Japhet Loveday has been convicted of highway robbery and sent to prison, where he faces deportation to the penal colony of Botany Bay. His wife Gwendolyn races to prove his innocence, but powerful men are working to ensure she will be too late.

Meanwhile, Edward Loveday's marriage is stretched to breaking point as he struggles to hold together the shipyard and family estate despite his deteriorating health. He is fighting a losing battle however, and finally dies from the effects of a gunshot wound that never fully healed.

St John returns from America on hearing of his father's death. But there are further shocks for him - Meriel, his estranged wife, has returned from London after being discarded by her wealthy lover. Bankrupt and desperately ill from tuberculosis, she seeks to reinstate herself into the Loveday family and become mistress of Trevowan, the family estate.

Category:2004 British novels Category:Novels by Kate Tremayne Category:Novels set in Cornwall Category:Historical romance novels Category:British romance novels Category:Headline Publishing Group books

Fourteen-year-old Nadav is hopelessly in love with his aunt Nina (Ayelet Zurer), who has recently lost her husband (Hattab). He is caught between the two worlds of his divorced parents: his mother (Waxman) is a high-strung fashionista, while his father (Ben Ari) has recently become devoutly Orthodox and withdrawn from the family in order to join a group of Hassidic Jews who tour Tel Aviv in a van, blasting the word of God through loudspeakers.

The Canfield and McKay families have been feuding for so long, no one remembers the reason the feud started in the first place. One stormy night in 1810, family patriarch John McKay and his rival James Canfield kill each other. After the tragic death of her husband, John's wife decides her son Willie will not suffer the same fate. She moves to New York to live with her sister, who after the mother's death raises him without telling him of the feud.

Twenty years later, Willie receives a letter informing him that his father's estate is now his. His aunt tells him of the feud, but he decides to return to his Southern birthplace anyway to claim his inheritance. On the train ride, he meets a girl, Virginia. They are shy to each other at first, but become acquainted during many train mishaps. At their destination, she is greeted by her father and two brothers; she, it turns out, is a Canfield. Willie innocently asks one of the brothers where the McKay estate is. The brother offers to show him the way, but stops at every shop in search of a pistol to shoot the unsuspecting Willie. By the time he obtains one, Willie has wandered off. Willie is very disappointed to discover the McKay "estate" is a rundown home, not the stately mansion he had imagined. Later, however, he encounters Virginia, who invites him to supper.

When he arrives, the brothers want to shoot him, but the father refuses to allow it while he is a guest in their mansion. The father refers to this as "our hospitality". When Willie overhears a conversation between the brothers, he finally realizes his grave predicament. A parson comes to supper as well. Afterward, the parson prepares to leave, but he finds it is raining furiously. The Canfield patriarch insists the parson stay the night. McKay invites himself to do the same.

The next morning, McKay stays inside the house, while the Canfield men wait for his departure. The father catches McKay kissing his daughter. McKay finally manages to leave safely by putting on a woman's dress. However, a chase ensues. He eventually starts down a steep cliff side, but is unable to find a way to the bottom. One Canfield lowers a rope (so he can get a better shot) to which Willie ties himself, but the Canfield falls into the water far below, dragging Willie along. Finally, Willie manages to steal the train locomotive and tender, but the tender derails, dumping him into the river towards the rapids. Virginia spots him and goes after him in a rowboat; she falls into the water and is swept over the edge of the large waterfall. McKay swings trapeze-like on a rope, catching her hands in mid-fall and depositing her safely on a ledge.

When it grows dark, the Canfield men decide to continue their murderous search the next day. Returning home, they see Willie and Virginia embracing; Joseph Canfield furiously rushes into the room, gun in hand. He is brought up short by the parson, who asks him if he wishes to kiss the bride. Seeing a hanging "love thy neighbor" sampler, the father decides to bless the union and end the feud. The Canfields place their pistols on a table; Willie then divests himself of the many guns he took from their gun cabinet.

Doctor Eggman kidnaps Princess Elise of Soleanna in the hopes of harnessing the Flames of Disaster, a destructive power sealed within her. Aided by his friends Tails and Knuckles, Sonic works to protect Elise from Eggman. Meanwhile, Shadow, his fellow agent Rouge, and Eggman accidentally release an evil spirit, Mephiles. The spirit transports the agent duo to a post-apocalyptic future ravaged by a demonic monster, Iblis. When Mephiles meets survivors Silver and Blaze, he fools them into thinking Sonic is the cause of this destruction and sends them to the present to kill him.

Throughout the story, Sonic and friends travel between the past, present, and future in their efforts to stop Mephiles and Iblis and protect Elise from Doctor Eggman. Though at first Silver stalks Sonic and impedes his attempts to save Elise, Shadow reveals to him that Sonic is not the cause of his world's suffering but rather Mephiles, who is trying to change the past for his own evil purposes. They travel 10 years in the past and learn that Mephiles seeks to bond with Iblis, who was sealed within Elise as a child, as they are the two halves of Soleanna's omnipotent god, Solaris. Mephiles eventually succeeds after killing Sonic to make Elise cry over his death, releasing her seal on Iblis and merging with him to become Solaris, who then attempts to consume time itself. The heroes use the power of the Chaos Emeralds to revive Sonic, and he, Shadow, and Silver transform into their super forms to defeat Solaris. Sonic and Elise are brought to the past and extinguish Solaris's flame, removing the god from existence and preventing the entire game’s events from ever occurring. Despite this, Sonic and Elise show faint signs of recalling their encounter afterwards.

In the kingdom of Charak, a celebration is taking place for the coronation of Prince Kassim, but Kassim's evil stepmother, Zenobia, places a curse on him just as he is going to be crowned Caliph. Sinbad, a sailor and Prince of Baghdad, moors at Charak some time later, intent on seeking permission from Prince Kassim to marry Kassim's sister, Princess Farah, but finds the city under curfew. Sinbad and his men are offered hospitality by a man named Rafi, but during their meal one of Sinbad's crew is poisoned and the rest are attacked by Rafi, who is Zenobia's son. Sinbad defeats him, but Zenobia summons a trio of ghouls, which attack Sinbad and his men. Sinbad disposes of the ghouls by crushing them under a pile of huge logs.

Sinbad meets with Farah, who believes that Kassim's curse is one of Zenobia's spells, and unless Kassim is cured within seven moons, then Zenobia's son Rafi will become caliph instead. Sinbad, Farah and Sinbad's crew set off to find the old Greek alchemist Melanthius, a hermit on the island of Casgar, who is said to know how to break curses, and Farah brings with her a huge prehistoric baboon, who is really Kassim, transformed by Zenobia's curse. Zenobia and Rafi follow in a boat propelled by the Minoton, a magical bronze automaton created by the sorceress with the appearance of a minotaur.

Sinbad and Farah land at Casgar and find Melanthius and his daughter Dione, who agree to help them. Melanthius says they must travel to the land of Hyperborea where the ancient civilization of the Arimaspi once existed. On the way to Hyperborea, Kassim enjoys having Dione's company and develops a love interest towards her.

Zenobia uses a potion to transform herself into a seagull to spy on Sinbad. Once aboard his ship, she turns into a miniature human and listens as Melanthius tells Sinbad how to cure Kassim. Alerted by Kassim, Melanthius and Sinbad capture Zenobia. Unfortunately, her potion vial spills and a wasp ingests some of it. The wasp grows to enormous size and attacks the two men, but Sinbad kills it. Zenobia uses her remaining potion to become a seagull again and fly back to her own ship, but with not enough potion left, the lower part of her right leg remains a seagull's foot.

After a long voyage, Sinbad's ship reaches the north polar wastelands. Sinbad and his crew trek across the ice to the land of the Arimaspi, but are attacked by a giant walrus. It destroys most of their supplies and kills two men, but Sinbad and the others fend it off with spears. Zenobia uses an ice tunnel to reach the land of the Arimaspi, and she, Rafi, and the Minoton climb subterranean stairs to emerge in the warm, Mediterranean-like valley above.

Sinbad and his crew also reach the valley. While resting, they encounter a troglodyte, an tall, fur-covered caveman with a single horn on the top of its head. The troglodyte proves not dangerous, but rather friendly. The adventurers name him Trog for short, and he leads them to the giant pyramidal shrine of the Arimaspi. Zenobia and Rafi arrive at the shrine first, but as she has no key to enter, Zenobia orders the Minoton to remove a block of stone from the pyramid's wall. He succeeds, but the block crushes the Minoton and destabilizes the pyramids structure and thus the shrine's power.

Sinbad and his friends arrive minutes later and enter the shrine's main chamber, the interior of which is covered in ice and is guarded by "The Guardian of the Shrine", a smilodon frozen in a block of ice. Zenobia orders Rafi to attack Melanthius and is about to stab Dione with a knife, but Rafi is attacked by Kassim and is killed falling down the temple stairs. Momentarily overcome with grief, Zenobia cradles her son while Sinbad and Melanthius raise Kassim into the column of light at the top of the shrine, which breaks the spell on him. Seeing Kassim restored to human form, Zenobia transfers her spirit into the smilodon. Breaking free of its icy prison, the giant tiger attacks the group, but Trog engages the smilodon in combat wielding Minoton's spear. Initially gaining the upper hand, Trog is disarmed, overcome and killed. Sinbad and his men fight against the beast, but find themselves outmatched. The smilodon attacks Sinbad, who impales it on Minoton's spear, killing both it and Zenobia. The adventurers flee the temple as it collapses, becoming buried in snow and ice as the Mediterranean-like atmosphere disappears and is replaced by the freezing polar winds.

Sinbad, Kassim, Farah, Melanthius, and Dione return home just in time for Kassim to be crowned Caliph. Amidst the celebration, the film fades to black and the eyes of Zenobia appear on the screen.

Jimmy Lait (Brown) and his girlfriend, Wendy, come across Jimmy's friend, House, wounded and dying. Lait learns from House that he had escaped from a secret medical experimentation facility. Later in the hospital, a delirious House tells Lait that there is someone who aims to "kill us all" and that they have a way of doing it. However, Lait has to return to the studio to supervise a recording session with a group he is producing, The Impressions. He leaves Wendy in the hospital.

While Wendy talks to Jimmy on the phone outside of the room, two men climb through the window, murder House and kidnap Wendy. After finding out about her kidnapping, Jimmy begins a quest to find the whereabouts of his girlfriend, but a group of attackers ambush him. Lait survives with the help of his friend, Jagger Daniels (Williamson). Lait and Daniels join up with Mister Keyes (Kelly, named "Mister" by his mother so people would be forced to show him respect) after he wins a fist fight with several police officers attempting to plant drugs in his car.

Lait is shot as they capture a member of Feather's gang, but are unable to force him to give up his secrets. Jagger calls three dominatrixes: The Countess (Pamela Serpe), The Empress (Irene Tsu), and The Princess (Marie O'Henry). The eager women ask Jagger if they can go all the way, meaning, torturing the captured man to death. Jagger tells them, only after the prisoner gives him the information he seeks. They agree and proceed to go upstairs to torture the tied up man. The three women at first excite the captive by baring their breasts, but they torture him while Keyes and Daniels wait. After some time the women emerge, and say the captive is ready to talk. He informs them of Feather's plot and dies from his torture.

There is a secret plot of black genocide concocted by the nefarious Monroe Feather (Jay Robinson), the leader of a secret Neo-Nazi, white supremacist organization. Their chief scientist, Dr. Fortrero (Richard Angarola), has developed a lethal poison that only affects African Americans. They plan to deploy the serum into the water systems of Washington, D.C., Detroit, and Los Angeles, in order to wipe out their black populations.

The three heroes reunite as Lait is leaving the hospital, and decide to stop the poisoning of the water supplies. "Three the hard way, three cities, the three of us."

Lait returns to Los Angeles. Mister Keyes stops the poisoning in Washington, D.C., as Jagger does in Detroit. They reunite again to stop Feather and arm themselves to the teeth. They raid Feather's compound and rescue Wendy after a huge shootout, leaving Dr. Fortrero burned alive, and Feather and many white supremacists dead.

The Chiricahua Apache chief, Victorio, called his sister Lozen his wise counselor and his right hand. He said she had the strength of a man and was a shield to her people. Even in a society possessing extraordinary courage, endurance and skill, she was unique. The Apaches believe that when she was young, the spirits blessed her with horse magic, the gift of healing and the power to see enemies at a distance. In the Apaches' 30-year struggle to defend their homeland, they came to rely on her strength, wisdom, and supernatural abilities.

Because of her gift of far-sight, she was the only unmarried woman allowed to ride with the warriors and fight alongside them. After her beloved brother Victorio's death, she joined Geronimo's band of insurgents. With Geronimo and fifteen other warriors, she resisted the combined forces of the United States and Mexican armies, and the heavily armed civilian populations of New Mexico and Arizona Territories. She and the sixteen warriors, and seventeen women and children held out against a total of about nine thousand men.

''Tithe'' follows the story of sixteen-year-old American, Kaye Fierch, a young nomad who tours the country with her mother's rock band. The book begins in Philadelphia, at a gig her mother's band Stepping Razor is playing in a seedy bar in Philadelphia. After her mother's boyfriend and guitarist, Lloyd, attempts to stab her mother under the enchantment of Nephamael (a knight of the Unseelie Court) her mother takes her back to Kaye's grandmother's house in New Jersey to stay.

Once at her grandmother's house, Kaye begins to look for her old "imaginary" friends she had during her childhood, faeries named Lutie-Loo, Spike, and Gristle. However, she fails to find them and, begins to suspect that they were simply figments of her imagination. Her suspicions dissolve when she finds and saves the life of Roiben, a faerie knight, by pulling an iron-tipped arrow from his chest. In return, he grants her three truthfully answered questions about anything she chooses, which she does not immediately use. Soon after this, Spike and Lutie-Loo contact her and warn her that Roiben is a murderer who has killed Gristle. As revenge, Kaye tricks Roiben into telling her his full name (she later learns that faeries can be controlled by their true names).

Later on, her friends tell her that she is a changeling and that she should keep her human appearance, because the Unseelie Court wishes to use her as a "Tithe" in order to bind the Solitary Fey to the Court's queen, Nicnevin. Since Kaye is not mortal, the ritual will be forfeit, and the fey whom the Unseelie Court wishes to bind will go free. Kaye attempts to control her newfound abilities by enlisting the help of a kelpie to teach her how to use magic. She is soon kidnapped by a group of fairies, as planned and is taken to the Unseelie Court to go through the sacrificial ceremony. Before the ceremony, Roiben has a dress made for her and allowed her to stay with him that night, when they acknowledge each other's feelings. At the climax of the ceremony, Kaye uses Roiben's full name and orders him to free her from her bonds before she is killed, resulting in a bloodbath between Roiben and the court, and then fleeing to safety. He kills the queen of the Unseelie Court and many of her guards.

Kaye and Roiben spend the day at Kaye's home, and discover that strange events are affecting the mortal world. Odd reports of mauling and kidnappings are reported on the news and Roiben makes Kaye understand that this is a result of the solitary fey being free for the next seven years. Kaye receives a call from her friend Janet, inviting her to come to a Halloween rave held at the waterfront, she tries to persuade her not to go but fails. After a failed attempt to receive help from her "imaginary" faerie friends, Roiben and Kaye attend the rave. They are separated, and Kaye successfully locates her friends, but briefly leaves them to apologize to Janet's boyfriend for bewitching him earlier in the novel. However, she finds that the kelpie who lives near the waterfront has taken Janet into the water to kill her. In the novel, it is suggested that Janet went with him out of loneliness and a desire to get revenge on her boyfriend for going off with Kaye. Kaye follows but is too late and she manages to convince the kelpie to relinquish her body. Roiben finds Kaye mourning for her friend and gets her home.

The next morning, she and Roiben travel to the Seelie Court's camp some distance away to see if Corny is there. They reach a dead end, but discover that the knight (Nephamael) has proclaimed himself the king of the Unseelie Court. Roiben is suspicious of the situation and thinks that it is a trap for Kaye and him. Later, Roiben's suspicions are proved correct when they enter the Unseelie Court. Nephamael, who had discovered Roiben's true name from Spike before killing him, uses it to take control over Roiben. He orders him to seize Kaye, but Roiben uses trickery to let her get away. Kaye then devises a plan to poison Nephamael, while Corny and Roiben amuse him. She goes through with it; however, before Nephamael is dead, the Seelie Queen arrives, hoping to take over the court (right after her arrival Corny goes insane and stabs Nephamael multiple times, ultimately killing him). Roiben prevents the Queen's takeover attempt by claiming the throne as his.

The cartoon opens showing several signs posted throughout the forest indicating that it is rabbit season. It is revealed that Daffy Duck is the one putting them up, and he is shown stamping the ground with fake rabbit tracks leading to Bugs' hole. Daffy states that while he knows what he is doing is unfair, he has to have some fun "and besides, it's really duck season."

Elmer Fudd then appears and notices the rabbit tracks. He pokes his gun into the hole, threatens to blast Bugs if he does not come out, and then follows through on his threat. Bugs Bunny, however, has been watching from a hole a few feet away and wanders over to Elmer to begin a conversation with him about rabbit season. When Elmer fails to realize that Bugs is a rabbit, Daffy is angered by this and emerges from his hiding spot to point out that Bugs is a rabbit, which the latter confirms, asking if Elmer would prefer to shoot him now or wait until he gets home. Daffy passionately shouts for the first option and Bugs undermines him, "You keep out of this! He doesn't have to shoot you now!" Daffy sharply asserts, "He does ''so'' have to shoot me now!" and demands that Elmer do so. Elmer looks confused for a few seconds, but complies as Daffy sticks his tongue out at Bugs. The shot dislocates his beak to the back of his head and Daffy replaces his beak before requesting to run through again what they just said. Bugs agrees to, and upon reaching Bugs' word swap, Daffy calls him out on "pronoun trouble", saying "It's not 'he doesn't have to shoot ''you'' now.' It's 'he doesn't have to shoot ''me'' now.' WELL, I SAY HE ''DOES'' HAVE TO SHOOT ME NOW!" Subsequently, Daffy commands Elmer to shoot him again, which he does. Daffy fixes his beak again and is about to rant at Bugs before realizing that he may fall into the same trap once more. He decides to speak to Elmer instead, confirming that Elmer is a hunter and that it is rabbit season. Bugs interjects, asking what Elmer would do if Daffy was a rabbit. Daffy repeats the question forcefully, and has enough time to realize what he said (looking towards the camera and meekly saying "Not again") before Elmer shoots him. Daffy fixes his bill once more and laughs sarcastically at Bugs for his trick.

At that point Elmer grows impatient and begins firing at them both. They hide together in Bugs' hole, and Daffy checks to see if the hunter is gone at Bugs' request. Daffy is shot again, and in a daze rejects Bugs' suggestion of being a decoy, whereupon the rabbit dresses up as a woman (wearing a Lana Turner-style sweater). He manages to fool Elmer briefly, but an annoyed Daffy demands that he reveal his identity out of sheer honesty. When Daffy antagonizes Bugs, asking if he has anything to say out of sheer honesty, "she" replies that she would love a duck dinner. A lovestruck Elmer shoots Daffy, who removes his beak by hand as he is shot and replaces it afterwards. The duck approaches the rabbit, briefly apologizes for suspecting him, then removes Bugs' wig to expose him and commands Elmer to shoot him. Bugs responds by asking, "Would you like to shoot him here or wait till you get home?" Daffy attempts to escape any more tricks by choosing the latter option, whereupon he joins Elmer on a walk to his cabin and is once again shot. Daffy walks back to Bugs, fixes his beak, and the cartoon ends with Daffy rebuking Bugs, "You're despicable."

The protagonist and narrator is Merlin, who supervises the birth and raising of King Arthur. (In this version, Merlin's father is Aurelius Ambrosius, so he is Arthur's cousin.) The Duchess Ygraine is said to have conspired with him to herself bear Arthur to Uther Pendragon; whereafter Merlin goes into hiding, to evade accusations, and learns that Uther wishes the child to be hidden, until another (legitimate) son is born. In later chapters, Merlin gives the child to his own nurse Moravik, who later sends him to Count Ector of Galava to be trained in courtesy and warfare. Thereafter, Merlin visits Constantinople, where he learns from his relative Adhjan that Magnus Maximus (alias 'Macsen Wledig') possessed an especially beautiful and well-made sword, which was taken back to Britain after his death.

Inspired by a dream which he believes prophetic, Merlin finds the sword in a deserted temple of Mithras. There, Merlin becomes a hermit in an obscure shrine, providing healing to the injured and advice to the insecure. Later, Merlin becomes Arthur's tutor and that of two other boys: Arthur's foster-brother Cei and his friend Bedwyr. One day, Arthur discovers the sword of Maximus — his ancestor and Merlin's — hidden in a cave on an island in the centre of a lake, and names it Caliburn. Later he wins his first battle in a decisive victory against invading Saxons; whereupon his parentage is revealed and he is proclaimed the heir to Uther Pendragon. Shortly before he learns his identity, he unknowingly commits incest with his half-sister Morgause, and thus sires Mordred. When challenged to prove his birthright, he reveals Caliburn to the assembled kings.

''The Investigator'' concerns a Senator who is never explicitly identified as Joseph McCarthy, but who shares McCarthy's nasally whine and who uses such McCarthy-esque sayings as "Your uncooperative attitude can only cast the gravest doubts on your own loyalty." This senator dies in an airplane crash and finds himself at the gates of "Up Here", where a tribunal must decide whether he should stay Up Here or be sent "Down There". He meets Cotton Mather of the Salem Witch Trials, Tomas de Torquemada of the Spanish Inquisition and the ‘Hanging Judge’ George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys who, despite their reputations as shrewd and conniving characters, call themselves "mere untutored novices" compared to the Senator. As it turns out, they've been looking for someone to commandeer the admission tribunal and bring to it "the latest inquisitorial techniques", and they think the Senator is the perfect man for the job.

The Senator easily gains control of the committee and soon decides that a great many persons Up Here could potentially be subversives from Down There. He calls numerous historical figures to the stand, including Thomas Jefferson, Socrates, John Milton, and Martin Luther. When they testify, they all give oddly relevant quotations of theirs, such as when Voltaire states that "liberty of thought is the life of the soul." Completely disregarding their statements regarding freedom and rights, the Senator "deports" them all to "Down There", claiming that "security is the paramount issue." Trying to call Karl Marx to the stand, the Senator accidentally calls other persons named "Karl Marx" instead of ''the'' Karl Marx; as a result, he orders that all those Up Here with the name Karl Marx be deported to Down There. The Senator's actions soon create a panic of suspicion Up Here, where everyone is now a potential subversive. For instance, Beethoven, Bach, and Wagner agree to drop Chopin from their quartet because of his "Revolutionary Étude." Chopin's replacement, a "non-controversial" cipher named Otto Schmenk, gradually replaces other famous "subversives" in literature and music, but eventually he joins them in banishment as well.

Finally, after sending dozens or hundreds of "subversives" Down There, the Senator has run out of ideas. "Can’t we jazz the hearing up with a few names?" he asks an assistant, "I don’t want them to think we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel." But Satan pays a call on the Senator, begging that his investigations cease, because the influence of those he's sent Down There are changing it '''''too''''' much; Karl Marx, for example, is distributing pamphlets declaring, "Workers of the Underworld, unite! You have nowhere to go but ''up''!" ("Which Karl Marx?" asks the Senator. "How should I know! There are hundreds of them!") Satan claims the Senator is "bungling" his job, insisting there are more subtle ways to handle his committee and the deportations. But the Senator has become a demagogue, valuing his position (and absolute power) above all else. Finally, claiming that "there is no one so high as to be immune from investigation," he's found the name he's looking for: "The Chief". Now even Mather and Torquemada try to discourage him, but the Senator refuses to listen. He rises to an insane scream, crying "I AM THE CHIEF!" as "The Chief" suddenly appears before him, banishing him to Down There. However, Satan refuses him entry, so, "pursuant to Article ...", he is returned to Earth, still muttering "I am The Chief ... I am The Chief ..."

In a brief epilogue, an incredulous doctor explains to one of the Senator's allies, a Mr. Garson, that despite his being "the only survivor", found virtually unscathed at the foot of the mountain where the plane crashed, the Senator's mind has been affected, hence his strange mutterings. Declares Mr. Garson of the Senator's survival, "It was an act of God!"

Yosemite Sam is the captain and only occupant of a sailing ship, ''H.M.S. Friz Freleng'' with home port in Kansas City (an on-screen reference to the late animator and his hometown), and he's heading on a voyage for buried treasure with the means to get it for himself. He reaches the island, immediately finding the dig site, and uncovers both a treasure chest and Bugs Bunny on it. Before Sam can deal with Bugs, the rabbit shoves the chest and Sam onto the ship and sets the ship in motion. Bugs avoids walking the plank and tricks Sam into thinking he's a charming mermaid, which gets him into a swimming chase with a shark. In the end, Bugs Bunny opens his treasure chest, which is revealed to be full of carrots.

Before the cartoon ends, the short dedicates Friz Freleng in memory of him.

Bernard is a teacher in the suburbs and lives with Victoria. Didier is a wealthy Parisian pharmacist and is married to Murielle, Victoria's sister. While the former drives a rusty car, the latter drives a black Mercedes. Both brothers-in-law are complete opposites and hate each other. During dinner, Didier and Bernard make a bet: to stop smoking for fifteen days, until the next family get-together. The first days go off like a dream and both are on top of the world. But things quickly turn sour. Didier and Bernard find it harder and harder to resist the temptation. They become irritable, suspicious, they lie; until the fifteenth day: the family get-together. They have kept their word, but relations between them and their wives are at an all-time low. Despite this, they are both determined to remain non-smokers.

In 2015, the Earth's Moon vanishes to be replaced by a red moon. The new moon is more massive, causing devastating effects on Earth. It is also crawling with life. Meanwhile, a mysterious glowing construct appears in the skies over the African continent. NASA Astronaut, Reid Malenfant, flying over Africa in a T-38 training jet with his wife, Emma, decides to investigate. They collide with what appears to be a large floating wheel out of which people are falling. Ejected from the plane, Emma falls through the wheel.

Emma wakes up on a strange Earth-like world that is populated by many species of Hominidae, most of which are long extinct on Earth. Unable to think of a better plan for survival, Emma and a small group of survivors who fell through the wheel join a group of "Runners" (Homo erectus), who, after an initial confrontation resulting in the death of one of the survivors, allow them to tag along. Back on Earth, Malenfant campaigns to get a mission launched to the red moon, feeling in his heart that Emma is up there. He is ultimately successful, and, along with a Japanese scientist named Nemoto, takes off in a hastily put-together rescue mission.

Emma and the Runners encounter other species, including a group of violent "Elfs" (Australopithecine), the "Hams" (Neanderthal), as well as an un-named orangutan-like species known as "Nutcracker Men". Malenfant reaches the red moon and encounters a colony of British explorers. Upon staying with them, Malenfant learns that the red moon has been hopping between universes, scooping up the native hominids through the wheel-like constructs Malenfant had encountered over Africa. The British explorers hail from a universe where the British Empire is still going strong and has become a spacefaring nation, albeit one with technologies and cultural values more akin to the early twentieth century in Malenfant's universe.

Emma encounters a race of hyper-intelligent hominids that appear gorilla-like to her. They arrived from a version of Earth that had no moon and is constantly bombarded by high winds. Like the British explorers, the gorilla-like hominids came to the red moon by choice to investigate. Malenfant and Emma are finally reunited, and a diverse party of hominids led by the hyper-intelligent gorilla-like explorers journey to the centre of the red moon and learn of the moon's creators, hypothesizing what their goals might have been.

Alien activity is discovered in a Kirkwood gap; the aliens are identified as self-replicating machines (von Neumann probes). Their activity is potentially an immense threat, as Malenfant notes in an earlier speech: "A target system, we assume, is uninhabited. We can therefore program for massive and destructive exploitation of the system's resources, without restraint, by the probe. Such resources are useless for any other purpose, and are therefore economically free to us. And so we colonize, and build."

The self-replicating spacecraft are named ''Gaijin'' (Japanese for "foreigner"), after their discovery by a Japanese observer on the Moon. Malenfant travels in a prototype fusion engine to the Kirkwood Gap and discovers an interstellar teleportation device. He travels around the galaxy to uncover information about the Fermi paradox (see below). At the same time, the story also follows the efforts of Humans on Earth and the eventual draining of the Earth's resources, making a move off-world necessary. At the same time small group of humans use anti-aging techniques and an alien form of interstellar teleportationTeleportation using quantum entanglement – EPR correlation — to travel at light speed between transmitter and receiver to "parachute" in on the changing solar system over many centuries.

Eventually, it is revealed that in this version of the Fermi paradox, sentient life is endemic throughout the universe; Humanity simply hadn't noticed it earlier because the universe destroys any race before it becomes advanced enough to develop a Type IV civilisation. The story ends with Malenfant helping the Gaijin build a shield to prevent a pulsar from sterilising a large part of the galaxy. Although this project will not be completed before another predicted pulsar event wipes out all extant species, it is hoped to give the sentient aliens who develop from the aftermath of the coming extinction a better chance at long-term survival.

The movie is set in early 20th century China. Wong Fei-hung, along with his father Wong Kei-ying and servant Tso, is on the way home to Canton after a trip to the Northeast when he encounters Fu Wen-chi, a former top candidate in the Qing era's military examination. After an exchange of blows, Wong and Fu accidentally switch the boxes they had been fighting over. Wong ends up with the Imperial Seal while Fu gets the ginseng that Wong's father had bought for a client. Unknown to Wong, the Imperial Seal is one of numerous Chinese artifacts that the British consul is trying to smuggle out of China to Britain.

Back in Canton, Wong gives the client a root from his father's favourite bonsai to pass off as the ginseng. Wong's stepmother, Ling, complicates things when she tries to help Wong by loaning her necklace for money for Wong to buy a new ginseng; their neighbours mistakenly believe that the Wongs are in financial difficulty. In the meantime, the British consul sends his henchmen to track down Wong and seize the Imperial Seal. A fight breaks out between Wong and the henchmen when the latter try to snatch a bag from Ling, thinking that it contains the Seal. At Ling's instigation, Wong gets drunk and uses drunken boxing to beat up the henchmen until his father shows up and stops him. The older Wong is furious at his son for embarrassing their family by getting drunk and fighting in public. To make matters worse, the client falls sick after consuming the fake ginseng and his wife informs Wong's father about it. After he learns the truth behind the ginseng and bonsai, the older Wong becomes so angry that he hits his son and chases him out of the house.

When Wong tries to drown his sorrow by drinking heavily, he gets beaten up and publicly humiliated by the henchmen because he is too drunk to fight back. After his family saves him and brings him home, Wong feels deeply ashamed of his drunken behaviour and apologizes to his father, saying that he will never drink again. Meanwhile, Fu Wen-chi visits the Wong residence and tells them about the British consul's smuggling operation. The next day, Fu and Wong are attacked at a restaurant by the Axe Gang, a group of thugs hired by the consul. Fu is fatally shot and the Imperial Seal is taken by the consul's men. Before dying, Fu implores Wong and his friends to retrieve the Seal and stop the consul from stealing Chinese artifacts.

