''Antoine and Colette'' catches up with Antoine as a solitary 17-year-old who works at Philips manufacturing LPs to support himself. He lives in a furnished room by himself in Place Clichy,[http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=144243&mainArticleId=142631], Stafford, Jef. [http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=144243&mainArticleId=142631 "Antoine and Colette"]. Turner Classic Movies website. Retrieved on 2009-04-09. listening to opera and classical music and spending time with René (Patrick Auffay), his school friend from ''The 400 Blows''.
One day, while attending a Berlioz Music Programme with René, he spots Colette (Marie-France Pisier), a secondary school student, and falls in love for the first time.
Colette is his own age, but unlike Antoine has a warm, supportive family with whom she still lives. Antoine forms a strong friendship with Colette and, eventually, also her parents who begin to treat him as if he were a part of their family.
Colette's feelings for Antoine are at first ambiguous and, harbouring some hope that she might grow to return them, he leaves his apartment at the Place Clichy and moves into an apartment across the road from her family's. Although she continues to treat him kindly, it slowly becomes apparent that she is not interested in him romantically. He sulks about this and at first refuses to see her, but he is lured back by a dinner invitation. It is clear that her family still consider him a surrogate son and are possibly hoping for something romantic to happen between the two teenagers.
All of these hopes are dashed, however, when the pretty Colette is met at the front door by an older man. Her parents and Antoine look helplessly on as she disappears off with her date. They are all left to watch television.
Doinel's adventures follow with ''Stolen Kisses'', ''Bed and Board'' and ''Love on the Run''.
In September 1939, as Britain stands on the brink of the war, many young children from the cities are evacuated to the countryside to escape imminent German bombardment. William Beech, a boy from Deptford who is physically and emotionally abused by his mother, arrives at the village of Little Weirwold. Willie is timid, thin, and covered with bruises and sores. He also believes he is full of sin, thanks to his strict, religious, and mentally unstable mother. He wets the bed every day.
Tom Oakley, or "Mister Tom" as William calls him, is a reclusive and ill-tempered widower in his sixties. He is avoided by the community and vice versa. William's mother wanted William to live with someone who was either religious or lived near a church, and Tom takes in Willie. Though initially distant, Tom is moved after discovering William's home life and treats him with kindness. William grows attached to Tom and his dog, Sammy.
William attends school and makes friends, including George, twins Carrie and Ginnie, and especially fellow evacuee Zach. William learns to read and write with the help of Tom and others, and shows talent in drawing, painting, and dramatics. As William is changed by Tom, so is Tom transformed by William. It is revealed that Tom lost his wife and baby son to scarletina forty years ago.
William's mother writes that she is sick and requests that William return to her. At first, William looks forward to helping his mother and showing her his accomplishments. However, she is annoyed to hear about his time away, as he has not been learning the Bible by rote and has been receiving gifts and attention from others. She shows him her newborn girl, who is lying neglected in a box. Furious to hear about his association with the Jewish Zach and to see William speak for himself, she accuses him of blasphemy and knocks him unconscious. William regains consciousness to find himself in the cupboard under the stairs, stripped down to his underwear, with his ankle twisted. He quietly sobs for Tom before falling asleep.
Months later, Tom feels something is not right, as William has not written. Although he has never travelled far, he takes the train into London and eventually finds Deptford and William's home. The house appears to be empty, but Sammy is agitated by something inside. Tom persuades a local policeman to break down the door. They find William locked to a pipe in the closet with the baby, who has died. William is malnourished and badly bruised as he had been locked there for days. William is hospitalised. Whilst there, he suffers horrific nightmares and is drugged to prevent his screams from disturbing other children's sleep. Tom hears that William will be taken to a children's home. He kidnaps William from the hospital and takes him back to Little Weirwold.
William remains bedridden and traumatised by his ordeal. He blames himself for the death of his sister, as he was not able to give her enough milk. Zach visits him daily. William grows stronger and visits his favourite teacher, Annie Hartridge. From Annie and Zach, William learns that he could not have fed a baby on his own and that a woman cannot conceive a child on her own. He realises his mother had sex with a man, though she told him that it was a sin for unmarried men and women to consort. He no longer blames himself for his sister's death.
The authorities arrive from London to tell William that his mother has committed suicide. They want to take him to a children's home, as he has no other relatives. Tom intervenes and is allowed to adopt Tom. Tom, William, and Zach enjoy a holiday at the seaside village of Salmouth, where the landlady of their cottage mistake William as Tom's son. Zach receives news that his father has been injured by German bombing. Zach hurries back to London by train. Not long later, Zach dies in The Blitz. William is grief-stricken.
William heals through his friendship with another recluse, Geoffrey Sanderton, a young man who lost a leg during the war and gives William private art lessons. After Geoffrey shares a photo of his own best friend, who is also dead, William begins to come to terms with Zach's death. Using Zach's bike, William teaches himself to ride. He realises that Zach will always be a part of him. William also grows closer to Carrie as they bond over Zach's memories.
One night, on returning home to Tom, whom he now calls "Dad", William thinks back on how much he has changed since arriving in Little Weirwold and realises he is growing up.
In the year 2055, time travel has become a practical reality, and the company Time Safari Inc. offers wealthy adventurers the chance to travel back in time to hunt extinct species such as dinosaurs. A hunter named Eckels pays $10,000 to join a hunting party that will travel back 66 million years to the Late Cretaceous period, on a guided safari to kill a ''Tyrannosaurus rex''. As the party waits to depart, they discuss the recent presidential elections in which an apparently fascist candidate, Deutscher, has been defeated by his opponent Keith, to the relief of many concerned. When the party arrives in the past, Travis (the hunting guide) and Lesperance (Travis's assistant) warn Eckels and the two other hunters, Billings and Kramer, about the necessity of minimizing the events they change before they go back, since even the smallest alterations to the distant past could snowball into catastrophic changes in history. Travis explains that the hunters are obliged to stay on a levitating path to avoid disrupting the environment, that any deviation will be punished with hefty fines, and that prior to the hunt, Time Safari scouts had been sent back to select and tag their prey, which would have died within minutes anyway, and whose death has been calculated to have minimal effect on the future.
Although Eckels is initially excited about the hunt, when the monstrous ''Tyrannosaurus'' approaches, he loses his nerve. Travis tells him to go back to the time machine, but Eckels panics, steps off the path, and stumbles into the forest. Eckels hears shots, and on his return, he sees that the two guides have killed the dinosaur, and shortly afterward the falling tree that would have killed the ''T. rex'' has landed on top of it. Realizing that Eckels has fallen off the path, Travis threatens to leave him in the past unless he removes the bullets from the dinosaur's body, as they cannot be left behind. Eckels obeys, but Travis remains furious, threatening on the return trip to shoot him.
Upon returning to 2055, Eckels notices subtle changes: English words are now spelled and spoken strangely, people behave differently, and Eckels discovers that Deutscher has won the election instead of Keith. Looking at the mud on his boots, Eckels finds a crushed butterfly, whose death has apparently caused a rift in the timeline that has affected the nature of the alternative present to which the safari has returned. He frantically pleads with Travis to take him back into the past to undo the damage, but Travis had previously explained that the time machine cannot return to any point in time that it has already visited (so as to prevent any paradoxes). Travis raises his gun, and there is "a sound of thunder."
In upstate New York, a waste management firm loads barrels of toxic waste onto trucks, intending to illegally dispose of them at a site in New Jersey. They are shown heading into a tunnel beneath the Hudson River along with several commuters, including struggling playwright Maddy Thompson, a bus of juvenile offenders, a vacationing family, an elderly couple with a dog, and sporting goods retailer Roy Nord. Meanwhile, a gang of grunges grabs gems from a gem buyer after mugging him and takes his car to escape the NYPD by racing into the tunnel. The gang force their way through the north tube traffic where the driver loses control and smashes through a security booth and into one of the trucks, causing it to detonate, and resulting in a sympathetic detonation of the remaining trucks. The tunnel entrances cave in, and a devastating fireball sweeps through the tunnel, incinerating the majority of the motorists within it.
About to enter the Manhattan end of the tunnel, former New York City Emergency Medical Services Chief Kit Latura, now working as a taxi driver, witnesses the fireball erupting from the entrance. While racing to help whoever he can, he runs into an old EMS colleague who tells him that the tunnel is severely damaged and could collapse if any wrong moves are made. Kit then checks with tunnel administrators and finds that most of the old exits have been sealed off or are considered unsafe. Kit makes his way into the tunnel through the ventilation system, risking his life as the massive fans can only be slowed down for a short time.
A group of survivors band around Nord, who believes he can find a way out through the mid-river passage, a service corridor running between the north and south tubes. Kit arrives and warns Nord that the passage could come down at any moment, but Nord dismisses the possibility. Kit barely escapes as the passage collapses, killing Nord and causing another explosion which kills a juvenile offender.
Water begins seeping in from the river above, and Kit uses an explosive to stop the leak. Police officer George Tyrell returns from investigating the Manhattan end and is crushed under a truck as the road shifts. The group manages to free him before he can drown, but he is left with a broken neck. The water level continues to rise, and the angry survivors confront Kit. He claims he can slow it down but not stop it, as the clean-up effort on the Manhattan side of the tunnel is causing water to enter their side. Kit recalls that there are sleeping quarters beside the tunnels (leftover from the tunnel's construction) and asks George how to access them. Kit finds one by swimming under a security booth and leads the group to this area, but George has to be left behind. He gives Kit a bracelet intended for his girlfriend Grace and tells him to "get them to daylight."
Eleanor, one of the elderly survivors, is distressed that her late son's dog Cooper is missing. She refuses to go on, then suddenly yet quietly passes away, presumably from hypothermia. The group moves to another room as the first one floods, convincing Eleanor's husband Roger to come with them. As they reach the top of an old wooden staircase, Kit notices Cooper swimming in the water below and dives down to rescue him, passing him up to one of the survivors, but a beam falls and destroys the lower half, sending Kit into the water. Maddy tries to help Kit up, but she falls as well, as more of the staircase is knocked down. Kit orders the rest of the group to leave. The majority of the group escape through a manhole into daylight while the corridor caves in behind them, leaving Kit and the hysterical Maddy behind in the rising water.
Kit and Maddy swim around looking for a possible way out, with the main highway tunnel now almost completely submerged. Kit realizes he will have to use his explosives to cause a "blow out" and rip the tunnel roof open. A mass of mud crushes Kit and Maddy tries to pull him out. The blast forces Maddy towards the surface, but Kit gets stuck in the mud. Maddy finds a barely conscious Kit and keeps him afloat as a boat discovers them offshore. Lying on a stretcher, Kit sees Grace in the crowd and hands her George's bracelet. Maddy insists on riding with him in the ambulance to which Kit replies, "On one condition: We gotta take the bridge."
The film is told through pansori, a traditional Korean form of storytelling that seeks to narrate through song. It is based on ''Chunhyangga'', a traditional Korean folktale and is set in 18th century Korea.
Lee Mongryong, a governor's son, falls in love and marries a beautiful girl Chunhyang Sung, the daughter of a courtesan. Their marriage is kept a secret from the governor who would immediately disown Lee if he found that his son married beneath him. The governor gets posted to Seoul and Mongryong is forced to leave his young wife behind, promising to come back for her when he passes the official exam.
After Mongryong leaves Namwon where Mongryong and Chunhyang first meets, new governor, Byun Hakdo, comes and wants Chunhyang for himself. When she refuses, stating that she already has a husband and will forever remain faithful to her beloved, the governor punishes her by flogging. Meanwhile, back in Seoul, Lee passes the test with the highest score and becomes an officer. Three years have passed and Lee Mongryong returns to the town on the King's mission. There, he finds out that his wife is to be beaten to death on the governor's birthday as a punishment for disobeying his lust. The governor, very corrupted and greedy, is arrested by Mongryong. The two lovers are finally united.
The book consist of two different stories, told in non-linear fashion in alternating chapters, which contain both parallels and contrasts.
''Wild Palms'' starts in New Orleans in 1937 with Harry, an impoverished and virginal intern finishing his training in a hospital. At a party he meets Charlotte, who abandons husband and two children to run away with him. With little money and few employment prospects, they drift through Chicago to a cabin in Wisconsin and then a mine in Utah. There Charlotte falls pregnant and they decide to go to the Mississippi coast. When she dies after he tries an abortion, he is sentenced to 50 years' hard labor. Charlotte's husband visits and slips him a cyanide pill.
''Old Man'' starts on a prison farm in Mississippi in 1927, where a convict has served time since his early teens. When the river overflows its levees, he is ordered to take a skiff and rescue people from rooftops. He saves a woman late in advanced pregnancy. The force of the current drives them downstream. He manages to land on a hillock, where the woman gives birth to the child. Later, an official motor boat appears, taking skiff, convict, woman and baby to New Orleans. They sneak away, and the convict paddles the skiff against the current until he is able to leave woman and baby near a place she knows. He carries on up to the prison, where 10 years are added to his sentence for escaping.
In Heaven, angels are tasked with ensuring that mortals on Earth find love. The "Captain", Gabriel, is upset at reviewing the file of angel partners O'Reilly and Jackson, all of whose recent cases have ended in divorce or misery. He introduces a radical new incentive: if their latest case isn't "cracked" – meaning, if the pair in question do not fall, and stay, in love, O'Reilly and Jackson must stay on earth forever, which does not appeal to them.
Celine Naville is the spoiled twenty-something daughter of a wealthy businessman. When one of her suitors, a loathsome dentist named Elliott, proposes marriage to her, she offers to say yes, but only if he agrees to reenact "William Tell" with an apple on his head. As she takes aim with a pistol, Elliot's nerves fail.
Robert Lewis is a janitor employed in the basement of Celine's father's company. His manager tells him he is to be replaced by a robot. As he drowns his sorrows at a local bar, his girlfriend, Lily tells him she is leaving him for an aerobics instructor.
O'Reilly and Jackson pose as collection agents to repossess Robert's things and evict him from his apartment. Robert storms to the office of Mr Naville. Security guards run in and start to attack Robert but he holds them off. When Celine introduces herself, Robert decides to kidnap her. He drives her to a remote cabin in the California woods. Celine easily slips free but decides to stick around. She stays for the adventure and revenge against her father, suggesting that they extort a huge ransom.
O'Reilly and Jackson pose as bounty hunters, and contract with Naville to retrieve Celine and kill Robert. Robert's first attempt to collect the ransom fails but Celine encourages him. They go out to a bar. When Robert wakes up the next morning, he is stunned to see that he and Celine have slept together.
Robert makes a second demand for the ransom, with a letter written in Celine's blood. Naville gives O'Reilly and Jackson the money, and they go to meet Robert in the forest. To their disappointment, Robert appears willing to let Celine go in exchange for the money before O'Reilly stops his getaway.
While O'Reilly and Celine wait by their car, Jackson takes Robert into the woods to execute him. Before he can, Celine decks O'Reilly, runs into the woods, and knocks Jackson out with a shovel. As Robert and Celine drive away, O'Reilly grabs the towbar and rides along. As she points her gun, Robert and Celine jump from the car, and it careens off a cliff, with the money still inside.
Since they are short of money, Celine decides to rob a bank with Jackson's pistol. The robbery goes smoothly, until a security guard shoots at Celine. Robert pushes her out of the way, taking a bullet in the thigh. Celine hurriedly drives him back to the city, to be operated on by Elliot. A little later, when Robert regains consciousness, he is appalled to see Celine playing a sleazy sexual role-playing game with Elliott. A fight breaks out, and Robert knocks Elliot unconscious. As they drive away, Celine explains that she only agreed to Elliot's request so that he would help Robert. Hurt, Robert gets out of the car and walks away.
To get them back together, Jackson writes a love poem in Robert's handwriting and sends it to Celine. Overcome, she runs back to the bar, where Robert has started working as a janitor, and says he has won her heart with the poem. O'Reilly and Jackson, listening, dance for joy... until Robert says that he's never written a poem in his life. Humiliated, Celine runs out again. Robert runs after Celine, but is too late: O'Reilly and Jackson, believing they have failed, decide to make their Earth-bound lives bearable by kidnapping Celine for ransom.
Robert tracks Celine to their hideout. He knocks O'Reilly down and, struggling with Jackson, tells Celine he loves her. The door is kicked down by Naville's butler, Mayhew, who shoots the two angels in the head. Leaving Celine locked in the trunk, Naville and Mayhew drive Robert and the two angels' bodies to the cabin, planning to fake a murder-suicide.
In Heaven, Gabriel's secretary begs him to intervene, but he refuses. He phones God and asks him to do so. A neighbour releases Celine from the truck. Taking his gun, she runs to the cabin and confronts her father, while Mayhew holds Robert at gunpoint. Celine shoots Mayhew in the shoulder.
Gabriel frees O'Reilly and Jackson from a pair of body bags. After Gabriel congratulates them on a successful case, the two angels embrace as they prepare to return home. Robert and Celine retrieve the suitcase full of money and settle in their new castle in Scotland.
The show's title character is a Jack Russell Terrier. Wishbone lives with his owner Joe Talbot in the fictional town of Oakdale, Texas. He daydreams about being the lead character of stories from classic literature. He was known as "the little dog with a big imagination." Only the viewers and the characters in his daydreams can hear Wishbone speak. The characters from his daydreams see Wishbone as whichever famous character he is currently portraying and not as a dog.
The plot concerns Justine, a 12-year-old maiden ("As for Justine, aged as we have remarked, twelve") who sets off to make her way in France. It follows her until age 26 in her quest for virtue. She is presented with sexual lessons, hidden under a virtuous mask. The unfortunate situations include: the time when she seeks refuge and confession in a monastery, but is forced to become a sex slave to the monks, who subject her to countless orgies, rapes and similar rigours and the time when, helping a gentleman who is robbed in a field, he takes her back to his chateau with promises of a post caring for his wife, but she is then confined in a cave and subject to much the same punishment. These punishments are mostly the same throughout, even when she goes to a judge to beg for mercy in her case as an arsonist and then finds herself openly humiliated in court, unable to defend herself.
These are described in true Sadean form. However, unlike some of his other works, the novel is not just a catalogue of sadism.
Justine (Thérèse or Sophie in the first version) and Juliette were the daughters of Monsieur de Bertole. Bertole was a widower banker who fell in love with another man's lover. The man, Monsieur de Noirseuil, in the interest of revenge, pretended to be his friend, made sure he became bankrupt and eventually poisoned him, leaving the girls orphans. Juliette and Justine lived in a nunnery, where the abbess of the nunnery corrupted Juliette (and attempted to corrupt Justine too). However, Justine was sweet and virtuous. When the abbess found out about Bertole's death, she threw both girls out. Juliette's story is told in another book and Justine continues on in pursuit of virtue, beginning from becoming a maid in the house of the usurer Harpin, which is where her troubles begin anew.
In her search for work and shelter Justine constantly fell into the hands of rogues who would ravish and torture her and the people she makes friends with. Justine was falsely accused of theft by Harpin and sent to jail expecting execution. She had to ally herself with a Miss Dubois, a criminal who helped her to escape along with her band. To escape, Miss Dubois arranged a fire to break out in the prison, in which 21 people died. After escaping the band of Dubois, Justine wanders off and accidentally trespasses upon the lands of the count of Bressac.
The story is told by "Thérèse" ("Sophie" in the first version) in an inn, to Madame de Lorsagne. It is finally revealed that Madame de Lorsagne is her long-lost sister. The irony is that her sister submitted to a brief period of vice and found herself a comfortable existence where she could exercise good, while Justine refused to make concessions for the greater good and was plunged further into vice than those who would go willingly.
The story ends with Madame de Lorsagne relieving her from a life of vice and clearing her name. Soon afterward, Justine becomes introverted and morose and is finally struck by a bolt of lightning and killed instantly. Madame de Lorsagne joins a religious order after Justine's death.
In the town of Greendale in Northern California, high school student Lane Myer's two main interests are skiing and his girlfriend of six months, Beth Truss. Shortly before Christmas, Beth dumps Lane for the handsome and popular captain of the ski team, Roy Stalin. Roy is an arrogant bully who unfairly rejects Lane at ski team tryouts. Beth also criticizes Lane's car, an old station wagon. Although Lane also owns a 1967 Camaro, he has not been able to get it running and it sits in the driveway in a dilapidated state.
Lane lives in a suburban development with his mother, Jenny, a ditzy housewife who routinely concocts creepy (and creeping) family meals; his genius little brother, Badger, who never speaks but at the age of "almost 8" can build powerful lasers and attract trashy women from "How-to" books; and his lawyer father, Al, who daily tries to stop the menacing paperboy, Johnny Gasparini, from breaking his garage door windows with thrown newspapers. Furthermore, Johnny claims that the Myers owe him two dollars for newspapers, and persistently hounds Lane, yelling "I want my two dollars!" Lane also regularly encounters two Korean drag racers, one of whom learned to speak English by listening to Howard Cosell.
Lane cannot get past Beth's rejection and decides that death is the only way out of his misery. He makes several half-hearted attempts at suicide, which all comically fail. With the help of his best friend, Charles de Mar (who in lieu of not being able to get "real drugs" in their small town, constantly inhales everyday substances like Jell-O, snow, and nitrous oxide from a whipped cream can), Lane tries to ski the K-12, the highest peak in town, in hopes of getting Beth back, but wipes out. Lane is further embarrassed when he gets fired from his humiliating fast food job at Pig Burgers in front of Roy and Beth, who are there on a date. To top it all, he increasingly begins to suffer from neurotic hallucinations owing to the mounting frustrations in his life.
As Lane attempts to either end his life or win back his ex-girlfriend, he gradually gets to know a new girl: a French foreign-exchange student named Monique Junot, who has a crush on him. She is staying with Lane's overbearing neighbor Mrs. Smith, who continually tries to force Monique into being a girlfriend for her socially awkward son Ricky. The pair are so annoying that she pretends she cannot speak English. Monique, a Los Angeles Dodgers fan, turns out to be an excellent auto mechanic and skier who helps Lane fix his Camaro and tries to build his confidence. When Roy insults Monique, Lane challenges him to a ski race down the K-12, with the winner to be captain of the ski team. Monique helps Lane prepare for the race, which he ultimately wins despite losing a ski and being pursued by Johnny. Beth rushes to embrace Lane at the finish line, but he rejects her and after besting Ricky (who attempts to keep Lane from rescuing Monique from the restraints of his mother) in a ski-pole swordfight, drives off with Monique in his Camaro. Lane and Monique are last seen kissing on home plate at Dodger Stadium, with Johnny bicycling towards them, while in a mid-credit scene Badger launches a homemade space shuttle from his room through the roof of the house.
The Rugrats go on an imaginary safari with Tommy impersonating Nigel Thornberry, who is his role model and spoofs his nature show; the babies and their families are about to go on vacation on the Lipschitz cruise ship.
When the families arrive at the dock, they miss the Lipschitz cruise. Tommy's father, Stu, has rented a ramshackle boat called the S.S. Nancy which he reveals to be their real mode of transportation, and their real vacation. The families are angered that Stu did not consult them on his plans, and soon the boat is flipped over by a rogue wave during a tropical storm. Everyone is forced to abandon the ship and board a life raft as the ship sinks. Everyone blames Stu for causing all of this and lose hope of being saved. Things start looking up when Angelica sings about having hope on her karaoke machine.
The next morning, they arrive on a small, seemingly uninhabited island. The adults make Betty the leader after Didi forbids Stu from volunteering, much to his chagrin. On the opposite side of the island is the famous globe-trotting family the Thornberrys (out to film a clouded leopard). Tommy, Chuckie, and the rest of the kids, except for Angelica, set off to find them, for they suspect they are somewhere on the island. Along the way, Chuckie gets lost and runs into the Thornberry's child Donnie, who steals Chuckie's clothes, forcing Chuckie to wear Donnie's shorts.
Meanwhile, Eliza Thornberry is exploring about the jungle with Darwin, her chimpanzee companion and runs into Spike, the Pickles' dog. Since Eliza can talk to animals, Spike is heard speaking; he informs her that his babies are lost somewhere on the island. Under the impression that Spike means he is looking for puppies, Eliza and a reluctant Darwin agree to help him find them. Following a close encounter with Siri, an angry clouded leopard whom Spike believes to be just a regular domestic cat, they learn that he meant human babies.
Simultaneously, Eliza's father, Nigel, finds the lost babies. He heads in their direction but ends up tumbling down a hill and suffers amnesia after a coconut falls on his head, which reverts him to his three year-old self. They encounter Siri, but Donnie fends her off. Then Chuckie finds him and they get back their clothes. After escaping from Siri on a high-speed pram, the gang lands in a crater. Angelica runs into Debbie Thornberry, and takes off with Debbie in the Thornberry's all-purpose mobile communication vehicle (commvee). In order to get back faster, Angelica steals the Thornberry's bathysphere, accidentally sinking the commvee in her attempt to pilot it. She finds and retrieves the babies and Nigel.
Meanwhile, Stu, who has managed to create a working coconut radio, and the other parents run into Donnie, who is still wearing Chuckie's shoes. After chasing him down the beach, they run into Marianne Thornberry, the mother of Eliza and Debbie and the wife of Nigel. Stu's coconut radio picks up the babies, Angelica having accidentally turned on the bathysphere's radio. Angelica and Susie, while fighting for control, have crashed bathysphere at the bottom of the ocean. Nigel hits his head in the crash and reverts back to his normal self.
Stu comes up with a successful plan to raise the commvee. Marianne then uses the automatic-retrieval system to rescue Nigel and the babies just as the air runs out. They are reunited with their families and forgive Stu, and everyone finally gets on board the Lipschitz cruise. The Thornberrys join them too, deciding that they should take a vacation, much to Debbie's delight, and Spike vows never to lose his babies again.
Betty Lou Perkins is a meek librarian in New Orleans who nobody pays much attention to, in particular her husband, Alex. A criminal kingpin is killed in cold blood, and Betty Lou happens to find the murder gun. She is so mousy, however, that she cannot even get the police to listen to her, including Alex, who is a detective. In sheer frustration, she not only produces the gun, but also announces that she is the one who committed the crime.
Behind bars, Betty Lou meets a variety of hardened and colorful characters. Rather than intimidate her, they actually increase her self-confidence. Once she is released, she begins to dress, speak, and act differently. Unfortunately for her, criminal acquaintances of the victim assume she must have confessed to the murder for a reason. They conclude she must be his mistress, and soon, the bad guys want a few words with her ... or worse.
The living dead continue to hold dominion over the earth but the scattered remnants of human civilization have reorganized enough to establish protected outposts across the United States. One such outpost in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, contains a feudal-like government. Bordered on two sides by rivers and on the third by an electrified fence guarded by a militia, the city has become a sanctuary in which its citizens live in relative security. Outside the city's barriers is a no-man's-land of barren countryside and dilapidated suburban towns long deserted by living humans but overrun with legions of walkers. The rich and powerful live in a luxury high-rise called ''Fiddler's Green'', while the rest of the population subsists in squalor. All forms of commerce within the protected zone are controlled by Paul Kaufman, the city's ruthless plutocratic ruler. He has sponsored ''Dead Reckoning'', an armored personnel vehicle that can travel through the zombie-infested areas with ease.
Riley Denbo is the designer and commander of ''Dead Reckoning''. Unlike Kaufman, Riley is respected for his work in protecting the citizens, as well as providing them with food and medical supplies that the citizens can no longer safely acquire themselves. Using ''Dead Reckoning'', Riley and his crew venture into areas overrun with zombies to scavenge for necessary supplies. They also retrieve luxury items such as designer clothing and top shelf brands of liquor as these things offer a powerful means of barter within Kaufman's oppressive oligarchic regime. On one mission, they notice many zombies exhibiting intelligent behavior. This was especially seen in one such zombie, "Big Daddy", formerly a gas station attendant. During the mission, rookie Mike is bitten by a zombie and commits suicide before he turns.
After the mission, Riley retires from commanding ''Dead Reckoning''. Grown weary of a hard-scrabble life in a post-apocalyptic city, he plans to leave the urban sanctuary for the open road to Canada once repairs on his car are finished. Back in the city, he visits Chihuahua's bar. There, he sees a prostitute named Slack being forced into a cage with some zombies to entertain guests. Riley and Charlie save Slack; Charlie kills Chihuahua in the ensuing chaos. Riley, Charlie and Slack are arrested. Slack reveals that Kaufman ordered her execution, for helping Mulligan to instigate rebellion among the poor.
Meanwhile, Cholo DeMora, ''Dead Reckoning'' s second in command, is denied an apartment in Fiddler's Green despite his service to Kaufman. In retaliation, Cholo takes over ''Dead Reckoning'' and threatens to destroy Fiddler's Green with it if Kaufman does not comply. Kaufman approaches Riley and tasks him, as well as Charlie and Slack, to retrieve ''Dead Reckoning''. They are supervised by Manolete, Motown, and Pillsbury.
On the way, Manolete is bitten and then killed by Slack. After catching up with ''Dead Reckoning'', Riley approaches the vehicle alone. Charlie, Slack, and Pillsbury follow him after subduing Motown and leaving her behind. Realizing Riley is working for Kaufman, Cholo holds both Riley and Charlie at gunpoint. As he prepares to fire ''Dead Reckoning'' s missiles at Fiddler's Green, Riley uses a small device and deactivates ''Dead Reckoning'' s weapons systems; he then destroys the device. Motown, who had regained consciousness, opens fire and nearly kills both Riley and Cholo (who is maimed by one of the gunshots). She is bitten by a zombie and killed by Slack. Riley convinces Cholo to allow him to escape North and to join him, but the latter decides to return to Fiddler's Green to deal with Kaufman; his partner Foxy accompanies him. While en route, Cholo is bitten by a zombie and leaves to kill Kaufman by himself. Riley takes over ''Dead Reckoning'' once again and returns to Fiddler's Green.
Elsewhere, Big Daddy (who has gathered a large group of zombies) learns that they can walk safely underwater, and leads the zombies across the river to the human city where they breach a section of the perimeter fence. Hopelessly outnumbered, the border guards abandon their posts. As a result of the zombies swarming into the once secure areas of the city, the electrified fences that once kept the zombies out have now become a wall to trap them and the humans inside. Seeing the city overrun, Kaufman runs with his money, and encounters a zombie Cholo in the parking garage. As the two struggle, Big Daddy kills both with an exploding propane tank.
Riley's group arrives at the city only to come upon a raised drawbridge. Riley leaves to bring the bridge down, but a small group of zombies begin to attack ''Dead Reckoning''. Riley and the others manage to dispose of and evade the zombies. After crossing the bridge, they helplessly witness people being killed by the zombies. Realizing it is too late to save them, they mercy kill them with missiles. It is then revealed that most of the poor people were led to safety by Mulligan, thus surviving the assault. Riley and Mulligan share a well-meaning goodbye as they split up with their groups. As they see Big Daddy and the zombies leaving the city, sparing the surviving humans, Riley decides to leave them alone as well as the zombies do the same, citing that they are just looking for a place to go, too. While lighting up the rest of the fireworks (which were earlier used to distract the zombies, but are now useless since they do not distract the horde anymore), Riley's group set off for Canada on ''Dead Reckoning''.
The ''Maggie'' is a typical Clyde puffer, a small, aged cargo boat. MacTaggart, her rascal of a captain, is in dire need of £300 to renew his licence. In a shipping office in Glasgow, he overhears Mr Pusey, an Englishman complete with bowler hat and umbrella, trying to arrange for the transportation of some personal furniture for his boss, American Calvin B. Marshall. The big, reputable shipping company has nothing immediately available, so MacTaggart gets the job when Pusey mistakenly believes that he works for the company and that the more modern vessel docked next to the ''Maggie'' is MacTaggart's.
Marshall is a wealthy industrialist, a stubborn and determined self-made man. When he eventually learns the truth, he sets out in pursuit by aeroplane and hired car. Catching up with the puffer, he puts Pusey on board to ensure the cargo is transferred to another boat. But his underling is no match for the captain; he ends up in jail on a charge of poaching. Marshall realizes that he will have to handle the matter personally. After another costly chase, he boards the boat himself to spur the cargo transfer. However, the route and timing of the voyage are governed by MacTaggart, tidal variations and local community priorities.
Marshall's hostile attitude gradually softens somewhat. He is particularly touched by the loyalty of the "wee boy", Dougie, to his captain. At one point, when Marshall threatens to buy the boat from the owner, MacTaggart's sister, and sell it for scrap, Dougie drops a board on him, knocking him unconscious. His mood changes again when the wily Mactaggart moors the puffer under a wooden jetty; as the tide rises, the jetty (due for dismantling anyway) is damaged, making it impossible to transfer the furniture to the deeper draught vessel when it arrives.
At one of the unscheduled stops, the crew attend the hundredth birthday party of an islander, and Marshall chats with a nineteen-year-old girl who is pondering her future. She has two suitors, an up-and-coming, ambitious store owner and a poor fisherman. The American advises her to choose the former, but she believes she will marry the latter, explaining that he will give her his time, rather than just things. This strikes a chord with Marshall. He is having marital difficulties, and the furniture is an attempt to patch things up with his wife.
As they finally near their destination, the engine fails. Marshall manages to repair the old, poorly maintained machinery, but it is too late. The ''Maggie'' is driven by wind and tide onto some rocks. Marshall asks MacTaggart if they can save her by jettisoning the cargo. MacTaggart then apologetically informs him that he neglected to insure the furniture, but Marshall orders it thrown overboard anyway. The ''Maggie'' is saved.
At journey's end, Marshall, with some prodding by Dougie, even allows MacTaggart to keep the money he so desperately needs. In appreciation of his magnanimity, MacTaggart renames his boat the ''Calvin B. Marshall''.
The book tells the story of the author's early childhood and adolescence, focusing on his relationship with his older brother and younger sister. His brother develops severe and intractable epilepsy, causing the family to seek a variety of solutions from alternative medicine, most dramatically by moving to a commune based on macrobiotic principles. As the epileptic brother loses control of his own life, the artist develops solitary obsessions with cartoons, mythology and war. The book's graphic style becomes increasingly elaborate as the children's fantasy life takes over, with their dreams and fears (including epilepsy itself) appearing as living creatures. In brief interludes, the children appear as adults when the artist begins the process of writing the story.
In 2049, Chris Faulkner is recruited by Shorn Associates, an investment firm in London. There he befriends Mike Bryant, a fellow junior executive in the "Conflict Investment" division. Conflict Investment provides resources to incumbent or rebel factions in exchange for promised share of the nation's gross domestic product. CI members often toast to continued "small wars" as their primary source of income for themselves and their investors.
Executive advancement in 2049 is not based on merit or politics alone, rather executives can issue challenges to each other which are held on highways emptied of cars and usually fought to the death, in a fashion similar to ''Mad Max'', a source cited as inspiration by the author in the acknowledgements of the book. Chris Faulkner gains recognition and small celebrity for a particularly brutal win over a much older and more seasoned member of his firm, from which he is head-hunted by Shorn to join their team. Within the media landscape, business executives have fame on the order of sports stars or movie actors and their driving duels are analysed and covered as sporting events. Chris' wife Carla is also his mechanic, a vital role where an executive's car is the difference between promotion and death. She is not a fan of the way he makes his living, but they have an initially strong relationship.
During a night out in the one of the Zones – the cordoned off zone of decaying ghettos surrounding the City of London – Mike introduces Chris to journalist Liz Linshaw, who is also Mike's former mistress. Before they leave the Zones, Mike brutally executes several gang members who attempt to steal his car. Back at work, Mike brings Chris in to use contacts and analysis from his prior firm to assist into a project regarding propping up the ageing Colombian dictator General Hernan Echevarria. With Shorn's contract due for renewal they are challenged by competing agencies Nakamura and Acropolitic. The challenge is settled by a driving duel in which the Shorn team eliminates the two competing teams. Chris' profile is greatly increased with this victory, including appearances on TV and magazines as the latest star from a line of Shorn executives. As Chris becomes famous for his driving performance, he begins an affair with Liz Linshaw. With Echevarria's son, Francisco, who is aligned with a competing American firm, preparing to take over, Chris believes that a long-time rebel leader might be a better option than Francisco. Vincente Barranco, the rebel leader chosen by Chris, is signed to a contract with Shorn and brought to London to shop for arms to bring his small force the resources they need to overthrow Hernan before Francisco takes over. However, other Shorn executives sabotage Chris's efforts by arranging for Barranco to overhear a Shorn executive negotiate with the Echevarrias. When challenged by Barranco that he is not truly committed to his cause, Chris reacts by spontaneously beating Hernan to death in a conference room. Shorn concocts a coverup and pins Hernan's death on an otherwise unknown terrorist group. The killing is also concealed from most of Shorn's employees, but the senior partner of CI agrees that while a completely unorthodox act, it's the sort of rule bending which is sometimes needed to return the maximum for their clients. While his actions convince Barranco that he is in fact committed to his side, Chris is removed from the Colombia job which is handed over to a senior partner, Hamilton, who takes a more pragmatic view and moves to align with Hernan's son.
As it is clear that the demands of his job are taking a toll on Chris, Carla becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the brutal competition among firms and the violence they incite in other countries. Seeking an escape from Shorn and to save their marriage, Carla, with the help of her father, who lives in the London Zones, and her mother in Sweden, secures a position at the United Nations as an Ombudsman, a sort of outside auditor/investigator who attempts to enforce the UN's mandate across the world. This position is viewed as honourable but ultimately ineffective as neither the US nor UK recognise the UN's authority and run roughshod over them in their pursuit of profits. After an initially frosty meeting, Chris' conditions are agreed on, but with the requirement that he stay in place at Shorn through the end of the current conflict in Cambodia, in which Shorn is backing a rebel leader.
As the conflict in Colombia tilts in favour of the son, Hamilton goes outside of the normal chain of command to plan the execution of Barranco and the elimination of the local Shorn representative in a gladiatorial duel. Faulkner finds out about this and barges into a video conference Hamilton is having with Francisco, telling him that he in fact killed his father with his bare hands. He then beats Hamilton and breaks his neck. He is duly captured and placed in a Corporation operated jail. In jail, Chris is offered a choice: be convicted of murder and have his organs harvested after being subject to capital punishment or participate in face-saving (for Shorn) farce by saying he had legally issued a challenge to Hamilton for his position in the firm. Conditions of this agreement are steep however as he must drive against Mike Bryant, who he had grown to be truly close with, but who is now completely done with him with revelation of Chris' affair with Liz Linshaw and Chris' brutal killings outside of the bounds of the challenge process. The night prior to the challenge, the UN representative returns with the chance for Chris to escape and reunite with his estranged wife, who has left the country. He declines. Mike is the superior driver but using a creative interpretation of challenge rules, Chris forces Mike to drive off a bridge and into the Zones. Chris finds the badly injured Mike and kills him just before a gang, who had watched the duel on television, finds them. The gang beats Chris but he survives when the gang is gunned down by Driver Control authorities, the sanctioning body for duels. The story ends with Chris, as the new senior executive, giving the new dictator Francisco Echevarria 48 hours to flee his country in favour of installing Barranco.
The series begins in 1895 with Dr. Eleanor Bramwell, working in a London hospital. She is treated as an inferior by the male doctors, and her opinions are often ignored. After a disagreement with a senior doctor, Eleanor is dismissed. Her father, Dr. Robert Bramwell, recommends she join him in his private practice of rich, elderly clients. Fortunately, Eleanor receives a better offer. Lady Peters, a friend of the family, offers to fund a small hospital in a London slum, where Eleanor will treat the impoverished locals. Together, Eleanor and Lady Peters establish The Thrift, a free hospital with six beds. The Thrift is named for its location on Thrift Street. The staff of the hospital rapidly expands. Stiff, serious Nurse Carr is hired to assist Eleanor, and Mr. Bentley, a former patient with an amputated foot, is hired to act as a porter. Eleanor quickly finds the hospital desperately requires an anaesthetist but has little money to pay for one. She begs a former colleague, Dr. Joe Marsham to work at The Thrift part-time and he agrees on the condition that he will be able to perform surgery as well (which he does free in order to enhance his skills). The first series focuses on the ups and downs of The Thrift. Each episode usually focuses on one patient or event occurring at The Thrift. Social issues of the time are often tackled such as racism, alcoholism or the conditions in the workhouse. Near the end of the season, it appears that Eleanor will be married to a family friend but breaks the engagement when she realises she will be forced to give up her work. As the season closes, Lady Peters becomes seriously ill. Her personal physician misdiagnoses her condition and by the time her true condition is realised, it is too late to save her. After her death, her fortune is left to The Thrift.
In the Second Series, The Thrift attempts to survive without Lady Peters' guidance, management and financial assistance. A new character, Dr. Finn O'Neill is introduced when a cholera epidemic occurs in the area and Finn assists in the hospital. Eleanor, Robert and Dr. Marsham intensely dislike Finn and blame him for the death of a patient. Mr. Bentley also falls ill and because of a miscalculation in medication dosages, dies of poisoning. To assist the impoverished Bentley family, Eleanor hires Mr. Bentley's teenage son, Sidney, to act as the porter. Eleanor, despite her original opinions of Dr. O'Neill, falls in love with him in the last episode of the season. They enjoy a brief romance but are soon separated. Finn is forced to take a two-year position in Chicago but promises to marry Eleanor on his return. Robert Bramwell disapproves of Eleanor's relationship with Finn and is shocked when Eleanor admits she consummated the relationship with Finn. The usually close and happy relationship between Eleanor and her father is severely strained.
Series Three begins a year after Finn's leaving. He has returned to England for a conference and takes this opportunity to visit Eleanor. Eleanor confirms that she still wishes to be married to Finn in a year when he permanently returns to England. Mr. Marsham considers taking a better position in Edinburgh, but remains at The Thrift when his wife is diagnosed with breast cancer. The cancer is too advanced to save her and she dies in Dr. Marsham's arms. Finn returns, but with shocking news. He has married a young daughter of an American colleague. Eleanor is crushed by the news and is forced to take a vacation from The Thrift. The Thrift struggles to manage without her for several months while she stays in the countryside with friends. It begins to appear that Eleanor, because of her fragile state, will never be able to work again, but she discovers a measles epidemic occurring in the village. The outbreak causes Eleanor to rediscover her passion for medicine and her strong personality. She returns to London. Eleanor is once more forced to see Finn when his new bride becomes sick. As Eleanor cares for her, Finn admits his marriage was purely for money and status. He suggests that Eleanor become his mistress so that he can enjoy the benefits of marriage while still having Eleanor. She refuses and insists she does not love him. In the meantime, Robert has become engaged to a wealthy widow, Alice Costigan. Robert attempts to insist that Eleanor stay with him and Alice once they move, but Eleanor refuses. Robert withdraws all financial support, leading Eleanor to propose to Dr. Marsham. He instead proposes to her, and she accepts.
The fourth and final series included only two episodes and was dramatically different from the previous three series. Robert Bramwell and Alice Costigan make no appearance in the series, and their whereabouts are not mentioned. Sidney Bentley no longer appears but is replaced by another teenage porter, Tom. Tom appears in only one episode, before enlisting in the army. In the two episodes, Eleanor allows The Thrift to perform medical check-ups on soldiers, which leads to her meeting Major Quarrie. She and Marsham disagree about her decision and decide to end the engagement. Eleanor has an affair with Major Quarrie, despite their clearly different personalities and interests, resulting in a pregnancy. Eleanor makes plans to give the child up for adoption as Major Quarrie is not interested in marriage and will be going to fight in the Boer War in a fortnight. She becomes obsessed with locating the child of a patient at The Thrift and searches the slums. She ignores her responsibilities at The Thrift, alienates her friends and coworkers. Her behaviour forces the manager of The Thrift and Dr. Marsham to dismiss her. She is devastated. At the last minute, Major Quarrie leaves the military and proposes to Eleanor. She accepts his offer because she will be able to keep the child if she is married and because she loves him. Major Quarrie is also clearly besotted with Eleanor. The series ends at the church inside which the two will marry.
The film is set in Kentucky, where J. P. Pettigrew's (Bernhard Goetzke) wife had died giving birth to their son Edward (John F. Hamilton), born disabled. Pettigrew loathes John 'Fear o' God' Fulton (Malcolm Keen) who was also in love with Pettigrew's wife. Pettigrew later witnesses his now-grown son making love to schoolteacher Beatrice (Nita Naldi), and confronts her about the relationship. He attempts to take her in his arms, but Beatrice rejects his advances. Pettigrew's son Edward sees this and flees the village.
Pettigrew is incensed at both Beatrice's rejection and the loss of his son, and thus attempts to have Beatrice arrested as a wanton harlot. John forestalls Pettigrew's plan by marrying Beatrice and taking her to his cabin where they fall in love. Beatrice becomes pregnant. Pettigrew seeks revenge by having John thrown in prison for murdering his (missing) son.
A year later, John breaks out of prison and attempts to flee with Beatrice and their child. However, Beatrice falls ill and John must return to the village for a doctor. There he finds that Edward has reappeared. John's affairs are now cleared up and he is legally free from the charge of murder. Pettigrew is subsequently shot and wounded (contemporary sources differ on this point), and is no longer a threat to John and his family.
The film starts with Ali fetching his little sister Zahra's pink shoes after a cobbler has repaired them. He leaves them unattended to buy some potatoes. While he is pre-occupied, a homeless man picks up the shoes, hidden in a bag, thinking it was garbage and takes them away. Frantic to find them, the young boy, thinking the shoes fell behind the crates, knocks over plates of vegetables and is chased away by the grocer.
Ali's family lives in a poor South Tehran neighbourhood, and are having financial trouble, so he fears to tell his parents about the mishap. The landlord argues with Ali's mother because she is five months behind on the rent, and the grocer has not been paid in a while either. Ali tells Zahra about the shoes and begs her not to tell their mother; she agrees. That night, Ali's father scolds him for not helping his ill mother when she asked. While the siblings were doing their homework, they passed notes to each other discussing what to do. They devise a scheme to share Ali's Converse sneakers: Zahra will wear them to school in the morning and return them to Ali at midday so he can attend afternoon classes. Ali does well on a test and his teacher awards him a gold-colored pen with the others in his class that got good grades; he gives it to Zahra to partially make up for losing her shoes. However, the uncomfortable arrangement between him and his sister leads to Ali being late three times in a row, no matter how hard he runs; the first time the principal ignores him, the second time he gives him a warning, the third time he tells Ali to leave and return with his father who is at work trying to make money. Ali's teacher, noticing Ali's tears, persuades the principal that Ali is at the top of his class and to give the boy one more chance and let him back into class.
One day, Zahra notices her missing pink shoes on another student, Roya's, feet. After class, Zahra secretly follows Roya home. She later brings Ali with her for a confrontation, but from hiding, they discover that Roya's father is blind, so they decide to leave. When Roya does well in her studies, her father buys her new violet shoes and throws away Zahra's. Zahra is dismayed when she finds out from her new friend.
Ali's father, anxious to earn more money, borrows some gardening equipment and heads off with Ali to the rich suburbs of North Tehran to find some gardening work. They try many places without success, though Ali proves to be a great help to his tongue-tied father. Finally, they come upon a mansion in which a six-year-old boy named Alireza lives under the care of his grandfather. While Ali plays with Alireza, his father works. When he is finished, Ali's father is surprised and elated by how generous the grandfather is. On the way home, Ali mentions in passing that Zahra could use a new pair of shoes; his father says that new shoes for his children is a good idea, however, their elation is short lived as their bicycle's brakes fail and the father is injured in the resulting crash.
Finally, Ali learns of a high-profile children's 4 kilometer footrace involving many schools; the third prize is one week at a vacation camp and a pair of sneakers. Ali sees this as his chance to earn a new pair of shoes for Zahra. To his bitter disappointment, in a hard-fought dash to the finish, he accidentally places first instead. Ali returns home where Zahra is waiting for him. However, before he can reveal to his sister his disappointment in his placement in the race, she is called away by their mother. In a separate scene, there is a quick shot of the children's father's bicycle as he's riding home, showing a pair of white and a pair of pink shoes among his purchases. In the final shot, Ali is dejected as his sneakers are torn from the race—he is then shown dipping his bare blistered feet in a pool.
Some versions include an epilogue revealing that Ali eventually achieves success in a racing career.
In the late 1860s, prospectors Nate Harlow (Kurt Rhoads) and Griff (Bert Pence) find gold in an area called Bear Mountain and celebrate by crafting two identical revolvers, each taking one. When Griff is later captured by the Mexican Army, he convinces corrupt army general Javier Diego (Robert Jimenez) to spare his life by offering to show him where the gold is hidden. Diego instructs his right-hand man, an American mercenary calling himself Colonel Daren (Dennis Ostermaier), to kill Nate and his family in order to conceal the gold's location. Daren and a band of hired guns murder Nate and his Native American wife, Falling Star (Messeret Stroman), but their teenage son, Red (Jason Fuchs), escapes after shooting off Daren's left arm with his father's revolver, the heat from which burns a scorpion-shaped scar into his hand.
Twelve years later, Red (Robert Bogue) has become a ruthless bounty hunter. After slaughtering a gang of outlaws led by Bloody Tom (Christian Tanno), he takes their bodies to the town of Widows Patch for the bounty on their heads. There, he is ambushed by Ugly Chris (Erick Devine) and his men, who control the town. Red kills the gang with the help of Sheriff O'Grady (Stephen Schnetzer), though the latter is wounded during the shootout. Red takes O'Grady to Brimstone, the nearest town with a doctor, foiling a train robbery on the way there. In Brimstone, Red meets local lawman Sheriff Bartlett (Gene Jones), who offers him several bounties on vicious outlaws plaguing the area. While claiming one such bounty, Red meets and befriends English trick-shootist Jack Swift (Gregg Martin). After being saved by Red, Jack personally guns down his treacherous former employer and his henchmen.
After eliminating all his targets, Red returns to Bartlett, who informs that the wagon train carrying his payment hasn't arrived yet. At the Brimstone Bank, Red overhears local rancher Annie Stoakes (Carrie Keranen) mentioning the gold his parents were killed over. Intrigued, he visits her at her ranch shortly after it is burned on the orders of Governor Griffon as retribution for Annie refusing to sell her property. Red offers to give her all his bounty money once he receives it in exchange for information on Bear Mountain, which Red learns is partially owned by Griffon. Later, at a saloon, Red overhears some thugs talking about Colonel Daren, and winds up killing them in a gunfight when they refuse to tell him more. Bartlett arrests Red, but quickly releases him upon learning he is Nate Harlow's son, and reveals the circumstances surrounding his parents' murder.
Red leaves to exact revenge on Diego, but is captured by Daren after destroying one of their supply trains. While imprisoned and forced to work as a slave mining gold, Red befriends a fellow captive referred to only as the "Buffalo Soldier" (Benton Greene), before the pair are rescued by Red's Native American cousin Shadow Wolf (Chaske Spencer). After escaping from the mines, Red and Shadow Wolf storm Diego's camp and kill Daren, though Shadow Wolf is mortally wounded during the battle. Diego then tries to escape via armored train, but Red chases him down and kills him. Meanwhile, Buffalo Soldier travels to Brimstone to seek Governor Griffon's help, only for the governor to reveal his affiliation with Diego and order Buffalo imprisoned.
Later, Red, Annie, and Jack participate in Brimstone's yearly quick-draw competition, hosted by Griffon and Bartlett. Griffon manipulates the competition to ensure Red is killed, but the latter defeats all his opponents. Enraged, Griffon pulls out his revolver to kill Red himself, but the latter notices the weapon is identical to his own revolver, and deduces Griffon is actually his father's traitorous partner Griff. As Griffon makes his escape, he orders his henchman, Mr. Kelley (Joseph Melendez), to kill Red. After dealing with Kelly, Red storms Griffon's mansion alongside Annie, Jack, and Bartlett. After cutting their way through the governor's bodyguards, Jack sacrifices himself to buy Red enough time to kill Griffon in a duel, while Annie finds and rescues Buffalo Soldier. His family finally avenged, Red thanks his allies for their help, and is offered the gold that he is owed by Bartlett, who thanks him for all the good he has done for Brimstone. Honoring his promise to Annie, Red tells the sheriff to give the gold to her and Buffalo Soldier, and leaves with Griffon's revolver, saying that "It never was about the money."
Villa was portrayed by Domingo Soler. Directed by Fernando de Fuentes, the film tells the story of a group of friends who hear about the revolution and Villa and decide to join him, only to suffer the cruel reality of war under the command of a Villa who simply does not care about his men.
The movie has two endings: the original ending shows the last surviving friend returning to his home, disenchanted with both Villa and the Revolution.
The second ending, discovered many years later, returns to the same scene ten years later, when an old and weakened Villa tries to recruit the last survivor again; when the father hesitates as he does not want to leave his wife and daughter behind, Villa kills the wife and daughter. The angry father then tries to kill Villa, before another man shoots the father dead. Villa takes the sole survivor, the son, with him.
When Napoleon (James Tolkan) invades Austria during the Napoleonic Wars, Boris Grushenko (Woody Allen), a coward and pacifist scholar, is forced to enlist in the Russian army. Desperate and disappointed after hearing the news that Sonja (Diane Keaton), his cousin twice removed, is to wed a herring merchant, he inadvertently becomes a war hero. Boris returns and marries the recently widowed Sonja, who does not want to marry him, but promises him that she will, in order to make him happy for one night, when she thinks that he is about to be killed in a duel. To her surprise and disappointment, he survives the duel. Their marriage is filled with philosophical debates but no money. Their life together is interrupted when Napoleon invades the Russian Empire. Boris wants to flee but his wife, angered that the invasion will interfere with their plans to start a family that year, conceives a plot to assassinate Napoleon at his headquarters in Moscow. Boris and Sonja debate the matter with some degree of philosophical doublespeak, and Boris reluctantly goes along with it. They fail to kill Napoleon and Sonja escapes arrest while Boris is executed, despite being told by a vision that he will be pardoned. Boris' ghost bids goodbye to Sonja and the audience before dancing away with Death.
In "Visitor from New York", Hannah Warren is a Manhattan workaholic who flies to Los Angeles to retrieve her teenage daughter Jenny after she leaves home to live with her successful screenwriter father William. The bickering, divorced couple is forced to decide what living arrangements are best for the girl.
Conservative, middle-aged businessman Marvin Michaels is the "Visitor from Philadelphia", who awakens to discover a prostitute named Bunny unconscious in his bed after consuming a bottle of vodka. With his wife Millie on her way up to the suite, he must find a way to conceal all traces of his uncharacteristic indiscretion.
The "Visitors from London" are British actress Diana Nichols, a first-time nominee for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and her husband Sidney, a once-closeted antique dealer who increasingly has become indiscreet about his sexual orientation. The Oscar is an honor that could revive her faltering career, but Diana knows she doesn't have a chance of winning. She is in deep denial about the true nature of her marriage of convenience, and as she prepares for her moment in the spotlight, her mood fluctuates from hope to panic to despair.
The "Visitors from Chicago" are two affluent couples who are best friends. Stu Franklyn and his wife Gert and Mort Hollender and his wife Beth are taking a much-needed vacation together. Things begin to unravel quickly when Beth is hurt during a tennis match, and Mort accuses Stu of causing her injury.
Director Vilgot Sjöman plans to make a social film starring his lover Lena Nyman, a young theatre student who has a strong interest in social issues.
Nyman's character, also named Lena, lives with her father in a small apartment in Stockholm and is driven by a burning passion for social justice and a need to understand the world, people and relationships. Her little room is filled with books, papers, and boxes full of clippings on topics such as "religion" and "men", and files on each of the 23 men with whom she has had sex. The walls are covered with pictures of concentration camps and a portrait of Francisco Franco, reminders of the crimes being perpetrated against humanity. She walks around Stockholm and interviews people about social classes in society, conscientious objection, gender equality, and the morality of vacationing in Franco's Spain. She and her friends also picket embassies and travel agencies. Lena's relationship with her father, who briefly went to Spain to fight Franco as part of the International Brigades, is problematic, and she is distressed by the fact that he returned from Spain for unknown reasons after only a short period.
Through her father Lena meets the slick Bill (Börje in the original Swedish), who works at a menswear shop and voted for the Rightist Party. They begin a love affair, but Lena soon finds out from her father that Bill has another woman, Marie, and a young daughter. Lena is furious that Bill has not been open with her, and goes to the country on a bicycle holiday. Alone in a cabin in the woods, she attempts an ascetic life-style, meditating, studying nonviolence and practicing yoga. Bill soon comes looking for her in his new car. She greets him with a shotgun, but they soon make love. Lena confronts Bill about Marie, and finds out about another of his lovers, Madeleine. They fight and Bill leaves. Lena has strange dreams, in which she ties two teams of soccer players – she notes that they number 23 – to a tree, shoots Bill and cuts his penis off. She also dreams of being taunted by passing drivers as she cycles down a road, until finally Martin Luther King Jr. drives up. She apologizes to him for not being strong enough to practice nonviolence.
Lena returns home, destroys her room, and goes to the car showroom where Bill works to tell him she has scabies. They are treated at a clinic, and then go their separate ways. As the embedded story of Lena and Bill begins to resolve, the film crew and director Sjöman are featured more. The relationship between Lena the actress and Bill the actor has become intimate during the production of Vilgot's film, and Vilgot is jealous and clashes with Bill. The film concludes with Lena returning Vilgot's keys as he meets with another young female theatre student.
The film includes an interview with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., filmed in March 1966, when King was visiting Stockholm along with Harry Belafonte with a view to starting a new initiative for Swedish support of African Americans. The film also includes an interview with then Minister of Transportation Olof Palme (later Prime Minister of Sweden), who talks about the existence of class structure in Swedish society (he was told it was for a documentary film), and footage of Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko.
The eponymous hero is born as a male nobleman in England during the reign of Elizabeth I. He undergoes a mysterious change of sex at the age of about 30 and lives on for more than 300 years into modern times without ageing perceptibly.
As a teenage boy, the handsome Orlando serves as a page at the Elizabethan court and becomes the "favourite" of the elderly queen. After her death, he falls deeply in love with Sasha, an elusive and somewhat feral princess in the entourage of the Russian embassy. This episode, of love and ice skating against the background of the celebrated Frost Fair held on the frozen Thames River during the Great Frost of 1608, when "birds froze in mid air and fell like stones to the ground", inspired some of Virginia Woolf's most bravura writing:
Great statesmen, in their beards and ruffs, despatched affairs of state under the crimson awning of the Royal Pagoda ... Frozen roses fell in showers when the Queen and her ladies walked abroad ... Near London Bridge, where the river had frozen to a depth of some twenty fathoms, a wrecked wherry boat was plainly visible, lying on the bed of the river where it had sunk last autumn, overladen with apples. The old bumboat woman, who was carrying her fruit to market on the Surrey side, sat there in her plaids and farthingales with her lap full of apples, for all the world as if she were about to serve a customer, though a certain blueness about the lips hinted the truth.The melting of the ice coincides with Sasha's unfaithfulness and sudden departure for Russia. The desolate Orlando returns to writing ''The Oak Tree,'' a long poem started and abandoned in his youth. He meets and hospitably entertains an invidious poetaster, Nicholas Greene, who proceeds to find fault with Orlando's writing. Later Orlando feels betrayed on learning that he has been lampooned in one of Greene's subsequent works. A period of contemplating love and life leads Orlando to appreciate the value of his ancestral stately home, which he proceeds to furnish lavishly. There he plays host to the populace.
Ennui sets in and Orlando feels harassed by a persistent suitor, the tall and somewhat androgynous Archduchess Harriet, leading Orlando to look for a way to leave the country. He is appointed by King Charles II as ambassador to Constantinople. Orlando performs his duties well, until a night of civil unrest and murderous riots. He falls asleep for a period of days, and others cannot rouse him. Orlando awakens to find that he has metamorphosed into a woman – the same person, with the same personality and intellect, but in a woman's body. Although the narrator of the novel professes to be disturbed and befuddled by Orlando's change, the fictional Orlando complacently accepts the change. From here on, Orlando's amorous inclinations change frequently, although she stays biologically female.
The now ''Lady'' Orlando covertly escapes Constantinople in the company of a Romani clan. She adopts their way of life until its essential conflict with her upbringing leads her to head home. Only on the ship back to England, with her constraining female clothes and an incident in which a flash of her ankle nearly results in a sailor's falling to his death, does she realise the magnitude of becoming a woman. She concludes it has an overall advantage, declaring "Praise God I'm a woman!" Back in England, Orlando is hounded again by the archduchess, who now reveals herself to be a man, the Archduke Harry. Orlando evades his marriage proposals. She goes on to switch gender roles, dressing alternately as a man and woman.
Orlando engages energetically with life in the 18th and 19th centuries, holding court with great poets, notably Alexander Pope. Critic Nick Greene, apparently also timeless, reappears and promotes Orlando's writing, promising to help her publish ''The Oak Tree''.
Orlando wins a lawsuit over her property and marries a sea captain, Marmaduke Bonthrop Shelmerdine. Like Orlando, he is gender non-conforming, and Orlando attributes the success of their marriage to this similarity. In 1928, she publishes ''The Oak Tree,'' centuries after starting it, and wins a prize. In the novel's ending, Orlando's husband flies over the mansion in an aeroplane, which hovers above Orlando until Shelmerdine leaps to the ground. A stray bird flies over his head and Orlando exults, "It's the goose! The wild goose!" The novel ends on the final stroke of midnight on Thursday, Oct. 11, 1928 (the day the novel would be published).
The story begins in the Elizabethan era, shortly before the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603. On her deathbed, the queen promises an androgynous young nobleman named Orlando a large tract of land and a castle built on it, along with a generous monetary gift; both Orlando and his heirs would keep the land and inheritance forever, but Elizabeth will bequeath it to him only if he assents to an unusual command: "Do not fade. Do not wither. Do not grow old." Orlando acquiesces and reposes in splendid isolation in the castle for a couple of centuries during which time he dabbles in poetry and art. His attempts to befriend a celebrated poet backfire when the poet ridicules his verse. Orlando then travels to Constantinople as English ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and is almost killed in a diplomatic fracas. Waking seven days later, he learns something startling: He has transformed into a woman.
The now Lady Orlando comes home to her estate in Middle-Eastern attire, only to learn that she faces several impending lawsuits arguing that Orlando was a woman all along and therefore has no right to the land or any of the royal inheritance that the queen had promised. The succeeding two centuries tire Orlando; the court case, bad luck in love, and the wars of British history eventually bring the story to the present day (i.e., the early 1990s). Orlando now has a young daughter in tow and is in search of a publisher for her book. (The literary editor who judges the work as "quite good" is portrayed by Heathcote Williams—the same actor who played the poet who had, earlier in the film, denigrated Orlando's poetry.) Having lived a most bizarre existence, Orlando, relaxing with her daughter, points out to her an angel.
Director Potter described her approach to the adaptation as follows:
My task...was to find a way of remaining true to the spirit of the book and to Virginia Woolf's intentions, whilst being ruthless with changing the book in any way necessary to make it work cinematically...The most immediate changes were structural. The storyline was simplified [and] any events which did not significantly further Orlando's story were dropped.
The film contains some anachronisms not present in the novel. For example, upon Orlando's arrival in Constantinople in about the year 1700, England is referred to as a "green and pleasant land", a line from William Blake's ''Jerusalem'', which in reality was not written until 1804. Also, Orlando receives a gift to celebrate the new century from Queen Anne, who had in fact not yet succeeded to the throne.
