ex-Special Forces mercenary Ranger Manoso, offers her a job with his security firm, running background checks on persons of interest. Despite her trepidation at being too close to Ranger, and the friction it causes with Morelli, she accepts for the security it offers her. While running information searches, Stephanie discovers evidence linking Spiro's reappearance with the disappearance of four older men from the Burg, all of whom disappeared on the same day and were later found shot to death in a shallow grave outside Trenton. All four men were United States Army veterans, stationed at Fort Dix at the same time as Constantine Stiva. In a fit of depression, Stephanie confides to Morelli that she quit her job as a bounty hunter because she feels "stupid and boring" - she has no career path, no hobbies, no strong interests, and nothing she's really good at. Morelli smiles and says that, while "stupid" is sometimes "a tough call," he finds her anything but boring. While Stephanie's mother was complaining about Stephanie's lack of direction, Stephanie recklessly told her family a small lie, claiming that she can play the cello - and before she knew it, her mother has rented one for her to play at Valerie's wedding. Now she has to find a way out of that predicament as well. Fortunately for her, two events intervene on her behalf: a bomb blows up Morelli's garage (with the cello inside) on the night of the wedding reception; the next day, Valerie calls from the airport to cancel the wedding, as she, her three children, and Albert are all leaving for Disney World, and may not come back. After driving Grandma Mazur to another viewing at the funeral home, Stephanie goes snooping through Constantine Stiva's attached house, looking for signs that Spiro is hiding out there. Then she is tazed unconscious and wakes up in a coffin, being wheeled into an abandoned house in Spiro's name. Her kidnapper turns out to be Constantine himself. Spiro, he confides, died in the fire, but makes a convenient scapegoat for what Constantine had to do. Thirty-six years ago, he masterminded an armored car hijacking at Fort Dix; he and four Army buddies stole $7 million and hid it in a vault in the basement of the funeral home, doling out shares at 10-year intervals. It was arranged that all five of them were needed to open the vault, but Constantine eventually figured out the combination and "borrowed" from the stash from time to time, then had to take it all to rebuild his business after the funeral home burned down. A month ago, one of his accomplices was diagnosed with cancer and requested his entire remaining share of the money. Constantine called all of them to a meeting, ostensibly to vote on the distribution, and Constantine shot and buried them all. Now he has to kill Stephanie in order to complete the illusion that Spiro is the one responsible. He locks her in the basement and heads out to do one last Spiro impersonation. Before he returns, Stephanie is rescued from the basement by Ranger and his crew, who have been looking non-stop for her in the six hours since she disappeared. Ranger pleads with Stephanie to go home and stay safe while he and his men stay behind to apprehend Constantine. He goes so far as to handcuff her to his right-hand man, Tank, who escorts her to Morelli's house before releasing her. On the pretext of taking Morelli's dog, Bob, for a walk, Stephanie borrows her family's Buick and stakes out the Stiva house, while Ranger is lying in wait for him. When Constantine pulls into the garage, Stephanie rear-ends his car with the Buick, crushing the car and trapping Constantine behind the air bag. Stephanie tells Ranger she feels much better, and decides that, while learning to play the cello might be fun, she doesn't need to, as her life is already plenty interesting. ===== During the night, Barbara (Lorissa McComas) and her boyfriend David (Richard Israel) sneak into a closed down army test site, and discovered a pool. They go swimming, but are attacked and killed by an unseen force in the pool. The next day, J. R. Randolph (Monte Markham) the uncle of Barbara, hires private investigator Maggie McNamara (Alexandra Paul), to investigate the incident, believing her to be a runaway. Maggie searches the area for any possible witnesses, eventually stopping by local homeowner Paul Grogan (William Katt), asking for any knowledge of the girl's disappearance. He claims to have not seen her, but leads her to the army test site where they discover the pool. They enter to look for any clues, until Maggie thinks they should drain the pool. As she starts the draining. a scientist named Dr. Leticia Baines (Darleen Carr), encounters them and attacks Maggie and Paul to stop the draining, but is too late to do so. They investigate the bottom of the pool and discover a skeleton, which they believe is that of a dog. Baines steals the jeep, but crashes after losing consciousness. Later that night, she wakes up and informs them that a school of piranha lived in the pool that they had drained, and are assumed to be headed to the river. Paul, knowing his daughter Susie (Mila Kunis) was at a scout camp just downstream of the river joins Maggie and Paul to visit Randolph and try to convince him to shut down a grand opening of a resort just downstream. They fail, and have to make many twists and turns to try and save people downstream. On the way to warn people of the piranha, Maggie and Paul are arrested after Randolph had claimed that they lied about the piranha, dismissing it as "nonsense". They eventually escape from custody to warn the people of Lost River. The piranha first make their way to the camp, attacking the kids. Susie takes a raft and saves her friend Darlene. Darlene tries to save Laura (Soleil Moon Frye) but she falls in and the piranha kills her. Maggie and Paul make it to the camp. Paul grabs a canoe and saves his daughter and the kids. Maggie calls the resort to warn them of the danger but is ignored. She and Paul drive to the resort themselves but arrive too late; the school of piranha having killed most of the swimmers. Randolph now sees and realizes his mistake. Maggie and Paul take a speedboat to the latter's old workplace, to open the valve containing toxins and spread them into the lake, in attempts to kill the piranha. Upon arrival, the control room is flooded, and Paul must swim under to it and release the valve while Maggie stays in the boat counting to 200 before pulling him out. The piranha attacks Paul but he successfully releases the valve, spreading the toxins. Maggie starts the boat's engines, pulling Paul away from the piranha school. As Maggie pulls out the rope, she discovers that it was cut loose, making her think that Paul did not make it. A badly wounded but alive Paul surfaces from the water. J. R. Randolph then commits suicide after he discovers that he will face legal action. After the horrific incident, the Mayor of Lost River announcing that the piranha somehow are all dead, but then at the ocean the trilling sounds of the piranha are heard, and it turns out that half of the piranha have survived and made their way to the ocean. ===== Five year old Ben Archer watches silently as his father starts up his car and drives away with his secretary, and they both offer only a wave out the window in parting. His mother, Sandy (Farrah Fawcett), can only watch heartbroken from the window of their house as her ex husband leaves them. Ben’s father promised to visit him, yet never comes back. They are both upset, but they decide to have a fresh start, so they move into a loft apartment in downtown Seattle to begin a new life with just the two of them. Sandy makes creative efforts to turn it into a home for them. They gradually overcome his father leaving and foster a very close bond with important rituals and routines, including making a collage with beach debris. Sandy develops an interest in dating, but her suitors never fit well and do not last long, which allows Ben’s ideal relationship with his mother to resume. Five years later, however, Sandy decides she is ready for marriage again, and begins seriously dating U.S. Federal Prosecutor, Attorney Jack Sturges (Chevy Chase). In Federal Court, Jack successfully prosecutes mobster Frank Renda for drug trafficking. Before being sentenced to fifty years in federal prison at Sheridan, the elderly Frank makes a veiled threat of revenge towards Jack. After court is adjourned, Frank’s son Joey (Richard Portnow) rephrases the threat in a more intimidating manner, but Jack does not back down and then dismisses him entirely. Sandy and Jack discuss his moving in, of which eleven year old Ben (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) does not approve despite his mother’s reassurance that it is only a trial period. Jack is confident he can win him over, telling Sandy he has read every book on step parenting he could find. The transition does not go smoothly for Ben, as he resentfully feels he is the one suffering all of the adjustments and that his mother is making the same mistake she made with his father, so he resorts to ensuring Jack is as uncomfortable and unwelcome as possible. Jack tries taking the subterfuge in stride, not realizing it is deliberate, but his efforts to connect with the boy are met with irritation as he only succeeds in disrupting Ben’s customary lifestyle. After meeting a boy named Norman Bronski (Zachary Browne) at school, Ben feigns interest in joining the Indian Guides – a YMCA father son program – with Jack to secretly drive a wedge between them and get rid of him. Despite reluctance, Jack goes along with it at Sandy’s insistence, and he and Ben join Norman's "tribe," the Minotauks. Neither of them like the club, but Ben manages to effectively humiliate Jack at meetings. Once it starts interfering with his job, Jack tells Sandy he can no longer be part of it. Ben fakes distress by this and compares it to his father leaving to turn Sandy against her boyfriend. Jack goes to apologize, and instead overhears Ben bragging about everything over the phone to his best friend Monroe. Although he is disheartened by this revelation, Jack does not tell Sandy about it and instead seeks advice from Indian Guides chief and fellow stepfather Chet Bronski (George Wendt). Chet tells Jack, the reason why Ben is doing this because he is afraid Jack will take his mother away from him. Chet was like Jack himself, Norman and Chet never got along, but the Indian Guides help them have a great relationship. That is what Jack will do. He then redoubles his efforts to bond with Ben by improving the Indian Guides. Meanwhile, Ben starts to connect with Norman and they become close friends after a sleepover. Just as Jack starts to strengthen his relationship with Ben, Joey’s threat catches up with him: the brakes on his Ford Explorer are cut, but Jack manages to avoid a more serious crash and ends up in Puget Sound. This causes him to miss an important canoe trip he promised to attend. Ben, having finally opened up, is genuinely hurt by this perceived betrayal to the point of tears, as it brings up bad memories of his father’s broken promises. Ben returns home at the same time Jack does, he tells Ben that he had car trouble and was unable to get to the canoe trip on time and that he's sorry, but then Jack tells Ben that Chet had planned a camping trip for the Indian Guides on the 4th of July and that Jack promises Ben that they will go on the trip no matter what happens. Jack conceals the truth and refuses his boss Bob’s (Ron Canada) order to transfer to Portland, Oregon so he can redeem himself to go camping. His initial attempts are unsuccessful, and he feels the situation is hopeless. Joey and his two goons, Murray and Tony, are then discovered in the woods with rifles by Ben planning to kill Jack, and Jack confesses the truth behind his "car trouble" which garners Ben's forgiveness and understanding as he now knows Jack did not intentionally betray his trust like his father. Jack sends the rest of the Indian Guides to the ranger station while he and Ben (who returned to help him) improvise to distract the criminals. The pair is eventually cornered in front of an abandoned mine shaft entrance rigged with dynamite, until they are rescued by the Minotauks and the crooks are disabled. Ben is impressed and finally gives his approval of Jack and consents to Jack proposing to Sandy. The two complete the beach collage, which symbolizes that the three of them are finally whole as a family. Jack and Sandy marry, with the Minotauks in attendance at the wedding, and despite nothing being perfect, all are happy. ===== The title story in the collection Going Home deals with the complexities of the Aboriginal identity in Australia. It is set in the 1980s and the protagonist has succeeded at university. He excels at sports, studies art and does paintings that are admired by the white community. But in achieving this acceptance he has turned his back on his home and his family. He feels white, but at the same time he is proud to be black. On his 21st birthday, nostalgia for his roots leads him to return to the camp of his birth, only to discover that his new "white" identity is invisible in the darkness of ignorance and prejudice. In contrast, another story in the collection, "Herbie", is about a white boy named Davey who witnesses the killing of an Aboriginal boy and though he is cruel to the boy and offers no resistance to the boys who eventually result in his death, the boy sympathises with Herbie's mother and shows remorse. In this story he portrays a boy who at the time has no empathy towards Herbie, an indigenous boy. It portrays bullying and brutal behaviour in a schoolyard with fatal consequences. ===== Temple Caddy "T. C." Jeffords is an elderly, tyrannical, and arrogant cattle baron who owns a sprawling property in the New Mexico Territory, called The Furies. He harbors special contempt for the Herrera family, who are squatting on the property. T. C.'s beloved daughter, Vance, is as obsessed with wealth and every bit as ruthless as her father, though she has a secret, close bond with Juan Herrera, whom she has known since childhood. However, Vance seeks a suitor who can run the giant ranch with her once her father dies . She falls in love with Rip Darrow, who believes a portion of The Furies' land is rightfully his and holds a grudge against T. C.; meanwhile, Vance is shocked when Rip accepts a $50,000 bribe from T. C. to permanently get out of her life. In town, Rip owns a saloon he calls "The Legal Tender"; he subsequently opens a bank near it. T. C. is so self-possessed, he pays bills with "T. C." notes rather than actual dollars. One day, he brings a woman home to The Furies: Flo Burnett, who plans to marry T. C. for his money. When Vance confronts Flo, Flo unabashedly admits she is seeking the marriage for financial security, and tells Vance that she and T. C. are soon to be married in San Francisco. Together, Flo and T. C. inform Vance that they have arranged for an outsider to take over the maintenance The Furies, so as to take pressure off of Vance, as well as oust the Herreras from the property. Furthermore, they have planned an extended trip to Europe for Vance. Enraged by this news, Vance hurls a pair of scissors at Flo's face, permanently disfiguring her. Vance flees on horseback to the Herreras' home on The Furies. T. C. summons a number of his men to run the Herreras off the property. They arrive on horseback armed with guns, but the Herreras fight back by hurling boulders down the hill at them and returning fire. Vance stands by Juan's side as he fires back at her father's associates. The Herreras eventually surrender, and T. C. and his men execute Juan by hanging as Vance looks on. Before she departs, Vance proclaims her hatred for her father, and swears to him that she will ruin his life. Seeking vengeance, Vance travels throughout the American west, buying up all of the "T. C." notes and dramatically eroding her father's wealth. At risk of losing his property, T. C. unsuccessfully seeks to borrow $50,000 from Flo to save The Furies. Meanwhile, Vance visits Rip, asking for assistance in her plot to ruin her father. Rip observes that Vance is consumed by hatred, but agrees to help her if she gives him a section of The Furies, to which she agrees. The two conspire to deceive T. C. by giving him false hope that a wealthy California investor is going to loan him the funds to save The Furies. When T. C. arrives at the bank to receive his "loan," he is met by Vance and Rip, and offered a crate of $140,000 of his own "T. C." notes, now worthless. Rather than lambasting his daughter, T. C. congratulates her on her cunning, and willingly relinquishes The Furies to her. He declares he will start his life over elsewhere the little means he has. T. C. exits the bank, and burns his box of currency outside. As he walks down the street arm-in-arm with Vance and Rip, he is shot to death by Juan's bereaved mother. Vance and Rip return to The Furies with T. C.'s body, where they plan his burial. ===== The cartoon opens with a faux Walter Winchell-like voice discussing the end of the Third Reich, saying that "Germany has been battered into a fare-thee-well", and musing about where the high leadership, and "Fatso" Göring in particular has gone. The scene soon cuts to the Black Forest, where Hermann Göring—in bemedalled lederhosen—is "soothing his jangled nerves" marching while on a hunt. Nearby, a furrow in the ground appears, with a hole at the end. Bugs pops out of the hole, and sees no sign of the Black Forest on his map (variants of this scene would be used in later cartoons as the lead-in to the joke that Bugs, while tunneling underground, did indeed turn wrong somewhere in New Mexico, usually by not taking a left turn at Albuquerque. This cartoon is the first time Bugs says the popular catchphrase: "I KNEW I ‘shoulda’ (should have) made ‘dat’ (that) left ‘toin’ (turn) at ‘Albakoikie’ (Albuquerque)"). The other is Bugs asks Göring about the directions to Las Vegas, oblivious to his location. Göring is almost tricked into going to Las Vegas, but then quickly realizes, "Las Veegas? Why, there is no Las Veegas in Germany!" before he fires his musket at Bugs. Genuinely alarmed by his mistaken destination ("Joimany?! Yipe!"), Bugs hightails it. Göring chases after the rabbit, trying to suck Bugs out of his hole with his musket as a plunger. A few chase gags go by in which Bugs insults the integrity of Göring’s medals by bending one with his teeth. Suckered into bending one himself, Göring declares them ersatz and mumbles all sorts of anti-Hitler sentiments ("Oh, do I hate that Hitler swine, that phony führer, that…").Shull, Wilt (2004), p. 181–182 Bugs masquerades as Adolf Hitler after smearing on some mud, and faces the surprised Göring. Göring disappears off- screen in a flash to change into his Nazi uniform adorned with all sorts of medals. After the usual Nazi salute, Bugs berates him in faux German as he rips all of the medals off Göring's uniform (Klooten-flooten-blooten-pooten- meirooten-tooten!), quickly followed by his belt. Göring "kisses" in reverence, saying, "Look! I kiss mein Führer’s hand. I kiss right in 'der Führer’s face!'" (the joke being a popular near-contemporary song with this title composed by Oliver Wallace and the subject of a Disney animated short in 1943). Afterwards, Göring exclaims "Oh, I’m a bad flooten-boy-glooten!", a variant on Warner Bros. cartoons' frequently-cited Lou Costello-type catchphrase: "I'm a bad boy!". Later, when the jig is up, Bugs rides in on a white horse, dressed as Brünhilde—from Wagnerian opera, to the tune of the "Pilgrims’ Chorus" from Tannhäuser. Entranced, Göring responds by dressing up as Siegfried. The two dance, before Bugs once again makes a fool of Göring and escapes (anticipating What's Opera, Doc? co-starring Elmer Fudd).Goldmark (2005), pp. 143–145. Eventually, Göring gets a hawk to capture Bugs. Bugs, standing next to Göring asks, "Do you think he’ll catch me, doc?" to which Göring replies, "Do I think he'll catch you? Why, he’ll have you back here before you can say Schicklgruber." (Schicklgruber was the original surname of Hitler’s father Alois.) Bugs runs off and jumps into his rabbit hole, but as he falls down the hole, the hawk, which imitates Jimmy Durante, catches Bugs in a bag, capturing him. Göring brings the bag to Hitler, who plays solitaire in front of a map depicting the decline of Fortress Europe. Göring identifies the captive in the bag as "Bugsenheimer Bunny" (as opposed to "Weisenheimer", or "wise guy") to der Führer.During this final sequence, realistic hand prints are visible on a wall map. These prints represent a signature of background artist Robert Gribbroek, who is not credited in this cartoon. As Herr Hitler talks of the great rewards he’s going to pile upon Göring for this act of heroism, he peeks inside the bag and is shocked ("Ach!! Himmel!"). Göring goes and looks inside the bag as well, to be shocked as well (again, "Ach!! Himmel!"). Out of the bag comes Bugs dressed as Joseph Stalin—complete with an enormous pipe and a large moustache—staring back at them. As the cartoon ends, Bugs glances back at the camera and asks, in a Russian accent: "Does your tobacco taste different lately?", citing an ad slogan of that era for the Sir Walter Raleigh pipe tobacco manufactured by the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company. ===== Following the funeral of Simon Cordier (Vincent Price), a French magistrate and amateur sculptor, his secret diary is read out by Simon's pastor friend to a group of people gathered around the table, Simon's servants, and a police captain. The diary reveals that Simon has come into contact with a malevolent entity. The invisible yet corporeal being, called a horla, is capable of limited psychokinesis and complete mind control. It is implied that Cordier's particular horla is one of a whole race of evil beings which devote themselves to driving humans insane. Cordier first interacts with the horla when he meets a prisoner whom the entity drove to murder four people. The horla possesses the inmate and attempts to kill Cordier, who in self-defense accidentally kills the man. The magistrate inherits the prisoner's troubles as the horla turns its hauntings toward him. As the horla begins to destroy Cordier's life, he fears he is going mad and seeks help from an alienist, who suggests that he take up a hobby. Cordier chooses to pick up his old interest in sculpture, meeting a model along the way. The model, Odette Malotte, is already married, but claims to love Cordier and he pledges his love to her in turn. The horla insists the model is not the charming jewel that Cordier sees, but instead a conniving gold-digger, and compels Cordier to treat her as such. This sets up a conflict in Cordier, that he might not be the astute judge of character that his title indicates. In an episode of insanity, Cordier murders Odette with a knife. Her decapitated body is found in the river, but her husband (not Cordier) is blamed for the crime. As his and others' lives are put in jeopardy, he becomes convinced of the horla's existence and decides drastic measures are needed to end its evil. He lures the horla into his house at night. When his presence is felt, Simon hurls an oil lamp towards the curtains, setting the house ablaze. Simon succeeds in destroying the horla, but not without sacrificing himself as the house burns in flames. The film concludes with the people seated around the table after reading Simon's diary. Some believe Simon was mad and that the horla does not exist, others are unsure and believe that the horla might have existed. The priest's opinion is that wherever evil exists, the horla exists. ===== Mining engineer Mike Lambert (Glenn Ford) takes a temporary job driving a truck. When the brakes fail while coming down a steep highway, he steers his way through a small town and is lucky to just dent the pickup of Jeff Cunningham (Edgar Buchanan). Jeff demands Mike's employer pay for the damage, but the man refuses. Mike pays him himself. Later, the police find Mike in a bar and arrest him for reckless driving and having an expired license. A total stranger, barmaid Paula Craig (Janis Carter), pays his $50 fine. When Mike gets drunk, Paula quits her job and finds him a hotel room. Then she meets Steve Price (Barry Sullivan) and tells him, "I found him", a stranger with the same height and build as Steve. The next day, Mike goes looking for a job. The clerk at the assay office puts him in touch with Jeff, a prospector who has found a rich vein in an old, abandoned silver mine. He offers to cut Mike in for 10%, a generous offer he quickly accepts. However, Mike makes the mistake of telling Paula all about it. When Jeff goes to get financing from Steve, the vice-president of the Empire Bank, Paula gets him to turn Jeff down. An opportunist, Steve obtained his position through his wife Beth's father. He has embezzled $250,000 from the bank and hidden it in Paula's safety deposit box. The plan involves a fatal, fiery car crash, with Mike's body to be mistaken for Steve's. Mike wins some money in a craps game and pays Paula back everything she spent on him. He saw her get in the car with Steve, and is very suspicious of a barmaid with much money. Paula tells him she persuaded Steve to reconsider Jeff's financing. Mike, Steve and Paula drive out to see the mine. On the way back, Steve persuades Mike to stop for a drink at his place. However, when Mike goes to wash his hands, he notices a robe with "Paula" embroidered on it. Mike gets drunk and passes out. Steve drives him to the spot chosen for the accident, but Paula knocks Steve out instead of Mike and sends the car - and Steve - over a cliff. She is able to convince Mike that he accidentally killed Steve in a drunken rage and that she staged the accident to cover for him. She begs him to run away with her. Mike then learns that the authorities know Steve was killed and Jeff has been accused of his murder. After going to see Jeff in jail, Mike suspects Paula, but has no proof. He goes to question Mrs. Woodworth, Steve's secretary, pretending to be a reporter. She confirms that a Helen Bailey called while Jeff was meeting Steve. Mrs Woodworth's suspicious husband calls the police, but Mike punches him and gets away. He asks Paula if she knows Helen Bailey. She denies it, then heads to the bank to get the money. Mike follows her there and confronts her. She begs him to go with her, but he turns her down, and the police, tipped off by him, place her under arrest. ===== Qingcheng, a starving girl, wanders around the land in search of food. She chances upon a boy, tricks him, steals a mantou from him, and runs away. She encounters the goddess Manshen and accepts an offer to enjoy a wealthy and luxurious life and become the most beautiful woman in the land. However, she has a price to pay: She will never find genuine everlasting love with any man. She becomes the King's concubine when she grows up. General Guangming defeats a large army of barbarians with only 1,000 soldiers and rushes back to save the King, who is besieged in the palace by the traitorous Duke Wuhuan. He meets Manshen, who tells him someone wearing his Crimson Armour will commit regicide and tarnish his reputation. A while later, Guangming is caught off guard and injured by Snow Wolf, Wuhuan's henchman, but is saved by his slave, Kunlun. He orders Kunlun to wear his crimson armour and save the King. When Kunlun asks his master how he can identify the King, Guangming tells him the King is the one without a weapon. Kunlun arrives at the palace and mistakes Qingcheng for the King because she is unarmed, and instead kills the King, who has just drawn his sword. He flees with Qingcheng, but they end up being cornered at a cliff by Wuhuan and his men. Wuhuan promises to not harm Qingcheng if Kunlun jumps off the cliff. Kunlun jumps off the cliff but survives the fall. In the meantime, Guangming's subordinates accuse their General of killing the King and turn against him. Kunlun returns, saves his master and gives him back his Crimson Armour. They go to rescue Qingcheng from Wuhuan later. Qingcheng falls in love with Guangming after mistaking him for the person who jumped off the cliff. On the other hand, Kunlun is captured by Wuhuan, who realises he is actually the one who killed the King. While Guangming and Qingcheng lead a happy life in the countryside, Kunlun uses his speed power to see the Veil of Time and learns that Wuhuan is responsible for the destruction of his family and homeland. Snow Wolf is actually from the same land as Kunlun and was forced to become Wuhuan's servant. Snow Wolf also tells Kunlun that no one is capable of crossing over to the other side of the Veil of Time. Wuhuan lures Guangming back to the palace and captures him. He then places Guangming, Kunlun, and Qingcheng on a show trial for regicide. During the trial, Kunlun confesses that he killed the King, and Qingcheng realises he is actually the one who saved her earlier. Guangming, Kunlun, and Qingcheng are sentenced to death but they break free and fight Wuhuan, who tells Qingcheng he is the boy she stole a mantou from. As a result of Qingcheng betraying his trust, Wuhuan grew up in hatred and became the evil person he is today. Both Wuhuan and Guangming die in the fight while Kunlun is fatally wounded. Kunlun survives after wearing Snow Wolf's immortality robe. Manshen appears when Kunlun and Qingcheng are attempting to pass through the Veil of Time, and tells Qingcheng that the promises made between deities and humans are as fragile as ordinary promises. Qingcheng has finally found her true love and thus given herself an opportunity to choose again. Manshen advises her to choose wisely. The film ends with the opening scene showing Qingcheng, as a little girl, wandering around. ===== Newspaper editor Jim Austin and his wife are fleeing Kennington, where they live and work, so that he may testify before a committee investigating how crime impacts commerce throughout the country. They are being pursued by the criminal element from their town and pull off the highway in a place called Warren, where they take refuge in a police station. Austin requests an escort to ensure they arrive safely at the committee location. He also gets permission to use the station's tape recorder, on which he chronicles the events which have brought him to this point. Austin is driven to investigate corruption after Clyde Nelson, a local private detective, working on an apparently harmless divorce case, discovers the existence of a big-time gambling syndicate operating with the consent of the city fathers, the local police, and the respectable elements of the community. Nelson is killed in a hit-and-run which appears to be an accident. Austin thinks otherwise and looks into the death. Throughout the course of his investigation, he is harassed and threatened; when others decide to help, they also suffer. ===== Radetzky March relates the stories of three generations of the Trotta family, professional Austro-Hungarian soldiers and career bureaucrats of Slovenian origin — from their zenith during the empire to the nadir and breakup of that world during and after the First World War. In 1859, the Austrian Empire (1804–67) was fighting the Second War of Italian Independence (29 April – 11 July 1859), against French and Italian belligerents: Napoleon III of France, the Emperor of the French, and the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia.A History of Austrian Literature 1918-2000, edited by Katrin Kohl and Ritchie Robertson. Rochester, N.Y.: Camden House, 2006, p. 67. The Emperor: Franz Joseph in Austrian Field Marshal uniform. In northern Italy, during the Battle of Solferino (24 June 1859), the well- intentioned, but blundering, Emperor Franz Joseph I, is almost killed. To thwart snipers, Infantry Lieutenant Trotta topples the Emperor from his horse. The Emperor awards Lt. Trotta the Order of Maria Theresa and ennobles him. Elevation to the nobility ultimately leads to the Trotta family's ruination, paralleling the imperial collapse of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918). Following his social elevation Lt. Trotta, now Baron Trotta, is regarded by his family — including his father — as a man of superior quality. Although he does not assume the airs of a social superior, everyone from the new baron's old life perceives him as a changed person, as a nobleman. The perceptions and expectations of society eventually compel his reluctant integration into the aristocracy, a class amongst whom he feels temperamentally uncomfortable. As a father, the first Baron Trotta is disgusted by the historical revisionism that the national school system is teaching his son's generation. The school history textbook presents as fact a legend about his battlefield rescue of the Emperor. He finds especially galling the misrepresentation that infantry lieutenant Trotta was a cavalry officer. The Baron appeals to the Emperor to have the school book corrected. The Emperor considers however that such a truth would yield an uninspiring, pedestrian history, useless to Austro- Hungarian patriotism. Therefore, whether or not history textbooks report Infantry Lt. Trotta's battlefield heroism as legend or as fact, he orders the story deleted from the official history of Austria-Hungary. The subsequent Trotta family generations misunderstand the elder generation's reverence for the legend of Lt. Trotta's saving the life of the Emperor and consider themselves to be rightful aristocrats. The disillusioned Baron Trotta opposes his son's aspirations to a military career, insisting he prepare to become a government official, the second most respected career in the Austrian Empire; by custom, the son was expected to obey. The son eventually becomes a district administrator in a Moravian town. As a father, the second Baron Trotta (still ignorant of why his war-hero father thwarted his military ambitions) sends his own son to become a cavalry officer; grandfather's legend determines grandson's life. The cavalry officer's career of the third Baron Trotta comprises postings throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire and a dissipated life of wine, women, song, gambling, and dueling, off-duty pursuits characteristic of the military officer class in peace-time. Following a fatal duel the young Trotta transfers from the socially elite Uhlans to a less prestigious Jäger regiment. Baron Trotta's infantry unit then suppresses an industrial strike in a garrison town. Awareness of the aftermath of his professional brutality begins Lieutenant Trotta's disillusionment with empire. He is killed, bravely but pointlessly, in a minor skirmish with Russian troops during the opening days of World War I. His lonely and grieving father, the District Commissioner, dies almost immediately after Franz Joseph two years later. Two mourners at the funeral conclude that the second von Trotta could not have survived the old Emperor, and that neither could have survived the dying Empire. ===== “The Butterfly that Stamped” is one of the stories that is about King Solomon, his lovely wife Balkis (she is the one he is in love with, and she loves him, in most versions the others are there just because he is king and has to have more wives than anyone else), his other nine-hundred ninety nine wives, and two charming but quarrelsome butterflies. Solomon (who mainly goes by Suleiman bin Daoud in the story) is a very wise man, but is very annoyed with his surplus wives and all their quarreling. He thinks they are very loud and ungrateful. He refuses to use his magic to do anything about it because he believes it is just showing off, something he swore to refrain from doing after an embarrassing moment when he provided a feast for all life only for it to be devoured by a sea monster. One day, when walking in his forest, Suleiman bin Daoud stumbles upon two butterflies arguing. The male butterfly tells his wife he could stamp his foot and the huge palace garden would disappear in a bid to control her because she is quarreling with him, and as he tells the king you know how women are. Suleiman bin Daoud finds the claim amusing and calls the butterfly over. After asking the butterfly why he lied, he tells the butterfly that if he has to, he will help him. Meanwhile, Balkis has a talk with the butterfly’s wife, who says she is only pretending to agree with him, because "you know how men are." Balkis tells her she should dare her husband to stamp his foot, as he must be lying, and then she can argue with him again. Really, she is hoping the disappearance of the palace will shock the other wives into obedience. The female butterfly dares her husband, and the butterfly prevaricates by telling her the king called him over to ask him not to, because he is afraid of the butterfly. The wife insists he stamps, and he goes to the king, who tells him he will make it happen to help control his wife, sympathizing with the butterfly's plight. The butterfly stamps and the palace disappears. This makes the butterfly's wife scared, and she promises never to argue with him again as long as he brings it back, leaving Solomon in fits of laughter. But when the garden vanishes, Solomon's quarrelling wives are deathly afraid, believing that the king is dead and the heavens are mourning the news. Balkis claims it was the butterfly who was angry at his wife, and they realise that if the king will do this for the sake of a tiny butterfly, what will he do to us, we who have been making him miserable with our