One night, Wong and his friend, Tsang, disguise themselves and break into the British consulate. They are caught, assaulted and held for ransom by the consul, who demands that Wong's father sells his land in exchange for their release; the older Wong reluctantly agrees. Later, Wong's friends discover that the British consul is planning to smuggle the stolen artifacts out of Canton using boxes meant for steel shipments. They inform Wong and Tsang, who then join the workers in a violent protest at the British-owned steel factory against the consul's abuses. Out of desperation, he breaks his promise and drinks again in order to use drunken boxing technique to defeat the main bad guy. After a long fight, Wong and his friends defeat the consul's henchmen and put an end to the smuggling operation. At the end of the movie, a Chinese general presents the Wongs a commemorative plaque to honour them for their service to the country only to find that Wong has suffered brain damage due to his drinking.

''Little Fish'' is about Tracy Heart (Cate Blanchett), a former heroin addict who is desperately trying to escape her past and achieve her goals and dreams. Tracy lives with her mother (Noni Hazlehurst) and brother Ray in the suburb of Cabramatta, Sydney, where heroin is readily available.

She is in need of money to become a partner in the video store that she works in, but her loan applications are repeatedly rejected by finance providers, as a result of her past criminal record, poor repayments of credit card debt, history of drug use and lack of collateral. Tracy lies to both her mother and her boss at the video store, pretending she has received the loan. The casual ways people lie to each other for convenience is one of the recurring themes of the movie.

Tracy is trying to help her drug addicted stepfather and former National Rugby League star Lionel Dawson (Hugo Weaving) to kick his heroin addiction. After a four-year absence in Vancouver, her former boyfriend Jonny Nguyen (Dustin Nguyen), also a former heroin addict, has come back into her life. Jonny, who now dresses in business suits, claims to have employment as a stockbroker at a large firm and suggests he may be able to obtain the money Tracy desires through share trading. The romance between Tracy and Jonny is rekindled.

Upon visiting Jonny's alleged workplace, Tracy discovers Jonny has lied to her and is not in fact employed as a stockbroker. Jonny has become involved in a drug deal with her brother Ray, and Tracy also chooses to become involved in the deal as she sees this as the only means of providing the finance she needs to become a partner in the video store.

Tracy, Ray, and Jonny set out to execute the deal, which ends in tragedy. Tracy's courage and deep love for those she cares about are notable in the climactic scenes of the film.

There are two classes of people: Long Ears and Short Ears. Long Ears, marked by large wooden plugs in their earlobes and a certain tattoo, are the ruling class. The working-class Short Ears have no ear plugs and a different tattoo. Young men from each Long Ear tribe compete in the annual Birdman Competition. The winner's tribe gets to rule the island for a year.

Ariki-mau (Eru Potaka-Dewes) has been the Birdman (Island King) for 20 years. He has a conviction that one day the gods will arrive in a great white canoe and take him to heaven. Tupa (George Henare), his advisor tells him to build more and bigger moai statues to curry favor with the gods and encourage them to come sooner. Ariki-mau petulantly rejects the latest statue—which stands over tall—as too small. The Short Ear workers are forced to build an even bigger statue in an impossibly short amount of time. The king's advisor ruthlessly enforces the rules and status quo by publicly killing a Short Ear fisherman who had accidentally caught a taboo fish.

Long Ear Noro (Jason Scott Lee) and Ramana (Sandrine Holt), a Short Ear, are both rejects in their tribes—her father was banished for building an unlucky canoe. Noro's father stole a canoe and sailed away, and is accused of abandoning the tribe. They have a secret relationship and have fallen in love.

Ariki-mau tells Noro that he has to compete in the Birdman Competition so Ariki-mau can continue to rule the island. Noro asks if he can marry Ramana if he wins the Birdman Competition. The king reluctantly agrees. The king's advisor claims that Ramana's skin is too dark and that she should be purified by spending the time from now until the Birdman Competition (six months) in the "Virgin’s Cave". He checks her virginity and snidely remarks to Noro, who is watching Ramana being lowered to the cave, that she isn't right for the Virgin's Cave and that it will be their secret. Ramana takes one last look at the sunset and goes into the cave.

Noro approaches Ramana's banished father, a canoe maker, and asks him to help him train for the Birdman competition. He initially refuses, because it is Noro's fault that his daughter is confined to a cave, but later relents and trains Noro. While training Noro he explains that he and Noro's father were great friends once and that he gave the canoe to Noro's father. He further explains that Noro's father sailed away after discovering a piece of a shipwrecked Spanish galleon, thus breaking the long-held belief that Rapa Nui is the only land left with people on the Earth.

Meanwhile, the Short Ears are beginning to starve because the king insists on them working on the new statue instead of growing food but continues taking the full quota of their remaining food for the Long Ears. The resources of the island are being rapidly used up and depleted (with the last remaining tree being cut down), due to the extensive Moai construction and overpopulation. Noro is the only person worried about the resource depletion, but his concerns are dismissed by the increasingly senile Ariki-mau.

Noro sneaks some food to his Short Ear friend Make (Esai Morales) and shares his plans to marry Ramana. Make reacts badly and Noro realizes that Make loves her, too. Make declares that they are no longer friends and runs off. Separately, Noro and Make visit Ramana at her cave, bringing her food and talking to her through the barrier at the mouth of the cave. They both declare their love to her. She always responds, but she sounds despondent.

After a supply shortage results in the death of one of the Short Ears (Heki, the former master carver), they demand half of the wood, food and other materials and that they be allowed to compete in the Birdman Competition. The King's advisor initially refuses and orders their death. However, the King gives in to their demands after realizing that if the Short Ears die no one will build the moai. The King, however, only allows them to compete after the moai has been completed. He makes the condition that if the Short Ear competitor loses he will be sacrificed. Despite these conditions Make accepts the position of the Birdman Competitor on the condition he be allowed to marry Ramana if he wins. The King agrees and Make spends all his time working and training, leaving no time for sleep or other recreational activities. Meanwhile, work on the great Moai has become so important that the Short Ears sacrifice their food to complete it.

Finally it is the Birdman Competition. Nine competitors must swim to a close by islet surrounded by pounding surf, climb the cliffs to get an egg from the nest of a sooty tern and bring it back. The first to return wins for his tribe. Noro barely wins and Ariki-mau gets to be the island's ruler for another year.

Ramana is brought from the cave, pale from her long underground stay and obviously pregnant. Before anything is decided about the fate of Ramana or Make, an iceberg is spotted off the coast. Ariki-mau believes that the iceberg is the great white canoe sent to take him to the gods and goes out to it with some of his followers. After the iceberg has carried Ariki-mau away, the advisor attempts to seize control of the island, but Make kills him and the Short Ears stage a rebellion, slaughtering and even eating the remains of the Long Ears. Noro alone survives, as Make allows him to live, and Noro, Ramana and their baby escape the island in a canoe Ramana's father built.

A post-credits scene states that archaeological evidence proves that Pitcairn Island was settled some away, providing hope that Noro, Ramana and their daughter made it to a new land.

The RMS ''Poseidon'', a luxury ocean liner, is making a transatlantic crossing. Former New York City Mayor and firefighter Robert Ramsey is traveling with his daughter Jennifer and her boyfriend Christian Sanders to New York, soon to be engaged. Also on board is former Navy submariner-turned-professional gambler Dylan Johns, architect Richard Nelson, widowed Maggie James and her son Conor, stowaway Elena Morales, waiter Marco Valentin, and Captain Michael Bradford.

As the passengers are enjoying a New Year's Eve party, officers on the bridge see a huge rogue wave bearing down on the ship. To survive the wave, they try to steer the ship to starboard to take the wave bow-first, but she does not turn fast enough. The wave swamps and capsizes the ship, killing the bridge officers along with many passengers and crew. In the ballroom, a badly injured Captain Bradford attempts to restore order and assures the surviving passengers that help is on the way, and tries to persuade them to stay put. Unconvinced, Dylan leads Conor, Maggie, Robert, Richard, and Valentin as they make their way towards the bow, where he believes that they will have the best chance of escaping from the capsized liner.

As they head up, they have to cross an elevator shaft, into which Valentin falls to his death before being crushed by the falling elevator. They reunite with Jennifer, Christian, Elena, and gambler Lucky Larry, who had all been in the nightclub section of the ship, and who are the only survivors out of all of the occupants in the nightclub. The group crosses a makeshift bridge across the lobby, where Lucky Larry gets crushed by an engine. The pressure from the water finally cracks the ballroom windows, drowning the occupants, including Captain Bradford. With the water rising rapidly, the group escapes through an air duct and some ballast tanks, although Elena hits her head underwater and drowns as a result.

With the ship slowly sinking, the survivors soon find themselves in a crew lounge where they find the bow section is flooded, until an explosion of the engine room lifts it out of the water. The group enters the bow thruster room and are horrified to find the thrusters still running. With their path blocked by the propellers, and knowing that the control room is submerged in water, Robert swims away to turn off the engine. He finds the "shut off" switch to be broken, but presses the reverse button instead, before drowning.

With the propellers now spinning in the other direction, Dylan throws an acetylene tank into it, causing an explosion that destroys the propeller, and leaving an opening for them to escape through. The group jumps out the thruster and swims to a nearby inflatable raft, and as they are getting into the raft, the ship starts to sink. As they are paddling away, the waves push the raft farther away from the sinking liner. ''Poseidon'' flips back over, and across the water, the survivors look on as she sinks stern-first deep into the ocean. After the survivors fire a flare, two helicopters and several ships arrive to rescue them, having tracked the location of the ''Poseidon'''s GPS beacon.

The story begins in the 26th century, when an ensemble gang called the Black Marketeers begin hunting the dinosaurs to serve their unknown purpose. The continuous hunting process has made the dinosaurs violent and now they have started attacking villages and people. Four heroes: mechanic and shaman Jack Tenrec, diplomat and explorer by profession Hannah Dundee, friend and engineer Mustapha Cairo, and mysterious Mess O'Bradovich, have decided to team up against the Black Marketeers.

The protagonists journey to the "City in the Sea" where they suspect the whole hunting network being operating from. As they reach the top of a building they fight Vice Terhune. After being beaten, Vice tells them about Butcher, who had been hunting in the northern woods. Following the information, they go through the swamp forest where they find a lot of dead dinosaurs before reaching and defeating the Butcher.

Meanwhile, another big name in the hunting network, Hogg, realizes that Jack is busy in the swamp forest and decides to take over Jack's Garage. Proceeding with the mission, the heroes go through the desert of death, where they use their car to travel safely, but then the car is chased by Hogg on his cruiser motorcycle. After defeating Hogg, Jack realizes that the gangsters have taken over his garage. They go there and clear out the garage from the gangsters, eventually confronting and defeating their leader Slice and regaining control of their garage.

This is when they receive a message from an old villager who tells them about the weird behavior of the dinosaurs and asks for help. In response to the call, the heroes reach the village where they notice dinosaurs violently attacking the people and that the village has been set on fire by someone. Going ahead further, they meet the old villager again as he tells about the whole network and as soon as he is about to reveal the name of the person behind all of it, he is shot dead by Morgan, who attacks the group as well. During the fight, Morgan talks about the powers of "doctor" transforms himself into a dinosaur-like creature called Morgue. By now, they have come to know that some doctor is trying to create new lifeforms.

Proceeding ahead, the heroes reach the coal mine and another jungle, where they face a dinosaur trying to stomp them. They eventually reach a place where they fight a tentacled creature called Tyrog that attaches itself to the bodies of the gangsters as a monstrous dinosaur-human hybrid. With all the leads and hints, Jack has now realized that Dr. Simon Fessenden is the mastermind behind all that is happening.

The team heads towards his underground hideout, which again is somewhere in the "City in the Sea". The heroes head towards the bunker, going through the library and the computer lab, where the doctor appears on the computer screen, calling himself the creator of a new world. Deep down is a bio-lab, and below it is a cave, which finally leads to Fessenden's lab. Seeing the team, he transforms himself into a Morgue-like creature, but is beaten. By now, the transforming serum's effect reaches its peak, and Fessenden transforms into a three-headed creature, but the heroes manage to defeat him.

Crippled by his defeat, Fessenden sets the whole complex to self-destruct. As the laboratory starts exploding, the heroes run for their lives, but Hannah falls down while running and Jack stops to help her. Only Mustapha and Mess are able to make it out of the laboratory as it is destroyed. As they are walking back to their homes, thinking about Jack and Hannah, the latter two come from behind in the car, alive. All four heroes return home.

Suzanne Vale, an actress with bipolar disorder, married Leland Franklin, a studio executive who helped her find her "far-flung best self." He then left her for a man, when their daughter, Honey, was three.

Three years later, Vale is a successful TV talk show host with a six-year-old daughter, a gay ex-husband, and an aging starlet mother. It is her love for Honey that keeps her going.

When Vale, a recovering drug addict, stops taking her medication, she is plunged into a manic episode. She goes on a search for OxyContin in Tijuana with a tattoo artist friend and a new house guest, a clinically depressed patient she met at her psycho-pharmacologist's office.

A psychotic break lands Vale at Shady Lanes, where she is the "latest loony to hit the bin." Despite her mental illness, Vale still has her wit and ability to find irony in every situation as she struggles back from the brink of insanity.

Matthew Quigley is an American cowboy with a specially modified rifle with which he can shoot accurately at extraordinary distances. Seeing a newspaper advertisement that asks for a man with his special talent, he answers using just four words: "M. Quigley 900 yards", written on a copy of the advertisement that is punctured by six closely spaced bullet holes.

When he arrives in Australia, then part of the British Empire, he gets into a fight with employees of the man who hired him as they try to force "Crazy Cora" onto their wagon. After he identifies himself, he is taken to the station of Elliot Marston, who informs Quigley his sharpshooting skills will be used to eradicate the increasingly elusive Aboriginal Australians. Quigley turns down the offer and throws Marston out of his own house. When the Aboriginal manservant knocks Quigley over the head, Marston's men beat him and Cora unconscious and dump them in the Outback with no water and little chance of survival. However, they are rescued by Aborigines.

Cora now reveals that she comes from Texas. When her home was attacked by Comanches, she hid in the root cellar and accidentally suffocated her child while trying to prevent him from crying. Her husband had then put her alone on a ship to Australia. Now Cora consistently calls Quigley by her husband's name (Roy), much to his annoyance.

When Marston's men attack the Aborigines who helped them, Quigley kills three. Escaping on a single horse, they encounter more of the men driving Aborigines over a cliff. Quigley drives them off with his deadly shooting and Cora rescues an orphaned baby she finds among the dead. Leaving Cora and the infant in the desert with food and water, Quigley rides alone to a nearby town. There he obtains new ammunition from a local German gunsmith, who hates Marston for his murdering ways. Quigley learns as well that he has become a legendary hero among the Aborigines.

Marston's men are also in town and recognize Quigley's saddle. When they attack, cornering him in a burning building, he escapes through a skylight and kills all but one of them. The injured survivor is sent back to say Quigley will be following. But first Quigley returns to Cora and the baby, which she has just saved from an attack by dingoes. She had tried to stop that child from crying too, but finally let him make as much noise as he liked as she killed the animals using a revolver that Quigley had left for her. Back in town, Cora gives the baby to Aborigines trading there after Quigley tells her that she (Cora) has a right to happiness.

Next morning, Quigley rides away to confront Marston at his station. At first he shoots the defenders from his location in the hills, but is eventually shot in the leg and captured by Marston's last two men. Marston, who has noticed that Quigley only ever carries a rifle, decides to give him a lesson in the "quick-draw" style of gunfighting. However, Marston and his men are beaten to the draw by Quigley; as Marston lies dying, Quigley refers to an earlier conversation, telling him, "I said I never had much use for one [a revolver]; never said I didn't know how to use it."

Marston's servant comes out of the house and gives Quigley his rifle back, then walks away from the ranch, stripping off his western-style clothing as he goes. An army troop now arrives to arrest Quigley, until they notice the surrounding hills are lined with Aborigines and decide to withdraw. Later Quigley and Cora book a passage back to America in the name of Cora's husband, since Quigley is still wanted. On the wharf, she reminds him that he once told her that she had to say two words before he could make love to her. Smiling broadly, she calls him "Matthew Quigley" and the two embrace for the first time.

In the opening story, three young people become caught up in the plans of ex-Nazi officer Karl von Gelb to "''reverse the verdict of the last war''" and inflict revenge on his former enemies. Under the direction of Colonel Buchan of MI5, the trio thwart Gelb's scheme to launch Polaris missiles on London from a captured nuclear submarine. This set the template for future stories, with the teenagers regularly preventing Gelb from carrying out massive and ingenious threats to Britain's security.

Private investigator Sheba Shayne (Grier) returns from Chicago, Illinois to her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, to confront thugs who are trying to intimidate her father Andy into dissolving or handing over his family insurance company business. Sheba teams up with her father’s partner, Brick Williams, and the two rekindle their old romance. Driving in her father's car, Sheba is nearly killed when the vehicle explodes. The local police warn Sheba against continuing to pursue her investigation, but she persists.

Later, four gangsters show up at Andy's office and open fire. Sheba kills three of them, but Andy is shot and killed during the battle. Sheba's investigation leads to an apartment complex, where another shootout ensues. After a chase into a nearby amusement park, Sheba extracts a confession from a gangster named Pilot that the local gang is controlled by an insurance salesman called Shark Merrill.

Sheba joins a party aboard Shark's yacht, but is identified and captured. After the gang does away with Pilot by tying him to a speedboat and dragging him through the water at high speed, they attempt to do the same to Sheba, but she escapes using a knife she had hidden in her wet suit to cut the rope. As Brick leads the police to the yacht and another gun battle breaks out, Shark tries to escape in a speedboat, but Sheba gives chase on a jet ski and kills him with a spear gun. Brick urges Sheba to continue their relationship, but Sheba insists on returning to Chicago, though she promises to return to see him again, since they are now business partners.

Mild-mannered watchmaker Eddy Kay (Michael Biehn) runs into a burning building to save a trapped woman and is featured in the news as a result. Watching the news, Colonel Taylor (Richard Jordan) is shocked to see Eddy, whom he had assumed to be dead. A game of cat and mouse begins as Eddy, with the help of psychiatrist Dr. Anna Nolmar (Patsy Kensit), tries to discover his past and why they want him dead.

Eddy and Dr. Nolmar discover that he was part of a secret government program to create assassins. Using various sensory deprivation and brainwashing techniques, the assassins could be sent to infiltrate other organizations and facilities undetected and carry out programmed missions. Eddy manages to capture and interrogate one of the female assassins (Tracy Scoggins), finding out the Colonel's current assassination plan. He then plots to confront Colonel Taylor and put an end to the assassination program once and for all.

Frank Griffin Jr, the grandson of the original Invisible Man, runs a print shop in Manhattan under the assumed name of Frank Raymond (Jon Hall). One evening, he is confronted in his shop by four armed men who reveal that they are foreign agents working for the Axis powers and they know his true identity. One of the men, Conrad Stauffer (Cedric Hardwicke), is a lieutenant general of the S.S., while a second, Baron Ikito (Peter Lorre), is Japanese. They offer to pay for the invisibility formula and threaten amputation of his fingers if it is not revealed. Griffin manages to escape with the formula. Griffin is reluctant to release the formula to the U.S. government officials, but following the Attack on Pearl Harbor agrees to limited cooperation (the condition being that the formula can only be used on himself). Later, while in-flight to be parachuted behind German lines on a secret mission, he injects himself with the serum, becoming invisible as he is parachuting down, to the shock and confusion of the German troops tracking his descent, and after landing strips off all of his clothing.

Griffin evades the troops and makes contact with an old coffin-maker named Arnold Schmidt (Albert Basserman), who reveals the next step of Griffin's mission. Griffin is to obtain a list of German and Japanese spies within the U.S. in the possession of Stauffer. Griffin is aided in his task by Maria Sorenson (Ilona Massey), a German espionage agent and the love interest of both Stauffer and Stauffer's well-connected second-in-command, Gestapo Standartenführer Karl Heiser (J. Edward Bromberg). According to their plan, Sorenson attempts to gain information from Heiser during a private dinner, with Griffin as witness. Drunk from champagne, Griffin uses his invisibility to play tricks on Heiser instead. Finally enraged when the dinner table mysteriously tips and soils his uniform, Heiser places Sorenson under house-arrest. Later, an apologetic Griffin demonstrates his existence to Sorenson by putting on a robe and smearing facial cream on his features. The two are attracted to each other.

Conrad Stauffer returns from his efforts in the United States and tries to manage his shifting alliances with Karl Heiser, Maria Sorenson, and Baron Ikito. When he learns of Heiser's disastrous romantic dinner with Sorenson, Stauffer has Karl Heiser arrested and baits a trap for Griffin, whom he comes to suspect has made contact with Maria. Despite walking into Stauffer's trap, Griffin manages to obtain the list of agents, and start a fire to cover his escape. Griffin takes the list of agents to Arnold Schmidt for transmission to England. Conrad Stauffer tries to hide the loss of the list from the prying Baron Ikito, who has been staying at the local Japanese Embassy. When Stauffer refuses to answer Ikito's questions, the two confess to each other that German and Japanese cooperation is not one of trust. Without revealing their plans to each other, both men start separate hunts for the Invisible Agent.Griffin steals into a German prison to obtain information from Karl Heiser about a planned German attack on New York City. In exchange for additional information, Griffin helps Heiser escape his imminent execution. Griffin returns with Heiser to Schmidt, who in the meantime has been arrested and tortured by Stauffer. At the shop, Griffin confronts Maria Sorenson, whom he suspects has betrayed Schmidt, and is captured with a net trap by Ikito's men.

Heiser escapes detection and attempts to save his life and career by phoning in Ikito's activities to Stauffer. Griffin and Sorensen are taken to the Japanese embassy, but manage to escape during the mayhem that ensues when Stauffer's men arrive. For their joint failure to safeguard the list of Axis agents, Ikito kills Stauffer and then performs seppuku, ritual suicide, as Heiser watches from the shadows. Assuming command, Heiser arrives too late to the local air base to stop Griffin and Sorenson from escaping. The couple acquires one of the bombers slated for the New York attack, and destroy other German planes on the ground as they fly to England. Stauffer's loyal men catch up with Karl Heiser and he is shot. Griffin succumbs to his injuries before he can radio ahead. England's air defense shoots down their craft, but not before Sorenson parachutes them to safety. Later, in a hospital, Griffin has recovered and is wearing facial cream so that he can be visible again. Sorenson appears with Griffin's American handler, who vouches for Sorenson that she has been an Allied double-agent all along. Sorenson is left alone with Griffin. Griffin reveals that he is actually visible under the facial cream, and they kiss. Sorenson happily accepts the challenge of discovering how Griffin regained his visibility.

In 1845, Mexico would not relinquish its claim to Texas, and the U.S. prepared for war. Under the command of General Zachary "Old Rough and Ready" Taylor, Sarah signed on as a laundress and cook and bivouacked with Taylor's army in Corpus Christi, preparing for an attack by Mexico. Before the war even began, though, her husband was killed. But going home was out of the question. She considered the army her home and its soldiers her family. Nowhere else would her courage and compassion be so much needed and appreciated.

While the battle raged around her, Sarah became a familiar figure through the haze of sulfurous blue smoke and the stench of exploding gunpowder, riding among the flames to retrieve the wounded. Through the long years of bitter battle, she would find love in the arms of a sergeant with eyes as golden as a flame, and friendship in the company of Cruz, a mexican woman whose personal history encompassed the war in all its passions and horrors.

Walk in My Soul is the story of Tiana Rogers of the Cherokee, the young Sam Houston, and the Trail of Tears.

Tiana grew up learning the magic, spells, and nature religion of the Cherokee. In a tribe that revered the life force that was female, she became a beloved woman—priestess, healer, and teacher.

Known as the "father of Texas", the young Sam Houston ran away on a lark from his family's general store in Maryville, Tennessee, to live among the Cherokee. He hunted and played ritual games with the men and was adopted as a headman's son and was known as "Raven".

Houston falls in love with Tiana, but due to their differing racial and cultural backgrounds, conflict ensues.

Storyline

A group of six friends, recently graduated in the UK travel to Bosnia in 1992. As fighting breaks out around the capital Sarajevo the friends are forced to escape overland to the border whilst the fighting spreads. After witnessing a horrific massacre in Bosnia they are pursued by a ruthless Yugoslav People's Army Officer and his brutal Chetnik fighters. With the weather worsening, limited supplies and murderous soldiers behind them, will they ever make it out of Bosnia alive?! ''Written by Spearhead Films''"

While the ''Enterprise'', under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, is en route to Starbase Montgomery to run diagnostics on its engines, Picard receives a message from Starfleet offering First Officer Commander William Riker a command of his own, the ''Aries'', which is on a potentially dangerous exploration mission in a distant sector. Picard advises Riker that while the ''Enterprise'' is a prestigious assignment, it cannot replace the experience of having one's own command, and gives him 12 hours—the duration of their stop at the starbase—to decide. Riker's decision is complicated by the fact that the civilian adviser Starfleet has sent to brief him on his mission turns out to be his father, Kyle Riker (Mitchell Ryan), with whom he has an antagonistic relationship.

Kyle makes several attempts to reconcile but is rebuffed by Will; the tension between the two finally boils over, and they agree to a match of Anbo-jyutsu, a form of martial arts in which the two had sparred while Will was growing up. They continue to argue during the match, with Will venting his bitterness over the death of his mother. Will interrupts the match, claiming that Kyle has used an illegal move, and realizes that Kyle had only been able to beat him in his youth by cheating. Kyle admits as much, saying that he had realized it was the only way to keep Will interested in the sport. The two are finally able to talk and reconcile, and Will admits he is glad his father came.

Meanwhile, Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher notices that Lieutenant Worf is acting particularly agitated, and enlists the help of Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge and Commander Data to find out why. The trio eventually learn that Worf is approaching the tenth anniversary of his Age of Ascension; Klingons are expected to celebrate the day with a ritual administered by their own kind. Wesley, Geordi, and Data program the holodeck as a site for the ritual, in which Worf must traverse a gauntlet of Klingon warriors and endure jolts from the pain sticks they carry. Surprised at the effort, Worf recites vows of honor as he walks the path and the three crew members observe, and he thanks them at its end for honoring him in this fashion.

Number Two is directed by Number One to step up efforts to extract information from Number Six—specifically relating to what information he is believed to have sold, leading to his resignation from the intelligence agency he worked for. Number Two directs Number Fourteen to prepare a machine she has developed. With the help of an injected drug, it will allow observation of, and influence on, the dream-state of a person connected to it. They have prepared three dossiers of foreign agents that Number Six was known to have met during an elegant party hosted by Madame Engadine prior to his resignation, suspecting that he has sold out to one of them. The dossiers are labelled "A", "B", and "C".

On the first two nights, Number Six is sedated through his evening tea, brought to Number Fourteen's laboratory, injected with the drug, and connected to the machine. Numbers Two and Fourteen watch events unfold in Number Six's visions of the party, and then insert, separately, the dossiers for "A" and "B", agents with known ties to Number Six. During the first night with "A", a defector, Number Six refuses to sell his secrets to "A", and then escapes from being kidnapped by "A" and his henchmen. During the second night with "B", a female spy, Number Six avoids answering her questions regarding his departure. Number Fourteen uses the machine to speak directly to Number Six via "B", but he becomes suspicious and when "B" is threatened by hostile agents to be killed, he does not stop to save her. Number Two determines that neither "A" nor "B" is the person they seek, and Number Six is returned each night to his home. After the second night, dim memories of the experiment lead Number Six to follow Number Fourteen around the Village, eventually coming across her laboratory. He dilutes the final injection after verifying the dossier for "C". That (third) night, Number Six fakes drinking the drugged tea, and instead acts drugged before he is taken back to the laboratory.

Number Two uses the final dossier on "C", whose true identity is unknown beyond ties to Number Six, with the dream state machine. The visions they see of the event are blurred and distorted, a factor that Number Fourteen attributes to the repeated use of the process. In the dream, it is revealed that "C" is really Madame Engadine, but she explains that she must take him to her superior, whom Number Fourteen calls "D". To Number Two's shock, Number Six reveals that "D" is Number Two. As Numbers Two and Fourteen watch in surprise, they discover that Number Six has full control of his dream state. He returns to the Village and the laboratory and speaks directly to the dream versions of Numbers Two and Fourteen. He hands the dream version of Number Two an envelope which they had believed to contain secret information to sell, but which turns out to be simply travel brochures, and explains that his resignation was not due to having sold out. As the dream ends, the broken Number Two is startled as the phone from Number One ominously rings.

As the ''Enterprise'' surveys an area of unexplored planets with unusually short life spans due to severe geological changes, Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher is put in charge of a survey team in order to further his studies toward becoming a Starfleet officer. Wesley selects a team of highly competent science officers; however, as they are much older than he is, he worries that his authority will be challenged. One team member, Davies, rebuffs Wesley's request to run a time-consuming scan, causing Wesley to doubt himself.

Meanwhile, Lt. Commander Data receives a primitive radio signal from a young girl on one of the planets. Data makes contact with the girl, named Sarjenka, and continues to converse regularly with her over the course of the month, keeping the details of his identity secret, as Sarjenka's culture is unaware of life existing outside their planet. When Sarjenka reports that earthquakes are occurring with increasing frequency, Data realizes her planet is beginning to break down, and reports to Captain Picard in the hope that the ''Enterprise'' can find a way to reverse the process. Picard sympathizes with Data's case, but sternly orders him to cease communication with Sarjenka to avoid any further violations of the Prime Directive.

Wesley seeks Commander Riker for advice on handling his team. Riker stresses that Starfleet training is about both responsibility and authority, and commends Wesley for his record of responsibility, but urges him to exercise authority with the science team. Wesley returns to the team and requests in a more authoritative manner that Davies perform the planetary scan, and Davies complies without argument.

The scans prove to be key to understanding the planets' geological instability, and Wesley's team proposes a method to correct it. Data receives another signal from Sarjenka, who is now calling for help as volcanic eruptions threaten to wipe out her home. Picard recognizes they cannot ignore her pleas, and orders the ''Enterprise'' to Sarjenka's planet. He allows Data to beam down to take the girl to safety; running out of time, he takes her back to the ''Enterprise'' instead, much to Picard's dismay. The crew is able to safely restore the planet's geological system, and Picard orders Chief Medical Officer Dr. Pulaski to sedate Sarjenka and erase her memories of Data and the ''Enterprise''. Data returns the sleeping girl to her home, now safe, leaving her with a "singing stone" that Dr. Pulaski had given her while in Sickbay.

