An ancient prophecy foretells that the Moon Juju, the kind protector of the Pupanunu people, would be weakened by the evil Tlaloc, an embittered Pupanunu shaman, so he could turn the Pupanunu people into sheep as revenge for not being made high shaman in favor of another shaman, Jibolba. The prophecy also mentions a great and mighty warrior trained by the high shaman who would restore the Moon Juju, defeat Tlaloc, and bring peace to the Pupanunu people.
Having escaped Tlaloc's spell, Jibolba believes his apprentice Lok to be the warrior of the prophecy and prepares to send him off; however, it appears that Lok has been turned into a sheep. Jibolba sends his younger apprentice, Tak (voiced by Jason Marsden), to find magical plants and change him back, though it turns out not to be Lok, but his squire Tobar. Jibolba tells Tak to obtain the Spirit Rattle, which allows the wielder to communicate with powerful Juju spirits to assist him, while he finds Lok.
Tak returns with the Rattle to find that Lok has been trampled to death by a herd of sheep. Jibolba has Tak collect 100 magic Yorbels and Lok's spirit from the spirit world, allowing him to successfully resurrect Lok. An unfortunate side-effect of the resurrection, however, is a severe case of diarrhea (or the "Resurrection's Revenge", as Jibolba refers to). Tak obtains the Moon Stones instead while Lok recovers, restoring the Moon Juju to full strength.
The Moon Juju reveals that the warrior of the prophecy is not Lok, but Tak, as he has already fulfilled almost everything the prophecy predicted (much to Jibolba’s chagrin). Using his arsenal of Juju spells, Tak defeats Tlaloc and turns him into a sheep, finally fulfilling the prophecy.
An apprentice magician dinosaur living in Monsterland, Theo Saurus, made a mistake while practising a spell one day. He turned the lands Jellyland, Pipeland, Spottyland, Cherryland, and Rockland into sad places, void of color or life. Theo began living in a hidden cave to avoid the wrath of the other monsters until discovered one day by the hero of the story, Mayhem. Mayhem promised to bring Theo the necessary magic dust to transform Monsterland to its previous happy state.
Finbar McBride, a quiet, withdrawn man with dwarfism, is a nihilist who has a deep love of railroads. He works in a Hoboken, New Jersey model train hobby shop owned by his elderly and similarly taciturn friend Henry Styles. Because he feels ostracized by a public that tends to view him as peculiar due to his size, Fin keeps to himself.
When Henry dies unexpectedly, Fin is told that the hobby shop is to be closed. However, he also learns that Henry has bequeathed him a piece of rural property with an abandoned train depot on it. He moves into the old building hoping for a life of solitude, but he quickly finds himself reluctantly becoming enmeshed in the lives of his neighbors. Joe Oramas, a Cuban American, is operating his father's roadside snack truck while the elder man recovers from an illness, and Olivia Harris is an artist trying to cope with the sudden death of her young son two years earlier and the ramifications it has had on her marriage to David, from whom she is separated; Olivia's initial and secondary meetings with Fin almost get him killed when she is distracted while driving her car. Cleo is a young girl who shares Fin's interest in trains and wants him to lecture her class about them. Emily is the local librarian, a young woman dismayed to discover she is pregnant by her ne'er-do-well boyfriend.
Joe, relentlessly upbeat and overly talkative, soon cracks through Fin's reserve. The two begin to take daily walks along the tracks, and after Olivia gives Fin a movie camera, Joe drives alongside a passing train so that Fin can film it. Joe and Fin sleepover at Olivia's house after watching the footage and the next morning a flustered, unannounced David is greeted by the two of them. The three forge a tentative friendship that is threatened when Olivia descends into a deep depression, disappearing from the town. Meanwhile, Emily seeks solace in Fin, who slowly is realizing interaction with other humans may not be as unpleasant as he thought. Fin tries to protect Emily from her boyfriend at a bar, but he pushes Fin aside, causing Fin to lapse back into his asocial behaviour. Emily later comes to apologize, and after she and Fin share a kiss, she spends the night with Fin after asking if she can "just sleep" there. Cleo asks Fin if Olivia is coming back, to which he replies that he doesn't know. He decides to keep an eye on Olivia's house, but when he spots her fighting on the phone with David and he goes up on the porch, Olivia angrily tells him to leave. Fin spends the night drinking and, collapsing on the track, is passed over by a train, undamaged but for his pocket watch. As if feeling blessed by his gift of life (and symbolically upon his watch getting destroyed in the train mishap), Fin walks up to Olivia's home only to find she has attempted suicide. Olivia reveals that David is having another baby with a different woman. Fin takes care of Olivia's home while she recuperates in the hospital. Fin picks up the courage to talk to school kids about trains.
Olivia, Joe, and Fin share a meal at Olivia's house, their conversation filled with some small talk and reconciliation. Olivia and Joe tease Fin about Emily, suggesting he go seek her again.
The cartoon series stars two mice, the bow-tied Pixie (voiced by Don Messick) and the vested Dixie (voiced by Daws Butler), and Mr. Jinks the cat (also voiced by Butler impersonating Marlon Brando) who is always outfoxed by the mice, causing him to utter his trademark line "I hates those meeces to pieces!" The show's plot itself and its characters followed the same basic concept as ''Tom and Jerry'', the film series Hanna-Barbera had developed for MGM; because Hanna-Barbera were constrained by the smaller budgets for television, ''Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks'' emphasized verbal humor to compensate for the more limited animation compared to the more physical comedy used by the mostly mute ''Tom and Jerry'' shorts.
Captain Archer and the crew are welcomed back to Earth following the successful Xindi mission. As ''Enterprise'' undergoes repairs and refitting, Archer is reunited with a former girlfriend, Captain Erika Hernandez, who has been appointed to Starfleet's second Warp 5 starship, ''Columbia'' (NX-02). Archer is debriefed by Admiral Maxwell Forrest and Ambassador Soval. After reacting in anger when Soval asks pointed questions about the ''Seleya'' incident, he is ordered by Forrest to take some relaxation leave.
He chooses to go mountain climbing; to his initial annoyance, Hernandez invites herself along. That night, Archer dreams that he is attacked by Reptilians, and Hernandez tries to help him come to terms with his memories and new-found adulation. In return, Archer tries to caution her that space exploration is not as idealistic as she thinks it is. In spite of this, the two manage to rekindle their romance. Returning to Starfleet Command, Archer is able to keep his emotions in check, and ultimately receives an unexpected thanks from Soval who admits that he was wrong about humanity. Elsewhere, Doctor Phlox learns that some humans still hold a grudge over the Xindi attack, xenophobically blaming all aliens, and Phlox's presence in a bar results in a brawl.
Meanwhile, Sub-Commander T'Pol – who has been invited to accept a Starfleet commission – takes the opportunity to travel to Vulcan to visit her mother, T'Les. When Commander Tucker mentions that he does not have a home to go to, T'Pol invites him along. On Vulcan, after a tense homecoming, she learns that her mother has resigned from the Vulcan Science Academy as indirect punishment for T'Pol's actions at the P'Jem sanctuary. One logical way for T'Pol to restore her mother's position is to honor her engagement to Koss, a member of an influential family. Despite Tucker's feelings, who admits to T'Les' observation that he is in love with T'Pol, she consents to marry Koss. Just before the ceremony begins, however, T'Pol quickly kisses Tucker on the cheek.
Outside a model "home of tomorrow" designed by Frank Lloyd Wrong, Hubie calls up Bertie and chides him for wearing a flower on his head. In the hopes of finding a home with plenty of food, the mice head on up to the House of Tomorrow. Upon entry, they step on the welcome mat, which activates an audio recording that welcomes visitors to the House of Tomorrow and invites them to try out the many gadgets the house provides. At first, Bertie is scared by the recording and tries to run away, but Hubie stops him and points out that this is the perfect place for them as everything for them can be provided at the touch of a button.
As a demonstration, Hubie pushes a button to the Automatic Record Player: the record player rises up out of the floor, a robotic arm on a table picks out a record disc from a collection of records and tosses it like a frisbee, and two robotic arms (one of them has a catcher's mitt) catch the record, put it on the turntable, and start playing the record. Hubie and Bertie then start dancing to the music that plays, until Hubie spies a button that demonstrates the Automatic Sweeper. Upon pressing the button, a cigarette lighter lights a cigar, a robotic puffer puffs the cigar, and a robotic arm taps the cigar ash on to the floor. This summons the Robot Sweeper, a robot armed with a broom and having a dustpan near its wheels, that comes out, sweeps up the ash into its dustpan, sweeps it into the refuse bin, and returns to its closet.
Impressed by what Hubie meant by the perfect house, Bertie insists on pushing the next button they come across, but Hubie slaps him and states that he himself will be pushing the buttons as Bertie isn't smart enough to do so. As the mice go up onto the kitchen counter where some unlabeled buttons are, Bertie again requests to push a button. Hubie gives in, but (out of fear that whatever button Bertie presses might hurt him) gets a safe distance away on the other side of the kitchen before giving Bertie the A-OK. Bertie presses a button, where a light next to it reveals it's the laundry button. This makes a vacuum appear above a hamper, where Hubie just happens to be, and suck up Hubie and the laundry. Bertie then cringes and shakes as, offscreen (and to the tune of "Here we go round the mulberry bush"), Hubie goes through the washing, rinsing, mangling, ironing, and folding processes. The laundry is then returned all pressed and ironed, with Hubie (looking pressed and ironed himself) at the top. As a result, Hubie slaps Bertie for putting him through that.
The laundry incident is quickly forgotten when both mice spy a button labeled "Cheese Dispenser". When Hubie presses the button, a wheel of cheese flies out, but crashes to the floor, which summons the Sweeper to come out, sweep up the mess, and put it in the bin. To prevent losing the second wheel of cheese, Hubie arranges for Bertie to stand by to catch the cheese with a plate. Straight after Hubie presses the button, another wheel of cheese flies out, but crashes on top of Bertie and the plate. Again, the Sweeper comes out, sweeps up the mess and Bertie, sweeps them into the bin, and return to its closet. Bertie escapes the bin, but thinking that Bertie is "escaping refuse", the Sweeper comes back out, sweeps up Bertie again, sweeps him back into the bin, and returns to its closet. Twice, Bertie peeks out, but the Sweeper sticks its head out as if to say "Oh, no you don't!"
Seeing this, Hubie comes up with a plan to rescue Bertie. He does this by taking a large vase up to the house's second floor and tossing it out the window, where it crashes to the ground. As expected, the Sweeper takes the bait, rushes up to the second floor (allowing Bertie to escape), and jumps out the window where it too crashes to the ground. Afterwards, Bertie is thanking Hubie for saving him when the doorbell rings and Bertie answers it. It's the Sweeper (looking battered from its fall) and, as a way of saying "Nobody tricks me into jumping out of a window and gets away with it", it sweeps up Bertie again, sweeps him back into the bin, and returns to its closet.
Coming up with another plan to save Bertie, Hubie pushes a box full of dynamite and fireworks off a shelf and onto the floor. Detecting the new mess, the Sweeper leaves its closet (allowing Bertie to escape again), sweeps up the explosives, and sweeps them into the bin. Hubie then pushes a lit candle and its holder off the shelf and onto the floor, once more making the Sweeper fall for the ruse. The Sweeper sweeps up the candle and sweeps it into the bin, but the lit candle makes contact with the explosives already in the bin and they blow up on the Sweeper. The Sweeper rolls away (dazed and severely damaged by the explosion) and breaks apart to pieces on the floor, but its hand presses a button labeled "Repair Service". This summons the Robot Medic, a hodgepodge looking robot with pincers, a hammer, and a crane arm. The Robot Medic leaves the same closet the Sweeper resides in, rebuilds the Sweeper offscreen, and both robots return to their closet.
To really drive the Sweeper crazy, Hubie and Bertie nail the floor doors of the Automatic Record Player shut so that when Hubie presses the button, the record player can't rise up out of the floor. The robotic arm still picks out a record and tosses it, but with nothing to catch it, the record crashes against the wall and breaks into pieces which land on the floor, thus summoning the Sweeper to clean up the mess. Hubie then increases the robotic arm's speed to fast, thus making the robotic arm toss the records at the wall faster than ever before. The Sweeper returns to clean up the mess from the next record, but soon finds itself facing flying records that smash against the wall and tries to keep with cleaning up one mess after another. Soon, the Sweeper's dustpan is so full of broken record pieces that when it tries to empty them into the bin, they just bury the bin. Fed up with the ever increasing messes, the Sweeper dons a coat and hat, picks up a briefcase, puts an "I Quit!" sign on its closet door, and leaves the house.
Hubie starts to revel in their victory over the Sweeper, but the victory is short lived when Bertie spies a button labeled "Spring Cleaning Service" and stupidly pushes it. This ends up summoning a whole army of Robot Sweepers that come straight out of another closet and begin cleaning up the place. Hubie and Bertie try to escape the onslaught, but get caught up in a carpet being rolled up by one of the Sweepers and taken outside. In the cartoon's final scene, as the Sweepers begin the carpet beating process and whack the mice in the process, Hubie says "HEY, BOIT! C'MERE!" and starts repeatedly slapping Bertie for getting them into this recent mess.
Following a bar of "Merrily We Roll Along" and a segment of the "lively" portion of Wagner's ''Siegfried'' funeral march, Bugs Bunny walks onstage to applause and prepares to play the grand piano. Throughout the cartoon, he runs through a large assortment of visual gags while continuing to play the Hungarian Rhapsody.
The first involves an (off-screen) audience member who coughs and hacks loudly just as Bugs is poised to play. After a second time, Bugs whips out a revolver from his tailcoat and shoots the audience member to shut them up. He then resumes the concert.
Although the short is primarily pantomime, Bugs speaks a few times. At one point, he is interrupted by a phone ring, timed to echo a short fluttering strain that Bugs is playing at that moment. The phone is ''inside'' the piano: "Eh, what's up, doc? Who? Franz Liszt? Never [heard] of him. Wrong number." When playing a repeated, descending three-note sequence (which happens to be the same three-note sequence (Mi-Re-Do) notably used in the unrelated Rossini aria "Largo al factotum" from ''The Barber of Seville'', which would be spoofed in a later Bugs cartoon), Bugs accompanies his piano playing by singing, "Fi-ga-ro! Fi-ga-ro!"
A mouse appears and pesters Bugs the rest of the way, although the first ("slow") half is played nearly "straight", with but a few small gags. Bugs stops at the very short pause, acknowledging the audience's applause. Before he can begin the "fast" part (where the gags accelerate), the mouse instigates a major musical shift, to a "boogie-woogie" number. Bugs joins in, although he eventually traps the mouse (which responds by playing "Chopsticks" while trapped) and seemingly disposes of the pest with dynamite; when the mouse quietly begins "Taps" and stops a note short, Bugs peers inside and the mouse hits the final note by striking Bugs with a mallet. Bugs then returns to the Rhapsody, and as the pace picks up, he addresses the camera (for the last time in the cartoon): "Look! One hand! ... ''NO'' hands!" The camera pulls back, and he deftly plays the piano keys with his toes.
Nearing the end of the Rhapsody, Bugs is shocked to find the finale page, which consists of scrambled, quick playing, nearly impossible to read notes after which he takes off his shirt, oils his hands and prays. Then, preparing to play, he is startled by the frenzied finalé behind him. It is the mouse, complete with tie and tails, playing a toy piano that plays like a normal piano. Cut back to Bugs after the full-orchestra finalé, he disgustedly plays the final three single notes, and then mutters to himself in annoyance.
Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) is ecstatic about her new relationship with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). However, Bridget's confidence is shattered when she meets Mark's assistant, the beautiful, slim, quick-witted Rebecca Gillies (Jacinda Barrett).
At her job on the TV morning show ''Sit-Up Britain,'' Bridget crosses paths with her ex, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), and is offered a position alongside him in a new travel series. Initially refusing, she declares Daniel is a "deceitful, sexist, disgusting specimen of humanity," but eventually signs on, despite her friends' misgivings.
Bridget is delighted when Mark invites her to his "Law Council Dinner," believing he will propose afterward. However, a series of mishaps make the evening a debacle, culminating in the team trivia quiz: Bridget makes a critical error on a question about Madonna, which Rebecca Gillies wins, leaving Bridget thoroughly deflated.
After the dinner, Mark and Bridget argue and she stomps off. He goes to her apartment, apologizes, and tells her he loves her for the first time. Later that night, he invites her on a ski holiday to Lech, Austria. On the slopes, Bridget learns Rebecca is also there with a few other colleagues. She has a pregnancy scare, but after an argument over the upbringing and education of their hypothetical future children, the pregnancy test proves negative. Returning home, Bridget and Mark attend a lunch with their parents, where Bridget is hurt by Mark's dismissal of their prospective marriage.
Overhearing a message from Rebecca on Mark's answering machine, Bridget dissects it with her friends, who advise her to confront him; she does, he refuses "to dignify the question with an answer," and she breaks up with him. She travels to Thailand with Shazza (Sally Phillips) and Daniel Cleaver to film "The Smooth Guide." She and Daniel visit several exotic locations and, after Bridget accidentally consumes psilocybin mushrooms, they flirtily reconnect, but her trust in him again dissipates when a Thai prostitute he ordered appears, and she sees he has not changed.
Shazza has a fling with the much younger Jed (Paul Nicholls), who gives her a fertility snake bowl as a gift to take back to Britain, which ends up in Bridget's bag. When security dogs at the airport detect a large stash of cocaine inside it, Bridget is arrested and locked up in a Thai prison cell with almost 50 Thai female inmates. Feeling low and scared but glad at the friendliness of the inmates, she shares relationship advice with the others and teaches them to sing and dance to Madonna's "Like a Virgin."
Mark comes to tell Bridget that her release is imminent. After confirming Jed as the true perpetrator and that she "spent the night" with Daniel Cleaver, he declares her sex life does not interest him; Bridget does not correct his presumption, and he departs, leaving her sure he no longer loves her. Back in Britain, Mark confronts Daniel for abandoning Bridget in Thailand, and they fight outside an art gallery in Kensington Gardens. Daniel swears off her for good and says, "Why don't you just marry her?"
Bridget arrives at Heathrow Airport as an international human rights celebrity. Greeted by her parents, they have been busy planning their vow renewal ceremony. At home, Bridget is surprised when her friends tell her that Mark personally tracked down the drug trafficker Jed, secured his custody and extradition, and forced him to admit her innocence. Hopeful that Mark still loves her, Bridget rushes to his house. Finding Rebecca there she assumes she is romantically involved with him, but Rebecca confesses she is actually crazy about Bridget and kisses her; though flattered, she politely turns her down.
Bridget confronts Mark at his legal chambers, asking him to give her another chance. He proposes and she accepts. At the film end, her parents renew their vows and Bridget catches the bouquet.
"Rainbow" Randolph Smiley is the host of a popular children's television show on Kidnet. Despite appearing friendly and playful on-screen, he is actually an alcoholic and criminal. The FBI arrest him for accepting bribes and he is fired, his show is canceled, and he is thrown out of his penthouse and left homeless. Kidnet orders executive Marion Stokes to hire a new host who is "squeaky clean", Stokes selects the naivè Sheldon Mopes and his character Smoochy the Rhino. Mopes is uniquely sincere and dedicated to providing quality children's entertainment, which puts him at odds with his new producer Nora Wells. The Smoochy Show quickly becomes tremendously popular, causing Rainbow Randolph to fixate his anger on Mopes. Randolph turns to Stokes and pleads for help to get his job back, but Stokes refuses. The deranged Randolph then hatches several poorly planned attempts to get Mopes fired, all of which fail. Finally hitting rock bottom, Randolph turns to his former partner Angelo Pike for help. Angelo feeds Randolph and allows him to stay at his apartment.
Mopes finds himself losing creative control over his show and hires corrupt talent agent Burke Bennett to renegotiate his contract. Bennett introduces Mopes to the dark side of the entertainment business by giving him a gun and trying to convince him to work with a corrupt charity. While having dinner with Burke, Mopes is introduced to mobster Tommy Cotter. Tommy pressures Mopes into giving her cousin Spinner a role on his show, and Mopes casts him as Smoochy's cousin Moochy. Tommy tells Mopes that in return for casting Spinner, she will make sure he is protected.
Burke becomes impatient with Mopes and books him to star in a Smoochy ice show, run by Merv Green and his corrupt charity Parade Of Hope. Mopes refuses to do the show despite Burke's warnings, in response Green personally threatens Mopes to do the show. In the meantime, Randolph manages to trick Mopes into performing his Smoochy act at a Neo-Nazi rally. Mopes is branded a racist and loses his job and show, and Nora refuses to help him. Randolph visits Nora to ask for his job back but accidentally reveals that he set Mopes up. Nora tells Tommy, who tracks down Randolph with her crew and force him to confess that he tricked Mopes. Sheldon's reputation and show are restored and the media dubs Randolph the most hated man in America. Angelo kicks Randolph out of his apartment after Randolph angrily destroys the TV. Nora and Mopes reconnect and begin a romantic relationship.
Mopes decides to host his own ice show, without the corrupt charities involved. Burke and Stokes, under pressure from Green, plot to kill Mopes and hire a new host who will accommodate their corruption. Their plan backfires when Green's men mistake Spinner in his Moochy costume for Mopes and murder him. An enraged Tommy retaliates by killing Green and his men. Randolph confronts Mopes and Nora in their apartment at gunpoint and reveals that Nora had affairs with several kid show hosts, including Randolph himself. Mopes manages to calm Randolph down and disarm him, allowing Randolph to remain in the apartment until Mopes could explain everything to the police.
Burke and Stokes decide to hire former Kidnet host Buggy Ding Dong to kill Sheldon during the ice show. Randolph intervenes and saves Mopes by killing Buggy. Mopes realizes that Burke and Stokes set him up and threatens Burke with a gun. Tommy and her crew arrive in time to stop Mopes and Tommy decides to handle the matter herself (murdering them offscreen, in a deleted scene). Mopes and Nora kiss in Times Square, and Smoochy and Randolph launch a new show together alongside Nora, who becomes an ice skater.
Jérôme Lange, a famous private investigator, receives a letter from his childhood friend Julia Defranck, requesting him to investigate some strange events in Mortville Manor. Upon arrival Jérôme is informed of Julia's death. With a storm approaching, the investigator begins his search around the manor.
Captain Kirk, along with First Officer Spock and Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy, beams down to a planet to investigate a distress call. Once there, they are greeted by a friendly dwarf named Alexander (Michael Dunn). He leads the landing party to meet the rest of his people, who have adopted classical Greek culture, and named themselves Platonians in honor of the Greek philosopher Plato.
All of the Platonians, except for Alexander, possess telekinetic powers, and the planet's ruling class have become exceedingly arrogant as a result, believing they can do as they please because of their powers. The Platonians explain they "lured" the ''Enterprise'' to their planet because their leader, Parmen, requires medical help. After being treated by Dr. McCoy, Parmen demands McCoy remain on the planet to treat other Platonians. When Captain Kirk objects, the Platonians use their powers to punish him.
Alexander tries to tell Kirk and Spock that Parmen wishes to kill them but is afraid.
Parmen repeatedly humiliates Kirk and Spock as Dr. McCoy watches, trying to make him agree to stay on the planet. Later, the Platonians use their powers to force two other ''Enterprise'' officers to the planet for their entertainment: Communications Officer Lt. Uhura and Nurse Chapel.
McCoy takes a sample of Alexander's blood and manages to isolate and identify the kironide mineral that provides the inhabitants with their special powers; it is abundant in the natural food and water supply of the planet. McCoy is able to prepare a serum and inject Kirk and Spock with doses to make them have twice the power of Parmen. Alexander asks where does Kirk come from and if size matters. Kirk says size, color, and species does not matter. Alexander asks to go with Kirk.
While Kirk and the others are waiting for the serum to take effect, Parmen forces the four to perform again. Alexander becomes angry after watching the humiliating tricks played upon the crew by his fellow Platonians, and he tries, unsuccessfully, to attack Parmen with a knife.
Kirk uses his new-found telekinetic powers to defeat Parmen and save Alexander's life. Parmen then promises to mend his bullying ways, but Kirk doesn't believe him, and warns Parmen, should he go back on his word, the powers can be recreated by anyone whenever they wish to defeat him.
Kirk promises to send appropriate medical technicians to the planet as long as the Platonians behave themselves, and Alexander requests to go with the ''Enterprise'' to start a new life elsewhere in the galaxy.
With Alexander by his side, Kirk contacts the Enterprise and tells Scotty. "I have a little surprise for you. I'm bringing a visitor aboard."
Gabor falls in love with a Turkish girl, Leila. With his gypsy friend Mujko they enter a sacred garden in the mosque of Gül Baba. They take a rose for Leila. The guards of the mosque arrest him, because taking the sacred rose is a crime. The pasha Ali, who wants to marry Leila, sentences him to death. Gabor's last wish is to be with Leila in the garden until darkness.
Gül Baba finds that Gabor is a very good student and wants to save his life. He intervenes on Gabor's behalf with the pasha. The pasha agrees, but only if Leila will be his wife. Leila accepts this because she wants to save Gabor, but Gabor attacks the pasha with a knife. Now everything seems lost! Gül Baba destroys his rose garden and says to the pasha that it was done by Allah, who is angry because of the strict sentence.
The pasha Ali is afraid of Allah and gives a pardon to Gabor. Gül Baba regrets his destruction of the garden. However, Leila promises him that young couples will go for hundreds of years to his tomb to give him a rose.
The novel covers Miller's growing inability and outright refusal to accommodate what he sees as America's hostile environment. It is autobiographical but not chronological, jumping between Miller's adolescent adventures in Brooklyn in the 1900s, recollections of his first love Una Gifford, a love affair with his nearly-30-year-old piano teacher when he was 15, his unhappy marriage to his first wife Beatrice, his years working at Western Union (called The Cosmodemonic Telegraph Company in the book) in Manhattan in the 1920s, and his fateful meeting with his second wife June (known in the book as Mara), who he credits with changing his life and making him into a writer. ''The Rosy Crucifixion'' continues the story of June, in greater detail, over the course of nearly 1,500 pages, and also described the process of Miller finding his voice as a writer, until eventually he sets off for Paris, where the activities depicted in ''Tropic of Cancer'' begin.
''Wanpaku Graffiti'' opens as Jennifer weeps over Rick's grave. Lightning strikes, hitting the grave and reviving Rick, who has been wearing a mask. Lightning strikes again, hitting the grave next to Rick's and revives the Pumpkin King, the game's main antagonist. The Pumpkin King kidnaps Jennifer and Rick must go save her.
After fighting through several levels of super deformed monster parodies, Rick finds himself in the office of the Pumpkin King. Upon defeating him, it is revealed to the player that the whole game was merely a movie. A director congratulates Rick on his fine acting, Rick removes his mask, and they leave. Once everyone has left, the mask comes to life, revealing it is not what it seems. If the two crystal balls are collected, there is an extended epilogue. One crystal ball contains a picture of Rick lying on top a hill with Jennifer, stating that they live happily ever after. The second crystal ball has a glimpse of Rick looking uncertain as Jennifer excitedly approaches what appears to be West Mansion during a storm, ominously stating that they will face a crisis. This may imply that ''Wanpaku Graffiti'' was intended to be a prequel to the original game.
Marie and Alex are best friends on their way to stay at Alex's parents' house for the weekend to study. When they arrive, Alex gives Marie a tour of her house before they settle down for dinner. After dinner, Marie and Alex get ready to go to bed. As Alex sleeps, Marie lies on her bed listening to music and masturbating. Marie hears a doorbell ring and Alex's father Daniel wakes to answer it. The man at the door is a serial killer, who slashes Daniel's face with a straight razor. His head is pressed between two spindles of the staircase, and the killer shoves a bookcase towards his head, decapitating him. The noise awakens Alex's mother, who finds Daniel dead and is approached by the killer.
Marie, hearing the mother's screams, quickly arranges the guest room to make it appear that no one is staying there, and hides under her bed. The killer inspects Marie's room but does not find her. Marie creeps downstairs and finds Alex chained in her bedroom. Promising to find help, she sneaks into the parents' room to find a phone. After hearing loud thuds, she hides in the closet and through the slats of the door witnesses the killing of Alex's mother as her throat is brutally slashed with a razor.
Alex's younger brother Tom runs from the house to the cornfield, pursued by the killer. Marie returns to Alex, where she witnesses Tom's murder from a window. Marie promises to free Alex, but the killer is heard returning. Marie sneaks into the kitchen and takes a butcher knife. Alex is dragged into the killer's truck. Marie sneaks into the truck with the butcher knife and hides there with Alex. He locks them in and drives off.
When the killer stops at a gas station, Marie gives Alex the knife and sneaks into the gas station shop for help. When the killer comes into the shop, Marie hides and she witnesses the store clerk Jimmy being murdered with an axe. The killer returns to the truck and Marie calls the police, but hangs up in frustration when she's unable to tell them where she is. She takes the clerk's keys and uses his car to follow the killer down a deserted road. The killer notices Marie following him, and rams Marie's vehicle, pushing the car off the road where it wrecks. Exiting on foot, badly injured, Marie runs into the forest as the killer seeks her. Eventually, Marie bludgeons the killer with a fence post covered in barbed wire. As Marie inspects the body, he grabs at her throat, so Marie suffocates him with a plastic sheet and makes her way back to the truck. Alex seems terrified of Marie as she returns to the vehicle. As police investigate the gas station murders via the in-store videotape, the tape shows Marie murdering the store clerk. In retrospect, it is revealed that Marie is murderous, delusional, and in love with Alex and the real killer of Alex's family.
At the truck, Marie unties Alex. As soon as Alex is free, she threatens Marie with the knife and accuses her of butchering her family. Alex slashes Marie's face and stabs her in the stomach before running into the forest. Marie chases Alex with a concrete saw. Alex finds a road and flags down a car. As Alex is climbing into the car, Marie appears brandishing the concrete saw and disembowels the driver. A stray piece of glass slices Alex's Achilles tendon. Alex takes a crowbar from the car's toolbox and crawls along the road. Marie forces Alex to tell her that she loves her, and she kisses her. While engaged in the kiss, Alex plunges the crowbar into Marie's upper-chest as Marie proclaims she'll never let anyone come between them.
Some time later, Marie is in a psychiatric hospital room, with Alex watching her through a one-way mirror. Marie grins and reaches for Alex, evidently aware that she is behind it.
Based on the Depression-era bildungsroman memoir of writer A. E. Hotchner, the film follows the story of a boy struggling to survive on his own in a hotel in St. Louis after his mother enters a sanatorium with tuberculosis and his younger brother is sent to live with an uncle. His father, a German immigrant and traveling salesman working for the Hamilton Watch Company, is off on long trips from which the boy cannot be certain he will return.
The titular character of the game is a 1980s video game designer, Bob Morlock, who had picked "Captain Blood" as a nickname in tribute to the film starring Errol Flynn of the same name. Morlock develops a new video game about aliens and space travel. While testing for the first time his new project, he becomes warped inside the spaceship of the very game he had designed. Soon after, Blood is forced to go into hyperspace mode and, due to an incident, gets accidentally cloned 30 times. For 800 years, Blood tracks down every clone, as each one took a portion of his vital fluid. When the game begins, Blood has successfully disintegrated 25 clones, but he needs to kill the last five clones who turned out to be the most difficult to track down or he will lose his last connection with the human species.
The main character and the narrator in ''Armageddon 2419 A.D.'' is Anthony Rogers. Rogers recounts the events of the “Second War of Independence” that precedes the first victory of Americans over Hans, in which he plays an important role. Born in 1898, he was a veteran of the Great War (World War I) and was by 1927 working for the American Radioactive Gas Corporation. He was investigating reports of unusual phenomena in abandoned coal mines near Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania. On December 15, while investigating one of the lower levels of a mine, there was a cave-in. Exposed to radioactive gas, Rogers fell into "a state of suspended animation, free from the ravages of katabolic processes, and without any apparent effect on physical or mental faculties." Rogers remained in “sleep” for 492 years.
He awakens in 2419 and, thinking he has been asleep for just several hours, wanders for a few days in unfamiliar forests (what had been Pennsylvania almost five centuries before). He finally notices a wounded boy-like-figure, clad in strange clothes and moving in giant leaps, who appears to be under attack by others. He defends the person, killing one of the attackers and scaring off the rest. It turns out that he is helping a woman, Wilma Deering, who, on “air patrol”, was attacked by an enemy gang, the "Bad Bloods", which is presumed to have allied themselves with the Hans.
Wilma takes Rogers to her camp, where he is to meet the bosses of her gang. He is invited to either stay with their gang or leave and visit other gangs. They hope Rogers’ experience and the knowledge he gained fighting in the First World War may be useful in their struggle with the Hans.
Rogers stays with the gang for several days, learns about the community life of Americans in the 25th century, and makes friends with the people, especially with Wilma, with whom he spends a lot of time. He also experiences a Han air raid, during which he manages to destroy one of the enemy ships. Rogers and his friends hurry to the bosses to report the incident and explain the method he has used when shooting the aircraft. As the raid has caused much destruction, there is suspicion that the location of the gang's industrial plants may have been revealed to the Hans by rival gangs. They await a fight with the Hans who will likely wish to take revenge for the destruction of their airship.
The bosses direct Wilma and Rogers to investigate the wreck. While there, a Han party arrives to investigate as well. Thanks to Rogers’ quick and wise instructions, he and Wilma manage to escape and shoot down some more of the Hans' ships. The day after, Wilma and Anthony get married, and Rogers becomes a member of the gang. In the meantime, knowing Rogers’ technique, the other gangs start the hunt for Han ships. The Hans respond by improving the security of their ships, forcing the Americans to develop new tactics to press their sudden advantage and identify the traitors working with the Han.
Anthony develops a plan to get the records of the traitorous transaction, which are kept somewhere in the Han city of Nu-Yok. With the help of other gangs, he creates a team that will go with him. They learn that the traitors are the Sinsings, the gang located not far from Nu-Yok.
The Americans appreciate Rogers’ courage and brave deeds and, grateful to him, make him the new boss. He instantly reorganizes the governing structures of the gang by creating new offices and makes plans for the battle with the Sinsings, again using the knowledge he gained in the First World War. The raid on Sinsings turns out to be a great success and gives the Americans the confidence in their ability to overcome the Hans.
On 20 January 1942, as Nazi Germany's war effort sours due to the failure of Operation Barbarossa, the entrance of the United States into World War II, and the death of Walther von Reichenau, a meeting is held to determine the method by which the government is to implement Adolf Hitler's policy, that the German sphere of influence should be free of Jews, including those in the occupied territories of Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Czechoslovakia and France. As the film opens, various officials from different German agencies arrive and mingle at a lakeside villa in the Berlin borough of Wannsee. Among those present:
It is quickly established by those present that there is a significant "Jewish problem", in that the Jews of Europe cannot be efficiently contained, nor can they be forced onto other countries. Kritzinger interrupts at several points to say that the meeting is pointless, given that the Jewish Question had previously been settled, but Heydrich promises to revisit his concerns. Heydrich announces that the government's policy will change from emigration from German-held territories to "evacuation" to the Occupied Eastern Territories, and that Fascist Italy will be forced to cooperate. As the squalor at the camps and ghettos for Jews, including Theresienstadt, becomes apparent to the attendees, there is consternation over the use of euphemisms from the SS members, including Meyer, who want to adopt an open policy of genocide.
A discussion follows of the possibilities of sterilisation, and of the exemptions for mixed race Jews who have one or more non-Jewish grandparents. At this point, Stuckart loses his temper and insists that a sturdy legal framework is paramount, and that ad hoc application of standards will lead to administrative chaos. He also chides Klopfer for his simplistic portrayal of Jews as subhuman beasts, simultaneously painting his own picture of Jews as clever, manipulative and untrustworthy.
Heydrich calls a break in the proceedings, and after praising Stuckart aloud takes him aside to warn him about the consequences of his stubbornness, implying that others in the SS will take an unwanted interest in his actions. When the meeting reconvenes, Heydrich steers the discussion in the direction of wholesale extermination using gas chambers. This causes consternation among some attendees, especially Kritzinger and Bühler. Kritzinger objects on the grounds that Hitler had given him personal guarantees that extermination of the Jews was not being considered. Bühler is shocked to discover that the SS have been building extermination camps at Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka, and making preparations for the "Final Solution" under his nose.
It eventually becomes clear to everyone at the meeting that they have been called together not to discuss the problem but to be given orders by the SS, who are intent on wresting control of the operation from other agencies such as the Interior Ministry and the Reich Chancellery. Eichmann now describes the method that will be used: the gassing of Jews. Many have already been killed in specially designed trucks and his figures include tens of thousands of victims. Eichmann explains that permanent gas chambers will be built at locations such as Auschwitz. He even describes their bodies as coming out "pink" (a symptom of carbon monoxide poisoning), at which point Hofmann is suddenly taken ill. He later attributes this to a bad cigar.
Throughout the meeting and over refreshments attendees raise other side issues, reflecting the interests of their respective work areas. Lange warns that executing Jews by shooting has a deleterious effect on the morale of his troops, and he clashes with Luther's indifference. Klopfer requests that the Party retains some discretionary power over the process. Bühler presses for urgency, concerned that typhus could break out from the overpopulated ghettos in Poland. Meyer and Neumann do not want production stymied due to disruption or the loss of skilled workers. Heydrich admonishes Hofmann over his insistence that his office takes the lead in managing resettlement in Hungary.
A break is called and this time it is Kritzinger's turn to be taken aside and intimidated by Heydrich, who warns that Kritzinger is influential but not invulnerable. Heydrich tells Kritzinger that he wants not only consent but active support, and Kritzinger realises that any hopes he had of assuring livable conditions for the Jewish population are unrealistic. In return, he tells Heydrich a cautionary tale about a man consumed by hatred of his father, so much so that his life loses its meaning once his father dies. Heydrich later interprets this as a warning that a similar fate awaits them if they allow their lives to revolve around antisemitism.
Heydrich then recalls and concludes the meeting, giving clear directives that the SS are to be obeyed in all matters relating to the elimination of the Jews. He also asks for explicit assent and support from each official, one by one. After giving careful instructions on the secrecy of the minutes and notes of the meeting, they are adjourned and begin to depart.
As the servants at the villa clear away the remains of the meeting, and the officials depart, a brief account of the fate of each one is given. Most of the members either died during the war or were arrested immediately after; two are convicted by Allied military tribunals and executed, and the others acquitted to live a peaceful life in postwar West Germany. Heydrich would be assassinated by Czechoslovak partisans for his brutal rule in Bohemia and Moravia within six months, while Eichmann would flee to Buenos Aires but be captured and sentenced to death by Israel in the 1960s. The film ends with the house tidied up and all records of the meeting destroyed as if it had never happened. The final card before the credits reveals that Luther's copy of the Wannsee minutes, recovered by the US Army in the archives of the German Foreign Office in 1947, was the only record of the conference to survive.
''Ultima'' is set in the fictional world of Sosaria, a land broken into four different continents. The land is ruled by a total of eight different lords, two for each of the world's four land masses. The four continents contain two castles each, where quests can be obtained by the player. There are two types of quests given out in the castles—one entails visiting a certain location on the main map, the other killing a specific type of monster in the dungeons. Fulfilling the former type of quest gives stat boosts; the latter gains the player an important item needed to reach the endgame.
There are also a variety of towns where different goods and services can be purchased. The world has dungeons to be explored, and is populated by forests, mountain ranges, lakes and oceans. All towns are exactly alike in the original release of the game, as are all dungeons (their maps are different, but are not designed but rather randomly created); castles differ only in the different quests that may be assigned. In the 1986 remake, more variety was added to the appearance and content of the towns and castles. Sosaria is inhabited by numerous monsters and beasts that attack the player character on sight. There are also ruins and places of interest on each continent (usually in somewhat hard-to-reach places such as small islands) that the player can enter in order to receive rewards, usually in the form of a weapon or statistic boost, or in order to solve quests.
The two main characters featured in ''Ultima I'' are Mondain, the evil wizard antagonist who has induced a reign of terror over the world of Sosaria, and the protagonist, a character of the player's choosing.
The game features Lord British from Richard Garriott's first game, ''Akalabeth'', and the introduction of characters Iolo and Shamino. These three characters become staples of nearly all future Ultima games (see List of ''Ultima'' characters).
The story of ''Ultima I'' revolves around the evil wizard Mondain and his rule over the kingdom of Sosaria. According to the game's back story, Mondain created an evil gem over 1000 years ago that granted him immortality. Since then, Mondain has released monsters and beasts upon the land that ravage the villages and towns of Sosaria and cause most of the nobles to bicker amongst themselves. In an effort to stop Mondain's dominion, Lord British searches for a person to bring about the wizard's end. This call is answered by the player.
The player is informed that the only way to defeat Mondain is to travel back in time and kill him before the gem of immortality is created. The majority of the game is spent searching for a time machine, and a way to activate it. Four of the lords in the game, one from each realm, hold a gem that will allow the time machine to work once all four gems have been found. In exchange for the gem, the lord will ask the player to complete a quest that involves traveling into a dungeon and killing a specific creature. Once this has been achieved, the lord will hand over his gem.
The time machine itself also needs to be found. Purchasing a space shuttle and traveling into outer space is a prerequisite of this —the player must become a space ace, by destroying 20 enemy ships, in order to complete the game. Once this task has been completed, rescuing a princess will reveal the location of the time machine, which always appears to the north of the castle in which the princess was held prisoner. The main character will then travel back in time and face Mondain before he has completed the gem of immortality. Destroying the gem is a requirement for beating the game as well as killing the wizard himself. Once Mondain is dead, the player is transported one thousand years into the future and rewarded by Lord British.
From the game's story, the player learns that the lover of the dark wizard Mondain, the enchantress Minax, is threatening Earth through disturbances in the space-time continuum. The player must guide a hero through time and the Solar System to defeat her evil plot.
The young Minax survived her mentor's and lover's death at the hands of the Stranger (in ''Ultima I'') and went into hiding. Several years later, Minax got older and very powerful, more so than Mondain once was. Minax wanted to avenge the death of her lover, so she used the time doors created by Mondain's defeat to travel to the Time of Legends, a place located at the origin of times. From there, she sent her evil minions to all the different time eras; she also used her dark powers to disturb the fabric of time and influence men, who ultimately destroyed each other in the far future, nearly wiping out humanity.
Lord British called for a hero to crush Minax's evil plans. The Stranger once again answered British's call. The game begins with the Stranger starting his quest to defeat Minax. Minax's castle, named Shadow Guard, can only be reached through time doors (similar to moongates in the later games); even then an enchanted ring is required to pass unhurt through the force fields inside. The hero hunts down the sorceress to the Time of Legends, pursues her as she teleports throughout the castle, and destroys her with the quicksword Enilno.
Even though ''Ultima I'' is set on the fictional land of Sosaria, ''Ultima II'' borrowed characters and the story of ''Ultima I'', but relocated them to Earth. Garriott explained from a narrative perspective, Earth needed to be used as a basis for comparison due to the time travel element. Later games in the ''Ultima'' series ret-conned this, and assumed that ''Ultima II'' actually happened on Sosaria, not Earth, to create a continuity among the games.
After ''Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress'' was set on Earth, the story of ''Exodus'' returns the player to Sosaria, the world of ''Ultima I''. The game is named for its chief villain, Exodus, a creation of Minax and Mondain that the series later describes as neither human nor machine. Although a demonic figure appears on the cover of the game, Exodus turns out to something like a computer (possibly an artificial intelligence) and to defeat him the player has to acquire four magic (punch)cards and insert them into the mainframe in a specific order.
At the beginning of the game, Exodus is terrorizing the land of Sosaria from his stronghold on the Isle of Fire. The player is summoned by Lord British to defeat Exodus, and embarks on a quest that takes him to the lost land of Ambrosia, to the depths of the dungeons of Sosaria to receive powerful magical branding marks and to find the mysterious Time Lord, and finally to the Isle of Fire itself to confront Exodus in his lair.
The game ends immediately upon Exodus' defeat; but unlike many games in the genre, Exodus cannot simply be killed in battle by a strong party of adventurers, but only through puzzle-solving and by paying attention to the clues given throughout the game. At the end of the game, players were instructed to "REPORT THY VICTORY!" to Origin. Those who did so received a certificate of completion autographed by Richard Garriott.
Places in the game such as Ambrosia and the Isle of Fire make appearances in later games, such as ''Ultima VII'' and ''Ultima Online''.
''Ultima IV'' is among the few role-playing games, and perhaps the first, in which the game's story does not center on asking a player to overcome a tangible ultimate evil.
After the defeat of each of the members of the Triad of Evil in the previous three ''Ultima'' games, the world of Sosaria underwent some radical changes in geography: Three quarters of the world disappeared, continents rose and sank, and new cities were built to replace the ones that were lost. Eventually the world, now unified under Lord British's rule, was renamed Britannia. Lord British felt the people lacked purpose after their great struggles against the Triad were over, and he was concerned with their spiritual well-being in this unfamiliar new age of relative peace, so he proclaimed the Quest of the Avatar: He needed someone to step forth and become the shining example for others to follow.
Unlike most other RPGs the game is not set in an "age of darkness"; prosperous Britannia resembles Renaissance Italy, or King Arthur's Camelot. The object of the game is to focus on the main character's development in virtuous life—possible because the land is at peace—and become a spiritual leader and an example to the people of the world of Britannia. The game follows the protagonist's struggle to understand and exercise the Eight Virtues. After proving his or her understanding in each of the Virtues, locating several artifacts and finally descending into the dungeon called the Stygian Abyss to gain access to the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom, the protagonist becomes an Avatar.
Conversely, actions in the game could remove a character's gained Virtues, distancing them from the construction of Truth, Love, Courage and the greater axiom of Infinity—all required to complete the game. Though Avatarhood is not exclusive to one chosen person, the hero remains the only known Avatar throughout the later games, and as time passes he is increasingly regarded as a myth.
After having mastered the eight Virtues, attaining Avatarhood, and retrieving the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom in the previous game, the Avatar is summoned back to Britannia by his old comrades Iolo and Shamino using a magic coin, which was included as a trinket in the game's box. Upon arrival he is greeted by Shamino, but they immediately come under attack from the three powerful beings known as the Shadowlords. After repelling them with the amulet (a feat that cannot be replicated later in the game), the Avatar brings the heavily wounded Shamino to Iolo's nearby hut where Iolo fills him in on recent developments: Lord British has been lost on an expedition into the Underworld, and a tyrant known as Lord Blackthorn now rules Britannia in his stead. Blackthorn enforces a strict, rigid version of the Virtues, which leads to results that are anything but virtuous (such as, "Thou shalt not lie, or thou shalt lose thy tongue", "Thou shalt donate half thy income to charity, or thou shalt have no income" or "Thou shalt enforce the laws of virtue, or thou shalt die as a heretic."), while the mysterious and terrifying Shadowlords terrorize the eight cities of Britannia.
Over the course of the game the Avatar learns that the Shadowlords sprang from three shards of Mondain's Gem of Immortality (destroyed at the conclusion of ''Ultima I''). Representing Falsehood, Hatred and Cowardice - the antithesis for Truth, Love and Courage, the three principles of the Avatar - they have corrupted Blackthorn and subverted his rule.
With the help of his old companions and some new ones, the Avatar forms the Warriors of Destiny in order to eliminate the Shadowlords, undermine Blackthorn's rule, and rescue Lord British to restore him to his throne.
Some years after Lord British has returned to power, the Avatar is captured and tied on a sacrificial altar, about to be sacrificed by red demon-like creatures, the gargoyles. Three of the Avatar's companions, Shamino, Dupre and Iolo, suddenly appear, save the Avatar and collect the sacred text the gargoyle priest was holding.
The Avatar's party flees through a moongate to Castle Britannia, and three of the gargoyles follow. The game begins with the player fighting the gargoyles in Lord British's throne room. After the battle, the Avatar learns that the shrines of Virtue were captured by the gargoyles and he embarks on a quest to rescue Britannia from the invaders.
It is only later in the game that the Avatar learns that the whole situation looks rather different from the point of view of the gargoyles – indeed, they even have their own system of virtues. The quest for victory over the gargoyles now turns into a quest for peace with them.
The game begins with what appears to be the game introduction on the Avatar's own computer screen. Suddenly, the screen is filled with static, and a red creature who calls himself The Guardian proclaims:
Avatar! Know that Britannia has entered into a new age of enlightenment! Know that the time has finally come for the one true Lord of Britannia to take His place at the head of His people! Under my guidance, Britannia will flourish. And all the people shall rejoice and pay homage to their new ... Guardian! Know that you, too, shall kneel before me, Avatar. You, too, shall soon acknowledge my authority - for I shall be your companion ... your provider ... and your master!
The Orb of the Moons glows, and the Avatar finds that a red moongate has appeared behind the house. The Avatar thus returns to Britannia through the moongate, and arrives in Trinsic, where he meets Iolo. Iolo tells him that two centuries have passed since he left. The whole town is shocked due to a ritualistic murder that occurred the preceding night - the body of the blacksmith Christopher was found in the stable. Finnigan, Mayor of Trinsic, asks the Avatar to investigate the incident.
In Trinsic, the Avatar gets to meet several members of a new religious organization called the Fellowship. Eventually, in Britain, he meets Batlin, one of the founders of the Fellowship. He also meets Lord British, who urges the Avatar to join the Fellowship, which, according to him, has done a lot of good things. It also turns out most of the mages of the realm have gone completely insane without any good explanation, and their magic doesn't work as it should.
Most of the game is composed of the Avatar's investigation of the Fellowship and the Trinsic murders. During the game, the Avatar finds more and more clues that implicate the Fellowship in shady dealings; more murders appear on the way, and the Avatar himself goes undercover by entering the Fellowship. His quest takes him to most of the cities and towns of Britannia, including Minoc, a destroyed Skara Brae run by a lich, Yew, Moonglow and Buccaneer's Den.
The Avatar eventually learns of an astronomical alignment of importance that is supposed to happen very soon, and about the three evil Generators that the Guardian has created, which have been causing most of the problems of the land. After destroying them, he and his companions follow several leads to the Isle of Avatar, where members of the Fellowship are waiting. The Fellowship has fashioned a black moongate out of blackrock on this island to allow the Guardian to enter Britannia when the astronomical alignment happens.
The Avatar confronts the Fellowship members and defeats them. As the astronomical alignment begins and the Guardian starts to loom behind the moongate, the Avatar destroys the gate just in time, preventing the Guardian from entering Britannia. As the moongates had been rendered useless by the destruction of one of the generators, the Avatar has to remain in Britannia, with no means to return to Earth.
Following the defeat of the charismatic religious leader Batlin on Serpent Isle, the Guardian banishes the Avatar to a world that he has already conquered: Pagan. ''Ultima VIII'' has a much darker tone and a very different premise, in comparison to most of the ''Ultima'' games. The world of Pagan is entirely different from that of Britannia: the Virtues are not part of Pagan's culture, and the magic systems and monsters are entirely different.
The world of Pagan is in eternal twilight as the result of an ancient battle between the Elemental Titans and the evil "Destroyer", which resulted in the victory of the Titans. However, the people of Pagan had to pay a high price: the Titans had to henceforth be worshiped as gods. The Titans bestow powers on their most ardent followers, but they are otherwise cruel and unloving rulers, and their followers terrorize the general population.
''Ultima VIII'' sets off where ''Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle'' ended: The Guardian has grasped the Avatar from the Void, and now drops him into the sea of the world Pagan through a pentagram-shaped portal. In the introduction, the Guardian reveals his plot: "You have been a thorn in my side for far too long, Avatar. Your two worlds will be crushed. Britannia first, then Earth. I shall parade you before their conquered peoples as the fallen idol of a pathetic ideal. I banish you to the world of Pagan. No one here knows of the Avatar!"
The Avatar regains consciousness on the shore after being rescued from the sea by a fisherman (who turns out to be an important character later on in the plot). He soon witnesses the execution by beheading of a townsman, ordered by the tyrannic ruler of the region, Lady Mordea.
Later, visiting the wizard Mythran, he learns that there are four Titans on Pagan, each one having one of the Elements as his/her domain: Water (Hydros), Air (Stratos), Fire (Pyros) and Earth (Lithos). The more privileged followers of Lithos are identified as necromancers, the wizards that trap Pyros and tap him for their power as sorcerers, the followers of Stratos as theurgists and the (albeit highly selective) followers of Hydros as tempests. Apart from those, a fifth type of magic known as Thaumaturgy exists and is pioneered by Mythran. In order to escape Pagan, the Avatar has to overcome many obstacles and master the ways of all titans, finally becoming the Titan of Ether: the magical field and fifth element.
During his quests, the Avatar collects the four artifacts of the Titans, unleashing violent thunderstorms, hurricanes, earthquakes and meteor showers by doing so. These artifacts allow him to enter the Ethereal Plane and defeat the Titans on their own turf. The Avatar then reconstructs the original blackrock gate that originally allowed the Guardian to enter Pagan. By entering the reconstructed gate, the Avatar is teleported back to Britannia, which is now ruled by the Guardian, who is revealed to also be the "Destroyer".
As with its predecessor, ''Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle'', and its successor, ''Ultima IX'', many elements of the plot were cut to meet the deadline imposed by Electronic Arts. Some plot ideas based in Pagan were hinted at in ''Serpent Isle'' and in ''Ultima Underworld II'', but were not followed up on in this game. Much like in ''Serpent Isle'', several of these elements can be found in the game's usecode or in the game itself. In ''Ultima VIII'', this results in many plot holes, unfinished story lines, and inaccessible areas. These include:
In ''Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle'', the blind forest master Morghrim is from Pagan, and mentions Elerion, an enormous silver tree of life that once existed on Pagan but has since been destroyed. The Silver Seed in the game comes from this tree. In ''Ultima VIII'', however, the tree is never mentioned, nor can its location be found. The usecode contains a conversation with Mythran that mentions a haunted grove of trees on the Plateau. This may be related to Elerion, but again, no haunted grove can be found in the game itself. In ''Ultima Underworld II'', Mors Gotha mentions the Guardian has a Palace on the world of Pagan. However, there is no mention of this in ''Ultima VIII''. It is unclear if the Palace is the same structure as the destroyed Temple mentioned in Pagan. Books in the game mention strange glowing balls of light on the Plateau near Mythran's house, matching the description of the Xorinite Wisps from ''Ultimas IV'' through ''VII Part One''. As in ''Serpent Isle'', the wisps were cut from the final release of the game. *A daemon named Arcadion can be found during the test at the Sorcerer's Enclave, the same name as the daemon in the Black Sword in the Forge of Virtue add-on to ''Ultima VII''. However, he claims not to remember the Avatar or his adventures on Britannia (however, this might be meant to indicate that Arcadion, a demon, does not experience time in the same fashion or sequence as the Avatar).
*The Birthplace of Moriens is another cut plot element. In the game, Vividos tells the Avatar to make a pilgrimage there. The unpatched version of the game has no such place. In the patched version, a sign indicates the birthplace in a location completely different from the one Vividos describes in the unpatched release, and there is an inaccessible caved-in area in the location he describes.
Jenna, a barmaid and daughter of Darion, captain of the guard in Tenebrae, expresses an interest in adventuring, even carrying a sword. Darion wants her to marry, even suggesting the Avatar as a potential suitor. Despite this, it is not possible to adventure with Jenna, nor is it possible to begin a romantic subplot with her. When freeing the Titan Hydros, she announces her intent to kill Devon, and challenges the Avatar to get to him first. However, Hydros makes no attempt on his life. Upon freeing Hydros, Devon asks the Avatar to get help from the Sorcerers to stop Hydros from drowning the residents of Pagan with rainstorms. However, there is no option to discuss this with any of the Sorcerers, nor does Devon ever follow up on his request. In the Avatar's conversation with Lithos, Lithos says not to return until the Avatar is himself the Necromancer. This may be related to the Key of the Necromancer (below), but there is no follow-up to this plot.
The program files contain an item called the Key of the Necromancer which does not appear in the final release, but can be created by cheating. It has the same use as the Key of the Caretaker. The usecode contains a conversation with the blacksmith Korick about the Avatar's experience in constructing a Black Sword, as he had in the ''Forge of Virtue'' add-on to ''Ultima VII''. However, this conversation is not possible in the game. *After taking the Heart of the Earth from Lithos, he was originally supposed to get angry and start a series of earthquakes in addition to sending an army of the dead against the city of Tenebrae. Vividos would get angry with the Avatar, accusing him of betrayal, and the residents of Tenebrae, including Mythran, would react to these events. This can be found in the game only by cheating.
Shaana the executioner is shown in the Thaumaturgist Mythran's house, although no in-game explanation is provided as to why, and Shaana will refuse to discuss the matter if asked. Director Mike McShaffry stated that she was supposed to be Mythran's granddaughter. Scrolls found in the game suggest the Skull of Quakes had a completely different use than it does in the final release of the game, where its only purpose is to activate one of the game's many Recall Pads. The Avatar was originally supposed to learn Tempestry, and the documentation with the game describes several spells the Tempests can cast. Although Hydros promises to instruct the Avatar in Tempestry when freeing her, she relents, making Tempestry the only school of magic inaccessible to the player. An underwater city of Hydros is mentioned several times in the game, where the Tear of the Seas is kept. This may have been accessible upon learning Tempestry, however this area is never found, and Devon simply [states he walks on the bottom of the sea to find abbAturd/bimse4r] but the change name is broken or locked in ctrl +v ver2.13 finds the Tear of the Seas while fishing later in the game, and locks it away in a treasure chest.
In the beginning of ''Ultima IX'', the Avatar had somehow returned to Earth for an unspecified amount of time before getting back to Britannia. The game starts just after the end of ''Ultima VIII'', in which the Avatar is transported to a Guardian-controlled Britannia. He arrives in Britannia on a mountain overlooking the Guardian's keep in Terfin. The Avatar is transported to Stonegate by Hawkwind the Seer (from ''Ultima IV''), who informs him that great columns have appeared throughout the land, and their malignant influence has caused plagues, famine, and other natural disasters. Under their power, the people of Britannia have twisted the Virtues into mockeries of their true meaning. The Guardian is helped by Lord Blackthorn, who leads the Wyrmguards and forces the people to obey the Guardian.
As the quest progresses, the Avatar learns that the Guardian has stolen the Runes of the Virtues and twisted them into the glyphs that form the heart of each of the columns. Most of the game consists of traveling through the dungeons to recover the glyphs and visiting the Shrines of the Virtues to meditate and cleanse them. Eventually, it is revealed that the Guardian is nothing other than the dark half of the Avatar himself, and the only way to save Britannia is for the Avatar to ascend to a higher plane, taking the Guardian with him. The player is able to accomplish this via an Armageddon spell cast behind a Barrier of Life, which takes the Avatar and the Guardian to a higher plane out of Britannia.
Origin Systems released a number of preview video clips in the five years between the original release of ''Ultima VIII'' and the final release of ''Ultima IX'' in December 1999, first in the ''Ultima Collection'' and intermittently in between. These screenshots and clips pointed to a totally different plot from the released version, which many longtime fans of the Ultima saga agreed was unsatisfying and unrewarding.
On December 9, 1999, a synopsis of the original script was posted to the "Ultima Horizons" discussion board. The synopsis was written by Bob White and released with his permission. White worked directly with Garriott, John Watson, and Brian Martin in developing the game's original story before leaving Origin.
The beginning of the game is more or less the same as the beginning of the actual ''Ultima IX'' release, except that the Avatar never actually returns to Earth after his sojourn in Pagan in ''Ultima VIII''. Just as in the official plot, there are also columns created by the Guardian with malignant influence. Further, Lord British has become enfeebled and left government of the kingdom in the hands of a tribunal consisting of the lords of the cities of Moonglow, Britain, and Jhelom, but they have proved unable to deal with the crises and have fractured into mutually distrustful city-states that are, at the time the Avatar arrives, at the brink of war.
The Guardian is behind all of this, orchestrating these events with the aid of Lord Blackthorn, but few within the kingdom suspect this. Among those suspicious is Samhayne, a benevolent smuggler of contraband and food supplies to the various cities. He enlists the aid of the Avatar to find proof of these shadowy manipulations that are causing Britannia to disintegrate. With the help of his longtime friends Shamino and Iolo and Samhayne's protégé Raven, they uncover that Lord Blackthorn is secretly advising members of the council and goading them to war. Blackthorn is unmasked just as the armies of the council have taken the field of battle. He is eventually caught later on at Terfin, and executed at Lord British's command, but the Guardian escapes.
The Avatar and Lord British then travel to Stonegate for the final confrontation with the Guardian, but after it appears that they had successfully killed him, they are told that it is not enough. The columns that the Guardian created have embedded themselves too deeply within the very fabric of Britannia itself, and soon they will destroy the world, funnelling the power of its destruction back into the Guardian, resurrecting him and making him even stronger. The only way to destroy the Guardian is to extinguish the life force of Britannia itself, but the people may be saved by evacuating them to the island of Skara Brae and using the power of the Runes of Virtue to protect them. The Spell of Armageddon is cast, Britannia is destroyed, along with the Guardian and Lord British, but the Avatar ascends to a higher plane of existence by the power of the spell. The people that were evacuated to Skara Brae are protected by the Runes and they live on, to find another world to call their own.
This plot specifically compares the destruction of Britannia and the island of Skara Brae flying off into space with the Roger Dean paintings from the album Yessongs.
Back in ''Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness'', one section of the game world was known as "The Lands of Danger and Despair". Shamino, a recurring character in the ''Ultima'' series, was a ruling lord here. The Lands of Danger and Despair vanished after the conclusion of Ultima I and became Serpent Isle, separated from Sosaria, as the world of Britannia was called before ''Ultima IV''.
The original inhabitants of Serpent Isle, the Ophidians, had a culture where serpents played a central role. They eventually became polarized as the forces of Order and Chaos, respectively, and fought a great war that destroyed their culture and left their cities and temples in ruins. Order "won" the war, destroying the Chaos Serpent, but thereby upsetting the natural balance to the point where the entire universe is unraveling. (It turns out that the "Great Earth Serpent" that guarded Exodus's fortress in ''Ultima III'' was actually the Balance Serpent that Exodus had ripped from the void, triggering the war between Chaos and Order in the first place.)
Much later, Serpent Isle was re-settled by humans who had left Sosaria voluntarily, or who had been exiled. An alternate name for Serpent Isle is "New Sosaria", a reference to the original homeland of these settlers. Many of them referred to Lord British as "Beast British", and had a very low opinion of him. After he united the lands, and with the establishment of the eight virtues, those unhappy with his rule fled to Serpent Isle. Unlike Britannia, which has eight cities representing the eight virtues of the Avatar, Serpent Isle has three city-states, each with their own beliefs, which are warped versions of the Britannian principles of Truth, Love and Courage:
In the city of Moonshade, mages rule, and "mundanes" are regarded as an inferior servant-class. Instead of truth, they strive for power. Those from the city of Fawn champion beauty above all else, instead of Love. *The Monitor warrior-culture is ostensibly based on knightly courage, but in truth is rife with feuds, intrigue and betrayal.