quarreling, and they in turn become scared of Solomon's powers, and are nice and quiet from then on. Balkis then explains to Solomon what had happened, and how it was all for his benefit, for if he will do all this for the sake of a butterfly, it cannot be wrong to help himself occasionally, and they return to the palace. ===== The player takes the role of an alien explorer from the star-system of Arcturus, called Slaatn, who has been drawn off-course by a beam of energy from Earth and has had to make a landing on the Moon. Slaatn must neutralise the box-like transmitters and thus eliminate the force field. ===== The film was based on the life story of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted as spies and executed by the United States government in 1953 for giving nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. This story follows their fictionalized son as he attempts to find out the truth. They were both executed by the electric chair. ===== Inside a mine shaft, a female miner takes off her gear in front of another miner. When the woman performs a striptease, the miner pushes her onto a mining pickaxe, killing her. Mayor Hanniger of Valentine Bluffs, a Canadian mining town, reinstates the traditional Valentine's Day dance, which has been suspended for twenty years. The dances stopped after an accident in which two supervisors left several miners in the mines to attend the dance. Because they forgot to check methane gas levels, there was an explosion that trapped the miners. Harry Warden, the only survivor, resorted to cannibalism to survive and went insane. The next year, he murdered the two supervisors who left them there, and vowed further attacks if the Valentine's Day Dance ever occurred again. Warden was placed into an asylum and the accident was forgotten, so the dance resumed. A group of young residents are excited about the dance: Gretchen, Dave, Hollis, Patty, Sylvia, Howard, Mike, John, Tommy, and Harriet. Sarah, Axel, and the mayor's son T.J. are involved in a tense love triangle. Mayor Hanniger and the town's police chief Jake Newby receive an anonymous box of Valentine chocolates containing a human heart, and a note warning that murders will begin if the dance proceeds. That evening, resident Mabel is murdered by a mining-geared killer in a laundromat, and her heart removed. Newby publicly reports that she died of a heart attack to prevent a panic. He contacts the mental institution where Harry Warden was incarcerated, but they have no record of him. Hanniger and Newby cancel the dance but the town's youngsters decide to hold their own party at the mine. A bartender warns them against it but is killed by the miner. At the party, the miner brutally kills Dave; his heart is subsequently found boiling in a pot of hot dogs being prepared in the kitchen. Shortly after, Sylvia is impaled on a shower head by the miner. When the others realize Dave and Sylvia have been murdered, they contact authorities, but several of the partygoers have already decided to enter the mines for fun. Newby rushes into the mines with police to rescue them. The miner impales a large drill into Mike and Harriet, and shoots a nail gun into Hollis's head. Horrified, Howard flees. The remaining four try to climb to the top with a ladder, but discover a dead beheaded Howard. While finding their way out, Axel and Patty are killed by the miner. The miner chases T.J. and Sarah and a fight ensues. The miner is revealed to be Axel, who faked his demise. A flashback shows that Axel's father was one of the supervisors. As a child, Axel witnessed Harry Warden murdering his father, which traumatized him. Sarah hits Axel with a rock, resulting in the tunnel collapsing, which traps Axel as Newby and the police arrive to rescue T.J. and Sarah. The police explain to them that Harry Warden died five years earlier. T.J. and Sarah hear a rescuer shout that Axel is still alive, and they rush back to the scene. They watch as Axel frees himself from the debris by amputating his trapped arm. He runs deeper into the mine shouting threats to murder everyone in town, and mumbling about Sarah being his “bloody valentine.” The film ends with a maniacal laugh being heard (either Axel's or Harry Warden's) as a ballad for Harry Warden plays over the film's credits. ===== Humanity has spread out and colonised nearby star systems but a plague in 2150 led to the colonies being abandoned and left to their automated robotic maintenance systems. While several of these colonies have been successfully re-inhabited, the colony on the planet Tau Ceti III (orbiting the star Tau Ceti) has been uncontactable since a meteor smashed into the planet. A mission sent to Tau Ceti III in 2164 landed on the planet but broadcast a mayday message followed by silence. Experts decided that the planet's robots were running amok as a result of the meteorite impact. The only chance, it was decided, of successfully stopping the defence systems without destroying the cities already there is to send a single pilot in an armoured Gal-Corp skimmer to the planet's surface with the task of shutting down the central reactor in Tau Ceti III's capital, Centralis. ===== Having previously survived being riddled with bullets, the Gill-man is captured and sent to the Ocean Harbor Oceanarium in Florida, where he is studied by animal psychologist Professor Clete Ferguson (John Agar) and ichthyology student Helen Dobson (Lori Nelson). Helen writes a journal entry about the Gill-man that is dated 7/10/1954. Helen and Clete quickly begin to fall in love, much to the chagrin of Joe Hayes (John Bromfield), the Gill- man's keeper. The Gill-man takes an instant liking to Helen, which severely hampers Clete's efforts to communicate with him. Ultimately, the Gill-man escapes from his tank, killing Joe in the process, and flees to the open ocean. Unable to stop thinking about Helen, the Gill-man soon begins to stalk her and Clete, ultimately abducting her from a seaside restaurant where the two are at a party. Clete tries to give chase, but the Gill-man escapes to the water with his captive. Clete and police arrive just in time and when the creature surfaces, police shoot him as Clete saves Helen. ===== The game's backstory is that two dolls, Pino and Acha, have gone into the castle of the witch Majyo who has kidnapped their friends. The game's opening cutscene reads "PINO AND ACHA ARE GOING TO MAJYO'S CASTLE TO SAVE FRIEND" before gameplay begins. The game culminates with a battle against Majyo on the 44th floor, who can only be defeated by collecting the hearts that appear in random places around the room. ===== Vitangelo Moscarda discovers by way of a completely irrelevant question that his wife poses to him that everyone he knows, everyone he has ever met, has constructed a Vitangelo persona in their own imagination and that none of these personas corresponds to the image of Vitangelo that he himself has constructed and believes himself to be. The reader is immediately immersed in a cruel game of falsifying projections, mirroring the reality of social existence itself, which imperiously dictate their rules. As a result, the first, ironic "awareness" of Vitangelo consists in the knowledge of that which he definitely is not; the preliminary operation must therefore consist in the spiteful destruction of all of these fictitious masks. Only after this radical step toward madness and folly in the eyes of the world can Vitangelo finally begin to follow the path toward his true self. He discovers, though, that if his body can be one, his spirit certainly is not. And this Faustian duplicity gradually develops into a disconcerting and extremely complex multiplicity. How can one come to know the true foundation, the substate of the self? Vitangelo seeks to catch it by surprise as it shows itself in a brief flash on the surface of consciousness. But this attempt at revealing the secret self, chasing after it as if it were an enemy that must be forced to surrender, does not give the desired results. Just as soon as it appears, the unknown self evaporates and recomposes itself into the familiar attitudes of the superficial self. In this extremely modern Secretum where there is no Saint Augustine to indicate, with the profound voice of conscience, the absolute truth to desire, where desperation is entrusted to a bitter humour, corrosive and healing at the same time, the unity of the self disintegrates into diverse stratifications. Vitangelo is one of those "...particularly intelligent souls ...who break through the illusion of the unity of the self and feel themselves to be multiform, a league of many Is..." as Hermann Hesse notes in the Dissertation chapter of Steppenwolf. Vitangelo's extremely lucid reflections seek out the possible objections, confine them into an increasingly restricted space and, finally, kill them with the weapons of rigorous and stringent argumentation. The imaginary interlocutors, ("Dear sirs, excuse me"..."Be honest now"..."You are shocked? Oh my God, you are turning pale"...), which incarnate these objections rather than opening up Vitangelo's monologue into a dialogue fracture it into two levels: one external and falsely reassuring, the other internal and disquieting, but surely more true. The plural you ("voi") which punctuates like a returning counterpoint all of the initial part of the novel is much different from the "tu" of Eugenio Montale, which is almost always charged with desperate expectations or improbable alternatives to existence; it represents, rather, the barrier of the conformist conceptions which the lengthy ratiocinations of Vitangelo nullify with the overwhelming evidence of implacable reflections. Vitangelo's "thinking out loud", definitely intentional and rigorous, is, however, paradoxically projected toward a completely different epilogue in which the spiral of reasoning gives way to a liberating irrationalism. Liberation for Vitangelo cannot happen through instinct or Eros, as happens in the case of Harry Haller, the steppenwolf, who realises his metamorphosis through an encounter with the transgressively vital Hermine. Vitangelo's liberation must follow other avenues; he must realise his salvation and the salvation of his reason precisely through an excess of reason. He seems to say to us: "Even reason, dear sirs, if it is alleviated of its role as a faculty of good sense which counsels adaptation to historical, social and existential "reality", can become a precious instrument of liberation." This is not true because reason, when pushed to its ultimate limits, can open up to new metaphysical prospects, but because, having reached its limits, deliriously wandering around in cerebral labyrinths and in an atmosphere saturated with venom, it dies by its own hand. The total detachment of Vitangelo from false certainties is fully realised during a period of convalescence from illness. Sickness, in Pirandello as in many other great writers, is experienced as a situation in which all automatic behaviour is suspended and the perceptive faculties, outside of the normal rules, seem to expand and see "with other eyes." In this moment the ineptitude that Vitangelo shares with Mattia Pascal and other literary characters of the beginning of the 20th century demonstrates its positive potential and becomes a conscious rejection of any role, of any function, of any perspective based on a utilitarian vision. The episode of the woollen blanket signals the unbridgeable distance which now separates Vitangelo from the rules of reality in which the judge who has come to interrogate him appears to be completely enmeshed. While the scrupulous functionary, completely absorbed in his role, collects the useful elements for his sentencing, Vitangelo contemplates with "ineffable delight" the woollen blanket covering his legs: "I saw the countryside: as if it were all an endless carpet of wheat; and, hugging it, I was beatified, feeling myself truly, in the midst of all that wheat, with a sense of immemorial distance that almost cause me anguish, a sweet anguish. Ah, to lose oneself there, lay down and abandon oneself, just like that among the grass, in the silence of the skies: to fill one's soul with all that useless blue, sinking into it every thought, every memory!" Once cured of his illness, Vitangelo has a completely new perspective, completely "foreign". He no longer desires anything and seeks to follow moment by moment the evolution of life in him and the things that surround him. He no longer has any history or past, he is no longer in himself but in everything around and outside of him. ===== It is a movie about three teen skaters, played by young Australian actors Richard Wilson, Sean Kennedy and Ho Thi Lu. Their characters Poker, Spasm and Blue Flame, are trying to escape the law, their school, their parents, their demons and a couple of low-life criminals (Brendan Cowell as Kurt and Mitchell McMahon as Pigeon)https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389911/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast to realise their burning ambition -- to meet world class skating champion, Tony Hawk and compete in his skating competition at the Beachbowl, a major skate competition at Maroubra Beach, in the hope he'll sponsor them. The movie details their skating journey across Sydney's half-pipes and suburbs. ===== Based on a children's book written by Živko Čingo in the 1970s, the movie is about the difficult transition in Macedonia after World War II. The film begins in the present as old Lem (Meto Jovanovski), Macedonian politician who is experiencing a heart attack and while he is being wheeled into a hospital and examined and wired, he has memory flashbacks to his childhood in 1945. He is brought to the 'orphanage' where orphans are children of the enemies of the new regime. There he learns how to adjust to the role of obedient brainwashing. He becomes mesmerized by a new kid, Isak, a beautiful and charismatic boy. The struggles quietly underplaying all of the camp surface activity are many: the dichotomy of a Communist ideology removing the Church from existence with a people dependent upon the spiritual values of religion, the Stalin/Tito issue, the adjustments to the policies of Communist regime in a country where fierce national pride had ruled, and the depersonalization of children into political pawns despite the need for role models and the luxury of growing up with friends and confidants. ===== Ririka Moriya is a bubbly, clumsy 4th grader who has a crush on Nozomu Kano, a transfer student from England. On her 10th birthday, Nozomu gives her a magical nurse cap, which allows Ririka to transform into the heavenly guardian, Nurse Angel. Nozomu later tells her that his real name is Kanon, and he comes from the planet Queen Earth, which has been overrun by the evil Dark Joker Organization, who has tarnished Nozomu's world through mass pollution. He was sent to find the legendary Nurse Angel, who would save both Earth and Queen Earth from destruction by finding the Flower of Life (命の花 Inochi no Hana). With help from Nozomu and her friend and neighbor Seiya Uzaki, Ririka learns to fight as Nurse Angel to protect her friends. ===== In a committee room, Mat O'Connor, a canvasser for Richard Tierney, a candidate in an upcoming municipal election, discusses child-rearing with Old Jack, who tries to keep a fire going. Joe Hynes, another canvasser, arrives and needles O’Connor on whether he’s been paid for his work yet. He proceeds to defend rival candidate Colgan's working-class background and maintains that Tierney, although a Nationalist, will likely present a welcome address at the upcoming visit of King Edward VII. When Hynes points out that it is Ivy Day, a commemoration of Charles Stewart Parnell, a nostalgic silence fills the room. Another canvasser, John Henchy, enters and derides Tierney for not having paid him yet. When Hynes leaves, Henchy voices a suspicion that the man is a spy for Colgan. Henchy badmouths another canvasser, Crofton, just before Crofton himself enters with Bantam Lyons. Crofton had worked for the Conservative candidate until the party withdrew and gave their support to Tierney. The talk of politics drifts to Charles Stewart Parnell, who has his defenders and detractors in the room. Hynes returns and is encouraged to read his sentimental poem dedicated to Parnell. The poem is highly critical of those who betrayed him, including the Roman Catholic Church, and places Parnell among the ancient heroes of Ireland. All applaud the performance and seem to forget their differences for the moment. ===== The main character is a young man known as Austin Gilroy. He studies physiology and knows a professor who is studying the occult. The young man is introduced to a middle-aged woman known as Miss Penclosa, who has a crippled leg and psychic powers. She is a friend of the Professor's wife. The skeptical Gilroy's fiancée, Agatha, is put into a trance to prove Miss Penclosa's powers. This succeeds and Gilroy begins to go to the Professor's house where Miss Penclosa practices her powers on him. This is so Gilroy can look at the physical part of the powers. Miss Penclosa 'falls in love' with the unfortunate Gilroy. She starts to use her powers on him to make him caress and utter sweet nothings to her. He loses his temper and rejects her love, and she begins to play tricks on him with her powers. The series of cruel tricks ends with him in Agatha's room carrying a small bottle of sulphuric acid. He notices that it is half-past three. He rushes to Miss Penclosa's home and demands her presence at the door. The nurse there answers in a frightened tone that she died at half-past three. ===== I Left My Sneakers in Dimension X continues the adventures of Rod and the crew of the Galactic Patrol ship Ferkel. When villainous BKR's friend Smorkus Flinders crosses over from Dimension X, he captures Rod and his bratty cousin Elspeth, taking them back to his home to use as bait for the crew of the Ferkel as revenge for them imprisoning BKR. Rod and Elspeth are rescued by Captain Grakker and his crew, but during the escape from Castle Chaos, the Ferkel is damaged enough that all must abandon ship. Without their spacecraft, our heroes are stranded. Following the strange disappearance of their friend Snout, the seven remaining gain help in the form of Galuspa, one of the race of Shapeshifters that are native to Dimension X. With his help, they are taken to the Valley of the Shapeshifters to see the Ting Wongovia. During their journey, Rod gains a new companion: a furry little creature called a Chibling, which bonds to him. Also during this time, and the time spent waiting in the Valley, Rod sees that another of the crew, Tar Gibbons, is watching him. Later, the Tar asks Rod to become his "Krevlik", or apprentice. Rod accepts, and begins training under his new teacher in the ways of martial arts. During the wait, Rod learns that BKR was handed off to the Merkel, one of the Ferkel's sister ships, to be delivered to prison, and that the crew of the Ferkel readily jumped in to save them despite knowledge that they were headed into a trap. Finally, the Ting Wongovia agrees to see them. They find out that he is actually the egg brother of their missing comrade Snout, and that Smorkus Flinders was once a good person, but, when he was slightly older than Rod, he was caught in a horrific Reality Quake that permanently transformed him into a monster. Banished to the Valley of the Monsters, he became their king, but the Reality Quake's effects also drove him partially insane. They then learn the plans of Smorkus Flinders and BKR: they intend to create a permanent hole between Dimension X, home of the dangerous Reality Quakes, and Dimension Q, home of the planet Earth and the Galactic Patrol. This would cause the Reality Quakes to leak over to our world, and the two dimensions would eventually fuse into a single dimension where reality can shift like sand; Smorkus Flinders sees this plan as an opportunity to get revenge on life for what it did to him, while the sadistic BKR simply wants to make others suffer, even with the knowledge that the Reality Quakes will affect him just as much as anyone else. To stop him, the crew of the Ferkel are joined by the Shapeshifters, the Ting Wongovia, and (to their dismay) Elspeth. Returning to Castle Chaos (in part with help from Spar Kellis, a gigantic blue monster who works for the Ting Wongovia by spying on Smorkus Flinders), they make their stand.https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book- reviews/bruce-coville/i-left-my-sneakers-in-dimension-x/ In the resulting confrontation, Rod is forced to grow to a gigantic height so he can defeat Smorkus Flinders. During the battle, he is contacted by Snout (by way of a direct telepathic link between the two), and learns that his old friend is being held captive by the "Ferkada". He also finds that Smorkus Flinders knows something about Rod's father. When Rod himself questions the monster, Smorkus Flinders cries out to ask BKR. About then, Rod blacks out. Soon after he wakes up, Rod learns that Smorkus Flinders is now their captive, and that when the Ferkel crashed into his room, they were really looking for another alien… his own father. With these revelations on his mind, Rod prepares to go home. But first, he winds up giving his new sneakers to Spar Kellis as a gift. But with all that has happened, telling his mother that he left his sneakers in Dimension X is the least of his worries. ===== The Search For Snout picks up where the previous book left off. Introducing the crew of the Galactic Patrol vessel Ferkel to his earthling mother proves to be as difficult as predicted, and explaining that he's going with them to find his semi-alien father is an even harder task. But the real trouble starts when they find out that BKR (the pain-loving alien psycho antagonist) is on the loose, having taken control of the Ferkel's sister ship Merkel while the ship was delivering him to prison. The crew of the Ferkel has been ordered to seek out their enemy and recapture him. After they question Smorkus Flinders (a muscle-bound alien from Dimension X) and learn something of BKR's current plan, Rod is contacted again by his friend Snout, master of the mental arts. Partly inspired by this contact, Grakker (the ship's commander) decides to break off from the Galactic Patrol and head for the Mentat instead, the school where Snout became a master of the Mental Arts (incidentally, the building is one big PLANT). There, he hopes to find a clue that could lead them to their fallen friend. During the journey, Grakker reveals some of his past, including how he got to know both Snout and BKR. Smorkus Flinders, having escaped from his suspended animation pod, manages to capture the entire crew... except for Elspeth (Rod's all-human cousin), who stowed away and was also in suspended animation as punishment. She manages to stop Smorkus and rescue the others. Also as a result of the battle, Rod's chibling (a small furball from dimension X) is injured from being thrown into a wall. Later that night, Rod learns that his friend was forced into his third stage of life: a two-part animal. The first half, which is then named Seymour, resembles a squashed, hairless blue cat with four (later six) legs, a long tail, and a similar neck with a gigantic eyeball at one end. The other half is named Edgar, and looks the same as before. While both appear to have separate minds, Seymour is the half that is truly sentient, holding their shared brain in his body. Soon after, they arrive at the Mentat and meet with the 'Head' Council, who are unable to help. However, they do reveal that all the messages which came from Snout are, in part, due to a direct link between Rod's mind and Snout's, created by an incident involving direct brain-to-brain training in the first book. They also question Smorkus Flinders, and through him contact BKR. Though they cannot help in regard to the Ferkada that Snout mentioned, they do agree to try and cure Smorkus Flinders, reverting him from a monster to a Normal (the species he used to be until he was caught in a nasty Reality Quake and turned into a monster). Later that day, the Mentat's security force (led by an insectoid woman named Arly Bung) arrests Rod, Elspeth and the crew after being contacted by the Galactic Patrol. Imprisoned in the lowest regions of the Mentat, they are soon rescued by Selima Khan, another of Snout's kind who also attended the Mentat in his year. During their escape into the caves below the Mentat, Rod sees an ancient carving of his father. Selima Khan also reveals the plans of BKR and Smorkus Flinders: they intend to use a black hole to detonate a bomb that will disrupt the space-time continuum and eventually bring the flow of time itself to a complete stop, but require Rod's brain to do so, for an unknown reason. Later, he is contacted again and leaves the group to follow the message. Along with Seymour and Edgar, Rod winds up in the belly of a gigantic stone beast, and the trio journey deep into its bowels. Finally, they reach a chamber where Snout is laying, fading away into nothingness. But he is not alone, as Rod is reunited with his father (alias the Ferkada, one of the ancient founders of the Mentat) at last. Rod's father (Ah-Rit Alber Ite, or Arthur "Art" Allbright) reveals the truth about where he came from (the lost civilization of Atlantis, circa 35,000 years ago), and his personal history with BKR. He also reveals that he once fled with the crucial bit of information that BKR needs for his current plans and stored them in a safe place: Rod's brain. During this last part, BKR arrives with Smorkus Flinders, revealing part of his side of the story. He also arrives to get the information that he needs. Just in time, the Ferkel arrives as well, and the resulting battle ends with a stalemate: BKR has Ah-Rit in his grasp, and threatens to kill him if Rod (and the crucial information) aren't handed over to him. Fortunately, there's a solution. Ah-Rit is released to the Ferkel, while Rod is handed over to BKR, and Snout transfers the contents of Rod's mind (including the crucial information) into Seymour, resulting in two minds living in one body. After the swap, BKR leaves with Rod's body. Afterward, Snout (now fully recovered from his coma-like state) reveals exactly what happened to him after he vanished from Dimension X. He was probing the dimension for something, and connected with something extenuatingly hostile, possibly Smorkus Flinders himself. ===== Aliens Stole My Body concludes the four-book series. After the departure of Selima Khan, the group characters from The Search for Snout splits up into three groups, Rod and Seymour head for the planet Kryndamar, along with Snout, Elspeth, and Madam Pong (the Diplomatic Officer of the Ferkel). Meanwhile, Grakker and Phil (the sentient plant who serves as the Ferkel's science officer) leave to re-establish contact with the Galactic Patrol, and Ah-Rit heads off with Tar Gibbons in an attempt to reclaim Rod's body from BKR. While on Kryndamar, Rod begins training his mind with Snout, and later gains a few new allies: the intergalactic pet trader Mir-Van; his family; and his business partner Grumbo. They also encounter one of BKR's henchmen; from him, they learn that BKR has already discovered their deception: Rod's brain is empty. BKR still plans to use it as bait, and he intends to capture Rod's mom and younger twin siblings from Earth, to serve as more bait. After arriving on Earth and locating Rod's family, the entire group (sans Grumbo, Mir-Van, and his family) are captured by BKR and his gang (including the traitorous Arly Bung) in the Merkel. The captives, along with Grakker, Phil, and Selima Khan, who are captured shortly before they were to leave the solar system, are taken to BKR's headquarters. There, the entire group is joined by Ah-Rit and Tar Gibbons. With all his enemies in one place, BKR delivers an ultimatum: reveal where they've hidden Rod's mind, or die. Rod tells Snout to send him back to his own body. Using the skills that he's learned from both Tar Gibbons and Snout, Rod is able to take out all of BKR's crew, and finally BKR himself. Following the defeat and capture of their enemies, Rod and his family are returned to Earth, though Rod will be able to return to space in the future. BKR and his gang are locked up and await trial. After a final goodbye to his teacher and friends, Rod watches as the Ferkel and its crew depart for GP headquarters so they can deliver BKR and his gang to stand trial. Ferkel and its crew must also stand trial, since they did break the law by going renegade instead of following orders. ===== Anil (Mithun Chakraborty), a street performer and wedding singer from the slums of Bombay, is scarred by the memory of the rich P. N. Oberoi (Om Shivpuri) beating his mother (Gita Siddharth) in an incident during his childhood. When David Brown, the manager (Om Puri) is fed up of Indian disco current champion's tantrums Sam (Karan Razdan) and looks for some new talent, he happens to watch Anil dance-walking across a street. Rebranded as 'Jimmy', the rising disco star must take the throne from Sam and win the heart of Rita (Kim), Oberoi's daughter. All seems to be going well until Oberoi hires men to connect Jimmy's electric guitar to 5,000 volts of electricity, causing Jimmy's mother to die in a tragic accident. Jimmy gets guitar phobia after witnessing his mother's death. Later, Oberoi's goons break his legs. With help from Rita, Jimmy begins to walk. Jimmy must claim first place for Team India at the International Disco Dancing Competition amidst strong competition from Team Africa (Disco King and Queen) and Team Paris (Disco King and Queen). Jimmy is reluctant to dance, but Rita persuades him to do so. Sam arrives with a guitar to scare Jimmy. Rita manages to drag the show to encourage Jimmy to sing but to no avail. The crowd pelts him with stones which hit his head. Jimmy's uncle Raju (Rajesh Khanna) arrives and advises him to infuse his mother and his music; he throws the guitar to Jimmy, after which Jimmy begins to sing. Oberoi's goons kill Raju, after which Jimmy travels to their lair and beats them up. In the ensuing fight, Oberoi is electrocuted. ===== Early one morning, Fern Arable prevents her father John from slaughtering a piglet as the runt of the litter. Deciding to let Fern deal with nurturing the piglet, John allows Fern to raise it as a pet. She nurtures it lovingly, naming it Wilbur. Six weeks later, Wilbur, due to being a spring pig, has matured, and John tells Fern that Wilbur has to be sold (his siblings were already sold). Fern sadly says good-bye to Wilbur as he is sold down the street to her uncle, Homer Zuckerman. At Homer's farm, a goose coaxes a sullen Wilbur to speak his first words. Although delighted at this new ability, Wilbur still yearns for companionship. He attempts to get the goose to play with him, but she declines on the condition that she has to hatch her eggs. Wilbur also tries asking a rat named Templeton to play with him, but Templeton's only interests are spying, hiding, and eating. Wilbur then wants to play with a lamb, but the lamb's father says sheep do not play with pigs because it is only a matter of time before they are slaughtered and turned into smoked bacon and ham. Horrified at this depressing discovery, Wilbur reduces himself to tears until a mysterious voice tells him to "chin up", and wait until morning to reveal herself to him. The following morning, she reveals herself to be a spider named Charlotte A. Cavatica, living on a web on a corner of Homer's barn overlooking Wilbur's pig pen. She tells him that she will come up with a plan guaranteed to spare his life. Later, the goose's goslings hatch. One of them, named Jeffrey, befriends Wilbur. Eventually, Charlotte reveals her plan to "play a trick on Zuckerman", and consoles Wilbur to sleep. The next morning, Homer's farmhand, Lurvy, sees the words, SOME PIG, spun within Charlotte's web. The incident attracts publicity among Homer's neighbors who deem the praise to be a miracle. The publicity eventually dies down, and Charlotte requests the barn animals to devise a new word to spin within her web. After several suggestions, the goose suggests the phrase, TERRIFIC! TERRIFIC! TERRIFIC!, though Charlotte decides to shorten it to one TERRIFIC. The incident becomes another media sensation, though Homer still desires to slaughter Wilbur. For the next message, Charlotte then employs Templeton to pull a word from a magazine clipping at the dump for inspiration, in which he returns the word RADIANT ripped from a soap box to spin within her web. Following this, Homer decides to enter Wilbur in the county fair for the summer. Charlotte reluctantly decides to accompany him, though Templeton at first has no interest in doing so until the goose tells him about all the food there. After one night there, Charlotte sends Templeton to the trash pile on another errand to gather another word for her next message, in which he returns with the word, HUMBLE. The next morning, Wilbur awakens to find Charlotte has spun an egg sac containing her unborn offspring, and the following afternoon, the word, HUMBLE, is spun. However, Fern's brother, Avery, discovers another pig named Uncle has won first place, though the county fair staff decides to hold a celebration in honor of Homer's miraculous pig, and rewards him $25 and a gold medal. He then announces that he will allow Wilbur to "live to a ripe old age". Exhausted from laying eggs and writing words, Charlotte tells Wilbur she will remain at the fair to die. Not willing to let her children be abandoned, Wilbur has Templeton retrieve her egg sac to take back to the farm, just before she dies. Once he returns to Homer's farm, he guards the egg sac until the winter. The next spring, Charlotte's 514 children are hatched, but leave the farm, causing Wilbur to become saddened to the point of wanting to run away. Just as he is about to do so, the ram points out that three of them did not fly away. Pleased at finding new friends, he names them Joy, Nellie, and Aranea, but as much as he loves them, they will never replace the memory of Charlotte. ===== Phantom is an interactive (choose your own adventure) video game and its adaptations: a three-part OVA anime series, a 26-episode TV anime, and a three volume manga. ===== Hannah Stern is a Jewish girl living in the present day (time of publication: 1980s). She is bored by her relative's stories about the past, is not looking forward to the Passover Seder, and is tired of her religion. When Hannah symbolically opens the door for the prophet Elijah, she is transported back in time to 1942 Poland, during World War II. At that time and place, the people believe she is Chaya Abramowicz, who is recovering from cholera, the fever that killed Chaya's parents a few months ago. The strange remarks Hannah/Chaya makes about the future and her inability to recognize her "aunt" Gitl and "uncle" Shmuel are blamed on the fever. ===== The film stars Jun Ji-hyun as Officer Yeo Kyung-jin, an ambitious young female police officer serving on the Seoul police department. One day while chasing a purse snatcher, she accidentally captures Go Myung-woo (played by Jang Hyuk), a physics teacher at an all-girls school, who was actually trying to catch the thief. Later, Myung-woo discovers the stolen purse, but just as he picks it up, Kyung-jin spots him and tries to arrest him again. Kyung-jin is then given the job of escorting Myung-woo through a dangerous district, only to be distracted when she tries to break up a meeting between Russian Mafia and Korean gangsters. With Myung-woo handcuffed to her, Kyung-jin almost single- handedly brings down the two rival gangs (although she is helped when she accidentally causes the groups to start shooting at each other). The first half of the film, told from Myung-woo's point of view, details the couple's growing attraction and love for each other, which climaxes with a trip to the countryside where Myung-woo tells Kyung-jin that if he were ever to die, he wanted to come back to earth as the wind. Soon after, he is almost killed in a freak automobile accident, but Kyung-jin saves his life. The film takes a turn into the fantasy genre in its second half after Myung-woo is accidentally shot and killed by another officer (although the situation is such that Kyung-jin thinks that it was her shot that killed him) as Kyung-jin chases after a criminal. Kyung-jin falls into a suicidal depression over his death and attempts to kill herself several times, almost succeeding when she throws herself off a building, only to be saved when a giant balloon floats under her. Soon after, she experiences visitations from Myung-woo, who appears as the wind, sending her messages and, at one point, he even appears in her dreams in order to give her the will to live after she is nearly shot to death by a criminal. Ultimately the film follows a similar path set out by the American film Ghost with Myung-woo and Kyung-jin communicating and sharing one final gesture of love before he moves on to the afterlife. Myung-woo said that he will whisper, when she hears him whisper in the wind, she will meet someone with a soul like him. Myung-woo told Kyung-jin that he will always be beside her inside a book with a photo left by Myung-woo in the restaurant before he rushed to meet Kyung-jin who was chasing the insane criminal. In the first half of the film, Myung-woo told that his only memory of high school was his high school trip. The book and the photo is found and returned to Kyung-jin