The story concerns an unnamed man who is confined to a mental institution because he is suffering from the delusion that he is one of the few "real" entities in the universe, and that the other "real" entities have created the rest of the universe in a conspiracy to deceive him. He spends much of the story engaged in verbal sparring with the psychiatrist who is caring for him, and in pondering his predicament, trying to figure out a way to prove that his belief is true. On the final page of the story, the reader discovers that his belief ''is'' true; the god-like character "the Glaroon" is behind the conspiracy. However, this revelation is kept from the protagonist.

On 7 January 1972, the South Korean base in Nha-Trang, Vietnam, receives a radio transmission from a missing platoon that has been presumed dead. Lieutenant Choi is ordered to lead a squad of eight soldiers, including Sergeant Jin Chang-rok to assist him, to extract the missing soldiers from Romeo point (R-Point) in one week. Upon arriving, they are ambushed by what they discover to be a Vietnamese woman alongside a week-old corpse.

After their first night, a huge, empty mansion suddenly appeared where they set up their base. While checking the area, Corporal Joh Byung-hoon pees and gets left behind by his group. He sees other soldiers and follows them thinking they were from his unit. The other members of the unit search for him and find him hiding in a cave terrified to death. Corporal Joh relays the incident but they refuse to believe him. Later that evening, while fixing the radio, Corporal Byun Moon-Sub receives a transmission from a French unit stationed nearby. A French army corporal named Jacques sent a message saying he has a twin brother named Paul who is also in the army. The Lieutenant confirms that they're the only unit in the area.

Before calling it a night, the soldiers happily dance to the radio that Corporal Byun fixed. Their party is immediately cut short by the voices of terrified screaming men recorded on the radio. On their second day, a soldier reports that their colleague is missing, Private Jung, who is supposed to be on duty from 06:00. While searching, a pool of blood suddenly drenches Sergeant Park. They find Private Jung's corpse hanging from a rope. Upon returning to their base, the unit's radio finally reaches the headquarters and reports what happened. On the radio, Captain Park said that Private Jung was one of the missing soldiers that the unit is supposed to rescue.

Later that night, Lieutenant Choi has visions of a lady in an áo dài. Sergeant Oh then encounters the ghost of his friend. He runs away and accidentally falls for the booby trap that they have set up earlier and dies. On the fourth day, the unit divides into two groups to search the area again. A terrified Corporate Joh, mistakenly thinks he sees a ghost and accidentally fires at Sergeant Mah who immediately dies. On the fifth day, they contact headquarters and call for rescue but the earliest a helicopter can arrive will be by dawn the next day. Sergeant Jin seemingly returns and says they should have never come to R-Point. Though he was able to state his name and rank completely at the Lieutenant's request, he suddenly beheads Sergeant Park before being shot dead by the soldiers. Lieutenant Choi then orders everyone to verify their names and ranks. Corporal Byun, appearing to be possessed, is shot by Lieutenant Choi but not before removing the pin of a grenade from his jacket, blinding the youngest soldier, Sergeant Jang Young-soo, who was standing near him.

While the lieutenant helps Sergeant Jang, Corporal Lee Jae-pil laments the situation they're in, to Corporal Joh who also seems possessed and shoots him. The lieutenant kills Corporal Joh; with two of them left, Lieutenant Cho finds a picture of foreign soldiers with the lady in the áo dài in Sergeant Jang Young-soo's pocket. When she appears, Lieutenant Cho asks Sergeant Jang to pick up his rifle. Knowing he may turn out possessed like his colleagues, the lieutenant instructs the Sergeant to point the weapon in his direction and fire. The next morning, Sergeant Jang is found alone by the rescue team, with the corpses of the eight other missing soldiers.

''Pani Poni Dash!'''s central storyline revolves around Rebecca Miyamoto, a child prodigy homeroom teacher, and the antics of her class 1-C. The characters attend a high school called the where Rebecca has taken up a job as one of the teachers after being the youngest graduate at MIT and is being watched by space aliens who screw up the story every now and then. Though the story hardly strays from the focus of the four first-year classes labeled 1-A through 1-D, the mishaps that occur in them, the teacher's lounge, and on school trips also become sources of material for topical allusions regarding satire, anime, Internet, gaming, and popular culture.

In 1937 Louisiana, four little girls in the woods at night take a blood oath of loyalty to one another, led by Vivi Abbott, who dubs the group the "Ya-Ya Sisterhood."

In 1990s New York City, Vivi's eldest daughter, playwright Siddalee "Sidda" Walker, gives an interview with a reporter from ''Time'', mentioning her unhappy childhood as a major source of inspiration for her work. The reporter sensationalizes Sidda's complaint, implying abuse and deep, dark family secrets. The article upsets Vivi, who calls Sidda and angrily declares that she is dead to her. Vivi cuts Sidda from her will, and Sidda disinvites Vivi from her upcoming wedding to fiancé Connor McGill.

Still friends despite the years, the other Ya-Ya Sisters, Caro Benett, Teensy Whitman, and Necie Kelleher, decide to take the matter into their own hands. They kidnap Sidda in New York and take her back to Louisiana, hoping to show her how Vivi's troubled past has caused her present issues, including her fight with Sidda.

As the Sisters show Sidda Vivi's scrapbook, ''Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood'', a series of flashbacks depicts Vivi's turbulent history from her childhood to Sidda's, which include Vivi witnessing racism at Teensy's aunt and uncle's house, being falsely accused of incest with her father Taylor by her bitter and jealous mother Buggy, and losing the love of her life Jack Whitman, Teensy's older brother, to an airplane crash in World War II. Sidda is unmoved in her opinion of Vivi as self-centered and helpless, and is so upset she tells Connor she wants to postpone their wedding. It is revealed that the main source of conflict in Sidda and Vivi's relationship is an incident where Vivi had a nervous breakdown and brutally beat Sidda and her siblings. Unbeknownst to Sidda, Vivi had been prescribed a dangerous dosage of antidepressant Dexamyl, which caused her erratic behavior; she had to be hospitalized following the incident.

With this revelation, Sidda finally understands her mother's suffering. Vivi and Sidda reconcile, and Sidda decides that she wants to marry Connor in Louisiana. Vivi and the Sisters induct Sidda into the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

On October 30, 1983 in Mayville, Wisconsin, the parents of 12-year-old D.J. Walters go to a dentist convention for the weekend, leaving him in the care of babysitter Zee. D.J. has been spying on his elderly neighbor, Horace Nebbercracker, who scares away children from his front yard and confiscates their belongings. After D.J.'s best friend, Chowder, misplaces his basketball on Nebbercracker's lawn, D.J. is caught attempting to retrieve it and the enraged Nebbercracker appears to suffer a heart attack from overexerting himself and is taken away by an ambulance. He is presumed dead by D.J. who holds himself responsible. That night, D.J. gets phone calls from the house with no one on the other end.

Zee's drunk boyfriend, Bones, comes over for the night and reveals that as a child, Nebbercracker stole his kite and was allegedly rumored to have eaten his wife. After Zee throws him out, he sees his lost kite in the house's front door, but is abducted by the house while attempting to retrieve it. D.J. and Chowder investigate but retreat when the house comes alive and attacks them. The next morning, schoolgirl Jenny Bennett sells Halloween candy and goes to the house; D.J. and Chowder save her before she gets eaten. Jenny calls police officers Landers and Lister, who do not believe the trio because the house is inactive when adults are present.

The trio consults supernatural expert Reginald "Skull" Skulinski, learning that the house is a rare monster created when a human soul merges with a man-made structure, and can only be killed by destroying its heart. Concluding that Nebbercracker's spirit was responsible and that the heart must be its furnace, they create and bring a dummy containing cold medicine from a pharmacy owned by Chowder's father. Before the dummy reaches the house however, Landers and Lister thwart their plan and arrest them after Landers discovers the stolen medicine. Before they can leave, the house devours everyone and the police vehicle.

After the house falls asleep, the three begin exploring it. In the basement, they find a shrine containing the cement-encased skeleton of Nebbercracker's late wife, Constance the Giantess. The house attacks them, though they force it to vomit them outside by grabbing its uvula. Nebbercracker returns alive and well, revealing that the house is actually possessed by Constance's spirit. As a young man, he met Constance, then an unwilling member of a circus freak show, and fell in love with her. After helping her escape, they were married and he bought a piece of land to construct a house. One Halloween, two children tormented Constance for her size. Constance became enraged and attempted to chase off the children with an axe; when Nebbercracker attempted to stop her, she accidentally tripped and fell to her death in the unfinished basement of the house, in the process inadvertently activating a cement mixer that buried her body. Nebbercracker finished the house knowing she would've wanted that, and when it became obvious that Constance's vengeful spirit had possessed the house, he began driving away visitors to protect them.

D.J. convinces Nebbercracker to let Constance go, enraging the house. It breaks free from its foundation and chases after the group. Nebbercracker realizes the trouble Constance has caused and attempts to destroy the house with some dynamite, and it attempts to kill him. Chowder intervenes using an excavator from the adjacent construction site and Nebbercracker gives D.J. the dynamite. After luring the house into the site, D.J. ascends the nearby crane and, with Jenny's help, manages to throw the dynamite into the house's chimney, destroying it and releasing Constance's ghost, who the trio see dancing with Nebbercracker before fading away. D.J. apologizes to Nebbercracker for his losses but Nebbercracker thanks the trio for freeing him and Constance from being trapped in the house for 45 years. That night, the children Nebbercracker drove away line up at the former site of the house, where the group returns everything confiscated by Nebbercracker. D.J. and Chowder go trick-or-treating, which they initially felt they were too old for.

During the credits, those who were eaten by the house emerge from the basement. Bones finds that Zee is now dating Skull, Officer Landers and Officer Lister leave to "investigate" some of the trick-or-treating candy, and a dog urinates on a nearby jack-o'-lantern enough to extinguish its flame.

Corset company owner and independent-thinking suffragette Rose Gillray has her wagon struck by a 'horseless carriage' in 1897 New York. This early automobile is driven by Charlie Masters, who tells her it's the transportation means of the future.

At work, Rose is helping singer Molly Wade into a boldly designed new corset when she gets the idea that using it for Molly's costume on stage would help to promote sales, but instead the show is shut down by the police.

With her business failing, Rose owes money to Jim Carter, whose steel business manufactures the metal used for a corset's stays. Jim takes a shine to Rose and offers her a chance to sell his barbed wire, which is not selling well out west, where his salesmen get run out of town – or worse.

Ending up in Kansas City, accompanied by Molly and followed by Charlie, a cattlemen's association convention seems a good place to try to sell the barbed wire. But cattle rancher Joel Kingdon gives her the runaround, attracted to her personally but warning her against peddling wire. She tries his home state of Texas next, but once again, Joel interferes, putting the women out of business temporarily.

Joel and Jim both end up in love with Rose and proposing marriage, but she rejects both. Charlie, though, comes along offering a ride to California, where he's got another new notion that he wants to explore: machines that fly.

Twenty years prior to the events of the original ''Baten Kaitos''. The main character, Sagi, works for the Alfard Empire in an elite unit, the Dark Service, that reports directly to a powerful politician, Lord Baelheit. Sagi is a spiriter: someone with a connection to an extra-dimensional entity called a Guardian Spirit that provides power and protection. The role of the Guardian Spirit is taken by the player. He is joined by Guillo, a sentient mechanized puppet animated by magic. Their assignment, coming from an unnamed source, is to assassinate Emperor Olgan. However, it is a set-up; a third party kills Olgan and frames Sagi and Guillo for it, requiring them to flee the area. A man named Geldoblame assists them and suggests they meet up with his master, Quaestor Verus, due to Sagi and Verus both being spiriters. They encounter a giant beast called an Umbra, which Guillo has been mysteriously programmed to defeat, and meet up with the third and final member of the party, a young woman named Milly. The three of them work to clear Sagi's name while trying to uncover the nature of the threat causing unrest among Alfard's various power-hungry politicians. They also continue to work under Verus as Verus runs against Baelheit in an election to replace Olgan.

Verus assigns the group to stop Baelheit's efforts at pro-machination, an effort to forcibly mechanize key locations in other nations to boost Baelheit's power and control. Though Sagi's group secure the cooperation of the other nations' leaders, they're unable to contend with the powerful mechanical weapons of Baelheit's Machina Vanguard, ultimately allowing Baelheit to establish footholds in every nation. The group encounters more Umbra on their journey, learning that they are "afterlings", pieces of an ancient, evil god named Malpercio. Whenever an afterling is slain in Sagi's presence, he sees visions of another world, in which a sorcerer named Wiseman pursues "pro-magnation" to turn every being in the world into Magnus. They discover the visions are real scenes from the past, and that Malpercio was not a god, but simply a group of warriors who solicited the help of dark forces to defeat Wiseman.

Sagi learns that he is not actually a spiriter, but a subject in Empire's "Malideiter Project" experiments to create artificial spiriters by infusing people with pieces of Malpercio's afterlings. The project, ordered by Baelheit on behalf of Olgan, was abandoned after a mishap, but Sagi still lived on with pieces of Malpercio within him. This revelation means the player is not actually a "Guardian Spirit" either, but one of the Malpercio warriors. Sagi coming to terms with the player on this gives him the strength to defeat Machina Vanguard. Meanwhile, Milly admits she is Baelheit's daughter, sent to spy on the group until she had a change of heart. Baelheit reveals that Milly is half-Machina; when she was just a child, a failed experiment similar to the "Malideither Project" tore her in half and killed her mother. With the help of his own guardian spirit, Baelheit managed to revive Milly using Machina.

Baelheit wins the election over Verus and becomes Emperor. He completes Tarazed, a huge flying mechanized fortress, and orders everyone to move onto it, as he intends to destroy the continents. Verus orders Sagi to stop Baelheit, and Sagi does so. Verus reveals he has been pulling the strings and using the group for his own corrupt goals. The group defeats him, but this brings Wiseman, who had possessed Verus, out to attack the group. With the aid of the members of Malpercio, Sagi is able to defeat Wiseman, but this leads to Tarazed's collapse. Sagi, Milly and Guillo flee, aided by the previously defeated members of the Machina Vanguard. In the chaos of the fortress's collapse, Guillo sacrifices itself to save Sagi. Sagi and Milly return to Alfard, happily reunite with family and friends, and eventually decide to elope and move to Mira. Geldoblame, as Verus's most loyal devotee, is devastated and driven mad by Verus's betrayal, but discovers that he is now Emperor due to the deaths of Verus and Baelheit's entire cabinet in the destruction of Tarazed. The game's final scenes foreshadow the original ''Baten Kaitos'': Geldoblame, corrupt and fixated on power, instructs his new subjects to locate the five "End Magnus" that have the power to end the world, announces his intention to work with the scientist Georg, and game ends on a still-frame of a baby with one wing, the same as Kalas in ''Baten Kaitos'', with a note about the story being continued in ''Baten Kaitos''.

The book covers the conclusion of her and Henry's relationship with June, as well as her relationships with her analysts. Among other events, she re-establishes contact and begins a sexual relationship with her absent father Joaquín Nin, becomes pregnant with Miller's child and eventually has an abortion in her sixth month of pregnancy. She examines all of these events with a sharp eye through the filters of psychoanalysis, and herself becomes an experiment for psychoanalysis by symbolically appointing her husband Hugh Guiler as her father, Henry Miller as her husband, and her father as her lover.

It is Christmas in Sunnydale and Angel is haunted with dreams of the people he murdered over the years as Angelus. Visions of his past victims, including Jenny Calendar, appear to him. When Buffy starts getting dragged into his memory-nightmares, experiencing Angel's dreams also, they realize something unnatural is happening. Angel's visions develop and try to get him to kill Buffy, saying that he will be released from the pain if he does so. Angel cannot bring himself to do this, so instead he opts to kill himself by standing on a hill and waiting for the sun to come up.

Buffy and Giles figure out that the First Evil has been driving Angel insane. Buffy finds the Bringers and pummels them. After the First appears to her, informing her that she cannot possibly fight it, and that Angel is about to be destroyed by the dawn's light, she runs to his mansion to stop him. Buffy, who invited and ordered Faith to watch Joyce, finds Angel atop the hill behind the mansion, awaiting sunrise. However, the heatwave from which Sunnydale has been suffering abruptly ends and the first flakes of snow start to fall, which Angel takes as a sign he was brought back for a purpose. With the weather report saying the sun should not be expected to be seen at all that day, Buffy and Angel take a walk through the town.

Meanwhile, Oz tells Willow that he is willing to give their relationship another chance while Cordelia is not as forgiving and resumes her previously hostile ways towards the Scooby gang. Oz goes to Willow's house to watch videos only to find her dressed up and playing Barry White's music, intending to sleep with him. Oz appreciates the gesture, but explains to Willow that he wants their first time to be special rather than just a way for her to try to make things up to him.

Lois asks Peter to go to a PTA meeting in her place; Peter asks Brian to go in his place. Brian reluctantly attends, but he falls in love with one of Meg's teachers (played by Gabrielle Union) named Shauna Parks (a reference to Rosa Parks), who is black. They go out on a date, and Brian, attempting to win her over, suggests changing the name of James Woods Regional High School to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Shauna likes Brian's idea, and the board holds a meeting to consider the name change. However, Peter is a James Woods fan and sees through the trick. He tries to protest the idea, but Brian denies the fact that he is doing it for love and not to really honor the civil rights movement. As a James Woods fan, Peter brings James Woods himself to the school during the name-changing to sabotage the effort.

Woods permits them to change the name and the school, impressed by his humility, reinstates the name to the James Woods Regional High School. Brian gets furious with Peter for sabotaging the attempt to change the name of the high school and continues his denial of just wanting to impress his girlfriend because of her race. However, Peter exposes Brian and points out the ruse by saying that Brian could have named it after Ronald Reagan rather than anybody from the civil rights movement. In reply to this, Brian and Peter end their friendship.

To replace Brian as a friend, Peter becomes BFFs with Woods and the two spend their days giving gifts, sculpting themselves up with trees, riding bikes, camping in the backyard, wrestling in their tent like two children, etc. During this, Peter and Woods sing a parody of "You Two" from ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''.

One day during a date at the movie theater, Brian is forced to admit to Shauna that he is still loyal to Peter. Shauna, however, hates Peter for sabotaging them and makes Brian choose between her or Peter. Brian likewise chooses to remain loyal to Peter and they break up. Noticing the situation, Mayor Adam West, as a joke, offers Brian popcorn to cheer him up, but Brian sees cream corn in the popcorn bag.

When Brian comes back home, he sees that his life has been given to James Woods. Woods sleeps on the bed with Peter and Lois, Peter and Woods now play fetch with each other, and they act as if they do not see Brian as their friend or relative anymore. Over time, Peter and Brian get bored without each other and they decide to reconcile. However, Peter notices that Woods has become obsessive with their friendship, he goes into a tirade at Peter for missing 5 minutes of a dinner. To rid themselves of Woods for good, Peter and Brian plant a trap baited with pieces of Reese's peanut candy ending in a crate. The plan works and Woods ends up being locked up in a crate, which according to Peter is later examined by "top men".

The film opens with a fish tale narrated by a low-class metalsmith in a tavern in Joseon-era south-western Korea. The scene then cuts to a street circus, in which an elegant masked swordmaster (Gang Dong-won) fascinates his market-place audience. Undercover detective Ahn (Ahn Sung-ki), and his protégé Namsoon (Ha Ji-won) are tracking down suspected money-counterfeiter gang, when the masked swordmaster ends his show by killing a government official who carries the kingdom's currency metal cast.

The swordmaster escapes when a cart crashes and disgorges a mountain of counterfeit coins, causing public commotion. The distraction is a success, but Namsoon chased and dueled with the escaping swordmaster/duelist, proving herself a master of martial arts specializing in a pair of long knives. She succeeded in cutting a quarter of his mask and glanced at his revealed eye before he escaped. She and her team are left with bodies of the counterfeiting gang, seemingly massacred in an instant by an unknown duelist.

It is then revealed that counterfeit coins are spreading wildly among the populace, causing hyperinflation that threatens the monarchy. The police forces are determined to find and arrest the counterfeiters, believed to include an insider in the government. From a secret connection, the detectives obtain a picture of the duelist, noted for his "Sad Eyes", which Namsoon recognizes from her previous encounter. Their suspicion points to Song, the powerful defense minister. This suspicion is confirmed when Namsoon spots the duelist entering Song's manor.

Namsoon and Ahn failed to chase the duelist. However, as Namsoon is walking alone in the night, Sad Eyes appeared from the shadows, asking if she is following him "because you like me?" Namsoon attacks, entering a duel that starts to become affectionate. Eventually, he vanishes after making a small cut on her clothing, revealing her cleavage. The resolute Namsoon persuaded her team to infiltrate minister Song's palace. This plan is implemented, resulting with only Namsoon succeeding in her thinly-disguised appearance as a lady of pleasure. Coincidentally, she ends up having to serve the duelist in private, which she handles very tactlessly.

Song called the duelist, interrupting Namsoon's session with her. Song turns out to be a superb swordsman, the only person who can outperform the duelist. Their conversation reveals that Song plans to overthrow the reigning young king and replace him with his future son-in-law, and that the duelist has been involved in this plan since childhood. Song reminds Sad Eyes that the duelist can kill him anytime he distrusts him, hinting that the duelist might be the planned royal successor. Song says that he always loved the duelist like a son.

After assaulting Sad Eyes in public, Namsoon is dismissed from the case by her director, only to be secretly assigned to find the final evidence to prove Song's involvement. Overhearing Namsoon's objectives, the duelist gave the needed evidence in a secret meeting with her, thereby sacrificing his destiny. Namsoon realizes her feelings for Sad Eyes. The father-figure Ahn recognizes this, advising her to forgo her feelings since he is a criminal while she is with the police. The movie draws towards a climax as scores of armed police surround Song's manor and attack the duelist and Song, as well as the other corrupt officials. In their last conversation, the minister tried to speak the nameless duelist's true name, but the police separate them and detective Ahn kills the minister.

After the battle, Namsoon anxiously searches for the duelist's fate, only to be told by Ahn that "he is dead". Devastated, she returns to the lanes where she had encountered the duelist, haunted by his images. While she is walking back, the duelist appears once more in front of her. Namsoon feels that finally she can express her feelings, and in a denouement the couple dances in a picturesque combat under the moonlight. They were fighting "like they were making love", but then "disappeared suddenly", as narrated by the metalsmith in the tavern from the first scene.

The final scene shows Namsoon and Sad Eyes spotting each other from a distance in the marketplace.

After more than a year fantasizing about asking out his co-worker, Stanley (Luke Wilson) finally asks Diana Evans (Denise Richards) out on a date.

Meanwhile, their office co-workers form an office pool, including his friend, Michael (Ben Affleck). They are monitoring the date between Stan and Diana at a type of party, betting on how far Stan will get with the beautiful Diana. One spies on them, following each step of the first date. Stanley hits a homeless man Phil (Jay Lacopo) with his car as they leave the place where they had a drink, on the way to the theatre. The events that follow are far from the night of romance that Stanley had planned.

Stanley offers to pay for Phil's things that were broken at impact. Later, after getting the cash from the ATM, seeing he's limping, they take him to the hospital. Stanley tries to sneak away with Diana, but Phil chases them down, throwing himself at his car.

They finally get to the open air performance in time for the second act. A random series of monologues of famous figures. Phil reappears, wandering on the stage, and does a randon monologue on bread. He gets a standing ovation.

Afterwards, as Stanley accidentally parked in a tow-away zone, Diana and Phil accompany him to get his car. On the bus, Phil has them interact with the others, singing. When they reach the impound, the attendant is not cooperative, so Diana flirts with him. Close to $150 later, they have the car back.

Again, Stanley gets Phil at the ATM, planning to drop him, but has a change of heart, inviting to eat with them. She guides them to a Japanese restaurant, where she and Stanley almost kiss, but her ex shows up. Phil defuses him with a slap, then soothes him singing 'Puff the Magic Dragon'.

Later, dropping off Phil, he convinces her to look for a place for him to sleep. It seems that Stanley is shut out. Starting off, he turns back, in time to keep Phil from laying a hand on her. Finally, he is able to surprise her, giving her a kiss.

The last scene, we see Phil is OK, not really a slow, homeless guy, but more of a con artist. He throws himself in front of a tow truck, just like he had done with Stanley.

The USS ''Enterprise'' is rocked by an energy pulse. Science Officer Spock informs Captain Kirk that the gravity pull of the planet fluctuated to zero and the surrounding space momentarily "winked" out of existence. Sensors locate a human presence on the planet that was not there before. Spock and Kirk beam down to the planet and find a one-man spacecraft. A disheveled man named Lazarus appears and slips off a cliff. He is injured, and Kirk has him beamed to the ''Enterprise'' for examination.

Back on the ship, Lt. Masters informs Captain Kirk that the mysterious disturbance has drained the dilithium crystals in the warp drive. A message from Starfleet reports that every quadrant has been subjected to the same winking effect and electronic disruption. Starfleet fears that the disruption may be a prelude to an invasion and has ordered all ships except the ''Enterprise'' to leave the area. Kirk is ordered to find the cause of the disturbance.

Lazarus periodically fades in and out of the universe, encountering a lookalike enemy in a "dimensional corridor", creating an energy wink. Spock reports a "rip" in space and time on the planet. Lazarus says his enemy, trying to destroy the universe, is causing the phenomenon. Lazarus demands dilithium crystals so he may fix his ship and continue to fight his enemy. Kirk refuses. Lazarus steals dilithium from the Enterprise and is caught. Lazarus denies the theft and blames it on his nemesis.

Kirk beams back to the planet with Lazarus and a security team to seek this enemy. Lazarus has another dimensional corridor episode and is returned to sickbay. Lazarus explains to Kirk that he is a time traveler; his spaceship is actually a "dimensional corridor gateway"; and the planet below was once his home world. Lazarus claims his enemy destroyed his civilization in the past, for which Lazarus has chased him for centuries. Kirk is puzzled by Lazarus "leaping" in this universe—one minute he is wounded and insane; the next minute he is strong and rational. Both Kirk and Spock realize the answer is that Lazrus is actually two different beings—one (this universe) insane and the other (anti-matter universe) rational. Kirk and Mr. Spock develop a hypothesis that Lazarus's enemy is his counterpart from an anti-matter universe. If he and his anti-self contact each other within either physical universe outside the dimensional corridor, they would annihilate both the matter and anti-matter universes.

Lazarus slips away from sickbay and creates a diversion in engineering to acquire dilithium. With the stolen crystals, he beams down to the planet to repair his ship. Kirk follows, but the time machine activates just as Kirk enters the ship. Kirk is teleported to the anti-matter universe, where he meets the Anti-Lazarus. The Anti-Lazarus admits to stealing the Enterprise's dilithium. He informs Kirk that his people believed two universes existed, and when his matter counterpart learned about it, he went insane and became obsessed with destroying his doppelganger. He tells Kirk that only by destroying the ship while the two Lazaruses are inside the dimensional corridor which links the two universes can both universes be saved. Kirk states (without explanation) that this would trap the two Lazaruses in the corridor "throughout time."

Kirk confronts the matter Lazarus, and pushes him into the dimensional door. Kirk heads back to the ''Enterprise'', ordering the ship's phasers to target the dimension ship. The two Lazaruses meet once more and fight inside the dimensional corridor as phaser beams vaporize the ship.

When Scooby and the gang discover someone has released thousands of real ghosts and monsters from a magic book called The Tome of Doom, they race to solve mysteries and put the monsters back.

''Shooting the Past'' delves into a world quite separate from modern life and demonstrates that the preservation of the past to tell the extraordinary stories of the lives of ordinary people can be astonishingly powerful and revealing. The Fallon Photo Library is a gigantic collection of photographs kept in a huge Victorian mansion/factory. The staff is minimal and made up of shy eccentrics led by manager Marilyn Truman (Duncan) and head librarian Oswald Bates (Spall). An American company buys the building, planning to remodel and modernise the building to turn it into a business school. The company president, Christopher Anderson (Cunningham), had informed Oswald by fax months earlier that he was coming and to have the building empty and ready but Oswald fails to pass on the news, planning a "strike" of sorts. On their arrival, having expected the library of ten million photographs to have been disposed of and the building emptied, Anderson tells the staff that the majority of the collection must be destroyed if they cannot sell it. The staff members believe that the collection must be kept in its entirety, not broken up or sold to different buyers.

To prove the value of their library, the group presents Anderson with intriguing stories put together by researching photos from all over the collection. The research was largely by Oswald and presented by Marilyn, who emphasizes that these photos came from all over the collection and that Oswald spent months studying details to piece the stories together. Against orders from his superiors, Anderson gives them time to find a buyer. Due to the size of the collection, there is little interest. Marilyn has to learn to "sell" herself and the collection and manages to make a successful pitch to an advertising company but as most of the collection is in black and white the potential sale falls through. Having alienated Anderson to the point that he's been banned from the building, Oswald attempts suicide, leaving notes on a final story. Marilyn attempts to think as Oswald would and lays out the pictures – telling the story of Anderson's grandmother. Finally convinced that the collection should be saved and kept whole, Anderson finds a buyer in America – another photo collection – who will accept all ten million pictures.

Each episode of ''Telecrime'' featured a crime, and in a "whodunit" storyline, the viewers were given enough evidence to solve the crime themselves.

During Reverend Lovejoy's sermon, Maggie is scratching. The family takes Maggie to see Dr. Hibbert, who diagnoses Maggie with chicken pox. Inspired by Ned Flanders' suggestion of purposely exposing his sons to the chicken pox, Homer invites all the neighborhood kids over to the Simpson house for a "pox party". He ends up catching it himself, by drinking from Maggie's milk bottle, having no childhood immunity. Milhouse's parents Luann and Kirk attend the party, and after getting drunk on Marge's custom Margaritas, they resume their relationship.

Milhouse feels neglected because his parents are not fawning over him as they did while they were separated. He schemes to break them up again, and Bart helps him with a plot borrowed from ''The O.C.''. The boys place a bra, belonging to Marge, on Kirk's bed. Luann finds the bra, assumes Marge is having an affair with Kirk, and informs Homer. When Homer confronts Marge, she angrily denies the allegation and kicks him out of the house.

Prodded by Lisa, Bart confesses to Marge that he left the bra in Kirk's bed. However, Marge refuses to reunite with Homer as he still does not trust her. In order to bring Homer and Marge back together, Lisa inadvertently influences Bart and Milhouse to plan to throw a dummy that looks like Bart off a cliff into the river below, while Homer and Marge, after receiving false messages from each other to meet, watch. However, after breaking his glasses, Milhouse accidentally pushes the real Bart off the cliff. Homer leaps into the rapids to rescue him, but they end up clinging on to a rock near a waterfall. There Bart confesses to Homer what he did, causing Homer to strangle him. Marge tells them to trust her, and let go of the rock. They let go and she catches them, swinging from a rope attached to a tree. Once safely on the river bank, Marge and Homer reconcile. They see Milhouse, thinking Bart died, jump off the cliff, leaving his fate unresolved. Marge wonders if Milhouse can swim, to which Bart asks "What do ''you'' think?"