Serpent Isle has essentially the same map layout as the former Lands of Danger and Despair, though this might not be immediately obvious to players. The formerly separate towns of East and West Montor have merged into Monitor; the large Sleeping Bull Inn has taken the place of the village of Bulldozer; the village of Gorlab vanished in the newly formed Gorlab Swamp (an important plot element); and the ruined Ophidian cities of Skullcrusher and Spinebreaker, apparently named after the mountain-chains in which they lie, are located where dungeons of the same name were found in the earlier game.
Eighteen months after the destruction of the eponymous Black Gate at the conclusion of ''Ultima VII: The Black Gate'' (and six months after the Guardian attempted to trap the Avatar and the whole of Castle Britannia in a blackrock sphere on the anniversary of that event in ''Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds'') it is discovered that the Guardian ordered his right-hand man Batlin to follow Iolo's wife Gwenno, who went to explore Serpent Isle. Lord British sends the Avatar and three of his companions—Sir Dupre the knight, Shamino the ranger and Iolo the bard—to Serpent Isle in pursuit of Batlin. The journey entails travelling into an arctic zone where two serpent pillars emerge from the sea; upon moving between the pillars, the ship is teleported away to Serpent Isle.
At the beginning of the game, the expedition's ship is beached at Serpent Isle by magical storms. Soon afterwards they lose most of their equipment to another magical storm that exchanges equipment for seemingly random items, such as a magical helmet exchanged for a fur cap. It turns out that the items switched locations and that the items gained thus are leads to the location of the missing pieces of equipment, such as a penguin egg indicating that the item it has swapped places with will be found among the penguins in the frozen north.
Two overarching plotlines exist within the game: the expedition must reclaim their equipment, as many of the items are required to solve puzzles and subquests in the game; and they must explore Serpent Isle and discover its history to understand the reasons for the magical storms that will destroy the land. Over the course of his adventures, the Avatar and his companions visit the ruins of the lost Ophidian cities, witness the extinction of the peaceful Gwani, and learn that Iolo's wife Gwenno was killed (though later manage to have her revived). Lord Shamino's ruined castle is also visited, and his and his dead fiancée's tragic backstory is revealed.
The storyline can roughly be divided into three parts.
Exploring Serpent Isle while tracking Batlin (and Gwenno), the expedition learns that the magical storms, which are gradually getting worse, indicate that the world is unraveling. The apocalypse is drawing near, and when it turns out that a lighthouse on Serpent Isle was exchanged for Britannia's Royal Mint by teleport storms it becomes apparent that the problem is not limited to Serpent Isle, but is affecting Britannia as well and possibly the entirety of creation. (At one point in the game, the Avatar visits the magical dream world where he meets Lord British who confirms that similar magical storms began ravaging Britannia shortly after the Avatar left.)
The Avatar learns that Batlin is trying to capture three Ophidian demi-gods known as the Banes, but Batlin always remains several steps ahead and the Avatar does not arrive in time to stop him. Batlin was hoping to tie the Banes to his own service to attain god-like powers, betraying the Guardian, but they escape, slay Batlin and possess the Avatar's companions who in turn proceed to devastate the three cities and kill most of the inhabitants.
After this happens, the Avatar must find a means in the post-apocalyptic Serpent Isle to track down the three Banes (Anarchy, Wantonness and Insanity) and free his companions from their influence. In the process of doing so, Gwenno is resurrected.
Many parts of the plot were cut for this section. In the game itself, the Banes occupy the cities and simply kill most of the population of Serpent Isle before withdrawing to a castle where the Avatar must find and defeat them. However, in the original plot documents of the game, the Banes take over each town instead of simply killing the inhabitants and many subplots are concerned with their cruel rule.
Finally, after defeating the Banes and rescuing his companions, the Avatar must use his knowledge about the ancient Ophidian culture to ascend to the position of Hierophant of Balance (through exploring their ruined cities and shrines, and performing a variety of rituals) to ultimately restore the lost Chaos Serpent to balance the warring forces of Order and Chaos. It turns out that a living soul must be sacrificed in the process. The Avatar volunteers, but Sir Dupre, driven by guilt for the deeds he committed while possessed by the Bane of Wantonness, insists on sacrificing himself instead and hurls himself into the crematorium.
In the end sequence, the Avatar is teleported into the void to face the Serpents, who thank him and affirm that order is restored; then suddenly, the Guardian's giant hand appears and grabs the Avatar, abducting him to (yet) another world. (''Ultima VIII: Pagan'' continues the story from there.)
Many elements of the game's plot were cut from the final release, due to the deadline imposed by Electronic Arts. Most of the cut plot elements were from the second half of the game after Batlin's death, although a few ideas from earlier parts of the game were also removed. Many of these elements can still be found in the final game's data files, and some remnants still exist in the game itself. The cut plot elements include:
An extra consonant was to be added to the Avatar's name in Monitor after achieving Knighthood, and the town itself was even to be named "Monnitor". Several characters in the final release of the game still have the extra consonant in their names, such as Harnna, Standarr, Brendann, Cellia, Lucilla and Shazzana. An upper level of walkways and connected buildings was supposed to be added to the cities of Fawn and Moonshade. In the final release, Fawn still mostly has this upper level, however Moonshade does not, save for one walkway leading from the MageLord's palace to his private yacht. A large island named "Claw Isle" is visible on the game's map in the final release and even mentioned in the game itself, but cannot be visited without cheating, and is unfinished. Originally, the idea was for the player to visit this island, and two possible plots were considered. A Kilrathi from ''Wing Commander'' was supposed to have crash-landed here, and worshiped as a god by a race of primitive cat people. The second plot idea involved the cat-like creature Yurel from the ''Silver Seed'' expansion residing here instead, being the chief of a race of cat people that is slowly going extinct. A Xorinite Wisp was originally supposed to be a character in the game. The Wisps had previously appeared in Ultimas IV through VII Part One. A large golden door in the Skullcrusher mountains is present in the final game, but is impossible to pass through without cheating, and the unfinished corridor simply leads into the ocean. However, a scroll can be found here that provides more details about the War of Imbalance, suggesting this area was originally supposed to be significant. The player was supposed to be able to captain their own ship after the Banes are released, much like in Ultima VII Part One. However, Captain Hawk, who was supposed to provide his ship for this purpose, was simply killed off, along with most of the world's human population. As mentioned earlier, originally the Avatar's companions Dupré, Iolo and Shamino were supposed to rule over the cities of Monitor, Fawn and Moonshade, respectively, while possessed by the Banes of Chaos. The player would have been required to defeat each of them in the city they had taken over before the battle at the King of the White Dragon's Castle. This is the largest and most significant plot cut from the game, as most of the population is simply killed off in the released version. Some of these plot elements are still present in the final release; for example, Dupré was to turn the citizens of Monitor into their totem animals, but still retaining their human minds. In the game itself, wolves, bears and leopards have overrun Monitor, but they simply attack the player. The NPCs in the city are all dead, with the exception of Harnna, who has no reaction to the fact that the entire city's population has been killed. The Black Sword has three additional portraits in the game's usecode, suggesting it would have originally been possible to talk to the Banes of Chaos while they were trapped in their respective gems. *Harnna's daughter Cantra is also possessed by one of the Banes in the game, and was originally supposed to have her sanity restored along with the Avatar's companions. However, in the final game, she cannot be healed, even when the correct bucket of water is used. The fan-made Exult project (specifically, the "SI Fixes mod") fixes this issue, allowing her sanity to be restored in the game.
The Virtue system of the Ophidians is formed around the following three Principles:
In the Ophidian symbology, the Great Earth Serpent is the keeper of Balance, and lies around in a vertical plane; the opposing serpents of Chaos and Order wrap themselves around the Great Earth Serpent, each spiraling in a different direction (a symbol inspired by the Caduceus).
The Ophidian system comprises six Forces, three from Order and three from Chaos; the Forces of Order are Ethicality, Discipline and Logic, while the Forces of Chaos are Tolerance, Enthusiasm and Emotion. Their descriptions are as follows:
When combined by pairs, these Forces form the Three Principles of Balance (not to be confused with the three Principles of Order, Balance and Chaos above). The Principles of Balance, their descriptions and relations to the Forces of Order and Chaos are illustrated in the table below:
There also exist Anti-Forces associated to the Forces of Order and Balance. These Anti-Forces arise from imbalance between the Forces, and are essentially perversions of their corresponding Forces. The Anti-Forces also manifest themselves as a kind of malevolent spiritual being, collectively called the Banes of Order and the Banes of Chaos.
The Anti-Forces (and Banes) are as follows:
American journalist Rick Henderson visits the estate of former FBI Director Alexander Leland "Jack" Cayne, in hopes of interviewing him over an attack at the White House or his career. However, Cayne reveals that the interview was merely a ruse, and that Rick was invited to be given the details concerning a far greater story - the full details on cloned hitman Agent 47, a contract killer for the International Contract Agency (ICA), a global organisation involved in assassinations. Although sceptical over the existence of 47, who is deemed an urban myth, Rick decides to listen to Cayne's story, reading documents he provides about a number of contracts committed by 47.
The documents reveal that after 47 had committed an assassination against a bankrupt amusement park owner in Baltimore, Maryland, he went abroad to conduct jobs in Chile and France, assigned to him by his handler Diana Burnwood, before taking on several across the United States. During this time, the ICA found itself being targeted by a rival outfit called "the Franchise", who soon began killing ICA agents while hunting down 47. Although 47 avoids being killed by rival assassins, Diana is forced to shut down the ICA, and divides up its remaining resources between him and herself. Cayne eventually goes on to talk about the White House attack, claiming 47 was involved in the chaos that occurred, but was ultimately brought down by his handler as the law closed in on him.
Unknown to Cayne, 47 had been made aware that the Franchise was working for a political organization that sought to monopolize on Ort-Meyer's cloning technology. As the current US President was planning to legalize cloning, the Franchise was hired to assassinate him so that their puppet, the U.S. Vice President, would replace them. 47 found himself hired by a CIA agent, whom he rescued in a previous contract, to prevent this. With the Franchise exposed, Diana decided to bring down the outfit with a risky plan by pretending to double-cross 47 and injecting him with poison - in reality a serum to induce a hibernatory state that mimics death, so that he could be brought close to those involved in the Franchise.
As 47's bone marrow could be used by the organization's rivals, Cayne, the head of the Franchise, was ordered to find him and kill him. To ensure his marrow cannot be recovered, Cayne had him prepared for cremation, and brings Rick to watch the ceremony. However, Diana takes an opportunity in the ceremony to give 47 the antidote to the serum, allowing him to wake and kill everyone present. With his anonymity preserved, Diana steals the Franchise's assets to reopen the ICA, while 47 proceeds to take on his next contract.
Dr. Howard Bannister, a musicologist from the Iowa Conservatory of Music, has travelled to San Francisco to compete for a research grant offered by Frederick Larrabee. Howard is accompanied by his tightly wound, overbearing fiancée Eunice Burns. As the two check into the Hotel Bristol, Howard runs into the charming trouble-magnet Judy Maxwell in the drug store. She never finished college, but nevertheless has amassed a considerable amount of knowledge from all of the academic institutions from which she was expelled. She begins to pursue Howard and lodges herself in the hotel without paying.
Coincidentally, four parties are staying on the same floor of the Bristol, all carrying identical plaid overnight bags: Howard's bag contains igneous "tambula" rocks that have certain musical properties. The mysterious "Mr. Smith" has a bag containing top-secret government papers, which he has obtained illegally. He is followed by the equally mysterious "Mr. Jones", a government agent on a mission to recover the documents. Wealthy socialite Mrs. Van Hoskins has a bag containing her sizable collection of valuable jewels. Hotel employees Harry and Fritz attempt to steal the jewels. Judy's bag is filled with her clothing and a large dictionary.
Over the course of the evening, the bags get switched haphazardly from room to room as the four parties unwittingly take one another's suitcases. Howard ends up with the jewels, Judy with the documents, Mr. Smith with Judy's clothes, and the thieves with the rocks.
Judy, masquerading as Eunice at the musicologists' banquet, uses her humor, wit and academic knowledge to charm everyone except Howard's competitor, Hugh Simon. Unable to overcome Judy's pretense – and realizing Larrabee's infatuation with her might win him the grant – Howard denies knowing the real Eunice when she tries to enter the banquet. Judy later intrudes into Howard's hotel room. His attempts to hide her presence from Eunice eventually lead to a fire and the destruction of the room.
The following day, everyone makes their way to a reception in Larrabee's upscale Victorian home, where a fight breaks out involving guns, furnishings, and thrown pies. Howard and Judy take all four bags and flee through San Francisco, first on a delivery bike, and then in a decorated Volkswagen Beetle stolen from a wedding party, pursued by Mr. Smith, Mr. Jones and the jewel thieves, who also have taken Eunice, Larrabee and Hugh Simon hostage. They go through Chinatown disrupting a parade, down Lombard Street, through wet cement, through a panel of glass, and eventually into San Francisco Bay at the ferry landing, after causing several collisions.
Everyone ends up in a court room, where Judge Maxwell, already on the point of a nervous breakdown, tries to clear up the matter but only succeeds in finding his daughter Judy as the cause of all the trouble. Later, after the bags have been returned to their rightful owners, Howard and Judy find themselves at the airport again. "Mr. Smith" is pursuing "Mr. Jones", who is now back in possession of the government papers, while the thieves plan their escape from the country. Mrs. Van Hoskins pays for the considerable damage and splits the remaining $50 of the reward she had offered among those who helped retrieve her jewels. Eunice appears with Larrabee and Hugh Simon, who won the grant. However, he is exposed by Judy as a plagiarist, thus getting Howard the grant after all. Still, Eunice leaves Howard for Larrabee.
Howard boards a plane back to Iowa alone, only to find Judy in the seat behind him. He declares his love for her and apologizes for what he said earlier. Judy responds: "Love means never having to say you're sorry" – a reference to the 1970 film ''Love Story'' also starring Ryan O'Neal – to which Howard replies, "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." As the two kiss, the film ends with a scene from the Bugs Bunny cartoon that gave the film its name, screened on the plane.
Three years after the events in Vietnam, John Rambo has settled in a Thai monastery and is helping with construction work on the monastery grounds. He supports the monastery by competing in krabi-krabong matches in nearby Bangkok. Colonel Sam Trautman visits his old friend and ally Rambo, and explains that he is putting together a mercenary team for a CIA-sponsored mission to supply the Mujahideen and other tribes as they try to repel the Soviet Army in Afghanistan. Despite being shown photos of civilians suffering at the hands of the Soviet military, Rambo refuses to join, as he is tired of fighting. Trautman proceeds anyway and is ambushed by enemy forces near the border, resulting in all of his men being killed. Trautman is captured and sent to a large mountain base to be interrogated by Soviet Colonel Zaysen and his henchman Sergeant Kourov.
Embassy official Robert Griggs informs Rambo of Col. Trautman's capture but refuses to approve a rescue mission for fear of drawing the United States into the war. Aware that Trautman will die otherwise, Rambo gets permission to undertake a solo rescue on the condition that he will be disavowed in the event of capture or death. Rambo immediately flies to Peshawar, Pakistan, where he intends to convince arms dealer Mousa Ghani to bring him to Khost, the town closest to the Soviet base where Trautman is held captive.
The Mujahideen in the village, led by chieftain Masoud, hesitate to help Rambo free Trautman. Meanwhile, a Soviet informant in Ghani's employ informs the Soviets, who send two attack helicopters to destroy the village. Though Rambo manages to destroy one of them with a DShK heavy machine gun, the rebels refuse to aid him any further. Aided only by Mousa and a young boy named Hamid, Rambo attacks the base and inflicts significant damage before being forced to retreat. Hamid, as well as Rambo, are wounded during the battle and Rambo sends him and Mousa away before resuming his infiltration.
Skillfully evading base security, Rambo reaches and frees Trautman just as he is about to be tortured with a flamethrower. He and Trautman rescue several other prisoners and hijack a Hind gunship helicopter to escape the base. The helicopter is damaged during takeoff and quickly crashes, forcing the escapees to flee across the sand on foot. An attack helicopter pursues Rambo and Trautman to a nearby cave, where Rambo destroys it with an explosive arrow. A furious Zaysen sends Spetsnaz commandos under Kourov to kill them, but they are quickly routed and killed. An injured Kourov attacks Rambo with his bare hands, but is overcome and killed.
As Rambo and Trautman make their way to the Pakistani border, Zaysen and his forces surround them. But before the duo are overwhelmed, Masoud's Mujahideen forces attack the Soviets in a surprise cavalry charge. Despite being wounded, Rambo takes control of a tank and uses it to attack Zaysen's Hind gunship in a head-on battle with both vehicles firing high-calibre machine gun rounds, Rambo firing the tank's main gun and Zaysen unleashing volleys of the Hind's high explosive rockets and missiles. The final charge sees the two vehicles collide, but Rambo survives after firing the tank's main gun after colliding with Zaysen's Hind. At the end of the battle, Rambo and Trautman say goodbye to the Mujahideen and leave Afghanistan.
The play consists of three movements, divided into numerous scenes: 7 in the first movement, 20 in the second movement, and 3 in the third movement.
The play begins with Eurydice and Orpheus, two young lovers, who are about to get married. In the underworld, Eurydice's dead father has managed to preserve his memory and his ability to read and write, and tries to send her letters. During the wedding, Eurydice goes outside to get a drink of water and she meets a man (the "Nasty Interesting Man") who tells her he has a letter from her father. Eurydice decides to go to his apartment to retrieve the letter, but as she leaves his apartment after resisting the man's attempts to seduce her, she trips and falls to her death on the stairs.
At the beginning of the second movement, there is no set change, but "the movement to the underworld is marked by the entrance of stones": Little Stone, Big Stone, and Loud Stone, who serve as a chorus.
Eurydice enters the underworld through an elevator, inside which it is raining. Upon arrival, she meets her father, who tries to reteach Eurydice about her past since she has lost her memory after being dipped in the river Lethe. The Stones try unsuccessfully to stop them, because the dead are not allowed to remember their past or speak in human language. Rooms are also not allowed in the underworld, but Eurydice's father creates one for her out of pieces of string. He gradually re-teaches her human language and her past. While the father is away at work, the lord of the underworld enters as a child riding a tricycle and attempts to seduce Eurydice, but fails.
Meanwhile, in the land of the living, Orpheus writes a letter to Eurydice, which her father delivers and reads to her. Orpheus also sends her a copy of the ''Complete Works of Shakespeare'' by attaching it to a piece of string, and Eurydice's father reads to her from ''King Lear''. Orpheus sends another letter, and then resolves to go to the underworld himself to find her.
In the third movement, Orpheus arrives at the gates of the underworld, singing a song so powerful it makes the Stones weep. The lord of the underworld tells him that he may take Eurydice back, but only if he does not turn around to look at her. Eurydice is then faced with the decision to either stay with her father or go back with her husband. At her father's insistence, she follows Orpheus. But as she catches up to him, she calls out his name, and he turns to look at her, causing her to die a second death. Meanwhile, her father has decided that he wants to forget everything, and dips himself in the river again. When Eurydice returns, her father is lying silent on the ground, having lost all of his language and memory forever.
As Eurydice mourns her father, the lord of the underworld returns, having grown from a child to superhuman height. He orders her to be his bride. Eurydice pens a letter to Orpheus and his next wife, then immerses herself in the river and lies down in forgetfulness. Finally, Orpheus too enters from the elevator, having truly died this time. He finds Eurydice's letter to him, but because he has been dipped in the river, he cannot read it.
Captain Kirk orders the Federation starship USS ''Enterprise'' into Romulan space without any authorization from Starfleet of which the bridge crew are aware. Romulan vessels intercept the ''Enterprise'' and Kirk negotiates an hour's time to consider surrendering his ship. Kirk, along with the Vulcan First Officer Spock are then invited aboard the Romulan flagship.
Once aboard the Romulan ship, Kirk and Spock are taken before a female commander who demands an explanation for their intrusion into Romulan space. Kirk claims that instrument failure caused the ship to stray off course, but Spock divulges that the captain ordered entry into Romulan space, and asserts that he is insane. Romulan guards lead Kirk to their brig.
Alone with Spock in her quarters, the commander questions Spock about his career. She argues that humans may have shown their disregard for his talents and capabilities by not giving him command of a ship, but the Romulans, if he were willing, would not make that mistake.
In the Romulan brig, Kirk injures himself by lunging against the force field door. Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy is summoned from the ''Enterprise'' to attend to him. The commander asks McCoy to confirm Spock's characterization of the captain as mentally incompetent and McCoy does so, whereupon the commander calls on Spock to assume command of the ''Enterprise''. Kirk, calling Spock a traitor, attacks him, and Spock defends himself using what he calls the "Vulcan death grip". Kirk slumps to the floor, and McCoy declares him dead.
Back on the ''Enterprise'', Kirk awakens from the state of suspension brought on by the so-called death grip. His apparent insanity, the unauthorized venture into Romulan space, and Spock's betrayal have all been part of a secret Federation plan to steal a Romulan cloaking device. Kirk orders McCoy to perform surgery to give him Romulan features and then transports back to the Romulan vessel disguised as one of their officers.
Meanwhile, Spock and the commander dine in her quarters, and their conversation grows intimate. When the commander goes to change her attire, Spock directs Kirk, via communicator, to the location of the cloaking device. His signal is discovered and tracked, and Spock surrenders himself to the Romulan officers, but they are too late to prevent Kirk from stealing the cloaking device and returning with it to the ''Enterprise''.
Chief Engineer Scott attempts to adapt the Romulan cloaking device to the ''Enterprise'' while Ensign Chekov succeeds in distinguishing Spock's life signs from those of the Romulans. Both Spock and the Romulan commander are beamed to the ''Enterprise'' where Kirk gives the order to return to Federation space. The pursuing Romulans are ready to fire upon them as Scott successfully activates the cloak and the ''Enterprise'' vanishes before their eyes. The now-captured Romulan commander points out to Spock that any advantage the Federation gains from studying the new cloaking device model will be temporary, as before long the Romulans will learn to circumvent it. Spock admits that military secrets are the most fleeting of all.
Set in 1898, the cartoon offers a nostalgic look at the United States at the turn of the century. It starts with a barbershop quartet, composed of four men with handlebar moustaches who play old-fashioned music on found objects, leading up to the annual Fourth of July celebration at the local fairground, where a hero and villain fight for the heart of a woman.
The original “So Long Folks” sequence was thought to have been missing due to a splice between an airing of ''Honeymoon Hotel'' which features that short's closing sequence. The original short, except for the titles, was found on a Nickelodeon ''Looney Tunes'' airing from 1990. However, a restored print with the correct closing sequence was featured in a 2021 episode of MeTV's classic animation series ''Toon In with Me''.
The federation starship ''Enterprise'' arrives at the planet Triacus. Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, and First Officer Spock beam down in time to witness the death of Professor Starnes, the leader of a scientific expedition team. The other members of the expedition, apart from their five seemingly unconcerned children, seem to have died at their own hands.
The crew bring the children back to the ''Enterprise'', where McCoy evaluates them and determines that they are suffering from lacunar amnesia, unaware of what happened to their parents and unable to grieve. However, when left unattended in one of the ship's rooms, the children chant an evocation and summon a glowing humanoid named Gorgan. He advises them to take control of the crew in order to get to Marcus XII, his preferred destination. The eldest child, Tommy, uses mental powers Gorgan has bestowed on the children to trick the crew into steering the ship while presenting illusions that make them think they are still in orbit above Triacus.
Upon reviewing a troubling expedition film recorded by Starnes, Spock, McCoy, and Kirk return to the bridge to find the children and Gorgan fully in control of the crew. Unable to break their hold on the crew, Spock observes that the children are merely possessed by Gorgan, who must be the evil embodiment of an ancient group of space-warring marauders released by Starnes's archaeological survey.
Believing they can break the hold Gorgan has on the children, Spock plays back footage showing the children happy with their parents, who are then shown to be dead. As the children realize what has happened, they break down emotionally and Gorgan's appearance begins to deteriorate. With the children's powers gone, the crew regains control and Kirk orders a course for Starbase 4 while they take care to comfort the children.
At the Roman camp of Aquarium near the Gauls' village, Gluteus Maximus, an athletic Roman legionary, is chosen as one of Rome's representatives for the upcoming Olympic Games in Greece. Gaius Veriambitius, his centurion, hopes to share in the glory of Olympic victory. While training in the forest, Gluteus Maximus encounters Asterix and Obelix, who unintentionally outdo him at running, then javelin and boxing, thanks to the power of the magic potion. Demoralised, he consigns himself to sweeping the Roman camp instead of training. When Veriambitius asks Vitalstatistix that Gluteus Maximus be left alone, Vitalstatistix decides the Gauls should enter the Olympic Games as well. Veriambitius argues they cannot, as Romans are the only non-Greeks allowed, but Asterix rationalizes that as Gaul is part of the Roman Empire, they are technically Romans (despite their resistance to Roman rule), making them a Gallo-Roman team, demoralising the centurion and his legionary further. The Gauls hold trials that prove inconclusive as everyone is dosed with the magic potion and thus do everything at the same top speed and strength. Eventually, they decide to register only Asterix and Obelix as competitors.
The entire (male) population of the village travels to Olympia (aboard a galley where they have to do the rowing), where Asterix and Obelix register as athletes (with Getafix as their coach) and the others all enjoy a holiday. When Gluteus Maximus and Veriambitius discover that the Gauls have come to compete, they are left in despair (Vitalstatistix telling them "We're not stopping you entering, it's just that we're going to win"), and this despair spreads among all the Roman athletes. They give up training and spend all their time having elaborate parties, washing their uniforms and sweeping the whole area. The scent from their feasts eventually causes the Greek competitors to complain about their own healthy food. Alarmed, the Greeks send a judge to warn the Romans that even if they think drinking will somehow make them better athletes, it will be held against them as all artificial stimulants are forbidden, prompting Veriambitius to tell him about the Gauls' magic potion. The Gauls are dejected by the news that victory is not as certain as they had expected, but Asterix decides to compete anyway. Obelix, being permanently affected by the potion, now cannot compete and anyway doesn't quite understand what's going on – he thinks he's been dismissed just because he fell into a cauldron and wonders if telling the officials he fell into a regular pot or amphora will change anything.
At the games, Asterix and the Roman athletes are beaten at every turn by the Greeks, causing a dilemma to the Olympic officials. Although their victories prove what they've believed all along (that Romans are decadent barbarians and the Greeks are perfect beings), too much success will reflect badly on the country's reputation, so they announce a special race for just Romans. After the announcement, Asterix and Getafix start talking, very loudly, about a cauldron of magic potion left in an unguarded shed. Eager to win, the other Roman athletes steal the potion that night.
The race begins, and the Roman athletes easily beat Asterix - they all overtake him and cross the finish line simultaneously. After the race, Getafix accuses them of having used magic potion and, when the Romans deny the accusation, Asterix sticks his tongue out at them. When the Romans return the gesture, it is revealed that Getafix had added an extra ingredient to this particular batch of potion and the Romans now have blue tongues from drinking it. They are disqualified, and Asterix is declared the winner.
The Gauls return home for their traditional banquet. Getafix notices Asterix hasn't brought his Palm of Victory home. Asterix explains he gave it to someone who needed it more: Gluteus Maximus. Gluteus' apparent victory is shown to have greatly pleased Julius Caesar, who promotes Maximus to centurion and Veriambitius to tribune.
In 1928, Douglas Bader joins the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a Flight Cadet. Despite a friendly reprimand from Air Vice-Marshal Halahan for his disregard for service discipline and flight rules, he successfully completes his training and is posted to No. 23 Squadron at RAF Kenley. In 1930, he is chosen to be among the pilots for an aerial exhibition.
Later, although his flight commander has explicitly banned low level aerobatics (as two pilots have been killed trying just that), he is goaded into it by a disparaging remark by a civilian pilot. His plane crashes.
Mr Joyce, surgeon at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, has to amputate both legs to save Bader's life. During his convalescence, he receives encouragement from Nurse Brace. Upon his discharge from the hospital, he sets out to master prosthetic legs. At a stop for some tea, he meets waitress Thelma Edwards. Once he can walk on his own, he asks her out.
Despite his undiminished skills, he is refused flying duties simply because there are no regulations covering his situation. Offered a desk job instead, he leaves the RAF and works unhappily in an office. He and Thelma marry.
As the Second World War starts, Bader talks himself back into the RAF. He is soon given command of a squadron comprising mostly dispirited Canadians who had fought in France. Improving morale and brazenly circumventing normal channels to obtain badly needed equipment, he makes the squadron operational again. They fight effectively in the Battle of Britain. Bader is then put in charge of a new, larger formation of five squadrons. Later, he is posted to RAF Tangmere and promoted to wing commander.
In 1941, Bader has to bail out over France. He is caught, escapes, and is recaptured. He then makes such a nuisance of himself to his jailers, he is repeatedly moved from one POW camp to another, finally ending up in Colditz Castle. He is liberated after four years of captivity. The war ends (much to Thelma's relief) before Bader can have "one last fling" in the Far East.
On 15 September 1945, the fifth anniversary of the greatest day of the Battle of Britain, Bader, now a group captain, is given the honour of leading eleven other battle survivors and a total of 300 aircraft in a flypast over London.
The play opens in a restaurant, where Marlene is waiting for some friends to arrive. She is throwing a dinner party to celebrate her promotion at the employment agency where she works. As the women arrive and start the meal, they begin to talk about their lives and what they did. Each of her guests is a historical, fictional or mythical woman who faced adversity and suffered bitterly to attain her goals. Lady Nijo recalls how she came to meet the ex-Emperor of Japan, and her encounter with him. While the rest of the women understand the encounter as rape, she explains that she saw it as her destiny: the purpose for which she was brought up. Within the context of Pope Joan's narrative, the women discuss religion. At this point the waitress, who punctuates the scene with interruptions, has already brought the starter and is preparing to serve the main courses. All the women except Marlene discuss their dead lovers. They also recall the children that they bore and subsequently lost. Nijo's baby was of royal blood, so he couldn't be seen with her. Pope Joan was stoned to death when it was discovered that she had given birth and was therefore female and committing heresy. Griselda was told that her two children had been killed, in a cruel test of her loyalty to her husband. After dessert, the women sit drinking brandy, unconsciously imitating their male counterparts.
In Act One, Scene Two, Marlene is at the agency where she works, interviewing a girl named Jeanine. Marlene takes a fancy to her even though she seems lost and helpless. She doesn't know what type of job she wants—only that she wants to travel and be with her husband.
Act Two, Scene One begins with two girls, Angie and Kit, playing in Angie's backyard. Angie is abrasive and argumentative with both her friend and her mother, Joyce. She and Kit fight and Angie says she is going to kill her mother. Kit doesn't believe her, and they start to talk about sex. Angie accuses Kit's mother of sleeping around, but it becomes apparent that neither of them know what they are talking about; Kit is only 12 and Angie is quite immature for her sixteen years.
In Act Two, Scene Two, the action turns to the "Top Girls" employment agency, where Nell and Win are sharing the latest office gossip, until Marlene arrives. They then express their congratulations to Marlene for getting the top job.
Win meets Louise, a client who after conscientiously working for many years at the same firm is deciding to quit. She slowly opens up to Win, describing how she had dedicated her life to her job, working evenings at the expense of her social life, without reward. She has found herself at 56, with no husband or life outside of work, in a position where she trains men who are consistently promoted over her.
The action then switches to Marlene's office where Angie arrives, having taken the bus from Joyce's house in the country. She is shy and awkward and her presence is clearly an unwelcome surprise to Marlene, who nevertheless offers to let Angie stay at her place overnight. They are interrupted by Mrs. Kidd, the wife of Howard, who was passed up for promotion in favor of Marlene. Mrs. Kidd tells Marlene how much the job means to her husband, how devastated he is, and questions whether she should be doing a 'man's job'. It becomes clear that she is asking Marlene to step down and let her husband have the job instead, which Marlene firmly declines to do. She tries to clear Mrs. Kidd out of her office, but Mrs. Kidd only becomes more insistent until Marlene finally asks her to "please piss off".
Lights shift to Shona arriving in Nell's office looking for job opportunities. At first Nell is impressed by her surprisingly accomplished resume, but quickly figures out that Shona is underaged and making it all up as she goes.
At the same time, Angie is having a conversation with Win about Angie's aunt and Win's life, but falls asleep in the middle of Win's story. Nell comes in with the news that Howard has had a heart attack. Marlene is informed but is unperturbed, and Nell responds "Lucky he didn't get the job if that's what his health's like".
The final act takes place a year earlier in Joyce's kitchen. Marlene, Joyce and Angie share stories with each other. Angie is very happy that her Aunt Marlene is there, since she looks up to her and thinks that she is wonderful. Shortly before Angie goes to bed, Marlene pulls a bottle of whiskey out of her bag to drink with Joyce. As they drink, they discuss what is to become of Angie. With brutal honesty, Joyce tells Marlene that Angie is neither particularly bright nor talented and it is unlikely that she will ever make anything of herself. Marlene tries to brush this off, saying that Joyce is just running Angie down, as this sober reality contradicts Marlene's conservative mentality. It is revealed that Angie is actually Marlene's daughter, whom she abandoned to Joyce's care, causing Joyce to lose the child she was carrying from the stress.
The play ends with Angie calling for her Mum towards Marlene. It is unclear how much Angie heard of Joyce and Marlene's argument.
The novel is written in the third-person with flashbacks to specific events in the life of Simón Bolívar, "the General". It begins on May 8, 1830 in Santa Fe de Bogotá. The General is preparing for his journey towards the port of Cartagena de Indias, intending to leave Colombia for Europe. Following his resignation as President of Gran Colombia, the people of the lands he liberated have now turned against him, scrawling anti-Bolívar graffiti and throwing waste at him. The General is anxious to move on, but has to remind the Vice-President-elect, General Domingo Caycedo, that he has yet to receive a valid passport to leave the country. The General leaves Bogotá with the few officials still faithful to him, including his confidante and aide-de-camp, José Palacios. At the end of the first chapter, the General is referred to by his full title, General Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios, for the only time in the novel.
On the first night of the voyage, the General stays at Facatativá with his entourage, which consists of José Palacios, five aides-de-camp, his clerks, and his dogs. Here, as throughout the journey that follows, the General's loss of prestige is evident; the downturn in his fortunes surprises even the General himself. His unidentified illness has led to his physical deterioration, which makes him unrecognizable, and his aide-de-camp is constantly mistaken for the Liberator.
After many delays, the General and his party arrive in Honda, where the Governor, Posada Gutiérrez, has arranged for three days of fiestas. On his last night in Honda, the General returns late to camp and finds one of his old friends, Miranda Lyndsay, waiting for him. The General recalls that fifteen years ago, she had learned of a plot against his life and had saved him. The following morning, the General begins the voyage down the Magdalena River. Both his physical debilitation and pride are evident as he negotiates the slope to the dock: he is in need of a sedan chair but refuses to use it. The group stays a night in Puerto Real, where the General claims he sees a woman singing during the night. His aides-de-camp and the watchman conduct a search, but they fail to uncover any sign of a woman having been in the vicinity.
The General and his entourage arrive at the port of Mompox. Here they are stopped by police, who fail to recognize the General. They ask for his passport, but he is unable to produce one. Eventually, the police discover his identity and escort him into the port. The people still believe him to be the President of Gran Colombia and prepare banquets in his honor; but these festivities are wasted on him due to his lack of strength and appetite. After several days, the General and his entourage set off for Turbaco.
The group spend a sleepless night in Barranca Nueva before they arrive in Turbaco. Their original plan was to continue to Cartagena the following day, but the General is informed that there is no available ship bound for Europe from the port and that his passport still has not arrived. While staying in the town, he receives a visit from General Mariano Montilla and a few other friends. The deterioration of his health becomes increasingly evident—one of his visitors describes his face as that of a dead man. In Turbaco, the General is joined by General Daniel Florencio O'Leary and receives news of ongoing political machinations: Joaquín Mosquera, appointed successor as President of Gran Colombia, has assumed power but his legitimacy is still contested by General Rafael Urdaneta. The General recalls that his "dream began to fall apart on the very day it was realized".
The General finally receives his passport, and two days later he sets off with his entourage for Cartagena and the coast, where more receptions are held in his honor. Throughout this time, he is surrounded by women but is too weak to engage in sexual relations. The General is deeply affected when he hears that his good friend and preferred successor for the presidency, Field Marshal Sucre, has been ambushed and assassinated.
The General is now told by one of his aides-de-camp that General Rafael Urdaneta has taken over the government in Bogotá, and there are reports of demonstrations and riots in support of a return to power by Bolívar. The General's group travel to the town of Soledad, where he stays for more than a month, his health declining further. In Soledad, the General agrees to see a physician for the first time.
The General never leaves South America. He finishes his journey in Santa Marta, too weak to continue and with only his doctor and his closest aides by his side. He dies in poverty, a shadow of the man who liberated much of the continent.
During a busy morning in London, writer Dan Woolf (Jude Law) meets a beautiful American woman (Natalie Portman) after she is hit by a car, not used to the direction of traffic in England. On their walk back from the hospital, they stop by Postman's Park. Dan asks her name, which she gives as Alice Ayres. They soon become lovers.
A year later, Dan has written a novel based on Alice's life. While being photographed to publicise it, he flirts with the American photographer Anna Cameron (Julia Roberts). They share a kiss before Alice arrives. While she uses the bathroom, Dan tries to persuade Anna to have an affair with him but their conversation is cut short by Alice's return. Alice then asks Anna if she can have her portrait taken as well. Anna agrees, and Alice asks Dan to leave them alone during the photoshoot. While being photographed, she reveals to Anna that she overheard them, and she is photographed while crying. Alice doesn't tell Dan what she heard and their relationship continues, but Dan spends a year brooding over his interest in Anna.
Another year later, Dan enters a cybersex chat room and converses with Larry Gray (Clive Owen), a British dermatologist. With Anna still on his mind, Dan pretends to be her, and invites Larry to meet at the aquarium, where Anna told Dan she often went. Larry goes to the rendezvous, where he by chance meets Anna and learns that he is the victim of a prank. Anna tells Larry that Dan was most likely to blame for the setup. Soon, Anna and Larry become a couple.
Four months later at Anna's photo exhibition, Larry meets Alice, whom he recognises from the photograph of her in tears, which is being exhibited. Larry knows that Alice and Dan are a couple from talking to Anna. Dan persuades Anna to become involved with him. They cheat on their respective lovers for a year, even though Anna and Larry marry halfway through the year. Eventually Anna and Dan each confess the affair to their respective partners, leaving their relationships for one another.
Heartbroken by her loss, Alice becomes a stripper once again. One day, Larry runs into her accidentally at the strip club. He asks her real name, and she tells him it is Jane Jones. He asks her to have sex with him, but she refuses. Later, Larry and Anna meet for coffee. She asks him to sign their divorce papers, and he bargains with her- she agrees to sleep with him so that he will sign the documents and thereafter leave her alone. Anna and Dan later meet and, after she reveals to him that the divorce papers have been signed, Dan realizes she has had sex with Larry. She claims she did it so he would leave them alone, but Dan is furious and does not trust her.
A distraught Dan later confronts Larry to try to get Anna back. Larry tells him Anna never filed the signed divorce papers and suggests that he return to Alice. Alice takes Dan back and they plan a visit to the United States for a vacation. While in a hotel room at Gatwick airport celebrating being back together, they talk about the way they met. After bringing up Larry, Dan asks her whether she had sex with him. She initially denies it but a short while later, she says she doesn't love him anymore and that she did sleep with Larry. Dan forgives her but Alice insists that it's over and tells him to leave. The argument culminates in Dan slapping Alice.
, London At the conclusion of the film, Larry and Anna are together, and Alice returns to New York City alone. As she passes through the immigration checkpoint on her way back into the States, a shot of her passport shows her real name to be Jane Jones, revealing she had lied about her name during her entire four-year relationship with Dan but had told the truth to Larry, even though he didn't believe her. Back in London, Dan returns to Postman's Park and notices the name Alice Ayres on the tiles of the Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice. The Ayres dedication is to a young woman, "who by intrepid conduct" and "at the cost of her own young life," rescued three children from a fire.
The final scene, which resembles the first, shows Jane walking on a New York street alone being stared at by several of the men around her. She crosses a crosswalk that appears to have a "Don't Walk" signal up.
In Universal Century (UC) 0133, ten years after the events of ''F91'', Crossbone Vanguard forces attack a transport ship called the Smashion as it heads to the space colonies run by the Jupiter Empire. Tobia Arronax, a 13-year-old boy aboard the ship, flies out in a Batara mobile suit to fight the Crossbone Vanguard, who have long been derided as space pirates. Unfortunately, he is captured by Crossbone Vanguard ace pilot Seabook Arno, who now goes by the name Kinkedo Nau and brought before their leader, Berah Ronah, who offers him to join the Vanguard or go to Jupiter and forget the attack.
Tobia decides to be with the Vanguard, who reveal to him that the Jupiter Empire has spent several years building up its military strength to destroy the Earth Federation, with whom it has a partnership. Now armed with this information, Tobia is trained in mobile suit piloting by Kincaide and to discover his own Newtype abilities. He flies into action as pilot of the XM-X3 Crossbone Gundam X-3 mobile suit.
''Birdsong'' has an episodic structure, and is split into seven sections which move between three different periods of time before, during and after the war in the Stephen Wraysford plot, and three different windows of time in the 1970s Benson plot.
The first stage starts in pre-war Amiens, France. Stephen Wraysford visits and lives with René Azaire, his wife Isabelle and their children. Azaire teaches Stephen about the French textile industry. He witnesses a comfortable middle class life in Northern France alongside industrial worker unrest. Azaire and the significantly younger Isabelle express discontent with their marriage. This sparks Stephen's interest in Isabelle, with whom he soon falls in love. During one incident, Azaire, embarrassed that he and Isabelle cannot have another child, beats her in a jealous rage. Around the same time, Isabelle helps give food to the families of striking workers, stirring rumours that she is having an affair with one of the workers.
Stephen's love of Isabelle transforms into a passionate affair. Isabelle confronts Azaire with the truth of their relationship and Azaire evicts Stephen. Isabelle leaves with him, running away to Southern France. There she becomes pregnant, and momentarily loses faith in her relationship with Stephen. Without telling Stephen, she flees, returning to her family home and the one constant in her life: her sister Jeanne. Later, Isabelle's father makes a deal with Azaire for her return to maintain her honour; Isabelle is forgiven but soon regrets leaving her true love, Stephen. However, she does not reach back out to Stephen.
The second section rejoins Stephen, when he is a lieutenant in the British Army at the start of the war. Through his eyes, Faulks tells the reader about the first day on the Somme in July 1916 and the Battle of Messines near Ypres in the following year.
Several episodes depict a downtrodden Stephen whose only respite is his friendship with Captain Michael Weir and his men. Stephen gains the reputation of a cold and distant officer. He refuses all offers of leave, because he is committed to fighting the war.
His story is interleaved with that of Jack Firebrace, a former miner employed with the tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers in the British trenches to listen for the enemy and plant mines under the German trenches. In one expedition across No-Man's Land, Stephen is badly injured but survives.
During these episodes, Stephen feels lonely and writes to Isabelle, feeling that there is no one else to whom he can express his feelings. He writes about his fears that he will die, and confesses that he has only ever loved her.
Alongside the main story, there is the narrative of Stephen's granddaughter, Elizabeth, who, whilst struggling with her already married boyfriend, Robert, unearths Stephen's journals from World War I and seeks to learns about his experiences at Marne, Verdun and the Somme. She discovers that Stephen's journals are encoded, but tries to decipher them.
Stephen has a chance encounter with Jeanne, Isabelle's sister, while on leave in Amiens. During this encounter, Stephen persuades her to allow him to meet with Isabelle. He meets her but finds her face disfigured by a shell with scarring from the injury. Stephen discovers that Isabelle is now in a relationship with Max, a German soldier.
Stephen returns to England briefly, and finds relief at being able to enjoy the Norfolk countryside away from the trenches. When he meets Jeanne again on the way back, he tells her how he dreads returning to the front line after leave. Weir, Stephen's closest friend, is eventually killed by a sniper's bullet while in a trench out on the front line.
Elizabeth continues researching the war and talks to war veterans Gray and Brennan (who knew Stephen) about their experiences. During this period, she also becomes pregnant with Robert's child.
The WWI plot ends with Stephen and Firebrace trapped underground after a German mine explosion; with their way out blocked, they talk and share their experiences, with Firebrace grieving for his dead son John and Stephen telling him of his former love for Isabelle. Stephen finds some explosives and Firebrace, himself close to death, tells him how to lay them in order to blast their way out of the tunnel. Before Stephen completes the task, Firebrace dies. The explosion successfully clears a way out for Stephen, and he is rescued by Levi, a Jewish German soldier, as the war ends.
Elizabeth finally decides to reveal her pregnancy to her mother Françoise, who, to Elizabeth's surprise, is supportive. Over dinner, she learns her mother was raised by Stephen and Jeanne, who married and settled in Norfolk after Elizabeth's grandmother Isabelle's premature death due to the postwar influenza epidemic. Elizabeth and the still-married Robert go on holiday to Dorset, where she goes into labour and has a son, naming him John (after Jack Firebrace's late son). The book ends with Robert walking down the garden of the holiday cottage and having an immense sense of joy.
San Diego Police Detective Michael Dooley leaves his unmarked police car to contact his girlfriend, Tracy, when a helicopter suddenly appears and opens fire on his car, which ignites. Presuming him dead, the assassins leave the scene. At the police station, Dooley argues with his lieutenant about the other night, refusing to take a partner; instead, he decides to get a police dog. At home, he finds Tracy with another man and spends the night in his personal car, a classic 1966 Ford Mustang convertible (he refers to it as a "'65"). The next day, Dooley coerces Freddie, an informant, into revealing that Ken Lyman, the drug lord Dooley has been after for two years, is responsible for the attack. Dooley is assigned a German Shepherd named "Jerry Lee", whom he dislikes.
Dooley and Jerry Lee head to a warehouse assumed to be filled with drugs. When Jerry Lee ignores Dooley's orders, the workers laugh at him. Dooley is forced to leave after Jerry Lee finds only a marijuana joint when commanded to find drugs. The duo drive to a pub where Dooley stakes out Benny the Mule in an attempt to charge Lyman. When his cover is blown, Jerry Lee saves Dooley from a beating; with the dog's help, Dooley subdues Benny and learns the location of Lyman's next shipment. Meanwhile, Lyman kills Freddie and demands that his henchman Dillon kill Dooley before the shipment arrives.
At Dooley's apartment, Jerry Lee steals the spotlight after Tracy accepts Dooley's story that he rescued the dog from the streets. The next day, Dooley and Jerry Lee bond when they eat together and spy on Lyman. The two are nearly killed when someone shoots at them, and the two chase the assailant to an empty building. Jerry Lee leads Dooley to the man, who falls to his death after a fistfight with Dooley. In the man's car, Dooley finds a clue that leads him to an auto-dealer shop. There, Jerry Lee identifies a red Mercedes owned by Lyman, and Dooley learns from Halstead, the owner of the dealership, that he works for Lyman. Later, Jerry Lee falls in love with a poodle to the disapproval of its owner.
When Dooley returns home, he discovers Lyman has kidnapped Tracy. Infuriated, Dooley crashes a party at Lyman's mansion and demands her return. Lyman pretends to know nothing, and Dooley is arrested by an officer from his own department and put in a squad car. Angry, Dooley's lieutenant calls him crazy. When Jerry Lee's flatulence annoys the other officers, Dooley uses it to his advantage and escapes with the dog. As Dooley tells Jerry Lee how he met Tracy, he spots a truck driven by Halstead that is pulling a trailer with Lyman's Mercedes. Dooley purses the truck, and Halstead blows a tire. After Halstead shoots at Dooley, Jerry Lee stopped Halstead and arrested.
Meanwhile, in a stranded desert in San Diego, Lyman holds Tracy hostage in his limo and becomes suspicious when Halstead is late. Dooley arrives with the truck and trailer, which is revealed to be the next shipment of drugs. Not worrying about the case anymore, Dooley orders Lyman to surrender his girlfriend to him, or he will blow up the truck. Lyman calls Dooley's bluff, and a shootout ensues. Dooley kills Lyman's henchmen Dillon and Jerry Lee chases Lyman as he runs for his helicopter. Unable to outrun the dog, Lyman shoots Jerry Lee; enraged, Dooley shoots at Lyman but misses. Lyman is, instead, shot and killed by his associates who were waiting in the helicopter. Dooley and Tracy rush Jerry Lee to a hospital, where the reluctant surgeon operates. In the recovery room, Dooley delivers a eulogy to Jerry Lee, not knowing that he is alive. When the surgeon tells him he is going to be fine, Dooley responds in anger, thinking he was speaking to a dead dog. Jerry Lee licks Dooley's face out of love, making him give in.
To take a break from police work, Dooley, Tracy, Jerry Lee, and a poodle spend a vacation together in Las Vegas.
A female tax auditor, Ryōko Itakura, inspects the accounts of various Japanese companies, uncovering hidden incomes and recovering unpaid taxes.
One day she persuades her boss to let her investigate the owner of a string of love hotels who seems to be avoiding tax, but after an investigation no evidence is found. During the investigation the inspector and the inspected owner, Hideki Gondō, develop an unspoken respect for each other.
She is promoted to the post of government tax inspector. When the same case reappears she is again allowed to investigate. During a sophisticated series of raids against the hotel owner's interests, she accidentally comes across a hidden room containing vital incriminating evidence. On the same day, she helps Gondō with his relationship with his teenage son. While she is doing all of this, she is neglecting her own son at home, calling him from her office at night and saying, "You can heat up your own dumplings in the microwave! You are big now! You are five!"
Six months later the two meet again. The man is tired after daily interrogations. She tries to persuade him to surrender his last secrets for the sake of his son. After she declines an offer to work with him, he cuts his finger and writes the name of the secret bank account in blood on a handkerchief of hers that he saved from the first time she investigated him.
Captain Ralph Crewe, a wealthy English widower, has been raising his only child, Sara, in India where he is stationed with the British Army. Because the Indian climate is considered too harsh for their children, British families living there traditionally send their children to boarding school back home in England. The Captain enrolls his seven-year-old daughter at Miss Minchin's boarding school for girls in London and dotes on his daughter so much that he orders and pays the headmistress for special treatment and exceptional luxuries for Sara, such as a private room for her with a personal maid and a separate sitting room (see Parlour boarder), along with Sara's own private carriage and a pony. Miss Minchin openly fawns over Sara for her money, but is secretly bitter toward her for her wealth.
In spite of said wealth, Sara is not self-centered, rude, or snobbish, but kind, generous, and compassionate. She extends her friendship to Ermengarde St. John, the school dunce; to Lottie, a four-year-old pupil given to tantrums; and to Becky, the lowly, stunted scullery maid. When Sara acquires the epithet "princess", she embraces its favorable elements in her natural kindheartedness.
After some time, Sara's eleventh birthday is celebrated at Miss Minchin's with a lavish party, attended by all her friends and classmates. Just as it ends, Miss Minchin learns of Captain Crewe's unfortunate demise due to jungle fever. Furthermore, prior to his death, the previously wealthy captain had lost his entire fortune; a close friend from his schoolboy days had persuaded him to cash in his investments and deposit the proceeds to develop a network of diamond mines. The scheme fails, and the preteen Sara is left an orphan and a pauper, with no other family and nowhere to go. Miss Minchin is left with a sizable unpaid bill for Sara's school fees and luxuries, including her birthday party. Infuriated and pitiless, she takes away all of Sara's possessions (except for some old frocks and her doll, Emily), makes her live in a cold and poorly furnished attic, and forces her to earn her keep by working as a servant. She also forces Sara to wear frocks much too short for her, with her thin legs peeking out of the brief skirts.
For the next two years, Sara is abused by Miss Minchin and the other servants, except for Becky. Miss Minchin's kind younger sister, Amelia, deplores the way that Sara is treated, but is too weak-willed to speak up about it. Sara is starved, worked for long hours, sent out in all kinds of weather, poorly dressed in outgrown and worn-out clothes, and deprived of warmth or a comfortable bed in the attic. Despite her hardships, Sara is consoled by her friends and uses her imagination to cope, pretending she is a prisoner in the Bastille or a princess disguised as a servant. Sara also continues to be kind to everyone, including those who find her annoying or mistreat her. One day, she finds a coin in the street and uses it to buy buns at a bakery; despite being very hungry, she gives most of the buns away to a beggar girl who is hungrier than herself. The bakery shop owner sees this and wants to reward Sara, but she has disappeared, so the shop owner instead gives the beggar girl bread and warm shelter for Sara's sake.
Meanwhile, Mr. Carrisford and his Indian assistant, Ram Dass, have moved into the house next door to Miss Minchin's school. Carrisford had been Captain Crewe's friend and partner in the diamond mines. After the diamond mine venture failed, both Crewe and Carrisford became very ill, and Carrisford in his delirium abandoned his good childhood friend Crewe, who died of his "brain fever." As it turned out, the diamond mines did not fail, but instead were a great success, making Carrisford extremely rich. Although Carrisford survived, he suffers from several ailments and is guilt-ridden over abandoning his friend. He is determined to find Crewe's young daughter and heiress, although he does not know where she is and thinks she is attending school in France, as her late mother was a Frenchwoman.
Ram Dass befriends Sara when his pet monkey escapes into Sara's adjoining attic. After climbing over the roof to Sara's room to get the monkey, Ram Dass tells Carrisford about Sara's poor living conditions. As a pleasant distraction, Carrisford and Ram Dass buy warm blankets, comfortable furniture, food, and other gifts, and secretly leave them in Sara's room when she is asleep or out. Sara's spirits and health improve due to the gifts she receives from her mysterious benefactor, whose identity she does not know; nor are Ram Dass and Carrisford aware that Sara is Crewe's lost daughter. When Carrisford anonymously sends Sara a package of new, well-made, and expensive clothing in her proper size, Miss Minchin becomes quite alarmed, thinking Sara might have a wealthy relative secretly looking out for her, and begins to treat Sara better and allows her to attend classes rather than doing menial work.
One night, the monkey again runs away to Sara's room, and Sara visits Carrisford's house the next morning to return him. When Sara casually mentions that she was born in India, Carrisford and his solicitor question her and discover that she is Captain Crewe's daughter, for whom they have been searching for two years. Sara also learns that Carrisford was her father's childhood friend and her own anonymous benefactor and that the diamond mines have produced great riches, of which she will now own her late father's share. When Miss Minchin angrily appears to collect Sara, she is informed that Sara will be living with Carrisford from now on and her entire fortune has been restored and increased tenfold. Upon finding this out, Miss Minchin unsuccessfully tries to persuade Sara into returning to her school as a star pupil. She then threatens to keep Sara from ever seeing her school friends again, but Carrisford and his solicitor tell Miss Minchin that Sara will see anyone she wishes to see and that her friends' parents are not likely to refuse invitations from an heiress of diamond mines. Miss Minchin goes home, where she is surprised when Amelia finally stands up to her. Amelia has a nervous breakdown afterward, but she is on the road to gaining more respect.
Sara invites Becky to live with her and be her personal maid, in much better living conditions than at Miss Minchin's. Carrisford becomes a friend and father figure to Sara and quickly regains his health. Finally, Sara—accompanied by Becky—pays a visit to the bakery where she bought the buns, making a deal with the owner to cover the bills for bread for any hungry child. They find that the beggar girl (now named Ann), who was saved from starvation by Sara's selfless act, is now the bakery owner's assistant, with good food, clothing, shelter, and steady employment.
Set in Cuba in 1958, the last year of Fulgencio Batista regime, the plot revolves around a boy who is torn between his friendship with a blonde American named Julia and the strife facing his family as a result of the revolution and turmoil in their nation.
Josh Parker and Tiffany Henderson are childhood friends turned high school sweethearts, and try for a long-distance relationship as he goes to the University of Ithaca and she to the University of Austin. Eventually their long-distance relationship begins to deteriorate. Josh becomes insecure when he can't regularly reach Tiffany by the phone. Fearing infidelity, Josh begins sending Tiffany video taped messages.
Josh asks his friend, Rubin, to mail his latest tape to Tiffany before leaving for his Ancient Philosophy class. Josh's Ancient Philosophy professor tells him he needs a B+ on his mid-term to pass the class. Josh's best friend, E.L., convinces Josh to stop worrying about Tiffany and notice the beautiful Beth Wagner. Beth is in love with Josh much to the chagrin of Jacob, the Philosophy T.A. who is obsessed with her. Later, E.L. throws a party where he auctions off several female students, including Beth. Scared of Jacob, she convinces Josh to outbid him. Josh and Beth escape to his room and record themselves having sex on his camcorder.
The next morning, Josh tells his friends that he slept with Beth. When his friends don’t believe him, Josh mentions that he has ‘evidence.’ Josh’s friends immediately play his camcorder tape expecting to see Josh and Beth having sex, only to find love letters and songs performed for Tiffany. Josh believes that Rubin mailed the sex tape to Tiffany. Josh then hears a voicemail from Tiffany saying that she hasn't called as her grandfather has died and she will be away from school until Monday.
With E.L. and Rubin, Josh asks Kyle to tag along on a road trip, as he needs his car. Kyle is a shy loner who lives in constant fear of his overly strict father, Earl Edwards, the car's owner. They head out to drive the 1,800 miles to Austin and back in three days, leaving their friend Barry to take care of Mitch, their snake.
After leaving the interstate in Bedford for what they thought was a "shortcut", they find a small bridge collapsed, realizing they will waste five hours backtracking. E.L. and Rubin convince them to jump the gap. Kyle objects but they proceed. They make it across, but the car is wrecked. They continue on foot, stopping at a motel. Rubin tries to buy marijuana from the unsympathetic motel clerk, but is informed that Kyle's credit card is maxed out. Looking for transportation, E.L. persuades a blind woman, Brenda, at a school for the blind, into letting him take a bus for 'repairs', and they resume the journey.
Meanwhile, Kyle's father, Earl, discovers the card is maxed. Believing he's been kidnapped, Earl begins searching for Kyle when told by the police that the car was found wrecked and he is missing. They have a series of misadventures on the way: Kyle loses his virginity at a fraternity; two of them raise money making deposits at a sperm bank; and they visit Barry's grandparents. As Josh's books were destroyed in the car wreck, he calls his professor to ask for an extension on his midterm exam. Jacob answers the phone, impersonating the professor, and granting a fake extension.
While Barry feeds the snake, Beth comes looking for Josh; he tells her Josh has feelings for her. Jacob walks in, telling her Josh is about to fail Philosophy (as he was led to believe he could retake the exam). Mitch bites Barry's hand, causing a vicious struggle, ending with Mitch landing on Jacob, squeezing his neck until he loses consciousness.
Finally getting to Austin and Tiffany's dorm, Josh intercepts the tape, just as she arrives. Earl also bursts in, furious over the car and the credit card, threatening to drag Kyle back with him. Kyle finally stands up to him, stating that he is going back to school with his friends. Earl assaults him and a mini-riot ensues.
Josh and Tiffany retreat to talk, then Beth calls to warn him (he has 48 hours to get back to school or else he will fail his midterm, the course and possibly be kicked out of college – Jacob tricked him). While Josh talks on the phone, Tiffany starts to watch the tape, which luckily is nothing but Barry mooning the camera. She and Josh agree to break up, remaining friends. Then Josh and crew rush back, just in time to take his midterm – with a little help from Beth, who called in a bomb threat.
As Barry closes the movie by completing the visitors' tour, he confirms that: Josh passed the course; Josh and Beth are still together (happily making videos); Jacob eventually dies as result of leading a cult staging a mass suicide, in which no one but himself carried out; Rubin became a successful marijuana cultivator; and lastly relates humorous facts about E.L.'s and Kyle's futures. The credits roll while Barry dry humps a mother from the tour group, in the middle of campus.
In the middle of the 19th century, in the town of Darkness Falls, elderly widow Matilda Dixon was adored by the town's children. She would give them a gold coin whenever they lost a tooth, earning her the nickname Tooth Fairy. One night, a fire broke out in her house and left her face disfigured and severely sensitive to light. She wore a white porcelain mask and would only leave her house at night. However, the town's adults were suspicious of Matilda, believing her to be a witch. When two children went missing, the town quickly turned on Matilda. They exposed her face to light and hanged her. Before her death, Matilda placed a curse on the town and swore revenge. When the two missing children returned home unharmed, the town realized their mistake and quickly buried Matilda's body, keeping their deed a secret. Over the next 150 years, the story of Matilda became the legend of the Tooth Fairy; her spirit visits children on the night they lose their last tooth. If anyone lays eyes upon her, they will forever be marked for her vengeance.
In 1990, Kyle Walsh, an antisocial teenager befriended by Caitlin Greene (Emily Browning), loses his last baby tooth. That night, he wakes after a horrific nightmare and senses Matilda's presence, discovering that the story is true. Knowing she cannot bear the light, he shines a flashlight into her face and flees, hiding in the brightly lit bathroom. His mother tries to reassure him that there is nobody else in the house, but is killed after seeing Matilda in Kyle's room. The next morning, police arrive and Kyle is removed to a psychiatric institution after mistaken speculations that he killed his mother.
Twelve years later, Caitlin (Emma Caulfield) telephones Kyle (Chaney Kley) to ask for his help with her younger brother Michael (Lee Cormie), who refuses to sleep in the dark. Kyle still suffers extreme paranoia from his encounter with Matilda; he has dozens of flashlights and numerous medications for anxiety, depression and sleep disorders. Kyle visits Michael at the hospital but denies any relation to his condition and walks away from Caitlin, who still believes that the legend of Matilda Dixon is just a story, one which they were all told as children, but a story nonetheless.
Kyle tries to warn others of Matilda but faces ridicule and skepticism, which leads to the death of many townspeople. A lightning storm blacks out the whole town, and realizing that Michael and Caitlin are in danger, Kyle rushes to the hospital. He rescues them and gains allies along the way, as others see Matilda and realize the story is true. Kyle, Michael and Caitlin flee and hide in the lighthouse. They are helped by several medical personnel, all of whom are killed by Matilda.
During his final confrontation with Matilda, power is restored and the lighthouse beacon is activated. The sudden exposure to light causes Matilda excruciating pain, and Kyle tears off her mask. Seeing her grotesque, disfigured face, he realizes she is now vulnerable. Enraged, she resumes her attack. Kyle sets his right sleeve on fire and he strikes her face with it. As her spirit is engulfed in flame, Matilda is destroyed and her curse is finally brought to an end.
In a final scene, a young boy is being tucked into bed by his parents, having just lost his last baby tooth. As he sleeps, his mother replaces the tooth under his pillow with a gold coin, indicating that Matilda is gone and her curse is lifted.
A convict named Malcolm Rivers awaits execution for a vicious mass murder that took place at an apartment building. Journals belonging to Malcolm are discovered misfiled in the case evidence, not introduced during the trial. Malcolm's psychiatrist, Dr. Malick, and his defense attorney argue to use the evidence to prove Malcolm's insanity.
Meanwhile, ten strangers find themselves stranded in a torrential rainstorm at a remote Nevada motel, run by Larry Washington. The group consists of an ex-cop, now limousine driver, Ed Dakota; Caroline Suzanne, a washed-up, irritable actress; Officer Rhodes, who is transporting convicted murderer Robert Maine; Paris Nevada, a sex worker; newlyweds Lou and Ginny Isiana; and the York family, George, Alice (who was severely injured when Ed accidentally hit her with his limo), and their nine-year-old son, Timmy.