in the police station. The photo showed that on Myung-woo's trip, Kyung-jin was nearby. This proved Myung-woo's "I'm always beside you" was true to Kyung-jin. Kyung-jin rushed out to locate the finder of the book, ultimately ending up in the train station, where she is saved by Cha Tae-hyun's character (credited as The Guy). Myung-woo whispered that The Guy is the one with the soul like him. Kyung-jin whispers that "he is always beside her." ===== Berry-Berry Willart (Beatty) is a young, handsome hedonistic drifter who has no trouble living off the women of all ages he seduces. When the women become too attached to him, his charm turns sadistic and frequently lands him in jail for battery. Berry-Berry is always on the road far from home, rarely seen by his drunken father Ralph (Karl Malden), his adoring but controlling and manipulative mother, Annabel (Angela Lansbury), or his sixteen-year-old brother Clinton (Brandon deWilde). The story follows Clinton, who idolizes Berry-Berry, despite having to bail him out of jail in Florida, and later accompanying Ralph to Western Union to wire bail money when Berry-Berry is arrested a second time for beating up a woman. Remarks by Ralph indicate this isn't the first time he's wired bail money for Berry-Berry. Clinton is infatuated with Echo O'Brien (Eva Marie Saint), the 31-year-old daughter of a family friend who stays with them when she visits town. Though beautiful, Echo has never married, and is getting over the suicide of her troubled long-time boyfriend over a year ago. She is friendly toward the much younger Clinton, referring to him affectionately as "my guy." But when she meets Berry-Berry, there's an instant mutual attraction between them, and they abruptly leave a family backyard cookout that evening to be alone together. Berry-Berry asks Clinton for permission to be with Echo, saying that he wants her and she wants him, but acknowledging that Clinton saw her first. He says he'll back off if Clinton doesn't give the okay. Clinton, knowing he has no real chance with Echo, tells Berry-Berry to treat her nice. After this, Berry-Berry and Echo are constantly in each other's company. When they return home after an evening out some time later, Berry-Berry finds out that Echo is pregnant. She tells him that she doesn't expect anything from him; that she took a gamble that someday he would love her, not that he'd marry her, and she lost. As she tells him he's free, he runs out of the house and drives off in the rain, leaving her in tears. Clinton, who had been eavesdropping, witnesses the whole exchange. Echo decides she must leave the Willarts' house immediately. She assures Clinton, who's concerned about the rain and the late hour, that she loves driving at night. But the Willarts are awakened later by a call from a state trooper, reporting that Echo had driven off the road and killed in the ensuing crash. Ralph tells Annabel and Clinton that Echo was too good a driver for her crash to have been an accident, and that Berry-Berry must have had something to do with it. Clinton suddenly throws Berry-Berry's framed portrait to the floor and stomps on it. Annabel pushes him away, picks up the portrait and holds it closely, shrieking that she doesn't care what Berry-Berry's done, she'll love him always. Clinton sneaks into Berry-Berry's room when his brother is out, and gets the latter's pistol (which Berry-Berry had shown him earlier) and waits behind the curtains for Berry-Berry to return. But he's surprised to see Berry-Berry, when he finally returns, collapse onto the bed, sobbing. Clinton returns the pistol where he found it and leaves, seeing Berry-Berry as someone to be pitied. ===== The show was anchored by three young Muppet monsters: Tug (performed by Richard Hunt), Molly (performed by Camille Bonora), and Boo (performed by David Rudman). The three have started their own basement show following an incident where Scooter has them put in the basement after Molly and Boo played water polo in the living room. They are joined by Nicky Napoleon (performed by James Kroupa) and his Emperor Penguins as their music act. ===== It revolves around a fictional bar named Lil's in Central Florida, known as the birthplace of karaoke in the United States. For as long as anyone can remember, one man named Eddie Bowman has won the weekly Wednesday night karaoke competition. The film follows one fateful night where Eddie battles between his long-time girlfriend, Nikki, and his long-time nemesis, Rupert Goldfine to determine who is going to be the next reigning Karaoke King. ===== Main characters in the series include castellan Mirmił, hypochondriac ruler of the village of Mirmiłowo, where Kajko and Kokosz serve as warriors; Lubawa, dominating wife of Mirmił; small dragon Miluś; benevolent witch Jaga; her husband, the good robber Breakbone (Lamignat) and the antagonists of the series: military knight order of Knaveknights (Zbójcerze), based on the Teutonic Knights, led by Hegemon, with his second in command, Hitler-like Corporal and Schweik-like Loser (Oferma ). The stories are written in a tongue-in-cheek manner and contain light satirical elements, usually puns concerning the reality of living in Communist-ruled Poland with characters sometimes mentioning labour unions, bureaucracy, commodity shortages, and similar themes. ===== In 1946, several friends gather in the house of James Conover in Washington, DC. James is about 60; with him are Spike MacManus, a long-time political reporter and Grant Matthews, in his 40s, a businessman and Katherine (Kay) Thorndike, late 30s. The Republicans have chosen Grant Matthews to run for President. Grant is estranged from his wife Mary, and he has become romantically involved with Kay Thorndike, a newspaper publisher. ===== Noele is the daughter of Roger, a college professor and candidate for public office with adulterous tendencies, and Irene, once a very promising bright young woman, and still beautiful, but clearly broken by years of a domestic life with a cheating husband. She is sometimes able to read the thoughts, and foresee the future, of those close to her. ===== Republican newspaper magnate Kay Thorndyke (Angela Lansbury) intends to make her lover, aircraft tycoon Grant Matthews (Spencer Tracy), president with her as the power behind the throne. Thorndyke plans to use her newspaper chain's influence to deadlock the 1948 Republican National Convention, so it will choose Matthews as a compromise dark horse candidate instead of Thomas E. Dewey, Robert A. Taft, or former Governor of Minnesota, Harold Stassen. Matthews is skeptical of the idea of running for president, but Thorndyke, Republican strategist Jim Conover (Adolphe Menjou), and campaign manager Spike McManus (Van Johnson) persuade him to test the waters by going on a speaking tour. Thorndyke believes that ambition and success will soon convince him. Matthews reunites with his estranged wife, Mary (Katharine Hepburn), for the campaign. Despite knowing about Thorndyke and her husband's affair, Mary agrees to support him in public because of his idealism and honesty, and because she is unaware of the extent of Thorndyke's role in the campaign. Thorndyke tells Matthews that scandal will ruin his chances, so they must no longer meet as lovers. Wherever Matthews speaks, he appeals to the regular people; floods of telegrams from “ordinary” citizens pour in, thanking him for his message. But the powers and would-be influencers behind the political scenes are very unhappy. Matthews makes a controversial speech in Wichita, calling big labor to account. Before he makes another speech in Detroit giving big business the same treatment, Thorndyke comes to the hotel secretly and persuades him to use a prepared speech to help his chances for the nomination. Again, there are floods of telegrams, this time from people who can deliver votes in the primaries. Matthews becomes obsessed with becoming president and surrenders completely to anything Conover wants him to do. Kaye remains in the background, because knowledge of their affair would destroy Grant’s chances for the nomination, much less the Presidency. Matthews makes deals with various repugnant special interests for their support. A nationwide fireside chat, broadcast live on radio and television from the Matthews' home, is intended to officially launch Grant’s candidacy. Mary is supposed to give a speech introducing Grant. At the last minute, she learns that Thorndyke intervened in Detroit to change her husband and witnesses Thorndyke telling a group of influence peddlers that she is the power behind Matthews and will continue in that role—any questions or any further deals and they are not to bother Matthews, they are to come to her—or she will destroy them in her newspapers. Mary knew about the moral compromises Grant had made, but not the extent of Kaye’s role. Confronted with this evidence that she has lost him forever, she refuses to give the speech and runs from the room in tears. Spike, who has grown genuinely fond of her, follows and tries to persuade her to come back and help Grant become President because the White House is the one place Kay Thorndyke cannot follow him. Mary begins to read the speech prepared for her. Grant, who came to the broadcast from a meeting (off camera) of local people where his one-time friends, neighbors and supporters let him have it, sees Mary succumbing to the corruption and something in him breaks. He realizes that he has betrayed his and Mary's ideals. He steps to the microphone before the cameras, and confesses to the American people. While promising to seek bipartisan reform—and challenging the voters to vote—he denounces as frauds both his backers and himself and withdraws as a candidate for any political office. He also asks for his wife's forgiveness, and they embrace. Thorndyke fires Spike, but Conover immediately hires him. ===== Rebecca Warner moves from her small farm town in South Dakota to attend college in Los Angeles at California State University, Northridge. On her first day, she and her parents Walter and Connie meet Crawl, the resident advisor of Becca's coed dormitory. After they leave, the clash of cultures drives Becca into seriously considering returning home, but Crawl advises her to give it a chance and she soon begins to acclimate; cutting and dyeing her hair, dressing in a more Californian manner, and even getting a tattoo of a butterfly on her ankle. When Thanksgiving break approaches, Becca realizes that Crawl has nowhere to go, and she invites him to visit her family. Shocked by her changes, the Warners and Becca's boyfriend Travis try to take it in stride and decide to put up with Crawl, who had gotten off on the wrong foot with Walter, Becca's father, when he dropped her off at college. At dinner, Becca realizes that Travis wants to propose marriage to her and she urges Crawl to speak. Unable to come up with anything off the cuff, Crawl tells them that he has already proposed and she had accepted. This upsets Becca's family who develops a disdain for Crawl, and Travis who becomes so jealous he punches Crawl in the face. Now acting as a future son-in-law, Crawl expresses an interest in farming, much to the amusement of Walter and his farmhand Theo, who send him through the pratfalls and tribulations of farming as he is tasked with daily chores. Crawl rebounds though, and begins to prove himself an avid farmer, quickly learning how to perform each task he's given. He also begins to endear himself to the rest of the family; he impresses Becca's little brother Zack with his computer skills, and Zack begins to see him as a big brother. He compliments Connie's appearance and helps to bring her out of her shell for Walter. And when Walter's father Walter Sr. has heart problems, Crawl tries to help by performing CPR. Walter Senior quickly recovers when he sees Crawl atop him, but Walter Junior says Crawl has earned his trust for aiding his father. While shopping for clothes, Crawl meets Tracy, a friend of Becca's from school. Travis apologizes to Crawl for hitting him and says he is the better man for Rebecca, inviting Crawl to a bachelor party. He has Tracy come and dance for Crawl and the next morning, Becca finds the two of them waking up in the barn. Rebecca furiously calls off the wedding, but Crawl and Tracy can't defend themselves as they cannot remember the night before. Crawl leaves to head back to L.A. while Travis—who had been seeing Tracy on the side—berates her on her behavior the night before. When she gets in her car though, she finds the seat suspiciously left all the way back and discovers a bottle of pills under it. Picking up Crawl attempting to hitchhike, they return to the house and confront Travis and Theo while the Warners are sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner. Hoping to get out of trouble, Theo confesses that they drugged them and he set them up in the barn. Walter immediately fires Theo, despite his honesty. Becca stands up to Travis, who is immediately knocked down by Crawl who reveals he majored in karate for two semesters at school. After kicking Travis and Theo out, Tracy is invited to sit with the Warners while Walter offers his son-in-law a chance to cut the turkey. Becca tries to interject the truth about Crawl's proposal, but he stops her, saying they hadn't yet decided on a wedding date and they want to wait a little bit before making the decision, hinting he intends to legitimately propose to Rebecca, and having a proper relationship the Warners will respect. ===== Three 12-year-old kids discover an Egyptian mummy in the basement of a "dead" man's house. It comes alive due to the conjunction of the moonlight during that time of the month. They are scared of him at first, but with time discover he is friendly, if clumsy and confused. The kids name the mummy Harold, and decide he will temporarily take up residence in one kid's bedroom. After paying a visit to their Halloween-obsessed friend, Bruce, they discover that if the mummy is not put back in his sarcophagus before midnight on Halloween, the mummy will cease to exist. However, the sarcophagus is in the hands of the "dead" man, known as Mr. Kubat, who feigned his death to avoid paying his taxes. Upon finding out that the mummy has "escaped" from the coffin, he orders his henchmen to look for the mummy and bring it back in time, as he is selling it to an interested buyer. On top of that, there are a few other obstacles that follow by. For one thing, Harold's unusual appearance may attract unwanted attention as Halloween night draws closer. Meanwhile, they find out that Harold used to be in love with another mummy who comes alive at the end. ===== Seventeen-year-old Lonnie lives on a Texas ranch with his grandfather Homer Bannon, Homer's wife Jewel, and her adult son Hud. While a good cowboy, Hud does whatever he wants, regardless of others. They also have a new worker, Jesse, and a cook Halmea, a nice African- American woman who is treated nicely by Homer. Hud is nasty towards her, and Lonnie tries to be nice to her. The prologue briefly explains life on the ranch and the backstories of everyone there. One day, one of Homer's young heifers dies suddenly. The dead animal is found to have foot-and-mouth disease, and it has spread to the rest of the herd. All cattle on the ranch are led into a hole dug by bulldozers, shot, and buried deeply. During this time, Hud rapes the cook, Halmea, causing her to leave. Lonnie and Halmea shoot at him but miss. Halmea tries to kill him, but Lonnie just wants to scare him, to no avail. Lonnie goes to the town rodeo, only to see his friend Hermy get seriously hurt in a bull riding accident when a bull stomps on and shatters his chest. Lonnie heads back to the ranch with Hud in a car behind him. Lonnie spots Homer on the side of the highway and stops without warning, causing Hud to rear-end him. Homer is injured and bloody, with the tip of a bone protruding from his chest. Hud sends Lonnie to flag down a car, but Lonnie is unsuccessful. Hud shoots Homer while he is gone. Lonnie is very upset by this, but Hud says it is the best thing he could do due to the physical pain he was in and would most likely never fully recover. The book ends with Homer's funeral. When Hud tells Lonnie he must come along with them to the graveyard, Lonnie pulls away and runs behind the church. He thinks about his grandfather and the fact that he now gets to stay with his land forever, a thought that makes him feel better about probably losing the ranch. He stands outside the church "thinking of the horseman that had passed." An epilogue is quickly narrated by Lonnie. He explains how he left Homer's funeral to see his injured friend, Hermy. He hitches a ride with a truck driver who knew Homer. When he asks how he is doing all Lonnie says is, "Mean as ever". The driver tells numerous stories about bulls, his wife, and his kids. Lonnie says to the reader how he reminds him of everyone he knows. The book, despite being less popular than most other McMurtry books, is praised. Many compare it to Thomas Wolfe's work and to J. D. Salinger's 1951 classic The Catcher in the Rye. ===== In the late 1920s in Shanghai during the Chinese Civil War, as throngs of refugees flee the rainswept city, a couple of elderly Christian missionaries welcome guests to their home for the wedding of Dr. Robert Strike, a fellow missionary, and Megan Davis, his childhood sweetheart whom he has not seen in three years. Some of the missionaries have a cynical view of the Chinese people they have come to save. Shortly after Megan arrives, her fiancé Bob rushes in and postpones the wedding so he can rescue a group of orphans who are in danger from the spreading civil war. Megan insists on accompanying him on his mission. On the way they stop at the headquarters of General Yen, a powerful Chinese warlord who controls the Shanghai region. While Megan waits in the car, Bob pleads with the general for a safe passage pass so he can save the orphans. Contemptuous of Bob's missionary zeal, General Yen gives him a worthless paper that describes Bob's foolishness. Bob and Megan reach St. Andrews orphanage safely, but the pass only makes the soldiers laugh and steal their car when they try to leave with the children. The missionaries and children eventually reach the train station, but in the chaos, Bob and Megan are both knocked unconscious and are separated. Sometime later, Megan regains consciousness in the private troop train of General Yen, attended by his concubine, Mah-Li. When they arrive at the general's summer palace, they are greeted by a man, Jones, Yen's American financial advisor, who tells him that he has succeeded in raising six million dollars, hidden in a nearby boxcar, for General Yen's war chest. Megan is shocked by the brutality of the executions conducted outside her window. Fascinated and attracted by the young beautiful missionary, the general has his men move the executions out of earshot and assures her that he will send her back to Shanghai as soon as it is safe. One evening, Megan drifts off to sleep and has an unsettling erotic dream about the general who comes to her rescue and kisses her passionately. Soon after, she accepts the general's invitation to dinner. While they are dining, the general learns that his concubine Mah-Li has betrayed him with Captain Li, one of his soldiers. Later, after General Yen arrests Mah-Li for being a spy, Megan tries to intervene, appealing to his better nature. The general challenges her to prove her Christian ideals by forfeiting her own life if Mah-Li proves unfaithful again. Megan naively accepts and ends up unwittingly helping Mah-Li betray the general by passing information to his enemies about the location of his hidden fortune. With the information provided by Mah-Li, the general's enemies steal his fortune, leaving him financially ruined and deserted by his soldiers and servants. General Yen is unable to take Megan's life—it is too precious to him. When she leaves his room in tears, he prepares a cup of poisoned tea for himself. Megan returns, dressed in the fine Chinese garments he gave her. She waits on him in the gentle manner of a concubine. When she says she could never leave him, he only smiles, then drinks the poisoned tea. Sometime later, Megan and Jones are on a boat headed back to Shanghai. While discussing the beauty and tragedy of the general's life, Jones comforts Megan by saying that one day she will be with him again in another life. ===== Johnny O'Clock (Dick Powell) is a junior partner in a posh casino with Guido Marchettis (Thomas Gomez). Complicating their longtime working relationship is Guido's wife Nelle (Ellen Drew), who is still in love with former boyfriend Johnny. She gives Johnny an expensive custom pocket watch, the twin of a birthday present she gave her husband, except Johnny's has a romantic inscription engraved on the back. Johnny gives the watch, along with a rejection note, to Harriet Hobson (Nina Foch), a hat- check girl at the casino, to return to Nelle. Harriet, however, apparently commits suicide using gas. Her sister Nancy (Evelyn Keyes) shows up to find out what happened. She becomes attracted to Johnny. They eventually learn from Police Inspector Koch (Lee J. Cobb) that Harriet was killed by poison. Harriet was dating Chuck Blayden (Jim Bannon), a crooked cop who is trying to persuade Guido to let him take Johnny's place. When Blayden also turns up dead, Koch suspects that either Johnny or Marchettis is responsible. Though Johnny tries to resist, little by little, he falls for Nancy. When Koch shows both Johnny and Marchettis Johnny's watch and note, Johnny tells Nancy their relationship is through and takes her to the airport. As he is driving away, however, he narrowly survives a drive-by shooting, and Nancy realizes he was only trying to protect her. She refuses to leave him. Johnny decides to flee to South America with Nancy, but not before brazenly cashing in his share of the casino. Marchettis pulls out a gun when Johnny's back is turned. They shoot it out; Marchettis is killed and Johnny wounded. Afterward, Nelle offers to testify it was self-defense, but only if he will come back to her. He refuses, so she tells Koch it was cold-blooded murder. Johnny's first instinct is to run away, but Nancy convinces him to give himself up. ===== As a young girl, Kim Jeong-min (Jun Ji-hyun) hated writing letters to soldiers because they never write her back once they learn her age. So instead, she pretends to be a teacher, and becomes pen pals with Park Hyun-jun (Park Shin-yang). They plan to meet in person at a train station, but Jeong-min never shows up, and thus their correspondence ends. Later when Jeong-min reaches the age of twenty (though when this movie was shot Jun was only 17), Hyun-jun moves into her hometown. Since her parents died when she was little, Jeong-min has been living with her grandfather who owns the bookstore Somang Books. She also works at this bookstore but dreams of becoming a painter. Hyun-jun has become the owner of a pet shop for birds, and grieving over the death of his girlfriend in a car accident, he keeps sending her letters via carrier pigeon. While painting outdoors, Jeong-min sees Hyun-jun feeding some pigeons. As she watches him care for one wounded pigeon then give an apple to a child playing nearby, she falls in love with him at first sight. But the apple reminds her of the same apple painted on the envelopes from her yet unknown pen pal. ===== During a bank robbery a bank guard, in attempting to wrest a pistol from one of the two robbers, is shot and killed by the robber, Harry Wheeler (Paul Richards). Lona McLane (Kim Novak), an unaccompanied young woman in a mink coat, leaves a movie theatre and walks to her car. When she tries to start it, it will not turn over, but almost immediately Paul Sheridan (Fred MacMurray) appears at her window to offer his assistance. He spends the evening with her as they call a mechanic, stop for a drink at a bar, and repair to his apartment. In the morning, Sheridan appears at his office, a police precinct, where we discover he is a cop who has been dispatched to see what he can find out from Miss McLane, the erstwhile girlfriend of Harry Wheeler, who has now been identified as the principal bank robber. Sheridan is presented as an honest cop who, along with his partner Rick McAllister (Phillip Carey) and a number of his other associates, has been tasked by his boss, Police Lieutenant Karl Eckstrom (E.G. Marshall), to recover the stolen $250,000 and to capture Wheeler alive so the police will be able to find out from him who his accomplice is. Among Sheridan's other associates is Paddy Dolan (Allen Nourse), who has a drinking problem but is well-liked and nearing retirement. As such he is in danger of losing his pension if he screws up again, and Lt. Eckstrom has asked Sheridan to watch out for him so that he does not screw up. He and other officers maintain 24-hour surveillance on Lona McLane in her apartment from a stakeout apartment they rent, conveniently, across the courtyard and from the driver's seat of a car parked outside the apartment building. Sheridan quickly falls for Lona, who, when she figures out from his manner and his questions about Wheeler that he is a cop, is at first furious, but quickly melts in Sheridan's arms, professing her love for him. She then tries to persuade him to kill Wheeler so the two can take off with the loot. At first he seems insulted and angrily resists—he has been an honest cop— but also because he now believes he is the one being used. He orders her to leave his apartment where they have met for an assignation. Sheridan then is shown to brood, in hallways and in his apartment stakeout, smoking cigarette after cigarette, as he mulls over the proposition Lona has made him. Eventually, he caves and they meet on the roof of the apartment building where he agrees to mastermind Wheeler's murder and the theft of the bank's money. Meanwhile, Sheridan's associate, Rick McAllister, has been watching through his binoculars not only Lona in her apartment but also a woman in the apartment next door, who turns out to be a nurse, Ann Stewart (Dorothy Malone). Rick has become fascinated and infatuated with her as she bustles about her apartment hanging drapes and doing calisthenics. He later saves her from an unwanted advance, and she becomes interested in him. As Sheridan's plot unfolds, things go awry. He is unable to find Lona when he goes into her apartment to look for her. Miss Stewart, who is having a party next door, goes to Lona's apartment to ask to borrow some ice. As she is about to knock, Sheridan opens the door to leave, and encounters her. He rudely refuses her request and quickly closes the door. As planned, Wheeler shows up, betrayed by Lona, and is nabbed by Sheridan. Because Paddy was not at his post as he should have been, Sheridan, who has agreed to hide Paddy's dereliction of duty, now has Paddy in tow. Sheridan and Paddy force Wheeler to take them to Wheeler's car where he has stowed the bag of money in the trunk. As Paddy leans in the trunk to inspect the bag, Sheridan pushes Wheeler onto Paddy and shoots Wheeler dead, claiming to Paddy that he had no choice since Wheeler had jumped Paddy and swift action was necessary. Meanwhile, Rick has spoken to Miss Stewart, who has told him about the man she saw in Lona's apartment. Rick believes this man to be Wheeler, and tells her to call the police if she sees the man again. Paddy figures out that Sheridan is not protecting Paddy just because he wants to save Paddy's pension but because he wants the $250,000. Paddy, though a screw-up, is an honest man and vows to tell the lieutenant what has transpired. This means Sheridan would not get the money. When Sheridan moves across the front seat to prevent Paddy from opening the car door, Paddy pulls his pistol. There is a struggle and Paddy is shot in the stomach and killed with his own gun. Not long thereafter Miss Stewart, taking out the garbage, has another chance encounter in the hall with Sheridan, whom she recognizes as having been in Lona's apartment. She goes back to her apartment to call the police. Sheridan, watching from the stakeout apartment, enters her apartment and forces her and Lona, who has now returned, to accompany him to Wheeler's car where he believes the money is still located. They walk to an alley across from where the car is parked, but a police car is parked behind it. He tells Miss Stewart to cross the street to retrieve the money from the trunk of the car. As she reaches the car, Rick, who has reached the police car unseen by Sheridan, tells her to get down when he fires his gun. He shoots towards the alleyway where Sheridan and Lona are standing. Sheridan tells Lona to leave, and runs out to Wheeler's car, in a misguided attempt to flee the scene. A detective fatally shoots Sheridan. More police arrive as Lona walks towards the dying Sheridan, and she is gently guided to the back of the police car. Rick takes Miss Stewart's arm to walk her home, and they walk away together into the night. ===== John Conroy, a crusading district attorney, is tasked to crack down on a crime syndicate, which proves more dangerous because the mob has many city officials under their control. He is assisted by a newspaper man, Jerry McKibbon, who does not think Conroy is tough enough to handle this almost impossible assignment. McKibbon finds his efforts are also compromised by political corruption. McKibbon is eventually threatened by an out-of-town assassin who was hired to kill him at a boxing match. ===== A peasant girl named Karen is adopted by a rich old lady after her mother's death and grows up vain and spoiled. Before her adoption, Karen had a rough pair of red shoes; now she has her foster mother buy her a pair of red shoes fit for a princess. Karen is so enamored of her new shoes that she wears them to church, but the old lady told her "it's highly improper and you must only wear black shoes in church". But next Sunday, Karen cannot resist to put the red shoes on again. As she is about to enter the church, she meets a mysterious old soldier with a red beard. "Oh, what beautiful shoes for dancing," the soldier says. "Never come off when you dance," he tells the shoes, and he taps each of the shoes with his hand. After church, Karen cannot resist taking a few dance steps, and off she goes, as though the shoes controlled her, but she finally manages to stop them for a few minutes. After her adoptive mother becomes ill and passes away, Karen can't even attend her foster mother's funeral. And then an angel appears to her, bearing a sword, and condemns her to dance even after she dies, as a warning to vain children everywhere. Karen begs for mercy but the red shoes take her away before she hears the angel's reply. Karen finds an executioner and asks him to chop off her feet. He does so but the shoes continue to dance, even with Karen's amputated feet inside them. The executioner gives her a pair of wooden feet and crutches. Thinking that she has suffered enough for the red shoes, Karen decides to go to church so people can see her. Yet her amputated feet, still in the red shoes, dance before her, barring the way. The following Sunday she tries again, thinking she is at least as good as the others in church, but again the dancing red shoes bar the way. When Sunday comes again Karen dares not go to church. Instead she sits alone at home and prays to God for help. The angel reappears, now bearing a spray of roses, and gives Karen the mercy she asked for: her heart becomes so filled with peace and joy that it bursts. Her soul flies on to Heaven, where no one mentions the red shoes. ===== The story is set on a colonized Mars at some unspecified point in the future. The majority of the human population is divided up into a number of small domed city-states. Those who live outside the domes in the harsh wildernesses of the planet are known as Barbaroi. Resources are scarce, and supplies are divided out between cities based on the outcome of gladiatorial battles between representative fighters from each. Adding to the problems of the colonists, no children have been born on Mars for a decade. The cause of the infertility is unknown, but people have turned to robots called dolls as a substitute for the presence of children in their lives. And a red moon, Earth's moon, hangs over Mars, drawn towards the red planet after the destruction of Earth and ravaging it with lunar storms caused by gravitational fluctuations between Mars and its unwelcome satellite. The protagonist of the story is Layla, a barbaroi gladiator with a mysterious past and follows her quest to defeat Volk, the ruler of Mars. She is accompanied on her journey by Nei, a strange "doll", and Speedy, a doll breeder (or repairman). ===== In 1917, Stan (Stan Laurel) and Ollie (Oliver Hardy) are drafted into the American Expeditionary Force to fight in World War I. Their ineptitude during basic training antagonizes the drill sergeant and they are assigned to kitchen duties. When they ask the cook where they should put the garbage cans he sarcastically tells them to take them to the general. They take him at his word and put them in the general's private dining room. The cook (George Marshall), who is thrown in the stockade with them, curses their "snitching" and threatens them with violence after they are released. They escape his wrath when they are shipped to the trenches in France. Serving close to the front line, they befriend soldier Eddie Smith, who receives a Dear John letter from his wife. When Eddie is killed in action, the boys determine to rescue Eddie's daughter (Jacquie Lyn) from her brutal foster father and deliver her to Eddie's parents. They distinguish themselves in combat by losing control of a tank and accidentally forcing a German platoon into the open. After the Armistice, Stan and Ollie venture to New York City to retrieve the girl and look for Eddie's parents. Using the city telephone directory, the task proves both monumental and problematic as the boys blindly attempt to visit each Smith until they find the grandparents. After taking punches from an annoyed prizefighter and disrupting a society wedding, they resort to telephoning first. While operating their lunch wagon, the boys are approached by an unpleasant civil servant (Charles Middleton) who demands Eddie's child so that she can be placed in an orphanage. The boys refuse, and the man says he will return with the police to have the boys arrested. They try to secure a loan with their lunch wagon to finance their escape to another city, but the banker smirks that he'd have to be unconscious to make such a deal. While laughing, he topples a bust onto his own head and knocks himself out. Taking this as approval, the boys take what they need from the bank vault. Tailed to their apartment by the police, the boys unsuccessfully try to hide Eddie's daughter in a dumbwaiter. The police bring the three of them to the banker for identification, but when they turn out their pockets the banker's wife finds a photograph of Stan and Ollie with Eddie and recognises him as her own son. The banker is the Smith they have been seeking all along! On learning that the little girl is his granddaughter, the banker drops the charges and invites them as his guests for dinner. The cook storms out of the kitchen to tell his boss that he will not adjust the service on a moment's notice, and recognizes Laurel and Hardy as the "snitches". The cook chases them with a kitchen knife. ===== A terrified young girl runs through the forest and into her house to escape from an unseen threat. When she saw the Bell Witch, a ghost that took the form of a girl with black hair and a white dress, she awakens with a scream. Her mother dismisses it as a dream and reminds her that this is her week to visit her father. She picks up an old, broken doll and asks her daughter where she got it. When the girl answers that she found it in the attic, her mother reminds her that the attic is off-limits and not to go up there again. The mother goes to her desk and picks up a binder full of old letters, with a note from someone who claims to be an ancestor. The letters appear to be written in 19th-century script. A young girl and boy run through the woods dressed in early 19th-century garb, and the story moves into that of the Bell Witch. John Bell is taken to church court and found guilty of theft of a woman's land. The church releases him with the verdict that his loss of honor is sufficient punishment. The offended party, Kate Batts, is infamous in the village due to claims of witchcraft. Strange events begin to occur and John believes that Batts cursed him. Betsy starts to look very sick and the haunting worsens. She falls asleep in school, her attitude towards others changes and she becomes irritable. Her young teacher, Richard Powell, notices the change in her behavior. The Bell family tells him about the strange occurrences and their fears that the cause is paranormal. Powell attempts to prove to them that this is impossible because spirits don't exist. It is implied that Richard is also in love with Betsy. Determined to convince the family of reality, Richard stays in the Bell home to observe Betsy's behavior. He is proven wrong when he witnesses Betsy dangling off the floor, as if someone is holding her up by her hair. Betsy is sexually assaulted by the spirit. John loses his sanity and sees many forms into which the Bell Witch has shape-shifted. One of Kate's slaves brings some sheets (that are Betsy's and has her blood from losing her virginity on them) and