In ''Network'', Beale, the anchorman for the ''UBS Evening News'', struggles to accept the ramifications of the social ailments and depravity existing in the world. His producers exploit him for high ratings and avoid giving him the psychiatric assistance that some, especially news division president and his best friend, Max Schumacher (William Holden), think he needs.

Beale, a long-standing and respected anchorman who began his career at UBS in 1950, saw his ratings begin a slow, but steady decline in 1969. In 1970, his wife died and he became lonely, causing him to drink heavily. In September 1975, the UBS network decided to fire him, leading him to engage in binge drinking as he feels there is nothing left for him in the world. Beale's career as "The Mad Prophet of the Airwaves" is sparked by his half-joking offer, after receiving his two weeks' notice, to kill himself on nationwide TV. He subsequently apologizes to his viewers, telling them he "ran out of bullshit." Viewers respond positively and the network producer Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) wants him to serve as an "angry man" news anchorman. Schumacher feels that Christensen is exploiting his troubled friend, but Beale happily embraces the role of the "angry man". His foul-mouthed tirades feature a dark vision of America as a nation in decline as he speaks about the "depression" (i.e the recession caused by the Arab oil shock of 1973-74), OPEC, rising crime, the collapse in traditional values, and other contemporary issues. Beale believes his ranting is guided by a voice in his head, talking of having some mystical connection to some sort of higher supernatural power, but Schumacher believes he is losing his mind. However, encouraged by Christensen, the executives at UBS decide that his unhinged ranting about the state of the world, especially when he repeatedly shouts "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore", will revive ratings at the struggling network. He is given his own show where he can say whatever he likes, and the carnivalesque show becomes the number one show in the United States. Beale shouts about whatever issue of the moment is agitating him until he passes out. At one point, he rants about how television is an "illusion" that peddles fantasies that can never be realized. 

Unfortunately for the network, he exposes the ties between CCA, the corporation that owns the network, and business interests in Saudi Arabia. At a time when Saudi Arabia was unpopular in the United States owing to the Arab oil boycott of 1973-74, Beale charges that the House of Saud is buying up the United States and demands his audience send telegrams to the White House to save the United States from being bought up by the Saudis. Arthur Jensen, CCA chairman and chief stockholder (played by Ned Beatty), thunderously explains to Beale his belief that money is the only true god, whereupon Beale completely turns his message around--before, he told people their lives had value and meaning, but after his meeting with Jensen, he says the opposite. Beale tells his viewers that Americans are degenerating into "humanoids" devoid of intellect and feelings, saying that as the wealthiest nation, the United States is the nation most advanced in undergoing this process of degeneration which he predicts will ultimately be the fate of all humanity. His ratings drop, but Jensen orders him kept on; network executives order him to be assassinated. The film concludes with his murder on national television; a voiceover proclaims him "the first known instance of a man who was killed because he had lousy ratings."

Whilst working for the CIA, Jackie is assigned to follow leads of a nuclear smuggling case. One of the tasks the CIA gives him is simple enough: watch a woman named Natasha while on a plane from Hong Kong to Crimea (Ukraine) and record her movements. Jackie arrives in Ukraine and the CIA, partnered with local Security Service, take over the task of following Natasha. However, the CIA operation almost falls apart when the Ukrainian Strike Force arrest Natasha.

Luckily for the CIA, Jackie spots Natasha being driven away and he discreetly follows her. During the chase in Yalta, Jackie discovers that Natasha is working with an unknown male partner, who actually called in the Strike Force to prevent Natasha from being followed. Natasha and the unknown male are also romantically involved. Jackie decides to follow the unknown male to a remote lodge in the Crimean mountains, and informs the CIA of his location.

The unknown male is apparently meeting with Russian mafia members who are interested in a nuclear bomb that's in his possession. The criminals are on high alert when they spot Jackie and agents of Ukrainian militsiya and the CIA arriving. A gunfight ensues. During the battle, the unknown male is identified as Jackson Tsui, a Chinese-American nuclear scientist with CIA links, suspected of stealing a nuclear warhead. Jackie finds a briefcase which contained evidence from Tsui, but as he is chased by mafia forces, Jackie loses the briefcase as he falls into frozen waters, and the mafia takes the briefcase.

When he recovers in Russian military hospital, he meets Colonel Gregor Yegorov of the FSB, who explains the situation. Jackie goes with him to Moscow where he discovers he has been assigned to work with Gregor to solve a similar case involving nuclear weapons being smuggled out of Ukraine. His task is to track Tsui, who disappeared after their last encounter. He is smuggled into Brisbane, Australia by a Russian submarine.

In order to find out where Jackson is, Jackie befriends his younger sister Annie, who works at an aquarium doing shark shows. Jackie pretends to be Jackson's "sworn brother". Chan's deception is successful, and he eventually meets Uncle 7, the Tsuis' father and the local Triad boss. Uncle 7 is seriously ill and will be getting surgery soon. While meeting Uncle 7, Jackie reveals the true nature of his visit to both Uncle 7 and Annie and informs them of Jackson's criminal activities.

Jackie then meets with Gregor to report his findings. He tells Gregor that if Uncle 7 dies, Jackson will surely show up. Unknown to Jackie, Jackson is hiding at the hospital and has given a nuclear warhead (disguised as a small oxygen tank) to Annie, who hides it at the aquarium. While following Annie, Jackie gets held up by Jackson, who claims to have a deal with Gregor. He also reveals to Jackie that Gregor has secretly put audio bugs in several of the objects the FSB gave him.

After realizing he has been used by Gregor for nefarious purposes, Jackie decides to return home and write a full report to both of their superiors. Two men are sent to kill him, and he is framed for the murder of Uncle 7. He attempts to clear his name by going to see Annie at the memorial hall, but he is (unsurprisingly) unwelcome, having to fight younger brother Allen Tsui and the family's bodyguards until Jackson arrives to clear Jackie's name. Jackson explains that Gregor caught him on a CIA assignment three years before, and forced him to turn into a triple agent: a CIA agent ostensibly turned by the FSB, but in reality serving Gregor's private criminal schemes.

Gregor uses the nuclear warheads to secure stakes in oil franchises in the Middle East. Jackson was trying to get money from Gregor for the warhead. Annie, Jackie, and Jackson decide to work together to find Gregor and bring him in. Uncle 7's elaborate Chinatown funeral becomes the scene for a complex shootout between the various parties, injuring Jackson as he's caught in an RPG explosion. Annie and Jackie attempt to retrieve the stolen warhead from the shark pool (so that they can return it to the police), but Gregor and his men follow them, leading to a climactic confrontation underwater.

During the fight, Gregor shoots the aquarium tank and shatters the glass, which releases a great white shark into the restaurant area. During the confusion, Gregor escapes with the warhead and kidnaps Annie to a getaway boat. Jackie saves the tourists from the shark and then pursues Gregor. While Gregor escapes in the getaway boat, Jackie finds and drives a Mitsubishi FTO display car onto the boat. The car pins Gregor, allowing Jackie to successfully retrieve the warhead and save Annie as armed police close in.

Gregor and Jackson are apprehended by the Australian police and turned over to Russian authorities. The case is solved, and Jackie is thanked for his work by the FSB and returns to his work in Hong Kong.

The CVN news network's nightly program, starring Don Tobin (Watson), with reports from correspondents Michael Boyle (Glenn) and Dorian Waldorf (Shaver), discusses a terrorist bombing of the American embassy in Saudi Arabia that killed the American ambassador. The week before, a global banking crisis, caused by several South American countries defaulting on their loans, led to turmoil in Southwest Asia. Before the unrest spread to Saudi Arabia, Soviet-backed militants led a coup in Oman when the Omani economy collapsed. Shortly after, a new report shows the banking crisis may soon begin to ease.

During this time, Waldorf's Pentagon insider boyfriend is providing off-the-record insight into the White House's response to all these events, and suggests that there may be too many critical events going on at once for the President and his advisers to handle effectively.

The following day, it is revealed that a large military operation was launched to keep the peace in Saudi Arabia, with many American soldiers, ships, and planes being sent at King Fahd's request. This move is heavily criticized - in the US and abroad. The United Kingdom, America's closest ally, refuses to take part in the operation as do many other of America's allies. However, the attitude of the American representatives is clear that they can perform the peacekeeping mission alone, citing the success of the British in the past in containing the Soviets' previous provocation in the area.

In response to this move, which the Soviet Union sees as provocative, the Soviet-backed puppet government in Oman imposes a $10,000 toll for every oil tanker passing through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf. The Soviet government claims it will remove the toll if the Americans withdraw troops from Saudi Arabia. The captains of the tankers refuse to pay the toll, effectively creating an economic blockade in which no oil can be transported through the Persian Gulf.

A breaking news alert on the fifth day of the Middle East crisis reveals that a short battle took place between American warplanes and unidentified enemy warplanes, presumed to be from Iran or Kuwait, in which an American reconnaissance plane was shot down over the Persian Gulf before two of the five attacking planes were shot down. The attacking aircraft were presumably aiming for an oil refinery in Ras Tanura in retaliation for Saudi Arabia's request for American troops.

Meanwhile, Waldorf brings a story to CVN: her boyfriend had provided her with satellite photos that suggests that Soviet forces have disappeared from their border with the Middle East, possibly as a covert invitation to mutually withdraw from the area — an invitation that could have been ignored in the flood of information the multiple global crises have created ("The signal-to-noise ratio in there [The White House] is horrendous."). However, Tobin reluctantly insists that Waldorf have more than one source for the story.

On day six of the crisis, an American aircraft carrier, the and its battle group, armed with both nuclear and conventional weapons, are sent by the U.S. President to the Persian Gulf to ensure the free passage of oil tankers in the region; the President also activates Selective Service, drafting thousands of soldiers in anticipation of a larger conflict. The Soviet Union quickly responds to this action by sending submarines to the Persian Gulf. CVN sends Michael Boyle to the ''Nimitz'' to cover the deployment. The Soviets publicly criticize the United States for failing to accept their offers of conciliation and mutual withdrawal from the area, implying that Waldorf's information was correct and that the US may have given up an opportunity for a peaceful solution.

On day eight of the crisis, in response to the growing urgency of the situation, CVN begins to broadcast 24 hours a day. Shortly after a State Department briefing, the Defense Secretary dies, perhaps of a heart attack brought on by the stresses of crisis management.

On day nine, the crisis deepens when an Omani gunboat attacks and apparently destroys an unarmed Dutch vessel which tried to go through the Strait of Hormuz. The CVN broadcast also notes the presence of Soviet attack submarines near the site of the attack. At this point, people begin to evacuate cities, overseas air travel is suspended by the FAA, many American schools begin closing, the Strategic Air Command redeploys B-52 bombers throughout the nation's airports, and people are urged to stay off their phones. By nightfall, an evacuation of the White House is ordered, and the US begins shutting down its nuclear power plants nationwide, an act noted not to have happened since the Cuban Missile Crisis. Later, Waldorf is met by her boyfriend at the news studio, offering to take her along in the evacuation—the President has delegated tactical nuclear launch authority to the ''Nimitz'' battle group commander after the destruction of the Dutch vessel, and the chances of a nuclear exchange in the Gulf have increased significantly. Waldorf chooses to remain in Washington to continue her work.

A night battle then erupts between Omani gunboats and the U.S. Navy in the Strait of Hormuz, with an Omani gunboat firing first and disabling an American warship, then subsequently being destroyed. Despite the gravity of the situation, Tobin discusses his optimistic viewpoint of the situation with correspondent Eric Sevareid, believing that "[r]easonable people, once they've looked the Devil in the face, aren't going to shake hands with him."

Shortly after the Omani gunboat exchanges fire with the American ship, a Soviet submarine slips through the perimeter of American ships and is tracked towards the ''Nimitz'', which begins exploding depth charges towards the submarine. There is suddenly a large, underwater nuclear detonation, suggesting that a nuclear depth bomb was detonated to stop the sub. Boyle evacuates into the carrier's island, confronting an officer to find out who provided authorization for the nuclear attack, but cannot get a clear answer. Shortly thereafter, a nuclear weapon detonates inside the battle group, causing an unknown level of damage, yet apparently not sinking the ''Nimitz''. Shortly thereafter, Boyle and the ''Nimitz'' lose contact with CVN.

At this point, the White House is completely evacuated, with the President, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other White House officials evacuated onto the National Emergency Airborne Command Post plane with the Strategic Air Command's airborne command center Looking Glass in accompaniment, and the Emergency Broadcast System is activated.

In the moments before CVN's broadcast is transferred over to the Emergency Broadcast System, Tobin reiterates his optimism, discussing the opinions of a deceased colleague who was considered an expert in nuclear war scenarios. His colleague held the belief that a nuclear exchange would someday take place, but when the two superpowers were confronted with the horror of the situation, they would choose peace over war. As a now-bewildered Tobin prepares to turn things over to the EBS, it is obvious that he is shaken by the events that have occurred, and is almost mournfully fearful over the inescapable realization that there may very well be no future at all for the Earth or humankind.

With the death of his father, St John Loveday is finally master of Trevowan. But his success is blighted by the presence of his treacherous wife Meriel who, despite being riddled with pox and consumption, manages to cling on to lifelong enough to thwart his plans to marry a rich widow from America. Embittered by his failure, St John soon turns to drink and gambling while his hatred towards his brother continues to fester.

Adam meanwhile has been putting all his energy into rebuilding the ruined estate of Boscabel, which he intends to create as a rival to Trevowan itself.

And on the far side of the world, Gwendolyn races to reach her estranged lover Japhet and give him his pardon. But Japhet has sworn to live an Honorable life, and to return to England with pride. He has made a promise, and pride will not allow him to abandon his obligations.

The girl on the front cover is performance artist, Abi Lake.

Category:2005 British novels Category:Novels by Kate Tremayne Category:Novels set in Cornwall Category:Historical romance novels

Jane Hoyt arrives in Hong Kong, looking for her husband, reckless photojournalist Louis. He entered Communist China without a visa and was imprisoned as a suspected spy. She goes to see Hong Kong Marine Police Inspector Merryweather, who found Hoyt's cameras on the junk that took him into China. He can offer little help. During their conversation, he mentions American expatriate Hank Lee, who is a big name in smuggling and other shady activities.

She decides to arrange his escape, so she contacts Hank. He advises her to give up the foolhardy venture, but she refuses. She foolishly meets Fernand Rocha alone and gives him a $500 deposit to set up a rescue, but he merely gambles the money away and locks her up for his lecherous purposes. Word reaches Hank in time to save her.

Having fallen in love with Jane and realising that she will not let herself get involved with him while her husband's fate remains uncertain, Hank decides to rescue the man himself. Inspector Merryweather is inspecting Hank's boat when Hank decides to make his attempt, and gets shanghaied into helping rescue the husband, who is being held in prison in Canton.

Louis is freed. Merryweather is forced to help Hank fight off a pursuing Chinese gunboat. When they return safely to Hong Kong, Louis graciously bows out of his wife's life, allowing Hank and Jane to get together.

Ted is a museum tour guide who gives weekly presentations to schoolteacher Maggie Dunlop and her students. His boss, Mr. Bloomsberry, informs Ted that the museum is losing money and will have to close. Mr. Bloomsberry's son Junior wants to tear down the museum and replace it with a commercial parking lot. Ted impulsively volunteers to travel to Africa to bring back an ancient 40-foot tall idol, the Lost Shrine of Zagawa, hoping that it will attract visitors. He is outfitted with a bright yellow suit and hat and boards a cargo ship to Africa.

In the African jungle, Ted finds the idol with the help of his guide, Edu, but discovers it to be only three inches tall. He sends a photograph of it to the museum, but the photograph's angle leads Mr. Bloomsberry to believe that the idol was even larger than he thought. Ted encounters a happy and mischievous orphaned monkey living in the jungle and gives him his yellow hat. Not wanting to be left alone, the monkey follows him and boards the cargo ship. Ted returns home and finds advertisements for the shrine all over the city.

In Ted's apartment building, the monkey makes his way to the penthouse and vandalizes the walls of their neighbor, Miss Plushbottom, with paint. Due to the building's strict policy against pets, Ted is evicted by Ivan, the doorman. Ted reveals the idol's actual size to Mr. Bloomsberry and is kicked out of the museum by Junior after the monkey accidentally destroys an Apatosaurus skeleton. After a failed call to the animal control service, Ted and the monkey are forced to sleep outside in a park. The next morning, Ted follows the monkey into the zoo, where Maggie and her students name the monkey George after a nearby statue of George Washington. George floats away on helium balloons that are popped by bird control spikes, but he is saved by Ted.

At the home of Clovis, an inventor, George discovers that an overhead projector makes the idol appear 40 feet tall. Ted shows the projector to Mr. Bloomsberry, who sees it as the only way to save the museum and tells Ted that he is proud of him. A jealous Junior pours some of his coffee on the projector and gives the rest to George, blaming him when the projector breaks. With his plan derailed, Ted sadly informs the public that the museum will be permanently closed and that there is no idol. Ted has a falling-out with George and orders him to leave, allowing animal control to capture George to be returned to Africa.

Ted speaks with Maggie, who helps him understand what is important in life. He sneaks onto the ship and reunites with George in the cargo hold. George notices that the idol reveals a pictogram when turned to the light, and Ted realizes that it is a map to the real idol, which they find in the jungle.

The real idol is finally displayed in the museum, which reopens with new interactive exhibits. Although disappointed that he did not get his parking lot, Junior gets a job as a valet and finds joy in his father finally being proud of him. Ivan, who has grown fond of George, invites Ted to move back into his apartment. Ted and Maggie share a romantic moment but are interrupted by George, who has started a rocket ship; Ted jumps in with him and they circumnavigate the globe.

During springtime on a farm in Somerset County, Maine, young Fern Arable discovers her father John about to kill a runt of a litter of newborn pigs. She successfully begs her father to spare the piglet's life; Fern names him Wilbur and nurtures him lovingly. The next morning, Fern sneaks Wilbur into her school desk and she lies to the teacher who forces her to open her desk and sends her to the principal's office.

When Wilbur has matured, Fern is regretfully forced to take him to her uncle Homer Zuckerman's barnyard. Mrs. Arable feels slightly concerned for Fern's behavior and one night, prevails upon Fern to stay home, do her homework and go straight to bed as a punishment. During this time, Wilbur feels abandoned and is left yearning for companionship, but is snubbed by the other animals - a comedic, mischievous, rebellious, misunderstood, and "potentially dangerous" rat named Templeton; a serious and steadfast sheep named Samuel; a fun-loving and kindly goose couple named Gussy and Golly; two beautiful and laid-back cow sisters named Bitsy and Betsy; and a cowardly and humorous horse named Ike - until he is befriended by Charlotte A. Cavatica, a beautiful barn spider who lives in the space above Wilbur's sty in the Zuckermans' barn.

When the other animals reveal to Wilbur that he will be prepared for dinner by Christmas, Charlotte promises to hatch a plan guaranteed to save Wilbur's life. With the help of Templeton, Charlotte convinces the Zuckerman family that Wilbur is actually quite special by spelling out descriptions of him in her web such as "Some pig", "Terrific", "Radiant" and "Humble".

Eventually, the Arables, Zuckermans, Wilbur, Charlotte and Templeton go to a fair where Wilbur is entered in a contest. While there, Charlotte produces an egg sac containing her unborn offspring while Wilbur, despite winning no prizes, is later celebrated by the fair's staff and visitors, making him too prestigious to justify killing him. Exhausted from laying eggs, Charlotte cannot return home because she is dying. Wilbur bids an emotional farewell to her as she remains at the fair and dies shortly after his departure, but he manages to take her egg sac home with the help of Templeton.

Wilbur then lives to witness his first Christmas and by the next spring, hundreds of Charlotte's offspring emerge; most of the young spiders soon leave, but three named Joy, Aranea and Nellie stay and become Wilbur's friends.

The Federation starship ''Enterprise-D'', under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, responds to a distress call from a Federation colony on Delta Rana IV and discovers the planet to be devastated and devoid of life, save for a patch of land containing a house and vegetation. Transporting to the surface, the away team meets the human occupants of the house, Kevin and Rishon Uxbridge, who claim to have witnessed the attack that destroyed the colony, but are unaware that they are the only survivors. The team, finding nothing of interest save for a small music box, insists that the Uxbridges return to the ''Enterprise'' for safety, but they refuse. Aboard the ''Enterprise'', Counselor Troi begins to hear the music from the music box in her mind constantly, each repetition slightly louder than the last, which eventually reduces her to screaming hysterics. Dr. Crusher is forced to place her in an induced coma.

An unknown spacecraft appears and attacks the ''Enterprise'', then flees. The ''Enterprise'' gives chase but is unable to overtake the spaceship; eventually Captain Picard orders the ''Enterprise'' to return to the planet. Picard transports to the surface personally; Kevin suggests they were spared because they are pacifists. Upon the away team's return, the spaceship appears in orbit again, but Picard orders the ''Enterprise'' to leave the system first, believing that the crew is being toyed with.

Returning to the planet again, Picard transports to the surface to plead with the Uxbridges to leave with him. After being refused again, Picard tells them the ''Enterprise'' will remain to protect them as long as they live, and returns to the ship. The alien spaceship appears again and destroys the Uxbridges' home. Picard orders an attack on the craft, and unlike the previous encounters, easily destroys it. Playing on a suspicion, Picard has the ''Enterprise'' move to a higher orbit; after a short time, the Uxbridges' home reappears.

Picard orders the Uxbridges beamed up to the ''Enterprise'' and confronts Kevin with his suspicions: Kevin and Rishon's house was destroyed in the attack and Rishon was killed, but Kevin, who is not human, has recreated them both, and created the alien warship to dissuade the ''Enterprise'' from investigating. Kevin admits the truth, and the illusory Rishon disappears. He removes the torturous music that he had placed in Troi's mind to prevent her from telepathically identifying him.

Kevin reveals that he is a Douwd, an immortal energy being with vast powers, who fell in love with Rishon and settled with her on Rana IV. When the planet was attacked by an aggressive, destructive species called the Husnock, he refused to join the fight in accordance with his species' pacifism. Rishon, however, died defending the colony. Stricken with grief, Kevin lashed out with his vast powers and wiped out the entire Husnock species—over 50 billion. Horrified by his crime, he chose self-exile to the planet, creating the replicas of Rishon and their house to spend the rest of eternity. Picard states that they are not qualified to be his judge, having no laws to fit the magnitude of his crime. The ''Enterprise'' leaves Kevin and his illusion in peace, and Picard confirms he will issue a warning not to visit the planet. Picard later opines in his log that a being as powerful as Kevin is best left alone.

In Victor Grandison's suburban New York home, a shadowy figure murders his secretary, Roslyn Wright. He leaves her body hanging from a chandelier. It is reported as suicide. Cut to the studio a week later, where Grandison, a popular "true crime" radio host, is broadcasting.

At his home his niece Althea is throwing a surprise birthday party for him. She hopes it will take his mind off the combined loss of his secretary and his wealthy ward, Matilda, who perished in a sinking en route to Portugal some weeks earlier.

Oliver, Althea's husband, is drinking heavily. He and Matilda were engaged before Althea married him. Althea is shocked by the arrival of a mysterious Steven Howard, who claims to be married to Matilda.

After the broadcast Victor returns home, and is underwhelmed by events there. Homicide Detective Donovan stays after the party to share a thick file on a hatchet-murder case with Victor and witnesses Victor's first meeting with Steven. With Matilda's multi-million-dollar estate to be settled, Victor asks Donovan to investigate. Meanwhile, in Rio de Janeiro, Matilda boards a Pan American plane.

Victor is dictating a script (to a phonograph record). His producer, Jane Moynihan, asks what's wrong; he seems to have lost his zip. He responds that he’s had a premonition. Donovan reports back that Steven checks out, and indeed is very rich. A cable arrives. Althea is making a play for Steven when Victor delivers the news that Matilda is alive and well and arriving the next day.

Press, a murderer whose identity Victor uncovered but kept secret, tries to kill him but is thwarted when Victor plays a copy of the confession he recorded at the time, threatening that the police will hear it if he is killed.

Steven meets Matilda at the airport.She claims to have no memory of him or their marriage, despite compelling evidence unfolded for her. The next day, Steve takes the early train to town; Victor searches and finds a picture of Roslyn in Steve's wallet. In the city, Jane meets Steve. They have been working together to prove that Roslyn was murdered. Steve goes to Donovan, who takes him to Victor's to investigate and show Victor their new evidence that it was murder.

Althea, who had been on the phone with Roslyn at the time of the murder and concealed it from police, already suspects the extravagant Victor. She kept quiet because she, too, depends on Matilda's money. Victor records a quarrel between Althea and Oliver and kindly encourages Oliver to leave. He confesses to Althea — and shoots her. With Matilda and Steven as witnesses, Victor uses the recordings to frame Oliver and sets the police on him. The alcohol-impaired Oliver dies in a car crash when the brakes Victor had sabotaged fail.

Jane brings Steve and Matilda together. He explains that he had known Roslyn all his life, and expected to marry her, but for being called away to war. Matilda dismisses his warnings about Victor.

Victor prepares to kill Matilda, asking her to unknowingly write down text that he can use as a suicide note. He summons Press. Steven finds the recording that Victor used to frame Oliver and calls Donovan to tell him, but hangs up when Victor opens the door. Victor destroys the record. Press knocks Steve out and stuffs him into a trunk, then careens away in his pickup to dispose of it.

Victor gives Matilda drugged wine. She regains consciousness, sees the note and the open bottle of pills Victor has strewn over it, but cannot make it past the door. Donovan arrives, thanks to the interrupted call from Steve, and revives her. They track Press to the yard of a trash incinerator where he has dumped the trunk.

Victor introduces his broadcast as usual but is thrown off when Donovan enters the control booth and police surround the auditorium. Matilda and a badly bruised Steven are ushered into the audience. Victor confesses to the murders, ending with: "I am The Unsuspected, your genial host, Victor Grandison."

The last scene is a long shot of Victor and two policemen, silhouetted against moonlit pavement, walking toward the yawning gates of a prison.

The story is based on the account of Biblical prophet Elijah from the Hebrew Bible (1 Kings chapters 17-19). The focus is on Elijah's time in Zarephath (in this book named Akbar). In ninth century B.C.,wife to Israel's ruler Jezebel threatens to execute all prophets who refused to worship the pagan deity Baal. Elijah, a young prophet is commanded by an angel of God to flee Israel and he eventually seeks safety in the land of Zarephath. He unexpectedly falls in love with the widow to whom God sent him. But this new-found rapture is cut short and Elijah gets lost in his emotional turmoil.

Much has been added to the simple Bible story by Coelho, including Elijah witnessing the sacking of Akbar by the Assyrians, Elijah's journey up the Fifth Mountain itself (said to be the dwelling place of Baal).

For a considerable portion of the story Elijah is very compliant, obeying everything God's angels say. Eventually he realizes that his destiny is not being chosen by him but by God and ultimately he decides to abide by his own desires and will.

Cenodoxus was a man who had a sterling reputation for healing the sick, helping the poor, speaking kindly, and ministering to all in need. He was equally loved and admired by all.

At a ripe old age, he had succeeded in all the things he had set out to do. He was a teacher, a scholar, a doctor, a lawyer, and a philosopher. He excelled at all the things a man could excel at. But he began to lose his health, and this alarmed all of his friends. When he got sick, friends visited his house to see him, but there was nothing they could do to save him. All they had for him was good words, and wished they could be more like him. People prayed for him day and night. Everybody believed that Cenodoxus was the nicest person they'd ever met.

Mortal intervention from all quarters could not help the good Doctor of Paris, who had helped so many other people. The priest came, but was unable to hear him confess any sins that were not already confessed. The priest left, saying he had done all he could do, "But with the Lord's help, he may yet regain his health." Yet Cenodoxus died, and the mourning began.

Last rites

When the dead body of Cenodoxus was taken to the cathedral and prepared for its last rites—namely, a blessing in the nature of a ''viaticum''—and it was laid out on the stone table there, it managed to cry out three times in three days, each time prompted by the priest saying his name, and each time leading to an ever-larger crowd of onlookers to witness what was happening.

No sooner had the priest begun to perform his last rites, and started to say "Cenodoxus" than the corpse jolted, opened its mouth, and—moving its dead lips—cried out to interrupt the services. Each time this happened, the priest considered it to be a bad omen, and delayed the man's last rites by an extra day.

On the 1st day, the Priest said, "Cenodoxus was a good man," and it cried out, "I have been accused." On the 2nd day, the Priest said, "Cenodoxus was a good man," and it cried out, "I have been found guilty" *On the 3rd day, the Priest said, "Cenodoxus was a good man," and it cried out, "Oh, My God, My God, My God, I have been damned to Hell Eternal."

Jacob Bidermann's poetic account of this passage is written in Latin verse, following a perfect iambic meter.

The onlookers witnessing this event were dumbfounded, as they could not think of anything Cenodoxus had done warranting damnation. He was not known for swearing, cheating, or coveting. He was not a gambler, but was in fact so generous with everything he had, that he had nothing when he died. They did not understand why Cenodoxus would have cried out the things that he did.

Saint Bruno

St. Bruno of Cologne was one of Cenodoxus's many friends, and like all the others there had been in the crowded cathedral when Cenodoxus's body cried out the things described. Seeing this with his own eyes, Bruno was beside himself with confusion as to why these things had happened, and why Cenodoxus—of all people—should have met with such a stern judgment.

"If that good man Cenodoxus is lost, despite the many good things he has done, how can I be saved, who am so much worse a man, and by far the less deserving?"

Bruno concluded that his friend Cenodoxus could only have died guilty of one sin—the Sin of Pride. Pride is something that is hard to detect from merely looking; it is something that only God can detect.

Bruno left society behind to build a monastery in the woods outside of Paris, and he founded an order of monks there, devoutly believing that doing good deeds for others generally tended to magnify ''pride'' (or ''superbia'' as Bidermann put it)—a kind of haughtiness or vainglory—that is immaterial in the long run, and, as such, being a misplacement of priorities, is a kind of deadly sin that will permanently bar entry into Heaven. The order of monks that St. Bruno founded is called the Carthusians.

The book is written as a third-person narrative describing how Paulo and his wife embark on a 40 day journey through the Mojave Desert. There they meet the valkyries, a group of warrior women who travel on Pegasus

At the beginning of the story, "J", Coelho's master in RAM, shows him a copy of the poem by Wilde that says "we destroy what we love" and this theme is central to the story.

Mint na Bokura is a light-hearted romance manga about fraternal twins, Noel and Maria Minamino (who happens to be very close to each other), and various love situations that occur around them. When Maria falls for an older guy and transfers to the school (he goes) to be closer to him, Noel - who seems to love his sister a "bit" too much - is struck by extreme jealousy. To make things worse, the school that Maria has transferred to is a boarding school, which will cause him to no longer be able to hang out with her. Since Noel won't stand a chance, he decides to enter Maria's new school and persuade her to come back. But there is one major problem: the only open admission left is in the girl's dorm! Supposedly, that fact alone is enough to deter any normal, proud guy. But Noel seems to be anything but that - especially when it concerns his beloved sister. Armed with a half-wig, a headband, a pair of suppatsu and a padded bra, Noel resolutely disguises as a girl and begins his new life in Morinomiya Boarding School.