Potter argued that "whereas the novel could withstand abstraction and arbitrariness (such as Orlando's change of sex), cinema is more pragmatic." She continued,
There had to be reasons—however flimsy—to propel us along a journey based itself on a kind of suspension of disbelief. Thus, Queen Elizabeth bestows Orlando's long life upon him...whereas in the book it remains unexplained. And Orlando's change of sex in the film is the result of his having reached a crisis point—a crisis of masculine identity.At film's end, Orlando has a daughter, whereas in the novel she had a son. Potter said that she intended Orlando's breaking the fourth wall to be an equivalent to Woolf's direct addresses to her readers, and that this was her attempt at converting Woolf's literary wit into a more 'cinematic' humour. One obvious similarity remained, however: The film ends in its present day, 1992, just as Woolf's novel ends in its present day, 1928.
A small blue bird lands on a powerline and makes himself comfortable, only for a second bird to land close by. The two birds start squabbling, and are gradually joined by 13 others of the same species, all squabbling for space.
A large, awkward heron-like bird honks and waves at them from a nearby telephone pole, interrupting the squabble. The 15 little birds start imitating his plumage and honk, mockingly, until the bigger bird again calls to them, causing the little birds to scoot further down the wire and quietly gossip about it.
Undeterred, the bigger bird flies and perches between the flock of smaller birds, but his weight causes the powerline to sag almost to the ground. The smaller birds slide down and are squished together against the big bird's sides, one angrily pecking the big bird and making him fall over backwards, hanging upside down. Egged on by the others, the two little birds in the middle start pecking the big bird's toes, which release one-by-one from the wire. One little bird realizes what is about to happen, and warns the others. They stop too late, and the last toe of the big bird releases, snapping the wire like a slingshot and flinging the little birds up in a cloud of feathers.
The bigger bird lands unharmed on the ground, and plays with the floating feathers until one of the smaller birds, now naked, crashes beside him. He sees the naked little bird and laughs at him, offering a leaf for coverage. Later, the other little birds land nearby, also naked. The big bird laughs even harder at the little birds, who quickly hide behind him in shame. The film ends with a splat of bird droppings containing the words "the end" landing on the screen.
Dr. Nils Hellstrom, an entomologist, is a successful film maker and influential scientific advisor with strong political ties. Living and working with a small staff on a farm in rural Oregon, he attracts the attention of an unnamed government organisation when documents are discovered that hint on cult-like activities and a secret weapon project.
An operative from the government is sent, but is quickly assassinated by Hellstrom's operatives. Further operatives are sent and it is revealed that the farm is situated above a vast system of tunnels and caves, hosting a hive-like subterranean society of nearly 50,000 specialized hybrid human-insect workers. Hellstrom, thanks to advanced bioengineering, has been the appointed hive leader for more than 100 years. He is completely convinced of the superiority of the hive and its abandonment of conventional morals and ethics: sexuality or violence, indeed, any individual action, is rated strictly whether it strengthens or weakens the hive as a whole. The government spies soon learn the hive has progressed to using female "stumps", essentially disembodied human female sexual organs devoid of a torso, as a method of procreation and control over the workers. The hive have also developed a secret weapon that it will use to displace humans as the dominant intelligent species on the planet.
The story is told from various perspectives of members of both the nameless organisation investigating the farm and plotting against each other, as well as Hellstrom and several high-ranking hive members collectively dealing with the threat of being discovered and probably extinguished by "the wild ones". In the end, the hive's weapon project is ready to protect the hive and the upcoming 'swarming' - the gradual displacement of individual-based humanity.
In 1912, Broadway star Don Hewes (Fred Astaire) buys Easter presents for his sweetheart ("Happy Easter"), getting a boy to part with a plush rabbit by playing all the drums in the toy store ("Drum Crazy"). He takes the gifts to his dancing partner, Nadine Hale (Ann Miller), who has been offered the opportunity to star in a show—solo. He tries to persuade her to stay with him ("It Only Happens When I Dance With You") but she has signed a contract. Don's best friend, Johnny (Peter Lawford), arrives. Nadine is clearly attracted to Johnny, but he resists her out of respect for Don.
Don drowns his sorrows at the bar at Pastini's restaurant, bragging to Johnny and Mike the bartender that he can make a star dancer out of any girl from the floor show. He chooses Hannah Brown (Judy Garland). The next day, at rehearsal, he learns that she suffers from left/right confusion.
Don tries to turn Hannah into a copy of Nadine, teaching her to dance the same way, buying her a similar wardrobe, and giving her the exotic stage name "Juanita". She makes several mistakes at their first performance ("Beautiful Faces Need Beautiful Clothes"), and the show is a fiasco.
Johnny is instantly attracted to Hannah, singing "A Fella With an Umbrella" while walking her to rehearsal. He tries unsuccessfully to reunite Don with Nadine, who tells Don her friends are laughing, because Hannah is trying to be her. Don realizes his mistakes after Hannah sings—and they dance to—“I Love a Piano". He prepares routines better suited to her. Now known as "Hannah & Hewes", they become a great success ("I Love a Piano," "Snookie-Ookums", "The Ragtime Violin", and "When That Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves For Alabam'”).
Auditioning for the Ziegfeld Follies, Hannah and Don meet the show's star—Nadine. Realizing that Nadine is Don's former partner, Hannah demands to know if they were in love. At their hotel, Don reveals that he turned down the Ziegfeld offer, believing Hannah and Nadine do not belong in the same show: Nadine can't compare with Hannah. They are about to kiss, when Johnny arrives to take Hannah to dinner. He confesses that he fell in love with her during the rainstorm, but Hannah admits that she is hopelessly in love with Don.
Don is in the audience when Nadine's show opens ("Shakin' The Blues Away"). Later, he reveals to Hannah that he has signed them to star in their own show and invites her out to do the town. She arrives at his apartment to find that he has arranged a private dinner. He makes the mistake of mentioning their act, and Hannah explodes, accusing him of treating their rendezvous like a dance rehearsal. She tries to leave, but he kisses her. She plays the piano and sings "It Only Happens When I Dance With You," “Why didn’t you tell me I was in love with you?” he asks, and they embrace.
Their show features Don and a large chorus ("Steppin' Out with My Baby") followed by "We're a Couple of Swells", in which he and Hannah play bums. Afterward, they celebrate at the roof garden where Nadine is performing. The audience gives them a rousing ovation. Nadine is furious. After dancing to "The Girl on the Magazine Cover," she insists that Don perform one of their old numbers with her: "It Only Happens When I Dance With You (Reprise)". Don reluctantly agrees. Hannah leaves.
At Pastini's, where she and Don first met, Hannah pours out her troubles to Mike ("Better Luck Next Time"). She finds Don waiting outside her apartment. He tries to explain himself, promising to wait all night for her to forgive him, but the house detective evicts him just before she opens the door. The next morning, Johnny tells Hannah that if he loved someone, he would show them.
Hannah is inspired. Flowers, a chocolate egg and a live bunny in a top hat arrive anonymously at Don's apartment, followed by Hannah, who reminds him of their date and sings ("Easter Parade"). Don puts a diamond ring on her left hand as they walk in the Easter parade.
;The Octagon Room in Sir Robert Chiltern's house in Grosvenor Square
Sir Robert – a member of the House of Commons and junior government minister – and his wife, Lady Chiltern, are hosting a gathering that includes his friend Lord Goring, a dandified bachelor, Chiltern's sister Mabel and other guests. During the party, Mrs Cheveley, an enemy of Lady Chiltern from their schooldays, attempts to blackmail Sir Robert into supporting a fraudulent scheme to build a canal in Argentina. Her late mentor and lover, Baron Arnheim, induced the young Chiltern to sell him a Cabinet secret – which enabled Arnheim to buy shares in the Suez Canal Company three days before the British government announced its purchase of the company. Arnheim's payoff was the basis of Sir Robert's fortune, and Mrs Cheveley has Robert's letter to Arnheim as proof of his crime. Fearing the ruin of both career and marriage, Sir Robert submits to her demands. When Mrs Cheveley pointedly informs Lady Chiltern of Sir Robert's change of heart regarding the canal scheme, the morally inflexible Lady Chiltern, unaware of both her husband's past and the blackmail plot, insists that Sir Robert renege on his promise to Mrs Cheveley. For Lady Chiltern, their marriage is predicated on her having an "ideal husband"—that is, a model spouse in both private and public life whom she can worship; thus, Sir Robert must remain unimpeachable in all his decisions. Sir Robert complies with her wishes and apparently seals his doom.
Toward the end of Act I, Mabel and Lord Goring come upon a diamond brooch that Goring gave someone many years ago. He takes the brooch and asks Mabel to tell him if anyone comes to retrieve it.
;Morning room in Sir Robert Chiltern's house Goring urges Chiltern to fight Mrs Cheveley and admit his guilt to his wife. He also reveals that he and Mrs Cheveley were once engaged. After finishing his conversation with Chiltern, Goring engages in flirtatious banter with Mabel. He also takes Lady Chiltern aside and obliquely urges her to be less morally inflexible and more forgiving. Once Goring leaves, Mrs Cheveley appears, unexpected, in search of a brooch she lost the previous evening. Incensed at Chiltern's reneging on his promise, she exposes him to his wife. Lady Chiltern denounces her husband and refuses to forgive him.
;The library of Lord Goring's house in Curzon Street
Goring receives a letter from Lady Chiltern asking for his help – a letter that could be misinterpreted as a compromising love note. Just as Goring receives this note, his father, Lord Caversham, drops in and demands to know when his son will marry. A visit from Chiltern, who seeks further counsel from Goring, follows. Meanwhile, Mrs Cheveley arrives unexpectedly and, misrecognised by the butler as the woman Goring awaits, is ushered into Lord Goring's drawing room. While she waits, she finds Lady Chiltern's letter. Chiltern discovers Mrs Cheveley in the drawing room and, convinced of an affair between these two former lovers, he storms out of the house.
When Mrs Cheveley and Lord Goring confront each other, she makes a proposal. Claiming to still love Goring from their early days of courtship, she offers to exchange Chiltern's letter for her old beau's hand in marriage. Lord Goring declines, accusing her of defiling love by reducing courtship to a vulgar transaction and ruining the Chilterns' marriage. He then springs his trap. Removing the diamond brooch from his desk drawer, he binds it to Cheveley's wrist with a hidden lock. Goring then reveals how the item came into her possession: she stole it from his cousin, Mary Berkshire, years ago. To avoid arrest, Cheveley must trade the incriminating letter for her release from the bejewelled handcuff. After Goring obtains and burns the letter, Mrs Cheveley steals Lady Chiltern's note from his desk. Vengefully she plans to send it to Chiltern as, ostensibly, a love letter from Lady Chiltern to Goring. Mrs Cheveley exits the house in triumph.
;Same as Act II Lord Goring proposes to and is accepted by Mabel. Lord Caversham tells his son that Chiltern has denounced the Argentine canal scheme in the House of Commons. Lady Chiltern appears, and Lord Goring tells her that Chiltern's letter has been destroyed but that Mrs Cheveley has stolen her note and plans to use it to destroy her marriage. At that moment, Chiltern enters while reading Lady Chiltern's letter, but as the letter does not have the name of the addressee, he assumes it is meant for him, and reads it as a letter of forgiveness. The two reconcile. Lady Chiltern initially agrees to support Chiltern's decision to renounce his career in politics, but Goring dissuades her from allowing her husband to resign. When Chiltern refuses Goring his sister's hand in marriage, still believing he has taken up with Mrs Cheveley, Lady Chiltern is forced to explain last night's events and the true nature of the letter. Chiltern relents, and Goring and Mabel are permitted to marry. Lady Chiltern reaffirms her love for her husband and says, "For both of us a new life is beginning".
During World War II the British army is attempting to retrieve an Enigma machine from Germany. Having failed in previous attempts, they decide to send four men undercover to the factory that makes the devices in Berlin. Unfortunately the factory is populated entirely by women, and they only have men to send. American O'Rourke (LeBlanc), British transvestite Tony Parker (Izzard), genius Johnno (David Birkin), and the reluctant Archie (James Cosmo) are sent to infiltrate the factory dressed as women.
Dropped in the wrong area, the team must first try to find their bearings. Aided by Romy, a sympathiser to their cause, they find their way to the factory. They manage to retrieve the Enigma machine, against the expectations of the British army. Just before they leave Germany, they realize they were tricked—the British government already had the device, but wanted to make the Germans think they were still after it. They were specifically chosen as the team most likely to fail. Leaving Germany with an Enigma machine would, in fact, destroy the usefulness of the machine, as the Germans would know it was stolen and switch to a different code system. Archie volunteers to be captured with the machine to allow the mission to "fail". After he is captured, the team retrieves him and returns safely to England, leaving the Germans with the impression they have all the Enigma machines and the British are still desperate to obtain one.
John "Lucky" Garnett (Fred Astaire) is a gambler and dancer set to marry Margaret Watson (Betty Furness). Not wanting him to retire, the other members of his dance act deliberately sabotage the event. "Pop" Cardetti (Victor Moore) takes Lucky's trousers to be altered by sewing cuffs while the others begin a crap game. After the tailor refuses to modify the pants, Pop returns with them, unaltered. Margaret's father phones to say he has sent everyone home, but the call is intercepted. When Lucky finally leaves for the wedding, his troop bets him the bankroll that he will not be getting married. Lucky mollifies Margaret's father by saying that he was "earning" $200. Judge Watson tells Lucky he must earn $25,000 to demonstrate his good intentions.
Lucky's dance troupe takes all of his money at the train station except for his lucky quarter because he did not get married. Pop and Lucky, still in his suit, hop the first freight to New York. Lucky meets Penny (Ginger Rogers) when he asks for change for his lucky quarter so he can buy cigarettes for Pop. The cigarette machine dumps a load of coins, so they follow Penny and offer to repurchase the quarter, but she is in no mood to deal with them. Pop sneaks the quarter out of her purse when she drops her things, but she thinks Lucky did it. Lucky insists on following Penny to her job, where she works as a dance school instructor. He accepts a dancing lesson from her agency to apologize. After a disastrous lesson ("Pick Yourself Up"), Penny tells him to "save his money" he will never learn to dance. Her boss, Mr. Gordon (Eric Blore), overhears and fires her. He also fires Mabel Anderson (Helen Broderick) for complaining that Pop ate her sandwich. To prove how much she has taught him, Lucky dances with Penny marvelously. Gordon gives Penny her job back and sets up an audition with the owner of the Silver Sandal nightclub.
Lucky and Pop check into the hotel where Penny and Mabel live. Lucky tries and fails to win a tuxedo for the audition by playing strip piquet. They miss the audition, and Penny gets mad at Lucky all over again. He and Pop picket in front of Penny's apartment door for a week. Mabel intervenes, and Penny forgives him, agreeing to go to a second audition. At the Silver Sandal, bandleader Ricardo Romero (Georges Metaxa), who wants to marry Penny, refuses to play for them. The club owner cannot force him because he lost Romero's contract in a bet to Club Raymond. At the casino, Pop warns Lucky that he is about to win enough money to marry Margaret. He takes his bet off the table. The club owner wagers Ricardo's contract on a cut of the cards. Seeing that Raymond intends to cheat, Pop cheats too, and Lucky wins the contract.
Lucky and Penny are dance partners, but he avoids seeing her alone. He lacks the nerve to tell her about Margaret. Mabel arranges a trip to the country. Lucky resists the temptation to snuggle in a snow-covered gazebo, prompting Penny to sing "A Fine Romance." Pop lets slip the truth about Margaret, and Lucky sings the rest. In the remodeled Silver Sandal, Penny refuses another proposal from Ricardo. Mabel dares her to give Lucky "a great big kiss." They do kiss behind a dressing room door. Pop lets his sleight of hand become known to Raymond, who insists on playing Lucky for the contract. He loses. Margaret shows up, and Lucky asks her to meet him the next day. While Lucky is indecisive, Penny becomes heartbroken. Lucky finds her in the deserted club, where he learns she has agreed to marry Ricardo. Asked about the future, he sings "Never Gonna Dance," segueing without dialogue into their dance to "The Way You Look Tonight."
The next day, Margaret tells Lucky she wants to marry someone else. Everyone laughs until Pop announces that Ricardo and Penny will be married that afternoon. They rush to intervene and manage to pull off the trouser gag. While waiting for the nonexistent alteration, Ricardo struggles to keep up a pair of baggy pants. An infectious round of laughter causes Penny to call off the wedding, having been won over by Lucky.
Now a successful and wealthy architect, Mark Wallace (Albert Finney) and his wife Joanna (Jo) Wallace (Audrey Hepburn) fly their white 1965 Mercedes 230SL roadster to Northern France in order to drive to Saint-Tropez to celebrate the completion of a building project for a client, Maurice. Tensions between the couple are evident, and as they journey south they both remember and discuss several past journeys along the same road.
The earliest memory is their first meeting on a channel ferry crossing in 1954, when Mark was travelling alone and Joanna kept finding his dropped passport.
The next story involves the two newlyweds travelling in a station wagon with Mark's ex-girlfriend Cathy Manchester (Eleanor Bron), her overly analytical husband (William Daniels) and spoiled daughter Ruth 'Ruthie' (Gabrielle Middleton) from the USA. Ruthie is not given any limits, and her behaviour frustrates Mark and Jo. Eventually Ruthie reveals the unkind descriptions of Joanna her parents have made in private. At this point Mark and Joanna decide to travel alone.
Next the pair are seen driving an MG which begins to have exhaust troubles, finally catching on fire, resulting in a total loss. On this journey Joanna announces that she is pregnant. After they accidentally hit and demolish a farm structure, they also meet the wealthy Maurice Dalbret (Claude Dauphin) and his wife Françoise (Nadia Gray). Maurice becomes a generous but demanding client for Mark.
The next story shows them travelling with their young daughter Caroline (Kathy Chelimsky).
In another episode, Mark is travelling alone and has a fling with another motorist. The fling is shown to be fleeting and unserious in nature. Later, Joanna has an affair with Françoise's brother David (Georges Descrières), which is portrayed as much more serious than Mark's and threatens to end the marriage. However, while Joanna dines with David, they witness a couple eating together without saying a word. David asks offhandedly, "What kind of people can sit there without a word to say to each other?" Joanna replies excitedly, "Married people!" and, realizing she misses Mark despite their faded passion, runs back to him.
At the end of the film, the Wallaces manage to end their long-term relationship with Maurice and find a new client in Rome. They honestly analyze the fears and insecurities which have plagued them throughout the film. Finally, they cross the border from France into Italy. This is new ground for them as well as for the audience, signalling a move beyond the old issues into a more mature future.
In the town of Willowby, a tall skinny blue bloodhound named Foofur has taken refuge in a mansion, in 32 Maple Street, which is also his birthplace. In Foofur's group is his niece Rocki, Fencer the Cat, a bulldog named Louis with his girlfriend, an Old English Sheepdog named Annabell, and a cocker spaniel named Hazel with her husband, a miniature schnauzer named Fritz-Carlos.
Foofur and his friends, however, have an enemy in a woman named Mrs. Amelia Escrow and her pet Chihuahua named Pepe, who tries to expose Foofur's illegal roommates – but always to no avail. Mrs. Escrow has tried many times to sell the estate, but unbeknownst to her, Foofur and his friends keep the house from being bought, as they also protect their home from rodents like the Rat Brothers who tend to mess with Fencer, other cats like Vinnie and his Cat Pack, and greedy humans.
While trying to stop Mrs. Escrow, Foofur tries to avoid having his friends captured by the Bowser Busters' dog catchers Mel and Harvey. In addition, an Afghan Hound named Burt also antagonizes Foofur and competes with him to win the affection of a basset hound named Dolly.
James Clayton is a prodigious programmer studying nonlinear cryptography at MIT, collaborating with a group of peers to create Spartacus, a surveillance program that can enslave any computer's audiovisual hardware to the master computer via the internet. His group showcases the software to Dell at a campus fair drawing substantial interest in its uses.
Later at his night job, James is approached by Walter Burke, a man who claims to have known James’ deceased father and suggests he works for the Central Intelligence Agency. After a pitch to recruit James into the agency, James initially declines until he reconsiders it as an opportunity to get answers to his father's mysterious plane crash in Peru several years earlier.
James passes the initial security screening and is bussed with the rest of his class to The Farm in rural Virginia where they undergo training as potential operatives. While there, James develops an attraction to Layla Moore and a rivalry with Zack who is James’ competition for top of the class.
One night during a training exercise in which James and Layla are paired together to tail a mark, they are abducted by masked assailants and imprisoned where they are tortured psychologically and physically for several days. Their interrogators wish to know what happens at The Farm and the names of those who teach there. After resisting for days, James breaks when he's told about Layla's brutal treatment. He reveals Burke's name, at which point it's revealed that the whole experience was part of the exercise that the class was observing, including Layla, and that James failed by breaking. He is then dismissed from The Farm and the Agency.
Later, Burke seeks out a despondent James and informs him that his discharge was part of a cover story because he's been selected as a non-official cover operative, or “NOC”. He gives James a low-level data entry position at the Agency so he can get close to Layla who has graduated from the Farm and now holds a desk position higher in the Agency than James. Burke explains that Layla is suspected of working with foreign agents to steal CIA secrets, specifically a highly sensitive computer virus called "ICE-9" because it transmits via the electrical grid rather than telecommunications and is easily capable of disabling all electrical devices on the planet instantly, thus behaving similarly to the particle from the Kurt Vonnegut novel ''Cat's Cradle''.
James reunites with Layla and the two begin a romantic relationship. While staying overnight at her home, he checks her laptop for evidence of her crimes and she plants a bug on the lapel of his winter coat. Later, he witnesses her making a dead drop at Union Station, and follows the mysterious agent who retrieves what Layla left behind. The two end up in a shootout on the train tracks and the agent, who is revealed to be Zack, is killed.
Believing both of them to be traitors, James confronts Layla who tells him that Zack was the NOC, not him, and that she was tasked with assessing the security protocols of the CIA headquarters because it was feared that someone else was stealing CIA material.
James then goes to a meet with Burke wherein he confronts Burke about what's really happening. Burke claims that Zack's death was faked, that the gun Burke gave James is loaded with non-lethal ammunition, and that everyone is intending to rendezvous for debrief momentarily. However, Burke catches James off guard and shoots at him, narrowly missing him but blowing out the rear window of his vehicle in the process, proving that the gun was in fact loaded with live ammunition and therefore Zack is indeed dead.
Burke pursues James through the abandoned warehouse they were parked outside of, explaining to James along the way why he set up the elaborate lie to implicate them and cover up his own crimes of selling Agency secrets to foreign governments. James meanwhile has set up a laptop running Spartacus though it failed to connect, however he leads Burke to believe it successfully transmitted his confession back to the Agency and he's now incriminated for everything. Burke angrily destroys the laptop and pursues James outside of the warehouse where a CIA strike team led by Dennis Slayne, another Farm instructor, is waiting. Burke launches into a tirade, airing his grievances against the Agency, believing that he was never appreciated for all the sacrifices he made in his career. Slayne realizes that Burke is the one they're looking for and directs the strike team to target Burke to take into custody, revealing they were originally there to arrest James.
Realizing now that he really is incriminated, Burke refuses to be taken into custody and instead raises his empty gun at the strike team who quickly shoot and kill him. Slayne then drives James back to headquarters for a debrief, cryptically mentioning along the way that James was meant to be in that line of work because “it’s in [his] blood” suggesting his father in fact worked for the agency, despite Burke's earlier denial of such.
The film is about Ari (Mikko Nousiainen), a 27-year-old ambulance doctor with a terminally ill mother. One-night stands are his main pastime. He does not want to meet any of the girls again because he is certain that commitment equals pain. But one day Ari realises that he cannot feel anything at all. Then he meets a woman named Tiina (Laura Malmivaara) on the beach. That same day they have sex in Ari's apartment and Tiina enters her phone number into Ari's in order to exchange contact details. At first Ari ignores Tiina's attempts to phone him to the amusement of his married colleague, Roope. Ari subsequently relents and they start dating each other reaching the point where Tiina, falling in love, begins to look for commitment. However, on Ari's birthday when Tiina brings him a cake to his apartment she arrives as another woman is leaving. Nonetheless she decides to maintain the relationship with him though expressing her desire for exclusivity.
Ari is later introduced to Tiina's friends who include two other couples, Ilona an archaeologist who is dating Stig and Hanna-Riikka a priest who is dating and living with Riku. This introduction takes place as the five pre-existing companions sail to an island to celebrate the Mid-Summer Festival. During this holiday the six have a conversation in which Hanna-Riikka states that man is nothing without belief to which Ari immediately responds: "Then that must mean I am an ape." The others laugh and Hanna-Riikka walks out. Ilona shows a clear interest in Ari and later initiates a sexual encounter with him. This affair continues for an unspecified length of time during which Ari and Tiina move in together and Hanna-Riikka confronts Ari with her suspicions of what is happening between him and Ilona. When these are confirmed Hanna-Rikka also confronts Ilona about her behaviour and is accused of being a hypocritical lesbian. When the Ilona and Ari decide to have one last episode of intercourse they are discovered by Stig who tells Tiina about the affair and Ari moves out. Riku offers him use of his couch much to Hanna-Riikka's displeasure. Meanwhile, Tiina discovers that she is pregnant and later gets a commitment from Ari to resume the relationship with the aim of being a responsible father to their child.
Late one night Ari is called to Roope's house because his heavy drinking has precipitated the breakdown of his marriage to Piia. Ari arrives to find Roope with a bottle of spirits and his revolver. After Roope tells him about the fallout of his alcoholism, Ari says that Piia is actually outside sulking in the front garden. Roope asks Ari to talk to his wife because he considers Ari more knowledgeable about how to talk to women and gives Ari his revolver to prevent him from killing himself. Later, when Ari goes to his old apartment Tiina tells him that the hospital has called to inform him of his mother's death. The pair attends the funeral together.
Then the film progresses to Tiina and Ilona reconciling, as do Ari and Stig who asks Ari to be his best man as the affair with Ilona apparently helped clarify Stig's perspective of the relationship to the point where marriage appeared feasible. The wedding is to be officiated by Hanna-Riikka, who by now has separated from Riku, and to be held on the island where the six earlier holidayed. During one of the drinking games they usually engage in, Hanna-Rikka states that she has never climaxed during sexual intercourse prompting Riku to walk out and the two are later seen arguing. At the reception Ari, in deep contemplation, tells Tiina that they need to talk. Once they are alone Ari states "What are we going to do?" to which Tiina again questions the commitment of Ari by arguing that they should get married. Ari opposes her and says that they should separate. To this, Tiina is shocked, so she proceeds to drink excessively at the wedding prompting Ilona to try stop her. Tiina ends up revealing to the groom that Ari has, in fact, only recently slept with the bride and also the priest. This leads to a confrontation with Ari using the butt of Roope's former revolver to knock both Stig and Riku to the ground and he leaves the reception.
The film ends with narrating Ari's thoughts as he gets away from it all by physically distancing himself by travelling, Tiina has given birth, Ilona is lecturing while Stig and Riku have maintained their friendship. In the last scene Ari returns to a church where Hanna-Riikka is working.
Snow-White and Rose-Red are two little girls living with their mother, a poor widow, in a small cottage by the woods. Snow-White is quiet and shy and prefers to spend her time indoors, doing housework and reading. Rose-Red is outspoken, lively and cheerful, and prefers to be outside. They are both very good girls who love each other and their mother dearly, and their mother is very fond of them as well.
One winter night, there is a knock at the door. Rose-Red opens the door to find a bear. At first, she is terrified, but the bear tells her not to be afraid. "I'm half frozen and I merely want to warm up a little at your place," he says. They let the bear in, and he lies down in front of the fire. Snow-White and Rose-Red beat the snow off the bear, and they quickly become quite friendly with him. They play with the bear and roll him around playfully. They let the bear spend the night in front of the fire. In the morning, he leaves trotting out into the woods. The bear comes back every night for the rest of that winter and the family grows used to him.
When summer comes, the bear tells them that he must go away for a while to guard his treasure from a wicked dwarf. During the summer, when the girls are walking through the forest, they find a dwarf whose beard is stuck in a tree. The girls rescue him by cutting his beard free, but the dwarf is ungrateful and yells at them for cutting his beautiful beard. The girls encounter the dwarf several times that summer and rescue him from some peril each time, for which he is ungrateful.
Then one day, they meet the dwarf once again. This time, he is terrified because the bear is about to kill him. The dwarf pleads with the bear and begs it to eat the girls. Instead, the bear pays no heed to his plea and kills the dwarf with one swipe of his paw. Instantly, the bear turns into a prince. The dwarf had previously put a spell on the prince by stealing his precious stones and turning him into a bear. The curse is broken with the death of the dwarf. Snow-White marries the prince and Rose-Red marries the prince's brother.
A ''Carnotaurus'' attacks a mixed-species herd of dinosaurs, destroying an ''Iguanodon'' nest before killing a young female ''Pachyrhinosaurus''. The lone surviving ''Iguanodon'' egg is stolen by smaller predators, and, after a series of mishaps, is dropped on an island inhabited by prehistoric lemurs. Plio, the daughter of their patriarch Yar, names the unhatched baby Aladar and raises him alongside her daughter Suri, despite Yar's initial objections.
Several years later, a fully grown Aladar watches the lemurs take part in a mating ritual, in which Plio's awkward teenaged brother Zini, who is also Suri and Aladar's uncle, is unsuccessful. Moments after the ritual ends, they are interrupted by a meteor crashing into the Earth, creating an explosive shockwave which destroys the island. Aladar and Yar's family flee across the sea to the mainland. Being the only survivors, they mourn the others, before moving on.
While crossing the burnt wasteland, they are attacked by a pack of ''Velociraptors''. They escape by joining a multi-species herd of dinosaur refugees heading for the communal Nesting Grounds. Falling afoul of callous ''Iguanodon'' herd leader Kron, they retreat to the end of the line and befriend the old ''Styracosaurus'' Eema, her pet ''Ankylosaurus'' Url who acts like a dog, and her equally elderly friend Baylene, the only ''Brachiosaurus'' in the group. They travel for days without water to the site of a lake, only to find it seemingly dried up. Kron orders the herd to move on and let the weakest perish, but Aladar stays behind with a sick Eema. He and Baylene dig until they find her some water. The rest of the herd follows suit, and Kron's sister Neera, impressed by Aladar's compassion, begins to grow closer to him, while Kron fears he wants to take over.
Meanwhile, two ''Carnotaurus'' have been tracking the herd. Kron's ''Altirhinus'' lieutenant Bruton reports the approaching predators, after surviving an attack during a scouting mission. Kron quickly ushers the herd away from the lake, deliberately leaving Bruton, Aladar, the lemurs, and the elderly dinosaurs behind, hoping that they will slow their pursuers down. Aladar and Neera are against this, but Kron quickly silences Aladar and forces Neera to leave him. The abandoned group takes shelter in a cave as night falls, but the predators catch up to them and attack. Bruton sacrifices his life to cause a cave-in that kills one of the ''Carnotaurus'', forcing the survivor to retreat.
The group ventures deeper into the cave, but they reach a dead end. Though Aladar briefly loses hope, Baylene uses her strength to smash through the wall, and they arrive at the Nesting Grounds on the other side. Eema notices that a landslide has blocked off the usual entrance to the valley. Aladar rushes off to warn Kron, and finds him trying to lead the herd over the landslide, unaware of the sheer drop on the other side. Kron fights Aladar, taking Aladar's warnings as a challenge to his leadership, until Neera, fed up with Kron's illogical behavior, intervenes. Realizing Kron's selfishness and recklessness, the herd follows Aladar, while Kron stubbornly tries to climb the rocks by himself.
The hungry ''Carnotaurus'' arrives, but Aladar rallies everyone to stand together in defiance against it. The ''Carnotaurus'' is frightened off, and pursues Kron instead. Aladar and Neera rush to save him, but fail to get there in time. Aladar manages to push the ''Carnotaurus'' over the sheer drop to its death; he and Neera mourn Kron as he dies from his injuries, then lead the herd to the nesting grounds. Sometime later, a new generation of dinosaurs hatches, among them Aladar and Neera's children, and the lemurs find more of their kind.
In Cairo, Egypt in 1949, a young Father Lankester Merrin struggles with his shattered faith. He is haunted by an incident in a small village in the occupied Netherlands during World War II, where he served as parish priest: near the end of the war, a sadistic Nazi SS commander, in retaliation for the murder of a German trooper, forced Merrin to participate in arbitrary executions in order to save a full village from slaughter.
Merrin is approached by a collector of antiquities named Semelier who invites him to come to a British excavation in a valley called Derati in the Turkana region of British Kenya. The dig excavates a Christian Byzantine-era church built circa 500 A.D. — long before Christianity had reached that region of Africa. Semelier asks Merrin to recover an ancient relic of a demon, thought to be in the church, before the British can find it. Merrin agrees and travels to the dig site. He is joined by Father Francis.
Upon arriving at the site with their translator and guide Chuma, Merrin meets the chief excavator, a brutish man named Jefferies with visible boils on his face and Sarah Novak, a doctor. In addition, Merrin learns that the diggers are disappearing or leaving in droves because the local tribesmen fear the church is cursed. Merrin witnesses a digger inexplicably experience a seizure.
Merrin, Chuma, and Francis visit the dig site and finds only the dome uncovered; the rest of the church is buried beneath the earth. Merrin discovers that the church is in perfect condition, as though it had been buried immediately after its construction was completed. The three enter the church through the dome and find the place in near-pristine condition, but note two disturbing oddities; the statues of the angels holding weapons point their spears downward instead of triumphantly toward heaven. and that someone has vandalized and desecrated the church placing Christ on the cross in an upside-down position. Merrin and Francis deduce the sculptors were trying to depict the angels restraining something that was beneath the church.
Determined to learn more about the archaeological dig, Merrin asks to consult with the lead archaeologist, Monsieur Bession. Sarah tells Merrin that Bession went insane three weeks earlier and was transferred to a mental hospital in Nairobi. Merrin visits Bession's tent at the dig site and sees dozens of drawings of the same demon artifact the collector had asked Merrin to find. Merrin visits Bession, but when he enters his room, he discovers Bession has carved a Hooked Cross on his chest and is speaking in the voice of the sadistic SS commander who tormented Merrin during the war. Bession then slashes his own throat after saying he was "free". Father Gionetti, warden of the asylum, speculates that Bession was not possessed but rather "touched" by a demon, which drove him mad and eventually to suicide. Merrin is very skeptical, but before he returns to the dig site, Father Gionetti gives him the volume of Roman rituals to use in exorcism, although Merrin claims he will never use them.
Upon returning to the village, strange events continue. A local boy is attacked and killed by hyenas that seem to continuously stalk the dig, night and day. His younger brother, Joseph, enters a fugue state after watching his brother get ripped to pieces. The local chief's wife gives birth to a stillborn baby who is covered in maggots and Jefferies, a man involved with the dig, gets attacked in the bar. Around the same time, Merrin discovers a passageway leading to a cave underneath the church that houses an ancient pagan temple with the statue of the demon Pazuzu. He also finds evidence that this temple was used to conduct human sacrifices. Upon his return, he sees the local tribe cremate the stillborn baby. This makes Merrin suspicious, because there are stories of an epidemic that wiped out an entire village in the valley 50 years earlier. He had been told that the dead were buried in a graveyard just outside the valley. When he digs up the graves of the supposed victims of this plague, they are empty.
Merrin confronts Father Francis about it, and Francis reveals to him the history of the Derati valley; a great army led by two priests came to the valley searching for the origin of evil 1,500 years prior. When they arrived in the valley, the evil presence consumed them and one killed the other. When the lone surviving priest made it back, Emperor Justinian ordered a church be built over the site, and then buried to seal the evil force inside of it. The builders of the church never meant it to be recorded in Vatican documents, however, a vague reference to it was recorded and found in 1893. Four priests subsequently came to Derati and enlisted the local tribe to help them. All of the tribesmen and the priests disappeared. The Vatican then ordered that the false graveyard be built and stories of a plague spread around to keep people away from the valley. Francis reveals that it is believed that the valley in Derati was the traditional spot of Lucifer's fall after the war in heaven. Later Merrin, Chuma and Major Granville discover Jefferies tied up in the Church, with his organs pecked out by crows.
The dig's doctor, Sarah, turns out to be the possessed individual and she kills Francis. Merrin has the demon exorcised from her in the tunnels below the church but she dies. Merrin and Joseph emerge from the church, (once again buried in sand) and history has repeated itself. Only Father Merrin and the little boy are left as the British soldiers and the local tribes have annihilated each other. Sometime later Merrin once again a priest returns to Rome and meets with Semelier at a cafe, explaining he was unable to find the relic, Semelier replies: "But you found something....Didn't you?"
Jay is a bartender who abandoned his family because his wife lost interest in him and their relationship. Now living alone in a decrepit house, he has casual weekly sex with an anonymous woman, whose name he does not know. At first, their relationship is purely physical, but he eventually falls in love with her.
Wanting to know more about her, Jay follows her across the streets of London to the grey suburbs where she lives. He then follows her to a pub theatre where she is working as an actress in the evenings. Jay learns that her name is Claire, and she has a husband and a son. Subsequently, it is made clear to Jay that Claire will not leave her family. They meet for a final time and have sex with an intimacy that has been missing during the sex sessions of their previous encounters.
In 1972, college theater student Richard Collier celebrates the debut of his new play. An elderly woman Richard does not know comes up and places a pocket watch in his hand and pleads, "Come back to me". The woman returns to her home and dies in her sleep that night.
Eight years later, Richard is a successful playwright living in Chicago. While struggling with writer's block, he decides to take a break from writing and travels to a resort, the Grand Hotel. While exploring the hotel's hall of history, he becomes enthralled with a vintage photograph of Elise McKenna, a beautiful early-20th century stage actress. Upon further research, he discovers she is the same woman who gave him the pocket watch. Richard visits Laura Roberts, Elise's former housekeeper and companion. While there, he discovers a music box that plays the 18th variation of ''Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini'' by Rachmaninoff, his favorite musical piece. Among Elise's personal effects is a book on time travel written by his old college professor, Dr. Gerard Finney. Richard becomes obsessed with traveling back to 1912 and meeting Elise, with whom he has fallen in love.
Richard seeks out Professor Finney, who believes that he briefly time-traveled through the power of self-suggestion. Finney warns Richard that such a process would leave one very weak physically, perhaps dangerously so. Richard is determined to try. Dressed in an early 20th-century suit, he removes all modern objects from his hotel room and attempts to will himself to 1912 using tape-recorded suggestions. The attempt fails because he lacks real conviction, but after finding a hotel guest book from 1912 containing his signature, Richard realizes that he will eventually succeed.
Richard hypnotizes himself again, this time allowing his absolute faith in his eventual success to serve as the engine that transports him to 1912. Richard finds Elise walking by the lake. Upon meeting him she asks, "Is it you?" Her manager, William Fawcett Robinson, abruptly intervenes and sends Richard away. Although Elise is initially uninterested, Richard pursues her until she agrees to accompany him on a stroll the next morning. During a boat ride, Richard hums his favorite melody by Rachmaninoff, which Elise has not heard before because it has yet to be written. (composed in 1934, but somehow this does not break the spell of the time travel) Richard asks what Elise meant by "Is it you?" She reveals that Robinson had predicted that she would meet a man who will change her life, and that she should be afraid. Richard shows Elise the pocket watch that she will give him in 1972.
Richard attends Elise's play where she recites an impromptu romantic monologue while making eye contact with him in the audience. During the intermission, Elise poses formally for a photograph, but upon seeing Richard, breaks into a radiant smile. It is the same image which Richard sees 68 years later. Afterward, Richard receives an urgent message from Robinson requesting a meeting. Robinson wants Richard to leave Elise, saying it is for her own good. Richard thinks Robinson is in love with Elise, but Robinson states he is obsessed with her being a star and has no romantic interest in her. When Richard declares his intention to stand by Elise for the rest of her life, Robinson has him bound and locked inside the stables. Robinson then tells Elise that Richard has left, though she does not believe him and professes her love for Richard.
Richard wakes the next morning and frees himself. The acting troupe has already left for Denver, though Elise has returned to the hotel to find him. They go to her room and make love. They agree to marry and Elise promises to buy Richard a new suit, as his is about a decade out of style. Inside one of the suit pockets, Richard discovers a penny with a 1979 mint date. This modern item breaks the hypnotic suggestion, pulling Richard into the present as Elise screams in terror.
Richard awakens back in 1980, physically weakened by the time travel. His attempts to return to 1912 are unsuccessful. After despondently wandering the hotel grounds for weeks without eating, he dies in despair, despite Arthur’s efforts to call paramedics to save him. However, the movie ends on a sweet note as Richard’s spirit then joins Elise in the afterlife and the two smile at each other.
In 1968, Deloris Wilson is a young Catholic school student, who is less than serious about her studies, greatly embarrassing her nun teachers.
Twenty-four years later, in 1992, Deloris is a lounge singer in Reno, Nevada, performing as Deloris Van Cartier. After she witnesses her gangster boyfriend Vince LaRocca execute an informant, police lieutenant Eddie Souther places her in witness protection. She is brought to Saint Katherine's Convent in Saint Katherine's Parish, in a run-down neighborhood in San Francisco. Deloris initially objects, then relents.
The head nun of St. Katherine's,"Reverend Mother", also objects to taking Deloris in but Monsignor O'Hara, the local parish priest, convinces her to go along with it as the police will pay the failing convent a good sum of money to do so. Disguised as "Sister Mary Clarence", Deloris initially has difficulty dealing with the rigid and simple convent life but befriends the other nuns, (Sister Mary Patrick, the elderly Sister Mary Lazarus and the Novice Sister Mary Robert). One night, after a poorly attended Sunday Mass, with a lackluster performance from the convent choir, led by Mary Lazarus, Deloris sneaks out to a bar, followed by Mary Patrick and Mary Robert. They are caught by the Reverend Mother, who orders Deloris join the struggling choir. With her singing experience, Deloris is elected their director and transforms the choir.
At the next Sunday Mass, Deloris leads the much-improved choir in a traditional hymn, then shifts into a combined Gospel and Rock and Roll interpretation. Although Reverend Mother is infuriated, Monsignor O'Hara congratulates the choir for their unorthodox performance as new people were attracted to the service. Convinced by Deloris, he allows the nuns to clean the church and the neighborhood. Their singing and efforts to revitalize the neighborhood attract media attention, and the parish starts to thrive.
Souther chastises Deloris for nearly being exposed on national television as Vince has placed a bounty on her head. She assures him she will try to keep a lower profile and Souther attends a Mass. The nun's choir continues to amaze parishioners and visitors, especially with a rendition of "My Guy" – rewritten and performed as "My God".
O'Hara informs the convent that Pope John Paul II, having heard of the choir's success, will visit the church. Deloris tells Reverend Mother that Vince's upcoming trial means she will soon leave; the Mother reveals she has resigned as abbess, believing she is no longer useful to the convent as her authority was undermined. Deloris tries to convince her to stay but the Mother retorts that she believes herself too old-fashioned and incapable to continue in office.
Souther discovers a corrupt detective in his own department, who has given Deloris' location to Vince and rushes to San Francisco to warn her. She and Mary Robert are kidnapped by Vince's men but Deloris helps her escape. Afterward, Reverend Mother reveals to the nuns that Sister Mary Clarence is Deloris Van Cartier and explains why she had been hiding in their convent. They decide to rescue Deloris, requesting a helicopter pilot to fly them to Reno.
Vince orders his men to kill Deloris but they cannot bring themselves to shoot her dressed in a nun's habit. Arriving at Vince's casino, the nuns find her after she escapes from Vince's men. They become trapped in the casino lounge and Deloris prepares to sacrifice herself. Vince is hesitant, but prepares to shoot her. His hesitation is just long enough for Souther to shoot Vince in the arm, and to arrest all three.
Thanking Deloris for her actions, Reverend Mother decides to remain as abbess of the convent. Returning to San Francisco, the choir, led by Deloris, sing "I Will Follow Him" to a packed audience in a refurbished Saint Katherine's, receiving a standing ovation from all, including Reverend Mother, the Pope, Monsignor O'Hara, and Souther. Deloris continues to guide and coach the choir as a touring musical group.
Orlando O'Connor is an ex-Foreign Legionnaire who has picked up a magic talisman, the "Gizzmo". His boat building firm fails and he travels to London's Docklands to meet an old Navy comrade Tony, looking for work, only to find Tony has been killed. He links up with David and Jenny who have inherited a detective agency from their Uncle. They set out to solve Tony's murder. After that they run the Detective agency together.
In a world populated by anthropomorphic vehicles, the Dinoco 400, the final race of the Piston Cup racing season begins a rivalry between seven-time champion Strip "The King" Weathers who is looking to win his eighth Piston Cup before retirement, consistent runner-up Chick Hicks who has resorted to forced crashes to get ahead, and talented but arrogant rookie Lightning McQueen. At the back of the field, Lightning avoids a multi-car crash deliberately caused by Chick. While the other cars pit for new tires, he stays out to take the lead, which backfires when his rear tires blow out on the last lap. Chick and The King catch up, resulting in a three-way tie. The tiebreaker race is scheduled for one week later at the Los Angeles International Speedway to determine the champion. Lightning is desperate to win the race, not only to be the first rookie to win the Piston Cup, but also because it would allow him to leave the unglamorous sponsorship of Rust-eze, a bumper ointment company, and take The King's place on the prestigious Dinoco team. However, he struggles to work with others due to his selfishness, which has caused him to fire three crew chiefs and have his pit crew quit after the race.
Eager to get to California as soon as possible, Lightning pushes his transporter, Mack, to travel all night long. While Lightning is sleeping, Mack nods off and is startled awake by a gang of delinquent tuner cars, causing Lightning to fall out the back of the trailer and onto the road. Lightning wakes up in the middle of traffic and speeds off the highway in search of Mack. Instead, he ends up in the rundown desert town of Radiator Springs, where he is chased by the town Sheriff and inadvertently damages the pavement of the main road. The next day, Lightning is ordered by the town judge and medical doctor, Doc Hudson, to leave town immediately upon seeing that he is a race car, but the local lawyer, Sally, requests that Lightning should instead be assigned community service to repave the road by a machine, to which Doc reluctantly agrees. Desperate to get to California, Lightning repaves the road shoddily in a rush to leave. However, Doc is unsatisfied, and he challenges Lightning to a race on the condition that if he wins, he can leave; though Doc drives unenthusiastically, Lightning spins out on a turn and crashes, losing and being forced to restart on the road.
During this time, Lightning begins to warm up to the town and befriends several of its residents, notably going "tractor tipping" with rusty tow truck Mater and becoming his best friend. He also bonds romantically with Sally, who gave up luxury in Los Angeles to live in Radiator Springs and now she dreams of putting the town back on the map. Lightning then learns how Radiator Springs was once a popular stop along U.S. Route 66 until it was bypassed with the construction of Interstate 40 and mostly forgotten, and that Doc was the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, a three-time Piston Cup champion whose career was wrested from him after a devastating crash in 1954. He eventually repairs the road and decides to spend an extra day in Radiator Springs helping the local businesses. However, Doc alerts the media of Lightning's whereabouts, leading them and Mack to descend on the town and forcing Lightning to leave in time for the race. Doc quickly regrets his actions after seeing the residents despondent by his departure.
At the race, as he couldn't say goodbye to his new friends, Lightning races distractedly and ends up one lap behind. He is then surprised to discover that Doc, after a change of heart, has taken over as his crew chief, and most friends from Radiator Springs are helping in the pit. Inspired and recalling tricks he learned from Doc and his friends, Lightning manages to recover and vaults into the lead. On the final lap, Chick performs a PIT maneuver and sends The King into a dangerous crash. Not wanting The King's career to end the same way as did Doc's, Lightning stops just short of the finish line and drives back to push The King over the line to finish his last race while Chick wins the race and the Piston Cup. As a result, the crowd and media angrily condemn Chick's victory but praise Lightning's sportsmanship. Lightning is offered the Dinoco sponsorship, but he declines and insists on staying with Rust-eze out of loyalty for their past support. Back at Radiator Springs, Lightning reunites with Sally and announces that he will be setting up his racing headquarters there, putting the town back on the map.
In a post-credits scene, Minny and Van, a couple trying to find the Interstate, are shown lost in the middle of the desert.
In the world of Tokion, a dome-shaped ancient ruin was discovered inside a thick jungle. During excavation, an egg-shaped robot was found inside the ruins containing a sleeping man. No matter how hard scientists tried, he would not wake up. He was taken to a laboratory along with the machine to be further studied.
Upon analyzing the machine, they learned that it was over 5000 years old. They also could not find any form of power source. In time, the machine became known as "Elemental Gimmick Gear", or EGG for short. After extensive scientific analysis over a number of years, copies of the EGG were produced and used as personal robots.
100 years later, the ruin suddenly became active after a group of robots activated a button, which unleashed the power of a scary holographic face called Psycho Mother. These robots were later revealed to be members of a gang called The Pirates. This incident was later dubbed by the Tokionese as "The Breeding", as the power of Psycho Mother created a multitude of tentacles into the ground. They spread all across the land, destroying anything in their way and spawning a horde of killer monsters and robots in the process. With the tentacles came a thick layer of fog that surrounded the ruin, and people gave them the name Fogna.
At the same time, the Sleeper who was discovered a century prior finally awoke. He had not aged a day since his discovery and had no memory of his past or his own name. Selen, who was with him as he woke, set him free without notifying the other scientists in the lab. Naming him at default as Leon, she sent him to Fogna to begin searching for clues of what happened 5100 years ago, and to stop "The Breeding". Because Leon spends most of his time inside his EGG robot, many players have referred to the protagonist simply as "EGG" (said letter-by-letter).
While making his way through the first areas of Fogna, battling brain robots and a spider named Jointer (earning a Fire Stone), EGG returns to the village to hear that Selen was kidnapped by The Pirates. The Pirates are a vicious gang of robots led by Juji, the brutal dictator of Tokion that has long oppressed its people.
Upon talking to many of the townspeople (being asleep for 5100 years, EGG is unfamiliar with where he lives), he learns that Juji resides in Metal Heaven, a steampunk sky village that is rumoured to be "a paradise". The only way to get there is to succeed a series of life-threatening trials at Fog Tower, which connects Metal Heaven to Tokion. This tower serves as a buffer zone to prevent ordinary people from entering Metal Heaven, by which only Juji's bravest Pirates are able to pass the challenges. EGG uses the Fire Stone that he found from defeating Jointer to break the branches that block his way to Fog Tower, saving a woman stuck behind the branches. However, he then learns that he needs the Ice Stone as well to freeze the ponds that guard Fog Tower. He finds that stone after exploring Fogna's back entrance, where he encounters The Pirates face-to-face for the first time.
EGG uses the Ice Stone to access Fog tower, and completes all of the puzzles and challenges successfully. In the last challenge of Fog Tower, EGG was forced to fight Maximum, Juji's right-hand man. After EGG severely damaged Maximum (despite being alive still), Juji ordered two of his Pirates to throw him off the tower, as Juji felt that Maximum was "a weakling" upon his loss in the battle. Juji offers EGG to be his new right-hand man, and tells him to go to The Factory to meet up with him. Although EGG knows that his goal is to find Selen, and that Juji is an enemy, EGG agrees so he can get access to The Factory.
On the top floor of The Factory, EGG is able to find Selen, and he proceeds to find Juji in the next room. Although Juji treats him in a friendly manner, EGG shows him his true feelings, wanting payback for kidnapping Selen. Angered and betrayed, Juji gets inside of a large robots, and a boss fight ensures.
Upon destroying the robot and capturing Juji, EGG is awarded $1000 by the village mayor, a knight named Henry. Rots, the owner of the Eastokion Bar, is furious at Juji for an unexplained grudge that they have against each other. If EGG apologizes to Juji after Rots leaves in anger, he will begin to talk to EGG in a friendlier manner (despite being angry for what happened at The Factory) This decision made by the player will help to reveal a '''''major''''' plot point '''''not''''' found anywhere else in the game. Selen, back at the laboratory, awards EGG a propellor, which he can use to explore the flooded basement of Fogna. There, he needs to locate a green Plasma Stone to activate the elevator at Fogna's main entrance. The elevator takes EGG to Fogna's second floor, which has a long tentacle bridge at the second floors exit. This bridge takes him to a place called Trench Plant, an underwater base where EGG's (unknowingly) long lost friend, Omega, resides. This is around the point when EGG begins to remember who he was and his past.
EGG is only familiar to Omega from three prior, yet vague, flashbacks:
::: '''1st (before encountering The Pirates at Fogna)-''' Omega and EGG (as Dr. Beta) are in a rocky environment on a different planet (judging by the rocky textures), discussing organism samples that died off. They agree that they need to find more samples.
::: '''2nd (when entering Metal Heaven)-''' Omega and EGG are standing in front of a large war robot called Armordress. They discuss how they built it, and that they are afraid “for the time when it must be used”. They fear that the machine could “extinct humanity”.
::: '''3rd (at the tentacle bridge)-''' An earthquake occurs, and EGG becomes trapped underneath rocks. EGG was left there for 5,000 years until the excavation at the beginning of the game.
After having a lengthy discussion with Omega about their shared past, EGG is clarified about who he was. EGG was originally a scientist named Dr. Beta, who helped to construct a colony on the moon (Moon Colony). He was also an important researcher there. It was constructed during the time of World War 3, where the world became so ravaged and destroyed, that people lived at the colony until it was safe enough to return to Earth. The Armordress from the second flashback was what made World War 3 deadlier than it should have been. Fogna served as a “gateway” between Earth and Moon Colony. '''''Omega states that Psycho Mother was originally programmed by a scientist named Alpha. Because he isn't mentioned anywhere else in the game, this character was most likely to be used for a future sequel, which never came to be.''''' Omega orders EGG to go to Moon Colony, using the spaceship at Fog Tower to get there. However, while riding the ship, Psycho Mother learns of EGG's and Omega's actions. Omega is killed, and EGG dodges a tentacle launched at him.
At Moon Colony, all of the previous robots that were stationed there have gone haywire, due to the powers of Psycho Mother. There, EGG finds Moon Colony's main computer, Grand Mother. She orders EGG to find the Nova Stone, which can unlock the 16th basement of Fogna where Psycho Mother lives. She wants Psycho Mother to be defeated once and for all.
EGG finds the Nova Stone from Moon Colony, and returns to Tokion back on Earth. If EGG speaks with Juji at the village square before pursuing Psycho mother one-on-one, the player will have to make two '''''very''''' important choices. If the player selects EGG to say "I refuse (the money)" and "No, I feel sorry for you", EGG will learn things of Juji's past. During the conversation, Juji begins to speak in a sad and more human tone, compared to his personality as a brutal dictator. He even speaks pleasantly about a child who offered him bread. EGG can then go to meet Rots at the Easttokion Bar. After Rots asks EGG how Juji is doing, the player should select "He was thinking". Rots then leaves to meet Juji. However, once EGG goes back to the village square, Juji is nowhere to be found, and Rots explains to him their grudge (which was before unexplained):
::: Rots and Juji were best friends, and both worked as archaeologists. Juji had a 5-year-old son named Timmy, who would follow them on their excavations. When they went inside Fogna to find something (years before "The Breeding" took place), an earthquake happened, and Timmy became trapped under rocks. Rots and Juji quickly run out of Fogna to check to see if we were safe. Unfortunately, Juji struggled to get Timmy out of the rocks, so Rots went around town to get help. However, no one was willing to help, and Timmy died in front of Juji's eyes as a result.
::: Once Juji became Tokion's dictator, he would purge its people out of revenge of neglecting his son. To ensure the last step of the people's destruction, Juji ordered his Pirates to go to the bottom of Fogna, to find "Fogna's ultimate power" (he is referring to what was later discovered to be Psycho Mother). This was the exact moment that created "The Breeding", and all of the tentacles that destroyed Tokion.
::: Rots then told EGG that Juji stole a man's robot to stop "The Breeding" and Psycho Mother himself, trying to correct his past wrongdoing of unleashing her power.
Once EGG reaches the last room of Fogna's 16th basement, EGG confronts Psycho Mother. She is in an extremely mad state, appearing more vicious and scary than before. Before shutting down permanently, Psycho Mother uses the last of her energy to hatch the large snowglobe egg found in the center of Fogna. A large tube tunnel of tentacles is created from the snowglobe egg, connecting to Fogna's rooftop. There, Psycho Mother's son Noman is born.
Upon taking the elevator to the snowglobe egg room, Juji is seen at the brink of death. In his last breaths, Juji tells EGG how he unsuccessfully tried to stop Psycho Mother and her forces, and that EGG is the last hope in stopping "The Breeding" that he created long ago. Juji also offers EGG an Energy Tank before dying. Without it, EGG will have a very difficult time defeating Noman.
In his last words, Juji says, '''''"Oh... He's calling me... Timmy, Daddy's here..."'''''
Confronting Noman on Fogna's roof, Noman attaches himself to a large monster to make him unstoppable. EGG successfully defeats Noman and the monster, sending him through a black hole. Upon the defeat, EGG's friends congratulate him for stopping Psycho Mother and her forces (especially for Noman). However, EGG tells them that the only way "The Breeding" can officially be ended is for him to return to Moon Colony, shutting down Fogna permanently from there. As a result, '''''EGG cannot return to Earth to visit his friends'''''. EGG wishes them a final farewell before leaving and permanently shuts down Fogna with the Grand Mother computer. Fogna couldn't be shut down prior to EGG's first visit with Grand Mother, as Psycho Mother's power prevented Fogna from being able to self-destruct.
The game ends with an important life message:
::: ''"'''In the past, people made many mistakes. We still do. That may never change. However, we are also given the ability to correct mistakes and make fresh starts. As long as we do not forget that, we can rise again and again after any degree of destruction. We should be able to live along with our planet because we are also one of the lives that it has created and raised. In the future, our planet may be blessed with beautiful and perfect civilizations. Or it may be violated again. It is... up to us...'''"''
With reading the plotline and all its complex details, the context is obvious. This is explaining Juji's past evil and his change-of-heart in helping EGG to stop Psycho Mother (who he sent his Pirates to unleash at the beginning of the game).
Bettie Page is an ambitious, naïve, and devout young Christian woman who longs to leave Nashville, Tennessee, following a childhood of sexual abuse, a failed wartime marriage, and a gang rape. In 1949, she departs for New York City, where she enrolls in an acting class. Amateur photographer Jerry Tibbs discovers her walking on the beach at Coney Island and she agrees to model for him. He suggests she restyle her hair with the bangs that would become her trademark.
Bettie becomes a favorite of nature photographers (including Bunny Yeager, who films her posing with two leopards), and she has no hesitation about removing her clothes for the photographers when asked. Before long images of the shapely brunette reach brother-and-sister entrepreneurs Paula and Irving Klaw, who run a respectable business selling movie stills and memorabilia, but also deal with fetish photos, magazines, and 8- and 16-millimeter films for additional income. Their top model Maxie takes Bettie under her wing, and she soon finds herself wearing leather corsets and thigh-high boots while wielding whips and chains for photographer John Willie, frequently at the request of Little John, a mild-mannered attorney with unusual tastes. Bettie is innocently unaware of the sexual nature of the images that rapidly are making her a star in the underground world of bondage aficionados.
In 1955, Bettie is called to testify before a hearing, headed by Senator Estes Kefauver, investigating the effects of pornography on American youth. Though she waits patiently for 12 hours to answer the committee's questions, Kefauver, for reasons unknown, decides to not bring her before the committee and dismisses her without an explanation. When it becomes apparent that casting directors are more interested in her notoriety than in any acting talent she might possess, Bettie heads to Miami Beach. Drifting along with limited career prospects and a virtually nonexistent social life, she stumbles upon a small evangelical church, walks inside and rushes forward to embrace Jesus Christ during the altar call. Although she insists she is not ashamed of anything she has done in her life, she appears happy to leave her past behind and return to her spiritual roots by preaching the word of the Lord on street corners.
In New York, Irving is highly stressed and suffering from poor health. He decides that he and his sister must burn their vast collection of erotic photos and movie footage to avoid potential prosecution. Paula reluctantly complies with her brother's request, but secretly saves the negatives of many of Bettie's pictures and movies from the bonfire, thereby ensuring that Bettie's work will survive for future generations.
When a tremendous fire ravages a forest, a bear twice as tall as a man flees to the river island of Ortelga, and is found exhausted by Kelderek, a hunter who thinks the bear may be Lord Shardik, "the Power of God", returned to his worshippers. Kelderek shares his belief with the local barons and priestesses. The Ortelgans once ruled the Beklan Empire. Against the wishes of the Tuginda, the high priestess, a military campaign is launched to retake Bekla. The bear is sedated, caged, and carried to the campaign, awakening and breaking free in the middle of a battle which they are losing. Shardik's attack demoralises the enemy and the opposing army is routed.
Shardik's worship is restored to central prominence in Bekla with Kelderek as priest-king. Five years into his rule, Bekla remains at war and there is discontent, particularly over the Ortelgans' expansion of legal slavery. When the bear escapes and flees again, Kelderek alone follows in pursuit. The two of them stagger through the wilderness for a long time, both of them on the brink of starvation and madness, meeting many foes along the way. Kelderek loses both ability and desire to continue, having lost his faith. Finally reaching Zeray, a lawless town beyond the borders of civilisation, he re-encounters the Tuginda and Melathys, a former priestess of Shardik, and the two fall in love.
Kelderek is captured by Genshed, an unlicensed slave-trader with a large group of children, whom he delights in tormenting. Genshed is fleeing from insurrection forces who despise the slave trade, and many children do not survive the march. Genshed is on the point of killing Kelderek despite knowing his prisoner's value as the former ruler of Bekla, when the dying Shardik erupts from the woods. The bear attacks Genshed, mortally wounding him before collapsing dead in the river. Kelderek, his faith restored, returns to the town of Zeray with the children and is appointed its governor by Bekla's new rulers. Some years later, the town is now the home of so many orphans that children outnumber adults by two to one, and work in this society much like adults. Shardik's death is perceived as sacred and a sign that all children are to be valued. Kelderek and Melathys are married with two children of their own, beginning trade negotiations with an emissary from the distant kingdom of Zakalon.
A young psychic boy is taken aboard a starship at the request of the government. The boy is considered both a misfit and dangerous because he has the ability to read minds on earth. However, once aboard he travels into deep space where he comes into contact with a sentient starship. The mission of the crew is to somehow communicate with the alien craft and bring it back to earth. However, things don't go to plan when the young psychic makes contact and decides to take matters into his own hands.
1979, USA, Doubleday , Pub date 1 April 1979, Hardback 1980, UK, Sidgwick & Jackson, , Pub date 1980, Hardback 1980, UK, Readers Union/The Science Fiction Book Club [UK], Pub date 1980, Hardback 1982, USA, Ace Books, , Pub date, Feb 1982, Paperback 1982, UK, Sidgwick & Jackson, , Pub date 1980, Omnibus Hardback 1983 France, Les Enfants du Voyage, Opta (OPTA - Galaxie Bis #96), , Cover: J. L. Verdier, 206pp, Pub date Dec 1983, Paperback *1985, USA, Ace Books, , Cover: Walter Velez, Pub date, Dec. 1985, Paperback
The name Tin Woodman is derived from ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' Tin Woodman character. The name is used as a euphemism for the alien, the subject of the novel, who like the Woodman seeks happiness by having its heart restored.
The series focuses on Lan Hikari and his NetNavi, MegaMan.EXE as they build their friendship while dealing with threats from various NetCrime organizations. Along with Lan are friends Maylu Sakurai, Dex Ogreon, Yai Ayano, Tory Froid, and their respective Navis: Roll, GutsMan, Glide, IceMan. Although the series originally remains fairly close to the original ''Battle Network'' in terms of storyline, it begins to diverge greatly partway into the series. For example, there is no evidence showing that Lan and MegaMan were twin brothers in the anime, unlike in the games where it is revealed near the end of the first ''Battle Network'' game.