John's shirt that were found buried on Kate's property. John visits Kate Batts and asks Kate to kill him and remove her curse. She refuses and tells him that he cursed himself. John makes a suicide attempt. Betsy is struck with a revelation that the attacks on her and her father are caused by a supernatural being who was born out of her innocence. She needed to "remember" that the true cause of her pain is her father's sexual abuse. Lucy, Betsy's mother, has the same revelation because she witnessed the assault, which she and Betsy had repressed. Betsy poisons her sick, bed-ridden, father with medicine while her mother watches. Later, Betsy is then seen at her father's grave, and she is never haunted again. In present day, the mother is reading the journal. Her daughter comes to her and says her father has come to take her for their weekend stay. She sends her daughter to her ex-husband, who is waiting outside. Betsy's ghost, which was the Bell Witch's form, suddenly appears and cries "Help her!" The mother realizes Betsy is trying to warn her that something is amiss between her daughter and her ex-husband. She runs out of her house and catches a glimpse of her daughter's worried face peering out from the window of the car as it drives away. The obvious implication is that the father is sexually abusing her. She runs after her ex-husband's car. ===== Professor Farnsworth is chasing his escaped gargoyle, Pazuzu, but soon forgets the search and goes to Florida to have a discounted early dinner. Annoyed with the Professor's crankiness, the Planet Express employees take the 161-year-old to an age- reducing spa, where he is given a massage, then bathed in blistering hot tar. An accident causes the entire crew to fall into the tar pit, reverting the Professor to his mid-fifties and everyone else to teenagers. Leela departs to live with her parents in the sewers so that she can have a new chance at the normal teenage life she never had. A teenage Fry and Leela begin dating while Amy is the subject of jokes back on Mars due to her childhood obesity. The Professor searches for a way to undo the de-aging effects by removing time- altering chronitons that have become stuck to their DNA. However, his plan backfires and causes everyone (except for the absent Leela) to start growing even younger. Leela sneaks out of her house after being grounded to help the others find the mythical Fountain of Aging. The fountain's current proves too strong for the young crew, so Leela jumps in to save them, giving up her chance at being a teenager again. She pulls everyone except the Professor to safety, but Pazuzu returns to save him. Everyone has returned to their original ages, and the Professor is delighted to find that he is actually a few years older than before and sets Pazuzu free to thank him. The episode ends with a jump to a later time in which Pazuzu finishes telling the story to his child as they perch on the roof of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. ===== Jiang Hu tells two stories simultaneously. The first is about a gang leader, Mr. Hung (played by Andy Lau), and the tensions that arise between him and his old friend and second-in-command, Lefty (played by Jacky Cheung), due to Mr. Hung's wife's recent childbirth. Now that Hung is with a child, Lefty feels that Hung should leave the gang business as he is now burdened with family and that will appear weak in character to their own under-bosses. Lefty also believes that it is his own turn to run the business in his own direction. However, Hung is unhappy with Lefty's leadership style of fear and brutality to keep his underlings in line, and is hesitant to cede power to Lefty. To further complicate matters, news of Hung becoming a father has spread unrest amongst his under-bosses, and there are rumours that someone has placed a hit on Mr. Hung. Suspicion as to who is plotting against Mr. Hung has been placed on three leading underbosses, resulting in Lefty sending loyal henchmen going on a hunt to locate and kill the bosses; one is killed and Mr Hung's henchmen save the other two on Mr Hung's orders. In the end, it is alluded that the guilty party attempts to call off the hit under the guise of checking on his family, however he was unable to follow through with the action after he was assured by Hung's henchman that his family is safe and untouched. The second story is about two teenage low ranking gang members named Yik and Turbo, who are hoping to gain respect and rank in the gangs by performing a hit on a gang leader. The gang leader is not displayed in the movie, and the audience is led to believe that Yik and Turbo are planning to murder Mr. Hung. Yik frequents a brothel whom he has a crush on one of the prostitutes that work there while Turbo starts trouble with other gang members which results in him losing the function of his right hand. He was about to be forced into an act of bestiality with a dog but before this can occur Yik rescues Turbo. However the traumatic experience leads Turbo to begin to act in a merciless fashion. Finally, Yik and Turbo proceed to perform the hit on the unnamed gang leader. This story-line details their journey together up until the assassination, and displays the friendship between the two. The film ends with Mr. Hung confronting Lefty in a restaurant and revealing that it was Lefty that leaked the news of Hung being a father. It is now revealed that Yik and Turbo are in fact Hung and Lefty during their youth. After they reconcile their differences, they realize they have been surrounded by assassins. In a final act of friendship, Hung and Lefty proceed to fend of hoards of assassins before eventually collapsing to their wounds and finished off by a group of grunts. It then shows the killing of the gang leader by Yik and Turbo. The final scene show Yik explaining how he managed to gain power and respect by completing the assassination of the gang leader and then showing the complete transition of Yik into Hung; suggesting that the cycle will continue with the pair of assassins that had successfully killed Hung and Lefty and is on their way to power and respect. ===== In a working-class South London district live Raymond; his wife, Valerie; her brother, Billy; Valerie and Billy's mother, Janet; and their grandmother, Kathy. Billy is a drug addict, and Raymond kicks him out when he steals drugs from him. Billy hangs out with his heroin addict friends and they shoot up together. The family is dysfunctional, mostly because of Raymond's fiery temper and violent outbursts. When Valerie gets pregnant again, she continues to smoke and drink. Valerie goes out on the town, and when Ray sees an attractive male friend of hers, he flies into a jealous rage, ordering her out of the pub and into the car. Back home, he accuses her of sleeping with the male friend, and pummels her severely, causing her to miscarry. He tries to win her back, but she leaves him and prepares to start a new life without him. In an alcohol-fuelled rage, he angrily tears their flat apart. He tells Mark, his friend, that the reason for his horrible behavior is his own abusive father, who was the same way with him and his mother. Later, he tries to reconcile with Valerie; however, she is outraged, and says that when she reaches 70, she wants to look back on this part of her life, as she is now 30, as a time when she had some fun. What she has instead is people feeling sorry for her. Valerie doesn't want to return to Ray, pointing out they haven't got a home to go back to because he's smashed it all up. She will try and find someone to be with that will love her and treat her kindly. Ray goes to see Valerie and asks her if she still loves him. Ray and Valerie are eventually back together again, and Ray has fixed up the apartment. Ray speaks as crudely as ever, but begins to restrain himself from his usual angry outbursts. Billy, and his friend Danny, rob a man to support their drug habit and wind up going to prison. This not only reunites Ray with Valerie but reunites the whole family. ===== The story itself is set in a small village in Sicily. The protagonist Marta Ajala feels "excluded" from the society in which she lives because of having catastrophically lost the position and status that she had been assigned in the order of things: the position of a submissive and bored housewife who never quite felt at ease in her role, but who had achieved respect in society because of it. It is a role which she does not regret losing, but whose sudden and violent loss has thrown her into a dramatic situation: she has been kicked out of her home by her husband who caught her by surprise in the act of reading a letter from someone who has been courting her but whose advances she has always rejected. The precipitous decision of the husband overwhelmed with rage; the attitude of Marta's father who, even while knowing that his daughter is innocent, totally supports her husband's decision out of a misbegotten sense of masculine spiritual solidarity and ends up dying of shame; the submissive suffering of the mother and sister, constantly ready, in order to conform to traditional convictions, to counsel her surrender and obedience; the choral malevolence of the villagers, taking advantage of a religious procession that is passing by under their windows to publicly jeer and shout names at her, are the elements of a minutely described painting, in the manner of realism, which illustrate the closed mentality of the village. But Marta's reaction is only partly similar to that of the typical characters of the naturalistic novel. She reveals a much more complex psychology which begins with a petit bourgeoisie self-satisfaction for the letters of Gregorio Alvignani and gradually develops into an obstinate struggle against all of society for a moral and economic revenge which she will finally end up obtaining, but joylessly. The cruel game of chance prevails over the objectivity of the narrative, according to an unexpected logic, expressed in a series of coincidences which betray their own hidden meaning. The father dies at the same time that Marta's baby, which she had been carrying in her womb with so much repulsion, is born, as if to signify a repudiation and detachment from the past. Meanwhile, in the streets of the village, the people are celebrating the victory of Alvignani in the elections, a premonitory sign of Marta's eventual redemption and revenge. The singularity of circumstances bursts wide open in the final scene: Marta's husband, after kicking her out of her home, making her suffer, and compromising the birth of his own son, now takes her back when she has actually become guilty of the sin of which she was falsely accused and is carrying her lover's baby in her womb. In giving herself to Alvignani, who helped her in dealing with the injustices of the scholastic authorities, she seems to adapt herself to the role of his lover which has been imposed on her by society. But her state of mind is never one of passive surrender, even if her restless struggle against circumstances dominated by an unfathomable force will turn out to be in vain. In the end what defeats her is not the society by which she is rehabilitated, but life itself which brings with it a suffering which no success can cancel. It is significant, in fact, that the author uses the word l'esclusa precisely at the opening of the second part of the novel, where, in an atmosphere redolent of spring, Marta seems to be on the verge of resurrection. Her tenacious struggle against everyone and against resignation has allowed her to obtain the much- desired teaching position that has permitted her to rescue her mother and sister from extreme poverty. But the happiness of these two women, of which she is secretly proud, is what forces her to recognize her own spiritual isolation and her inability to reinsert herself into society. "She alone was the excluded one, she alone would never again find her place." ===== The story starts with a brief description of Mr. Holohan, who works for an Irish cultural society and has been arranging a series of concerts. Holohan’s bad leg is a prominent feature. We are then introduced to Mrs. Kearney, who was very accomplished at a young age but found that the young men of her class were intimidated by her, which prompted her to marry the working class Mr. Kearney “out of spite.” Her daughter Kathleen goes to good schools and learns to play the piano. Mrs. Kearney decides to use the Irish Revival as a means of improving the family’s social position. She is successful enough that Kathleen gets the attention of Holohan, who hires the girl as an accompanist at four vocal concerts put on by his society. Holohan and Mrs. Kearney collaborate well on the planning of the performances. The first concert is sparsely attended. The second one has more patrons, but Mrs. Kearney is bothered by the behaviour of the audience and the casual attitude of the society’s secretary, Mr. Fitzpatrick. The third concert is cancelled. Mrs. Kearney is concerned that her daughter will not be paid the full contracted price but is unable to get a straight answer on the matter from Holohan or Fitzpatrick. She brings her husband to the final concert, anticipating a confrontation. On the night of the concert, Mrs. Kearney is unable to get a proper answer on her request for full payment and insists her daughter will not play until paid. The dispute holds up the beginning of the performance until Fitzpatrick pays Mrs. Kearney half the agreed amount, promising the rest at the interval. Although the first half of the concert is successful, the description of the performers, either too immature or past their prime, is not flattering. At the interval, Mrs. Kearney is told the rest of the money will be paid in three days. An indignant Mrs. Kearney refuses to let her daughter play. Another accompanist is found, and Mrs. Kearney and her family, roundly condemned by all at this point, leave. The story presents both the mother’s greed and choler and the inexperience and condescension of the society’s members in a bad light. ===== At church, Gabrielle quietly plays with a baby which causes Carlos to ask her if she has reconsidered having a baby. Gabrielle reminds him that she has just suffered a miscarriage and would like to postpone her pregnancy plans for a while until she has made a final decision. As they argue, Father Crowley announces the return of Sister Mary Bernard who has arrived back in the United States after being gone for two months, to Gabrielle's surprise. Later Carlos tells Sister Mary that Gabrielle will not reconsider her position on a baby. Sister Mary offers to help Carlos by giving him a packet on Catholic annulment. Carlos gives the brochure to Gabrielle who believes that she cannot be "blackmailed into having a baby". Gabrielle visits Father Crowley in the church and asks if Sister Mary can be transferred. Father Crowley asks Gaby why which leads Gabrielle to complicate matters by saying that Carlos and Sister Mary are having an affair and that in his sleep he murmurs her name. Father Crowley asks if she has serious reasons to think they're having sex together. Thinking a little, she says yes. Father Crowley looks mortified and leaves the confessional. Gabrielle stays in the confessional and confesses to another priest that she lied. The next day, Carlos tells her that Sister Mary is being transferred to Fairbanks, Alaska and she doesn't know the reason. Gabrielle returns to the church to gloat and say goodbye. As Gabrielle leaves, Sister Mary throws a scrub brush at her which causes a fight. Gabrielle punches Sister Mary and Sister Mary grabs her by the hair. Sister Mary is pushed into candles and her arm catches fire. Gabrielle quickly extinguishes the fire and Sister Mary bites her on the arm. They tumble on the floor and a priest breaks up the fight. School children and Sister Greta watch the fight from a distance. When she arrives home, Carlos yells at Gabrielle about what she has done. The baby discussion then reignites and Gabrielle tells Carlos that she is not "a uterus in high heels". Carlos accepts Gabrielle's offer to not divorce and Gabrielle tells Carlos she has accepted his offer and wants to have a baby with him. Susan arrives home from a date with Dr. Ron and asks him to come inside. Dr. Ron hesitates when he still feels as the two are still doctor/patient and not boyfriend and girlfriend. Susan asks him if this relationship is going to work and the doctor assures Susan that he is deeply attracted to her but wants to take it slow. Susan and Dr. Ron kiss and then he leaves. The following day, Susan goes for a check-up with Dr. Ron who informs her that she needs a splenectomy because of her wandering spleen and that he will be the attending surgeon. A nurse congratulates the doctor since it will be his first time. This causes Susan to hesitate since she would feel much more comfortable with another surgeon and if Dr. Ron does do the surgery it will be the first time he sees her naked. Susan tells Dr. Ron her feelings about this over dinner but this revelation causes his feelings to be hurt and he leaves. Susan visits Dr. Ron the following day to tell him she will not compromise for a man's approval anymore. Dr. Ron tells her that she was completely right about everything and that he sent her an apology note, flowers and wine that afternoon. He adds that he could not possibly be her doctor and recognizes that "they make those rules for good reason". Susan gives a sigh of relief and kisses Dr. Ron. Lynette gets help with Tom on an advertising project regarding frozen yogurt. When Lynette tells him that the firm acquired the yogurt account, Tom feels proud seeing as he was one of the minds behind the campaign. Lynette asks if he has anyone to recommend from his old firm seeing as a position is opening. Tom says that he does have someone in mind. Lynette asks who that man is and Tom says his name is Tom Scavo, i. e. himself. Lynette laughs at this seeing as it is a recipe for disaster. Tom thinks that is not the case and that with both their salaries they can afford a high class nanny plus she can take advantage of the new company day care. Lynette does not want this but Tom has his mind made up. Surprisingly, Tom shows up on an interview as "Tom Cavos" and immediately wins over the support of Lynette's boss Ed. Lynette says that she'll agree to see Tom working if he can never again feel resentment over Lynette against his former promotion and that she will be forgiven. Tom tells her that he already has. Tom kisses Lynette and thanks her for the job. When Bree finds Matthew Applewhite in Danielle's bedroom, this causes sadness and anger from Danielle when Bree walks the both of them to Betty's. Betty slaps Matthew. Later, Bree finds Danielle crying in her room about how Bree is destroying her life now that Bree's life is over. Bree tries to make everything better by buying pizza and agrees to let Danielle date Matthew as long as it's okay with Betty. The following day, Bree visits Betty who thinks that they should not interfere with Danielle and Matthew's relationship but when Bree discovers Caleb lurking in the upstairs window she panics and tells Betty she has to leave. Remembering that she has seen the man's face before from both the newspaper and Gabrielle's break in she alerts her friends that she has serious dirt on the Applewhites. Danielle overhears this and tells Matthew. They exchange stories which include how Bree covered up Andrew's hit and run accident involving Juanita Solis. Before the poker game, Betty visits Bree to warn her that if she breathes a word about Caleb's existence she will inform the Solises and the police about Andrew's crime. Bree is forced to lie to her friends and tell them that Betty is a master card player and will be joining their weekly game. ===== The novel is set in the reasonably near future. Earth is being devastated by mankind's continued exploitation, and it seems obvious that the environment will collapse sometime in the near future. Rather than adopt a more eco-friendly approach to life, most people have instead invested in a "claustrosphere", a dome-shaped habitat in which all water, food and air is endlessly recycled in a completely closed environment. A person can therefore survive indefinitely within a claustrosphere no matter what ecological horrors may happen outside. ===== Juan Dahlmann is an obscure secretary in an Argentine library. Although of German descent, he is proud of his Argentine maternal ancestors: his military grandfather had died fighting the aboriginals in the wild Pampas "pierced by the Indians of Catriel," a romantic end that he enjoys thinking about. He has a number of family heirlooms: an old sword, a lithograph photo, and a small estate in southern Argentina he has never found time to visit. In February 1939, he obtains a copy of Weil's Arabian Nights. He takes the book home, and—eager to examine it—rushes up the stairs. In his haste and because he’s looking at the book and not where he’s going, he cuts his scalp on the sharp edge of a window frame left open. The wound Dahlmann suffers keeps him bedridden at home with a very high fever. After a few days of perplexing and horrifying discomfort, he is moved by his doctors to the hospital, where, instead of helping, the treatment for his injury causes him greater suffering. Rendered helpless and confined in an anonymous room, he feels humiliation and self-hatred, almost as though he were in hell. (It warrants noting at this point that, in the Prologue for '’Artifices, Borges explicitly acknowledges an alternative interpretation of the narrative, while refraining from giving any details or hints with respect to its nature. He writes: "Of 'The South,' which is perhaps my best story, let it suffice for me to suggest that it can be read as a direct narrative of novelistic events, and also in another way." With this in mind, one may well reinterpret the story such that everything after Dahlmann's darkest moments in the hospital is a narration of his idealized death—the one Juan Dahlmann fabricates and enacts in his feverish mind while on the verge of a pathetic demise in the hospital he never really leaves. He imagines the journey south in order to regain a measure of honor, self- respect, and transcendence in his last moments of consciousness.) After days of painful treatments in the hospital, he is suddenly told that he is recovering, after almost having died of sepsis. Discharged from the hospital, Juan Dahlmann sets off to his estate in the South to convalesce. Riding a taxi at dawn to the train station, Dahlmann regards the awakening city sights with great joy. Having to wait 30 minutes for his departure, he decides to have a bite at a famous cafe near the train station. In the locale, he notices a cat, the mythical creature who, in many cultures (for example, Egypt), is associated with eternity and the gods. After his meal, Dahlmann boards the train and rides out of the city into the plains of the South. He begins to read Arabian Nights but then closes the book to enjoy the scenery. The train conductor enters his compartment and notifies him that the train will not be stopping at his destination, but at a previous station. Once the train reaches the deserted station, Dahlmann steps off into nearly empty fields. He makes his way through the darkened roads to the only watering hole (a typical almacén de campo) outside of which he notices Gaucho's horses. He sits down, orders food, and begins to read Arabian Nights. Three peones (farm hands) sitting at a table nearby throw a bread crumb at him, which he ignores. However, after a short while, they begin again. Dahlmann stands up in order to exit the establishment. The shopkeeper (calling him by name) anxiously asks Dahlmann to pay them no heed, saying they are drunk. This prompts Dahlmann to do the opposite; he turns and faces the three locals. One of the toughs or compadritos brandishes a knife. Seeing the situation getting out of hand, the shopkeeper calls out that Dahlmann does not even have a weapon. At this point, an old man in the corner, a gaucho (a figure who, to Dahlmann (and many Argentines) represents the essence of the South, as well as of the country's romanticized past) throws a dagger to Dahlmann. It lands at his feet. As he picks up the blade, Dahlmann realizes that this means he will have to fight, and that he is doomed; he has never wielded a knife in his life and is sure to die in the encounter. However, he feels that his death in a knife fight is honorable, that it is the one he would have chosen when he was sick in the hospital, and he decides to have a go. The narrative switches from past to present tense in the story's final sentence, when Dahlmann and the toughs exit the bar and walk into the endless plain for their confrontation. ===== Gateway is a space station built into a hollow asteroid constructed by the Heechee, a long-vanished alien race. Humans have had limited success understanding Heechee technology found there and elsewhere in the solar system. The Gateway Corporation administers the asteroid on behalf of the governments of the United States of America, the Soviet Union, New People's Asia, the Venusian Confederation, and the United States of Brazil. There are nearly a thousand small, abandoned starships at Gateway. By extremely dangerous trial and error, humans learn how to operate the ships. The controls for selecting a destination have been identified, but nobody knows where a particular setting will take the ship or how long the trip will last; starvation is a danger. Attempts at reverse engineering to find out how they work have ended only in disaster, as has changing the settings in mid-flight. Most settings lead to useless or lethal places. A few, however, result in the discovery of Heechee artifacts and habitable planets, making the passengers (and the Gateway Corporation) extremely wealthy. The vessels come in three standard sizes, which can hold a maximum of one, three, or five people, filled with equipment and hopefully enough food for the trip. Some "threes" and many "fives" are armored. Each ship includes a lander to visit a planet or other object if one is found. Despite the risks, many people on impoverished, overcrowded, starving Earth hope to go to Gateway. Robinette Stetley Broadhead—known as Robin, Rob, Robbie, or Bob, depending on circumstances and his state of mind—is a young food shale miner on Earth who wins a lottery, giving him just enough money to purchase a one-way ticket to Gateway. Once there, he is frightened of the danger and delays going on a mission as long as he can. In the meantime he becomes romantically involved with two different women, eventually settling on Gelle-Klara Moynlin, his co-enabler in fearful delaying. Eventually he starts running out of money, and although he is terrified, he goes out on three trips. The first is unsuccessful and afterwards tension rises between Bob and Klara until they have a fight that suddenly turns into a vicious beating from Bob that seems to stem from repressed homosexuality. On the second trip, he makes a discovery through unauthorized experimentation, but the bonus he is awarded is offset by the large penalty for incapacitating the ship. On his third trip, the Gateway Corporation tries something different: sending two armored five-person ships, one slightly behind the other, to the same destination, one rejected as particularly hazardous by most ship's navigation computers. Bob signs up in desperation, along with Klara, who is struggling with her own fears. When the ships arrive, their crews find to their horror that they are in the gravitational grip of a black hole without enough power to break free. The crews devise a desperate escape plan: Move everyone into one ship and eject the other toward the black hole, thus gaining enough of a boost to escape. Working frantically to transfer unnecessary equipment to make room, Broadhead finds himself alone in the wrong ship when time runs out. He closes the hatch so that the plan can proceed. By chance, his ship is the one that breaks free, leaving the rest of the crew falling into the black hole. Broadhead returns to Gateway alone and receives the entire bonus. He feels enormous survivor guilt for leaving his crewmates, especially Klara, and is unsure whether he intended to sacrifice himself or the others, so once back on Earth as a wealthy man he seeks therapy from an artificial intelligence Freudian therapist program which he names Sigfrid von Shrink. The narrative alternates in time between Broadhead's experience on Gateway and his sessions with Sigfrid, converging on the traumatic moment near the black hole. Sigfrid helps him realize that, due to the gravitational time dilation of the black hole's immense gravity field, time is passing much more slowly for his former crewmates and none of them has actually died yet. Broadhead, however, concludes that this means that they will still be dying when he dies in several decades, with Klara still believing that he betrayed them to save himself. Also embedded in the narrative are various mission reports (usually with fatalities), roster openings, technical bulletins, and other documents Broadhead might have read on Gateway, adding to the verisimilitude. The economic side of living at Gateway is presented in detail, commencing with the contract all explorers must enter into with the Gateway Corporation, and including how some awards are determined. ===== July 16, 1988 a night train (or "red eye") to Yeosu leaves Seoul station and crashes killing 250 people. Exactly 15 years later to the day, a train is running the same line for the last time. But it has incorporated some of the coaches from the old crashed train. A stewardess (who manages a drinks and food trolley) named OH Mi-sun (Jang Shin-young) has just started the job and switched shifts with another woman to take that train. Her father was a guard who died on the crashed train 15 years ago and some blamed him for it. She is the main character in this film and, like another young woman named YOON So-hee (Kwak Ji-min) (who is with a group of young people), she has psychic powers (which she did not know about) so gets glimpses of "the dead" from the earlier train crash who now ride the train with them. Unsettling incidents start to occur and two passengers are murdered by supernatural means. With two dead bodies the train is supposed to stop at a station for the police, but it goes through the station because of a crazy young couple who are intent on crashing the train. They were the two tiny children (brother and sister) who were in the first train crash with their parents. Increasingly strange incidents occur as the lights go out in some carriages and the carriages suddenly look old and in another, lights shatter and glass falls on the passengers. The passengers do not know where to go to escape the coming crash since the back of the train is no longer safe. Mi-Sun tries to stop them from crashing the train. Mi-sun has gained knowledge from contact with a dead form which rose from a black puddle in one of the carriages and tells them that they are both dead, and that they now inhabit the bodies of other people. Also that their father and his wife planned to kill themselves and the children on that train 15 years ago but the poison he was going to use was ruined by a stewardess JUNG Jin-sook (Kim Hyeon-suk) when she accidentally kicked the jar it was in, so he got into the driver's cabin and put the train on a collision course with another train, causing the terrible wreck over a decade ago. In anger the brother smashes Mi- sun's head hard four times against the window causing her to collapse with bleeding to the head but he knows it is true as his sister regresses to a little girl again. Mi-sun's (dead) father comes into the driver's cabin and pilots the train harmlessly through the train that it was on a collision with and the crazy man reverts to a scared child comforting his sister. As the trains, natural and supernatural begin to part, things start getting back to normal on the train with the ghosts disassembling, the old carriages becoming normal again and the human passengers start coming out of hiding. Mi-sun's father comforts her as she dies from her injuries. The train is finally stopped and it is daylight and the bewildered people get off. The scene changes to night again and the train for Yeosu arrives in Seoul station for its last run. We see Mi-sun on the platform, and she is again a stewardess on this train on its unnatural journey. The white end titles are rolled up against a night background that a driver would see from the cabin of the train. ===== Slacker Donny's (Eric Ericson) life is turned upside-down when Lova (Eva Rose) enters his life possessing a mysterious box which may hold answers to eternal and dangerous questions. But evil forces want to possess the box, and Donny and Eva must travel through time to ensure the future of mankind. ===== Based on a book by Hong Kong filmmaker Pang Ho-cheung, Fulltime Killer protagonist O is a hitman being challenged by new hotshot Lok Tok-wah. O has lived a life of seclusion as the number one hitman in Asia. The woman living at his contact address is captured after O foils a set-up by his boss. He then goes on the run while trying to fend off his adversary. The last part of the movie focuses on an Interpol detective's attempt to write the story of Tok and O. ===== Tommy Spinelli (Joe Pesci) is a wiseguy hired by Benny and Rico, a pair of dimwitted hit men, to transport a duffel bag full of severed heads across the United States to a crime boss (as proof of the deaths). While on a commercial flight, his bag is accidentally switched with that of Charlie Pritchett (Andy Comeau), a friendly, talkative, young American tourist who is going to Mexico to see his girlfriend Laurie (Kristy Swanson) and her parents (George Hamilton and Dyan Cannon). The film revolves around Spinelli harassing Charlie's friends Ernie (David Spade) and Steve (Todd Louiso) for information, while Charlie and Laurie attempt to get rid of their rather unfortunate luggage. After Charlie meets with Laurie and her parents at the airport with the wrong bag, they go to their rooms at the resort in Acapulco, Mexico. Soon, Annette, Laurie's mom, mistakenly thinks that Charlie might be a serial killer on the run once she sees a head in his bag while hiding a gift for him inside the bag. Her husband thinks it's all a delusion brought on by her alcoholism. At first, Charlie and Laurie tried to bury the heads in the desert, but a group of thugs steals their car. Then Charlie comes up with an idea that he will give back the heads without anyone noticing, by pretending he forgot to turn in his report back at his college. In turn, everyone packs up for the airport. At the airport, Charlie accidentally puts a severed head in Dick's carry-on bag, causing him to get arrested. They never leave Acapulco since they have to come up with a new plan to save Dick. Meanwhile, Tommy, Ernie, and Steve start to look for replacement heads, after Charlie tells Tommy he lost one. They start to look in a cryonics lab, where they store bodies and severed heads, much to Tommy's approval. After getting the replacement heads, Tommy and the others get on a plane and head to Mexico. Tommy threatens Charlie that if he loses more heads, he'll replace them with Charlie's friends and family. After hearing of the airport incident, Benny and Rico decide to collect the heads for themselves. When Fern, Dick's mother, arrives in Mexico, Tommy takes her and the others hostage as he helps Charlie find more heads. They find out that a coyote took one of the heads from the stolen car. Tommy also realizes that Benny and Rico are going to kill him if he doesn't get the heads across the border in time. Charlie comes up with a plan to save both their lives. The film ends when Charlie and Laurie take a severed head to the airport to prove her father's innocence. Benny and Rico try to intervene, but end up getting arrested. It is revealed that Tommy and Charlie set them up. Charlie thanks him for his help, as Tommy departs to Hawaii. Steve goes insane and starts running around the airport, telling security guards that a severed head is his "best friend". Charlie and Laurie get married, with her mother and father present, Steve is in a straitjacket, Ernie is a brain surgeon, Fern is also present after being thrown out of a moving van when she started to bad-mouth Tommy, and Tommy is enjoying his retirement. ===== The story begins with an unconscious man who has fallen down the stairs in a pub after heavy drinking. A friend of his, Mr. Power, finds him, reveals him to be named Tom Kernan, and takes him home to his wife. Kernan is a salesman who once possessed an easy charm and manner but has since descended into alcoholism. An injury to his tongue sustained during the fall keeps Kernan in bed. Two days later, he is visited by his friends Power, M’Coy, and Cunningham. The friends have concocted a plan to get Kernan to attend a Catholic retreat with them. The four discuss many matters and finally settle upon religion. The friends mention going to a confessional retreat at a Jesuit church and invite Kernan along. He does not respond to the idea at first. The conversation shows a superficial understanding of faith, and the friends make many comical errors about the church. The scene shifts to the Jesuit church in Gardiner Street where all are listening to a priest’s shallow, businesslike sermonizing. ===== Emory Leeson is an advertising executive who experiences a nervous breakdown. He