In January 1993, Jerry Shepard, guide at an Antarctica research base of the National Science Foundation, is asked to take UCLA professor, Dr. Davis McClaren to Mount Melbourne to find a rare meteorite from Mercury. As the ice conditions are poor, the best way to the mountain is by dog sled.

Shepard and McClaren make it, but are called back to base camp due to an approaching storm. McClaren begs for more time, and Shepard gives him half a day, enough time to find a fragment of the meteorite. En route back to base, McClaren slips down an embankment, breaking his leg and falling into freezing water. Shepard uses lead dog Maya to carry a rope to McClaren and pulls him out. They battle hypothermia, frostbite and near whiteout conditions as the dogs lead them to base. Once there, the entire human crew is immediately evacuated, while the dogs are left behind. Promised that their pilot will return shortly for the dogs, Shepard tightens their collars to ensure they cannot get loose. But because of the harsh weather conditions, an immediate rescue cannot be attempted.

Back in the United States, Shepard tries to secure a plane to return and save the dogs, but no one is willing to finance the risky expedition. Five months later, Shepard makes one last attempt to get back. McClaren finally realizes the magnitude of his ingratitude and uses the remaining balance of his grant money to finance a rescue mission. They fear that there is little chance that any of the dogs could have survived this long, but they decide to try.

The eight sled dogs – lead dog Maya, Old Jack, Shorty, Dewey, Truman, Shadow, Buck, and the young Max, wait in the freezing conditions for Shepard to return. After two weeks without eating, a gull flies near, prompting the dogs into action, and they all begin to break free, one by one. Old Jack, too weak by now, remains attached, and Maya stays to try to free him while the others chase the flock of gulls that have landed nearby. Maya sees Old Jack has given up, and she reluctantly leaves him behind when he shows no sign of wanting to leave the base. Maya joins up with the other dogs, and they all work together to attack the gulls and manage to kill a few, getting their first food in weeks.

After nearly two months on their own, having kept their strength up and still traveling, the dogs rest on a slope one night under the southern lights. Fascinated by the display, they run about and play until Dewey slips and falls down an incline, mortally wounded at the bottom. The team stays by his side, sleeping with him. Dewey dies the following morning and Max loyally stays by his side while the others move on; by the time Max heads in their direction, he has lost traces of the pack.

Maya leads the team to the Russian base, which is unsecured and full of food, while Max finds his way back to the American base, which is well locked up. Setting back out, Max recognizes the embankment the dogs traveled through on their way back from Mount Melbourne. Exploring, Max finds a dead orca, but is driven off by a leopard seal nesting inside the body. Maya and the team are nearby, they hear Max and join him. Max lures the seal away so the dogs can eat. However, it doubles back and attacks Maya, who is badly injured when it bites her leg. In a rage, the other five dogs jump on the seal, tearing and slashing at it. The seal, overwhelmed, quickly drags itself into the water and away, and the dogs feast on the orca. After, the reunited team, continue traveling. Starving, freezing and exhausted, eventually the injured Maya collapses into the snow. The dogs lie down beside their leader as the snow piles up. They have been on their own for six months.

Shepard goes to New Zealand looking for a boat to take him to Antarctica. At a bar he reunites with his friends and they make it back to base together. Upon arrival to base, they are dismayed to find the body of Old Jack, still attached to the chain, and no sign of the other dogs. They then hear barking and see Max, Shorty, Truman, Shadow and Buck come over the horizon. After a joyous reunion, Shepard loads the dogs to leave, but Max runs off, leading Shepard to Maya, lying in the snow – weak, but alive. With six of his eight sled dogs, Shepard and his crew head back to civilization, with the last scene showing a grave for the two fallen dogs, Old Jack and Dewey.

Dave Douglas is a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles County who is prosecuting social studies teacher and activist Justin Forrester for firebombing the pharmaceutical corporation Grant and Strictland. Forrester denies this, but claims that Grant and Strictland have been engaging in illegal animal experimentation. This distances Dave from his daughter Carly, one of Forrester's students. As Dave is also a workaholic, his relationships with his wife Rebecca and son Josh are strained.

The greedy geneticists working for Mr. Lance Strictland, led by Dr. Kozak, have stolen a 300-year-old sacred dog named Khyi Yang Po (a Bearded Collie) from a Tibetan monastery. The scientists determine that Khyi Yang Po's genetic sequence, when isolated and put into a vaccination, invades and alters the cells and DNA of a victim.

Carly brings Khyi Yang Po, who she calls ‘Shaggy’, home. When Dave returns from work, he takes Khyi Yang Po out in the garage, then the dog runs to get the newspaper. Khyi Yang Po gives him his newspaper, and Dave reaches for it, only to be bitten on the hand by Khyi Yang Po. Khyi Yang Po's saliva and cells infect Dave and is taken to be tested for rabies and the tests came back negative. Over the next few days, Dave realizes that he uncontrollably transforms into a sheep dog exactly like Khyi Yang Po when prompted by distractions and activities typical of a dog, such as a stick thrown through the air and chasing cats. These transformations can be reversed by sleeping, but Dave's human absence from his family further strains his relationships. During this time, his family, unaware of Dave's condition, continue housing Dave as a dog, thinking it's Khyi Yang Po. Dave slowly learns just how little he understands his kids and wife and resolves to make amends.

In the ongoing trial, Forrester testifies seeing the animals behaving like dogs and the presence of a bearded collie he identifies as a giant sheepdog, which sparks Dave's suspicions about Grant and Strictland. When his dog-like behavior annoys the judge, Dave is removed from the case. Seeking answers to his transformation, Dave heads to Grant and Strictland. He has a homeless man help him transform so that he may sneak in through a vent. Hidden in the laboratory, Dave witnesses Dr. Kozak injecting company president Lance Strictland with a drug that will paralyze him for several months, giving Kozak enough time to usurp control of the company. After viewing security cameras, Kozak and his minions realize that Dave is capable of transforming into a copy of Khyi Yang Po.

When Dave returns home, still in his canine form, he overhears a conversation between Carly and Josh that he and Rebecca may be splitting up. After hearing this, Dave then knocks over a Scrabble game and uses the letters to reveal his identity to his kids. But when Dave gets out of the house, he is tased by Kozak's minions. His kids attempt to save him, but end up picking up the real Khyi Yang Po instead and rush to their mom at work to report recent events.

Dave is taken to the laboratory to be euthanized, but Kozak has a court summons, and must deal with Dave later. Right before he exits, Kozak mocks Dave in canine form and Dave bites him in response. The other mutated animals in the laboratory tell Dave to meditate to reverse his transformation. Dave succeeds in returning to human form, and is able to escape with all of the other animals. He drives to the courthouse and calls his wife to ready a change of clothes for him at the courthouse, but is forced to abandon the car with the animals when they get stuck in traffic. Dave runs on all fours to trigger his transformation to get to the courthouse in time. At the courthouse entrance, his attempts to tell his wife that he loves her allows him to transform back.

In the courtroom, Dave calls Kozak back to the stand and tries to get him to admit what he has done, but Kozak manages to hide his secret. Thinking quickly, he mocks Kozak by implying he was working under Strictland's shadow, and angers him. The two begin growling at each other, and the judge, exasperated by Dave's canine behavior, orders the bailiff to remove him. Dave grabs the baliff's baton and tells Kozak to fetch, triggering a partial transformation in him and thus implicating him of illegal and unethical experimentation. The pharmaceutical company is returned to Strictland, the mutant animals enter protective custody, and Dave finally makes amends with his family.

An epilogue shows the family vacationing in Hawaii with Khyi Yang Po. Josh tells his dad to fetch a frisbee he just tossed, and Dave catches it with his mouth.

This story begins with an argument between high school classmates Ginnie Mannox and Selena Graff, who both attend Miss Basehoar’s school in Manhattan. Ginnie confronts Selena about Selena’s habit of leaving Ginnie to pick up the cab fare after the two play tennis each Saturday. Selena tries to explain to Ginnie that her mother has pneumonia and that Selena would rather bring the money to class later, but Ginnie insists that Selena reimburse her immediately. This dispute takes the two girls to Selena’s apartment, where Selena goes inside to get money from her mother, leaving Ginnie in the living room alone.

Most of the narrative follows Ginnie’s conversation with Franklin, Selena’s irreverent older brother, whom Ginnie meets while Selena is inside. Ginnie appears repulsed by Franklin, who slinks into the room wearing pajamas and a bandage around his finger, which he accidentally cut in the bathroom. During their conversation, Franklin reveals that he once met Ginnie’s sister, Joan, and considers her the “Queen of the goddam snobs.” He also mentions that his unexplained heart troubles prohibited him from entering the Army, and that he has been working in an airplane factory for the past thirty-seven months. Because it is lunch time, Franklin offers Ginnie half of his chicken sandwich, and then goes inside to get ready for his friend Eric’s arrival. Eric and Franklin have plans to see Cocteau’s ''Beauty and the Beast'', which Eric considers brilliant. While he is gone, Eric arrives and complains to Ginnie at length about his roommate, who is a writer.

When Selena comes back to the living room with the money, Ginnie insists that Selena keep it. Ginnie also says she may come over later that afternoon, despite previously suggesting that she already had plans for that evening. During her walk to a bus stop, Ginnie considers throwing away the chicken sandwich Franklin gave her, but ultimately decides not to, remembering how it once took her three days to throw away a dead Easter chick.

In Brooklyn during the 1980s, a heavyset, middle-aged woman walking alone meets a mysterious man in a fedora and a trench coat (Frank de Kova) who greets her and shows her the remains of a black leather jacket. The woman sobs at the sight of it, and the man begins to tell a story.

In the 1950s, Vinnie (Richard Romanus) is the leader of a gang named "the Stompers". His best friend, Crazy Shapiro (David Proval), is subject to multiple murder attempts by Crazy's detective father, Solly (Angelo Grisanti). While in an old basketball court, Vinnie reunites with an old flame named Rozzie (Tina Bowman), but their reunion is abruptly interrupted by Rozzie's protective Jewish father, who chains her to her bed so she won't meet with Vinnie. Vinnie and Crazy get all dressed up in their suits and spend the evening drinking, playing pool and seeing the entire town. They arrive at a bar where they meet up with two prostitutes and go to sleep on the beach, waking up to find themselves close to a group of showering women and their mobster husbands. While Crazy inches over to the ladies, Vinnie finds a dead body buried in the sand. The screams of Vinnie and the women alert the mobsters, who beat up Crazy. It's later seen that Crazy has killed off the mobsters.

Vinnie runs off, finding himself on the black area of the beach where he bumps into rival gang leader Boogaloo Jones (Philip Michael Thomas) and his gang, the Chaplains. Boogaloo sets up a rumble between his gang and the Stompers. Vinnie later meets up with Roz and the girl Crazy dates, Eva (Jesse Welles). The four head out to a party, where Vinnie tells the Stompers that they are going to fight with the Chaplains, to which the gang responds negatively. Much of the gang and their girls head out to a rock and roll show. Vinnie is horrified at the idea of Crazy and himself having to fight the Chaplains alone. One of the Stompers named Sal (Candy Candido) and his girl have a run-in with Boogaloo while driving, and wind up in a car crash. Vinnie finally persuades the Stompers to rumble with the Chaplains.

At a drive-in restaurant, Vinnie dares and bets Crazy $5.50 to go all the way with Eva. Vinnie and Crazy both make out with their girls. When Roz spots a car that she thinks Boogaloo is in, Crazy is quick to drive off after it. Crazy ends up shooting two of the black gang members in an alley dead, much to Vinnie's shock. Solly investigates the death of the two black gang members. He questions Boogaloo, who tells him that he should be looking for the Stompers.

Crazy and Roz are then seen at a pier. Rozzie tells him that Vinnie is ditching town, her and the rumble, which makes Crazy the leader of the Stompers. Disgusted with Vinnie's cowardice, Roz allows Crazy to make love to her in an abandoned warehouse. Solly interrupts their time together, and fights Crazy boxing match-style to get him to talk. As he is losing, Crazy lies, saying Vinnie killed the gang members. Vinnie packs up his things and leaves his apartment, but bumps into the Stompers and in time for the rumble. As the two gangs wait for Boogaloo to show up, Solly drives up, ready to arrest Vinnie. On the rooftop of a nearby building, Crazy begins hallucinating and shooting randomly towards the street, causing both gangs to begin shooting at each other. Vinnie tries to run and is shot at by Solly. Vinnie pretends to be hit, falls and plays dead. Crazy jumps off the rooftop, landing on Solly, killing himself and Solly. As Roz calls up a radio station to make a memorial request in honor of Vinnie, he stands up and walks away, playing pool and getting drunk in the old neighborhood alone one last time as he did with Crazy before leaving Brooklyn.

As the mysterious man finishes his story in a bar in Long Island, he claims he left because he was heartbroken over the death of Crazy. The woman knows he is lying. She reveals that she is Roz, and that the man is Vinnie, returned after 30 years. Roz angrily berates him for abandoning her and the gang just to save his own skin. Roz tells him that her husband will soon come looking for her, and he hates to see her drinking with another man. She gives Vinnie a second chance, if he will fight for her like she wished he did before, but she's bluffing. At first Vinnie imagines himself walking out on her again but then he throws his arm around Roz, telling her "Hey, kid, how's it going? I've been waiting for you." She embraces him, and the two reunite.

During a grocery shopping trip, Lois realizes she is short on money to pay for food. She pretends to return a ham to the meat department to hide it in her purse instead. Hooked on the thrill of shoplifting, she begins stealing other items, quickly becoming addicted to theft. She begins to indulge in large shoplifting sprees, including stealing a Matisse painting, which arouses the suspicion of Brian. While attempting to steal from an auto parts store, Lois is caught by Brian, who tells her she is doing wrong and that her stealing is not going to solve problems. Lois accepts his reasoning, but as she loads up the car to return her stolen goods, she is caught by Joe and arrested.

In court, Lois is sentenced to serve three years in prison (because she stole the judge's gavel). The Griffin household turns to chaos in Lois' absence, and the family realizes they need to break Lois out of jail. During a visit to Lois in the prison, Peter smuggles her out by stuffing her into his mouth. As Lois' escape is realized, the Griffins jump into a laundry van, where they escape to Quahog's Asiantown (which evokes the traits of Chinatown and Japantown) and rent a run-down apartment to begin new lives.

Chris begins a career as a rickshaw driver, Stewie takes a job at a sweatshop sewing shoes (but is fired after sewing a shoe to his hand, and replaced with a newborn baby). Peter becomes a sumo wrestler, but is spotted by Joe on the television shortly afterward. Joe successfully tracks the family down and pursues them through Asiantown, leading them into the city sewers. Lois decides to surrender and face the consequences so that the rest of the family won't have to, but as Joe attempts to detain her, he slips in the sewer and is almost swept off a nearby ledge. Lois pulls Joe to safety, and in gratitude, Joe manages to get Lois' sentence cancelled, and life returns to normal for the family.

Detective Superintendent Dalgliesh arrives to spend what he hopes will be a quiet few days at his Aunt Jane’s property in the remote maritime Suffolk hamlet of Monksmere. Other property owners there include the widowed detective novelist Maurice Seton, drama critic Oliver Latham, magazine editor Justin Bryce, romantic novelist Celia Calthrop, the retired R. B. Sinclair - whose three distinguished novels had been published thirty years before - and the crippled Sylvia Kedge who acts as typist and helps around the house for some of these. Jane Dalgliesh is herself a respected ornithologist and her nephew is author of two well-regarded collections of poetry.

Others soon arrive to disturb the rural peace: Celia Calthrop's niece Elizabeth Marley, who is studying at Cambridge, and Maurice Seton's younger half-brother Digby. Maurice is away in London when the latter arrives but Maurice's boat washes ashore overnight with the novelist's handless body inside. Since the existence of the boat was known only to those living in Monksmere, the murder is made a matter of local investigation under the direction of Detective Inspector Reckless.

Dalgliesh would prefer to stay uninvolved but is drawn in to make enquiries of his own by the conflicting evidence that is uncovered. The literary community spends much of its time harassing and insulting each other. Pages of an unfinished novel by Seton seem to refer to the manner of his death. Seton had been discussing using his money to set up a literary prize, which would have cut out other beneficiaries, including Digby and Celia Calthrop. Ultimately, too, he appears to have died from a long-established heart condition.

After Dalgliesh gets back to Monksmere, he discovers Digby's body in a bird-hide where he has died of poisoning. When a storm breaks out that threatens the cottage in which Sylvia Kedge lives, Dalgliesh arrives there to find she has already attacked Latham, who had come to check on her. Later she attacks both men with her crutches when they all climb out onto the roof. However, she herself falls to her death, but not before Dalgliesh has snatched a bag from around her neck. This contains a tape recording in which Sylvia boasts of having plotted with Digby to kill Seton for the sake of his money.

At the very end Deborah Riscoe, Dalgliesh's romantic interest in previous novels, has grown tired of him making up his mind to propose and writes to say she has accepted a job in America.

In the 13th century, on the island of Konoshima (in the Seto Naikai, Inland Sea of Japan) there existed two feudal clans, the Kagami and the Sue, both aligned to the same Daimyō. They lived in peace until war on mainland Japan crushed the Daimyō. The Kagami swore fealty to the new Daimyō while the Sue were loyal to their master until the end. The conflict between the two began with the Kagami drawing the Sue off of the island and into battle. The Sue, having been defeated in battle, then lost their sacred sword the Yugiri. For centuries after, secretive battles were fought that were fierce, but not widespread.

Some 800 years later, the Shainto school, composed of the remaining descendants from the Sue clan, attacked the Narukagami Shintoryu, the Kagami clan dojo, at their headquarters, the Meikyokan. To redeem their honor, they move to recover the Sacred Sword Yugiri and wipe out the last descendant of the Kagami family. That is the point from which the opening FMV begins, covering the assault which is later seen more fully in the story mode.

Teenager Maddie Dolan hails from San Diego. She looks forward to the day her father Gary, a Commander in the U.S. Navy, retires from military service so that he can share Maddie's life at home with her sister Kiley and their mother Kate. Maddie's dad invites her to participate in Operation Tiger, a week-long cruise for military families and their friends aboard the aircraft carrier USS ''Constellation''. She agrees and soon hits it off with fellow teens Anthony and Tina. Tina is fascinated by the military, her elder sister Grace being a United States Naval Aviator. Anthony, an aspiring drummer from New York City, would rather have nothing to do with the military, although his elder brother Kenny is a sailor. Maddie also bonds with preteen Joey, whose mom is a "Squid" (Naval slang for sailor) aboard the ''Constellation''.

On September 10, 2001 (one day into the cruise), the "Tigers" are excited about the day's upcoming air show. Tina hopes to take pictures from the flight deck of Grace's jet taking off. However, the flight deck is a restricted area due to safety regulations; non-military personnel must watch the airshow from "Vulture's Row". Tina, Maddie and Anthony disguise themselves as members of the deck crew so that Tina can get the pictures she wants. The threesome are recognized by the instructor and brought to Captain Anderson's office. The Captain reprimands the teenagers for their reckless actions, warning them that violation of any further regulations will get all three confined to their quarters until the carrier docks. After the teens retire, Anderson admits to their families that - more than anything else - his threats were intended to scare the threesome into line and keep them there.

Gary, Grace, and Kenny express their disappointment over what happened during the air show. Commander Dolan tells Maddie about another, tragic incident when a crew member was killed landing a jet during practice maneuvers. Maddie tearfully divulges her true reason for accepting his invitation: she dislikes the negative connotations that come with being a military brat. Maddie recalls how she and Kiley got jumped on their first day at school and suspended for fighting. Gary agrees to come home after the voyage.

On September 11, 2001, the crew and passengers learn of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon. With the ''Constellation'' abruptly going on full alert, Tina finally realizes the truth behind her sister's assertions regarding the less-glamorous side of military life. Anthony fears for the safety of people he knew who had jobs in the Twin Towers. Maddie experiences her father's honor, courage, and commitment to his family and also his will to make sacrifices for their country. Although upset that her dad is still needed in the military, she and her fellow Tigers express their pride and support by unfurling a giant American flag on the ''Constellation's'' flight deck. Maddie, having concluded that being a "brat" isn't so bad after all, tells her father and his crew-mates to keep doing what they do.

The story of this game involves the player controlling his or her creature (either a new one or the creature they used in ''Black & White'') and completing missions, which are given to the player by members of a Brotherhood. The members are all creatures that are not controlled by a god, and they all wear bracelets to show their membership in this Brotherhood. Once the player completes a mission, they can then fight the creature that gave them the mission or choose to fight that creature again or use that creature at will. Once the player has successfully completed all the missions and won all the fights, they will be able to see Eve and have a baby pet for their creature. The player's pet will then have a pet, which can help both the creature and the player. Also, there is the speed miracle, though no skirmishes included in the game carry it. It can be used to get past various trials more easily. If the player does not have a creature of certain height, the creature will be enlarged. It will also automatically know the three basic spells (food, water, and wood). The default creature for newly created profiles in Creature Isle is the Ape.

The plot was described as a science fiction anthology series set in a futuristic city with a steamy side. Each episode is introduced by Raven, a nightclub hostess who also makes brief appearances in the tales.

Dave Walsh (Matt Dillon) is a bank employee whose day begins badly when he gets fired from his dream job and dumped by his fiancée Sara Goodwin (Christina Applegate) the day after their engagement party was crashed by his best friend, Jack (Steve Zahn). Jack tries to console him by telling him that it's for the best, that Dave was headed down the wrong path. In a further effort to console him, Jack arranges for a hooker named Whisper (Jenna Fischer) to show up at his apartment, but instead she steals his car. The next day, Dave goes back to the bank with a gun tucked into in his waistband. He surreptitiously makes his way into his former boss's office, where he pulls out the gun and threatens to end his boss's life. Though intimidated, the boss stands up to Dave, and Dave, deciding he does not want blood on his hands after all, pistol-whips him instead.

When Dave emerges from his boss's office, he finds the bank being robbed. A sequence shows him killing the robbers single-handedly, but this is then shown to have been a daydream. When one of the robbers seizes his co-worker Wendy (Andrea Bendewald), he shoots the robber and saves her, but he is shot, tackled, and forced into the getaway vehicle, whereupon the robbers make their escape.

A montage shows various people's reactions to the incident, including that of Dave's ex-fiancée Sara (who is crying uncontrollably), and then a burning van. A reporter announces that dental records have shown that the body found in the van was Dave's. A complex series of plot twists follows. It turns out that the robbery had actually been part of plan hatched two years ago, by Dave and his friends Jack, Wendy, and Eric (Dave Foley), to rob the bank and fake Dave's death, erasing his identity so that he would not be caught, and leaving him and his friends filthy rich. Eric, who is Sara's dentist, is revealed to have driven the getaway vehicle and falsified the dental records of the corpse in the van. Dave, Wendy, and Jack meet up in a motel room, prepared to divide their loot and part ways. When Wendy leaves the room, however, Dave kills Jack. (It turns out that Dave had secretly hated Jack ever since Jack scarred Dave's face and torso extensively in a childhood accident.) Wendy returns and kills Dave. She grabs the money and runs off to pick up Sara, with whom it turns out she's involved in a romantic relationship. (Sara, for her part, had previously gone to Eric's office, killed him, and taken his share of the money.) After the credits, Sara and Wendy's car is shown being hit by a bus.

Josh gets into college on a scholarship, and Cooper is assigned as his roommate. Cooper does little work and instead spends all the time partying and consistently fails his courses, but his father continues to pay his tuition. The normally studious Josh is led astray by Cooper's lifestyle, and spends the first half of his first year partying instead of studying, and consequently fails all of his midterm exams.

To his horror, Josh then finds out that a condition of his scholarship is a passing mark average each year, and that with his poor midterm score, he needs an A+++ in all of his courses or he will lose his scholarship.

Meanwhile, Cooper's father finally realizes Cooper is not trying to pass his course at all, and threatens to pull his funding if he does not get a passing mark this year, leaving him in a similar position. They find out about an obscure academic rule that states that if a student's roommate commits suicide, then the roommates get perfect marks for that year, regardless of any previous academic standing. Cooper and Josh set out to find roommates who are likely to commit suicide; their first potential roommate, Cliff O'Malley, is more likely to get himself (and any one with him) killed than commit suicide. They soon realize that he will likely get them killed or arrested and jump out of his moving car when he is being chased by the police.

Next, they try Buckley Schrank, a computer geek who thinks Bill Gates wants his brain. After they move him in, they try to push him over the edge. First, Cooper poses as a suicide hotline volunteer, and when Buckley calls, he tells him he is Bill Gates and wants his brain. Then, Cooper buys equipment that may assist in a suicide (rope, daggers, prescription drugs) and as Josh and he are trying to plant them around the dorm room, Buckley discovers the pair hiding from him with a noose and knife in hand. He, thinking they are trying to kill him, and that the conspiracy is real, runs away.

Finally, Josh and Cooper move in with Matt Noonan, a moody rock musician. Later, Cooper catches him singing show tunes and learns he was voted Mr. Happy in high school, leading them to believe that he is only pretending to be depressed to impress girls and make a name for himself in music. Facing the loss of his scholarship, Josh stands on the edge of a bridge, about to commit suicide himself. Cooper tells Josh he is not a failure and talks him down. When Josh comes down from the bridge, he reveals to Cooper that he was faking his suicide attempt so the school would not fail him, and Cooper would look like a hero to his father.

The film ends with Josh narrating that he was given an additional semester to improve his grades, in which he saved his scholarship, and that Cooper became a more serious student, but did work summers cleaning toilets for his father's business to learn how to eventually take over.

Dale Stewart, a character from ''Summer of Night'', has ruined his life. A fifty-one-year-old college professor and writer, he left his spouse for a young co-ed and the co-ed has left him.

He returns to Elm Haven, Illinois, where the events of ''Summer of Night'' took place. Dale is remembering these events as more pleasant than what actually happened. He will soon recall the truth and also must deal with current-day Neo-Nazis.

Mortal Engines

The book starts with the traction city of London chasing and catching a small mining town called Salthook. Tom Natsworthy, a teenage Apprentice Historian, is sent to the "Gut" of London, where towns are stripped for resources after he skips a chore. Tom incidentally meets the Head of the Guild of Historians, Thaddeus Valentine, along with his daughter, Katherine. One of Salthook's residents, teenager Hester Shaw, attempts to assassinate Valentine, but Tom interferes and chases her. She reveals a disfiguring scar on her face and claims Valentine caused it, before escaping the London police through a chute. When Tom informs Valentine of her name, Valentine pushes him down into the chute. Tom and Hester recover outside of London within the Hunting Ground, and after an argument start following the city's tracks to reboard it.

The pair eventually boards a small town called Speedwell, where the owner Orme Wreyland drugs them and plans to sell the pair as slaves for profit at a trading cluster. Tom and Hester escape from Wreyland, meeting a friendly airship pilot called Anna Fang, who takes them in her airship the Jenny Haniver to the neutral flying city of Airhaven where they can find a passage to London. At Airhaven, they are then attacked by a cyborg "Stalker" called Shrike, who was sent after them by the London Mayor Magnus Crome to kill them and bring their bodies to him.

Tom and Hester escape by stealing a hot-air balloon and drift over the Hunting Ground. Hester reveals that when she was a child, her parents were killed by Valentine as they would not give up an Ancient machine. Valentine then injured her and believed that she was dead. Hester escaped, and Shrike took care of her for most of her childhood. Despite the fact that Shrike was not supposed to have feelings, he developed a fatherlike bond with her. Wanting to avenge her parents, Hester left Shrike despite his pleas for her to stay and travelled to London. Shrike followed her, reaching London first, but was captured by Crome and used to create more Stalkers for London.

Hester sees that a London-built scoutship is following them and lowers the balloon onto the Hunting Ground. The scoutship, with Shrike on board, finds the pair and the Stalker confronts them. Before he can explain why he wants Hester to die, two chasing towns run over him, and Tom and Hester manage to board the second of these, a pirate town called Tunbridge Wheels. The mayor, Chrysler Peavy, who knows Hester from her days with Shrike, frees Tom as he is a resident of London and Peavy wishes to learn etiquette worthy of a Londoner gentleman. Tom convinces him to free Hester, and Peavy informs them that he plans to consume the downed Airhaven. While charging at it over shallow water, Tunbridge Wheels beaches on a coral reef, sinking it whilst the survivors escape inland with Tom and Hester. Whilst attempting to feebly retake Airhaven, Peavy gets stuck in a bog and his pirate subordinates shoot him, then attempt to execute Tom and Hester, but Shrike intervenes and kills the remaining pirates. Shrike explains to Hester that Crome had agreed to resurrect her as a Stalker similar to him after he brings back her body. She agrees to this, but Tom intervenes by stabbing Shrike in the eye, shutting him down and saving her life.

Valentine is sent away by Crome on a "secret mission", much to Katherine's dismay. Suspicious of her father, Katherine begins investigating events in London with the help of Apprentice Engineer Bevis Pod, whom she befriends after discovering he witnessed Tom chasing Hester. They discover that Valentine salvaged a monstrous ancient weapon called MEDUSA for London and that the Guild of Engineers have reassembled it inside St Paul's Cathedral. The Cathedral's dome splits open to reveal MEDUSA, which is then used to destroy a much larger city pursuing London.

Tom and Hester are rescued by Fang, who is revealed to be an Anti-Traction League agent and takes them to the Shield Wall of Batmunkh Gompa which protects the nation-state of the League. Fang suspects that the weapon that London has reassembled will be used to destroy the Shield Wall, and warns League Governor Khan of MEDUSA. Khan is skeptical that London will attack, but Fang insists that they should bomb London to destroy the weapon. Convinced that the League will kill innocent people and angry at the idea of destroying his home, Tom storms out and discovers Valentine has infiltrated Batmunkh Gompa as a monk. Tom raises the alarm, but Valentine successfully cripples the League's northern fleet of airships. Valentine duels and kills Fang by stabbing her in the neck, before escaping in his own airship the 13th Floor Elevator. Tom and Hester take the Jenny Haniver and fly it back to London in the hope of stopping Valentine and MEDUSA themselves.

With MEDUSA finally launched, Crome begins guiding London east towards the Anti-Traction League's base behind the Shield Wall of Batmunkh Gompa to destroy their defences and devour all of their settlements. After Valentine returns, Katherine learns that MEDUSA was originally found by Hester's mother Pandora and that he had killed her to steal it for London. He also admits that Katherine was likely Hester's half-sister. Disillusioned, and horrified by the destructive power of the weapon, Katherine and Bevis conspire to plant a bomb to destroy MEDUSA, but are caught in their attempt and Bevis gets shot and killed by the Engineers.