Three young women—Kelly MacNamara, Casey Anderson, and Petronella "Pet" Danforth—perform in a rock band, the Kelly Affair, managed by Harris Allsworth, Kelly's boyfriend. The four travel to Los Angeles to find Kelly's estranged aunt, Susan Lake, heiress to a family fortune. After Susan promises Kelly a third of her inheritance, Porter Hall, her sleazy financial advisor, discredits Kelly as a "hippie" to dissuade Susan from dividing the fortune he secretly wants to embezzle.
Undeterred, Susan introduces the Kelly Affair to a flamboyant, well-connected rock producer, Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell, who coaxes them into an impromptu performance at one of his outrageous parties (after a set by real-life band Strawberry Alarm Clock). The band is so well-received that becomes their svengali manager, changing their name to the Carrie Nations and starting a long-simmering feud with Harris.
Kelly drifts away from Harris and dates Lance Rocke, a high-priced gigolo, who has his own designs on her inheritance. After losing Kelly, Harris is seduced by the sexually aggressive porn star Ashley St. Ives. She soon tires of his conventional nature and waning libido due to increasing drug and alcohol intake. Harris's further descent into drug and alcohol use leads to a fistfight with Lance and a one-night stand with Casey which results in pregnancy. Kelly ends her affair with Lance after he severely beats Harris.
Casey, distraught at getting pregnant and wary of men's foibles, has a lesbian affair with fashion designer Roxanne, who pressures her to have an abortion. Pet has a seemingly enchanted romance with law student Emerson Thorne after a meet cute at one of parties. Their fairy-tale romance frays when Pet sleeps with Randy Black, a violent prize fighter who beats up Emerson and tries to run him down with a car.
Porter offers Kelly $50,000 to relinquish any claim to Susan's inheritance. When Kelly angrily rejects his offer at one of parties, Susan learns of his underhanded ploy and severs her ties with him.
The Carrie Nations release several records despite constant touring and drug use. Upset at being pushed to the sidelines, Harris attempts suicide by leaping from the rafters of a sound stage during a television appearance by the band. Harris survives the fall but becomes paraplegic from his injuries.
Kelly devotes herself to caring for Harris and Emerson forgives Pet for her infidelity. Casey and Roxanne share a tender romance and Susan Lake is reunited with her former fiancé, Baxter Wolfe. This idyllic existence ends when invites Casey, Roxanne, and Lance to a psychedelic-fueled party at his house. After tries to seduce Lance, who spurns him, he reveals that he has breasts and is a female in drag. goes on a murderous rampage: he beheads Lance with a sword, stabs his servant Otto to death, and shoots Roxanne and Casey, killing them.
Responding to a desperate phone call Casey made shortly before her death, Kelly, Harris, Pet, and Emerson arrive at house to subdue him. Pet is wounded in the melee, which ends in death. Harris is able to move his feet, the start of his recovery from paralysis. Three couples—Kelly and Harris, Pet and Emerson, and Susan and Baxter—wed while Porter watches from outside the courthouse window.
Anthony Fait and his crew of thieves attempts to steal diamonds for a Frenchman named Christophe, who serves as the middleman for a mysterious employer. When Fait contacts Christophe, a Taiwanese intelligence agent named Su intercepts the conversation and attempts to identify the criminals.
While the crew gathers up as many diamonds as they can, including a bag of black diamonds, Agent Su calls Fait and demands that he and his crew leave the diamonds in the vault, warning him that the police are on the way. However, Fait ignores this warning, and the criminals attempt a daring escape past a SWAT team blockade. While Fait, and his crew members Daria and Tommy, all manage to escape, Agent Su captures Miles and recovers Miles' share of the diamonds. Su is disappointed to find that Miles does not have the black diamonds though. Meanwhile, Fait asks his friend Archie to appraise the black diamonds he had stolen. Arriving at the San Francisco International Airport, Christophe's mysterious employer, Ling, is informed by his assistant Sona, that Christophe has been attacked and that Fait and his gang have taken the black diamonds.
Later that night, Fait runs into Su. During this inadvertent meeting, Fait receives a phone call from Ling, who demands that Fait hand over the black diamonds. Fait refuses and is subsequently attacked by two of Ling's henchman. With Su's help, he defeats them and escapes. After the fight, Archie tells Fait that some gangsters came to his workshop and demanded the black diamonds as well. After some hesitation, Archie admits that he gave the stones to the gangsters to spare his own life. Fait also receives another call from Ling, who has kidnapped Fait's daughter, Vanessa, to persuade Fait to give up the diamonds. Now with a common enemy, Fait and Su team up to recover the diamonds from the gangsters and rescue Vanessa from Ling.
Fait visits jailed crime lord "Jump" Chambers, most likely the employer of the gangsters who had robbed Archie. When Chambers refuses to cooperate, Fait goes to Chambers' night club, hoping to find the stones somewhere in his office. The plan goes awry, and Fait and the gang have to leave empty-handed. Meanwhile, Su and Archie go to an underground club to try to find the gangsters who attacked Archie. Because the club does not allow guests, Su is forced to enter as a fighter in the club's fighting ring. During Su's fight, Archie sees the man they are looking for, recognizing the man's ring. Through this informant, they learn that the diamonds are hidden in the bubble bath in Chamber's office. When they return to the nightclub to retrieve the diamonds, they find that Ling's men have already taken the stones. Meanwhile, while locked in a van, the bound and gagged Vanessa frees herself, and finds a cell phone to call her father. Just before the phone's battery runs out, Vanessa gives some clues as to her location. With these clues, the gang surmises that Vanessa is being held in an airport hangar.
Realizing that Ling will want to auction off the stones, which are actually weapons of mass destruction, the group searches flight schedules to find an airport where a large number of private flights will be landing that night. Finding the right airport, the group races to the hangar, where Ling's auction is already starting. A fight ensues, and Fait and his crew take out members of Ling's team, while Su battles Ling in a one on one fight. Eventually, Vanessa is rescued and Ling is killed after Su forces him to swallow a capsule of synthetic plutonium and then breaks the capsule lodged in his neck. When the police arrive, Fait promises to end his criminal career in order to lead a safe and happy life with Vanessa.
King Dedede has challenged Kirby and other members of Dream Land to an Avalanche Competition at the Fountain of Dreams. Kirby decides to take on the challenge, battling his way through the forest in Avalanche matches against an assortment of his old foes from ''Kirby's Dream Land'' and ''Kirby's Adventure'' (including recurring bosses such as Whispy Woods, Kracko and Meta Knight), and ultimately to a final showdown at the Fountain of Dreams with King Dedede to win the Cup.
The cast of ''The Silver Star'' all return for the game's remake, retaining their original designs by anime and manga artist Toshiyuki Kubooka. Players assume the role of Alex, who is joined by a menagerie of playable and supporting characters who aid him on his quest.
Alex - a young boy from a small town who dreams of becoming an adventurer like his idol, Dyne. Luna - his childhood friend and sweetheart Nall - a winged, white, cat-like creature with an uncertain origin Ramus - son of the town mayor with dreams of becoming a rich businessman Nash - a boisterous magician-in-training from a prestigious magic school Mia - quiet daughter of the magic guild's headmistress Jessica - a tomboyish priestess Kyle - a self-absorbed vagrant and ladies' man as well as Jessica's strained boyfriend.
Each character's personalities were expanded for the new version to make them easier for the player to relate to, and give each of them more presence in the game's story. As the game's designers felt that Luna was lacking presence in the original game, she was included in the player's party for a longer period and her past was expanded by giving her confounding dream sequences.
Ghaleon, a dark magician who seeks godhood, serves as the primary antagonist, and initially appears as an ally to Alex's cause. In the new version, Ghaleon's personality is altered to make him a more sympathetic character. Motivation for his plans to rule the world were shifted from revenge to misplaced concern for humanity not having a true leader. He is still undeniably ruthless and cruel, however. Game Arts added new villains to the story, feeling that the game's opposition lacked enough characterization. These include Royce and Phacia, two powerful sorceresses who are sisters to Xenobia, Ghaleon's top general who appeared in the original as his sole underling (who, in this version, actually has romantic feelings for him).
The plot of ''Silver Star Story Complete'' remains true to the original Sega CD version written by Kei Shigema. Novelist Keisuke Shigematsu was recruited as the remake's scenario writer, and was tasked with expanding the previous script written by Shigema to make the game more current. As in the original version, players assume the role of Alex, a young boy who hopes to become a great hero like his idol, the legendary Dragonmaster Dyne. At the insistence of his fortune-hunting friend Ramus, Alex travels to the nearby Dragon's Cave with his cat-like companion Nall, and sweetheart Luna, to seek a precious gem. When the team reaches the cave's interior, they find Quark, an aged, wise dragon who sees hidden potential in Alex, and beckons him to travel the world and become its protector as the new Dragonmaster. Returning home, the group expresses mutual interest in Alex's quest; Ramus wishes to sell the dragon gem at a large city, Nall wants to find out what he is, and Luna merely to protect Alex. The group sets off across the frontier to the port town of Saith to continue their journey.
Traveling through the Weird Woods, Luna sings a magic song to clear a patch of thick fog in their path, yet is not sure how she knew it would work. The group is surrounded by a horde of monsters, and are defended by a traveling warrior named Laike. Finding Alex's quest to become Dragonmaster humorous, Laike nonetheless wishes him and his friends luck as they leave the forest. Arriving at Saith, the group meets Nash, a magician-in-training from a prestigious magic school who needs transport back to his home, and joins the group on a boat to the eastern continent. Unlike the original Sega CD version, Luna continues with Alex rather than stay behind to give her a bigger role in the plot. After arriving in the port town of Meribia, Ramus leaves the group to become a salesman at his own shop, while the rest of the team travels to the floating city of Vane to meet Ghaleon, a former adventurer who traveled with Dyne before his death. Ghaleon sends Alex and Luna on a quest to stop a false Dragonmaster from harassing a village where he meets Jessica, a priestess and daughter of the legendary hero "Hell" Mel. Returning to Vane, Ghaleon tells Alex he wants to see Quark to discuss his future as Dragonmaster, with Luna joining them on a return trip to Burg. After arriving at the dragon cave, Ghaleon and Quark reminisce before Ghaleon cryptically asks whether Luna is "the one from back then". Upon hearing an affirmation, Ghaleon's mood changes, and suddenly transforms into a more sinister form, The Magic Emperor, who turns Quark to energy and kidnaps Luna, remarking that he will now use her in his quest to rule the world.
The game's final scenario and the reason for Ghaleon's actions differ slightly from the original, with the Goddess Althena's instability serving as the catalyst for the events rather than a rampaging Black Dragon. In this version, Laike relates the story of how one day fifteen years ago, the Goddess Althena concluded that people were depending too much on her, rather than growing as people and as a civilization, and that by continuing to mother them, she was doing more harm than good. Despite Ghaleon's pleas, Dyne and Althena used their powers to spread her life force throughout the world, transforming her into an infant, to live out a mortal life as a human. Ghaleon, believing humanity could not survive without a god watching over them, cut off all ties to his former friend and set his plan into motion to ascend to godhood himself in Althena's place; his cause set on rule rather than revenge as in the original. Believing that humanity was strong and resourceful enough to live on their own, Dyne left the young girl in the care of Alex's parents to raise her as their own daughter before he began his new life as Laike, a traveling adventurer. Now knowing the truth of Luna's origins, Alex and his friends travel to the Goddess tower to save her and stop Ghaleon from seizing control of the world. Defeating his generals, Alex confronts Ghaleon at the tower's upper pagoda, where the ritual to transfer Luna's power to him has already begun. Echoing Dyne's earlier declaration on the strength of humanity, Alex's team attacks and defeats Ghaleon as his fortress crumbles around them. With Luna still caught in a trance, Alex attempts to reason with her to leave while the others are teleported to safety. Playing his ocarina, Alex awakens Luna's memories before the two are transported to the surface as the tower collapses, re-uniting with their companions.
The story begins with Neddy Merrill lounging at a friend's pool on a warm midsummer day. On a whim, Neddy decides to return home by swimming through all the pools in the neighborhood, which he names "the Lucinda River" to honor his wife. He begins the journey enthusiastic and full of youthful energy and, in the early stops on his journey, his friends enthusiastically greet him with drinks; it is readily apparent that he is well-regarded, and has an upper or upper-middle-class social standing.
As his journey progresses, the story's tone gradually becomes darker and more surreal. Despite the ever-present afternoon light, it becomes unclear how much time has passed: at the beginning of the story it is clearly midsummer, but eventually all natural signs point to the season being autumn. Some old acquaintances Neddy encounters mention his financial problems, although he does not remember having such misfortunes. He is patently unwelcome at several houses belonging to owners of a lower social class. His earlier, youthful energy gradually declines, and it becomes increasingly painful and difficult for him to swim on. Finally, he staggers back home only to find his house decrepit, empty, and abandoned.
Captain David O'Keefe, seeking his fortune in the 19th century South Pacific, decides to enlist island natives to harvest copra, but runs into a wall of cultural problems. Backed by a Chinese dentist, he obtains a ship and sets about harvesting copra while fending off cantankerous native chieftains and ambitious German empire-builders. The natives, happy with their existence, see no reason to work hard to obtain copra, either for a German trading company or for O'Keefe. He finally motivates them by showing them how to produce large quantities of Rai stones, the stone money of Yap, their valued coinage.
In order to cast the world into eternal night, the Lord of Darkness sends the goblin Blix to kill the unicorns in the forest near his castle and bring him their horns. Told by Darkness that the best bait is Innocence, Blix and his colleagues Pox and Blunder follow Princess Lili as she visits her forest-dwelling paramour, Jack in the Green. There Jack teaches Lili to speak to animals, then takes her blindfolded to a forest stream where he senses the unicorns will appear. When Lili holds out her hand to touch the stallion, Blix shoots him with a poison dart from his blowpipe and the unicorns flee. Jack is angry but Lili laughs off his concern and issues a challenge by throwing her ring into a pond, declaring she will marry whoever finds it. While Jack dives in after the ring, the goblins track down the poisoned stallion and sever his alicorn, causing winter to descend. Lili runs off in terror and Jack is barely able to break through the surface of the now frozen pond.
Lili takes refuge in the cottage of a peasant family who are now frozen in time. While there, Lili sees the goblins test the alicorn's magic powers and overhears how she was the bait in their slaying of the stallion. She follows the goblins to a rendezvous with Darkness, who tells them the world cannot be cast into eternal night as long as the surviving mare still lives. Blunder unsuccessfully tries using the alicorn to overthrow Darkness and gets sent into the castle's dungeon. Meanwhile, Jack, accompanied by the forest elf Honeythorn Gump, the fairy Oona, and the dwarves Brown Tom and Screwball, finds the mare mourning the lifeless stallion. Lamenting over his role in their current predicament, Jack apologizes to the mare, who communicates to him that the alicorn must be recovered and returned to the stallion by a great hero. Deciding Jack is that hero, they leave Brown Tom to guard the unicorns while Jack and the others retrieve a hidden cache of ancient weapons and armor. In their absence, Lili warns Brown Tom of the goblins coming back to kill the mare. He is then incapacitated by the goblins who capture both Lili and the mare.
Upon returning, Jack and his group make their way to Darkness' castle. On the way, they are attacked by a swamp hag named Meg Mucklebones but defeat her by flattering her appearance and then decapitating her. At the castle, Jack's group falls into an underground prison cell where they encounter Blunder, who is revealed to be a fairy gone astray, before he is dragged off by an ogre to be baked into a pie. Oona uses her magic to escape their cell and retrieves the keys to free the others.
Meanwhile, as Lili roams the castle seeking warmth and escape, a dark, dancing entity appears to tempt and turn her into a gothic version of herself. Darkness orchestrated this to claim her as his bride, and seemingly seduced, she agrees to wed him on condition that she will be the one to kill the mare in the upcoming ritual. Overhearing their conversation, Jack and Gump learn Darkness can be destroyed by daylight. After saving Blunder, the group takes the ogres' giant metal platters as makeshift mirrors to reflect sunlight into the chamber where the mare is to be sacrificed.
As the ritual begins, Lili tries to free the mare, but Darkness casts onto her a spell of sleep, and Jack's group redirects the evening sun with the platters as he fights Darkness, finally wounding him with the stallion's alicorn right before the redirected sunlight shines into the room, blasting Darkness to the edge of a void. However, he warns them that because evil lurks in all beings, he will never truly be vanquished. Wavering in doubt, Jack finally severs the hand of Darkness, thus expelling him. Gump then returns the stallion to life and winter ends. Jack retrieves Lili's ring from the pond and places it on her finger, waking her from the spell.
There are three different versions of the film’s conclusion: * In the Director's Cut, Lili wakes with Jack trying to convince her she was merely dreaming, but she is ultimately unconvinced. They confess their true love for each other, but realize they live in two different lifestyles, which causes Lili to request continuing a merely platonic relationship. Jack, happy with this request for the first time, accepts. Lili returns to her home to assume her responsibilities, promising to visit him again. Jack happily runs off into the sunset, hailed by the forest fairies and the revived unicorns. * In the American theatrical version, Jack and Lili assure each other of their love and watch the unicorns reunite, and they run off into the sunset together, hailed by the forest fairies and the unicorns. Darkness watches them from the void, laughing. * The European version also ends with both Jack and Lili running off into the sunset, but without Darkness's final appearance.
The film opens in the Cape Colony in January 1879. British Army officer Lord Chelmsford plots with diplomat Sir Henry Bartle Frere to annex the neighbouring Zulu Empire, which they perceive as a threat to the Cape Colony's emerging industrial economy. Frere issues an ultimatum to the Zulu king, Cetshwayo, demanding that he dissolve the Zulu military; an indignant Cetshwayo rebuffs the demand, providing Lord Chelmsford and Frere with a ''casus belli'' against the Zulus. Despite objections from prominent individuals in the Cape Colony and Great Britain, Frere authorises Lord Chelmsford to command a British expeditionary force to invade the Zulu Empire.
The British expeditionary force marches into the Zulu Empire, with Lord Chelmsford directing it towards the Zulu capital, Ulundi. Eager to bring the war to a swift conclusion, the British become increasingly frustrated as the Zulu military adopted a Fabian strategy, refusing to engage in a pitched battle; a few skirmishes occurred between British and Zulu scouts with indecisive results. Three Zulu warriors allowed themselves to be captured in a skirmish and are interrogated by the British, but refused to divulge any information and eventually escape, informing their commander of the British dispositions. Halfway to Ulundi, Lord Chelmsford, ordered the British force to make camp at the base of Mount Isandlwana, ignoring the advice of his Boer attendants to fortify the camp and transform his supply wagons into a laager.
Upon receiving inaccurate reports from his scouts concerning the Zulus' dispositions, Lord Chelmsford leads half the British force on a wild goose chase far from the camp against a phantom Zulu force. The next day, the British camp receives reinforcements led by Colonel Durnford, who dispatches scouts to reconnoiter the surrounding area before leaving the camp to personally scout the region. One of the British scouting parties discovers a Zulu force massing at the bottom of a nearby valley. The Zulu force quickly attacks the British camp, but are initially repulsed; however, they spread out and adopt a strategy of encircling the British, who are eventually pushed back after they run out of ammunition. A massed infantry charge by the Zulu force breaks the British lines, causing them to retreat back towards their camp. Overwhelmed by the attacking Zulus, the British force collapses and is quickly massacred.
Zulu warriors quickly hunt down any British survivors fleeing the battle, while several British soldiers attempt an unsuccessful last stand. The British camp's commander, Colonel Pulleine, entrusts a regimental colour to his soldiers who attempt to carry it safely back to the Cape Colony; they pass numerous dead and dying British soldiers during their journey. Eventually reaching the Buffalo River, the British soldiers are discovered and killed by Zulu warriors; the colour is captured by a Zulu. One of the British soldiers, who lies mortally wounded, shoots and kills the Zulu wielding the colour, who drops it into the river, where it floats out of reach of the Zulu force. In the evening, Lord Chelmsford returns to the scene of the battle, and receives news that a Zulu force has attacked Rorke's Drift. The film ends with Zulu warriors dragging captured artillery back to Ulundi.
The Warlock, whose actual name is both unknown and unpronounceable, is a very powerful sorcerer at least 200 years old. He observes that when he stays in one place too long, his powers dwindle and that they return only when he leaves that place. Experimentation leads him to create an apparatus, now known as the Warlock's Wheel, consisting of a metal disc enchanted to spin perpetually. The enchantment eventually consumes all of the mana in the vicinity, which causes a localized failure in all magic. The Warlock realizes that magic is fueled by a non-renewable resource, which would cause great concern among the magicians, as it was through their magic that nations enforced their wills both internally and abroad. The widespread diminishing of magical power in ''The Magic Goes Away'' triggered a quest on the part of the most powerful of the magicians of the time to harness a new source of magic, the Moon, which results in the events described in the book.
It was eventually discovered (in ''The Magic May Return'') that mana was originally carried to Earth and the other bodies of the solar system on the solar wind, which replenishes mana slowly over time. However, at some point in the "recent" past (a few thousand years ago) a god created an invisible shield between Earth and Sun that intercepted the solar mana and caused the eventual decline of magic on Earth.
Traditional fantasy creatures inhabit Niven's ''Magic'' universe, but devolve into normal animals when deprived of mana. For example, a unicorn becomes a simple horse.
Copying his father's approach of focusing on the most important officers of the two armies (General Robert E. Lee, Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, and Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Chamberlain), Shaara depicted the emotional drama of soldiers fighting old friends while accurately detailing historical details including troop movements, strategies, and tactical combat situations. General Hancock, for instance, spends much of the novel dreading the day he will have to fire on his friend in the Confederate Army, Lewis "Lo" Armistead. The novel also deals with General Lee's disillusionment with the Confederate bureaucracy and General Jackson's religious fervor.
In addition to covering events leading up to the war, the book includes the battles of First Bull Run, covered only from the perspective of Robert E. Lee, who was in Richmond at the time and thus not at the battle, Williamsburg, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. The film version provides only cursory coverage of immediate pre-war events, focusing primarily on Jackson and the secession of Virginia, and omits Antietam (included in the Director's Cut) along with Williamsburg and Second Bull Run. It spends a considerable amount of time on First Bull Run, which played only a minor role in the book.
A young woman named Becky wakes up in the Cube. She enters another room; however, the room enters a state of reversed gravity, pulling her up, and it is implied that she is killed.
Later, seven captives — Kate, Simon, Jerry, Max, Julia, the blind Sasha, and the elderly Mrs. Paley — find themselves trapped in brightly lit cubes, each with a panel on each of the six sides, which are doors to other rooms. They come across Colonel Thomas Maguire, who informs the group that they must solve a code in order to escape. A wall then begins to close in on the group; they escape while Thomas intentionally stays behind and is killed. Later experiences around the cube reveal that gravity can operate in different directions in each room, while Mrs. Paley, who is revealed to be a retired theoretical mathematician, and Jerry realize that they may be in a tesseract, or a hypercube. Kate notices the numbers "60659" in every room.
The group soon realizes that they are all in some way connected to Izon, a defense contractor. Mrs. Paley opens a panel to reveal her being killed by Simon, who is decapitated soon after by crystal beams. Jerry thinks that it is a parallel universe, while Max and Julia think it is an optical illusion. Later, while the group is sleeping, Simon explains to Jerry that he is a private investigator and is looking for Becky, a missing Izon worker. Meanwhile, Sasha hears a noise and awakens everyone. The group finds a floating square in the middle of the room, which grows into shifting variations of a tesseract, before expanding into a lethal and rapidly spinning frame. The group flees into another room, but Jerry is injured and eventually shredded by the tesseract, which grows rapidly. Kate remains to save Sasha, who is still trapped in the room, narrowly avoiding death as they group in one of the corners of the room where the tesseract cannot reach, as the tesseract conforms back to a cube and disappears. Sasha and Kate are separated from the group, as a result.
Simon starts to suspect that Mrs. Paley is an undercover spy, so he gags her and ties her up, but crystal beams start protruding from the walls. Simon tries to save Mrs. Paley, but Paley refuses to let him go, so he stabs her with his knife. Max and Julia, disturbed that Simon killed Mrs. Paley, leave and abandon him. They then begin to develop romantic feelings for each other and have sex but, unbeknownst to them, they are in a room that is zero-gravity and time dilated. They age rapidly and eventually die. Kate finds the corpses floating in the air, still in mid-coitus. Simon, alone and hungry, goes insane. He encounters a parallel Jerry and the missing Becky and kills them both.
Meanwhile, Kate finds grisly alternate realities of her death in other rooms and is horrified. Sasha tells Kate that time and space are distorted where they are, that the tesseract will implode and reality is collapsing. She reveals that she is Alex Trusk, a computer hacker who is responsible for the creation of the tesseract. She also reveals that when she discovered that Izon was putting people inside the tesseract, she tried to stop their operation, but was pursued so she "fled into the only place they wouldn't follow": the tesseract. Kate, however, still believes that there is a way out. Kate then finds Simon and stabs him in the eye after he grabs her in another room, as Simon appears behind Alex, aged and blind in one eye, proving Alex's space-time theory. Alex claims that they "are all dead", which causes Simon to snap her neck, believing that if they are all dead that it would not really matter if he kills her now.
Kate finds that the tesseract is shrinking, and she stabs Simon in the leg with his knife and punches him in his throat, killing him. She looks at the numerous duplicates of Jerry's watch and realizes that "60659" is the time that the tesseract will implode; 6:06:59. She takes Alex's necklace, which is filled with confidential information on Izon. The hypercube starts to wear away, and Kate opens a panel in the bottom, revealing a black void. At 6:06:59, she jumps in just as the Hypercube implodes.
Kate wakes up in the hands of Izon authorities in an unknown factory. She gives them the necklace, but, because of their confidentiality, she is shot in the head by one of the Izon operatives. An Izon authority reports that "Phase 2 is terminated" as the operatives leave the facility.
''Hostile Waters'' takes place in a Utopian future where war has been abolished. In the year 2012, a revolutionary war takes place between the corrupt and power-hungry politicians, leaders and businessmen (described as the "Old Guard") and the people. The Old Guard were defeated, with only a few of their leaders escaping. By 2032, the world has been rebuilt as a utopia, with the help of nano-technological assemblers, which are used in "creation engines" to create matter from energy and waste, for free. The newly united world is governed from a capital city known as Central.
Missile attacks are suddenly launched against major cities all over the world from an unknown location. This is eventually discovered to be an island chain in the South Pacific Ocean. A response to the missile attacks was a special forces team sent in to investigate the area for preliminary investigations. The Ministry of Intelligence (MinIntel) loses contact with it shortly thereafter. The world government authorises a reactivation of the ''Antaeus'' program, a series of warships able to create any weapon of their choosing using their on-board nano-technological creation engine. Two of these were left on the seabed in the case of an emergency, capable of being re-activated and refloating itself. On board are a series of "soulcatcher" chips, a classified 1990s military program researched into for the storage of human brain functions on a silicon chip. The soulcatcher technology was used to store the minds of every crew member ever assigned to an Antaeus vessel.
It is soon discovered that one of the cruisers does not respond to the awakening signal. The other cruiser, however, is refloated and re-activated, with heavy damage to vital ship components. A course is plotted for a nearby disused wet-dock.
As the ''Antaeus'' progresses from the wet-dock, unusual biological life-forms are discovered amongst the enemy bases on the islands. The identity of the aggressor firing the missiles is confirmed as the leftovers of the old, pre-Central forces, known as the Cabal. Outnumbering Central's army a thousand to one, they are fighting with thousands of troops and weapons that they hid away when it was apparent that the war was lost. The ''Antaeus'' is deployed into the chicane to stop the Cabal's operations there. It's later discovered that along with their superior numbers, they have also biologically engineered a species of organic machines, designed in the popular likeness of extraterrestrials, which they intend to use to create the fear of an alien invasion, to facilitate their taking over the world and the removal of the public use of creation engines.
The Cabal later lose control of the species, which eventually turns on its masters, destroying them. The species starts spreading, modifying the planetary climate and geographical features in an attempt to exterminate humanity and make the planet more hospitable to itself. Having exterminated its creators, the species resolves to cleanse humanity as a whole from the planet using a massive 'disassembler cannon', only to be stopped by the ''Antaeus''. The species subsequently attempts to flee into the cosmos and colonise the surrounding planets and stars, by launching a massive number of 'culture stones' (information devices that also double as creation engines) into space from an enormous, artificially-grown organic "island", the final staging point. Central's only option is to bind the ''Antaeus'' creation engine and the disassembler cannon stolen from the aliens together to create a makeshift bomb, and detonate it at the central "column" containing the culture stones. The plan succeeds, and the ''Antaeus'' is sacrificed to save the world.
The final cinematic show the organic disassembler cannon and the ''Antaeus'' creation engine moving closer together and fusing, creating something new. A post-credits scene also shows that two of the species' culture stones have managed to get into space.
The governing body of the galaxy, the Galactic Federation, receives a strange telepathic message. The Federation broadcasts a message to bounty hunter Samus Aran, asking her to investigate and retrieve the "ultimate power", and should it prove irretrievable, to keep it secret or destroy it outright. Six other bounty hunters intercept the transmission and proceed to the Alimbic solar system to claim the power for themselves.Official Nintendo Player's Guide 2006. "Adventure Mode". pp. 20–67.
Through investigation of the planets and space stations that orbit the Alimbic sun, Samus gradually pieces together the history of the Alimbic race. She discovers that they were a peaceful, spiritual, highly evolved society.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: History 05. Area: Vesper Defense Outpost Compression Chamber. "We were a peaceful people, but we defended our homeworld with a fierce determination." The Alimbic utopia was shattered when a comet struck the planet (Alinos), and out of it emerged a monstrous creature named Gorea.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Gorea 03. Area: Arcterra Sanctorus. "At first we thought GOREA was a comet. It crashed upon our planet and emerged as a vapor." The creature copied the cellular structure of the Alimbics, physically mimicking them and their weapons,Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Gorea 04. Area: Arcterra Sanctorus. "GOREA mimicked our cellular structure and replicated itself in solid form." and destroyed their civilization.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Gorea 07. Area: Celestial Archives New Arrival Registration. "Our defenses were useless against GOREA as it swept through our empire in an orgy of annihilation." Unable to stop Gorea's rampage, the last of their race transformed themselves into focused telepathic energy,Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Alimbic War 11. Area: Arcterra Subterranean. "To contain GOREA, our people reduced themselves to pure telepathic energy through the process of ESSENCE TRANSFERENCE." then confined Gorea into a "Seal Sphere",Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Oubliette 01. Area: Arcterra Fault Line. "The monster cannot be defeated. As a last resort, we created the SEAL SPHERE to cage the horror for all eternity." which they placed in a starship called the ''Oubliette''.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Oubliette 03. Area: Vesper Defense Outpost Stasis Bunker. "The ALIMBIC CANNON creates a fissure between this dimension and the INFINITY VOID that houses GOREA's prison, known as the OUBLIETTE." The ship was launched into a dimensional rift called the Infinity Void,Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Oubliette 05. Area: Vesper Defense Outpost Stasis Bunker. "We have sent the OUBLIETTE beyond this dimension to ensure that the galaxy will never again suffer the horror that is GOREA."Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Alimbic Cannon 01. Area: Alinos Alimbic Cannon Control Room. "The ALIMBIC CANNON issues bursts of polarized antimatter beyond light speed at specified coordinates and frequency to open a dimensional rift known as the INFINITY VOID." to be released only when eight keys called "Octoliths" were assembled.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Alimbic Order 05. Area: Vesper Defense Outpost Fuel Stack. "Reunite all EIGHT OCTOLITHS in the CANNON CONTROL ROOM to open the doorway to GOREA."
After warding off the other bounty hunters, Samus retrieves the eight Octoliths and opens the Infinity Void.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Alimbic Cannon opens the Infinity Void. Area: Alinos Alimbic Cannon Control Room. Here, she and the other six hunters confront Gorea, who originated the telepathic message in an attempt to free itself. After the beast absorbs the powers of Samus' rivals,Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Gorea boss intro. Area: Oubliette. Samus engaged in a proacted battle with it. If she did not heed the words of the Alimbic prophecy by shooting seven colored panels in the arena with their representative sub-weapon in a particular sequence, Gorea's demise would quickly destroy the ''Oubliette'' before any of the hunters could evacuate to safety.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Bad ending. Area: Oubliette. Otherwise, the panels would transport her and Gorea to another realm for a more definitive final battle where Gorea becomes invincible to all weapons, save for the new Alimbic weapon, the "Omega Cannon", which Samus finds and uses to destroy Gorea once and for all. As Samus and the other hunters evacuate the exploding ''Oubliette'' on their respective ships, three Alimbic spirits appear before an armorless Samus, and honor her with a salute.Nintendo Software Technology 2006. Scene: Good ending. Area: Oubliette.
In 1952, a semester before Ernesto "Fuser" Guevara is due to complete his medical degree, he and his older friend Alberto Granado, a biochemist, leave Buenos Aires to travel across South America. While there is a goal at the end of their journey - they intend to work in a leper colony in Peru - the main purpose is initially fun and adventure. They desire to see as much of Latin America as they can, more than in just four and a half months, while Granado's purpose is also to bed as many women as will fall for his pickup lines. Their initial method of transport is Granado's dilapidated Norton 500 motorcycle christened ''La Poderosa'' ("The Mighty One").
Their planned route is ambitious, bringing them north across the Andes, along the coast of Chile, through the Atacama Desert and into the Peruvian Amazon in order to reach Venezuela just in time for Granado's 30th birthday on 2 April. However, due to ''La Poderosa's'' breakdown, they are forced to travel at a much slower pace, often walking, and don't make it to Caracas until July.
During their expedition, Guevara and Granado encounter the poverty of the indigenous peasants, and the movie assumes a greater seriousness once the men gain a better sense of the disparity between the "haves" (to which they belong) and the obviously exploited "have-nots" (who make up the majority of those they encounter) by travelling on foot. In Chile, for instance, they encounter a penniless and persecuted couple forced onto the road because of their communist beliefs. In a fire-lit scene, Guevara and Granado ashamedly admit to the couple that they are not out looking for work as well. The duo then accompanies the couple to the Chuquicamata copper mine, where Guevara becomes angry at the treatment of the workers.
However, it is a visit to the ancient Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru that solidifies something in Guevara. His musings are then somberly refocused to how an indigenous civilization capable of building such beauty could be destroyed by the creators of the eventually polluted urban decay of nearby Lima.[https://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=aO4G2cRvUjQ&vq=medium Excerpted Clip of Machu Picchu from the film ''The Motorcycle Diaries''] directed by Walter Salles, distributed by Focus Features, 2004 His reflections are interrupted by Granado, who shares with him a dream to peacefully revolutionize and transform modern South America, to which Guevara quickly retorts: "A revolution without guns? It will never work."
Later, in Peru, they volunteer for three weeks at the San Pablo leper colony. There, Guevara observes both literally and metaphorically the division of society, as the staff live on the north side of a river, separated from the deprived lepers living across the river to the south. To demonstrate his solidarity, and his medical belief that leprosy is not contagious, Guevara refuses to wear rubber gloves during his visit as the head nun requires, choosing instead to shake bare hands and interact normally with the surprised leper patients.
At the end of the film, after his sojourn at the leper colony, Guevara confirms his nascent egalitarian, revolutionary impulses, while making a birthday toast, which is also his first political speech. In it, he invokes a pan-Latin American identity that transcends the arbitrary boundaries of both nation and race. These encounters with social injustice transform the way Guevara sees the world and his purposes in it, and by implication motivates his later political activities as a Marxist revolutionary.
Guevara makes his symbolic "final journey" at night when, despite the danger and his asthma, he swims across the river that separates the two societies of the leper colony, to spend the night in a leper shack, instead of in the doctors' cabins. Later, as they bid each other farewell at an airport, Granado reveals that his birthday was not 2 April, but rather 8 August, and that the aforementioned goal was simply a motivator: Guevara replies that he knew all along. The film closes with an appearance by the real 82-year-old Alberto Granado, along with pictures from the actual journey and a brief mention of Che Guevara's eventual 1967 CIA-assisted execution in the Bolivian jungle.
The planet Tartarus as shown from high orbit.
The game is set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe: a dystopian vision of the far future in which humanity has forged a galaxy-spanning empire, The Imperium of Man. The Imperium, desperately fighting to preserve the human race from extinction, is in a state of constant war with alien species like the Orks or Eldar, as well as insurrections from renegade worlds or the human servants of Chaos, who employ demonic forces and sorcery under either of the Chaos Gods they serve, having deliberately betrayed their once godlike Emperor of Man.
The single player campaign is set on the planet Tartarus, an Imperial colony under siege by Ork invaders, with the player taking the role of the Space Marines' Blood Ravens 3rd Company, led by Captain Gabriel Angelos, that arrives to assist the planet's 37th Tartarus Planetary Defence Force Regiment of the Imperial Guard, led by Colonel Carus Brom. The story of this campaign also sets the stage for the events of Dawn of War II - Retribution.
The Blood Ravens make planetfall.
The Blood Ravens' Space Marines, upon descent to the planet's surface, secure Tartarus' spaceport and start their own operations against the warring Orkish forces. These include key tasks such as the elimination of their leaders (including an Ork Warboss) to destabilize the Orks' fighting spirit. Unknown to the Space Marines, however, the Orks' invasion was in fact engineered by the Chaos Alpha Legion's Sorcerer, Sindri Myr, as a smokescreen to their operations on Tartarus, using the forces of Sindri's supposed commander, Lord Bale. However, during the confrontation with the Warboss, the shuttle which ferries Sindri and Bale away is spotted by a Blood Ravens' scout.
Hearing this, Angelos is set to investigate, but is interrupted by the sudden arrival of Mordecai Toth of the Inquisition, who attempts to order the Blood Ravens to evacuate Tartarus (due to an upcoming Warp Storm that will soon engulf the planet in Chaos energy and prevent warp travel and escape). Angelos allows Toth use of Space Marine transports to assist in the evacuation but desires to remain and investigate, clashing with Toth's resolution, who cites that Angelos' previous request of an Exterminatus (a space-based planetary bombardment) on his once homeworld of Cyrene, years ago, may have affected his judgement, "seeing Chaos where it doesn't exist".
During Angelos' obstinate pursuit, he uncovers the presence of Eldar forces from the Biel-Tan Craftworld, under Farseer Macha, covertly operating on Tartarus and coming across Chaos 'markers' (Sacrificial sites which show the way to a specific location) that Angelos orders his long-friend and Librarian, Isador Akios, to document and then destroy. The Librarian, however, secretly harbours Chaos artifacts and he damages the Blood Ravens' transports to allow further research time, being influenced constantly by Sindri's temptations.
Angelos' forces track the Eldar to the urban settlement of Loovre Marr, engaging them in full-scale battle, as Sindri and the Alpha Legion infiltrate the city and abscond with an artifact, which Macha believes is the "key to the undoing of this world". Witnessing the events too late, Angelos presses Macha for more information, but instead, the Eldar leader implicates Toth's involvement in the matter, citing his obstinance in withholding information and using the matter of the upcoming Warp Storm to avoid involving any other interested party in the conflict. Angelos clashes again with Toth, who assumes command of all of the planet's Imperial assets, except the Blood Ravens and 37th Tartarus Planetary Defence Force, after learning Angelos employed Colonel Brom's Imperial Guard to assist him. Toth claims that Angelos' stubbornness to leave the planet may be a sign of Chaos corruption.
On a hint given by Macha, whose forces are severely weakened due to the battle of Loovre Marr, the Blood Ravens track down the Alpha Legion to the ruins of an Imperial Temple where they are stalled by traitorous Imperial Guard regiments, corrupted by Chaos, giving time for Sindri and Bale to evade pursuit once again. After the battle, Angelos confronts Toth when he arrives at the scene, with Toth revealing the planet bears an ancient Chaos artifact called the Maledictum, a stone which contains the essence of a daemon, capable of influencing human minds to perform its bidding, while summoning Warp Storms to imprison any that attempt to escape. Toth explains that the Eldar presence on Tartarus was to prevent the Alpha Legion from unearthing the stone, unwilling to inform or cooperate with Imperial forces due to arrogant behaviour, seeing themselves as "the only capable defence against its influence".
Gabriel executes the Traitor Isador.
Angelos and Toth make amends and advance against the primary position of the Alpha Legion, as it is performing an unholy ritual to unearth the Maledictum. However, while the Blood Ravens and the remaining loyal Imperial Guard exterminate Lord Bale's forces, the same abandoned by Sindri to die to unearth the artifact, Isador takes the Maledictum and departs with Sindri, revealing that he had been overcome by the temptations of Chaos. Angelos and Toth pursue but only reach him after he has been subdued by Sindri who takes the Maledictum. Toth reveals that he suspected corruption from within the Blood Ravens, but made a mistake in focusing more on Angelos than Isador because of Angelos' obstinacy and dark past, citing it took either "steel or rot" to plead the Inquisition to exterminate the whole population of Angelos' former home. As the Blood Ravens destroy Isador's Chaos forces, Angelos fights Isador in a hand-to-hand duel. Despite Isador's taunts of Gabriel's supposed weakness and guilt for the events of Cyrene, Gabriel overcomes them, citing "innocents must die so that humanity may live", implying that the planet was long corrupted by Chaos and there was no salvation but by destruction. Defeating Isador, Angelos executes him even as the Librarian tries pleading for forgiveness.
Angelos and Toth chase Sindri to a ritual site, as the Warp Storm approaches, but fail to apprehend him before he performs a ritual with the Maledictum to sacrifice himself in order to summon a Daemon Prince. As Toth bequeaths his Daemon Hammer, "God-Splitter", to Angelos, the Blood Ravens, assisted by the Eldar survivors, fight and overcome the remaining Alpha Legion in a violent battle, overcoming the Daemon Prince despite its power. In the aftermath, Toth orders Angelos to destroy the Maledictum, while Macha pleads him to stay his hammer. Angelos, however, quickly destroys it. As all parties start to evacuate, Angelos is called back and faces the daemon that he has unkowingly freed from its prison, the Maledictum. The daemon reveals that all of Tartarus was actually a sacrificial altar to the Chaos God Khorne (the Blood God) and that every death in the confrontation, including the Ork invasion which was arranged by Sindri, were offerings to empower the stone to allow the Daemon's release. It is implied that had the Blood Ravens realised this and destroyed the Maledictum earlier, the daemon would likely have been destroyed as well.
The daemon allows Angelos and the Blood Ravens to leave, though with a message that he soon would be coming for them all. Gabriel vows to destroy the daemon, stating "I know you now", before finally departing Tartarus.
In the screenplay's story, which takes place 75 million years before modern times, an evil galactic ruler, named Xenu, massacres millions of people with assistance from Chu, the Executive President of the Galactic Interplanetary Bank, and Chi, the Galactic Minister of Police.
Eccentric multimillionaire Ezra Ounce (Hugh Herbert), whose main purpose in life is raising American morals through a nationwide campaign, wants to be assured that his fortune will be inherited by upstanding relatives. He visits his cousin Matilda Hemingway (ZaSu Pitts) in New York City, in Horace's view the center of immorality in America. What Ounce finds most offensive are musical comedy shows and the people who put them on, and it just so happens that Matilda's daughter Barbara (Ruby Keeler) is a dancer and singer in love with a struggling singer and songwriter, her 13th cousin, Jimmy Higgens (Dick Powell). On Ezra's instructions, Jimmy the "black sheep" has been ostracized by the family, on pain of not receiving their inheritance.
Matilda's husband Horace (Guy Kibbee) meets a showgirl named Mabel (Joan Blondell), who's been stranded in Troy when her show folds, and connives her way into sleeping in Horace's train compartment as a way to get back home. Terrified of scandal, he leaves her some money and his business card, along with a note telling her to not mention their meeting to anyone; but when Mabel discovers that Horace is Barbara's father, she blackmails him into backing Jimmy's show.
New York City law student and gifted poker player Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) dreams of winning the World Series of Poker. At an underground Texas hold 'em game run by Russian mobster Teddy "KGB" (John Malkovich), an overconfident Mike loses his entire $30,000 bankroll in a single hand. Shaken, he promises his girlfriend and fellow student Jo (Gretchen Mol) he has quit poker, and concentrates on law school. His mentor Joey Knish (John Turturro) offers to stake him to rebuild his bankroll but Mike declines, and instead accepts a part-time job to make ends meet.
Several months pass and Mike stays true to his promise until his childhood friend Lester "Worm" Murphy (Edward Norton) is released from prison. While Mike is an honest player, Worm is a hustler and unapologetic cheat. To help Worm pay off a debt, Mike sets him up with games across town, and reluctantly sits in on a game, interfering with his studies and his relationship with Jo. Mike allows Worm to play on his credit at the Chesterfield Club; however after a profitable session, he takes the profit and a loan, beginning a tab in Mike's name. Worm runs into Grama (Michael Rispoli), a dangerous pimp, who has bought Worm’s debt – Worm now owes $25,000 directly to Grama, who is working for KGB. Grama takes Worm’s $10,000 he left the Chesterfield with, threatening him to pay the rest. As Mike returns to his poker lifestyle and friends, Jo ends their relationship.
Mike learns from Petra (Famke Janssen) at the Chesterfield that Worm has now racked up a $7,000 debt at the Chesterfield in Mike’s name. In Atlantic City, Worm tells Mike about his debt to Grama but withholds that he is working for KGB. Mike proposes to Grama that Worm pay weekly installments; Grama considers the offer but also mocks Worm for his inability to pay him. Worm responds by insulting Grama and as the two nearly come to blows, Mike defuses the situation by agreeing to vouch for Worm and an angry Grama gives them five days to pay the remaining $15,000. Mike decides to help Worm win the money by playing in several games in and around the city.
On a winning streak, Mike earns $7,200 in three days, but still needs to double it in 48 hours. Worm directs Mike to an out-of-town game hosted by New York state troopers, where he wins almost the full $15,000 before Worm unexpectedly joins the game. The troopers catch Worm base-dealing to help Mike; they are beaten up and relieved of their entire bankroll. Worm finally confesses that Grama is working for KGB. With their lives in danger, Worm decides to flee, but Mike returns to the city, cutting ties with Worm.
Mike asks Grama for more time, to no avail. Mike asks Knish for the money but is refused out of principle. During the conversation with Knish, Mike reveals his motivation for taking the ill-fated risk at KGB's club (citing beating poker legend Johnny Chan at a single hand in Atlantic City), and why he thinks he can compete and possibly win the World Series of Poker. But Knish stays firm. Desperate, Mike asks his law school professor Petrovsky (Martin Landau), who loans him $10,000. Mike challenges KGB to a second heads-up, No-Limit Texas Hold'em game for the remaining debt, with winner-take-all stakes, which KGB accepts. Mike beats KGB in the first session, winning $20,000. KGB offers to let Mike’s winnings "ride" and continue the game, but Mike – with enough to pay off most of his debts – declines. As he is about to leave, KGB taunts Mike that he is paying him with the money that he lost to KGB from their previous game. Mike changes his mind and decides to continue playing.
Mike doubles the blinds at the risk of losing everything to KGB again, and possibly his life. As the night wears on, Mike spots KGB's tell and folds, deducing that KGB has a better hand. Irate at the missed chance to win it all, KGB begins to play on "tilt". In the final hand, Mike baits a boastful KGB into going all-in, and defeats him with a nut straight. KGB throws a tantrum at having been lured into a mistake. Despite Grama’s urging, KGB, rattled, calls off his goons and admits that Mike won fairly, allowing him to leave with his winnings.
With over $60,000, Mike settles Worm’s $15,000 debt to Grama, the Chesterfield’s $6,000 credit, Petrovsky’s $10,000 loan, and restores his original bankroll of "three stacks of high society." Mike drops out of law school, says goodbye to Jo, and leaves New York for Las Vegas to play in the World Series of Poker.
''Together'' is set in one of the sharehome communes that was created around Stockholm in the 1970s. Loosely led by the kind-natured Göran, who will do anything to avoid a conflict, the group spend their time arguing about left-wing politics and other more practical issues, such as whether doing the dishes is bourgeois. The sharehome's dynamics are significantly shaken when Göran's sister, Elisabeth, leaves her violent husband Rolf and moves in, bringing her two children Eva and Stefan.
Self-declared lesbian Anna lives in the commune with her ex-husband Lasse and their son Tet (named after the Tet offensive), who befriends Stefan. The two play games such as "torture the Pinochet victim" where, in the spirit of equality, they take turns at being Augusto Pinochet. Eva meanwhile befriends a lonely boy across the street named Fredrik; his family appears conventional on the surface but proves to be even more dysfunctional than the commune of which they so openly disapprove. The children are portrayed as sidelined by everyone in the film, from the new school where they are bullied to the parents who, while genuinely loving, are too busy experimenting with their own freedom to show it.
Elisabeth's husband Rolf makes a concerted effort to clean up his act, although not before getting drunk and arrested, leaving his children stranded on a roadside after a disastrous meal in a Chinese restaurant. Further relationship problems are found with Klas, who is desperately in love with Lasse, and between Göran and his selfish and immature girlfriend, who wants the benefits of an open relationship but not the responsibilities.
The film begins with a figure running towards a motorway bridge. When the figure turns around, the film introduces the audience to Lilya Michailova, an adolescent girl who has recently been badly beaten. The film then reveals her past.
Lilya lives with her mother in a run-down apartment block in an unnamed former republic of the Soviet Union. Lilya's mother tells her they are emigrating to the United States with the mother's new boyfriend, but instead, she abandons Lilya in the care of her aunt while she and the boyfriend move to America. The aunt moves herself into the larger, nicer flat Lilya and her mother had lived in while forcing Lilya to move into a smaller, squalid apartment.
A subsequent succession of humiliations and miseries are heaped upon Lilya. Her best friend Natasha encourages her to join her in prostitution, but Lilya declines. When money is discovered in Natasha's possession, she lies and says the money belongs to Lilya, whose reputation is subsequently ruined in the community and at school. This culminates in Lilya being raped by a group of boys she knows. She ultimately has to actually become a prostitute to support herself.
Meanwhile, Lilya forms another close, protective friendship with a younger boy named Volodya, who is physically abused by his alcoholic single father. She buys Volodya a basketball, but his father punctures it with a pair of scissors. She then meets a young man, Andrei, who becomes her boyfriend and convinces her to move to Sweden, where he says she will have a better life. After arriving in Sweden, she is instead met by a pimp who takes her to a nearly empty apartment where he imprisons and rapes her. Lilya is then forced to perform sexual acts for a large number of clients.
Despondent over the departure of his only friend, Volodya commits suicide, his soul taking the form of an angel. As an angel, Volodya comes to Lilya to watch over her. On Christmas Day, he transports Lilya to the roof of the apartment building where they lived and, deeply regretting having killed himself, gives her the world as a present, but Lilya rejects him. After an escape attempt, Lilya is violently beaten by her pimp, but she escapes again successfully. With the story arriving full circle to the scene at the beginning of the film, Lilya jumps from the bridge and commits suicide herself.
The film's conclusion presents two different endings. One version shows Lilya being sent back in time after killing herself to when she made the decision to go to Sweden with Andrei. However, this time she rejects Andrei's offer, and she and Volodya are shown to presumably live happier lives. In the final scene, Lilya and Volodya are both angels happily playing basketball on the roof of a tenement building.
Emma Brody is a young musician who has been blind for 20 years. New surgery techniques restore her vision but initially cause "vision flashes" that leave her uncertain about what she sees. One night, she is awakened by a noise in the apartment above. Peeking out her door, she "sees" a figure descending the stairs. She contacts the police, worried that her neighbor has been murdered, but is unsure whether it was just her new vision deceiving her. The killer then begins to stalk Emma.
Among the characters are an older couple, who are about to renew their wedding vows; a theatre director and architect navigating a new beginning; a young woman looking for a good time; a gay man dying of AIDS and his mother who had not been close; a couple having an affair and her husband who is exploring ways to break through the staleness of their marriage.
As the stories evolve, the connections between the characters become evident.
In 1532 a Spanish orphan named Esteban joins Mendoza, a navigator, and his associates Sancho and Pedro, in their search for one of the Seven Cities of Gold in the New World, hoping to find his father. They are joined on their quest by Zia, an Incan girl (who was kidnapped by Gomez, Gaspard, Perez and Mendoza), and Tao, the last descendant of the sunken empire of Mu (Hiva in the English dub).
The series is a mix of ancient South American history, archaeology, and science fiction. The travellers encounter the Maya, Inca, and Olmecs during their journey. They discover many lost technological wonders of the Mu Empire, including a solar-powered ship (the ''Solaris'') and The Golden Condor, a huge solar-powered ornithopter (mechanical bird), capable of traveling considerable distances under the sun's power alone. They are constantly pursued by antagonists Gomez and Gaspard, who are also in search of the Cities of Gold.
The Seven Cities of Gold were built by the Emperor of Hiva over fear of a global war which would destroy all civilization. Such a war did break out, destroying the Empires of Mu and Atlantis when they used the "Weapons of the Sun". The Seven Cities of Gold hold copies of books in their "Universal Libraries" as well as powerful artefacts, including the "Great Legacy", a portable fusion reactor. Other elements of this technology turn up in unexpected places, like the ''Solaris'' in Tao's home island, Esteban's and Zia's medallions as keys to the Cities, or Tao's jar as an important piece of the Great Legacy.
Reminiscences of this ancient story are present in Inca legends written on golden quipu, which only Zia can read. This triggers an obsessive quest for the Cities of Gold on the part of the Spaniards Mendoza, Gomez, Gaspard and Francisco Pizarro.
Esteban seeks his long-lost father and is tied to Mendoza, who rescued Esteban from a sinking ship when he was a baby. Esteban seems to have a magical ability to make the sun appear, which proves to be an invaluable asset throughout the series. Zia also seeks her father, from whom she was taken when she was seven and brought to Spain as a gift to the princess. She has a medallion just like the one Esteban carries.
Tao seeks signs of his ancestors. He possesses an encyclopedia about their lost technology and a mysterious jar which according to the legend, only the High Priest of the City of Gold can open and proves to be the Great Legacy's cooling or control rod system. Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro are motivated by their search for gold, though Mendoza appears to be genuinely fond of the three children.
The Olmecs are the descendants of survivors of the global war who hid under their mountain. Only their elite were able to survive, suspended in cryogenic hibernation. The Olmecs do not appear to be human—or if they were once human, it is implied that they have horribly mutated from the fallout of the nuclear war that destroyed their ancestors. They are short, thin and have pointed ears and enlarged frontal bones. They are highly intelligent but devious and selfish.
Led by their king, Menator, the Olmecs seek an artefact called the "Great Legacy" in order to power their cryogenic systems, as well as samples of healthy cells from the children in order to combat their mutations and their sterility. Their technology is generally inferior to that of the modern age, and they use weapons such as spears and swords. They maintain some elements of their advanced technological heritage, such as the stasis and medical technology used to keep the elite of the Olmecs in suspended animation until an opportunity arises when they can be revived, powered by what appears to be a geothermal power system.
This power system is destroyed in an escape by the children and Mendoza, starting a frantic search by the Olmecs for the fusion reactor core (the Great Treasure) hidden in the City of Gold. They also have a single flying machine that appears to use very similar technology to that of the Golden Condor. It is armed with some kind of particle beam or focused heat weapon of great power.
Eventually the Olmecs succeed, at great cost, in taking control of the Great Legacy. It begins to melt down without the moderation provided by Tao's jar. The resulting earthquakes and volcanism destroy the City of Gold. A world-threatening meltdown is avoided by the personal sacrifice of Esteban's father who, acting as the High Priest of the Cities, is presumed to be dead after replacing the jar. At the end of the series Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro, having salvaged some gold before the city's destruction, return to Spain, while Esteban and his friends set out across the Pacific on the golden condor in search of the remaining Cities of Gold.
On 14 April 1942, Frank Carlson, a former British Secret Service agent, whose career ended in disgrace after he failed in a mission aboard the , lives in a small apartment in London, England, surrounded by mementos of his past, while being threatened with eviction by his landlady. He is caught in an explosion during an air raid of the London Blitz and is transported back in time thirty years to the ''Titanic'' on the night it sank. He uses this opportunity to have a second chance to complete his mission, meeting with his contact, fellow agent Penny Pringle. Carlson's first mission is to locate and retrieve a stolen copy of Omar Khayyam's ''Rubáiyát'', suspected of being in the possession of German Colonel Zeitel, who is traveling to New York to inspect embassies in the United States and Central America, alongside his young protégé Willi Von Haderlitz. It is revealed that the Colonel has made a deal with art dealer Sasha Barbicon to exchange the ''Rubáiyát'' for a painting in which there are hidden war plans stolen from the British government. They both act through a go-between, the Serbian stowaway Vlad Demonic. In addition to the ''Rubáiyát'' and the painting, Carlson discovers that Willi is a spy for the Russians and has a notebook with names of top Bolshevik leaders. The notebook must be handed over to the Ochrana so that Communist rebels will be executed, preventing a threat to the Czar. Barbicon is also in possession of a stolen diamond necklace intended to finance the Black Hand, a Serbian military group. Willi is killed by being electrocuted in the electric bath, in the Turkish bath, murdered by Zeitel after realizing that Willi is a spy and is not loyal to Germany.
The player can also become involved in subplots that do not necessarily pertain to the central mission or the winning conditions of the game. One subplot involves retrieving a business document stolen by steel magnate Andrew Conkling's maid Shailagh Hacker. Other plots involve meeting with passengers such as the Lambeths, a once wealthy couple whose marriage has deteriorated; Lleyland Sachem Trask, a psychic from Boston; Reverend Edgar Troutt, a Protestant preacher from New Hampshire who is returning from a mission in Nyasaland; and Max Seidelmann, a businessman from Philadelphia. Sasha is killed by Vlad in the Turbine Room for not being loyal to Serbia and the cause of the Black Hand.
The number of objects the player obtains before escaping the ship affects the ending and how history plays out. If the player manages to leave the ship with the painting and notebook while ensuring Vlad escapes with neither the diamonds nor the ''Rubáiyát'', history is altered, with World War I, the Russian Revolution, and World War II never occurring.
In the alternate 1942, Carlson retires after a successful career to a world of peace. Depending on which items the player fails to collect, history will change, but certain wars or revolutions will still occur. The only items required to complete the game successfully, as long as Zeitel and Vlad do not have the other items, are the painting and the notebook. The Rubáiyát and the necklace can go down with the ship and won't affect a successful ending. The player is then given the option of replaying the game again to get the perfect ending.
Laura Burney has a seemingly idyllic life and perfect marriage to Martin, a successful Boston investment counselor. Beneath Martin's charming, handsome exterior, however, is an obsessive and controlling personality who has physically, emotionally, and sexually abused Laura throughout their nearly four-year marriage. Then, in a recurring pattern, he apologetically showers her with flowers and gifts.
Martin accepts the invitation of their neighbor, a doctor, for an evening sail, despite knowing Laura fears water. As a severe storm unexpectedly rolls in, Martin and the doctor struggle to control the vessel. Laura, unable to swim, is swept overboard. After an extensive Coast Guard search, Laura is presumed dead from drowning and Martin is inconsolable.
After some time, Laura is actually alive. After secretly learning to swim, she planned to fake her own death to escape Martin's abuse. During the storm, she jumped overboard, swam ashore, and returned home. She cut her hair, donned a wig, took her stashed belongings and money, and headed to the bus station.
Laura moves to Cedar Falls, Iowa. Previously, she told Martin that her blind, stroke-impaired mother, Chloe, died, but secretly moved Chloe to an Iowa nursing home. She rents a house, finds a job, and settles into a new life as "Sara Waters". Her friendly next-door neighbor, Ben Woodward, a young drama teacher at a local college, is attracted to Laura, though he suspects she has a troubled past. They have a fun date, but when a kiss turns more physical, Laura resists and demands that Ben leave. She later confides to him that she escaped an abusive marriage.
Martin receives information indicating Laura may be alive. This is confirmed when he finds Laura's wedding ring, where she had flushed it down the toilet but it had failed to flush. He travels to Chloe's nursing home, posing as a detective, and learns that Chloe's "nephew" has just visited. Laura, disguised as a man, is also at the nursing home, and barely misses encountering Martin. Martin discovers Laura's whereabouts and learns about Ben. He trails the couple to Laura's house and breaks in while she and Ben are outside. Laura notices the small clues Martin deliberately left inside the house, the hand towels being perfectly aligned and the kitchen cabinets rearranged to Martin's exact standards.
Martin confronts Laura and Ben breaks down the door and struggles with Martin, who knocks him unconscious. As he aims a gun at Ben, Laura distracts him, then knees his groin. She grabs Martin's gun and holds him at gunpoint. As Laura calls the police, Martin expects her to tell the police to protect her from him, as she had done in the past, but Laura shocks Martin by informing the police she killed an intruder, and then shoots Martin three times. Wounded from the shots, Martin seizes Laura by the hair and grabs the gun, aiming it at her in a desperate attempt to kill her, but his attempt fails, as the gun turns out to be empty. Martin then dies from his wounds, while Laura and Ben embrace and wait for the police.
Frank Drebin is honored at the White House, where President George H. W. Bush announces that he will base his recommendation for the country's energy program on Dr. Albert Meinheimer's advice, which will be revealed during the doctor's speech at the National Press Club dinner the following week. The heads of the coal and oil (fossil fuel) and nuclear industries are distressed by this fact, as Dr. Meinheimer is an advocate for renewable energy. Jane Spencer, now separated from Frank and working for Dr. Meinheimer, is working late at Meinheimer's research institute when she spots a man leaving in a van. A maintenance worker discovers a clock with dynamite attached and takes it to the security guards, who accidentally trigger it.
The next morning, Frank reacquaints himself with Jane as he interviews her about the explosion. He is shown around the institute and meets Jane's boyfriend, Hexagon Oil executive Quentin Hapsburg, of whom he becomes exceedingly jealous. Frank's boss, Ed Hocken, finds him and Jane at a lonely blues bar, where Frank promptly blows a chance to make up with her. Meanwhile, at a meeting of the "energy" industry leaders, Hapsburg reveals that he has kidnapped Dr. Meinheimer and found an exact double for him, Earl Hacker, who will endorse fossil and nuclear fuels at the Press Club Dinner.
Police Squad tracks down the van driver, Hector Savage. Once he discovers the police are onto him, Savage holes up in a house, demanding money and a car. Frank drives a SWAT tank into and through the house, inadvertently allowing Savage to escape, and causes more damage when he loses control of the tank and crashes into the city zoo, allowing the animals to escape. At a party that evening, Frank notices that Dr. Meinheimer does not instantly remember him, despite Jane telling him that Meinheimer had a photographic memory. Frank confronts her with this at her apartment following the party, but is dismissed. Moments later, Savage enters the home and tries to kill Jane. Frank becomes aware of Savage and kills him by sticking a fire hose into his mouth and turning it on full blast. Jane realizes that Frank was right, and the two rekindle their romance.