Suzanne is killed by an unknown assailant. Ed discovers Suzanne's head in a dryer, along with the number 10 motel key. Maine is suspected to be the killer as he has escaped. Lou and Ginny get into a fight and Lou is murdered next.
At the hearing, Malcolm's diaries indicate that Malcolm suffers from extreme dissociative identity disorder, harboring eleven distinct personalities. His defense attorney argues that he is unaware of his crimes, which is in violation of existing Supreme Court rulings on capital punishment. Dr. Malick is introducing the concept of integrating the personalities of someone with dissociative identity disorder as Malcolm is brought in.
While taking photos of Lou's crime scene, Ed finds the number 9 key in Lou's hands. He begins to suspect that the killer is counting down and targeting them in order. Maine fails to escape the motel area, and is subdued by Rhodes and Ed. Maine is killed next. Rhodes and Ed find the number 8 key next to his body, and harass Larry, who takes Paris hostage. Paris wrestles him off, causing Larry to attempt to escape in his truck, but he accidentally crushes George against a dumpster as he tries to save Timmy from being run over.
Rhodes ties Larry to a chair, and orders the other guests to stay until dawn. Larry convinces Paris and Ed that he is not the perpetrator by telling them how he ended up at the motel. Alice, still in bed, is checked on and presumably has died from her injuries, but Rhodes finds the number 6 key. George's body is recovered and the number 7 key is found in his pocket, which confuses the others.
Ed tells Ginny and Timmy to flee in a car but it explodes. The last four survivors discover that the bodies of all the previous victims have disappeared. Paris has a mental breakdown, revealing her birthday on May 10; it transpires that all eleven people were born on May 10 — which is also Malcolm's birthday, and the day he committed the murders.
Ed checks their ID cards in the office, discovering that each one of them is named after a state, and that their birthdays all match. With Dr. Malick calling out to him, Ed finds he is at the hearing, but is confused as to why he is there. Dr. Malick explains that he is one of the personalities that Malcolm Rivers created as a child. Learning one of the personalities committed the murders, Ed is instructed to "go back" to the motel to try to eliminate them.
As Ed returns to the motel, Paris finds convict-transportation files for both Maine and Rhodes in the police car, revealing Rhodes is a criminal acting as an officer. Rhodes attacks Paris, but she is saved by Larry, who is shot to death by Rhodes. Finally believing Rhodes to be the murderous personality, Ed goes after him and the two men end up shooting each other fatally, leaving only Paris still alive.
With the homicidal personality removed, Malcolm's execution is stayed and he is ordered to be placed in a mental institution under Dr. Malick's care. In Malcolm's mind, Paris settles down in her hometown of Frostproof, Florida. As she tends to her orange grove, she discovers the number 1 key buried in the dirt, and finds Timmy behind her. It is revealed Timmy orchestrated all of the deaths at the motel, including faking his death. Timmy kills Paris, while Malcolm strangles Malick, causing the van that is en route to the mental institution to swerve off the road and stop before Timmy's voice repeats the poem "Antigonish" by William Hughes Mearns one more time.
Brigitte Fitzgerald uses monkshood extract to fight the effects of lycanthropy that transformed her sister Ginger into a werewolf. Brigitte shaves off excess hair, cuts her arm with a scalpel, and logs the data about her healing ability. Ginger appears as an apparition and warns her that monkshood only slows her transformation progression and is not a cure. After Brigitte injects a second dose of monkshood, she senses the presence of a male werewolf that has been stalking her. She quickly packs and open the door, only to find Jeremy, a flirtatious librarian who has brought to her several books she attempted to check out earlier. The second injection causes toxic shock, and Jeremy attempts to bring her to the hospital; however, the male werewolf mauls him to death. Brigitte stumbles down the street and collapses in the snow.
Brigitte wakes in a rehab clinic, from which she unsuccessfully attempts to escape. She pleads to be released, but Alice, the clinic's director, refuses; however, Brigitte palms a piece of glass to measure her healing rate. Tyler, a worker at the clinic, offers to trade monkshood for sexual favors, which she declines. As her healing rate accelerates, so does her rate of transformation. Ginger continues to appear, taunting Brigitte as she experiences growing cravings for sex and murder, which Ginger also had. During a group therapy session, Brigitte fantasizes about being instructed to lie on the floor and masturbate; a vision of Ginger jolts her back to reality, and her palm is revealed to be covered in hair. Later, depressed, she holds the shard of glass to her throat in front of a mirror, but she does not kill herself.
While at the clinic, a girl named Ghost – the granddaughter of Barbara, a severe burn victim at the hospital – follows the clinical staff, who discuss Brigitte's injections of monkshood, and realizes Brigitte's secret. Ghost slips Brigitte a werewolf comic book and begins to question her about lycanthropy. When Ghost notices that Brigitte's ears have become pointed, Brigitte cuts off the tips. Ghost, now convinced of Brigitte's lycanthropy, attempts to slip Brigitte monkshood, but Tyler prevents it. In despair at her rate of transformation, Brigitte allows Tyler to inject her. After the male werewolf tracks Brigitte to the clinic, she and Ghost plan their escape. They crawl through air vents to reach the basement, where they encounter Beth-Ann, an addict who traded sex for drugs. The male werewolf kills and drags away Beth-Ann, and Brigitte is wounded after she fights the werewolf; however, her wounds heal almost instantly.
Ghost drives them to Barbara's house and explains that Barbara fell asleep with her bedtime cigarette. The next morning, Brigitte eats a hunted deer while it is still alive. Brigitte realizes that the effects of lycanthropy are progressing too fast, and with no other choice, the duo arrange a meeting at a gas station with Tyler to procure more monkshood. When Brigitte wanders in the gas station, she discovers the attendant has been slain. Brigitte quickly returns to the car to find Tyler arriving, and, when they return to Barbara's house, Tyler administers monkshood to Brigitte, which her body violently rejects. Worried, Tyler calls Alice. Jealous of the attention that Tyler is getting, Ghost tricks Brigitte into thinking that Tyler abused her, causing Brigitte to lock Tyler outside, where the werewolf kills him. Alice arrives, and Ghost attacks her with Barbara's hunting rifle. Alice confronts Ghost about her delusions, and Brigitte, realizing that Barbara is not a smoker, aggressively pins Ghost against the wall and argues with her; she realizes that Tyler did not abuse Ghost, and Ghost burnt Barbara.
Alice attempts to take Ghost with her, but retreats to the attic once the werewolf breaks in through a window. Brigitte, whose transformation is almost complete, lures the werewolf into a room. Brigitte stabs him while Ghost distracts the werewolf. The werewolf bites Brigitte, and, as they struggle, they both fall into the basement, where the werewolf is impaled on a booby-trapped mattress. Ghost kills Alice with a hammer, and a weakened Brigitte begs Ghost to kill her before the transformation completes. Instead, Ghost locks her in the basement and illustrates a comic book that depicts herself as a powerful warrior with a werewolf pet. Ghost narrates that Brigitte is getting stronger and is waiting to be unleashed on her enemies. A doorbell is heard, and Ghost prepares to welcome Barbara home.
Washington, D.C. detective and forensic psychologist Alex Cross heads to Durham, North Carolina when his niece Naomi, a college student, is reported missing. He learns from police detective Nick Ruskin that Naomi is the latest in a series of young women who have vanished. Soon after his arrival, one of the missing women is found dead, bound to a tree, and a short time later, Kate McTiernan is kidnapped from her home.
When she awakens from a drugged state, Kate discovers that she is being held by a masked man calling himself Casanova, and she is one of several prisoners trapped in his lair. She manages to escape and is severely injured when she jumps from a cliff into a river. After she recuperates, she joins forces with Cross to track down her captor, whom Cross concludes is a collector, not a killer, unless his victims fail to follow his rules. This means there is time to rescue the other imprisoned women, as long as they remain obedient.
Clues lead them to Los Angeles, where a series of gruesome kidnappings and murders have been credited to Dr. William Rudolph, known as the Gentleman Caller. Cross's efforts to capture and question Rudolph are foiled when Rudolph escapes. In North Carolina, Cross traces Casanova up the river. Alerted by a gunshot, he discovers Casanova's underground hideout. Rudolph is revealed to be Casanova's partner. Casanova escapes, while Rudolph is shot by Cross. Cross rescues the kidnapped women, including Naomi.
Later, Kate invites Cross to dinner at her house. Ruskin drops by Kate's house and sends home the two officers guarding her. While Cross is at home preparing to meet Kate for dinner, he discovers that Ruskin's signature on the arrest warrants matches Casanova's handwriting. Cross tries calling Kate to inform her, but Ruskin has already disconnected her phone line. Kate becomes suspicious of Ruskin while conversing with him. He then drops his accent, revealing he is Casanova. After a fight and attempted rape, Kate manages to handcuff him to the oven. Ruskin slashes Kate's arm with a kitchen knife. In attempting to free himself, Ruskin pulls the oven away from the wall, rupturing the gas pipe. Ruskin takes out a lighter, threatening to cause an explosion due to the leaking gas. Cross shows up and tries to discourage Ruskin. When this fails, Cross shoots Ruskin, firing through a milk carton to avoid igniting the gas. Cross comforts Kate as the police arrive.
Alice Paul and Lucy Burns return from England where they met while participating in the Women's Social and Political Union started by radical suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst and led by her daughter Christabel Pankhurst. The pair presents a plan to the National American Woman's Suffrage Association (NAWSA) to campaign directly in Washington D.C. for national voting rights for women. They find that their ideas are too forceful for the established suffragist leaders in the U.S., particularly Carrie Chapman Catt, but they are allowed to lead the NAWSA Congressional Committee in D.C. They start by organizing the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession on the eve of President Woodrow Wilson's inauguration.
While soliciting donations at an art gallery, Paul convinces labor lawyer Inez Milholland to lead the parade on a white horse. Paul also meets a Washington newspaper political cartoonist, Ben Weissman (a fictional character), and there are hints of romantic overtones. In a fictional scene, Paul tries to explain to Ida B. Wells why she wants African American women to march in the back of the parade in order to not anger southern Democrats and activists, but Wells refuses, and she comes out of the crowd to join a white group during the middle of the parade. After disagreements over fundraising, Paul and Burns are forced out of the NAWSA, and they found the National Woman's Party (NWP) to support their approach. Alice Paul briefly explores a romantic relationship with Ben Weissman.
Further conflicts within the movement are portrayed as NAWSA leaders criticize NWP tactics, such as protesting against Wilson, and their sustained picketing outside of the White House in the Silent Sentinels action. Relations between the American government and the NWP protesters also intensify, as many women are arrested for their actions and charged with "obstructing traffic."
The arrested women are sent to the Occoquan Workhouse for 60-day terms. Despite abusive and terrorizing treatment, Paul and other women undertake a hunger strike, during which paid guards force-feed them milk and raw eggs. The suffragists are blocked from seeing visitors or lawyers, until (fictional) U.S. Senator Tom Leighton visits his wife Emily, one of the imprisoned women. News of their treatment leaks to the media after Emily secretly passes a letter to her husband during his visit. Paul, Burns, and the other women are released.
Pressure continues to be put on President Wilson as the NAWSA joins in the NWP call for passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Wilson finally accedes to the pressure rather than be called out in the international press for fighting for democracy in Europe while denying democracy's benefits to half of the U.S. population. During the amendment's ratification, Harry T. Burn, a member of the Tennessee legislature, receives a telegram from his mother at the last minute, changes his vote, and the amendment passes.
It is the autumn of 1944. Allied armies are sweeping through France towards Germany. A British Lockheed Hudson has been damaged in aerial combat with a German Messerschmitt, with both aircraft ditching in the North Sea, twenty miles off the Dutch coast. The four crew from the British aircraft are unable to send a complete mayday alert, although a signal fragment reaches England. Among them is Air Commodore Waltby (Michael Redgrave) who has a briefcase containing secret German plans related to rocketry. Flight Sergeant Mackay (Dirk Bogarde) assumes a leading role in the rescue dinghy, tying everyone together to prevent anyone falling overboard, and sharing his boots with the pilot despite the cold. As the weather closes in and a freezing cold night descends, aircraft suspend their search, leaving the now waterlogged dinghy to face the sea alone. Cryptically, Waltby orders the crew members that if he dies, they must get the briefcase to London or throw it overboard should they face capture.
An RAF Air Sea Rescue sea launch is deployed to the search. Commanded by Flying Officer Treherne (Anthony Steel), Launch 2561, or "Sixty One" in radio signals, struggles against the bad weather, mechanical problems and a fire in the galley. Second in command, Flight Sergeant Singsby (Nigel Patrick) dominates the crew, playing a benevolent but demanding hand with the questionable seamanship of junior ranks. On the second day, updated intelligence about the dinghy's likely location is received from the downed German Messerschmitt pilot, who the RAF has since rescued. RAF Air Sea Rescue is now aware the dinghy has drifted inshore, far from its ditching point. As the weather clears, "Sixty One" sights the dinghy and approaches for rescue, negotiating fire from enemy shore batteries and a mine field. Launch 2561 safely returns to England where the briefcase with secret documents is delivered. An injured Flying Officer Treherne and Flight Sergeant Mackay are applauded by senior officers.
Ned Kelly begins his autobiography with a description of his father, John "Red" Kelly, an Irishman transported to Van Diemen's Land and eventually settling in the colony of Victoria, Australia. After marrying Ned's mother Ellen (née Quinn), the Kellys settle in Avenel, a rural area northeast of Melbourne. Red Kelly is shown to have numerous brushes with the colonial police forces, resulting in his imprisonment and death when his son Ned was twelve years of age.
After the rest of the family resettles in northeast Victoria under the Land Grant Act, Ned's mother attempts to provide for her children by running a shebeen and taking on a series of lovers, including the notorious bushranger Harry Power. Power agrees to take on the young Ned as an apprentice, and provides Ned with knowledge of the land, hideouts, and strategies for bushranging. Kelly eventually leaves Power and returns to his family's settlement, where he is shown making dogged attempts to live an honest lifestyle.
Kelly is arrested and sentenced to three years in prison for reception of a stolen horse (although Kelly claims that a friend, "Wild" Wright, knowingly sold him the stolen horse without Kelly's knowledge – Kelly later exacts revenge on Wright in a bare-knuckle boxing match). After two years of working as a sawmill hand, he is drawn back to bushranging when a herd of his horses is appropriated by a rival squatter. His descent back into crime is precipitated by a visit from a local police officer, Constable Alex Fitzpatrick. The policeman woos Ned's younger sister Kate, prompting Ned to reveal that Fitzpatrick has multiple mistresses in other towns and has no intention of marrying Kate. After his mother Ellen threatens the constable with violence, Fitzpatrick pulls his revolver on the family and Ned shoots him in the hand in self-defense. Although he dresses the wound and Fitzpatrick leaves while promising that no action will be taken, warrants for the arrest of Ned and his younger brother Dan are issued the next day.
Ned Kelly and his brother Dan hide out in the hills of northeast Victoria, eventually being joined by their friends Steve Hart and Joe Byrne (later becoming known as the Kelly Gang). Kelly's mother is eventually arrested along with her baby daughter and imprisoned in Melbourne as enticement for Kelly to give himself up. A detachment of four policemen is eventually sent to kill the quartet after efforts to arrest them prove unsuccessful; the Kelly Gang ambushes them at Stringybark Creek, where Ned kills three of the policemen. This adds to the growing folklore surrounding the Kelly Gang, which they fuel by robbing banks and giving parts of the money to the lower-class settlers in Victoria who help to shelter the gang.
During the gang's raids, Ned Kelly meets a young Irish girl named Mary Hearn, who already has a young son by Kelly's stepfather, George King. Kelly falls in love with Mary and makes plans to escape the colony with her after she becomes pregnant with his child. Crucially, it is Mary who motivates Kelly to begin writing the story of his life as a legacy for his future child, who she fears will never know its father. Following two successful bank robberies, Mary uses the money to emigrate to San Francisco with her son and Kelly's unborn daughter; Kelly remains behind, however, unwilling to leave Australia until his mother is released from jail.
The gang is eventually cornered by a large squad of dozens of policemen (versus just four in the Kelly Gang) in the town of Glenrowan where the gang has taken numerous hostages and constructed several suits of plate-steel armor for protection. One of the hostages is the crippled local schoolmaster, Thomas Curnow, who encourages Kelly to relate the story of his entire life after seeing samples of his writing. Curnow betrays the gang by warning the incoming police train that the gang has sabotaged the tracks, feeling that history will view him as a "hero". The policemen surround the town and engage in a furious shootout with the armor-clad gang, seriously wounding Ned Kelly and killing the other three members of the gang. Kelly's narrative stops abruptly just before the shootout itself; a secondary narrator, identified as "S.C", relates the tale of the gunfight and Kelly's death by hanging. Since Curnow is shown to have escaped Glenrowan with Kelly's manuscripts, it is assumed that this narrator is a relative of Curnow's. Kelly dies a hero to the people of northeastern Victoria, with the legend of his life left to grow over time.
The story takes place during a future global oil shortage, when Tunisia is suddenly discovered to possess a surplus of high-grade oil. While the Soviet and U.S. governments try to acquire as much of the oil as they can, Soviet-backed terrorists kidnap a U.S. ambassador in hopes of provoking an international incident.
Naval officer Johnny Westland is informed about the situation during his leave in Tahiti and is called back for the rescue mission. The night before returning to duty, he has a one-night stand with Stacy, a mysterious beautiful woman.
In the Pentagon, Westland is briefed and learns that Stacy is also an agent whom he must meet as soon as he reaches his goal. To reach his target, Westland travels in a nuclear-powered submarine, the USS ''Blackhawk''. After fighting with Soviet vessels, navigating his way through an iceberg field and repairing some malfunctioning devices, he must penetrate the electronic harbor surveillance of Tunisia. A diving vehicle must be maneuvered through sensitive magnetic fields without being detected.
Finally, Westland meets Stacy on the shores of Tunisia. Working together, the agents free the ambassador; Westland is promoted and proposes to Stacy.
Florence Forrest (Lauren Ambrose) is a Gidget-like character determined to learn to surf, and earns the nickname "Chicklet" from the surfer guys. However Chicklet begins displaying multiple personalities, experiences inexplicable blackouts, and fears that she might be the one responsible for a series of mysterious murders in her beachside town. The deaths are investigated by Captain Monica Stark (Charles Busch), who also suspects Chicklet's mother (Beth Broderick), Chicklet's best friend Berdine (Danni Wheeler), surfing guru the Great Kanaka (Thomas Gibson) and B-movie actress Bettina Barnes (Kimberley Davies).
Other characters include university dropout (and Chicklet's love interest) Starcat (Nicholas Brendon), Swedish exchange student Lars (Matt Keeslar), surfers Yo-Yo (Nick Cornish) and Provoloney (Andrew Levitas), Starcat's girlfriend Marvel Ann (Amy Adams), and the class "queen bee" Rhonda (Kathleen Robertson).
May and her best friend Mary work in a resort in the Hamptons during their summer vacation, looking for some fun away from home. Soon they make friends with fellow service staff members Richard and his brother Ben, and the four of them begin hanging out. After a couple of days of hard work and being bossed about by the guests, May and Mary go to a dance together. After the dance and a round of night swimming, they head back to their rooms; May takes Ben to her room and sleeps with him, while Mary tells Richie it is too fast for her, and she wants to wait before having sex with him. She later reveals to him it is because a palm-reader told her she would become a mom before she was twenty if she had sex in her teens. The same fortune-teller also told May nobody was ever going to call her "mom", which explains why May is so open in her relationships. Richie is not very understanding of her reasons for not sleeping with him, and starts an affair with May. May tells Mary she is cheating on Ben, but not with whom. A while later, she finds out that she is pregnant. Upon realizing the fortune-teller must have been wrong, Mary now finally sleeps with Richie, who then ends the affair with May. When May reveals her pregnancy to Ben, it turns out he's sterile and her affair with Richie, who must be the father, is uncovered. May is thinking about having an abortion, but decides against it. Afraid of going home and facing her dad with an unwanted child, May runs away.
May finds a man to stay with, but does not tell him about her pregnancy. She grows to be disgusted by him. May contacts Mary and meets with her. Mary is still very angry with May for having an affair with Richie, and tells her she deserves all the trouble she is going through, but decides to help her when May tells her she has been thinking about suicide. Mary comes up with the plan to tell everybody the baby is hers, so May will not have to face her fundamentalist parents and Mary can test if she can trust Richie, who is still in love with her and writing her frequent letters, none of which she has answered yet. Once May gives birth to her healthy baby boy, Peter, Mary takes him to Richie, and they start a family, while May returns home to her parents as if nothing had happened.
The Federation starship ''Enterprise'' is assigned to escort Medusan ambassador Kollos and psychologist Miranda Jones to a rendezvous with a Medusan vessel. Medusans are non-humanoid creatures whose outward appearance is described as being so ugly as to cause humanoids who see them to go insane and then die. Kollos travels in a carrier to hide him from view, and First Officer Spock assists as necessary using a special visor which allows his Vulcan psychology to withstand the sight of Kollos. Jones is also able to observe Kollos with the help of the visor, a fact which she claims is due to Vulcan-style mental discipline.
At a dinner with Captain Kirk and the senior officers, Jones, a telepath, explains that her assignment is to attempt a mind link with Kollos in the hope of allowing Starfleet to utilize the Medusan's unique senses and navigational abilities. In the course of the discussion, Jones breaks off, sensing someone nearby with murderous intentions. She then returns to her quarters, where she is visited by her associate Lawrence Marvick. Marvick is in love with Jones, a feeling which she does not reciprocate, and she senses that he is the would-be murderer. He then makes his way to Kollos's quarters with a phaser, but is overcome by the sight of the Medusan before he can fire. Now insane, Marvick rushes to Engineering, overpowers and renders unconscious Chief Engineer Scott and other crew members, and takes control of the engines. The ''Enterprise'' quickly accelerates past Warp Factor 9.5, which takes it far outside of the galaxy and into a strange swirling void. Marvick, now restrained, screams wild accusations at Jones before he dies.
With no navigational references, the ''Enterprise'' crew cannot return home. Kirk suggests that Kollos's superior navigational abilities could be of use, and Spock volunteers to mind meld with Kollos, allowing the two to pilot the ''Enterprise'' as one entity. Miranda Jones objects that she is a more logical choice, but McCoy reveals that she is blind and therefore couldn't possibly pilot a starship. (Her jeweled wrap, it turns out, is actually an elaborate sensor web.)
A partition is set up on the bridge to hide Kollos, and Spock, wearing the visor, completes the mind link. Kollos and Spock, acting through Spock's body, successfully return the ''Enterprise'' to known space, and then retire behind the partition to dissolve the link, but forgetting the visor. Kirk shouts a warning, but Spock, unable to look away in time, goes mad and attacks the crew. He is subdued by a phaser blast from Kirk and rushed to Sickbay, where his condition deteriorates. Jones attempts to make mental contact with Spock but is apparently unable to help, and Kirk suggests that she, in her jealousy, does not really wish to. Enraged by the accusation, she makes one more attempt, and succeeds in bringing Spock's mind back to reality.
The ''Enterprise'' arrives at its destination, and Kollos and Jones prepare to depart. Jones thanks Kirk for his insight, crediting it with ensuring her future. Kollos and Jones are now "one", and she now knows the joy of the mind link for herself. Kirk gives Jones a rose as they leave, reminding her that every rose has thorns.
Jack Burden, a Louisiana news reporter, takes a personal interest in Willie Stark, an idealistic small-town lawyer and parish treasurer. Circumstances develop that result in Tiny Duffy, a local political leader Burden knows, urging Stark to run for governor. Burden's upbringing makes him familiar with the undercurrent of politics – he was raised by his loving godfather Judge Irwin, a former state attorney general, while his good friend, Dr. Adam Stanton, and his sister Anne Stanton—also Burden's former lover—are the children of a former governor. Burden therefore decides to take Duffy's advice and travels as a reporter on Stark's campaign for governor.
The politically astute Burden soon deduces, and Duffy strategist (and Stark mistress) Sadie Burke confirms, that Duffy is using Stark to split his party's vote and thus allow the opposing party to win. They tell Stark, who begins to give speeches in a straightforward manner to appeal to the public, in defiance of the advice given to him by Duffy. His vigorous strategy attacks the corruption of the existing players and promises schools and roads for his "fellow ignorant hicks", resulting in Stark winning the election. He manages Duffy by making him his lieutenant governor. Stark recruits Burden to work for him as an adviser.
Stark proves to be a very persuasive governor, delivering on many of his new projects. Irwin disapproves of Stark and publicly supports an investigation of possible graft in the new spending. Burden points out that graft is the elite's word for what the previous politicians had always done, while Stark openly tells his crowds that his "crooks, unlike theirs, are itty bitty" compared to the elite's. Stark convinces Stanton to head a new public hospital while he begins having an affair with Anne, provoking Burke's jealousy and Burden's disappointment.
Irwin continues criticizing Stark as political controversies begin to unfold. Stark demands that Burden seek information on the judge to be used against him. Jack insists that there is no such information, but eventually discovers evidence of a bribe that Irwin used to get his appointment many years prior, leading an opponent to commit suicide. Following this revelation, Irwin himself commits suicide. Burden's mother then tells him that Irwin treated him with such love because he was his biological father, which causes a great amount of guilt for Burden.
Stark utilizes many methods of corruption to consolidate his power, including patronage and intimidation. Adam is told that Stark is using the hospital project to rob the state and is framing him in the process. Burden and Anne both assure Adam that this is false. Adam also becomes enraged when he learns of Stark's affair with his sister. Adam waits at the state capitol and assassinates Stark, only to be immediately killed by the governor's bodyguard. It is later revealed that Adam was influenced by Duffy and Burke to murder Stark, allowing Duffy to succeed Stark as governor.
Set at a bucolic midwestern college known only as The-College-on-the-Hill, ''White Noise'' follows a year in the life of Jack Gladney, a professor who has made his name by pioneering the field of Hitler studies (though he has not taken German lessons until this year). He has been married five times to four women and rears a brood of children and stepchildren (Heinrich, Denise, Steffie, Wilder) with his current wife, Babette. Jack and Babette are both extremely afraid of death; they frequently wonder which of them will be the first to die. The first part of ''White Noise'', called "Waves and Radiation," is a chronicle of contemporary family life combined with academic satire.
There is little plot development in this first section, which mainly serves as an introduction to the characters and themes which dominate the rest of the book. For instance, the mysterious deaths of men in "Mylex" (intended to suggest ''Mylar'') suits and the ashen, shaken survivors of a plane that went into free fall anticipate the catastrophe of the book's second part. "Waves and Radiation" also introduces Murray Jay Siskind, Jack's friend and fellow college professor, who discusses theories about death, supermarkets, media, "psychic data," and other facets of contemporary American culture. Jack and Murray visit the most photographed barn in the world, discussing how its notoriety renders truly seeing the barn an impossibility, and later present an impromptu joint lecture juxtaposing the lives of Hitler and Elvis Presley.
In the second part of the novel, "The Airborne Toxic Event," a chemical spill from a rail car releases a black noxious cloud over Jack's home region, prompting an evacuation. Frightened by his exposure to the toxin (called Nyodene Derivative), Jack is forced to confront his mortality. An organization called SIMUVAC (short for "simulated evacuation") is also introduced in part two, an indication of simulations replacing reality.
In part three of the book, "Dylarama," Jack discovers that Babette has been cheating on him with a man she calls "Mr. Gray" in order to gain access to a fictional drug called Dylar, an experimental treatment for the terror of death. The novel becomes a meditation on modern society's fear of death and its obsession with chemical cures as Jack seeks to obtain his own black-market supply of Dylar. However, Dylar does not work for Babette, and it has many possible side effects, including losing the ability to "distinguish words from things, so that if someone said 'speeding bullet,' I would fall to the floor and take cover."p. 193, original Penguin paperback edition.
Jack continues to obsess over death. During a discussion about mortality, Murray suggests that killing someone could alleviate the fear. Jack decides to track down and kill Mr. Gray, whose real name, he has learned, is Willie Mink. After a black comedy scene of Jack driving and rehearsing, in his head, several ways in which their encounter might proceed, he successfully locates and shoots Willie, who at the time is in a delirious state caused by his own Dylar addiction.
Jack puts the gun in Willie's hand to make the murder look like a suicide, but Willie then shoots Jack in the arm. Suddenly realizing the needless loss of life, Jack carries Willie to a hospital run by German nuns who do not believe in God or an afterlife. Having saved Willie, Jack returns home to watch his children sleep.
The final chapter describes Wilder, Jack's youngest child, riding a tricycle across the highway and miraculously surviving. Jack, Babette, and Wilder join a crowd gathering to watch the brilliant sunset, possibly enhanced by the airborne toxic event, from an overpass, before Jack describes his avoidance of his doctor and the hypnotic and spiritual nature of the supermarket.
Chrysagon de la Cruex (Heston) is a Norman knight charged with defending a Flemish village. At the heart of the story is a doomed romance, which defies the social norms and sparks a growing confrontation with Chrysagon's brother, Draco (Stockwell).
Chrysagon encounters Bronwyn (Forsyth), his future love, as she is harassed by his own men. Gradually he finds himself falling for the girl he has rescued. Bronwyn's father, the village chief, Odins, later asks Chrysagon's permission for Bronwyn to marry Marc, to whom Bronwyn has been betrothed since childhood. Chrysagon approves, but soon regrets the decision. He wants Bronwyn for himself.
He later learns of "Droit du seigneur", a right which permits the Lord of the Domain to sleep with any virgin woman on her wedding night. But custom demands Bronwyn be given up by dawn. The following day, Bronwyn is not returned and Marc demands justice. What the village does not realize is that she has chosen to stay of her own free will. All of this takes place against the background of war against Frisian raiders who plague the Flemish coast.
Kresten had moved from his parents' farm on Lolland, an out-of-the-way small Danish island, to Copenhagen to pursue his working career. When his father dies, he has to move back to the farm, where nothing much has happened since he left. He places an ad in the local newspaper to get help running the farm and taking care of his brother. The prostitute Liva, who is running away from harassing telephone calls, takes the job. But running away from one's past isn't easy.
A group of tourists are stranded in the Namibian desert when their bus loses its way and runs out of fuel. Canned carrots and dew keep the tourists alive, but they are helplessly entrapped, completely cut off from the rest of the world. As courage and moral fibre weaken and relationships grow shaky, Henry, a theatrical manager, persuades the group to put on Shakespeare's tragedy ''King Lear''. As the tourists work their way through Henry's hand-written scripts for an audience of only the sand dunes and one distant, indigenous watcher, real life increasingly begins to resemble the play.
Julien, a young man with untreated schizophrenia, meets a young boy playing with several turtles in a New York City park. Fascinated by the turtles, Julien asks if he can have one. When he is denied, he strangles the boy, then buries his body in the mud before praying for mercy from God.
At home, Julien resides with his dysfunctional family, consisting of his domineering and emotionless German father; his childlike pregnant sister Pearl (whose child may be Julien's); his younger brother, Chris, an aspiring wrestler who spends his days exercising and practicing wrestling moves; and their paternal grandmother, who is largely disconnected from the rest of the family.
The family's father spends the majority of his time recounting national historical narratives, drinking, and inflicting psychological and physical abuse on Chris. During one of Chris's exercise sessions, his father forces him outside in the cold and hoses him down with water. He also pines for his deceased wife, going so far as begging Chris to wear his mother's wedding dress and dance with him. Meanwhile, Julien works as a teacher's aide at a school for the blind. Julien spends most of his spare time going to confession, muttering to himself on the streets, and imagining conversations with Adolf Hitler.
Julien is also riddled with grief over his mother's death, and Pearl sometimes soothes him by pretending to be their mother on the telephone. Pearl spends most of her days searching for baby clothes for her soon-to-be-born child, and making lists of her favorite baby names. Searching for other hobbies, she decides to take up learning to play the harp. Chris compulsively practices wrestling moves on trash cans, and sometimes incites matches with Julien. Their father recounts historical stories, lambasts Julien and Pearl for "artsy-fartsy" poetry and being "a dilettante and a slut" respectively, and pines for his dead wife.
Julien and Pearl accompany their father to a local Baptist church, where the sermon has a profound impact on Julien. Some time later, Pearl and Julien spend a day together going ice skating at an indoor skating rink. Julien tries to sell some homemade skates to a Hasidic boy and Pearl takes to the ice despite being heavily pregnant. She trips, landing on her abdomen and causing a miscarriage. At the hospital, Julien convinces a nurse to let him hold the baby, saying it is his. She allows it, but while alone with the baby, Julien escapes home on a bus. Julien goes to his room, hides under the blankets, cradles the baby and mutters prayers.
The narrator recites the first ten words of ''The Night Before Christmas'' before saying, "Oh, wait. Different story, but we'll still see a mouse!" The narrator then announces new tales of giving and loving, and a book opens to show pop-up elves.
The narrator said it all started on the first segment when Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck were competing in an ice skating competition. The girls each are joined by their respective boyfriends, Mickey and Donald, as they prepare to take the ice. Daisy becomes envious of the crowd's reaction to Minnie and attempts to steal the spotlight for herself. Minnie performs several daredevil stunts to regain the spotlight while Daisy summons the ''Fantasia'' Hippos, who become her backup skaters while her counterpart summons the alligators from the 1940 film. Fed up, Daisy and Minnie argue and shove each other, putting each other at risk and then try pulling dramatic stunts to draw the attention of the crowds as Mickey and Donald watch with worry. When Minnie accidentally slips on a fallen handbell while landing from a stunt blindfolded, Daisy helps Minnie up while feeling sorry for her selfish actions. Minnie feels the same way, and they perform a grand finale; this time working together.
The second segment tells the story of Huey, Dewey, and Louie celebrating Christmas Eve with Donald and Daisy Duck at Uncle Scrooge's mansion in Duckburg. After causing trouble at dinnertime, Scrooge warns them not to make the same mistakes he did when he was young. The boys know that they are on the naughty list for sure, so they travel to the North Pole to write their names on Santa's good list. At Santa's workshop, the trio cause more trouble by making a mess while trying to find the key to the room with Santa's good list, but they and the elves help clean up to save Christmas. Before they leave, they luck into an opportunity to add their names to the good list; however, they add Scrooge's name instead, mindful of the fact that he was never written onto the list either. With their mission accomplished, they head home. On Christmas Day, they find a single gift for Scrooge, but Santa also leaves them a note that explains that their actions have caused them to also be put on the good list, and there are more presents behind the tree.
The third segment's focus is about Max Goof and his father Goofy celebrating the holidays. A young adult Max brings home his girlfriend Mona to meet his father, Goofy. However, Max is unsure whether or not he wants Mona to meet his dad (Most of the story takes place within the song "Make Me Look Good"). Max at first is embarrassed by his dad, who labels his car as a limo, decorates the house with many Christmas lights, shows baby pictures to Mona, and wipes cocoa off Max's face. While wondering outside, he notices that his scarf is made by Goofy and realizes that Goofy is always, well, goofy, and that is why he loves him. Max then forgets about being embarrassed and decides to join in the fun when the popcorn making machine goes haywire. Max tries to stop the machine but has popcorn filling his clothes until he lets go. He becomes embarrassed after having his clothes inflate in front of Mona and flies across the room, but nevertheless enjoys it. Goofy tries to stop it next, but he is swung around in the air by the machine. Max, Goofy and Mona are all pushed up by the popcorn through the chimney and onto the roof. Following this, Mona then reveals to have the same kind of teeth like Goofy and Max; they all laugh and make snow angels on the roof.
The fourth segment focuses on Donald Duck and his Christmas wish of peace and quiet. Daisy Duck and Huey, Dewey, and Louie also appear. As Donald returns home from grocery shopping, he daydreams and misses his bus. He runs to catch after it, but he is slowed down by a series of well-wishers that begin to sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". Donald becomes increasingly annoyed by the joyous people, and at home, he is annoyed to hear the same Christmas carols on his radio. When Daisy and his nephews arrive, Donald becomes annoyed that they want to go out so soon after he returned home and doesn't want to come, but Daisy drags him out anyway. At the mall, Donald grabs a cup of hot chocolate and discovers various objects seeming to play the same Christmas carol, causing him to be annoyed evenmore; Donald thinks he is in complete peace inside a secret room, where he finds animatronics singing. Donald immediately wrecks them until he notices he is destroying the show at Mousy's that Daisy, Huey, Dewey, and Louie and also the crowd were trying to see; Dewey tricks Donald into being heartbroken by saying Donald is not their uncle anymore to avoid getting in trouble with the public. Daisy agrees to this and leaves with the boys. After he is thrown out of the mall by the mall guard for his lack of a Christmas spirit and the destruction of the Mousy's show, Donald walks home alone while feeling guilty for his lack of a Christmas spirit. He finds Christmas carolers having trouble with singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", to which he urges to mentor the performers in singing. When Daisy, Huey, Dewey and Louie arrive, Donald apologizes to everyone for his selfishness and then joins the townspeople convened around a Christmas tree happily singing the song.
The fifth and final segment stars Mickey as he makes decorations for the Christmas party, which his dog, Pluto keeps interrupting. When Pluto attempts to help by putting the star on the tree, he inadvertently destroys all the decorations especially knocking down the Christmas tree, then a frustrated Mickey yells at Pluto and sends him to his doghouse as his punishment. Feeling like he is rejected by his owner, Pluto decides to run away from home and then finds himself shipped to the North Pole, where Santa's reindeer adopt him and rename him "Murray". Back at home, Mickey redecorates the house and, feeling ashamed of how he lost his temper at Pluto, attempts to reconcile with him, only to find him missing. Mickey posts several "lost dog" posters and eventually turns to a department store Santa, who turns out to be the real one. Meanwhile, Pluto becomes homesick to which Santa and the reindeer help Pluto return home. As Mickey's friends arrive, Pluto completes the Christmas tree decorations and everyone celebrates Pluto's return, even Donald and Daisy Duck, who had just showed up with Huey, Dewey and Louie, Uncle Scrooge, Max, Goofy and Minnie Mouse (who is also entranced by the decorations). The film concludes with a medley of various carols as the book closes.
The game's intro starts in Gamul Date 312 where Nigel, a treasure hunter who is 88 years old, far older than he appears, is shown traversing a dungeon of rolling boulders and moving platforms called Jypta Ruins to acquire the Statue of Jypta. After selling this statue to a shop owner in a port town of Kalva, Nigel is accosted by a wood nymph named Friday. She explains that she is being chased by three persistent yet bumbling thieves named Kayla, Ink, and Wally because she knows the location of the legendary treasure of King Nole. Once Nigel spends most of his money on a bird to carry him to the island, Friday admits that while she doesn't know the exact location of the treasure she has a "feeling" where it is. The player controls Nigel from here on where he and Friday, who accompanies him for the entire game, first journey through a dungeon until they fall into a river and end up in the care of the red-furred bear-people of Massan. When Nigel awakes, he finds his way to the neighboring village of Gumi, where the yellow-furred bear-people are ready to sacrifice the daughter of Massan's leader, Fara. Nigel follows the crazed tribe into their shrine and breaks them of their curse, freeing Fara and earning the respect of both tribes and a clue to help him to the treasure.
Nigel and Friday travel westward until they come to the lighthouse town of Ryuma which has been attacked by thieves. Nigel goes to the thieves' cave and rescues the mayor and some other men who have been kidnapped. He also finds a lithograph of a dragon, which Friday tells him is a clue to the treasure. Before he can leave, Kayla, Ink, and Wally show up and hold Friday hostage until Nigel hands them the lithograph.
Nigel's heroics earn him a place in the court of Duke Mercator, who orders him to go and defeat an old wizard, Mir, who is locked in a tower nearby and who has been terrorizing the town and extorting the Duke. Nigel braves a crypt and the wizard's tower and faces him in single combat. Defeated, Mir confesses all he knows about King Nole's treasure and then explains that the Duke is his brother and had been using him as a scapegoat for years. Nigel returns to the Duke and is about ready to confront him when he is tossed into a dungeon. While imprisoned he finds out that the princess of Maple, his home country, who had been a guest at the castle, has been taken away by the Duke's dragon-like henchman, Zak. He manages to escape to find the castle knights in open revolt and ships stuck in the harbour because the lighthouse in Ryuma is broken. Nigel saves Arthur, the Duke's general, and is given the key to the Greenmaze, where the Sunstone can be found, the gem that powers Ryuma's lighthouse.
Nigel navigates the maze despite the best efforts of troublesome gnomes and restores the lighthouse. He then takes a ship to pursue the Duke. He makes landing up the coast of the island at Verla, which has practically become a ghost town. The Duke had enslaved the population of the town and forced them to work in nearby mines searching for a legendary treasure. Nigel frees the townspeople, and they give him a legendary sword they found but had hidden from the Duke. Nigel continues through the mine to find the Duke sailing, via rafts, across a lake to an island temple. Nigel finds a way over and navigates through the labyrinth to fight the Duke but is caught off-guard by Zak. Nigel is teleported to safety by Mir before the Duke and Zak can finish him off. Mir then proceeds to give Nigel some more information about King Nole's treasure. Mir also gives a magical axe to Nigel which allows him to cut down trees with a single swing of his sword.
Nigel retakes his sword in hand, and Friday leads him up through mountains to get to the entrance to the underground dungeon where King Nole hid his treasure. They encounter Zak again, who has decided that while he doesn't like working for the Duke any longer he still wants to face Nigel one on one. After Nigel proves his superiority, Zak gives Nigel something he stole from the Duke that will allow Nigel to enter the underground. Zak departs defeated.
Nigel finds himself back at the same cave he started in, this time filled with monsters but no traps. He gets to the Duke just as he uses the Princess to open the gate between the above and below worlds (referencing the song In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida). Nigel charges through into the center of the island and into King Nole's labyrinth, a massive confusing dungeon guarding King Nole's palace. After making it through the labyrinth and the palace, Nigel makes it to the room which held the treasure. After all the challenges so far, things are not quite finished for King Nole's restless Spirit attacks Nigel but Nigel makes quick work of him. The Duke then shows up and as he thanks Nigel for doing the dirty work for him, Gola, the Dragon God that King Nole worshipped, burns him alive.
Nigel fights Gola using all of his strength and cunning, and when the beast is finally vanquished, the treasure is his. With vast sums of gold under his control he decides that rather than retire he and Friday will continue their adventures. In the original ending in the Japanese and European version the treasure vanishes after Gola's last stand. Nigel isn't very upset and suggests taking Friday with him to the main country for new adventures.
James Anderson, a retired U.S. Marshal, comes home after a trip to the general store to find his wife Anna dying and that his daughter Sarah has been kidnapped by two outlaws known as Matt "Dr. Death" Jackson and "Slim" Sam Fulton, under the employ of the railroad baron Bob Graham. Graham has hired several wanted outlaws to "enlighten" the people of the county to sell their land to him, so that he can make a profit off of a huge railroad. However, the psychotic Dr. Death misinterprets Graham's meaning of enlightenment, attacks Anna and leaves her for dead, kidnaps Anderson's daughter, and burns his home to the ground. After burying his wife, the retired Marshal picks up his gun once again and rides off to find his daughter. He travels around the old West, shooting his way through each member of Graham's hired outlaws.
On his journey Anderson is haunted by dreams of his father's murder as a child. He recalls that while the two were camping out in the wild, an unknown assailant shot his father in his sleep for no specific reason, but left young James alive, telling him "to keep that fear [of death], kid". After questioning more and more outlaws, Anderson is confronted by Dr. Death in an old mine. Anderson eventually gets the drop on him; he gets tangled up in a rope above a deep mine shaft. Dr. Death tells him that his daughter is hidden in an old Indian cliff village. After finding out that Anderson is not going to let him out of the pit, he teases Anderson about the murder of his wife. Anderson is enraged and puts his cigar in the pulley from which the rope is hanging, eventually burning up the rope and sending Dr. Death plummeting to his demise at the bottom of the shaft.
At the Indian village, Anderson is ambushed by renegade Indian Two Feathers. After defeating him, Two Feathers praises Anderson's strength in battle, and out of sympathy because he once had a child he had lost, tells him the real location of Sarah: Bob Graham's estate, Big Rock ranch. Anderson blasts his way into Graham's villa, and finally confronts him. After a fierce gunfight, Graham is believed dead and falls to the ground, and Anderson reunites with his daughter. Graham, clinging to life and gun trained on Anderson, reveals that he was the one who murdered Anderson's father. Just as Graham is about to finish off Anderson, Sarah manages to shoot Graham with Anderson's gun avenging her grandfather's death. After a tearful reunion, father and daughter ride into the sunset.
Despite the essentially elaborate scope of the plot revealed in the novel's conclusion, the narrative focuses almost exclusively on the bleak and unrewarding day-to-day lives of the protagonists, two half-brothers who barely know each other. They seem devoid of love, and in their loveless or soon-to-be loveless journeys, Bruno becomes a saddened loner, wrecked by his upbringing and failure to individuate, while Michel's pioneering work in cloning removes love from the process of reproduction. Humans are proved, in the end, to be just particles and just as bodies decay (a theme in the book) they can also be created from particles.
The story unfolds as a sort of framed narrative, so despite the events described therein having taken place mostly in 1999, the story is essentially set some fifty or so years in the future. A similar device was used by Kurt Vonnegut in the novel ''Galápagos''; however, unlike Vonnegut, Houellebecq only reveals the frame to the reader in the epilogue. Large sections of the story are presented in the form of suppertime storytelling dialogues between Michel, his childhood sweetheart Annabelle, Bruno, and Bruno's post-divorce girlfriend Christiane.
The story focuses on the lives of Bruno Clément and Michel Djerzinski, two French half-brothers born of a hippie-type mother. Michel is raised by his paternal grandmother and becomes an introverted molecular biologist, who is ultimately responsible for the discoveries which lead to the elimination of sexual reproduction. Bruno's upbringing is much more tragic as described: shuffled and forgotten from one abusive boarding school to another, he eventually finds himself in a loveless marriage and teaching at a high school. Bruno grows into a lecherous and insatiable sex addict whose dalliances with prostitutes and sex chat on Minitel do nothing to satisfy him, to the point where he finds himself on disability leave from his job and in a mental hospital after a failed attempt at seducing one of his students.
The storyline is about a little alien boy named "Cosmo". Cosmo's parents are taking him to Walt Disney World for his birthday. A comet hits their ship, forcing them to land on an unknown planet (called Zonk in WIP) and repair the ship. Cosmo goes exploring, and when he returns, his parents are missing. Seeing large footprints, Cosmo thinks that his parents have been captured and sets off to rescue them before they are eaten. There are three episodes in the game series in which Cosmo must navigate through 10 alien-themed levels for each episode.
At the end of the first episode, Cosmo unexpectedly gets swallowed by a large creature. The story continues in the second episode, where Cosmo ends up in the creature's body and has to find a way out. At the end of the second episode, Cosmo finds the city where he thinks his parents might have been taken. In the final episode, Cosmo finds his parents (who were in no danger of being eaten the whole time) and has a great time at Disney World for his birthday.
The American USS ''Haynes'' detects and attacks a German U-boat that is on its way to rendezvous with a German merchant raider in the South Atlantic Ocean. Lieutenant Commander Murrell, a former officer in the Merchant Marine and now an active duty officer in the Naval Reserve, has recently taken command of the ''Haynes'', even though he is still recovering from injuries incurred in the sinking of his previous ship. Before the U-boat is first spotted, one sailor questions the new captain's fitness and ability. However, as the battle begins, Murrell proves himself a match for wily U-boat ''Kapitän zur See'' von Stolberg, a man who is not enamored with the Nazi regime, in a prolonged and deadly battle of wits that tests both men and their crews. Each man grows to respect his opponent.
Murrell skillfully stalks the U-boat and subjects von Stolberg and his crew to hourly depth-charge attacks. In the end, von Stolberg takes advantage of Murrell's predictable pattern of attacks and succeeds in torpedoing the destroyer escort. Although the ''Haynes'' is fatally wounded and sinking, it is still battle-capable, and Murrell has one final plan: he orders his men to set fires on the deck to make the ship look more damaged than it actually is. He then orders the majority of his crew to evacuate in the lifeboats, but retains a skeleton crew to man the bridge, engine room and one of his ship's guns. As Murrell had hoped, von Stolberg surfaces before firing his torpedoes, keeping the deck gun trained on the ship. Murrell orders his gun crew to fire first at the U-boat's stern to immobilize it, and then at the deck gun. Murrell orders executive officer Lieutenant Ware to ram the U-boat. With his boat sinking, von Stolberg orders his crew to set scuttling charges and abandon ship.
Murrell, the last man aboard, is about to join his crew in the lifeboats when he spots von Stolberg standing on the conning tower of the sinking U-boat with his injured executive officer ''Oberleutnant zur See'' Heini Schwaffer. Murrell tosses a line to the submarine and rescues the pair. It is clear that Schwaffer is dying, but von Stolberg refuses to leave his friend behind. Ware returns with American and German sailors in the captain's gig to take the three men off before the U-boat's scuttling charges detonate. Later, aboard a ship that has rescued both crews, the German crew consigns Schwaffer's remains to the deep in a traditional ceremony as the American crew respectfully watches.
In the crime and injustice-riddled city of Townsville, Professor Utonium mixes sugar, spice and everything nice, hoping to produce the "perfect little girls" to improve Townsville. However, his laboratory assistant, the destructive chimpanzee Jojo, shoves him, causing him to accidentally break and spill a flask of Chemical X onto the concoction. The experiment succeeds, producing three little girls whom the Professor names Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. He also discovers that the girls have gained superpowers from the added Chemical X. Despite the girls' recklessness with their powers, they all immediately grow to love each other as a family.
On their first day of school, the girls learn about the game of tag and begin to play it among themselves, which quickly grows destructive once they use their powers. The girls take their game downtown, where they accidentally massively damage the city until the Professor calms them down. The next day, the citizens of Townsville treat the girls as outcasts due to their destructive behavior and the Professor is arrested for creating the girls. Believing that using their powers again will only anger the townspeople more, the girls try to make their way home from school on foot, but they become lost in an alleyway, where the Gangreen Gang attacks them. Jojo, who has become superintelligent due to the Chemical X explosion mutating his brain, rescues the trio.
Planning control of the city and revenge on the Professor for replacing him with the girls, Jojo gains the girls' sympathy by convincing them that he is also hated for his powers and tricks them into helping him build a laboratory and machine powered by Chemical X, which he claims will earn them the public's affections. Afterwards, Jojo rewards them with a trip to the local zoo, where he secretly implants small transportation devices on all the primates there. That night, Jojo brings the primates to his lab and uses his new machine to inject them with Chemical X, which turns them into evil mutants like himself. The next morning, after the Professor is released from prison, the girls show him all the "good" they have done, only to discover that the primates are attacking the city. Jojo, renaming himself as Mojo Jojo, publicly announces the girls assisted him, which damages their reputation further and makes the distraught Professor lose faith in them. Dejected, the girls exile themselves to an asteroid in outer space.
Mojo Jojo announces his intention to rule the planet, but becomes frustrated when his minions disobey him and concoct their own plans to terrorize Townsville. Overhearing the turmoil from space, the girls return to Earth and rescue the citizens, realizing they can use their powers to fight the primates. After his army is defeated, Mojo Jojo injects himself with Chemical X and grows into a giant monster, overpowering the girls in an intense battle. Rejecting Mojo Jojo's offer of an alliance to take over the world, the girls push him off a decrepit skyscraper just as the Professor arrives with an antidote for Chemical X to help the girls. Mojo Jojo lands on the Antidote X, which shrinks him down to his original size, battered and defeated.
The girls consider using the Antidote X to erase their powers, thinking they would be accepted as normal girls, but the people of Townsville protest against this and apologize for misjudging them, praising their heroism. Townsville's Mayor requests that the Professor authorize the trio to use their powers to defend Townsville, to which the girls agree, becoming the city's beloved crime-fighting superhero team "The Powerpuff Girls".
In the Brazilian village of Belo Quinto, Father Andrew Kiernan, a former scientist and a Jesuit priest who investigates supposed miracles, examines a statue of the Virgin Mary weeping blood at the funeral of Father Paulo Alameida, who had previously experienced stigmata. While Andrew is collecting evidence, a young boy steals a rosary from the father's hand. The boy later sells it to a woman in a marketplace, who sends it to her daughter, Frankie Paige, living in Pittsburgh.
Shortly afterward, Frankie is attacked by an unseen force while bathing, and receives two deep wounds on her wrists. As the wounds are treated, doctors cannot find the cause. Frankie asks a priest if he is Andrew Kiernan, the scientist, priest and investigator. When the priest says he is Father Derning, the lights in the train flash and Frankie is whipped from behind by an unseen force. While Frankie is hospitalized again, the priest sends security tapes showing the attack to the Vatican, and Andrew is sent to investigate.
Andrew interviews Frankie, believing her wounds may also be stigmata. When she tells him she is an atheist, Andrew tells her that stigmata is when the deeply devoted are struck with the five wounds that Jesus received during the crucifixion. Frankie begins to research on her own what the cause could be. Her head begins to bleed, the third stigmata wound caused by the Crown of Thorns. Frankie runs home, where Andrew is waiting, and then runs into an alley. As Andrew pursues her, Frankie smashes a glass bottle and uses the shards to carve symbols on the hood of a car: when Andrew approaches her, she yells at him in another language.
Andrew takes Frankie to Father Derning's church, and the Vatican translates what she was yelling in Aramaic. The next morning, Andrew returns to her apartment to find her writing on the wall, now covered in Aramaic. Frankie talks in a male voice, speaking Italian. Wounds appear in her feet, the fourth wound of stigmata. Andrew emails photographs of Frankie's apartment wall to the Vatican, where Brother Delmonico recognizes the words and deletes the pictures. He tells Andrew the words are from a document the church found that looked to be an entirely new gospel. Father Dario shows the pictures to Cardinal Daniel Houseman, who also recognizes them. Delmonico phones Marion Petrocelli and tells him the missing gospel has been found in Pittsburgh.
Andrew goes to Frankie's apartment to find the wall she wrote on painted over, and Frankie attempts to seduce him. When Andrew rejects her, she attacks him and denounces his beliefs in a male voice, ending with Frankie levitating off the bed, crying tears of blood. Houseman and Dario arrive with Derning and take Frankie to another church, sending Andrew to Derning's. At Derning's church, Andrew meets Petrocelli, who tells him the words Frankie has been writing are part of a document found outside Jerusalem they believed to be a gospel in the exact words of Jesus. Petrocelli, Delmonico and Alameida were assigned to translate it, but Houseman ordered them to stop. Alameida refused and stole the document to continue translating it alone, having been excommunicated by Houseman.
Petrocelli tells Andrew that the document was Jesus telling his disciples that the Kingdom of God is in all of us and not confined to churches. Petrocelli tells Andrew that Alameida suffered from stigmata. Andrew races to the church where Frankie is, while Houseman and Dario attempt to perform an exorcism on Frankie. Frankie shouts at them in a male voice, and Houseman attempts to strangle her. Andrew stops him, and the room is set on fire. Now believing Frankie is possessed by Alameida's spirit, Andrew offers to be Alameida's messenger instead. He walks unharmed through the fire to retrieve Frankie, bidding Alameida's spirit to depart in peace. Some time later, Andrew returns to Belo Quinto and finds the original documents for the lost gospel in Alameida's church.
Text just before the end credits describes the discovery of the Gospel of Thomas, stating that the Catholic Church refuses to recognize the document as a gospel and considers it heresy.
In the sphere of Athum there once lived two beautiful angels by the names of Seth and Holth. Seth was gentle, kind, and anxious one; Holth was strong, determined, and bold. They lived in peace in the sphere of Athum for eternity, since there is no time, nor age, nor decay in this world. The waters flow uphill and time is irrelevant. Athum takes all and creates everything, for eternity. The angels Seth and Holth lived there undisturbed forever. They made love by their eyes, tasting their tears, they spoke to each other by their blood. They slept in Athum's womb not knowing of any evil, plight or fear. No worry, no pain ever harmed them... and they could have gone on like this forever, if not one day bold Holth had started to ask questions... questions about other worlds, other beings, questions about life and death.
He tried to force Athum to tell him but instead for an answer the angels Seth and Holth were banished to planet Earth, thrown into the harshness of light, noise and madness. They woke up from their eternal dream to find themselves reborn to a world full of questions; hectic and evil. Not knowing what to do, only trying to get home again, home to Athum, home to peace.
Hunted down by humans who did not understand, nor ever loved, Seth and Holth were sacrificed and murdered. Seeing their plight in the human world Athum pitied them and allowed them to return home, but home was not the same anymore. They had seen too much, heard too much, felt too much in the human world. They lost their innocence and their faith, they could ignore the questions no longer.
A wizard named Saradon, having heard the news of your victory over the evil wizard Mangar (in ''The Bard's Tale''), contacts you with dire news: "Lawless mercenaries from the neighboring kingdom of Lestradae ... under the guidance of an evil Archmage known as Lagoth Zanta" have stolen the Destiny Wand, that, through its power, "has maintained peace and prosperity for the last 700 years".
The player's manual provides the following overview of the game:
As ''The Destiny Knight'', you must assemble a band of adventurers, track down the seven pieces of the Destiny Wand, and defeat the evil Archmage, Lagoth Zanta. Once you have defeated the evil Archmage and have managed to collect all seven fragments of the Destiny Wand, you must reforge the scepter into a unified whole, thus reunifying the Realm (and winning the game).
Where the previous game took place in only one city, ''The Bard's Tale II'' features six smaller towns and a large wilderness area.
To complete the game, players must collect segments of the ''Destiny Wand''. The wizard Saradon has informed the party that they are hidden in seven separate locations "within a Snare of Death—a puzzle room that will require all the wisdom and cunning at your disposal in order for you to survive". While the segments can be acquired in any order, the dungeons feature progressively more dangerous monsters, which suggests how players should progress through the game: Players begin in the city of Tangramayne, which features a four-level dungeon called the ''Dark Domain'' that is designed to get new, inexperienced parties started: By defeating the "Dark Lord" and returning a princess to the surface, novice characters receive a large experience point bonus. Powerful parties may elect to skip this starter mission. The first segment of the Destiny Wand is located in the undead-infested '''Tombs''', in the city of Ephesus. The key required for entry into Dargoth's Tower is also located here, on the second of three levels. The second segment is in '''Fanskar's Fortress''', located in the wilderness outside of the six cities. When Fanskar is defeated at the end of the first and only level, the party acquires the second segment. '''Dargoth's Tower''' in the city of Philippi holds the third segment in its fifth level.Bagnall 1988. p. 32. The fourth segment can be found in the '''Maze of Dread''', which comprises three levels of sewers below the city of Thessalonica. Next is '''Oscon's Fortress''' in Corinth, where the fifth segment can be had after negotiating the snare in its fourth level. The '''Grey Crypt''' holds the next segment, and its entry is located in a building in the wilderness. It has only two levels, but magic cannot be used in it. The seventh and final segment of the Destiny Wand is in the city of Colosse. In the northwest section of the city is a large rock called the '''Destiny Stone''' that can be entered through a crack.Bagnall 1988. p. 34. To finish the game, an archmage in the party must take the seven segments to the ''Temple of Narn'' in the wilderness. The archmage reforges the segments into the Destiny Wand and becomes the Destiny Knight. But the game is not complete until Lagoth Zanta is defeated in the '''Sage's Hut'''.
The game begins at the decline of Camelot because of the love triangle between King Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot. This 'curse' brought famine and drought in the kingdom. After having a vision of the Holy Grail covered by a silver cloth, Gawain, Lancelot and Galahad departed on a quest for the Holy Grail. However, they did not return. The player controls Arthur in his search for the missing knights and the Grail.
The adventure begins at Camelot and then the player travels across England. On his way to Glastonbury Tor he is challenged to a joust by a Black Knight before rescuing Gawain. In the ruins of the Tor he meets a mad hermit, a monk who serves the "Old Ones" and claims he has the Grail, left by Joseph of Arimathea. Afterwards, he visits Ot Moor where the frozen (due to the curse) Lady of the Lake challenges Arthur to a riddle in order to rescue the imprisoned Lancelot.
From Southampton, Arthur leaves England in order to follow Galahad's traces. He arrives to Gaza where he is hosted by a man called Al Sirat, who will introduce him to the cult of the Six Goddesses. At Jerusalem Arthur is tried throughout his acts of selflessness and helping people. After traversing a series of perilous catacombs, the player reaches the ancient Temple of Aphrodite where the goddess directs him to the Grail.
Orgon's family is up in arms because Orgon and his mother have fallen under the influence of Tartuffe, a pious fraud (and a vagrant prior to Orgon's help). Tartuffe pretends to be pious and to speak with divine authority, and Orgon and his mother no longer take any action without first consulting him.
Tartuffe's antics do not fool the rest of the family or their friends; they detest him. Orgon raises the stakes when he announces that Tartuffe will marry Orgon's daughter Mariane (who is already engaged to Valère). Mariane becomes very upset at this news, and the rest of the family realizes how deeply Tartuffe has embedded himself into the family.
In an effort to show Orgon how awful Tartuffe really is, the family devises a scheme to trap Tartuffe into confessing to Elmire (Orgon's wife) his desire for her. As a pious man and a guest, he should have no such feelings for the lady of the house, and the family hopes that after such a confession, Orgon will throw Tartuffe out of the house. Indeed, Tartuffe does try to seduce Elmire, but their interview is interrupted when Orgon's son Damis, who has been eavesdropping, is no longer able to control his boiling indignation and jumps out of his hiding place to denounce Tartuffe. Frontispiece and title page of ''Tartuffe or The Imposter'' from a 1739 collected edition of his works in French and English, printed by John Watts. The engraving depicts the amoral Tartuffe being deceitfully seduced by Elmire, the wife of his host, Orgon who hides under a table.
Tartuffe is at first shocked but recovers very well. When Orgon enters the room and Damis triumphantly tells him what happened, Tartuffe uses reverse psychology and accuses himself of being the worst sinner: : : :Yes, my brother, I am wicked, guilty. :A miserable sinner just full of iniquity. Orgon is convinced that Damis was lying and banishes him from the house. Tartuffe even convinces Orgon to order that, to teach Damis a lesson, Tartuffe should be around Elmire more than ever. As a gift to Tartuffe and further punishment to Damis and the rest of his family, Orgon signs over all his worldly possessions to Tartuffe.
In a later scene, Elmire challenges Orgon to be witness to a meeting between her and Tartuffe. Orgon, ever easily convinced, decides to hide under a table in the same room, confident that Elmire is wrong. He overhears Elmire resisting Tartuffe's very forward advances. When Tartuffe has incriminated himself definitively and is dangerously close to violating Elmire, Orgon comes out from under the table and orders Tartuffe out of his house. The wily guest means to stay, and Tartuffe finally shows his hand. It turns out that earlier, before the events of the play, Orgon had admitted to Tartuffe that he had possession of a box of incriminating letters (written by a friend, not by him). Tartuffe had taken charge and possession of this box, and now tells Orgon that he (Orgon) will be the one to leave. Tartuffe takes his temporary leave. Orgon's family tries to decide what to do. Very soon, Monsieur Loyal shows up with a message from Tartuffe and the court itself; they must exit the house because it now belongs to Tartuffe. Dorine makes fun of Monsieur Loyal's name, mocking his fake loyalty. Even Madame Pernelle, who had refused to believe any ill about Tartuffe even in the face of her son's actually witnessing it, has become convinced of Tartuffe's duplicity.