designs a series of "truthful" advertisements, blunt and bawdy and of no use to his boss Drucker's firm. One of his colleagues, Stephen Bachman, checks him into a psychiatric hospital. Emory goes into group therapy under the care of Dr. Liz Baylor and meets other voluntary patients, such as the lovely and vulnerable Kathy Burgess. There is also George, who can speak only one word: "Hello." By mistake, Emory's advertisements get printed and the new campaign turns out to be a tremendous success. Campaigns like: "Jaguar — For men who'd like hand jobs from beautiful women they hardly know." and "Volvo — they're boxy but they're good." Drucker grabs credit for the ads. He assigns Stephen and the rest of his employees to design similar new ad campaigns featuring so-called honesty in advertising, but nothing works. Emory is approached in the sanitarium about creating new ads himself. He insists that his fellow mental patients also be involved and suitably rewarded for their work, transforming the sanitarium into a branch of the advertising industry. They come up with wild advertising slogans, like one for a Greek travel agency that goes: "Forget Paris. The French can be annoying. Come to Greece. We're nicer." And another one called "Come… IN the Bahamas" for the islands' national tourism board. The patients experience happiness at being needed and improve from their various illnesses. The evil Drucker and the doctor in charge of the hospital get greedy and try to separate the team. But it doesn't work. Dr. Baylor defies her boss and Emory negotiates to get new automobiles for all of the patients. Emory and Kathy, who have fallen in love, leave the hospital in an army helicopter piloted by Kathy's long-lost brother, stopping to take the rest of the patients with them. They open their own advertising agency. ===== Several months after solving the Lula Landry case, Cormoran Strike is asked by Leonora Quine to locate her novelist husband Owen, a former literary genius whose attempts to recreate his past success have failed. Owen disappeared around the same time his latest book, Bombyx Mori, was leaked. The book has been deemed unpublishable due to its mixture of sexual assault, torture, and cannibalism as well as its slanderous depiction of the people in Owen's life. In addition to Leonora, Strike sets out interviewing the other people portrayed in the manuscript: Owen's lover Kathryn Kent, protégée Pippa Midgley, agent Elizabeth Tassel, editor Jerry Waldegrave, publisher Daniel Chard and former friend Michael Fancourt. The suspects, however, soon turn on one another, accusing and counter-accusing each other of killing Owen and ghostwriting Bombyx Mori. As the investigation commences, Strike's relationship with Robin Ellacott gradually deteriorates, as she feels neglected by him and he feels unwilling to put her in a position where she is forced to choose between her job and her fiancé Matthew. The animosity is tempered when Strike finds Owen's body, which has been mutilated, doused in acid and posed to resemble the ending of Bombyx Mori. Metropolitan Police later arrest Leonora for the murder, prompting Strike to set out clearing her name. Robin, meanwhile, strains her relationship with Matthew after she almost misses his mother's funeral to help Strike and gets caught telling a lie. She later confronts Strike about his intentions only to be warned that she will be asked to do things Matthew will not like if she becomes an investigator. With the case against Leonora piling up, Strike focuses on Fancourt, whose character in the manuscript is inconsistent with his relationship to Owen. Several years earlier, after Fancourt's wife wrote a novel that was panned by critics, an anonymous parody's release prompted her to kill herself. Fancourt accused Owen of authoring the parody and Tassel of enabling him. Strike soon deduces Bombyx Mori is a metaphor for someone else's life and Owen was intended to be the antagonist rather than the hero. Realizing the manuscript was penned by a ghostwriter, he creates a plan to confront the killer. He later approaches Fancourt at a party and asks to speak to him in private. When Tassel, who is also in attendance, joins them, Strike accuses Tassel of being Owen's killer and the ghostwriter. Tassel, a failed author herself, wrote the parody of Elspeth's novel, which Owen used to blackmail her for twenty years. When he approached her with the original concept for Bombyx Mori, Tassel concocted an elaborate plan. She conspired with Owen to stage his disappearance, rewrote Bombyx Mori, killed Owen and framed Leonora. Tassel attempts to flee, only to be caught and arrested, which Strike and Robin planned in advance. Sometime later, Leonora is released from prison, Fancourt acknowledges the original Bombyx Mori manuscript's literary value, and Strike tells Robin that he enrolled her in investigative training courses as a Christmas gift. ===== Agent 006½ is one of the top agents for the Bureau. The Diabolical Villain Society -- or D.V.S. -- has stolen the blueprints to an orbital ruby laser weapon, code-named "Red Rock Rover." The blueprints have been secured at three island strongholds of D.V.S. Agent 006½'s current mission: recover the blueprints. Each island stronghold contains 15 radar installations...all fifteen must be taken down before Agent 006½ can make his way into the D.V.S. fortress on the island, where the blueprints are held. ===== The play by the Ljubljana Drama Theatre in 1930 The Sacred Flame is the story about the misfortune of Maurice Tabret, previously a soldier of World War I who had returned home unscathed to marry his sweetheart Stella. Unfortunately, after only a year of marriage, Maurice is involved in a plane crash and left crippled from the waist down. The play commences some years later in Gatley House near London, home of Maurice's mother, Mrs. Tabret. Mrs. Tabret's home has been set up to care for her son and a young Nurse Wayland has been Maurice's constant aid throughout. She is extremely professional and devoted to her job. Maurice's wife Stella lives with them also and remains his cheerful companion and support. Maurice's brother Colin Tabret has returned from a time in Guatemala to spend the previous 11 months before the play's start with his brother and the family. The local practitioner Dr. Harvester visits frequently to check on Maurice's condition and to prescribe appropriate treatments. Mrs. Tabret's own husband has passed on some time ago and whilst she does not have a close relationship with anyone else, her old friend retired Major Liconda visits often. All is as well as can be expected until Maurice is found dead in his bed one morning. Not altogether unexpected, Dr. Harvester is prepared to write the death certificate but then Nurse Wayland cries foul and indicates that she believes Maurice was murdered by being given an overdose of his sleeping draught. The play then works through a series of Agatha Christie-style "whodunnit" scenes as the audience attempt to figure out whether Maurice was killed, took his own life, or else if the whole thing is no more than an imagining and false accusation by the Nurse. For the majority of the second and third act the main suspect is Stella, who it transpires is having an affair with Colin and is pregnant by him. It looks as if the matter will be brought to the coroner and the police, which is likely to mean Stella going on trial for Maurice's murder. At the end of the third act, Mrs. Tabret reveals that it was she that killed Maurice. She had realised that Stella was pregnant, and because Stella's love was all that Maurice lived for, she couldn't bear to see Stella's betrayal exposed. Mrs. Tabret therefore sees her act as a mercy killing. After this revelation, the play ends as Nurse Wayland asks Dr. Harvester to sign the death certificate indicating that Maurice died of natural causes, meaning there will be no police investigation. ===== Violette Nozière (Isabelle Huppert) is a French teen in the 1930s who secretly works as a prostitute while living with her unsuspecting parents, father Baptiste Nozière (Jean Carmet) and mother Germaine Nozière (Stéphane Audran). Rebelling against her "mean and petty" petit-bourgeois parents, she falls in love with a spendthrift young man, whom she virtually supports with thefts from her parents as well as her prostitution earnings. Meanwhile, her parents are informed by Violette's doctor that she has syphilis. Violette manages to half-persuade her suspicious mother and indulgent father that she has somehow inherited the disease from them. On this pretext, she tricks them into taking "medicine" that is actually poison, killing her father; her mother, however, survives, and Violette is arrested and charged with murder. She defends herself by alleging that her father had molested her; Chabrol's abrupt use of flashbacks makes it uncertain whether Violette is simply lying or telling a half-truth. She is convicted of murder and sentenced to die by guillotine, but a voiceover at the end tells us that her sentence was commuted by degrees to the point that she ultimately left prison, married, and had five children. ===== The Quantum Rose is a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast folktale in a science fiction setting. In the novel, Kamoj Argali, the governor of an impoverished province on the backward planet Balumil, is betrothed to Jax Ironbridge, ruler of a wealthy neighboring province, an arrangement made for political purposes to save her province from starvation and death. Havyrl (Vyrl) Lionstar, a prince of the titular Ruby Dynasty, comes to Balimul as part of a governmental plan to deal with the aftermath of an interstellar war. Masked and enigmatic, he has a reputation as a monster with Kamoj's people. Lionstar interferes with Kamoj's culture and destabilizes their government by pushing her into marriage with himself. In the traditional fairy tale, Belle must save her father from the prince transformed into a beast; in The Quantum Rose, Kamoj must save her province from the prince in exile. The book deals with themes about the physical and emotional scars left on the survivors of a war with no clear victor. As such, it is also a story of healing for the characters Kamoj and Lionstar.Review at magazine Challenging Destiny The second half of The Quantum Rose involves Lionstar's return to his home world with Kamoj, where he becomes the central figure in a planet wide act of civil disobedience designed to eject an occupying military force that has taken control of his planet. Both the world Balimul in the first half of the novel and the world Lyshriol in the second half fall into the lost colony genre of literature in science fiction. ===== ===== Zinnia "Zinny" Taylor, an initially quiet, yet sometimes outrageous thirteen-year-old girl. She enjoys the care of her aunt and uncle, Jessie and Nate, as her parents are preoccupied with her siblings, and she enjoys spending time outdoors. Jessie and Nate live in a home that fits snug against the Taylor home, and Zinny prefers to spend her time with her aunt and uncle, while they mostly going on nature walks. They once had a daughter, Rose, around Zinny's age who died (of whooping cough). Aunt Jessie prefers not to talk about her daughter. Because Rose caught the cough from Zinny, she has always, in some way, blamed herself for Rose's death. Years later, Zinny accidentally rediscovers a large overgrown trail that is over two hundred years old. When her aunt unexpectedly dies, Zinny blames herself. Soon afterwards she begins to try to clear the trail. In her grief, the trail becomes an obsession, as she decides to clear and travel the entire length of it. Thinking clearing the trail is the only way to be forgiven by God, Zinny camps out on the trail to clear the trail before the end of the summer. At the same time Zinny learns to cope with her grief, her guilt, and a boy named Jake Boone, who she starts to have feelings for. Throughout the story she must attempt to get over the death of Rose and Aunt Jessie. She also tries to find out whether Jake returns her feelings or is just using her to get to her older sister, May. Through all this Zinny finally finds something to call her very own, the trail that she cleared. Throughout the story Creech uses flashbacks as a literary device, showing snippets of what Zinny's life was like before her aunt's death, and how her life changed after her dear aunt Jessie died. ===== Cantinflas is the boyfriend of Paz, the household maid of Cayetano Lastre. It is dinnertime and Cantinflas is waiting outside the mansion for Paz's whistle: a sign for Cantinflas to enter the kitchen to eat. This is because there is a dog in the front yard named "Bobby", and Paz's boss is unaware of Cantinflas's forays into the house. While waiting, another man also arrives to do the same, pulling out a cigarette and dropping his wallet in the process, which Cantinflas picks up when entering the house. Though like other times Cantinflas goes straight in to eat, this time his girlfriend has a favor to ask him: to kill the dog "Bobby" who has suffered a sudden onset of rabies and doesn't let Cayetano leave for an appointment. Seeing his hesitation, Paz is adamant: if he does not kill the dog, he does not get to eat. Cantinflas is nervous about the idea, but eventually kills the dog with a gun. Meanwhile, inside the house, after Cayetano leaves, his wife Dolores del Paso has given entrance to the other man: her ex-boyfriend Bobby Lechuga, a con artist who plans to blackmail her with some undated letters with a new date unless she does as he says. However, Cayetano suddenly returns to the house, as his over- bearing jealousy has led him to think that his wife cheats on him and has plotted a scheme to expose her supposed "adultery" red-handed. Hearing his arrival, Paz hides Cantlinflas and later does the same with Bobby. Cayetano finds and catches Cantinflas, assuming he is his wife's lover, but Dolores pretends that Cantinflas is her long-estranged brother, Leonardo del Paso. Being that his father-in-law (Dolores and Leonardo's father) needed the presence of all heirs to read and distribute their inheritance, Cayetano (whose business have been slow lately) begins treating Cantinflas like a king in order to gain his trust. Naturally, Cantinflas takes advantage of the situation. Things get complicated when Clotilde Regalado, Leonardo's partner, reads a newspaper clip mentioning Leonardo and the reading of the will, and makes her presence in the company of all of the couple's sons (and then some). Cantinflas tries to tell the truth about his identity to Cayetano, but as Dolores needs "Leonardo" to conceal the blackmail and Clotilde needs him to recognize and support her children, he continues to play along with the charade. Fully aware that Cantinflas is not the real Leonardo, she still moves over to Cayetano's house with the rest of her family, who are as much freeloaders as Cantinflas is. Intending for "Leonardo" to settle down, as well as to prevent him running away from "his" family and, by extension, further delay the reading of the will, Cayetano arranges for "Leonardo" to marry Clotilde. Cantinflas understandably hesitates and tries as much as he can to avoid being married, and when he is about to be forced to do so by using his fingerprints, policemen arrive at the house, looking for Leonardo. Confusion arises, as Bobby Lechuga has been killed and Cantinflas admits to killing "Bobby" (the dog, not the gangster), exacerbate by the fact that Bobby's wallet (which he picked up at the beginning) is found among his clothes, so he is arrested and put on trial. In a prolonged courtroom sequence, Cantinflas again confesses to killing "Bobby" the rabid dog, but as almost everyone in court sees him as Leonardo confessing to the murder of Bobby the con-artist, he is inevitably found guilty. Fortunately for him, the real Leonardo appears and explains about Bobby's blackmailing and the fact that he killed the extorter in self-defense. Cantinflas is fully acquitted and returns to his old antics, waiting outside Cayetano's mansion for Paz's whistle at dinnertime and then entering the kitchen to eat. ===== MSgt Mike Takashima (Yul Brynner), Col Glenn Stevenson (Richard Widmark) and 1st Lt John Gregg (George Chakiris), all members of the U. S. Air Force Air Rescue Service at Ashiya Air Base, Japan, set out to rescue the survivors of a Japanese ship wrecked in a still-raging storm. As they fly to the site of the wreck, each man recalls a part of his past: Gregg remembers the avalanche caused in Europe when his Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw helicopter came too close to a mountain. The avalanche subsequently buried alive the group of people whom he was attempting to rescue. The accident has since caused him to fear flying solo. Stevenson, deeply prejudiced against the Japanese, recalls the reason for his hatred: as a civilian pilot in the Philippines prior to World War II, he met and married Caroline Gordon (Shirley Knight). She and their infant son later died in a Japanese prison camp when they were refused medical supplies which were being saved for Japanese soldiers. Takashima, half-Polish (mother), half-Japanese (father), reminisces about his tragic love affair with Leila (Danièle Gaubert), an Algerian girl, when he was an Army paratrooper during World War II. He was unable to stop a bridge from being blown up, a bridge where Leila had run to look for him after learning that his unit was being withdrawn from town. Stevenson, Gregg and Takashima are the crew of the lead aircraft of a flight of two HU-16s dispatched to rescue the Japanese civilians at sea. When one Grumman HU-16 Albatross air rescue plane crashes while attempting to land in the treacherous seas, Stevenson refuses to jeopardize his aircraft for Japanese lives. At the last minute, however, he recalls Caroline's dying plea not to hate; he overcomes his prejudice. Takashima volunteered to parachute to the life rafts with rescue equipment. Stevenson and Gregg then land the aircraft at sea and rescue the survivors, but when Stevenson is injured in the landing, Gregg is forced to overcome his fear and handle the dangerous takeoff and the flight back to Ashiya. ===== At birth, three children are abandoned in a convent. They are Polito Sol and his siblings, Adriana and Carmelo Águila and they grow up to become the "Águila o Sol" trio. Many years later, Don Hipólito, Polito's father becomes rich and decides to search for his son. In the end he finds Polito and the Aguila siblings. ===== Major Dan Kirby (John Wayne) arrives at VMF-247 ("Wildcats") as the new commander when everybody in the unit was expecting Captain Carl "Grif" Griffin (Robert Ryan) to take over. Kirby is strict and makes this understood from day one. Assigned to the Cactus Air Force during the Guadalcanal campaign, Kirby has few planes available and a lot to accomplish with a field attacked daily by the Japanese. His pilots are young and behave like "kids", sometimes disobeying orders and foolishly losing precious pilots and precious planes. Kirby is requiring maximum effort, and Captain Griffin is not as tough as Kirby wants. Griffin stays closer to his young pilots, one of them his own brother-in-law, Vern "Cowboy" Blithe (Don Taylor). Kirby for his part hates the decisions he has to make, knowing that he is sending pilots to their death, but the success of his missions is the most important thing to him. He keeps this secret from the rest of his squadron. The hard conditions of the war force Kirby to get even stricter with his exhausted pilots. He even refuses sick leave to men with malaria or to allow planes with problems to return to base. Tension between Griffin and Kirby soon peaks. Griffin recognizes the hardships Kirby faces, but he is often more driven by his sentimental side. Kirby is a fan of low-level ground attacks to support the Marine units, but HQ does not approve of his tactics until Marines are dangerously imperiled by the Japanese. Kirby then adjusts squadron tactics, despite losing a number of pilots while trying to prove his point. In his most successful operation, he leads his squadron in an attack on a huge Japanese convoy – a scene likely based on the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Promoted to Lt. Colonel, Kirby is given the chance to organize low-level attack tactics in the US. Kirby then returns to the front, to the same unit and aircrew, now equipped with F4U Corsair fighters. Kirby leads his men against Japanese troops and Kamikaze attacks during the Battle of Okinawa. During a crucial moment in the battle, to avoid splitting his formation, Griffin denies assistance to his brother-in-law Blithe, and as a result Blithe is killed. Kirby is shot down and injured but is picked up by a Navy launch. Since he is now to leave the squadron, he has to appoint a successor. He appoints Griffin CO of VMF-247, as he understands that Griffin now can place the lives of his pilots second. They split with a friendly promise to meet again. Kirby admits that every moment in which he is required to make a decision is a nightmare, but that comes with the territory of being a leader under these circumstances. Throughout the film, MSgt. Clancy (Jay C. Flippen), an old Marine veteran and comrade-in-arms of Kirby, provides comic relief. To the consternation of other units on the island, Clancy uses unorthodox creative methods to obtain provisions for his unit. His improvising helps the poorly equipped VMF-247, but at the end of the film, Clancy loses some stripes. ===== Lee Majors, in his first lead acting role, stars as Andy Crocker, a soldier who is wounded in a firefight in Vietnam and awarded the Purple Heart. After leaving his best friend David (Marvin Gaye), he meets a young hippie girl (Jill Haworth) who invites him to a party. The men at the party (Peter Haskell, Stuart Margolin) do not want him present; Crocker leaves and returns their hospitality by stealing one of their motorcycles that he rides home to Dallas, Texas where he reunites with his parents (played by Pat Hingle and Claudia Bryar). Crocker says that all that kept him going during the trials of Vietnam was his dreams of running a motorcycle racing track and repair shop and marrying his sweetheart, Lisa (Joey Heatherton). Crocker, however, soon discovers that his friends and loved ones have moved on while he was in Vietnam. Lisa has married another man (her "Dear John" letter to Andy apparently never received), and a friend entrusted to take care of the unsuccessful motorcycle track business and repair shop (Mack, played by Jimmy Dean) has made arrangements to sell it out from under Andy. An attempt at rekindling his relationship with Lisa ends in disaster. Ultimately, Andy finds himself running afoul of Lisa's family (particularly her rich mother, played by Agnes Moorehead, who offers Andy a loan to help save the racetrack as long as he leaves town), and the law after he punches Mack for betraying him. Fleeing from the Dallas area, Andy eventually finds himself in San Francisco where he briefly reunites with his old army friend David. Afterwards, realizing he has nowhere else to go, he sits down in front of a U.S. Army Recruiting Office and waits for the doors to open. Also appearing in the film is Bobby Hatfield of The Righteous Brothers as a restaurant owner. The title of the film refers to a song (co-written by Margolin) that recurs throughout the film as "Greek chorus" to the events unfolding. Singer/songwriter Murray MacLeod sang the title song and wrote the music. ===== The game begins with Jaster foraging in the desert outside his home town of Salgin on the planet Rosa. Meanwhile, Simon and Steve arrive in Salgin looking for Desert Claw. As Jaster returns, he complains to his adopted father, Raul, about the presence of the Longardian Federation on the planet, who are ostensibly there to protect it from the Draxian Empire. As they talk, a beast attacks the town. Jaster rushes outside and is attacked by a group of smaller beasts. With the help of a stranger, he fights them off, and they head to face the main beast. However, upon seeing Steve and Simon, the stranger leaves Jaster, giving him his sword. Steve recognizes the sword as Desert Claw's sword, "Desert Seeker - one of the Seven Sacred Galactic Swords," and concludes that Jaster is Desert Claw. As such, they join him in fighting the beast. They defeat it, and Steve tells Jaster their boss wants to hire him. When Jaster learns they are space pirates working for the legendary Dorgengoa, he decides to join, maintaining the ruse that he is Desert Claw. On board, he meets Kisala, Zegram and the chief mate, Monsha (Quinton Flynn). While passing the Rose Nebula on their way to Zerard, the Dorgenark is attacked by beasts and crashes on the jungle planet Juraika, where they meet Lilika, a member of the local Burkaqua tribe, who joins the crew. They resume their journey to Zerard, where they renew the ship's galactic travel visa from the Galaxy Corporation, after a stint in Rosencaster Prison, and the inadvertent recruitment of Jupis to the ship's crew. Meanwhile, Dorgengoa sees Jaster for the first time, immediately recognizing he is not Desert Claw. He orders Jaster be thrown overboard, but Kisala refuses to allow it. Dorgengoa decides to test Jaster's ability. First, he reveals he is seeking the lost planet of Eden, which is said to have disappeared 10,000 years ago. The key to finding Eden are the "Great Tablets", which are also lost, and for which Dorgengoa is searching. A tablet is believed to have been recently excavated on the planet Vedan. The crew head to the Vedanian mining town of Myna. There they meet Deego and his girlfriend Angela (Heather Halley). Deego helps the group get into the mines, but not in time to save the tablet from Daytron, who take it to Rosa. Deego decides to join the crew of the Dorgenark, and Angela promises to wait for him to return. The party arrives on Rosa and heads to the ruins in the Sylvazard Desert. The Tablet arrives and three pedestals are revealed, on which must be set three "Key Pieces". Meanwhile, Daytron president Valkog Drazer (David Lodge) and his assistant, Norma Kissleigh (Michelle Ruff), arrive with Seed (Jason Spisak), a masked servant, who engages the crew in battle. They are unable to defeat him, but are rescued by Desert Claw, who promptly leaves again. On the Dorgenark, they tell Dorgengoa about the pedestals and Deego guesses the Key Pieces are probably located within the three Ruins of the Ancient Kings. The party manage to acquire the three Key Pieces, and Jaster places them on the pedestals, transforming the Tablet into a massive three dimensional puzzle structure. Seed begins an incantation and sets about manipulating the structure. However, he proves unable to solve the puzzle and transforms into a massive beast. He attacks the party, but Jaster unleashes a ferocious power, defeating him. Jaster then uses his power to solve the puzzle, opening the gates to a labyrinth. Deego speculates Jaster may be a descendant of the Star King, an ancient king who ruled the entire galaxy 50,000 years ago. After opening the labyrinth, a confused Jaster returns to normal, and the crew enter. Inside, they encounter Ragnar (Chris Edgerly), a robot who explains Kisala is actually Princess Irieth of Mariglenn, the planet also known as Eden. He gives her the key to open the Gates of Eden. Meanwhile, the Daytron flagship, the Emperor attacks Salgin. Valkog demands the key from Jaster who is about to acquiesce, when Raul fires an electromagnetic pulse at the Emperor, partially disabling it. However, the ship fires on Raul's church before retreating. Raul dies in Jaster's arms after giving him an artifact which points to the apparently deserted Kuje Desert. In the middle of Kuje, the party find a village, Joannasburg. There, they meet the spirit of the long dead Joanna (C. C. Seymour). She explains she is a descendant of the Star King, as is her son; Jaster. Desert Claw arrives, telling Jaster he is his father. He gave Jaster to Raul while he prepared for the day when Jaster would awaken the power of the Star King and open the Gates of Eden. Jaster uses the key and a space portal appears above Rosa. After passing through, the crew Mariglenn, where they are greeted by Queen Freidias (Wendee Lee), who tells Kisala she is her mother. Freidias then tells the story of Mariglenn; tens of thousands of years ago, the planet was attacked by an evil energy known as Rune, which possesses the power to turn living beings into beasts. Mother, the essence of Rune, took control of the planet, and the people realized once Mariglenn was destroyed, Mother would move onto another planet, eventually destroying the entire galaxy. As such, Freidias sealed Mariglenn into a "space-time cleft." Only one person can defeat Mother – the Star King. The crew travel to Ti'atha Forest where they encounter the spirit of Kisala's father, King Albioth (Fred Tatasciore). Albioth had faced Mother, but lost and had turned into a beast. He tells them the only way she can be defeated is by neutralizing the power of her Rune, using Drigellum energy; which can only be found in the hearts of good people. Each of the party's hearts generates Drigellum, which is forged into a sword. The party enter Mother's lair and fight her. Jaster again releases the power of the Star King. He reveals Mother as being a sorceress named Ilzarbella (Wendee Lee) who served the Star King until she was seduced by the power of Rune. Using the Drigellum sword, the Star King/Jaster kills her. However, as soon as the battle ends, the Emperor arrives with the intention of collecting the Rune energy to create beasts so as to continue the war. However, Rune takes over the ship, killing Valkog and Norma, and integrating them into an organic vessel which it uses to attack Jaster and his group. The group split up, with each member attacking a separate part of the ship, eventually defeating it. Mariglenn returns to its former self, and Kisala says goodbye to Freidias. When they return to their own galaxy, the group find Mariglenn has reappeared. They visit and the Mariglenndians appoint Kisala as their new queen, much to the disappointment of Dorgengoa and Jaster. As Jaster and Monsha discuss the newly established galactic peace, Kisala is inaugurated as the new queen. Meanwhile, Simon returns to his family, Lilika returns to Bukaqua, Deego reunites with Angela, Steve returns to work with Dr. Pocacchio, Jupis resumes his scientific research, and Zegram remains on the Dorgenark. Later, Dorgenoa tells Jaster they are returning to Mariglenn to get back Kisala. The game ends with a narration saying the crew made off with their "ultimate treasure" in what was their very last heist. ===== Respectable Cornish housewife and gardener extraordinaire, Grace Trevethyn (Brenda Blethyn), discovers soon after her husband's funeral that he died heavily in debt and left her penniless and facing the loss of her home and furniture. Well-liked in her town of Port Ilec, the locals rally round, particularly her loyal, pot-smoking gardener Matthew Stewart (Craig Ferguson), his girlfriend, Nicky (Valerie Edmond) who is the town's fishing captain, and Dr Martin Bamford (Martin Clunes). A strange woman makes an appearance at the funeral and Grace suspects that her husband was also having an affair. Grace can no longer pay Matthew, but he offers to continue taking care of her property in exchange for her help with plants that he has been trying to cultivate. After discovering that they are Cannabis, she initially balks at the arrangement but decides that she can't bear to see plants suffer and agrees to try. She is shortly able to not only restore the plants to health, but has them producing small buds. While Matthew is amazed at Grace's skill, Grace is amazed to learn the value of the crop that she is soon tending. She and Matthew hatch a scheme to grow and sell enough to pay Grace's debts and reward Matthew for his lost wages. Grace and Matthew quickly start a large and successful hydroponic grow operation in Grace's greenhouse and Grace meets Honey Chambers (Diana Quick) placing flowers at her husband's grave, which confirms her suspicion that her husband was having an affair. As harvest approaches, Grace encounters Nicky, who has been avoiding her. They talk, and Nicky explains that she disapproves of the risk that Grace and Matthew are taking, fearing Matthew's arrest if they are discovered. Moved by Nicky's plea, Grace tells Matthew that she will handle finding a buyer for their plants. Her efforts lead her to London, where she encounters difficulties and has to call Honey to rescue her. Honey proves helpful in introducing Grace to her own drug dealer, Vince (Bill Bailey). Vince is impressed by the quality of the plants, but lacks the capital to buy the crop, so he agrees to take them to an associate with deep pockets. Vince takes them to a rave club, where they meet French businessman, Jacques Chevalier (Tchéky Karyo), who Grace manages to impress with her knowledge of fly fishing and French. After initial disruptions, Chevalier and Grace negotiate a deal for the marijuana, and Grace, Vince, and Dr Bamford (who, with Matthew, had followed Grace to London) head back to Port Isaac; Chevalier secretly instructs his bodyguard to take Vince and follow them to Grace's home. Back in Port Isaac to harvest the marijuana, Grace discovers that the Women's Institute is preparing to hold a luncheon in her garden, and that the creditors are coming to remove her furniture and possessions. Matthew goes to reconcile with Nicky, whereupon he apologizes and proclaims his love for her, and she tells him that she is pregnant with their child. The two joyously celebrate, and are then informed by the local barman Charlie (Paul Brooke) that two Londoners have been asking about Grace; Matthew quickly identifies them as Vince and China, and returns to warn Grace while Nicky tells local Police Sergeant Alfred Mabely (Ken Campbell) that the two are actually salmon poachers so that he will find them and arrest them. in Grace's absence, some of the Women's Institute members go to her greenhouse to look at her orchids and decide that the crop is really tea, so they take some to brew. Meanwhile, Matthew, Dr Bamford and Nicky all frantically attempt to dismantle the grow operation while Harvey keeps the creditors distracted. Confusion ensues when the representatives of the dealer, the police and the creditor all descend on Grace's house and the harvested marijuana goes up in flames. Grace is also surprised to find Chevalier inside her house. She confronts him over his betrayal, but he claims that he sent China after her not to harm her, but to protect her, and it is clear that he is romantically taken with her. Back outside, Dr Bamford can't resist the opportunity and opens the door to the greenhouse, releasing a huge cloud of marijuana smoke that envelops him and the townspeople. Between the tea and the smoke, the entire town feels the effects! Several months later Port Isaac's residents gather in the pub to watch a television special about Grace's seemingly overnight transition from an unknown widow to a millionaire after the success of her novel Joint Venture. The special also covers Grace's marriage to Chevalier, as well as the large riot at her house in which "nobody could remember anything." ===== In 2027, after 18 years of total human infertility and global depression, the world is on the brink of collapse and humanity faces extinction. The United Kingdom, one of the few nations with a functioning government, is deluged by asylum seekers fleeing radiation and plague. In response, the UK has become a police state as the British Army rounds up and imprisons or executes immigrants. Theo Faron, a former activist turned cynical bureaucrat, is kidnapped by the Fishes, a militant immigrants' rights group. They are led by Theo's estranged wife, Julian Taylor, from whom he separated after their son's death during a 2008 flu pandemic. Julian offers Theo money to acquire transit papers for a young refugee, Kee. Theo obtains the papers from his cousin, a government minister who runs a state-sponsored collection of salvaged art. Theo agrees to escort Kee in exchange for a large sum. Luke, a Fishes member, drives Theo, Kee, and former midwife Miriam towards Canterbury. They are ambushed by an armed gang, and Julian is killed. When the group is stopped by the police, Luke kills the officers and the group hides Julian's body before heading to a Fishes safehouse. Kee reveals to Theo that she is pregnant, making her the only pregnant woman on Earth. Julian had intended to hand Kee to the Human Project, a supposed scientific group in the Azores dedicated to curing infertility. However, Luke persuades Kee to stay, and he is voted as the new leader of the Fishes. That night, Theo eavesdrops on a discussion and learns that Julian's death was orchestrated by the Fishes so that Luke could become their leader; they intend to kill Theo and use the baby as a political tool to support the coming revolution. Theo wakes Kee and Miriam, and they steal a car, escaping to the secluded hideaway of Theo's ageing friend Jasper Palmer, a former political cartoonist turned pot dealer. The group makes plans to board the Human Project ship, the Tomorrow, which will arrive offshore from a refugee camp at Bexhill-on-Sea disguised as a fishing vessel. Jasper proposes having Syd, a camp border guard to whom he frequently sells drugs, smuggle them into Bexhill, masquerading as refugees. The next day, when the Fishes discover Jasper's