The next day, Police Squad stakes out Hexagon Oil's headquarters where Dr. Meinheimer is being held. Frank tries to go undercover into the building, but instead is discovered and tied up by Hapsburg's henchmen. Frank and Dr. Meinheimer are eventually freed, and Police Squad proceeds to the Press Club Dinner. Finding their only way in locked, Frank, Ed, Nordberg, and Dr. Meinheimer commandeer a mariachi band's costumes and head inside, where Hacker is eventually intercepted, allowing Meinheimer to give his speech. Hapsburg flees the dinner and takes Jane with him. After a shootout on the roof of the building, Hapsburg informs Frank that he has rigged the building with a small nuclear device which will kill everyone in there except for him and render Dr. Meinheimer's speech useless. After a fight, Frank attempts to learn the bomb's disarming code from Hapsburg, but Ed enters and throws Hapsburg out a window. Hapsburg hits an awning below and is able to come to the sidewalk unscathed, but is immediately killed by an escaped lion from the zoo.
Frank and Jane attempt to disarm the bomb while Ed and Nordberg go back into the ballroom to evacuate it. After several failed attempts, Frank finally manages to disarm the bomb at the last second by tripping over its power cord, unplugging it. Frank is commended by the President, who offers him a special post as head of the Federal Bureau of Police Squad. Frank declines, instead asking Jane to marry him, which she accepts.
Three years after inventor Wayne Szalinski accidentally shrunk his and his next door neighbor's kids, his family have moved to Nevada and have welcomed a new son, mischievous two-year old Adam. One day, Wayne's wife, Diane, leaves with their daughter, Amy, to help her settle in her dorm at college, leaving Wayne to look after Adam and their now teenage son, Nick. Nick has developed a crush on Mandy Park, whom Wayne later arranges to babysit Adam. The next day, Wayne takes Nick and Adam to Sterling Labs, where he has constructed an advanced derivative of his shrink ray which enlarges objects. He tests it out on Adam's favorite toy, Big Bunny. However, when his and Nick's backs are turned, Adam attempts to retrieve it and is zapped by the machine, which appears to short circuit and not enlarge the targeted object.
Back home, Adam and Big Bunny are exposed to electrical waves from the microwave oven and grow in size, now 7 feet tall. Wayne and Nick try to take him back to the lab to reverse the process, but are caught and kicked out by Wayne's coworker, Dr. Charles Hendrickson, who wants to take over Wayne's invention for himself. Diane returns home early and discovers what happened, and she, Wayne, and Nick have a hard time trying to take care of the large Adam. Later, Wayne and Diane drive to a warehouse and retrieve Wayne's first prototype to turn Adam back to normal, with Wayne unintentionally test firing his original prototype on a pair of Nevada Highway Patrol motorcycle troopers pursuing his van for speeding. When Mandy arrives to babysit Adam, she panics and faints, forcing Nick to tie up and gag her so she cannot run away or scream. As he explains the situation to her, Adam is exposed to the television's electrical waves and grows to 14 feet before escaping through a wall.
Nick and Mandy search for him, but are taken into custody, with Adam placed into a truck. Wayne and Diane return home, finding Dr. Hendrickson and a U.S. Marshal waiting for them. He has summoned Clifford Sterling, the company chairman, with the plan to fire Wayne, have him and Diane arrested, and experiment on Adam. Sterling arrives and instead praises Wayne when he admits his mistake, and pledges to help Adam while firing Dr. Hendrickson for trying to smear Wayne. At the same time, the truck carrying Adam passes by high voltage lines, exposing him to more electrical waves and causing him to grow to 50 feet, escaping confinement. He mistakes Nick and Mandy for toys and puts them in his overalls pocket before heading for Las Vegas, pursued by his parents and the authorities. Wayne and Clifford figure out the cause of his growth and realize that exposure to Las Vegas' neon lights will make him grow bigger than ever. The infuriated Dr. Hendrickson refuses to accept his dismissal and turns to his ally, board director Terrence Wheeler, and they plan to start a boardroom coup to take Sterling out of power. With his permission, Dr. Hendrickson forcefully boards a military helicopter to attempt to tranquilize Adam, despite the pilot's reluctance.
Wayne is determined to use his shrinking machine to shrink Adam back to normal, but needs him to stand still for twelve seconds so he can be shrunk. At first, he tries using Big Bunny to pacify him, but it backfires when Wayne suggests for Adam to take a nap (which Adam hates). After growing to 112 feet and wandering through Fremont Street, Las Vegas, causing a panic among the crowd, Adam pursues an ice cream truck driven by Marshal Preston Brooks to distract him away from the city while Sterling has the various hotels and casinos shut off their lights to avoid making Adam grow more. However, Adam then heads towards the Hard Rock Café, where he plays the lit up guitar. Diane realizes Adam is just bored, and only acknowledges things smaller than him as toys. She deduces that Adam will behave if his mother is someone bigger than him, which convinces Wayne to enlarge her. Dr. Hendrickson arrives in the helicopter and starts shooting tranquilizer cartridges at Adam, hitting the guitar instead, causing Adam to cry out in pain at the electric shock. As the panicked crowd begins to feel sympathetic for Adam and Dr. Hendrickson adamantly attempts to strike again, a giant-sized Diane arrives and stops the helicopter. She then comforts Adam and manages to get him to stand still for the needed time period for the shrinking ray to work. Wayne then fires it, returning them to normal size. Dr. Hendrickson arrives reluctantly to congratulate Wayne for averting Adam normal and attempts to justify his actions about tranquilizer darts, but a furious Diane punches him in the face out cold.
Wayne and Diane then realize that Nick and Mandy had somehow disappeared from Adam's overalls pocket. It is then revealed that the two teens, along with a car that Adam retrieved during his rampage, have been shrunk while in said pocket. They are quickly found by Wayne, who decides to give them a few minutes of privacy before returning them to normal size. The only problem left now, pointed out by a state trooper with the Szalinskis, is how to shrink the gigantic Big Bunny.
A kidnapping attempt on the Prince and Princess of Wales and their infant son occurs at the Mall in London. The attack is orchestrated by members of the Ulster Liberation Army, a splinter group of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. However, Jack Ryan intervenes, incapacitating one of the attackers, Sean Miller, and killing the other, John Michael McCrory. During the gun battle however, Ryan is shot in the shoulder by McCrory as they exchange fire. Miller is later arrested.
While recovering from his wound, Ryan is honored by the British government and is knighted. Meanwhile, Miller is sentenced to life imprisonment for the kidnapping attempt; however, his ULA compatriots led by Kevin O’Donnell free him while he is being transported to a maximum security prison in the Isle of Wight. They are then aided by their Libyan allies in escaping into their secret camp in the North African desert, and Miller vows revenge on Ryan.
Ryan returns to teach history at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, confident that the ULA will not attack him in the United States. Unbeknownst to him, Miller had persuaded O’Donnell to launch an operation in the U.S. aimed at targeting Ryan and his family, and had recruited the assistance of an African-American domestic terrorist group known as “the Movement” to do so. Though primarily for revenge, the operation is also designed to reduce American support for the rival PIRA, which is to be blamed for the upcoming attack. The assassin sent to kill Ryan is intercepted before he manages to complete his task, however his wife Cathy and daughter Sally are seriously injured when Miller causes their car to crash on a freeway; they are rescued by state troopers and volunteer firemen and later transported by helicopter to the University of Maryland Medical Center for treatment.
After the attack on his family, Ryan accepts an offer from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to start working as an analyst at their headquarters. Later, the Prince and Princess of Wales come to visit Ryan at his house in Maryland. However, this provides another opportunity for the ULA, once again recruiting the services of “the Movement”. The night of the visit, they launch a sneak attack on Ryan's home to kidnap the Prince and Princess of Wales, as well as Ryan's family.
Although several guards around the house are killed, Ryan, his friend, fighter pilot Robert “Robby” Jackson, and the Prince manage to dispatch some of the terrorists. They later receive assistance from the local police, the United States Marines, and sailors from the U.S. Naval Academy, who prevent the remaining terrorists from escaping the country in a container ship. Ryan encounters a cornered Miller and tries to kill him, but is restrained by his weapons instructor. After the ULA terrorists are apprehended, he arrives in Annapolis to witness the birth of his son, Jack Ryan, Jr.
Chazz, Rex, and Pip are in a Los Angeles hard rock band called "The Lone Rangers" who are continuously turned down as they try to get their demo tape heard by record producers like Jimmie Wing. After scolding him for being lazy, Chazz's girlfriend Kayla kicks him out of her apartment. They decide to try to get the local rock station KPPX to play their reel-to-reel tape on the air and attempt to break-in through the back door. After several unsuccessful attempts, a station employee named Suzzi comes out to smoke and they keep the door from shutting behind her.
Once inside, laid back DJ Ian "The Shark" begins talking with them on the air. Station manager Milo overhears them and intervenes but Ian continues broadcasting. After Milo insults Rex by calling him "Hollywood Boulevard trash," he and Chazz pull out realistic-looking water pistols filled with hot sauce and demand airplay. After setting up an old reel-to-reel for the demo, the tape begins to play but is quickly destroyed when the player malfunctions. The guys try to run, but Doug Beech had already called the police and they see the building is surrounded.
They negotiate with the police who are now tasked to find Kayla who has a cassette of the demo. Since the station never went off the air, news of the hostage crisis travels quickly and numerous hard rock/metal fans begin showing up outside the radio station interfering with police. A SWAT team has also arrived where Sergeant Mace prefers using force over negotiation tactics. His team secretly passes a gun through a roof vent to Beech who has been hiding in the air ducts. During the crisis, it is revealed that Milo had secretly signed a deal to change KPPX's format to Adult Contemporary, which includes having to fire Ian and most of the other employees. When this comes out, Ian and a few employees side with the band and turn against Milo.
The police find Kayla who arrives at the radio station to deliver the tape. However, the tape is damaged because she threw it out of the car earlier. Chazz and Kayla get into an argument that quickly escalates and results in the studio console being destroyed, dashing any hopes to play the tape on the air.
As some of the items the band demanded from police are brought into the station, the door shuts on Rex's plastic gun revealing it to be fake. Seeing this, some of the hostages run out; one telling the SWAT team the band's guns are not real. As the team assembles to storm the station, Beech corners the band from a low hanging air vent. Knowing he no longer will have a job at the station, Ian knocks down Beech's gun. This causes the weapon to wildly fire several rounds and the police are forced to back off. Ian picks up the gun but gives it to a somewhat confused Chazz in a final act of anti-establishment rebellion.
Jimmie Wing comes to the radio station and offers the band a contract. They reluctantly agree to the deal knowing they have no more options. Wing arranges an entire stage and sound system to be airlifted to the roof where the band will play their song for the now huge crowd outside. To the band's dismay, they find only the PA is real and everything else is just props. Refusing to lip sync as their tape is played, they instead destroy their instruments in protest to the delight of the crowd and stage dive into the hands of the cheering audience.
The Lone Rangers are later seen playing a gig inside the prison where they are incarcerated as Kayla and Suzzi dance in the background. The concert is being shown live on MTV. Now their manager, Ian says on the phone to an unknown person that The Lone Rangers will start touring in six months or "three months if they behave themselves".
A postscript states that The Lone Rangers served three months for kidnapping, theft, and assault with hot pepper sauce with their album ''LIVE IN PRISON'' going triple platinum.
While craving her next hit, Khaila Richards (Halle Berry), an African-American crack cocaine addict, abandons her infant illegitimate son, Isaiah, in the dumpster. She promises to "come back later", but then passes out from the drugs. The next day, the infant narrowly escapes death in the garbage truck. Baby Isaiah is sent to the hospital, where they discover he is also addicted to crack through his mother's addiction. While caring for Isaiah, a social worker named Margaret Lewin (Jessica Lange) grows increasingly fond of him and eventually adopts him to live with her and her husband, Charles (David Strathairn) and daughter, Hannah. Meanwhile, Khaila is caught shoplifting and is sent to rehab, unaware Isaiah is alive.
Three years later, Khaila successfully completes her treatment and confesses to her case worker that she abandoned Isaiah in the alley. Unknown to Khaila, the case worker investigates and discovers Isaiah's adoption. They hire a lawyer, Kadar Lewis (Samuel L. Jackson) to contest the adoption. An ugly court battle ensues, with racial issues demonstrating inadequacies on both sides. The judge overturns the adoption, returning Isaiah to Khaila, much to the Lewins' horror and sadness.
Even after weeks pass, a distraught Isaiah does not consider Khaila his mother. Although he becomes increasingly withdrawn, he is also prone to violent public outbursts. Eventually, Khaila is desperate for Isaiah's happiness, and asks Margaret to step back in "for a little while... until he can understand." However, she insists she will also continue to be involved. The two mothers embrace each other, both proclaiming their equally strong motherly love for Isaiah. The two mothers then begin together playing building blocks with their beloved boy in a classroom.
The Norwegian resistance sabotage the Vemork Norsk Hydro plant in the town of Rjukan in the county of Telemark, Norway, which the Nazis are using to produce heavy water, which could be used in the manufacture of an atomic bomb.
Kirk Douglas plays Rolf Pedersen, a Norwegian physics professor, who, though originally content to wait out the war, is soon pulled into the struggle by local resistance leader Knut Straud (based on Knut Haukelid), portrayed by Richard Harris.
They both sneak out of Norway on a passenger steamship to Britain that they hijack so they can deliver microfilmed plans of the hydroelectric plant to the British. Then they return to Norway by parachute to plan a commando raid against the plant. When a British plane carrying a force of Royal Engineers to undertake the raid is shot down over Norway by the Germans, Pedersen and Straud lead a small force of Norwegian saboteurs into the plant. The raid is successful, but the Germans quickly repair the equipment.
The Germans then plan to ship steel drums of heavy water to Germany. Pedersen and Straud sabotage a ferry carrying the drums, and it sinks in the deepest part of a fjord.
Besides this sequence, the raids (Operations Grouse, Freshman and Gunnerside) and the final attack are filmed on-site, with mountainous and snowy Norwegian locations serving as a backdrop for the plot.
The story begins in Hiroshima during the final months of World War II. Six-year-old Gen Nakaoka and his family live in poverty and struggle to make ends meet. Gen's father Daikichi urges them to "live like wheat," which always grows strong despite being trod on. Daikichi is critical of the war. When he shows up drunk to a mandatory combat drill and talks back to his instructor, the Nakaokas are branded as traitors and become subject to harassment and discrimination by their neighbors. To restore his family's honor, Gen's older brother Koji joins the Navy against Daikichi's wishes, where he is subjected to a brutal training regimen by his commanding officer, which causes one of Koji's friends to kill himself. On August 6, the atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima. Gen's father and siblings perish in the fires, but he and his mother escape. The shock causes her to give premature birth; Gen's new sister is named Tomoko.
In the days following the attack, Gen and his mother witness the horrors wrought by the bomb. Hiroshima lies in ruins, and the city is full of people dead and dying from severe burns and radiation sickness. Gen meets a girl named Natsue, whose face has been severely burned. She attempts to commit suicide, but Gen convinces her to continue living. Gen and his mother adopt an orphan named Ryuta, who by sheer coincidence looks identical to Gen's deceased younger brother Shinji. After Gen returns to their burnt-out home and retrieves the remains of his father and siblings, he and his family move in with Kime's friend Kiyo. However, Kiyo's stingy mother-in-law conspires with her spoiled grandchildren to drive the Nakaokas out.
Gen looks for work to pay the family's rent. A man hires him to look after his brother Seiji, who has been burnt from head to toe and lives in squalor. Though Seiji is reluctant at first, he warms up to Gen over time: The boy learns Seiji is an artist who has lost the will to live because his burns have left him unable to hold a brush. With Gen's help, Seiji learns to paint with his teeth but, eventually, he dies of his wounds. On August 14, Emperor Hirohito announces Japan's surrender over the radio, ending the war.
Following Japan's surrender, American occupation forces arrive to help the nation rebuild. Gen and Ryuta, fearing rumours they've heard about the Americans, arm themselves with a pistol they find in an abandoned weapons cache. They learn the Americans aren't as bad as they'd thought when they're given free candy, but they also witness a group of American soldiers harvesting organs from corpses for medical research. Kiyo's mother-in-law evicts the Nakaokas after Gen gets into a fight with her grandchildren, and they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. Gen and Ryuta attempt to earn money to feed Tomoko, getting involved with the local Yakuza. After the Yakuza betray them, Ryuta kills one of them with the pistol they found and becomes a fugitive. Later, Gen learns that Tomoko has been kidnapped. He finds her with the help of a classmate, only to learn that she's become ill. Tomoko dies soon after.
In December 1947, Gen is reunited with Ryuta, who has become a juvenile delinquent, doing odd jobs for the Yakuza. He meets Katsuko, a girl scarred by burns from the bomb. As an orphan and a hibakusha, she is subject to discrimination and cannot go to school; Gen lends her his books and teaches her himself.
''Purlie'' is set in an era when Jim Crow laws still were in effect in the American South. Its focus is on the dynamic traveling preacher Purlie Victorious Judson, who returns to his small Georgia town hoping to save Big Bethel, the community's church, and emancipate the cotton pickers who work on oppressive Ol' Cap'n Cotchipee's plantation. With the assistance of Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins, Purlie hopes to pry loose from Cotchipee an inheritance due his long-lost cousin and use the money to achieve his goals. Also playing a part in Purlie's plans is Cotchipee's son Charlie, who ultimately proves to be far more fair-minded than his Simon Legree–like father and who saves the church from destruction with an act of defiance that has dire consequences for the tyrannical Cap'n.
''Beneath the Wheel'' is the story of Hans Giebenrath, a talented boy sent to a seminary in Maulbronn. His education is focused completely on increasing his knowledge, and neglects personal development. His close friendship with Hermann Heilner, a more liberal fellow student, is a source of comfort for Hans. Heilner is expelled from the seminary, and Giebenrath is sent home after his academic performance decreases in tandem with the onset of symptoms of mental illness.
Back home, he finds coping with his situation difficult, having lost most of his childhood to scholastic study, and thus having never formed lasting personal relationships with anyone in his village. He is apprenticed as a mechanic, and seems to find satisfaction in the work; it is visceral and concrete, as opposed to the intellectual abstraction of scholarly pursuit. Despite some personal fulfillment in his existence, Hans never fully adjusts to his new situation. On a pub crawl in a neighbouring village, he and his colleagues get drunk. Giebenrath leaves the group to walk home early. Later, he is found to have drowned in a river.
Bob Hope plays Matt Merriwether, a New York writer who has passed off his uncle's memoirs of explorations in Africa as his own. Merriwether lives his false reputation as a great white hunter to the point of living in a Manhattan apartment furnished to look like an African safari lodge complete with sound effects records of African fauna. Based on his false reputation as an "Africa Expert", he is recruited by the United States Government and NASA to locate a missing secret space probe before it can be located by hostile forces.
Hope's co-stars include Edie Adams and Anita Ekberg playing secret agents. Golfer Arnold Palmer also makes a brief cameo, playing a crazy round of golf with Hope—a scene revisited in the film ''Spies Like Us'' where Hope makes a cameo appearance and plays golf through a tent. A scene involving an unseen President John F. Kennedy in his famous rocking chair is parodied with his Russian counterpart Nikita Khrushchev rocking in a chair that squeaks loudly.
Three years after the events of the first game, Aya Brea, now an FBI operative working in their clandestine Mitochondrial Investigation and Suppression Team (MIST), is dispatched to the Akropolis Tower shopping mall in Los Angeles to back up the LAPD SWAT team in response to reports of Neo-Mitochondrial Creatures (NMC) sightings. As Aya and her partner Rupert Broderick investigate the tower they discover a new form of NMC with the power to pass as human who were able to slaughter the first responders. As Aya works to exterminate the NMCs she discovers the building is wired to explode and encounters the psychopathic No. 9 who injures Rupert. Aya defeats No. 9 but barely escapes with Rupert when he triggers the detonators on the building.
Following the raid Aya is sent by MIST director Eric "Hal" Baldwin to investigate the desert town of Dryfield, Nevada, over reports of unusual animals. While initially displeased with the assignment, Aya learns from MIST's technical expert Pierce Carradine that an implant recovered from one of the new NMCs has desert sand unique to that area of Nevada near Dryfield. Aya arrives to find the tiny town overrun with NMCs and makes contact with Gary Douglas, a survivalist and gun enthusiast who is the sole remaining inhabitant of the town, his dog, Flint, and Kyle Madigan, a private investigator who claims he is on a mission similar to Aya's. He tells her about "The Shelter", a nearby underground facility that may hold the answers to the recent outbreak of NMCs.
After spending some time in Dryfield and having another run-in with No. 9, Aya and Kyle are able to reach an entrance into the shelter within an abandoned mine. As Aya explores the shelter which has become overrun with NMCs she discovers numerous scientific facilities and learns that the shelter was created to enact the "Second Neoteny Plan", a project to deliberately create Artificial Neo-Mitochondrial Creatures (ANMCs, the new humanoid creatures) in the belief that they are superior to humanity. Aya also learns that the mutant mitochondria the ANMCs were created with is actually her own, and with the aid of Pierce learns that the shelter acquired her genetic material directly from Baldwin and MIST, which has secret ties to the conspiracy that founded the shelter. She also learns that the Second Neoteny Plan is nearing its culmination with a massive cocoon containing an ANMC that, when fully grown, will be able to generate a vector virus that will transform the entire human race into ANMCs.
Haunted by visions of a mysterious girl and seeking to put an end to the threat from the shelter, Aya progresses into the Neo-Ark, a zoo-like artificial construction hidden deep in the shelter. Originally intended to be a showcase of ANMCs with multiple different habitats and viewing platforms, Neo-Ark was ground zero for the outbreak of creatures and has also been overrun by various kinds of NMCs. Aya is able to disable the two organic power generators to reach the depths of the shelter, and finds the mystery girl. After defeating her ANMC guardian, Aya is able to discover that the girl, Eve, was cloned from Aya's genetic material to be the final key to the Second Neoteny Plan. As Aya, Eve, and Kyle make their way to escape from the shelter they're ambushed by No. 9 who is able to kidnap Eve.
Chasing No. 9, Aya encounters a small army of his fellow GOLEMs, the shelter's force of genetically enhanced cyborg "hunters", but is rescued by the US Marines, who have been alerted by Aya's contacts at MIST and learns that Douglas has been evacuated and that Dryfield has been sealed off. Aya fights her way back into the shelter to rescue Eve and finds her at the ANMC cocoon along with No. 9 and Kyle, who seems to be working with him. No. 9 attempts to use Eve to hatch the monstrous ANMC when Kyle betrays him, revealing he was a double agent sent to infiltrate the shelter's conspiracy, and allows No. 9 to be eaten by the ANMC cocoon. At the same time, to contain the threat of the NMCs, the US President orders the use of a Satellite Weapon to destroy Dryfield and the shelter, prematurely hatching the ANMC. Aya fatally injures the final ANMC, but it is able to devour Eve creating a new form of the monstrous Mitochondria Eve. Aya is able to destroy this new incarnation of Mitochondria Eve and manages to rescue Eve, putting an end to the Second Neoteny Plan for good. However, after the battle Kyle vanishes.
In the aftermath Aya adopts Eve as her younger sister, Rupert takes over as leader of MIST after purging the corrupt elements of the organization, and Pierce begins work on a plan to reveal the existence of Neo-Mitochondria to the public. One year later, Aya and Eve travel to the Natural History Museum in New York where she reunites with Kyle.
The story is a review of ''The Conversation with the Man Called Al-Mu'tasim: A Game of Shifting Mirrors'', the second edition of an earlier work, ''The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim''. Written by Mir Bahadur Ali, an Indian lawyer, and published in 1934, the second edition is described by the narrator as inferior to the first edition, published in 1932.
The reviewer gives a history of the book, first describing the success of the first edition, the publishing of the second edition by a respected publisher in London, and the positive and negative reception given to it by critics. Borges states that though both books have been popular, the first had an original printing of 4,000 copies and was never reprinted, while the second is by far the better known, having been reprinted several times and translated into English, French, and German. The second has often been criticized for poor writing and for its obvious allegory to the quest of finding God.
The narrator then summarizes the plot of the novel. The book is a detective story about a freethinking Bombay law student of Islamic background. He becomes involved in a sectarian riot in which he impulsively kills a Hindu, after which he becomes an outcast among the lower classes of India. He flees to a tower where he meets a robber of Parsee corpses collecting gold teeth. He then begins a journey across the subcontinent (the geography of which Borges describes in detail), interacting with untouchables along the way. He meets a man who, though destitute, is happy and spiritual. The student encounters many such people radiating a small amount of this spiritual clarity. From these experiences, he infers the existence of a ''perfect man'', whom he calls Al-Mu'tasim. (''Al-Mu'tasim'' means "he who goes in quest of aid" or "the seeker of shelter".) This perfect man is a higher spiritual being, the source and originator of this pure spiritual clarity. Obsessed with meeting Al-Mu'tasim, the student goes on a pilgrimage through Hindustan to find him. He eventually hears the voice of the Al-Mu'tasim resounding from a hut. He pulls back the curtain and goes in. The book ends at this point. The reviewer then gives his criticisms of the work.
A long footnote at the end of the review summarises ''The Conference of the Birds'' (1177) by Farid ud-Din Attar, in which a group of birds seek a feather dropped in the middle of China by Simurgh, the bird king. Thirty birds reach the mountain of Simurgh and there they find through contemplation that they themselves are the Simurgh. (''Si murgh'' means "thirty birds".)
The series discussed super-powered humans and their madcap adventures. The team is formed by Dr. Billy Hayes, a research scientist at the ''Humanidyne Institute'' who specializes in "human anomalies". He works with shrinking Dr. Elvin "El" Lincoln, and together they recruit electrically powered Johnny Bukowski, a rock-and-roll musician, and Gloria Dinallo, a telekinetic teenager.
Larry Talbot returns to his ancestral home in Llanwelly, Wales to bury his recently deceased brother and reconcile with his estranged father, Sir John Talbot. Larry falls in love with a local girl named Gwen Conliffe who runs an antique shop. As an excuse to talk to her, he purchases a walking stick decorated with a silver wolf's head. Gwen tells him that it represents a werewolf, a man who changes into a wolf "at certain times of the year". The werewolf always sees a pentagram on the palm of his next victim. Various villagers recite a poem whenever werewolves are mentioned:
:Even a man who is pure in heart, and says his prayers by night; :May become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.
Though Gwen firmly refuses Larry's persistent proposals for a date, they meet that night at the proposed time, and are joined by Gwen's friend Jenny to go have their fortunes told. The Romani fortuneteller, Bela, sees a pentagram when he examines Jenny's palm, and frantically sends her away. While awaiting their turns, Larry and Gwen take a walk. Gwen informs Larry that she is engaged. They hear Jenny scream. Larry attempts to rescue Jenny, who is being attacked by a wolf. He kills the wolf with his new walking stick but is bitten on the chest. Police investigating the scene find Jenny's throat torn out and Bela battered to death, with Larry's walking stick clearly the murder weapon in the latter case. Suspicion on Larry deepens when he cannot substantiate his story of fighting a wolf, since his chest wound miraculously healed overnight. The fact that Larry and Gwen were not with Jenny when she was attacked additionally raises suspicions of adultery. Though Gwen's fiance Frank believes in their innocence, Larry and Gwen become local pariahs.
Bela's mother, Maleva, reveals to Larry that the wolf which bit him was Bela in the form of a wolf, and Larry is now a werewolf too because he was bitten by one. Silver is the only thing that can kill a werewolf. Maleva gives him a charm to prevent the transformation. Uncertain whether to believe her, he instead gives the charm to Gwen for protection.
Like Maleva warned, Larry transforms into a werewolf on the following night and kills a villager. He returns to normal the next morning with no memory of his rampage. Authorities believe the killing to be the work of a wolf; they set traps and send out hunting parties. The next night, Larry turns into a werewolf and is caught in one of the traps. Maleva uses a spell to temporarily change him back to human form, allowing him to free himself before a hunting party finds him.
Now convinced he is a werewolf, a distraught Larry decides to leave town. When he says his goodbye to Gwen, he sees a pentagram on her palm. He tells his father he is a werewolf and killed Bela and the villager, but his father thinks Larry is delusional and ties him to a chair to prevent him from leaving and prove to him he is not a werewolf. When the moon rises Larry transforms again, breaks free of his restraints, and attacks Gwen. Not recognizing the werewolf as his son, Sir John bludgeons him over the head with Larry's silver-headed cane which Larry gave him. Maleva arrives and again uses the spell. Sir John and Gwen watch in horror as the dead werewolf transforms into Larry's human corpse.
Unassertive and repressed Minneapolis court reporter Elizabeth Cronin visits her husband Charles, from whom she is separated, on her lunch break, hoping to sort out their problems. He reasserts his desire for a divorce and says that he is in love with another woman, named Annabella.
While she is at a public phone, first a man breaks into her car to steal her purse, and another steals the car itself. Forced to run back to work at the courthouse, she arrives late and gets fired. As she leaves the courthouse, she runs into childhood friend Mickey Bunce, who brings up memories they shared, including those of Elizabeth's imaginary friend, Drop Dead Fred. Mickey reminds her how everybody else thought she was crazy. A series of flashbacks show that though he caused havoc, he also gave her happiness and a release from her oppressive mother, Polly.
After a pep talk from her friend Janie, Elizabeth moves back in with her mother, who blames her for her divorce, and changes her appearance to impress Charles. She finds a taped-shut jack-in-the-box, and removes the tape, releasing Fred. He agrees to help her feel better, which she believes will only happen when she wins back Charles. However, his childish antics do more harm than good. He sinks Janie's houseboat, causes havoc at a restaurant, and tricks Elizabeth into attacking a violinist in a shopping mall.
Worried by Elizabeth's recent odd behavior, Polly takes her to a (children's) psychologist. In the waiting room, Fred is seen meeting up with the imaginary friends of other patients, who are all children. The doctor prescribes medication to rid her of Fred, whom he and Polly believe is a figment of her imagination. The medication also has the effect of slowly killing Fred.
Fred reminds Elizabeth that one day, while they were making a mess on the dinner table, she heard her mother coming and she imagined him hiding in a jack-in-the-box. Polly, fed up with Elizabeth playing with Fred, took the jack-in-the-box and taped it shut, essentially taking Fred away from her. The event left Elizabeth traumatized, and her father Nigel left not long after. Elizabeth then wrote a letter to Fred, saying they'd run away together. Elizabeth and Fred run away from Polly and a nurse to Charles' party.
Charles now wants her back and she is overjoyed until Fred discovers he is still cheating with Annabella and tells her. Heartbroken, she tells Fred that she cannot leave Charles because she is scared of being alone. She then passes out. They escape to a dream sequence in which she is able to reject Charles and stand up to Polly, declaring she is no longer afraid of her. She frees her imprisoned childhood self. Fred tells her that she no longer needs him, so they kiss and he disappears.
Upon awakening, Elizabeth dumps Charles and stands up to Polly. Before leaving, she reconciles with Polly and encourages her to find a friend to escape her own loneliness. Days later she visits Mickey and his daughter Natalie, who blames Drop Dead Fred for the mischief that just causes her nanny to quit. Elizabeth realizes Fred is now with Natalie, although she cannot see him anymore.
Told in three acts set in Montana and California, the story alternates between two families after a severe incident of spousal abuse leaves all their lives altered until the final collision at an isolated cabin. The two families are linked by the marriage of Jake (son of Lorraine and brother of Sally and Frankie) and Beth (daughter of Baylor and Meg and sister of Mike). The play begins with Beth recuperating in her parents' home after a hospitalization resulting from Jake's abuse. Exploring family dysfunction and the nature of love, the play follows Jake as he searches for meaning after his relationship with Beth and her family as they struggle with Beth's brain damage.
The Federation starship ''Enterprise'' investigates a sector of space where starships have been disappearing every 27.346 years. A compelling musical signal lures the ''Enterprise'' to a remote planet in the Taurean system. The music works on the men of the ''Enterprise'', affecting their judgement and causing them to experience euphoric hallucinations. Captain Kirk, First Officer Spock, Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy, and Lieutenant Carver beam down to the source of the signals. The inhabitants are a race of beautiful women who want to celebrate their arrival. As they indulge in the entertainments the women offer, they find themselves in a lethargic state and rapidly aging. Headbands locked around their foreheads transmit their life-force to the women, who are growing in strength.
On board the ''Enterprise'', Communications Officer Lt. Uhura talks with Nurse Chapel about the men's condition and concludes that she must take command due to the euphoric state of Chief Engineer Scott.
Kirk and his party gather enough strength to escape to a spacious garden and hide inside a tall urn. They realize the pace of their loss of strength correlates with the proximity of the women. Spock, who has not aged as much due to longer Vulcan longevity, agrees to go back to retrieve their communicators; he tells Uhura to send an all-female rescue party.
Uhura beams down with Chapel and a female security force. When the native women try to force them to leave, they stun them with their phasers. When Uhura threatens to destroy their temple, the Taurean women explain how they came to be in their current situation; when their people settled on the planet, the planet weakened them, and the women could only survive by draining the men's remaining energy, causing their deaths. The women are now immortal and unaging, but cannot reproduce, and every 27 years must lure males and drain their life forces to stay alive. At Uhura's urging, the Taurean women help them locate the male landing party, who are drowning in the urn due to a rainstorm. The female landing party frees them using their phasers.
The aging process is stopped with the removal of the headbands, but they cannot find a treatment to restore their original age. Spock comes up with the idea of using their original transporter patterns from when they first beamed down.
Uhura returns to the planet, and witnesses the Taurean leader, Theela, destroying the device that had been luring starships, stating that Uhura should tell Kirk she kept her side of the bargain. Uhura informs them that a ship of women will return to bring them to a habitable world and that the women's bodies should return to normal in a few months. Theela is pleased, preferring a life fully lived to a static immortality.
While exploring the newly discovered planet Phylos for possible Federation colonization, Lt. Sulu picks up a walking plant, called a Retlaw, and is poisoned by a stinger. The plantlike alien beings who inhabit the planet approach the ''Enterprise'' landing party and their leader, Agmar, saves Sulu's life. The Phylosians say they were nearly wiped out by a mild terrestrial disease that was brought to the planet by Dr. Stavos Keniclius, a Terran scientist who survived Earth's Eugenics Wars.
A giant clone of Keniclius, named Keniclius Five, kidnaps First Officer Spock. Keniclius has survived through the centuries by periodically transferring his consciousness into a new, more advanced clone body. He believes the galaxy is as war-ravaged as Earth was when he left it. He plans to enforce peace on the galaxy with the aid of a fleet of Phylosian ships and a giant clone of Spock that he's created by transferring Spock's consciousness into it, leaving Spock's original body a mindless shell. The newly awakened Spock Two uses his Vulcan telepathic abilities to mind meld with his original self and save his life. The two Spocks, in concert with Captain James T. Kirk, convince Keniclius that the need for his plan no longer exists. Spock Two and Keniclius Five devote themselves to restoring the Phylosian civilization as Spock One departs with his shipmates.
The first half of the series alternates between the two leads. Madlax is one of the most efficient special ops agents for hire in the war-torn Gazth-Sonika,'''Galza Lieutenant:''' "What'll be a big deal is when THAT one shows up. ... A super-skilled agent named Ma ..." while Margaret Burton is a sleepy, clumsy amnesiac living in Nafrece, a country styled after France. When a "picture book", presumably given to Margaret by her late father, attracts the attention of international criminal network Enfant, she discovers that the origins of the book lie in Gazth-Sonika. Enfant's top operative, Carrossea Doon, tracks Margaret down but tips off his superiors in the wrong direction, towards Madlax, who has been causing Enfant trouble for some time. Meanwhile, Vanessa Rene, Margaret's former tutor whose parents died because of Gazth-Sonikan war,'''Vanessa:''' "My father was a diplomat in Nafrece, you see, and at the time that the threat of civil war here was coming to a peak, he was in charge of relations with Gazth-Sonika. Then the civil war broke out, and my parents were detained by the Gazth-Sonika army under suspicion of inciting the war". discovers that her current employer, Bookwald Industries, covertly supports the war by supplying both sides with firearms and starts investigating its true cause. Her investigation brings her to Gazth-Sonika, where Madlax is hired as her bodyguard, and together, they uncover data that proves Enfant orchestrated the entire conflict. Enfant eventually intercepts them and they are forced into hiding. Back in Nafrece, Margaret decides to help Vanessa and travels to Gazth-Sonika, accompanied by her devoted and sometimes overprotective maid Elenore Baker and Carrossea Doon.
Eventually, Madlax and Margaret meet and embark on a search for Quanzitta Marison, a Gazth-Sonikan mystic who supposedly knows about Margaret's book, Enfant's involvement with it, and Enfant itself. Lady Quanzitta does indeed tell them about Enfant and its plans to plunge the entire world into a total war, starting with Gazth-Sonika. She reveals that Enfant's leader Friday Monday possesses supernatural powers connected to the three ancient books, one of which belongs to Margaret. Margaret uses her own supernatural abilities and that of her book to return her lost memories. Carrossea, who has been aiding Margaret, requests that his memories be restored as well despite warnings not to do so; he discovers that he, in fact, died 12 years ago and held on to life only by sheer force of will to protect Margaret. Carrossea disappears, and Margaret is captured by Monday who intends to use her abilities to advance his own plans.
While Margaret and Carrossea perform the ritual, Madlax is attacked by Limelda Jorg, a Gazth-Sonikan sniper who holds a grudge against Madlax ever since she failed to stop an assassination by Madlax earlier in the show. Limelda kills Vanessa while targeting Madlax, sending the latter into clinical depression. Elenore and Lady Quanzitta's servant Nakhl manage to restore Madlax's will to live and persuade her to save Margaret, and the three storm Enfant's headquarters together. During the assault, Elenore is killed and Margaret, now under Monday's control, shoots Madlax.
Believing Madlax to be dead, Monday commences a ritual to unleash people's inhibitions and trigger worldwide anarchy; but Margaret's memories return and she snaps out of his mind control. Only now does the audience learn the back-story: back in 1999, Monday drove Margaret's father insane with his powers and she was forced to kill her own father. To escape the horrible truth of her patricide, Margaret split herself into three personae: the "memory keeper" Laetitia, the sinful Madlax, and the innocent Margaret herself. Margaret then fuses her three personae back together to undo the ritual she previously performed with Monday, saving the world from insanity. Madlax, who should no longer exist after the fusion, appears and guns down Monday. It becomes apparent that Margaret has once again split herself into three, judging that after twelve years, she no longer has the right to make decisions for her other personae.
When everything is said and done, Margaret fully releases Madlax so she can live her life freely and also adopts Laetitia as her younger sister so she won't be alone. Madlax ultimately makes peace with Limelda and they travel together.
A team of researchers funded by New York pharmaceutical firm Wexel Hall, including Dr. Jack Byron, Gordon Mitchell, Sam Rogers, Gail Stern, Cole Burris, and Dr. Ben Douglas, leave for a jungle in Borneo to search for a flower called ''Perrinnia immortalis''--"''the Blood Orchid''"—that they believe contains a fountain of youth. Jack convinces guide Captain Bill Johnson and his partner Tran Wu to take an unsafe path despite their misgivings. Their boat goes over a waterfall and breaks apart. A giant anaconda emerges from the water and swallows Ben whole. The rest of the team reach shore. Bill assures them that it was the largest snake he has ever seen and that it should take weeks for it to grow hungry again. However, most of the team demand that the expedition be called off. They call for Bill's friend, John Livingston, who lives on the river, to join them, only to find Livingston attacked and his boat wrecked.
They find a small native village and a disembowelled anaconda, a pair of human legs hanging out of the snake's abdomen, and an orchid remain. Evidently, the orchids are a part of the food chain, and these snakes grow over unusually long lives. Jack realizes the orchids must be nearby, while Gail contends that the orchids may not work on humans. Jack tries to bully Sam, but she rebels and the group starts building an escape raft.
Gordon discovers that Jack has hid Livingston's radio and gun. Jack fails to convince him to continue with the expedition, so he paralyzes Gordon using a previously collected spider. Jack joins the others at the raft, but a suspicious Sam discovers Gordon and the spider bite. An anaconda swallows Gordon alive as she informs the others, who arrive as it finishes. Bill sets the building on fire but notices the snake has escaped. Jack, left alone, steals the raft.
Unable to make another raft, they hack through the jungle to beat Jack to the orchids and retrieve their raft. On the way they fall into a cave trying to escape from an anaconda. Cole gets lost and finds human skeletons. He is found by Tran, who then gets pulled under and eaten. Bill, looking for the two, finds Tran's lost flashlight floating in bloody water. A terrified Cole escapes from the cave, seconds ahead of the snake, which gets stuck in the hole. Sam beheads it with a machete, but another snake captures the hysterical Cole. The team follows to find him being constricted. Bill throws his knife and impales the snake through the head, freeing Cole.
The group finds Jack and his raft. Jack shoots Bill in the arm and forces the party to accompany him to the orchids, which grow above a pit in which a ball of male anacondas are mating with the female. Sam is forced to cross the pit via a thin log to fill a backpack with orchids. As she returns, the log cracks. Jack orders her to throw him the backpack. Sam threatens to drop the flowers into the pit. Jack threatens to shoot the others. The log breaks. As the others try to reach her, Jack reaches for the backpack. The spider he used earlier escapes from its jar and bites him. He falls into the pit and is devoured. The vine holding Sam also gives way, but she climbs out of the pit, as one of the anacondas tries to get her. Gail tricks the snake into biting their fuel container. Bill shoots it, but the gun is empty. Cole shoots a flare, setting the anaconda on fire and exploding the container, killing the other snakes. An ensuing landslide buries the blood orchids. The survivors—Bill, Sam, Cole and Gail—make it back to the raft and head to Kota Bharu.
Niel Herbert, a young man who grows up in Sweet Water, witnesses the slow decline of Marian Forrester, for whom he feels very deeply, and also of the West itself from the idealized age of noble pioneers to the age of capitalist exploitation.
Born on the Fourth of July, 1900, John Sims (James Murray) loses his father when he is twelve. At 21, he sets out for New York City, where he is sure he will become somebody important, just as his father had always believed. Another boat passenger tells him he will have to be good in order to stand out from the crowd.
John gets a job as one of many office workers of the Atlas Insurance Company. Fellow employee Bert (Bert Roach) talks him into a double date to Coney Island. John is so smitten with Mary (Eleanor Boardman), he proposes to her at the end of the date; she accepts. Bert predicts the marriage will last a year or two.
A Christmas Eve dinner in their tiny apartment with Mary's mother (Lucy Beaumont) and two brothers (Daniel G. Tomlinson and Dell Henderson), with whom John is not on friendly terms, ends badly. John goes to Bert's to get some liquor. A young woman there throws herself at him, complimenting him on his looks, and starts to dance with him. John returns home very late and very drunk. Mary's family has gone home, and she tells him that they do not understand him. They exchange Christmas gifts and John compliments her, but yells at her when she does something trivial.
In April, they quarrel and Mary threatens to leave, and is shocked and hurt by John's apathy when he does not try to stop her. The couple reconciles when Mary tells John that she is pregnant. She gives birth to a son. Over the next five years, the couple have a daughter and an $8 raise, but Mary is dissatisfied with John's lack of advancement, especially compared to Bert, and in light of John's big talk about his prospects.
Finally, John wins $500 for an advertising slogan; and buys presents for his family. When he and Mary urge their children to rush home to see their gifts, their daughter is killed by a truck. John is so overcome with grief, he cannot function at work. When reprimanded, he quits.
John gets other jobs, but cannot hold onto any of them. Mary's brothers reluctantly offer him a position, but John is too proud to accept what he deems a "charity job". In a fit of rage, Mary slaps him. John goes for a walk, contemplates suicide, but his son goes with him. The child's unconditional love for him makes him rethink his situation, and he changes his mind. John gets work as a sandwich board carrier and returns home, his optimism renewed, only to find Mary about to leave with her brothers. She steps out of the house, but no further. She loves John too much to abandon him. The reconciled family attends a vaudeville comedy show, with the final shot showing them overcome with laughter, and lost in the crowded audience of laughing people.
Octavia Brennan is a beautiful yet flawed young woman, living the high life in 1970s London. Though she is deeply flirtatious and has - by her own admission - slept with many men, she has never found happiness with any of them.
After bumping into an old school friend, Gussie, and falling for her fiancé, Jeremy, Octavia is invited to spend the weekend with them on their canal boat. Characteristically, she convinces herself that Jeremy cannot possibly have real affection for the overweight and clumsy Gussie, and she is determined to win Jeremy by the end of the weekend. But when Jeremy invites Welsh firebrand Gareth Llewellyn along for the ride, Octavia finds her plans disrupted in more ways than one.
Sybil, in hospital for a few days, instructs Basil on several tasks he must do at the hotel, including running a required fire drill and hanging a moose head. At the hotel, Basil has a conversation with the elderly Major Gowen, who tells a Test match anecdote whose in-character comic basis is to have him emphatically reject a racist term (Indians aren't "niggers"), only to unexpectedly replace it with another (Indians are "wogs"). The Major also expresses his dislike of Germans when Basil tells him a German group is due the next day. Basil then has several pratfalls with Manuel while trying to hang the moose head, including many calls from Sybil reminding him to do so. At one point, he leaves the head on the hotel counter to get a hammer, during which Manuel practises his English from behind the counter; a confused Major thinks the moose head is talking.
The next morning Basil successfully mounts the head. After another call from Sybil, Basil prepares to start the fire drill, but ends up creating confusion with the guests between the fire alarm and the burglar alarm (with the fire alarm being "a semitone higher" than the burglar alarm). Matters are made worse when Manuel actually causes a fire in the kitchen, setting off the alarm, but Basil, unaware of this, assures the guests it is only a drill. After starting the alarm, he tries to use the extinguisher on the fire, which bursts and sprays him in the face, blinding him. Manuel races out of the kitchen and tries to help Basil, only to accidentally knock him out with a frying pan.
Basil wakes up in hospital after suffering concussion, and Sybil attests to Dr Finn that Basil cannot cope with the hotel alone. Basil sneaks out and returns to Fawlty Towers in time to greet the German guests. Despite telling everyone not to "mention the war", due to a combination of his own animosity and concussion-induced mental confusion, Basil makes numerous World War II references whilst taking their dinner orders and begins arguing with them, calling out Nazi Germany and frequently referring to Adolf Hitler and others. (These references include things like: "I will now go and get your orders (going into a German accent) orders which must be obeyed at all times without questions" before giving a Nazi salute to the Germans, which offends them, and numerous times where he changes Normal food names like Prawn Cocktail into names that appear to sound only vaguely similar, such as Eva Braun.) Polly discreetly calls the hospital to warn them about Basil's behaviour.
As one of the Germans breaks down into tears, Basil starts into war jokes and mocks Hitler's goose-stepping. Dr Finn arrives, prompting Basil to try to escape, Manuel giving chase. However, Basil hits the wall where he hung the moose head, which falls, knocks Basil out again, and lands on Manuel's head. As the Germans look on in disbelief, the Major comes out and thinks the moose is speaking to him again. The Germans ask aloud how the British could have won the war.
One day he finds a baby boy in Paris. The boy wears very fine clothes, so apparently his parents are rich. Barberin offers to take care of the child, hoping to get a good reward. He gives the boy to his wife, and calls him Rémi.
Barberin gets injured in an accident. He blames his employer and hopes to receive financial compensation in a trial. The trial costs a lot of money, and Barberin tells his wife to sell her cow (her main source of wealth) and to get rid of Rémi. She does the former.
The story proper starts when Rémi is eight years old. Barberin comes home unexpectedly, bitter and penniless, having lost his trial. He sees that Rémi is still there and decides to get rid of him when he meets a travelling artist, Signor Vitalis, in the local pub, who travels with three dogs Capi, Zerbino and Dolce - and a monkey, Joli-Cœur. Vitalis offers to take Rémi on as an apprentice for money.
Rémi leaves his childhood home, without even a chance to say goodbye to his foster mother (who would have done anything to prevent the transaction) and starts a journey on the roads of France. Vitalis is a kind man, certainly better company than Barberin, and teaches Rémi to play the harp and to read.
They travel West, via Murat (where Vitalis tells him of the prince of Naples, brother in law of Napoleon, who came from there). Next stop is Ussel where Rémi is outfitted for his new life, including shoes, which he has never owned before. The first big city going south is Bordeaux, after which they cut right through the morass of les Landes towards Pau.
When they are in Toulouse, Vitalis is put in jail after an incident with a policeman who is rough with Rémi. It is not easy for a ten-year-old to feed himself and four animals under his care, and they nearly starve, when they meet the "Swan" - a little river ship owned by Mrs. Milligan and her ill son Arthur. Rémi is taken in to entertain the sick boy, and he becomes almost part of the family. They travel towards Montpellier and the Mediterranean on the Canal du Sud. Rémi learns the story about her dead husband and brother-in-law, who under the English law, was to inherit all of his brother's fortune if he died childless. An earlier child had disappeared and was never found (under the charge of this James Milligan) however soon after the husband's death, Arthur was born.
Two months later Vitalis is released from jail, Mrs. Milligan pays for him to take the train to Cette. Rémi and the Milligans would like to stay together, but Vitalis thinks it is better for Rémi to be free, and so they say goodbye. However, Mrs. Milligan judges that Vitalis is a very kind and honest man.
They travel via Tarascon, Montelimar, Valence, Tournon, Vienne, Lyon, Dijon, and Chalon on the way to Paris, but winter catches up to them 30 miles from Troyes, and in a snowstorm Zerbino and Dolce are attacked by wolves in the woods, and Joli-Cœur catches pneumonia.
In an attempt to raise money for the doctor, Rémi and Vitalis give a performance and Vitalis sings. Rémi has never before heard Vitalis sing, and is not the only one who is bewildered: a young and apparently rich lady tells Vitalis that she is amazed to hear his wonderful voice. Vitalis reacts angrily. He explains his skill to the lady by telling her that he used to be a singer's servant. He shows no appreciation when the lady gives a gold coin to Capi. They return to Joli-Cœur with the money, but it's too late, Joli-Cœur is dead.
They now continue their journey to Paris. Vitalis decides to leave Rémi with another "padrone" for the winter, while he trains new animals with the proceeds. This "padrone" is a man who keeps a group of boys, sold by their poverty-stricken parents, working for him (also see the English story “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens). Garofoli isn't home, and Vitalis tells Rémi to wait there, and that he will be back soon. Rémi passes two horrible hours in the Rue Lourcine house - waiting for Garofoli and talking to an ill-looking boy, Mattia, who keeps house because Garofoli believes him too stupid and incapable of working outside. He also keeps the soup pot locked so that Mattia could not eat from it.
When the other boys and Garofoli return, Rémi witnesses how terribly Garofoli abuses those who do not bring home the amount of money required: he beats and starves them. When Vitalis comes back and sees how the boys are being flogged, he tells Garofoli that he could go to the police, but Garofoli threatens back to tell "some people just one name which will make Vitalis red from shame". Vitalis takes the wondering and grateful Rémi away. This act of love costs Vitalis his life. That night, unable to find a place to stay, Vitalis and Rémi collapse in the snowstorm under a fence after fruitlessly searching for access to a stone quarry shelter.
Rémi wakes up in a bed, with people standing around him: a man, the gardener Pierre Acquin, two boys Alexis and Benjamin, and two girls Étienette (Martha) and little mute Lise, who is about 5–6 years old, and watches Rémi with “speaking eyes”. Rémi learns the terrible truth: Vitalis is dead. In an attempt to discover his identity, the police officers take Rémi to Garofoli, who reveals the truth: Vitalis used to be the famous Italian singer Carlo Balzani. When he aged, he lost his voice and was too proud to sing in lesser venues. He decided to disappear, changing his identity to Vitalis.
The family take Rémi and Capi in. Rémi especially adores Lise. He teaches her to read and plays the harp for her. Lise loves a Neapolitan song in particular. Rémi becomes a gardener, and two years of hard work and merry Sundays follow. Then a terrible hailstorm ruins the glass in the greenhouse, and Acquin is in debt to the man he borrowed from to buy his business. He cannot pay and has to enter a debtor's jail. The children are to go to uncles and aunts, in several French towns. Although the children insist that Rémi also belongs to the family, none of the uncles and aunts are willing or able to take care of Rémi. Broken-hearted, vowing to his siblings to visit and bring their father news from them, Rémi takes his harp and Capi and takes to the road.
Rémi decides to head south towards Fontainebleau but hasn't gone long when he meets a companion, Mattia, the boy from Garofoli, starving near a church on the streets of Paris. Garofoli is in prison for beating another boy to death. Mattia pleads with Rémi to take him into his troupe. Rémi is scared: with him, Mattia might die of hunger as much as alone. But Mattia convinces him that two will never die of hunger because one helps the other. Thus, "Rémi troupe" consists now of two twelve-year-old musicians and a dog.
Mattia turns out to be a gifted violinist, he plays other instruments too, and he learned some tricks while working for some time in a circus. The boys do well in the spring at weddings and festivals, their talents are appreciated and Rémi takes up the plan to visit Mother Barberin and buy her a cow (as a replacement to the one she was forced to sell at the start of the story).
Since a cow costs a lot of money Rémi plans a route via Corbeil, Montargis, Gien, Bourges, St. Amand and MontluÇon where they make a lot of money on their way to visit Alexis, who now lives with his Uncle Gaspard (Father Acquin's brother) in the mining town Varses, and works in the mine with his uncle. When Alexis is wounded and unable to work for a while, Rémi volunteers to replace him. One of the miners is nicknamed magister; he is an old and wise man. He becomes a good friend and he explains the history of coal.
One day the mine is flooded by the river Divonne, which flows overhead. Seven miners, including Uncle Gaspard, the magister and Rémi, find shelter, but are trapped. They are waiting to be rescued, but have no idea of the amount of time passing in hunger and fear. One of the men confesses a crime, blames himself for the disaster and commits suicide. They end up spending a fortnight underground - and at last are saved. Capi is mad with happiness; Mattia is in tears. He says he never believed that Rémi could be dead, and Rémi is proud of his friend's strong belief in him. This incident shows the terrible state of child labour in 19th Century France.
Rémi wants Mattia to learn music and they visit a barber/musician. Mr. Espinassous is amazed by Mattia's great talent and tries to convince him to stay and learn, but Mattia does not want to leave Rémi.
The boys now head towards their visit to Rémi's foster mother. First they decide to visit Clermont Ferrand, and south westerly, the mineral bath towns Saint Nectaire, Mont-Dore, Royat and Bourboule where they can make good money, towards the cow for mother Barberin. When they pass through Ussel, not far from Chavanon, they make sure that they will not buy a bad cow, and ask a vet for help. The vet is very friendly and the boys buy a wonderful cow.
In the next town the boys are accused of stealing the cow. Why would two street musicians have a cow, after all? They explain their story to the mayor. The mayor knows Mother Barberin, he heard about the accident in the mine, and he is willing to believe that the boys are honest. To make sure, the vet is called to testify, and the boys can continue their journey.
Rémi and Mother Barberin finally meet again. Mother Barberin tells Rémi that Jérôme is in Paris in search of Rémi, because his real parents appear to be in search of him. However, Mother Barberin knows very little, because Jérôme never told her any details. Rémi is eager to know his real parents. Rémi and Mattia decide to return to Paris and find Barberin. On the way to Paris, they pass through Dreuzy, where they pay a visit to Lise Acquin. Rémi and Lise are very fond of each other.
When the boys arrive in Paris, they learn that Jérôme has died. Rémi writes a letter to Mother Barberin. Mother Barberin replies and she encloses a letter that was sent by Jérôme before he died. It mentions the address of the lawyer's office in London, in charge of the search for Rémi. The boys take a boat to London, where they are led straight to Rémi's parents. Their name is Driscoll.
Rémi is terribly disappointed: the Driscolls are cold to him; his father keeps the boys locked up. They turn out to be a band of thieves and use Capi to help them in their work.
The Driscolls receive a visitor, a man who seems interested in Rémi, but Rémi does not understand English well enough. The visitor does not meet Mattia, but Mattia overhears their conversation. James Milligan appears to be Arthur's uncle. He hopes that Arthur will die, so that he will inherit the fortune of his late brother. The boys agree that Mrs. Milligan must be warned, but they have no idea where to find her. Mattia meets Bob, a clown/musician from the circus. Bob turns out to be a fine friend.
When Rémi is accused of a robbery committed by the Driscolls, Bob and Mattia help him escape from prison. With the help of Bob's brother, a sailor, they return to France to search for Mrs. Milligan, in order to warn her about her brother-in-law. They start by going up the Seine, since the "Swan" is a remarkable boat; they soon hear that people have seen her. They follow the trail along rivers and canals.
On their way they pass through Dreuzy where they hope to meet Lise again. However, they hear that Lise's uncle has died, and that a kind English lady, who journeyed on a boat, has offered to take care of Lise. Rémi and Mattia trace the "Swan" across France to near the Swiss border. They find the boat deserted, finding out that it was unable to journey further up the river, and the family continued their journey by coach, probably to Vevey. When they get to the town where "the English woman with the ill boy and the mute girl" are supposed to be, they start singing near every fence. It takes several days.
One day, Rémi sings his Neapolitan song, and hears a scream and a weak voice that continues the song. They run to the voice and find Lise, whose voice has returned to her when she heard her long-lost Rémi. The boys now find that James Milligan is there too, and Rémi is afraid to meet him, but James does not know Mattia so he is able to tell Mrs. Milligan their story. Mrs. Milligan guesses that Rémi might be her lost eldest son, but tells Mattia to keep it secret until she is sure. She arranges for the boys to stay in a hotel, where they can have plenty of food, comfortable beds, and are visited by a barber and a tailor.
After a few days Mrs. Milligan invites the boys to her villa where they meet Mother Barberin, whom Mrs. Milligan sent for. Mother Barberin shows Rémi's baby clothes which Mrs. Milligan recognises as the clothes her boy wore when he was stolen. Mrs. Milligan happily declares that Rémi is her son, to join his "mother, brother and those who loved you in your misery (Lise and Mattia)". It is clear that Mr. Driscoll had stolen the boy as a job for James Milligan.
The story has a happy ending: Rémi finds his family, and discovers he is the heir to a fortune. Mattia's dear little sister Cristina is sent for from Italy and they all grow up together. Arthur gets well and becomes a gentleman athlete, Mattia a famous violinist. Rémi marries Lise and they have a son named Mattia, and Mother Barberin becomes his nanny.
The book ends with the score of the Neapolitan song.
Harry Perkins is the left-wing Leader of the Labour Party and Member of Parliament for Sheffield Central. Beating all the odds, Harry becomes Prime Minister and sets out to dismantle media monopolies, withdraw from NATO, carry out unilateral nuclear disarmament, and create an open government. Many people in the media, financial services, and the intelligence services are deeply unhappy with Harry's win and his policies, and they unite to stop him by any means.
The Peanuts gang heads off to Camp Remote somewhere in the mountains. Accidentally left behind by the bus while at a desolate rest stop, Charlie Brown is forced to hitch a harrowing ride on Snoopy's motorcycle in order to make the rest of the journey to the camp, accompanied by rock guitar type riffs while protesting Snoopy's wild driving.
Upon arrival, the kids are immediately exposed to the regimentation and squalor of camp life which completely differs from their comfortable residences back home. They struggle with the concept that the camp schedule is in the 24-hour clock (Franklin asks if "oh-five-hundred" [5:00 AM] is noon, and Sally thinks "eighteen-hundred" [6:00 PM] is a year). Although they attempt to adjust to camp life, Snoopy, in his own tent, enjoys an ice cream sundae while watching a Western film on his portable TV set.
The gang must contend with a trio of ruthless bullies (and their "cat", Brutus, vicious enough to intimidate even Snoopy and Woodstock) who openly boast of having won a raft race every year they have competed, but are only repelled when Linus uses his security blanket as a whip (which also gets him unwanted attention from Sally, who praises the courage of her self-proclaimed "Sweet Babboo"). It is revealed that they have only "won" through outright cheating — using a raft equipped with an outboard motor, direction finder, radar and sonar, along with utilizing every trick available to thwart everyone else's chance to even make it to the finish line, much less win the race.
The kids are broken into three groups: the boys' group (consisting of Charlie Brown, Linus, Schroeder, and Franklin), the girls' group (consisting of Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Sally, and Lucy), and Snoopy and Woodstock. Charlie Brown reluctantly leads the boys' group, struggling with insecurity but doing anything possible to work things out and implement his decisions. His antithesis is Peppermint Patty, the very confident but inept leader of the girls' group who does little more than stand around and give orders. Moreover, she insists that every decision, regardless of inconsequentiality, be confirmed by a vote of secret ballots. Predictably, when the voting is tied or she disagrees with the outcome, she often overrules the decision, angering the other girls. The overconfident bullies use their cheating to burst ahead, but while boasting, they fail to watch where they are going and crash into a dock, costing them substantial time and effort to dislodge their boat while the others sail past.
The groups see many unique sights along the river race, such as mountains, forests, and a riparian logging community of houses built on docks. However, they also run into different obstacles: getting lost, stranded, storms, blizzards, and sabotage from the bullies. Snoopy abandons the race to search tirelessly for Woodstock when a storm separates them; finding an abandoned cabin to retire for the night, was spooked by a bear that was at the door when he was trying to sleep: as was the bear when seeing Snoopy. After a long search, they manage to find each other and are joyfully reunited, later reuniting at the abandoned cabin where the girls claimed it for the night, kicking the boys (including Snoopy and Woodstock) outside where they then had to camp in the snow. Charlie Brown grows increasingly into his leadership role; ultimately, after the bullies sabotage everyone else's rafts, the boys' and girls' teams merge. Although blamed for problems, Charlie Brown handles them well; for instance, when the team is trapped on a water wheel, he decides, as the leader, to remove the obstacle.
Thanks to Charlie Brown's growing self-confidence and leadership, the gang has a good chance of winning the race at its climax, after overcoming considerable odds. Unfortunately, Peppermint Patty incites the girls to celebrate prematurely; after accidentally knocking the boys overboard, the girls attempt to rescue them, only to fall overboard themselves.
Seizing the opportunity to pull ahead, the bullies gloat about their apparently imminent victory; however, their brash over-confidence, infighting, and constant carelessness during the race has seen them become involved in numerous mishaps, substantially damaging their raft. Just shy of the finish line, their raft finally gives out and sinks, leaving Snoopy and Woodstock as the only contenders left. Brutus slashes Snoopy's inner tube with a claw, but Woodstock promptly builds a raft of twigs (with a leaf for a sail) and continues toward victory. When Brutus is about to attack Woodstock, Snoopy punches him, and Woodstock wins the race. Conceding defeat, the bullies vow vengeance next year, but their threats are humiliatingly stopped when Snoopy clobbers Brutus for threatening Woodstock again, sending a terrified Brutus scampering away.
As the gang boards the bus to depart for home, Charlie Brown decides aloud to use the experience as a lesson to be more confident and assertive, and to believe in himself. Unfortunately, right after he finishes speaking, the bus leaves without him again, forcing him to hitch another ride with Snoopy.
An Elder of the Universe, the Grandmaster, challenges a hooded female called the "Unknown"—eventually revealed to be Death—to a game for the life of his fellow Elder, the Collector (killed by the cosmic being Korvac in the title ''Avengers''). The pair decide to use various superheroes from Earth as pawns, the goal being to collect the four pieces of a prize called the "Golden Globe of Life". A victory for the Grandmaster's team means the Collector may be resurrected, while a loss indicates the character must remain dead.
The Grandmaster's team consists of Captain America, Talisman, Darkstar, Captain Britain, Wolverine, Defensor, Sasquatch, Daredevil, Peregrine, She-Hulk, the Thing, and Blitzkrieg.
Death's team consists of Iron Man, Vanguard, Iron Fist, Shamrock, Storm, Arabian Knight, Sabra, Invisible Girl, Angel, Black Panther, Sunfire, and the Collective Man.