No sooner does Monsieur Loyal leave than Valère rushes in with the news that Tartuffe has denounced Orgon for aiding and assisting a traitor by keeping the incriminating letters and that Orgon is about to be arrested. Before Orgon can flee, Tartuffe arrives with an officer, but to his surprise, the officer arrests him instead. The officer explains that the enlightened King Louis XIV—who is not mentioned by name—has heard of the injustices happening in the house and, appalled by Tartuffe's treachery towards Orgon, has ordered Tartuffe's arrest instead. It is revealed that Tartuffe has a long criminal history and has often changed his name to avoid being caught. As a reward for Orgon's previous good services, the king not only forgives him for keeping the letters but also invalidates the deed that gave Tartuffe possession of Orgon's house and possessions. The entire family is thankful that it has escaped the mortification of both Orgon's potential disgrace and their dispossession. The drama ends well, and Orgon announces the upcoming wedding of Valère and Mariane. The surprise twist ending, in which everything is set right by the unexpected benevolent intervention of the heretofore unseen king, is considered a notable modern-day example of the classical theatrical plot device ''deus ex machina''.
The characters of ''Breath of Fire II'' were designed by Capcom artist Tatsuya Yoshikawa, who also provided artwork for the cast of the previous game. ''Breath of Fire II'' features nine playable characters who join the player's party at set points throughout the story, each with their own selection of attacks, magic spells, and personal actions which can be used to pass certain obstacles and solve puzzles.
The main protagonist is a 16-year-old boy named Ryu Bateson, who shares his name with the main character from the original ''Breath of Fire'', who mysteriously finds himself alone in the world one day after his father and sister disappear and all townspeople in his village forget who he is. As a member of the elusive Dragon Clan, Ryu possess the ability to transform into powerful draconic beings with destructive abilities, and makes his way as a "Ranger", a sword-for-hire. He is joined by his friend and fellow Ranger, Bow ("Boche Doggy" in the Japanese version), a thief and member of the Grassrunner clan of dog-people who uses a crossbow and healing spells. Throughout the game, players recruit additional characters at different points in the story, including Katt ("Rinpu Chuan" in the Japanese version), a member of the Woren clan of cat-people who fights at a coliseum; Rand Marks, muscular pangolin-person who fights with his bare hands; Nina Windia, descendant of the original Nina from ''Breath of Fire'' and princess of a clan of winged humans who was exiled due to her black wings, a bad omen in her country; Sten Legacy, a former soldier from a kingdom of monkey-people who makes his way as a trickster and performer; Ekkal Hoppa de Pe Jean, or simply Jean ("Tapeta" in the Japanese version), a love-struck prince of a race of frog-people who struggles to regain his kingdom after his throne is usurped; and Spar ("Aspara Gus" in the Japanese version), an emotionless plant man who can commune with nature and is held captive by a traveling sideshow. An optional character in the form of the immortal sorceress Bleu ("Deis" in the Japanese version) from the original ''Breath of Fire'' may also be recruited.
''Breath of Fire II'' is set in a fantasy world 500 years after the events of the original game. The story opens on Ryu, age 6, living in the village of Gate with his sister Yua and father Ganer, a priest for the Church of St. Eva. Years earlier, Ryu's mother disappeared when demons erupted from a hole in a mountain on the outskirts of town, which was eventually blocked by a large dragon. One day, after visiting the dragon near the mountainside, Ryu returns to find his family missing and that no one in the village remembers who he is. Believing him to be an orphan, the townsfolk send him to live at the church with Father Hulk, who has seemingly been acting pastor for years. There, Ryu meets Bow, a fellow orphan, and runs away with him during a storm. Upon leaving the village, the two seek shelter in a cave, where they encounter the demon Barubary, who claims that Ryu is the "Destined Child", knocks them unconscious, and disappears.
Ten years later, Ryu and Bow live together in HomeTown as members of a Rangers guild, and are tasked with finding the lost pet of Mina, princess of the Kingdom of Windia. The two reluctantly complete the task and upon their return, Bow is charged with stealing from Trout, a local rich man. Bow claims he was framed by a mysterious "winged thief". Both escape the town the following night, and Bow remains in hiding while Ryu leaves to find the real thief and clear his friend's name. To gather information, Ryu travels to Coursair, a town with a large coliseum, and becomes a challenger in the arena against Katt, the coliseum's most popular fighter. Ryu gains Katt's trust by foiling the coliseum manager's plot to poison her and stage the fight, and then allies with her and Rand, an employee at the Coliseum, to defeat the manager, who has been possessed by a demon. While Rand stays behind to help construct Bow's hideout, Ryu and Katt arrive at HomeTown to investigate. There, they meet Nina, a student of magic and Mina's older sister. When Mina is kidnapped by a gang in an effort to blackmail Nina, she joins Ryu and Katt to defeat the gang's leader, who is also a demon in disguise. The party returns Mina to Windia, but find themselves expelled from the castle due to the superstition surrounding Nina's black wings. They are joined by Sten, a trickster who fails to swindle them and pledges himself to their cause. In the port town of Capitan, the party encounters Ray, a wandering priest of St. Eva, and assist him in rescuing a number of villagers from Capitan's dry well. Afterwards, Bow's hideaway is rebuilt into TownShip, and Ryu meets a Shaman, who taps into his latent ability to transform into a dragon, revealing him to be a part of the Dragon Clan thought missing for hundreds of years.
Upon traveling to a new continent, the group meets Jean, a frog-prince whose castle of SimaFort has been usurped by an impostor, whom the party is able to expose as a demon and defeat. The party retrieves the real thief, a bat-winged girl named Patty, from SimaFort's dungeon and turn her over to Trout. Exonerated, Bow rejoins the party, but expresses suspicion over Trout. He and Ryu break into Trout's house at night and find Patty imprisoned in a secret dungeon, and defeat Trout, also possessed by a demon. Suspecting the demon outbreak to be part of a larger problem, the party searches the world for Spar, a Grassman able to communicate with plants. Upon rescuing Spar from the clutches of a traveling sideshow, the party consults with the Great Wise Tree Gandaroof and discover that he is losing his memory. He requests that the party acquire the Therapy Pillow from the city of Tunlan so that they can enter his mind to restore it. To communicate with the people of Tunlan, the party first retrieves Famous Flute from Sten's hometown of HighFort, where Sten is forced to confront his past as a former soldier and help rescue the kingdom from Shupkay, another demon in disguise. After saving Tunlan's princess from demonic possession, the party uses the Therapy Pillow to visit Gandaroof's mind, which is being destroyed by the demon Aruhameru. Aruhameru claims that Gandaroof possesses knowledge that threatens his "God", and reveals that he destroyed the people of Gate's memory of Ryu.
Once the party vanquishes Aruhameru, they learn that the demon outbreak is linked to Gate and the Church of St. Eva. When Rand's mother Daisy is kidnapped by St. Eva's soldiers, Nina decides to return to Windia and obtain the "mark of the wing", an old relic that will allow her to transform into the Great Bird and fly the group to St. Eva's Grand Church. After reuniting with her parents and consorting with the spirit of her great-great-great-great grandmother, the original Nina from ''Breath of Fire'', Nina obtains the mark and prepares to undergo a ceremony that will transform her into the Great Bird permanently. However, Mina steals the mark and takes her sister's place, sacrificing her humanity. Traveling on Mina, the party makes their way to Evrai, the home of St. Eva. They find themselves trapped within the city, but manage to escape with the help of Claris, a young woman allied with a group of rebels seeking to destroy St. Eva.
Seeking out the rebels, the party meets their leader Tiga, and reunite with Patty, now the rebels' benefactor. Together, the rebels and the party discover that St. Eva is a front for a demon who uses the prayers of worshippers to empower itself, and Tiga formulates a plan to infiltrate the Grand Church. The plan succeeds, and the party learns that Habaruku, St. Eva's high priest, has captured Claris. Tiga attempts to rescue her, only for both him and Claris to be killed. The party pursues Habaruku, but Ray blocks their path and attacks them in dragon form, revealing himself as a member of the Dragon Clan. The battle awakens a powerful new dragon form in Ryu, which he uses to vanquish Ray. The party then rescues Daisy, who sacrifices herself to save Rand from a trap so that her son can continue fighting. In the catacombs of the church, the party finds Ryu's father Ganer attached to an energy-draining machine, having been kidnapped by Aruhameru ten years ago. Ryu and his friends either kill or rescue him, demolishing the church in doing so, and make their way back to Gate to stop the demons' plot once and for all. In Gate, the party watches as Father Hulk and the townsfolk try to destroy the dragon with a bomb, believing it to be responsible for the death of Gate's forest. The bomb weakens the dragon, allowing demons to escape from the mountain. Remorseful, Hulk asks the party to bring Patty, who has knowledge of the dragon. Upon Patty's arrival, Father Hulk captures her and reveals himself to be Habaruku in disguise, declaring his plan to sacrifice Patty, a member of the Dragon clan (and Ryu's sister Yua), to open the gate and release his God. With help from the dragon, the party defeats Habaruku.
The dragon thanks the party and reveals herself to be Ryu's mother Valerie, a member of the Dragon Clan that traveled from their underground hiding place and married Ryu's father, later assuming the form of a dragon to save her family from the invading demons. Valerie gives the party the choice of allowing her to resume her duty of guarding the gate, or traveling to defeat the demons for good; she sacrifices herself to open the gate if they agree. The party travels deep underground to the demon stronghold, where they meet the last remaining members of the Dragon Clan. Ryu gains the ultimate dragon power of Anfini and battles Barubary, the demon from his past. Once Barubary is defeated, the party confronts his master, Deathevn, St. Eva's God and a remnant of Myria, the main antagonist of the previous game. Using Anfini, Ryu defeats Deathevn, and returns home with his friends, although he realizes that Deathevn has not truly been defeated and will someday return. Two possible endings occur based on the player's actions — either Ryu sacrifices himself like his mother by transforming into a dragon to prevent further demon encroachment, or, if the player saved Ganer and enabled TownShip to fly, Ganer pilots the town onto the mountain, sealing it for good.
A third ending also exists: If the player chooses not to enter the cave and confront Deathevn, a non-standard game over will be triggered in which the demons ultimately break through the weakened seal and conquer the world.
Marge and Homer discover the house next to them is up for sale, and marvel at the extensive kitchen inside the house. After realizing the poor quality of her own kitchen, she asks Homer to hire a contractor. Not wanting to pay the price of hiring one, he decides to remodel it himself. While remodeling the kitchen, Homer unearths his old collection of ''Playdude'' magazines. After Marge sees them, he innocently tells her he kept them only for the articles, and she decides to make sure by cutting out all the nudes from the magazines. After this, Homer decides that they are now of no use, and throws them away, only for them to be found by Bart and Milhouse. After reading the 1970s magazines, they are inspired to renovate their treehouse. After Homer's attempts of remodeling the kitchen fail, Marge finally decides to hire a contractor herself.
Despite the contractor assuring that the renovation will be done in three weeks, it takes two years of renovation. Marge's kitchen is finally remodelled, for the price of $100,000. She then cooks her first dish in the kitchen, which gets rave reviews from many Springfieldians, as well as author Thomas Pynchon. At the Kwik-E-Mart, Marge encounters an advertisement for the Ovenfresh bake-off, in which the grand prize is being Ovenfresh's spokeswoman, "Auntie Ovenfresh". Under Ned Flanders's advice, she decides to enter the bake-off with her "dessert dogs" and she wins, beating Ralph's "Grilled crayon sandwich." At the bake-off, most of the competitors cheat by ruining Marge's dessert dogs on purpose while insulting her, so while alone in the judging room, Marge retaliates by tainting all of the competitors' entries with Maggie's ear medicine. This was witnessed by Lisa, who then loses her faith in her as a result.
Meanwhile, Chief Wiggum and other concerned parents talk to Homer about Bart spreading ''Playdude'' to the other children. Realizing that Bart has got the magazines he threw away, Homer decides to have a talk with him about sex. After the talk, a horrified Bart quickly spreads the talk to Milhouse and the other children, horrifying them as well. Meanwhile, Lisa confronts Marge for cheating, but she defends her actions by stating that the competitors pushed her into doing so with their antics. At the bake-off finals against Brandine Spuckler, Marge considers cheating again, but then discovers a note from Lisa and admits to her foul play, restoring Lisa's faith in her. Not long afterwards, the new Auntie Ovenfresh flour bag with Brandine on it comes out and her husband, Cletus mentions that she has left him for James Caan. In response, Cletus's friends ambush Caan at a toll booth and gun him down in a scene reminiscent of the death of Sonny Corleone, Caan's character in the film ''The Godfather''. He survives and complains about the scene.
In Manhattan, cockroaches are spreading the deadly "Strickler's disease" that is claiming hundreds of the city's children. Due to an inability to develop a cure or vaccine for the disease Dr. Peter Mann, deputy director of the CDC, recruits entomologist Dr. Susan Tyler. In response, Dr. Tyler uses genetic engineering to create what she calls the "Judas breed", a hybrid between a mantis and a termite that releases an enzyme which accelerates the roaches' metabolism, with the effect that the roaches burn calories faster than they can nourish themselves and thus starve to death. The roaches carrying the disease are successfully eradicated, and Peter and Susan later marry.
Three years later, a priest is chased and dragged underground by a strange assailant. The only witness is Chuy, a boy on the autism spectrum with a habit of imitating noises who refers to the attacker as "Mr. Funny Shoes" to his disbelieving guardian, an immigrant subway shoe shiner named Manny. Later two kids sell a "weird bug" from the subway to Susan, which she performs tests on, and realizes is similar to the Judas breed. Initially, she believes that this is impossible since the specimens she released were all female and designed with a lifespan of only a few months, which should have ensured that the breed would die off after a single generation. Before she can examine the insect further it is stolen by a strange figure who escapes out the window. After informing the police she later consults with her mentor, Dr. Gates, who autopsies a larger specimen found in the city's sewage treatment plants, and finds that its organs are fully formed, meaning the Judas breed is not only alive but has developed into a viable species, with a sizable colony underneath the city.
Looking for more valuable specimens, the kids go down the tracks where they find a large egg sac and are then killed by the same strange assailant. Meanwhile, Chuy enters the abandoned church of the dead priest to find "Mr. Funny Shoes" and is abducted. Peter, his assistant Josh and MTA officer Leonard enter the maintenance tunnels to investigate but Peter and Leonard get stuck and send Josh for help. Susan encounters what appears to be a shadowy man in a trench coat on a train platform. As she approaches it, the figure unfolds into an insect the size of a human being. The creature abducts Susan and carries her into the tunnels. Meanwhile, Josh finds a way out but is found by a Judas and killed. Manny also enters the tunnels in search of Chuy and comes across Susan, whom he rescues along with Peter and Leonard, and they barricade themselves inside a train car.
Susan surmises that the Judas breed's accelerated metabolism has allowed them to reproduce at a similarly accelerated rate, causing them to evolve over tens of thousands of generations within only three years, developing both lungs granting increased size and the ability to mimic their human prey. The group formulates a plan to get the car moving: using the remains of a dead bug to mask their scent as they work Peter will switch the power on, and Manny will switch the tracks. Susan projects that the Judas will spread throughout the tunnels and overrun the city unless they are able to kill the colony's single fertile male. While trying to reach the track switches, Manny finds Chuy who has managed to survive due to his imitating the clicking noises the bugs use for communication, but before they can escape Manny is killed by the male Judas. Susan, realizing Manny has been gone too long, goes in search of him but finds only Chuy. Leonard's injured leg starts bleeding heavily and knowing the smell will only incite the creatures and endanger the group, he creates a diversion that allows the others to get away, before being killed. Peter finds a dumbwaiter and puts Susan and Chuy in it, but stays behind to destroy the breed for good. He is chased into a room where hundreds are nesting and blows them all up by setting fire to a loose gas pipe, before diving underwater to safety.
The male Judas however escapes the blast and goes after Chuy but is distracted by Susan, who lures it into the path of an oncoming train, which runs over it. The two successfully make it to the surface, with Susan assuming that Peter had died in the blast. She then sees what appears to be another Judas, only for it to be revealed to actually be Peter alive and well. The film ends with the three reuniting and embracing one another.
Jocelin, the Dean of the cathedral, directs the construction of a towering spire funded by his aunt, Lady Alison, a mistress of the former King. The project is carried on against the advice of many, and in particular the warnings of the master builder, Roger Mason. The cathedral has insufficient foundations to support a spire of the magnificence demanded by Jocelin, but he believes he has been chosen by God and given a vision to erect a great spire to exalt the town and to bring its people closer to God. As the novel progresses, Golding explores Jocelin's growing obsession with the completion of the spire, during which he is increasingly afflicted by pain in his spine (which the reader gradually comes to realise is the result of tuberculosis). Jocelin interprets the burning heat in his back as an angel, alternately comforting or punishing him depending on the warmth or pain he feels. Jocelin's obsession blinds him to reality as he neglects his duties as Dean, fails to pray and ignores the people who need him the most. The pit dug to explore the foundations at the Cathedral crossing becomes a place where chthonic forces surge, as the four tower pillars begin to 'sing'.
Jocelin also struggles with his unacknowledged lust for Goody Pangall, the wife of the crippled and impotent cathedral servant, Pangall. Jocelin seems at first to see Goody as his daughter in God. However, as the novel progresses, and Goody's husband is tormented and ridiculed as their 'fool' by the bullying workmen, Jocelin becomes tormented by sexual desire, usually triggered by the sight of Goody's red hair.
Comparisons between Goody and Rachel, Roger Mason's wife, are made throughout the novel. Jocelin believes Goody sets an example to Rachel, whom he dislikes for her garrulousness and for revealing that her marriage to Roger remains unconsummated. However, Jocelin overestimates Goody's purity, and is horrified when he discovers Goody is embarking upon an affair with Roger Mason. Tortured by envy and guilt, Jocelin finds himself unable to pray. He is repulsed by his sexual thoughts, referred to as "the devil" during his dreams.
The Cathedral building, its ordered life, and the lives of the people around Jocelin are disrupted because of the intractable problems arising from the construction of the spire, but Jocelin continues to drive his dream to its conclusion. His visions and hallucinations, hence his denial of the reality of the situation, mark his descent into irrationality. As the true costs, financial and spiritual, of the endeavour become apparent, the story moves to its tragic conclusion.
Pangall disappears; although his fate is never made explicit, it is clear from the clue of the mistletoe that he was a pagan sacrifice buried at the Crossing by the builders to secure their luck against the stupidity of continuing the work. Goody Pangall dies in childbirth, bearing Roger Mason's child. Roger becomes a drunkard and at the end Jocelin dies of his illness, though only after first hearing from his aunt that his appointment was due only to her sexual influence, not to his merits. Before he dies, the phallic imagery of the Spire is displaced by the mysterious symbol of the tree. The spire is incomplete at the end of the story, and there is a growing sense of impending disaster due to the instability of the over-ambitious structure.
Jimmy Tong (Leslie Cheung) is an expert blackmailer and thief who specialises in white-collar crimes. With his side-kick (Vincent Kok), Jimmy steals a personal diary belonging to a Yakuza leader, Ken Sato (Masaya Kato), intending to use its details as a platform for blackmailing and to extort money. Sato agreed to the uneasy deal and made preparations to pay Jimmy his exorbitant demands only for Sato's girlfriend, Jenny (Faye Wong) to betray him and make off with the money to Okinawa.
Elsewhere, Dat Lo (Tony Leung) was vacationing with his girlfriend (Gigi Lai) and another jilted girl (Stephanie Che) in Okinawa (intending to use the vacation to dump his own girlfriend), but stumbles into Jimmy whom he had little problems recognising as an international crook. From here onwards, Dat set aside his irrelevant plans to dump his companions and sought to devise a plan to entrap and to subsequently arrest Jimmy. Dat tried to convince Jimmy as an accomplice to a new bank heist of which Jimmy needed little persuasion. However, Jenny comes into the frame and before long, both Jimmy and Dat fell in love with her.
Set in the Dark Ages a century after the Roman withdrawal from Britain and during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Arthur is not a glamorous king with an elaborate court; instead, he is (as presumed by some historians) just a Celtic leader who installs and maintains a Celtic alliance against the Saxon invaders. He is instructed by his adoptive father Llud and assisted by Kai, a Saxon orphan reared as Arthur's brother. His greatest rival is his cousin, Mark of Cornwall. The Jute chief Yorath and his daughter Rowena are in the beginning allies against the Saxons but finally use their special position to mediate peace negotiations between the Celts and the Saxons. Cerdig, chieftain of the Saxons, is Arthur's principal counterpart who in the episode "The Treaty" even insults him as a man "with many brothers but no father" but learns to respect him in the end.
The series dispenses with the legendary Round Table and popular figures such as Merlin, Guinevere and Lancelot and attaches no significance to magic or superstition. Neither Arthur nor his fellow celts are at any time clad in shining armour. Arthur is once again portrayed as a skilled fighter but especially as a cunning politician who eventually comes to good terms with the Saxons. After he has created the basics for a peaceful coexistence between his folk and the Saxons, he falls in love with a Roman princess (last episode, "The Girl From Rome") called Benedicta (portrayed by Catherine Schell) who wants to live with him in Rome. But Arthur refuses to leave the land and people he loves, and she leaves along with her escort, though it is hinted that she may return.
The story starts when eight-year-old Joslyn Musey's parents die in a vicious pirate attack on his home ship, the merchant ''Mukudori''. Jos, along with a handful of the ships other children, are captured by the attackers. Vincenzo Marcus Falcone, an infamous pirate and captain of the "Genghis Khan", keeps Jos as his hostage, with the intention of making him a protégé. Falcone teaches Jos how to "win people over" with manners and cunning, and especially good looks.
The human race, EarthHub, is at war with aliens called the striviirc-na, who are called "strits" by the Hub. When the pirate ship ''Genghis Khan'' docks at Chaos Station, which is located in deep space, the station is suddenly attacked by the striviiric-na. Jos escapes Falcone during the attack, but is shot, then captured and is taken to the alien homeworld, Aaian-na, by the Warboy, the leader of the human sympathizer movement on Aaian-na, Nikolas S'tlian. Jos gradually accepts his place on Aaian-na and the Warboy teaches him to be a Ka'redan, or "assassin-priest" which is the ruling caste on the planet.
Jos is trained on Aaian-na until he is fourteen, when he is formally made a member of the Ka'redan. At that time, being told that the only way to end the war is through a treaty with EarthHub's most notorious spacecarrier, the ''Macedon'', he is assigned to spy on the ship as part of its elite crew. Jos is taught to act like an Earthhub human and sent back to Austo Station in the Hub to join the Macedon. Once on the Macedon, however, he discovers that his previous distinctions between good and bad no longer apply.
Jos battles on the Macedon, eventually encountering Evan D'Silva, one of his former friends on the Mukudori, who he rescues from a pirate ship. He discovers a connection between the Warboy's brother, Ash-dan, and Falcone's pirates, who have been trading weapons to the sympathizers in exchange for aid in hiding captured children.
The novel ends with a face off between the ''Genghis Khan'' and the ''Macedon''. The ''Macedon'' encounters the ''Genghis Khan'' meeting with the Warboy's brother's ship, and is boarded by the pirates. Jos and his unit are captured by the Khan and Jos is interrogated by Falcone. It is eventually revealed to his ship mates that he is spying for the Warboy. However, at that point, the Warboy, who had been tracking his brother, shows up with his ship, and his crew release Jos and the other prisoners and takes them to his ship.
The Warboy's ship then helps the ''Macedon'' destroy the pirate ships, after which ''Macedon's'' Captain, Cairo Azarcon, arranges for the Warboy to dock on Chaos Station. Jos encounters Falcone on deck, being transported to police facilities, when Falcone attempts to escape. Jos then stabs Falcone to death on deck, after which he is taken back to the ''Macedon'' under Captain Azarcon's protection. He is made a liaison officer as Azarcon attempts to negotiate a peace treaty with the striviiric-na.
The Soviet Union became a world superpower by dropping the first atomic bomb on Berlin, ending World War II, and propping up communist states throughout the globe which begin to surround the US in the present day. New York plumbing brothers Chris and Troy Stone travel to meet with their next client, an activist named Isabella Angelina, only to find her apartment abandoned. The Soviet Union launches a surprise invasion of New York City and suddenly Soviet soldiers, led by General Vasilij Tatarin, seize Troy. Amidst the attack, Chris escapes to the streets, encountering a man named Mr. Jones and resistance member Phil Bagzton and Dihn 'The Kid' Nguyen. After rescuing Isabella from a police station and Troy from a post office, the group retreats to the sewers and sets up a base of operations as New York is lost, with the media now being controlled by the Soviet Union.
Months later, Chris, Phil, and Isabella sabotage key Soviet facilities and reclaim areas within the city, building up a resistance group of New York citizens and disillusioned Soviet soldiers. Chris becomes known as the 'Freedom Phantom' within the Soviet-controlled media network, SAFN. Troy is captured by Soviet troops and tortured for information. Forced into issuing a public statement aimed at the resistance to cease their actions, he breaks from the prepared text and urges Chris to continue fighting. In response, General Tatarin has Troy taken to Fort Jay and executes him personally. Mr. Jones suggests assassinating Tatarin in retaliation. Chris succeeds, but returns to find Isabella missing and the resistance base occupied by the Soviet Army. The operation was orchestrated by Mr. Jones who reveals himself to be KGB agent Colonel Mikael Bulba. Chris escapes with Phil and others to a new underground area while SAFN reports on the death of Tatarin, Colonel Bulba's promotion to General, and the 'end' of the resistance in New York.
During the winter, Chris leads the resistance deeper into occupied New York, culminating with a major raid on SAFN Studios. Chris uses the station to send a broadcast encouraging the city and beyond to rise up and bring an end to the Soviet occupation. A final assault on Governors Island, consisting of massed resistance forces, is planned and carried out, capturing key objectives against extremely heavy Soviet resistance. After capturing Fort Jay and rescuing Isabella, New York is liberated for the time being as Chris and the group solemnly celebrate their victory. Chris knows the Soviets will not give up the occupied United States easily, but resolves to fight on as long as is necessary.
The film is told through 12 "episodes", each preceded by a written intertitle. Nana Kleinfrankenheim (Anna Karina) is a beautiful Parisian in her early twenties. She leaves her husband Paul and her infant son, hoping to become an actress. The couple meet in a café and play pinball one last time before deciding to end their marriage. She works in a record store, helping customers find music based on their tastes. After leaving her husband, she is not able to make much money on her own and is worried she will not be able to afford rent. She asks several coworkers if they can spare her 2,000 francs but all refuse.
Nana tries to enter her apartment but the landlady refuses to let her in until she can pay rent. The next day, Nana meets Paul who gives her pictures of her son to keep for herself. Paul invites her to eat but Nana declines and explains she is seeing a film with another man. They watch ''The Passion of Joan of Arc'', moving Nana to tears. After the film, Nana ditches her date to meet with a man who promised he would take photos of her for career exposure as an actress. He says she will have to undress for the photos and Nana reluctantly complies.
Nana is questioned in a police station for trying to steal 1,000 francs from a woman on the street, who dropped the money in front of her. Nana returned the money out of guilt, but the woman still presses charges. Nana says she doesn't know what to do or who she will live with now. Nana walks down a street noticing a woman prostituting herself. A man asks Nana if he can join her, assuming she is also a prostitute, she says yes and they enter a hotel. Inside the room Nana asks him for 4,000 francs. He gives 5,000 and says she can keep the change. They kiss but Nana is visibly uncomfortable and struggling to avoid his lips.
Nana runs into a friend, Yvette, and they go for lunch. Yvette talks about how her husband abandoned her and her children, and that over time she became a prostitute because it was the easiest way to make money without him. Yvette's pimp, Raoul, is at the diner and Yvette tells him he should speak to Nana. Nana makes a good impression on Raoul and the three play pinball when suddenly a police shootout occurs outside and a man who has been shot runs inside. After seeing the blood-covered man Nana flees the diner without saying anything.
Some time later, Nana has returned to the restaurant and is writing a letter asking for work (presumably as a prostitute) to an address Yvette gave her, describing herself and her physical features. Raoul sits down next to her and they talk about the shootout from a few days earlier. He tells Nana he thinks it would be better for her to stay and work in Paris instead of where she was planning to go, as she will make more money here. Nana agrees to work for him and they kiss. She quits her job at the record store and begins to let go of her dream of becoming an actress. Raoul explains the basics of being a prostitute to Nana: what she does, how to conduct herself, how much she charges and earns, when and where she works, the laws, what to do if she gets pregnant. The dialogue between Nana and Raoul plays over scenes of Nana prostituting herself to many different men, it seems she has now been doing it for some period of time.
On one of Nana's days off Raoul takes her to a bistro to meet some of his friends. There, Nana turns a pop song on the jukebox and dances around the room. The men are mostly uninterested, but one young man playing at a billiard table buys her a pack of cigarettes. Later, Nana is on the street and picks up a client whom she takes to a hotel. The man requests she ask other prostitutes in the hotel to join them, but once one does, the client says he doesn't want Nana to join, so she sits on the edge of the bed and smokes while she waits.
Nana is now a seasoned prostitute and blends in with the others on the streets. She enters a café where she has a philosophical discussion with an old man sitting in the booth next to hers. They converse about communication, language and love. Nana reflects on her own identity. Nana is in a hotel room with the young man she'd met aerier at the bistro who reads aloud a passage from "The Oval Portrait" by Edgar Allan Poe. Nana and the young man express their adoration of each other and Nana decides she will live with him, planning to tell Raoul she is quitting being a prostitute. When Nana confronts Raoul they argue, as he was planning to sell her to another pimp. Raoul forces Nana to get in his car and drives her to the pimp's meeting place. However, the transaction goes bad and Nana ends up being killed in a gun battle. The pimps flee the scene, leaving Nana's body lying on the pavement.
The game takes place on an island continent called Riberia, which had long been divided and ruled under four kingdoms. However, these kingdoms were destroyed by the evil Zoa Empire and its devil-worshipping ruler, and the island was starting to regress into a period of instability and darkness. The Rīve Kingdom was one of the four kingdoms of Riberia, and the first protagonist, , is the prince of Razelia; one of the principalities within the kingdom. After the fall of his father's principality, he escaped and went into hiding in a nearby port-town. This town also fell into the hands of the Empire, and Runan and , the prince of another one of the kingdom's principalities, retreat to the newly created Uelt Kingdom with a small contingent of troops. The two receive assistance from the Uelt king, and begin a long journey to destroy the evil empire.
In 1920s Britain, Arthur Chipping is an established member of the teaching staff at the Brookfield public school. He is a stodgy teacher of Latin, disliked by his pupils, who find him boring and call him "Ditchy," short for "dull as ditch-water." Chips meets Katherine Bridges, a music hall soubrette, in the dining room of the Savoy Hotel in London on the eve of his summer holiday. Dissatisfied with her career and depressed by her romantic entanglements, she sets sail on a Mediterranean cruise and is reunited with Chips by chance in Pompeii. Seeing in him a lonely soul similar to herself, she arranges an evening at the theatre after they return to Britain, and the two find themselves drawn to each other. When Chips arrives at Brookfield for the autumn term, it is with his new wife on his arm, much to the shock of the staff and delight of the pupils, who find Mrs Chips' charm to be irresistible. His marriage softens him and makes him more liked by his students.
Although her close friend and confidante Ursula Mossbank helps Katherine thwart Lord Sutterwick's plan to deprive the school of a generous financial endowment because of the woman's background, her past eventually deprives Chips of his longheld dream of being named headmaster in 1939. Still, the couple's devotion to each other overcomes all obstacles threatening their marriage, extending through 20 years together, when Katherine is killed in 1944 by a German V-1 flying bomb while entertaining the troops at a local Royal Air Force base. Too late for his wife to share in his happiness, Chips was picked as headmaster of Brookfield that same day, and lives out his years at the school, loved by his pupils and comforted by his happy memories.
Rocky the Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose live a melancholic life ever since their television series was cancelled in 1964. Their animated home, Frostbite Falls, is deforested, Rocky can no longer fly, and their show's unseen Narrator lives with his mother. Meanwhile, their archenemies, Fearless Leader, Boris Badenov, and Natasha Fatale, have all lost power in Pottsylvania following the end of the Cold War. They escape by tunneling to a Hollywood film studio, where they trick executive Minnie Mogul into signing a rights contract to their series and green-lighting a potential movie, dragging the villains out of the animated world and transforming them into live action characters.
Six months later, Fearless Leader and his minions have founded RBTV ("Really Bad Television"), a cable television network in New York City that is programmed to control the population by brainwashing American audiences into voting Fearless Leader in as the next President of the United States. FBI Director, Cappy von Trapment, deploys agent Karen Sympathy to recruit Rocky and Bullwinkle to stop RBTV's intended broadcast. Karen travels to a movie-generating lighthouse in Los Angeles, summoning Rocky, Bullwinkle, and the Narrator into the real world.
Upon learning of Rocky and Bullwinkle's return, Fearless Leader deploys Boris and Natasha to destroy them. They are given the CDI ("Computer-Degenerating Imagery"), a laptop-like weapon that can trap cartoon characters within the Internet. The villains' truck is stolen by Karen, who is swiftly arrested by Oklahoma State Police troopers when Natasha poses as her. Boris and Natasha later steal a helicopter to continue their pursuit. Karen is sent to prison, but manipulates a love-struck Swedish guard named Ole to help her escape. Rocky and Bullwinkle are picked up by students Martin and Lewis, who attend Bullwinkle's alma mater Wossamotta U. Boris and Natasha launch an elaborate plan to assassinate Bullwinkle, donating a cheque to the university in his name, inspiring the academic board to award Bullwinkle with an honorary "Mooster's Degree". As Bullwinkle addresses the students, Rocky regains his ability to fly, stopping Boris from killing Bullwinkle with the CDI.
Boris and Natasha chase Rocky and Bullwinkle through Chicago, but disintegrate their own helicopter. Karen reunites with Rocky and Bullwinkle, but the trio are arrested again by numerous state troopers. They are trialed for numerous misdemeanors (California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio), but the presiding Judge Cameo has the charges dropped upon recognizing Rocky and Bullwinkle, informing the district attorney that celebrities are above the law. The trio buy a rickety biplane and escape Boris and Natasha once again. The two villains consider retiring from villain's job, lying to Fearless Leader that they had defeated Rocky and Bullwinkle, confident that they have already won. Meanwhile, the heroes' plane begins to lose altitude due to the combined weight. Rocky flies Karen to New York to stop the broadcast, but they are captured by Boris and Natasha. Fearless Leader initiates his plan and broadcasts programs to brainwash most of the country.
Bullwinkle crash-lands the plane outside the White House in Washington, D.C., and finds the President to be brainwashed by the RBTV programs, which Bullwinkle is immune to due to his natural stupidity. Cappy finds Bullwinkle and scans him into the White House's computer system, then e-mails him to the studio just as Fearless Leader addresses the nation, disrupting the broadcast, and a chaotic fight breaks out, leading to the capture of the villains. Karen, Rocky, and Bullwinkle then ask the American public to replant Frostbite Falls, and Bullwinkle accidentally activates the CDI, transforming the villains back to their animated forms and banishing them to the Internet once and for all.
In the aftermath, Rocky and Bullwinkle's careers are renewed in RBTV (renamed to "Rocky and Bullwinkle Television") Karen goes on a date with Ole, as Rocky, Bullwinkle, and the Narrator return home to a rejuvenated Frostbite Falls.
The cartoons are about Peabody, who is the smartest being in existence, having graduated from Harvard when he was 3 years old. ("Wagna cum Laude"). Peabody has accomplished many things in his life as a business magnate, inventor, scientist, Nobel laureate, gourmand, and two-time Olympic medalist. Peabody becomes sad and lonely and decides to adopt his own human as a son. In an alley, he meets Sherman (voiced by Walter Tetley), a bespectacled, red-haired boy. After saving Sherman from a group of bullies, Peabody discovers that Sherman is an orphan and decides to adopt him.
After a court appearance and a talk with the President and the government, Peabody becomes Sherman's new guardian. Mr. Peabody tells Sherman not to call him "Daddy" and to call him by his name, "Mr. Peabody", or, when speaking informally, "Peabody".
Believing that boys need running room, Peabody invents the Wayback Machine as a birthday gift for Sherman. He and Sherman go back in time to see a Roman speaking in Latin; Peabody adds a translator circuit to the machine so that everyone seems to speak English. They see the Roman again and learn that he is a used-chariot salesman. Their next trip is to see Ben Franklin flying his kite that proved lightning was electricity, but Peabody and Sherman discover that they cannot interact with the past. Peabody makes some more adjustments, turning the Wayback into a "should-have-been machine". This causes past events to seem distorted and anachronistic and famous people to behave out of character. (For example, Edgar Allan Poe is seen writing ''Winnie the Pooh'', and saying, "I can't help it! All my stories have happy endings!" The segment also mentions a television set, which Peabody calls "...the most fiendish torture device known to man!") Each of the cartoons usually ends with Mr. Peabody making a bad pun.
Mr. Peabody's face and voice caricature were modeled after Clifton Webb, whose role as Mr. Belvedere is a similarly pompous, authoritarian, know-it-all character.
A full motion video clip features the character Jane introducing the player to the main objective and basic rules of the game. From that point onwards the entire format is that of still photographs with actors reading the dialogue. The narrator also changes once during the game, before being changed back to the original a few scenes later.
In the early 1990s, Los Angeles locals John (Edward J. Foster) and Jane (Jeanne Basone), are both being pressured by their respective parents to find a suitable spouse. John, a plumber, is told by his mother (Violetta Gevorkian, voiced by Samantha Eggersoll) to go to her house with the girl she had set a date up with, Amy, for dinner at 6:00 pm. College student Jane, meanwhile, who is considered a "daddy's girl", is going to a job interview, having disliked her coworkers at her previous job.
John and Jane both meet in a parking lot by 8:00 AM and John instantly falls in love with Jane, calling her "perfect". John decides not to go to work and stays in the parking lot to wait for Jane to leave from her job interview so he can meet Jane again, thinking it is more important than his job, possibly due to the fact his mother's wanting of a spouse for him. Around this time, it is revealed that the game is narrated by Harry Armis (who also played Jane's father).
When Jane is at the interview, her prospective boss, Paul Mark Thresher (Paul Bokor), tells her that, despite her outstanding qualifications and recommendations, her position was canceled an hour before. When Jane gets very upset about this, Thresher says that "something can be worked out, after all," and asks her to take her clothes off, which appears to be an attempt to lead Jane to have sex with him to get a job. However, when Jane refuses, Thresher attempts to rape her, and eventually, Jane (still partially undressed) runs away from him. John sees Thresher chasing Jane and dashes off to save her. After a long chase sequence through the streets of Los Angeles, the three find themselves in an abandoned building. Around this time, Harry Armis is replaced by a female narrator named Wilma (Thyra Metz). Later, she is shot multiple times by Armis, who then returns as narrator.
After the chase, Thresher offers to pay Jane $5 million for sex. Jane refuses after John confesses his feelings for her. John and Jane both walk out of the house with Thresher having a date with somebody else (Samantha Eggersoll) as a consolation to lose Jane to John, and asking to call the police, while John and Jane return to the parking lot where they first met.
As a reward for being honorable, Jane decides to treat John to dinner and they travel to her place on John's bike. While he attempts to tell her that his profession is that of a plumber, Jane believes he is joking, then replies, "Plumbers don't wear ties."
Bad endings include the following:
In early 1939, Nazi Germany's most powerful battleship, , is launched, beginning a new era of German sea power. Two years later, after war has begun, British naval intelligence discovers ''Bismarck'' and the heavy cruiser are about to sail into the North Atlantic to attack Allied convoys. From a London underground war room, Captain Jonathan Shepard (Kenneth More) coordinates the hunt for the dreaded ''Bismarck''. Later, the two German warships encounter and in the Straits of Denmark, and the four warships engage in a deadly gun duel. The battle results in the annihilation and violent disintegration of the ''Hood'', shocking combatants on both sides. Now ''Prince of Wales'' is alone and is fired on by the two German ships. However, it manages to inflict damage on the ''Bismarck's'' bow. ''Bismarck'' returns fire, destroying the ''Prince of Wales''' bridge. Eventually, ''Prince of Wales'' emits a smoke screen behind which to retreat. ''Bismarck'' and ''Prinz Eugen'' also retreat, but they are shadowed by the cruisers HMS ''Suffolk'' and HMS ''Norfolk'' using radar. Later, ''Prinz Eugen'' breaks away and heads toward the port of Brest, in occupied France, while ''Bismarck'' turns and fires at the British cruisers to provide cover as it escapes. The attack forces the cruisers to retreat. An air assault from the carrier damages ''Bismarck's'' fuel tanks, but the vessel is otherwise largely undamaged.
Back at London's operations headquarters, Captain Shepard gambles that Admiral Gunther Lütjens, in command of ''Bismarck'', is returning to friendly waters where U-boats and air cover will make it impossible to attack, so he plans to intercept and attack the German vessel before it reaches safety. Shepard commits a disproportionately large force to the search, and his wager proves correct when ''Bismarck'' is located steaming toward the French coast. British forces have a narrow time window in which to destroy or slow their prey before German support and their own diminishing fuel supplies can preclude further attacks. Swordfish torpedo planes from HMS ''Ark Royal'' have two chances. The first fails when the pilots misidentify as ''Bismarck'', but thankfully their new magnetic torpedo detonators are faulty, with most exploding as soon as they hit the sea. Returning to the carrier and changing to conventional contact exploders, their second attack, this time on the "real" ''Bismarck'', is successful. One torpedo causes only minor damage; but a catastrophic second hit detonates near the stern, jamming the German battleship's rudder, drastically slowing her down.
Unable to repair its rudder, ''Bismarck'' steams in circles. During the night the German battleship is attacked by two British destroyers. They fire torpedoes, and one hits; but ''Bismarck'' returns fire, sinking the destroyer HMS ''Solent''. The main force of British ships (including battleships and ) find ''Bismarck'' the next day and rain shells upon her. Lütjens in his final moments insists that German forces will arrive to save them, but he dies when a shell destroys ''Bismarck'' s bridge. Shortly afterwards, the remaining bridge officers are killed, and the crew abandon their sinking ship. On board ''King George V,'' Admiral John Tovey orders the newly joined cruiser to finish off ''Bismarck''. The cruiser fires six torpedoes at the severely damaged German battleship. Four torpedoes strike home, causing the vessel to sink faster than its crew can escape. The captain of ''King George V'', Wilfrid Patterson, lowers his head as ''Bismarck'' rolls over and disappears beneath the waves. Admiral Tovey orders ''Dorsetshire'' to pick up survivors, finally saying tersely: "Well, gentlemen, let's go home."
Young Christopher has just enrolled at the prestigious Carmichael Bible College, managed by the somewhat unusual Mrs. Bouvier. After some unexplained disappearances, Christopher discovers that Mrs. Bouvier and the Reverend Carmichael have some very bad intentions for the young men of their school. It soon becomes clear that voodoo magic is being used and the boys are the tools with which the college faculty will try to resurrect Satan.
''Snow Country'' is a stark tale of a love affair between a Tokyo dilettante and a provincial geisha that takes place in the remote hot spring (''onsen'') town of Yuzawa. (Kawabata did not mention the name of the town in his novel.)
The novel opens with the protagonist of the novel, Shimamura, riding a train to a remote onsen town. Shimamura is a rich, married man, who inherited his wealth, and a self-professed ballet expert. During the train ride, he observes a young woman (who is later revealed as Yoko) caring for a sickly man (named Yukio). He observes the woman through a reflection in the train window, and is particularly enthralled by her eyes, as well as the sound of her voice.
Shimamura's purpose for going to the onsen is meeting a young woman, Komako, with whom he had a brief encounter during his previous stay. Although she wasn't employed as a geisha during his first stay, her situation is changed during his second visit. Shimamura is attracted to the young geisha, although his affection proves to be inconsistent and uncertain over time. However, Komako falls in love with Shimamura, which goes against the geisha tradition of meeting the customers demands without any emotional attachment. Throughout their conversations, a number of things about Komako's life is revealed: her becoming a geisha to pay for Yukio's hospital bills, their rumored engagement, Komako and Yukio's strained relationship, how she came to live with Yukio and his mother, and her life as a full-time geisha.
The climax of the novel happens during one of Komako's visits to Shimamura's room at the onsen inn. During their conversation, Shimamura calls her a "good woman", instead of a "good girl". This change of wording used to describe Komako reveals that the two of them could never be together, while Komako's hopes of a better and happier life with Shimamura remains just a delusion.
At the very end of the novel, a fire occurs in the town warehouse, which was at the time being used as a cinema. Shimamura and Komako come to observe the fire, and see Yoko falling lifelessly from the warehouse balcony. Komako carries Yoko's body away from the burning warehouse, while Shimamura slinks back, observing the night sky.
Sherlock Holmes receives a cipher message from Fred Porlock, a pseudonymous agent of Professor Moriarty. After Porlock sends the message, however, he changes his mind for fear of Moriarty's discovering that he is a traitor. He decides not to send the key to the cipher, but he sends Holmes a note telling of this decision. From the cipher message and the second note, Holmes is able to deduce that it is a book cipher and that the book used for the encryption is a common book, large (with at least 534 pages), printed in two columns per page, and standardised. An almanac fits these conditions exactly.
Holmes tries the latest edition of ''Whitaker's Almanac'', which he had only received a few days earlier, and fails; he then tries the previous edition. With this almanac, Holmes is able to decipher the message as a warning of a nefarious plot against one Douglas, a country gentleman residing at Birlstone House. Some minutes later, Inspector MacDonald arrives at 221B Baker Street with news that a Mr. John Douglas of Birlstone Manor House, Birlstone, Sussex, has been murdered. Holmes tells MacDonald of Porlock's warning, suggesting Moriarty's involvement. However, MacDonald does not fully believe that the educated and well-respected Moriarty is a criminal. Holmes, Watson, and MacDonald travel to Birlstone House, an ancient moated manor house, to investigate the crime.
Douglas had been murdered the evening before. Cecil Barker, a frequent guest at Birlstone House, had been in his room at half-past eleven when he heard the report of a gun, according to his testimony. He had rushed down to find Douglas lying in the centre of the room nearest the front door of the house, a sawn-off shotgun lying across his chest. He had been shot at close range: receiving the full charge of the shotgun in the face, his head was blown 'almost to pieces'. Barker had rushed to the village police station and notified Sergeant Wilson, who was in charge of the station. Wilson followed Barker to the house after notifying the county authorities.
Wilson had begun investigating immediately. Barker drew his attention to the open window, and to a smudge of blood like the mark of a boot-sole upon the window sill. The drawbridge over the moat had been raised at 6:00 pm. Barker speculated that the murderer had entered by the drawbridge before that time, hid in the room, and left by the window directly after killing Douglas. The moat was only a few feet deep, and could be easily crossed. Wilson found a card beside the corpse with the initials "V.V." and the number 341 beneath them. Muddy boot-prints were found behind the curtains, bearing out Barker's theory. On the murdered man's forearm was a curious design, a triangle within a circle; it was not a tattoo, but a brand. This mark had been noticed many times before upon John Douglas's forearm. Douglas' wedding ring appeared to have been taken from his hand. The chief Sussex detective, White Mason, had arrived at Birlstone House by 3:00 in the morning. By 5:45, he had sent for Scotland Yard. MacDonald took the case, and notified Holmes because he thought Holmes would be interested. By noon, MacDonald, Holmes and Watson meet White Mason in Birlstone.
Holmes, MacDonald, and White Mason go to the scene of the murder. They discuss the case, agreeing that suicide is out of the question, and that someone from outside the house committed the murder. Barker believes a secret society of men pursued Douglas, and that he retreated to rural England out of fear for his life. Douglas married after arriving in England five years earlier. His first wife had died of typhoid. He had met and worked with Barker in America before departing for Europe. Some episode of Douglas's life in America caused the fear for his life, and Mrs. Douglas said her husband mentioned something called "The Valley of Fear".
By studying Barker's slippers, Holmes determines Barker's shoe made the mark on the window, to give the appearance that someone exited that way. In their lodgings, Holmes tells Watson that Barker and Mrs. Douglas are certainly lying: the events as they tell them would be impossible. Moreover, Holmes learns that the housekeeper heard a sound, as if of a door slamming, half an hour before the alarm; Holmes believes that this sound was the fatal shot. White Mason and MacDonald track a bicycle found on the grounds of the house to an American staying at a guest house. The American appears to be the murderer, but there is no sign of the man.
Holmes asks MacDonald to write to Barker, telling him that the police intend to search the moat the next day. That night Holmes, Watson, MacDonald and White Mason lie in wait outside Birlstone Manor and see Barker fish something out of the moat. The four men rush Barker and discover the bundle from the moat contains the clothes of the missing American connected with the bicycle. Barker refuses to explain the situation. At that moment, Douglas appears, alive and well. He hands Watson a written account called "The Valley of Fear", which explains why he feared for his life.
Douglas explains that he had spotted an enemy of his, Ted Baldwin, in the area and expected an attack. When Baldwin attempted to shoot Douglas in his study, Douglas grabbed the gun and, in the struggle, Baldwin was shot in the face. With Barker's help, Douglas dressed the man in his own clothes, except for Douglas's wedding ring, to deceive the secret society which he and Baldwin had belonged to, since both arms bore the society's mark. Barker and Mrs. Douglas had covered for Douglas, who had been hiding in a secret compartment in the room where the shooting occurred. In an interview with Watson, Douglas explains that his real name was Birdy Edwards and he had been a Pinkerton detective in Chicago. Edwards had infiltrated a murderous gang, known by locals as the Scowrers, in Vermissa Valley (a.k.a. the Valley of Fear) and brought them to justice. Afterwards, the criminals attempted to kill him after being released from jail.
Hounded, Douglas had run to England, where he met and married his second wife. Holmes urges Douglas to leave England and warns that a new threat now hangs over him. Douglas takes this advice, but, shortly after, Holmes learns from Barker that Douglas was lost overboard on the vessel to Africa. Holmes believes Moriarty was responsible for ending Douglas' life. Holmes wants to bring Moriarty down, but warns Watson and Barker that it will take some time to achieve.
During World War I, the pilots of an RFC squadron deal with the stress of combat primarily through nightly bouts of heavy drinking. The two aces of the squadron's "A Flight", Courtney and Scott, have come to hate the commanding officer, Brand, blaming him for sending new recruits directly into combat in inferior aircraft.
Unknown to them, Brand has been arguing continually with higher command to allow practice time for the new pilots, but command is desperate to maintain air superiority and orders them into combat as soon as they arrive. Brand is so disliked by the two he cannot even easily join the men for the nightly partying, drinking alone and clearly breaking under the strain. The tension grows worse when an elite ''Luftstreitkrafte'' squadron led by "von Richter" takes up position just across the front lines from them.
After losing several of the squadron's veteran pilots, the ranks become increasingly made up of new recruits who have no chance against the German veterans. Von Richter issues a taunt that Courtney and Scott answer by attacking the Germans' airdrome in defiance of orders from Brand not to go up against them. Brand gets revenge when he is recalled to headquarters and Courtney is made squadron commander. Courtney quickly learns the misery that Brand endured when four patrols a day are ordered and his pleas not to send green men are ignored.
Scott and Courtney have a falling out when Scott's younger brother, one of the new replacements, is immediately ordered on a mission. He is killed flying the dawn patrol. Brand returns with orders for what amounts to a suicide mission far behind enemy lines. Courtney is forbidden to fly the mission, so Scott angrily volunteers. Courtney gets him drunk and flies off in his stead. He shoots down von Richter returning from the successful mission, but is killed by another German pilot. Scott becomes squadron commander and reads orders to his new replacements.
Set in 1969, Alan Parker is a young artist, studying at the University of Maine, where his professor believes he is obsessed with death. On October 30, his birthday, he thinks his girlfriend, Jessica, is trying to break up with him. Alan gets high in the bathtub and begins to contemplate suicide. The Grim Reaper appears and tries to convince Alan to kill himself so that he can come to the other side. Murals of people painted on the wall also appear to be urging him to kill himself. Alan accidentally cuts himself when Jessica and a group of friends startle him by coming in to surprise him for his birthday.
Alan wakes up in the hospital. Jessica says that she is angry with him for the "selfish" act he attempted to commit, but also tells Alan that she loves him. She surprises him with concert tickets to see John Lennon in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The next day, when Alan is released from the hospital, Jessica tells him that he has a wall around him, and Alan realizes that Jessica really was going to leave him. Alan gets a phone call that his mother, Jean, has had a stroke. He makes plans to go home that night, giving the concert tickets to his roommates.
As he tries to hitchhike home to Lewiston, Maine, Alan remembers the funeral of his father, Julian, when he was 6 years old. He envisions the death of his mother, and then himself, with a devastated Jessica weeping at his grave. He is picked up by a Volkswagen van that is driven by Ferris, an army deserter. They narrowly miss colliding with an oncoming car, spinning out and landing in a ditch. Alan walks away from the incident shaken but alive.
Alan begins to hallucinate and has multiple experiences with the living and the dead. He sees a billboard for the "Ride The Bullet" rollercoaster at Thrill Village, which triggers a memory of him standing in line with his mother to ride it, where he ultimately chickened out. He walks through a cemetery and comes across the grave of George Staub, whose grave marker indicates that he died 2 years ago. Alan sees an apparition of himself come up through the ground. The apparition tells him that they are saving a place for him. He is then picked up by a man who he realizes is George Staub. His apparition accompanies him in the car and warns him to not give his real information because there is something wrong with George.
The apparition smells embalming fluid, which prompts Alan to remember a phrase that he had read in a book: "the dead travel fast". Alan does not inform George that he knows that George is dead. George asks him about Thrill Village and asks if he rode "The Bullet", and Alan lies and said that he did go on the ride. George knows that Alan is lying, and he calls Alan by his name. George explains that he was decapitated in a car accident when he tries to pass a truck on a 2 lane road, and that he crashed into a produce truck when he swerved to avoid a collision with another car.
George tells Alan that he has to take one person with him, and that Alan has to choose whether it will be Alan's mother or Alan. If he does not make a choice, George warns that he will have to take them both. In a moment of panic and fear, Alan chooses his mother to be taken. George throws Alan out of the car, and when he wakes up, Alan is back in the cemetery. He hitches the next ride and finally makes it to the hospital. He is about to go see his mother, when George appears and beats him to the elevator.
Alan, now in his 40s, says his mother died of a heart attack while watching television. He married his girlfriend Jessica, but it only lasted a little while. Alan never made a living as an artist, but he continues to paint as a hobby. He goes back to Thrill Village and rides "The Bullet".
In the story, which opens in the early 1900s, Jannings plays August Schiller, a bank clerk in Milwaukee who is happy with both his job and his family. But when bank officials ask him to transport $1,000 in securities to Chicago, he meets a blond seductress on the train, who sees what he is carrying. She flirts with him, convinces him to buy her a bottle of champagne, and takes him to a saloon run by a crook. The next morning he awakes alone in a dilapidated bedroom, without the securities. He finds the woman, and at first pleads with her, then intimidates her to return the stolen securities. He is knocked unconscious by the saloon owner and dragged to a nearby railroad track.
As the crook strips him of everything that might lead to his identification, Schiller recovers consciousness, and in a struggle the crook is thrown into the path of an oncoming train and killed. Schiller flees, and in despair is about to take his own life, when he sees in a newspaper that he is supposedly dead, the crook's mangled body having been identified as Schiller's. The time passes to twenty years later. Schiller is aged and unkempt, employed to pick up trash in a park. He sees his own family go to a cemetery and place a wreath on his grave. Following other scenes in a Christmas snowstorm, Schiller makes his way to his former home, where he sees that the son whom he had taught to play violin is now a successful musician. He walks away, carrying in his pocket a dollar that his son has given him, not recognizing that the old tramp is his father.
The film is unrelated to Samuel Butler's novel ''The Way of All Flesh''.
When Adam Bishop, a middle-aged self-made man in the building trade, is cruelly murdered at his London home, Detective Inspector Ed Newson has a hunch that the crime has been committed by a psychopath who has killed before. He links up the new case with a number of older, unsolved ones, and a certain pattern emerges: It turns out that each victim was a bully many years ago when they went to school, and that they have now been killed in exactly the same way as they used to torture their peers. However, when Newson and Sergeant Natasha Wilkie talk to the former victims they soon find out that none of them could be the serial killer.
Although successful in his job, when it comes to his private life Edward Newson is a lonely, sex-starved man secretly in love with his assistant, Natasha. Now in his mid-thirties, he nostalgically looks back at his school days and the two girls with whom he was romantically involved when they were all 14—Helen Smart, the leftist intellectual, and Christine Copperfield, the "golden girl". Newson cannot resist the temptation and logs on to Friends Reunited. To his surprise, more of his former classmates than he would have thought are also online, and soon a class reunion is being organised—by Christine Copperfield, of all people.
This is the point where Newson's private life collides with his murder investigation. The serial killer uses the same web site—Friends Reunited—as the source of his knowledge about instances of bullying that happened decades ago. When Helen Smart posts a long account of how back at school she was forced by Christine Copperfield to stuff a tampon down her throat the murderer is supplied with one more story on which he or she might act. Christine Copperfield dies with a tampon stuffed down her throat.
In the tradition of the whodunnit, while new murders are committed, the identity of the killer remains unknown until the final pages of the novel.
In 1943, Major Keith Mallory and Sergeant Donovan "Dusty" Miller from British Commandos are sent to find and eliminate Nicolai, a German spy who previously betrayed the Navarone mission to the Germans and is now believed to have successfully infiltrated the Yugoslav Partisans as "Captain Lescovar". To get to Yugoslavia, the two men pair with "Force 10", an American sabotage unit led by US Army Rangers Lieutenant Colonel Mike Barnsby and steal a bomber. They are joined by Weaver, a Medical Corps sergeant arrested by the Military Police, and escape, only to be shot down by the Luftwaffe. Only Barnsby, Mallory, Miller, Weaver, and Lieutenant Doug Reynolds (Angus MacInnes) escape the crippled plane.
The survivors come upon a band of men they believe to be partisans but are later revealed as collaborationist Chetniks led by Captain Drazak. Taken prisoner, they tell the German commander in control of the area, Major Schroeder, that they are deserters. To keep Schroeder from opening Miller's explosives suitcase, Mallory claims it contains the new drug "penicillin" which will spoil if exposed. The next morning the prisoners are told that Schroeder has opened the case, finding it full of firewood. They improvise an excuse, "admitting" they buried the samples. Schroeder sends Barnsby and Mallory to retrieve them under the guard of his concubine Maritza and three soldiers. Miller, Weaver, and Reynolds are left in camp.
Far from camp, Maritza kills the Germans, revealing herself to be a partisan and the person who hid the explosives. She directs Mallory and Barnsby towards the partisan camp under the command of her father, Major Petrovich. Mallory and Barnsby escape and meet a patrol of real Yugoslav partisans led by Lescovar, who has gained Petrovich's trust. Mallory and Barnsby are taken to the camp, which lies near a hydroelectric dam. An arch bridge spanning the river ravine is set to be used by a German force for an impending assault on the partisans, who have been unable to destroy the bridge. Barnsby reveals that the bridge is Force 10's target.
Mallory convinces Petrovich to mount a rescue mission of demolitions expert Miller, using Lescovar and Marko, a loyal partisan. The four re-enter the camp at night, with Mallory and Barnsby posing as captives, and Lescovar and Marko disguised as Chetniks. Drazak discovers that Maritza must have helped Miller and Mallory escape, and begins beating her viciously. Schroeder and Reynolds are killed in a gun battle, but the others escape with a badly beaten Maritza and the recovered explosives.
Miller reveals that the bridge is impregnable, which Barnsby refuses to accept. Mallory hits upon the idea of destroying the upstream dam, to use the sudden onrush of millions of gallons of water to destroy the bridge. A night-time air drop is arranged to replace Force 10's lost supplies, but Lescovar, revealed to be the saboteur, calls in German planes to stop the drop. Maritza catches Lescovar in the act, but he kills her before she can warn the others, and German planes bomb the illuminated drop zone, killing numerous partisans.
Petrovich, angered by the botched air drop, orders the men to be sent to Marshal Tito's headquarters for transport back to Italy. Accompanied by Lescovar and Marko, the team instead infiltrates the German marshaling yards at Mostar to steal explosives. Lescovar again betrays them, alerting a German sergeant to their presence. Marko sacrifices himself to save the others, who escape with Lescovar aboard a train leaving for Sarajevo. Lescovar is questioned by the others, who have grown suspicious of him. Lescovar initially denies the accusations, but gives himself away and is shot dead by Barnsby, who then asks Mallory to return the favour by helping him accomplish Force 10's mission.
Jumping the train near the dam, the team splits up: Miller and Weaver run a diversion, while Mallory and Barnsby sneak into the dam. Weaver runs into Captain Drazak and kills him in a knife fight. Mallory and Barnsby set their charges within the dam; its structural integrity compromised by the blast, the dam wall bursts, releasing a torrent of water that topples the bridge. The German assault is thwarted, saving Petrovich and the partisans.
Mallory and Barnsby rejoin Miller and Weaver, but Mallory reminds the others they are trapped on the wrong side of the river. As the credits roll, the men begin a strenuous journey back to friendly lines.
The novel deals with the life of the Cossacks living in the Don River valley during the early 20th century, starting around 1912, just prior to World War I. The plot revolves around the Melekhov family of Tatarsk, who are descendants of a Cossack who, to the horror of many, took a Turkish captive as a wife during the Crimean War. She is accused of witchcraft by Melekhov's superstitious neighbors, who attempt to kill her but are fought off by her husband. Their descendants, the son and grandsons, who are the protagonists of the story, are therefore often nicknamed "Turks". Nevertheless, they command a high level of respect among people in Tatarsk.
The second eldest son, Grigory Panteleevich Melekhov, is a promising young soldier who falls in love with Aksinia, the wife of Stepan Astakhov, a family friend. Stepan regularly beats her and there is no love between them. Grigory and Aksinia's romance and elopement raise a feud between her husband and his family. The outcome of this romance is the focus of the plot as well as the impending World and Civil Wars which draw up the best young Cossack men for what will be two of Russia's bloodiest wars. The action moves to the Austro-Hungarian front, where Grigory ends up saving Stepan's life, but that doesn't end the feud. Grigory, at his father's insistence, takes a wife, Natalya, but still loves Aksinia.
Grigory takes part in the Civil War, repeatedly changing sides. Many of his friends and relatives are killed in action or executed. Natalya dies after a failed abortion. Grigory tries once more to elope with Aksinia, but she is killed by a stray bullet. Grief-stricken, Grigory buries her and returns home, with his prospects unclear.
The book deals not only with the struggles and suffering of the Cossacks but also the landscape itself, which is vividly brought to life.
There are also many folk songs referenced throughout the novel.