The Guild of Historians, led by Tom's boss Chudleigh Pomeroy, come to their aid, and battle with the Engineers. Katherine travels up to the Top Tier to Saint Paul's Cathedral, with Bevis disguised as her captor. Tom and Hester arrive, and Hester attempts to fight her way to Valentine to avenge her parents. Tom is attacked by the 13th Floor Elevator above London and shoots it down. Bevis is killed when the airship crushes him, but Katherine is able to reach Saint Paul's Cathedral. Inside, she sees Hester brought before Valentine. When he attempts to kill her, Katherine jumps in her father's way and is fatally wounded. She falls onto a keyboard, interrupting the firing sequence of MEDUSA, and causing it to malfunction. Valentine and Hester, briefly putting aside their differences, try to take Katherine to Tom to get help, but she dies before they can reach him.

Hester leaves with Tom in the airship, while Valentine chooses to stay behind in London. MEDUSA finally misfires, obliterating most of the city and killing Valentine. Hester tries to comfort a grief-stricken Tom as they fly away in the Jenny Haniver, apparently the only survivors of the incident, and make their way to the Bird Roads.

Predator's Gold

Tom and Hester meet adventurer and author Nimrod Pennyroyal aboard Airhaven, who persuades them to take him as a passenger. They are soon pursued by airships of the Green Storm, a fanatical splinter group of the Anti-Traction League, who want the Jenny Haniver as they believe it was stolen from their deceased leader and friend to Tom and Hester, Anna Fang. Despite evading the airships, the Jenny Haniver is damaged and drifts helplessly over the Ice Wastes. They are rescued by Anchorage, which was once a thriving Traction City that relied primarily upon trade, but had recently been devastated by an excavated biological weapon that killed most of the inhabitants. The survivors have set a course for North America, which is believed to be a radioactive wasteland since the Sixty Minute War. The city is ruled by the young margravine Freya Rasmussen, who treats all three of them as honoured guests and appoints Pennyroyal as the city's chief navigator because of his past experiences (detailed in his book America the Beautiful) traveling in America. As Anchorage's harbormaster works to repair the Jenny Haniver, Hester becomes jealous of Tom's growing closeness to Freya, and is also disturbed by the sightings of "ghosts" in the city. Eventually she sees Tom kissing Freya, and flies away from the city in the Jenny Haniver. Thereafter, Hester sells Anchorage's course to Piotr Masgard, the leader of the "Huntsmen" of the Traction City of Arkangel, who intends to capture the city through an airship invasion; rather than accepting money as payment for this information, she insists that when Arkangel eats Anchorage, Tom be returned to her. As she returns to the Jenny Haniver, however, she is drugged and kidnapped by a Green Storm informant.

Hester is taken to Rogue's Roost, an island south of Greenland, where the Green Storm have converted Anna Fang's body into a Stalker. The commander, Sathya, hopes to restore Fang's memories by showing her Hester, but the resurrected Fang doesn't recognise her nor herself. Sathya reveals that, according to her intelligence, Hester's father was Thaddeus Valentine.

Tom realizes that Pennyroyal never went to America, and based his entire book on an old explorer's map in the Reykjavík library. On his way to reveal Pennyroyal's deception to the chief engineer, Tom finds out that the "ghosts" sighted around Anchorage are thieves, operating out of a parasitic submarine-like limpet attached to the bottom of the city, who call themselves the Lost Boys and work out of a larger group in the sunken city of Grimsby. With their secret discovered, they kidnap Tom and leave the city. Tom develops a sort of friendship with a reluctant Lost Boy, Caul, on their trip to Grimsby. Caul tells him that the city is ruled by "Uncle", a man who founded it as a base of thieves and keeps the Lost Boys under constant surveillance.

When they arrive in Grimsby, Tom is taken to see Uncle, who tells him there is something valuable in Rogues' Roost which he wants Tom to steal for him. In return, Tom will have the chance to rescue Hester. Tom climbs a ladder up the rocky cliffs to infiltrate the base, but he is soon discovered and reunited with Hester in her cell. Realising that Uncle sent Tom to die as a diversion, Caul prematurely detonates the charges the Lost Boys were positioning inside the Roost, sabotaging the operation, but saving Tom and Hester. In the confusion, most of the Lost Boys make their way to the chamber where the Stalker Fang is kept, but the Stalker easily kills them all. She then pursues Tom and Hester into the island hangar where the Jenny Haniver is kept, but lets them escape when she seemingly recognises Tom, and then takes command of the Green Storm forces from Sathya.

In Grimsby, after Uncle severely beats Caul for his betrayal, then leaves him to die by hanging, and informs the younger man that he knew Anna Fang when he was younger. Fang was a slave in Arkangel, but Uncle began to love her and released her. She betrayed him by building an airship and escaping from slavery. After Uncle was disowned by his family, he built Grimsby to make sure that nobody kept a secret from him ever again. Uncle wanted to retrieve Fang from Rogue's Roost to reprogram her to become his slave. Caul is saved by fellow Lost Boy Gargle, who wanted to repay Caul's kindness to him. Gargle gives Caul the Reykjavik map that Uncle had all along, and sends him back to Anchorage on a limpet.

Freya catches Pennyroyal secretly broadcasting a radio message asking for someone to come and get him off of Anchorage, and he subsequently admits to her that his claims of traveling to America were all lies. Arkangel chases Anchorage, leading to the Huntsmen led by Masgard capturing Anchorage and leaving it helpless on the ice to be eaten. Tom and Hester return to the city, where Pennyroyal has evaded capture. Hester sends Tom to hide, and later liberates the inhabitants, killing Masgard and the Hunstmen in the process. Tom confronts Pennyroyal, who knows that Hester sold Anchorage to Masgard, but doesn't tell Tom. Attempting to scare Tom off, Pennyroyal accidentally shoots Tom in the chest. He then steals the Jenny Haniver and escapes. Arkangel still pursues Anchorage, but becomes trapped over thin ice, leading Anchorage to drift on the ocean on an ice floe.

With the revelation that Pennyroyal is a fraud, the inhabitants lose hope in the salvation of their city, until Caul arrives with the Reykjavik map, and convinces them to continue. Meanwhile, Pennyroyal escapes to the Hunting Ground, and soon publishes a book reimagining the events of Anchorage's flight west, with himself as the hero and exposing the Lost Boys. Arkangel is evacuated and eventually sinks to the bottom of the ocean. In Asia, the Green Storm, under the leadership of the Stalker Fang, topples the old Anti-Traction League. Anchorage eventually makes it to North America, and finds it verdant and lush. Tom recovers from his wound, but is still very weak. Hester takes comfort in the knowledge that the city will be secret and safe in this new land, and is pleased to discover that she is pregnant.

Infernal Devices

Sixteen years after the events of Predator's Gold, the former ice city of Anchorage has settled on an island in North America unaffected by the fallout from the Sixty Minute War and has become a static city named Anchorage-in-Vineland. Most of the inhabitants are happy with their new life, but Wren Natsworthy, the teenage daughter of Tom Natsworthy and Hester Shaw, is bored with her life and seeks adventure.

When she sneaks out one night Wren encounters three Lost Boys, Remora, Fishcake and their older leader Gargle; who have come to Anchorage in search of a mysterious Rasmussen family artifact named the Tin Book. The Book, bearing the insignia of the President of the United States of America, contains the activation codes for the final remaining orbital weapons left over from the Sixty Minute War; potentially with firepower far greater than that of MEDUSA, which destroyed the Traction City of London in Mortal Engines. After meeting former Lost Boy now Anchorage resident Caul, who refuses to help him, Gargle persuades Wren to retrieve the Tin Book for him and to join them on their journeys around the world.

Wren begins her mission by asking the now-adult margravine Freya Rasmussen, knowing that the Book is in the palace's library. Freya tells Wren of the Book's origins but explains that no one knows its purpose or meaning. When Wren reports to Gargle he tells her that Nimrod Pennyroyal's book about the time he spent in Anchorage has revealed the Lost Boys' existence to the raft cities that they previously robbed. As a result, the Lost Boys have been forced to loot cities further afield, but most of the Lost Boys' limpets never return. Gargle explains that raft cities have also begun searching for Grimsby and claims the Tin Book contains information that could get the sunken city moving again; but in actuality he intends to sell it to Stalker Fang for protection.

Unaware of Gargle's true intentions, Wren steals the Book and gives it to him, whilst Caul alerts to Tom and Hester that Wren is missing. Hester finds the limpet and, believing that Wren is in danger, shoots and kills Gargle and Remora. Fishcake, devastated by the death of his comrades, kidnaps Wren with the intention of taking her to Grimsby. En route to the sunken city, Fishcake receives a communication from the raft resort of Brighton, claiming that the parents of kidnapped Lost Boys have united to track down their missing children. Fishcake, believing that he will be reunited with his parents and persuaded by Wren who believes her best chance of escape is there, changes course to Brighton.

Arriving at the raft-city pleasure resort, the pair's limpet is captured and the two are taken in as slaves, the communication being a ruse to stop the Lost Boys. The owner of the slave trade company, Nabisco Skhin, intends to sell the two to Traction Cities in Nuevo Maya, but Wren convinces him to give them to Pennyroyal, who is now Mayor of Brighton; due to Wren's knowledge of Anchorage (and thus can expose Pennyroyal's lies). Skhin interrogates Fishcake, who reveals the location of Grimsby, prompting Brighton to change course and destroy it with depth charges. Skhin takes Wren up to Pennyroyal's floating palace above Brighton, Cloud 9. The slave-owner attempts to extort a hefty sum from Pennyroyal for Wren and to have the truth silenced, but Wren suddenly claims that she is a Lost Girl and has never been to Anchorage. She gives Pennyroyal the Tin Book and is employed in his household, to serve as a handmaiden for his overbearing wife Boo-Boo. Skhin, angered by Wren's lie, employs Fishcake to lead him to Anchorage and to enslave everyone there.

Tom and Hester take an old limpet with Caul and Freya to Grimsby to save Wren. When they arrive, they find the wreckage of the sunk city and the bodies of many Lost Boys. The four meet Uncle in his chamber, who informs them that Gargle's limpet hasn't returned and that Wren is likely in Brighton. Uncle seemingly wins Caul back to the Lost Boys, who locks Tom, Hester and Freya up; but Caul later frees them when Uncle is asleep. Uncle eventually discovers them, but is killed when he shoots the balloon holding his monitoring screens and they collapse on him. Tom and Hester take Caul's old limpet to find Wren, whilst Caul and Freya take the remaining Lost Boys back to Anchorage where the pair marry.

Meanwhile, the Stalker Shrike, who was seemingly killed by Tom in Mortal Engines is 're-resurrected' to mark the Stalker Fang's birthday by Dr. Oenone Zero; albeit with his previous memories wiped. Zero is promoted to Fang's Surgeon-Mechanic, though she intends to assassinate the Stalker as revenge for her aviator brother Eno being resurrected into a Stalker. Fang has the Green Storm armies extend their borders via bombing and destroying Traction Cities, starting a war with the Traktionstadtsgesellschaft. Zero is followed by Shrike to a Christian chapel, where she confides aloud that she will kill the Stalker Fang with a mysterious weapon. He prepares to kill her, but cannot bring himself to, nor alert the authorities of her treachery. Shrike realises that Zero has implemented a barrier that disables him from betraying her; but he intends to stop her from assassinating Fang.

Wren makes friends with fellow slave Cynthia Twite and another young African slave, Theo Ngoni, who used to be a Green Storm kamikaze aviator that was captured. Wren plots to escape on Pennyroyal's private sky-yacht the Peewit by enlisting Theo's help, but he refuses. Skhin meets with Pennyroyal's advisor on Old-Tech, Walter Plovery, who explains what the Tin Book contains and orders him to retrieve it for him. The Moon Festival, a time when no city hunts nor eats each other, arrives as Brighton meets a few other cities on the shores of Africa. Plovery is invited to a dinner-party held by Pennyroyal and breaks into the Mayor's office, but is killed by an intruder. Wren and Theo are nearly arrested by Pennyroyal, as she tricked Cloud 9 aviators to refuel the Peewit, but Boo-Boo saves them, falsely believing that Wren and Theo are in love.

Tom and Hester arrive in Brighton, and split up to search for Wren. Hester discovers Pennyroyal's corrupted version of the events of Predator's Gold, including that she sold Anchorage to Arkangel and the renamed exhibited Jenny Haniver. Tom meets with Skhin to negotiate Wren's release but is captured. Skhin plans to use Tom and Wren to expose Pennyroyal is a fraud and retrieve the Tin Book to sell off to the highest bidder. Told by Tom via a note that he was going to the Pepperpot, Skhin's base of operations, Hester plans to release the slaves inside to create a panic.

At the Moon Festival, Skhin confronts Wren and asks her to fetch the Tin Book for him. Wren manages to get Theo's help and discovers a Green Storm Stalker-bird inside the safe. Destroying it and taking the Tin Book, the pair discover that Cloud 9 has been set adrift and that a Green Storm airship is heading toward Brighton. Hester breaks into the Pepperpot and releases the Lost Boy slaves. Fishcake visits Tom in his cell and tells him that Wren is on Cloud 9, and Tom promises to take Fishcake away to live in Anchorage. Tom and Fishcake meet Hester, who kills Skhin's men in the pandemonium.

Zero discovers the Stalker Fang has commanded General Naga, the Green Storm's second-in-command, to destroy Brighton. On board the Requiem Vortex, Fang's personal ship, Shrike finds out that Fang covets the Tin Book, after reading about Anchorage when she wanted to know more about Tom, whom she met at Rogue's Roost in Predator's Gold. Wren discovers that Cynthia is a Green Storm agent, that she killed Plovery, installed the Stalker-bird in the safe and set Cloud 9 adrift; she explains that the Tin Book will help the Green Storm win the war against the Traktionstadtsgesellschaft. Cynthia takes the Tin Book and holds them at gunpoint, but the two are saved by Pennyroyal who knocks Cynthia out. Making their way to the Peewit, they discover Skhin attempting to escape Brighton inside it. Skhin shoots Pennyroyal, seemingly takes the Tin Book and makes off on the Peewit, but the airship is destroyed by Stalker-birds.

Wren and Theo had tricked Skhin into taking a decoy, but are captured by Naga and brought before Fang. Fang takes the Book and memorizes the codes. Zero interrogates the pair, who explain to her what the Book contains. Knowing that Fang will kill thousands with it, Zero commands Shrike to kill Fang; he realises that he is the weapon she spoke of. Shrike manages to seemingly destroy Fang, scattering her battered pieces across the coastline of Africa. Suddenly remembering Hester, Shrike escapes from Naga. As Cloud 9 begins to burn and descend, the Tin Book's pages begin to blacken.

Tom and Hester recover the Jenny Haniver, but Hester leaves Fishcake behind as revenge for taking Wren, despite Tom's pleas to go back for him. Wren and Theo discover Pennyroyal survived his wounds and take him with them as they try to escape. Zero also attempts to escape but is blocked by Naga. Secretly disgusted by Fang's actions in the war and wasting men, Naga commends Zero for orchestrating the Stalker's demise and takes control of the Green Storm. Naga takes Zero and the passengers from Cloud 9 on board the Requiem Vortex and leave.

Pennyroyal tells Wren that Hester sold Anchorage to Arkangel, one of the few elements of his book that was true, but she doesn't believe him. Tom and Hester finds the three, but Hester attempts to kill Pennyroyal to make sure that her crime to Anchorage isn't discovered, but Wren tells Tom about what she did to stop her. Hester flees into the burning wreckage of Cloud 9 in despair, where Shrike finds her. Tom, Wren, Theo and Pennyroyal escape in the Jenny Haniver, as Cloud 9 finally collapses onto the African shore. As scavenger towns arrive, Shrike takes Hester's unconscious body into the nearby Sahara Desert.

Fishcake, escaping from the Lost Boys, swims to the African coast. Wandering alone on the dunes, he encounters the remains of the Stalker Fang, who asks him to rebuild her, which he agrees to.

A Darkling Plain

Six months after the events of Infernal Devices, General Naga, the now-leader of the Green Storm after the supposed demise of the Stalker Fang, has formed a truce with the Traktionstadtsgesellschaft, blossoming a new era of trade and peace.

Theo Ngoni, returning to his home of Zagwa and reuniting with his family, foils an assassination attempt on Oenone Zero, who is married to General Naga and has taken the title of Lady Naga. Zero was in Zagwa to facilitate peace terms with Zagwa and the Green Storm; and suspects that the attempt was made by Green Storm soldiers still loyal to the Stalker Fang. Due to the possibility of another attempt, Zero has an incognito merchant airship prepared that will take her an alternate route to Naga. As Theo saved her life, Zero wants him to accompany her; Theo agrees, hopeful that he might meet Wren. En route, Zero's servant Rohini is revealed to be Cynthia Twite, a Green Storm spy who survived the events of Infernal Devices, and attempts to kill her, but Theo intervenes. Cynthia escapes and downs the airship. The pair survive the crash, but Zero is captured by air-trader Napster Varley who plans to sell her to the Traktionstadtsgesellschaft; whilst Theo is saved from slavers by Hester Shaw and the Stalker Shrike, who is unable to kill due to Zero's tampering. After Theo informs them of Zero's capture, Hester and Shrike decide to find her, as Zero will be able to reverse Shrike's "barrier" she implemented.

Cynthia reaches Naga's base in Tienjing and lies to him that Zero was killed by the Zagwans, though Naga refuses to take action against Tractionists. Cynthia manages to weasel her way to serve in Naga's household.

In the Traction City of Peripatetiapolis, Tom Natsworthy discovers that the bullet that Nimrod Pennyroyal shot him with in Predator's Gold has damaged his heart and he has not long to live, though he doesn't tell his daughter Wren. Tom soon discovers a woman that resembles Clytie Potts, a London Apprentice Historian that he knew. When questioned, she tells him that her name is Cruwys Morchard and that she is transporting Old-Tech devices. Unconvinced, Tom and Wren decide to pursue her, travelling on the ''Jenny Haniver'' to Murnau, a Traktionstadtsgesellschaft city, where they meet Wolf von Kobold, the son of the Mayor of Murnau and commander of the traction city Harrowbarrow. Wolf believes that the survivors of MEDUSA may be still inside London, and the three agree to make an expedition to London.

Tom and Wren meet Wolf on Harrowbarrow, a burrowing Traction City, which takes them closer to London. With Wolf accompanying them, they fly the ''Jenny Haniver'' over the Green Storm border, and finally reaching the debris field of London. There they discover that the survivors of MEDUSA have rebuilt a society in London, led by Tom's old boss and now Mayor Chudleigh Pomeroy. Garamond, the paranoid head of security, convinces Pomeroy to keep them there as he suspects that they may inform others of London's survival. Tom, Wren and Wolf eventually discover a new traction town being rebuilt near the ruins, a project that was in-progress long before Magnus Crome decided to use MEDUSA. Noticing that "New London" has no wheels, the leading Engineer Dr. Childermass explains that it uses Magnetic Levitation to float above the ground, making it less harmful to the environment. Wolf slips away from the conversation and escapes back to Harrowbarrow, intent on devouring New London and to use the technology to make his city better.

Meanwhile, the former Lost Boy Fishcake has partially rebuilt the Stalker Fang in Cairo. The Stalker Fang often malfunctions, alternating in personality between the kind and supportive Anna-side and the cold and merciless Stalker-side. Fishcake informs Fang that Cairo is stopping to trade with Lost Boy-ruled Brighton where they steal a limpet and make their way to the state of Shan Guo, where the Stalker will do something "important".

Walking the rest of the way by foot, Fishcake and Fang stops at a hermitage, that is inhabited by Sathya, an exiled commander of the Green Storm and an old friend to Anna. The Anna-side of the Stalker doesn't wish to harm Sathya, and wants former London Engineer Dr. Popjoy, who resurrected her in Predator's Gold to eliminate the Stalker-side. Despite protestations, Fishcake accompanies her to Batmunkh Gompa. However, before meeting Popjoy, the Stalker-side returns and demands that he remove the Anna-side. Popjoy explains to her that the brain he fitted her with in Rogue's Roost was from a much older model he found in the Arctic and that it was from a "Remembering Machine" that helped to keep a nomad culture alive. When Popjoy discovers that the Stalker Fang will reactivate ODIN (standing for Orbital Defence Initiative), an orbital weapon with firepower similar to MEDUSA, he protests; but the Stalker kills him. The Stalker Fang takes Fishcake with her to Erdene Tezh, her old home.

Napster Varely arrives in Airhaven, which is floating above the Traktionstadtgesellschaft, and unsuccessfully attempts to sell Zero to Wolf's father Kriegsmarschall von Kobold. Hester, Theo and Shrike arrive at the floating city and attempt to buy her from Varley, who asks for an extortionate price which they cannot pay. Hester and Theo discover Pennyroyal hiding in Airhaven in disgrace and debt after a newspaper exposed him as a fraud. Hester takes what remains of his money and heads to Varley's ship to buy Zero, with Theo accidentally mentioning to Pennyroyal about Zero being alive. With this knowledge and seeking to reclaim fame, Pennyroyal rounds up men from Manchester and marches to Varley's ship. Discovering a photograph of Zero that Varley placed on him, von Kobold attempts to rescue her to make further peace with Naga.

Hester's attempt to cheat Varley is discovered and he attacks her, but his abused wife kills him. As Hester and Zero make their way back, von Kobold finds them and helps them. Pennyroyal arrives with the Manchester men and a fight ensues where von Kobold is shot, but survives via his Old-Tech armour. Shrike manages to scare them away and gets Hester and Zero to their airship the Shadow Aspect and escape. Pennyroyal gets into an altercation with a journalist and falls from Airhaven and is assumed dead, but lands in the rigging of the Shadow Aspect. Stalker-birds arrive but escort the airship to a Green Storm air base where they are hailed as heroes. The base is soon attacked by the Traktionstadtsgesellschaft and Harrowbarrow. All escape in an airship heading east except Theo who stays behind to retrieve a letter that Wren sent him, but is seemingly killed by a bomb shell.

Wolf returns to Harrowbarrow and meets with von Kobold and the Mayor of Manchester Adlai Browne. With support from other Traktionstadtsgesellschaft cities, Browne intends to destroy the Green Storm, despite von Kobold wanting peace. In Tienjing, Naga is informed of the Green Storm air base being attacked but does nothing, disheartened by Zero's supposed death. Cynthia has been poisoning his green tea to make him helpless further and fanatically believes that the Stalker Fang will return.

Fishcake and the Stalker Fang, whose personalities seem to be merged, steal Popjoy's air yacht and reach Erdene Tezh and her old home. Inside, she starts to create a device which will relay orders to ODIN.

Theo survives the attack on the airfield and treks east across the plains toward London, where Wren's letter told him she would be; whilst the surviving Green Storm soldiers are transported off to Forward Command, an old traction city where Hester, Shrike and Zero were taken. Theo eventually reaches New London and is reunited with Wren, as well as warning the residents that the war between the Green Storm and the Traktionstadtsgesellschaft has restarted.

ODIN is fired upon Manchester and other cities by the Stalker Fang, killing Browne. Orla Twombley, a pilot formerly from Brighton, observes the destruction and reports to von Kobold in Murnau, telling him and the remaining cities to retreat from a Green Storm weapon. Naga receives communication that Zero is alive, and, realising that Twite has deceived him confronts her. Twite attempts to kill him, but ODIN fires on Tienjing. Naga survives but Twite is killed instantly in the blast.

The residents of New London see the firepower of ODIN from afar, and fearing that it is a Green Storm weapon, make plans to head north when the city is finished. Tom, fearing for Wren, takes the ''Jenny Haniver'' to Tienjing, hoping to convince Naga to not use his supposed weapon. Tom leaves a letter to Wren saying his goodbyes and entrusting Theo to take care for her, admitting that he is dying. Wolf hears of Manchester's destruction and is determined to continue on to London, claiming to his underlings that Harrowbarrow's creeping nature will help them survive.

Hester, Shrike, Zero and Pennyroyal make their way to Batmunkh Gompa to reunite with Naga, who has been evacuated to there. They are told of the destruction of traction cities and Tienjing alike, which Shrike deduces is the work of the Stalker Fang. Zero intends to talk to Popjoy as he built the Stalker Fang and may know how to disable her for good.

Wren discovers Tom's letter and attempts to follow him with Theo, but they are stopped by Garamond, who believes they are Green Storm agents and are escaping to betray New London. It is revealed that Pomeroy had died in his sleep when Tom left New London and Garamond has taken his place. Garamond arrests the pair, but Childermass frees them and tells them to escape to a Green Storm settlement. It is revealed that Childermass is the mother of Bevis Pod.

Tom, flying the ''Jenny Haniver'', is intercepted on his way to Tienjing and brought to Batmunkh Gompa, where he is interrogated by Naga. Tom pleads for Naga to not use the weapon on New London, but Naga mistakes him for a Traktionstadtsgesellschaft spy and disbelieves him. Hester and the others arrive in Batmunkh Gompa, where Zero discovers Popjoy is dead. When Zero meets with Naga, he accuses her of being a spy, believing that London is the master of the new weapon and that Popjoy faked his death to join them. Naga has Zero beaten and detained, then orders for their forces to attack London. Pennyroyal informs Hester and Shrike of Zero's predicament, and Hester is shakily reunited with Tom, who tells her that Theo is alive and with Wren in London. With Shrike, the pair escape on the ''Jenny Haniver''. The Stalker Fang targets Zhan Shan, a volcano, with ODIN, triggering an eruption that will last for weeks and destroy many provinces. Tom and Hester deduce that the Stalker Fang has gone to Erdene Tezh and fly the ''Jenny Haniver'' there.

Wren and Theo hear Harrowbarrow approaching to devour New London. Wren boards it whilst Theo warns the Londoners of the approaching city. Wren confronts Wolf, and tricks him into diverting Harrowbarrow into an area that is full of energy left from MEDUSA. The Green Storm arrives and attacks, though Wolf continues ahead, having dealt with the Green Storm before, but Harrowbarrow is damaged by MEDUSA's left-over energy. Theo boards it and finds Wren, but Harrowbarrow starts moving again. Naga, informed of Harrowbarrow's approach, realises his error and defends New London, which finally begins to move, with Harrowbarrow in pursuit. Wolf confronts Wren and Theo on Harrowbarrow's back, but Wren accidentally kills Wolf when Naga's airship arrives and rescues them. Naga drops Wren and Theo on New London and pilots his airship straight into Harrowbarrow in a kamikaze attack, destroying the city and allowing New London to escape.

On board the ''Jenny Haniver'', Shrike finds Pennyroyal hiding, and the three tie him up. Stalker-birds attack the airship, severely damaging it. Shrike manages to save the three from being killed, but falls out of the ship and into the mountains. The airship downs near Fang's old home, where Hester and Tom leave Pennyroyal. Fishcake, having heard the airship, confronts them and tries to kill Hester, but is stopped by the Stalker Fang. Fishcake demands she kills them, but the Stalker Fang hits him and Fishcake runs away. Tom's heart begins to strain and he collapses. The Stalker Fang, deciding not to kill them as they will all die soon enough, takes Tom into the house as Hester follows.

The Stalker Fang explains to Tom and Hester that she destroyed various traction cities and Green Storm bases to make the two sides fight each other, giving her time to send a command to ODIN. This command targets various volcanoes around the Earth, which will erupt and kill humanity in the resulting volcanic winter, but will "make the world green again". Fishcake finds Pennyroyal, and they plan to escape in Popjoy's sky-yacht, but need the keys around the Stalker Fang's neck. Pennyroyal finds an anti-Stalker weapon that Hester dropped and makes his way toward the house. Tom attempts to convince the Anna-side of the Stalker to destroy ODIN, and the Stalker flashes between the converging personalities. Pennyroyal suddenly enters and kills the Stalker Fang, which falls onto the ODIN transmitter and destroys it. Tom's heart strains and he collapses again, whilst Pennyroyal takes the key to the sky-yacht and attempt to bring it to them to save Tom. As Hester takes Tom outside, they see a twinkling star in the sky, and Hester realises that the Stalker Fang had ordered ODIN to destroy itself. Pennyroyal attempts to fly the sky-yacht to Tom and Hester, but is threatened by Fishcake to leave them behind as revenge for leaving him on Brighton. Hester watches the sky-yacht fly away, and she comforts Tom as he dies. Hester commits suicide shortly afterwards.

Zero is informed of Naga's demise, and is appointed leader of the Green Storm, which she reforms as the Anti-Traction League. She makes a treaty with von Kobold to cease fighting forever, with many traction cities subsequently becoming static. Popjoy's sky-yacht fails outside Batmunkh Gompa, and Fishcake abandons Pennyroyal, who travels back to Murnau and spends time in debtors' prison before writing a truthful account of the events he survived, titling it Ignorant Armies. However, it is never published due to his fraudulent activities, and Pennyroyal lives out the rest of his life in Peripatetiapolis with an old girlfriend. Fishcake makes his way to Sathya's hermitage, where he lives with her into adulthood and has children of his own. He comes to regret leaving Hester and Tom in Erdene Tezh, though he believes that they were resourceful enough to find a way to escape. Wren and Theo leave New London in the north a year later, and go to Zagwa to see Theo's family. When Airhaven arrives, Wren and Theo buy a new airship with Wolf's expedition money, calling it the ''Jenny Haniver II'' and become air-traders. New London thrives as it escapes predator cities and trades with anti-gravity furniture.

Miles away, Shrike revives himself and arrives at Erdene Tezh too late, finding the remains of the Stalker Fang. Although her Stalker brain is dead, Shrike downloads memories from the older part of her brain. He then finds Tom and Hester's bodies, and considers taking Hester to be Resurrected, but decides against it when he sees that they held hands when they died. As he takes their bodies, Shrike recalls his own long-lost memories of his own two children (Ruan and Fern from Fever Crumb) before he was turned into a Stalker. Laying the bodies down in an outcrop nearby, Shrike shuts down and watches their bodies decompose over the years. As the years flash by him, an oak tree grows from Hester's body, and he eventually slows this time lapse when he notices human figures nearby. Finally out of his fugue state, Shrike discovers that a forest has grown round him, and meets a girl and a boy. The pair take him down into a village, where Shrike finds that he was considered an old shrine statue, and the people hung flowers around his neck for luck.

The Stalker discovers that the village has used Childermass’ anti-gravity machines, and that he has woken hundreds, if not thousands of years into the future. When he asks if there are any traction cities in the world, the village people explain that they are thought to be fairy tales nowadays and find the idea ridiculous. When the people ask what he was for, Shrike responds that he is a "Remembering Machine", and is asked to tell his story.

Remy McSwain (Dennis Quaid) is a New Orleans police lieutenant who investigates the murder of a local mobster. His investigation leads him to suspect that fellow members of the police force may be involved.

Anne Osborne (Ellen Barkin), a state district attorney, is sent to investigate alleged police corruption. After seeing firsthand some unorthodox practices by Remy, Anne accuses him of being on the take. He argues that she does not have an understanding of how the system works in New Orleans for police.