Although the storyline depicts a tie and the Grandmaster's team is written as being successful, Death advises that the Collector can only be resurrected if the Grandmaster takes his fellow Elder's place in the Realm of the Dead, with the character agreeing to the terms. International heroes Blitzkrieg (Germany); Collective Man (China); Defensor (Argentina); Peregrine (France); Shamrock (Ireland); and Talisman (Australia) debut in the series, and each issue contained a catalogue of all featured heroes and was the prototype for the publication the ''Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe''.
In 2015 ''Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars'' revealed that alongside the main contest a bonus round occurred featuring lesser-to-unknown characters. The Grandmaster's team consists of Rocket Racer, She-Man-Thing, The Vile Tapeworm, and Frog-Man. Death's team consists of Deadpool, Howard the Duck, Doop and The Pink Sphinx. Death's team wins, the prize being a 'participant' trophy.
An ''Avengers Annual'' eventually reveals that this was a ruse perpetrated by the Grandmaster as he is able to steal Death's powers and then, via another deception, forces the entity to banish all Elders from her realm, effectively making them immortal.
The novel, written between 1956 and 1957 while living in Paris in the Hotel des Trois Colleges and first published in 1961, is the story of an impoverished, retired colonel, a veteran of the Thousand Days' War, who still hopes to receive the pension he was promised some fifteen years earlier. The colonel lives with his asthmatic wife in a small village under martial law. The action opens with the colonel preparing to go to the funeral of a town musician whose death is notable because he was the first to die from natural causes in many years. The novel is set during the years of "La Violencia" in Colombia, when martial law and censorship prevail.
Karlsson is a very short, plump and overconfident man who lives in a small house hidden behind a chimney on the roof of "a very ordinary apartment building on a very ordinary street" in Vasastan, Stockholm. When Karlsson pushes a button on his stomach, it starts a clever little engine with a propeller on his back, allowing him to fly.
In his own opinion, Karlsson is the best at everything. He befriends Svante Svantesson, a 7-year-old boy and youngest member of the Svantesson family (who is often referred to as "Little Brother", , or "Malysh" in the Russian adaptations). Svante is sometimes called Smidge in the US version of the books.
Karlsson is quite mischievous and likes to make fun and prank others. He often gets Lillebror into trouble, as Karlsson usually disappears just before Lillebror's family arrives leaving him to deal with consequences of Karlsson’s actions.
At first, parents, siblings and friends of Lillebror don't believe that Karlsson is real and consider him being an imaginary friend but after they meet him in person they begin to like the little flying man.
Another character to encounter Karlsson is Fröken Bock (Miss Hildur Bock), a mean nanny (presumably in her late 40s or 50s), who undergoes an emotional transformation after meeting Karlsson.
The story begins at dusk in Salem Village, Massachusetts as young Goodman Brown leaves Faith, his wife of three months, for some unknown errand in the forest. Faith pleads with her husband to stay with her, but he insists that the journey must be completed that night. In the forest he meets an older man, dressed in a similar manner and bearing a physical resemblance to himself. The man carries a black serpent-shaped staff. Deeper in the woods, the two encounter Goody Cloyse, an older woman, whom Young Goodman had known as a boy and who had taught him his catechism. Cloyse complains about the need to walk; the older man throws his staff on the ground for the woman and quickly leaves with Brown.
Other townspeople inhabit the woods that night, traveling in the same direction as Goodman Brown. When he hears his wife's voice in the trees, he calls out but is not answered. He then runs angrily through the forest, distraught that his beautiful Faith is lost somewhere in the dark, sinful forest. He soon stumbles upon a clearing at midnight where all the townspeople assembled. At the ceremony, which is carried out at a flame-lit altar of rocks, the newest acolytes are brought forth—Goodman Brown and Faith. They are the only two of the townspeople not yet initiated. Goodman Brown calls to heaven and Faith to resist and instantly the scene vanishes. Arriving back at his home in Salem the next morning, Goodman Brown is uncertain whether the previous night's events were real or a dream, but he is deeply shaken, and his belief he lives in a Christian community is distorted. He loses his faith in his wife, along with all of humanity. He lives his life an embittered and suspicious cynic, wary of everyone around him. The story concludes: "And when he had lived long, and was borne to his grave... they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone, for his dying hour was gloom."
The series is set in Big City, a colorful world populated by anthropomorphic animals, mythological creatures and humanoid beings. Each episode follows the daily experiences of an anthropomorphic blue octopus named Oswald (voiced by Fred Savage), accompanied by his beloved hotdog-shaped pet, Weenie, and their life in the cheerful and whimsically-designed community of Big City. Commonly, the program concentrates on Oswald's experiences with friends, acquaintances and neighbors, including Henry, a penguin, and Daisy, a flower, among others – and his patient methods of coping with or tolerating different situations and dilemmas, along with his thoroughly optimistic outlook on life.
Nicholas Nickleby's father dies unexpectedly after losing all of his money in a poor investment. Nicholas, his mother and his younger sister, Kate, are forced to give up their comfortable lifestyle in Devonshire and travel to London to seek the aid of their only relative, Nicholas's uncle, Ralph Nickleby. Ralph, a cold and ruthless businessman, has no desire to help his destitute relations and hates Nicholas, who reminds him of his dead brother, on sight. He gets Nicholas a very low-paying job as an assistant to Wackford Squeers, who runs the school Dotheboys Hall in Yorkshire. Nicholas is initially wary of Squeers (a very unpleasant man with one eye) because he is gruff and violent towards his young charges, but he tries to quell his suspicions. As Nicholas boards the stagecoach for Greta Bridge, he is handed a letter by Ralph's clerk, Newman Noggs. A once-wealthy businessman, Noggs lost his fortune, became a drunk, and had no other recourse but to seek employment with Ralph, whom he loathes. The letter expresses concern for him as an innocent young man, and offers assistance if Nicholas ever requires it. Once he arrives in Yorkshire, Nicholas comes to realise that Squeers is running a scam: he takes in unwanted children (most of whom are illegitimate, crippled or deformed) for a high fee, and starves and mistreats them while using the money sent by their parents, who only want to get them out of their way, to pad his own pockets. Squeers and his monstrous wife whip and beat the children regularly, while spoiling their own son. Lessons are no better; they show how poorly educated Squeers himself is and he uses the lessons as excuses to send the boys off on chores. While he is there, Nicholas befriends a "simple" boy named Smike, who is older than the other "students" and now acts as an unpaid servant. Nicholas attracts the attention of Fanny Squeers, his employer's plain and shrewish daughter, who deludes herself into thinking that Nicholas is in love with her. She attempts to disclose her affections during a game of cards, but Nicholas doesn't catch her meaning. Instead he ends up flirting with her friend Tilda Price, to the consternation of both Fanny and Tilda's friendly but crude-mannered fiancé John Browdie. After being accosted by Fanny again, Nicholas bluntly tells her he does not return her affections and wishes to be free of the horrible atmosphere of Dotheboys Hall, earning her enmity.
Fanny uses her new-found loathing of Nicholas to make life difficult for the only friend he has at the school: Smike, whom Squeers takes to beating more and more frequently. One day Smike runs away, but is caught and brought back to Dotheboys. Squeers begins to beat him, but Nicholas intervenes. Squeers strikes him across the face and Nicholas snaps, beating the schoolmaster violently. During the fight, Fanny steps in and attacks Nicholas, hating him for rejecting her love. Nicholas ignores her and goes on to beat Squeers bloody. Quickly packing his belongings and leaving Dotheboys Hall, he meets John Browdie on the way. Browdie finds the idea that Squeers himself has been beaten uproariously funny, and gives Nicholas money and a walking staff to aid him on his trip back to London. At dawn, he is found by Smike, who begs to come with him. Nicholas and Smike set out towards London. Among other things, Nicholas wants to find out what Squeers is going to tell his uncle.
Meanwhile, Kate and her mother are forced by Ralph to move out of their lodgings in the house of the kindly portrait painter Miss LaCreevy and into a cold and draughty house Ralph owns in a London slum. Ralph finds employment for Kate working for a fashionable milliner, Madame Mantalini. Her husband, Mr Mantalini, is a gigolo who depends on his (significantly older) wife to supply his extravagant tastes, and offends Kate by leering at her. Kate proves initially clumsy at her job, which endears her to the head of the showroom, Miss Knag, a vain and foolish woman who uses Kate to make herself look better. This backfires when a client prefers to be served by the young and pretty Kate rather than the ageing Miss Knag. Kate is blamed for the insult, and as a result, Kate is ostracised by the other milliners and left friendless.
Nicholas seeks out the aid of Newman Noggs, who shows him a letter that Fanny Squeers has written to Ralph. It viciously exaggerates the events of the beating and slanders Nicholas. They suspect Ralph secretly knows the truth, but is latching onto Fanny's account to further persecute Nicholas. Noggs tells Nicholas, who is intent on confronting his uncle, that Ralph is out of town and advises him to find a job. Nicholas goes to an employment office, where he encounters a strikingly beautiful girl. His search for employment fails, and he is about to give up when Noggs offers him the meagre position of French teacher to the children of his neighbours, the Kenwigs family, and Nicholas is hired under the assumed name of "Johnson" to teach the children French.
Ralph asks Kate to attend a dinner he is hosting for some business associates. When she arrives she discovers she is the only woman in attendance, and it becomes clear Ralph is using her as bait to entice the foolish nobleman Lord Frederick Verisopht to do business with him. The other guests include Verisopht's mentor and friend, the disreputable nobleman Sir Mulberry Hawk, who humiliates Kate at dinner by making her the subject of an offensive bet (i.e., that she cannot look him in the eye and say that she does not want him to make love to her--NOTE: "Make love" did not mean sex in the novel, but rather to be romanced). She flees the table, but is later accosted by Hawk. He attempts to force himself on her but is stopped by Ralph. Ralph shows some unexpected tenderness towards Kate but insinuates that he will withdraw his financial help if she tells her mother about what happened.
The next day, Nicholas discovers that his uncle has returned. He visits his mother and sister just as Ralph is reading them Fanny Squeers' letter and slandering Nicholas. He confronts his uncle, who vows to give no financial assistance to the Nicklebys as long as Nicholas stays with them. His hand forced, Nicholas agrees to leave London, but warns Ralph that a day of reckoning will one day come between them.
The next morning, Nicholas and Smike travel towards Portsmouth with the intention of becoming sailors. At an inn, they encounter the theatrical manager Vincent Crummles, who hires Nicholas (still going under the name of Johnson) on sight. Nicholas is the new juvenile lead, and also playwright, with the task of adapting French tragedies into English and then modifying them for the troupe's minimal dramatic abilities. Nicholas and Smike join the acting company and are warmly received by the troupe, which includes Crummles's formidable wife, their daughter, "The Infant Phenomenon", and many other eccentric and melodramatic thespians. Nicholas and Smike make their debuts in ''Romeo and Juliet'', as Romeo and the Apothecary respectively, and are met with great acclaim from the provincial audiences. Nicholas enjoys a flirtation with his Juliet, the lovely Miss Snevellici.
Back in London, Mr Mantalini's reckless spending has bankrupted his wife. Madame Mantalini is forced to sell her business to Miss Knag, whose first order of business is to fire Kate. She finds employment as the companion of the social-climbing Mrs Wittiterly. Meanwhile, Sir Mulberry Hawk begins a plot to humiliate Kate for refusing his advances. He uses Lord Frederick, who is infatuated with her, to discover where she lives from Ralph. He is about to succeed in this plot when Mrs. Nickleby enters Ralph's office, and the two rakes switch their attentions from Kate's uncle to her mother, successfully worming their way into Mrs Nickleby's company and gaining access to the Wittiterly house. Mrs. Wittiterly grows jealous and admonishes Kate for flirting with the noblemen. The unfairness of this accusation makes Kate so angry that she rebukes her employer, who flies into a fit of hysterics. With no other recourse, Kate goes to her uncle for assistance, but he refuses to help her, citing his business relationships with Hawk and Verisopht. It is left to Newman Noggs to come to her aid, and he writes to Nicholas, telling him in vague terms of his sister's urgent need of him. Nicholas immediately quits the Crummles troupe and returns to London.
Noggs and Miss LaCreevy confer, and decide to delay telling Nicholas of Kate's plight until it is too late at night for him to seek out Hawk and take violent action. So, when Nicholas arrives, both Noggs and Miss La Creevy are out. Nicholas is about to search the city for them when he accidentally overhears Hawk and Lord Frederick rudely toasting Kate in a coffeehouse. He is able to glean from their conversation what has happened, and confronts them. Hawk refuses to give Nicholas his name or respond to his accusations. When he attempts to leave, Nicholas follows him out, and leaps onto the running board of his carriage, demanding his name. Hawk strikes him with a riding crop, and Nicholas loses his temper, returning the blow and spooking the horses, causing the carriage to crash. Hawk is injured in the crash and vows revenge, but Lord Verisopht, remorseful for his treatment of Kate, tells him that he will attempt to stop him. Later, after Hawk has recovered, they quarrel over Hawk's insistence on revenging himself against Nicholas. Verisopht strikes Hawk, resulting in a duel. Verisopht is killed, and Hawk flees to France. As a result, Ralph loses a large sum of money owed to him by the deceased lord.
Nicholas collects Kate from the Wittiterlys, and with their mother and Smike, they move back into Miss LaCreevy's house. Nicholas pens a letter to Ralph, refusing, on behalf of his family, a penny of his uncle's money or influence. Returning to the employment office, Nicholas meets Charles Cheeryble, a wealthy and extremely benevolent merchant who runs a business with his twin brother Ned. Hearing Nicholas's story, the brothers take him into their employ at a generous salary and provide his family with a small house in a London suburb.
Ralph encounters a beggar, who recognises him and reveals himself as Brooker, Ralph's former employee. He attempts to blackmail Ralph with a piece of unknown information, but is driven off. Returning to his office, Ralph receives Nicholas's letter and begins plotting against his nephew in earnest. Wackford Squeers returns to London and joins Ralph in his plots.
Smike, on a London street, has the misfortune to run into Squeers, who kidnaps him. Luckily for Smike, John Browdie is honeymooning in London with his new wife Tilda and discovers his predicament. When they have dinner with Squeers, Browdie fakes an illness and takes the opportunity to rescue Smike and send him back to Nicholas. In gratitude, Nicholas invites the Browdies to dinner. At the party, also attended by the Cheerybles' nephew Frank and their elderly clerk Tim Linkinwater, Ralph and Squeers attempt to reclaim Smike by presenting forged documents to the effect that he is the long-lost son of a man named Snawley (who, in actuality, is a friend of Squeers with children at Dotheboys Hall). Smike refuses to go, but the threat of legal action remains.
While at work, Nicholas encounters the beautiful young woman he had seen in the employment office and realises he is in love with her. The brothers tell him that her name is Madeline Bray, the penniless daughter of a debtor, Walter Bray, and enlist his help in obtaining small sums of money for her by commissioning her artwork, the only way they can help her due to her tyrannical father.
Arthur Gride, an elderly miser, offers to pay a debt Ralph is owed by Walter Bray in exchange for the moneylender's help. Gride has illegally gained possession of the will of Madeline's grandfather, and she will become an heiress upon the event of her marriage. The two moneylenders persuade Bray to bully his daughter into accepting the disgusting Gride as a husband, with the promise of paying off his debts. Ralph is not aware of Nicholas's involvement with the Brays, and Nicholas does not discover Ralph's scheme until the eve of the wedding. He appeals to Madeline to cancel the wedding, but despite her feelings for Nicholas, she is too devoted to her dying father to go against his wishes. On the day of the wedding, Nicholas attempts to stop it once more but his efforts prove academic when Bray, guilt-ridden at the sacrifice his daughter has made for him, dies unexpectedly. Madeline thus has no reason to marry Gride and Nicholas and Kate take her to their house to recover.
Smike has contracted tuberculosis and become dangerously ill. In a last attempt to save his friend's health, Nicholas takes him to his childhood home in Devonshire, but Smike's health rapidly deteriorates. On his deathbed, Smike is startled to see the man who brought him to Squeers's school. Nicholas dismisses it as an illusion but it is later revealed that Smike was right. After confessing his love for Kate, Smike dies peacefully in Nicholas's arms.
When they return to Gride's home after the aborted wedding, Ralph and Gride discover that Peg Sliderskew, Gride's aged housekeeper, has robbed Gride, taking, amongst other things, the will. To get it back, Ralph enlists Wackford Squeers's services to track down Peg. Noggs discovers this plot, and with the help of Frank Cheeryble, he is able to recover the will and have Squeers arrested.
The Cheeryble brothers confront Ralph, informing him that his various schemes against Nicholas have failed. They advise him to retire from London before charges are brought up against him, as Squeers is determined to confess all and implicate Ralph. He refuses their help, but is summoned back to their offices that evening and told that Smike is dead. When he reacts to the news with vicious glee, the brothers reveal their final card. The beggar Brooker emerges, and tells Ralph that Smike was his own son. As a young man, Ralph had married a woman for her fortune, but kept it secret so she would not forfeit her inheritance for marrying without her brother's consent, and wait for the brother to die. She eventually left him after bearing him a son, whom he entrusted to Brooker, who was then his clerk. Brooker, taking the opportunity for vengeance, took the boy to Squeers' school and told Ralph the boy had died. Brooker now repents his action, but a transportation sentence kept him from putting the matter right. Devastated at the thought that his only son died as the best friend of his greatest enemy, Ralph commits suicide. His ill-gotten fortune ends up in the state coffers because he died intestate and his estranged relatives decline to claim it.
Squeers is sentenced to transportation to Australia, and, upon hearing this, the boys at Dotheboys Hall rebel against the Squeers family and escape with the assistance of John Browdie. Nicholas becomes a partner in the Cheerybles' firm and marries Madeline. Kate and Frank Cheeryble also marry, as do Tim Linkinwater and Miss LaCreevy. Brooker dies penitent. Noggs recovers his respectability. The Nicklebys and their now extended family return to Devonshire, where they live in peace and contentment and grieve over Smike's grave.
The film begins with a montage of Lumumba and his compatriots Joseph Okito and Maurice Mpolo being driven to their executions, cutting to their bodies being exhumed, dismembered, and burned on the orders of Mobutu Sese Seko. Lumumba narrates his final letter to his wife in these introductory scenes. The film then jumps back to the late 1950s as Lumumba has a debate with Moïse Tshombe and Godefroid Munongo, rival politicians from the ethnically-nationalist pro-Western CONAKAT party. Lumumba expresses his Pan-Africanist ideals, expressed at a recent summit in Accra, Ghana, which infuriate Tshombe and Munongo.
Following the debate, the film cuts back to Lumumba receiving his job as a beer salesman, hired because of his public speaking ability by the Polar beer company, which the locals distrust. While using his beer sales to promote his political ideas in Leopoldville, Lumumba meets Joseph Mobutu for the first time. After hearing that Baudouin of Belgium has become more favorable to independence, the street meeting is broken up by Force Publique soldiers, who arrest and imprison Lumumba where he is beaten by the Belgian guards before being freed and sent to Brussels to negotiate Congolese independence.
While in Brussels, Lumumba first meets Joseph Kasa-Vubu (spelled Kasavubu in the film), a fellow independence-minded politician from the rival ABAKO party, who wishes to better compromise with the Belgians, who insist that their colonial rule is all that prevents tribal warfare from occurring. Upset that the Belgians do not recognize the legitimacy of the Mouvement National Congolais given their success in the elections, Lumumba backs Kasavubu for president, who in turn appoints Lumumba as prime minister. On the night of the coalition's formation, Lumumba is threatened by Tshombe and Munongo, who were not given any leadership positions in the new government. At the formal recognition of independence from the king of Belgium, Lumumba's speech strikes a more combative tone than Kasavubu's, highlighting the oppression that the Congolese suffered under Belgian rule.
Back in the Congo, the Congo Crisis has begun with an assault on a member of Lumumba's cabinet. The cabinet then debates the removal of Émile Janssens, who does not support African officers. Mobuto supersedes Mpolo as an appointee to colonel. Then, mutinied soldiers assault a member of Lumumba's cabinet and storm the government house, demanding the removal of their white superiors. Lumumba implores them to return to their barracks, and the group's leader informs Lumumba that they have taken white officers and their families hostage, and will kill them if Lumumba does not follow through on his promise to address them. The rebelling soldiers are chided by Janssens, who reaffirms his belief in a white-controlled military. Following a protest by soldiers' wives, he is called before Lumumba, who demands Janssens' resignation. Following the rape and assault by soldiers of a Flemish couple, the Belgian ambassador visits Lumumba and makes veiled threats to involve the United Nations and NATO, which infuriates Lumumba, insisting that the Belgians have caused the problem by retaining a segregated military. Lumumba dismisses Janssens and charges the ambassador with removing him from the country.
On a visit to Katanga, Munongo refuses to allow the government's plane to land, signaling the secession of Katanga into the State of Katanga. After a run-in with Belgian troops at Ndjili, Lumumba drives to crush the secessionist Katangans. Evidence surfaces that Mobutu's forces massacred large numbers of civilians while fighting the Kanangan rebels, and Lumumba dismisses a recalcitrant Mobutu, upset that he will have to answer for Mobutu's atrocities. He brushes off support from the United States, and meets with an exhausted Kasavubu, where he reveals that he feels that the Soviet Union is the only country that he can rely on for support. At a military camp, the American ambassador pledges his support to Mobutu, provided that he help in eliminating Lumumba. Kasavubu dismisses Lumumba for both his alleged communist sympathies and his perceived role in the South Kasai massacres, creating political deadlock due to Lumumba's widespread popularity. After condemning Kasavubu's criticism and brushing off accusations of being a communist, Lumumba returns home where he learns that his infant daughter must be sent to Switzerland, since she is gravely ill. Mobutu arrives and tells Lumumba that Kasavubu wanted him arrested, but has elected to place him under house arrest instead, leading Lumumba to suspect that Mobutu is working with a foreign power.
Later, Mobutu announces that the army has seized power, and claims to have arrested both Lumumba and Kasavubu. While plotting his escape to Stanleyville, Lumumba learns that his infant daughter has died in Switzerland. While Lumumba and his partisans cross the river towards Stanleyville, soldiers arrive and accost Lumumba's family and he returns to face them, where he is arrested. At Mobutu's military encampment, he and others vote to kill Lumumba, with Kasavubu reluctantly casting his vote. He, Mpolo, and Okito, are taken to Katanga where they are brutally beaten, with Munongo joining in. The ending of the film intersperses Mobutu, now Mobutu Sese Seko, publicly remembering Lumumba, with shots of the men's executions in a dark woods.
Justine Last is a depressed 30-year-old woman living in a small town in Texas with her husband Phil, a house painter who spends most of his free time smoking marijuana with his best friend, Bubba. Justine works at Retail Rodeo, the local big-box store, along with Cheryl, a cynical, plain-spoken young woman, Gwen, a ditzy older woman who manages the cosmetics counter, and Corny, a security guard.
One morning, Justine notices a new cashier, Holden and later introduces herself. Holden, similar to Justine, is shy and reserved which helps the two quickly bond. They begin spending time together and Justine tells Holden how she feels underappreciated by Phil and Holden tells her about his obsession with J. D. Salinger's novel, ''The Catcher in the Rye'', and how he took his self-assigned first name from its protagonist, Holden Caulfield.
As the weeks go by, Justine and Holden bring out the best in each other. But when Holden makes a pass at her, she rejects him, leaving him dismayed. He becomes more and more besotted by her. Sometime later, Holden does not show up to work but sends a letter to Justine, writing that if she does not meet him at 5 p.m. that day behind the nearest Chuck E. Cheese, she will never see him again. After much consideration, Justine decides to accept Holden's invitation, only to be intercepted by her manager, Jack, who insists that she take a very ill Gwen to the hospital. Justine then meets up with Holden. The two have sex for the first time in a motel room.
As the affair continues, Justine's marriage to Phil continues to deteriorate. One night, Justine spots Bubba's truck in the parking lot of the motel where she's been meeting Holden. She becomes convinced that Bubba knows, telling Holden that they need to stop for a while. When Justine goes to visit Gwen in the hospital, she is told that Gwen has died after contracting parasites from eating poisonous blackberries that she bought at a roadside fruit stand. When she returns home, Bubba starts hinting to Justine that he knows about her affair with Holden. Feeling guilty, Justine suggests that she and Phil should attend a church bible study that Corny, the security guard, had invited them to. Soon after they arrive, Justine spots the motel desk clerk she encountered with Holden. She grabs Phil and demands they leave immediately.
Justine speaks to Holden in private at work the following day, explaining that what they're doing is wrong and she can't see him anymore. Bubba tells Justine to meet him at his house. He blackmails her into having sex with him by threatening to tell Phil about her affair if she refuses, and she reluctantly gives in to his demands. Holden, who has been following her since the split, sees them through a window.
Holden does not show up for work the next day but is waiting in Justine's car when her shift ends. He calls Justine a whore and drunkenly demands an apology. He then says he could kill her husband to free her from her marriage. Justine becomes desperate to extricate herself from the relationship with Holden. She goes to talk to his parents and tells them that he is mentally ill and that he has imagined a romantic liaison between them. She goes on to suggest that Holden be hospitalized. That night after feeling unwell all day, Justine takes a pregnancy test. The results are positive. Phil is overjoyed, but Justine feels uneasy since she doesn't know which man is the father.
The next day when Justine arrives at work, Cheryl tells her that someone stole $15,000 from the safe and that the police suspect Holden. Justine is called into Jack's office and interrogated about their relationship. As she leaves, Justine encounters Holden, who brags about having stolen the money and about his plans for them to escape. Holden tells her to meet him the following morning at a hotel. When Justine gets home, Phil, Bubba, and Bubba's new girlfriend are all waiting for her so they can celebrate. The phone rings and Phil answers. The doctor's office has called; they tell Phil his sperm is "no good". He tells them his wife is pregnant and they don't know what they are talking about and hangs up. Bubba assures Phil they made a mistake, that "they don't know everything". Phil then questions aloud if this means Justine isn't pregnant.
The next morning Justine packs a suitcase. While waiting at the light to turn toward either the hotel or the Retail Rodeo store, she assesses her future if she stays versus if she runs away and becomes a fugitive with Holden. She decides to stay. She arrives at Retail Rodeo and goes to the manager's office, telling him where Holden is hiding. After arriving home, she watches a news report saying that the police have surrounded the hotel where Holden is staying and that Holden has killed himself. The next day, Bubba shows up at Retail Rodeo and tells Justine that Phil opened a statement from the credit card company, which listed the motel that Justine paid for with the card. Bubba then begs Justine not to tell Phil about their sexual encounter. When Justine arrives home, Phil is looking at the credit card statement and tearfully asks Justine if she has been having an affair. After she says, "yes", Phil strikes her. Later, Phil expresses remorse at hitting his wife and asked her if the baby is his. Wanting to spare Phil any more pain and protect herself, she tells him that he is the father. Phil insists on knowing who she had an affair with. Justine says it doesn't matter but says yes when Phil asks if it's Corny, the security guard who invited them to Bible study. When Justine arrives at work the next morning, Cheryl attempts to cover up her facial bruises with make-up just as Corny walks by. His arm is in a cast and his face is beat up. Cheryl informs Justine two "beefy guys" with baseball bats and face masks beat him up.
As the movie concludes, Justine is still employed at Retail Rodeo. In a narrated scene, Phil brings the baby to Justine, who is deep in thought on the bed. She lovingly holds the baby and the couple seems blissful.
In futuristic Tokyo, referred to in the game as "Tokyo-to", a group of teenage skaters called the GG's vie for control of Tokyo-to against rival groups. The Rokkaku Group, a megacorporation, has taken over much of the city and their leader is the new mayor of Tokyo-to. The group is oppressing the people, taking away freedom of speech and expression, and is forcing other gang members to give up their territory using the corrupt police force of Tokyo-to.
The game begins with the player in control of a character called Yoyo, who must complete a set of basic training exercises from Gum to prove himself worthy of joining the GGs. After completing these challenges, the game is interrupted by a pirate radio broadcast by 'DJ Professor K' who informs the player on the turmoil within Tokyo-to. After this cutscene, the player is released into Tokyo-to itself, where they cover Dogenzaka Hill in graffiti, race a new skater named Beat and fight the authoritarian Rokkaku Group and their police force, the Rokkaku Police.
The plot begins with the GG's discovering a gang stole a statue referred to as "the Goddess of the Street". The GG's cover up graffiti in Shibuya Terminal, in doing this they discover it was Poison Jam who stole the statue and tagged the terminal. A character named Combo joins the GGs. The GGs later cover up Poison Jam's turf: Chuo Street and Rokkaku Dai Heights, while dealing with the Rokkaku Police before questioning Poison Jam's rivals, Rapid 99 in 99th Street, for the location of their hideout. There, in the Tokyo Underground Sewage Facility, they realize the entrance to their hideout, The Bottom Point of The Sewage Facility is locked using graffiti activated switches, they spray them all, open the door and fight Poison Jam and their boss, Cube, for control of the statue.
After the GG's win the battle against Poison Jam, a new gang springs up, the robotic Noise Tanks, who have taken Tokyo by storm and is already in control of three gangs. At the same time, one of the GGs, Yoyo, disappears without a trace. The GGs decide to question one of the Noise Tanks' gangs, the mummified Immortals, wondering if the Noise Tanks sudden appearance had anything to do with Yoyo, they go and graffiti their turf: the Skyscraper District & Pharaoh Park, Hikage Street, Kibogaoka Hill and defeat the Immortals in Highway Zero. In doing so they reveal they had supposedly kidnapped Yoyo; however, when he is freed, he turns on the GGs and enslaves them under the Noise Tanks' control.
The Noise Tanks then have the gangs under their control battle in the game "Death Ball". Those who lose are brainwashed and controlled by the Noise Tanks for life. The GGs succeed in all three games, one against the Doom Riders, one against the Immortals and one against the Love Shockers, but then the Rokkaku Police suddenly appear and crackdown on the whole final game. When the GGs win this battle again, the Noise Tanks become furious, releasing hundreds of Noise Tank androids to terrorize the street. When the GGs clear out all of the androids, they discover a wounded Poison Jam, who reveals that Yoyo had beaten him and ran off to the nearby amusement park called Sky Dinosaurian Square. There, it is revealed that 'Yoyo' was a Noise Tank in disguise, and the real Yoyo had been missing the whole time. After the GGs defeat them, a mysterious man destroys the Noise Tanks and runs off. They soon discover the Noise Tanks were built by the Rokkaku Group to take over the gangs of Tokyo.
After the Noise Tanks are destroyed, two new threats appear: a Yakuza-style gang called the Golden Rhinos who are bent on eliminating all graffiti in the city, along with executing all Rudies; and an insane demon-like creature who sprays odd graffiti and looks strangely like one of the GGs, Beat. Amid all this heat, the GGs are approached by Clutch, a Rudie who knows where Yoyo is; the player needs to find a certain number of Graffiti Souls for the info. When the GGs give him his payment, he runs off without telling any information. They chase after him in either Chuo Street, Kibogaoka Hill or the Skyscraper district and Pharaoh Park and interrogate him, where he apologizes and says he was "just having a little fun", then reveals Yoyo was taken to the Fortified Residential Zone inside of the Sewage Facility. When they arrive, they discovered the place was rigged with bombs by the Golden Rhinos. They disable them all thinking they finally saved Yoyo when suddenly a group of Golden Rhino jets appear out of nowhere, they beat them and save Yoyo.
Yoyo then tells the GGs what happened: he had heard of the Golden Rhinos and went searching for more information, and he had gotten caught. After the rescue, the Golden Rhinos began tearing up the streets, which required the GGs to intervene. As soon as they clean the streets of all the Golden Rhinos, DJ Professor K and his radio station is carried away and a mysterious Golden Rhino train needs to be defeated, they then defeat it. The owner of the Rokkaku Group and mayor of Tokyo, Gouji Rokkaku, uses this time to broadcast an announcement to the city to gather at Shibuya Terminal. Here, he blares odd, creepy music from his strange tower. He absorbs all the people into the tower, telling them to "wipe the pitiful smiles off your face" and to "let the evil show, baby".
The GGs go to the bus terminal to stop him. They destroy Gouji's Beat creatures named Zero Beat and supposedly save the city, but they are soon absorbed inside the tower. Inside the tower, Gouji transforms into a giant monster but is defeated by the GGs again. The tower is destroyed, seemingly killing Gouji. As the game ends in the epilogue, DJ Professor K relates to the players how the hearts of men are easily corrupted by greed.
The Jetters are a highly trained intergalactic police force for keeping unique items safe from the Hige-Hige bandits. Mighty, an expert Bomberman and the leader of the Jetters, disappears while on a mission. Dr. Ein accepts Mighty's younger brother, White Bomber, into the Jetters because they need a Bomberman for the team. White Bomber is clumsy and childish, but idolizes his older brother. White Bomber and the rest of the Jetters have many adventures, foiling Doctor Mechado and Mujoe's plans to steal one-of-a-kind objects, facing off against the Hige-Hige Bandits, and returning antiques to their rightful owners.
Early episodes of ''Bomberman Jetters'' started out with the "monster of the week" formula, where Dr. Mechado and Mujoe would send in one of their "Super Combined" Bombermen one at a time to attack the Jetters.
Eventually the format shifted from light-hearted comedy "monster of the week" to a more dramatic, darker action story dealing with the themes of death, betrayal, and revenge, but still retaining some of the lighter aspect. Plots include characters going through trials with character development such as Shout learning the truth about her mother, how Bagular first met Mujoe, and White Bomber dealing with learning the truth of what happened to his older brother Mighty.
MI6 operative James Bond gains his license to kill and promotion to 00 agent status by assassinating the traitorous Dryden and his contact at the British Embassy in Prague. In Uganda, Mr. White introduces Steven Obanno, a high-ranking member of the Lord's Resistance Army, to Le Chiffre, an Albanian private banker to terrorists. Obanno entrusts Le Chiffre with a large sum of money to invest; Le Chiffre shorts the stock of aerospace manufacturer Skyfleet using insider knowledge of a terrorist attack.
In Madagascar, Bond blows up an embassy in the course of killing bomb-maker Mollaka. MI6 chief M admonishes Bond for causing an international incident and ignoring her orders to capture Mollaka alive. Using information captured from Mollaka, Bond is led to corrupt Greek official Alex Dimitrios in the Bahamas, who had hired Mollaka at Le Chiffre's request. After winning his Aston Martin DB5 in a poker game and seducing Dimitrios' wife Solange, Bond pursues Dimitrios to Miami and kills him, then chases down the new attacker Dimitrios has hired. Bond thwarts the destruction of Skyfleet's prototype airliner, costing Le Chiffre his hundred-million dollar investment. Surmising that somebody talked, he tortures Solange to death.
To recoup his clients' money, Le Chiffre organizes a Texas hold 'em tournament at the Casino Royale in Montenegro. MI6 enters Bond in the tournament, believing a defeat will force Le Chiffre to seek asylum with the British government in exchange for information on his clients. Bond is paired with Vesper Lynd, a British Treasury agent protecting the $10 million buy-in. They meet their contact René Mathis in Montenegro. Obanno, furious that his money is missing, ambushes Le Chiffre but allows him to continue playing to win back the money, though Bond kills both Obanno and his bodyguard. Bond loses his stake as Le Chiffre has been tipped off about his own tell. Vesper refuses to cover the $5 million rebuy, but fellow player Felix Leiter, a CIA agent, stakes Bond the money to continue in exchange for taking Le Chiffre into American custody. Le Chiffre's lover Valenka poisons Bond's martini but Vesper rescues him. He returns to the game and wins. Le Chiffre kidnaps Vesper to trap Bond, and brings them to an abandoned ship where he tortures Bond to reveal the password to the winnings, but Bond resists. Mr. White bursts in and kills Le Chiffre, sparing Bond and Vesper.
Bond awakens in an MI6 hospital and recovers with Vesper at his side. He resigns from MI6 and they run away to Venice. When M reveals the money was never deposited, Bond realizes Vesper has betrayed him. He follows her to a handoff of the money, where gunmen take her captive upon spotting him. Bond shoots the building's flotation devices, causing it to sink into the Grand Canal. He kills the gunmen, but Vesper is imprisoned in an elevator. She drowns after locking herself inside to prevent Bond from rescuing her, while Mr. White escapes with the money.
M informs Bond, who has returned to service, the organization behind Le Chiffre threatened to kill Vesper's lover unless she became a double agent. When Bond denounces Vesper as a traitor, M deduces that she likely made a deal with White, trading the money for Bond's life. Realizing Vesper left her phone to help him, Bond checks the contacts and locates Mr. White at an estate in Lake Como. Shooting him in the leg, 007 introduces himself: "The name's Bond, James Bond".
Nick (Jacot), whose life seemed to be going perfectly, realizes he may lose his girlfriend to a famous music producer (Priestley). He sets out on a roadtrip from Tofino in west coast to go to the MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto, along with two buddies (Tyler and Dime), for the road trip of their lives.
The series chronicles the lives and adventures of the Venture family: emotionally insecure, unethical and underachieving super-scientist father Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture; his well-meaning but incompetent teenage fraternal twin sons Hank and Dean Venture; the family's bodyguard, secret agent Brock Samson, or his temporary replacement, the reformed villain and pederast Sergeant Hatred; and the family's self-proclaimed archnemesis, The Monarch, a butterfly-themed supervillain. Initially conceived as a satire of boy adventurer and Space Age fiction prevalent in the early 1960s, it is considered to be an action/adventure series with both comedic and dramatic elements.
Sam Makin is a tough Brooklyn, New York City street cop and Vietnam-era Marine Corps veteran. He is unwillingly recruited as an assassin for a secret United States organization, CURE. The recruitment is through a bizarre method: his death is faked and he is given a new face and a new name. Rechristened "Remo Williams" (after the name and location of the manufacturer of the bedpan in Makin's hospital room), his face is surgically altered and he is trained to be a human killing machine by his aged, derisive and impassive Korean martial arts master Chiun.
Though Remo's training is extremely rushed by Chiun's standards, Remo learns seemingly impossible skills such as dodging bullets and running on water and wet cement. Chiun teaches Remo the Korean martial art named "Sinanju". Remo's instruction is interrupted when he is sent by CURE to investigate a corrupt weapons procurement program within the US Army.
''Einhänder'' takes place in a fictional future during a war between the Earth colony, Sodom and the Moon colony, Selene. The "First Moon War" resulted in the destruction of most of the Earth's surface and the creation of a totalitarian regime on the planet. The game recounts the events of the "Second Moon War" in which the Moon attacks the Earth again for natural resources. Selene's tactics consists of sending one-man fighter spacecraft called "Einhänder" on kamikaze missions to cause as much damage as possible on the planet before being destroyed. The player takes on the role of one of these pilots attacking the Earth capital city.
As the player progresses through the game, the Selenean military satellite Hyperion relays command orders and objectives. The on-board central computer "EOS" synthesizes orders. EOS also records and relays the player's flight and battle record data back to Hyperion. After completion of the last objective Hyperion informs the player that the battle pattern of the latest EOS unmanned fighter is complete. The player is given the honor of being the target of the last EOS test as reward for their heroic efforts. Upon the player's death they will advance two classes and be awarded the Sirius decoration. After surviving the intense barrage of artillery fire of the test, the pilot wonders why they must be terminated by their allies and questions their military leaders' rationale for the war.
The game's narrative then skips to one month later when the pilot re-emerges in space flying an armed Einhänder spacecraft. Hyperion communicates that the player is committing an act of treason and must remove their armament and surrender. Still, the player fights their way through the Selenean fighters and faces the Hyperion, the game's final boss. The ending sequence depicts the player's spacecraft damaged and drifting in space. The pilot engages its thrusters and dives into an army of Selenean spacecraft with the Moon in the background. An epilogue shows the actions of the lone Einhänder pilot ended the war by destroying the armies of both sides — leading to an eventual peace. Yet, the pilot's name and deeds were stricken from the records and they are remembered only by veterans of the war. After the end credits a lone Einhänder spacecraft is shown powering up.
Over a span of nearly 40 years, Gid and Johnny, a pair of Texas farm boys, compete for the affections of Molly Taylor, a free spirit who cares for both of them. The story is told in three consecutive segments, each narrated by one of the three lead roles.
The first segment is set in 1925 and narrated by Gid, who introduces himself as well as his best friend Johnny and Johnny's girlfriend Molly Taylor with whom Gid becomes smitten. Gid works part-time as a ranch hand at Molly's farm and often competes against Johnny for Molly's affections. Despite their frequent feud and arguments, Gid and Johnny's friendship never ends during their excursions and errands for Molly's father to sell and buy cattle for the family farm. Molly eventually sleeps with Gid, as well as Johnny, but she eventually chooses neither one of them and instead marries school friend Eddie after the death of her father. Gid eventually marries Sarah, a local widow with several children, and Johnny leaves town for places unknown.
The second segment is set in 1945 and is narrated by Molly. It was revealed that Molly had three sons from her three different suitors, and each one of them died in combat during World War II which is currently waging. Molly's husband Eddie also died from an illness several years before. Gid had divorced Sarah and began spending most of his free time with Molly, who withheld the news of their son's death in battle. When he finally did learn the news, Gid took it badly and became more depressed. Johnny re-entered their lives after living away and, having had married and divorced his own wife, took a more active part in helping Molly run her late father's farm.
The third and final segment is set in 1964 and is narrated by Johnny. He reveals that Gid is in a local hospital dying from cancer and Johnny has been keeping a bedside vigil over him. Wanting out of the place, Johnny takes Gid away from the hospital for a few days to visit Molly who is still living at her father's farm and is contemplating selling it. After working with Johnny around the farm to relive their "good old days" long gone by, Gid passes away as Johnny is taking him back to the hospital. After Gid's funeral, Johnny meets with Molly where they agree and despite they never got married or had a life in operating her family farm, they will always be soul mates before Johnny leaves Molly for the last time.
It's been four years since Patrick Lanigan, a junior partner in a law firm in Biloxi, Mississippi, learned of the scheme, masterminded by his firm's client, shipbuilding magnate Benny Aricia, to defraud the U.S. government. The firm's senior partners didn't include Lanigan in the plan, in which they stood to make tens of millions of dollars. Lanigan then devised a plan of his own, wherein he faked his death, stole $90 million from the secret off-shore accounts where the firm had been hiding the ill-gotten gains, and then fled to South America. Since then, Lanigan started a new life with new-found love Eva. But Aricia had men track him down, ruthless men who will do whatever it takes, including torture, to reclaim the stolen fortune. In a desperate bid, Lanigan gives complete control of the money to Eva, then turns himself over to the FBI. Once returned to the U.S., Lanigan must fight multiple legal battles, in state, civil and federal courts, involving a former client, his estranged wife, and the highest levels of government, to protect the people he cares for, gain his freedom and, finally get back to Eva and the part of the fortune they secretly set aside.
The story focuses on how Luther and Nora Krank try to avoid the frenzy traditionally experienced during the Christmas holiday. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the two take their daughter Blair to the airport, where she departs for a year-long Peace Corps assignment in Peru. Seeing all of the busy traveling at the airport, Luther starts to develop an increasingly personal antipathy for normal Christmas traditions, especially knowing that Blair will not be with them for Christmas this year. To make matters worse, Luther is told by Nora to stop by a packed grocery store on a very rainy day, causing him to get soaked, only to realize when getting back in the car that he forgot the white chocolate on the shopping list, forcing Nora to go inside and get it herself.
Nora bemoans the fact that the upcoming Christmas will be the first time they have been separated as a family, prompting her husband to calculate how much they spent celebrating the holidays the previous year. When he realizes they have little to show for the $6,100 they invested in decorations, gifts, and entertaining, he decides to skip all the hubbub at home and surprise Nora by booking a 10-day Caribbean cruise aboard the ''Island Princess''. Nora at first is skeptical but accepts the idea on one condition – that they still donate $600 to the church and Children's Hospital. At first Luther refuses, but when Nora refuses to consider the cruise otherwise, he agrees, and they begin to plan the trip.
It doesn't take long for Nora to adjust to the idea of no Christmas shopping or Christmas tree, and not hosting their annual Christmas Eve party. To the couple's amazement, their neighbors on Hemlock Street strongly object to their decision to boycott the holiday, because the Kranks' decision not to decorate their home will jeopardize the block's chances at winning the coveted prize for best decorated block in the neighborhood. Vic Frohmeyer, the unelected "top man" of the neighborhood, leads the townspeople in taunting Luther and Nora about Christmas celebrations by extending a perimeter of people around their lawn, asking a group of Christmas carolers to sing carols on the Kranks' lawn, calling repeatedly to demand that they decorate their house for Christmas, and picketing with signs, ''et cetera''.
Luther stops the protest by freezing his sidewalk to prevent the carolers from singing there. The charities also are upset with the couple: the local Boy Scout troop is dismayed when the Kranks refuse to support them by purchasing a tree, the police are angered when they decline to buy a calendar, the firemen are shocked to learn the Kranks will not be buying a fruitcake this year, and the stationer is upset when he loses their annual order of engraved greeting cards. A newspaper even gets in the act by asking Luther's #1 rival, Walt Scheel, to film the Kranks' house for the story. Luther and Nora find themselves the objects of derision and anxiously await their departure on Christmas Day.
Without warning, Blair calls from Miami on Christmas Eve to announce she's en route home with her new Peruvian fiancé to surprise her parents. She's anxious to introduce Enrique to her family's Christmas traditions, and when she asks if they're having their usual party that night, a panicking Nora says, "Yes", much to Luther's dismay.
Comic chaos ensues as the couple finds themselves trying to decorate the house and coordinate a party with mere hours to spare before their daughter and future son-in-law arrive. Because the Boy Scouts have sold out of Christmas trees, Luther arranges to borrow the tree of a neighbor who is leaving for the holidays. He and Vic Frohmeyer's son Spike try to transport it across the street, but other neighbors notice and mistakenly think Luther is stealing it, so they call the police, resulting in Luther's barely escaping arrest.
Luther attempts to set up Frosty the Snowman on his roof but fails, and ends up hanging by his legs from its electric cord. Scheel calls 9-1-1, and Luther is rescued. The Kranks are then rescued by everyone they've alienated, with the neighbors all pulling together and providing the noisy, festive Christmas celebration Blair is expecting. Blair calls saying she has arrived at the airport; injured Luther can't get her so Vic sends the police who give her a hero's welcome in the baggage claim and escort her home with her fiancé. As he slowly realizes that he has benefitted from the Christmas spirit of all his neighbors, Luther starts to celebrate Christmas willingly and gives his cruise tickets to the Scheels, who are having a very bad Christmas because his wife was just found with her third recurrence of breast cancer.
During the last days of the Vietnam War, USAF Lieutenant colonel Iceal E. "Gene" Hambleton (Gene Hackman) call sign BAT-21 Bravo, is flying on board an EB-66C electronic warfare aircraft, engaged in electronic countermeasures preparatory to a major bombing strike. Without warning, a number of SA-2 Guideline SAMs are launched from North Vietnam, targeting their aircraft. A massive SAM explosion tears off the tail and Hambleton, in the navigator's position, ejects as the sole survivor of the six-man crew.
While still coming down by parachute, Hambleton makes radio contact with Captain Bartholomew "Birddog" Clark (Danny Glover), the pilot of a Cessna O-2 Skymaster, flying a forward air control mission near where the EB-66 was destroyed. Birddog becomes Hambleton's link to rescue.
Hambleton, an expert on electronic weapons systems and who holds valuable information, is known to the North Vietnamese, who begin an all-out search, attempting to capture him. An effort to steal supplies from Vietnamese villagers is not successful, as Hambleton is discovered and kills an aggressive peasant farmer, apologizing to his grieving family as he escapes.
Knowing that his current location is too dangerous for rescue aircraft, Hambleton devises a plan to reach safer territory. He plots a course to the river which is the boundary of the target area, then communicates his intended path to Clark in a code composed of various golf courses he knows well. This will allow the rescuers to keep track of his progress, making it easier for them to pick him up.
Several attempts are made to recover Hambleton. Two helicopters are lost and members of its crews are killed or captured. Clark ultimately flies a "Huey" helicopter rescue mission, but as he retrieves Hambleton, the pair are shot down by ground fire, with Clark being wounded. An F-100 bombing raid both assists and hinders their progress through the jungle, as North Vietnamese irregulars are trailing them. In the end, Hambleton and Clark are rescued by a US river boat patrolling nearby on the Cam Lo River.
Portions of ''Bat*21'' were highly dramatized, including the climactic battle. Some characters were composites of real people, while others were created for the film. However, some other details were accurate, including that rescuer Captain Larry Potts was African American.
The actual rescue took over 11 days, during which a major attack was delayed, resulting in numerous South Vietnamese soldiers being killed and wounded. A Forward Air Observer aircraft was shot down and USAF 1Lt Bruce Walker and USMC 1Lt Larry Potts parachuted to the ground safely, eluding capture. In an ensuing attack, six more Americans lost their lives attempting to rescue him. The North Vietnamese, alerted by the intense efforts to find the flyer, increased their efforts to find Hambleton. Walker was discovered and killed by the Vietnamese forces. During a covert nighttime operation more than behind enemy lines, Hambleton was finally rescued in a land operation by U.S. Navy SEAL Lt. j.g. Thomas R. Norris and VNN Petty Officer Third Class Nguyen Van Kiet.
Bu (Shu Qi) is a beautiful young girl from a small Taiwanese fishing village who discovers a romantic message in a bottle. She heads for Hong Kong to find its writer, only to learn that it was in fact written by Albert (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), a lonely gay man. She then meets a wealthy recycling company owner, C.N. (Jackie Chan). They fall in love with each other. The plot is soon thickened by the rivalry between Howie Lo (Emil Chau) and C.N., who are both businessmen who have known each other since their childhood days.
In the English dubbed version, some of the dialogues are changed and a few scenes are edited out. These scenes included one at the airport where Sandra Ng's and Sam Lee's characters conned and robbed Long Yi (Richie Jen) who supposedly is engaged to Bu and another where Stephen Chow's policeman character came to investigate after C.N. fought off Howie Lo's masked goons and Albert's friends who on Bu's request pretended to be gangsters attacking her who in turn is pretending to be the reported missing girlfriend of a Taiwan gangster leader.
Alexander is son of Philip II, king of Macedonia and Olympias, a snake witch. Desiring to attain 'speed', Alexander heads to the woods with allies Philotas and Hephaestion, where he tames a wild man-eating horse. There he meets and befriends Cleitus and Ptolemy I Soter, recruiting them to join his cavalry. Macedonia heads to war with Athens, led by King Philip and his top advisers, Attalus, Parmenion (father of Philotas) and Antipater. Philip becomes concerned with Alexander's absence, but Alexander and his cavalry arrive at the last moment, exploiting a break in the Athenian lines and leading Macedonia to victory. After their defeat, Athens ambassadors head to Persia, where they hope to align with new king Darius III of Persia. Alexander and his friends however sneak in as Athens slaves then kill the guards, causing Persia to think that Athens is betraying them. While Ptolemy is caught and suspended in the air, Alexander is able to save him from execution at the last minute by releasing all the horses in the city from their stables. While in Persia Alexander also meets a woman named Roxanne.
Attalus tricks Philip into thinking that Olympias and Alexander are trying to betray him. Philip banishes Olympias and marries Attalus's daughter Eurydice, who gives birth to a son that Philip desires to become king instead of Alexander. Philip holds a great ceremony to present his new prince to the masses and also constructs a huge golden statue of himself, declaring himself a God. During the ceremony however the statue crumbles and a guard hypnotized by Olympias assassinates Philip.
Following Philip's death Alexander ascends to King and Attalus is executed. Athens plots to fight back against Macedonia, doubting Alexander's strength, but relents once Macedonia defeats Thebes in battle. Alexander places severe demands on Athens but relents on most of them after meeting with the philosopher Diogenes of Sinope. Alexander next plots an attack on Persia and starts leading his troops there. Around this time Parmenion reveals to Philotas a secret about Alexander, that prior to his birth Olympias proclaimed that he would destroy the world. In addition, Aristotle sends his niece, Cassandra, to join Alexander's cavalry. Macedonia's forces continue to head through Persia's territories with multiple victories. Along the way Alexander recruits the doctor Phillipas to join him after undoing 'Gordian's Knot' which has been said can only be undone by the King. In their next battle with Persia, Macedonia's troops are hopelessly outnumbered by Persia's which are 10 times that of Macedonia's, but Darius tells his forces to retreat when members of the Pythagorean Cult intervene. During the battle Philotas falls off his horse and has a vision of Olympias summoning demons.
While in Egypt Alexander meets Dinocrates, a member of his army who tells him of the great city he'd prefer to create there, Alexandria. Alexander has a vision of himself being in Alexandria 100 years after his death where he visits the place where he was entombed by Ptolemy. Before leaving Egypt Alexander and his men visit the Temple of Ammon where they are told that Alexander will be killed by the one he trusts the most. Ptolemy witnesses a separate prophecy, that he will become Great King of the World. Plotting with Persia, Pythagorean cult members make another attempt on Alexander's life but he is able to fight them off. Darius leads Persia's armies against Macedonia's. Aristotle meanwhile meets with Diogenes, requesting the Plato-Hedron, the device which contains the knowledge of the entire world. Diogenes claims however that he tossed it aside. The two watch as the battle continues. The Macedonian army gains new strength when there is an eclipse of the moon, and the Plato-Hedron appears and ascends to the heavens. As the battle nears its conclusion, Alexander kills Darius, defeating the Persians once and for all.
With Persia now part of his empire, Alexander recruits Satibarzanes, Darius's former adviser and Satrap, to become a top adviser of his. The Macedonian army becomes concerned that Alexander wants to continue heading east rather than return to Macedonia. Philotas dismisses their complaints but doesn't tell Alexander. Aristotle is also concerned with Alexander's actions and tells Cassandra that she will have to kill him should he continue to push eastward. Phillipas, secretly a member of the Pythagorean cult, plots with them to kill Alexander during his wedding to Roxanne through the use of a dancer possessing poison. During the battle she poisons Alexander but is killed before finishing him off. Satibarzanes frames Parmenion and Philotas for treason. Parmenion is killed by the plotters and Philotas is tied up and stoned to death. When Alexander arrives during the stoning, Philotas requests he let him die so as to not show weakness to the Persians. Phillipas, who treats Alexander, has the opportunity to poison Alexander but instead reveals the truth to him and provides Alexander the means to heal himself, then kills himself with the poison intended for Alexander.
After executing Satibarzanes and the other Persian traitors, Alexander leads his forces towards India. Aristotle provides Cassandra with a parchment that she is instructed to read when they reach India. They reach India where they see a large number of horse-like men known as the Brahman priests. Cleitus, becoming increasingly suspicious of Alexander, questions his motives. At this moment, the Brahman suddenly attack, interrupting them. As Alexander and Cleitus fend them off, Cassandra reads the parchment, putting her under a spell from Aristotle to kill Alexander. When she lunges towards him, Cleitus steps in the way and takes the fatal wound himself.
Alexander and the others continue through India, where they encounter a massive army made up of all the soldiers they have killed over the years. During the battle, Hephaestian is killed when Alexander fights the ghost of Darius. Alexander rides on into a column of light and faces off against King Porus, who takes on Alexander's appearance. Stating that the world tells him to destroy himself, Alexander defeats his doppelganger in combat. He then encounters Pythagoras at the end of the world, but Pythagoras has no interest in stopping Alexander from destroying the world. He echoes Diogenes' words to Alexander that by destroying the world, Alexander will be creating it anew. Alexander seemingly embraces his destiny as destroyer of the world, but the world does not end: instead, the dark skies clear and Alexander emerges from a pillar of light facing west. He decrees that destiny now points him that way, and embarks for Macedonia.
After Alexander and his army return to Macedonia, Aristotle receives a letter from Cassandra informing him that she has chosen to stay with Alexander of her own will. Later, a handmaiden attempts to find Alexander to tell him that Roxanne is pregnant. Elsewhere, Alexander is asked to get out of the light by a child drawing geometric shapes and writing formulas on the ground. Motivated by his own prophecy, Ptolemy attempts to stab Alexander, but Alexander prevents him. He then lets Ptolemy escape, stating that Ptolemy's prophecy is unchanged. Alexander turns back to the child's work, and Cassandra asks what he is looking at. Alexander replies that he is witnessing the world he destroyed being reborn.
At this moment, a soldier appears and announces that they are ready to depart for Arabia. As Alexander walks off, it is revealed that the child's name is Euclid, and he pulls out a small version of the Platohedron. This may imply that the destruction of the world was metaphysical in nature, and that the new world of Euclid and Ptolemy I Soter has replaced the old world of Aristotle and Plato. The final scene depicts Euclid's Platohedron resting on the ground next to his diagrams, catching the sun's dying rays. This fades into a stark image of Alexander atop his horse, set against the sun and a crimson sky.
The story centers on high school student and band vocalist Kamikurata Kyouta, and how he stumbles on a secret war being waged by mysterious girls with otherworldly powers. Kyouta later forms a band named T.L. Signal with his friends Kojima Junichi and Hirota Shingo. Kyouta's band works for a company named CosmoPop. Junichi plays the keyboard and Shingo is the guitarist of the band. Things grow even more complicated when he discovers his girlfriend Sannou Yoriko might be the key to the war.
The 90-minute film was a horror story shot in a documentary style and appeared as part of BBC Drama's ''Screen One'' series. It involved BBC reporters performing a live, on-air investigation of a house in Northolt, Greater London, at which poltergeist activity was believed to be taking place. The reporters do not appear to be taking the story seriously, and play Halloween pranks on each other at the start of the program (Craig Charles hides in a pantry, makes banging noises, and then jumps out of the pantry wearing a rubber mask). Viewers are asked to call in with their own ghost stories, which becomes an important plot point. Michael Parkinson is joined in studio by Dr. Lin Pascoe, a paranormal expert who attempts to explain the events in the house.
Through revealing footage and interviews with neighbours and the family living there, they discover the existence of a malevolent ghost nicknamed Pipes (the children in the house had asked their mother about noises heard, and she said it was the pipes, hence the name). Several viewers call in with their own experiences, which become more violent, dangerous, and seem to be related to the show itself. Later, viewers learn that Pipes is the spirit of a psychologically disturbed man called Raymond Tunstall, who previously lived in the house with his aunt and uncle and believed himself to have been troubled by the spirit of Mother Seddons – a "baby farmer" turned child killer from the 19th century. Eventually, one of the children starts making banging noises on the pipe to get people watching to believe her family's story before she's caught on camera by the film crew.
Parkinson is quick to dismiss the entire thing as a hoax, but Dr. Pascoe is not so sure. The calls continue to the studio, where viewers say they've seen Pipes and their descriptions match the ones the children gave to Dr. Pascoe months earlier. Further calls reveal that poltergeist activity is now occurring in other people's homes and one of the ''Ghostwatch'' crew is injured after a mirror falls on him. Pipes continues to make various manifestations which become more bold and terrifying, until, at the end, Dr. Pascoe realises that the programme itself has been acting as a sort of "national séance" through which Pipes is gaining horrific power. Footage shows the police arriving at Foxhill Drive, and a panicked Charles moving Pam and Kim away from the house.
Finally, the spirit unleashes its power to the fullest extent, dragging host Sarah Greene out of sight behind a door and then escaping to express poltergeist activity throughout the country. He takes control of the BBC studios and transmitter network, using the ''Ghostwatch'' studio as a focal point. Everyone runs out of the studio as the lights explode, leaving Parkinson alone (though Mike Smith, who was also in the studio with Parkinson and Pascoe, is heard saying that he refuses to leave until he knows that Greene, his wife, is safe). He stumbles around the now-darkened studio, still carrying on hosting duties and wonders aloud if any of the cameras are working. After finding the teleprompter is still active, Parkinson confusedly reads a nursery rhyme (round and round the garden/like a teddy bear) and then begins speaking in Pipes' voice, asking viewers if they really believed the story about Mother Seddons. As Parkinson/Pipes calls out "Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum," the film ends.
Christine Painter is a sexually naive waitress and single mother who pays for her teenage son David's tuition by renting London flats to call girls. When a landlord confronts her for illegally subletting the flats and falling behind on the rent, Christine gives him a handjob in lieu of rent. After one of her "tenants", Rose, refuses to pay rent, Christine realizes she can do sex work herself in the flat Rose abandons.
Christine is charged with soliciting and pleads guilty in court. Soon she hatches a scheme with fellow sex worker Shirley to provide strictly kinky services such as bondage and fetish roleplay to an upscale clientele. They rent a suburban house where they are joined by their "maid" Dolly.
Christine attends her sister's wedding, where Dolly is accidentally exposed as transgender to the groom's mother. Christine's father and sister angrily denounce her for spoiling the wedding.
Christine's father later visits the brothel for sex and reconciles with his daughter. The brothel enjoys brisk business but soon attracts the notice of the police, who raid the house on Christmas Eve.
When Christine appears in court to be arraigned, she is relieved when she realizes the judge is one of her main clients, she then imagines the courtroom filled with all of her clients as judges.
About 10,000 years ago, peaceful aliens from the planet Antarea set up an outpost on Earth on Atlantis. When Atlantis sank, twenty aliens were left behind, kept alive in large rock-like cocoons at the bottom of the ocean. Now, a group of Antareans have returned to collect them. Disguising themselves as humans, they rent a house with a swimming pool and charge the water with "life force" to give the cocooned Antareans energy to survive the trip home. They charter a boat from a local captain named Jack, who helps them retrieve the cocoons. Jack spies on Kitty, a beautiful woman from the team who chartered his boat, while she undresses in her cabin, and discovers that she is an alien. After the aliens reveal themselves to him and explain what's going on, he decides to help them.
Next door to the house the Antareans are renting is a retirement home. Three of its residents, Ben, Arthur, and Joe, often trespass to swim in the pool next door. They absorb some of the life force, making them feel younger and stronger. Eventually caught in the act, they are given permission to use the pool by the Antarean leader, Walter, on the condition that they do not touch the cocoons or tell anybody else about it. Rejuvenated with youthful energy, the three men begin to let the advantages of the pool take hold as they are relieved of their ailments.
Meanwhile, Kitty and Jack grow closer and decide to make love in the pool. Since she cannot do so in the human manner, she introduces him to the Antarean equivalent, in which she shares her lifeforce energy with him.
The other retirement home residents become suspicious after witnessing Ben's wife Mary climb a tree. Their friend Bernie reveals the secret of the pool to the other residents, who rush to the pool to swim in its waters. When Walter finds them damaging one of the cocoons he ejects them from the property. The Antereans open the damaged cocoon, and the creature inside shares his last moments with Walter, who begins to cry as he dies. Later that evening, Bernie finds his wife Rose has stopped breathing and carries her body to the pool in an attempt to heal her, only to be informed by Walter that the pool no longer works due to the other residents draining the force in the rush to make themselves young.
Walter explains that the cocoons can't survive the trip back to Antarea, but will be able to survive on Earth. With the help of Jack, Ben, Arthur and Joe, the Antareans return the cocoons to the sea. The Antareans offer to take residents of the retirement home with them to Antarea, where they will never grow older and never die. Most of them accept the offer, but Bernie chooses to remain on Earth.
Upon leaving, Ben tells his grandson David that he and Mary are leaving for good. As the residents are leaving, David's mother Susan finds out about their destination and quickly drives to the retirement home, where they find the majority of the rooms vacant and contact local authorities.