''And Quiet Flows the Don'' grew out of an earlier, unpublished work, the ''Donshina'':
I began the novel by describing the event of the Kornilov putsch in 1917. Then it became clear that this putsch, and more importantly, the role of the Cossacks in these events, would not be understood without a Cossack prehistory, and so I began with the description of the life of the Don Cossacks just before the beginning of World War I. (quote from ''M.A. Sholokhov: Seminarii'', (1962) by F.A. Abramovic and V.V. Gura, quoted in ''Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov'', by L.L. Litus.)
Protagonist Grigory Melekhov is reportedly based on two Cossacks from Veshenskaya, Pavel Nazarovich Kudinov and Kharlampii Vasilyevich Yermakov, who were key figures in the anti-Bolshevist struggle of the upper Don.
While following an unsuspecting team of water skiers, a great white shark enters SeaWorld Orlando through its closing gates. Meanwhile, Florida announces the opening of the park's new underwater tunnels. Kathryn "Kay" Morgan, the park's senior marine biologist, and her assistants notice that the resident dolphins are afraid of leaving their pen. Shelby Overman, a mechanic, dives into the water to repair and secure the gates. He is attacked by the shark and killed, leaving only his severed right arm. Later that night, two men sneak into the park and go underwater to steal coral they intend to sell, but both are killed by the shark in the process.
The next day, Kay and Michael Brody are informed of Overman's disappearance. They go down in a submarine to look for his body, and during the search, they encounter a juvenile great white shark, only long. The dolphins rescue Kay and Mike, but the shark escapes back into the park. They inform Calvin Bouchard, the park manager, and it excites his hunter friend, Philip FitzRoyce, who states his intention to kill the shark on network television. Kay protests and suggests capturing and keeping the shark alive in captivity, to guarantee more publicity for the park. The shark is successfully captured, and Kay and her staff nurse it to health. Calvin, desperate to start the money rolling in immediately, orders it moved to an exhibit, but the shark dies.
Later, Overman's corpse is discovered. Reviewing the body, Kay realizes that the shark that killed him is the first shark's long mother and that it must also be inside the park. She is able to convince Calvin about this newest development when the shark herself shows up at the window of the underwater cafe. Flushed out from her refuge inside a filtration pipe, the shark begins to wreak havoc on the park, injures a water skier, and causes a leak that nearly drowns everyone in the underwater tunnel. FitzRoyce and his assistant, Jack, go down to the filtration pipe in an attempt to lure the shark back in as a trap. FitzRoyce leads the shark into the pipe, but his tether rope suddenly snaps and he is then attacked and killed.
Hearing that the shark has been lured into the pipe, Michael and Kay go down to repair the underwater tunnel, so the technicians can restore air pressure and drain the water. Calvin orders the pump to be shut down to suffocate the shark, but this act instead allows it to break free from the pipe and attack Michael and Kay, but they are again saved by the dolphins. They make their way back to the control room, but the shark appears in front of the window and smashes through the glass, flooding the room and killing a technician. Michael notices FitzRoyce's corpse still in the shark's throat with a grenade and uses a bent pole to pull its pin, triggering the grenade's explosion and killing the shark. In the aftermath, Mike and Kay celebrate with the dolphins, who survived their battle with the shark.
Ronald Malcolm is a CIA employee who works in a clandestine operations office in Washington, D.C. responsible for analyzing the plots of mystery and spy novels. One day, when he should be in the office, Malcolm slips out a basement entrance for lunch. In his absence a group of armed men gain entrance to the office and kill everyone there. Malcolm returns, realizes he is in grave danger, and telephones a phone number at CIA headquarters he has been given for emergencies.
When he phones in (and remembers to give his code name "Condor"), he is told to meet an agent named Weatherby who will "bring him in" for protection. However, Weatherby is part of a rogue group within the CIA, the same group responsible for the original assassinations. Weatherby tries to kill Malcolm, who manages to escape. On the run, Malcolm uses his wits to elude both the rogue CIA group and the proper CIA authorities, both of which have a vested interest in his capture or death.
Seeking shelter, Malcolm kidnaps a paralegal named Wendy Ross whom he overhears saying she will spend her coming vacation days holed up in her apartment. Knowing no one will notice her absence, Malcolm enlists her aid in finding out more about the forces after him. She is shot and seriously wounded in the process, but survives.
It is then revealed that the rogue group was using the section where Malcolm works to import illegal drugs from Laos. A supervisor stumbled onto a discrepancy in the records exposing this operation, thus necessitating the section's elimination.
Cyrus, leader of the Gramercy Riffs, the most powerful gang in New York City, requests that each of the city’s gangs send nine unarmed delegates to Van Cortlandt Park for a midnight summit. The Warriors, a multiracial gang from Coney Island, attend the summit. Cyrus proposes to the assembled crowd a citywide truce and alliance that would allow the gangs to control the city together, since they collectively outnumber the police by three to one.
Most of the gang members applaud this idea, but Luther, the unbalanced and sadistic leader of the Rogues, shoots Cyrus dead as police officers arrive to raid the summit. In the ensuing chaos, Luther realizes that one of the Warriors, Fox, appears to suspect him, and makes a false accusation which leads the vengeful Riffs to attack the "Warlord", Cleon. Meanwhile, the other Warriors escape, unaware that they have been implicated in Cyrus's killing. The Riffs put out a hit on the Warriors through a radio DJ. Swan, the "War Chief," takes charge of the group as they try get home, though the Warriors's main enforcer and brawler Ajax disagrees with Swan being leader over him.
The Turnbull ACs spot the Warriors and try to run them down with a modified school bus but the Warriors escape and board an elevated train. On the ride to Coney Island, the train is stopped by a building fire alongside the tracks, stranding the Warriors in Tremont. Setting out on foot, they encounter the Orphans, who are insecure about their low status in the gang hierarchy as they were excluded from Cyrus's meeting. After Mercy, the girlfriend of the Orphans' leader, instigates a confrontation, Swan throws a Molotov cocktail and the Warriors run to the nearest subway station. Impressed and desperate to escape her depressed neighborhood, Mercy follows the Warriors.
When the group arrives at the 96th Street and Broadway station in Manhattan, they are pursued by police and separated. Three of them, Vermin, Cochise and Rembrandt, escape by boarding a subway car. Fox, struggling with a police officer, is thrown onto the tracks and fatally hit by a passing train as Mercy flees the scene. Swan, Ajax, Snow and Cowboy are chased by the Baseball Furies into Riverside Park but defeat them in a brawl. After the fight, Ajax sees a lone woman sitting on a park bench and leaves the group despite Swan's objections. When Ajax becomes sexually aggressive, the woman, revealed to be an undercover police officer, handcuffs him to the bench and arrests him.
Upon arriving at Union Square, Vermin, Cochise and Rembrandt are seduced by an all-female gang called the Lizzies and invited into their hideout. They narrowly escape the Lizzies' subsequent attack, learning in the process that the gangland community believes the Warriors murdered Cyrus. Acting as a lone scout, Swan decides to return to the 96th Street station, where Mercy joins him (although he spurns her promiscuity). After reaching the Union Square station, they reunite with the remaining Warriors and engage in a fight with a roller-skating gang, the Punks. Mercy proves herself formidable in combat. A member of a different gang visits the Riffs and tells them that he saw Luther shoot Cyrus.
At dawn, the Warriors finally reach Coney Island, only to find Luther and the Rogues waiting for them. Swan challenges Luther to single combat but Luther pulls a gun. Swan dodges his shot and throws a switchblade (taken from one of the Punks) into Luther's wrist, disarming him. The Riffs arrive, acknowledging the Warriors' courage and skill before apprehending the Rogues. As the Riffs descend upon him, Luther screams. The radio DJ announces that "the big alert has been called off" and salutes the Warriors with a song, "In the City." The film ends with Swan, Mercy and the rest of the gang walking down a Coney Island beach, illuminated by the rising sun.
''Texhnolyze'' takes place in the city of Lux, a man-made underground city that has crumbled after years of neglect and lack of repairs. Citizens of Lux have come to refer to their home as simply "The City" and treat it as though it has a mind and will of its own. Three major factions battle to control Lux: Organo, a group of "professionals" who collaborate with the criminal underworld that controls Texhnolyze (prosthetics); the Salvation Union, a populist group that seeks to disrupt Organo's business; and Racan, a collection of young individuals with Texhnolyzes that use their abilities for personal gain.
Ichise was once an orphan who has made a place for himself in Lux as a prize fighter. One day, a fight promoter grows angry with him and the altercation that follows results in Ichise losing an arm and a leg. Before death can take him, Ichise is found by the scientist Eriko Kamata, who uses him as a test subject for her newly designed Texhnolyze. With these powerful new limbs at his disposal, Ichise begins to work for Oonishi, the leader of Organo. He soon meets a mysterious young girl, Ran, who has the power to see possible futures. Together, they soon realize that Lux is on the brink of war and collapse, and that they may be the only ones who can save The city. Texhnolyze takes the audience into an Wellsian dystopia in which hope is scarce and evil is unbound.
More than a year after the defeat of Arawn Death-Lord's army and death of his warlord the Horned King, Prince Gwydion calls allies to a council hosted by Dallben, one of Taran's guardians. Men are disappearing throughout Prydain, while an increasing number of the undead Cauldron-Born have joined Arawn's forces. At the council, Gwydion reveals an elaborate plan to steal the Black Cauldron, the magical artifact used to create the Cauldron-Born, from Arawn. King Morgant will lead the main force in an attack on Arawn's stronghold of Annuvin, while a smaller raiding party led by Gwydion breaks off to enter by a mountain pass known only to Coll that will allow them to steal the cauldron undetected. Three men have been designated to remain behind with pack animals to serve as a rearguard and secure the retreat: Adaon, the warrior son of chief bard Taliesin; Taran; and Ellidyr, Prince of Pen-Llarcau, who is arrogant, wiry, strong, and threadbare. Ellidyr disdains Taran for his place on the farm and his unknown parentage. Taran envies Ellidyr for his noble birth, despite Dallben's counsel that that youngest son of a minor king has only "his name and his sword". Both are dismayed to share a role with no chance for glory.
In spite of the growing feud between Taran and Ellidyr, all goes smoothly until Gwydion's raiders find that the cauldron has disappeared. That company rejoins the rearguard in haste in an effort to escape the newly-deployed Huntsmen of Annuvin. Meanwhile, the uninvited Princess Eilonwy and man/beast Gurgi have caught up with the quest from behind. Gwydion and Coll are split off from the party but, thanks to Doli of the Fair Folk, all others find refuge underground in a Fair Folk waypost maintained by Gwystyl. From Gwystyl and his pet crow, Kaw, the companions learn that the cauldron has been stolen by the three witches Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch, who reside in the bleak Marshes of Morva.
According to maps by Evaline Ness, the witches live on the opposite fringe of the Marshes, near the south coast of the southwestern tip of Prydain, far from people and Fair Folk.
• Ness prepared one map of Prydain for each of the five novels. The last, best-informed, and largest scale map illustrates book five, ''The High King'' (1968), and the expanded edition of ''The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain'' (1999). When they depart the waypost, Ellidyr rides southward, determined to retrieve the cauldron single-handedly. With the Huntsmen abroad, Adaon leads Taran, Eilonwy, Gurgi, Doli, and the wandering bard Fflewddur Fflam in pursuit of Ellidyr. When they are attacked and scattered, Adaon is mortally wounded and Taran inherits his brooch, whose gift and burden is prophetic dreams and visions. With its guidance, he gathers and leads all but Doli toward the Marshes. From the fringe, Taran both guides his small party through the Marshes to temporary safety and leads a pursuing band of Huntsmen to their deaths.
Orddu and her sisters refuse to give up the cauldron unless Taran and his companions offer something of, in their judgment, equivalent value. After the sisters reject the magical artifacts offered by his companions, Taran is compelled to barter Adaon's brooch. The companions then try to destroy the cauldron, but learn from the witches that it can only be destroyed by a living person who knowingly and willingly climbs in to die. Horrified, the companions resolve to take the cauldron to Dallben to seek an alternative solution.
At the ford of the river Tevyn, the heavy and cumbersome cauldron sinks into the riverbed. Ellidyr arrives and offers to help extricate the cauldron if the others will credit him for the whole enterprise. Taran agrees, but Ellidyr reneges on their bargain and rides off with the cauldron alone when they have freed it. The companions then encounter Morgant and his army. In Morgant's camp they see Ellidyr beaten and bound and realize Morgant has betrayed them, seeking to claim the cauldron for his own and generate his own army of Cauldron-Born with which to conquer Prydain. Morgant offers to spare the companions' lives if Taran will enter his personal service. Doli arrives invisibly and cuts the companions' bonds. Mortally wounded, Ellidyr rushes the cauldron while Taran and the others engage Morgant and forces himself inside, destroying the cauldron. Gwydion, King Smoit, and his army arrive and defeat Morgant in battle. As Taran, Eilonwy, and Gurgi take leave of Gwydion at the verge of Caer Dallben, Gwydion observes that Ellidyr has, in death, found the honor he so dearly sought in life.
On Christmas Eve 1843, Ebenezer Scrooge tells two businessmen that he has no intention of celebrating Christmas. At his workplace, he refuses to donate to two men collecting for the poor. His nephew, Fred, invites him to dinner the next day, but Scrooge refuses, disparaging Fred for having married against his will. Scrooge reluctantly gives his poor clerk Bob Cratchit a paid holiday, but expects him back to work earlier the next day.
Scrooge returns home and sees the door-knocker transform into the face of his long-dead partner, Jacob Marley. Inside the house, Jacob Marley appears as a ghost before Scrooge, warning that he must repent or suffer being forever bound in chains after death. He further warns Scrooge that he will be visited by three spirits; the first will arrive at one o'clock. Frightened by the visitation, Scrooge takes refuge in his bed.
At one o'clock, the Ghost of Christmas Past arrives. Scrooge is shown himself alone at school, unwanted by his father ever since his mother died in childbirth. His beloved sister Fan arrives to take him home, telling her brother that their father has recently had a change of heart toward Ebenezer. Next, the Spirit shows Scrooge the annual Christmas party thrown by his benevolent employer Fezziwig. He witnesses his proposal to his sweetheart Alice, who accepts his ring. He is then shown how he is tempted to leave Fezziwig's to join a business run by Mr. Jorkin, where he meets Jacob Marley.
After Jorkin's firm buys up Fezziwig's failed business, Alice breaks her engagement to Scrooge because of his dedication to "a golden idol." Scrooge witnesses the death of Fan, who had just given birth to his nephew Fred, and discovers he missed her last words asking him to look after her son. Years later, when Jorkin is found to have embezzled funds from his company, which is now bankrupt, Scrooge and Marley make good on the missing funds, essentially taking over. On Christmas Eve 1836, Scrooge refuses to leave work early to visit Marley, who is on his deathbed. When Scrooge finally arrives, Marley, realising he will be punished for his misdeeds, tries to warn Scrooge against his avarice before he dies. The Spirit reproaches Scrooge for taking Marley's money and house, as an ashamed Scrooge finds himself back in his bed.
Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present who takes him to see how "men of goodwill" celebrate Christmas. He shows him poor miners joyfully singing Christmas carols and the Cratchits' warm Christmas celebration. Scrooge asks whether their disabled child, Tiny Tim, will survive his physical condition, but the Spirit hints that he may not. They next visit Fred's Christmas party, where Fred defends his uncle from his guests' snide remarks. Alice is working in a poorhouse, where she lovingly ministers to the sick and homeless on Christmas Eve. When Scrooge is unable to tell the Spirit that he may profit by what he has seen, the Spirit shows him two emaciated children – personifying Ignorance and Want – and pointedly mocks and scourges Scrooge with the miser's very own words when Scrooge shows concern for their welfare: "Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?"
Scrooge encounters the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, who shows him the Cratchits mourning Tiny Tim's death. He then watches as three people, including his charwoman Mrs. Dilber, sell off the possessions of a dead man and two businessmen discussing the funeral proposals of the dead man. When shown the man’s grave bearing his own name, Scrooge begs the Spirit for a second chance, pleading "I'm not the man I was." He awakens in his own bed to learn from Mrs. Dilber that it's Christmas Day and realises he still has an opportunity to make amends. Though Mrs. Dilber is initially frightened by his transformation, Scrooge reassures her and promises to raise her salary. He anonymously purchases a turkey dinner for the Cratchits and delights Fred by attending his dinner party and dancing with the other guests.
The next day, Scrooge plays a practical joke on Bob Cratchit, pretending to dismiss him for being late but instead giving him a raise. Scrooge becomes "as good a man as the old city ever knew" and a second father to Tiny Tim, who does not die and gets well again.
A 37-year-old Toru Watanabe has just arrived in Hamburg, West Germany. When he hears an orchestral cover of the Beatles' song "Norwegian Wood", he is suddenly overwhelmed by feelings of loss and nostalgia. He thinks back to the 1960s, when so much happened that touched his life.
Watanabe, his classmate Kizuki, and Kizuki's girlfriend Naoko are the best of friends. Kizuki and Naoko are particularly close and feel as if they are soulmates, and Watanabe seems more than happy to be their enforcer. This idyllic existence is shattered by the unexpected suicide of Kizuki on his 17th birthday. Kizuki's death deeply touches both surviving friends; Watanabe feels the influence of death everywhere, while Naoko feels as if some integral part of her has been permanently lost. The two of them spend more and more time together going for long walks on Sundays, although feelings for each other are never clarified in this interval. On the night of Naoko's 20th birthday, she feels especially vulnerable and they have sex, during which Watanabe realizes that she is a virgin. Afterward, Naoko leaves Watanabe a letter saying that she needs some time apart and is quitting college to go to a sanatorium.
These events are set against a backdrop of civil unrest. The students at Watanabe's college go on strike and call for a revolution. Inexplicably, the students end their strike and act as if nothing had happened, which enrages Watanabe as a sign of hypocrisy.
Watanabe is befriended by a fellow drama classmate, Midori Kobayashi. She is everything that Naoko is not— outgoing, vivacious, and supremely self-confident. Despite his love for Naoko, Watanabe finds himself attracted to Midori as well. Midori reciprocates his feelings, and their friendship grows during Naoko's absence. Watanabe and Midori share a special kind of relationship where both of them understand each other.
Watanabe visits Naoko at her secluded mountain sanatorium near Kyoto. There he meets Reiko Ishida, an older patient there who has become Naoko's confidante. During this and subsequent visits, Reiko and Naoko reveal more about their past: Reiko talks about the cause of her downfall into mental illness and details the failure of her marriage, while Naoko talks about the unexpected suicide of her older sister several years ago.
When he returns to Tokyo, Watanabe unintentionally alienates Midori through both his lack of consideration of her wants and needs, and his continuing thoughts about Naoko. He writes a letter to Reiko, asking for her advice about his conflicted affections for both Naoko and Midori. He does not want to hurt Naoko, but he does not want to lose Midori either. Reiko counsels him to seize this chance for happiness and see how his relationship with Midori turns out.
A later letter informs Watanabe that Naoko has killed herself. Watanabe, grieving and in a daze, wanders aimlessly around Japan, while Midori—with whom he hasn't kept in touch—wonders what has happened to him. After about a month of wandering, he returns to the Tokyo area and gets in contact with Reiko, who leaves the sanatorium to come to visit. Reiko stays with Watanabe, and they have sex. It is through this experience and the intimate conversation that Watanabe and Reiko share that night, that he comes to realize that Midori is the most important person in his life. After he sees Reiko off, Watanabe calls Midori to declare his love for her. Midori asks, "Where are you now?", and the novel ends with Watanabe pondering that question.
Gavallan, based in Scotland, runs S-G Helicopter company operating in Iran during the Shah's reign. When Khomeini comes to power, Gavallan must get his pilots and their families, and his valuable helicopters, and the spare parts for the helicopters (of equal or greater value than the aircraft) out of the riot-torn country. Complicating matters is his power struggle with his company's secret owner, the Noble House of Hong Kong. The pilots' escape efforts form the basic story and the action sweeps across many lives: lovers, spies, fanatics, revolutionaries, friends and betrayers. British, Finnish, American, Canadian, Australian and Iranian are all caught up in a deadly religious and political upheaval, portraying the chilling and bewildering encounters when Westernized lifestyle clashes with harsh ancient traditions.
Aircraft used by S-G Helicopters throughout the story include the Bell 212, Bell 206, and Aérospatiale Alouette III helicopters and the British Aerospace BAe 125 business jet.
The settings for the story are the western and southwestern parts of Iran, as well as neighboring Persian Gulf states, Turkey to Lake Van, and the environs of Aberdeen, Scotland.
Actual locations within Iran include Tehran (including Qasr Prison, Evin Prison, Galeg Morghi, and Doshan Tappeh Air Base), Tabriz, Qazvin, Mount Sabalan, the Zagros Mountains, Lengeh, Bandar Delam, Siri, the Dez Dam and Kharg island.
Fictional locations include the city of Kowiss, Yazdek village and the safe haven emirate of Al-Shargaz, meaning ''protector''.
A massive meteor strike has devastated Earth. Human civilization comes to an end in the ensuing cataclysms and humanity regresses into tribes of Stone Age dwellers. A primordial rainforest covers the land and the continental landmass has shifted into the shape of a fire-breathing dinosaur skull. The planet is now primitively referred to as "Urth" by the survivors of the cataclysms.
Seven fearsome creatures with supernatural abilities emerge from their slumber deep within the Urth's crust, and become worshiped as gods by the humans, who form segregated clans beneath the ones they follow. The beasts themselves are divided between those who wish to keep peace on Urth, and those who attempt to plunge the world into further chaos for their own benefit.
Ellen and Harry the young and rich American couple arrive to Napoli as tourists. Aranyvirág, a girl from Napoli, makes an agreement with Ellen for them to swap places for a day. Beppo, the boyfriend of Aranyvirág, accept the idea and invites Ellen to the Marriners Festival.
At first, Aranyvirág likes the comfortable life of American tourists. But when she hears the music at the festival she begins to miss her friends. She invites them to the International Hotel and says that she is one of them, but Beppo and his friends reject her. After this shame she wants to leave, but Harry stop her and tells her that he's fallen in love with her.
Beppo is asked to go to America with Ellen and the same is asked Aranyvirág by Harry. But shortly before the departure, Ananyvirág sings a song for Beppo and wins back his heart.
Bernie LaPlante is a pickpocket and petty criminal who anonymously rescues survivors including TV reporter Gale Gayley (Geena Davis) at an airplane crash. At the same time he also steals her purse, losing a shoe in the process. After his car breaks down, he flags down John Bubber, a homeless Vietnam veteran, and tells him about the rescue at the crash site, giving him his remaining shoe. When Deke, Gale's television station news director, offers $1 million to the "Angel of Flight 104", Bernie realizes he can't claim the reward, due to his arrest while fencing credit cards he stole from the people he rescued. John contacts Gale, recounting Bernie's tale of the rescue, and provides the single shoe to take credit for the selfless act.
When Bernie tries to tell people that John is a fake, the media, after sensationalizing his heroic image, will not believe Bernie. Bernie is released from jail and his lawyer informed him that he will be heading to prison soon because of the stolen goods he carried in his apartment. Gale, as one of the crash survivors, considers herself to be in John's debt and soon grooms his public image. She finds herself falling in love with him even though she has questions about his authenticity. Despite his reluctant acceptance of his fame, he turns out to be a decent person, using his fame and reward money to help sick children and the homeless.
John finds himself in an ethical dilemma since his persona is inspirational to countless people. Meanwhile, Bernie continues to aggravate his ex-wife, Evelyn, and fails to bond with his son, Joey, who is now enamored with John. He begins to feel that if Joey is going to idolize anyone, perhaps John is the better choice.
A police detective tells Gale her credit cards were recovered during Bernie's arrest. She and her cameraman, Chucky, break into Bernie's apartment with the help of Winston, the landlord. While searching for evidence to incriminate Bernie, Gale finds a stolen Silver Microphone Award that she won in New York City, the night before the crash. Bernie arrives only to be confronted by her, who speculates that John stole her purse in a moment of weakness during the rescue, sold it to Bernie, and accuses him of attempting to now blackmail John. They are interrupted by Winston, who says John is on television, about to commit suicide by jumping from the ledge of a high-rise skyscraper.
Gale rushes to the scene and brings Bernie along, threatening to have him prosecuted if John leaps to his death. She demands Bernie apologize for the attempted blackmail. Evelyn and Joey rush there as well, with Evelyn reminiscing how Bernie is selfish and cynical, but always becomes a great person in a crisis. Bernie goes out on the ledge, hatching a scheme to milk the media attention for all its worth. He convinces John that the world needs a hero, and that he is clearly the right one for the job, though he does negotiate a discreet share of the $1 million to pay for his son's college tuition and a letter to the judge to put in a good word for him to suspend his prison sentence. When Bernie slips off the ledge, John grabs him and pulls him to safety, a (true) hero once more. When Gale sees Bernie's face covered with dirt, as on the night of the crash, she realizes it was he who saved her. She confronts him "off the record" with her supposition, but he insists that John was the hero.
As Gale leaves, she thanks Bernie for saving her life; and he reflexively replies, "You're welcome." She tells him to tell Joey the truth. John agrees to continue playing the part of public hero. While on an excursion to the zoo, Bernie decides to tell Joey the true story of the crash. After he does so, a lady cries out that her daughter has fallen into the lion's cage. Joey pleads with him to help, to which he sighs, slips off his shoes, and heads off to see what he can do.
Most Games are reruns, with team after team of players attempting to complete the pre-packaged adventure. But someone always has to be first – and every player wants to be part of the initial team that beta tests a Game. To have the author/programmer themself serve as the game master, to face surprises no one has seen, even the most jaded of elite players compete fiercely for such a spot.
And "South Seas Treasure Hunt" promises to be a doozy. The Game Master, Richard Lopez is one of the best authors in the business, while Chester Henderson (team captain of the players) is a living legend . . .and the two hate each other. Players from around the world have gathered for a chance to play in the biggest grudge match in Gaming history . . .or even just to watch.
And the Game opens with a bang. Sent to (simulated) Melanesia to retrieve some sort of World War II-era superweapon, dark magic rips Henderson's team out of the sky, forcing them to fight their way across New Guinea. Demigods, Cargo Cult magicians, and an army of laughing zombies stand between them and victory.
But even as Henderson's team hacks their way through the jungle, the real world threatens the Game. A multi-million dollar experimental prototype has been stolen from Dream Park R&D, and a guard murdered. And all the evidence suggests that someone from within the game is responsible.
Caught between the loss of millions from the prototype, and the loss of millions if they stop the Game, the higher-ups hit on an unusual solution. Alex Griffin, the head of Dream Park security, will go undercover as a player in the Game. Solve a murder mystery, help a bunch of crazies play dress-up . . . How hard can it be?
In 1960s Sydney, Hal Stanton (Denholm Elliott) falls in love with Katherine Faulkner (Judy Morris), who has led a sheltered life at an isolated cattle station in the Australian outback.
After a brief, passionate affair, Hal’s dark secret is revealed. During WWII, while a prisoner of war of the Japanese in Bangkok, Hal turned in soldiers under his command who were planning an escape from prison. The Japanese executed the men. After the war, Hal was court-martialed. Hal betrayed the soldiers to protect the rest of his men from execution in reprisals, but this was considered irrelevant. He was disowned by his family and has lived with the shame ever since.
Katherine's family break up the relationship and Hal moves despondently away. Soon after, Katherine gives birth to their child, Katrina. A delicate, asthmatic girl, Kat is raised alone at the estate, treated as a shameful product of the illicit affair.
Twenty years later, Katherine dies, and Kat (Nicole Kidman) inherits the family fortune, also learning from the family lawyer that her father is not dead, as she was told all her life.
Having never ventured off the estate, Kat travels to London, where Hal’s family lived, to track him down. She finds James Stanton (Lewis Fiander), the uncle she has never met. She overcomes James’s reluctance, James considers Hal dead, due to his shameful behavior in WWII.
Kat meets a handsome American, Arkie Ragan (Jerome Ehlers), who sweeps her off her feet and invites her to travel with him back to Australia, by way of Goa. As Kat prepares to leave, James confesses that the family lawyer in Bangkok may know where Hal is.
In Goa, Arkie secretly picks up a shipment of narcotics and hides it in Kat’s suitcase. Kat decides to go to Bangkok to hunt down the family lawyer. Arkie strenuously objects to traveling through Thailand, but Kat insists.
In Bangkok, the family lawyer, Richard Carlisle (Hugo Weaving), is unwilling to help. Reluctantly returning to Australia, Katrina is arrested at the airport when the drugs in her suitcase are discovered. Arkie disappears as Kat is detained by Thai authorities.
Kat meets Carlisle in jail. He agrees to tell Hal where she is. Hal is reluctant to meet Kat, but Carlisle convinces Hal to visit her in jail under a false name, pretending to be Carlisle’s legal assistant. Hal is impressed by Kat’s strength.
Kat is charged with trafficking, which carries the death penalty. She is taken to the squalid, overcrowded, Lum Jau prison to await trial and placed in a cell with other foreigners, ironically nicknamed the "Bangkok Hilton."
Mandy Engels (Joy Smithers), another Australian imprisoned for drug trafficking, teaches Kat how to sneak to the men’s side of the prison, to visit and care for Mandy’s intellectually disabled brother Billy (Noah Taylor), who was arrested with Mandy.
Carlisle convinces Hal to take an active part in the case, working with Kat, but maintaining his false identity as a junior lawyer. However, Hal flatly refuses to visit Kat in Lum Jau. He reveals to Carlisle that it is the same prison in which he was held by the Japanese 40 years earlier and he cannot bear to enter its walls.
Hal finds the courage to go to Lum Jau. Based on Kat’s memories, Hal retraces her footsteps to London, where he is reunited with his estranged brother James.
In London, every trace of Arkie turns into a dead end. Hal continues to Goa, where he chases Arkie to the airport and sees him across a crowd. However, without proof of any crime, Hal cannot convince the Indian police to do anything.
Mandy and Billy are sentenced to death and executed. Soon after, Kat is also found guilty of trafficking and sentenced to death. The despondent Hal suddenly realizes that the escape tunnel his men dug in WWII may still exist, as it was covered over when it was discovered by the Japanese. Kat will only have to get to the men’s side of the prison to access it.
Hal convinces Carlisle, whose entire life has been devoted to defending the law, to break the law in order to save the innocent Kat from execution. Kat reveals she can sneak to the men’s side. After a failed attempt, Kat tries again the night before she’s to be moved to another prison for her execution. Kat sneaks to the men’s side, finds the escape tunnel, and uses it to get into the sewers, where she meets up with Hal and Carlisle. At the airport, Hal reveals to Kat that he is her father, as she boards her plane to Australia.
Hal escapes Bangkok and meets up with Kat in Goa, where they watch as Arkie is arrested and then walk together on the beach as father and daughter.
''The Hero Discovered'' follows Kevin Matchstick, an alienated young man who meets a wizard called Mirth and discovers that he, among other things, possesses both a magic baseball bat and superhuman abilities. In the course of the comic, he defeats the nefarious plans of a being called the Umbra Sprite. He ultimately discovers that Mirth is Merlin, the baseball bat is Excalibur, and he is, in some ambiguous way, King Arthur. All the chapter titles are lines from Shakespeare's ''Hamlet''.
A backup story, "Devil by the Deed", appeared in issues #6–14 of ''The Hero Discovered''. This was a Grendel story that led directly into the Grendel comic series written by Wagner and drawn by a series of other artists.
''The Hero Defined'' picks up Matchstick's adventures several years later as he fights supernatural menaces in the company of other heroes, including Kirby Hero and Joe Phat. Each hero he encounters is based both on a mythological character and a comics professional of Wagner's acquaintance (Kirby as Hercules and Bernie Mireault, Joe as Coyote and Joe Matt). There is a new mage this time—Mirth has disappeared, and Matchstick is followed around by an old tramp called Wally Ut, who insists he is Matchstick's new mentor. In the course of the story Matchstick learns that he has misunderstood his mission, meets his future wife, and is alienated from his fellow heroes. He also discovers that he represents more than one mythical character: he is also Gilgamesh, and Kirby is also Enkidu. The chapter titles of ''The Hero Defined'' are from ''Macbeth'', and Matchstick's wife and her siblings are heavily based on the Weird Sisters.
''The Hero Denied'' takes place several years after the second series. Matchstick and his family are in hiding, trying to avoid the Umbra Sprite, now known as the Umbra Witch, who has regenerated in a female form, and has female children called Gracklethorns, instead of the males in the first two series called Grackleflints. All of the chapters have titles taken from Shakespeare's ''The Tempest''. The final issue came out on February 27, 2019, thirty-five years after the publication of the first comic.
The ultimate issue of each volume was double-sized, and featured a gatefold page of panoramic art. The final issue contains an 8-page gatefold.
''Mage'' ran as a back up feature in Comico's ''Grendel'' series issues #16–19.
A young boy named Solomon narrates the events of the tornado that devastated the small town of Xenia, Ohio. A mute adolescent boy, known as Bunny Boy, wears only pink bunny ears, shorts, and tennis shoes on an overpass in the rain.
Tummler, a friend of Solomon, carries a cat by the scruff of its neck and drowns it in a barrel of water. The film then cuts to a different scene with Tummler, in a wrecked car with a girl. They fondle each other, and Tummler realizes there is a lump in one of the girl's breasts. Tummler and Solomon then ride down a hill on bikes. In narration, Solomon describes Tummler as a boy with "a marvelous persona,” whom some people call "downright evil.”
Later, Tummler aims an air rifle at a cat. Solomon stops him from killing the cat, protesting that it is a housecat. They leave and the camera follows the cat to its owners' house. The cat is owned by three sisters, two of whom are teenagers and one who is pre-pubescent. The film cuts back to Tummler and Solomon hunting feral cats, which they deliver to a local grocer who intends to butcher and sell them to a local restaurant. The grocer tells them that they have a rival in the cat killing business. Tummler and Solomon buy glue from the grocer, which they use to get high via huffing.
The film then cuts to a scene in which two foul-mouthed young boys dressed as cowboys destroy things in a junkyard. Bunny Boy arrives and the other boys shoot him "dead" with cap guns. Bunny Boy plays dead and the boys curse at him, rifle through his pockets, then remove and throw one of his shoes. They grow bored of this and leave Bunny Boy sprawled on the ground.
Tummler and Solomon track down a local boy who is poaching "their" cats. The poacher, named Jarrod Wiggley, is poisoning the cats rather than shooting them. When Tummler and Solomon break into Jarrod's house with masks and weapons with intent to hurt him, they find photos of the young teen in drag and his elderly grandmother, who is catatonic and attached to life support machinery. Jarrod is forced to care for her, which he had earlier opined was "disgusting.” Seeing that Jarrod isn't home, Tummler and Solomon decide to leave. Tummler then discovers the grandmother lying in her bed, states that it is "no way to live," and turns off the life support machine.
A number of other scenes are interspersed throughout the film, including: an intoxicated man flirting with a gay dwarf; a man pimping his disabled sister to Solomon and Tummler; the sisters encountering an elderly child molester; a pair of twin boys selling candy door-to-door; a brief conversation with a tennis player who is treating his ADHD; a long scene of Solomon eating dinner while taking a bath in dirty water; a drunken party with arm- and chair-wrestling; and two skinhead brothers boxing each other in their kitchen. There are also a number of even smaller scenes depicting Satanic rituals, footage seemingly from home movies, and conversations containing racial bigotry.
The next scene in the movie is set to the song "Crying" by Roy Orbison, which had been previously mentioned by Tummler as the song his older sibling, who was a transsexual, would sing (the sibling eventually went to the "Big City" and abandoned him). The final scene involves Solomon and Tummler shooting the sisters' cat repeatedly with their air rifles in the rain with jump cuts to Bunny Boy kissing the teenage girls in a swimming pool. Bunny Boy runs towards the camera through a field holding the body of the dead cat, which he shows to the audience, breaking the fourth wall.
The final scene shows a girl, who shaved her eyebrows earlier in the movie, singing "Jesus Loves Me" in bed next to her mom (or sister). The film finally cuts to black as the girl singing is told to "dial it down" and go to bed.
Joseph is an ordinary boy with ordinary interests; he dislikes lessons and enjoys playing marbles with his friends. But in 1941, when Paris is occupied by the Nazis, his childhood comes to an end. Never before having known what it means to be a Jew, Joseph is forced to wear a yellow star. Due to his schoolmate's admiration of the yellow star, he makes his first business transaction with Zérati, a friend from school: his yellow star exchanged for a bag of marbles.
The racism which results from the occupation leaves only one possibility to Joseph and his brother Maurice: they must flee. Their father, who owns a hairdressing salon, advises them what to do when they leave. Despite having been driven from their home because of their Jewish identity, they are told they must never let anyone know that they are Jews.
They are attempting to escape from the grasp of Hitler and his S.S. men as they infiltrate France. They travel through northern France to the de-militiarised zone in the South. They cross the Demarcation Line in the dead of night with the help of another young boy called Raymond. Once into safe France they travel down to Menton via Marseille, where they spend a fantastic day taking in the sea - something they have never seen before. The boys then spend four blissfully safe months in Menton with their brothers, Henri and Albert, before having to leave the town for Nice, where their parents are waiting.
The boys spend the summer in Nice with their parents. But due to the surrender of the Italians, when they removed Mussolini in favor of Pietro Badoglio, and the arrival of the Germans in safe France, they have to flee quickly to "Moisson Nouvelle", a camp for boys run by the Vichy government. The boys are safe here for a while, and make many friends, until one day when they accompany the lorry driver Ferdinand into Nice where he leads them, unintentionally, straight into a Nazi trap. They are taken to the "Hotel Excelsior", the Nazi headquarters in the region. Fortunately, due to their carefully thought up lies and the persistence of a priest, they escape a month later, still alive but pretty rattled. Sadly, they soon learn of the arrest of their father, who had his papers with him at the time, which means it is no longer safe for the two youngsters to remain in Nice.
As the autumn turns to winter, Joseph and Maurice travel north to see their sister, where they learn that it is unsafe for them to stay; so they go to join their brothers in the Alpine resort of Aix-les-Bains. Here Maurice spends the rest of the war working in a bakery, and Joseph works for the owner of the village bookshop - a staunch Petainist. The two brothers also brush up with resistance fighters in the area, when Joseph has to pass on a secret message.
Joseph returns to Paris shortly after peace is announced, in an over-crowded train. Maurice returns by road, although in his typical style he also takes enough cheese to make a very large profit on! They are both re-united with their family in the salon although sadly not their father, who was murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp before the end of the war.
Arthur Burdon, a renowned English surgeon, is visiting Paris to see his fiancée, Margaret Dauncey. Margaret is studying art in a Parisian school, along with her friend Susie Boyd. On his first evening in Paris, Burdon meets Oliver Haddo, who claims to be a magician and is an acquaintance of Burdon's mentor, the retired doctor and occult scholar Dr. Porhoët. While none of the company initially believe Haddo's claims, Haddo performs several feats of magic for them over the following days. Arthur eventually fights with Haddo, after the magician kicks Margaret's dog.
In revenge, Haddo uses both his personality and his magic to seduce Margaret, despite her initial revulsion towards him. They get married and run away from Paris, leaving merely a note to inform Arthur, Susie and Porhoët. Arthur is distraught at the abandonment and promptly returns to England to immerse himself in his work. By this time Susie has fallen in love with Arthur, although she realises that this love will never be returned, and she goes away to Italy with a friend.
During her travels, Susie hears much about the new Mr. and Mrs. Haddo, including a rumour that their marriage has not been consummated. When she eventually returns to England, she meets up with Arthur and they go to a dinner party held by a mutual acquaintance. To their horror, the Haddos are at this dinner party, and Oliver takes great delight in gloating at Arthur's distress.
The next day, Arthur goes to the hotel at which Margaret is staying, and whisks her away to a house in the country. Although she files for divorce from Haddo, his influence on her proves too strong, and she ends up returning to him. Feeling that this influence must be supernatural, Susie returns to France to consult with Dr Porhoët on a possible solution.
Several weeks later, Arthur joins them in Paris and reveals that he visited Margaret at Haddo's home and that she suggested her life was threatened by her new husband. She implies that Haddo is only waiting for the right time to perform a magical ritual, which will involve the sacrifice of her life. Arthur travels to Paris to ask for Porhoët's advice. A week later, Arthur has an overwhelming feeling that Margaret's life is in danger, and all three rush back to England.
When they arrive at Skene, Haddo's ancestral home in the village of Venning, they are told by the local innkeeper that Margaret has died of a heart attack. Believing that Haddo has murdered her, Arthur confronts first the local doctor and then Haddo himself with his suspicions. Searching for proof of foul play, Arthur persuades Porhoët to raise Margaret's ghost from the dead, which proves to them that she was murdered. Eventually, Haddo uses his magic to appear in their room at the local inn, where Arthur kills him. However, when the light is turned on Haddo's body has disappeared.
The trio visit Haddo's abandoned home to find that he has used his magic to create life – hideous creatures living in tubes – and that this is the purpose for which he sacrificed Margaret's life. After finding the magician's dead body in his attic, Arthur sets fire to the manor to destroy all evidence of Haddo's occult experiments.
The story of ''Men of Valor'' follows Dean Shepard and his squad of Marines from the 3rd Battalion of the 3rd Marine Division in 1968, through sixteen missions during the Vietnam War including missions at the height of the Tet Offensive. In historically-based scenarios, the player assumes a variety of roles in which they man the door gun on a Huey helicopter, steer a riverboat along enemy-infested shores, battle their way through enemy tunnel complexes, and call down fire as a forward observer. Mission types include pilot rescues, recon patrols, POW rescue, and search-and-destroy ops, all typical objectives throughout the offensive. Between missions are film clips in both Black and White and Colour showcasing the real war, a similar approach to most WWII games at the time.
Five songs on this album (first four and "Haunted") form a short story. Narrator sees a face in "every candle that [he] burns". This face speaks one word to him: "Jonah". So he finds an old book, speaks a rhyme and frees the spirit from the candle. It's the spirit of a little girl named Molly, who tells him her story, that happened seven years before. Mrs. Jane kept her 4-year-old daughter Molly in the attic until she (Molly) died. Before, Mrs. Jane painted Molly's portrait and put it above the fireplace, so that Molly would become immortal; however, Molly made the portrait speak to her mother, so that Jane would know about Molly's pain. Mrs. Jane then speaks a rhyme and burns the portrait. A free spirit of Molly returns to haunt her until she goes insane.
In 1980, J-21 (John Garrick) sets his aircraft on "hover" mode in New York, lands and converses with the beautiful LN-18 (Maureen O'Sullivan). He describes how the marriage tribunal had refused to consider J-21's marital filing and applications, and LN-18 is going to be forced to marry the conceited and mean MT-3 (Kenneth Thomson). J-21 plans to visit LN-18 that night.
RT-42 (Frank Albertson) tries to cheer him up by taking him to see a horde of surgeons experimentally revive a man from 1930, who was struck by lightning while playing golf, and was killed. The man (originally named Peterson now is called Single O) is taken in hand by RT-42 and J-21, where it is revealed that aircraft have replaced cars, numbers have replaced names, pills have replaced food and liquor, and the only legal babies come from vending machines. That night, LN-18 feigns a headache, and her father and the despicable MT-3 decide to go to "the show" without her. The second they are gone, RT-42 and J-21 appear and woo D-6 and LN-18 respectively. MT-3 and LN-18's father return quite early, as MT-3 was highly suspicious, and RT-42 and J-21 hide. However, the game is foiled by the moronic Single O (El Brendel), the man from 1930, becoming addicted to pill-highballs, getting drunk, and trying to get some more pill-highballs from J-21.
J-21 is depressed, but is contacted by Z-4, the scientist. He is told that Z-4 (Hobart Bosworth) has built a "rocket plane" that can carry three men to Mars. After a farewell party where J-21 works, on the ''Pegasus,'' a dirigible they call an "air-liner," the rocket blasts off, carrying J-21, RT-42 and Single O, who has stowed away for the synthetic rum. Landing on Mars, they are received by the Queen, Looloo and the King, Loko. That night, Looloo and Loko take them to see a "show," a Martian opera, where a horde of trained Martian ourang-outangs dance about. They are suddenly attacked by Booboo and Boko, the evil twins (everyone on Mars is a twin) of the King and Queen. They escape and return to Earth, and as one of the first men on another planet, J-21 is permitted to marry LN-18. Finally, Single O is reunited with his aged son, Axel.
The novel is set in the early years of the 19th century. Silas Marner, a weaver, is a member of a small Calvinist congregation in Lantern Yard, a slum street in Northern England. He is falsely accused of stealing the congregation's funds while watching over the very ill deacon. Two pieces of evidence implicate Silas: a pocket knife, and the discovery in his own house of the bag formerly containing the money. There is the strong suggestion that Silas' best friend, William Dane, has framed him, since Silas had lent his pocket knife to William shortly before the crime was committed. Lots are drawn in the belief – also shared by Silas – that God will direct the process and establish the truth, but they indicate that Silas is guilty. The woman Silas was to marry breaks their engagement and marries William instead. With his life shattered, his trust in God lost, and his heart broken, Silas leaves Lantern Yard and the city for a rural area where he is unknown.
Silas travels south to the Midlands and settles near the rural village of Raveloe in Warwickshire where he lives isolated and alone, choosing to have only minimal contact with the residents beyond his work as a linen weaver. He devotes himself wholeheartedly to his craft and comes to adore the gold coins he earns and hoards from his weaving.
One foggy night, Silas' two bags of gold are stolen by Dunstan ("Dunsey") Cass, a dissolute younger son of Squire Cass, the town's leading landowner. On discovering the theft, Silas sinks into a deep depression despite the villagers' attempts to aid him. Dunsey immediately disappears, but the community makes little of this disappearance since he has vanished several times before.
Godfrey Cass, Dunsey's elder brother, also harbours a secret past. He is married to, but estranged from, Molly Farren, an opium-addicted working-class woman living in another town. This secret prevents Godfrey from marrying Nancy Lammeter, a young middle-class woman. On a winter's night, Molly tries to make her way to Squire Cass's New Year's Eve party with her two-year-old girl to announce that she is Godfrey's wife. On the way, she collapses in the snow and loses consciousness. The child wanders into Silas' house. Silas follows the child's tracks in the snow and discovers the woman dead. When he goes to the party for help, Godfrey heads outdoors to the scene of the accident, but resolves to tell no one that Molly was his wife. Molly's death, conveniently for Godfrey and Nancy, puts an end to the marriage.
Silas keeps the child and names her Eppie, after his deceased mother and sister, both named Hephzibah. Eppie changes Silas' life completely. Silas has been robbed of his material gold, but thinks that he has it returned to him symbolically in the form of the golden-haired child. Godfrey Cass is now free to marry Nancy, but continues to conceal the fact of his previous marriage—and child—from her. However, he aids Marner in caring for Eppie with occasional financial gifts. More practical help and support in bringing up the child is provided by Dolly Winthrop, Marner's kindly neighbour. Dolly's help and advice assist Marner not only in bringing up Eppie, but also in integrating them into village society.
Sixteen years pass, and Eppie grows up to be the pride of the village. She has a strong bond with Silas, who through her has found a place in the rural society and a purpose in life. Meanwhile, Godfrey and Nancy mourn their own childless state, after the death of their baby. Eventually, the skeleton of Dunstan Cass—still clutching Silas' gold—is found at the bottom of the stone quarry near Silas' home, and the money is duly returned to Silas. Shocked by this revelation, and coming to the realisation of his own conscience, Godfrey confesses to Nancy that Molly was his first wife and that Eppie is his child. They offer to raise her as a gentleman's daughter, but this would mean Eppie would have to forsake living with Silas. Eppie politely but firmly refuses, saying, "I can't think o' no happiness without him."
Silas revisits Lantern Yard, but his old neighbourhood has been "swept away" in the intervening years; the place is now replaced by a large factory. No one seems to know what happened to Lantern Yard's inhabitants. However, Silas contentedly resigns himself to the fact that he will never know and now leads a happy existence among his self-made family and friends. In the end, Eppie marries a local boy she has grown up with, Dolly's son Aaron, and they move into Silas' house, which has been newly improved courtesy of Godfrey. Silas' actions through the years in caring for Eppie have apparently provided joy for everyone, and the extended family celebrates its happiness.
In Marin County, two gas company men are lured by a scantily clad woman to a remote spot in Mill Valley, where both are killed by Bobby Maxwell. Maxwell leads a group of men and women calling themselves the People's Revolutionary Strike Force (PRSF), who pose as a terrorist organization to conceal the true purpose of their criminal activities.
Inspector Harry Callahan and his partner Frank DiGiorgio deal with a conman faking a heart attack at a restaurant before being called in to deal with a holdup at a liquor store. When the robbers take hostages and demand a police car so they can escape, Callahan drives his into the front of the store and uses the resulting chaos to gun them down. Callahan's superior, Captain Jerome McKay, angrily reprimands him for "excessive use of force", injuring the hostages, and causing $14,379 in damages; as punishment, Callahan is transferred to the Personnel department, where he is forced to participate in the interview process for promotions. He is dismayed to learn that under the Mayor's new affirmative action rules, several of the promotions must go to women, including Kate Moore, a desk officer with no field experience.
The PRSF uses the stolen gas company van and uniforms to steal M72 LAW rockets, M16 rifles, a taser, and other weapons from a warehouse. DiGiorgio and another officer catch them in the act, but Maxwell fatally wounds DiGiorgio with a knife, runs the other cop over with the van, and executes one of his own followers despite her only having minor wounds. Callahan is transferred back to Homicide, but is distressed to find out that Moore is his new partner. While watching an army demonstration of the LAW rocket on a firing range, Callahan notices Moore standing right behind the rocket and pulls her out of the way of potentially lethal backblast. Irritated by the incident, Callahan tells Moore he is doubtful of her ability to perform in dangerous situations and warns her that a failure in such an incident could endanger both their lives.
Callahan and Moore are leaving an autopsy at the Hall of Justice when a bomb explodes in the bathroom. The inspectors chase down and capture the bomber, and meet "Big" Ed Mustapha, leader of a black militant group to which the bomber formerly belonged. Although Callahan makes a deal with Mustapha for information, McKay arrests him and his followers for the PRSF's crimes, damaging Callahan's credibility. Callahan angrily refuses to participate in a televised press conference in which the publicity-seeking Mayor intends to commend him and Moore for Mustapha's arrest; McKay then suspends Callahan and takes his badge. However, Moore informs Callahan that she will continue to help him in any way she can, and the two share drinks in a sign of mutual respect.
The PRSF ambushes the Mayor's motorcade as he leaves a Giants game at Candlestick Park, killing his bodyguard and aide and taking him hostage with a ransom of $5 million. Callahan bails out Mustapha, who gives him the name of a priest who mentored Maxwell; Moore then saves Callahan's life when an PRSF member disguised as a nun tries to shoot him in the back. The priest reveals that the PRSF are squatting on Alcatraz Island. Callahan distracts the gang while Moore frees the mayor, but Maxwell kills her before they can get off the island. Callahan avenges Moore by cornering him in an old guard tower and blowing it up with a LAW rocket. Ignoring the Mayor's profuse gratitude, Callahan abandons him and walks over to his partner's corpse as McKay arrives in a helicopter and announces to the deceased Maxwell that the SFPD will give into all of his demands.
In 1973, college-age artist Jennifer Spencer and her sister, Beth, are raped by a group of young men after being betrayed by female friend Ray Parkins. The brutal rape leaves Beth in a catatonic state. Ten years later, an enraged Spencer seeks revenge on the attackers. She kills one of the rapists, George Wilburn, with two shots—one to the genitals and one to the head—from a .38 Colt Detective Special revolver. Spencer leaves San Francisco because of the subsequent police investigation. Relocating to the town of San Paulo, she begins restoring its boardwalk's historic carousel near the beach where the rapes occurred.
Meanwhile, Inspector Harry Callahan is frustrated when a judge yet again dismisses one of his cases due to what she sees as unreasonable search and seizure. Later, at his favorite diner, Callahan foils a robbery and kills three of the criminals. When the surviving robber takes a hostage, Callahan targets him with his .44 Magnum and challenges him to, "Go ahead, make my day". The criminal surrenders. Callahan later causes powerful crime lord Threlkis to suffer a fatal heart attack at his granddaughter's wedding reception when Callahan threatens him with prosecution in a murder case.
Callahan's angry superiors call him in. While they cannot fire or suspend Callahan because his methods "get results", they instead order him to take a vacation. Callahan spends his time off target shooting with his .44 AutoMag and shotgun-armed partner Horace. However, his relaxation is short-lived when four of Threlkis's hitmen attack him. Callahan dispatches three, and the fourth escapes in an armored limousine. The suspect from the dismissed case and his friends also attack Callahan, throwing two Molotov cocktails into his car. He retrieves an unbroken firebomb and throws it at the attackers' car, causing the group to crash into the bay, killing them. Callahan's supervisor, Lieutenant Donnelly, immediately sends him to San Paulo to investigate the Wilburn murder.
Upon arriving in San Paulo, Callahan chases down a would-be robber. The reckless but successful pursuit, during which Callahan commandeers a minibus carrying a group of senior citizens, draws the anger of the local police, although the seniors thoroughly approved and enjoyed the chase. While jogging with his bulldog Meathead, Callahan accidentally runs into Spencer. While she is less than thrilled, Spencer feels no extreme anger toward Callahan. Upon returning to his room at a motel, Callahan is targeted by the surviving Threlkis hitman, but the inspector kills him after being warned of his presence by Meathead. Meanwhile, Spencer kills a second rapist, Kruger, at the beach. Callahan recognizes the ''modus operandi'', but local police chief Lester Jannings refuses to work with the famous "big city hotshot."
Callahan learns that the victims and Parkins are friends of Jannings' son, Alby. Parkins figures out that the rapists are being targeted and warns the remaining two, Tyrone and Mick. After fighting Kruger's uncooperative brothers-in-law, Eddie and Carl, Callahan meets Spencer again at an outdoor cafe. Over drinks, he learns that she shares his emphasis on results over methods when seeking justice. But, the inspector adds the caveat "'til it breaks the law." Callahan reveals that he is investigating Wilburn's murder, which rattles Spencer. Later, Callahan finds Tyrone dead. Mick stays at Parkins' home, where both await a probable attack. When Callahan visits them for questioning, Mick attacks him. After Callahan subdues Mick and takes him to the police station, Spencer arrives and guns down Parkins.
Having survived the assault, Callahan and Spencer meet again and sleep together. On his way out, Callahan notices Spencer's car, which he had seen earlier at Parkins' house, where he soon finds Parkins' body. Eddie and Carl bail Mick out of jail. Meanwhile, Horace arrives at Callahan's motel to celebrate the easing of tensions in San Francisco. He meets Mick and his henchmen instead, who have been waiting to spring an ambush. Horace is killed, Meathead is neutered by switchblade, and Mick and his henchmen brutally beat Callahan before throwing him into the ocean.
Spencer arrives at the Jannings home with the intention of killing Alby, who was one of the rapists. To her surprise, she finds Alby, like her sister, is also catatonic; a guilty conscience caused him to attempt suicide via a car crash that left him with permanent brain damage. Jannings admits that to protect his reputation and his only child, he "fixed" the crimes and failed to jail the guilty parties. He convinces Spencer to spare Alby's life and promises that Mick, whom he does not know is now free, will now be punished. Mick and the others, however, arrive and capture Spencer, killing Jannings with her .38.
Callahan retrieves his AutoMag from the motel, having lost his long-barreled Model 29 in the ocean. Enraged at what Mick's gang have done to Horace and Meathead, he sets out after them. Mick's gang brings Spencer to the boardwalk for another rape, but she escapes to the carousel. They recapture her, but are startled by Callahan's apparent return from the dead. After killing Eddie and Carl, Callahan chases Mick, who absconds with Spencer atop a rollercoaster. The inspector reiterates his challenge of "make my day"—this time to Mick. When Mick laughs maniacally at Callahan, Spencer uses the diversion to break free from Mick. Callahan shoots Mick, who then plunges through the carousel's glass roof and is impaled on a carousel unicorn.
The police arrive and find Spencer's .38 on Mick; ballistics, Callahan states, will prove that "his gun … was used in all the killings." A compassionate Callahan and a vindicated Spencer leave the crime scene together.
Inspector Harry Callahan's testimony against crime lord Lou Janero puts the mobster in prison. Callahan becomes famous and the target of Janero's men as well as the news media, both of which he dislikes. After Callahan kills four hit men during an ambush, the SFPD assigns Al Quan (Kim) as his partner; Callahan advises him to get a bulletproof vest, as his partners often get killed. The pair investigate the fatal heroin overdose of rock singer Johnny Squares (Carrey), found in his trailer during filming of a music video directed by Peter Swan (Neeson) at the Port of San Francisco. Squares' death was not a typical overdose, but actually murder.
Dean Madison, Swan's executive producer, is killed during a Chinatown restaurant robbery. Callahan kills three of the robbers, and Quan captures the fourth. They discover a list in Madison's pocket with Callahan and Squares' names on it. It is revealed that Madison and Swan are participants in a "dead pool" game, in which participants predict celebrity deaths in the Bay area: whether by accident, violence, or natural causes. Movie critic Molly Fisher, also on Swan's list, is soon murdered by an intruder claiming to be Swan — causing panic among the surviving celebrities, and making Swan a suspect.
After Callahan destroys a television station's camera, he must cooperate with reporter Samantha Walker (Patricia Clarkson) to avoid a lawsuit; if he agrees to a profile of his controversial career, the suit will be dropped. Callahan sees this as a ploy to exploit the danger he is in for its ratings value. Yet after they survive another attack by Janero's men, the incident and her own unwillingness to be the subject of news coverage cause Walker to reconsider the dangers police officers face in juxtaposition with the public's right to know. Meanwhile, at San Quentin State Prison, Callahan uses triple murderer Butcher Hicks to threaten the imprisoned Janero if anything happens to him. Janero ends the attacks, and assigns two men to Callahan as his personal bodyguards, though Callahan initially thinks they are after him.
A man named Gus Wheeler, claiming responsibility for the murders, douses himself in gasoline and threatens to light himself on fire in front of a large crowd. Wheeler is not the murderer, but an attention seeker desperate to appear on camera. Walker foils his plan by refusing to film him; however Wheeler accidentally sets himself on fire, but fortunately Callahan saves him. Impressed by her refusal to exploit Wheeler, Callahan and Walker become close. Meanwhile, Swan tells Callahan and Quan of Harlan Rook, a deranged fan suffering from "process schizophrenia" who thinks the director stole his ideas and work; Swan has a restraining order against him. Rook kills talk show host Nolan Kennard, another person on the dead pool list, using a radio-controlled car filled with C4 explosive under the victim's vehicle. Callahan finds a toy car wheel at the crime scene, and later sees another toy car following him and Quan. Recognizing the threat, they flee through the city pursued by the toy car and Rook himself controlling it from his car. Trapped in an alleyway, Rook sends the car in armed. Callahan is able to back the car up enough so the engine takes most of the blast. Both survive, but Quan has broken ribs.
Rook, claiming to be Swan, calls Walker at the television station and invites her to Swan's film studio for an interview. The police discover at Rook's apartment torn posters of Swan's films, large quantities of explosives, and Walker's name replacing Callahan's on the dead pool list. At the studio, Callahan confronts Rook holding Walker hostage. The detective surrenders his .44 Magnum revolver after Rook threatens to slit her throat. Callahan lures Rook to a pier after a chase during which Rook shoots at him with his own gun. Rook runs out of ammunition, and Callahan shoots Rook with a Svend Foyn harpoon cannon, impaling him. Callahan leaves with Walker as the police arrive.
In the early 1950s, Pete Verrill is invited by his friend, director John Wilson, to rewrite the script for Wilson's latest project: a film with the working title of ''The African Trader''. The hard living, irreverent Wilson convinces his producer, Paul Landers, to have the film completely shot on location in Africa, even though doing so would be extremely expensive. Wilson explains to Verrill that his motivation for this has nothing to do with the film - Wilson, a lifelong hunter, wants to fulfill his dream of going on an African safari; he even purchases a set of finely crafted hunting rifles and charges them to the studio.
Upon landing in Entebbe, Wilson and Verrill spend several days at a luxury hotel while Verrill finishes the script and Wilson makes arrangements for the safari. Verrill finds himself growing fond of Wilson after the latter defends him against a fellow guest who makes antisemitic remarks in front of Verrill (who happens to be Jewish) and challenges the hotel manager to a fistfight after witnessing him insult and belittle a black waiter for spilling a drink. The two men constantly argue over Verrill's changes to the script, particularly his insistence that Wilson not use his original planned ending, where all of the main characters are killed on-screen.
Wilson hires a pilot to fly him and Verrill out to the hunting camp of safari guide Zibelinsky and his African tracker Kivu, whom Wilson is quick to bond with. The film's unit director, Ralph Lockhart, is also present and insists that Wilson start pre-production before the cast arrives, to which Wilson replies he'll do so after he shoots a "tusker". The first day of hunting ends in disappointment when Zibelinsky spots a herd of elephants and warns Wilson not to spook them by firing. Verrill gradually becomes disenchanted with Wilson, who keeps going out to hunt despite being in poor physical condition and seems completely indifferent to the success of his movie. He even questions why Wilson would want to kill such a magnificent beast.
Confronted, Wilson tells Verrill off and accuses him of "playing it safe" and not wanting to risk anything. He calls hunting a "sin that you can get a license for" and doesn't try to convince Verrill otherwise when he threatens to resign and go back to London. Landers arrives in Entebbe and insists that Verrill stay on lest the entire studio go under if the movie isn't finished. When Verrill does return, he is informed by Lockhart that Wilson, without consulting anyone, has decided to move the entire production to Kivu's home village despite Landers spending most of the budget on a prefabricated set.
The cast, now unable to stay at the hotel, go to Zibelinsky's camp and find Wilson waiting for them with a lavish banquet. He humiliates Landers and takes advantage of several days of rain to resume his safari, now accompanied by professional elephant hunter Ogilvy. Verrill follows after Wilson again taunts him for cowardice. Wilson finally gets his chance to kill the "tusker", but when the time comes to shoot, he suddenly finds he can't pull the trigger. The elephant suddenly charges after seeing its child move too close to Wilson, and Kivu tries to scare it off only to be fatally gored by the elephant's tusks.
Wilson, horrified by Kivu's death, returns to the set. He sees the villagers beating drums and asks Ogilvy what they mean. Ogilvy replies that they are communicating to everyone how Kivu died: "white hunter, black heart". Recognizing that he is ultimately to blame for what happened, Wilson tells Verrill that he was right: the film does need a happy ending after all. Sitting in his director's chair as the actors and crew take their places to film the opening scene of ''The African Trader'', a now humbled and broken Wilson silently mutters "Action".
King Arthur of Camelot, victorious from his wars, has dedicated his reign to promoting justice and peace and now wishes to marry. However, Malagant, a former Knight of the Round Table, desires the throne for himself.
Lancelot, a vagabond and skilled swordsman, duels in small villages for money. He attributes his skill to his lack of concern whether he lives or dies. Guinevere the young ruler of Lyonesse, decides to marry King Arthur out of admiration and for security against Malagant, who has been raiding local villages under the guise of "upholding the law." While traveling, Lancelot chances by Guinevere's carriage on the way to Camelot, and spoils Malagant's ambush meant to kidnap her. He falls in love with her, but she refuses his advances. Though Lancelot urges her to follow her heart, she remains bound by duty. She is subsequently reunited with her escort.