Despite Osborne's suspicious and apprehensive feelings towards him, they form a relationship. McSwain is caught accepting payoffs in an Internal Affairs sting, and Osborne has the burden of prosecuting him. With the assistance of fellow officers within the police force, the evidence is destroyed and suppressed. McSwain is cleared of the charges, at which point Anne, now clued in, is faced with the conflict of her personal feelings for Remy and her duty to uphold the law.

It is later revealed that Jack Kellom (Ned Beatty), Remy's boss, and the two detectives De Soto (John Goodman) and Dodge (Ebbe Roe Smith) are behind the murder, and a stash of heroin is hidden at a boat yard. Kellom goes to the boat and is confronted by De Soto and Dodge. Kellom suggests getting rid of the drugs, but De Soto shoots Kellom. Remy and Anne arrive and are confronted by De Soto and Dodge, and a shootout starts, resulting in De Soto being shot by a fatally wounded Kellom, and Dodge being shot with a flare gun by Remy, which starts a fire, and Remy and Anne make a run for it in the nick of time just before the boat explodes.

The final scene shows Remy dancing with Anne, and it appears they had just been married.

Fourteen-year-old Maria Antonia is the beautiful, charming, and naïve Archduchess of Austria, youngest of Empress Maria-Theresa's daughters. In 1770, the only one left unmarried among her sisters, she is sent by her mother to marry the Dauphin of France, the future king Louis XVI, to seal an alliance between the two rival countries. Maria, with her name being changed to Marie Antoinette, travels to France, relinquishing all connections with her home country, including her pet pug "Mops", and meets King Louis XV of France and her future husband, Louis-Auguste. The betrothed young couple arrive at the Palace of Versailles, which was built by the Sun King, Louis XIV. They are married at once and are encouraged to produce an heir to the throne as soon as possible, but the next day it is reported to the king that "nothing happened" on the wedding night.

As time passes, Marie-Antoinette finds life at the court of Versailles stifling. Her husband's courtiers disdain her as a foreigner and blame her for not producing an heir, although the fault really lies with her husband, for the marriage remains unconsummated for an inordinate amount of time. The French court is rife with gossip, and Marie-Antoinette consistently ruffles feathers by defying its ritualistic formality. Marie-Antoinette also refuses to meet or speak with Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry, the mistress of Louis XV. Over the years, Maria-Theresa continues to write to her daughter, giving advice on how to impress and seduce the Dauphin. Marie's attempts to consummate with her husband fail and the marriage remains childless. Marie spends most of her time buying extravagant clothes and gambling. After a masquerade ball, Marie and Louis return to find that the King was dying of smallpox; he orders du Barry to leave Versailles. After his death on May 10, 1774, Louis XVI is crowned King of France at the age of 19, with Marie-Antoinette as Queen at the age of 18.

Marie-Antoinette's brother, Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, comes to visit, counseling her against her constant parties; advice that she finds easy to ignore. Joseph meets Louis XVI at the Royal Zoo and explains to him the "mechanics" of sexual intercourse in terms of "key-making", as one of the King's favorite hobbies is locksmithing. Thereafter, the King and Marie Antoinette have sex for the first time, and on December 19, 1778, Marie Antoinette gives birth to a daughter, Princess Marie Thérèse Charlotte of France. As the child matures, Marie-Antoinette spends much of her time at the Petit Trianon, a small chateau in the park of Versailles. It is also at this time that she begins an affair with Axel Fersen. As France's financial crisis worsens, food shortages and riots increase, her public image has completely deteriorated by this point: her luxurious lifestyle and seeming indifference to the struggles of the French people earned her the title "Madame Deficit".

As the queen matures, she focuses less on her social life and more on her family and makes what she considers to be significant financial adjustments. A year after her mother's death on November 29, 1780, Marie Antoinette gives birth to a son, Louis-Joseph, Dauphin of France, on October 22, 1781. She also gives birth to another son, Louis-Charles on March 27, 1785, and another daughter, Princess Sophie on July 9, 1786, who dies on June 19, 1787, a month before her first birthday. As the French Revolution erupts with the storming of the Bastille, the royal family resolves to stay in France, unlike most of the court. Rioting Parisians force the family to leave Versailles for Paris. The film ends with the royal family's transfer to the Tuileries. The last image is a shot of Marie-Antoinette's bedroom at Versailles, destroyed by angry rioters.

The film charts the stories of several people over a hot summer weekend in Adelaide. Photojournalist Nick (William McInnes) discovers he has testicular cancer that has spread to his lungs. On his way home he goes to the site of a train accident to report on it, and meets Meryl (Justine Clarke) an emotionally vulnerable artist, who has witnessed a man get run over by a train. Over the course of the weekend, their relationship develops sexually as another chance encounter allows them to discover more about each other; the two gradually allow themselves to let go of their fears and form a meaningful relationship.

Meanwhile, Nick's colleague, Andy Walker, has to deal with the news that his estranged girlfriend, Anna, is pregnant, made more difficult because neither of them really wanted or planned for a baby. Andy also has to cope with his ex-wife, who doesn't trust his ability to take good care of his two children. The lives of Julia (the partner of the man run over by the train) and the driver of the train are explored: Both characters are shown going through the seven stages of grief. The train driver bridges the gap with his estranged teenage son during the course of the movie. The rain at the end of the film symbolises relief.

The film ends with a flick-through montage of events: Nick in hospital, suffering the effects of treatment, Nick and Meryl's child, finally holidaying in Europe; enjoying whatever time they have left together.

The story details the life of a horse in the western United States from his birth to his eventual decline. It takes place after the 1910, during which the West dies away and automobiles are introduced. Smoky is born in the wild but is captured and trained by a cowboy named Clint. Clint is taken by Smoky's intelligence and spirit, and he uses him as his personal steed. Under his guidance, Smoky soon becomes known as the best cow horse around. However, Smoky is among a number of horses stolen by a horse thief. When Smoky refuses to allow the thief to ride him, being loyal only to Clint, he is beaten repeatedly in punishment. Developing an intense hatred for humans from this treatment, Smoky eventually attacks and kills the thief.

When Smoky is eventually captured by local authorities, his now violent and aggressive demeanor prompts his use as a bucking bronco at a rodeo. Under the moniker of "The Cougar", he becomes the most famous rodeo attraction in the South West, and people come from miles away to attempt to ride him. Years of performing at the rodeo eventually take their toll on his body and spirit, and he is left a shell of his former self.

As he is no longer of any use as a rodeo horse, he is renamed "Cloudy" and used as a riding horse, then later sold to an abusive man who starves him. During this time, Clint finally reunites with Smoky. While in town on business, Clint spots and recognizes the horse. After having Smoky's current owner arrested for his acts of cruelty, Clint reclaims him and takes him home with him. Although Clint initially despairs at the condition Smoky is in, his careful treatment of the horse begins to show results. In the end, Smoky has completely recovered his former health and personality.

An extremely venomous spider has been accidentally brought from the Amazon rainforest to California and mates with a number of spider queens, creating a new crossbreed of venomous little spiders that kill people in one bite. The plague of spiders is spreading and killing people at a frightening rate. Bug-exterminator Delbert McClintock takes the liberty of going through California to clear seven towns of their infestations. After the successful cleansing, Dr. Atherton commissions Delbert to destroy the spiders in the jungle.

Dobry is a young boy who lives in a small farming village in Bulgaria with his widowed mother and grandfather. Both of them are dedicated farmers, and Dobry spends much of his early life helping them in the fields. The majority of his free time is spent with his best friend, Neda, the daughter of the village shoemaker.

While still young, Dobry discovers a found love for art, in which he displays an unusually high amount of natural talent. In order to pay for the art supplies he needs to practice, he takes on the job as the village cow herder, and spends the next several years honing his artistic skills. While Neda and Dobry's grandfather are impressed and supportive of his dedication to his craft, his mother becomes increasingly worried and agitated. She had always assumed that Dobry would take over the family farm as an adult, and sees the time that Dobry spends with his art as wasted time that he could be using to help with the work. However, Dobry's grandfather is slowly able to convince her that talent like his should be allowed to develop. When Dobry creates a beautiful snow sculpture of the nativity that the whole town praises, his mother finally realizes how skilled her son truly is.

At the following New Year celebration, Dobry's mother presents him with a surprise gift: money that she has saved up in order for him to enroll in an art academy. While Dobry excitedly begins to prepare for his new life, Neda worries that he will be leaving the village forever. However, he assures her that once he has completed his education, he will return to the village and marry her.

'''Act 1''' A young boy, Smeeton/Smike, sits alone in a class of empty desks. Soon, the rest of the class files in and the Headmaster reads out the Daily Test. The children, however, voice out their reactions to the test (the Headmaster cannot hear them) rather than writing down their answers. At the end of the test, the children hand in their papers to the drama mistress, Miss Grant ("Daily Test Chant") before expressing how they feel about school ("Doing Things By Numbers"). The Headmaster then introduces the class's new English teacher, Mr. Nicholls, before punishing Smeeton who has forgotten to rule a line at the end of his work. The Headmaster and Miss Grant show Nicholls to the book cupboard, leaving the children alone.

Tubby, a bully, taunts Smeeton and a fight starts. Nicholls breaks up the fight, and informs the class they will be looking at Nicholas Nickleby. The children are not happy. Nicholls tells them the story of a young man named Nicholas Nickleby, who is sent by his uncle to teach in a school run by a cruel and vicious headmaster by the name of Squeers. The children notice that they are in a similar situation, and ask why they should listen to Nicholls, as nobody ever listens to them. ("Here I Am"). The Headmaster and Miss Grant overhear the commotion, and Nicholls explains that he was getting the children interested by turning Nicholas Nickleby into a musical. The Headmaster and Miss Grant are not convinced, but Nicholls explains the character of Squeers to the Headmaster, convincing him to play the part. The Headmaster is a little more convinced, and the children flick through their books to see what characters they can play. It is decided that Miss Grant will play Squeers' daughter, Fanny, and that Smeeton, much to his dismay, will play Smike. Smeeton gives in, but only if Nicholls plays Nicholas Nickleby, which is agreed ("Stop! And Just Think Who You Could Be").

The scene then transforms to The Saracen's Head, a 19th-Century pub. Squeers is in London recruiting pupils for his school, Dotheboys Hall. He is accompanied by three frightened-looking boys. Suddenly, one of them sneezes, and Squeers rounds on him. Richard, the landlord of the Saracen's Head, announces that a gentleman is here to speak to Squeers. Mr. Snawley enters, saying that he wishes to enroll his two sons in Dotheboys Hall. Squeers accepts, and ensures Snawley that he will ensure the boys are in good hands and will achieve the best of their abilities ("We've Got The Youngsters' Interests At Heart").

Ralph Nickleby and his nephew Nicholas Nickleby enter, and Ralph recollects the time that a young boy named Dorker died at Dotheboys Hall. He then changes the subject, having noticed an advertisement in a newspaper for an able assistant to Squeers, and says that Nicholas should apply. At first Squeers objects to this decision, saying that Nicholas is too young and without a college degree, but Ralph reminds Squeers that he did not inform Ralph of Dorker's death until years after he died; thus Ralph must have still been paying Squeers for Dorker's education while he was dead. Squeers changes his mind and employs Nicholas, informing him they will depart for Dotheboys Hall the following morning.

Squeers and Nicholas arrive at the gates at Dotheboys Hall. Squeers calls for Smike, a skinny boy who works as a slave to the Squeers family. He treats Smike poorly before asking him to fetch the luggage. Squeers then introduces Nicholas to his wife, Mrs. Squeers, who helps him run the school. She immediately takes a disliking to Nicholas. Nicholas is then introduced to the Squeers' children, Fanny and Wackford. Squeers tries to show that his family is perfect, but Nicholas knows they are far from it ("Wackford, Fanny, Squeersy And Me").

Squeers then introduces Nicholas to the boys, who look more like sewer rats than human beings. He states that Mrs. Squeers is like a mother to the boys, and that the school is filled with love and charity, but Nicholas can see that the boys are treated poorly ("Dotheboys Hall"). Nicholas is shocked when he sees that the boys are restricted to drinking a jug of water and only when Squeers calls their number ("Doing Thing By Numbers (Reprise)".

Once the boys are sent to bed, Nicholas dines with the Squeers family, unaware that Fanny is attracted to him. Smike, who is serving them dinner, asks Squeers if anything has been heard about him, but is dismissed whilst treated cruelly. Nicholas feels that he is eating a meal that many go without, and Squeers explains that they prepare the boys for a life in the real world. Smike returns, this time with ale, but Squeers considers him lazy for taking his time, and beats Smike until he is left in a heap on the floor. After dinner, Squeers tells Nicholas to sleep in the living room until more permanent arrangements can be made. Nicholas hears Smike reflecting on his situation ("Better Off The Way I Am") and comforts him. Smike explains that he was with Dorker when he died and remembers seeing smiling faces upon Dorker. Smike is troubled that nobody would smile upon him when he dies, and that he will never find his family. Nicholas comforts him, saying there is always hope ("Don't Let Life Get You Down").

The start of the story mode introduces the player to Arran, a young boy living in a small village. One day, Arran creeps into a forest whilst playing hide and seek with his friends, and stumbles upon a glowing floating orb. The orb informs him that he must go on a quest to defeat the evil 'Night Caster'. Arran is then placed in suspended animation (even though he still ages) by the orb, presumably so that he 'will be ready' to fight the Nightcaster.

Arran wakes up, having aged to around the mid-twenties, to find his world devastated by darkness and the legions of monsters under the reign of the Nightcaster spreading terror over the populace. Arran's parents are supposedly dead when Arran finds his home to be a smoldering wreckage, at which point the orb informs him that 'it is the Nightcaster['s doing]'. So he starts his quest facing many creatures and as he ages his spells are stronger, more effective and more expansive.

Jim Phelps, leader of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF), receives a message about a terrorist plot at an abandoned World War II submarine base in the 70th parallel north, where they plan to send missiles to a rival country. Phelps deploys IMF agents Ethan Hunt, John Clutter and Andrew Dowey to stop the terrorists' plans by infiltrating the base and destroying the submarine holding the missiles. While this is happening, Alexander Golystine, a worker at the Embassy of Russia in Prague, kidnaps IMF agent Candice Parker and steals one half of the CIA non-official cover (NOC) list, which holds the real and false names of all IMF agents. Although it is useless without the other half, the embassy possesses a powerful super-computer that may be capable of breaking the code to open the document. When IMF agent Robert Barnes goes missing after an attempted rescue mission, Phelps sends in Hunt to find and assemble the NOC list, rescue Candice Parker, and discover the fate of Barnes. After making his way through an underground warehouse and the KGB headquarters, Hunt finds Barnes dead in an office and saves Parker. Together, they recover the NOC list and escape using the cover of a fake fire.

Because the CIA suspects someone helped Hunt in Prague, he is taken to interrogation at the CIA headquarters in Langley, where he is accused of being a mole for a killer known as Max. With the help of Parker, Hunt escapes his captors and reaches the rooftop of the building. From there, he gains access to the IMF mainframe and steals the second half of the NOC list before escaping by helicopter. Hunt meets with the secretive Max in London Waterloo station, but she steals the NOC list and leaves her henchmen to execute him before boarding a train. With Parker's support and two former CIA agents, Hunt infiltrates the train and successfully kills Max, taking back the NOC list. As he makes his way to the cargo area, he discovers that Phelps is the real mole. Hunt chases him onto the roof of the train and kills him, destroying his helicopter as he tries to escape. Afterwards, he returns to the CIA headquarters, where he is cleared of all suspicion. Now, as the IMF team leader, Hunt is informed that the terrorist group from the game's first mission has gone active again. With the help of Clutter and Dowey, Hunt stops their plans by destroying their base entirely. He then meets Parker on top of a submarine before escaping.

The Federation has agreed to turn several colonized planets over to the Cardassians as part of a long-negotiated treaty. The ''Enterprise'', among other Starfleet ships, is assigned the task of relocating these Federation colonists. Admiral Alynna Nechayev warns Captain Picard that the colonists of Dorvan V are Puebloan settlers that wanted to create a new home for their culture, and Picard is to remove them by any means necessary. Before the ''Enterprise'' sets off for Dorvan V, Wesley comes aboard on vacation from Starfleet Academy. However, his mother Dr. Crusher and his former crewmates find him snappish and depressed.

At Dorvan V, Picard negotiates with the tribal council, led by Anthwara. Picard suggests that they found three other nearby homeworlds with similar conditions, but Anthwara insists that they must stay at Dorvan V, as their ancestors had spent 200 years to find a world with the right spiritual properties, and believes it would take just as long to find another. Anthwara reveals that Picard's ancestors had been involved with the Pueblo Revolt in the 17th century and that he carries some of that guilt to try to sway the Captain, a thought that troubles Picard. Wesley, meanwhile, meets Lakanta, one of the colony's holy men, who instructs him to go on a vision quest. During this, Wesley talks to his long-dead father, Jack Crusher, who suggests that Wesley is bound for a different destiny than his own.

The Cardassians, led by Gul Evek, arrive ahead of schedule, and begin to assess the planet. Though they are peaceful, tensions among the Federation and colonists start to rise. Picard prepares his crew to transport the colonists to the ''Enterprise'' by force. Wesley overhears of the plan and incites the colonists to riot. Picard warns Wesley against his actions, prompting Wesley to quit Starfleet on the spot. Wesley has a heart-to-heart discussion with Dr. Crusher, telling her about the vision quest and that he never thought Starfleet was right for him. Dr. Crusher reminds him about the Traveler, who told her Wesley was special, and that he might be bound for better things, and regardless what he does, she will be proud of him.

On the surface, the colonists take some of the Cardassians hostage, and Picard and Gul Evek try to come to a solution. Gul Evek mentions that he has lost two sons to the war with the Federation and does not want to lose his last one. A fight breaks out on the surface and Wesley tries to stop it, but ends up freezing time. Lakanta reveals himself to be the Traveler and is ready to help mentor Wesley on his new path. Wesley agrees and the two depart; the fighting continues and the Cardassians suffer casualties. Gul Evek agrees to evacuate his people to end the fighting. Eventually, Anthwara states that the colonists have decided to forgo their Federation citizenship, and Gul Evek affirms the Cardassians will allow them to remain on the planet as their citizens. As the ''Enterprise'' returns to Federation space, Wesley says his goodbyes and leaves with the Traveler.

During World War II, Flying Tiger triple ace Lieutenant Fred Atwell and his almost-as-successful comrades, Reginald Fenton and Richard Merlin, are brought back to the United States for a ticker tape parade and a ten-day "leave." The only trouble is, they are expected to spend all their time on a nationwide morale-boosting tour. Fred sneaks off the train at a rural stop to seek some fun.

He eventually ends up in New York City. He spots a beautiful woman, Joan Manion, in a nightclub. Eavesdropping, he learns that she is a newspaper photographer fed up with taking pictures of celebrities. Her pleas for an assignment in a war zone fall on deaf ears. Her boss, newspaper publisher Phil Harriman, likes her just where she is: nearby so he can try to wear her down and persuade her to marry him.

Fred, giving himself the last name "Burton" to hide his identity, romances her himself in an annoyingly persistent way, even renting a room in the building she lives in. Eventually, she starts to like him, despite what she considers to be a lack of ambition on his part; he does not seem to have or want a job.

She lets him take her on a date, though she steers him into a crowded canteen where she does volunteer work entertaining servicemen. When a performer cancels on short notice, Joan is recruited to sing a number. Fred invites himself to sing along and dance with her; in the process, he runs into his fellow pilots. While Richard dances with Joan, Reginald amuses himself by blackmailing Fred into doing a snake dance on the table in exchange for not revealing who he really is.

Joan tries hard to get Fred a job. When she learns that he once worked as a reporter, she arranges an interview with Phil. Fred, with his leave running out, instead spends the time giving Phil pointers on how to win Joan over, even setting up a romantic dinner at Phil's penthouse with the assistance of his butler, Jackson. Phil blunders badly, then reveals to Joan what Fred has been up to. Fred's scheme works, and he ends up dining for the evening with Joan, in Phil's penthouse. Joan pours on the charm and proposes marriage to Fred, leaving him in an uncomfortable position.

Later, Reginald informs Fred that their leave has been cut short; they only have two more days. Since Fred still does not have a job, Joan takes him along to a banquet honoring airplane manufacturer Harvey J. Sloan. She introduces Fred to Mr. Sloan, but instead of making a good impression as he had promised, he criticizes the fighter plane's performance built by Sloan. When Joan finds out, she breaks up with him.

Afterward, Phil invites Fred to a nearby bar, where he reveals to Fred that he has found out his true identity. Fred asks him to keep it a secret. Fred proceeds to get drunk, singing to bartenders while bar-hopping, "One for My Baby," even tapdancing on a bar table and breaking dozens of drinking glasses in the process.

The next day, Phil makes one last attempt to get Joan to marry him. When that fails, he sends her to the airfield to take pictures of pilots returning to the fight in the Pacific, knowing Fred would be there. Here she spots Fred in his uniform, where it all becomes clear to her. The two embrace, and Fred professes his love to Joan, just after he boards the plane for takeoff.

Characters

Set during the late Victorian era in London, the series focuses on its eponymous protagonist the seventeen-year-old son of Alexis Hargreaves and Alexis's elder sister, Augusta. Abused physically and emotionally by his father for her subsequent insanity, Cain poisoned him, after a dying Augusta warned him to escape. Before Alexis plunged into the sea, he cursed his son to have a miserable life and die alone. Cain inherited his father's title of earl as a result of his presumed death. Accompanying him is his twenty-eight-year-old butler , a former medical student with whom he shares a close bond. Cain's uncle and legal guardian tends to become upset with his behavior and course of action. Often annoyed by Cain's relationships with women, Cain's ten-year-old half sister, the outgoing and strongwilled also lives with them. Previously, she lived on the streets as a fortuneteller, after her mother died to protect her. One of Cain's friends, Oscar Gabriel, becomes her self-proclaimed fiancé to win back his father's attention. As the series progresses, he risks his life to protect her, and she realizes that he genuinely cares for her.

and his secret organization, Delilah, serve as the antagonists of the series. Delilah conducts experiments to revive the dead, creating "deadly dolls" or resurrected corpses surviving on the fresh blood and organs of others. The deadly dolls each possess a supernatural ability, such as seeing the future. Among the deadly dolls is the spider-controlling , who is a doll of , Augusta's daughter and Cain's childhood love. Cain's half brother and Alexis's illegitimate son, works as a doctor for the organization, conducting experiments on humans. Although Alexis physically abused and emotionally traumatized him as well, he refuses to escape from him, and simultaneously despises and envies the bond between Cain and Riff as he believes unconditional love does not exist. His thirty-five-year-old assistant , whose body stopped growing due to a rare strain of dwarfism and who was subsequently sold to a circus as a child by his parents, shows concern for Jizabel and his involvement with Alexis and Delilah.

Story

Having vowed to end Delilah's experiments with the dead, Cain solves murders while periodically running into Jizabel and other members of Delilah. After encountering Mikaila, who professes her one-sided love for him and wants to become Suzette, he becomes obsessed with destroying the organization and learns that it is secretly building a memorial temple. Meanwhile, despite Jizabel's efforts to delay Riff's second, hidden, and cruel personality from awakening, the hypnosis suppressing it breaks. Riff later declares to Cain that he secretly works for Delilah: the loyal, kind-hearted Riff Cain had known is an alternative personality used to deceive others. Alexis had intended for Cain to develop a close bond with Riff, only to break it, to remind Cain that he is unloved. After Riff's departure, Cain resolves to confront Alexis and promises Mary that they will have a tea party after the conflict with Delilah ends. Led by Cassian, whose brain has been transplanted into an adult body, he reaches the tower within the temple where Alexis plans to sacrifice the brainwashed people of London to revive Augusta. Within the tower, Riff reveals his intent to overthrow Alexis. Unconcerned, Alexis divulges that Riff is Delilah's longest surviving doll and will soon die. Riff attacks Cain, but Riff's other personality resurfaces, causing him to deliberately shoot himself. Riff's loyal personality triumphs over the cruel one, but he and Cain are separated. Because Riff's wound cannot heal, Jizabel commits suicide so Riff can use his blood to briefly remain alive and return to Cain. Meanwhile, Cain successfully poisons his father and with his death, the tower begins to crumble. Cain, unable to escape and hurt by the falling debris, reunites briefly with Riff. However, the ceiling collapses and Riff tries to push him away. Cain embraces him, choosing to stay.

After Cain's disappearance, Mary becomes head of the Hargreaves. Augusta possesses Alexis, and seeks out Mary in the mausoleum Cain had built before leaving to confront Alexis. Augusta reveals that she manipulated Alexis into abusing his sons and trying to resurrect her for her amusement. Before she can kill Mary, Augusta triggers Cain's trap in the mausoleum and dies. Years later, Mary is married to Oscar and pregnant with their child, although she still waits for his return. Crehador, a medium close to Cain, sets up a tea party for Mary, fulfilling Cain's promise; he then reminisces on how he found Cain being held by Riff's corpse within the ruined tower. The bunkoban-exclusive epilogue expands the ending slightly. It shows an elderly Mary, who lies on her deathbed attended by a woman nearby and hears the laughter of Jizabel's ghost as he plays with his pet sheep. Sensing a presence nearby, she dies, and taking the form of her ten-year-old self, her soul joins Cain hand-in-hand at a tea party with their friends and loved ones—although they exist as spirits, a boy nearby can hear them.

In 2641, an elite team of commandos called the "Unified Military Special Mobile Task Force K-X", also known as the "Contra Hard Corps", has been assembled to combat the rapid spread of crime and illegal activities following the war. When an unknown hacker infiltrates the city's security system and reprograms a group of unmanned robots to cause havoc, the Hard Corps are deployed to handle the situation. Members include male soldier Ray Poward; female soldier Sheena Etranzi; Brad Fang, a wolf-like humanoid with two cybernetic arms; and Browny, a small robot capable of hovering. Ray, Sheena and Brad later made a brief cameo appearance in the interactive game ''TwinBee Paradise in Donburishima''.

The game begins when the Hard Corps are deployed on a big city to destroy a group of unmanned weapons that had been reprogrammed to attack civilians. At the end of the first stage, the player confronts a robot piloted by cyborg mercenary Deadeye Joe, who escapes after the battle. At this point, the Hard Corps receive an emergency call from Dr. Geo Mandrake informing them that the government's research center is being attacked by an unknown group. The player can choose to pursue Deadeye Joe or go to the research center to thwart the terrorists, each path leading to a different second stage. Regardless of the chosen path, both stages converge to a common route. In the third stage, the player is sent to a junkyard to apprehend the notorious hacker Noiman Cascade, while the fourth stage is set in the jungle, where the enemy's hideout is located. In the fifth stage, the Hard Corps will be caught in a trap by the enemy leader, Colonel Bahamut, and the player is given another choice. From this point on, depending on the player's choices, the storyline splits into four possible paths, each with its own outcome. There's also a hidden coliseum stage with its own ending, for a total of five possible outcomes.

After the prosecution rests its case in the murder trial of Larry Ballentine, the defendant takes the stand to tell his story.

In flashback, Larry recounts how he started seeing Janice Bell, innocently enough, but feelings developed between them. Unwilling to break up his marriage to Greta, whom Larry had married for her money, Janice gets a job transfer. Larry tells her he will run off with her, that he will dump Greta. But Greta knows all about the relationship and is unwilling to give Larry up. She tells him she has purchased a quarter-interest in a brokerage in Los Angeles for him. The financial temptation for Larry is too great and he abandons Janice, never explaining or saying goodbye.

At the brokerage, Larry is reprimanded by his business partner, Trenton, for neglecting a rich client, but avoids further admonishment when employee Verna Carlson steps in to help, showing Trenton a copy of a letter she lets Trenton believe Larry wrote and sent, when it was she who actually had. Verna is an admitted gold-digger, involved with Trenton, but she is interested in Larry and he lets her seduce him.

As before, Greta finds out about Larry's two-timing affair, but will not be the one to set in motion a divorce. She sells the brokerage interest and buys an old Spanish ranch in the mountains. Once again she makes Larry choose; once again he capitulates and stays with her. Larry tells Verna he is ending their affair, much to her bitter disappointment.

The ranch is isolated, without phone or mail service. The closest proximity to other people is a general store down the road. Larry is bored, but Greta loves their life. After some time she tells Larry that she wants to build a guest house for an aunt he despises, who reviles him in return. But, the situation sparks him to concoct a plan; he claims that he knows an architect who can prepare plans for the addition and, on the pretext of calling him, phones Verna from the store and arranges to meet her in Los Angeles.

Larry describes to Verna his scheme to run away with her after cleaning out his and Greta's joint checking account. He writes a large check for her to cash at the brokerage, and leaves a note for Greta declaring he has left and suggesting she get a divorce. Verna meets him as planned but returns the check. This time he chooses a penniless future with her over another return to Greta. Verna has also bought herself a cheap wedding ring, inducing him to follow through on his promise to divorce Greta and marry her.

As they drive to Reno that night, an oncoming truck blows a tire and swerves into their path. Verna is killed and burned beyond recognition. Larry wakes up in the hospital, where he is consoled over his wife's death. Because of the ring, Verna has been identified as Greta. Larry, wishing it was Greta who died, does not correct the error when questioned by the local authorities.

Once he recovers, he returns to the ranch and plans to kill Greta for her money before she is seen alive, but she is not there. Going to her favorite spot, a cliff by a waterfall, he finds at the top the goodbye note he left for her and discovers her body at the bottom. He dumps her corpse in the dark pool below the falls.

Depressed, but now rich and cleared of suspicion, Larry tours South America and the Caribbean, unsuccessfully trying to cheer himself up. In Jamaica, he runs into Janice. He persuades her to reconcile, and they return to Los Angeles together. Later, arriving early to meet her at her hotel, he sees Trenton go into her room. Eavesdropping, he discovers that Trenton is concerned about Verna's disappearance and has enticed Janice to help bring Larry home.

Ultimately, Trenton calls in the police. With a search warrant, combing the surrounding hills, they find Greta's decomposed body in the same dark whirlpool below the falls, but assume it is Verna's. The local storekeeper is a witness to Larry and Verna driving away together, the last time she was seen. The police theorize that Larry killed her because she was blackmailing him.

While the jury deliberates, Larry is visited by Janice, whose love for him has revived. He says he knows he has no chance of acquittal, and has passed judgment on himself for his actions. Back in court, as the verdict begins to be read, Larry suddenly rushes to an open window; before he can fall to his death, he is shot dead by the courtroom guard.

The reading of the verdict is then completed: Not guilty.

Rika Saginuma, Nanaka Shimada, Yumihiko Tsukumura, and biology teacher Reiichi Katano meet in a chatroom, where they go by the screennames 11, Polaris, Mr. Money, and Jangalian, respectively. While online, they discuss their frustrations and form a plan to blow up their school, which they see as the source of all their problems. As the characters get to know each other, they begin to realize that their problems are situated in other aspects of life, as well, not just from the school.