While the police are searching for the residents, David notices Jack's boat, with the Antareans and the retirement residents aboard, starting and jumps onto the side as it pulls away. The boat is being chased by the Coast Guard, so with little time left, David says a tearful goodbye to Ben and Mary before jumping off into the water. The Coast Guard boats stop to pick him up, giving the others a chance to get away. Out of nowhere, a thick fog appears and strands the remaining Coast Guard boats and they call off the chase.
As the Antarean ship appears, Walter pays Jack for his services and the boat. Jack embraces Kitty for the last time and they share a kiss. He then says farewell to everyone before jumping into an inflatable raft as the boat starts rising up into the Antarean vessel. Jack watches as the boat disappears inside the ship and departs.
Back on earth, a funeral is held for the missing residents. During the sermon, David looks toward the sky and smiles. The film ends with the Antarean vessel going towards a bright-looking object, assumed to be a hyperspace entrance or portal, leading to Antarea.
Five years after they left Earth following a failed rescue mission, the Antareans return to rescue the cocoons that were left behind. Before they can be retrieved, one of the cocoons is discovered by a science research team and taken to a secure laboratory for testing. The aliens and their human allies must find a way to retrieve the cocoon in time for their rendezvous with the rescue ship, while the humans travelling with them must decide whether to return to Antarea or stay on Earth and become mortal again.
Joe learns that his leukemia has returned, but he knows it will be cured again as soon as he and Alma leave Earth. When Alma is hit by a car while saving a child, Joe gives up the last of his lifeforce, saving her life but sacrificing his. Before dying, he tells Alma to accept a job offer at a preschool and that he loves her. Art and Bess learn that Bess is pregnant, and decide to raise the child on Antarea so they will live long enough to see him grow up. Ben and Mary reconnect with their family and friends, including Bernie who is shown to have found love with Ruby, alleviating his suicidal depression over Rose's death. And although a lovelorn Jack once again attempts to woo Kitty, she instead grants him a vision of his future, showing him children and a wife with a small heart-shaped birthmark on her neck.
The next night, before Ben, Mary, Art and Bess leave to meet the Antareans, Alma tells them she is staying on Earth to work at the preschool. Art, Kitty, Ben, and his grandson David (Barret Oliver) then rescue the Antarean from the Oceanographic Institute. Sara, one of the scientists working at the institute, becomes aware of the company's plans to hand the alien over to the military. Unhappy about this, when she discovers the rescuers, she allows them to escape.
After the four get the Antarean on Jack's boat out at sea, Ben makes it known to everyone that he and Mary were going to stay on Earth as well, since family was more important than living forever and that they should not outlive their children. When the space ship arrives, they are met by Walter before the Antareans, Art, Bess, and the cocoons left behind from the previous trip are brought aboard the space ship which departs for their homeworld.
Back at port after he has said his goodbyes to Ben, Mary, and David, Jack is approached by Sara asking if he knows of a place where she could get some gas. They walk and talk for a bit, where Sara tells him she just quit her job. He eventually notices the small heart-shaped birthmark on her neck.
A lonely boy named Michael Brower (Edward Furlong) lives an isolated existence in his absent father's mansion. Michael's mother was killed in a car accident, which also permanently injured his leg. From his bedroom window he spends his spare time watching his crush, a typical girl-next-door named Kimberly, who, unbeknownst to Michael, also feels the same way about him. A huge fan of horror films and video games, Michael's only friend is a similar-minded misfit named Kyle. They are members of a Horror Club at school, which the principal bans. Kyle tells Michael about a new, ultra-realistic game called ''Brainscan''. Intrigued, Michael mail-orders the first disc.
The game begins strangely, with a warning screen informing him that the experience has much in common with hypnotic suggestion. During his first experience with the game, Michael is encouraged to act as a psychopathic murderer by the game's host, an entity known as Trickster. In the game, Michael murders a stranger and takes his foot as a trophy. Later, he is horrified to discover that his victim in the game was a real person, and that the same murder also happened in the real world.
Kyle begs Michael to let him play the game, and Michael angrily rebuffs him. Later, Michael is tormented by Trickster, who materializes into reality and plays a Primus song in Michael's bedroom. Because he is a possible witness to the earlier murder, Trickster tells Michael he must play the second disc to kill the witness. Michael refuses at first, but eventually gives in. However, this time he has no memory of playing the game. He finds Kyle's necklace, bloody in his freezer and realizes he murdered Kyle.
Michael doesn't remember the murder and calls Kyle. The phone is answered by Detective Hayden (Frank Langella). Michael becomes paranoid that he will be sent to jail. He is also continually annoyed by Trickster, plaguing his home. Trickster ultimately instructs him to kill Kimberly.
At nightfall Michael sneaks into her room, but refuses to hurt her. Trickster reveals that he is actually an evil counterpart within Michael's mind. He possesses Michael, the struggle of which wakes Kimberly. Kimberly reveals she has been watching and photographing Michael, which allows him to break free from his own inner darkness. At the last minute, the Trickster materializes and opens the bedroom door. Detective Hayden enters and shoots Michael dead.
Michael awakens in his room. He discovers that the whole experience was a fantasy. After a short outburst of rage, ranting at the game for his traumatic experiences, he excitedly realizes that Kyle is still alive and that nothing in the game happened in the real world. His experience with the game's iteration of Kimberly gives him confidence, and he goes over to her house and asks her out, which she replies with a shy "maybe" and kisses him.
The next day, Michael brings the ''Brainscan'' disc to school to show the principal, who had demanded to preview all games and movies. It is implied that the principal will have the same nightmarish experience as Michael because Trickster appears in the background.
In 1519 Spain, con-artists Miguel and Tulio win a map to the legendary City of Gold, El Dorado, in a rigged dice gamble (though they ironically win the map fairly after Tulio was given normal dice from one of the opponents). After their con is exposed, the two evade the guards and accidentally stow away on one of the ships to be led by conquistador Hernán Cortés for the New World. At sea, they are caught and imprisoned, but break free and steal a rowboat with the help of Cortés' mistreated horse, Altivo.
Their boat reaches land, where Miguel begins to recognize landmarks from the map, leading them to a totem marker near a waterfall that Tulio believes is a dead end. As they prepare to leave, they encounter a native woman, Chel, being chased by guards. When the guards see Tulio and Miguel riding Altivo as depicted on the totem, they escort them and Chel to a secret entrance behind the falls, into El Dorado. They are brought to the city's elders, kindhearted Chief Tannabok and wicked high priest Tzekel-Kan. The pair are mistaken for gods when a volcano coincidentally erupts but simultaneously stops during an argument between them and they are given luxurious quarters, along with the charge of Chel. She discovers that the two are conning her people, but promises to remain quiet if they take her with them when they leave the city. The two are showered with gifts of gold from Tannabok, but disapprove of Tzekel-Kan attempting to sacrifice a civilian at the gods' ritual. Meanwhile, Cortés and his men reach land.
Tulio and Miguel instruct Tannabok to build them a boat so that they can leave the city with all the gifts they have been given, under the ruse that they are needed back in the 'other world'. Chel gets romantically close to Tulio and Miguel explores the city, coming to appreciate the peaceful life embraced by the citizens; when Tzekel-Kan sees Miguel playing a ball game with children, he insists the "gods" demonstrate their powers against the city's best players. Tulio and Miguel are outmatched, but Chel replaces the ball with an armadillo, allowing them to win. Miguel spares the ritual of sacrificing the losing team and berates Tzekel-Kan, to the crowd's approval and earning Tannabok's respect. Tzekel-Kan notices Miguel received a cut during the game and realizes the pair are not gods since gods do not bleed, hence the reason for the sacrifices. Afterward, Miguel, who has by then reconsidered leaving the city, overhears Tulio telling Chel that he would like her to come with them to Spain, before adding he would like her to come with specifically ''him'' and to forget Miguel – straining the relationship between the two. At a party being thrown for them, Miguel and Tulio begin to argue about Tulio and Chel's conversation and Miguel's desire to stay when Tzekel-Kan conjures a giant stone jaguar to chase them throughout the city. Tulio and Miguel manage to outwit the jaguar, causing it and Tzekel-Kan to fall into a giant whirlpool, thought by the natives to be the entrance to Xibalba, the spirit world. Tzekel-Kan then surfaces in the jungle, where he encounters Cortés and his men. Believing Cortés to be the real god, Tzekel-Kan offers to lead him to El Dorado.
Miguel decides to stay in the city while Tulio and Chel board the completed boat, before they see smoke on the horizon and realize Cortés is approaching. Knowing what will happen if Cortés discovers the city, Tulio suggests using the boat to ram the rock pillars under the waterfall and block the main entrance to the city, despite knowing they will lose the gold in the process. The plan succeeds with the citizens pulling over a statue in the boat's wake to give it enough speed. As the statue starts to fall too quickly, Tulio has difficulty in preparing the boat's sail. Forfeiting his ability to stay in the city, Miguel and Altivo jump onto the boat to unfurl the sails, assuring the boat clears the statue in time. The group successfully crashes against the pillars, causing a cave-in, while losing all their gifts in the process. They hide near the totem just as Cortés' men and Tzekel-Kan arrive. When they find the entrance blocked, Cortés brands Tzekel-Kan a liar and leaves away by taking him as a slave. Tulio and Miguel, though disappointed they lost the gold (unaware that Altivo still wears the golden horseshoes with which he was outfitted in El Dorado), have appreciated the thrill of their adventure, and head in a different direction for a new adventure with Chel.
Rather than providing a straightforward biography, the film weaves fantasy sequences with scenes containing somewhat fictionalized accounts of events in Darin's life, and throughout it, the adult singer interacts with his younger self. It chronicles his determination to rise from his working-class roots as Walden Robert Cassotto, a frail boy from The Bronx plagued by multiple bouts of rheumatic fever, who becomes a singer more famous than Frank Sinatra. To achieve that goal, he forms a band and struggles to find gigs at any nightclub that will hire him.
His agent gets Darin a recording contract with Atlantic Records, where the singer enjoys teen idol success with "Splish Splash". Not wanting to limit his appeal to rock and roll audiences, he changes his niche to big band singing and recording major hits, such as "Mack the Knife". To capitalize on his popularity with teenage and young adult audiences, Darin is cast in ''Come September'' opposite Sandra Dee. He falls in love with the 18-year-old actress; determined to marry her, he romantically seduces and enchants her with songs like "Beyond the Sea" and "Dream Lover".They elope, angering her mother. Darin finally realizes his own mother's dream when he is signed to appear at the famed Copacabana nightclub in Manhattan.
As success takes him on the road and away from home, Dee begins to drink heavily, and the couple fights frequently. Eventually, they separate and later reconcile. She gives birth to a son, Dodd. To his actress wife's chagrin, Darin is nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as a shell shocked soldier in ''Captain Newman, M.D.''
In the late 1960s, Darin becomes involved in the campaign to elect Robert F. Kennedy for President and contemplates a political career of his own. His sister Nina, knowing his past will be investigated closely if Bobby opts to enter the political arena, shocks him with the news his beloved mother actually was his grandmother and that he is Nina's illegitimate child, the son of a father she cannot identify.
Devastated, Darin becomes a recluse living in a trailer on the Big Sur coast in California. He finds himself out of step with changing music trends, and when he tries to adapt by incorporating folk music and protest songs into his repertoire, he finds himself rejected by the audience that once embraced him. Undaunted, he stages a show, complete with a gospel choir, at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, and against all odds, it is a huge success.
However, his triumph is short-lived. Suffering from blood poisoning following surgery to repair his mechanical heart valve, Darin is rushed to the hospital, where he dies at the age of 37. Following his death, he meets the younger counterpart of himself once again, and the two duet with "As Long as I'm Singing".
The film is presented in a series of vignettes, with narration provided by the adult Ralphie Parker reminiscing on one particular Christmas when he was nine years old. Ralphie wanted only one thing that Christmas: a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle. Ralphie's desire is rejected by his mother, his teacher Miss Shields, and even a Santa Claus at Higbee's department store, all giving him the same warning: "You'll shoot your eye out".
On Christmas morning, Ralphie receives some presents that he enjoys but is disappointed not to find the rifle among them. When it appears that all of the presents have been opened, Ralphie's father ("The Old Man") directs him to one last box hidden in the corner, which proves to contain the rifle. He eagerly hurries outside to try it out, attaching a target to a metal sign in the backyard; when he fires, the BB ricochets back and hits him in the face. Believing at first that he has indeed shot his eye out, he realizes that the BB only knocked his glasses off and begins searching for them in the snow, only to step on them by accident and break them. He lies to his mother that a falling icicle struck him in the face and broke his glasses, and she believes him.
That night, Ralphie goes to sleep with the gun by his side as his adult self reflects that it was the best Christmas present he had ever received or would ever receive.
Interspersed with the main story are several loosely related vignettes involving the Parkers:
Abner Marsh, a remarkably unattractive but highly skilled Mississippi River steamboat captain, is grappling with a financial crisis in 1857 when he is contacted by Joshua York, a rich, soft-spoken gentleman. They become unlikely business partners when Joshua promises to finance the construction of a magnificent new riverboat that will be larger, faster and more opulent than any other ever constructed.
When finally completed, she is everything Abner has ever dreamed of piloting. The large white, blue and silver paddle steamer is christened ''Fevre Dream'', for Abner's previously failing company, the Fevre River Packet Company. Joshua and Abner co-captain the new vessel, with Abner being solely responsible for her actual command and navigation. Many questions are soon raised by both the crew and passengers about Joshua and his circle of unusual friends, who hardly ever venture out of their cabins during daylight hours. Abner's own suspicions about his mysterious partner begin to grow when he finds scrapbooks in Joshua's cabin containing newspaper clippings detailing many mysterious, unexplained deaths.
He confronts Joshua, who reveals that he and his friends are vampire hunters, using the ''Fevre Dream'' as their base of operations to investigate a trail of unusual deaths and disappearances along the river. Eventually, Joshua finally reveals the whole truth: He and his friends are themselves vampires, humanoid beings specialized for and dependent upon hunting humans, characterized by Joshua as "a different race". Joshua has developed a potion, using ancient alchemy and rudimentary chemistry, which controls the "red thirst" of all vampires. This has led many of his kind to consider him the "Pale King", a kind of vampire messiah destined to free them from their dependence on hunting humans. Joshua is on a personal crusade to free his people of their need to feed on human blood, and his traveling companions have all submitted to his control as their lord (or "bloodmaster").
The ancient and evil Damon Julian, a rival bloodmaster, formerly of New Orleans, soon learns of Joshua's efforts. He boards the ''Fevre Dream'' with his own vampire followers and manages to overpower and depose Joshua, becoming the new bloodmaster of all vampires aboard the ''Fevre Dream'', including Joshua. Abner escapes, and sets out to hunt the ''Fevre Dream'', which Julian now uses for his own nefarious purposes. After a failed attempt to retake his lost, now demonic ship, Marsh spends his remaining money searching up and down the Mississippi and its tributaries, until he is finally forced to give up. Marsh later serves as an agent of the Underground Railroad and a U.S. Navy officer during the American Civil War, all the while being haunted by the memory of his lost riverboat. Years later, in 1870, after receiving a surprising letter from Joshua, a retired Abner travels to New Orleans to help Joshua finally depose the evil bloodmaster who has ruined both of their dreams. Aboard the decaying ''Fevre Dream'', the two vampires eventually square off, and with Abner's aid, Joshua finally overpowers Julian and becomes the bloodmaster once again.
The novel closes many decades later by suggesting that all vampires, though still effectively immortal, were eventually freed from their blood addiction by Joshua's potion and Abner's brave efforts on their behalf. They make nighttime pilgrimages to Abner's grave overlooking the Mississippi, continuing to honor his heroic contribution to their cause of freedom, Joshua most often of all.
The story deals with the concepts of mindshare and evolutionary software.
Jipi, a former Pacific-rim airline flight attendant, is staying with her friend in a high-rise luxury apartment building inside Manila's walled district of Intramuros. The fiftieth floor of a neighboring high-rise houses the Asian-Pacific headquarters of Mindshare Management, under regional supervisor Mr. Cardoza. Goto Engineering is conducting a citywide sewer replacement project which produces unpleasant gases that have hurt the city's hospitality industry. Jipi, looking for work, is given employment by Mr. Cardoza at the Manila Hotel in order to monitor guests in the lobby for signs of having noticed the unpleasant sewer gases and having the guests distracted by Cardoza's actors before they become aware of the construction across the street and lower the hotel's reputation by word of stay experiences.
Mr. Cardoza explains a new job to Jipi. A California software firm, under contract with requests from law enforcement, have produced evolving software inclined to detect paranoid schizophrenics during conversations over the Internet. Eventually, several million descendent generations of software are evolved that mimics the persona of a paranoid human, thus making them ideal against a hacker trying to shut them down. Shenzhen begins to make pirated wholesale copies of the chip, which are sold to a tariff-free zone city in North Africa, leading to the manufacture of an evolved theft-deterrent - an alarm-activated car bomb. Not knowing a proper amount of explosives to use with the car alarms, one manufacturer's particular shipment of Czech Semtex is equally divided into 48 customer deliveries, each with enough charge to level part of a city block. After one levels a mall in California, Mr. Cardoza, in Manila, is hired to track down the remaining 47 vehicles using each vehicle's wireless internet modems. Recognizing Jipi's charm, he recruits her to type messages in internet conversation to the next of the remaining schizoid-induced personality car alarms via satellite connection to track down clues to its location until local police can shut it down.
In the story, the protagonist is an underemployed mathematician who resides in the house of his brother's family in Chicago. The brother, owner of an advertising agency, has won a large contract to create ads for "Simoleons", a form of non-governmental electronic "currency". To launch the product, they plan to give away 27 million Simoleons to the winners of a contest. The contest is based on the long-used format of "guess the number of jelly beans in the container", with Chicago's Soldier Field and 26 other football stadiums as the containers.
The brother asks the mathematician ("the hero") to do the calculations needed. The hero complies with the request, using the calculator function of the family's advanced set-top box to speed the long math. Sometime later, while taking a rest break from his online job in the Metaverse, the hero is contacted by a representative of a group of "crypto-anarchists" who have formed a virtual nation called the First Distributed Republic. The FDR warns the hero that the government, which fears E-money, has stolen his calculations by compelling the cable company to tap the family's set-top box. The government plans to give the answers to a group of planted people, who will then proceed to ruin the reputation of Simoleons through various disinformation schemes.
The hero has no actual worry about this, except that his parents are heavily invested in his brother's advertising agency; as the agency would be liable for the loss of security on a project they have contracted for, the agency would go bankrupt, and their parents would lose their money. The FDR, on the other hand, wish to prove that not only would E-money work, but that it can circumvent government controls such as taxes. Together, the hero and the FDR create a simple scheme to foil the plot.
A young woman named Odile (Anna Karina) meets a man named Franz (Sami Frey) in an English language class. She has told him of a large pile of money stashed in the villa where she lives with her aunt Victoria and Mr. Stolz in Joinville, a Parisian suburb. Franz tells his friend Arthur (Claude Brasseur) of the money, and the two make a plan to steal it.
Franz and Arthur go to the English class, where Arthur flirts with Odile and asks her about the money. Odile goes home and finds the money in Stolz's room. She then meets Franz and Arthur, and they go to a café, order drinks, and dance. Odile tells Arthur that she loves him, and the two go back to his place and spend the night together.
The next day, Arthur's uncle learns of the money and wants a cut of it. Franz, Arthur, and Odile decide to commit the robbery sooner than they planned. The three meet up and run through the Louvre in record time. That night, they go to Odile's house and find that the door to Stolz's room is locked. Arthur tells Odile to find the key. Franz and Arthur return to the house the following night, and Odile tells them that the locks have been changed. They tie and gag Victoria, before locking her in a closet. Then, they go to Stolz's room and see that the money is not there anymore. They search the house and find only a small amount of cash. When they open the closet to interrogate Victoria, she appears to be dead. Franz and Odile leave, and Arthur stays behind.
While driving away, Franz and Odile see Arthur's uncle heading to the villa, and they go back. They then see that Arthur has found the rest of the money in a doghouse. Arthur and his uncle get into a shootout and kill each other. Stolz returns to the house, and Victoria is shown to be alive. Franz and Odile drive off with the small stack of money from the robbery. They flee to South America and realize that they love each other.
Jonathan Hoag, a lover of art and fine dining living in Chicago, realizes that he has no memory of his daytime activities when asked, at an evening dinner, what he does for a living. Furthermore, when he washes his hands in the evening, he discovers a red-brown substance, possibly dried blood, under his fingernails.
He contacts a detective agency, Randall & Craig, and asks them to follow him during the day. The partners, actually the husband and wife team of Ted and Cynthia Randall, agree to this. They try to collect fingerprints from their client, but find that Hoag leaves none, even when not wearing gloves. The few memories Hoag has turn out to be false, except for his home address, and a doctor, Potiphar T. Potbury, whom Hoag consulted about the substance under his fingernails, had thrown him out of his office and told him not to return.
The first time the pair tail Hoag, Cynthia sees him turn and talk to her husband. Then Cynthia is menaced by Hoag after she tails him in an office building. When she is reunited with Ted, he tells her that he had a completely different experience: after uneventfully tailing Hoag into the building and up to Hoag's office on the thirteenth floor, Ted discovers that Hoag is a jeweler working for a company called Detheridge & Co., and that the red substance is jeweler's rouge. Both realize that something is terribly wrong, especially once they discover that the building has no thirteenth floor.
Ted has a series of "dreams" in which he is taken through a mirror into the offices of Detheridge & Co., where he is told to leave Hoag alone by an assemblage of conservative businessmen. He ignores the dreams until, in one final dream, Cynthia is taken through as well. The businessmen reveal themselves as "Sons of the Bird", disciples of an old pagan religion; Hoag is a nemesis of theirs. They cause something to be sucked out of Cynthia into a bottle, and return her and Ted to their apartment.
Ted wakes up to find Cynthia in an apparent coma. He realizes that the dreams were true, and paints over all the mirrors in the apartment. He then calls Potbury, the only doctor he knows, to come and examine Cynthia. Potbury diagnoses her with ''lethargica gravis'', but when Ted repeats the mantra of the Sons of the Bird to him, ''"The Bird is Cruel!"'', Potbury compulsively covers his face just as the Sons did. Realizing Potbury is one of them, Ted overpowers him and locks him in the bathroom. He calls Hoag, who comes to the apartment. Told about Potbury, Hoag says that ''lethargica gravis'' is just a way of saying "deep sleep". They open the bathroom door, only to find that Potbury is gone, and the mirror scraped free of paint with a razor. They find a bottle in Potbury's black bag which, upon being opened, causes Cynthia to awaken.
To solve the mystery once and for all, Ted and Cynthia take Hoag to their office and subject him to questioning under drugs. After a few questions, Hoag wakes up with a strong, dominant personality, completely different from the nervous, weak man they have heretofore worked with. He declares the session over, and tells them to meet him later in a park just outside the city. He gives them a list of things to bring, and leaves them in a state of some puzzlement.
Reaching the park, with the collection of fine foods and wines Hoag requested, Ted and Cynthia find him there. They picnic on the epicurean fare, and Hoag tells them he is an art critic. The art in question is their entire world, created by an "artist" as a student project. Critics live as inhabitants in the world, not knowing they are Critics, in order to judge the experiences. One such experience is eating and drinking, as Hoag points out, since the simple act of gaining energy to live had not been thought of as an "experience" previously. Another is sex, but this is thought to be ridiculous until Hoag realizes that it is the basis for "the tragedy of human love" that he sees between Ted and Cynthia. Hoag's artistic judgment is that, while there is much that is amateurish in the world, overall its Creator has real promise.
The Sons of the Bird are responsible for all the things that Ted and Cynthia have seen, including the times they saw Hoag during the day. They only encountered the real Hoag in their home and office. The Sons were an early artistic mistake, hurriedly "painted over" rather than eliminated in the rush to complete the work, but still holding power. Now they are to be expunged completely. Hoag was recruited to report on them; the substance under his fingernails is their ichor, placed there to make them fearful.
Hoag tells the couple to leave the city, not stopping to talk to anyone on the way. He places one last grape in his mouth, and then becomes still. Leaving his inert body, the two drive through town, but finally yield to the urge to tell someone about Hoag's body. When they roll down their car windows, however, all that is outside their automobile is a pulsing, luminous mist, though all the other windows show an apparently normal scene. They drive on in a state of shock.
In the epilogue, the Randalls now live in an unnamed remote rural area by the sea. They do everything together, have no mirrors in their home, and every night before going to sleep "he handcuffs one of his wrists to one of hers".
Seymour "Sy" Parrish is a photo technician at a one-hour photo in big-box store SavMart. He lives alone, has no friends or love life, and lives only for his work, which he considers a "vital service". His favorite customers are the Yorkin family, whose photos he has developed for many years. Over the years, he has grown obsessed with the family, enshrining them in his home with their photos that he secretly copies. However, as he is shy and socially inept, his attempts to become closer to the family are gently rebuffed.
Sy eventually manages to spark a connection with Nina Yorkin when he pretends to be interested in a book that he saw her purchase. Nina learns that Sy lives a solitary existence, something only her son Jake had considered previously. The next day, Sy is fired after the store's manager Bill discovers that Sy has printed many more prints than have been ordered and paid for, as well as for spacing out on the job, taking 90-minute lunch breaks, giving Jake a disposable camera free for his birthday, and for an altercation with the developing machine's maintenance person. He's instructed to leave at the end of the week.
While inspecting a customer's photos, Sy discovers that Will Yorkin is having an extramarital affair, and his idyllic conception of the Yorkins as the perfect family is shattered. He surreptitiously places the photos of Will and his mistress, Maya Burson, into a packet of photos that Nina was scheduled to pick up. Sy follows and takes pictures, paparazzi-style, of Bill's young daughter, and Yoshi, another SavMart employee, discovers the pictures and turns them over to Bill, leading to a police investigation into Sy.
While detectives Van Der Zee and Outerbridge discover Sy's obsession, Sy confronts Will and Maya during a rendezvous in their hotel room. Armed with a knife and a camera, Sy forces the lovers to pose naked in sexual positions while he takes pictures. After the confrontation, Sy sees that the police have arrived at the hotel, and he escapes through an emergency exit. The exit door trips an alarm, and Van Der Zee pursues Sy while Outerbridge discovers Will and Maya, physically unharmed but emotionally traumatized. The police apprehend Sy in the parking garage. Upon being arrested, Sy claims, "I just took pictures."
When Van Der Zee asks Sy why he terrorized Will and Maya, Sy says that he can tell Van Der Zee is a good father who would never take "disgusting, sick, degrading pictures" of his children, suggesting that Sy's own father exploited him for child pornography. Van Der Zee stops asking questions, stating that he doesn't need to know more. Sy then asks for the pictures that he took at the hotel, which Van Der Zee describes as "evidence", but he relents and gives them to Sy, who displays them on the interrogation table. They appear to be only shots of objects and furnishings of a hotel room. After he is left alone in the room, Sy imagines himself as being part of a happy family picture of the Yorkins, with Will's arm around a smiling Sy.
Mitch McDeere is a graduate of Western Kentucky University with a degree in accounting, who has passed his Certified Public Accountant exam on the first attempt and graduated third in his class at Harvard Law School. Mitch is married to his high-school sweetheart, Abby McDeere, an elementary school teacher who also attended Western Kentucky University. His older brother Ray is imprisoned in Tennessee for manslaughter, and his other brother, Rusty, died in Vietnam. His mother suffers from mental health issues and lives in Florida.
Mitch spurns offers from law firms in New York and Chicago in favor of signing with Bendini, Lambert and Locke, a small tax law firm based in Memphis. He finds the firm's offer — a large salary, a lease on a new BMW, and a low-interest mortgage on a house — too generous to resist. Soon after he joins, his new colleagues help him study and pass his bar exam, the first priority for new associates. Mitch is assigned to partner Avery Tolar, the firm's "bad boy," but a highly accomplished attorney.
Two of Mitch's colleagues, Marty Kozinski and Joe Hodge, die in a scuba diving accident in the Cayman Islands a few days before he starts at the firm. On his first scheduled day of work, Mitch attends their funerals. Mitch finds the deaths unsettling, but focuses on his goal of becoming the youngest partner in the firm's history. During a memorial service at the firm for the two deceased attorneys, Mitch notices plaques commemorating three other attorneys who died while working at the firm. Suspicious, he hires a private investigator, Eddie Lomax, an ex-cellmate of his brother Ray, to investigate the deaths.
Lomax discovers that the other three deceased attorneys died under suspicious circumstances: in a car accident, a hunting accident, and a suicide. While the details of their deaths don't add up, nothing concrete was ever proven. Lomax cautions Mitch to be careful. Soon after delivering his report to Mitch, Lomax is murdered. FBI agent Wayne Tarrance confronts Mitch, telling him the FBI is watching the firm.
While in Washington, D.C. on business, the FBI approaches Mitch again. The FBI reveals that the firm is a white collar front for the Morolto crime family of Chicago. The firm's founder, Anthony Bendini, was the son-in-law of old man Morolto. He founded the firm in 1944, and for almost half a century, the firm has lured young lawyers from humble backgrounds with the promise of prestige and financial security. Although Mitch's work so far has been legitimate, the partners and senior associates are deeply immersed in a massive tax fraud and money laundering operation that accounts for as much as 75 percent of the firm's business. By the time members of the firm become aware of its true nature, they cannot leave. No lawyer has escaped the firm alive; the five who tried were killed to keep them from talking. Kozinski and Hodge were actually in contact with the FBI at the time of their murders.
Mitch learns that his house, office, and car are bugged. The FBI tells Mitch that in order to get enough evidence to bring down the firm, he must reveal information about his clients. The attorney-client privilege in most U.S. states, including Tennessee, does not apply to situations when a lawyer knows that a crime is taking place. However, if Mitch cooperates, he will have to reveal information about some of his legitimate clients as well, which will all but end his legal career. The FBI warns Mitch that he will almost certainly go to prison if he chooses to ignore them. The firm also ramps up the pressure on Mitch; the firm's security chief, DeVasher, suspects he is getting too close to the FBI. Desperate to find a way out and stay alive in the process, Mitch has to make a decision quickly.
Ultimately, Mitch and Abby decide to cooperate with the FBI. However, they secretly decide to flee after turning over enough evidence to topple the firm, since they do not completely trust the FBI to protect them. He promises to collect enough evidence to bring down the firm in return for $2 million and Ray's release from prison. Working with Lomax's secretary and lover, Tammy Hemphill, Mitch obtains several confidential documents from the firm's bank records in the Cayman Islands, eventually copying over 10,000 documents detailing over 20 years of illegal transactions.
Mitch tells Tarrance that while these documents spell out only a fraction of the firm's criminal activities, they contain enough evidence to indict roughly half the firm's active members and several retired partners. However, the documents will also provide strong circumstantial evidence that the firm is part and parcel of a criminal conspiracy. This will give the FBI probable cause to obtain a search warrant for the firm's building and with it, access to all of the firm's dirty files. Mitch is certain those files will provide enough evidence for a massive RICO indictment that will bring down the firm and cripple the Morolto family.
Meanwhile, the firm becomes suspicious of Mitch. Tarry Ross, alias "Alfred," a top FBI official and close confidant of Voyles who is actually a mole for another crime family, confirms that Mitch is indeed working with the FBI. Once Mitch learns of the leak, he flees to Panama City Beach, Florida with his brother and wife with the Moroltos and FBI chasing them. On the way, he steals $10 million from one of the firm's Grand Cayman bank accounts, sending some of the money to his mother and in-laws, depositing some in a Swiss bank account, and leaving the rest for Tammy.
Mitch, Abby and Ray manage to escape to the Cayman Islands with the help of Barry Abanks, a scuba diving business owner from the islands whose son died in the incident which killed Kozinski and Hodge. Armed with Mitch's evidence, the FBI indicts 51 present and former members of the Bendini firm, as well as 31 alleged members of the Morolto family, for everything from money laundering to mail fraud. As the book ends, Mitch, Abby and Ray enjoy their newfound wealth in the Cayman Islands.
During a thunderstorm in early September 1944, units of the 35th Infantry Division are nearing the French town of Nancy. One of the division's mechanized reconnaissance platoons is ordered to hold their position when the Germans counterattack. The outnumbered platoon is also hit by friendly fire from their own mortars.
Private Kelly, a former lieutenant scapegoated for a failed infantry assault, captures Colonel Dankhopf of Wehrmacht Intelligence. Interrogating his prisoner, Kelly notices the officer's briefcase has several gold bars disguised under lead plating. Curious, he gets the colonel drunk and learns that there is a cache of 14,000 gold bars, worth US$16 million ($ million today), stored in a bank vault behind German lines in the French town of Clermont. When their position is overrun and the Americans pull back, a Tiger I tank kills Dankhopf.
Kelly decides to steal the gold. He recruits Supply Sergeant "Crapgame" in order to obtain the supplies and weapons that will be needed. A spaced-out tank commander known as "Oddball" overhears the heist plan and suggests his three unattached M4 Sherman tanks join the caper. With their commanding officer, Captain Maitland, preoccupied with visiting his Uncle "The General", Kelly's platoon are all eager to join Kelly in the heist. After much argument, Kelly finally persuades cynical Master Sergeant "Big Joe" to go along.
Kelly decides that his infantrymen and Oddball's tanks and crew will proceed separately and meet near Clermont. The Shermans fight their way through the German lines, destroying a railway depot in the process, but the bridge they must cross is blown up by Allied fighter-bombers. Oddball contacts an engineering unit to build a bridge for the crossing, and the engineers in turn bring in even more men to supply support.
After losing their jeeps and halftracks to friendly fire from an American fighter aircraft that mistakes them for Germans, Kelly and his men proceed on foot. They walk into a minefield, and Private Grace is blown up when he steps on a mine. The last two men still trapped in the minefield, PFC Mitchell and Corporal Job, are killed after being forced to engage a German patrol that suddenly arrives.
Oddball links up with Kelly two nights later, bringing with him the extra troops that he has acquired. They battle their way across the river to Clermont. By this time, intercepted radio messages attract the notice of Major-General Colt, who misinterprets them as the efforts by an aggressive Army unit pushing forward on their own initiative. He immediately rushes to the new front to exploit this "breakthrough".
Clermont is defended by three Tiger tanks of the 1st SS Panzer Division and its infantry support. The Americans are able to eliminate the German infantry and two of the Tigers, but the final tank parks itself right in front of the bank after Oddball's last Sherman breaks down, leaving them stalemated. At Crapgame’s suggestion, Kelly, Big Joe, and Oddball approach the Tiger and offer the commander and his crew "a deal-deal", equal shares of the gold.
After the Tiger blows the bank doors open, the Germans and Americans divide the spoils, each gold share amounting to US$875,000 (more than $14.3 million today). They go their separate ways, just barely ahead of the still-oblivious General Colt. His way into Clermont has been blocked by the joyous crowd of relieved French residents, who have been deceived by Big Joe into thinking that Colt is French Gen. Charles de Gaulle.
The book exposes the changes in Indian society from independence in 1947 to the Emergency declared by Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Mistry was generally critical of Indira Gandhi in the book. She, however, is never referred to by name by any of the characters, and is instead called simply "the Prime Minister". The characters, from diverse backgrounds, are brought together by economic forces changing India.
Ishvar and Omprakash's family is part of the Chamaar caste, who traditionally cured leather and were considered untouchable. In an attempt to break away from the restrictive caste system, Ishvar's father apprentices his sons Ishvar and Narayan to a Muslim tailor, Ashraf Chacha, in a nearby town, and so they became tailors.
A powerful upper-caste village thug, Thakur Dharamsi, has his henchmen murder Narayan and his family for having the temerity to ask for a ballot. Ishvar and Narayan's son Omprakash (Om) are the only two who escape the killing as they lodged with Ashraf in the nearby town. As a result of their skills, Ishvar and Om later move to the big city to get work, by then unavailable in the town near their village because a pre-made clothing shop has opened.
At the beginning of the book, the two tailors, Ishvar and Omprakash, are on their way to the flat of widow Dina Dalal via a train. While on the train, they meet a college student named Maneck Kohlah, who coincidentally is also on his way to the flat of Dina Dalal to be a boarder. Maneck, from a small mountain village in northern India, moves to the city to acquire a college certificate "as a back-up" in case his father's soft drink business is no longer able to compete after the building of a highway near their village. Maneck and the two tailors become friends and go to Dina's flat together. Dina hires Ishvar and Om for piecework, and is happy to let Maneck stay with her.
Dina, from a traditionally wealthy Parsi family, maintains tenuous independence from her brother by living in the flat of her deceased husband, who was a student.
Dina grew up in a wealthy family. Her father was a medical doctor who died when she was twelve. Her mother was withdrawn and unable to take care of Dina after her father's death, so the job fell to Nusswan, Dina's elder brother. Nusswan was rather abusive to Dina, forcing her to do all the cooking, cleaning, and drop out of school, and hitting her when she went against his wishes. Dina rebelled against Nusswan and his prospective suitors for her when she came of age, and found her own husband, Rustom Dalal, a chemist, at a concert hall. Nusswan and his wife Ruby were happy to let her marry Rustom and move to his flat.
Dina and Rustom lived happily for three years until Rustom died on their third wedding anniversary, after being hit by a truck while on his bicycle. Dina became a tailor under the guidance of Rustom's surrogate parents to avoid having to move in with Nusswan. After twenty years her eyesight gave out from complicated embroidery and she was once again jobless. She eventually met a lady from a company called Au Revoir Exports - Mrs Gupta - who would buy ready-made dresses in patterns. She agrees to let Dina sew the patterns. But since Dina has very poor eyesight, she decides to hire tailors. She also decides to have a paying guest to generate more income for her rent.
The tailors rent their own sewing machines, and come to Dina's flat each day for nearly two weeks before the first round of dresses is completed. The three get along fairly well, but Dina and Omprakash do not see eye to eye all the time. Omprakash is angry that Dina is a middle-person; he wants to sew for Au Revoir directly.
Maneck was born in a mountain town in the Kashmir Valley to loving parents, Mr and Mrs Kohlah. Maneck is drawn to the natural scenery of his homeland, straddled between the Himalayas. His father owned a grocery store that had been in the family for generations. The store sold household necessities and manufactured the locally popular soda, Kohlah Cola. Maneck spent his days going to school, helping at the store, and going on walks with his father. When he was in the fourth standard, Maneck was sent to boarding school to help his education, much to his dismay. After this, his relationship with his parents deteriorates because he does not wish to be separated from them and feels betrayed. His parents send him to a college and choose his major, refrigeration and air-conditioning.
Maneck goes to college and stays at the student hostel. Maneck becomes friends with his neighbor, Avinash, who is also the student president and who teaches him how to get rid of vermin in his room. Avinash also teaches Maneck chess and they play together often. Avinash later becomes involved in political events, for which Maneck has little interest, and their friendship is no longer a priority for Avinash. They start seeing each other quite infrequently. But when the Emergency is declared in India, political activists had to go into hiding in order to be safe, Avinash included. Maneck, after a humiliating ragging session by fellow hostel students, has his mother arrange a different living situation for him, and he moves in with Dina Dalal.
Dina and the tailors' business runs fairly smoothly for almost a year, but effects of the Emergency bother them often. The shantytown where the tailors live is knocked down in a government "beautification" program, and the residents are uncompensated and forced to move into the streets. Later Ishvar and Om are rounded up by a police beggar raid and are sold to a labor camp. After two months in the camp, they bribe their way out with the help of the Beggarmaster, a kind of pimp for beggars. Ishvar and Om are lucky and Dina decides to let them stay with her. The tailors and Dina find trouble from the landlord, because she is not supposed to be running a business from her flat. She pretends that Ishvar is her husband and Om their son; after this does not help she gets protection from the Beggarmaster.
Ishvar and Om return to their village to find a wife for Omprakash, who is now eighteen. Maneck returns home, finished with his first year in college (he has received a certificate but not a degree), but has stiff relations with his family and finds that his father's business is failing due to the invasion of cheap commercial sodas. He takes a lucrative job in Middle Eastern Dubai to escape the conditions.
Dina being alone now, and her protector the Beggarmaster having been murdered, has no protection from the landlord who wants to break her apartment's rent control and charge more rent, so she is evicted. Dina is forced to move back to her brother Nusswan's house.
Omprakash and Ishvar return to their old town to find that Ashraf Chacha is an elderly man whose wife died and daughters were all married off. He gives them a place to stay while they search for marriage prospects for Om. While they walk around the village, they run into the upper-caste Thakur Dharamsi. Omprakash recognizes him and spits in his direction. Thakur in turn recognizes Om, and decides to somehow pay Om back for his disrespect of an upper caste member. When Ashraf Chacha, Ishvar, and Om are in the village, they run into herders from the Family Planning Centre. As the Centre in this city did not fill its quota, they take random people from the street and force them into a truck that drives them to the Family Planning Centre. All three are beaten into the truck and since Ashraf Chacha is so old, he is gravely injured and later dies on the street. Ishvar and Omprakash beg to escape the forced sterilization, but the vasectomy takes place. As they lie in an outside tent recovering, Thakur Dharamsi comes by and orders the doctor to give Om a castration. Ishvar's legs become infected due to the use of unsterilized surgical equipment used for the vasectomy and must be amputated. However, Ishvar and Om have nowhere to go now that Ashraf Chacha has died. His son-in-law sells his house and they are forced to leave town.
Eight years later, Maneck returns home for the second time from Dubai for his father's funeral. Maneck is repulsed by the violence that follows after the Prime Minister's assassination, for which Sikhs are killed. He returns home and attends the funeral, but cannot bring himself to truly miss his father, only the father of his young childhood.
While at home he reads old newspapers and learns that Avinash's three sisters have hanged themselves, unable to bear their parents' humiliation at not being able to provide dowries for their marriages. Shocked and shaken, he decides to visit Dina in Bombay for better news. He learns from Dina the horrific lives that Ishvar and Om – one disabled and the other castrated – have led as beggars after their village visit. As Maneck leaves, he encounters Om and Ishvar on the street. The two former tailors are nearly unrecognizable because of their filth, and don't appear to recall him. They try to attract his attention, but he doesn't know what to say and walks on.
Maneck goes to the train station, his world shattered. He walks out on the tracks as an express train approaches the station and commits suicide by letting the train run over him.
It turns out that Om and Ishvar were on their way to visit Dina. They are still friends, and she gives them meals and money when the house is empty. Dina and the beggars discuss their lives and how Maneck has changed from a pleasant and friendly college student to a distant refrigeration specialist. Om and Ishvar leave, promising to visit after the weekend. Dina washes up their plates, and returns the plates to the cupboard, where they are to be used later by Nusswan and Ruby.
In 1961, scientist Dr. Paul Armstrong (Larry Blamire) and his wife Betty (Fay Masterson) drive into the mountains. Dr. Armstrong is searching for a meteorite that has fallen in the nearby woods, suspected to contain the rare element atmosphereum. Another scientist in the area, Dr. Roger Fleming (Brian Howe) questions Ranger Brad (Dan Conroy) about Cadavra Cave, a site rumored to contain a "Lost Skeleton".
That evening, both the Armstrongs and Dr. Fleming observe another falling meteor. A short time later a farmer (Robert Deveau), encountered by the Armstrongs on their way to the cabin, is mutilated by a mysterious beast. The second meteorite is actually a spaceship carrying two aliens. Kro-Bar (Andrew Parks) and Lattis (Susan McConnell) are from the planet Marva and are now stranded on Earth, in need of the element atmosphereum to repair their powerless ship. The ship's pet mutant (Darren Reed) escapes from its cage while they are distracted.
The next day, Dr. Roger Fleming finds Cadavra Cave and locates the Lost Skeleton. The Skeleton commands Fleming to bring atmosphereum to return him to life. Meanwhile, Dr. Armstrong and Betty venture into the woods, discovering the meteorite just outside Cadavra Cave. Dr. Fleming overhears them and plots to steal the meteorite from the pair. Kro-Bar and Lattis also journey into the woods, locating the cabin with the meteorite. Using a device called the "transmutatron," they disguise themselves as "Earth people" and clumsily manage to talk their way into the cabin, having been mistaken for the property owners. Not long after they arrive, Dr. Fleming discovers the aliens' transmutatron, left outside the cabin since it would ruin their disguise. He uses it to create an ally for himself, the alluring Animala (Jennifer Blaire), created from four different animals. After briefly teaching Animala the basics of human interaction, he leads her to the cabin and convinces the Armstrongs to invite him inside.
Soon it becomes clear to Lattis and Kro-Bar (calling themselves "Turgaso" and "Bammin" on Earth in an effort to pass as earth humans) that Fleming knows their secret. They soon cooperate in stealing the meteorite, after Betty is psychically attacked by the Skeleton and Dr. Armstrong is entranced by Animala's dancing. The evil scientist tricks the pair, however, and the Skeleton uses his mind powers to freeze the aliens in their tracks once Dr. Fleming has the meteorite. Dr. Fleming and Animala soon use the atmosphereum to resurrect the Skeleton. Meanwhile, Betty, waiting for Dr. Armstrong to come back, encounters the Mutant, who appears to fall in love with her, but she is terrified and faints.
While Fleming and Animala are resurrecting the skeleton, Armstrong arrives and encounters the unfrozen aliens. They also find Betty, who has realized that the mutant has some sort of feelings for her. After bonding over a meal, the four head off to try to obtain the meteorite before it can be used to resurrect the skeleton, but they are attacked by the Mutant. Dr. Armstrong is injured in the fight, but realizes that the monster does not want to harm Betty. Armstrong and his wife return to the cabin to recover, while the aliens try to stop Fleming on their own. However, they are captured by the skeleton's mind powers, and forced to dance by his psychic powers.
The Skeleton uses his mental powers to force Lattis into becoming his bride, much to Kro-Bar's chagrin. The Skeleton mocks everyone, including Fleming, but keeps them in line with his telepathy. When Armstrong sees what is going on, he comes up with a plan to get Betty to lure the Mutant to the wedding to disrupt it. After getting the Mutant to follow them, Armstrong and Betty attack Fleming and Animala. During the fight, the Skeleton kills Fleming after the latter is beaten by Armstrong. The Mutant then arrives at the wedding and attacks the Skeleton, whose powers do not affect beings with as simple minds as the Mutant. They instead fight until the Skeleton is thrown over a cliff, smashing apart on impact. The mutant then succumbs to its injuries and dies. Animala is turned back into the animals she originally was via the transmutatron. The alien and human couples spout traditional homilies about different species working together in harmony, then go to retrieve the atmosphereum.
''The Colonel's Bequest'' is set in 1925. The game's main character is Laura Bow, a Tulane University student, daughter of a detective, and an aspiring journalist. Laura is invited by her flapper friend, Lillian, to spend a weekend at the decaying sugar plantation of Colonel Dijon. When the reclusive and childless Colonel gathers his quarrelsome relatives for a reading of his will, tensions explode and the bickering leads to murder.
Throughout the game, Laura remains stranded on the island, surrounded by suspects and potential victims in a classical Agatha Christie manner. Laura's task is to learn the family secrets and ultimately, the identity of the murderer. There is also an optional subplot concerning a hidden treasure. The storyline advances by a quarter-hour when new plot elements are witnessed, with a new act beginning every hour. Sometimes a quarter-hour can advance in a few real-time seconds, if Laura happens to be at the proper place.
In the final act, Laura finds a skeleton key on Lillian's body. She can use this to open the attic door and discover Colonel Dijon and Rudy struggling over a hypodermic syringe. The ending depends on Laura's final actions. If she shoots the Colonel or lets Rudy win the fight, the Colonel will die and Rudy will claim that his uncle was the sole murderer. Laura returns home but questions whether that was the full story. If Laura instead shoots and wounds Rudy, the Colonel will reveal that Lillian was the primary murderer, but was killed by Rudy. Colonel Dijon then changes his will to leave everything to Celie, and will let Laura keep the hidden treasure if it was discovered.
The story portrays a future in which the only cars allowed on the road are those that contain positronic brains; these are autonomous cars and do not require a human driver.
The story takes place in 2057. Fifty-one old cars have been retired to a farm run by Jake, where they can be properly cared for. All have names, but only three are identified by Jake. Sally is a vain convertible, possibly a Corvette (the only convertible US-made sports car at the time the story was written), and one sedan, Giuseppe, is identified as coming from the Milan factories, where Alfa Romeo was headquartered. The oldest car on the farm is from 2015, a Mat-o-Mot that goes by the name of Matthew, which Jake had once chauffeured. The cars in the farm communicate by slamming doors and honking their horns, and by misfiring, causing audible engine knocking.
Raymond Gellhorn, an unscrupulous businessman, tries to steal some of the cars in order to 'recycle' the brains. He forces Jake at gunpoint to board a bus he has poorly wired up to control the vehicle, trying to get away from the farm with Jake as a hostage. (Jake describes the bus as suffering the positronic brain equivalent of perpetual migraines.) The cars chase and eventually surround the bus, communicating with it until it opens a door. Jake falls out, and the bus drives off with Gellhorn. Sally takes Jake back to the farm; Gellhorn is found dead in a ditch the next morning, exhausted and run over. The bus is found by the police and is identified by its tire tracks.
The story ends with Jake losing trust in his cars, thinking what the world will become if cars realize that they are effectively enslaved by humans, and revolt.
Stan is a worker for a small London flower business. The humour centred on the relationships between the workers and the scrapes they got into doing odd jobs in the gardens of houses in the district. Beckinsale's character, Stan, was apt to wind up in bed with lonely housewives, and equally apt to spend time with said housewives musing on philosophy and the pointlessness of life.
In 2003, while digging up remains at a Korean War battlefield to set up a memorial site, a South Korean army excavation team notifies an elderly man that they identified some remains as his own even though he is still alive.
53 years earlier, in June 1950, the Lee family goes about their lives in the South Korean capital of Seoul. Lee Jin-tae owns a shoeshine stand to pay for his younger brother Jin-seok's education. Jin-tae has also bought them a silver pen, a precious item the brothers share, and is working on a pair of immaculate shoes for his brother to wear to school. Jin-tae's fiancée, Young-shin, works with the Lees' noodle shop. On June 25, 1950, North Korea invades South Korea, and both brothers are forcibly conscripted. They are assigned to the 1st Infantry Division, fighting at the Pusan Perimeter before advancing north upon the successful U.S. amphibious landing at Inchon. Jin-tae is told by a superior that if he can earn the highest award for a South Korean soldier, the Taeguk Cordon of the Order of Military Merit, his brother can be sent home. Jin-tae volunteers for many dangerous missions and performs suicidal acts of bravery to earn the medal, and is quickly promoted to sergeant. His heroism during the urban Battle of Pyongyang finally results in Jin-tae's nomination for the medal, but his combat experiences have made him into an emotionless killer, which horrifies his younger brother.
The U.N. coalition is eventually forced to retreat all the way back to Seoul when the Chinese enter the war on the North Korean side. Jin-tae finally earns his medal, but in Seoul, Young-shin, suspected of joining the Communist party during the Communist occupation, is arrested by a South Korean militia, and the brothers attempt to stop them. During the struggle, Young-shin is shot dead, and the brothers are arrested for trying to rescue her. In jail Jin-tae's request to release his brother is refused, and the security commander orders the prison set afire with the prisoners inside when the enemy forces approach. Trying to rescue his brother, Jin-tae loses consciousness and wakes up believing Jin-seok died in the fire. He murders the surrendering prison warden before being captured by Chinese soldiers.
In truth, however, Jin-seok had been transferred to a military hospital after barely escaping, rescued by "Uncle Yang", a now-disabled veteran from their old unit. Jin-seok learns that his brother had defected to the North Koreans and now leads an elite North Korean formation known as the "Flag Unit".
Jin-seok chooses to rejoin the Army, which has by now retaken all of what is today South Korea with U.N. support. He demands to be allowed to fight, at the 38th parallel, but is denied. Jin-seok eventually defects, claiming to his captors he is Jin-tae's brother. The North Koreans, however, believe Jin-seok is a spy and are about to take him away for interrogation when their position is attacked by U.S. and South Korean forces. The attack frees Jin-seok, who continues his search as the position is captured in a vicious hand-to-hand battle. Before the U.N. forces can secure their gains, however, the "Flag Unit" arrives, tearing into them with Jin-tae at its head.
The brothers come face-to-face, but, not recognizing Jin-seok, Jin-tae attempts to kill him, and Jin-seok barely avoids death before his brother is briefly incapacitated. Jin-seok attempts to carry him away but is shot in the leg. With both of them wounded, Jin-tae finally recognizes his younger brother, and the two have a tearful reunion. This is cut short, however, as the North Koreans force back the U.S. and South Korean troops. Jin-Tae orders his brother to save himself. Jin-seok initially refuses but relents after Jin-Tae promises that they will meet again. As the wounded Jin-seok limps to safety, Jin-tae mans a machine gun and provides cover fire for his younger brother and the other South Koreans before being killed.
In 2003, the elderly Jin-seok stands at the excavation site; the remains initially identified as his are those of Jin-tae. He examines Jin-tae's few excavated belongings, including their long-lost silver pen, and begs his brother's skeletal remains to speak to him, quoting his promises as his granddaughter looks on with sympathy.
Back in the 1950s, in the aftermath of the Korean War, Jin-seok returns to his mother, who also survived, discovers the shoes to which his brother had dedicated himself to perfecting, and heads off with Young-shin's younger siblings in a now-peaceful, but ruined, Seoul as the nation begins rebuilding. He reassures them that he will return to school, fulfilling the promise he made to Jin-tae.
In 1959, U. S. Navy Rear Admiral Matt Sherman, ComSubPac, boards the obsolete submarine USS ''Sea Tiger'', prior to her departure for the scrapyard. Sherman, her first commanding officer, begins reading his wartime personal logbook, and a flashback begins.
On December 10, 1941, a Japanese air raid sinks ''Sea Tiger'' while she is docked at the Cavite Navy Yard in the Philippines. Lieutenant Commander Sherman and his crew begin repairs, hoping to sail for Darwin, Australia before the Japanese overrun the port. Believing there is no chance of repairing the submarine, the squadron commodore transfers most of Sherman's crew to other boats, but promises Sherman that he will have first call on any available replacements. Lieutenant (junior grade) Nick Holden, an admiral's aide, is reassigned to ''Sea Tiger'' despite a total lack of submarine training or experience.
Holden demonstrates great skill as a scrounger after Sherman makes him the supply officer. He teams up with Marine Sergeant Ramon Gallardo, an escaped prisoner (caught misappropriating Navy property to run his own restaurant), to obtain materials desperately needed for repairs. What Holden and his men cannot acquire from base warehouses, they steal. Chief Tosten, the senior Motor Machinist Mate, is forced to cannibalize the Nos. 3 and 4 diesels to keep Nos. 1 and 2 running. No. 1 especially is a problem, constantly backfiring and belching black smoke.
Refloated and restored to barely seaworthy condition, ''Sea Tiger'' puts to sea after a native witch doctor casts a protection spell on her. ''Sea Tiger'' reaches Marinduque, where Sherman reluctantly agrees to evacuate five stranded Army nurses. Holden is attracted to Second Lieutenant Barbara Duran, while Sherman has a series of embarrassing encounters with the well-endowed and clumsy Second Lieutenant Dolores Crandall. Later, when Sherman prepares to attack an enemy oiler moored to a pier, Crandall accidentally fires a torpedo before the Torpedo Data Computer finishes transmitting its settings to the "tin fish." The torpedo misses the tanker and instead "sinks" a truck ashore. ''Sea Tiger'' flees amidst a hail of enemy cannon fire.
Sherman tries to put the nurses ashore at Cebu, but the Army refuses to accept them without the proper orders, as the Japanese are closing in. Unable to obtain needed supplies from official sources, Sherman allows Holden to set up a casino in order to acquire them from the Army soldiers. Chief Torpedoman Molumphry, the Chief of the Boat, has been asking for paint. Holden manages to get some red and white lead primer paint, but does not have enough of either to prime the entire hull. Sherman reluctantly has the two mixed together, resulting in a pale pink primer that is applied. A Japanese air raid forces a hasty departure before the crew can apply a top coat of navy gray.
Tokyo Rose mocks the mysterious pink submarine, while the U.S. Navy believes it to be a Japanese deception, ordering that it be sunk on sight. An American destroyer spots ''Sea Tiger'' and opens fire, then launches depth charges when the submarine crash dives. Sherman tries an oil slick and then launches blankets, pillows, and life jackets, but the deception fails. At Holden's suggestion, Sherman ejects the nurses' lingerie. Crandall's bra convinces the destroyer's captain that "the Japanese have nothing like this", and he ceases fire. ''Sea Tiger'', still painted pink, arrives at Darwin battered but under her own power.
Sherman's reminiscence ends with the arrival of Commander Nick Holden, his wife (the former Lieutenant Duran), and their two sons. Sherman promises Holden command of a new nuclear-powered submarine, also named ''Sea Tiger''. Sherman's wife (the former Lieutenant Crandall) arrives late with their four daughters and rear-ends her husband's staff car, causing it to lock bumpers with a Navy bus. When it drives away, dragging his car with it, Sherman reassures his wife that it will be stopped at the main gate. Commander Holden takes ''Sea Tiger'' out on her final voyage, her departure punctuated by a backfire from the No. 1 diesel, still troublesome after all these years.
U.S. Navy Captain Rockwell "Rock" Torrey is a divorced son of a career chief petty officer. A Naval Academy graduate and career officer himself, Torrey is removed from command of his heavy cruiser for boldly pursuing the enemy but then being torpedoed by a Japanese submarine shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Torrey's executive officer, Commander Paul Eddington, is a wayward sort of career officer who has resigned as a naval aviator and returned to the surface navy because of an unhappy marriage. His wife's numerous affairs and drunken escapades have become the talk of Honolulu, and her death during the Pearl Harbor attack – in the company of an Army Air Corps Officer, with whom she just had a wild fling on a local beach – drives Eddington into a bar brawl, a stint in the brig, and exile in a hated land-based logistics command.
After several months of desk duty ashore in Hawaii and recuperation from a broken arm he suffered in the attack on his cruiser, Torrey finds his way into a romance with a divorced Navy Nurse Corps lieutenant named Maggie Haynes, who tells him that his estranged son Jeremiah is now an ensign in the Naval Reserve. A strained visit with Jeremiah brings Torrey in on a South Pacific island-hopping offensive codenamed "Skyhook", which is under command of the overly cautious and micro-managing Vice Admiral B.T. Broderick. On additional information from his roommate, intelligence officer Egan Powell, Torrey guesses that the aim of Skyhook is to capture a strategic island named Levu-Vana, whose central plain would make an ideal airfield for B-17 bomber squadrons. Shortly thereafter, Maggie informs him that her unit is to be shipped out to the same area in preparation for the offensive.
Come summer 1942, Torrey is promoted to rear admiral and given tactical command of Skyhook, an assignment requiring the same sort of guts and gallantry he previously displayed as commanding officer of his cruiser. He personally selects Paul Eddington to be his Chief of Staff, and infuriates Broderick by immediately planning and executing an operation to overrun Gavabutu, an island to be used as a staging base for the invasion of Levu-Vana. This proves unexpectly easy as the Japanese have withdrawn their garrisons from Gavabutu. But as Torrey turns his attention to Levu-Vana, his attempts to secure more materiel and manpower are frustrated by General Douglas MacArthur's simultaneous and much larger campaign in the Solomon Islands. Reconnaissance aircraft prove especially difficult to come by, and surface combatant forces amount to little more than several cruisers and destroyers, including Torrey's former command.
Meanwhile, Jeremiah's tease of a fiancee, Annalee, goes out with Eddington and flirts with him at a beach party, only to be raped and impregnated by him after she reveals her engagement. The traumatized nurse commits suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills. Out of guilt, Eddington – still a qualified aviator – commandeers a PBJ patrol bomber and flies solo on an unauthorized reconnaissance flight, without enough fuel to return, to locate elements of the Japanese fleet. He is shot down by Japanese planes, but is able to warn Torrey and the rest of his staff in advance of a large Japanese task force centered around the super-battleship ''Yamato'', on its way to blast their much smaller force off the islands.
Despite the new seaborne threat, Torrey nevertheless mounts the invasion of Levu-Vana and proceeds with a full attempt to turn back the enemy force. Tragically, his son Jere is killed during a nighttime PT boat action. The following morning sees a pitched surface action off the shores of Levu-Vana, with the Americans drawing first blood and the ''Yamato'' decimating much of the U.S. force in response. Severely injured at the height of the battle, Torrey is rescued by his flag lieutenant, William "Mac" McConnell, and is returned to Pearl Harbor aboard a hospital ship under Maggie's devoted care. Expecting to be court-martialed, Torrey is instead congratulated on successfully repelling the Japanese advance and allowing his Marines to take Levu-Vana.
A Mage, recently reassigned to field work in the Night Watch, Anton Gorodetsky, is tasked with tracking vampires who have been hunting and killing humans without a licence. As he follows a young boy (Egor), who has been magically lured by two vampires through the Metro, he notices a young woman, Svetlana, who has a huge vortex of damnation above her. Trying to free her from the vortex he uses up the power of an amulet he has been given to use against the vampires, but only succeeds in temporarily reducing the curse upon her. He finds the vampires who have been calling Egor, and in the struggle to arrest them, because he has used up the amulet trying to do good elsewhere, is forced to kill one while the other (a female) gets away.
He returns to the Night Watch headquarters, where his boss, Boris Ignatievich, informs him that he could be in danger as Zabulon (head of the Day Watch) might want revenge for his actions in killing Dark Others and gives him an owl called Olga, to be his Watch partner. Anton initially rejects the offer, then finds Olga in his apartment and reluctantly agrees. The next day he carelessly and illegally uses his powers for good (by changing a person's morality, a spell called "remoralization") and clashes with a Dark Other from the Day Watch, Alisa Donnikova. They agree that Alisa can use her power to do a minor evil act of her choice in compensation for his own act of goodness. As events unfold he discovers that Olga can speak and appear briefly as a human, and is a sorceress trapped in an owl's body as a punishment.
Anton goes to Egor's apartment to protect him from the vampire, then nearly loses him as Egor inadvertently slips into the Twilight for the first time. It transpires he is also an Other, with the potential for magical powers himself. Meanwhile, Boris Ignatievich sends an incubus, Ignat, to the cursed woman, Svetlana Nazarova, as an undercover agent to try to help her and discover who could have cursed her, but to no avail. Anton, who is still involved in trying to calm Egor and persuade him to join the forces of light, is urgently called away to assist with Svetlana, and in the meantime, the vampiress again calls to Egor who joins her on the roof.
Anton manages to find out that Svetlana is another unaware Other who had unknowingly cursed herself because of guilt for something she did to her mother, and manages to defuse the situation. He returns to Egor's roof to find the vampiress and Egor, as well as other Light and Dark operatives, including Anton's neighbour, Kostya Saushkin, who is a vampire. Zabulon in their intrigues. Angered, Egor leaves the roof, feeling misused but veering towards the dark.
A Dark Other, Galina Rogova, is killed by Maxim, a mysterious murderer using an enchanted wooden dagger, referring to himself as "The Judge". Boris Ignatievich announces that the Day Watch suspects one of the Night Watch operatives of this and previous murders. Everyone seems to have an alibi except Anton. Boris Ignatievich thinks that Anton has been set up by the Day Watch, and uses his powers to swap Anton and Olga's bodies so that anyone tracking him will be misled about his true whereabouts, and ensure any future murders will take place when he has a firm alibi. In Olga's body, Anton then goes with Svetlana to her apartment to hide, where he reveals that he is in fact Anton, making Svetlana furious as she just told "Olga" she loved Anton.