Later, Lancelot arrives in Camelot and successfully navigates an obstacle course on the prospect of a kiss from Guinevere, though he instead kisses her hand. He also wins an audience with her husband-to-be, Arthur. Impressed by his courage and struck by his recklessness and freewheeling, he shows him the Round Table, symbolizing a life of service and brotherhood, and warns him that a man "who fears nothing is a man who loves nothing".
That night, Malagant's henchmen arrive at Camelot and kidnap Guinevere. She is tied up and carried off to his headquarters, where she is held hostage. Lancelot follows, posing as a messenger from Camelot. He requests to see Guinevere alive before he delivers the message, then overpowers the guards and escapes with her. Once again, Lancelot tries to win her heart, but is unsuccessful. On the return journey, it is revealed that he was orphaned and rendered homeless after bandits attacked his village, and has been wandering ever since.
In gratitude, Arthur offers Lancelot a higher calling in life as a Knight of the Round Table. Amidst the protests of the other Knights (who are suspicious of his station) and of Guinevere (who struggles with her feelings for him) he accepts and takes Malagant's place at the Table, saying he has found something to care about. Arthur and Guinevere are subsequently wedded. However, a messenger from Lyonesse arrives, with news that Malagant has invaded. Arthur leads his troops to Lyonesse and successfully defeats Malagant's forces. Lancelot wins the respect of the other Knights with his prowess in battle. He also learns to embrace Arthur's philosophy, moved by the plight of villagers.
Lancelot, guilty about his feelings for the queen and loyalty to Arthur, privately announces his departure to her. Not able to bear the thought of his leaving, she finally asks him for a kiss. It turns into a passionate embrace, just in time for the king to interrupt. Though Guinevere loves both Arthur and Lancelot – albeit in different ways – they are charged with treason. The open trial in the great square of Camelot is interrupted by a surprise invasion by Malagant, ready to burn Camelot and kill Arthur if he does not swear fealty.
Instead Arthur commands his subjects to fight, and Malagant's men shoot him with crossbows. A battle ensues, and Lancelot and Malagant face off. Disarmed, Lancelot seizes Arthur's fallen sword and kills Malagant, who falls dead on that same throne he so desired. The people of Camelot win the battle, but Arthur dies of his wounds. On his deathbed, he names Lancelot his successor and asks him to "''take care of her for me''" – referring to both Camelot and Guinevere. The film closes with a funeral pyre raft carrying Arthur's body floating out to sea.
In the animated series, the pair are anthropomorphic animal superheroes without known secret identities (the green-eyed caped crimefighter and his squeaky-voiced companion are usually addressed as simply "Courageous" and "Minute") who live in the Cat Cave. When summoned via the Cat Signal over their television set, Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse race to the scene of the crime in their sleekly feline red Cat Mobile which can convert into both the extendable-winged Cat Plane and submersible Cat Boat and thwart the criminal plots of various villains who threaten Empire City. The episodes contained storylines and screenplays and characters written by authors Gerald J. Rappoport and drawings and characters by Bob Kane.
Though they fought many miscreants, the duo's recurring arch-enemy was Chauncey "Flat-Face" Frog who appeared in nearly every episode.
The five-minute length of the cartoons made the series suitable for use as interstitials or airtime fillers, especially to accommodate a movie or show that ended at an unusually early time, as well as animated content for local children's shows. The first episode was broadcast on Wednesday September 14, 1960 as part of "The Tommy Seven Show" on New York's WABC Channel 7.
In ''Postal 2'', the player takes on the role of the Postal Dude, a tall and thin red-headed man with a goatee, sunglasses, a black leather trench coat, and a T-shirt with a grey alien's face printed on it. Postal Dude lives in a dilapidated trailer on land behind a house in the small town of Paradise, Arizona, with his nagging wife, who is identified in the credits as simply "The Bitch". The game's levels are split into days of the week starting Monday and finishing Friday.
At the beginning of each day, Postal Dude is given several tasks to accomplish, such as "get milk", "confess sins", and other seemingly mundane tasks. The objective of ''Postal 2'' is to finish all of the tasks throughout the week, and the player can accomplish these tasks in any way they wish, be it as peacefully and civilly as possible, or as violently and chaotically as possible. It is possible, if occasionally difficult, to complete most tasks without engaging in battle, or at least, harming or killing other characters, as evidenced by the game's tagline: "Remember, it's only as violent as you are!" The daily tasks can be accomplished in any order the player desires, and the game also includes one task that is activated only when Postal Dude urinates, in which the player is tasked with getting treatment for gonorrhea after Postal Dude discovers he has the infection.
Throughout the course of the game, Postal Dude must put up with being provoked by other characters on a regular basis. He is given the finger, mugged, attacked by various groups of protesters, and is harassed by an obnoxious convenience store owner/terrorist and his patrons who cut before Postal Dude in the "money line". During the game, Postal Dude also encounters a marching band, a murderous toy mascot named Krotchy, the Paradise Police Department and its SWAT team, overzealous ATF agents, the National Guard, an eccentric religious cult, cannibalistic butcher shop workers, fanatical al-Qaeda terrorists, and former child actor Gary Coleman, among many others.
By Friday afternoon, the final day in the game, the apocalypse occurs and societal collapse soon follows, with all law and order breaking down. Cats begin to fall out of a darkly-colored sky, and almost everyone in town becomes heavily armed, with random gun battles breaking out in the streets. Despite this, Postal Dude returns home to his trailer as normal, where he then gets into an argument with his wife, who demands that Postal Dude explain why he never picked up the "rocky road" she asked for at the beginning of the game. ''Postal 2'' then ends with a gunshot being heard, before being kicked to the end credits.
In the first part of the drama, the protagonist is still the demonic rake described by de Molina (he is called a demon and even Satan himself on more than one occasion). The story begins with Don Juan meeting Don Luis in a crowded wine shop in Seville so that the two can find out which of them has won the bet that they made one year ago: each expected himself to be able to conquer more women and kill more men than the other. Naturally, Don Juan wins on both counts. People in the crowd ask him if he isn't afraid that someday there will be consequences for his actions, but Don Juan replies that he only thinks about the present.
It is then revealed that both ''caballeros'' have gotten engaged since they last met, don Luis to doña Ana de Pantoja and don Juan to doña Inés de Ulloa. Don Luis, his pride hurt, admits that Don Juan has slept with every woman on the social ladder from princess to pauper, but is lacking one conquest: a novice about to take her holy vows. Don Juan agrees to the new bet and doubles it by saying that he will seduce a novice and an engaged woman, boasting that he only needs six days to complete the task with don Luis's fiancee as one of the intended conquests.
At this point, don Gonzalo, don Juan's future father-in-law, who has been sitting in a corner during this entire exchange, declares that don Juan will never come near his daughter and the wedding is off. Don Juan laughs and tells the man that he will either give doña Inés to him, or he will take her. He now has the second part of the bet concreted with doña Inés set to take her vows.
In following scenes, don Juan manages, through charisma, luck and bribery, to fulfill both terms of the bet in less than one night. However, he does not seduce the saintly doña Inés; he just takes her from the convent where she had been cloistered and brings her to his mansion outside the city. There is a very tender love scene in which each professes to love the other, and it seems that, for once, don Juan does feel something more than lust for doña Inés.
Unfortunately, don Luis arrives to demand a duel with don Juan for having seduced doña Ana while pretending to be her fiance. Before they can fight, don Gonzalo shows up with the town guardsmen and accuses don Juan of kidnapping and seducing his daughter. Don Juan kneels and begs don Gonzalo to let him marry doña Inés, saying he worships her and would do anything for her. Don Luis and don Gonzalo mock him for his perceived cowardice and continue to demand his life. Don Juan declares that, since they have rejected him in his attempts to become a good person, he will go on being a devil, and he shoots don Gonzalo, stabs don Luis in a duel, and flees the country, abandoning the now fatherless doña Inés.
The second part begins after 5 years have passed. Don Juan returns to Seville. Upon coming to the place where his father's mansion used to be which was turned into a pantheon, he discovers that the building was torn down and a cemetery built in its place. Lifelike statues of don Gonzalo, don Luis, and doña Inés stand over the tombs. The sculptor, who has just finished his work when don Juan arrives, tells him that don Diego Tenorio, don Juan's father, had disowned his son and used his inheritance to build this memorial to his victims. Don Juan also finds out that doña Inés died of sorrow not long after being abandoned.
The protagonist is clearly at least a bit repentant of what he has done, expressing regret to the statues and praying to doña Inés for forgiveness. As he prays, the statue of doña Inés comes to life and tells him that he only has one day to live, in which he must decide what his fate will be. Inés is speaking from Purgatory, having made a deal with God to offer her own blameless soul on behalf of don Juan's. God therefore agreed that their two souls would be bound together eternally, so don Juan must choose either salvation or damnation for both himself and doña Inés.
Then, two of don Juan's old friends, Centellas and Avellaneda, show up, and don Juan convinces himself that he hadn't truly seen a ghost at all. In order to prove his bravado, he heretically invites don Gonzalo's statue to dinner that evening. Don Juan goes on blaspheming against heaven and the dead throughout the following scenes, until don Gonzalo's statue really does show up at supper. Don Juan manages to remain largely nonchalant, although both of his other guests pass out, as don Gonzalo tells him once more that his time is running out.
When Avellaneda and Centellas wake up, don Juan accuses them of having contrived this show to make fun of him. Offended, they accuse him of having drugged their drinks to mock them, and they end up in a swordfight.
The third act of Part Two is difficult to describe definitely, in that various critics have interpreted it differently (see below). Don Juan is back in the cemetery, led there by Don Gonzalo's ghost. Don Gonzalo's tomb opens and reveals an hourglass that represents Don Juan's life. It has almost run out, and Don Gonzalo says that Centellas already killed don Juan in the duel. He then takes Don Juan's arm to lead him into Hell. Don Juan protests that he isn't dead and reaches out to heaven for mercy. Doña Inés appears and redeems him, and the two go to Heaven together.
Tony Rivers (Michael Landon), a troubled teenager at Rockdale High, is known for losing his temper and overreacting. A campus fight between Tony and classmate Jimmy (Tony Marshall) gets the attention of the local police, Det. Donovan (Barney Phillips) in particular. Donovan breaks up the fight and advises Tony to talk with a "psychologist" that works at the local aircraft plant, Dr. Alfred Brandon (Whit Bissell), a practitioner of hypnotherapy.
Tony declines, but his girlfriend Arlene (Yvonne Lime), as well as his widowed father (Malcolm Atterbury), show concern about his violent behavior. Later, at a Halloween party at the "haunted house", an old house at which several of the teenagers hang out, Tony attacks his friend Vic (Kenny Miller) after being surprised from behind. After seeing the shocked expressions on his friends' faces, he realizes he needs help and goes to see Dr. Brandon.
On Tony's first visit, however, Brandon makes it clear that he has his own agenda while the teenager lies on the psychiatrist's couch: Tony will be an excellent subject for his experiments with a scopolamine serum he has developed that regresses personalities to their primitive instincts. Brandon believes that the only future that mankind has is to "hurl him back to his primitive state." Although Brandon's assistant, Dr. Hugo Wagner (Joseph Mell), protests that the experiment might kill Tony, Brandon continues and within two sessions suggests to Tony that he was once a wild animal.
That night, after a small party at the haunted house, Tony drives Arlene home; and one of their buddies, Frank (Michael Rougas), is attacked and killed as he is walking home through the woods. While Donovan and Police Chief Baker (Robert Griffin) review photographs of the victim and await an autopsy, Pepi (Vladimir Sokoloff), the police station's janitor, persuades officer Chris Stanley (Guy Williams) to let him see the photos. Pepi, a native of the Carpathian Mountains, where werewolves, "human beings possessed by wolves", are common, immediately recognizes the marks on Frank's body, much to the disbelief of Chris, who balks at the idea of a werewolf.
The next day, after another session with Brandon, during which Tony tells the doctor that he feels that there is something very wrong with him, Tony reports to Miss Ferguson (Louise Lewis), the principal of Rockdale High. Miss Ferguson tells Tony that she is pleased with him; Brandon has given him a positive report regarding his behavior; and that she intends to recommend Tony for entry into State College. As Tony leaves the principal's office happy with the good news, he passes the gymnasium where Theresa (Dawn Richard) is practicing by herself. A school bell behind his head suddenly rings, triggering his transformation into a werewolf, and he attacks and kills Theresa. Tony flees the high school and, despite the changes in his facial appearance, witnesses identify him by his clothing, causing Baker to issue an all-points bulletin for his arrest.
A local reporter, Doyle (Eddie Marr), interviews Tony's father, as well as Arlene and her parents, in the hope of locating Tony and getting a scoop. Baker and Donovan attempt to trap Tony in the woods where they think he may be hiding. Still in the form of a werewolf, Tony watches as the dragnet looks for him, but is surprised by a dog and ends up killing it.
In the morning, Tony awakens and sees he has reverted to his normal appearance and walks into the town. After phoning Arlene (who answers, but hears no one on the line), Tony heads to Brandon's office and begs for his help. Brandon wants to witness Tony's transformation, and capture it on film in order to advance himself in the scientific community. Brandon tells Tony he will help him and after telling him to lie on the couch, injects him with the serum again. Immediately following the transformation, a nearby ringing telephone triggers Tony's instincts and he leaps up---and kills both Brandon and Wagner---breaking open the film camera in the process, ruining the film. Alerted that Tony has been seen nearby, Donovan and Chris break in and are forced to shoot several times as Tony advances toward them. Upon dying, Tony's normal features return, leaving Donovan to speculate on Brandon's involvement – and on the mistake of man interfering in the realms of God.
The setting is an 18th-century Bavarian town with a glassblowing factory that produces a brilliant ruby glass. When the master glass blower dies, the secret of producing it is lost. The local Baron, who owns the factory, is obsessed with the ruby glass and believes it to have magical properties. With the loss of the secret, he descends into madness along with the rest of the townspeople. The main character is Hias, a seer from the hills, who predicts the destruction of the factory in a fire.
The story begins with the narrator having to respond to an invitation to a wedding that will take place in England, and which the narrator will not be able to attend, because the date of the wedding conflicts with a planned visit from his wife's mother. The narrator does not know the groom, but he knows the bride, having met her almost six years earlier. His response to the invitation is to offer a few written notes regarding the bride.
The first of the two episodes the narrator relates occurs during a stormy afternoon in Devon, England, in 1944. A group of enlisted Americans are finishing up training for intelligence operations in the D-Day landings. The narrator takes a solitary stroll into town, and enters a church to listen to a children's choir rehearsal. One of the choir members, a girl of about thirteen, has a presence and deportment that draws his attention. When he departs, he finds that he has been strangely affected by the children's "melodious and unsentimental" singing.
Ducking into a tearoom to escape the rain, the narrator encounters the girl again, this time accompanied by her little brother and their governess. Sensing his loneliness, the girl engages the narrator in conversation. We learn that her name is Esmé, and that she and her brother Charles are orphans – the mother dead, the father killed in North Africa while serving with the British Army. She wears his huge military wristwatch as a remembrance. Esmé is bright, well-mannered and mature for her age, but troubled that she may be a "cold person" and is striving to be more "compassionate".
In the next episode, the scene changes to a military setting, and there is a deliberate shift in the point of view; the narrator no longer refers to himself as “I”, but as “Sergeant X”. Allied forces occupy Europe in the weeks following V-E Day. Sergeant X is stationed in Bavaria, and has just returned to his quarters after visiting a field hospital where he has been treated for a nervous breakdown. He still exhibits the symptoms of his mental disorder. "Corporal Z" (surname Clay), a fellow soldier who has served closely with him, casually and callously remarks upon the sergeant's physical deterioration. When Clay departs, Sergeant X begins to rifle through a batch of unopened letters and discovers a small package, postmarked from Devon almost a year before. It contains a letter from Esmé and Charles, and she has enclosed her father's wristwatch – "a talisman" – and suggests to Sergeant X that he "wear it for the duration of the war". Deeply moved, he immediately begins a recovery from his descent into disillusionment and spiritual vacancy, regaining his "faculties".
George Monroe, a jaded architectural model fabricator, is living the bachelor's life in the old family shack on the coast of California. Over the years, George has been avoiding getting up to modern CAD technology standards and eventually is fired from the architecture firm. When the principal owner refuses to let George keep a few of his models, he destroys all but one of the models with a roll of design plans. As he exits the building with the remaining model, he collapses and is rushed to the hospital, where it is revealed he has advanced stage cancer and any treatment would be futile.
George, with a time limit on his life, decides to demolish the shack left to him by his father and build his own custom house. He enlists his son, Sam, who is alienated from his stepfather Peter and his mother Robin, who has since been remarried to a wealthy investor. Sam is forced to spend his summer with George, who has not revealed his terminal condition, and help him with the house. Initially, Sam makes it a point not to help George demo the old house. When George refuses to give Sam money unless he works for it, Sam toys with becoming a prostitute, but is nearly caught and flees from his first encounter. This leads him to steal George's Vicodin.
George slowly reconnects with Sam. Robin decides to assist as well, and she finds herself rediscovering George. Also joining in the construction are Alyssa, Sam's classmate who lives next door with her mother Colleen; local policeman Kurt Walker, George's childhood friend; Sam's young half-brothers Adam and Ryan; various neighbors; and eventually Peter, even after separating from Robin when she tells him that her feelings for George have re-awakened. George tells Robin of his disease, sending her into shock. George tells Sam, who feels betrayed and accuses George of being selfish and takes refuge at Alyssa's house. George collapses and is found by Robin the following morning. Complications arise when neighbor David Dokos tries to halt construction because the building's height exceeds the allowable limit by six inches. His plans to halt the project are stopped by Sam, who recognizes him from his prostitution attempt and blackmails him.
Sam puts Christmas lights all over the unfinished house and shows George the gleaming house from his hospital window. The next morning, Sam returns to finish the house and Robin sits beside George until his death. Robin goes to the house and tells Sam about his father's death. Sam inherits the house he finished building. Sam gives the property to a woman who has been living in a trailer park. As a girl, she was injured in a car crash caused by his grandfather.
After the events of the comic tie-in ''Halo: Uprising'', the Master Chief arrives on Earth in east Africa, where he is found by Johnson and the Arbiter. The Chief and company return to a UNSC outpost where Keyes and Lord Hood plan a final effort to stop the Covenant leader, the High Prophet of Truth, from activating a Forerunner artifact the Covenant have excavated. The Chief clears anti-air Covenant defenses so Hood can lead the last of Earth's ships against the Prophet, but Truth activates the buried artifact, creating a slipspace portal which he and his followers enter. A Flood-infested ship crash-lands nearby; Elite forces arrive and vitrify the Flood-infected areas of Earth, stopping the threat. Following a message Cortana left aboard the Flood ship, the Chief, Arbiter, Elites, Johnson, Keyes and their troops follow Truth through the portal. Joining them is 343 Guilty Spark, who aids the Chief as he has no function to fulfill after the destruction of his ringworld.
Traveling through the portal, the humans and Elites discover an immense artificial structure known as the Ark, far beyond the edges of the Milky Way galaxy. Here, Truth can remotely activate all the Halos. The Flood arrive aboard ''High Charity'' in full force, beginning to infest the installation. Truth captures Johnson, as he needs a human to use Forerunner technology. Keyes is killed attempting a rescue, and Johnson is forced to activate the rings. Gravemind forges a truce with the Chief and Arbiter to stop Truth and defeat the remainder of his army, rescuing Johnson and halting the installations' activation. After the Arbiter kills Truth, Gravemind turns on the Chief and Arbiter.
The Chief, Arbiter and Guilty Spark discover that the Ark is constructing another Halo to replace the one that the Chief previously destroyed. The Chief decides to activate this Halo; the ringworld would eliminate the Flood infestation on the Ark while sparing the galaxy at large from destruction. To activate the ring, the Chief rescues Cortana, who has the Activation Index of the destroyed Halo, from ''High Charity'' and destroys the city. Arriving on the new Halo, Cortana warns that Gravemind is trying to rebuild itself on the ring. The Chief, Arbiter, and Johnson travel to Halo's control room to activate the ring. Guilty Spark explains that because the ring is not yet complete, a premature activation will destroy it and the Ark. When Johnson ignores his warning, Guilty Spark fatally wounds him to protect "his" ring. Although the Chief destroys Guilty Spark, Johnson soon dies of his injuries. Chief activates the ring, and escapes the ring's self-destruction on the UNSC frigate ''Forward Unto Dawn''. However, the force of Halo's blast causes the slipspace portal to collapse, resulting in only the front half of ''Forward Unto Dawn'', carrying the Arbiter, making it back to Earth.
A memorial service is held on Earth for the fallen heroes of the Human-Covenant war, during which the Arbiter and Lord Hood briefly exchange words regarding the fallen Master Chief. After the memorial service, the Arbiter and his Elite brethren depart for their home planet. Meanwhile, the rear half of the ''Forward Unto Dawn'' drifts in unknown space. Cortana drops a distress beacon, but acknowledges it may be many years before they are rescued. As the Master Chief enters cryonic sleep, Cortana confides to him that she will miss him, but he comforts her by telling her "wake me when you need me." If the game is completed at the Legendary difficulty level, the scene continues to show the piece of ''Forward Unto Dawn'' drifting towards an unknown planet, setting up the events of ''Halo 4''.
Sarah is the young mother of Jeremiah who has him move back in with her after spending his early years with a stable foster family. Their life soon becomes hectic with Sarah not only giving her young son drugs, but also giving him a chaotic life on the road.
Sarah (Asia Argento) becomes involved with a series of men who treat her, and her seven-year-old son, Jeremiah (Jimmy Bennett), poorly, and she uses them as an excuse to abandon her son. She disappears to Atlantic City with her boyfriend, Emerson (Jeremy Renner), and then deserts him; Emerson returns to their home and rapes Jeremiah. After a trip to the hospital, Jeremiah's grandmother (Ornella Muti) takes him to a West Virginian radical Christian cult led by his grandfather (Peter Fonda). After he has been three years with the cult, Sarah returns to reclaim the 11-year-old Jeremiah (Dylan and Cole Sprouse).
Sarah's current lover, Kenny (Matt Schulze), a truck driver, eventually abandons them at a truck stop while Sarah is soliciting. Sarah realizes that if she is going to keep her men she cannot say Jeremiah is her son. She persuades Jeremiah to cross dress so that he can act as her "little sister"; and Jeremiah's cross-dressing evolves to include his mother's seduction techniques. After dressing up as a "baby doll" version of Sarah which consisted of her makeup, her white nightgown and her red high heel pumps, Jeremiah seduces Jackson (Marilyn Manson), his mother's latest man, who initially tries to rebuff the boy's advances, but then gives in. Sarah is furious with Jackson for giving in to the boy's advances and also with Jeremiah for ruining her panties with drops of blood on them. She then takes Jeremiah and leaves.
Later, they are in a house where the basement houses a methamphetamine laboratory, which later blows up with Sarah's latest boyfriend inside. After fleeing, and while detoxing from methamphetamine, Sarah is convinced that everyone is after them and that only certain foods are edible (mainly chips and sugary soda). She convinces Jeremiah that if they eat anything but these foods, they will be poisoned which leads them to a failed attempt to shoplift at a grocery store; afterwards, Jeremiah finds and eats a hamburger from a dumpster. His mother, in a state of "meth psychosis", is convinced the food he ate was poison, and makes him drink ipecac in order to make him better and rid him of any "poisons".
Jeremiah wakes up in the hospital with his grandmother beside him. She tells him that Sarah is in the psychiatric ward. Later that night, Sarah collects Jeremiah from his hospital room, and, rather than have him go back to the cult, she clutches his hand and they walk off into the world in their hospital gowns. The final scene is of Sarah and Jeremiah driving away.
Ruth Stoops is an inebriated addict in Nebraska who is capable of doing nearly anything to get money or drugs. She has four children, all of whom have been taken from her custody by the state because of her inability to care for them. One morning, Ruth and her boyfriend have intercourse on a bed in a flophouse, after which he disrespectfully throws her out of the apartment. After, she visits the home of her brother and sister-in-law to sneak a look at two of her children and to beg her brother for money. Despite being family, she waits at the back door similar to a dog. She later goes to a hardware store to buy wood sealant and huffs it in a paper bag in an alley to get high.
After Ruth is arrested for her continuing drug use, she discovers that she is pregnant again. At her arraignment, she learns to her horror that she is facing felony charges for endangering a fetus; her many earlier arrests had all been on misdemeanors. The judge, who knows of the situation with Ruth's other children, informs her after the hearing that he will lessen her sentence if she has an abortion. Ruth is bailed out of jail by Norm and Gail Stoney, a middle-aged radical Evangelical couple who have become aware of Ruth's story through the local news. The couple take her into their home and attempt to persuade her to keep her child. On the first night, Ruth, impervious to their convictions, sneaks out of the house with the couple's reckless teenage daughter, Cheryl, and again huffs paint and smokes marijuana.
At the Stoneys' urging, Ruth visits a crisis pregnancy center where she is further persuaded to go forward with her pregnancy, despite her resistance given her limited opportunities and drug problem. After she is found huffing glue at an abortion protest with Gail and Norm, they kick her out of the house. Diane, a friend of Gail's who participates in abortion protests, offers to take Ruth in. Upon arriving at Diane's farmhouse, Diane discloses that she is in fact a lesbian abortion-rights activist and spy who attempts to help women she feels the Stoneys and others prey upon. The witless Ruth soon finds comfort in Diane and her partner, Rachel, as well as Harlan, a gruff disabled veteran and friend of the women who provides security detail for the women.
After the Stoneys discover Diane was working against them, they stake out in front of Diane's home with numerous other anti-abortion activists and engage in religious song and mass prayer. They offer Ruth $15,000 to keep her child, which Harlan ultimately agrees to match if Ruth goes through with her abortion. The scene becomes a spectacle documented by news stations, which is exacerbated when Blaine Gibbons, a charismatic and famous evangelist, arrives to participate. Blaine offers Ruth an additional $15,000 from his ministry to cancel the abortion. After Ruth finds alcohol in the house and gets drunk, Diane chews her out and tells her to sleep it off.
On the morning Ruth is to have her abortion, she suffers a miscarriage, and becomes disillusioned with Diane, whom she realizes is using her as a pawn to promote her message, similar to the Stoneys. Ruth conceals the miscarriage from Diane and Rachel, and agrees to travel to the abortion clinic with them; the three are escorted via helicopter with renowned abortion-rights activist Jessica Weiss, who saw Ruth's story in the media and felt compelled to help her. Upon arriving at the clinic, Ruth manages to locate the $15,000 Harlan had promised her, which he has stashed behind the front desk, and escapes out of a back window. Though the clinic is surrounded by anti-abortion and abortion-rights picketers alike, they fail to notice Ruth as she walks through the crowd before ultimately running down the street with her backpack of money.
The film begins with a backstory of how African-American culture's popularity with the American public began to decline in the 1980s, when style and originality began to lose appeal in the public eye due to the persistent efforts of "The Man", a powerful Caucasian man in control of a secret organization that seeks to undermine the African-American community as well as the cultures of other minorities. The Man is infuriated that Gen. Warren Boutwell, a United States Army general (based on Colin Powell), is considering running for president, and his lackey Mr. Feather informs him of a mind-control drug which The Man uses to make Boutwell abort his plans and instead open a fried chicken franchise. The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D., a secret organization that battles The Man's influence, determines The Man is behind Boutwell's change of heart, and recruits a freelance spy named Undercover Brother to aid them.
Undercover Brother joins B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. which is made up of the Chief, Conspiracy Brother, Smart Brother, Sistah Girl, and Lance, an intern who is the only white man in the organization hired due to affirmative action. Undercover Brother goes undercover as a new employee at a cigarette company owned by The Man, where Mr. Feather discovers his identity. He deploys a secret weapon that he calls "Black Man's Kryptonite", an attractive assassin named White She-Devil. Posing as another new employee, she and Undercover Brother start dating, and she begins to make him do stereotypical "white" things, such as buying corduroy and khaki clothes, singing karaoke, and adopting a silly set of euphemisms. Meanwhile, The Man distributes his mind-control drug through Boutwell's fried chicken, infecting other black celebrities and making them act white, as well as marketing the chicken nationwide to land a crushing blow to African-American culture.
Concerned with Undercover Brother's unusual behavior, Sistah Girl attacks White She-Devil and convinces Undercover Brother to return to the fight. White She-Devil turns on her own henchmen to save the two, revealing she has fallen in love with Undercover Brother. They return to the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D., where Smart Brother questions White She-Devil about The Man and Lance is officially made part of the group when he declares his desire to abolish bigotry after watching ''Roots''. The group heads to an awards gala after they find out that James Brown is The Man's next target. Mr. Feather kidnaps Brown and takes him to The Man's base. B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. secures an antidote for the mind control drug and follows via a transmitter placed on Brown, infiltrating the base posing as a cleaning crew, to rescue Brown and Boutwell.
Mr. Feather prepares to administer the drug to Brown and present him as a trophy to The Man, and Brown reveals himself as Undercover Brother in disguise. Mr. Feather sends his henchmen after B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D., who rescue Boutwell, and is ordered by Mr. Feather to kill Undercover Brother. In the fighting, Conspiracy Brother accidentally begins the building's self-destruct sequence. The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. cures Boutwell and evacuate him from the building while Undercover Brother chases Mr. Feather to the roof. The Man's helicopter circles overhead and leaves, The Man abandoning Mr. Feather for failing him. Mr. Feather jumps onto the helicopter's landing gear as it flies away, and Undercover Brother uses his afro picks to impale Mr. Feather in the buttocks, causing him to fall into the ocean, where he is eaten by a shark. However, The Man escapes. Undercover Brother survives the building's self-destruction by leaping off the building and using his modified parachute pants to escape. He and Sistah Girl kiss and leave the island, the world at peace.
During the Sengoku period, Takeda Shingen, ''daimyō'' of the Takeda clan, meets a thief his brother Nobukado spared from crucifixion due to the thief's uncanny resemblance to Shingen; the brothers agree that he would prove useful as a double, and they decide to use the thief as a ''kagemusha'', a political decoy. Later, while the Takeda army lays siege to a castle belonging to Tokugawa Ieyasu, Shingen is shot while observing the battlefield. He then orders his forces to withdraw and commands his generals to keep his death a secret for three years before succumbing to his wound. Meanwhile, Shingen's rivals Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Uesugi Kenshin each contemplate the consequences of Shingen's withdrawal, unaware of his death.
Nobukado presents the thief to Shingen's generals, proposing to have him impersonate Shingen full-time. Although the thief is unaware of Shingen's death initially, he eventually finds Shingen's preserved corpse in a large jar, having believed it to contain treasure. The generals then decide they cannot trust the thief and release him. Later, the jar is dropped into Lake Suwa, which spies working for the Tokugawa and Oda forces witness. Suspecting that Shingen has died, the spies go to report their observation, but the thief, having overheard the spies, returns to the Takeda forces and offers to work as a ''kagemusha''. The Takeda clan preserves the deception by announcing that they were simply making an offering of sake to the god of the lake, and the spies are ultimately convinced by the thief's performance.
Returning home, the ''kagemusha'' successfully fools Shingen's retinue by imitating the late warlord's gestures and learning more about him. When the ''kagemusha'' must preside over a clan meeting, he is instructed by Nobukado to remain silent until Nobukado brings the generals to a consensus, whereupon the ''kagemusha'' will simply agree with the generals' plan and dismiss the council. However, Shingen's son Katsuyori is incensed by his father's decree of the three year subterfuge, which delays his inheritance and leadership of the clan. Katsuyori thus decides to test the ''kagemusha'' in front of the council, as the majority of the attendants are still unaware of Shingen's death. He directly asks the ''kagemusha'' what course of action should be taken, but the ''kagemusha'' is able to answer convincingly in Shingen's own manner, which further impresses the generals.
Soon, in 1573, Nobunaga mobilizes his forces to attack Azai Nagamasa, continuing his campaign in central Honshu to maintain his control of Kyoto against the growing opposition. When the Tokugawa and Oda forces launch an attack against the Takeda, Katsuyori begins a counter-offensive against the advice of his generals. The ''kagemusha'' is then forced to lead reinforcements in the Battle of Takatenjin, and helps inspire the troops to victory. In a fit of overconfidence however, the ''kagemusha'' attempts to ride Shingen's notoriously temperamental horse, and falls off. When those who rush to help him see that he does not have Shingen's battle scars, he is revealed as an impostor, and is driven out in disgrace, allowing Katsuyori to take over the clan. Sensing weakness in the Takeda clan leadership, the Oda and Tokugawa forces are emboldened to begin a full-scale offensive into the Takeda homeland.
Now in full control of the Takeda army, Katsuyori leads a counter-offensive against Nobunaga in Nagashino. Although courageous in their assault, several waves of Takeda cavalry and infantry are cut down by volleys of gunfire from Oda arquebusiers deployed behind wooden stockades, effectively eliminating the Takeda army. The ''kagemusha'', who has followed the Takeda army, desperately takes up a spear and charges toward the Oda lines before being shot himself. Mortally wounded, the ''kagemusha'' attempts to retrieve the ''fūrinkazan'' banner, which had fallen into a river, but succumbs to his wounds in the water where his body is carried away by the current.
In 1943, Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Ewen Montagu (Clifton Webb) devises a scheme to deceive the Nazis about the impending invasion of Southern Europe. It entails releasing a corpse with a fictional identity off the coast of Spain, where strong currents will carry it ashore near where a known German agent operates. The non-existent Royal Marine courier, Major William Martin, would appear to be a plane crash victim carrying documents about an upcoming Allied invasion of German-occupied Greece, rather than Sicily, the more obvious target. Overcoming the reluctance of high officers, Montagu receives Winston Churchill's approval to execute his plan, known as Operation Mincemeat.
Following a medical expert's advice, Montagu obtains the permission of the deceased's father and procures the body of a man who died of pneumonia, which would give the appearance he had drowned. The corpse is placed in a canister packed with dry ice and transferred to a waiting submarine. The body is released off the Atlantic coast of Spain and washes ashore as intended. Local authorities, observed by German and British consulate staff, identify the body and conduct an autopsy. After the attaché case containing the deceptive documents is returned to London, a forensics expert confirms that the key letter, which describes an Allied invasion of Greece, was cleverly opened, photographed, and resealed.
Hitler is convinced the documents are genuine, though Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of the ''Abwehr'', is sceptical. The Germans dispatch to London an Irish spy, Patrick O'Reilly (Stephen Boyd), to investigate. O'Reilly investigates Martin's American "fiancée", Lucy Sherwood (Gloria Grahame), who is the roommate of Montagu's assistant, Pam (Josephine Griffin). O'Reilly arrives at their flat, posing as Martin's old friend, on the same day Lucy has received news that her real boyfriend was killed in action. Her genuine grief mostly convinces O'Reilly. As a final test, he gives Lucy his north London address, telling her to contact him if she needs anything. He then radios his German contacts that if he does not send another message in an hour, he has been arrested. As Montagu, General Coburn (Michael Hordern) of Scotland Yard's Special Branch and police officers are en route to O'Reilly's flat, Montagu realizes why O'Reilly left his address with Lucy and convinces a reluctant Coburn to let O'Reilly go. After no one arrests him, O'Reilly sends a "Martin genuine!" radio message. The Germans then transfer most of their Sicily-based forces to Greece, which helps the Allied invasion of Sicily succeed.
After the war, Montagu receives several decorations and awards for his wartime service, including the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He visits Spain and leaves his OBE medal at the grave of Major Martin, "the man who never was".
Grace Marks, the convicted murderess, has been hired out from prison to serve as a domestic servant in the home of the Governor of the penitentiary. A Committee of gentlemen and ladies from the Methodist church, led by the minister, hopes to have her pardoned and released. Grace cannot remember what happened on the day of the murders, and she exhibits symptoms of hysteria, so the minister hires Dr. Simon Jordan, a psychiatrist, to interview her, hoping he will find her to be a hysteric, and not a criminal. An arrangement is made so that Jordan will interview Grace during afternoons in the sewing room in the governor's mansion.
Jordan tries to lead Grace into talking about her dreams and her memories, but she evades his suggestions, so he asks her to start at the beginning, and she proceeds to tell him the story of her life. Grace tells of early childhood in Ireland where her father was often drunk and her mother often pregnant and Grace had to take care of the younger children. She tells the doctor details of the filthy crowded conditions in the hold of the ship where her mother sickened and died. In Canada, because her father continued to spend his earnings on alcohol, she and the children nearly starved and with her mother gone, Grace's father began abusing her and even at one point attempted to rape her. Jordan listens but is impatient, viewing her early privations and abuse as irrelevant to the case.
As a serving girl, Grace tells the doctor how she met Mary Whitney, then her roommate and only friend. Mary taught Grace how to act the role of a servant, and joked with her about the family's upper class airs, when nobody else was listening. Giving motherly advice on how to stay out of trouble with young men, Mary told her "if there is a ring, there had better be a parson" (p. 165). Mary herself became pregnant – presumably by a son of the family – and died from a botched abortion. Grace had helped Mary get home and into bed, but awoke the next morning to find Mary dead. Grace was troubled afterwards by the idea that she should have opened the window during the night when Mary died to let her soul out (p. 178).
Grace continues her story in vivid detail, making an effort to keep the doctor interested. He is aroused by Grace's descriptions of James McDermott's advances and Thomas Kinnear's affair with Nancy Montgomery. The doctor's landlady, whose drunken husband had by then left her, throws herself at him. He is not attracted to her and turns her away several times. He gives her money so she can keep the house thinking she will stop bothering him, but that only provokes her to try harder until she finally seduces him once, only for him to tell her that he wished it to be with someone else and never with her.
A spiritualist on the committee has long since proposed that a Dr. DuPont, "Neuro-Hypnotist", should put Grace in a trance and arouse her unconscious memory. Jordan, now mostly concerned with escaping the designs of his landlady, can no longer dissuade the committee. It appears to all present that after DuPont puts Grace to sleep, the voice of Mary Whitney takes over, gleefully telling everyone she haunted Grace because her soul was not freed when she died. She said she possessed Grace's body on the day of the murders, and drove McDermott to help her kill Montgomery and Kinnear. She says Grace does not remember because she did not know what happened. Jordan allows that there have been some scientific reports of a "double personality" phenomenon, but he evades the committee's request for his report and leaves town, claiming his mother is ill. He promises to send them the report, but returning home, he promptly joins the Union Army. After he is wounded in the war, he moves into his mother's house. The last word he says is "Grace". Grace eventually is pardoned, and according to the novel she changes her name and begins a new life in the United States.
Somewhere in the Pacific, Bugs is floating in a box, singing to himself, when "the island that inevitably turns up in this kind of picture" turns up. Bugs swims towards it, admiring the peace and quiet, when bombs start going off ("The Storm" from the ''William Tell Overture'' is also heard in the background). Bugs ducks into a haystack, and soon comes face-to-face with a Japanese soldier: a short, buck-toothed, bare-footed Japanese man who pronounces "L" as "R", and who might be rapidly stating the names of Japanese cities whenever he moves. The soldier chases Bugs into a rabbit hole, where the soldier dumps a bomb inside. However, Bugs manages to blow up the soldier with the bomb. When the soldier tries to swing a sword at Bugs, Bugs appears as a Japanese general (presumably Hideki Tojo), but is soon recognized by his trademark carrot-eating, prompting the soldier (who says that he had seen Bugs in the "Warner Bros. Leon Schlesinger ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon pictures", referring to the fact that Bugs was originally exclusive to that series) to ask him, "What's up, Honorable Doc?"
Bugs then jumps into a plane (which looks like a Mitsubishi A6M Zero); the soldier also jumps into a plane (also looks like a Zero). However, Bugs ties the soldier's plane to a tree, causing the plane to be yanked out from under him. The soldier parachutes down, but is met in mid-air by Bugs, who hands "Moto" (cf. Mr. Moto) some "scrap iron" (an anvil), causing the soldier to fall. Painting a Japanese flag on a tree to denote one soldier down, Bugs runs into a sumo wrestler, against whom he confidently faces off (cockily marking a second and bigger flag on the tree). After being temporarily beaten by the sumo wrestler (and, to be fair, wiping the second mark off the tree before collapsing), Bugs dresses as a geisha and knocks out the wrestler, who repaints the second flag on the tree before passing out.
Seeing a group of Japanese landing craft making their way toward the island (and exclaiming "Japs! Hundreds of 'em!"), Bugs thinks of a plan to get rid of them all. He comes out in a "Good Rumor" (a parody of Good Humor) truck, which plays Mozart ("Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja" from ''The Magic Flute''), and hands each of the Japanese an ice-cream bar with a grenade inside it, calling them racist slurs such as "monkey-face" and "slant-eyes" whilst doing so. All of the Japanese are killed by the explosions, save one, who is killed after redeeming a 'free' ice-cream bar from Bugs. Having now painted dozens of Japanese flags on the trees, denoting all the downed enemy forces, Bugs comments again about the "peace and quiet – and if there's one thing I CAN'T stand, it's peace and quiet!."
Then Bugs spots an American battleship (presumed to be the USS ''Iowa'') in the distance and raises a white flag, yelling for them to come get him, but they keep going. Bugs is insulted. "Do they think I want to spend the rest of my life on this island?" With this remark, a female rabbit (dressed in a Hawaiian outfit, possibly a caricature of Dorothy Lamour) appears, saying, "It's a possibility!" Bugs pulls down the distress flag, lets out a wolf-cry and goes running after her.
The first third of the novel provides a lengthy exploration of the characters' histories. Balzac makes this clear after 150 pages: "Ici se termine, en quelque sorte, l'introduction de cette histoire." ("Here ends what is, in a way, the introduction to this story.") At the start of the novel, Adeline Hulot – wife of the successful Baron Hector Hulot – is being pressured into an affair by a wealthy perfumer named Célestin Crevel. His desire stems in part from an earlier contest in which the adulterous Baron Hulot had won the attentions of the singer Josépha Mirah, also favored by Crevel. Mme. Hulot rejects Crevel's advances. The Baron has so completely lavished money on Josépha that he has borrowed heavily from his Uncle Johann – and, unable to repay the money, the Baron instead arranges a War Department post in Algeria for Johann, with instructions that Johann will be in a situation in that job to embezzle the borrowed money. The Hulots' daughter, Hortense, has begun searching for a husband; their son Victorin is married to Crevel's daughter Celestine.
Mme. Hulot's cousin, Bette (also called Lisbeth), harbors a deep but hidden resentment of her relatives' success, especially of Hortense 'stealing' Bette's intended sweetheart. A peasant woman with none of the physical beauty of her cousin, Bette has rejected a series of marriage proposals from middle-class suitors who were clearly motivated by her connection to the Hulots, and remains unmarried at the age of 42. One day she comes upon a young unsuccessful Polish sculptor named Wenceslas Steinbock, attempting suicide in the tiny apartment upstairs from her own. As she nourishes him back to health, she develops a maternal (and romantic) fondness for him. At the beginning of the story Bette is living in a modest apartment in a lodging house shared by the Marneffe couple, both of whom are ambitious and amoral. Bette befriends Valérie, the young and very attractive wife of a War Department clerk, Fortin Marneffe; the two women form a bond to attain their separate goals – for Valérie the acquisition of money and valuables, for Bette the ruination of the Hulot household by means of Valérie's luring both the Baron and Steinbock into infidelity and financial ruin.
Baron Hulot, meanwhile, is rejected by Josépha, who explains bluntly that she has chosen another man because of his larger fortune. Hulot's despair is quickly alleviated when he visits Bette in her lodging and there meets and falls in love with Valérie Marneffe. He showers her with gifts, and soon establishes a luxurious house for her and M. Marneffe, with whom he works at the War Department (Bette joins them in their new home, to serve as an excuse for the Baron's visits). These debts, compounded by the money he borrowed to lavish on Josépha, threaten the Hulot family's financial security. Panicked, he convinces his uncle Johann Fischer to quietly embezzle funds from a War Department outpost in Algiers. Hulot's woes are momentarily abated and Bette's happiness is shattered, when – at the end of the "introduction" – Hortense Hulot marries Wenceslas Steinbock.
Crushed at having lost Steinbock's as her intended spouse, Bette swears vengeance on the Hulot family. Her strategy is to work on Baron Hulot's demonstrated weakness for acquiring and lavishing more money than he has on young mistresses. Soon the Baron is completely besotted – and financially over-extended – with Valérie, and completely compromised by repeatedly promoting her husband within the Baron's section of the War Department. Before long, Bette has already contrived to have Crevel and Steinbock also ensnared by Valérie's charms. Hortense discovers Steinbock's infidelity and returns to her mother's home. Before long, the Baron's misconduct becomes known to the War Department; Uncle Johann is arrested in Algeria and commits suicide, the Baron is forced to retire suddenly, his brother, a famous war hero, saves him from prison and then quickly dies of shame over the family disgrace. The Baron deserts his family and hides from his creditors. It appears that Valérie, soon a widow, will marry Crevel and thus gain entrance to the Hulot family as Celestine's mother-in-law. In short, the family is devastated by these repeated blows – and Bette's machinations are completely concealed from them.
Andy Osnard is an MI6 spy reassigned to Panama after having an affair in Madrid with the foreign minister's mistress. His superior warns him of the corruption present in Panama, but Osnard views that as an opportunity. Consulting a list of British citizens residing in Panama, he meets Harry Pendel, the tailor to many of Panama's elite, including the President. Pendel, a gifted storyteller, passes himself off as being formerly of Savile Row, but is in fact an ex-con who used to run scams with his late uncle Benny. Pendel's American wife Louisa, the assistant to the administrator of the Panama Canal Authority, is unaware of his criminal record. While Harry is a superb tailor, he is a bad businessman; his tailor shop is constantly in debt, and he owes $50,000 of Louisa's money to the bank for a farming business that failed.
Knowing that Pendel needs money, Osnard offers to help him, if Pendel feeds him information about the elite of Panama City. Pendel agrees, and uses the money to pay off his debts and help his friend Mickie, a down-on-his-luck alcoholic, and his assistant Marta, who was raped and disfigured by Manuel Noriega's soldiers. However, Osnard soon requires better information, threatening to cut off the money and reveal that Pendel has been spying for a foreign government if he does not get what he wants.
Pendel starts "tailoring" his stories, escalating the roles of friends to make them appear more significant than they are. He casts Mickie as a revolutionary who still holds sway over the youth of Panama, and his shop manager as the leader of an opposition movement. After fixing the suit of the President of Panama (whose conversation consisted of his suit being too tight), he comes up with a tale that the president intends to sell the canal to China. When an incredulous Osnard asks which, Beijing or Taiwan, Pendel replies "both". Osnard knows that Pendel is making up these stories, but does not care as long as his superiors believe them.
As he passes along this misinformation (bypassing the embassy staff, apart from Francesca, a staffer he is sleeping with), it makes its way to Washington, where military and government officials are alarmed and plan an invasion to prevent the canal from falling into Chinese hands. Pendel, meanwhile, seeks to end his spying, saying the opposition won't listen to him because it needs $10 million. He thinks the figure will put Osnard off, but Osnard relays a request to fund the opposition as a means to control Panama after this supposed revolution; he asks for $''15'' million, which is granted by the Pentagon. Osnard's superior arrives with a briefcase containing the money, ready to meet with the opposition, while American attack helicopters are preparing for an assault on the city.
The British Ambassador uncovers what Osnard has been up to, and threatens to reveal everything. Osnard pays for his silence and cooperation with $1.25 million. Osnard manages to ditch his superior and make off with the briefcase. Meanwhile, Pendel gets a call from Marta, who tells him that Mickie has committed suicide out of fear that he would go to prison for his supposed revolutionary ties. Pendel blames himself for Mickie's death, and resolves to thwart Osnard's plans. He waylays Osnard as he flees to the airport, but Osnard gives him the slip.
Louisa finds out what Pendel has been doing and races to the Administrator's office. The Administrator contacts the President of Panama, who is able to contact the U.S. government and have the invasion called off shortly after it began. During the confusion, Osnard makes it to the airport, where he meets the Ambassador and hands him his bribe. The Ambassador allows Osnard to make it to an airplane.
Pendel returns home to Louisa and tells her about his criminal past, and she forgives him. Osnard, meanwhile, escapes the country with the money.
Herbert H. Heebert is a young man who loses his girlfriend, swears off romance, and then takes a job at a genteel, women-only boarding house, run by Helen Wellenmellen. Although most of the women treat him like a servant, Fay helps him with his fear of women.
In 1943, Captain Buzz Rickson (Steve McQueen) is an arrogant pilot in command of a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber nicknamed ''The Body''. While stationed in Britain during the Second World War, one of the bombing missions is aborted because clouds obscure all potential targets, but Rickson ignores the order to turn around and dives under the clouds. He completes the mission, at the cost of one of the bombers in his squadron and its entire crew. Rickson revels in the fighting and destruction; when he is assigned to drop propaganda leaflets on a later mission, he makes his displeasure felt by buzzing the airfield. His commanding officer tolerates his repeated insubordination because he is the best pilot in the bomber group. Even so, when he asks the flight surgeon his opinion, the latter is uncertain whether Rickson is a hero or a psychopath. However Rickson's crew, especially his co-pilot, First Lieutenant Ed Bolland (Robert Wagner), trust his great flying skill.
Between missions, Rickson and Bolland meet a young English woman, Daphne Caldwell (Shirley Anne Field). Although she is attracted to both pilots, she quickly finds out what kind of man Rickson is and chooses Bolland. They soon begin sleeping together. She falls in love with him, although she suspects he will leave her behind and return to America at the end of his tour of duty.
Meanwhile, Bolland becomes increasingly disillusioned with Rickson and his arrogance and his callousness. Rickson pressures his navigator, Second Lieutenant Marty Lynch (Gary Cockrell), into transferring to another crew, because he questions his orders and behaviour. Lynch even says that Rickson is the kind of man who would have fought on either side. Soon afterwards, family man Lynch is killed in action. His friend Bolland takes it hard and blames Rickson.
Rickson meets a prostitute but does not do more than give her money to buy a dress, provided she looks in the mirror and calls herself "Daphne". When the crew is near the end of the required 25 missions to complete a tour and rotate back home, Rickson makes a move on Daphne, visiting her in her flat after Bolland has returned to the base. Rickson plans to embark on a second tour of duty, while his rival goes home. Daphne rejects his forceful advances, telling him she loves Bolland, but Rickson tries to make Bolland think otherwise.
Finally, on a long-range bombing mission to Leipzig, Colonel Emmet (Jerry Stovin)'s B-17 is shot down during the attack, leaving Rickson in command. Sergeant Bragliani (George Sperdakos), one of the waist gunners, is wounded during a Messerschmitt attack run; though hit in the hand, so he is still able to shoot. Rickson'S B-17 reaches Leipzig and drops its bombs. During the attack, Rickson's B-17 is badly shot up and one crew member, the ball turret gunner, Sergeant Sailen (Michael Crawford) – known as "Junior" – dies of his wounds. The B-17 limps back over the English Channel, its bomb bay doors stuck in the open position and one armed bomb still partially stuck on its rack in the bay. As the plane approaches the English coastline near Dover, the air-sea rescue team is contacted and the rest of the crew (except Sergeant Prien, who was killed off-screen) bails out. As the last two crew members escape, Bolland is waiting with Rickson to jump out of the open bomb bay when he notices that Rickson isn't wearing his parachute. Rickson then kicks the unsuspecting Bolland out of the B-17's bomb bay, returns to the cockpit and tries to nurse the bomber back to base by himself, only to crash into the white cliffs on the Kent coast.
Bolland reports Rickson's death to Daphne in Cambridge, who says: "It's what he always wanted." The pair of lovers walk away together.
''I Am Charlotte Simmons'' is the story of college student Charlotte Simmons's first semester-and-a-half at the prestigious Dupont University. A high school graduate from a poverty-stricken rural town, her intelligence and hard work at school have been rewarded with a full scholarship to Dupont.
As Charlotte prepares to say goodbye to her family and leave for college, an event happens at Dupont that will play an important role in her future. Hoyt Thorpe, member of the exclusive and powerful fraternity Saint Ray, and fellow frat brother Vance, stumble upon an unnamed California Republican governor (who was at the college to speak at the school's commencement ceremony) receiving oral sex from a female college student. When the governor's bodyguard spots the two fraternity members, a fight ensues with Hoyt and Vance beating up the bodyguard and fleeing. The story of the night soon spreads across campus, increasing Hoyt's popularity.
Charlotte arrives at Dupont in the fall. Her roommate is wealthy Beverly, the daughter of the CEO of a huge multinational insurance company. She is obsessed with sex, in particular with members of the school's lacrosse team.
Jojo Johanssen is a white athlete on the college's predominantly black basketball team. He is struggling to keep his position because the school recently recruited an up-and-coming black freshman player, and the coach wants to bench Jojo in his senior year. This would severely hurt Jojo's chances of playing in "the league" (the NBA).
Jojo enjoys the spoils of being a college athlete, such as using a tutor program to force other students to complete his school assignments. Jojo's "tutor" Adam Gellin is, like Charlotte, from a working-class background. Adam writes for the college's independent newspaper and is a member of the "Millennial Mutants," a group of like-minded intellectuals who oppose the anti-intellectualism and class snobbery they see in their fellow students.
Charlotte and Adam first meet at the university's computer lab, where Adam is to write a paper for Jojo. Charlotte does not back down when Adam insists that he needs the computer more than she does. Adam is instantly smitten.
Charlotte finds herself dealing with the sexual temptations of college life, culminating in her hooking up with Hoyt, who tells Charlotte of catching California's governor receiving oral sex from a college student. He also tells Charlotte he knows that Adam Gellin has begun investigating the incident and how, at the behest of the governor a large Wall Street firm has offered Hoyt a high-paying entry-level job in exchange for his silence. (The firm, Pierce & Pierce, is the name of the one that Sherman McCoy works for in Wolfe's earlier novel, ''The Bonfire of the Vanities''.)
Hoyt and Charlotte attend an important fraternity formal together, after which Hoyt takes full advantage of a drunken Charlotte, seducing her into giving up her virginity to him. The following morning, Charlotte is dumped by Hoyt. She is further humiliated when she returns to campus and discovers that Hoyt's seduction and rejection has been made public via two girls Charlotte had previously befriended. The two cruelly mock Charlotte, both over her poverty-stricken background, and for how she drunkenly lost her virginity.
This drives Charlotte into a depression and eventually into the arms of Adam, who has wanted Charlotte for her beauty, innocence, and intellect since they first met. Charlotte finally emerges from her depression but finds that she has received terrible grades (B, B−, C−, D) for her first semester at Dupont.
As Adam prepares to publish his article, his world collides with Jojo Johanssen's when a paper that Adam wrote for the athlete is accused of being plagiarized. Jojo, who treats Adam as beneath him socially, denies the plagiarism charge and protects the athletic department's perversion of the athlete/tutor program from being exposed.
Jojo has begun to transform himself academically from a stereotypical "dumb jock" into a student who takes his academics seriously and even develops an interest in philosophy (partly as a result of Charlotte's influence). Jerome Quat, Jojo's professor, confronts Adam about the plagiarized paper and shows sympathy toward him in a college dominated by students obsessed with sports and sex. However, when Adam confesses to having written the paper for Jojo, the professor double-crosses him. He will sacrifice Adam in order to bring down the basketball program, which has circled the wagons to protect Jojo.
This devastates Adam, who breaks down and needs Charlotte to take care of him as he waits to be formally charged with cheating. In the meantime, Adam's article on "The Night of the Skullfuck" is published. The sordid details of sex, violence, bribery, and a high-profile political figure cause it to be picked up by the national media. The governor's Presidential ambitions are potentially ruined, and the job offer/bribe made to Hoyt is revoked, effectively shattering Hoyt's life.
Hoyt now faces a post-graduation judgment day, with his family's life savings exhausted in order to pay for his college education, and a college transcript with such bad grades that will effectively keep him from getting a job as an investment banker. Jojo's and Adam's necks are saved, as the liberal college professor decides to drop the entire plagiarism complaint so as to avoid undercutting Adam's credibility in destroying the conservative governor's political career.
Adam's self-esteem restored, he begins to bask in the glow as the student who brought down a governor. Adam and Charlotte drift apart and she begins to date Jojo, who keeps his position as a starter on the team, in fact becoming a far better player due to Charlotte's influence and his decision to cultivate his mind. Charlotte ascends to the envied position of girlfriend of a star athlete. One scene at the end has Charlotte in Jojo's Large SUV when 2 of the sorority girls that previously mocked her pull up to say hi to Jojo and see Charlotte in the car and say hi like they are old friends. Later one of them invites Charlotte to join their sorority-when Charlotte says she doesn't have money for that she hints that something can be worked out.
Charlotte now reflects upon her first semester with a different view, looking down at her former friends, who gleefully gossiped about her humiliation, and at Hoyt, who casually threw her away. She no longer feels intellectualism is what is most important to her — rather it is being a person recognized as special, regardless of the reason.
The story begins with the suffering of a boy oracle, or medium, about to be sealed alive into a pyramid chamber for three days so that he may "astral-travel" to the realms of the gods and plead for the waters of the Nile to rise, bringing life-giving silt to the farmlands. The story follows him through his lonely despair until he becomes the honoured companion of a king and an important figure in an extraordinary revolution.
At this time the high priests of the god Amun, brought to prominence by the female pharaoh Hatshepsut about a century before, are rich and powerful enough to challenge a king...
The film is an anthology of overlapping vignettes exploring the lives of a variety of characters who live in a suburban shantytown atop a rubbish dump. The first to be introduced is the boy Roku-chan, who lives in a fantasy world in which he is a tram (trolley) driver. In his fantasy world, he drives his tram along a set route and schedule through the dump, reciting the refrain "Dodeska-den", "clickety-clack", mimicking the sound of his vehicle. His dedication to the fantasy is fanatical. Roku-chan is called "trolley fool" (''densha baka'') by locals and by children who are outsiders. His mother is shown as being concerned that Roku-chan is genuinely mentally-challenged. (Roku-chan has earned the |publisher=Mainichi Shimbun sha |year=2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HukvAQAAIAAJ |page=293|isbn=9784620314709 |quote=六ちゃんという知的障害児 (mentally disabled child named Roku-chan)|language=ja } } or film theorist Noël Burch. } } )
Ryotaro |publisher=Gendai Engeki Kyokai |year=1985 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RDx-AAAAIAAJ |page=108|isbn=9784924609129 } }
After exploring the set-backs and anguish which surrounds many of the families in this indigent community, along with the dreams of escape which many of them support to maintain at least a superficial level of calm, the film comes full circle returning to Roku-chan. As the film ends Roku-chan is again seen preparing to board his imaginary train tram and serve his community of passengers as best he can.
In 1141 in Prague, crusader Christof Romuald is wounded in battle. He recovers in a church, where he is cared for by a nun called Anezka. The pair instantly fall in love but are restrained by their commitments to God. Christof enters a nearby silver mine to kill a monstrous Tzimisce vampire who is tormenting the city. Christof's victory is noted by the local vampires, one of whom, Ecaterina the Wise, turns him into a vampire to prevent another clan from taking him.
Initially defiant, Christof agrees to accompany Ecaterina's servant Wilhem on a mission to master his new vampiric abilities. Afterward, he meets with Anezka and refuses to taint her with his cursed state. At Ecaterina's haven, the Brujah tell Christof about an impending war between the Tremere and Tzimisce clans that will devastate humans caught up in it. Wilhem and Christof gain the favor of the local Jews and Cappadocians, who devote their member Serena to the Brujah cause. The Ventrue Prince Brandl tells the group that in Vienna, the Tremere are abducting humans to turn them into ghouls—servitors addicted and empowered by vampire blood. The group infiltrate the Tremere chantry in Prague, and stop the Gangrel Erik from being turned into a Gargoyle, and he joins them. Christof learns that Anezka, seeking Christof's redemption, has visited the Tremere and Tzimisce clans, and the Vienna Tremere stronghold, Haus de Hexe. There, the Tremere leader Etrius turns Erik into a Gargoyle, forcing Christof to kill him. Etrius reveals that the Tzimisce abducted Anezka.
Returning to Prague, Christof finds the Tzimisce in nearby Vyšehrad Castle have been revealed to the humans, who have launched an assault on the structure. Christof, Wilhem, and Serena infiltrate the castle and find that the powerful, slumbering Vukodlak has enslaved Anezka as a ghoul. Anezka rejects Christof and prepares to revive Vukodlak, but the outside assault collapses the castle upon them.
In 1999, the Society of Leopold excavates the site of Vyšehrad Castle; they recover Christof's body and take it to London, where he is awoken by a female voice. He learns that the events at Vyšehrad and the resulting human uprising divided the vampires into two sects: the Camarilla who seek to hide from humanity and the Sabbat who seek to regain dominion over it. The Society's excavation also enables Vukodlak's followers to recover Vyšehrad. After escaping, Christof meets Pink, who agrees to help him. They learn that the Setite clan has been shipping Vyšehrad contraband to New York City and infiltrate a Setite brothel to gain information. They kill the Setite leader Lucretia and recruit Lily, an enslaved prostitute.
Christof, Pink, and Lily travel to New York City aboard a contraband ship, rescue the Nosferatu Samuel from the Sabbat, and infiltrate a warehouse storing the Vyšehrad contraband. There they encounter Wilhem, who is now a Sabbat under Ecaterina following the collapse of their group. Wilhem reveals that Pink is an assassin working for Vukodlak. Pink escapes and Wilhem rejoins Christof, hoping to reclaim the humanity he has sacrificed during the previous 800 years. Together, Christof, Wilhem, Lily, and Samuel discover that Vukodlak is hidden beneath a church within his Cathedral of Flesh and that Anezka is still in his servitude. In the cathedral they find that Vukodlak has awoken; he tries to influence Christof by offering him Anezka then revealing that she is completely dependent on Vukodlak's blood and will die without him. Christof refuses and Vukodlak drops the group into tunnels beneath the cathedral. Christof finds the Wall of Memories, which hold Anezka's memories of the last millennia, showing she continued to hope as Vukodlak found new ways to defile and torment her. She eventually sacrificed her innocence to gain Vukodlak's trust, using her position to delay his resurrection over hundreds of years until, with no options left, she prayed for Christof's return. The group returns to the Cathedral and battles Vukodlak.
The ending of ''Redemption'' varies depending upon the quantity of humanity Christof has retained during the game. If the quantity is great, Christof kills Vukodlak, reconciles with Anezka, and turns her into a vampire, sparing her from death. If his humanity is moderate, he surrenders to Vukodlak and becomes a ghoul; Vukodlak betrays Christof and forces him to murder Anezka. A lesser quantity of humanity results in Christof killing Vukodlak by drinking his blood. Greatly empowered, Christof forsakes his humanity, murders Anezka, and revels in his new power.
The story picks up immediately after the end of ''Another World''. Buddy lands the flying creature in the ruins of his village, lays Lester down on a cot to rest and walks through the village, thinking of his past. A flashback follows showing that Buddy's people were captured by soldiers led by one of the alien humanoids with red eyes. After recovering his power whip Buddy returns to the prison he and Lester escaped from in the first game trying to save his people.