house, the group flees while Jasper stays behind to stall the Fishes. Luke shoots and kills Jasper as Theo watches from the woods. The group meets Syd at an abandoned school, and he helps them board a bus to Bexhill - an entire city converted to a concentration camp. When Kee experiences contractions at a checkpoint, Miriam distracts a guard by feigning religious mania and is taken away. Inside the camp, Theo and Kee meet a Romanian woman, Marichka, who provides a room where Kee gives birth to a baby girl. The next day, Syd informs Theo and Kee that war has broken out between the British military and the refugees, led by the Fishes. Having learned that they have a bounty on their heads, Syd attempts to capture them, but Theo bludgeons him to death and they escape. Amidst the fighting, the Fishes capture Kee and the baby. Theo tracks them to an apartment building under heavy fire; he confronts Luke, who is killed in an explosion, and escorts Kee and the baby out. Awed by the baby, the British soldiers and Fishes temporarily stop fighting and allow the trio to leave. Marichka leads them to a hidden boat, but stays behind as they depart, despite Theo imploring her to come along. As British fighter jets bomb Bexhill from a distance, Theo reveals that he was mortally wounded by Luke. He teaches Kee how to burp her baby, and Kee tells Theo she will name her Dylan after Theo and Julian's lost son. Theo dies as the Tomorrow approaches. As the credits roll, the sound of children laughing and playing can be heard in the background. ===== A rare species of butterfly, native only to Japan's Kitakami River area, is discovered by two Japanese students while vacationing. In response, an expedition is dispatched to the Northwest Region (The Japanese Tibet) to study the butterflies in their native habitat. While driving to the location, two researchers come across a village. They ask the lake's location but receive no answer. The two eventually come upon the lake and find the butterflies, but are mysteriously crushed by something that police describe as "powerful". Nearby villagers of the Kitakami River insist that both deaths were a result of the wrath of their god Baradagi-sanjin (Mountain God Baradagi). Another expedition is dispatched to the area, funded by the film company "20th Century Mysteries Solved", an organization seeking to uncover the truth behind both deaths. Reporters Motohiko Horiguchi and Yuriko Shinjo (Ayumi Sonoda), the sister of one of the men killed, and an entomologist named Dr. Kenji Uozaki (Kozo Nomura) come along. Further inland, the expedition stumbles upon a village offering a ritualistic prayer to their mountain god. The local priest warns the travelers that their presence will make the god-monster angry. The warning falls of deaf ears. Kenji and Horiguchi later return to the village to rally the locals, telling them their beliefs are little more than superstition. Without their priest, the villagers agree, just as their god-monster Varan rises from the lake. The terrified villagers flee back to their homes, as the god-monster kills the priest at the village entrance, then proceeds to tear apart its huts. Following the destruction, Varan retreats to his underwater lair. Reports of the monster's existence reaches Tokyo, and the National Defense Force is mobilized. The villagers are evacuated, as tanks and ground artillery units move into position. Shortly thereafter, the military begins releasing toxins into the lake to drive out the monster. The plan is successful, and Varan emerges from the water, as tanks and artillery began to unleash their destructive fury. The conventional weapons have no effect on the monster and the military is forced to retreat. During the confusion, Yuriko gets trapped under a falling tree, placing her in Varan's path. Kenji narrowly manages to save his colleague and the two seek safety in a nearby cave. Varan pursues the two, reaching into the cavern with its large claws. The military intervenes, firing flares over the monster's head. Varan, attracted by their light, climbs a nearby mountain for a closer look. Once at its peak, the monster reveals hidden membranes of skin under its arms and leaps from the mountain top and glides towards the sea. Varan's reign of terror continues, as he capsizes a fishing boat not far from Tokyo. The National Defense Force remobilizes, sending a squadron of jets to intercept. The monster manages to destroy one of them that flies too close. Varan submerges and continues underwater towards Tokyo. The military counterattacks by deploying naval destroyers in surrounding waters, but the ship's artillery has no effect against the monster. Another attack is launched to stop Varan, this time using mine sweepers to seal off Tokyo Bay, which ultimately fails. Out of options, the National Defense Force again mobilizes its forces around Tokyo bay. It lines the water with landing-ships carrying rocket artillery vehicles, while dispatching a battalion of tanks to nearby Haneda Airport. A large amount of Special Gun Powder, which is hoped will destroy the monster, is also readied. Tokyo is evacuated while the military awaits Varan's appearance. The monster emerges from the water and is immediately shelled by the surrounding forces, but the assault does not stop Varan. Kenji drives a truck filled with Special Gun Powder to the runway of Haneda airport. The monster advances on the vehicle and Kenji escapes to a safe distance. With Varan now directly over the loaded truck, its detonation trigger is activated, causing the monster to be knocked flat. The military celebrates, prematurely, as Varan rises seemingly unfazed and begins another assault. Flares are once again used to attract the monster, but this time the National Defense Force witnesses Varan consuming one of the flares. Using dropped bombs filled with the Special Gun Powder, the monster swallows two of them. Shortly thereafter, the first one detonates, causing Varan to retreat back to the sea. The second ingested bomb detonates while the monster is underwater. A short while later the National Defense Force declares Varan finally destroyed. ===== A plane crashes in the Amazon rainforest, leaving young Daisuke Yamamoto stranded without his parents. Soon adopted by an Incan tribe under the name "Amazon", he becomes a wild child, living off the land. However, his village is massacred by the Ten- Faced Demon Gorgos, who searches for the powerful GiGi Armlet in order to take over the world with it. The last Inca, Elder Bago, gives Daisuke the GiGi Armlet for safekeeping, and uses his knowledge of Incan science and magic to perform a mystic ritual on Daisuke and transform him into the powerful "Kamen Rider Amazon" before dying. Now in Japan, Daisuke battles the evil organization Geddon, unaware of why they pursue him. Befriending Professor Kousaka's nephew and niece, Daisuke learns of the GiGi Armlet's true nature and ultimately defeats Geddon, then the Garanda Empire. ===== A psychoanalyst and his young family and some friends are taken hostage by a gang led by an escaped killer, Al Walker. The doctor gets the killer to talk to him in an attempt to find out the killer's unconscious motivation for his evil ways. Walker relates a dramatic dream he's been having since childhood. Eventually, his crimes are traced back to his childhood and lack of parental guidance, and by the end of the night the doctor has calmed the killer's murderous rage and prevented any further killings. ===== The stories are interwoven in the film version, though their stories are completely unconnected. In the television version, each story constitutes one episode and works as an independent television film, varying in length between 40 and 60 minutes. ;Landins (The Landins) Christer Landin, the father in a family living in a community in Scania, southern Sweden, tries to motivate his son who is falling behind in school by bringing him to his workplace as a pet cremator. Accidentally, the son turns on the crematory oven just in the wrong moment and the father is severely burned. Life still has to go on, and while the son is feeling guilty, the father goes through rehabilitation where he learns to speak again and befriends other local people also suffering from speech disabilities. ;En dålig idé (A bad idea) Richard Brunn, a man with a lifetime subscription to the magazine Wallpaper*, is together with his wife opening a top designed beachside hotel. They are visited by Richard's parents who work as stage magicians. The parents bring an easy-going Dane and a wooden statuette representing a former minister, which Richard finds to be extremely tasteless, and which triggers a mental breakdown. ;Min sista vilja (My last will) The deceased Sören H. Lindberg, an equally eccentric as successful harness racing driver and trainer from Dalarna, has left a bizarre will demanding various acts and arrangements to be performed at his funeral. As his three sons and countless mistresses are gathered, the sorrow and confusion is processed, and everybody is curious of who will inherit which part of his wealth. Eventually it turns out that all money has been spent on a hologram of Lindberg telling them that he used the money to create the hologram. Furthermore, his best horse is given away to the National Estonian Trotting Association without any explanation. ;Pappas lilla tjockis (Dad's little fatso) A cooking class in Gothenburg develops into a therapy session for lost souls. Johan is unable to get really close to anyone, including his wife, and keeps telling lies about his progress to the group. Ernst is dysfunctional and unable to get a job, and shifts between feeling very charismatic and like a total misfit. Jenny feels bad about not being able to keep herself from using irony and sarcasm to hurt people who don't understand when she's serious and when she's not. Olle is troubled by the breakup of his marriage. ===== Carter "Doc" McCoy, an expert criminal who was recently released from prison on a pardon, plans to commit a bank robbery with three accomplices. One is his wife Carol, a former librarian who was charmed by Doc's ruthlessness and immorality and thus became his partner-in-crime; she is waiting with their getaway car. The other two are the thuggish Rudy Torrento and the naive Jackson, both of whom are discussing the group's planned escape route: they intend to travel first to California, where they are to stay at a tourist camp Rudy knows while the heat dies down, and then intend to sneak across the Mexican border to go to a mysterious sanctuary for criminals run by a man called El Rey ("The King"). The bank's guard opens the door to prepare for the day, at which point Doc shoots and kills him from across the street. Rudy and Jackson hide the guard's body, then lie in wait as the other three members of the bank staff arrive for work, tying up each in turn. They steal about $250,000 ($ million today), at which point Rudy kills Jackson in order to increase his share of the proceeds. Doc starts a fire so they can escape while everyone is distracted. Rudy, guessing that Doc will try to kill him, pulls a gun, but Doc shoots first, seemingly killing Rudy, then meets up with Carol. Doc and Carol drive to the rural home of Beynon, the politician who sold Doc his pardon. Doc still owes Beynon some money, and wants to pay him off before fleeing the country. Meanwhile, Rudy regains consciousness and realizes that he may still survive if he can get medical treatment. He remembers a former cellmate and friend, Dr. Vonderschied, and imagines him advising that a veterinarian can treat him. A patrol of two police officers stumble across his position, but Rudy kills both and flees. Doc and Carol find Beynon drunk and despondent; the news has reported the deaths of the bank guard and two policemen and he feels morally responsible. He then tries to convince Doc that Carol, who was the one who actually met with him and negotiated Doc's pardon, had agreed to betray and ultimately kill Doc so that she and Beynon could take the money and run. Carol storms in and shoots Beynon dead, then insists that Beynon was lying. Doc is troubled but accepts this. The couple decide to drive to Kansas City, take a train to California, and then cross the border. Carol wonders if they can hole up in California with the help of the Santis criminal family, whose ancient matriarch Ma Santis is always willing to hide her friends and associates from the police. Doc dismisses the idea, doubting that Ma Santis is still alive. They drive Beynon's car to the Kansas City train station. Carol enters first while Doc disposes of the car, but a con artist manages to steal Carol's suitcase containing all the money. The con artist sneaks onto a train, pockets a sheaf of bills from the suitcase, and hides in an otherwise empty car. However, Carol and Doc find and kill the con artist shortly after the train leaves the station. After disembarking, Doc and Carol steal a vehicle by killing the driver. The con artist's body is discovered, and when authorities realize that the sheaf of bills in his pocket came from the bank, they conclude that Doc and Carol were the killers. A police bulletin is broadcast, forcing Doc and Carol to change plans once again. Rudy compels a rural veterinarian named Harold Clinton to treat and bandage his wound. Upon learning that his bandages will need to be changed a few times every day, Rudy forces Harold and his wife Fran to travel with him to California. From the news updates, Rudy deduces that Doc and Carol will need to move quietly and slowly. This allows Rudy to take the trip slowly and he begins to sleep with Fran, who is charmed by Rudy's brutish nature. Though Harold sleeps in the same bed, he cannot bring himself to do anything about his wife's infidelity. He soon kills himself in despair, at which point Rudy begins beating Fran, but she continues to slavishly love and obey him. Doc and Carol pay a migrant family to travel in the bed of their truck. After several days they arrive in California and make their way to the tourist court, where they are ambushed by Rudy and Fran. Doc manages to shoot and kill both commandeer a taxi. The cabbie radios his dispatch before Doc and Carol throw him out, so the police are able to set up a roadblock. Doc spots Ma Santis on the side of the road, and she waves them in to her hidden refuge. Santis needs time to arrange Doc and Carol's passage across the border and to El Rey's kingdom, so she hides them in partially-submerged caves for two days. Santis then has her son Earl take the couple to his farm while he negotiates their passage with the captain of a fishing boat. Doc and Carol are forced to wait inside a hollowed-out pile of manure for another three days. The two are finally smuggled into the fishing boat. As they are leaving American waters, a small Coast Guard cutter stops it, but Doc and Carol kill all three officers. Doc and Carol finally reach the kingdom of El Rey, which is indeed a sanctuary where criminals can live openly without fear of being extradited. However, all the goods for sale are luxury or first-class, so the cost of living is quite high. Furthermore, El Rey dictates that all residents must spend a certain amount of money per month. This means that, no matter how wealthy a criminal is upon arriving, he quickly gives all his money to El Rey. Fearing banishment to an outlying village with no food or drink, rife with cannibalism and suicide, the criminals kill each other in an attempt to accumulate money to pay El Rey. During the annual ball, the one night every year in which El Rey hosts a big party in his palace and disallows any "accidents", Doc despairs that he will have to kill Carol in order to make their money last longer and avoid the cannibal village. He wanders through El Rey's palace and comes across Dr. Vonderschied, Rudy’s friend. Doc tries to convince Vonderschied to talk Carol into some kind of surgery, then kill her during the process. Vonderschied reveals that Carol tried to pay him to enact the same plan against Doc. He denounces both for squandering their many talents and luck in pursuit of a monstrously bloody life of crime. Vonderschied directs Doc to Carol, hiding in the room. The couple acknowledge that they love each other, but neither denies that it will end with murder so one can avoid the cannibal village for a little while longer. As the clock strikes midnight, they sardonically toast their "successful getaway". ===== The novel is set in present-day West Virginia. The protagonist is Summer, an orphaned child who has been passed from one apathetic relative to another. At age six, she meets her Aunt May and Uncle Ob. The kindly old couple notices that, although Summer is not mistreated, she is virtually ignored by her caretakers and decide to take Summer home to their rickety trailer home in the hills of the Appalachian mountains. Summer thrives under their care, feeling that she finally has a home. Six years after Summer moves in, Aunt May dies suddenly in the garden. Summer must cope with her own grief while worrying about Uncle Ob, who is overwhelmed by the thought of living without his beloved wife. Uncle Ob decides to try contacting May's spirit, after he experiences the sensation that she has tried to communicate with him. He is assisted in this endeavor by Cletus Underwood, a classmate of Summer's, who provides information on a supposed spirit medium of some renown. Summer views his ideas with some skepticism, but is willing to try anything that might alleviate her uncle's sorrow. The three take a roadtrip to meet with the medium, only to discover that she had recently died. Uncle Ob is initially crushed by this news, and Summer fears that this disappointment was the last blow to his will to live. However, on the return trip, Uncle Ob suddenly snaps out of his depression, deciding to continue living on for Summer's sake. ===== It is the story of Daniel, whose parents have died; he goes to live with his grandfather on a remote gray island off British Columbia. Together they live an extremely lonely life, hardly talking to anyone. That loneliness soon lifts from Daniel when he meets a mermaid. He returns to the shore later, hoping to meet her again, but instead finds a sea otter, who then tosses him a seashell which contains a key. As he explores the mysteries of the key he soon grows closer with his grandfather. The novel will touch and is a quick read ===== ===== At a robot expo, Mom's Friendly Robot Company introduces a new robot: Robot 1-X. Professor Farnsworth buys one to help out around the office. Feeling obsolete after witnessing 1-X outperform him at every assigned task, Bender decides to get an upgrade so he can be compatible with Robot 1-X. After witnessing another robot display a complete personality change after receiving the upgrade, Bender begins to have second thoughts, and mid-upgrade he changes his mind and leaps out the window. Too scared to get the upgrade but unable to face the others without it, he heads out to sea, only to wash up on an uncharted island. Bender finds four outdated robots living on the island and befriends them. The outdated robots gradually convert Bender to their rejection of technology, and he orders them to "downgrade" his metal robotics to a wooden body. Bender leads his friends to New New York, where they wage war on technology. The band of five destroy most technology in the city, including Mom's factory, and head to Planet Express to destroy Robot 1-X. After destroying the power lines, Bender breaks into the hangar, where he confronts his former crew. Bender has his robotic friends throw boulders at Robot 1-X, but they miss and hit the Planet Express ship, which falls and pins the crew down to the floor. A candle falls onto the leaking fuel from the ship, forming a ring of fire around the crew. Bender tries to use the extinguisher, but his wooden body collapses from termite damage and catches fire. Bender resorts to asking Robot 1-X to save the crew. Once 1-X saves them, Bender is overcome with feelings of gratitude and friendship for 1-X. It is then revealed that Bender never left the upgrade factory in the first place, and his experience on the island and everything after was an illusion triggered by the upgrade process. Amazed at how real the vision was, Bender begins wondering if life itself is just the product of his or someone else's imagination, but comes to the conclusion that "Reality is what you make of it," and walks off into a fantasy world with unicorns and cigar-lighting fairies. ===== Rodriguez and Dauden play sisters and Arenas and Marzan best friends who go abroad for to Italy for work. Arenas becomes angry when Rodriguez sends a letter that she is pregnant. ===== The tasks of the Cobra 11 team consist primarily in solving crimes and catching the perpetrators. Typical elements of the action genre are mixed, so that there are regular car crashes, shootouts, explosions and fistfights. These action scenes are elaborately produced in most cases, and appropriately presented in a spectacular way. The high number of unrealistic scenes is a common criticism of the series; for example, large explosions often happen after small collisions while people emerge unharmed out of cars which have sustained catastrophic damage. ===== After an experiment nearly kills him, Professor Farnsworth plans to destroy a yellow box containing said experiment by ejecting it into the sun. He forbids the Planet Express staff to open it, and Hermes assigns Leela to guard it, after she makes excuses not to go out on a date with Fry. While she keeps the others from looking in, she finds herself tempted and flips a coin to decide whether or not to look inside; after getting a positive answer, she falls into the box and finds herself in a parallel universe with other versions of the Planet Express crew. The parallel Leela orders everyone in the original universe to come into their universe, as the parallel Professor believes that the original universe members are all evil. The two Farnsworths discover that, just as the original Farnsworth created a box containing a parallel universe, the parallel universe Farnsworth created a box containing the original universe. They also discover the major difference between the two realities: namely, coin flips have opposite outcomes, which explains why the parallel Leela did not open the box that she was guarding. Fry and Leela are also surprised to discover that their doppelgangers are happily married, because at one point the two Leelas each flipped a coin to decide whether or not accept a date from Fry. The Professors eventually decide that nobody is evil and the members of both universes spend time befriending one another. However, just before the original Planet Express crew returns home, parallel Hermes comes in to destroy the box containing the original universe. The crew realize that this means the original-universe Hermes must be doing the same thing to the box containing the parallel universe (i.e., the universe that they are all in). They plan to go back through the box to stop Hermes but discover that the box is missing, having been stolen by the two Zoidbergs. The two Farnsworths try to recreate the original box, but end up creating a large number of boxes containing different universes. The Zoidbergs flee into the boxes, leading to a chase across multiple odd dimensions. They are eventually caught, however, and everyone jumps into the box containing the original universe just in time to save it from Hermes. The two crews say goodbye before returning to their respective universes. To ensure the safety of both, the Farnsworths exchange their universe-boxes by pulling each through the other, meaning that each now paradoxically has a box containing their own universe. Meanwhile, Fry asks Leela on a date again; she flips a coin, then decides to accept without looking at it. ===== Early in 1979, Japan's most famed rocketship, the JX-1 Hawk, with its crew of 30, is launched from the Interstellar Exploration Agency’s rocket launch site at Mt. Fuji into space on a nine-month journey to investigate the planet Saturn. After the journey, the crew is given a new mission directive from Earth. It was discovered that a small, runaway "planet" (which some scientists believed to be the solid mega-dense core of a collapsed star) had somehow run amok. It is given the name "Gorath" by the International Astronomical Union. Upon encountering Gorath and attempting to investigate its rapid movement in the Solar System, they discover that Gorath is smaller than Earth but with 6,000 times Earth's gravity. The JX-1 is caught in its gravity well and its crew loses their lives as the enormous gravity well of the approaching celestial body destroys the ship. Back on Earth during the Christmas season, the transmitted data made its way back to Earth. A month later in 1980, astronomers and astrophysicists throughout the international community announce that the enormous celestial body will collide with the Earth in two years time. At the United Nations, a gathering of Earth’s top scientists resolved this situation by pooling large amounts of technical advancements they made in the past two decades. After much debriefing, the scientific community unveils their plan to save the Earth. They call it the South Pole Operation. The South Pole Operation base is to be designed to house a large international team of engineers and scientists. The plan involves the construction of huge rocket thruster engines, 500 meters below the surface and in an area 600 kilometers in diameter, producing an atomic force equal to that of 6,600,000,000 megatons. When completed and activated, these mega-thrusters would move the Earth more than 400,000 kilometers out of its orbit in 100 days until it was safely out of range of the approaching Gorath and its devastating gravity, and then move the Earth back into its proper orbit once the danger had passed. The U.N. then sends the remaining prototype sub-light spacecraft JX-2 Eagle into space to obtain further data on Gorath. Construction on the massive South Pole base is put into action as ships and helicopters from many nations bring in building material. In addition, powerful mobile heat- generating devices known as atomic burrowers are quickly cobbled together to assist in creating the caverns in the icy terrain of Antarctica that will be needed to house the booster rockets. Meanwhile, in deep space, the JX-2 Eagle succeeds in its mission. The data they acquired, including the disturbing fact that Gorath was continuously adding to its mass by absorbing more space debris in the path of its gravity well, is sent to the U.N. personnel on the space stations SSS-1, Terra, and Delta. Back on Earth, the first preliminary test of the rocket thrusters is about to commence. Around the world, citizens watch live television broadcasts of the event. The thrusters are activated and the results are witnessed from orbiting space stations as the Earth is gently moving. The South Pole Operation is hailed as a success and the Earth is moving out of the way of Gorath's path. Meanwhile, in space, with this news, the JX-2 Eagle is ordered to return to its base on Earth, along with the three space stations (all of which were moved to avoid having the multi-billion- dollar constructs being struck by Gorath when it approached the Earth). Back on Earth, an unexpected threat is literally unearthed when the completed rocket boosters were tested. The backlash of incredible heat this created caused a gigantic, 30-meter-long walrus to emerge from its home deep below the frozen tundra (this creature was named 'Maguma' in Japanese press information about this incident; Maguma was evidently a hidden remnant of prehistoric creatures that survived into modern times). Angered by the dramatic intrusion into his home, Maguma begins attacking the U.N. base. Acting to save the installation, a small VTOL craft that was used as fast cargo transport, but equipped with a powerful laser, is sent to stop the assault. The pilot is determined to stop the creature without killing him and initially uses the laser cannon to cause an avalanche that buries the beast. Maguma easily escapes, however, and continues his attack. This leaves the South Pole crew no other choice but to turn the craft's deadly laser beam on the creature, and the enormous animal is killed. Back in deep space, Gorath is continuing its destructive path, now absorbing the rings of Saturn. The JX-2 Eagle and its crew finally arrive back on Earth. Sometime later, Gorath is close enough to the Earth to be seen by the naked eye and the atmosphere is reacting as clouds are drawn toward the rogue planet. Tides begin to rise and a state of emergency is declared. The Moon is pulled in by Gorath's gravity and is obliterated. Gorath's full effect upon the Earth is felt as Tokyo is flooded by a tsunami. At the Interstellar Exploration Agency launch site at Mt. Fuji, the JX-2 and the space station Terra are destroyed by an earthquake. The situation also becomes critical at the South Pole Operation base, as flooding waters enter the thruster area, extinguishing several fires. After the critical moment passes, the full cooperation of every nation on the planet succeeds marvelously and Earth is moved out of Gorath's path, and then successfully returned into its normal orbit, thus saving the planet from destruction. ===== Sergeant First Class Buck McGriff (Willem Dafoe) and Sergeant First Class Albaby Perkins (Gregory Hines) are two joint services Criminal Investigation Division (CID) agents on duty in war torn Saigon. When a prostitute is found murdered they discover that the prime suspects are high ranking U.S. Army officers. As they investigate they find that there have been a string of at least six murders in the last year, but the previous inquiry was shut down from higher up the chain of command. Investigations lead them to Colonel Dexter Armstrong (Scott Glenn), but Armstrong rules himself out of inquiries by committing suicide. With the help of a French nun Sister Nicole (Amanda Pays) and their non-commissioned officer in charge, Master Sergeant Dix (Fred Ward), they finally close in on their target. As their investigation leads them closer and closer to the murderer, they find their lives are in danger and they end up nearly being sent home. The movie ends with an unexpected twist when they rule out all their suspects by conducting an interview in a Viet Cong tunnel base, and their NCO is the killer. ===== Set on Earth, it tells the story of the Governors, a series of state-of-the-art administrative robots. Each Governor is physically composed of six smaller units and is responsible for single-handedly directing the operations of a human-inhabited city. When the Governor robots begin to fail mysteriously, Mojave Center (MC) Governor acts to protect his own existence by separating into his components and traveling into the remote past to escape disassembly. MC Governor is not aware, however, that the time travel method used alters its molecular structure, with the result that his components explode via nuclear blasts when they reach the moment in which they were originally altered. A team composed of three humans and one robot embarks on a series of missions to the past to retrieve the robots before they can alter history. Opposing their efforts are a renegade roboticist and his robot companion, who seek to track down the Governors in order to solve the problem of their mysterious failure before their team can. ===== ===== Zapp Brannigan leads an attack on Tarantulon VI, claiming numerous silken artworks for Earth. Earth President Richard Nixon considers this a windfall, and gives every citizen a $300 tax rebate. Brannigan later invites Leela and her friends to an exhibit of the silk treasures. The Planet Express crew each contemplate how to spend their funds. Leela uses it to swim with a whale; Fry uses the money to buy and drink one hundred cups of coffee over the course of the episode, and Bender spends his on burglary tools to steal a $10,000 cigar. Bender refuses to smoke it until the exhibition. Others find their expenditures less thrilling: Professor Farnsworth uses the money to buy stem cells to give him a youthful appearance but discovers they only last temporarily, while Hermes buys a set of mechanical stilts for his son Dwight that inadvertently go haywire and drag the two off, rampaging through New New York. Kif buys a watch for his girlfriend Amy but accidentally loses it to the same whale that Leela was swimming with, though he eventually recovers it after a brief accusation of ambergris theft. Eventually, they all gather for the exhibition. Just as Bender lights up the cigar, Hermes and Dwight, still stuck on the stilts, smash through the side of the building, causing the cigar to ignite the silk artworks. At the same time, Fry finishes the hundredth cup of coffee and enters a caffeine-induced state of hyperspeed, moving much faster than anyone else. Fry easily gathers all the guests onto a trolley, wheels them into an alley behind the museum, and extinguishes the fire before the hyperspeed ends. As they all recover from what just happened, they find that Zoidberg, who had been debating on how to spend his tax rebate for something that would make him happy, opted to spend it on a nice meal for a number of hobos. The guests join them for the meal, though Bender is soon caught by the cops and beaten up for the earlier robbery. ===== According to the video game's content, a long, long time ago before humans starting appearing in the fictional place called the Ghoul Realm, there was a fictional, young ghoul warrior, a gargoyle named Firebrand from the town of Etruria. One day, while Firebrand was out partaking in his daily routine of training in a small, alternate dimension, The Black Light appeared unexpectedly and destroyed his home. When he returns from his training, he was told to hurry to the local King by another ghoul just before it collapsed and died before him. Firebrand then made his way there. After defeating Nagus (the Spaulder-wearing monster as seen in the distance on the European box art), Firebrand was able to meet with King Morock, who informed Firebrand that he, himself, was on the brink of death. Before dying, he gave Firebrand the Spectre's Fingernail and Firebrand set off on a journey to unravel the mystery of The Black Light, facing off against an invading army the whole way.Capcom. Gargoyle's Quest II. Capcom, 1992-2014. 