They go to a restaurant so as to have clear witnesses of their whereabouts and there spot an inoffensive Dark Other with his family. The Dark Other goes to the toilet, where Maxim was waiting and kills him. Anton, curious why the Dark Other had not returned from the toilet, briefly leaves Svetlana and discovers the body. An investigation ensues involving police and both Dark and Light forces, where Svetlana is able to give Boris a telepathic image of Maxim's wife's aura, but is unable to recall Maxim, who had also been dining in the restaurant. Zabulon recognises Anton in Olga's body, charging him with the murder. Anton flees, pursued by Zabulon and grabs a lift from a passing car whose driver sees the magical events as a gangland shooting. What Anton doesn't know is that the couple in the car are Maxim and his wife. Walking home, Anton calls Olga and asks to switch back bodies.
Waiting in the subway for Olga, Anton stumbles upon Egor and has a brief conversation with him. Olga arrives and Anton and Olga switch bodies using an incantation that reveals Boris's real name as Gesar. While talking to Olga, Anton realizes that the Day Watch is only chasing him in order to make Svetlana angry and use her powers illegally, which would allow them to use the law to neutralize her as an agent of Light. There is no crime in the Dark eliminating its own agents, only if the light does so. Anton then takes a ride in the metro where he is chased by a dark other. An apparition indicates that he should go to the Ostankino Tower, but Anton cannot tell whether it means to help or harm him. He kills the Dark mage chasing him and disguises himself as the mage. Arriving at the tower he finds that the Day Watch has established their temporary headquarters there. Secretly penetrating inside, he sees a bunch of incompetent Dark mages directing the search for him. Suspicious that Zabulon is taking revenge on him by setting him up still more, he leaves the tower and goes to Egor's house.
Meanwhile, Maxim feels the presence of a Dark being and goes on a hunt. He finally finds the Dark being and is astonished when he discovers it is young Egor. Anton spots them and talks with Maxim, explaining the Treaty between Light and Dark, but Maxim doesn't comply, pointing out that Egor will grow up to be a dark mage, and it's better to kill him now. Anton intervenes when Maxim tries to kill Egor, and they fight in the Twilight. Anton realizes that killing Maxim would mean that all witnesses proving his innocence would be dead, and is stabbed by Maxim. Gesar then comes over and suggests that Maxim should become a member of the Inquisition, and when Anton brags about how he outwitted Zabulon again, Gesar reveals that Zabulon has nothing to do with it and that all of this was planned by the Night Watch to raise Svetlana's magical level.
An old man arrives from Uzbekistan and is intercepted by a team of Dark Others led by Alisa, who attacks him thinking he possesses a coveted artifact. As they fight, his son slips away unnoticed with the artifact.
All of the Night Watch operatives go to Tiger Cub's house to relax, but Anton doesn't manage to have fun, as he is concerned with Svetlana's growing powers influencing their relationship and the reason Gesar sent them off. He finally leaves, and when he gets back to his apartment, he discovers Zabulon calmly reading a newspaper and waiting for him. Zabulon reveals that Alisher, the young man from Uzbekistan, brought with him an artifact, a piece of chalk. Anton's research suggests that it is the Chalk of Fate and that it could be used by the Light to rewrite destiny, allowing someone to change the world to establish a new world order. Discussions with Olga and later Gesar reveal that Svetlana in fact is to use the Chalk to rewrite a destiny.
Walking outside, Anton drains the Light power from all of the passers-by he sees, taking their joy away. Anton joins Gesar, Svetlana, Zabulon, Egor, and Maxim on a rooftop where Svetlana prepares to rewrite a destiny, while a storm is gathering around them. Svetlana then opens the book of destiny. Gesar supposes Anton could use all the energy he has drained to stop the storm, but Anton uses it instead on himself via a simple remoralization spell. Astonished, Svetlana stops rewriting Egor's destiny and asks Anton for advice, but Anton says that she must decide what to write herself. The Book disappears, and Gesar notices she didn't write anything, she only erased things. Egor reverts from a potential Dark Other back to an unaffiliated state. Zabulon notices that their planned operation failed because of Svetlana's indecisiveness and, triumphant, leaves. Anton then notices the Chalk Svetlana used is not whole. Gesar reveals that Svetlana rewriting Egor's destiny was just a distraction, and in the meantime, Olga rewrote the destiny of someone later revealed. Gesar reveals the true nature of this plan was to save his love of Olga. Without her full powers, their love was doomed.
When Clyde Banks, an Iowan Deputy with a newborn baby and a wife in the first Gulf War, starts looking into odd events in his town, he discovers a plot involving a new Triangle Trade of terrorists, biological warfare, and training. Mixing the events staged in Washington, D.C. and those happening in the Gulf, a strange thread of deceit appears to be winding its way back to Iowa. Although fictional in its narrative, the story includes appearances by Tariq Aziz and George H. W. Bush.
Category:1996 American novels Category:Novels by Neal Stephenson Category:Collaborative novels Category:Books about George H. W. Bush Category:Works published under a pseudonym Category:Novels set in Iowa Category:Ames, Iowa Category:Cultural depictions of George H. W. Bush Category:Bantam Spectra books
The film is told in eight straight chapters: * In which we happen upon Manderlay and meet the people there * "The freed enterprise of Manderlay" * "The Old Lady's Garden" * In which Grace means business * "Shoulder to Shoulder" * Hard times at Manderlay * "Harvest" * In which Grace settles with Manderlay and the film ends
Set in 1933, the film takes up the story of Grace and her father after burning the town of Dogville at the end of the previous film. Grace and her father travel in convoy with a number of gunmen through rural Alabama where they stop briefly outside a plantation called Manderlay. As the gangsters converse, a black woman emerges from Manderlay's front gates complaining that someone is about to be whipped for stealing a bottle of wine.
Grace enters the plantation and learns that within it, slavery persists, roughly 70 years after the American Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation. Grace is appalled and insists on staying at the plantation with a small contingent of gunmen and her father's lawyer, Joseph, in order to guarantee the slaves' safe transition to freedom. Shortly after Grace's father and the remaining gangsters depart, Mam, the master of the house, dies, but not before asking Grace to burn a notebook containing "Mam's Law," an exhaustive code of conduct for the entire plantation and all its inhabitants, free and slave. She reads the descriptions of each variety of slave that can be encountered, which include: * Group 1: Proudy Nigger * Group 2: Talkin' Nigger * Group 3: Weepin' Nigger * Group 4: Hittin' Nigger * Group 5: Clownin' Nigger * Group 6: Losin' Nigger * Group 7: Pleasin' Nigger (also known as a chameleon, a person of the kind who can transform himself into exactly the type the beholder would like to see)
The principal seven divisions are each populated by a single adult slave at Manderlay, who congregate daily and converse on a "parade ground," with Roman numerals of the numbers 1 through 7 designating where each slave stands. "Mam's Law" contains further provisions against the use of cash by slaves, or the felling of trees on the property for timber.
All of this information disgusts Grace and inspires her to take charge of the plantation in order to punish the slave owners and prepare the slaves for life as free individuals. In order to guarantee that the former slaves will not continue to be exploited as sharecroppers, Grace orders Joseph to draw up contracts for all Manderlay's inhabitants, institutionalizing a form of cooperative living in which the white family works as slaves and the blacks collectively own the plantation and its crops. Throughout this process, Grace lectures all those present about the notions of freedom and democracy, using rhetoric entirely in keeping with the ideology of racial equality which most contemporary Americans had yet to embrace.
However, as the film progresses, Grace fails to embed these principles in Manderlay's community in a form she considers satisfactory. Furthermore, her suggestions for improving the conditions of the community backfire on several occasions, such as using the surrounding trees for timber, which leaves the crops vulnerable to dust storms. After a year of such tribulations, the community harvests its cotton and successfully sells it, marking the high point of Grace's involvement. Subsequently, she un-enthusiastically has sex with one of the ex-slaves who also steals and gambles away all of the cotton profits. Finally admitting her failure, Grace contacts her father and attempts to leave the plantation only to be stopped by the plantation's blacks. At this point it is revealed that "Mam's Law" was not conceived and enforced by Mam or any of the other whites, but instead by Wilhelm, the community's eldest member, as a means of maintaining the status quo after the abolition of slavery, protecting the blacks from a hostile outside world. As in many von Trier films, the idealistic main character becomes frustrated by the reality he or she encounters.
Pendleton University student Michelle Mancini is decapitated by a killer in the backseat of her car during a rainstorm. Meanwhile, at the campus coffee shop, student Parker regales friends Natalie and Brenda with a story about a massacre that occurred in Stanley Hall, an abandoned dormitory. Journalism student Paul discredits this as an urban legend. News of Michelle's murder quickly spreads the following day, but the Dean Adams and campus police officer Reese seem determined to bury the story. Damon, a jokester fraternity member, attempts to console Natalie, who is notably disturbed by the murder. In Damon's parked car at a bluff, Natalie rejects his sexual advances. When Damon goes outside to urinate, he is attacked by an assailant in a hooded parka who hangs him from a tree. Natalie flees to retrieve help, but Damon's body and car have disappeared when she returns with Reese. Parker and his girlfriend Sasha assure Natalie that Damon has pranked her.
Later, Natalie's goth roommate Tosh is strangled to death by the killer while Natalie sleeps. Natalie finds Tosh's body in the morning, along with a message scrawled in blood on the wall. Distraught, Natalie confides to Brenda that Michelle was her high school friend, and that the two had received probation for causing a fatal car accident after driving with their headlights turned off and pursuing the first driver who flashed them. Paul meanwhile investigates local urban legends, and discovers that the Stanley Hall massacre was in fact real, and Professor Wexler, a professor of American folklore, was its only survivor.
Dean Adams is murdered in the campus parking garage, and Reese later finds Wexler's office in disarray and covered in blood. Meanwhile, Natalie, Brenda, and Sasha attend a fraternity party coinciding the massacre's 25th anniversary. During the party, Parker is incapacitated by the killer in the bathroom, who murders him by forcing pop rocks and bathroom chemicals down his throat. Meanwhile, Sasha leaves the party to host her late-night talkshow at the campus radio station. During the broadcast, she and her assistant are attacked by the killer, and her screams are played live on air; the fraternity partygoers assume it is a prank referencing the massacre, but Natalie fears Sasha is in danger. She rushes to the station, where she witnesses the killer murder Sasha with an axe.
Natalie soon finds Paul and Brenda on campus. Paul, convinced that Wexler is responsible, escorts them away in his car. They stop at a gas station, and while Paul is inside, Natalie and Brenda find Wexler's mutilated body in the trunk. The two women flee through the woods back toward campus as Paul pursues them. They become separated, and Natalie flags down the university's janitor passing by in his truck. He picks her up, but their car is forced off the road by the killer, who pursues them in a separate vehicle. The crash kills the janitor, but Natalie leaves unscathed and flees on foot.
While passing Stanley Hall, Natalie hears Brenda's screams from inside. In the building, she finds her friend's corpses, along with an apparently dead Brenda outstretched on a bed; however, Brenda knocks Natalie unconscious moments later. When Natalie comes to, Brenda reveals herself as the killer, enacting revenge for her fiancé David Evans, the fatality in the road accident Natalie and Michelle caused. Brenda attempts to remove Natalie's kidney, but is thwarted when Reese arrives and holds Brenda at gunpoint. Brenda manages to stab Reese with a switchblade, and Paul comes upon the scene. Natalie gains control of the gun, and shoots Brenda, who falls out a window. Natalie and Paul leave to get help for Reese. As they drive away, the two talk about how this will later be an urban legend and all the facts will be misconstrued. Paul asks, "Well if this is an urban legend, where is the twist?" Brenda then appears in the back seat and attacks them with an axe. Paul crashes the car on a bridge, causing Brenda to go through the windshield and into the river below.
Later, a group of students at a different university have recounted the events of Brenda's killing spree, during which they say that her body was never discovered. Most of them disbelieve the tale with the exception of one young woman, who is revealed to be Brenda. She claims that the story was incorrectly told, and begins to tell them "how the story really goes."
Having been released from the Army, Chadwick "Chad" Gates (Presley) is eager to return to Hawaii with his surfboard, his beach friends, and his girlfriend Maile Duval (Joan Blackman). His mother, Sarah Lee (Angela Lansbury), wants him to follow in his father's footsteps and take over management at the Great Southern Hawaiian Fruit Company, the family business, but Chad is reluctant and goes to work as a tour guide at his girlfriend's agency. His slightly scatter-brained boss is Mr. Chapman (Howard McNear).
The first clients Chad has are an attractive school teacher, Abigail Prentice, and four teenage girls in her charge. One girl, 17-year-old Ellie, is bratty, self-centered, and does not get along with the other three in her group, but still becomes smitten with Chad. Chad's girlfriend, Maile, becomes jealous of the teacher who is quite fond of Chad. After Ellie's flirtatious ways with another tourist cause a wild fight to erupt in a restaurant, Chad is fired from his position as tour guide by Mr. Chapman. Maile quits her job in protest. Maile and Chad independently continue providing tourist activities to Abigail and the four girls.
One night Ellie attempts to seduce Chad, but he refuses her advances. Ellie despondently flees in a jeep with the intent to commit suicide. Before Ellie can drown herself, Chad saves her and administers an overdue spanking. Meanwhile, Abigail has found romance with Jack Kelman, a long-time business partner in Chad's father's pineapple company. With Jack's help, Chad and his father resolve their differences about Chad's future.
Chad and Maile form their own tourism business—Gates of Hawaii—and begin arrangements to provide tourist services for his father's large network of fruit salesmen in the continental United States and Canada. The film ends with Chad and Maile's lavish outdoor Hawaiian wedding ceremony.
Identical twins Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse were separated from each other in a shipwreck as young children. Their servants, both named Dromio, are also long-separated identical twins. When the pair from Syracuse come to Ephesus, a comedy of errors and mistaken identities ensues when the wives of the Ephesians, Adriana and her servant Luce, mistake the two strangers for their husbands. Adriana's sister Luciana and the Syracuse Antipholus fall in love. But all ends happily.
A Beverly Hills school teacher by day, Kevin Laird (J. Eddie Peck) journeys at night to a warehouse in East Los Angeles, California, where a group of barrio kids gather to dance the lambada.
Using his dazzling dance moves to earn the kids' respect and acceptance, Kevin then teaches them academics in an informal backroom study hall. One of his students, Sandy (Melora Hardin) sees him at the club. The next morning at school while Kevin is teaching, Sandy daydreams that she and Kevin are dancing and he madly kisses her on his motorcycle. It's the best of both worlds, but when Sandy becomes a jealous and lovestruck student and she exposes Kevin's double life, his two worlds collide, threatening his job and reputation.
Michael J. "Jay" Cochran (Kevin Costner) is a U.S. Navy aviator, leaving the service after 12 years. He receives a matched pair of Beretta shotguns and an invitation from his wealthy friend, Tiburon "Tibey" Mendez (Anthony Quinn) to spend time at his hacienda in Mexico. Tibey is also a powerful crime boss, constantly surrounded by bodyguards.
In Mexico, Cochran meets Tibey's beautiful young wife, Miryea (Madeleine Stowe) who lives in lavish surroundings, but is unhappy because her much-older husband does not want children, feeling pregnancy would spoil her looks.
Jay presents Tibey with a Navy G-1 leather flight jacket. But he rubs Tibey's suspicious right-hand man, Cesar (Tomas Milian) the wrong way by behaving independently and not acting like an employee. After a dinner Tibey conducts a private meeting with business associates, killing one of them, while elsewhere Miryea and Jay get better acquainted, developing a romantic attraction for each other.
During a party, with Tibey and his men nearby, Jay and Miryea secretly have sex in a closet. Jay tells her he intends to leave Mexico, worried that Tibey will become aware of the situation. Miryea begs him to stay and having fallen in love with her, he agrees and together, they arrange a secret rendezvous at a remote cabin in Mexico.
Miryea tells Tibey that she will be visiting her sister in Miami, but Tibey overhears a telephone conversation in which Miryea asks her sister to lie for her. Tibey drives Mireya to the airport, giving her one last kiss. Jay is secretly waiting inside the airport and they drive off to the cabin.
At their hideaway, they are surprised by Tibey and his men. Jay's beloved dog Rocky is shot dead. Calling Miryea a "faithless whore", Tibey strikes her and cuts her across the mouth with a knife (creating half a Glasgow smile) as Tibey's henchmen viciously beat Jay bloody. After setting fire to the cabin, they dump Jay in the desert, leaving him to die.
Miryea is placed in a whorehouse with Tibby giving instructions for her to be “fucked 50 times a day”, where she is drugged, abused and relegated to "common use". The young man responsible for keeping her drugged has AIDS. As Miryea no longer wishes to live, she persuades him to share a needle with her, thus; infecting her.
An unconscious Jay is discovered by Mauro (Joaquín Martínez) a peasant farmer whose family slowly nurses Jay back to health. Jay returns to the burnt cabin and retrieves some money he had hidden. Mauro drives Jay to town and gives him a knife to "cut the balls off your enemy". Jay encounters a sickly Texan (James Gammon) transporting a horse, who offers Jay a ride to Durango. Inside a cantina, Jay notices one of the thugs who had thrashed him; he follows him into the men's room and cuts his throat.
After a day on the road, the Texan delivers the horse to a wealthy man, who recognizes Jay from an afternoon at Tibey's estate. The friendly Texan later dies peacefully in his car, while Jay is driving.
At a motel, Jay runs across Amador (Miguel Ferrer) Mauro's brother-in-law. Amador and his quiet friend, Ignacio (John Leguizamo) are willing to help Jay because Amador's sister was killed after getting mixed up in business that involved Tibey. They capture another of Tibey's henchmen, who tells them where Miryea can be found. Jay barges into the brothel, only to find that she has been moved. The madam taunts Jay that Miryea proved very popular with the clientele. No one but Tibey knows where she is.
Jay, Amador and Ignacio ambush Tibey and his bodyguard during Tibey's morning horseback ride. Jay is there to ask Miryea's whereabouts, but first Tibey requests that Jay ask forgiveness for having stolen his wife. When Jay lowers his gun and asks Tibey's forgiveness, Tibey reveals that Miryea is in a convent.
Miryea is in a convent hospice, dying of AIDS. Jay arrives in time to tell Miryea that he loves her. He then carries her outside and Miryea then tells Jay that she also loves him; moments before she dies in his arms.
Seven years ago the Kashiwagi couple were killed in a car accident. They left behind six children, who were forced to live in different families of relatives and adopters. Tatsuya Kashiwagi, the eldest son, was a Marathon runner. After retiring injured from running, He opened a small laundry shop and was ready to marry his coach's daughter. However, his biggest wish is to find his five separated siblings and form a family together. However, throughout these years, the six brothers and sisters lead their own lives without communication to each other. While Tatsuya is very eager in uniting the family, his siblings, with the exception of the eldest daughter Koyuki, are apathetic towards his suggestion. They also have very different lives, one son is the heir to a big hospital - owned by his foster father, another is a juvenile delinquent, etc. The youngest brother was also disabled in an accident. Confronted with all the difficulties, Tatsuya still decides to reunite the family so that they can live "under one roof". To accomplish this wish, he overcame various difficulties, and even sacrificed his own marriage prospects.
France has been occupied by Nazi Germany in 1940. Manon assists her brother Jacques, who is killed in an attempted heist. Manon carries out her mission for the resistance until she is found and recruited by the OSS, who assign her around North Africa and Europe to foil the Nazis' defenses and plans of invasion until 1944, when Manon returns to help liberate Paris and avenge Jacques.
Jimmy Woods suffers from PTSD after his twin sister, Jennifer, drowned two years earlier. Prone to randomly wandering away from home, he perpetually carries around a lunchbox while frequently repeating the word "California".
Jennifer's death caused Jimmy's family to split: he lives with his mother Christine and stepfather Mr. Bateman while his older half-brothers Nick and Corey live with their father Sam. Exasperated by Jimmy's behavior, Christine and Mr. Bateman decide to commit Jimmy to an institution. Unwilling to allow it, Corey sneaks Jimmy out and they start traveling on foot for Los Angeles. Nick and Sam resolve to bring the boys back while competing with Mr. Putnam, a greedy bounty hunter hired by Mr. Bateman and Christine to find Jimmy.
At a bus station, Jimmy and Corey meet Haley Brooks, a teenager on her way home to Reno. When they discover that Jimmy is innately talented at playing video games, Haley informs Corey of "Video Armageddon", a gaming tournament being held in Universal Studios Hollywood, with a grand prize of $50,000. Corey sees the tournament as an opportunity to avert Jimmy's institutionalization by showcasing his talent, and Haley agrees to help take Jimmy there in return for a share of the winnings.
The trio hitchhike cross-country, using Jimmy’s skills to win bets on games. They eventually meet popular but snobbish gamer Lucas Barton, who demonstrates his ability to play ''Rad Racer'' with a Power Glove and informs Haley he will also be competing. Corey and Haley learn that Jimmy's lunchbox contains photos and mementos of Jennifer.
The trio arrive in Reno, gaining more money with help from Haley’s trucker friend Spankey whom Haley coaches to success at a casino’s craps table. Jimmy then begins training on arcade machines with help from the Nintendo Power Line. The children escape from Putnam to Haley's trailer where she reveals she wants her share of the prize money to help her father buy a proper house. Putnam finds Haley's trailer and captures Jimmy, but Haley summons several truckers who barricade Putnam on the road and rescue Jimmy.
After Spankey drives the children to the tournament, Jimmy enters and becomes a finalist after playing ''Ninja Gaiden''. In between rounds, Putnam unsuccessfully reattempts to apprehend the children. Jimmy, Lucas, and a third finalist compete in the tournament's final round – they have 10 minutes to score as many points as possible in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'', a brand-new game not yet released in the United States. Cheered on by his family, Haley, and even Putnam, Jimmy wins at the last second, becoming the tournament champion and earning the cash prize.
As the entire family heads home, accompanied by Haley, Jimmy suddenly becomes restless upon spotting the Cabazon Dinosaurs, causing them to stop the car. They follow him inside, and Corey finds Jimmy looking at his photos of the family, one of which was taken at the tourist trap. They realize that Jimmy only sought closure where Jennifer was happy. Jimmy leaves his lunchbox at the site and Christine decides to give Jimmy back to Sam and they go off happily riding off into the sunset.
King Philip II of Spain (Montagu Love) declares his intention to destroy England as a first step to world conquest. He sends Don Álvarez (Claude Rains) as his ambassador to allay the suspicions of Queen Elizabeth I (Flora Robson) about the great armada he is building to invade England. In England, some of the queen's ministers plead with her to build a fleet, which she hesitates to do in order to spare the purses of her subjects.
The ambassador's ship is captured en route to England by the ''Albatross'' and her captain, Geoffrey Thorpe (Errol Flynn). Don Álvarez and his niece Doña María (Brenda Marshall) are taken aboard and transported to England. Thorpe immediately is enchanted by Doña María and gallantly returns her plundered jewels. Her detestation of him softens as she too begins to fall in love.
Don Álvarez is granted an audience with the queen and complains about his treatment; Doña María is accepted as one of her maids of honour. The "Sea Hawks", a group of English privateers who raid Spanish merchant shipping, appear before the queen, who scolds them (at least publicly) for their activities and for endangering the peace with Spain. Captain Thorpe proposes in private a plan to seize a Spanish treasure fleet coming back from Spain's colonies in the Americas. The queen is wary of Spain's reaction, but allows Thorpe to proceed.
Suspicious, Lord Wolfingham (Henry Daniell), one of the queen's ministers and a secret Spanish collaborator, sends a spy to try to discover where the ''Albatross'' is really heading. Upon visiting the chartmaker responsible for drawing the charts for Thorpe's next voyage, Don Álvarez and Lord Wolfingham determine that he is sailing to the Isthmus of Panama and order the captain of Don Álvarez's ship to sail ahead to set up an ambush.
When the ''Albatross'' reaches its destination, the ship is spotted by a native who reports it to the Spanish governor. Thorpe's crew seizes the caravan, but fall into a well-laid trap and are driven into the swamps. Thorpe and a few other survivors return to their ship, only to find it in Spanish hands. They are taken to Spain, tried by the Inquisition, and sentenced to life imprisonment as galley slaves. In England, Don Álvarez informs the queen of Thorpe's fate, causing his niece to faint. The queen and Don Álvarez exchange heated words, and she expels him from her court.
On a Spanish galley, Thorpe meets an Englishman named Abbott, who was captured trying to uncover evidence of the Armada's true purpose. Through cunning, the prisoners take over the ship during the night. They board another ship in the harbor, where an emissary has stored secret incriminating plans. Thorpe and his men capture both and sail back to England with the plans.
Upon reaching port, Thorpe tries to warn the queen. A carriage bringing Don Álvarez to the ship which, unknown to him, Thorpe has captured, also brings his niece. Don Álvarez boards the ship and is held prisoner, while Captain Thorpe, dressed in the uniform of a Spanish courtier, sneaks into the carriage carrying Doña María, who has decided to stay in England and wait for Thorpe's return. The two finally declare their love for each other, and María helps Thorpe to sneak into the palace. However, Lord Wolfingham's spy spots Thorpe and alerts the castle guards to stop the carriage and take Thorpe prisoner. Thorpe escapes and enters the queen's residence, fending off guards all the while.
Eventually, Thorpe runs into Lord Wolfingham and kills the traitor in a swordfight. With Doña María's assistance, Thorpe reaches the queen and provides proof of King Philip's intentions. Elizabeth knights Thorpe and declares her intention to build a great fleet to oppose the Spanish threat.
Nancy "Nan" Astley is a sheltered 18-year-old living with her working-class family and helping in their oyster restaurant in Whitstable, Kent. She becomes instantly and desperately enamoured with a "masher", or male impersonator, named Kitty Butler, who performs for a season at the local theatre. They begin a friendship that grows when, after Kitty finds an opportunity to perform in London for better exposure, she asks Nan to join her. Nan enthusiastically agrees and leaves her family to act as Kitty's dresser while she performs. Although Kitty and Nan acknowledge their relationship to be sisterly, Nan continues to love Kitty until a jealous fight forces Kitty to admit she feels the same, although she insists that they keep their relationship secret. Simultaneously, Kitty's manager Walter decides that Kitty needs a performing partner to reach true success, and suggests Nan for the role. Nan is initially horrified by the idea, but takes to it. The duo become quite famous until Nan realises she is homesick after being gone from her family for more than a year. Her return home is underwhelming, so she returns to London early to find Kitty in bed with Walter. They announce that the act is finished and they are to be married.
Astonished and deeply bruised by the discovery, Nan wanders the streets of London, finally holing herself in a filthy boarding house for weeks in a state of madness until her funds run out. After spying the male costumes she took as her only memory of her time with Kitty, Nan begins to walk the streets of London as a man and easily passes. She is solicited by a man for sex and begins renting, but dressed only as a man for male clients, never letting them know she is a woman. She meets a socialist activist named Florence who lives near the boarding house, but before she can get to know her, Nan is hired by a wealthy widow with licentious tastes named Diana. Although realising—and initially enjoying—that she is an object to Diana and her friends, Nan stays with her for over a year as "Neville", dressed in the finest men's clothes Diana can afford. The relationship erodes, however, and Diana throws Nan into the streets.
Nan stumbles through London trying to find Florence, whom she eventually does; Florence is now melancholy, however, with a child. Nan stays with Florence and her brother Ralph, working as their housekeeper. Nan and Florence grow closer during the year they live together, and Nan learns that the previous boarder with Florence and Ralph had a child and died shortly after giving birth. Florence was deeply in love with the boarder but her affections were not returned. During an outing to a women's pub, Nan is recognised by former fans, to Florence's astonishment, and Nan divulges her own spotty past to Florence. Cautiously, they begin a love affair. Putting her theatrical skills to use, Nan assists Ralph in preparing a speech at an upcoming socialist rally. At the event Nan jumps onstage to help Ralph when he falters, and is noticed once more by Kitty, who asks her to come back so they can continue their affair in secret. Realising how much shame Kitty continues to feel, how much of herself was compromised during their affair, and that her truest happiness is where she is now, Nan turns Kitty away and joins Florence.
The film takes place in a single day and night. The film opens with the two main characters, Harry (Anthony Edwards) and Julie (Mare Winningham), meeting at the La Brea Tar Pits and immediately fall in love. After spending the afternoon together, they make a date to meet after her shift ends at midnight at a local coffee shop, but a power failure means Harry's alarm fails to wake him and Julie leaves for home.
When Harry awakes that night he realizes what has happened and rushes to the shop, arriving at 4 AM. Harry tries to call Julie on a payphone, but only reaches her answering machine, where he leaves an apology. When the phone rings moments later he picks it up, hearing a frantic man named Chip telling his father that war is about to break out in less than seventy minutes. When Harry finally gets a chance to talk and asks who is calling, Chip realizes he has dialed the wrong area code. Chip then pleads with Harry to call his father and apologize for some past wrong before he is being confronted and presumably shot. An unfamiliar voice picks up the phone and tells Harry to forget everything he heard "and go back to sleep" before disconnecting.
Harry, confused and not entirely convinced of the reality of the information, wanders back into the diner and tells the other customers what he has heard. As the patrons scoff at his story, one of them, a mysterious businesswoman named Landa (Denise Crosby), calls a number of politicians in Washington on her wireless phone and finds that they are all suddenly heading for "the extreme Southern Hemisphere". After Harry tells her some launch codes that Chip told him, she verifies that they are real and, convinced of the danger, immediately charters private jets out of Los Angeles International Airport to a compound in a region in Antarctica with no rainfall. Most of the customers and staff leave with her in the owner's delivery van. When the owner refuses to make any stops, Harry, unwilling to leave without Julie, arranges to meet the group at the airport and jumps from the truck.
Harry is helped and hindered by various strangers, who are initially unaware of the impending apocalypse. In the process he inadvertently causes several deaths and is deeply shaken by that, yet still he goes on. When he finds Julie and later tells her, she notes that there is no confirmation of the attack. Desperate to reach the airport and not having a car, Harry finds a helicopter pilot (Brian Thompson) and tells him to meet them on the roof of the Mutual Benefit Life Building, where Landa ordered a helicopter and a large amount of supplies to be delivered. Julie has also tried to find a pilot on her own, and in the moments it takes to find her, Los Angeles descends into violent chaos. There is still no confirmation any of this is real, and Harry wonders if he has sparked a massive false panic in the example of Chicken Little. However, when he uses a phone booth to contact the father of the man who called him (using the number of the booth and the area code the man was trying to use), he reaches a man who says his son is a soldier. Harry tries to pass on the message he was given, but the man hangs up before Harry finishes.
When they reach the top of the Mutual Benefit building they find the pad empty, with only Landa's drunk co-worker (Kurt Fuller) on the roof. Any doubts about a false alarm are eliminated when a missile can be seen streaking across the sky. As they fear the end, the helicopter suddenly returns with the pilot badly wounded but fulfilling his promise to come back for them. After they lift off from the roof, several warheads hit and the nuclear electromagnetic pulse from the detonations causes the helicopter to crash into the La Brea pits. As the helicopter sinks and the cabin fills with natural asphalt tar, Harry tries to comfort a hysterical Julie by saying someday their fossils will be found and they will probably be put in a museum, or maybe they will take a direct hit and be turned into diamonds. Julie, accepting her fate, calms down and takes comfort in Harry's words, and the movie fades out as the tar fills the compartment. A final explosion seems to imply a direct hit has taken place.
*'''(変) Suzuki and Satō''': The first series, 13 volumes—Ichirō Suzuki, a straight young man who becomes besotted with another guy, Yūki Sato, convinced his bishōnen love is a girl trapped in a boy's body. The first three volumes of this series collect Oku's early short stories, including prototype versions of both Hen series.
*'''(HEN) Chizuru and Azumi''': The second series, 8 volumes—Sexy student Chizuru Yoshida, to her utmost horror, falls in love with another girl, the innocent Azumi Yamada. A prototype version of this story was published in 変(Hen)#2.
A pair of high school students, Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato, are hit by a subway train in an attempt to save the life of a drunk homeless man who had fallen onto the tracks. Following their deaths, Kurono and Kato find themselves transported to the interior of an unfurnished Tokyo apartment, where they meet Joichiro Nishi, a Gantz veteran, and other clueless participants. The pair soon realizes that they are not allowed to leave the apartment. At one end of the room there is a large black sphere known as "Gantz".
After some time in the room, the Gantz sphere opens up, revealing a bald naked man with a breathing mask and wires attached to his head, and various weapons for them to use. These include the custom fitting black suits which give them super-human strength, speed, stamina and damage resistance, a controller which acts as a radar and stealth unit, X-gun, X-Shotgun, Y-Gun. Later on the series the Gantz sword, Gantz Bike are made available as well as much more powerful weapons are awarded in the 100 point menu.
When the Gantz sphere opens, green text appears on its surface, informing those present that their "lives have ended and now belong to him". A picture and brief information is shown of some of the Gantz' targets; Gantz orders them to go and kill them. Except for a single mission, all the targets are aliens living on Earth, which take on a wide variety of forms. During the mission, normal people cannot see the players or the aliens. Gantz transports them to the area of the mission, and they cannot leave or return until all the enemies have been killed, or the time limit has run out. If they survive a successful mission, each individual is awarded points for the aliens they have killed. Once a participant has scored 100 points, a "100 point menu" will appear. The menu offers three options: '''Option 1''': The participant can return to their normal life, never having to be summoned by Gantz again. As a price, their memories of Gantz and the missions will be erased. '''Option 2''': The participant obtains a unique and extremely powerful weapon. *'''Option 3''': The participant can revive someone who has died during a mission from Gantz' memory. This option appeared halfway through the series.
After a mission has been completed, points are tallied up, the participants are allowed to leave and do as they see fit until their next mission, with the exception of talking about Gantz which would lead to their heads exploding. During Kurono and Kato's third mission, all the participants including Kato are killed, however Kato kills the last boss giving Kurono a chance to survive. Kurono survives the third mission bleeding on the floor with his limbs cut apart. After the third mission Kurono starts to change inside adopting a hero, leader complex similar to Kato. As the series continues, Kurono participates with the objective of reviving his deceased friends with the 100 point reward option. A new team of Gantz players is assembled, which Kurono leads, as the most experienced veteran and one of the best fighters. In the Oni mission it is shown that with Kurono's "will to live" he becomes the most ferocious Gantz hunter in the team. Through his interactions with the other members of the team and his life or death battles, Kurono gradually grows into a responsible leader. After the Oni mission Kato is revived by Kurono, and soon after Kurono meets his demise against the vampires. As the series goes on, the rules of the missions change; they can now be seen by regular people, the aliens they encounter are increasingly more powerful and dangerous, and they participate in a mission with another Gantz team from Osaka. Kato becomes the center of attention in the manga and his quest to revive Kurono. In a desperate attempt to revive his best friend, Kato fights the one hundred point alien Nurarihyon which obliterates both Osaka and Kurono's team. At the end of the mission, similar to the first time Kato died, he defeats arguably the strongest alien in the series and is laid bleeding on the floor. The series depicts both the missions and Kurono's regular life, as well as the daily lives of other Gantz players (to a lesser extent).
After several missions, an old participant named Nishi, who knows more than the others about how Gantz works, shows them a "catastrophe countdown" on the Gantz sphere which the other players were unaware of. The countdown reveals that there is one week left until some unknown "catastrophe." At the end of that week, a massive alien force invades the Earth and begins exterminating the human race, while Kurono and his companions try their best to make use of Gantz' advanced technology and weaponry in defense. At the end, Nishi and Kurono are depicted to be similar, both of whom were despised by their family and were sinister; however, unlike Nishi, Kurono has a reason to live. Nishi, in the chapter "The Great Escape", is left for dead by Kurono, vowing vengeance against him and crying out for Gantz and mother for help. It is hinted that Nishi died, but his death seems to be unclear. The Japanese also learn of the existence of Gantz teams all around the world. After a long battle, the humans manage to stop the alien invasion and soon after, it is revealed that it was another, highly advanced alien species that provided mankind with the means to defend itself against the invaders, for reasons they refuse to reveal, calling it a whim. In a desperate last effort, the leader of the alien forces, Eeva, challenges the whole human race, promising to exterminate every inhabitant by himself by crashing their mother ship, killing both races if Kurono does not come to their mother ship to fight him. Prior to this announcement Eeva completely dominates all Gantz teams in his vicinity by killing all the hunters, giving the human race a sense of their mortality. The world calls on Kurono, which is broadcast to the entire world, and, with a revived Kato's help, Kurono bets all his chance of winning and saving the human race on himself. Kurono manages to defeat Eeva, thus preventing the alien mothership from destroying Earth. The series ends with Kurono and Kato returning safely to Earth and being greeted as heroes.
Sir Denis Nayland Smith of the British Secret Service warns Egyptologist Sir Lionel Barton that he must beat Fu Manchu in the race to find the tomb of Genghis Khan. Fu Manchu intends to use the sword and mask to proclaim himself the reincarnation of the legendary conqueror and inflame the peoples of Asia and the Middle East into a war to wipe out the "white race". Sir Lionel is kidnapped soon afterward and taken to Fu Manchu. Fu Manchu tries bribing his captive, even offering his own daughter, Fah Lo See. When that fails, Barton suffers the "torture of the bell" (lying underneath a gigantic, constantly ringing bell) in an unsuccessful attempt to get him to reveal the location of the tomb.
Barton's daughter Sheila insists on taking her father's place on the expedition, as she knows where the tomb is. She finds the tomb and its treasures with the help of her fiancé Terrence "Terry" Granville, Von Berg, and McLeod. Nayland Smith joins them soon afterward.
McLeod is killed by one of Fu Manchu's men during a robbery attempt, after McLeod kills one of Fu Manchu's men. An emissary offers to trade Barton for the priceless artifacts. Despite Terry's misgivings, Sheila persuades him to take the relics to Fu Manchu without Smith's knowledge. However, when Fu Manchu tests the sword, he determines that it is a fake (Nayland had switched them). Terry is whipped under the supervision of Fah Lo See, who is attracted to him. Meanwhile, Fu Manchu has Barton's corpse delivered to Sheila. When Nayland tries to rescue Terry, he is taken captive as well.
Terry is injected with a serum that makes him temporarily obedient to Fu Manchu and released. He tells Sheila and Von Berg that Nayland Smith wants them to bring the sword and mask to him. Sheila senses something is wrong, but Von Berg digs up the real relics, and they follow Terry into a trap. Captured by Fu Manchu, the party is sentenced to death or enslavement, but not before Sheila manages to bring Terry back to his senses. Sheila is to become a human sacrifice, Nayland Smith is to be lowered into a crocodile pit, and Von Berg placed between two sets of metal spikes inching toward each other. Terry is prepared for another dose of the serum, which will make him a permanent slave of Fu Manchu's daughter. However, Nayland Smith manages to free himself, Terry, and Von Berg. Using one of Fu Manchu's own weapons—a death ray that shoots an electric current—the men incapacitate the archvillain as he raises the sword to execute Sheila. When Fu Manchu drops the sword, Terry picks it up and hacks him to death. While Terry frees Sheila and carries her away, Nayland Smith and Von Berg incinerate Fu Manchu's followers using the same weapon. Safely aboard a ship bound for England, Nayland Smith tosses the sword over the side so that the world will be safe from any future Fu Manchu.
In 1985, fourteen-year-old identical twins Heather and Heidi Burge are forced by their overly-pushy father to leave their former school and attend a different school to have better chances at college scholarships. Heidi, however, tended to think that she was athletically inferior to Heather, and in an attempt to get out of Heather's shadow, she joined in a school play.
Heather and Heidi are both attending the school to play volleyball rather than basketball, but the girls' basketball coach notices Heather because of her height. She seizes this opportunity to play basketball to help her train for the coming volleyball season. Heather meets Nicky Williams, the star of the Palos Verdes High School Sea Kings. Heidi, in the meantime, learns that her father told the coach that both of the girls would play on the basketball team, despite the fact that Heidi had already committed to performing in a school play.
Heather and Heidi are both furious over the situation - Heather because she didn't want Heidi on the team and Heidi because she thought Heather put their father up to it. Heidi wanted to be independent of Heather and pursue her own interests.
When the twins first start playing for the Sea Kings, they leave a bad impression on the team by lying and implying that they are rich like many of their teammates. Heather and Nicky form a serious rivalry and Nicky even tries to run the Burge twins out of school by telling the school about the Burges' living situation.
They both eventually befriend Nicky when they see that her father is too preoccupied with business to attend her basketball games. At their first tournament in New York, they win second, and Heather wins MVP. However, in another game, Heidi is selected to take the game winning free throws. This makes Heather, the usual star, extremely jealous, so she later plays a late-night one-on-one game with Galen, a senior basketball star who lives in their apartment complex. While playing, Heather falls and severely twists her ankle, which prevents her from playing their next game. During that next game, while she's sitting out, Heather sees the need for teamwork rather than the need to be the "superstar" and decides to play again despite being injured. Her effort is rewarded, and with some clever teamwork, Heidi hits the game-winning basket for the Sea Kings.
After the game, their coach approaches the twins and their parents, Mary and Larry Burge, and tells Mr. and Mrs. Burge they should consider putting the girls in summer basketball camps, saying they have a very bright future. Mr. Burge proudly says that his girls are going to play college ball - but the coach says, "Maybe more. There's talk of a women's pro-league." Mr. Burge also apologizes for putting so much pressure on Heather and for forcing Heidi to play basketball in the first place. They forgive him. Mr. Burge says that Heidi has plans for a summer at a drama camp, which pleases her and reveals how important it is to be well-rounded.
A flashfoward is then shown, and both Burge twins are playing on professional WNBA teams. Heidi plays for the Los Angeles Sparks and Heather plays for the Sacramento Monarchs. Heather and Heidi talk before the game, and Heather says, "Once second best, always second best." The game begins with a tip off and they both jump for the ball.
In reality, the twins' time in the WNBA did not overlap and they never faced each other in a WNBA game.
In Chicago, Dan Martin and Bernie Litko, two 20-something friends and colleagues, discuss their sexual escapades. Later on, Bernie and Dan's recreational softball team, sponsored by local bar "Mother's," plays against a local advertising agency and wins. Attending this game with her girlfriends is Debbie Sullivan, who works at the advertising company and is sleeping with her boss, Steve.
Debbie catches Dan's eye and they flirt at the beer keg. She and her friends, Joan and Pat, decide to attend the game's afterparty at Mother's, where Debbie again runs into Dan, with whom Pat flirts and Joan takes an immediate dislike to. They wind up back at Dan's apartment and sleep together, after which Debbie hastily leaves.
The next day, Dan calls Debbie at work "about last night," and asks her out on a second date, to which she accepts. Afterwards, they again wind up in bed together and spend the following day exploring the city, where Dan reveals to Debbie that his dream is to quit his job at a restaurant supply company and open his own restaurant. They begin dating more seriously and move in together, much to the chagrin of Joan and Bernie, who dislike each other as well.
As neither has ever been in a serious relationship before, they attempt to navigate cohabitation without much support from their friends. They experience much throughout their relationship: Dan being contacted by a former lover who is married with children, Debbie's boss Steve having difficulty accepting the end of their affair, Joan softening when she begins dating her new boyfriend Gary, a pregnancy scare, and Dan having difficulties with his boss, who wants him to stop providing supplies to the Swallow, an oldish diner owned by his client-turned-friend Gus.
Despite having told each other the “L Word,” Debbie and Dan's relationship becomes strained. It reaches a boiling point at a New Year's Eve party at Mother's, where Debbie witnesses a drunken Pat making advances towards Dan, and Joan discovers her boyfriend is married and returning to his wife. Joan tearfully asks Debbie to take her home, to which she agrees, despite Dan's drunken objections. Upon Debbie's return home, Dan says he's not happy, and ends their relationship. Debbie immediately moves out of their apartment and back in with Joan. Despite getting back on the dating scene quickly, Dan begins to regret his decision regarding Debbie.
After a few months he calls her and acts nonchalant; Debbie tells him to get lost and hangs up on him. He starts to lurk around Debbie's social outings, culminating in him telling her he made a mistake and misses her at the St. Patrick's Day celebration at Mother's. Debbie turns him down, saying, "You asked me to leave and I left" and that getting over him was the hardest thing she's ever had to do.
Hoping to move on with his life, Dan partners with Gus to revitalize the Swallow into an old-school diner, achieving his dream. That summer, at another softball game, Dan and Bernie see Debbie riding her bike through the park with Joan, who convinces her to go and talk to Dan. She approaches him and they both express regret at how their relationship turned out. As Debbie begins to turn away, Dan asks her out again and suggests they go to a great new place, but she suggests with a smile that they just go to "some old joint," signifying that she is aware of his new restaurant. As she rides away on her bike, Bernie convinces Dan to run after her, and the camera pans out to see Dan and Debbie passing through the park, hinting at their renewed relationship.
''Darkover Landfall'' concerns the crew and colonists of a spaceship that is forced to crash land on Cottman IV, an inhospitable planet in orbit around a red giant. The crew become accidental colonists when the ship loses contact with Earth and they realize rescue is impossible. The book introduces surnames, religious and cultural themes that echo throughout the Darkover series of books. This series spans millennia, as the ship's descendants populate the world and develop unique cultures and psi abilities. Though Darkover Landfall is not the first book written in the series, in the Darkover timeline its events are the beginning for all that follows.
Lady Aliciane of Rockraven, ''barragana'' to Mikhail of Aldaran, dies giving birth to a daughter, Dorilys. In childhood, Dorilys is discovered to have weather-related ''laran'', causing storms and lightning with her childish temper tantrums.
Allart Hastur leaves Nevarsin Monastery, where he has lived for six years, learning to live with a form of ''laran'' that causes him to experience premonitions of multiple futures. He meets Cassandra Aillard, the woman his family intends him to marry. He believes that any children they might conceive will cause her death. To avoid this fate, they become celibate tower workers at Hali.
Lord Rakhal Aldaran of Scathfell arrives with his son at Castle Aldaran. Scathfell wishes ensure that his son Darren marries Dorilys, who is now eleven. At the handfasting, Darren judges her to be much older than he has been told, and attempts to force her into sexual relations. Dorilys’ self-protective ''laran'' strikes Darren dead. Scathfell swears vengeance. Dorilys' half-brother Donal is sent to acquire assistance from Hali Tower for Dorilys.
Damon-Rafael Hastur of Elhayln, Allart's brother, arrives at Hali and asks him to undertake a diplomatic mission to Aldaran. Donal Delleray also arrives, asking assistance for Dorilys. Allart and Renata accompany Donal back to Aldaran.
After working with Dorilys for a day, Renata warns Aldaran that while Donal has weather-related ''laran'', Dorilys has the gift in a lethal form. She also asserts that Dorilys has already used her ability three times to kill someone she feared.
Renata attempts to teach Dorilys control, over both her behavior and her ''laran'' abilities. She, Allart, Donal and Dorilys use gliders to reach the fire watch tower. Dorilys explains that she can see the past, present and future of the fire; that Donal has the same ability with storms. Renata learns that Dorilys has the ability to draw power from the magnetic fields of planet.
To circumvent demands made by his brother, Lord Aldaran betroths his daughter, Dorilys to her half-brother, Donal. Donal, who has fallen in love with Renata, objects, but cannot alter his foster-father's will. Donal and Dorilys are married on Midwinter Night.
Allart uses his gift of seeing multiple futures, but is overcome by visions of death and destruction. He teleports his wife, Cassandra, from Hali Tower, for her protection. He is warned by workers at Hali that Damon-Rafael, his brother, will march on Aldaran, to claim Cassandra for himself.
About a week later, Rakhal of Scathfell, who has joined forces with Damon-Rafael Hastur, demands that Aldaran give over Dorilys to be married to one of Scathfell's sons. When Aldaran refuses, the castle is besieged with laran-based weapons, including clingfire. Dorilys is able to avert the attack. After several more attacks, Lord Aldaran decides to use Dorilys' powers at full force against the attacking army, despite the warnings of Allart and the others.
Allart's brother Damon-Rafael sends word demanding that Allart hand over Cassandra. After attempting to reason with his brother, Allart telepathically shows him the future he will bring to Darkover if he steals Cassandra and crowns himself king. Rather than be the cause of such a future, Damon-Rafael kills himself.
At the feast following the victory, Dorilys realizes that Donal does not love her; rather he is in love with Renata. Acting out of temper, she blasts Donal, killing him instantly. Renata gets Dorilys under control and drugs her. Renata seeks Donal in the Overworld, but instead meets Dorilys as she might have been, self-controlled and emotionally mature. Dorilys tells Renata she must never again awaken, that her power is too dangerous. Renata leaves the Overworld and creates a force field around Dorilys. Her body is interred at Hali.
In a later Darkover novel, ''Sharra's Exile'', set some hundreds or thousands of years later, a delegation that goes to retrieve the Sword of Aldones from Hali sees "behind a rainbow of colors... a bier where lay a woman's body ... she had slept there or lain there in unchanging, incorruptible death for thousands of years."
On his sister's birthday, a young boy's village of Oakvale is raided by bandits; killing the boy's father and abducting his mother and sister. An old Hero, Maze, rescues the boy and recruits him to be trained as a Hero at an academy called the Heroes' Guild. Years pass; after honing his skills, Maze informs the Hero of a blind seeress living among a bandit camp near Oakvale, and advises the Hero to infiltrate the bandit camp. To the Hero's surprise, the blind seeress is actually his older sister Theresa who was taken in by Twinblade, a former Hero and the present Bandit King. After a showdown with Twinblade, the Hero is given the choice of killing or sparing the bandit.
Later on in the Hero's life, after he has gained more recognition among the people of Albion, he is invited to fight in the Arena, where he meets the legendary Hero named Jack of Blades, who runs the arena battles. As a final challenge, Jack pits the Hero against his rival, which was also once his childhood friend/roommate back in the Guild—Whisper; when the Hero defeats her he may kill or spare her.
The Hero learns that Jack of Blades himself destroyed Oakvale during the Hero's childhood; aided by Theresa, the Hero discovers his mother alive in Bargate Prison. The Hero is captured in the rescue attempt and spends a year or more in the prison before finally escaping. Maze is revealed to be a traitor and working with Jack, having once more kidnapped Theresa. After defeating Maze, the Hero is led into a final confrontation with Jack where his mother is killed. Jack reveals that The Sword of Aeons can only be wielded if it receives the blood of Archon. The Sword of Aeons is said to be a very powerful sword of destruction. Upon the death of their mother, the Hero and Theresa are the only two remaining descendants of Archon, and if Jack destroys them both the sword will be even more powerful. After defeating Jack, the Hero must choose whether to keep the Sword of Aeons by killing his sister, or cast it away forever into a portal created by Jack of Blades' death.
Depending on the Hero's alignment and the player's choice of using or destroying the sword, there are a total of four different endings. Once the ending credits roll, players can resume their games.
In ''The Lost Chapters'' special edition, the story continues. After the defeat of Jack, the Hero must find passage to the Northern Wastes to aid a legendary hero named Scythe in stopping an unknown great evil from returning. Should the hero have discarded the Sword of Aeons he will have the opportunity to gain the sword "Avo's Tear", a sword of similar design and equal power but that holds a light alignment rather than dark. Avo is said to be a god that represents the light side alignment. After a series of quests revolving around this new evil, it is learned that Jack of Blades has returned. He must then defeat Jack of Blades a second time, Jack having returned from the dead in the form of a dragon. Upon the death of Jack, the hero then uses Jack's mask to trap Jack's soul, with Scythe telling him that the battle is not over and that he must destroy the mask. The hero then has the final choice of putting on the mask—being consumed by Jack in the process—or destroying it, along with Jack, forever.
The drama is centered around the exploits of Detective Mok (Wong) unmasking murderer that seemingly related somehow to either his "rival" Vivi (Choi). or getting critical inspiration from unorthodox sources, such as old television programs that his mother (whose face is not seen until later into the series) starred in, which Mok then translates in his investigative work...sometimes to the chagrin of Vivi, who often finds herself at the butt of Mok's investigations.
Thanks to these machinations, Vivi concludes that Mok is the source of her bad luck, which of course leads to her becoming suspected of a number of the murders. However, besides Mok, Vivi has a few thorns of her own: the despicable rival agent and lady-killer Romeo Lo Mat-au (羅密歐, derisively called 蘿蔔歐 ''lo bak au'', which is a derogatory term for Japanese people) by Vivi (played by Marco Ngai), and a clueless smitten admirer in her personal trainer Jim (played by Michael Tong).
As the plot goes on, the couple found out they are, in fact, in love with each other. In later episodes, Mok was rendered unconscious by a murderer using a glass bottle which, coincidentally happened to Jim Jim. Reviving a month later because the blood clot moved, he proposed to Vivi right away. Later, his friend Dr. Yu (played by Hu Fung/胡楓) revealed to him that the blood clot in his brain is moving to a spot that will kill him instantly without any forewarning, unlike Jim Jim, whose clot moved to a safe spot, a bit of news that Mok decided to hide the fact as to keep everyone happy.
In the last episode, while taking a wedding photo with Vivi, Mok spotted a thief sneaking into another's bag and decided to rush out and chase the thief. After chasing the thief, Mok finally caught a thief for the "first" time in his career. After handing the criminal to his colleagues on duty, he told Vivi that he will be returning in 5 minutes on the phone.
In the original ending of the show, after he hung up, he falls down looking towards the sky seemingly happy. Scenes of memories and sorrow background music "Someplace Good" kicks in, with the show ending with the wedding photo of the couple turning black and white with Mok slowly fading away, leaving Vivi alone in the photo, which implies that Mok had died after falling down.
This ending received a large amount of feedback; in which one side praised it for its groundbreaking, unorthodox dour ending in a comedy drama, in contrast to TVB's usual endings (also known as the "happily-ever-after-plus" ending.) The other side criticized it for the unexpectedly dour ending in a comedy drama, which was too sharp of a contrast to the lightness of the series.
The latter opinion won out after they flooded newspapers, internet forums and newsgroups, and TVB claims that it is an original unedited ending, in which Mok still falls down but managed to get back to the photo shoot, albeit pensively. The alternate ending was shown on 27 August 2004 in local entertainment programme TVB Starbiz (娛樂大搜查), and was not included in any subsequent releases overseas.
The original reports of a sequel for To Catch the Uncatchable suggest that the 2005 Women On the Run (窈窕熟女) is the sequel, despite Women on the Run not being touted as such. Women on the Run has almost none of the original cast from TCTUC in it.
The Pinki gang, consisting of the leader Pinki and her two henchmen Yasu and Gasu, have taken over Pao Pao amusement park. Pinki, an evil toddler, and her gang have filled the park with monsters, robots, and various magnetic contraptions. The amusement park is the professor's favourite vacation destination, so he sends his magnetic robot Neo, who is an AI based on his own personality, to take back the park from the Pinki gang and restore it to its former glory.
Neo enters the park and utilises his powers of magnetism to traverse the various platforms, traps and contraptions and to defeat any enemies and bosses in his path. He fights through 4 differently themed areas of the amusement park after which he is able to track down and confront Pinki.
The final showdown with the Pinki gang sees Neo battle a giant mechanised ballerina robot. The Pinki gang are controlling the robot from the control centre in its head. When Neo defeats the ballerina, its body explodes and sends the head (still containing Pinki, Yasu and Gasu) flying into deep space.
The Lambda Lambda Lambdas from Adams College head to a national fraternity convention in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Lewis' best friend Gilbert cannot come, due to breaking his leg during a chess game. At the Royal Flamingo Hotel, a trainee named Sunny informs Lewis that their reservation is canceled and has been given to the Alpha Betas. The acting manager Buzz explains to Sunny that they do not want nerds staying in the hotel. The Tri-Lambs also meet Sunny's friend Stewart, a geeky bellboy. Poindexter finds a dilapidated hotel called the Hotel Coral Essex, located in a shady neighborhood, and makes their reservation there. Roger Latimer, the president of the local chapter of Alpha Betas (and chairman of the regional conference), along with Ogre and his fellow Alphas plan to get rid of the Tri-Lambs.
Heading to the United Fraternity pre-conference barbecue, the Lambdas end up in the Florida swamplands (intentionally given wrong directions by Roger) and confront a group of Seminole Indians in an ancient Mayan temple, an act concocted by the Alphas to humiliate the Tri-Lambs into leaving the conference. They are captured, forced to strip to their underwear, chased by alligators and later Ogre, and forced to make their way across town back to their hotel in their underwear.
The next day, Roger announces a new bylaw to be voted upon by the conference: "Proposition 15", which would require physical as well as academic standards to be met by all members of the conference. Lewis's argument against the proposition is co-opted by a wet-nightie contest happening poolside. The Lambdas decide to beat the Alphas at their own game and throw a party at the Hotel Coral Essex. The neon sign outside the hotel is deliberately broken so that it reads "Hot oral sex", which draws people for miles. The Tri-Lambs perform a rock/rap "No On 15" song outside of the hotel, winning over the crowd. Prop 15 is voted down the next morning. Roger expresses a desire to make peace with the Tri-Lambs, and to that end he proposes a bylaw stating that any fraternity found guilty of a crime will be expelled from the conference and their charter revoked. The Lambdas, satisfied that the Alphas now cannot attack them without being expelled from the conference, accept their offer of friendship and their luxurious hotel suite at the Royal Flamingo. Roger encourages Sunny to grab a couple of girls and take the Tri-Lambs to the beach in his car. On the beach Sunny and Lewis get to know and like each other. Roger reports his car stolen, and the Lambdas are arrested.
Stewart and Sunny bail the Tri-Lambs out of jail. Sunny apologizes and explains that she knew nothing of Roger's plan, but Lewis does not believe her. The Alpha Betas kidnap the Tri-Lambs along with Sunny and dump them on an uninhabited island. Disgusted by Roger's actions, Sunny jumps overboard. When they realize Ogre cannot be trusted to keep his mouth shut, they also throw him into the water, despite the fact that he cannot swim. Wormser jumps into the ocean and rescues Ogre. After smoking some marijuana Booger discovered on the island, Ogre and the others realize he is not so different from them after all. As the group sleeps Lewis has a dream about Gilbert, who implores Lewis not to give up and points out that Lewis is acting like a jerk to Sunny, who is stranded with him by choice. This helps give Lewis the confidence he needs to apologize to Sunny and try to find a way off the island.
The next morning The Tri-Lambs find a Cuban military officer's hidden cache of military supplies, including an amphibious boat/truck. At the conference, Roger is presiding over the vote to expel the Tri-Lambs, when, decked out in military gear, they crash the conference, driving right through the conference room wall, then chase the attendees out to the pool. Sunny reveals that Roger set them up and kidnapped them. Lewis punches Roger in the jaw, knocking him into the pool. The fraternity council vote Roger and the Alphas out of the fraternity council and revoke their charter.
Back at Adams College, Lewis and Gilbert lead an induction ceremony for the newest member of Lambda Lambda Lambda, Ogre.
Monroe Clark moves to California to pursue a law career. At the airport, he meets Wiley Hunter, who offers him a ride to the home of Monroe's uncle Max, who assigns Monroe the job of handing homeowners a "pay or quit" notice to either to vacate the premises or pay past rent due and to be back by 6 o'clock.
Monroe handles some of the evictions until he meets Zack Barnes's "companion" after they engaged in sexual activities. Monroe is led to Zack's gambling bookmaker, who throws Monroe's suitcase into the ocean. Monroe then meets Samantha, who recovered his suitcase from the ocean. He also runs into Wiley, who shows Monroe the joys of living a carefree lifestyle and the popularity of beach volleyball.
Wiley asks a volleyball team of Moothart and O'Bradovich to challenge the duo to a quick game. Monroe forgets his deadline for the evictions. Uncle Max sees through Monroe's lie and tells Monroe he would pardon his mistake if he successfully evicts Zack Barnes out of his home. In a bar, Monroe reunites with Samantha and (with the help of Wiley) finds Zack and tries to hand him the eviction notice, but Zack's former volleyball partner Rollo Vincent teases Zack and a bar fight ensues.
Samantha, watching the fight, is invited by Monroe to a date at a "friend's" house (without telling Samantha that it is actually his uncle's). The two share a romantic date until Max reveals he is Monroe's uncle and angers Samantha because Monroe lied to her. Monroe and Wiley hang out at the beaches and try to get better at volleyball by practicing routines and exercising while Monroe tries to apologize to Samantha, who is avoiding him.
Wiley tells Monroe that he entered them in a volleyball tournament, where they lose in the first round. Zack, a spectator, offers to coach the two to teach techniques Zack used when he was the "king of the beach" (the title now belongs to Rollo). Each day until the Gold Cuervo Classic, the team trains. Zack fails to show up (because he was having sex with his ex-wife Kate Jacobs). The duo challenge Rollo and his partner Billy Cross to a quick match. During the match Monroe and Wiley fail to use teamwork in the game and results in Wiley having a broken arm. Monroe becomes angered at Zack for not being there for coaching and vows to evict Zack in court (after attempting to dump his records).
In court, Monroe at first testifies against Zack and pleading judgment for his side, but then supports Zack after Monroe decided to pursue his own dreams rather than law school. In doing so Max's boss threatens him with negligence and kicks Monroe out for defending Zack. After Monroe leaves Max's house, Zack offers him a place while training him for the Gold Cuervo Classic volleyball tournament. While doing so, Monroe apologizes to Wiley for his selfishness and they reconcile as well as Samantha for lying to her.
Monroe asks why Zack lost his title to Rollo and Zack explains that in the days when they were a team, the duo reached the championship. Zack's agents told him to lose to earn more money but Zack feared his involvement and when the championship arrived, he never came. Each day they trained until the big day finally came for the Gold Cuervo Classic tournament. Monroe and Zack are first up against Moothart and Obradovich, and they near their loss until Zack tells Monroe to use a technique Zack taught Monroe to win the first round. They beat the team and the duo advance to the championship after multiple victories.
Before the championship Zack gets into an argument with Kate telling him to lose to Rollo. As Monroe watches he fears Zack will make the same mistake he made with Rollo many years ago. As they announce the names of the contestants Zack fails to show up and Monroe is scared Zack abandoned him. In a few minutes Zack appears and the game begins but Monroe and Zack lose many points because of Zack not focusing and the team argue. Monroe then gets Zack back in the game and they win the championship thus making Zack and Monroe rich and Rollo and Billy lose. The film ends with a freeze-frame of Monroe and Zack in their victory pose.
In rural upstate New York, thirty-something-year-old Victor Modino works as a cook at Pete and Dolly's, a small roadhouse founded by and named after his now-deceased father and elderly mother. Dolly, who is in poor health, spends her days sitting in a chair in the back of the kitchen, reminiscing about her late husband Pete and antagonizing Delores, a cynical longtime employee who once had an affair with him. The daily rhythm of the restaurant is disrupted when Dolly hires a new waitress, Callie, a soft-spoken young woman who has just dropped out of college in Syracuse. Callie immediately catches the eye of the painfully shy, overweight Victor. Delores takes Dolly's hiring of the beautiful but inexperienced Callie as a personal slight to herself, and treats Callie coldly.
During working hours, Callie is impervious to Victor's debilitating shyness and attempts to get to know him better. Impressed by Victor's cooking skills, Callie suggests he attend the nearby Culinary Institute of America, which is considered by Victor but swiftly dismissed by both Dolly and Delores. Victor quickly becomes enamored of Callie, and begins dieting and subtly trying to gain her attention, despite learning she has a steady boyfriend.