Buddy and Lester overcome various obstacles, but later in the game Buddy is knocked unconscious, and Lester saves him by attacking an enemy alien but is electrocuted while doing so. Eventually Buddy is able to find the red-eyed alien and traps him in a cage with a beast that kills him. At the end of the game, Buddy gives Lester's body a ceremonial cremation. It is shown later how Buddy's village is rebuilt with its citizens living again in harmony.
Seina Yamada is a young Japanese high school student living with his parents and younger sister in rural Okayama, Japan. One morning, following a hapless bike ride through the country, a large spacecraft crashes into the lake behind the Masaki residence, causing a violent tsunami that Seina is unable to escape from and he sinks, almost drowning. He regains consciousness shortly after, meeting Amane Kaunaq, the spacecraft's pilot, who gives Seina an application. Seina takes it, and shows it to his family at home. Mistaking it for a contest entry, his mother and sister aggressively force him to fill it out; afterwards he retreats to his room and falls asleep. The following morning, awakened aboard a vessel in orbit, Seina is informed by an official that he has successfully joined the Galaxy Police. It also revealed that the Galaxy Police originally meant to recruit Tenchi, but they got Seina instead.
Unlike ''Tenchi Universe'' and ''Tenchi in Tokyo'', which are spin-offs of ''Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki'', ''GXP'' occurs during the same time period, making it a parallel series to the show. As such, the more-recognized cast do not play central roles, though they do make cameo appearances.
During the American Civil War in 1863, Amy, a 12-year-old student at the Miss Martha Farnsworth Seminary for Young Ladies in rural Mississippi, discovers a seriously wounded Union soldier, John McBurney. She brings him to the school's gated enclosure where the school headmistress, Martha Farnsworth, first insists on turning him over to Confederate troops, but then decides to restore him to health first. He is initially kept locked in the school's music room and kept under watch. Edwina, the schoolteacher who has had no experience with men, takes an immediate liking to John, as does Carol, a 17-year-old student who makes advances with an experienced air.
John begins to bond with each of the women in the house, including the slave Hallie. As he charms each of them, the sexually repressed atmosphere of the school becomes filled with jealousy and deceit, and the women begin to turn on one another. After Carol, who earlier made a welcomed pass at John, witnesses John kissing Edwina in the garden, she ties a blue rag to the school's entrance gate to alert the Confederate troops to the presence of a Yankee soldier. When a band of Confederate soldiers see it while passing the school, Martha lies and helps John pretend he is a relative loyal to the Confederacy.
Martha also becomes infatuated with John, and a flashback shows her having an incestuous relationship with her brother. Martha considers keeping John at the school as a handyman. She makes sexual advances toward him, which he resists.
Late one night, Edwina discovers John having sex with Carol in her bedroom. In a jealous rage, she beats him with a candlestick, causing him to fall down the staircase and break his leg severely. Martha insists he will die of gangrene unless they amputate his leg. The women carry him to the kitchen where they tie him to the table. Martha saws off his leg at the knee. When John awakens and learns that his leg has been amputated, he goes into a fury, convinced that Martha performed the operation as revenge for his rejection of her sexual advances.
John, under lock and key, convinces Carol to unlock his door. He sneaks from his room into Martha's room and steals a pistol and some personal items of Martha's including some letters from her brother. Convinced that Martha plans to hold him prisoner, John confronts Martha at gunpoint, claiming control of the house and declaring his intention to have his way with any of the women or girls. He gets drunk and then confronts the entire household, revealing that he read Martha's letters and that they implicate Martha and her brother in an incestuous relationship. In a fit of anger he also kills Amy's pet turtle. Edwina follows John to his room and professes her love for him. They begin to kiss and it is later implied that they had sex.
Meanwhile, Martha convinces the others (except for Edwina, who is not present) that they need to kill John to prevent him from denouncing them to Union troops who have made camp within sight of the school. Martha asks Amy to pick mushrooms they can prepare "especially for him" and Amy says she knows just where to find some. At dinner, John apologizes for his actions, and Edwina reveals that she and John have made plans to leave the school and marry. John has been eating the mushrooms and the others pass the bowl without taking any except for Edwina. When she starts to eat some, Martha cries out for her to stop. John realizes he has been poisoned, and leaves the dining room disoriented, and collapses in the hallway. The following day, the women sew his corpse into a burial shroud and carry him out of the gate to bury. They agree he died of exhaustion, and Amy denies she could ever pick a poisonous mushroom by mistake.
Rysiek (Stanisław Tym, who also co-wrote the screenplay), the shrewd manager of a state-sponsored sports club, has to travel to London before his ex-wife Irena (Barbara Burska) gets there to collect a large sum of money from their joint savings account.
However, getting out of a communist country is never easy, even for a well-connected operator like Rysiek. After his wife destroys Rysiek's hard to get passport he is stranded in Warsaw while she's off to London. The circumstances force him to plot a Byzantine scheme with support of his equally cunning friend. Their plan involves a movie production as well as tracking down a look-alike (also played by Tym) to "borrow" their passport.
Hilarity ensues as Bareja gives the audience a guided tour of the corruption, absurd bureaucracy, pervasive bribery and flourishing black market that pervaded socialism in the People's Republic of Poland.
The titular (teddy) bear is a nickname given to the main character, but also a big straw-bear used in a corruption scheme. Perhaps playing on the well-established Russian Bear trope, Misha is the mascot of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, the same year as the film.
Jack Torrance takes a winter caretaker position at the remote Overlook Hotel in the Rocky Mountains, which closes every winter season. After his arrival, Manager Stuart Ullman advises Torrance that a previous caretaker, Charles Grady, killed his family and himself in the hotel.
In Boulder, Jack's son, Danny, has a premonition and seizure. Jack's wife, Wendy, tells the doctor about a past incident when Jack dislocated Danny's shoulder during a drunken rage. The incident convinced Jack to stop drinking alcohol. Before leaving for the seasonal break, head chef Dick Hallorann informs Danny of a telepathic ability the two share, which he calls "shining". Hallorann tells Danny the hotel also has a "shine" due to residues from unpleasant past events, and warns him to avoid Room 237.
Danny starts having frightening visions, including one of two twin sisters. Meanwhile, Jack's mental health deteriorates; he gets nowhere with his writing, is prone to violent outbursts, and has dreams of killing his family. Danny gets physically bruised after visiting an unlocked Room 237 out of curiosity. Jack encounters a female ghost in the room, but blames Danny for self-inflicting the bruises. Jack is enticed back to drinking by the ghostly bartender Lloyd. Ghostly figures, including Delbert Grady, then begin appearing in the Gold Room. Grady informs Jack that Danny has reached out to Hallorann using his "talent", and says that Jack must "correct" his wife and child.
Wendy finds Jack's manuscript with "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" written over and over again. When Jack threatens her life, Wendy knocks him unconscious with a baseball bat and locks him in the kitchen pantry, but she and Danny cannot leave due to Jack having previously sabotaged the hotel's two-way radio and snowcat. Back in their hotel room, Danny is saying redrum multiple times and even writes the word on the bathroom door. Wendy sees the word in the mirror and realizes that the word spells out "murder" backwards. Jack is freed by Grady and goes after Wendy and Danny with an axe. Danny escapes outside through the bathroom window, and Wendy fights Jack off with a knife when he breaks through the door. Hallorann, having flown back to Colorado after Danny's telepathic SOS, reaches the hotel in another snowcat. His arrival distracts Jack, who ambushes and murders Hallorann in the lobby, then pursues Danny into the hedge maze. Wendy runs through the hotel looking for Danny, encountering the hotel's ghosts and a vision of cascading blood similar to Danny's premonition.
In the hedge maze, Danny misleads Jack and hides behind a snowdrift while Jack follows a false trail. Danny and Wendy reunite and leave in Hallorann's snowcat, leaving Jack to freeze to death in the maze. In a photograph in the hotel hallway, Jack is pictured standing amidst a crowd of party revelers from July 4, 1921.
Former star pro football quarterback Paul "Wrecking" Crewe walks out on his wealthy girlfriend Melissa in Palm Beach, Florida. After taking her Maserati-engined Citroën SM without permission and leading police on a car chase, Crewe is sentenced to 18 months in Citrus State Prison.
The convicts disrespect Crewe because he was dismissed from the NFL for point shaving. The warden, Rudolph Hazen, is a football fanatic who manages a semi-pro team of prison guards. He wants Crewe to help coach the team and clinch a championship. Responding to pressure from the head guard and coach, Captain Wilhelm Knauer, a reluctant Crewe eventually agrees to play in an exhibition game. Crewe forms a prison team that includes Samson, a former professional weightlifter, and Connie Shokner, a killer and martial arts expert.
Aided by the clever Caretaker, former professional player Nate Scarboro and the first black inmate willing to play, "Granny" Granville, plus long-term prisoner Pop—and the warden's amorous secretary, Miss Toot—Crewe molds a team nicknamed the "Mean Machine". He agrees to play quarterback himself. After witnessing "Granny" being harassed by some of the prison guards without breaking, the black inmates decide to volunteer their services and join the team. Unger, one of the prison trustees, persistently asks Crewe if he can replace Caretaker as manager of the team, which Crewe refuses to do. In retaliation, Unger attempts to kill Crewe by fashioning a home-made bomb from a light bulb filled with a combustible fluid, designed to detonate inside Crewe's cell when he turns on the light. Caretaker is killed instead when he enters Crewe's cell to retrieve some papers; Unger locks the cell door, preventing rescue. Hazen sternly lectures Crewe's teammates about the consequences of any attempted escape after the game. Afterward, Crewe re-energizes the team with a surprise - presenting them with professional uniforms (stolen from the guards by Caretaker before he was killed). They charge onto the field in their new uniforms, angering the guards and Hazen.
The "Mean Machine" starts out well, and at halftime the game is close: the guards lead 15-13. Hazen threatens Crewe as an accessory to Caretaker's murder unless Crewe loses the game to the guards by at least 21 points. Crewe reluctantly agrees, but only if Hazen promises not to hurt the other prisoners; Hazen agrees, but in bad faith, and tells Knauer to have his team "inflict as much physical punishment on the prisoners as humanly possible" as soon as they are ahead by 21 points. Crewe makes deliberate mistakes, putting the "Mean Machine" down by more than three touchdowns, 35-13, then takes himself out of the game. The guards gladly injure several of the prisoners, and Crewe's teammates feel betrayed.
Depressed, Crewe goes back into the game, but the prisoners refuse to co-operate with him until he convinces them of his change of heart. The "Mean Machine" gets back into the game, trailing 35-30, one of their touchdowns scored by Nate despite his bad knee, and he is immediately cut down and crippled by guard Bogdanski. As he is wheeled off the field, Nate tells Crewe to "screw Hazen" and win the game. Crewe scores the winning touchdown with no time left and the "Mean Machine" wins, 36-35.
As the prisoners celebrate, Crewe walks away across the field towards the departing crowds. Hazen repeatedly orders Knauer to shoot him because he thinks Crewe is trying to escape. Knauer hesitates due to his newfound respect for Crewe, who is actually retrieving a football. Disgusted at what he almost did, Knauer hands the rifle back to Hazen saying, "Game ball." Crewe returns to the crestfallen Hazen with the ball telling him, "Stick this in your trophy case." Crewe walks away into the stadium tunnel with Pop who says "I knew you could do it!"
Nineteen-year-old Roy Hobbs is traveling by train to Chicago with his manager Sam to try out for the Chicago Cubs. Other passengers include sportswriter Max Mercy, Walter "The Whammer" Whambold, the leading hitter in the American League and three-time American League Most Valuable Player (based on Babe Ruth), and Harriet Bird, a beautiful but mysterious woman. The train makes a quick stop at a carnival along the rail where The Whammer challenges Hobbs to strike him out. Hobbs does just that, much to everyone's surprise and The Whammer's humiliation. Back on the train Harriet Bird strikes up a conversation with Hobbs, who never suspects that Bird has any ulterior motive. In fact, she is a lunatic obsessed with shooting the best baseball player. Her intended target was Whammer, but after Hobbs struck him out, her attention shifts to Hobbs.
In Chicago, Hobbs checks into his hotel and promptly receives a call from Bird, who is also staying there. When he goes down to her room, she shoots him in the stomach.
The novel picks up 16 years later in the dugout of the New York Knights, a fictional National League baseball team. The team has been on an extended losing streak, and manager Pop Fisher's and assistant manager Red Blow's careers appear to be winding to an ignominious end. During one losing game, Roy Hobbs emerges from the clubhouse tunnel and announces that he is the team's new right fielder, having just been signed by Knights co-owner Judge Banner. Both Pop and Red take Hobbs under their wing, and Red later tells Hobbs about Fisher's plight as manager of the Knights. The Judge wants to take over Pop's share in the team but cannot do that until the current season ends and provided the Knights fail to win the National League pennant.
Being the newest player, Roy has a number of practical jokes played upon him, including the theft of his "Wonderboy" bat. Once Roy gets his first chance at the plate, however, he proves to be a true "natural" at the game. During one game, Pop substitutes Hobbs as a pinch hitter for team star Bump Baily, intending to teach Bailey a lesson for not hustling. Pop tells Roy to "knock the cover off of the ball". Roy literally does that — hitting a triple to right field. A few days later, a newly hustling Bump attempts to play a hard hit fly ball. He runs into the outfield wall, later dying from the impact. Roy permanently takes over Bump's position.
Max Mercy reappears, searching for details of Hobbs' past. Hobbs remains quiet even after Mercy offers five thousand dollars, telling him, "All the public is entitled to is my best game of baseball." At the same time, Hobbs has been attempting to negotiate a higher salary with the judge, arguing that his success should be rewarded. Mercy introduces Hobbs to bookie Gus Sands, who is keeping company with Memo Paris, Pop's niece. Hobbs has been infatuated with Memo since he came to the Knights. Hobbs' magic tricks appear to impress her.
Max Mercy writes a column about the judge's refusal to grant Hobbs a raise, and a fan uprising ensues. Hobbs, however, is more occupied with Memo. Pop warns Hobbs about Memo, saying she imparts bad luck on the people she associates with. Hobbs dismisses the warning and promptly falls into a hitting slump. Numerous attempts to reverse it fail. He finally hits a home run during a game where a mysterious woman rises from her seat. Before Hobbs can see who she is, she has left. Roy eventually meets the woman. Her name is Iris Lemon, and he proceeds to court her. Upon learning she is a mother, however, he loses interest and returns his attention to Memo Paris.
Memo rebuffs Roy's advances; Hobbs continues to play brilliantly and leads the Knights to a 17-game winning streak. With the Knights one game away from winning the National League pennant, Roy attends a party hosted by Memo. He collapses there and awakens in the hospital. The doctor says he can play in the final game of the season, but must retire after that if he wants to live. Hobbs wants to start a family with Memo and realizes he will need money.
The judge offers Hobbs a bribe to lose the Knight's final game. Hobbs makes a counter-offer of $35,000, which is accepted. That night, unable to sleep, he reads a letter from Iris. After seeing the word "mother" in the letter, he discards it. He plays the next day and while at-bat, fouls a pitch into the stands that strikes Iris, injuring her and splits the Wonderboy bat in two lengthwise. Iris tells Roy that she is pregnant with his child, and now he is determined to do his best for their future. At the end of the game, with a chance to win it, Hobbs, now trying to win, comes to bat against Herman Youngberry, a brilliant young pitcher similar to Hobbs at the same age. Youngberry strikes out Hobbs, ending the game and the season for the Knights. As he sits bemoaning the end of the season and possibly his career, Mercy rediscovers the shooting and also finds out that Hobbs was paid to throw the game. If this report from Mercy is true, Roy Hobbs will be expelled from the game and all of his records removed.
A mad scientist disguised as a nurse holds an international women's wrestling tournament, and brainwashes and takes DNA samples from the participants to create super soldiers.
Each character has two versions, and each version has a unique sub-plot within Story Mode. The versions, dubbed "Face" or "Heel", have unique attires, names and move sets. It is not possible to use both Face and Heel variations of the same character in the same match. Most "Heel" characters have a matching tattoo on their body, which implies that they have been brain-washed by Anesthesia. The alternate characters have a much shorter story-mode: * Aigle (Face) is a member of a nomadic minority living on the great plains of Mongolia. Her father and brother are grand champions in Mongolian wrestling. She also possesses the great strength of her father and brother. Aigle joined Rumble Roses in order to convince her father and brother that she is a great warrior. Somewhat lacking in self-esteem for her under-developed body, Aigle has a running gag of comparing the "teats" of the sheep she tended back home to those buxom women she faces in the ring. **Great Khan (Heel), also known as Killer Khan, is the alter ego of Aigle. Aigle didn't know that being a noble warrior would be a difficult path and began to make fouls in matches. She didn't go back home, thinking her father and brother would laugh at her. Aigle decided to become Great Khan and plans to conquer the world. Despite her decision, she still misses her father. * Aisha (Face) is a highly successful money-making star who has won every contemporary Grammy available. Aisha is often rude to those she encounters, namely her rival Dixie Clemets. ** Sista A, (Heel) also known as Showbiz, is the alter ego of Aisha. After Rumble Roses, Aisha's record sales took a severe downfall, resulting in failure to make any money and soon being out of the business. However, Aisha still had a passion for dancing, and entered the Rumble Roses tournament just to dance on the stage. * Anesthesia (Face) is a mysterious self-appointed nurse who serves as Lady X's assistant. She is particularly gifted at complicated submission moves. It is implied that she works for a hidden mastermind. ** Dr. Anesthesia (Heel), also known as Dr. Cutter, is the alter ego of Anesthesia. This is Anesthesia when operating. It is also the mastermind that Anesthesia pretends to work for. She wears a surgical mask to conceal her identity, although removes it for Mud Matches. After her project with Lady X went horribly wrong, Anesthesia became Dr. Anesthesia, with hopes of rebuilding Lady X and improving her, as well as getting revenge on those who defeated her and turn them into the so-called donors of the Lady X Project then turning them into an unbeatable army of cyborgs and experiments. * Benikage (Heel), also known by her code name Bloody Shadow, is a female ninja wrestler working undercover for the Japanese government to investigate the Rumble Roses organization. ** Yasha (Face), also known as Judgement, is the "true self" of Benikage. She believes in justice, liberty, and all sorts of other things that would define the typical "hero". She has also quit the secret organisation she once worked for, an act punishable by death. * Candy Cane (Rebecca Welsh) (Heel) sings lead vocals of the all girl punk band The Killer Barbies. Society has labeled her a misfit and a punk, but in reality, she has a pure heart. She entered Rumble Roses in order to win the prize money and to save the orphanage where she was raised. She plays truant from school in order to do this. ** Becky (Face) is the alter ego of Candy Cane. She is a typical cheery cheerleader. Miss Spencer convinced Candy Cane to go back to school, and Candy soon joined the cheerleading squad. She uses this to her wrestling advantage, as many of her attacks and moves focus on various cheerleading stunts. * Dixie Clemets (Face) is the only daughter of a prominent Texan ranch owner. Dixie helps out with the family ranch while also working at the local sheriffs' office. She decided to try her hand at Rumble Roses when she found out that the daughter of her idol, the legendary wrestler Kamikaze Rose, entered the tournament. She uses the game's theme song as her own. ** Sgt. Clemets (Heel) is her alter ego after performing various "fouls", which resulted in fans "booing" her. She then became a cop, though with her changed attitude, became a rather "crooked" cop. * Evil Rose (Fujiko Hinomoto) (Heel) is a feared masked wrestler who is known for her very rough tactics. She has superhuman reflexes and agility, which she uses to full advantage while torturing her opponents. She has in depth knowledge of Reiko and Lady X. ** Noble Rose (Face) is the alter ego of Evil Rose. Like Yasha, Noble Rose believes in things that define the typical hero. Noble Rose is aware that she is, in fact, Reiko's sister. And she also knows the fate of their mother. She never reveals either of these secrets to Reiko. * Lady X Substance (N/A) is an artificial being made from the genetic codes of the famous Japanese female wrestler Kamikaze Rose. She is a cyborg, as sufficient portions of her are mechanical. Lady X was created by Anesthesia to alter the military balance on a global scale and to plunge the world into fear and suffering. Noble Rose is aware that Lady X was once her and Reiko's mother, but keeps this secret to herself. ** Lady X Subsistence (N/A) is the alter ego of Lady X Substance. Though there really isn't any noticeable change, Lady X Subsistence is exactly identical to Lady X. However, Lady X Subsistence is in her true "cyborg" form. She has unique moves and taunts that demonstrate that she is a cyborg, e.g. firing her fist like a projectile to hit an opponent who is out of reach. * (Face) is child prodigy of Judo. She has elite status as a judo practitioner, but yearns to avenge her loss in her childhood at the hands of another girl. She joins Rumble Roses when she finds out the other girl entered. Unlike the other characters, she is very shy and is uncomfortable with being viewed as a "beautiful woman". ** The Black Belt Demon, or The BBD (Heel) is the alter ego of Makoto Aihara. With amazing strength and skill, she hopes to win Rumble Roses again, but she is purely possessed. She wishes to kill Reiko and Aigle, her best friends and greatest rivals. Her personality is almost entirely different from before. * Muriel Spencer (Face), referred to as Miss Spencer, is a history teacher who joins Rumble Roses in order to drag her most rebellious student, Rebecca Welsh, back to school. ** Mistress Spencer (Heel) is a dominatrix version of Miss Spencer, though they both have different personalities. To go with her dominatrix gimmick she has a "slave", a flamboyant man in clown make-up named Sebastian. She begins all matches with a riding crop in hand. * (Face) is a girl that loves competition and is not afraid to show it. She respects her opponents, her mother's legacy as a legendary wrestler, and often prays to her before and after a match. She enters the sport after her mother and sister go missing. She never learns that they are both in the tournament. ** Rowdy Reiko (Heel) is her alter ego after she joins a group of bikers who called themselves The Road Warriors. Reiko became their leader, and was given the name Queen Cobra. She denies being Reiko, saying she has killed her.
In the online mode included with the ''Subsistence'' re-release of ''Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater'', a game setting allowed the highest scoring player on each team to play as either Reiko Hinomoto for red team or Rowdy Reiko for blue after the first round was over and points were totaled. These players had modified CQC attacks in which Reiko would perform her signature "Sunrise Suplex" move on their opponent.
Rumors that Sebastian the Clown, the Bear and Aisha's dancers can be unlocked as playable characters are incorrect. While they do have full models on the game disc they were never made to be used in matches. It is possible with hacking to replace preset characters with them, but they will retain all of the attributes, moves, etc. of the character they replaced.
The player takes the role of Mike Finn, a leading member of a space-exploration organisation called Columbus Force, who have been ordered to the planet ''Phoebus'' as part of a rescue mission. Finn is tasked with abetting Commander David Sprake and the surviving crew of the disabled ''Pericles'' ship from a psychotic renegade genetic engineer, Triax (the titular Exile), who appears briefly at the very start of the game removing a vital piece of equipment called a Destinator from Mike's ship, the ''Perseus''. As with ''Elite'', a novella (written by Mark Cullen, with input from the game's authors) was included to set up the story, and to provide some clues as to the nature of the planet Phoebus' environment. The novella implies the events take place some time in the 22nd century.
Rudy Robles (Cheech Marin) is told by his mother to pick up his cousin Javier (Paul Rodriguez) at a factory in Downtown Los Angeles before she and his sister leave for Fresno. Robles arrives shortly before immigration officials raid the factory looking for illegal immigrants. Because he is carrying no identification, and his mother and sister are not available to verify he is a US citizen, Robles is deported with the undocumented immigrants to Mexico.
Robles cannot speak more than very simple Spanglish, though he is fluent in German from having served in Germany in the United States Army.
In Tijuana, Robles becomes friends with a guy named Jimmy (Daniel Stern) and a waitress named Dolores (Kamala Lopez-Dawson). Unable to contact his mother, Robles makes repeated attempts to cross the border, all ending in failure.
Jimmy offers to get him back home for a price. Having left home without his wallet, Robles works for Jimmy as doorman at a strip club, earning extra money selling oranges and teaching five would be illegal immigrants, two Nahuatl natives, played by Del Zamora and Sal López and three Asians Jason Scott Lee, Ted Lin and Jee Teo, to walk and talk like East Los Angeles natives. They become called the "Waas Sappening Boys" or "What's Happening Boys".
Robles falls in love with Dolores and finally raises the money needed to be smuggled across the border. He goes on a date with Dolores and the next day, Robles bids farewell to Jimmy, receives a last kiss goodbye from Dolores and climbs into the coyote's truck. He sees a woman pleading to also be taken as her husband is already in the truck and their family is in the United States, but she lacks the money to pay for her to be smuggled. Robles gives the woman his place.
Robles stands for the last time on the hill of the Mexico – United States border while two immigration officers sit in their truck watching in laughter. The song "America" by Neil Diamond is heard as Robles raises his arms and hundreds of people appear and race forward to reach the American Dream. The immigration officers hide in their truck. Rudy, Dolores, and their "Waas Up" friends walk with their heads up high into the United States.
Rudy and Dolores are kidnapped by coyotes and held for ransom, coincidentally, across the street from Rudy's home. He calls his cousin Javier from across the street to bring him his wallet, which he does to pay off the kidnappers. Then la migra storms in, headed by the man in the sunglasses and cowboy hat who had deported Rudy in the beginning.
Rudy shows his identification this time to the immigration officer, who says he's going to send Dolores back to El Salvador. Rudy and Dolores make a dash and escape during the East Los Angeles Cinco de Mayo parade. Not knowing where to turn, Rudy and Dolores hop onto the float with a priest; Rudy asks if he can marry them. Rudy and Dolores both look at each other in happiness as they are wed.
The immigration officer arrives to place Dolores under arrest. Rudy then explains that they've just been married, making Dolores a legal resident. The crowd, witnessing everything, cheers.
The opening introduces O.W. Grant (Gary Oldman), who carries a pipe in the shape of a monkey-head. He demonstrates his mysterious powers in an encounter with a businessman (Michael J. Fox), when granting the man's wish results in the businessman being hit by a truck. O.W. Grant stands for One Wish Grant.
Neal Oliver (James Marsden) aspires to be an artist, despite the lack of support from his domineering father and analytical girlfriend. At a party for his 22nd birthday, O.W. Grant is the waiter who serves the cake. After Neal blows out the candles, he says he wished for an answer to his life. His father responds by handing him an admission letter to law school. As the family goes outside to look at the red convertible that Neal's dad bought him, a bucket falls onto Neal's head, knocking him out.
Neal wakes up in the hospital, where a doctor named Ray (Christopher Lloyd) comes in and does a quick sight test using playing cards. Neal has to name the suit on the cards. Neal asks if he got it right, and Ray points out that the cards actually had red spades and black hearts, emphasizing that things aren't always what they seem.
After getting out of the hospital, Neal sees the mystery woman that he's been dreaming about in a billboard advertisement, but the billboard company insists that the billboard is blank. When Neal checks the billboard, he sees a new picture of the beautiful blonde, this time with a framed inscription "Call 555-1300". Neal calls the number, and a recorded message tells him that he has an appointment at 555 Olive Street, Suite 1300.
At the appointment, he again meets Ray, who gives him a package to deliver to a Robin Fields in a town called Danver in Colorado (not "Denver"). Ray tells him that he'll find Danver by taking Interstate 60.
With no Interstate 60 on the roadmap, Neal sets out west and encounters O.W. Grant on the roadside. Grant gives Neal directions to the unlisted Interstate 60, and on his journey, Neal meets:
When Neal reaches the town of Morlaw, where all citizens are lawyers who spend their days suing each other, he finally finds Lynn (Amy Smart), the imprisoned mystery woman he has been dreaming about and painting. Lynn explains that she met O.W. Grant and wished to find the right guy. They spend the night together at the "Fork in the Road" motel. Neal also makes a painting of the motel. Neal leaves to deliver the package in Danver, while Lynn stays behind.
On the radio, Neal hears a report of a reported murderer on the loose, and the description matches his car. He abandons his vehicle to hitchhike. Arriving in Danver, Neal meets "Robin Fields", who turns out to be O.W. Grant. After opening the package (which holds a replacement monkey-head pipe for O.W.'s broken one), Grant uses his magic powers to "warp" Neal back in time, where he wakes up in the hospital before he first encountered Ray.
Leaving the hospital, Neal confronts his father and asserts his right to live his life without his father's interference. His sister takes him to an art gallery where Neal sees his painting of the "Fork in the Road". A girl who resembles Lynn talks to him about commissioning him to do a series of paintings on roadside motels and diners.
The protagonists in the early episodes are the titular Howard family—Tom (Maurice Colbourne), wife Jan (Jan Harvey) and grown-up children Leo (Edward Highmore) and Lynne (Tracey Childs). Tom is made redundant from his job as an aircraft designer after twenty years and is unwilling to re-enter the rat race. A sailing enthusiast, he decides to pursue his dream of designing and building boats, putting his redundancy pay-out into the ailing Mermaid boatyard, run by Jack Rolfe (Glyn Owen), a gruff traditionalist, and his daughter Avril (Susan Gilmore). Tom immediately finds himself in conflict with Jack, whose reliance on alcohol and whose resentment of Tom's new design ideas threaten the business, but has an ally in Avril, who turns out to be the real driving force behind the yard with her cool, businesslike brain. Jan, who has spent the last twenty years raising the children and building the family home, is less than impressed with her husband's risky new venture, and finds herself pursuing her own life outside the family through establishing a new marine boutique whilst working for Ken Masters (Stephen Yardley).
Other major characters introduced during the first series are Kate Harvey (Dulcie Gray), Jan's sensible and supportive mother, the millionaire businessman Charles Frere (Tony Anholt) and the wealthy but unhappy Urquhart family. Gerald (Ivor Danvers) is the right-hand man of Charles Frere. Polly (Patricia Shakesby), a friend of Jan, is a bored corporate wife preoccupied with preserving her social status, and their daughter Abby (Cindy Shelley) is a socially awkward young woman who has returned to Tarrant after completing her education at a Swiss finishing school and who establishes a friendship with Leo Howard. Unlike the comparatively close and secure Howard family, the Urquharts have secrets to hide. Gerald and Polly's marriage is a sham—an arrangement to cover the fact that Gerald is bisexual, to give him respectability in the business world and give a name to Abby, Polly's illegitimate daughter after an affair at university. Abby herself is pregnant, after a brief relationship in Switzerland.
The first series establishes the narrative blueprint for the remainder of the programme's run: combining standard melodramatic storylines involving family drama, romance and extramarital affairs (Tom and Avril, Jan and Ken) with business-related plots of corporate intrigue and scheming for power, climaxing with an end-of-series cliffhanger. In the first series, Lynne Howard is seduced by Charles Frere. She runs tearfully across the Tarrant harbour during a rainstorm after finding him in bed with another woman, trips and falls unconscious into the water. Later cliffhangers would involve a fatal water-skiing accident, a plane crash, an accident during a powerboat race and a road accident.
By virtue of being produced during the mid-to-late 1980s, ''Howards' Way'' gives much insight into Thatcherite values, in its portrayal of the years of boom and bust, of individual aspiration and enterprise, and the conspicuous consumption of wealth. The class clashes during the decade were reflected in the character of Ken Masters, a nouveau riche chancer always involved in shady schemes to establish himself as a credible figure in the business world, but generally looked down upon by those with 'old money' (for example Charles Frere and merchant banker Sir John Stevens (Willoughby Gray) and often used as an unwitting pawn in their wider power games. Through the character of Jan Howard and her attempts to go it alone as a businesswoman by establishing her own fashion label, the series explored a standard 1980s melodramatic motif of female emancipation via capitalism, similar to that associated with the characters of Alexis Colby in ''Dynasty'' and Abby Ewing in ''Knots Landing'' and with ITV drama series ''Connie''.
While researching an ordinary real estate transaction, title examiner Leah Farrell (McCormick) discovers a property transfer document with the forged name of a missing woman, and proceeds to investigate. When she is threatened by gangsters for snooping around, she turns for help to Assistant District Attorney Paul Shaughnessy (Atkins). As Paul tries to protect Leah from the danger that looms from all sides, romance blooms. The two of them foil the plot to bring illegal gambling activities to a small seaside town in Massachusetts.
In 1943, Lieutenant Commander MacClain has just lost his ship and most of his crewmen due to enemy action. While accompanying a convoy, he was attacked by a U-boat with a distinctive large Iron Cross painted on the conning tower. The U-boat surfaced and machine-gunned many of the survivors. Offered duty ashore, MacClain is determined to avenge his men. He is allocated a new ship and while waiting for it to be built befriends Joyce Cartwright, whose brother Dick, an officer, was killed under his command.
MacClain's new corvette is christened as HMCS ''Donnacona'', and soon a crew of 65, including officer Paul Cartwright, Joyce's younger brother, is assigned to the ship. Setting out as an escort to a convoy heading for England, the ''Donnacona'' comes upon the grisly sight of a lifeboat filled with dead sailors, the result of a deadly U-boat attack.
In an ocean storm, his ship is separated from the convoy, but 300 miles from the Irish coast MacClain finds other lost ships that had also been separated from their escorts. The captain of the tanker ''Egyptian Star'' relays the information that he thinks a submarine has been trailing him. The small group of ships then becomes the target of Luftwaffe bombers that are chased off by a British Hawker Hurricane fighter launched from one of the escort ships. The submarines below are still the main concern and when the ''Egyptian Star'' is torpedoed and sunk, MacClain attacks, sinking a U-boat with depth charges.
Another U-boat surfaces and in a running battle badly damages the ''Donnacona''. The U-boat is damaged by deck gun fire from the corvette. MacClain attempts to ram the submarine and when it begins to dive, depth charges are fired, sinking it. As it breaks up MacClain recognizes it as the one which had machine-gunned his former crew.
The corvette, along with six surviving merchant ships, limps to safety in Ireland. Before it sets anchor MacClain is asked to sail the ''Donnacona'' past the other ships in the harbor so that its crew may be saluted for their bravery.
Emil, a fastidious and orderly older man, carries his happy new bride, Eva, over the threshold of their home. He has great difficulty opening the lock on the front door, trying key after key. She is greatly disappointed on their wedding night because he does not even come to bed. He has pinched his finger in the clasp of Eva's pearls when he attempts to remove them. He is unable to consummate their marriage due to the minor injury on his finger. Emil continues to ignore Eva for many days often retreating behind his newspaper. Eva refuses to live in a loveless marriage. She can no longer bear to be Emil's wife in name only and returns to the estate of her father, a wealthy horse breeder. Eva seeks and is granted a divorce from Emil.
One day, Eva goes horseback riding in the countryside surrounding her father's estate. She has a swim in the nude, leaving her clothes on her horse, which wanders off to find a stallion locked in a nearby corral. Eva, still completely naked, chases after her horse. Adam, a virile, young engineer working in road construction in that area, happens to look up and see Eva trying to catch her horse. Finally, Adam is able to catch the runaway horse. Eva is so embarrassed that she hides in the bushes when Adam approaches her. At first, Eva is ashamed of her nudity, but then she glares up at him in defiance. He hands Eva her clothes. When she tries to leave, she hurts her ankle. At first, she resists Adam's efforts to help, then acquiesces.
That night, Eva is restless and cannot stop thinking about Adam. Finally, she goes to his isolated residence, which is located near the field where they met. After some hesitation, they embrace and spend the night together. In the throes of passion, Eva's pearl necklace is broken and falls to the floor. She forgets to take it with her the next morning but the young lovers promise to meet in town at the local hotel the following evening.
When Eva returns home the next morning, she finds an unwelcome visitor. Her ex-husband, Emil, has been waiting for her all night. He wants to reconcile with her, but she tells him that it is too late. Brokenhearted, he leaves.
By chance, while driving away, Emil encounters Adam on the road and Adam asks for a ride into town. Emil agrees. They stop at Adam's residence in order to pack his suitcase. While packing, Adam notices Eva's pearls on the floor. He takes them along intending to return them to her. While traveling to town, Emil notices Adam admiring the pearl necklace and instantly recognizes it as that belonging to his ex-wife. Emil becomes jealous and enraged. Adam has no idea that Emil had been married to Eva. In his anger, Emil considers driving into an approaching train at a crossing, but at the last moment thinks better of it.
That night, Emil sits alone in a hotel room while a fly tries futilely to get out through a closed window and several others are shown trapped in flypaper. Meanwhile, downstairs, Adam is arranging flowers as he waits in the hotel restaurant for his lover, Eva, to arrive. The young lovers are very happy to be reunited. While they are drinking champagne and dancing, they suddenly hear a gunshot. Emil has shot himself. Everyone in the hotel runs to the door of Emil's room. Adam still does not know of the connection between Emil and Eva. She is deeply saddened by the suicide of Emil. However, she does not divulge her relationship with Emil to anyone, including Adam.
The young couple were to take the train to Berlin later that evening and begin their new life together. While waiting at the train station, Adam falls asleep. A distraught Eva slips quietly away while Adam sleeps and leaves on a different train. Later, he returns to his work in construction and daydreams of Eva, imagining her happily holding his baby.
"Wedge" Donovan (John Wayne) is a tough construction boss, building airstrips in the Pacific for the U.S. Navy during World War II. He clashes with his liaison officer, Lieutenant Commander Robert Yarrow (Dennis O'Keefe), over the fact that his men are not allowed to arm themselves against the Japanese.
When the enemy lands in force on the island, Donovan’s men want to help fight. Donovan initially tries to dissuade them, but after a Japanese fighter kills or wounds several workers, he changes his mind and leads his men into the fray. This prevents Yarrow from springing a carefully devised trap that would have wiped out the invaders in a murderous machine gun crossfire, with minimal American losses. Instead, many of Donovan's men are killed unnecessarily.
As a result of this tragedy, Yarrow finally convinces the US Navy to form Construction Battalions (CBs, or the more familiar "Seabees") with Donovan's assistance, despite their mutual romantic interest in war correspondent Constance Chesley (Susan Hayward). Donovan and many of his men enlist and receive formal military training.
The two men are teamed together on yet another island. The Japanese launch a major attack, which the Seabees barely manage to hold off, sometimes using heavy construction machinery such as bulldozers and a clamshell bucket.
When word reaches Donovan of another approaching enemy column, there are no sailors left to oppose this new threat. In desperation, he rigs a bulldozer with explosives on its blade, intending to ram it into a petroleum storage tank. The plan works, sending a cascade of burning liquid into the path of the Japanese, who retreat in panic, right into the sights of waiting machine guns. However, Donovan is shot in the process and dies in the explosion.
Jack Ryan, a surfer and small-time thief, has a fight with the intimidating Lou Harris, involving a baseball bat. Harris is a foreman on a Hawaii construction site run by duplicitous millionaire Ray Ritchie. When Jack is released from jail, both the police and Ritchie's business partner, Bob Rogers Jr., tell Jack to leave the island. However, Judge Walter Crewes takes a liking to Jack and offers him a place to stay and a job as a handyman at a small resort of beach-front bungalows that the Judge owns. Jack has treacherous encounters with Harris and Rogers Jr., on numerous occasions.
Ritchie has all his (substantial) property registered in the name of his wife, Alison. He is also cheating on his wife with a much younger mistress, Nancy Hayes. When Nancy takes an interest in Jack, the Judge warns him that she likes "the criminal type" and cannot be trusted. Jack is falling for Nancy, and the two break into houses for fun and profit.
Nancy suggests to Jack a scheme to steal $200,000 that Ritchie keeps for bribes and mob business. She arranges for Jack to sneak into Ritchie's house to steal the money from his safe. Jack arrives to find that Nancy has poisoned Ritchie, in a conspiracy with Alison. Nancy has set up Jack to be Ritchie's "killer", with Alison to shoot him dead as an intruder. It is revealed that Judge Crewes is Alison's lover and has been part of the conspiracy, with the two promising to give Nancy the $200,000 for her part. Jack manages to steal the money from the safe and narrowly escapes, leaving Alison and Crewes to frame Nancy as Ritchie's killer.
Alison and Crewes are seen sailing Ritchie's yacht, disposing of his body in the ocean. Nancy is seen in disguise, trying to escape the island before she is arrested for Ritchie's murder. Jack drives past Nancy in a limousine, stopping to wish her well and refusing to help her after her attempt to frame him. He departs with the money and a beautiful vacationer named Number 9 he met while working at Judge Crewe's resort.
After the body of Sadako Yamamura is retrieved from a well, her uncle Takashi is summoned by police to identify her. Detective Omuta explains to Takashi that forensics concluded Sadako may have survived in the well for thirty years. Forensics experts reconstruct her body, giving it to Takashi, who gives his niece a burial at sea, hoping to be free from the guilt he has carried since her mother Shizuko committed suicide because of his actions. The police search for Reiko Asakawa and her son Yoichi following the sudden death of her ex-husband Ryuji Takayama and her father Koichi a week later. Mai Takano, Ryuji's university assistant, investigates his death, visiting Reiko's news office where her colleague Okazaki joins Mai in her search for answers. They find a burnt out videotape in Reiko's apartment, Mai sensing Reiko's father died the same way as Ryuji.
Investigating the urban legend of the cursed videotape, Okazaki meets a high school student Kanae Sawaguchi, who gives him a copy of the tape but admits she watched it herself. She begs Okazaki to watch the tape before the week is up, but he chickens out and hides his copy in his desk drawer at work.
Mai and Okazaki go to a mental hospital to speak to Masami Kurahashi, a friend of Reiko's niece Tomoko, but learn she is both mute and has a phobia of televisions, having witnessed Tomoko's death. They meet Doctor Oisho Kawajiri, Masami's doctor, and a paranormal researcher, who is trying to expel the psychic energy within Masami through experimentation. Mai steps out for some air, encountering Masami, whose presence causes Sadako to materialise on a television and terrify the patients. Masami tries to channel her fear into psychic vessel Mai, who realizes Yoichi has been trying to do the same thing.
Mai finds Yoichi alone in a shopping mall before his mother appears. Mai learns Yoichi has been mute since his father and grandfather's deaths and his psychic abilities intensified, and Reiko asks if Kawajiri can help. Returning to the hospital, Mai discovers that Okazaki has accidentally led the police to Kawajiri, who has informed them of Mai's contact with Reiko. Mai, Okazaki, and Detective Omuta observe Kawajiri's experiment to exorcise the psychic energy from Masami by projecting her mental imagery onto a blank tape. However, it causes the cursed videotape's imagery to appear. Mai destroys the recording. Omuta tortures Mai into revealing Reiko and Yoichi's location, forcing Mai to view Kanae's fear contorted corpse. Overcome with guilt, Mai telepathically tells Yoichi to flee the police station. Yoichi psychically attacks the cops and escapes with Reiko, who is consequentially hit and crushed underneath a truck. Yoichi begins to psychically kill Omuta, but is stopped by Mai as the two run off together. Okazaki attempts to delete his interview with Kanae, only for her ghost to materialise and haunt him.
Mai and Yoichi travel to Oshima Island and stay in the Yamamura Inn. Yoichi has a nightmare, causing Shizuko's and a young Sadako's ghosts to appear before Mai wards them away. Dr. Kawajiri arrives in the night, offering to exorcise Yoichi as he tried with Masami, with Mai volunteering to act as a conduit to expel Sadako's hatred into a swimming pool, water being able to neutralise the energy. The attempt turns frightening and Sadako's coffin appears in the pool. Takashi jumps in demanding to be taken by Sadako, while Kawajiri dives into the pool carrying electrical equipment, killing themselves alongside their assistant.
Mai and Yoichi fall into the water, appearing inside the well. Ryuji's ghost appears, absorbing Yoichi's fear, and summons a rope that will guide Mai to safety as long as she doesn't look down. Sadako's ghost appears, scaling the well only to cryptically ask, "Why is it only you were saved?". Mai and Yoichi emerge in the pool, tentatively free of their fear. While Okazaki is institutionalised, a nurse takes a picture of him. As she leaves the room she notices something in the photo, seemingly shocked; behind Okazaki is Kanae's laughing spirit looking for revenge.
When the school district of Whittaker Magnet School expands to cover Kate and George's duplex, they are forced to go to the frightening school, which is suspected to house a demon. But when the First Lady comes to visit the school, the vengeful demon causes more deaths and accidents. It's up to Kate and George to stop them. The cast of characters includes the spoiled Swiss milkmaid incarnation Heidi, her doting mother Cornelia, her brother Whit, Kate's not-so-secret unwanted admirer, who touches Kate inappropriately, and Pogo, a librarian who can only speak in nursery rhymes.
The novel is narrated by 30-year-old Barnaby, whose life has gone off the rails since he was caught robbing neighborhood homes as an adolescent. To the despair of his distant father, his social climbing mother, his chilly ex-wife and his prematurely patriarchal brother, Barnaby now works for a company called Rent-a-Back, doing odd jobs for elderly clients.
He also waits, without much hope, for a visitation from the Gaitlin angel, who first suggested to Barnaby's great-grandfather the invention of the wooden dress form that made the Gaitlins rich. He finds his angel but perhaps not where he expects. He believes his angel was 36-year-old Sophia Maynard.
Barnaby first sees Sophia on the train, while he is going to see his 9 year old daughter in Philadelphia, and Sophia is going to visit her mother. While he is in Philadelphia, his ex-wife told him he was not allowed to see their daughter anymore. The next week, he went back. Sophia was on the train again, and he is able to tell her about his job at Rent-a-Back, and she tells him about her job at the bank. They also discuss Opal, Barnaby's daughter, and Sophia agrees he should see her, and that Opal would want to continue to see her daddy.
Later, Sophia contacts Barnaby's employer. She claims her aunt needs help working, and she needs Barnaby to help. Although, Barnaby's friend who is working with him, claims that Sophia hangs around while they are working, hoping Barnaby will ask her out. He finally does and she accepts. After a few months, Barnaby introduces Sophia to his family, and later Sophia introduces Barnaby to her mother.
That summer, Barnaby introduces Sophia to his daughter, who has come to visit for a week. Opal says she likes Sophia, but by fall, when Opal sees Sophia's name on her Birthday card, she realizes that they are dating. While Barnaby and Opal are going to eat lunch, and they spot Opal's mother. Opal takes her stuffed Hedgehog from her father, and asks her mother to take her home.
The novel traces the lead characters development towards maturity as he is influenced by his family and employers.
In 1911 Egypt, archaeology professor Marcus Scarman excavates a pyramid and finds the door to the burial chamber is inscribed with the Eye of Horus. His Egyptian assistants flee in fear as he enters the chamber alone and is hit by a beam of green light. The Fourth Doctor, intending to land in UNIT's base, ends up in the sealed wing of an English estate after the TARDIS was forced out of its flight path and Sarah Jane Smith sees an apparition of a Typhonian Animal in the console room. The two are found by the butler, who reveals they are in the Scarman estate, an old priory, which has been taken over by a mysterious Egyptian named Ibrahim Namin claiming to represent Scarman. Scarman's friend Dr Warlock has also arrived at the priory to demand an explanation from Namin on Scarman's whereabouts. When Namin threatens Warlock with a revolver, the Doctor and Sarah barely manage to prevent his murder, although Warlock is severely wounded. The three escape the estate, with Namin and a robot dressed like an Egyptian mummy in pursuit. The trio reach a hunting lodge used by Scarman's brother Laurence, whose marconiscope intercepted a signal from Mars. The Doctor decodes the signal as "Beware Sutekh", explaining to Sarah Jane that Sutekh is the last of a powerful alien race called the Osirans, his imprisonment by his brother Horus being the inspiration for ancient Egyptian mythology.
Namin and the mummies greet the arrival, via a spacetime tunnel portal disguised as a sarcophagus, of Sutekh's servant, who kills Namin, now superfluous. The servant is revealed to be Marcus Scarman, now a corpse animated by Sutekh's will. Scarman and the robots secure the estate's perimeter with a forcefield and start hunting down the humans still inside the barrier. Scarman finds and kills Warlock, but is then ordered by Sutekh to prioritize the construction of an Osirian war missile aimed at Mars. Meanwhile, the Doctor disrupts the tunnel using the TARDIS key before retrieving Namin's ring from his corpse. After Sarah suggests they should just leave in the TARDIS, the Doctor takes her and Laurence to 1980 and the devastated Earth Sutekh will leave behind if allowed to escape. There is no choice—they must return to 1911 and stop Sutekh.
Once back in 1911, the Doctor makes a jamming unit with Namin's ring to break Sutekh's hold over Scarman and the servitor robots. Laurence, believing this will kill his brother, attempts to stop the Doctor from activating the device, but Sarah Jane stops him. A pair of robots kill a local poacher outside before attacking the hunting lodge. The marconiscope is destroyed in the struggle, the feedback disabling one of the robots. Sarah Jane uses Namin's ring to send the other back to Scarman. The Doctor decides to blow up the partially assembled rocket, and Laurence suggests using the blasting gelignite kept in the poacher's hut. The Doctor and Sarah Jane leave to obtain the gelignite, ordering Laurence to strip the bindings from the deactivated robot. Scarman soon arrives at the lodge, and Laurence (still unable to accept that his brother is truly dead) attempts to rekindle his brother's humanity, but gets strangled instead. After he and Sarah Jane return, they find Laurence dead. The Doctor disguises himself as the disabled robot to set up the explosives before Sarah Jane detonates them with a shot from a rifle. Sutekh telekinetically suppresses the explosion using mental force. Left with but one option, the Doctor uses the space-time tunnel to reach Sutekh and break his concentration, allowing the explosion to destroy the rocket. His escape now foiled, a furious Sutekh interrogates the Doctor before deciding to turn him into a thrall to transport Scarman to the Pyramids of Mars to destroy the Eye of Horus, which maintains his prison.
Upon arrival on Mars, Scarman has the Doctor strangled, and proceeds with the servitor into the pyramid. However, the Doctor's respiratory bypass system allows him to quickly recover, and, now free of Sutekh's control, he and Sarah Jane follow Scarman through a series of chambers requiring solving logic puzzles to pass. They are unable, however, to stop Scarman from destroying the Eye, and Scarman, having served his purpose, disintegrates. The Doctor then realises that Sutekh will not be released for two minutes due to the time required for the Eye's radio signal to travel from Mars to Earth. The Doctor and Sarah return to the Priory and use a module from the TARDIS to extend the terminus of the time tunnel into the far future, resulting in Sutekh dying of old age before reaching the end. However, the portal then overloads, and he and Sarah Jane flee into the TARDIS as the priory is consumed in flames.
Sarah Jane wears a dress which the Doctor says belonged to Victoria Waterfield. She remarks that the puzzles are similar to those in the Exxilon City in ''Death to the Daleks'' (1974), although she personally never entered the City.
The film is contextualized in the beginning blocks of text as a dramatic re-enactment of events that occurred after ''The Blair Witch Project'' was released into theaters.
In November 1999, tourists and fans of ''The Blair Witch Project'' descend on the small town of Burkittsville, Maryland, where the film was set. Local resident Jeff, a former psychiatric patient and obsessed fan, orchestrates a group tour of locations featured in the film. Among the group are graduate students Stephen and his pregnant girlfriend, Tristen, who are researching mythology and mass hysteria; Erica, the Wiccan daughter of an Episcopal minister; and Kim, a goth with psychic proclivities. They camp for the night in the ruins of Rustin Parr's house, where Jeff has placed surveillance cameras, hoping to capture supernatural occurrences. Jeff becomes unnerved when he notices a large tree located in the center of the house's foundation, claiming it was not there before. That night, another tour group arrives to camp at the ruins, but are misdirected to Coffin Rock by Jeff and Stephen.
After drinking and smoking marijuana all night, the group awaken in the morning to find Stephen and Tristen's research documents shredded and strewn through the woods, and Jeff's cameras destroyed; his damaged tapes are uncovered beneath the house's foundation, the same spot the ''Blair Witch Project'' tapes were found in 1995. Tristen suffers a miscarriage, and they rush her to the Burkitsville hospital. In her hospital room, Tristen sees a young girl walking backward. After she is discharged, the group retreat to Jeff's home, an industrial building that was once a factory. While Tristen rests, the group review Jeff's tapes, which uncover an image of Erica circling around a tree, nude. Distraught, Erica claims she has no memory of such event, and goes to pray in another room. When Kim tries to console her, Erica reveals rash-like symbols covering her body, and proclaims the group has been marked for death.
Kim borrows Jeff's van to pick up coffee and alcohol in town. At the country store, she gets into an argument with the cashier. While driving away, she swerves to avoid a group of children in the road, and crashes the van into a tree, denting the fender. The children disappear when she exits the van. Later, Kim finds a bloody nail file stuck among the bottles of beer she purchased. The following morning, Jeff looks outside and sees the front end of his van entirely caved in, to the point that it is undriveable; Kim insists that the accident was minor. The group realize Erica is absent, and search the house. They attempt to call her father at his office but are told by his secretary that he has no children.
Meanwhile, Tristen's disposition grows increasingly bizarre. The county sheriff, Cravens, calls Jeff, informing him the other tour group was found disemboweled on Coffin Rock, and threatens him. Later while searching through a drawer, Kim finds a set of surveillance dossiers on herself and the others. She confronts Jeff, but he denies knowing the source of them. Shortly after, the group discovers Erica's corpse in a closet.
Tristen begins chanting about widdershins and speaking backwards; this leads Kim to suggest they play Jeff's tapes in reverse. Upon doing so, they find the footage shows the high and drunken group descending into a demonic ritual and frenzied orgy led by Tristen, culminating in the murder of the other tour group at Coffin Rock. When they confront Tristen, she alternately pleads and goads them. Jeff, convinced Tristen is possessed by the Blair Witch, begins filming the confrontation, attempting to elicit a confession for Erica's death. The three follow Tristen to the second floor, where she ties a rope around her neck and taunts Stephen, daring him to push her. In a fit of rage, he pushes her over the balcony, killing her.
Later, Jeff, Stephen, and Kim are arrested and interrogated by police. Each claim that a possessed Tristen was responsible. Their accounts are contradicted by various video footage: Security cameras captured Kim murdering the store cashier with her own nail file, while Jeff's home monitors show him, nude, hiding Erica's body in the closet; the DV footage Jeff filmed during Tristen's confrontation shows her pleading for her life as they accuse her of being a witch, ending in Stephen mercilessly pushing her to her death. Meanwhile, as Jeff, Kim, and Stephen are shown this footage by police, funeral mourners arrive in the woods to remember the other tour group that was murdered.
The film revolves around everyman high school student Kyle, who needs a high score on the SAT to get into Cornell University's architecture program. He constantly compares himself to his older brother Larry, who is now living above his parents' garage. Kyle's best friend, Matty, wants to get a high score to go to the same college as his girlfriend, but he is an underachiever who had previously received a low score on his PSAT. They feel the SAT is blocking their futures.
The two boys realize fellow student Francesca Curtis' father owns the building that houses the regional office of ETS, where the SAT answers are located. She initially doesn't want to help but reconsiders, saying "What the hell? It sounds like fun." Meanwhile, Kyle attracted to Anna Ross, the second-highest ranked student in the school, he tells her about the plan. Anna had bombed a previous SAT and needs a good score to get into Brown University.
Matty doesn't like the fact that Anna now knows about the plan and rants, right in front of stoner Roy, who then has to be included in the heist. Finally, Anna tells the school basketball star Desmond Rhodes, who needs a score of 900 or better to join the basketball team at St. John's University.
An early attempt to break into the ETS offices fails, but they then devise another plan. On the eve of the exam, Francesca will arrange for Kyle and Matty to have a meeting near the top floor, staying after closing. The other three will wait outside and watch the night guard until Francesca, Kyle, and Matty have successfully stolen the answers.
The plan initially goes well, with Francesca, Kyle, and Matty successfully avoiding security cameras and the night guard. However, the answers are located on a computer, and only the technical genius Roy can crack the password; he and the other two get into the building, and Roy correctly guesses the password after seeing a photograph of an employee. Still, the answers can't be printed, so the group decides to take the test with their combined knowledge and get the answers that way. In the early hours of morning, they are finished and have all the answers written down.
Just then, the guard comes up the stairs, and they try to escape through the ceiling; however, Francesca is left behind and is about to be discovered, so Matty sacrifices himself to save her. Everyone else escapes, but each faces a certain confrontation before the exam: Kyle's brother asks him if he's really worse than a thief, Matty is bailed out by Francesca, Anna finds independence from her parents, and Desmond's mother convinces Roy to quit drugs.
Before the SAT testing begins, the group realizes that, although it will help get them what they want, they would be better off without cheating. Roy grabs the answers and randomly distributes them in the bathroom. After the decision, Matty comments that "this whole thing was for nothing." Kyle replies, "I wouldn't say nothing", as he glances at Anna. Matty and Francesca also share a look, as they have also presumably started a relationship.
Each person eventually gets their desired test score without the answers: Kyle's dream of becoming an architect is still alive by attending Syracuse University, Desmond ends up going to St. John's, Matty becomes an actor, Francesca writes a novel (which is about six kids who conspire to steal the answers to the SAT), and Anna decides to travel to Europe for a while before starting college. Roy explains that he earned the highest SAT in the county, and, guided by Desmond's mom, he gets a GED. He then puts his untapped intelligence to use through programming, becoming a successful video game designer.
The novel is set in the fictional town of Abalone, Arizona. A circus owned by a Chinese man named Dr. Lao pulls into town one day, carrying legendary creatures from all areas of mythology and legend, among them a sea serpent, Apollonius of Tyana (who tells dark, yet always truthful, fortunes), a medusa, and a satyr. Through interactions with the circus, the locals attain various enigmatic peak experiences appropriate to each one's personality.
The tale ends with the town becoming the site of a ritual to a pagan god whimsically given the name Yottle, possibly an allusion to the Mesoamerican god Yaotl, whose name means "the enemy". The ritual ends when the god himself slays a virgin, her unrequited lover, and his own priest. The circus over, the townsfolk scatter to the winds. Apparently few of them profit from the surreal experiences.
The book's appendix is a "catalogue" of all the people, places, items, and mythological beings mentioned in the novel, summing up the characters pithily and sardonically, revealing the various fates of the townsfolk, and listing a number of plot holes and unanswered questions not addressed in the book.
List of Dr. Lao's captured animals: * Satyr: 2,300 years old, he was captured in Tu-jeng, China, near the Great Wall. He was born of the union of a goatherd and one of his goats. * Medusa: She is very young and wears very little clothing. She has many species of snakes in her hair, of which three are mentioned: tantillas, brown with a black ring around their neck; night snakes, gray with black spots; and faded snakes (''Arizona elegans''). She is a Sonoran medusa from northern Mexico. * Roc chick, "Really not as big as Sinbad thought it was, but plenty big enough to do all that he said it did." It hatches from an egg that sweats salt water. * Hound of the hedges: Created when water touched a dry rice field for the first time in many years. His tail is made of ferns; his fur is green grass; instead of teeth he has rose thorns; his blood and saliva are chlorophyll. * Mermaid: She was captured in the Gulf of Pei-Chihli the same day as the sea serpent. Her tail is sea-green and sleek scaled; her tail fin is as pink as a trout's. Her hair is seaweed green; her human half is young and slender with slight breasts. * Sphinx: A hermaphroditic, African sphinx. Its head is blunt nosed and womanlike; it has breasts like a woman. * Chimera: The chimera is male, unlike the chimera of Greek myth; thus, its body is different. Although it has a lion's body and a snake's tail, it has eagle's wings and a metal barb at the end of its tail with which it can strike like a scorpion. (It seems that Finney describes something closer to a manticore.) * Sea serpent: He is 80 feet long and dark gray; his tongue is as thick as a man's arm and bright yellow. His eyes are bronze with black slits for pupils. His tail is paddle shaped like a sea snake's. The Sea Serpent is the only animal that did not become tame after being captured. He plans to escape with the mermaid and return to the sea. * Werewolf: She starts her transformation as a large gray wolf. ("Not the American lobo. Probably some species from the Carpathians or Urals.") When she transforms, she changes into an old woman, not the young lady the men are expecting. * Unicorn: Has a metal "horn". * Golden Ass: Lucius Apuleius, who turned into an ass "with the help of Fotis".
Dan Tanna (Robert Urich) is a high-end Las Vegas private detective, whose many different clients include series regular Phillip 'Slick' Roth (Tony Curtis), the owner of several hotel casinos, including the Maxim Hotel Casino and the Desert Inn hotel and country club in Las Vegas. Tanna is often called by private citizens to help investigate unsolved criminal cases, locate missing family or business associates, or even work in rather absurd situations, such as the property case of a nun, played by Cassie Yates, who has a claim deed that says she owns the Las Vegas land on which the Desert Inn Hotel Casino stands. Tanna has the reputation of being a high-risk crime problem-solver; thus, he will not accept bodyguard assignments or handle divorce cases. Given that many of his detective cases are dangerous, he carries a powerful sidearm at all times.
Tanna lives on the Las Vegas Strip next to the Circus Circus hotel/casino, in the theatrical showroom props warehouse owned by the Desert Inn. The large props warehouse where he lives has been partially converted into his living quarters. The unique garage design of Tanna's home allows him to park his red Ford Thunderbird convertible in his living room. Tanna also uses gadgets considered high-tech for the very late 1970s, such as a radio car phone, and an answering machine that physically picks his phone off the hook and into the microphone of a tape recorder.
Two snow day events, pretty rare in Las Vegas, were worked into the plots of separate episodes.
The book describes the house at 112 Ocean Avenue as remaining empty for 13 months after the DeFeo murders. In December 1975, George and Kathleen Lutz bought the house for what was considered to be a bargain price of $80,000. The five-bedroom house was built in Dutch Colonial style, and had a distinctive gambrel roof. It also had a swimming pool and a boathouse, as it was located on a canal. George and Kathy married in July 1975, and each had their own homes, but they wanted to start fresh with a new property. Kathy had three children from a previous marriage: Daniel, 9, Christopher, 7, and Melissa (Missy), 5. They also owned a crossbreed Malamute/Labrador dog named Harry. During their first inspection of the house, the real estate broker told them about the DeFeo murders and asked if this would affect their decision. After discussing the matter, they decided that it was not a problem.
The Lutz family moved in December 18, 1975. Much of the DeFeo family's furniture was still in the house, because it was included for $400 as part of the deal. A friend of George Lutz learned about the history of the house and insisted on having it blessed. At the time, George was a non-practicing Methodist and had no experience of what this would entail. Kathy was a non-practicing Catholic and explained the process. George knew a Catholic priest named Father Ray who agreed to carry out the house blessing (in Anson's book, real-life priest Father Ralph J. Pecoraro is referred to as Father Mancuso for privacy reasons).
Father Mancuso was a lawyer, judge of the Catholic Court and psychotherapist who lived at the local Sacred Heart Rectory. He arrived to perform the blessing while George and Kathy were unpacking their belongings on the afternoon of December 18, 1975, and went into the building to carry out the rites. When he flicked the first holy water and began to pray, he heard a masculine voice demand that he "get out". When leaving the house, Father Mancuso did not mention this incident to either George or Kathy. On December 24, 1975, Father Mancuso called George Lutz and advised him to stay out of the second floor room where he had heard the mysterious voice, the former bedroom of Marc and John Matthew DeFeo, that Kathy planned to use as a sewing room, but the call was cut short by static. Following his visit to the house, Father Mancuso allegedly developed a high fever and blisters on his hands similar to stigmata. At first George and Kathy experienced nothing unusual in the house. Talking about their experiences subsequently, they reported that it was as if they "were each living in a different house".