3DS Virtual Console. Retrieved 2017-02-18. ===== The strangulation of four children in the vicinity of San Francisco leads the police force to appoint inspectors Al Hawkin and Kate ("Casey") Martinelli to discover the criminal. Suspicion falls on renowned artist Vaun Adams, convicted of murdering a young girl years before. When someone attempts to murder Vaun herself, the police are forced to conclude that someone else must be behind the murders, and they discover that Vaun's ex-boyfriend, maniacally egotistical Andy Lewis, must be the perpetrator. Hawkin convinces a reluctant Kate to set the trap for Lewis in her home by letting Vaun recover there. He arrives and declares that he will kill Kate and her lover Lee and leave Vaun to take the blame. Lee alerts the police to his presence, but the sniper who kills Lewis does not do so in time to prevent him from shooting and permanently disabling her. ===== DI Jack Caffery gets involved in a frightening case of five mutilated bodies of women whose corpses are found on the outskirts of London. His investigation yields a treasure trove of abominations. Caffery knows his department is looking in the wrong place for the perpetrator. But he cannot guess at the forces he's up against, or the true darkness of a killer's heart. The manhunt builds as a killer is cornered. The sequel is The Treatment. ===== While traveling in Sweden, Diane Wilson meets up with her uncle, famous geologist Dr. Vance Wilson (Robert Burton), who has come there to help investigate the recent landing of what appears to be a large meteorite. Diane is courted by her uncle's associate, Dr. Erik Engstrom (Sten Gester), though she aggressively plays hard-to-get, at first. A romance develops, and eventually their journey is interrupted by the news of a large herd of mutilated reindeer in Lapland. Both scientists immediately fly there, far north in the Arctic mountains of Lapland, near the site of the meteorite crash. To the irritation of both scientists, Diane stows away aboard their aircraft. When they arrive, the meteorite is actually determined to be a round alien spaceship, and she suddenly realizes just how dangerous a decision she has made. An enormously tall, hairy biped creature, with powerful jaws, tusks, and large round feet, under the control of three humanoid aliens in the spaceship, comes out of nowhere and begins menacing the scientists and the native Laplanders. The tall beast destroys the scientists' aircraft, killing the soldier guarding it, and begins tearing apart Laplander houses with its bare hands. As Dr. Engstrom and Diane are trying to ski away to safety, the hairy monster attacks again and is able to capture Diane. She screams and faints. Meanwhile, a search party has been formed, now carrying torches as night begins to fall. They hear Diane's screams and go toward the sound. Dr. Engstrom arrives and watches as the hairy monster carries her off. He hurries toward the torch-carrying Laplanders and tries to alert Dr. Wilson, who is with them, that the creature now has Diane. Carrying her to the snow-buried alien spaceship, the extraterrestrial monster suddenly begins displaying tenderness toward his captive, a result of mind control exerted over the creature by the humanoid aliens. She runs into an adjoining ice cave and screams and faints again when the aliens come near. The aliens leave the cave and see the mass of lighted torches coming their way. The hairy monster picks up Diane and heads away from the buried spaceship. The Laplanders give chase and are finally able to confront the huge creature, who is now standing with its back to the edge of a deep snow cliff. Angry villagers begin throwing their fire torches, and the tall monster carefully places Diane on the ground, where she is able to roll a few feet away. More torches are thrown and the hairy creature catches on fire, falling backward over the cliff to a fiery death down below. The aliens take off in their spaceship, returning the way they came. Diane and Erik walk off into the sunset, in love. ===== The film takes place in an office staffed by wolves who hand-copy documents using pencils. One of them passes out because of overwork. The bulldog boss pushes a button that carries him through a trapdoor below the worker's desk, and replaces him with a robot that writes faster. Another yawns, and is also dropped through a trapdoor under his desk and replaced by a robot. Three more are eliminating for drinking water, sneezing and injury (one of them desperately plugs his nose with two pencils, but is unable to keep from sneezing, propelling the pencils into another's head). They are replaced by more robots. The remaining worker, madly scribbling away, is shocked to discover that his boss has been replaced by a boss robot. When the latter leaves, the last worker decides to take action, and begins destroying the robots in various cartoony ways (blowing one up with a stick of dynamite, dropping another through its desk trapdoor, yet another by hitting it with different objects, and electrically shocking another into a pile of cinders). As the worker and the one remaining robot are locked in a life-or-death struggle, they see the boss robot threatening to push the trapdoor button. In a sudden instance of cooperating, they shove the trapdoor beneath the boss robot, who falls in. As the two workers peer down the open trapdoor, the remaining worker becomes aware of the opportunity being presented and shoves the robot in thus ending the film with a cigar in his hand and eventually pushing the trapdoor button on the viewer.FilmAffinity ===== Mona Hibbard (Minnie Driver) is a young woman from a troubled home who has one overarching goal: to become the winner of the Miss America pageant. Her mother is an alcoholic who graduates from berating her young daughter for not doing well in kids' pageants to declaring she will not provide any money or support for Mona if she keeps competing. Mona becomes best friends with Ruby Stilwell (Joey Lauren Adams), and Ruby's kind grandmother (Herta Ware) joins her sweet granddaughter to support Mona as she begins her steady rise through the beauty pageant ranks. Mona becomes pregnant, but, as women with children are ineligible for the MAM crown, Ruby selflessly agrees to raise Mona's daughter Vanessa (Hallie Kate Eisenberg) as her own daughter. Mona becomes colder and meaner as she gets closer to achieving her goal, whether she's sabotaging fellow contestant Joyce Perkins (Leslie Stefanson) on her routine and earning a lifelong enemy of an aspiring newscaster, or pawning all of her inconveniences onto Ruby while ignoring how obvious it is that Vanessa looks exactly like her – a path that leads to her victory in the Miss Illinois pageant. When Mona goes to tell her mom about it, she fends off the mom's gross, leering husband and is left hurt when she's told that it would take too much effort to attend the MAM pageant, at which point Vanessa defends Mona and Mona is bitterly relieved to be ejected from the unloving home she grew up in. When Ruby is falsely accused of euthanasia and jailed, Mona is forced to care for Vanessa, a task at which she is neither qualified nor appreciative, as she is afraid that her MAM crown bid will be taken away. Vanessa reacts to the situation by being angry and difficult to handle, making it clear she knows Mona is her mother and leaving Mona sad and angry with herself for not being able to just be honest. Mona heads to the MAM showcase, where one of the other contestants is nice to her and another cattily asks Mona for extra tickets for her large and loving family (Mona smiles and says "No"), while Joyce has the lead on breaking the story about Vanessa's parentage. She only later matures after seeking guidance from jailed Ruby, when Ruby refuses to fill her usual supportive role and bluntly tell Mona she needs to take care of her responsibilities in general and her daughter most of all. Mona comes to see that the pursuit of pageant fame is empty next to taking care of her family, and when she makes the MAM Final 3 she announces that she will be a role model to one little girl instead of a hero to countless strangers, confirming that she is Vanessa's mom and is withdrawing from the pageant. The judges see that the crowd is 100% in her favor, and change their rules so Mona becomes the new Miss America Miss. Joyce is left humiliated as her anti-Mona efforts, and chance to become a star TV personality, are both in ruins. Mona and Vanessa end the film having re-united with a fully exonerated Ruby and heading off to happier times. ===== Larry Verdansky, a repair technician assigned alone on Station Five, is interested in "siliconies", the silicon- based life forms found on some asteroids. The creatures typically grow to a maximum size of by absorbing gamma rays from radioactive ores. Some are telepathic.Asimov's Mysteries, pp. 22, 28 When the space freighter Robert Q appears at the station with a giant of a "silicony" in diameter, Verdansky deduces that the crew has found an incredibly rich source of uranium. Verdansky contacts the authorities, but before a patrol ship can reach her, the Robert Q is hit by a meteor, killing the three human crew members. The silicony itself is fatally injured from the explosive decompression.Asimov's Mysteries, p. 29 When questioned, the dying silicony states that the coordinates of its home are written on "the asteroid". Dr. Wendell Urth deduces that the silicony meant that the numbers were actually engraved on the hull of the Robert Q, disguised as serial and registration numbers, since the ship fit the definition of an asteroid (a small body orbiting the Sun) the ship's crew had read to it from an ancient astronomy book.Asimov's Mysteries, p. 22 ===== Ryan is a tough-minded British businessman appalled by the breakdown of society at the end of the 20th century. He feels that he is one of the few sane men in a world of paranoiacs. With a small group of family and friends, he has stolen a spaceship and set out for Munich 15040 (Barnard's Star), a planet believed to be suitable for colonisation. Now he keeps watch alone, with his 13 companions sealed in cabinets designed to keep them in suspended animation for the many years of the journey. He makes a daily report on each one: it is always 'Condition Steady'. Ryan is tormented by nightmares and memories of the violence on Earth; he starts to fear he is losing his grip on reality. The shipboard computer urges him to take a drug that eliminates all delusions and hallucinations; but he is strangely reluctant to use this drug. ===== In an unidentified locale, art student and model Daisy leaves a club alone after having an argument with her beatnik boyfriend Max. Walking through the deserted streets, she stops to admire some gruesome paintings in a gallery window painted by artist Antonio Sordi, who coincidentally also comes by to look in on his "lost children." After a friendly conversation, they return to Sordi's studio in a room beneath an old bell tower, where Sordi convinces the young woman to pose for him. There, however, Sordi is possessed by the spirit of a long-dead ancestor and suddenly transforms into a vampiric monster who hacks the screaming Daisy to death with a cleaver, then lowers her mutilated corpse into a vat of boiling substance. In his vampiric form, Sordi has already killed a lone woman in the town square, then takes her to a nearby car and feigns kissing her so that a pair of oncoming pedestrians assume they are just lovers sharing an intimate moment. Another victim is approached at a party, chased into a swimming pool, and drowned there after the other guests have moved into the house. The murdered women are carried back to Sordi's studio and painted by the artist, their bodies then covered in wax. Because his vampiric self looks nothing like Sordi, facially, no one connects him with the rash of murders. Max wants to make up with Daisy but cannot find her anywhere. After recognizing her as the model in Sordi's painting of her, which is now on display at a local beatnik cafe, he goes to see her sister, Donna. Donna tells Max she hasn't seen Daisy for days, and is concerned about the recent rash of disappearances. She reads Max the legend of Sordi's 15th-century ancestor Erno, a painter condemned to be burned at the stake for capturing his subjects' souls on canvas and being a vampire. Unable to convince Max that Antonio Sordi might also be a vampire, she confronts the artist at his studio and asks him if he has seen Daisy. He angrily brushes her off. That night, he later follows her through the streets and murders her as she tries to escape from him on a carousel. The "human" Sordi is in love with Dorian, an avant-garde ballerina, Daisy's former roommate and a lookalike for both Donna and a former love, Meliza, the loss of whom may have driven him mad. At first he tries to protect her from his vampiric tendencies, warning her his studio is a cheerless place and at one point breaking a date with her to spend time gaining control of himself after murdering Daisy. But one day at the beach, she reveals her attraction to him and asks him to make love to her. He tries, but panics and runs away. As Dorian leaves the beach, she then is approached by the vampiric Sordi, who chases her back to town, where she is rescued by Max and two of his beatnik friends. They pursue the vampire while Dorian, shaken, and unaware the vampire is really Sordi, proceeds to the bell tower to try to get understanding why he fled from her. Sordi returns and finds Dorian in his studio. He madly enmeshes her in some netting, then comes at her with a knife, apparently believing she is really Meliza. But before he can harm her, numerous wax figures on the floor of the studio begin to move, come alive, and kill him. Max and his friends arrive, break in, and free Dorian. ===== Takumi Fujiwara is a high school student who has been delivering tofu to the resorts in Mount Akina in his father Bunta's Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86. He also works part-time at a gas station where his friend Itsuki, the owner's son and a high school dropout, aspires to be a street racer. Natsuki Mogi, an attractive classmate, smiles as she walks by Takumi, but she has been secretly going on dates with a sugar daddy who drives a Mercedes. Street racers Takeshi Nakazato of the NightKids, who drives a Nissan Skyline GT-R, and Ryousuke Takahashi of the RedSuns, who drives a Mazda RX-7 (FC), talk about racing each other after they defeat the competition at Akina. When Takeshi visits the gas station to issue a challenge to the racing god of Mt. Akina, Itsuki (with Takumi riding along) arrives to defend that title, but in the ensuing race, Itsuki is embarrassed thoroughly and damages his Nissan Silvia. However, Takeshi is later beaten in an unofficial race by the AE86. Takeshi returns to the gas station to ask who owns the AE86. Yuichi asks Bunta if he has been racing again; he learns that Takumi has been driving the AE86 for the past five years and has been steadily improving his racing skills. Natsuki wants to go on a beach date with Takumi, so Bunta agrees to loan him the car and fill the gas tank provided that he wins the race at Akina. With Ryousuke, Itsuki, and the other RedSuns and NightKids watching, Takumi defeats Takeshi on the downhill race. He and Natsuki have an enjoyable time on the beach date. Itsuki buys his own Trueno and asks Takumi to teach him how to race. Halfway down the mountain, Seiji Iwaki of the Emperor Team in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV, taunts them and angers Takumi to the point that he races and defeats Seiji, causing the latter to spin out and damage the side of his Evo. Takumi discovers that Itsuki's car does not perform like his father's car, which Ryousuke tells him it has been custom-tuned and modified. Takumi agrees to race Ryousuke in three weeks, but on the way downhill, Emperor team leader Kyouichi Sudo in his Lancer Evo III (E3) overtakes Takumi; in the ensuing race, the AE86's engine breaks down. Ryousuke tells Takumi that he will challenge Kyouichi, and offers to lend him one of his cars, but Takumi declines. Bunta tells Takumi that Natsuki is visiting her hometown for two weeks. Bunta and Yuuichi have the AE86 outfitted with a new racing engine. Takumi struggles with the modified car well until Bunta shows him how to take advantage of its new mechanics. After seeing Natsuki with the Mercedes guy coming from a love hotel, Itsuki tells Takumi that Natsuki is a prostitute, which angers Takumi and they fight. The afternoon before the race he thinks he sees Natsuki in the Mercedes at a railroad crossing but is unable to catch up to them. He later calls Natsuki, who tells him she is coming back tonight but is with the Mercedes guy whom she tells they cannot see each other anymore. At the showdown, Ryousuke offers to team with Takumi on defeating Kyouichi, but Takumi declines. During the race, Ryousuke lets Kyouichi pass him and then follows closely. Ryousuke and Takumi use the gutter trick to overtake Kyouichi. Despite the warning messages of a driver going up the hill, Kyouichi's E3 tries to overtake the two but is forced to swerve off the road from the oncoming car and flips off the cliffside, totaling his Lancer Evo III. Ryousuke overtakes Takumi at the five hairpin turns. Bunta explains to the watchers that the FC's tires are losing their grip and that it is up to Takumi to compete against himself and not his opponent. Takumi undertakes Ryousuke on the last hairpin turn to win the race. Ryousuke offers Takumi to join his new racing team, but Takumi goes to see Natsuki. However, he sees the Mercedes guy drop off Natsuki with a hug. Takumi and Natsuki see each other but Takumi runs away, while Natsuki falls to the ground crying. Takumi tearfully drives away. Takumi calls Itsuki to apologize and then calls Ryousuke to accept his offer to join Ryousuke's team (Project D). ===== Francisco Alcazar is a wealthy landowner, who owns sugar cane fields. Francisco is married to Sofia, a severe and uncompassionate woman, with whom he has a son named Andres. Before his marriage to Sofia, Francisco had an affair with a married woman who was physically abused by her husband. The woman became pregnant and died when the child was 3 years old. This love-child is, in fact, Francisco's true firstborn. When this woman became pregnant, her husband refused to recognize the boy as his son. He also did not allow Francisco to recognize the child as his own. Thus, the boy named "Juan", became known as "Juan del Diablo" (Juan of the Devil) because he had no last name. Juan's mother eventually died of the shame and from the physical abuse she had received from her husband. Juan was raised with no love or instruction, in poverty and neglect. In his early teens, Juan's stepfather dies. Francisco, hiding the fact that Juan is his son, decides to invite him to live at his estate with his family, on the pretext of being a playmate for Andrés. Sofia finds out the truth and tries to send Juan away, to which Francisco objects. Finally, Francisco has an accident while riding his horse before he could legally recognize Juan as his son. Francisco leaves a letter with his intentions addressed to his friend and lawyer Noel Mancera. Sofia seizes the letter and hides it. On his deathbed, Francisco sends for his son Andrés, and while not telling the truth, asks him to care for Juan as a brother. After his death, Sofía sends Juan away without saying anything to Andrés. Eventually, Sofia decides to send Andrés to boarding school in Spain. Juan grows up among the sailors and pirates of the port-city, earning a shocking reputation for dirty business (contraband of liquor), ruthlessness, and harboring unbound loyalty from his men. Juan is also a womanizer, his heart is still untaken. He has learned the identity of his biological father because Noel Mancera has told him. Through the years, Mancera has given Juan some education, and even offered to give him his last name. However, Juan refuses the offer because he feels that a last name is unwarranted in his chosen occupation. Meanwhile, Mónica and Aimée are two beautiful young countesses, daughters of the deceased Count of Altamira, a distant cousin of Sofia de Alcazar. The Altamira family are very respectable in high society, but they now find themselves in bankruptcy. Their only asset is their nobility and beauty, and the long promise of betrothal between Monica and Andrés. Unfortunately for Mónica, Andres has forgotten about their engagement. While visiting Mexico City, Andres meets Mónica's younger sister. Aimee is beautiful, flirty and selfish. She shows interest in Andrés because he has wealth, influence, and power. Andrés falls completely in love with Aimée, a fact he later shares with his mother when she comes to visit him. When Sofia returns home, she informs Catalina de Altamira that Andres has broken the engagement with Monica because he is now intent on marrying Aimee. Catalina is mortified at the thought of Monica's heartbreak. With her family's financial ruin in mind, Catalina reluctantly agrees to an engagement between Aimee and Andres. When Monica discovers that Andres has broken their engagement in order to marry her sister, she is immediately heartbroken. Monica decides to enter a convent to become a nun. Monica denies her feelings for Andres and tells everyone that becoming a nun is her true calling. Meanwhile, Aimée returns to her hometown with her mother. One day, while walking along the beach, she spies Juan taking a bath in his beach house. Aimee had never met Juan and is unaware of his past or his connection to the Alcazar family. She watches him from a distance, but Juan sees her. Over the next few days, Aimee returns several times to spy on Juan. He decides to confront her and catches her while she's hiding. Soon after, Juan and Aimée fall in love and become lovers. Juan goes away on a business trip and Aimee promises to wait for his return and marry him. When Andres arrives in his hometown, Aimée ignores her promise to Juan and agrees to marry Andres. Juan returns from his business trip several weeks later as a millionaire. Juan discovers that Aimee is now married to his half-brother and decides to kidnap her so that she carries out her promise. Andres, who knows nothing about his kinship to Juan and the affair between him and his wife, decides to employ him as the steward of Campo Real, his country estate. Meanwhile, Monica leaves the convent to spend some time in the countryside with her family. Monica quickly discovers the affair between Juan and Aimee. Monica confronts her sister, but Aimee refuses to end her affair with Juan. Since Monica decides to leave the convent, Andres attempts to redeem himself by proposing an engagement between Monica and his friend Alberto de la Serna. Meanwhile, Andres learns that Juan is actually his brother and that he had an unseemly affair with a young lady in his household. Andres immediately assumes that the lady in question is Monica. Because of this misunderstanding, Monica is pressured to get married immediately. Monica agrees to get married in an attempt to protect Andres and her sister from the impending scandal, but she refuses to marry Alberto. Instead, Monica decides to marry Juan because she believes this is the only way to prevent Aimee to continue her affair with him. In an unexpected turn of events, Juan accepts to marry Monica. Aimee is filled with jealousy and rage at the thought of Juan being married to her sister. Aimee spends all her time plotting and scheming to destroy Monica's engagement to Juan. Unfortunately for Aimee, Juan is no longer interested in her. He is now captivated by Monica's beauty and her kind demeanor. At the same time, Monica discovers a whole different side to Juan's personality. Monica learns that despite Juan's rough exterior, he can also be kind, gentle, and noble. Against all odds, Monica and Juan slowly begin to fall in love. Their happiness is short lived when Andres finds out about Juan's affair with Aimée. ===== In the resort of Lake Waxapahachie, the swanky Wentworth Plaza is where the rich all congregate, and where the tips flow like wine. Handsome Dick Curtis (Dick Powell) is working his way through medical school as a desk clerk, and when rich, penny-pinching Mrs. Prentiss (Alice Brady) offers to pay him to escort her daughter Ann (Gloria Stuart) for the summer, Dick can't say no – even his fiancée, Arline Davis (Dorothy Dare) thinks he should do it. Mrs. Prentiss wants Ann to marry eccentric middle-aged millionaire T. Mosley Thorpe (Hugh Herbert), who's a world-renowned expert on snuffboxes, but Ann has other ideas. Meanwhile, her brother, Humbolt (Frank McHugh) has a weakness for a pretty face: he's been married and bought out of trouble by his mother several times. Every summer, Mrs. Prentiss produces a charity show for the "Milk Fund", and this year she hires the flamboyant and conniving Russian dance director Nicolai Nicoleff (Adolphe Menjou) to direct the show. The parsimonious Mrs. Prentiss wants to spend the least amount possible, but Nicoleff and his set designer Schultz (Joseph Cawthorn) want to be as extravagant as they can, so they can rake off more money for themselves, and for the hotel manager (Grant Mitchell) and the hotel stenographer Betty Hawes (Glenda Farrell), who's blackmailing the hapless snuffbox fancier Thorpe. Of course, Dick and Ann fall in love, Humbolt marries Arline, and the show ends up costing Mrs. Prentiss an arm and a leg, but in the end she realizes that having a doctor in the family will save money in the long run.Green, Stanley (1999) Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.), pub. Hal Leonard Corporation page 42 ===== Monica, preparing the Friends' Thanksgiving Day dinner, receives a phone call from her parents, who are planning to join them. Chandler is astonished to discover that she has not told them yet that he has moved in with her: she has avoided it because they do not like him. Chandler promises to win them over as best he can. Joey's new roommate, Janine, invites Joey and Ross to celebrate Thanksgiving with her friends, most of whom are attractive female dancers like her. Monica refuses to let them go, as they had earlier promised to spend Thanksgiving in her apartment, and Joey mopes around the apartment for the rest of the episode. When the Gellers arrive, Phoebe is disturbed to discover she has a crush on Monica's father, Jack. She dreamed about him several days ago and has just had him walk into her life. Chandler's attempts to charm Jack and Judy are less than effective, but Ross figures out the source of their dismay when Judy sneaks in a comment that Chandler is probably stoned again. During his college years, Ross once tried marijuana; when his parents walked in on him, he claimed that Chandler had been smoking, and had just jumped out the window. Chandler and Monica demand he set the situation right, but he keeps ducking out of it for most of the episode. Rachel has been entrusted with the makings of a dessert this year, despite her lack of success at culinary endeavors. She has chosen to make a traditional English trifle, which involves many layers of ladyfingers, jam, custard (made from scratch), raspberries, and beef sauteed with peas and onions, topped with bananas and cream. The beef in the trifle concerns Ross and Joey, and it eventually transpires that two of the pages in Monica's cookbook are stuck together, and her English trifle is actually half shepherd's pie. Not wanting Rachel to begin again and delay their date with Janine's friends, Ross and Joey decide to convince everyone to pretend her "beef-custard thing" is actually delicious so as not to hurt her feelings. In an attempt to distract Rachel with conversation, Ross is misconstrued with trying to get back together with her, and Joey offers acting advice, but actually turns out to like the dish. Phoebe is unable to eat the dessert because she is a vegetarian and heads to Rachel's old bedroom to take a nap, which forces up a new dream in which Jack cheats on her, and she is swept off her feet by Jacques Cousteau instead. The others all make excuses to eat their portions in locations that will allow them to dispose of the mess discreetly, while Ross devours his portion to stop Rachel realising how bad it is. After Ross again tries to get out of telling his parents the truth, Monica takes things into her own hands. This leads to a barrage of shouted revelations, ranging from childhood grievances to the fact that Monica and Chandler are living together, that Ross was fired from the museum, then married Rachel and got another divorce... Phoebe loves Jacques Cousteau, Rachel has just discovered beef does not belong in a trifle, and Joey just wants to leave. After Judy acknowledges the three women and Joey about their revelations, She and Jack express their disappointment in Ross' behavior then apologize to Chandler and thank him for not only making Monica happy, but for being Ross' best friend through three divorces and a drug problem. During the closing credits, Rachel is incredulous that everyone ate the dessert she made just so she would not feel bad. However, each person confesses to not having eaten his or her portion of the trifle, only to find out that Joey polished off each abandoned serving of dessert. ===== ===== The optimistic and inept Timothy Lea is freshly employed by his brother-in-law Sid as a window cleaner. With Sid an impending father to be, he looks to Timmy to fully 'satisfy' his customers, little realising that Timmy's accident prone ways often stretch to his sex life with his clients. Timmy bed hops from unsatisfied housewives to even a lesbian love tryst, all the while with his main eye on successful police officer, Elizabeth Radlett, who will have none of Timmy's sexual advances. He proposes as a result, much to his family's upset, unaware that Timmy's usual run of luck will affect the outcome. ===== This time Timothy joins his brother-in-law's driving school. Their school is soon in rivalry with a competing school, while Timothy finds himself involved in erotic adventures with his clients, secretary and landlady. His clients are a mix of the inept and the dangerous and, as usual, mayhem ensues. A rugby match is organised between the two schools, at which one of the rival school's instructors unknowingly swallows a powerful aphrodisiac and rampages around the field, an event that leads to the climactic car chase. ===== Having fallen foul of his erstwhile comrades in the Irish Republican Army (IRA), Henry escapes to America. In New York City, he becomes involved in advertising, pornography and bootlegging. After stepping on the toes of the Mob, Henry heads for Chicago, where he becomes the manager and partner-in-crime of Louis Armstrong. He becomes reunited with his wife and daughter, and, much to his dismay, the IRA. Category:2004 Irish novels Category:Novels by Roddy Doyle Category:Jonathan Cape books ===== The game begins just after a wagon caravan has been attacked by werewolves, who ended up stealing a man's only son. The player character, an anti-hero cowboy, agrees to go to the town, find the child and return him to his father. As the cowboy ventures into the town picking up various objects, interacting with the locals, and finding a safe place before the werewolves begin to prowl, he realizes that this once God- fearing and prosperous silvermining town has become a cursed den of vice, ghouls, vampires and werewolves after the original town's residents slaughtered an American Indian tribe. The tribesmen, as it just so happens, were the cowboy's long-lost ancestors. ===== Sean, Vincent, Jody and Lenny work graveyard shifts in various soul-killing jobs (the hospital, a supermarket, a factory and a call centre, respectively) and meet up in a cafe after work to kill time. Apart from this each has very little of a life. Sean hasn't met his girlfriend for three weeks and is beginning to wonder if she still lives in his apartment. Vincent is a serial womanizer. Lenny, formerly a writer of porn stories, can't pluck up the courage to ask out his attractive workmate Gail. Jody, unknown to the others, has been fired from her job, but still shows up after her "shift" every night to talk. At the hospital, Sean strikes up a friendship with the girlfriend of a coma patient; she confides in him that at the time of the accident she was about to end the relationship. Later, the two sleep together. Meanwhile, Vincent picks up an attractive young woman, who turns out to be Sean's girlfriend Madeline. Several days later Vincent's colleague Joe has a fatal heart attack; As he is taken to the hospital, Vincent accompanies him and runs into Sean. In a moment of humanity he confesses to have slept with Madeline; Sean reacts first with disbelief, then with violence. Returning to his flat, he discovers that Madeline has moved out. Sean receives an anonymous phone call and tracing it discovers that it came from a small town where Madeline's friend has an aunt. Sean, Lenny and Jody decide to drive there to find Madeline. On the way there they spot Vincent on the side of the road; they pick him up, and Sean says they're even after crushing Vincent's favourite possession - a watch that belonged to Errol Flynn. Unable to find Madeline the group gather in a cafe and Jody confesses that she lost her job. After Vincent and Lenny leave to play crazy golf, Jody runs into Madeline and sets up a meeting between her and Sean; the two of them discuss the issues in their relationship and come to the conclusion that everything is over. On the way back the group stops at a motorway service station; Lenny asks Gail out and is turned down, but still sees this as progress. Madeline and Sean argue over who gets to keep the flat, but later kiss when taking photobooth pictures together. The final scene has Gail finally manage to switch the irritating radio station; the radio plays a noticeably more modern and upbeat song. ===== A young mouse named Max is forced to flee his home on a farm in Nebraska after his family is killed by exterminators. He travels to Washington, D.C. to live with his hippie cousin Berkley, rebellious rat Jammett and Jammett's mother, Trixie. The group has to deal with the White House's resident cats, which are caricatures of then-President George H.W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle. The episodes' themes reference current issues of the day, including gun control and drug abuse. ===== Chicagoan Chester "Chet" Ripley (John Candy), his wife, Connie (Stephanie Faracy), and their two sons, Buckley "Buck" and Ben, are on vacation at a lake resort in Pechoggin, Wisconsin during the summer. All is going as planned until Connie's sister, Kate (Annette Bening), her investment broker husband, Roman Craig (Dan Aykroyd), and their twin daughters, Mara and Cara, crash the vacation. Ghost stories after the family BBQ include one of a man-eating grizzly bear that Chet met face-to-face when he was younger. Chet says that while he and Connie were honeymooning at the same lake, he was attacked by a giant grizzly bear (Bart the Bear). When he fired at it with a shotgun, the buckshot shaved the hair off the top of the bear's head and from that day on, it was known as the "Bald-Headed Bear" of Clare County. After Roman pulls Chet around the lake on an impromptu water ski ride with his rented speedboat, tensions between the families erupt. Chet is ready to pack up and go home, even as his teenage son Buck tries to romance a local girl, Cammie. The budding romance goes well until Chet is challenged to eat the Old 96'er (a 96-ounce steak) at a family dinner which causes Buck to break their date. Buck tries to apologize to Cammie for being late, but Cammie refuses to speak to him. Connie and Kate bond at a local bar when the conversation drifts to Kate's challenges of being wealthy. Later, just at the peak of tension between families, it emerges that Roman has made a bad investment and is broke. He has not told Kate and was planning to hit up Chet for the cash. Later, during a thunderstorm, the twins wander off and fall into a mine shaft. Chet and Roman find them, but the claustrophobic Roman is reluctant to descend into the tiny mine shaft. After some encouragement from Chet, Roman summons up all his courage, while Chet goes in search of a rope to pull them out. Upon realizing that the mine is stocked with old dynamite, Roman takes his daughters and climbs out of the shaft on his own. When Chet returns with the rope, he is horrified to discover the "Bald-Headed Bear" lurking in the mine. It chases him back to his house, smashes through the door, and rampages through the house. Wally, the cabin owner, bursts in with a loaded shotgun while Roman tries to hold off the animal with a fireplace poker and an oar. Chet takes the gun and shoots the bear, blowing the fur off its rear. Roaring in pain, the bear runs out of the house. The next morning, the two families part on good terms. Unbeknownst to Chet, Connie has invited Roman's family to stay with them until they can get back on their feet. Cammie and Buck make up and end their summer romance, as Buck and his family head back to Chicago. In a post-credits scene, a family of raccoons (who rummaged through the trash cans throughout the film) discover the bear sitting in the lake out of embarrassment due to being "bald on both ends". ===== The plot is largely the same as the plot of Porky's Badtime Story. When Porky Pig and Daffy Duck realize that they overslept to 10:00 after their alarm goes off at 06:00, they end up rushing to work at the Fly By Night Aircraft Co. and sneaking in. When it came to clocking in, Daffy ends up turning the clock backwards two hours earlier and clocks in, only for the alarm to go off. Their boss (a caricature of Clampett's immediate boss, production manager Ray Katz) catches them and in a cheerful manner, states that if they weren't going to make it, he would've sent their work to them. He then drops his friendly facade and angrily warns them that if they are late one more time, they'll be fired. Then he orders them to get to work, to which they dash into their office and close the door so fast that the sign on the door shatters. Later that night at 08:00, Porky sets the alarm clock as Daffy complains about having to go to bed early. Porky reminds Daffy that if they are late again, they will be fired. Porky climbs into bed and they both fall asleep until a bunch of cats and dogs next door wake them up. Later that night, the moon comes out and its light wakes up Porky. One of Porky's attempts to close the blind ends up wrecking his bed. This also disturbs Daffy who ends up grabbing a shotgun and shooting the moon, which then falls from the sky as a result. ("Unbelievable, isn't it?") As the night progresses, a thunderstorm occurs while Porky is sleeping in Daffy's bed. Porky closes the window only for a leak in the roof to disturb him and Daffy. Daffy opens an umbrella in the house with Porky telling him that it's bad luck. Daffy ignores Porky's statement until lightning destroys the umbrella. When Daffy quotes that he should try sleeping under Niagara Falls, a lot of water comes through the roof and down on them. The next morning, Porky and Daffy are shown sleeping in the drawers when the alarm clock goes off at 06:00. They get themselves ready and drive off to work. When Porky and Daffy arrive at the Fly By Night Aircraft Co., they see a sign on the door that says "Closed Sunday." Porky states that they don't have to work today, to which Daffy boxes himself ("Now he tells me!") before they drive home. When they climb back into the drawers to sleep, the alarm clock goes off again at 06:15. It gets shot by Porky, falls over and dies. ===== The first storyline focused on the penetration of western culture and capitalism behind the iron curtain (for example, Elvis Presley is worshipped as a God). The storyline can be thought of as a satirical comment on Russia's current integration of western elements with its own culture. Subsequent entries were much more action-oriented, with little or no satire. Cameos in the series have included Judge Dredd. In his last appearance, Razors threw off his brainwashing and went on a killing spree, which ended when he was shot and killed by Dredd. Also there are obvious references in the series to other series (TV especially.) The main example is Comrade Ed, Razor's partner which is an obvious "take off" of Mister Ed, the talking horse. ===== Bill Saunders (Lancaster) is a former prisoner of war now living in England, whose experiences have left him unstable and violent. He gets into a bar fight in which he kills a man and then flees. He hides out with the assistance of a nurse, Jane