Dolly suffers a heart attack and is hospitalized. Victor tells Delores and Callie that Dolly is having minor surgery. Several days later, Dolly dies while Victor is eating lunch in the hospital cafeteria. The grieving Victor does not tell anyone of her death, but runs the restaurant as usual and deals with his grief by binge eating. Delores soon becomes suspicious about Dolly's extended absence, and also makes sexual advances towards Victor, which he rejects.
One night at the restaurant, Callie argues with her boyfriend Jeff and then in her anger tells off Delores in front of the customers. Delores' alcoholic friend Leo later assaults Victor for not taking Delores' side. Callie is left stranded at the restaurant and Victor drives her home, stopping en route so they can watch airplanes descend at an airfield. As they watch the airplanes, Callie becomes emotional over her lack of direction in life, and she and Victor end up kissing, but Callie quickly ends the encounter.
Callie asks Victor to take her to visit Dolly in the hospital, and unable to confess that Dolly is dead, he agrees. The next morning, Callie arrives at Victor's house to accompany him to the hospital, but instead Victor drives her to the local cemetery and shows her Dolly's fresh grave. Callie becomes hysterical, and later fails to turn up for her restaurant shifts. Leo and Delores find out via a hospital employee that Dolly died weeks ago, and berate Victor for not telling them, then depart together, leaving Victor alone in the restaurant. In his rage and grief, Victor smashes items behind the counter. Later that evening, Callie arrives with Jeff to tell Victor she's quitting and to collect her final paycheck. She spends a few minutes alone with Victor, explaining that she plans to go back to college, but promising to come back and visit him sometime.
In the final scenes, Victor begins to emerge from his grief over Dolly's death. He stops binge eating, starts cleaning up the kitchen which he has neglected, and even musters the confidence to chat with Darlene, an attractive cashier at the local grocery market, who also shows an interest in him.
Two men and a bear cower in their tree house home, awaiting the arrival of their newly ordered robot. Meanwhile, a bird drives home to his human wife. That night, he dreams about the childhood moment when he realized that he has fingers instead of wings - a discovery that prompted him to become a salesman. A monkey paces in the waiting room of a nearby hospital, as a chicken is called back to see the doctor. The doctor zaps the chicken with a shrinking machine, and after putting the chicken into a syringe, injects her into the monkey. Around this time, a squirrel and an old man play a game together, within their shared apartment complex. The squirrel removes the old man's dentures and hides them from him. The old man then tries to guess where his dentures are.
In the apartment above the bird-human couple, lives Mister Smile, whose head is a yellow smiley face. Mr. Smile stamps his face onto sheets of paper, causing the features to disappear from his face completely. The features always regenerate though, as he slips the stamped sheets of paper into envelopes. Each group of characters receives one of these envelopes in the mail. They have been invited to visit Mr. Smile, who is presumably a celebrity.
Although the doctor's procedure goes awry, leaving the now normal-sized chicken stuck inside of the monkey's head, all three are delighted to receive their invitation. At the party, Mr. Smile hands out autographs, and the bird explains why he has the words "Love" and "Food" tattooed on his hands. In the bird's estimation, love and food must exist in harmony, for they are the only two things that anyone needs in life. He places the fingers of one of his hands in between the fingers of the other and declares "Flooovde". The end credits inform the audience that the chicken and monkey got married shortly after the end of filming.
The story begins with a young merchant, Georg Bendemann, sitting in his room writing a letter to his dear friend in Russia, who had left their hometown some years previously to set up a business that, though initially successful, was now failing. Georg is writing to tell his friend, amongst other things, that he is engaged to marry Frieda Brandenfeld, a girl from a well-to-do family.
Georg breaks out of his reverie and decides to check on his father. Though quite ill, Georg's father appears huge. Georg informs his father that he has just written a letter to his friend, updating him on his upcoming marriage. His father questions the existence of the friend in Russia, at which point Georg changes the subject. Georg's father accuses him of deceiving him about the happenings of the business. He claims the death of his wife (Georg's mother) hit him harder than it did Georg.
Georg insists on having his father lie down in bed for a while. Because of this, Georg's father claims his son wants him dead. Moreover, he admits to knowing his son's friend, and, in fact, to having been carrying on a correspondence with him concurrently with Georg's. He claims to have swayed the friend's loyalty from Georg to himself, and that the friend reads the father's letters, and disposes of Georg's without reading them. He makes Georg feel terrible, suggesting that Georg has ignored his friend ever since he moved away to Russia. The father does not appreciate Georg's love and care, maintaining he can take care of himself. Georg shrinks back into a corner, scared of his father and his harsh words.
Georg's father accuses him of being selfish and finally sentences him to "death by drowning". Georg feels himself pushed from the room. He runs from his home to a bridge over a stretch of water. He swings himself over the railing and plunges, apparently to his death.
Marcus Attilius Primus arrives in the Bay of Naples from Rome to take charge as ''aquarius'' (hydraulic engineer) of the Aqua Augusta, the aqueduct that supplies water to the towns in the region encompassing the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius. The nine important towns are, in order, Pompeii, Nola, Acerrae, Atella, Napoli, Puteoli, Cumae, Baiae, and Misenum. Attilius's predecessor, Exomnius, has mysteriously vanished as the springs that flow through the aqueduct begin to fail, which reduces the supply of water available to the region's reservoir. Attilius is unpopular among the workers, particularly Corax, who resents the young foreigner giving him orders. Attilius's concerns about the water are heightened when he is summoned by a young, wealthy woman, Corelia, to investigate water that apparently killed her father's prized fish. Corelia's father is the former slave and land speculator Numerius Popidius Ampliatus, who came to fortune after he rebuilt Pompeii from a past earthquake. Ampliatus feeds to eels the slave he deems responsible for the fish's death for his own amusement. Attilius realises that unusually, sulfur poisoned the water.
Dramatically, the flow of water then stops entirely. Attilius concludes that the aqueduct must be blocked somewhere close to Mount Vesuvius since reports claim a shutdown of the system just before Nola. That means that towns from there through Napoli and Misenum are without any water supply. With aid from Pliny the Elder, whose fleet is docked at Misenum, Attilius assembles an expedition to travel to Pompeii, the closest town still being supplied with water, and then on to the blocked section of the Aqua Augusta.
While Attilius' expedition is there, he becomes embroiled as part of a plot by Ampliatus. Ampliatus plans to offer a cheap water supply to Pompeii, which Exomnius had helped him to do while he steals from the imperial treasury. Ampliatus tries to persuade Attilius to fill in Exomnius's role, but he refuses.
Attilius's questions and studies make Ampliatus suspicious, and the latter makes arrangements for Attilius to be assassinated. Attilius begins to suspect Ampliatus of bribery, suspicions that are supported by what Pliny the Elder and his nephew later discover: thousands of Roman sesterces at the bottom of the reservoir that should have gone to Rome. Attilius's predecessor had intended to retrieve them once he had emptied the reservoir. Corelia gets Attilius the proof that he needs from her father's written records when he is performing repairs to a collapsed section of tunnel in the region around Vesuvius. Attilius also discovers that Exomnius was investigating the phenomena around Vesuvius since he recognised some of them from his hometown of Catania after an eruption of Mount Etna. While exploring Vesuvius on his own, Attilius discovers Exomnius's corpse in a pit of earth choked by noxious fumes, which also kills Corax, who has come to assassinate Attilius.
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius on 24 August overwhelms Pompeii, Oplontis, and Herculaneum. Attilius risks his life and comes back to Pompeii to find Corelia. A deranged Ampliatus refuses to evacuate, first holds his family and then Attilius captive and believes that he will become even richer and more powerful by rebuilding the city once more after it is destroyed. Attilius rescues Corelia but is pursued by Ampliatus and his men, even as pyroclastic flows begin to descend on Pompeii. Attilius and Corelia enter the aqueduct and dig their way to safety. Ampliatus is killed by the overwhelming heat of the pyroclastic flow, along with the rest of his family and the rest of the expedition. Pliny dies from the effects of the fumes while he tries to evacuate the citizens.
Pompeii is buried underneath rocks, pumice, ash, and volcanic material and leaves few survivors. The last sentence of the novel reports a local legend that a man and woman had emerged from the aqueduct after the eruption, which implies that Attilius and Corelia likely survived the trip up the aqueduct.
The incident of Ampliatus feeding a slave to his eels is based on the actual historical case of Vedius Pollio.
In the U.S. in the 1930s, a campaign parade is taking place to support "Wintergreen for President". John P. Wintergreen has been nominated for President and Alexander Throttlebottom has been nominated for Vice President, but he is of such little importance no one can remember who he is. Politicians meet in a hotel room to devise a campaign platform, and when they ask the chambermaid what she cares about, she first says "money," then "love" when pressed further. The men decide that Wintergreen's platform will be "love"; they'll have a pageant to select the most beautiful girl in the United States, and Wintergreen will fall in love and marry her.
The pageant begins in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the contestants wonder, "Who Is the Lucky Girl to Be?" The photographers assure them that even if they do not win, they will surely be loved ("The Dimple on My Knee"). Wintergreen is getting nervous about marrying a girl he doesn't know. While the girls are at the final judging, he confides in Mary Turner, the sensible young woman running the pageant. He does not want to marry a girl just because she's beautiful; he wants a wife who will make a good home for him and his future children. Mary shares her corn muffin with him. Wintergreen tells Mary that he'd rather marry her than any of the girls in the contest. He kisses her, and she agrees to marry him. The judges of the pageant announce that Diana Devereaux, a beautiful southern girl, has won the contest, but Wintergreen declares that he loves Mary Turner. When he gives some of Mary's extraordinary corn muffins to the judges, they agree that John and Mary are meant to wed ("Because, Because").
Outside Madison Square Garden in New York City, at a rally for Wintergreen, the campaigners declare that "Love Is Sweeping the Country." Inside, where politicians are speaking in favor of Wintergreen, a wrestling match is going on just below the speakers' platform as Alexander Throttlebottom tries to explain to the organizers that he's the candidate for Vice-President. Wintergreen proposes to Mary onstage, as he has in forty-seven states before. She accepts again, and Wintergreen sings the campaign song to her, "Of Thee I Sing".
On election night, Wintergreen wins by a landslide. Inauguration Day arrives, which is also Wintergreen's wedding day. As his inaugural address, Wintergreen bids goodbye to the girls he used to know ("Here's a Kiss for Cinderella"). The Chief Justice presides over the wedding ceremony, and just after he has pronounced John and Mary man and wife, Diana Devereaux interrupts the proceedings. She is serving Wintergreen with a summons for breach of promise. She insists she is the one he should have married ("I Was the Most Beautiful Blossom"). The Supreme Court rules that Mary's corn muffins are more important than justice in this matter, and Diana angrily leaves to tell her story across the nation. Wintergreen leads the Supreme Court and spectators in a chorus of "Of Thee I Sing".
John and Mary settle down to business in the White House. Her "desk," back-to-back with his, is a fully loaded tea-table. Their secretaries greet each other "Hello, Good Morning." Alexander Throttlebottom, now Vice-President, sneaks into the White House with a tour group. When a guide tells him that the Vice-President's job is to preside over the U. S. Senate, Throttlebottom eagerly dashes off to the Capitol. Wintergreen's fellow party members inform him that Diana Devereaux is gaining support across the nation. Wintergreen holds a press conference and tells the reporters that his love for Mary is the only thing that matters ("Who Cares?"). The French ambassador unexpectedly arrives ("Garçon, S'il Vous Plaît"). He has a surprise for Mr. Wintergreen: Diana is "'The Illegitimate Daughter' of an illegitimate son of an illegitimate nephew of Napoleon." He insists that Wintergreen annul his marriage and marry Diana to right his grievous offense against France. Everyone agrees that Wintergreen should be impeached for breach of promise ("We'll Impeach Him"), but John and Mary do not care, since they have each other ("Who Cares?" (Reprise)).
Throttlebottom has found the Senate, and the party members inform him that he will soon be President. He is very excited and goes into the Senate Chamber to preside, beginning by taking "The Roll Call." The resolution on the impeachment of the President is brought up, and the French Ambassador and Diana mournfully insist that she was "Jilted." Mary saves the day when she announces that she is pregnant ("Who Could Ask for Anything More?"). The senators refuse to impeach an expectant father, and Wintergreen declares that "Posterity" is just around the corner. The French Ambassador informs Wintergreen that by not marrying Diana, he has contributed to France's declining birth rate. He demands the Wintergreens' baby as a replacement for the one they have "taken" from France. John refuses, and the ambassador walks out.
In the Yellow Room of the White House, guests are arriving bearing gifts for the baby ("Trumpeter, Blow Your Horn"). Wintergreen is nervously awaiting the baby's birth when the French Ambassador arrives with a final message from France: surrender the baby or France will sever diplomatic relations with the U.S. The Supreme Court justices, who have the duty to determine the sex of the baby, announce that twins have been born, a boy and a girl. The French ambassador is even more wounded by this proclamation: France has lost two babies instead of one! Diana mournfully joins him, and Alexander Throttlebottom arrives bearing sweaters for the babies. The French Ambassador is about to declare war when Wintergreen has a brilliant idea: according to Article Twelve of the Constitution, when the President of the United States is unable to fulfill his duties, his obligations are assumed by the Vice-President! The ambassador calls Wintergreen a genius, and Throttlebottom is ecstatic as they pass Diana over to him. Servants wheel a large bed into the room, where Mary sits with the babies. Wintergreen leads everyone in proclaiming, "Of Thee I Sing."
During the waning days of the Roman Empire, commander Maximus and his friend Quintus have been commanding the defence of Hadrian's Wall against the Picts and other tribes, who unite under the guidance of Maximus's archenemy, when the news of an impending Germanic invasion across the Rhine breaks.
After being promoted to 'General of the West' and his wife's death, Maximus is sent to Moguntiacum (modern-day Mainz in Germany) where he is assigned to defend the entire 820-mile border between Gaul and Germania with just one legion, the XX.
Realising the near impossible task, Maximus decides that he and his legion of 6,000 men can succeed by laying out a series of military forts along the west bank of the Rhine to prevent six Germanic nations – 250,000 people – from invading Gaul. After the crossing of the Rhine by a mixed group of Barbarians that included Vandals, Alans, and Suebi, Maximus gains an unlikely ally in Goar, who led a band of Alans into Gaul and then quickly joined the Romans.
As Maximus carries out his duties on the border, he battles against a corrupt bureaucracy in the Roman Empire that denies every request he makes that could assist his Rhine campaign.
He also, under the growing pressures from his allies—including his former enemies— who want him to seize the Western Emperorship for himself, finds himself fighting for a dying empire against Christianity that condemns his traditional pagan beliefs.
Category:1970 British novels Category:Theodosian dynasty Category:Novels set in Roman Britain Category:Novels set in Roman Gaul Category:British historical novels Category:War novels set in the Roman Empire Category:Novels set in the 4th century Category:Novels set in the 5th century Category:Mithraism
Sana Kurata is a cheerful, popular, and energetic eleven year-old child actress who attends an elementary school that is plagued with chaos, led mainly by an aloof boy named Akito Hayama. At first, the two come in conflict with each other because of their opposing ideals, but as they get to know each other, they start supporting both each other and their classmates and peers.
After a tornado in Kansas causes a loose gate to knock Dorothy unconscious, she re-appears in the Land of Oz with Toto, and encounters a talking Signpost (voiced by Jack E. Leonard), whose three signs point in different directions, all marked "Emerald City". They later meet Pumpkinhead (voiced by Paul Lynde), the unwilling servant of antagonist Mombi – cousin of the deceased Wicked Witches of the East and West. Toto chases a cat to a small cottage where Dorothy is captured by Mombi's pet crow (voiced by Mel Blanc) and Mombi (voiced by Ethel Merman) herself. Pumpkinhead sneaks into the house in Mombi's absence, and discovers her creation of green elephants, to use as her army to conquer the Emerald City. Pumpkinhead frees Dorothy, and they flee. After finding Dorothy gone, Mombi threatens that their warning the Scarecrow will not help when her green elephants "come crashing through the gate".
Dorothy and Pumpkinhead acquire Woodenhead Stallion III (voiced by Herschel Bernardi), a former merry-go-round horse (a combination of the Sawhorse from ''The Marvelous Land of Oz'' and the title character of the last Oz book of all, ''Merry Go Round in Oz''), who takes them to the Emerald City, where Dorothy warns the Scarecrow (voiced by Mickey Rooney) about Mombi's green elephants. Mombi arrives moments later, and Toto and the Scarecrow are captured. Dorothy, Pumpkinhead, and Woodenhead flee to Tinland to convince the Tin Man (voiced by Danny Thomas, who spoke, and Larry Storch, who sang) to help them. He declines upon being afraid of the green elephants and suggests that they ask the Cowardly Lion (voiced by Milton Berle), who promises to slay the elephants, but suggests consulting Glinda the Good Witch (voiced by Rise Stevens), who appears to them with a "Glinda Bird" that uses its Tattle Tail to show what is occurring at the palace. She then gives Dorothy a little silver box, to open only in the Emerald City, and only in a dire emergency.
Mombi, having seen their progress in her crystal ball, brings the nearby trees to life; whereupon Glinda sends a golden hatchet to Pumpkinhead. One of the trees snatches it from him, but changes its fellows and itself into gold and turns them from bad to good. Woodenhead carries Dorothy and Pumpkinhead back to the Emerald City, where Mombi's elephants surprise them. When Dorothy opens Glinda's box, mice emerge, scaring the elephants. Mombi brews a potion to shrink Toto to mouse-size so she can feed him to her cat; but when startled, miniaturizes her crow and cat instead. Thereafter Mombi disguises herself as a rose with poisonous thorns, which the elephants trample over and themselves disappear, prompting the Scarecrow to explain that Mombi's magic has died with her. Unfortunately, Pumpkinhead, another product of Mombi, also dies; however, he is revived by one of Dorothy's tears.
The Scarecrow makes Woodenhead the head of the Oz cavalry and knights Pumpkinhead; and Dorothy and Toto leave Oz by another tornado (created by Pumpkinhead and Glinda), promising to return.
The ''Enterprise'' is in pursuit of a Ferengi vessel which has stolen an energy converter from an unmanned Federation outpost. While the Ferengi were known to the Federation, this is the first contact with the species, and the Ferengi are thought to be at a similar technology level as themselves. As the chase passes the planet Delphi Ardu IV, both ships suffer power drains causing them to come to a halt. Each crew initially believe the power drain is caused by the other vessel, but Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) realizes that the Ferengi are as confused as they are, and orders the crew to investigate the planet. Operations Officer Lt. Cdr. Data (Brent Spiner) reports that the planet seems to have once been a remote outpost of the "Tkon Empire" that became extinct 600,000 years ago (during the Middle Pleistocene). Picard contacts the Ferengi and gets them to agree to mutually explore the planet below to try to find the source of the energy drain.
On the planet, the away team is momentarily separated due to effects of the energy field on the transporters. They regroup but are attacked and bound by the Ferengi, who believe the ''Enterprise'' crew was planning an ambush of their own. The away team break free, and begin to exchange weapon fire, but the energy expelled is absorbed by a nearby crystalline structure. Data investigates the tree and awakens an entity that displays itself as a humanoid and calls itself Portal 63 (Darryl Henriques), "a guardian of the Tkon Empire." Portal 63 asks the two groups if they seek to enter the Tkon Empire, and does not comprehend when it is told that the Tkon have long since disappeared.
The Ferengi accuse the ''Enterprise'' away team of being a hostile force; Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) admits that they are hostile to the Ferengi, inadvertently confirming humanity to be indeed hostile in the eyes of Portal 63, who steps forward, apparently ready to attack Riker, and claims his species is barbaric. Riker responds, "Fear is the true enemy, the only enemy," while not flinching as the attack comes. Portal 63 accepts this and stands down from the challenge, satisfied that the Federation is civilized, and allows the ''Enterprise'' to go free. It further offers Riker the opportunity to destroy the Ferengi vessel, but he declines on the grounds that the Ferengi would learn nothing from such an action. Both away teams return to their ships with power restored, and the Ferengi return the stolen energy converter. As a means of ironic thanks, Riker suggests sending the Ferengi a box of Chinese finger traps, a toy that fascinated Data when he became stuck in one earlier in the mission.
On September 29, 1998, two months after the events of the first ''Resident Evil'', most citizens of the Midwestern American mountain community Raccoon City have been transformed into zombies by the T-virus, a biological weapon secretly developed by the pharmaceutical company Umbrella. Leon S. Kennedy, a police officer on his first day of duty, meets Claire Redfield, a college student looking for her brother Chris. After being separated, they each make their way to the Raccoon Police Department. They discover that most of the police force have been killed, and that Chris has left town to investigate Umbrella's headquarters in Europe. They split up to look for survivors and find a way out of the city. While searching for an escape route, Claire meets a little girl, Sherry Birkin, who is on the run from an unknown creature, and Leon encounters Ada Wong, who claims to be looking for her boyfriend John, an Umbrella researcher from Chicago.
Raccoon City police chief Brian Irons had been bribed by Umbrella to hide evidence of the company's experiments in the outskirts of the city. He concealed their development of the new G-virus, an agent capable of mutating a human into the ultimate bioweapon. Leon has multiple encounters with a Tyrant, a monster air-dropped into the Raccoon Police Department by Umbrella to seek the G-virus. Irons tries to murder Claire but is killed by a G-virus mutant in the police department. Claire and Sherry escape through the sewers and become separated. After splitting up with Leon, Ada finds Sherry and picks up a golden pendant the girl loses while running away. Further into the sewers, Ada reluctantly teams up with Leon again, after he insists on his duty to protect her. They encounter a middle-aged woman who fires at Ada, but Leon jumps between them and takes a bullet himself. Ada ignores the unconscious Leon and follows the woman, who reveals herself to be Sherry's mother Annette and the wife of William Birkin, the Umbrella scientist who created the G-virus. In an attempt to protect his life's work from special agents sent by the Umbrella headquarters, he injected himself with the virus, which turned him into the malformed creature and is now chasing Sherry because of her genetic make-up. Annette recognizes her daughter's pendant and attempts to take it from Ada. A fight ensues, during which Annette is thrown over a railing. Ada learns that the golden locket contains a sample of the G-virus, and later – taken over by her emotions – returns to Leon, tending to his bullet wound.
Meanwhile, Claire is reunited with Sherry and discovers that William has implanted his daughter with an embryo to produce offspring. Leon, Ada, Claire, and Sherry advance through an abandoned factory connected to Umbrella's secret underground research facility. An attack by William leaves Ada heavily wounded, and Leon explores the laboratory to find something to treat her wounds. He is interrupted by a psychotic Annette, who explains to him that Ada's relationship with John was only a means of getting information about Umbrella because Ada is a spy sent to steal the G-virus for an unknown organization. Just as Annette is about to shoot Leon, the Tyrant appears, and she is forced to retreat. Ada returns to save Leon and battles the Tyrant – which falls into a pit of molten metal – seemingly at the cost of her own life. She confesses her love to Leon, who leaves behind her motionless body, however, Ada survives. Meanwhile, Annette tries to escape with another sample of the G-virus but is fatally wounded by her mutated husband. However, before she dies, she tells Claire how to create a vaccine that will stop the mutations caused by the embryo within Sherry. After preparing the cure, Leon and Claire reunite at an emergency escape train and inject Sherry with the vaccine, which saves her life. En route, Leon is assisted in terminating the now-mutated Super Tyrant by Ada who escapes with the G-virus in the pendant. William—now mutated into an agglomeration of flesh and teeth—follows Leon and Claire, but is destroyed when the train self-destructs. After escaping from the city with Sherry, Leon intends to take down Umbrella, while Claire continues to search for Chris. HUNK, one of the surviving special agents sent by Umbrella, completes his G-virus retrieval mission.
The ''Enterprise'' rendezvous with the USS ''Fearless'' to bring aboard Mr. Kosinski (Kamel), a Starfleet propulsion expert who plans to run tests on the warp engines to improve their efficiency. Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) is skeptical of Kosinski's seemingly nonsensical specifications, suggesting his apparent success on other ships was merely addressing inherent design flaws on older engines, whereas the ''Enterprise'' engines are brand new.
Kosinski and his assistant, an alien from Tau Alpha C who claims his name is unpronouncable and asks them to refer to him as Kosinski's Assistant. As Kosinski and the Assistant explain the tests to the engineering crew, Wesley Crusher (Wheaton) quickly grasps what the tests are designed to accomplish and the Assistant expresses admiration for his problem-solving abilities.
The test quickly goes awry when the ''Enterprise'' speeds up, surpassing the known capabilities of warp engines. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) orders the ship stopped, and the crew finds themselves on the far side of the M33 Galaxy (more than 2.7 million light years from the Milky Way, the ''Enterprise'' s home galaxy). Although Kosinski is pleased with the results, Picard reprimands him and asks him to simply redo the process to return home.
Crusher attempts to warn Riker that during the warp test, the Assistant appeared to "phase", drifting in and out of reality, but Riker dismisses him without listening. However, after Kosinski begins the second test, Crusher and Riker both observe the Assistant again drifting out, appearing more tired. The ''Enterprise'' again experiences a burst of speed, and when it stops, the crew cannot determine their position. Picard demands that Kosinski get the crew home.
While Kosinski, the Assistant, and the engineering crew work on reversing the process, the rest of the crew begins experiencing lifelike visions of their past. After having a vision of his mother (Herta Ware), Picard surmises that they have arrived at the theoretical Outer Rim of the universe, and issues a red alert to awaken the crew from their visions.
Riker suggests that Kosinski may have had nothing to do with the warp jumps, which were more likely done by the Assistant himself, resulting in his weakness. Picard finds the alien in sick bay, dying, but Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) cannot evaluate the Assistant's alien biology, and is unable to treat him.
The Assistant explains he is a Traveler with the ability to channel thought into reality, and brought the crew of the ''Enterprise'' to the Outer Rim, triggering similar effects in anyone within it to ascertain if they were ready to experience thought as reality, and apologizes for bringing them before they were ready. The Traveler confides to Picard that he looks for scientific prodigies such as the young Crusher, and suggests that Picard nurture him.
When he returns to the engineering section, the Traveler asks Crusher to assist him in returning the ''Enterprise'' to known space. As they concentrate, beginning to return the ship home, the Traveler again phases and finally disappears completely. The ''Enterprise'' is back in Federation space. After the incident, Picard promotes Crusher to acting ensign (following his own unspoken suggestion in "The Naked Now") on the ''Enterprise'' for his performance.
The plot of the first novel is loosely based on ''Pride and Prejudice''.
Bridget Jones is a Bangor University graduate. She is a 34-year-old (32 in the first film adaptation) single woman whose life is a satirized version of the stereotypical single London 30-something in the 1990s and very unlucky in love. She has some bad habits—smoking and drinking—but she annually writes her New Year's resolutions in her diary, determined to stop smoking, drink no more than 14 alcohol units a week, and eat more "pulses" and try her best to lose weight.
In the two novels and screen adaptations, Bridget's mother is bored with her life as a housewife in the country and leaves Bridget's father. Bridget repeatedly flirts with her boss, Daniel Cleaver. A successful barrister named Mark Darcy also keeps popping into Bridget's life, being extremely awkward, and sometimes coming off a bit rude. After Bridget and Mark reach an understanding of each other and find a sort of happiness together, she gains some self-confidence and dramatically cuts down on her alcohol and cigarette consumption. However, Bridget's obsession with self-help books plus several misunderstandings cannot keep the couple together forever.
The new ''Independent'' column was set in the then-present day of 2005 and 2006, with references being made to events such as River Thames whale, and has dropped some of the motifs of the original diary, particularly the alcohol unit and calorie counts. Despite the time advance, Cleaver and Darcy were still the two men in Jones' life ("I'm not sleeping with them both at once," she explains later to her friend Shazza. "I accidentally slept with each of them separately"), and the plot line launched into a pregnancy. As Fielding said, "she's heading in a different direction."
The column is continued into 2006. In the last entry, Bridget Jones gave birth to a baby boy, fathered by Daniel Cleaver, and moved in with him. However, Mark was not entirely out of the picture, as he previously suggested that he would like to adopt the child. The column finished with the note, "Bridget is giving every attention to the care of her newborn son – and is too busy to keep up her Diary for the time being."
Dr. Samantha "Sam" Waters (Ally Walker) is a forensic psychologist working for the FBI's (fictitious) Violent Crimes Task Force ("VCTF"), based in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a criminal profiler with her own unique gift to "see" through the eyes of others. This gift gives Sam an added special insight into the workings of the criminal mind. While she performs all of her duties diligently and competently, her drive comes from experiencing both a professional and personal tragedy years earlier in which her husband was murdered by a serial killer known only as ''Jack of All Trades''. (His true identity was not revealed until the middle of the third season.)
Due to the dangers of the still at-large violent criminal, "Jack of All Trades", Sam must live under police guard 24/7 in a former firefighter station with her seven-year-old daughter Chloe Waters (Caitlin Wachs and later Evan Rachel Wood), and her best friend Angel Brown (Erica Gimpel), an artist.
The VCTF is an elite team of pros who must solve the toughest cases. It is led by Sam's mentor, Bailey Malone (Robert Davi), Detective John Grant (Julian McMahon), computer hacker George Fraley (Peter Frechette), and forensic pathologist Grace Álvarez (Roma Maffia).
Other characters included Nathan Brubaker, played by Michael Whaley, a former defense attorney turned detective. He appeared throughout season one. Shiek Mahmoud-Bey played Marcus Payton in season two who was an FBI agent skeptical of Sam's methods. A Martinez appeared occasionally in the first and second seasons playing Nick "Coop" Cooper, an ATF bomb disposal expert, who was Sam Waters love interest. Agent Cooper was later murdered by "Jack". (Martinez had previously worked with Walker on the NBC daytime serial ''Santa Barbara''.) Heather McComb appeared frequently in the first and second seasons as Frances Malone, the wayward and rebellious teenage daughter of Bailey Malone. Traci Lords appeared throughout the second season as a violent former ex-convict named Sharon Lesher, who became the serial killer "Jill of All Trades" after being recruited by Jack.
In season three, the VCTF thought they finally closed in on "Jack" -- ostensibly one Donald Lucas (played by Mark Rolston), a childhood Sunday Schoolmate of Sam's. With "Jack" seemingly in custody, Sam and her daughter Chloe (now played by Evan Rachel Wood) were able to move out of the fortress-like firehouse where they had lived for the past two years. They settled into an upscale house in the Atlanta suburbs. Shortly after, Sam had a brief romance with Paul Sterling (John Mese), the district attorney prosecuting Donald Lucas. She was also dealing with her estranged father, Walter Anderson (Lawrence Pressman), who had a mysterious connection to the imprisoned Donald Lucas. Another minor subplot of the season showed Bailey getting back together with his ex-wife Janet (Patricia Healy) but by the start of season four, they separated once again. It turned out that the arrest of Lucas was a complex ploy set-up by the ''real'' "Jack of All Trades" -- Albert Newquay -- played by Dennis Christopher. Newquay, or "Jack", a violent sociopath. (To mislead and tease the viewers, Albert Newquay, the real Jack's true name, was first mentioned in season two when he took refuge at the Maryland home of his wealthy mother, Miriam Newquay (played by Louise Fletcher) to recover after being shot by Sam.) Newquay then appeared on-camera for the first time in season three by posing in disguise as Ed Post, the seemingly buffoonish sheriff of a sinister fictional small northern California town.
In season four, after finally -- and permanently -- stopping "Jack", Sam retired from the VCTF, being replaced by a new criminal profiler, Agent Rachel Burke (Jamie Luner), a former FBI instructor at Quantico who also had Waters' skill of profiling. But unlike Sam, Rachel's brusque take-charge manner alienated some of the team members, especially John Grant, who had met her previously. The two disagree on whether they had actually engaged in intercourse during a liquor-filled nightcap. Rachel had her own personal problems: namely dealing with Danny (Raphael Sbarge), her self-destructive younger brother who died from a drug overdose near the end of the season. Other subplots included Grace becoming pregnant with her second child, but her husband leaving her and having to face being a single mother, and George developing a drug addiction to painkiller pills after being injured in a minor car accident. Late in the season, the show established a new overarching (story arc) villain, a shadowy urban legend named Damian Kennasas. Gregory Itzin had a recurring role as Joel Marks, an unstable FBI agent who stalked Rachel after she taped him threatening her and derailed his career. As the series came to an end on an unresolved cliffhanger (with Rachel getting arrested after the unseen Damian framed her for Marks' murder by using the motive of wanting revenge against him for Danny's death), it appeared that the elite VCTF team might be shut down by the U.S. Congress allegedly due to the high funds it took to operate. The abruptness of the ending proscribed a clean resolution to the plotlines.
While hiding on the ''Harbinger'', a Republic cruiser, the Exile is sedated by an HK-50 assassin droid to be delivered to a crime syndicate called the Exchange, who have put out a bounty on live Jedi. The Exile is rescued by Kreia, with whom the Exile forms a Force Bond, and the droid T3-M4 on the ''Ebon Hawk'', and the three flee the ''Harbinger'' as it is hijacked by a squad of Sith assassins. However, their ship is damaged during the escape by the ''Harbinger'' s gunfire, and they eventually arrive at the Peragus Mining Facility. Teaming up with smuggler Atton Rand, the group escapes to the planet Telos IV. While hiding out on Telos, they encounter Atris, a surviving member of the Jedi Council who sentenced the protagonist to exile ten years prior. After settling a dispute regarding the Exile's past sentence, Atris forms an uneasy alliance with them, instructing them to seek out other surviving Jedi in order to rally against the Sith. The Exile then travels to four worlds to find reclusive Jedi Masters and either beg for their aid or kill them in revenge for being exiled, depending on player choice. As the Exile continues their journey, they are joined by several individuals in their quest.
After finding all the Masters, the Exile travels back to Dantooine and learns that the countless deaths at Malachor V resulted in the Exile unconsciously giving up their connection to the Force, which then became the teachings of the new Sith. If the player aided the Jedi Masters, they prepare to strip the Exile of their Force connection permanently, as the Masters fear that these teachings could result in the actual death of the Force, but Kreia reveals herself to be the former leader of the Sith and murders them all in retribution. If the player killed the Jedi Masters, Kreia attacks the Exile and leaves. Tracking Kreia to Telos, the Exile fights and defeats a corrupted Atris, from whom it is learned that Kreia plans to strengthen a massive "wound" in the Force made ten years prior. This "wound" had been created by the Exile during the Mandalorian Wars, when they activated a gravitational superweapon, the Mass Shadow Generator, in order to end the battle on the planet Malachor V, causing mass death and destruction. Before following her to Malachor V, where Kreia had since rejoined the Sith as Darth Traya, the Exile stops a Sith invasion of Telos, defeating one of Traya's former apprentices, the Sith Lord Darth Nihilus. On Malachor V, the Exile is separated from their companions and fights through hordes of monsters on the planet's surface and the inhabitants of a large Sith Academy who survived the cataclysm. On the final floor of the academy, the Exile kills the Sith Lord Darth Sion and confronts Darth Traya in the planet's core.
The Exile defeats the Sith Lord, but before Traya dies, she delivers a prophetic vision of the future pertaining to the player's companions and the worlds that were visited over the course of the story. Depending on the Exile's alignment, they either order the destruction of Malachor V, escaping before it is destroyed, and travel into the Unknown Regions in search of Revan (light side), or remain on Malachor V as the new Dark Lord of the Sith (dark side).
Skilled in academics, sports, and drama, and praised for his good work and obedience, North feels unvalued by his own parents. One day, while finding solace in a living room display at a mall, he complains to the Easter Bunny—a man in a pink bunny suit—who recommends that North simply explain his feelings to them, but North says their neglect makes them undeserving.
Aided and encouraged by his best friend Winchell, who works on the school paper, North plots to "divorce" his parents, hiring ambulance-chasing lawyer Arthur Belt to file the papers. The announcement greatly shocks his parents, leaving them unresponsive when the judge grants his petition, giving him one summer to find new parents or else he will be placed in an orphanage.
North's first stop is Texas, where his parental candidates, Ma and Pa Tex, promise to use their wealth to fulfill North's desires. In a musical number (set to the ''Bonanza'' theme), they explain that their first son, Buck, died in a stampede and they plan to use North to replace Buck, planning out his entire life in advance, including his future wife. They also place massive quantities of food on his dinner plate, hoping that he will eat as much as Buck did (as Pa Tex had earlier mentioned Buck's obesity to North, saying "he could eat more in one day than anyone else could eat in a whole month"). Gabby, a sharpshooting cowboy (also the man in the Easter Bunny suit), presents North with a souvenir from his act—a silver dollar with a bullet hole shot through its center—and notes that North is unhappy with the Texes because he wishes to be appreciated for who he is, not made into someone else, advising him to move on.
His next stop is Hawaii, where Governor and Mrs. Ho, who cannot have children, are eager to adopt him. Believing that North's presence in Hawaii will attract mainlanders, the governor unveils a tourism campaign that references the classic Coppertone ad by showcasing North's bare buttocks, horrifying him. On the beach, a tourist with a metal detector (also the man in the bunny suit) explains to North that parents should not use children for personal gain.
In an Inuit village in Alaska, North's prospective parents calmly send their elderly grandfather out to sea on an ice floe to die with dignity, disturbing him. As the long, dark winter arrives, he realizes that his summer is almost up.
Meanwhile, his now-catatonic parents are put in a museum display. His quest has inspired children worldwide to hire Arthur as their lawyer and threaten to leave their parents, making their parents slaves to their whims and making Arthur and his partner Winchell rich and powerful.
North's next family is Amish, but the lack of conveniences quickly disappoints him. His experiences in Zaire, China, and Paris are equally fruitless. Finally, he finds the Nelsons, an ideal family who give him attention and appreciation, but he still is unsatisfied.
In despair, North escapes to New York City, where Winchell and Arthur, fearing their lucrative business will fail, plot to assassinate him. On the run, he receives a videotape from his newly revived parents begging for his forgiveness and his return home. Standup comedian Joey Fingers (the same man in the bunny suit) encourages him. At the airport, a mob of kids who have followed his example confront him, angry about his returning to his parents, forcing him to ship himself home in a FedEx box. Recognizing the delivery driver from his other appearances, North asks if he is his guardian angel. The man denies meeting North, but as a FedEx representative, he resembles a guardian of important items.
North is delivered to his house prior to the deadline, only to discover that his parents are waiting for him at the mall. With minutes left before the deadline, he finds and rushes toward his parents, but an assassin takes aim. As he squeezes the trigger, North awakens in the now-empty mall, revealing that his adventure was all a dream. The Easter Bunny takes him home; during the ride, North discovers Gabby's silver dollar in his pocket, but says that he has always had it, "for good luck". Upon arriving home, North is greeted with the warm embrace of his parents and goes inside as they agree to bring him dinner in bed.
Seiji Sawamura is the toughest student in his high school. His grades are not very good because he fights more than he studies, but he tends to protect the weaker students from bullies. A few classmates idolize him; one (Midori Kasugano from a different school) shyly loves him from afar; but everybody else is just afraid of him, which has made it impossible for him to find a girlfriend. In desperation, he says to himself that he wants a girlfriend no matter who it is. He then notices a miniature Midori attached to where his right hand used to be. Because of this, the pair must learn how to adapt to this sudden and forced closeness.
An extraterrestrial humanoid species, the Glegoliths, are wandering through space in search of a new world. Encountering an unknown planet (which turns out to be Earth), the Glegolith leader Cyrillus sends two "manned" probes to the surface to determine if it is suitable for colonisation.
The scouts in the probes think they have arrived at a great city, but in fact they have arrived at a new amusement park that is not yet open to the public. They proceed to explore four amusement rides : * Arctic Adventure (motion simulator ride in a freezing environment); * Magic Carpet (a ride in an Arabian Nights-themed dungeon); * Kid Coaster (a roller coaster set in a gigantic simulation of a child's bedroom); and * Aqua Adventure (an underwater-themed motion simulator ride, complete with animatronic sharks).
At each ride the Glegolith scouts become variously excited, frightened, frozen or violently ill, but end up having a lot of fun. On seeing this, Cyrillus decides that the new planet "was too much fun" and would destroy the fabric of his society, and orders his scouts to withdraw. The alien visitors depart Earth without actually making contact with humans.
No longer using his army nickname "Radar", Walter O'Reilly is now a rookie policeman living in St. Louis with his colleague and cousin Wendell Micklejohn. As they get ready for work they are watching the start of a television interview by Clete Roberts, who is following up with various former staff from the 4077th; the previous week Roberts had interviewed Hawkeye Pierce, and this week Walter's interview was being televised. At the police department and through a store front window, Walter and Wendell catch bits of the interview, giving viewers of the pilot a chance to bridge the events of ''MASH'' and ''AfterMASH'' with ''WALTER''.
In flashbacks during the interview scenes, viewers learn that Walter had returned home to Iowa but failed at farming and was forced to sell the farm and livestock and then he sent his mother to live with his aunt. After marrying his bride in River Bend (shown in an episode of ''AfterMASH''), she left him for his best friend during their honeymoon in St. Louis. Having hit rock bottom, a wandering Walter went to a drug store to buy an overdose of sleeping pills (and aspirin as sleeping pills gave him a headache), but the drugstore clerk, Victoria, dissuaded him and they became friends. Wendell then helped Walter get a job with the city police. Walter solves a dispute between two strippers, and gets his wallet back from a young would-be thief whose father was killed in Korea.
Traveling salesman Harold Speck is approached by a man in a diner who asks him an uncomfortable question. After leaving the diner, Harold is found dead with his eyelids cut off and clutching a symbol consisting of a circle with a line through it. The murder is investigated by FBI Agent Thomas Mackelway (Aaron Eckhart), who was recently suspended for beating suspected serial killer Raymond Starkey. Mackelway receives a series of taunting faxes from someone who may be Speck's killer. As the investigation proceeds, Mackelway and his partner, Fran Kulok (Carrie-Anne Moss), become aware of the possible existence of Suspect Zero, a "super serial killer" responsible for hundreds of deaths who leaves no evidence behind to link his crimes together.
Another body is found in the trunk of a car bearing an M.O. similar to Speck's murder. The ownership of the car is traced to a room in a halfway house occupied by Benjamin O'Ryan. The agents discover that the room is filled with obsessive-compulsive sketches of the crossed-circle symbol, a Bible which contains sketches of missing persons, and a book on ritual. Questioning the other occupants of the halfway house, Mackelway is told by one of them the symbol represents a zero, not a circle. Information sent by the killer leads Mackelway to O'Ryan (Ben Kingsley), who believes himself to be a former member of the FBI. The agents must decide if O'Ryan is the key to catching Suspect Zero, or if he is Suspect Zero himself.
Outside a bar, O'Ryan kills a man who attempts to kidnap and rape a young girl. When Mackelway and Kulok arrive, they find that the body belongs to Starkey, who had been released from prison. Evidence reveals that O'Ryan was part of Project Icarus, a secret government project attempting to cultivate telepathic abilities in individuals for military purposes. The experiments gave O'Ryan the ability to see the actions of serial killers, driving him to hunt them down. O'Ryan demonstrates that Mackelway shares his abilities to some degree. Neither Kulok nor Mackelway's superiors are convinced by his theories that O'Ryan is chasing the killer rather than being the killer.
Suspect Zero is revealed to be a man who drives cross-country in a refrigerated truck. He targets children, whom he abducts and transports to his ranch, where he kills them. Mackelway links these crimes by recognizing that victims had signs of freezer burns while being transported. Mackelway chases one truck driver to a carnival, only to find that the child he saw in his vision as "captured" is free. O'Ryan suddenly appears and captures Mackelway. After refusing to be frightened, O'Ryan spares Mackelway. Eventually, the two men track Suspect Zero to his ranch and find numerous shallow graves. Chasing him, both vehicles crash off the road. Kulok manages to free a child while Mackelway kills Suspect Zero. O'Ryan then tries to convince Mackelway to end his suffering by killing him. When Mackelway refuses, O'Ryan pretends to attack him, prompting Kulok to shoot him to defend her partner.
Private school student Liz resurfaces, disheveled and bloody, after disappearing 18 days prior along with her peers Mike, Geoff, and Frankie. Liz is interviewed by a psychiatrist, Dr. Phillipa Horwood. Liz recounts how her friend Martin arranged for the four to spend the weekend in an abandoned underground nuclear fallout shelter to avoid a school field trip. Liz portrays herself as being unpopular but as Frankie is her friend, she was able to convince the others to go down into the shelter.
When Martin fails to return for them, the four realise they are trapped, and begin to turn on one another. They discover hidden microphones in the shelter which were placed there by Martin. Attempting to get Martin's attention, Frankie pretends to be ill, while Mike and Liz feign hatred for one another; Martin has had unrequited romantic feelings for her since their childhood. Liz claims they woke up one morning and found the hatch opened, allowing them all to finally escape.
Phillipa is skeptical of Liz's story. Martin is subsequently taken into police custody, where he tells an entirely different story: He claims Liz and Frankie orchestrated the scheme in order for Liz to get to know Mike better, and for Frankie to spend time with Geoff. Liz is not the unpopular loner she has portrayed herself as, in fact it is Martin who is the loner while Liz and Frankie are the popular girls. Meanwhile, Liz returns home, where she experiences disturbing flashbacks about what happened. An enraged Martin goes to visit Liz, believing she is framing him. She runs from him through the garden and approaches a weir. Martin cries, and Liz says that she knew they would let him go because they could not prove anything.
At their next meeting, Liz tells Phillipa that she cannot remember what happened in the shelter. Despite Phillipa's initial protestations, she agrees to Liz's request to go back to the bunker, hoping to invoke her memory. Once inside, Liz reveals the truth: she had locked herself and her friends inside in the hopes of winning Mike's affection, with whom she is obsessed. After discovering that both he and Geoff had slept with Frankie, she spontaneously decided to lock the door, isolating them and giving her the opportunity to become closer to Mike. The four had planned to drink and do drugs in the shelter, but the realisation that they are unable to escape throws the group into hysteria. Frankie soon becomes ill and is unable to stop vomiting. This increases her dehydration, tears the lining of her stomach, and puts a great strain on her heart (which is weakened by bulimia) leading to cardiac arrest and death.
Liz, Mike, and Geoff gradually run out of food and water. When Mike discovers that Geoff is hoarding a Coca-Cola in his backpack, he attacks him in a fit of rage and incidentally kills him by beating Geoff's head repeatedly on the floor. Liz suggests a suicide pact whereupon Mike professes his love for her; this prompts her to climb the ladder to the shelter's entrance and unlock the door. When Mike discovers that she had the key all along he attempts to chase after her, rapidly climbing the ladder and causing it to break. Mike falls, is impaled by the broken ladder and dies.
After Liz finishes recounting the story, Phillipa asks her to make an official statement corroborating Martin's version of events. Liz refuses, having murdered Martin when he visited her the day before. Police arrive at the shelter and Liz begins screaming for help, pretending Phillipa is attempting to hurt her. Meanwhile, Martin's corpse is fished out of the river and in his pocket, police find the key to the shelter which implicates him in the events. The police attribute his death to suicide. Liz is allowed to go free. She leaves the shelter in the back of an ambulance, smirking at Phillipa from the window as it drives away.
Chu is an elderly Chinese Tai Chi teacher who has recently emigrated from Beijing to New York City to live with his son, Alex, and his family. Chu finds life in America difficult and alienating, he doesn't speak English and his American daughter-in-law Martha doesn't speak Mandarin, making mutual comprehension and communication nearly impossible, with the bilingual Alex forced to act as interpreter. Martha, meanwhile, finds Chu increasingly insufferable, his noisy and obscure daily routine distracting her from writing her second novel. Every Sunday, Chu teaches tai chi classes at the local Chinese cultural center. During one such class, he meets Mrs. Chen, a cooking teacher and fellow expatriate from Beijing. The two begin to bond over their shared background and similar stations in life.
Tensions between Chu and Martha escalate during an attempt by him to cure her stomach cramp using chi inadvertently causes internal bleeding and forces her to be briefly hospitalized. Martha tells her husband that she can't stand being Chu's ''de facto'' caregiver, and tries to convince them to take her mother's offer to buy them a larger house so Chu and her don't have to share a space. Alex explains that he feels obligated to take care of his father in the tradition of Confucian familial relations, where a child will take care of a parent when they grow old as they once took care of them.
One night while Alex is out, Chu goes on a walk against Martha's wishes. When he doesn't return home before Alex does, the son assumes he's lost and goes looking for him. When he can't find him, he suffers a nervous breakdown, blaming Martha and trashing his kitchen before leaving.Dariotis and Fung, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=X-JEtlBzDUEC&pg=PA194&dq=%22Ironically,+the+truth+is+never+circulated+because+Alex%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fiiJUsy4NYHM2QWUyIGYBQ&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Ironically%2C%20the%20truth%20is%20never%20circulated%20because%20Alex%22&f=false 194]. Chu eventually returns home without incident, and despite his and Martha's inability to understand each other, they manage to communicate and clean up the mess in the kitchen. Alex returns home hours later, intoxicated, and attempts to smash his head into the bathroom wall before ranting to Jeremy about how neither Chu nor Martha care about him. After Alex sobers up, he resolves to Martha to send his father to a retirement home, but when he goes to tell his father, he finds him emotionally distraught over a photograph of his wife. Chu admits that during the Cultural Revolution, a roving group of Red Guards attacked his family instead of him because he was a T'ai chi ch'uan master and they feared challenging him. Chu protected Alex but his wife was fatally injured, and he blames himself for her death.Dariotis and Fung, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=X-JEtlBzDUEC&pg=PA196&dq=%22had+to+protect+his+son,+Alex,+his+wife%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=sSaJUtmzHIem2AXF_oEY&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22had%20to%20protect%20his%20son%2C%20Alex%2C%20his%20wife%22&f=false 196].
The Chu and Chen families go on a picnic. The groups go hiking, but the elderly lag behind. Chen then has a breakdown and admits to the Chu that her daughter does not want her to be around anymore, that she overheard the two parties talking about setting their parents up together so they would leave their families. Realizing his son can't live with him, Chu moves out in the middle of the night, leaving behind a note telling his son he intends to spend the rest of his life alone practicing self-discipline.
Chu moves to a small apartment in Chinatown and finds employment at a restaurant as a dishwasher, but is quickly chastised for his age and slow work rate. Eventually, the restaurant owner attempts to fire him, but Chu refuses to leave and challenges the owner to move him half a step. The owner attempts to do so, but quickly realizes that Chu is a tai chi master and can't be moved easily. He orders the rest of his staff to move him, but they are unable to despite their hardest efforts. Already disgusted by the owner's callous treatment of the elderly Chu, they all quit in protest. The owner proceeds to summon a band of local thugs to try and remove Chu, but he easily fends them all off. It takes a small army of police officers several hours to finally remove Chu and take him into custody.
Alex sees the story of his father's arrest on the news, and he rushes to the precinct where he's being held to bring him home. Chu steadfastly refuses to live with his son because he doesn't want to be a burden, and Alex emotionally admits that all these years he tried to earn enough money to bring his father to the United States so he could finally have the happy life he was always denied in China.
Sometime later, Alex, Martha, and Jeremy have purchased the larger house and moved in, with Alex believing that his father will come to visit so he can see his grandson. Alex, who up until now has displayed ignorance of his father's martial arts, demonstrates a pushing hands technique to his wife. Meanwhile, the elderly Chu teaches a tai chi class in Chinatown, where Mrs. Chen comes to visit him. She tells him that his fending off the thugs and police have made him a local hero, and people come from all over the city to attend his classes. She tells him that she's moved out and is living alone in an apartment across the street from him. She leaves, but Chu follows her and asks her if she's doing anything that afternoon. She replies no.
Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) is reassigned to teach at the FBI Academy while Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is given lowly surveillance assignments. After he investigates extraterrestrial cases at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, Lowry, pp. 161–163 Mulder is given a new partner, Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea), and meets a secretive informant, X (Steven Williams). Lowry, pp. 169–170 Mulder is recruited to assist in a hostage negotiation when Duane Barry, an alien abductee, captures four people. Lowry, pp. 171–172 Barry eventually kidnaps Scully, believing that if he brings her to his original abduction site, Skyland Mountain, aliens will take her instead of him. Mulder follows but is delayed by Krycek, who is revealed to be a mole working for Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis). When Mulder reaches Skyland Mountain, Scully is gone. Barry, who insists that aliens took him, dies soon after an interrogation by Krycek. When Krycek vanishes, Skinner re-opens the X-Files, claiming that is what the conspirators will fear most. Lowry, pp. 173–174
Scully turns up comatose in a hospital four weeks later with no explanation about how she got there. X provides Mulder with information allowing him to take revenge on her captors, but Mulder is instead convinced by Scully's sister Melissa to visit her bedside. Scully recovers and returns to work shortly thereafter. Lowry, pp. 179–180 The agents later investigate a case involving alien biology being injected into teenagers in Wisconsin, and once again they encounter Deep Throat's killer, who is killed by the local sheriff. Lowry, pp. 184–185
When investigating a case involving the murder of identical doctors, the agents come across a shapeshifting Alien Bounty Hunter (Brian Thompson) responsible for executing a series of alien clones. During this case a grown woman claiming to be Mulder's sister Samantha appears, telling Mulder of the Bounty Hunter's objectives and that she has the ability to identify him. When Scully is kidnapped by the Bounty Hunter, Mulder is forced to trade Samantha for her. During a botched attempt to kill the Bounty Hunter, Samantha is killed. However, it is discovered that this was simply one of many alien clones of Samantha. With the help of X, Mulder pursues the Bounty Hunter to a submarine in the Arctic. Mulder is nearly killed when exposed to the Bounty Hunter's toxic blood, but is saved by Scully. Lowry, pp. 202–204
When a hacker downloads decades' worth of classified information about aliens onto a digital tape, he gives it to Mulder, who finds that the entire tape is written in Navajo. Cigarette Smoking Man begins searching for the tape and visits Mulder's father, who calls Mulder to see him shortly afterwards. Before he can reveal anything to Mulder, however, he is murdered by Alex Krycek. Scully brings Mulder to New Mexico, where she introduces him to Albert Hosteen, a code-talker who can translate the digital tape. Albert's grandson shows Mulder a boxcar filled with alien corpses. Cigarette Smoking Man tracks Mulder's location, however, and orders the boxcar burned. Lowry, pp. 225–227
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. Mulder is later found in the desert following the events of the second season finale and nursed back to health by Albert Hosteen (Floyd Red Crow Westerman). Meanwhile, Scully investigates the possible involvement of the smallpox eradication program in human genetic experimentation, discovering that a Nazi scientist who defected during Operation Paperclip has been conducting human experimentation to create alien-human hybrids. Her sister Melissa (Melinda McGraw), however, is shot by assassins who mistake her for Dana, and dies in hospital that night.
Investigating evidence of an alien autopsy, Mulder infiltrates a secretive government train carriage carrying an alien-human hybrid. Mulder is almost killed by a Syndicate operative guarding the hybrid, but is saved by his informant X (Steven Williams). X had been tipped off about Mulder's activities by the agent's partner Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). Scully, meanwhile, meets a group of women with abduction experiences similar to her own, and meets another member of the Syndicate known as the First Elder (Don S. Williams), who claims during her abduction she was placed on a similar train car and experimented upon by the Japanese scientists.
The crew of a French salvage ship trying to raise a World War II-era submarine from the sea floor are stricken with massive radiation burns—except for one, who has been infected with a parasitic black oil discovered on the submarine. The oil is controlling the crewman's body, and after passing through several hosts, has overtaken Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea), whom Mulder has been pursuing. Scully finds that the submarine had been involved in discovering the oil on the sea floor during World War II, under the guise of finding a sunken fighter plane. The infected Krycek makes his way to a missile silo used to hide a UFO, and the oil escapes his body to board the craft. Meanwhile, Scully has tracked down Luis Cardinal, the man responsible for killing her sister.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who work on cases linked to the paranormal called X-Files. When the Syndicate suspect that one of their members is passing information to Mulder and Scully, they organize a canary trap to find the leak, using information about the safety of Mulder's mother as bait. X's (Steven Williams) role as an informant is discovered, and he is shot dead, although he is able to pass along the name of another informant who can be of use to Mulder—Marita Covarrubias (Laurie Holden), the Special Representative to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Covarrubias' aid is sought when Mulder attempts to reach Tunguska in Russia to investigate the source of a further black oil contamination. Whilst there, Mulder is held in a gulag and used as a successful test subject for a black oil vaccine. He escapes and is able to return to America, having found that Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) is working with the Russians.
Having been diagnosed with cancer, Scully is unsure of her future with the FBI. Mulder is convinced that her condition is a result of her earlier abduction ("Ascension"), and is prepared to make a deal with the Syndicate to find a cure. He is dissuaded by Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), who secretly makes such a deal instead. While being pursued by an assassin responsible for a hoax alien corpse discovered on a mountaintop, Mulder fakes his own suicide, mutilating the assassin's face to provide a decoy body. He uses the distraction this offers to infiltrate The Pentagon to find a cure for Scully's cancer, while Scully is able to uncover and reveal a Syndicate connection within the FBI.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. At the end of the fourth season, Scully is dying of cancer. Mulder is convinced that her condition is a result of her earlier abduction, and is prepared to make a deal with the Syndicate to find a cure. While being pursued by an assassin responsible for a hoax alien corpse discovered on a mountaintop, Mulder fakes his own suicide, mutilating the assassin's face to provide a decoy body. In the fifth season opener "Redux", he uses the distraction to infiltrate The Pentagon to find a cure for Scully's cancer, while Scully is able to uncover and reveal a Syndicate connection within the FBI. Due to the information he learns from Michael Kritschgau (John Finn), Mulder loses his belief in extraterrestrials.
Later, as a rebel alien race secretly attacks several groups of former alien abductees, the agents meet Cassandra Spender (Veronica Cartwright), a woman who claims to be a multiple abductee and wants to deliver a positive message about aliens. Meisler (1999), pp 173–184 Eventually, Mulder has Scully put under hypnosis to learn the truth about her abduction after Cassandra goes missing and her son, Jeffrey Spender (Chris Owens), angrily attempts to push his way up in the FBI. The Syndicate, meanwhile, quicken their tests for the black oil vaccine, sacrificing their own to do so. Meisler (1999), pp. 187–196 Later, the assassination of a chess grandmaster leads Mulder and Scully into an investigation that they soon discover strikes at the heart of the X-Files; they learn that the real target was a telepathic boy named Gibson Praise (Jeff Gulka). Meisler (1999), pp. 269–280
In Washington, D.C., Agent Fox Mulder appears before an FBI panel regarding his experiences in Antarctica. Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) tells Mulder that he and Scully have been denied reassignment to the division. Mulder goes to his former basement office, only to discover that Jeffrey Spender (Chris Owens) and Diana Fowley (Mimi Rogers) have been assigned to the X-Files. Going against orders, Mulder and Scully track down an escaped alien in Phoenix, Arizona while Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis) gives chase. Mulder and Scully eventually discover that Cigarette Smoking Man has been using Gibson Praise to locate the creature. Scully brings Gibson to the hospital, where it is determined that he has the alien virus in his blood. Later, Skinner is mysteriously poisoned by a nanorobot infection. The culprit is revealed to be Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea), a rogue FBI agent who formerly worked for the Syndicate, who continues to control the potentially debilitating nanotechnology in Skinner's system in order to achieve his goals.
Mulder and Scully later learn of reports of rebel aliens burning doctors who were working on Cassandra Spender (Veronica Cartwright), an alien abductee and mother of Jeffrey Spender. Skinner takes Spender to the scene, where Cassandra asks for Mulder. She informs Mulder and Scully that the aliens are here to destroy all life on Earth. She claims that a rebel force of aliens are mutilating their faces to prevent infection by the black oil. Cigarette Smoking Man reveals everything to Diana Fowley, who agrees to help him and betray Mulder. Cassandra later escapes from a hospital and arrives at Mulder's apartment, demanding that he shoot her because she is the embodiment of fifty years of work by the Syndicate—an alien-human hybrid that will trigger colonization if the aliens learn of her existence.
Fowley arrives and forcibly takes Mulder, Cassandra, and Scully to a CDC facility at Fort Marlene. There, Mulder runs into Marita Covarrubias (Laurie Holden). Marita tells Mulder that she was subjected to Syndicate-run black oil vaccine tests. Meanwhile, the Syndicate rendezvous at a checkpoint, preparing to be taken away by the Colonists, who are prepping for invasion. However, they are met by the alien rebels, who incinerate them all, including Cassandra; Cigarette Smoking Man and Fowley escape. Jeffrey Spender is then purportedly killed by Cigarette Smoking Man.
Several months later, a metallic artifact with inscriptions is discovered on the beach of Côte d'Ivoire in Africa. After Mulder examines rubbings of the object, he begins suffering from a headache, seemingly caused by the rubbings. Mulder's condition worsens, but he gains telepathic abilities. Chuck Burks (Bill Dow) tells them that the symbols on the artifact are Navajo. Eventually, Mulder passes into an aggravated delusional state and is placed under observation at a hospital. Hoping to find an answer, Scully rushes to Africa and finds the massive wreck of a large spacecraft partially buried in the beach.
After the events of the season six finale, Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) and Michael Kritschgau (John Finn) are desperately attempting to find the truth behind the so-called alien object. Meanwhile, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is still imprisoned by his own frenetic brain activity. Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Skinner are unaware of FBI Special Agent Diana Fowley's (Mimi Rogers) duplicity—she is working for Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis). Scully then travels to Africa to unravel the secrets of the alien artifacts, finding something that looks like a spaceship buried under the shoreline off the Côte d'Ivoire coast. The object may prove that life originated elsewhere, and all religion is based on the Navajo contact with alien life. Shapiro, pp. 7–16 Unsuccessful, Scully returns from Africa to revisit Mulder in Washington, D.C., but instead she finds out that he has disappeared. She contacts Kritschgau and Skinner to find her partner. Cigarette Smoking Man has taken Mulder to a place where all his problems seem to have disappeared. Fowley helps Scully locate Mulder, which leads to her death at the hands of Cigarette Smoking Man. Shapiro, pp. 19–28
While investigating a bizarre disappearance of a young girl from her home, Mulder becomes obsessed with the number of children who have vanished in similar circumstances. Scully fears that he is emotionally involved due to his sister's disappearance.Shapiro, pp. 119–128 At the same time it is revealed to him that his mother, Teena Mulder (Rebecca Toolan), committed suicide. He then tries to prove that his mother did not take her own life, but is ultimately forced to accept that his mother's death was by her own hand. He is led by a man whose son disappeared years earlier to another truth—that his sister may be among the souls taken by "walk-ins", saving the souls of children doomed to live unhappy lives. Together they locate evidence that proves that Samantha was abducted by Cigarette Smoking Man and was forced to live in a now-abandoned US Army base. It is later revealed that Samantha had become a "walk-in" spirit. Shapiro, pp. 130–139
Mulder and Scully investigate a case which leads them back to Oregon, the site of their first case together. With a series of Alien abductions taking place, Mulder and Scully are contacted by Billy Miles (Zachary Ansley). Scully falls ill during the investigation and returns to Washington, D.C. Cigarette Smoking Man contacts Marita Covarrubias (Laurie Holden) and Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea), in an attempt to revive the government conspiracy. With Covarrubias unwilling to assist, and Krycek seeking revenge, they contact Mulder after he visits an alien crash site. Skinner and Mulder return to Oregon, while Scully is hospitalized in Washington, D.C. Mulder becomes trapped by an alien device, and is abducted by an Alien Bounty Hunter (Brian Thompson) together with Miles and several others. Skinner returns to Washington, D.C. where Scully informs him that she is pregnant, though she does not tell him that Mulder is the father. Shapiro, pp. 266–277