By mid-January 1976, after another attempt at a house blessing by George and Kathy, they experienced what would turn out to be their final night in the house. The Lutzes declined to give a full account of the events that took place on this occasion, describing them as "too frightening".
After getting in touch with Father Mancuso, the Lutzes decided to take some belongings and stay at Kathy's mother's house in nearby Deer Park, New York, until they had sorted out the problems with the house. They claimed that the phenomena followed them there, with the final scene of Anson's book describing slime" coming up the staircase towards them. On January 14, 1976, George and Kathy Lutz, with their three children and their dog Harry, left 112 Ocean Avenue, leaving all of their possessions behind. The next day, a mover arrived to remove the possessions to send to the Lutzes. He reported no paranormal phenomena while inside the house.
The book was written after Tam Mossman, an editor at the publishing house Prentice Hall, introduced George and Kathy Lutz to Jay Anson. The Lutzes did not work directly with Anson, but submitted around 45 hours of tape-recorded recollections to him, which were used as the basis of the book. Estimates of the sales of the book are around 10 million copies from its numerous editions. Anson is said to have based the title of ''The Amityville Horror'' on "The Dunwich Horror" by H. P. Lovecraft, which was published in 1929.
Arthur "Bowie" Bowers, a 23-year-old serving a prison sentence for a murder he allegedly helped perpetrate at age 16, escapes from prison with two older bank robbers, Chicamaw and T-Dub. The three take shelter with Chicamaw's brother, who operates a service station, and niece, Catherine "Keechie" Mobley, who works there. Hoping to also free his incarcerated brother Richard, Chicamaw concocts a plan to rob a bank and use the funds to hire a lawyer to prove a wrongful conviction.
The robbery goes smoothly. However, shortly afterward Bowie crashes his car, and Chicamaw then kills a police officer who arrives at the scene. Chicamaw leaves an injured Bowie in the care of Keechie and joins T-Dub in another town. The sheepish Keechie swiftly grows fond of Bowie, who is also shy. The two bond over their lack of experience in the world and soon develop a romance. Meanwhile, the press reports heavily on Bowie, wrongly pinning him as the ringleader of the robbery. Bowie and Keechie decide to go on the run together, and travel by bus through several towns. Late one night, they come across a chapel that performs quickie marriages for $20. Bowie asks Keechie to marry him, to which she agrees. Hawkins, the local justice of the peace, performs the ceremony and sells the couple a convertible car.
The couple travel to a remote mountain resort where Keechie once stayed during her childhood, and rent a cabin there, dreaming about being able to live openly together. At Christmastime, Chicamaw arrives at the resort, having tracked the couple there; he has gambled away his money and wants Bowie to help him and T-Dub commit another robbery. Bowie reluctantly agrees, though Keechie, fearing Bowie will not make it out alive, gives him his Christmas gift early: a wristwatch. The three men commit another robbery, but T-Dub is killed during it. Bowie and Chicamaw flee the scene by car. While driving, Bowie learns from a drunken Chicamaw that he is jealous of all the press attention Bowie and Keechie have received. Bowie eventually forces Chicamaw out of the car at gunpoint.
When Bowie returns to the resort, he learns from Keechie that Chicamaw was killed in a liquor store robbery. In radio broadcasts, Bowie is again described as the ringleader of the robbery. In a heated conversation, Keechie reveals she is pregnant. The couple depart the resort and head east, traveling mainly at night so as not to be seen. Relenting on their secrecy, they decide to spend a leisurely time in public, visiting a park, and then a nightclub. In the club, Bowie is recognized by a gangster, causing the couple to flee again. Bowie suggests they escape to Mexico, to which Keechie agrees.
En route, Keechie grows ill, and the couple seek refuge at a motel owned by Mattie, T-Dub's sister-in-law. Mattie reluctantly allows them to stay. Bowie visits Hawkins, hoping he can help him and Keechie cross the border, while Mattie makes a deal with police that she will turn over Bowie in exchange for Richard's release. When Hawkins tells Bowie he is unable to help him, a bereft Bowie returns to the motel and informs Mattie he is going to leave by himself to ensure the safety of Keechie and their unborn child. Mattie encourages Bowie to say a final goodbye to Keechie. He agrees, and writes a farewell letter to bring to her. As he is about to enter the cabin, police unexpectedly descend on the scene, provoking Bowie to draw a gun. The police shoot him to death. Keechie, kneeling over Bowie's dead body, reads the farewell letter he wrote for her.
The film opens with Lehiff (Colin Farrell) charming a cashier. After flirting with the girl, punches her in the face and steals from the till. It quickly moves to John (Cillian Murphy) and Deirdre (Kelly Macdonald), a recently-separated young couple. The film will revolve around their extended friends.
It is quickly revealed that Lehiff is a petty criminal and always involved in trouble. Lehiff's nemesis, Garda Detective Jerry Lynch (Colm Meaney), presents himself as a saviour whose main mission is to fight the "scumbags" on Dublin's streets. He enlists the help of Ben Campion (Tomás Ó Súilleabháin), an ambitious film-maker and the bane of his "go-softer" boss, who considers Lynch too nasty a subject to be shown on a mainstream "docusoap" series on Irish television.
Next up is Mick (Brían F. O'Byrne), a Dublin bus driver. While on his route, Sally (Shirley Henderson) boards. Deeply insecure about her looks, she asks Mick about some hair on her lip, and he mocks her playfully. As the bus journey continues, Philip, a young boy, throws a rock at his bus, resulting in a bad crash, the aftermath of which Ben winds up shooting. Ben is told to focus his attention on Sally, Deirdre's sister, who helped the passengers after the crash. She grows bitter when Deirdre flaunts her new boyfriend, Sam (Michael McElhatton), a middle-aged bank manager who has left his wife of fourteen years, Noeleen, leaving her to question her own self-worth as a woman and wife.
John is utterly lost without Deirdre and is determined to win her back. Mick, having become suspended from his job and low on funds, comes up with a scheme involving Lehiff and John. They kidnap Sam and hold Deirdre captive. They force Sam to go to his bank to get money for a ransom. Just as the plan seems to be working out, everything goes wrong, as Sam is assaulted by his enraged wife Noeleen on the street and the Gardaí are forced to intervene. Mick and John flee without the money.
Later, Mick loses his job after being wrongfully blamed for the crash; he becomes obsessed with taking revenge on the boy who caused it. After chasing Philip in his car, he loses control and is left balancing over the canal. Philip sits on the bonnet and jumps off, letting the car drop into the canal.
Detective Lynch chases and corners Lehiff in an open field. He decides to take him on, while Ben films everything. Unfortunately, Lynch miscalculates; Lehiff gets the upper hand and threatens to kill him. Ben snatches at the gun and shoots Lehiff. Lynch covers it all up.
As the credits roll, Noeleen and Sam, now reunited, are in their house watching television. She is purposely sitting on the remote control and bullying him into changing the channels by hand.
Rozat "Rusty" Sabich is a prosecutor and the right-hand man of district attorney Raymond Horgan. When his colleague Carolyn Polhemus is found raped and murdered in her apartment, Raymond insists that Rusty take charge of the investigation. With the election for District Attorney approaching, Tommy Molto, the acting head of the homicide division, has left to join the rival campaign of Nico Della Guardia. Rusty, a married man, faces a conflict of interest since he had a brief sexual affair with Carolyn. As he had shown little ambition and would have therefore been of little use in advancing her career, Carolyn abruptly dumped him. Rusty has since reconciled with his wife Barbara, but is still obsessed with Carolyn.
Detective Harold Greer is initially in charge of the murder investigation, but Rusty has him replaced with his friend Detective Dan Lipranzer, whom he persuades to narrow the inquiry so that his relationship with Carolyn is left out. Rusty soon discovers that Molto is making his own inquiries. Aspects of the crime suggest that the killer knew police evidence-gathering procedures and covered up clues accordingly. Semen found in the victim's body contains only dead sperm. The killer's blood is type A, the same as Rusty's. When Della Guardia wins the election, he and Molto accuse Rusty of the murder and push to get evidence against him. Rusty's fingerprints are found on a beer glass from Carolyn's apartment, and fibers from his carpet at home match those found on her body. Lipranzer is removed from the case, and Greer's inquiries uncover the affair.
Raymond grows furious with Rusty's handling of the case, but admits that he had also been romantically involved with Carolyn at one time. Rusty calls on Sandy Stern, a top defense attorney. At trial, it is revealed that the beer glass is missing, and Stern persuades Judge Larren Lyttle to keep this from the jury. Raymond testifies and perjures himself, claiming that Rusty insisted on handling the investigation, thus confirming the defense's claim of a frame-up. Rusty discovers that Carolyn had acquired a file for a bribery case involving a man named Leon Wells. Upon being confronted by Rusty and Lipranzer, Wells confesses that he paid Judge Lyttle $1,500 to have criminal charges against him dropped, with Carolyn acting as a facilitator.
The thrust of Stern's defense is that Della Guardia and Molto have framed Rusty in order to cover up the bribery case. During the cross-examination of the coroner, it is revealed that Carolyn underwent a tubal ligation, thus having no reason to use the spermicidal contraceptive which was found on her. Stern asserts that the only explanation for this discrepancy is that the fluid sample was not actually taken from Carolyn's body. Based on the disappearance of the beer glass, the lack of motive and the fact that the fluid sample was rendered meaningless, Judge Lyttle dismisses the charges. Rusty confronts Stern for bringing up the bribery file in the case. Stern swears him to secrecy, revealing that Lyttle had a brief sexual encounter with Carolyn. Stern also confesses that he and Raymond knew that Lyttle was taking bribes, and although Lyttle had offered his resignation, Raymond felt that he was a brilliant judge and deserved another chance. Lipranzer meets with Rusty and reveals the missing beer glass, explaining that he never returned it to evidence when the investigation was turned over to Della Guardia and Molto. Rusty throws it into a river.
At his home, Rusty discovers a small hatchet covered with Carolyn's blood and hair on it. As he washes the tool, Barbara admits that she murdered Carolyn, her motive being Rusty's adulterous affair. She expresses that she had left enough evidence for Rusty to know that she committed the crime, but did not anticipate him being charged with the murder. In a voice-over, Rusty explains that Carolyn's murder has been written off as unsolved, since trying two people for the same crime is "a practical impossibility" and he cannot leave his son without a mother even if she could be tried. Rusty regrets that it was his own lust that caused his wife to commit murder.
In his laboratory, mad scientist Dr. Kurt Leopold contemplates his former colleagues' derision for his "formula", "ZaAt", a compound that can transform humans into sea creature hybrids. He injects himself with the serum and immerses himself in a tank, emerging as a catfish-like monster. In his new form, Leopold releases walking catfish across the town's lakes and rivers, and releases "Zaat" into the water supply, rendering many of the townspeople ill. All the while, Sheriff Lou Krantz and marine biologist Rex Baker investigate the strange happenings with the local catfish and the waterways.
Leopold turns his attention to killing those who mocked his work. He murders former colleague Maxson and his family on a boat, followed by associate Ewing in his home. Leopold returns to the lake where he kidnaps a young female camper. Taking her back to his lab, the doctor straps her in a mesh basket beside the large water tank, with the intention to make her his mate. However, due to her struggling, the equipment malfunctions, and her corpse, partially transformed, is pulled from the tank.
Baffled by the deaths, Rex contacts an organization known as INPIT, which sends scientists Martha Walsh and Walker Stevens to the town. Following kidnapping Martha, Leopold heads towards his lab, followed by Walker, who has picked up Leopold's radioactive trail. The doctor arrives at the lab with Martha, where Rex and Lou happen to be searching. A fight ensues and Leopold fatally wounds them. He injects Martha with "Zaat", readies her to be dunked into the tank, and makes his getaway with canisters of the compound. Martha's transformation fails, and she is saved from the tank by a dying Rex, although she appears to be in a trance and immediately follows Leopold into the sea.
In the early 1930s, egomaniacal impresario Oscar Jaffee is on the skids after four flops in a row. His latest show has abruptly closed in Chicago, leaving his angry cast and crew (to whom he owes back salary) "Stranded Again." On the lam, Oscar secretly sends orders to Owen O'Malley and Oliver Webb, his press agent and business manager, to meet him on the Twentieth Century Limited to New York and to get tickets for Drawing Room "A."
On the La Salle Station platform, the passengers praise the wonders of a journey "On the Twentieth Century". Owen and Oliver, bursting into Drawing Room "A," discover Congressman Grover Lockwood in a compromising position with his secretary Anita. Oliver easily persuades them to abandon Drawing Room "A." After making it on the departing train by climbing through a window, Oscar tells Owen and Oliver that he will soon regain his riches and success ("I Rise Again"). He reveals the reason they had to get Drawing Room "A": at the next stop, his former lover and protegee, Lily Garland (née Mildred Plotka), now a temperamental film star, will board the train and will be staying next door in Drawing Room 'B'. Oliver and Owen doubt that she will agree to be in Oscar's new play now that she's a movie star; Oscar insists that she will.
In a flashback, Oscar remembers the time he auditioned spoiled actress Imelda Thornton for the leading role in a play. Oscar discovered that the gawky young accompanist, Mildred Plotka, could sing "The Indian Maiden's Lament" much better than Imelda, even finishing with an operatic cadenza. Oscar immediately decided to cast Mildred in the leading role as "Veronique," a French street singer who wouldn't sleep with Otto von Bismarck and thus instigated the Franco-Prussian War. Mildred insisted that she did not want to be an actress, but Oscar convinced her to take the part, renaming her Lily Garland.
The conductor warns the passengers in Drawing Room "A" that a lunatic is on board the train. He then announces, "I Have Written a Play", titled ''Life on a Train.'' Oscar sends the conductor away. At Englewood, Illinois, all the passengers, especially Oscar, are thrilled that they and Lily Garland will be on the train "Together". Lily's costar and lover, Bruce Granit, fails to get off the train before it departs, and must come along for the ride. Owen and Oliver stop by Drawing Room "B" and beg Lily to return, revealing that Oscar is so poor, his theatre will be repossessed the next day. She replies, "Never". Bruce, suspicions aroused by Lily's passionate tirade, asks if she ever had a relationship with Oscar. She recites a long list of former lovers and insists that Oscar was never one of them. Still, in their separate drawing rooms, Oscar and Lily recall the relationship they once had ("Our Private World").
In the observation car, passengers complain that the religious lunatic has stuck "Repent for the time is at hand" stickers everywhere. The conductor assures them that they will catch the lunatic soon. This turns out to be Mrs. Letitia Primrose, who says it is her mission to warn sinners to "Repent." These stickers inspire Oscar with an idea for his new play: he will direct ''The Passion of Mary Magdalene'', a role so good that Lily could not possibly refuse it. Bruce is equally confident that Lily will continue to act opposite him in Hollywood. In their respective drawing rooms, each prepares to meet with Lily again and vows that she will be his ("Mine"). As Oliver and Owen prepare a press release for the new play, Letitia remarks that she sponsors creative endeavors. She declares that she is the founder and president of Primrose Restoria Pills, and she does good works with her extra capital.
Lily enters Drawing Room "B" in a sexy negligee, and as Bruce and she begin playing, Oscar walks in. Oscar reveals his former relationship with Lily, and Bruce, outraged, walks out. Lily angrily recalls Oscar's jealousy and possessiveness in their former Svengali-like relationship. She is rich and successful without him; but Oscar retorts that she has lost her art by selling out to Hollywood ("I've Got it All"). Lily tells Oscar she plans to sign with successful producer Max Jacobs, Oscar's former assistant stage manager. Oscar furiously returns to Drawing Room "A", but he is mollified when Oliver and Owen introduce him to rich and religious Mrs. Primrose. Congressman Lockwood enters and announces, "I Have Written a Play", titled ''Life on the Hog Market Committee.'' They send him out and Oscar and Mrs. Primrose shake hands as Bruce and Lily sit down to dinner in the next car ("On The Twentieth Century" (reprise)).
In an entr'acte, four porters philosophically declare that "Life Is Like a Train."
Owen, Oliver and Oscar congratulate themselves on obtaining Mrs. Primrose's check for $200,000 ("Five Zeros"). Lily's maid, Agnes, brings Oscar a message: Lily wants to see him immediately. Dr. Johnson detains him, however, declaring, "I Have Written a Play", titled ''Life in a Metropolitan Hospital''. Oscar ignores her and enters Drawing Room 'B'. Lily tells Oscar that she has decided to give him money to help him with his financial situation. Oscar proudly reveals Mrs. Primrose's check and describes the Mary Magdalene play to Lily. Lily is transfixed and begins acting the part, ending with Oscar's arms around her waist. She jolts back to reality and insists on meeting Mrs. Primrose. Owen and Oliver escort Lily to Drawing Room "A", where they, Mrs. Primrose, and Oscar all attempt to persuade Lily to sign the contract. Bruce enters and tries to convince her not to sign it ("Sextet"). Lily resolves not to live in the past and refuses to sign, deciding to continue in movies with Bruce. Oscar suggests a compromise; if Lily does the play, Mrs. Primrose can pay for the movie too. Lily finds this very exciting and informally agrees. She insists on a few minutes alone before signing the contract.
In Cleveland, Ohio, some officers have boarded the train. They are looking for Mrs. Primrose, who escaped from the Benzinger Clinic mental institution that morning, and they have come to take her back. The news soon spreads throughout the train: "She's a Nut!" Oscar suddenly has no money again, and Lily, who has not yet signed the contract, angrily confronts him. Max Jacobs arrives with a new play, and Lily joyously greets him. She reads over the play, trying to envision herself as the decadent, glamorous title character, "Babette", but her thoughts keep straying to Mary Magdalene. Nevertheless, she finally decides that she will do Max's play.
Oscar meets Oliver and Owen in the observation car. He is carrying a gun and insists that he is going to end it all. He details "The Legacy" he is leaving them and returns to Drawing Room "A". Oliver and Owen are convinced he's just being dramatic, but then they hear gunshots. They find Mrs. Primrose holding the gun and Oscar mournfully staggering. She tried to take the gun away from him and it went off. Dr. Johnson examines Oscar and finds nothing wrong with him. Oscar says he will read Dr. Johnson's play if she pretends he really is wounded. Dr. Johnson agrees, and Owen tells Lily that Oscar is dying. Oscar begs her to sign the contract before he dies. She signs it, and they passionately sing to each other ("Lily, Oscar"). Max Jacobs rushes in, and Oscar, very much alive, gleefully shows him the contract. Lily tells him to check the signature. She has signed "Peter Rabbit"! She and Oscar scream ridiculous insults at each other until they start laughing and fall into each other's arms. They reconcile, kissing passionately, resulting in an outraged Max leaving the room. The ensemble comes out, dressed in white, as Owen and Oliver throw petals, followed by Lily in a wedding dress and Oscar in a white tuxedo. The newlyweds embrace and join the company in one final proclamation that "Life is like a train!" ("Finale").
During the last civil-military dictatorship in Argentina, the military government conducts what was known as a Dirty War against opponents, abducting and often murdering those opposed to its rule. Cecilia, a dissident journalist living in Buenos Aires, is kidnapped by the secret police to join the ranks of the disappeared. She had earlier published a challenging article in her outrage over the forced disappearance of students protesting the bus fares.
As her husband Carlos, a theatre director, begins to search frantically for her, he realizes that he has acquired psychic power that enables him to predict the future. Carlos is sought after by others who have lost loved ones. This power helps Carlos foresee what happens to his wife and other detainees. At one point, Carlos visits the Naval Mechanics School, revealed as a notorious center of torture and murder of detainees.
Not long after the Pearl Harbor attack, United States Army Air Forces Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle orders 24 North American B-25 Mitchell medium bombers—with volunteer crews—to report to Eglin Field, Florida, for a secret three-month-long mission. They arrive on March 1. Among them is the craft piloted by Ted Lawson. His crew consists of Lt. Dean Davenport, co-pilot; Lt. Charles McClure, navigator, Lt. Bob Clever, bombardier, and Corporal David Thatcher, gunner-mechanic.
Doolittle warns them: This work is top-secret. He offers them the chance to opt out, particularly if they have wives and families. Lawson's wife, Ellen, drives to Eglin Field to join him. She is pregnant. They are very much in love, but giving up never occurs to them.
The intensive training includes learning how to take off on a runway only 500 feet long as taught by an instructor Naval Aviator from nearby Pensacola Naval Air Station. They are not told why, and those who guess keep quiet. Lawson's plane acquires the nickname "Ruptured Duck" and nose art to match. One dark morning, Lieutenant Colonel Doolittle sends them off to fly cross-country at hedge-hopping height to Naval Air Station Alameda, California. The planes are immediately loaded aboard the aircraft carrier .
At last, Doolittle reveals the mission: Bomb Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe and Nagoya. The carrier will get them within 400 miles of mainland Japan. After dropping their payloads, they will continue to designated landing spots in parts of China controlled by Nationalist forces and regroup in Chungking.
The next day, they learn about takeoff procedures: If a plane malfunctions, it will be pushed over the side. Lt. Jurika works with each crew on its own bombing run. At the penultimate briefing, Doolittle warns that any man who cannot cope with the unavoidable killing of civilians should drop out, without shame.
The call to battle stations comes twice daily, at dawn and dusk, when the enemy "pig boats" (submarines) come up. When an enemy surface vessel does discover the convoy, the crews assemble to take off immediately—12 hours earlier than planned. It will be daylight over Japan and night when they reach China. Doolittle leads the raid, dropping incendiary bombs to mark key targets. The Ruptured Duck is the seventh flight. Flying low over the ocean and into Tokyo, through the smoke of burning targets, dropping their bombs as planned. Flak bursts around them, but fighters ignore them.
Lawson crashes in the surf while trying to land on a beach in darkness and heavy rain. Everyone but Thatcher is badly injured. Lawson's left leg is laid open to the bone, and McLure's shoulders are broken. Friendly Chinese help them, and the Americans face hardships and danger while being escorted through Japanese-held territory. In the absence of any medical supplies, the injured men endure terrible pain, and Lawson's leg becomes infected. He dreams of Ellen.
There is a Red Cross banner in the village of XingMing. Doctor Chung arrives with good news and bad. He will take them to his father's hospital, some 19 miles farther. The bad news is that the Japanese have captured an American crew. Hurrying into the hills, they look back: XingMing is burning.
There is no surgeon at the elder Dr. Chung's hospital, but Lt. Smith's crew is on its way with Lt. "Doc" White, who volunteered as gunner. The Japanese approach, and the able-bodied Americans leave, except for Doc. He takes Lawson's leg off well above the knee, using the single dose of spinal anesthesia in their possession. It wears off too soon. Lawson passes out and dreams of Ellen.
Cut to a chorus of Girl Scouts singing "The Star-Spangled Banner", in Mandarin, celebrating Lawson's first day out of bed. His forehead shows a tracery of scars. When Dr. Chung senior gives Lawson an heirloom bracelet for his wife, Lawson is puzzled. He does not remember talking about her. When he totters on his crutches, he becomes distraught at the idea of Ellen seeing him like this. They hurry to Ch'ang Chou to rendezvous with an American plane that takes them home.
General Doolittle calls Ellen. Sobbing with joy, she tells her mother why Ted refuses to see her: "As if that would matter!" Doolittle visits Lawson in the hospital and tells him he has work for him to do. When Ellen comes in, Lawson, overjoyed, forgets his missing leg and stands. He falls and they embrace on the floor, all smiles. "When things were the worst...I could see your face, your beautiful face." he says. "I knew you were coming home, Ted", Ellen declares.
Following his discovery of the body of his wife Alison (Amy Irving) in a bathtub after her apparent suicide, Dr. David Callaway (Robert De Niro), a psychologist, decides to move with his 9-year-old daughter Emily (Dakota Fanning) to upstate New York. There, Emily makes an imaginary friend she calls "Charlie". Her friendship with Charlie begins to disturb David when he discovers their cat dead in the bathtub, who Emily claims was a victim of "Charlie". David has nightmares of the New Year's Eve party that occurred the night before Alison's death.
When a family friend, Dr. Katherine Carson (Famke Janssen), comes to visit David, Emily reveals that she and Charlie have a mutual desire to upset her father. David meets Elizabeth Young (Elisabeth Shue), a local woman, and her niece, Amy, who is the same age as Emily. Hoping to cultivate a healthy friendship for Emily, David sets up a play date. Amy is eager to become friends and gives one of her dolls to Emily but the play date is spoiled when Emily cuts up Amy's doll's face. Emily tells David she doesn't need any friends.
David invites Elizabeth over to dinner one night, where Emily acts hostile toward her. Elizabeth later tries to make peace with Emily. When Emily tells her that she is playing hide-and-seek with Charlie, Elizabeth indulges her by pretending to look for Charlie. When she opens the closet, someone bursts out and pushes her out the window to her death.
David asks Emily what happened. Emily claims Charlie killed Elizabeth and forced Emily to help him move the body. She tells David the location of the body. David discovers Elizabeth in the bathtub full of blood (similar to how Alison died). Armed with a knife, he goes outside, where he meets their neighbor and assumes that his neighbor is Charlie. He cuts the neighbor and the neighbor calls the police.
Back in the house, David finds that, although he has been in his study many times, the boxes were actually never unpacked after the move. He realizes that he has dissociative identity disorder and Charlie is not imaginary at all: "Charlie" is David himself. Whenever "Charlie" would emerge, David would be in his study. He also finally recalls the New Year's Eve party the night before his wife's death. He had caught Alison making out with another guest. "Charlie" was created as a way to express David's rage so that he could murder his wife, something the docile David was too decent to do. Emily knew the entire time about her father's split personality but did not tell him because she was unsure which personality murdered her mother until "Charlie" killed Elizabeth.
Once David realizes the truth, he becomes completely consumed by Charlie, leading him to murder the local sheriff, who arrives to investigate the neighbor. Emily calls Katherine for help, tricks Charlie, and escapes into the cave where she originally met Charlie. Katherine takes the gun from the dead sheriff and finds Charlie in the cave. He pretends to be David and attacks Katherine. Katherine begs for David to fight his murderous other personality. Charlie says David no longer exists. Emily emerges, begging Charlie to let Katherine go. Her distraction allows Katherine to shoot Charlie, killing him at last.
Later, Emily is preparing for school in her new life with Katherine. But Emily's drawing of herself with two heads suggests that she might also have dissociative identity disorder.
During World War II, the submarine USS ''Thunderfish'', under the command of CDR John T. "Pop" Perry (Ward Bond), while on a special mission to the Philippines takes charge of a group of nuns and children, including a newborn infant nicknamed "Butch", transporting them to Pearl Harbor. On their way, the sub sights a Japanese aircraft carrier and attacks, but its torpedoes malfunction, exploding halfway to the target. Pursued by the carrier's escorting destroyers, ''Thunderfish'' manages to escape.
While in Pearl Harbor, the ship's Executive Officer, LCDR Duke E. Gifford (John Wayne) goes to visit Butch at the base hospital, and runs into his ex-wife, LTJG Mary Stuart (Patricia Neal), a Navy nurse, and they kiss passionately. Unfortunately, Mary is now romantically involved with Navy pilot LTJG Bob Perry (Philip Carey), Pop's younger brother. Duke pursues Mary anyway, but is sent to sea again before anything is settled.
As the sub returns from the patrol, they spot a Japanese freighter, but again their torpedoes fail to explode. The enemy ship raises the white flag, and ''Thunderfish'' surfaces and approaches. The freighter turns out to be a heavily armed Q-ship that opens fire on the sub. Mortally wounded, Commander Perry orders the boat to crash dive, knowing that he will not be able to get below before she submerges.
With the sub now under Duke's command, he takes the offensive against the Q-ship. He notifies the crew that the boat will "battle surface" after moving into position to attack the ship. On surfacing, Gifford orders the boat's deck guns and anti-aircraft guns, as well as numerous portable light and mountable heavy machine guns operated by the deck crew, to fire at will. After the Q-ship's bridge is disabled and the ship set afire, Duke orders flank speed, ramming the sub into the Japanese ship, holing the engine room and sinking the Q-ship.
''Thunderfish'', with her forward torpedo room seriously damaged but flooding contained, limps home for repairs. Back at Pearl Harbor, Bob Perry believes that Duke's order to dive the boat killed his brother, and he refuses to listen to Duke's explanation. Mary tries to comfort Duke, but he rejects her attempts, declaring he only did his duty and feels no regret.
Working with the sub base's torpedo specialists, Duke and the crew of the ''Thunderfish'' undertake an investigation to find out why the torpedoes are not exploding. When they finally discover the answer, Duke goes to Mary to celebrate, but she rejects him. Since he wouldn't let her into his life when he was at his lowest, she feels that they cannot have a real relationship. Her superior, Cmdr. Steele (Kathryn Givney), overhears the conversation and castigates Mary for throwing away her chance for happiness with Duke.
Once again ''Thunderfish'' heads to sea, this time as part of a scouting line searching for a Japanese fleet heading for Leyte to savage the American invasion force there. ''Thunderfish'' finds the enemy. Even though it will reveal their presence, Duke broadcasts the fleet's position. Once Pearl Harbor acknowledges the message, Duke salvoes his torpedoes and makes a run for it, throwing the attacking Japanese warships into chaos. Despite enduring a battering from Japanese depth charges, ''Thunderfish'' manages to sink a Japanese aircraft carrier.
In the next phase of the battle, American carrier aircraft arrive and attack the Japanese fleet. ''Thunderfish'', now assigned to lifeguard duty, helps to rescue shot down American flyers, and does so while under attack from Japanese fighters. While rescuing LT Bob Perry, the Chief of the Boat and Junior, a seaman from a Navy family, are killed and Duke is wounded by a strafing Japanese Zero.
When the ''Thunderfish'' returns to Pearl Harbor after the patrol, Mary is waiting for Duke. The two, reconciled, head to the hospital, intending to adopt Butch.
An escape tunnel for the naval officer prisoners during the Second World War at a German prisoner-of-war camp is discovered.
Lieutenant Ainsworth devises a scheme with the escape committee to use the components of a mannequin named Albert to convince the Germans that all prisoners sent outside the camp for a bathhouse wash up are returned to the camp. A piece of Albert is smuggled with the prisoners going to the bathhouse and reassembled for the return. Ainsworth also has a woman pen pal he has never seen; he plans to marry her once he is free. Though the originator has the right to try out his own idea, Ainsworth insists that his hut mates draw cards for the privilege; Erickson wins and gets away.
After waiting a while, they decide to reuse the ploy. This time, Ainsworth's friend, after hearing that his pen pal has not written in a while, sees to it that the draw is rigged so that he wins. Ainsworth auctions his place, only to have Captain Maddox, the senior prisoner of war, order him to go. Ainsworth is recaptured the same day. Later, the camp commandant informs the men that Erickson was shot while resisting arrest by the Gestapo; his ashes are handed over.
When SS Schultz expresses interest in American Lieutenant "Texas" Norton's chronometer, Norton notes Schultz is in charge of the camp's boundary lights and asks him to see that they malfunction during the next Allied night bombing raid but it is a trap. Schultz signals his men to turn the lights back on while Norton is cutting through the barbed wire fence, then shoots him down in cold blood.
Schultz tries to suborn Ainsworth but Ainsworth tells him he will see to it he is prosecuted for murder after the war. When Schultz becomes the new , Ainsworth insists on trying to escape again, using Albert. He gets away but waits at night to confront Schultz outside the camp. After a struggle, he gets Schultz's pistol. When Allied bombs drop uncomfortably close by, Schultz runs for it. Ainsworth is unable to bring himself to shoot the fleeing German in the back but a bomb kills him. Ainsworth takes back Norton's chronometer from the dead man and walks away.
An iguana nest is exposed to the fallout of a military nuclear test in French Polynesia. In the South Pacific Ocean, a Japanese fishing vessel is suddenly attacked by a giant creature, with only one fisherman surviving. Dr. Niko "Nick" Tatopoulos, an NRC scientist, is in the Chernobyl exclusion zone researching the effects of radiation on wildlife, but is interrupted by an official from the U.S. State Department. In Tahiti, a mysterious Frenchman questions the traumatized survivor over what he witnessed, who repeatedly replies "Gojira." Nick is sent to Panama and Jamaica to study a trail of wreckage leading to the recovered Japanese fishing ship with massive claw marks on it. Nick identifies skin samples he discovered in the shipwreck as belonging to an unknown species. He dismisses the military's theory of the creature being a living dinosaur, instead deducing it is a mutant created by nuclear testing.
The creature travels to New York City, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. The city is evacuated before the U.S. military, on Nick's advice, lure the creature into revealing itself with a large pile of fish. Their attempt to kill it fails, however, and only causes further damage before it escapes. Nick collects a blood sample, and by performing a pregnancy test, discovers the creature reproduces asexually and so is collecting food for its offspring. Nick also meets up with his ex-girlfriend, Audrey Timmonds, a young aspiring news reporter. While she visits him, she uncovers a classified tape in his provisional military tent concerning the monster's origins and turns it over to the media. She hopes to have her report put on TV as to launch her career, but her boss, Charles Caiman, uses the tape in his report, declaring it his own discovery, and dubs the creature "Godzilla."
As a result, Nick gets removed from the operation and he disowns Audrey, before getting kidnapped by the mysterious Frenchman Philippe Roaché. Revealing himself as an agent of the French secret service, Philippe explains that he and his colleagues have been closely watching the events to cover up their country's role in the nuclear testing that created Godzilla. Suspecting a nest somewhere in the city, they cooperate with Nick to trace and destroy it. Meanwhile, Godzilla resurfaces and dives into the Hudson River to evade a second attempt by the military to kill it, where it is attacked by Navy submarines. After colliding with torpedoes, Godzilla sinks, believed to be dead by the authorities.
Nick and Philippe's team, followed by Audrey and her cameraman Victor "Animal" Palotti, find the nest inside Madison Square Garden, with over 200 eggs. The eggs begin to hatch and the strike team are attacked by the offspring. Nick, Animal, Audrey and Philippe take refuge in the Garden's broadcast booth and successfully send out a live news-report to alert the military. A prompt response involving an airstrike is initiated as the four escape moments before the Air Force bomb the arena.
Audrey and Nick reconcile, before the adult Godzilla, having survived, emerges from the Garden's ruins. Enraged by the deaths of its brood, it takes its rage out on the four, chasing them across Manhattan. After a taxi chase, they manage to trap Godzilla within the cables of the Brooklyn Bridge, allowing the returning Air Force to shoot it. Godzilla dies from its wounds, and the remaining citizens and authorities celebrate. Audrey tells Caiman that she quits working for him after what he has done, before leaving with Nick. Philippe, taking a tape Animal was recording and promising to return it after removing certain contents, thanks Nick for his help and parts ways. In the ruins of Madison Square Garden, a single surviving egg hatches and the hatchling roars.
The play is set in the fictional St. Nicholas Church School, in the Bronx, during the fall of 1964. It opens with a sermon by Father Flynn, a beloved and progressive parish priest, addressing the importance of uncertainty ("Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty," he says). The school's principal, Sister Aloysius, a rigidly conservative nun vowed to the order of the Sisters of Charity, insists upon constant vigilance. During a meeting with a younger nun, Sister James, Aloysius reveals a deep mistrust toward her students, her fellow teachers, and society in general. Naïve and impressionable, James is easily upset by Aloysius’s severe manner and harsh criticism.
Sister Aloysius and Father Flynn are put into direct conflict when she learns from Sister James that the priest met one-to-one with Donald Muller, St. Nicholas’s first African-American student. Mysterious circumstances lead her to believe that sexual misconduct occurred. In a private meeting purportedly regarding the Christmas pageant, Aloysius, in the presence of Sister James, openly confronts Flynn with her suspicions. He angrily denies wrongdoing, insisting that he was disciplining Donald for drinking altar wine, claiming to have been protecting the boy from harsher punishment. James is relieved by his explanation. Flynn's next sermon is on the evils of gossip.
Aloysius, dissatisfied with Flynn's story, meets with Donald's mother, Mrs. Muller. Despite Aloysius's attempts to shock her, Mrs. Muller says she supports her son's relationship with Flynn. She ignores Aloysius's accusations. Before departing, she hints that Donald may be "that way", and that her husband may be beating him because of this.
Father Flynn eventually threatens to remove Aloysius from her position if she does not back down. Aloysius informs him that she previously phoned the last parish he was assigned to, discovering a history of past infringements. After declaring his innocence, the priest begins to plead with her, at which point she blackmails him and demands that he resign immediately, or else she will publicly disgrace him with his history. She leaves the office, disgusted. Flynn calls the bishop to apply for a transfer, where, later, he receives a promotion and is instated as pastor of a nearby parochial school.
Learning this, Aloysius reveals to Sister James that the decisive phone call to Flynn's previous parish was a fabrication and she has no evidence of past wrongdoing. As a result, Aloysius is left with ambiguous doubt and the audience is left to wonder if the doubt is in either herself or the Church. With no proof that Father Flynn is or is not innocent, the audience is left with its own doubt.
''Populous: The Beginning'' takes place before the first two games in the series in a planetary system of twenty-five unnamed planets. These worlds are inhabited by four human tribes, represented by their color: the green "Matak", the yellow "Chumara", and the red "Dakini". The fourth blue tribe, controlled by the player, is unnamed. Each of the tribes is generally hostile to one another, though alliances exist on some worlds. All the tribes are ruled by a single female shaman. In addition to the organized tribes are 'wildmen', neutral characters who cluster in groups around trees and water. Though they cannot attack or be attacked, players can use the Shaman's Convert spell to bring wildmen under her tribe's control.
The player's goal as Shaman is to become a deity; only by defeating all the enemies in the system can the player's shaman become omnipotent. The player begins on the planet furthest from the sun, and attacks each planet in sequence. Along the way, the Shaman learns new skills and magic to defeat her enemies. Victory requires the player to either destroy the opposition, or on occasion perform special actions. The player loses if the Shaman is killed and there are no remaining followers, if the Shaman is killed and there is no circle of reincarnation, or the player runs out of time on timed levels. Upon beating back the other tribes, the Shaman ascends to godhood and helps her people conquer the Matak, Chumara and Dakini in one final conflict.
The film opens with Oscar Wilde's 1882 visit to Leadville, Colorado during his lecture tour of the United States. Despite his flamboyant personality and urbane wit, he proves to be a success with the local silver miners as he regales them with tales of Renaissance silversmith Benvenuto Cellini.
Wilde returns to London and weds Constance Lloyd (Jennifer Ehle). They have two sons in quick succession. While their second child is still an infant, the couple hosts a young Canadian named Robbie Ross (Michael Sheen), who seduces Wilde and helps him come to terms with his homosexuality. Ross' love for Wilde endures. On the opening night of his play ''Lady Windermere's Fan'', Wilde is re-introduced to the dashingly handsome and foppish poet Lord Alfred Douglas (Jude Law), whom he had met briefly the year before. The two fall into a passionate and tempestuous relationship. The hedonistic Douglas is not content to remain monogamous and frequently engages in sexual activity with rent boys while his older lover plays the role of voyeur.
Douglas' father, the Marquess of Queensberry (Tom Wilkinson), a violent and cruel man, objects to his son's relationship with Wilde and demeans the playwright shortly after the opening of ''The Importance of Being Earnest''. When Wilde sues the Marquess for criminal libel, his homosexuality is publicly exposed. He is eventually tried for gross indecency and sentenced to two years' hard labour. Constance is advised by friends to go abroad and change her name to protect the children.
Prison life is grueling; the penal treadmill permanently wrecks Wilde's health. Bosie tells Robbie he will look after Wilde in some pleasant sunny place when he is released. Constance visits him in prison. She is sending Cyril to school in Germany, and she may need back surgery. He tells her he has always loved her, and that he did not know himself in the beginning, She tells him she does not want a divorce. The children love him and he is welcome to visit—as long as he never sees Douglas again.
Ada meets Wilde when he is released from prison in May 1897, carrying the manuscript of De Profundis. He goes straight into exile, to continental Europe. He puts flowers on Constance's grave. Since she died (in April 1898) he is no longer allowed to see his children. He eventually meets with Douglas. A printed epilogue notes that they parted after three months and describes Wilde's death in Paris in November 1900 at age 46 and the fates of Bosie and Ross.
Portions of the beloved Wilde story ''The Selfish Giant'' are woven throughout the film, beginning when Wilde tells the story to his children, then as Constance reads the book to them and so on until Wilde almost finishes the story in a voice-over as the film nears its end.
As an alternative to prison, young American Joe Armstrong is conscripted into the U.S. Army by a judge. Joe ends up fighting off the Black Star Order of ninjas while stationed in the Philippines. He saves Patricia Hickock, daughter of Colonel William Hickock, Joe's commanding officer, from a kidnapping attempt. But because the rest of Joe's platoon is wiped out by the ninjas, Joe's popularity with his fellow GIs takes a nosedive, even as he is targeted for revenge by the Black Star Master Ninja.
While performing chores on the base, Corporal Curtis Jackson goads Joe into a fight. Jackson proves no match for Joe's ninjitsu expertise, which greatly impresses him and their fellow soldiers. Shortly after that, Jackson discovers that Joe is an amnesiac; he remembers very little of his past, other than running with various street gangs and mastering several exotic martial arts. The grateful Patricia organizes a date for herself with Joe. Jackson and another soldier, Charley Madison, sneak Joe off the base. Still, he and Patricia are caught during dinner by Sergeant Rinaldo, who is in the middle of a meeting with black marketer Victor Ortega, whose payroll the sergeant is on. To get Joe out of the way, Rinaldo leads him to an abandoned warehouse, ostensibly for dropping off supplies. There, Joe is ambushed by ninjas but defeats all of them. Then Joe's truck is stolen, and he gives chase using a motorcycle. The truck driver runs Joe off the road; thinking Joe dead, he brings the truck to Ortega.
Joe, however, hides under the truck and is brought to the heart of Ortega's operation, which encompasses the Black Star Ninja training camp. Ortega is paying the Black Star Order for weapons stolen from the Army, which he then resells to the highest bidder. Joe is discovered but escapes with the aid of Ortega's servant Shinyuki. He returns to the base, where he is promptly arrested by military police under Rinaldo's false accusation that ''he'' is fencing the arms. Jackson realizes that Joe has been set up, but his protests are wasted on Rinaldo. Black Star Master infiltrates the fence that night, slaughters the on-duty MPs, and then tries to kill Joe, but is thwarted by the sudden arrival of MP reinforcements, none of whom see the Black Star Master fleeing the scene. One of the dead MPs is found with a throwing star lodged in his head, further implicating Joe.
Only Jackson, Charlie, and Patricia believe that Joe is innocent of the charges he now faces. They tell Hickock everything they know about the hijacking and murders, but he scoffs at their story. After briskly dismissing them, Colonel Hickock meets Rinaldo privately, revealing that he is also Ortega's accomplice. Hickock orders Rinaldo to finish off Joe, but then the Black Star Master kidnaps Patricia since her father is becoming a less-than-reliable partner. Rinaldo attempts to run Joe off the road, only to be killed himself.
Joe returns to Ortega's mansion, where he is reunited with Shinyuki. It is revealed that Shinyuki, a former Japanese holdout soldier, adopted Joe at birth after the boy's parents died. He trained Joe in the ways of ninjitsu until a bomb blast separated the two; each has believed the other to be dead for years. Now Shinyuki completes Joe's training, and they launch a surprise attack on the Black Star camp. Shinyuki sacrifices his life to help Joe defeat the Black Star Master; meanwhile, Hickock leads his assault on Ortega to rescue his daughter and wipe out any evidence that connects him to Ortega's weapon-jacking. Ortega flees by helicopter with Patricia as his hostage after gunning down her father. Joe, however, boards Ortega's chopper; he and Patricia jump to safety just before Jackson shoots down the helicopter, killing Ortega.
The somewhat fictionalised version of the true story is set in Stalag Luft III — the same POW camp where the real events depicted in the film ''The Great Escape'' took place, albeit from a different compound – and involved Williams, Michael Codner and Oliver Philpot, all inmates of the camp. In the book and film, the escapees are renamed "Flight Lieutenant Peter Howard", "Captain John Clinton" and "Philip Rowe".
The prisoners are faced with the problem of digging an escape tunnel despite the accommodation huts, within which the tunnel entrance might be concealed, being a considerable distance from the perimeter fence. They come up with an ingenious way of digging the tunnel with its entrance located in the middle of an open area relatively near the perimeter fence and using a vaulting horse (constructed largely from plywood from Canadian Red Cross parcels), to cover the entrance.
Recruiting fellow-prisoners to form a team of vaulters, each day they carry the horse out to the same spot, with a man hidden inside. The prisoners begin gymnastic exercises using the vaulting horse, while the concealed man digs down below it. At the end of the session, the digger places wooden boards, cut to fit the aperture, in the hole, and fills the space with sandbags and dry sand kept for the purpose – wet sand taken from below the surface would be darker and hence give away the tunneling activity.
As the tunnel lengthens, two men are eventually hidden inside the horse while a larger group of men exercise, the two men continue to dig the tunnel. At the end of the day, they conceal the tunnel entrance once more and hide inside the horse while it is carried back to their hut. They also devise a method of disposing of the earth coming out of the tunnel. They recruit a third man, Phil, to assist them, with the promise that he will join the escape.
At the final break-out, Clinton hides in the tunnel during an ''Appell'' (roll call), before three men are carried out in the horse: the third to replace the tunnel trap.
Howard and Clinton travel by train to the Baltic port of Lübeck; (in fact, they travelled via Frankfurt an der Oder to Stettin). Phil elects to travel alone, posing as a Norwegian margarine salesman and travelling by train via Danzig (now Gdańsk). He was the first to get to neutral territory.
On the docks Howard and Clinton are forced to kill a German sentry who surprised the hiding men; and they contact French workers, through which they meet "Sigmund", a Danish resistance worker who smuggles them onto a Danish ship. They then have to transfer to a fishing boat and arrive in Copenhagen, before being shipped to neutral Sweden. There they are reunited with Phil, who arrived earlier.
Some details from Williams' book were not used in the film, e.g. the escaped POWs discussing the possibility of visiting potentially neutral brothels in Germany, an idea that was abandoned because of the fear that it might be a trap.
Harlan Williams, an elderly janitor, is caught up in an explosion at the top-secret laboratory where he works. After surviving but discovering he is now "aging" in reverse, he ends up on the run from an operative of "The Shop".
Buford "Bud" Davis, a native of Spur, Texas, moves to Houston to take a job at an oil refinery where his uncle, Bob Davis, is employed. His goal is to make enough money to return to Spur and buy some land. While staying with Bob and his family, Bud embraces the local nightlife, including spending many nights at Gilley's, a bar and nightclub in Pasadena.
One night, Bud meets a woman named Sissy at Gilley's. They fall in love, marry soon after and move into a brand-new mobile home. Although they love each other, they quarrel often. Sissy is feisty and independent, while hot-tempered Bud believes in traditional gender roles. Their lives settle into a routine of working during the day and spending time at Gilley's at night, where Bud likes to ride the mechanical bull. When Sissy expresses interest in riding it herself, Bud forbids it.
Recently-paroled convict Wes Hightower lands a job at Gilley's operating the mechanical bull. When he flirtatiously tips his hat at Sissy, a drunken Bud becomes enraged and gets into a fistfight with him. Sissy, along with her friend Jessie, spends time during the day at Gilley's where Wes teaches Sissy how to ride the mechanical bull. One night at Gilley's, wanting to impress Bud, Sissy rides the bull, but Bud becomes angry that she defied him. When Bud falls off during his second ride, Wes intentionally swings the bull around hard, breaking Bud's arm. At home, Bud and Sissy debate over her riding the bull again. When she insists that she will and assumes Bud was jealous of her riding it better than he does, Bud slaps her and throws her out of the mobile home. Soon after, Bud sees Sissy at Gilley's. She refuses to speak to him, so Bud retaliates by dancing with a beautiful girl named Pam, the daughter of a rich oilman. He leaves with Pam, making sure that Sissy sees them in order to make her jealous. The next morning, she moves in with Wes who lives in a run-down trailer behind Gilley's.
Bud wants to compete in Gilley's upcoming mechanical bull riding contest in which the winner will be awarded $5,000. While Bud is away training with Bob, a former rodeo champion, Sissy returns to Bud's mobile home to gather her belongings. While there, she cleans the mobile home and leaves Bud a note saying that she hopes that they can get back together. Pam arrives while Sissy is still there, but Sissy leaves shortly thereafter. Pam then discovers Sissy's note and throws it away after reading it. Pam leads Bud to believe that she cleaned the mobile home while he was out. Sissy arrives back at Wes's trailer and catches him with Marshalene, a woman who works at Gilley's. After Marshalene leaves, an angry Sissy throws a carton of cigarettes at him and refuses to fix him a meal. In response, Wes physically abuses her.
Bob urges Bud to make up with Sissy, citing how his own formerly bad behavior nearly ended his marriage. Shortly after, Bob is killed in an accidental explosion at the refinery. Sissy attends the funeral and tells Bud that Wes was fired from Gilley's and is unable to find another job. She says that she and Wes plan to go to Mexico after Wes wins the $5,000 award money at the mechanical bull riding contest that night.
Bud plans to skip the competition, but his Aunt Corene encourages him to go, saying that Bob would have wanted him to compete. Bud wins the contest but then expresses disappointment that Sissy is not there to see the $5,000 awarded. Pam realizes that Bud still loves Sissy. She tells Bud about Sissy's note that she discarded and that she does not really love him, then urges Bud to reconcile with Sissy. While Sissy is waiting in her car in the parking lot, Wes goes inside Gilley's to rob Bud's $5,000 award money. Bud finds Sissy in the parking lot, tells her that he still loves her and apologizes for hitting her. They reconcile, but after seeing Sissy's bruised face, a furious Bud goes after Wes, and a fight ensues inside the bar. Wes drops his gun, and the stolen cash falls from his jacket. Gilley's staff, discovering the robbery, apprehend Wes. Bud and Sissy leave together, heading for home.
Dr. Gerald Bull designs a supergun codenamed Project Babylon for Iraq. He believes that it is for launching satellites into space and assumes it could serve no military purpose for a few reasons: firstly, it cannot traverse, secondly, it would have to be completely disassembled and reassembled to change targets, and lastly, it could fire only once before being located and destroyed. He comes to discover the ''true'' reason only shortly before being assassinated by his paymasters, though his death is variously blamed by the media on the Mossad, the Central Intelligence Agency, or any one of numerous other intelligence organisations.
Iraq subsequently invades Kuwait, leading the British and Americans to require top-level intelligence on the ground. Major Mike Martin of the Special Air Service is seconded to SIS to collaborate with the Kuwaiti resistance. Not only does Major Martin speak fluent Arabic, but with his black hair and dark complexion, he can practically pass for an Arab. His brother, Terry, an expert in Arab military studies, works with the Medusa Committee, a joint British-American panel investigating Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
The CIA and SIS do not have any assets deep inside the Iraqi government and the Mossad also initially deny they have any active assets in Iraq. However, they are forced later to admit they have an unidentified top agent, codenamed "Jericho", whom they have been paying for information on the Iraqi military and government through an account in Vienna, but from whom they have not heard since the invasion began. Since Israel is forced to stay out of the war to prevent alienating Arab countries in the Coalition, they agree to let the Americans run Jericho, ''if'' they can find him. Mike Martin is recalled from Kuwait and sent into Iraq to run Jericho through a series of dead drops while working a cover job as a house gardener for the Soviet Union's First Secretary to the Soviet Embassy in Bagdad.
The Medusa Committee concludes that Iraq's biological weapons capability is ''not'' a threat and, despite possessing a plentiful supply of yellowcake, it's had insufficient time with its limited underground gas centrifuges to produce the weapons-grade uranium-235 to make an atomic bomb. They decide that gas is the real danger, and the Americans make an unequivocal threat to the Iraqi government to retaliate and attack Baghdad with nuclear weapons should gas be used. However, an over-eager American F-15E pilot, frustrated at an aborted bombing run, drops his bombs on a building unlisted on his target list and reconnaissance photographs reveal strange large metal discs underneath the roof. Terry Martin takes the photographs to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California to see if they can identify the discs, where a retired Manhattan Project employee identifies the discs as Calutrons (California Cyclotrons), a low-tech solution to refining uranium, ideal for Third World nations wanting to develop their own nuclear capability, and subsequently determines that had Iraq used them in conjunction with their existing centrifuges, they could have made a nuclear bomb already.
Jericho reveals the location of a factory where such a bomb was put together and it is destroyed; however, he later reports that the weapon had been moved hours prior to a new site, a place called the "Qa'ala" (Fortress). Despite the $5 million already paid to him, Major Martin offers him $3 million more to expose the bomb's new location. Nonetheless, the Americans remain highly skeptical because such a bomb would be too heavy to attach to a Scud missile and the Coalition's air supremacy would prevent a plane from getting close enough to drop it. In order to bypass both these problems, Iraq's solution is a supergun, hidden in a classified location, designed to fire the atomic weapon, called "The Fist of God", into Saudi Arabia should the Coalition begin the ground phase of Desert Storm, which would kill approximately 100,000 soldiers, and the consequent radioactive fallout will be carried into Iran.
Jericho next reports the cannon's location to be somewhere in the Jebal al-Hamreen mountains in eastern Iraq (after having interrogated the project's lead engineer). Major Martin, who narrowly escapes capture by Iraqi counter-intelligence for transmitting Jericho's messages to his own handlers, decides to leave Iraq. Safely recovered across the border, Mike volunteers to HALO jump with a British SAS team into Iraq to destroy the cannon. The Americans agree to delay the invasion by two days, citing weather conditions as the reason. The SAS squad designates the target and a lone U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle destroys the supergun in a bombing run. General Norman Schwarzkopf is told the mission has been successful and orders the land invasion of Kuwait to commence.
Because of the pressure on the Israelis to admit Jericho's existence, the Mossad executes "Operation Joshua", an attempt to infiltrate the Viennese bank holding Jericho's account and seize the money. An agent's seduction of the bank manager's secretary along with the assistance from Jewish diaspora, helps the Mossad access and photograph the details of the Jericho account, allowing the Israeli government to recover the entire reward rendered to Jericho. The secretary, Edith Hardenberg, eventually commits suicide when she realized that her "lover" has used her to obtain the information. Jericho – who turns out to be AMAM director Brigadier Omar "The Tormentor" Khatib – is picked up by Mossad agents masquerading as American military intelligence agents, flown out of Iraq, drugged, and his body thrown into the sea from 10,000 feet.
During the Second World War, newly promoted Major Stringer of the Royal Marines devises a novel idea for a raid. By using collapsible canoes, he believes it is possible for commandos to reach an enemy-held harbour undetected and blow up ships with limpet mines. He is given command of a small group of volunteers.
However, he clashes with his veteran second-in-command, the cynical, by-the-book Captain Hugh Thompson. The two officers represent the clash of cultures in the Royal Marines in the Second World War and postwar. Stringer is the enthusiastic promoter of commando operations requiring daring and initiative, but has no experience leading men or operations. Thompson represents the old guard of traditional ship's detachments. Sergeant Craig trains the men following Stringer's directions, but Thompson strongly disapproves of his commander's lax methods. When a test mission ends disastrously, Stringer admits his mistake and turns to Thompson, who soon whips the marines into shape.
Ruddock, one of the men, goes AWOL due to marital problems. Thompson gets to Ruddock's wife first and finds her with her civilian lover, but leaves when they both insult him. He goes to the local pub for a drink and finds the missing Marine. Thompson gives Ruddock enough time to beat up his wife's paramour, then drives him back to camp.
The raid is launched soon afterwards by submarine in under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Greaves. The commandos are inserted into the sea close to the mouth of the Gironde river in their Cockle Mk II collapsible canoes as Greaves resubmerges and HMS ''Tuna'' disappears. As the submarine carrying the canoeists arrive off the Gironde estuary, a depth charge attack by a passing German patrol boat knocks out Ruddock's partner. Thompson, who was not supposed to go on the raid, volunteers to take his place. The raiders then disembark and begin their attack. Following hard routine they now face seventy miles of arduous paddling upriver. After moving by night and hiding by day, only four crews reach the target, where they plant limpet mines on a number of German cargo ships. All this during harsh December weather.
The raid is successful, but only Stringer and Clarke manage to escape. Four, including Thompson and Ruddock, are captured while the other four are killed on the way to the docks. When Thompson and the other prisoners refuse to divulge what their mission was, they are shot by firing squad, just as the mines explode.
In June 2044, the Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF) fleet gathers at Moon Base ALUCE for its final attempt to drive the alien Invid from the Earth. Among the REF fighter pilots are Maia Sterling, Marcus Rush and Alex Romero, all of whom were born in space during the REF mission and have never seen Earth. General Reinhardt sends Vince Grant, captain of the ''Icarus'', on a rescue mission to look for Rick Hunter, chief military commander of all REF forces and a legendary veteran of the First Robotech War.
Despite not having a powerful arsenal, General Reinhardt begins the attack. The assault initially goes well until the Invid Regis launches all of her remaining forces in one final wave. When Reinhardt tries to get an update from the ground forces, he makes contact with resistance leader Scott Bernard. Scott informs Reinhardt that the attack is going poorly. Ending the communication, Scott meets with Ariel, an Invid princess that looks like a young human woman, and Scott's love interest. Ariel hopes to convince her mother, the Invid Regis, that the humans and the Invid can live in peace. As the battle rages on, Ariel finally convinces her mother to leave Earth rather than allow both races to be destroyed. Ariel, after using her teleportation power to travel to Moon Base ALUCE, informs Scott that she had a vision. The Children of the Shadow are planning on attacking the REF. Scott is arrested and interrogated, where he warns of the impending attack.
Suddenly, all contact with Space Station Liberty is lost. When the ''Icarus'' arrives, Liberty is under attack by a large fleet of alien ships which have jammed all communications. The battle is going poorly for the REF; capital ships are being destroyed with just one hit. It then becomes clear that the Haydonites are in fact the Children of the Shadow, and that Ariel's warning was true. Captain Grant realizes that every piece of technology the Haydonites have given to the REF contains some kind of Trojan Horse. Unable to restore communications, Grant is unable to warn the remaining ships of these findings, and they are left to fight a hopeless battle.
Louie searches for ships that have no Shadow technology but finds only one: the massive colony ship ''Ark Angel''. Vince orders the evacuation of all station personnel to the ''Ark Angel''. Liberty has the remaining stockpile of Neutron-S missiles, and Vince sets one to self-destruct. The ''Ark Angel'' is able to depart as planned. The Haydonites move their fleet towards Liberty as the Neutron-S warheads detonate, destroying Liberty and the entire Haydonite fleet.
As the ''Ark Angel'' approaches Earth, Maia and Marcus console each other over the recent events. General Reinhardt gives Vince his new orders: Vince and his crew are to take the ''Ark Angel'' and attempt to locate the SDF-3, which may not have been destroyed as initially thought. As Scott and Ariel share a kiss, Louie does his best to reassure a confused and uncertain Janice that "We will win."
In the main plot of the tale, Phoebus has a crow, which is all white and can speak. Phoebus also has a wife, whom he treasures but keeps shut up in his house. He is very jealous of his wife:
The Manciple digresses to say that one cannot tame a creature to remove its essential nature; no matter how well-fed a tame cat may be, it will still attack mice instinctively. Similarly, Phoebus's wife takes a lover of low estate; the crow reveals their secret, and Phoebus in rage kills his wife. In his grief afterwards, he regrets his act and blames the crow, cursing it with black feathers and an unmelodious voice. The Manciple ends by saying it is best to hold one's tongue, and not to say anything malicious even if it is true.
Former Irish nationalist 'organisation' member Johnny McQueen has been hiding the past six months since his escape from prison in a Belfast house occupied by Kathleen Sullivan (who has fallen in love with Johnny) and her grandmother. He is ordered to rob a mill but due to his seclusion his men question his fitness; his lieutenant Dennis offers to take his place, but Johnny turns him down.
Johnny, Nolan, and Murphy carry out the robbery, but a guard is killed. Johnny is shot in the shoulder and, during the gang's escape he falls out of the getaway car; disorientated, he hides in a nearby air raid shelter.
After telling Dennis what happened, Nolan, Murphy and Pat (the getaway driver) leave for "headquarters." On the way they are seen by police and pursued. Pat and Nolan stop off at Theresa O'Brien's well-to-do guest house, but Murphy does not trust her and goes elsewhere. Theresa betrays Pat and Nolan, who are killed in a gunfight with police.
Dennis finds Johnny, but the police show up nearby. Dennis is captured after drawing them away.
Johnny makes his way toward Kathleen's place, but collapses in the street. Passers-by Maureen and Maudie take him home, thinking he has been struck by a passing lorry. They attempt to give first-aid then see it is a gunshot wound, realising who they have found as the husband returns. An argument over what to do starts, Johnny hears their debate and departs, getting into a parked hansom cab. "Gin" Jimmy, the cab driver, comes out and starts looking for a fare, unaware he already has a wanted man for a passenger. When he finds out, he drops Johnny off as quickly as he can.
Shell spots him dumping the now nearly unconscious fugitive. A poor man, Shell goes to Catholic priest Father Tom, hoping for a financial reward. By chance, Kathleen arrives shortly afterward, looking for help. Father Tom tells Kathleen that Johnny has killed a man and must pay the price. She replies that she will kill him herself rather than let him be taken and executed and she will kill herself to go with him and protect him, which the priest tries to talk her out of. Father Tom persuades Shell to fetch Johnny. Shell, while dropping off his pet bird at home, has to fend off another resident, the eccentric painter Lukey, who wants him to pose for a portrait again; an argument starts between them. Meanwhile, Johnny revives and stumbles into a local pub where he is recognised by the landlord, Fencie, who quickly deposits Johnny in a snug where no one else will see him. As Fencie wonders how to rid himself of Johnny without causing offence to either side, Shell and Lukey who separately have converged on the bar start a fight with each other. Fencie breaks it up, closes for the evening, and persuades Lukey to take Johnny away in a cab as penance. Over Shell's protests, Lukey takes Johnny back to his studio to paint his portrait. Failed medical student Tober tends to Johnny's wound as best he can. Johnny hallucinates, thinking Father Tom is talking to him.
When a sympathetic police inspector, who had earlier led a search of Kathleen's home and warned her against getting involved, shows up to try to get information from Father Tom, Kathleen slips away. She arranges passage on a ship for Johnny and goes searching for him. Shell starts Johnny toward Father Tom's, then goes ahead and encounters Kathleen. She takes Johnny toward the ship but sees the police closing in. She then draws a gun and fires twice at nothing, forcing the police to return fire (thanks to their 'two shots fired' rule) killing them both.
Peter McGowan (Kenneth Branagh) is a chain-smoking, impotent, insomniac British playwright who lives in Los Angeles. Once very successful, he is now in the tenth year of a decade-long string of production failures. His latest play is in the hands of effeminate director Brian Sellars (David Krumholtz), who is obsessed with Petula Clark; his wife Melanie (Robin Wright Penn) is determined to have a baby; he finds himself bonding with a new neighbor's lonely young daughter (Suzi Hofrichter) who has mild cerebral palsy; and during one of his middle-of-the-night strolls, he encounters his oddball doppelgänger (Jared Harris) who claims to be Peter McGowan and develops a friendship of sorts with him.