Wharton (Joan Fontaine), who believes his story that the killing was an accident. Saunders is involved in another fight—this time with a police officer. He ends up behind bars, but Jane, who is now in love with Saunders, gets him a job driving a truck delivering drugs for her medical clinic when he's released. Meanwhile, hoodlum Harry Carter, who witnessed the earlier bar fight, threatens to expose Saunders to the police. In return for his silence, Carter demands that Saunders cooperate with a planned robbery of his next drug shipment. When Saunders does do the delivery, Jane rides with him, forcing Saunders to make the delivery as planned to avoid getting Jane involved in the possibly dangerous theft. This betrayal of Carter puts the lives of Saunders and Jane in even greater danger. ===== An off- screen Italian television camera crew (voice enacted by Fellini) conducts documentarian-style 'roving eye' interviews with musicians preparing for a low-budget rehearsal in a run-down auditorium (formerly converted from a 13th- century church — presently slated for demolition, apparently). Speaking candidly and often cynically about their craft, interviewees are seen routinely interrupting one another as their artistic claims are contested or derided by orchestral peers, each self-importantly regarding his own instrument as the most vital to group performance, the most solitary in nature or spiritual in relation — these varied opinions reflecting each listener's intensely personal experience with music, one of the recurring themes of the film. The conductor arrives (speaking Italian but with an affected German accent), proving theatrically critical of the ensuing performance quality and equally quarrelsome with trade union representatives on site, wearing down the orchestra members as he commands them to play with exceedingly particular nuances bordering on absurd abstraction, leading several musicians to strip away clothing under the strain of this taxing effort. Protesting the conductor's authoritarian abuses, the union reps intervene, spitefully announcing that all musicians will be taking a 20-minute double break. While one camera follows the players to a local tavern to further catalog their ideological musings, in a backstage interview the defeated conductor expresses his frustrations regarding the impossible contradictions of his leadership role, opining on the subjective power of music just as a power outage in the building prompts his return to the auditorium hall. There he discovers the darkened auditorium space has been thoroughly defaced with spray-painted revolutionary slogans and rubbish being flung about by the musicians who chant a discordant chorus of protest against their oppressive taskmaster and then against music itself ("The music in power, not the power of music!"). This increasingly anarchistic bacchanal culminates in a violent crescendo of gunshots and in-fighting, until finally an impossibly large wrecking ball — its presence going unexplained — smashes with God-like wrath through a wall of the building (at the altar of this former church), causing the death of the harpist beneath an avalanche of rubble. As the silenced fellow musicians reflect on this tragedy in a cloud of settling dust, the conductor steps in to eulogize with a motivational speech declaring that music requires them to play through the pain of life, to find strength, identity and guidance in the fated notes of its composition. Amid the ruins, the newly inspired musicians accommodatingly take to their instruments to deliver a tour de force redemptive performance. At its conclusion, however, the conductor's former words of fleeting praise once again sour to perfectionist dissatisfaction, resuming his comically agitated critique at the dais as the picture fades to black, to the swelling accompaniment of a classical opus. As the credit roll commences, the conductor's continued Italian dialogue berating the orchestra is heard to slip into dictatorial German barking, suggesting a sharper political allegory at play in the movie's message all along. ===== Two people, who have been renamed Eiros and Charmion after death, discuss the manner in which the world ended. Eiros, who died in the apocalypse, explains the circumstances to Charmion, who died ten years previously: A new comet is detected in the solar system; comets are well understood by astronomers, who believe that, being very tenuous, they could have no effect on the Earth, and are not related to ancient prophecies of the destruction of the world. Astronomers calculate that the comet is approaching the Earth; as it does so, they study it, and people increasingly take an interest. When it is almost upon Earth, people experience exhilaration, which is at first assumed to be relief that the comet has no harmful effects; but this is followed by pain and delirium; it is as though the ancient prophecies, once dismissed by astronomers, have been confirmed. This effect on people's behavior is discovered to be caused by the loss of nitrogen from the atmosphere, leaving pure oxygen, which finally bursts into flame when the comet nucleus hits. ===== The short begins with a magical battle between two different stereotypes of sorcerers (a short Gandalf-like wizard that holds a large book of magic in one hand and a staff in the other, and a tall Doctor Strange-like warlock with a black cat on his shoulder) where they zap each other until they kill each other in a final energy blast. Their possessions escape unharmed and fall on Wile E. Coyote, just as he was about to catch Road Runner, causing considerable pain to him (especially the cat, who viciously scratches to his face out of fear). Coyote notices the ACME book of magic and becomes delightfully happy (as his hare-like ears fall off), as he now has a new weapon against the Road Runner. * 1: The first spell that Coyote tries is to turn the black cat into a feral beast. He succeeds, and the cat transforms into a black panther, but unfortunately, it proves to be too feral, and he quickly slices his body into strips, deflating Coyote like a balloon. * 2: Coyote buys an ACME flying broomstick and, after some trial and error, begins to chase the Road Runner through the air. However, when he enters a gloomy tunnel, Coyote mistakes his beeps with a horn of an approaching truck and suddenly changes his direction to the sky, only to be hit by two meteorites and get his broom "out of gas". Wile E. starts to fall and dials the Acme Flying Broom Customer Service on his phone for help but gets a recording telling him all operators were busy. After a long drop, Coyote manages to stop his broomstick in mid-air and land safely, but as he feels relieved, he gets scared off a cliff by the Road Runner and becomes a victim to gravity as usual. * 3: In his second spell, Coyote tries to turn himself in a giant, but much to his chagrin, the spell only affects his head, whose weight crushes his own body. * 4: Coyote uses invisible ink to make a bomb transparent and disguise it as a crystal ball in order to lure an unsuspecting Road Runner to his death. However, the fake crystal ball actually works and the Road Runner sees Coyote's future where he's caught-- a future that quickly turns into reality when the bomb rolls straight to him and explodes. * 5: In his third spell, Coyote learns levitation and uses his classical "seeds trap" to temporarily stop the Road Runner and smash him with a large rock. Unfortunately, the rock does not fall under his command, giving enough time for the Road Runner to finish his lunch and leave. After several unsuccessful attempts to make the rock fall, Coyote leaves in disgust, only for the rock to follow and crush him. * 6: In his last spell, Coyote once again tries to shape shift the cat into another creature, this time into a Pegasus, to once again chase the Road Runner though the air, but they inadvertently fly through a load of poisonous snakes (prompting the Pegasus to use the Coyote as a stick to get rid of them), and to make matters worse, the Pegasus quickly turns into a flying carpet, and much to Coyote's anguish, they fly straight to a reserve of scorpions and to a field of cacti. The carpet is then turned into a monitor lizard (who promptly devours his snout), a lawnmower, and then into a great white shark, and he and the Coyote land in a lake. However, it turns out that the reason for the cat's uncontrollable transformations was the Road Runner, who found the book of magic and decided to test his powers. He turns a mailbox into a gracious and beautiful female roadrunner and the two leave, walking and holding hands, while the Coyote suffers being shark food. However, this leaves the Coyote's death unknown. ===== As a baby, Princess Sara (voiced by Georgi Irene) of Thurinia was saved from the clutches of the evil Lady Diabolyn (voiced by Jessica Walter) by a mystic talking horse named Wildfire (voiced by John Vernon) following the death of Sara's mother Queen Sarana (voiced by Amanda McBroom) who is Lady Diabolyn's step-sister. Wildfire took her away from the planet Dar-Shan and deposited her in Montana where she is taken in by a farmer named John Cavanaugh (voiced by David Ackroyd). Lady Diabolyn was a stepsister to Queen Sarana, whom she always considered weak and unfit to rule. To gain her "rightful" throne, she learned dark magic and allied herself with the demonic Spectres. Twelve years later when Sara was ready to fight evil, Wildfire brought her back to Dar-Shan to regain her kingdom. Wildfire summons Sara through her magic amulet and transports her across dimensions to her real home in Dar-Shan. Sara joins with her friends consisting of a sorcerer named Alvinar (voiced by René Auberjonois), a young boy named Dorin (voiced by Bobby Jacoby), and his cowardly colt Brutus (voiced by Susan Blu) in order to thwart her wicked step-aunt. John and Sara's Indian friend Ellen (voiced by Lilly Moon) provide moral support on Earth. Lady Diabolyn is helped by the Goons, mischievous creatures consisting of Dweedle (voiced by Billy Barty), Nerts, Booper, Mudlusk (voiced by Frank Welker), and Thimble. They were formerly Diabolyn's personal guards until they gained their monstrous appearances by the Spectres upon opening the urn containing them when Diabolyn told them not to. Each episode revealed more and more of the mythical world of Dar-Shan and gave its audience a new puzzle piece to help reason out the past events that led up to the current state of affairs. It was later revealed that Sara's adopted father John was actually Prince Cavan, her biological father, sent to Earth to protect him from the curse which Lady Diabolyn and the Spectres had placed on Dar-Shan. Sara and Wildfire are the only ones who know John's true identity, which has been kept secret even from him. ===== Lee Hyun- min, who works reconstructing faces from skulls, quits his work in an institute to stay with his Beta-allergic daughter Jin that was submitted to a transplant of heart by the specialist Dr. Yoon. The newcomer researcher to the institute Jung Sun-young comes to his house bringing the skull of a victim of a serial-killer that had her whole body melted down with acid by the murderer. Hyun-min refuses the assignment, but he is haunted by the ghost of the victim and scared he decides to reconstruct the face of the woman. When Jin has trouble with the transplanted heart, Hyun-min requests the donor case history to Dr. Yoon, but the doctor refuses to give the information, claiming confidentiality issue. Dr. Yoon becomes the prime suspect of Detective Suh, who is in charge of the investigation of the murder cases, and he discloses the identity of the victim based on the reconstructed face. Meanwhile, Hyun- min has a premonition and finds another skull buried a long time ago below the sand in a field. He reconstructs the face, unraveling a supernatural secret. ===== Quiet, intelligent, solemn and recently dumped by his girlfriend, graduate student Lee Weon-san (Park Hae-il) takes a job at a literary magazine, ostensibly to supplement his income, but really to get close to the editor - the reason he's now single. The editor (Moon Sung-keun), unaware of who Lee is, takes a shine to him and makes him his personal assistant. He likes having him around as he's the only person he feels comfortable with, which means he often takes advantage of Lee's passive nature, making him run errands for him all over town. The fiercely independent Lee, however, works without complaint, having started a new relationship with part-time photographer/part-time vet Park Seong-yeon (Bae Jong-ok). When she takes a full-time job at the magazine, however, Lee pleads with her not to get involved with the editor, a plea that goes unheeded and sets Lee thinking once again about vengeance. It's here that the film really starts to veer from the conventional path. ===== Kang Chul- joong (Sol Kyung-gu), a prosecutor for the Seoul District attorney's office, is a unique one. He prefers going directly to the crime scene to reading files, his intuition and guts to logic and reason, and using weapons of force to sitting back watching his men get stabbed by criminals. And now, once again, his gets one of his gut feelings about a particular case, and wastes no time in getting involved in the Myung-sun Foundation case, during which he opening declares war on Han Sang-woo (Jung Joon-ho), the Public Enemy. ===== The story focuses on Mrs. Dane's betrothal to Lionel, adopted son of Sir Daniel who is a famous judge. Rumours have been spread in Sunningwater that young widow Mrs. Dane is actually Felicia Hindermarsh, involved in a tragic scandal following an affair with a married man in Vienna. Before Sir Daniel consents to the marriage, he attempts to put down the rumours and clear Mrs. Dane's reputation. With others, such as Lady Eastney, he starts looking into Mrs. Dane's past, guided by his experience as a judge. Mrs. Dane produces plausible evidence of her identity and everyone involved is quite convinced of her innocence. Yet in the end Sir Daniel's professional approach exposes Mrs. Dane's real identity in a famous cross-examination scene. Sir Daniel begins his examination convinced of her story, only wanting to get some final detail. A slip of the tongue by Mrs. Dane (when she says “We had governesses”) reveals the presence of a cousin she has tried to conceal. This sets Sir Daniel on the right track and he follows up skillfully and mercilessly, finally drawing the confession out of her that she is indeed Felicia Hindermarsh and has taken her late cousin's identity. The truth is kept secret, though (mostly due to Lady Eastney's intervention), and Mrs. Dane's reputation in Sunningwater can be reinstated. Nevertheless, they all decide she should leave the village after her marriage with Lionel has become impossible and she complies. ===== Number Two interrogates a stubborn female prisoner, Number Seventy-Three, in the Village Hospital. Frustrated, he attacks her, she screams, and Number Six rushes to her aid. The commotion allows her to leap from her bed and kill herself by jumping out the first-floor window. Number Six swears to Number Two that he will pay for his cruelty. Number Two forcibly has Number Six brought to the Green Dome and the two begin a war of nerves. Number Two quotes Goethe: Du mußt Amboß oder Hammer sein ("You must be Anvil or Hammer"). "And you see me as the anvil?" asks Number Six, to which Number Two answers "Precisely. I am going to hammer you." Already aware that he is being watched by the Village's hidden camera and spies at every turn, Number Six proceeds to act in a highly suspicious manner, as if he were some sort of spy or double agent. He takes six copies of the same record of Bizet's L'Arlésienne suite at the music store and plays them, eyeing his watch. He then writes out a message, that Number Fourteen retrieves a copy of, which claims to be from "D-6" to "XO4." Number Two is convinced that Number Six is a plant. Number Two and Number Fourteen follow Number Six to where he drops a document in the cabin of the stone boat. They retrieve it, but the pages are all blank. After having them tested, Two suspects the technician of working with Number Six. Number Six then goes to place an ad (a quotation from Don Quixote) in the next issue of the Tally Ho. He then calls the head of Psychiatrics, posing as a superior who wants a report on Number Two's mental state. Two monitors the call and starts to become more paranoid at the behaviour of Number Six and those around him. Later, Six asks the town band to play the Farandole from the same Bizet piece. He leaves a fake message in a dead drop that is from a deceased person, wishing him a happy birthday. Number Two becomes increasingly agitated, wishing he could get away with killing Number Six. Number Fourteen offers to do so, making it appear an accident, and challenges Number Six to a game of "kosho" — a Japanese, trampoline-based contact sport — but is unable to "accidentally" drown his opponent. Number Six leaves a cuckoo clock in front of Number Two's door, causing him to panic and summon a bomb squad. Six captures a pigeon, attaches a message to its leg and sets it free in the woods. The bird is intercepted by Number Two's forces, and Two sees that the message states that Six will send a visual signal the next morning. Six goes to the beach and sends a visual signal (in light-flash Morse code) — a nursery rhyme with no apparent hidden meaning, all witnessed by Two. Later, Number Six is able to trick Number Two into believing that Number Fourteen is conspiring against him. When the other keepers of the village cannot discern the hidden meaning in Number Six's messages, Number Two suspects everyone working for him of being part of a conspiracy. Number Fourteen fights with Number Six, who throws him out of a window. In the end, Number Six confronts an unnerved and agitated Number Two, who expresses the belief that Number Six is really "D-6", a man sent by "XO4" to test his security. Feeding on Number Two's paranoia, Number Six charges Number Two with treason: if Number Two's belief was true, then he would be duty-bound not to interfere. At Number Six's suggestion, Number Two calls the hotline to Number One to report his own failures and ask that he be replaced. ===== Racketeer Patsy Gargan is made deputy commissioner of a reform school as a reward from his corrupt political cronies. Initially, he has no interest in the school, but his sympathy for the boys, who are abused and battered by a brutal, heartless warden and his thuggish guards convince him to take the job seriously, as does an attractive resident nurse named Dorothy. Gargan sends Thompson, the superintendent, on vacation and, while he is gone, puts Dorothy's reform ideas into action. The school is functioning well under a system of self-government when Patsy is called back to the city to take care of some political business. Patsy shoots another man during a fight and has to go into hiding. Thompson returns to the school and convinces the boys that Patsy has abandoned them. He then starts running things the old way and, when Dorothy protests over the poor quality of the food served, he fires her. Then one of the boys, Johnny "Skinny" Stone, dies while in solitary confinement and the boys rebel. Thompson is put on trial by the boys, who find him guilty. Thompson, in a panic, jumps out a window to escape. Pursued by the boys, many of whom carry torches, he scrambles up onto the roof of a barn. The boys immediately set fire to the barn. Dorothy, meanwhile, finds Patsy in his hideout and tells him the whole story. Patsy races back to the school to restore order, but Thompson is dead, having fallen from the roof of the barn. At the picture's end, Patsy decides to give up his political career and stay at the school permanently. ===== Following the Gill- man's escape from Ocean Harbor Oceanarium in Florida, a team of scientists led by the deranged and cold-hearted Dr. William Barton (Jeff Morrow) board the Vagabondia III to capture the creature in the Everglades. Barton is mentally unstable and apparently an abusive husband to his wife Marcia (Leigh Snowden), as he becomes very jealous and paranoid when Marcia is with other men. Their guide Jed Grant (Gregg Palmer) makes numerous passes on Marcia (which she constantly rebuffs), with Barton becoming paranoid about the two. Marcia accompanies Jed and Dr. Tom Morgan (Rex Reason) on their initial dive to look for the Gill-man, despite her husband's fierce objections. During the dive, Marcia swims too deep and is overcome with the "raptures of the deep," temporarily losing her mind, removing all her scuba gear. This forces Jed and Tom to abandon their hunt for the Gill-man to swim back and save her. When he is eventually captured, the Gill-man is badly burned in a fire leading to a surgical transformation performed by Barton, Tom and their colleagues Dr. Borg (Maurice Manson) and Dr. Johnson (James Rawley). While bandaging the Gill-man, the doctors notice that he is shedding his gills and even breathing using a kind of lung system. Now that the creature has more human-like skin, he is given clothing. The doctors attempt to get the Gill-man used to living among humans. Although his life is saved, he is apparently unhappy, staring despondently at the ocean. Barton ruins the plans when, in a murderous rage, he kills Jed, jealous that he had made romantic advances towards his wife. Realizing what he has done, Barton then tries to put the blame on the Gill- man. The Gill-man, witnessing the killing, and apparently realizing that he is being blamed for the murder, goes on a rampage. After ripping down the confining electric fence, he kills Barton and then slowly walks back to the sea. He is last seen on a beach, advancing towards the ocean. ===== In 1856, Townsend Harris (John Wayne) is sent by President Franklin Pierce to serve as the first U.S. Consul General to Japan, following the treaty written by Commodore Matthew Perry two years before. Accompanied only by his translator-secretary, Huesken (Jaffe), Townsend comes ashore at the town of Shimoda prefecture, as specified in the treaty as the location for an American consulate. However, the Japanese governor (Sō Yamamura) refuses to accept his credentials, denying him any official status, due to a conflict between interpretations of the treaty terms. While Harris believes that the Consul shall be present whenever either country requires, the Japanese believe the terms to permit a consul only when both countries require. The governor holds to his interpretation, largely because of objections over the threats under which the treaty was forced upon them. Harris is permitted to remain in Shimoda, but only as a private citizen, with no recognition of his official status. He is provided the use of an abandoned home, adjacent to the town cemetery. The governor explains that, in the two years following Perry's visit, various natural disasters had taken place. Some Japanese believed them to be warnings from the gods to avoid foreign influences. In the weeks that follow, Harris is the target of distrust and hostility, to the extent that Tamura orders townspeople to not even sell him food. Some in Japan wanted the country opened, but many others feared the corruption of foreign influences, and invasion by the barbarians of other lands. For this reason, Harris is not permitted to leave Shimoda, nor to go any closer to the capitol in Edo, 100 miles away. For his own part, Harris does his best to cooperate with the Governor, even obeying orders to take down the American flag which had been raised to mark the location of the Consulate. His cooperation noted, after several months, Harris is eventually invited to dine with the Governor, a dinner following which Tamura sends a geisha named Okichi (Eiko Ando) to take care of Harris' needs. The relationship between Harris and Okichi grows closer and more intimate, and she helps him understand Japanese culture. Harris helps rid the village of a cholera epidemic and out of this comes Harris' opportunity to go to Edo, where he must then convince the Shogunate to open the country, while facing his greatest crisis. ===== Raymond "Ray" Joshua (played by Saul Williams) is a young man growing up in the Southeast, Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Dodge City, slang for a real Southeast D.C. neighborhood.[A] Despite his innate gift for poetry and his aspiration to be a rapper, he finds it difficult to escape the pressures of his surroundings: violence and drug dealing. While participating in a drug deal gone wrong, Ray's close friend Big Mike is shot. Ray is caught by the police and sent to the District of Columbia Department of Corrections' central detention facility. He is arraigned for possession of a controlled substance at the H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse and bail is set at $10,000. When his public defender explains his options ("cop out" and plead guilty), "rock" (stand trial), or "cooperate" (serve as an informant), Ray despairs, particularly as he is being pressured to participate in a drug culture "inside" very similar to what he was a part of "outside". Ray takes no sides, unwilling to believe that his options are limited to the choices he is being presented with. When threatened with violence in the prison yard, he retaliates with words, speaking the truths that he's witnessed in the form of a poetic rap meant to show the other inmates how their power and energy is being diverted into petty struggles with each other, rather than being directed toward the system that is keeping them down. In prison, he participates in the writing class of teacher Lauren Bell (Sonja Sohn), whom he comes to respect and admire. She advises him to pay more attention to his talents. When Ray is unexpectedly released on bail for a few days prior to his court date by an incarcerated drug dealer whom Ray had inspired with his revolutionary ideas, he is able to convince his friends and their Dodge City crew not to retaliate with more violence for the shooting — to break the cycle instead. He explains that the "projects" where they all live and die are a government experiment and that continuing to kill each other is exactly what those who set up the experiment want them to be doing. On the outside, he also reunites with Bell, and is welcomed into her circle of friends at a poetry reading at her home. They wind up spending the night together, despite her reservations about the future. The next day, she urges him to settle his legal troubles by agreeing to serve a year or two of prison time, rather than fighting the charges and potentially being put away for much longer. They quarrel, because Ray feels that Bell doesn't understand his situation. He leaves, but shows up that night at a poetry slam event in D.C.'s Cleveland Park neighborhood that Bell had invited him to, just in time to see her perform an extremely powerful and empathetic piece that was clearly written for him. When the crowd demands an encore, she invites Ray onto the stage to perform instead, and he delivers an impromptu dramatic poem — scrawled as he crossed the city on public transit on his way to the slam — an emotional piece about black males and the criminal justice system. When the crowd demands an encore, Ray tells Lauren he needs to get some air, then leaves again. He wanders the streets until he is drawn to the Washington Monument. ===== While out rowing in the middle of a lake after dark, John Haloran and his young wife Louise argue about his rich mother's will. Louise is upset that everything is currently designated to go to charity in the name of a mysterious "Kathleen." The argument, combined with the exertion of rowing the boat, causes John to have a heart attack. He informs Louise that, should he die before his mother, Louise will receive none of the inheritance, after which he promptly dies. Thinking quickly, the scheming Louise dumps his fresh corpse over the boat's side, where it sinks to the bottom of the lake. Her plan is to pretend that he is still alive so that she can ingratiate her way into the will. She types up a letter to her mother-in-law, Lady Haloran, inviting herself to the family's castle in Ireland while her husband is "away on business." Dementia 13 (full film) At the castle, she immediately notices that things are a little odd. John's two brothers, Billy, and Richard, take part in a bizarre, ritualistic ceremony with their mother, part of a yearly tribute to their deceased younger sister Kathleen, who died years before in a freak drowning accident. Lady Haloran still mourns for her daughter, and during the ceremony, she faints dead away as she does every year. As Louise helps her mother-in-law into the castle, Lady Haloran tells her that she fainted because one of the fresh flowers she had thrown died as it touched Kathleen's grave. Louise, realizing that Lady Haloran is emotionally overwrought and superstitious, devises a plan to convince the old woman that Kathleen is trying to communicate with her from beyond the grave. The plan involves stealing some of the dead girl's old toys and placing them at the bottom of the estate's pond, where they will float to the surface in a ghostly way during the middle of the day. That night, Louise swims underwater and begins placing the toys, as planned. She is shocked to see what appears to be Kathleen's perfectly preserved corpse at the bottom of the pond. Horrified, she surfaces and is abruptly attacked with an axe by an unknown assailant; her killer drags Louise's bloody corpse away. Concerned family doctor Justin Caleb arrives and becomes determined to solve the mystery. He intensely questions the family. The murderer, meanwhile, strikes again, decapitating a man named Simon, who has been poaching on the estate. Dr. Caleb has the pond drained, revealing a stone statue shrine, engraved with the words "Forgive Me, Kathleen." The following night, Lady Haloran is attacked by a shadowy figure, but she eludes him and collapses in the castle's courtyard. Dr. Caleb finally uses an obscure nursery rhyme ("Fishy, fishy, in a brook, Daddy caught you on a hook"), recited by Billy under hypnosis, to help him discover Louise's frozen corpse hidden away in a meat locker. Next to the bloody body is a wax figure of Kathleen. Dr. Caleb places the figure in a public square to lure out the killer. Taking the bait, a gibbering Billy, who has gone insane with guilt over causing the death of his sister Kathleen, attempts to kill Richard's fiancée Kane with an axe. Dr. Caleb saves her life by shooting Billy to death with a pistol he was carrying in his pocket. ===== Alfredo López is an exasperated encyclopedia salesman for the Montoya Publishing House and lives with his faithful wife Carmen in 1973 Spain. Carmen and Alfredo are given the opportunity by the Montoya Publishing House to create pornographic films that will be imported into Scandinavian countries under the pretence of being an audiovisual encyclopedia of human reproduction. They have no other choice as Alfredo's encyclopedia sales are practically zero and Carmen loses her job. Unknowingly, Carmen becomes an adult film star in the Northern European countries though they are well-paid for their films. In the meantime Alfredo and Carmen are trying to have a child and Carmen discovers that Alfredo has a sperm count of zero. Inspired to become a film- maker, Alfredo writes an Ingmar Bergman-inspired feature film titled Torremolinos 73. His boss offers to fund the filming of it with Alfredo as director and Carmen as the female star. Alfredo also gets a Danish film crew to help with production. The main role is offered to Máximo Valverde who refuses it, so the role is offered to Magnus, one of the members of the film crew. At Carmen's suggestion, Alfredo's boss changes the final scene so that Carmen is to have sex with her male co-star so as to get herself pregnant. Alfredo is upset at first but eventually accepts this and the film ends with the couple having a daughter, and Alfredo beginning a new career as a wedding film director. ===== A enterprising middle school boy named Dickie Cessna (Scott Schwartz), who lives at a country club where his father works decides to make some extra money by selling composted horse manure as fertilizer, and has his three sisters, Nene, June and Bette (two of which are older) join him in the enterprise. As their sales increase, they draw increased scrutiny from the state tax board, as well as the large scale competitor who seeks to put them out of business at any cost. The children eventually fight a court case brought against them by tax collectors from the State of California. They are able to prove that the fertilizer is not taxable as tax had already been paid on the horse feed before the horses processed it into manure, removing one of the counts brought upon them. They eventually pleaded guilty to the others, which allows them to stay in business, to the consternation of the adult competitor. ===== Timothy Young, at five, enjoys having to go to his neighbor's shelter during the Blitz, partly because he gets to sleep with his friend Jill. However, Jill and her mother are killed in an air raid. Timothy spends some of the war in the country before he and his rather narrow-minded Catholic parents return to their lower-middle-class neighbourhood in London. He sees his sister Kath, who is eleven years older, only on her rare visits home, as she is now working in Germany with the occupying forces. In 1951, he faces a decision of whether to apply his mathematical and artistic talent to an apprenticeship as a draughtsman or to the study of architecture at university. Kath invites him to visit her in Heidelberg during the summer. After some trepidation, he agrees. The boat and train journey is highly unpleasant, but he is befriended by a young American man with unconventional views, Don Kowalski. Kath's life in Heidelberg is far more luxurious than anything Timothy knew in England, where some basic foods are still rationed and economic growth is slow. He joins in the good meals, games, and pleasure trips Kath has with her fun-loving friends, especially two Americans, Greg and Vince. Timothy lives surreptitiously in an empty room in a woman's hostel. When he spends a day with Rudolf, the young German porter of Kath's residence, and his family, he sees the much lower German standard of living and deals with his conflicted feelings about the Germans. He also visits an American family with boys his own age and the American school where Don teaches, but doesn't get along well there. His sexual awakening includes hearing his neighbor in the hostel having sex, seeing Kath in bed with Don (who has been sacked because he'd been a conscientious objector), refusing a sexual offer from a woman in the hostel, and developing an infatuation with an American girl. He finally meets her at another American girl's birthday party on a riverboat and then has an erotic encounter with her in his room. Kath's routine is disturbed when Greg and Vince disappear on a trip to Berlin, but they return a few days later, apparently having strayed into the Russian zone and been interrogated as possible spies. Timothy goes to a party with Kath where she and her friends dress up in Vince's collection of Nazi uniforms and medals. Don breaks up this nightmarish scene and reveals that Vince has had a sexual relationship with Rudolf, possibly extorting sexual favours in return for help denazifying Rudolf's father. An epilogue takes place in a motel in California, where Timothy, now a thirty-year-old academic in Environmental Studies, and his wife and sons are visiting Kath, who's still single. It's revealed that Vince and Greg were both homosexual and their disappearance in Berlin was an attempt to defect to the Soviets. Don is now a professor and has been married and divorced. Timothy reflects on how lucky he is to have a good career and a loving family when things have not gone so well for others. ===== The story begins with Bernard, a laicised Catholic priest, escorting his unwilling father Jack to Hawaii at the request of his aunt Ursula, who is dying of cancer. On the day after arrival, Jack is hit by a car and sent to hospital. Bernard spends much time travelling between Jack's bedside and Ursula's nursing home, and through this, gets the opportunity to discover their past. Ursula, always portrayed as the selfish black sheep, had been sexually abused as a child by her oldest brother Sean, who was venerated as a hero by the family for his death in the war. Ursula explains to Bernard that the experience ruined her marriage and her life. She wants Jack's apology for Jack knew of the abuse but kept silent. In the midst of this, Bernard strikes up a tentative relationship with Yolande Miller, the driver of the car that hit his father. Bernard's gradual sexual awakening parallels Ursula's struggle with her illness. The narrative switches between third-person prose, Bernard's diary, a long letter from Bernard to Yolande, and postcards and notes sent from Hawaii by various characters encountered by Bernard and Jack on the plane journey from England, concluding with a letter from Yolande to Bernard. Category:1991 British novels Category:Novels by David Lodge Category:Novels set in Hawaii Category:Secker & Warburg books ===== The story mainly focuses on Adrian Ludlow, a half-retired writer, interviewed by Fanny Tarrant, a journalist famous for sarcastic portrait of her interviewees. Category:1999 British novels Category:Novels by David Lodge Category:British novellas Category:Novels about writers Category:Secker & Warburg books =====