The characters find solace in each other; a major topic of the manga is loneliness. All of the characters implode inside as their problems condense. Jangalian is stalked by his boss's daughter, 11 can't deal with a younger girl's presumed superiority, Mr. Money has an abusive mother, and Polaris is crippled by shyness when she is not dressed as a Gothic Lolita. They deal with their problems through helping each other.

Milda, a cultural education worker, decides that she wants to have a baby — without a father or a family, bred from best proletarian stock of her choice. The child is to be raised by the communal child-rearing organizations that Milda herself is helping to establish as part of the Bolshevik’s effort to construct the ideal socialist state. Doing her best to ignore the meddling and scorn of the unruly co-tenants in her crowded Moscow apartment block, Milda sets out to complete her mission. Eventually she fulfills her dream after a laborious, comic, melodramatic, and tragic journey.

The story begins with Cousin Eddie at his latest workplace, a nuclear facility where he 'works' alongside a chimpanzee. When the chimpanzee outperforms him in every test (specifically mental agility), the decision is made to fire him. Upon finding out the news, the two get into an argument which results in the chimpanzee biting him.

With Christmas approaching, Eddie is worried about what this job loss will mean for him and his family and he decides to talk to his former boss. Although the thought never occurs to him, the nuclear company is convinced that he will sue. As a preemptive countermeasure, they offer him and his family (along with Audrey Griswold and his Uncle Nick) a free vacation to an island in the South Pacific. While on holiday they go on a boat ride. While Eddie attempts to catch a shark, they get lost and eventually shipwrecked on an isolated island.

Eventually Eddie is able to prove himself a man by providing for his family and they all celebrate Christmas together on the island. Shortly after, they are rescued - although when the pilot becomes incapacitated, it is left to Eddie to land the rescue plane safely. Once landed, Eddie discovers he has been given his job back.

An ambulance arrives at the Summers' house to treat Buffy, who has been wounded by Warren Mears's gun. Upstairs, a distraught Willow invokes Osiris to bring the murdered Tara back to life, but this is not possible, because the death did not involve magic. She leaves, learning from Xander that Warren had shot Buffy, but does not tell him that Warren had also killed Tara.

Warren celebrates at Willie's bar, bragging about killing the Slayer, until the TV news reports Buffy is still alive, with a vampire patron opining she will almost certainly come for revenge. Warren visits black magician Rack, seeking protection from Buffy, but Rack tells him Willow is who he should be worried about; terrified, Warren pays for Rack's help, but Rack warns him that the enraged Willow will likely overwhelm his defenses.

Willow goes to the magic shop. Despite Anya's attempt to stop her, she absorbs great power and transforms herself into a dark magician. She appears at the hospital, magically healing Buffy to help her capture Warren. Dawn returns home and finds Tara's body.

Xander and Buffy accompany Willow in her pursuit; Buffy tries to dissuade Willow from using magic, but Willow argues that Buffy's life was preserved only through her sorcery. They catch up to a bus on which Warren is apparently fleeing; Willow attempts to kill him, but finds "he" is only a robotic duplicate. She finally reveals Tara's death to Buffy and Xander. When they refuse to cooperate in Warren's execution, warning that the magic might corrupt her beyond redemption, she lashes out at them and vanishes.

Buffy and Xander return to the house and find Dawn with Tara's body. After the body is removed, they debate Warren's fate, with only Buffy unconvinced that he should be killed; but all agree Willow's intended vengeance will end up destroying her as well. Over Xander's objections, Buffy seeks Spike's aid, but learns he has left Sunnydale without explanation and Clem is house-sitting his crypt until he returns. Buffy then asks Clem to look after a reluctant Dawn while she tries to find Willow.

In Africa, Spike approaches a cave-living demon, seeking to undergo an ordeal to win his greatest desire: to be restored to what he once was. He feels that things have not been right since he had his chip inserted. The demon agrees, although he questions how Spike's feelings concerning the Slayer have led him to this.

Buffy and Xander ask Anya for help, and learn she has once again become a vengeance demon and is able to sense Willow's thirst for vengeance. Willow uses magic to locate Warren. She pursues him through a forest; he ambushes her and plunges an axe through her back. She recovers immediately, negates his magical defenses, and immobilizes him. As he taunts her, she realizes Warren has killed a woman before, and becomes more determined to execute him. She magically inflicts the pain of Tara's death on him by forcing a bullet through his chest. While Buffy and her companions approach, Warren begs for mercy. Willow kills him by flaying him, then disappears, vowing to kill his jailed partners.

Followed by the death of her friends, journalist Hong Sun-Joo comes across a videotape containing incomprehensible images. Towards the end of the tape, she finds the curse which states that the viewer would die at the same time next week if he/she does not perform certain tasks. However, the next scene explaining the nature of the task has been erased. Sun-Joo and a doctor named Choi-Yul embark on a journey to break the curse placed upon them. They discover that the videotape was made by the psychic called Park Eun-Suh. Eun-Suh was an illegitimate daughter of a female psychic and was born an intersex. She was romantically involved with her half-brother and worked in a night club for a while. There, a man who found out about her secrets was killed as she had the uncanny ability to protect herself. The video tape is the medium Eun-Suh uses to reveal herself to the society. Her first exposure to the media was a painful experience, which caused her to withdraw from the outside world. When it became difficult for her to relate to the society, she retaliated by infiltrating it like a virus. The way of infiltration is one-way only and any attempt to block the process ends in extremely negative consequences.

The story opens with the discovery of a castaway in the Black Sea. Recovering in hospital in Turkey, the man is visited by Andrew Drake, an Anglo-Ukrainian. The castaway, Miroslav Kaminsky, is a Ukrainian nationalist who escaped after he was betrayed to the KGB. Drake convinces Kaminsky that they should strike a blow against the Soviet Union. Kaminsky tells Drake about Lev Mishkin and David Lazareff, two Ukrainian Jewish nationalists who have suffered lifetimes of abuse and discrimination by the anti-Semitic Soviet authorities and are ready to take any actions that strike against the USSR.

Meanwhile, a chain of failures at the Soviet Union's plant that makes fungicide for wheat has led to the inadvertent poisoning of the wheat crop. The United States is aware of this crisis and plans to sell its food to the Soviets in exchange for political and military concessions. Hardliners in the Politburo, led by Soviet Army Marshal Kerensky and Party theoretician Vishnayev come up with a different strategy: to take the food by conquering Western Europe, insisting on ideological rather than factual grounds that the West (particularly the U.S.) will accept defeat and the resulting long-term victory of the Soviets over them rather than resort to nuclear war. Chairman Maxim Rudin, while a hard-line Communist who has ruled with an iron hand for a long time, knows that the pro-war faction's plan would result in an all-out nuclear war because the West would otherwise be vassals on a planet dominated by the Soviet bloc. However, Rudin is dying of cancer and knows that he is running out of time to prevent the faction from ousting him and starting World War III.

The news of the war plan comes to British intelligence agent Adam Munro through a Russian woman, his former lover Valentina, who works in the Kremlin offices and has access to the records of Politburo debates. The information shakes both the British and U.S. political leadership.

Mishkin and Lazareff, with the help of Drake, complicate the situation for Rudin by assassinating Yuri Ivanenko, his ally in the Politburo and the chief of the KGB. While the Politburo covers up the truth of Ivanenko's death, Mishkin and Lazareff hijack a Soviet airliner to escape from Ukraine but are arrested in West Berlin after one of the pilots is shot dead during landing. Drake needs the two men released because only they can reveal that the Soviet government couldn't protect one of its most powerful leaders, thus triggering nationalist uprisings in Ukraine and other Soviet republics. Drake and other Westerners of Ukrainian origin hijack the world's largest oil supertanker in the North Sea and demand the extradition of Mishkin and Lazareff to Israel, threatening to vent 1,000,000 tons of oil if this condition is not met. The coastal countries threatened by this ecological catastrophe support the release of the prisoners.

U.S. President Bill Matthews receives information from the British that the USSR will cease negotiations regarding grain and military concessions if the prisoners are released, so there appear to be only two potential outcomes: the greatest oil spill in history, or a Soviet invasion of western Europe. Thus Matthews is faced with the 'Devil's Alternative' of the title: no matter which course of action he pursues, massive loss of life is guaranteed. Munro eventually devises a third option which enables the prisoners to be released (thus ending the oil tanker standoff) and then quietly executed without them being able to reveal that they have assassinated the KGB chief. Kaminsky, who is waiting in Israel to confirm the two prisoners' release, is cornered by Israeli police and commits suicide, believing himself hunted by the KGB again. Drake and his team are killed after escaping the supertanker while Vishnayev is dismissed from the Politburo in disgrace, ending the threat of war.

In the epilogue, Rudin proclaims a relative moderate (someone who believes that the Soviet Union will eventually rule the world but will do so gradually and without resorting to nuclear weapons) from the peace faction as his successor. After the ceremony he privately reveals to a shocked Munro that Valentina had been working for him all along, feeding Munro and the Western governments the information they needed to defuse the crisis and avert war. He informs Munro that Valentina is genuinely fond of him, but not so romantically attached to abandon her homeland for him. Walking outside, free to begin a new life outside the service, Munro begins laughing at himself - a veteran spy taken in by the oldest espionage trick in history: false love.

The ocean liner SS ''Britannic'' is in the middle of a voyage in the North Atlantic with 1200 passengers on board when the shipping line's owner Nicholas Porter in London receives a telephone call from an unidentified person with an Irish accent styling himself as "Juggernaut", who claims to have placed seven drums of high explosives aboard the ship which are timed to explode and sink it at dawn on the following day. He warns that the drums are booby-trapped in various ways and that any attempt to move them will result in detonation, and offers that technical instructions in how to render the bombs safe will be given in exchange for a ransom of £500,000. As an indication of his seriousness he then sets off a demonstration attack with a series of small bombs behind the ships funnel, which injure one crewman. Unable to order an evacuation of the ship's passengers via lifeboats due to rough seas, the shipping line's management is inclined to yield to the ransom demand, however British government officials inform the company that if it does so they will withdraw the company's operating subsidy in line with the Government's policy of non-appeasement of terrorism.

Instead, a Royal Navy officer, Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Fallon, leading a bomb-disposal unit, is dispatched, arriving on the scene by air transit and parachuting into the sea, to board the ship and defuse the barrel-bombs before the deadline. Meanwhile, back in London, Supt. McCleod, whose wife and two children happen to be holidaying on board the ship, leads Scotland Yard's investigation against the clock to capture the criminal master-bomber.

After an attempt to drill a hole into one of the barrel-bombs fails, setting it off and damaging the ship, Fallon decides to split up his team with each man working simultaneously on each of the remaining devices at different points around the ship, Fallon going first with each stage of the defusing operation and informing his men of each move by radio link, with the aim that if he fails and his bomb explodes, his men will know what went wrong and continue the process onwards, with his second in command taking up the lead, until the devices are disarmed. However, if two more bombs go off, the ship will sink. Fallon proceeds to disarm the bomb he is working on, apparently successfully, with his men following each step. However, it contains a hidden secondary mechanism and one of his men, close friend Charlie Braddock, accidentally triggers it, resulting in his death when it explodes, causing further damage to the ship. A distraught Fallon abandons the operation and tells the ship's captain, Alex Brunel, to advise the shipping line to pay the ransom to avoid any more carnage. However, when negotiations with Juggernaut break down (in part because Juggernaut sees the trap police set for him when he goes to collect the ransom) Fallon is ordered by the captain to continue disarming the remaining bombs.

Meanwhile, an extensive police search back in London captures the bomber posing as Juggernaut, who is revealed to be an embittered former British military bomb-disposal officer, Sidney Buckland. When told of the news, Fallon, still working on disabling the bombs, reveals that Buckland had trained him and once saved his life, and insists that Buckland be put in contact with him. Buckland/Juggernaut is escorted to the police situation room. By this time Fallon has worked out the important details of the bombs, but has no way of knowing which of two options (cutting a red or blue wire) will disable the bombs, and if he chooses the wrong one it will detonate them. Time is running out and dawn is fast approaching. Fallon and Juggernaut have a brief conversation, and, because of their former comradeship, Juggernaut agrees to tell Fallon how to safely disarm the bombs. Juggernaut gives the instruction to ‘cut the blue wire’ over audio. After a silence, Juggernaut repeats the instruction more fervently. Fallon, sensing he is being lied to, does the opposite of what he is told, cutting the red wire instead, and in so doing is successful in disabling the bomb. The rest of the bomb-disposal unit swiftly follow Fallon's example, and the ship and its passengers are saved.

The miniseries chronicles the lives and loves of the four March sisters – Jo (Susan Dey), Meg (Meredith Baxter Birney), Amy (Ann Dusenberry) and Beth (Eve Plumb) – growing up in Concord, Massachusetts during the American Civil War. While their father leaves for battle, the sisters must rely on each other for strength in the face of tragedies both large and small.

Part One

In this particular adaptation, Jo works as narrator opening the story upon Christmas of 1861 in Concord, Massachusetts. She lives with three other sisters, their mother (Marmee), and their housemaid. She identifies them: Meg (16) is a governess, Jo (15) is an aspiring writer and hot-tempered, Beth (13) is timid and sweet and fond of playing the piano, while Amy (12) is the youngest with a predilection for art. Their father is fighting with the Union placing the Marches in a less well-off living situation than they had been in previously.

Meg and Jo are meant to take Amy to school, bemoaning school, she wishes she could stay home like Beth, who is homeschooled due to her severe social anxiety.  As she takes her time, Jo starts a snowball fight with Meg, but the snowball misses and strikes the Lawrence’s window catching Laurie’s attention and embarrassing ever proper Meg.

This adaptation works more to establish the relationship between Mr. Lawrence and his grandson, Laurie and their conflict.  Laurie is playing their piano, much to the disapproval of his grandfather as it reminds him of Laurie’s parents and the loss of his daughter.  Laurie, who is a hermit of sorts, is told he should be out engaging with his peers.

Mr. Lawrence runs into Beth at the post office.  She reminds him of his dead daughter who also loved to play piano, he remarks that he can hear Beth’s playing from outside the March residence and offers to let her use his own piano as it is nicer and in tune.  Later, she takes him up on his offer, but when she starts playing Mr. Lawrence mistakes her playing for Laurie’s and comes out admonishing who he thinks is his grandson for playing during his tutoring session.  Timid Beth is horrified and absconds, regretting his rashness he then gifts her a nice piano as an apology.

Meg and Jo arrive at Sally Gardner’s party, a rich, albeit snobby childhood friend of theirs.  Meg yearns for nice things like the other girls feeling out of place in the same dress she wore to Sally’s party the year prior.  Pitying her, her rich friends give her a makeover.  Meanwhile, trying to follow Meg’s advice on proper etiquette, Jo stands apart from the party, trying to keep the back of her dress out of sight as it is scorched.  Trying to keep herself hidden, she maneuvers herself into a back room and backs into Laurie, who like her is also something of a wallflower.  This is their first real meeting and they bond over what marks them each as Peculiar,  they end up dancing together but out of sight because of Jo’s marred dress.  Later, champagne-drunk, Meg twists her ankle in her high heels, and Laurie offers to take the March sisters home.

Amy’s teacher strikes her hands with a ruler at school, prompting Marmee to pull her out for homeschooling.  Excited, she goes and tells Jo, ecstatic that they can now do their own respective art together...but Jo doesn’t like to share her workspace.  Dismissively, with unwarranted harshness, she rejects Amy.  To add insult to injury, when she and Meg go out with Laurie to the movies, Jo snappily tells Amy she isn’t allowed to come.  Upset at being excluded and dismissed as a child, Amy lashes out and burns Jo’s writings.  Jo finds out and swears never to forgive her, ignoring Marmee’s lesson on anger and forgiveness she proceeds to give Amy the cold-shoulder.  Days later, Laurie and Jo are to go ice skating, desperately trying to get back in Jo’s good graces she runs after them but as they are further down the river when she finally catches up, she doesn’t hear Laurie’s warning to avoid certain areas where the ice is too thin and she falls through the ice.  Feeling awful, after Amy’s rescue Jo vows to never lose her temper again.

While submitting her stories to a newspaper, Jo finds Laurie and his grandfather in an argument after he catches him at a Pool Hall.  Jo stays with Mr. Lawrence, and he divulges that his rigidness with Laurie is informed by his losing his daughter in the past.

A telegram comes interrupting a nice picnic between the March sisters and Lawrences with news that Mr. March, their father, has taken ill.  Mr. Brooke, who is interested in Meg’s hand in marriage resolves to accompany Marmee’s visit to Washington.  Train tickets are expensive, and when Aunt March comes over to provide some money, she makes it sound like she isn’t going to help with the costs of travel—frustrated, Jo storms off and sells her hair to help pay for the ticket.

While Marmee is in Washington, Beth falls ill after caring for their neighbor’s sick baby, who dies of scarlett fever.  As Amy has never had scarlett fever, she is sent against her wishes to quarantine with Aunt March, Laurie promises her to keep her company.  Beth’s condition worsens, and realizing that Meg and Jo are in over their heads, Laurie telegraphs Marmee.  When Marmee returns, their father is in tow, and Beth makes a miraculous recovery.  Meanwhile, Mr. Brooke confesses his affections to Meg, who likes him but is unsure if she’s ready for marriage.  Her decision is solidified when Aunt March derides her for being involved with a poor man and threatens to never help her financially should she need it.  Meg stands up to Aunt March, declaring she’d rather be poor and happy than rich and miserable, ultimately choosing to marry for love rather than money.

Part Two

Once again, Jo’s narration starts off the story, this time placing it in Spring 1865.  She is ill at ease with the changes going on within her family.  Meg is to be married, Amy going off on sojourn to Europe, and Beth is chronically ill and unable to leave home.  This adaptation contextualizes the story more than other adaptations, referencing the Civil War, the abolitionist movement, and women’s suffrage.  Jo tells of attending a speech by Susan B. Anthony and of writing for the Daily Volcano which pays.

Laurie takes Jo on a horse ride, and tries to confess his feelings to an evasive Jo.  She turns down his proposal—while she loves him, it’s as a friend, and their personalities are too conflicting to form a happy marriage.  Mr. Lawrence then finds Laurie angstly playing piano, and invites him to Europe with him to find himself.  Meanwhile, Jo tells Marmee of Laurie’s proposal, and how she feels with everything around her changing and decides that she needs a change as well.  She elects to get to New York as a governess to Ms Kirk’s boarding school.  As she gets settled in New York, she meets an awkward german professor named Friedrich Bhaer who tutors the children at the boarding school.  She submits stories to the New York Weelkly Volcano, albeit with their moralizing themes omitted.

Meg and Sally Moffat are out shopping, and Meg, self-conscience in face of her friend’s wealth, impulsively buy fifty dollars worth of silk for a nice dress.  This stretches her and her husband’s budget, who had been hoping for a new overcoat to replace his current one which is falling apart.  He gracefully forgoes the new coat for Meg’s silk.  Feeling guilty, Meg sells the silk back to Sally and buys her husband his long-awaited overcoat.

Amy is in Italy and is very popular amongst her peers and sought after by men.  She has matured greatly.  She sees Mr. Lawrence and is thrilled as it means Laurie must be nearby.  She tells of a potential suitor, Fred Vaughn, who would enable her to live well-off.  Later, Laurie visits her apartment at an ungodly hour, drunk off his rocker.  Amy isn’t amused, and tells him to stop sulking over Jo and get his act together. That he’s throwing his potential away.  Shaken, but in a good way, Laurie resolves to shape up and to meet up with Amy in Nice, France in the Spring.

Jo and Professor Bhaer become closer.  In exchange for her mending his socks he tries to teach her German...she isn’t good at it, but they still go for walks. He shows interest in her writing and would like to read it—yet as he says that, he spots a Weekly Volcano paper in the trash and calls it bottom-of-the-barrel garbage, unaware that Jo writes for the same paper.  Feeling sheepish, Jo quietly intercepts any new Weekly Volcano papers lest he see that she writes for them and resolves to discontinue her submissions.  He sees it anyway, appalled, he harshly criticizes her and she lashes back saying he probably didn’t even read her story.  

Later, Jo receives news that Meg is expecting a child and sets out for Concord, Massachusetts.  Before she leaves, Bhaer apologizes for his harshness and after reading what she wrote he sees its promise. They say farewell and agree to see each other again sometime soon.  Meg has twins.

News reaches Amy that Beth has fallen ill again, yet she insists Amy need not cut her trip short on account of her.  Beth knows she’s not long for this world but Jo is in denial.  She takes her to the beach in hopes that the fresh air will improve her health.  Beth asks that Jo accept her upcoming death so that they could cherish the time they have left together.  Unlike other adaptations, Beth’s death is never shown.  Instead, the beach scene is followed by Marmee in all black, she tends to Beth’s piano as carefully as one would care for a departed loved one’s body.  Gently, she closes the lid over the keys as though she were closing a coffin.  Still, Jo struggles with acceptance, and Marmee suggests that she write about it.  She does that and her story about Beth is accepted.

Meanwhile, Amy and Laurie reunite after receiving news of Beth’s death.  Laurie tells of his ventures in Vienna and reveals the moment it dawned upon him that he loves Amy.  She reciprocates, and they are married.  Amy and Laurie return to Concord, Massachusetts to tell the news.  Laurie tells Jo first, and she is happy to have her friend back.  

Through narration, Jo tells of her newfound popularity as an authoress—and of a loneliness that has settled around her.  Letters from Professor Bhaer become infrequent and she misses him.  Meanwhile, back in New York Bhaer receives news of a teaching position offered to him at some university in Ohio.  Immediately, he sets out to Massachusetts to tell Jo the good news, now that he has a better paying job he could provide for her and he plans on proposing.  They run into each other at the train station, and upon receiving news of his new job and ability to take a wife, Jo is stricken—misunderstanding his intention, she struggles not to cry as she believes he is telling her that he is getting married and is saying goodbye.  But then Bhaer proposes in a more direct way, and Jo tearfully accepts.  She takes him home to meet her family and to share the news of their engagement.  The miniseries ends as it started, on Christmas with the Marches all together.  Happy.

Cat lady Henrietta Winslow calls her family to her creepy estate. Seeing their arrival, realtor Gil Smith and antiques dealer Mr. Penny sneak onto the estate. She leaves half her fortune to her niece Myrna, the other half to her granddaughter Margaret, and the estate to her granddaughter Elaine. Myrna's husband Montague gets $10,000. Gil's cat allergy exposes the presence of the two, and they are brought inside. Henrietta is furious when she realizes that Montague sent for Smith and Penny and intends to break up the estate.

Gil saves Henrietta's life after realizing her milk has been poisoned. Henrietta then reveals that no money is to be distributed until faithful servant Abigail dies as well. That night, one of Henrietta's cats is poisoned. She cremates it in the furnace, and is herself killed. Abigail orders everyone off the estate, but they refuse. Montague's son Richard discovers that his father is having an affair with Margaret and threatens to tell Myrna.

Abigail is attacked, and Gil suspects there are secret passages throughout the house that are allowing the murderer to roam about. Gil and Elaine investigate several disturbances in the night, all of which prove to be red herrings. Abigail is found murdered. Gil, Montague, and Richard find Myrna hanging, but manage to save her life. Gil and Montague chase after the butler, but Elaine accuses Myrna of faking her attack. Myrna drags Elaine to the furnace, but Gil saves her. A black cat knocks over a candle, setting Myrna afire.

Lou Francis and Bud Alexander have just graduated from a private detective school. Tommy Nelson, a middleweight boxer, comes to them with their first case. Tommy recently escaped from jail after being accused of murdering his manager, and asks the duo to accompany him on a visit to his fiancée, Helen Gray. He wants her uncle, Dr. Philip Gray, to inject him with a special serum which will render Tommy invisible, and hopes to use the newfound invisibility to investigate his manager's murder and prove his innocence. Dr. Gray adamantly refuses, arguing that the serum is still unstable, recalling that the formula's discoverer, Jack Griffin, was driven insane by the formula and did not become visible again until after he was killed. However, as the police arrive Tommy injects himself with it and successfully becomes invisible. Detective Roberts questions Dr. Gray and Helen while Bud and Lou search for Tommy.

Helen and Tommy convince Bud and Lou to help them seek the real killer, after Tommy explains that the motive for the murder occurred after he refused to "throw" a fight, knocking his opponent, Rocky Hanlon, out cold. Morgan, the promoter who fixed the fight, ordered Tommy's manager beaten to death while framing Tommy for the crime. In order to investigate undercover, Lou poses as a boxer, with Bud as his manager. They go to Stillwell's gym, where Lou gets in the ring with Rocky. Tommy, still invisible, gets into the ring with them and again knocks out Hanlon, making it look like Lou did it, and an official match is arranged. Needing to prove Morgan was behind the plot to frame Tommy, Bud and Lou go out to the same restaurant to covertly spy on him alongside an invisible Tommy. But the effects of the serum and Tommy getting drunk make the task difficult for the two who have to keep covering for him. Morgan pays off Lou to throw the fight, but when the match occurs with the aid of an invisible Tommy, Hanlon is knocked out yet again after a wildly chaotic boxing match. Morgan plans Bud's murder, but is thwarted by Tommy. Bud, Lou, and Tommy fight off Morgan and his goons, but when Tommy is rendered partially visible from some steam he is wounded in the battle and begins to bleed badly. The protagonists rush to the hospital where a blood transfusion is arranged between Lou and Tommy, thanks to Lou having the same blood type. During the transfusion Tommy becomes visible again – some of Tommy's blood has apparently entered Lou, who briefly turns invisible, only to reappear with his legs inexplicably on backwards.

In an Indian village, Buldeo, an elderly storyteller, is paid by a visiting British ''memsahib'' to tell a story of his youth.

As a younger man, he recalls his village being attacked by Shere Khan the tiger. The attack leads to the death of a man and the loss of the man's child. The child is adopted by wolves in the jungle and grows to be the wild youth Mowgli. Years later, Mowgli is captured by the villagers and taken in by his mother Messua, though she does not recognize him as her lost child. He learns to speak and tries to imitate the ways of men, as well as becomes friendly with Buldeo's daughter, Mahala. When Mowgli and Mahala explore the jungle, they discover a hidden chamber in a ruined palace, containing fabulous wealth. Warned by an aged cobra that the wealth brings death, they leave, but Mahala takes one coin as a memento. When Buldeo sees the coin, he tries to force Mowgli to tell him where the treasure is, but Mowgli refuses. Buldeo resolves to follow Mowgli to the site of the treasure.

Mowgli fights and kills Shere Khan, with some last minute help from Kaa, the python. As he is skinning the body, Buldeo arrives. He threatens Mowgli with a gun, but is attacked by Mowgli's friend Bagheera, the black panther. Buldeo becomes convinced that Bagheera is Mowgli himself, shape-shifted into panther form. He tells the villagers that Mowgli is a witch, as is his mother. Mowgli is chained up and threatened with death, but escapes with his mother's help. However, she and another villager who tries to defend her are tied up and themselves threatened with burning for witchcraft.

Mowgli is followed by the greedy Buldeo and two friends, a pandit and a barber, to the lost city. They find the treasure and leave for the village with as much as they can carry. When they stop for the night, the priest tries to steal the treasure and murders the barber when the barber wakes up. The priest tells Buldeo that the barber had attacked him and that he had killed in self-defense, but Buldeo knows better. The next day, the priest attacks Buldeo while his back is turned, but Buldeo knocks him into the swamp where he is killed by a crocodile. Mowgli tells Bagheera to chase Buldeo from the jungle, and Buldeo flees for his life, jettisoning the treasure.

Buldeo tries to murder Mowgli and destroy the jungle by starting a forest fire. The wind turns and the fire threatens the village. The villagers flee, but Mowgli's mother and her defender are trapped. Mowgli brings the elephants to the village and breaks open the building, escaping to the river with his mother, Mahala and other villagers. He is invited to follow them to a new life downriver, but refuses to leave the jungle, turning back to help animals trapped by the fire.

The scene returns to the present day, with the elderly Buldeo admitting that the jungle defeated his youthful dreams and destroyed his reputation. When asked how he escaped from the fire and what became of Mowgli and his daughter, Buldeo says that is another story.

Link Stuart and Gauche are the ruthless co-leaders of a gang of bandits who rob a train of its $400,000 payload. On the train is the Japanese ambassador, on his way to Washington, who has with him a ceremonial tachi, a gift to the American president. Gauche steals the gold-handled sword and shoots dead one of the ambassador's two samurai guards. At the same time, by Gauche's order, other members of the gang double-cross Link by throwing dynamite into the train car he occupies and leave him for dead. Before the gang departs, the surviving samurai guard, Kuroda, tells Gauche he intends to track him down and kill him, but Gauche is dismissive of the threat.

The Japanese ambassador instructs Link, who was not injured in the attempt to kill him, but who has been disarmed, to assist Kuroda in tracking down Gauche. Kuroda is given one week to kill Gauche and recover the sword. If he fails, both Kuroda and the ambassador will have to commit harakiri for having lost their honor in allowing the sword to be stolen and the samurai's death to go unavenged. Link reluctantly agrees, but he realizes that Kuroda will kill Gauche immediately, which Link does not want because he knows Gauche will have hidden the loot. Once they set off in pursuit of the gang, Link repeatedly attempts to elude Kuroda, only to be thwarted by the irrepressible samurai.

Sure enough, Gauche and four gang members bury the loot, and then Gauche kills them so only he knows the hiding place. Gauche pays off others, who go their own way, and the remaining gang members stay with him. While tracking Gauche's gang, Kuroda reveals to Link that his samurai values are disappearing and his countrymen no longer value the customs of old. Convinced that the country is changing forever and that the samurai spirit will soon be gone, Kuroda explains that the only way to honor his ancestors and his own way of life is to bring back the ceremonial sword. The two approach a ranch that has been taken over by some gang members, and in a brief battle kill them all and take their horses. Link, now armed with guns taken from the gang, can no longer be threatened into doing Kuroda's bidding. He rides away from Kuroda, but has a change of heart and returns to him, having grown to respect the strict bushido code by which Kuroda lives. However, he warns Kuroda that he will kill him if he tries to kill Gauche before Link learns where the loot has been hidden.

Continuing the pursuit, Link decides the best way to get to Gauche is through his girlfriend, Cristina. The duo travel to the brothel where she works in the town of San Lucas, and Link locks her in her room. The next morning, four of Gauche's men arrive at the brothel to fetch Christina. Link and Kuroda kill three of them, and the fourth is sent back to Gauche with the message that the duo has abducted Cristina and will give her to Gauche in exchange for the stolen sword and Link's share of the spoils from the train robbery. The exchange is to take place at an abandoned mission a day's ride away.

Link and Kuroda, on the way to the exchange, have a non-violent confrontation that compels Kuroda to agree to not kill Gauche until Link has obtained from him the information he seeks. In trying to escape from the duo, Christina rides into the path of some Comanches, and she kills a warrior who assaults her. In retribution, the leader commands her to be bound and her neck to be tied with wet rawhide, to have her slowly strangled as the sun dries the strip. Link and Kuroda charge into the group, killing many and driving the rest of the Comanches away.

When they arrive at the mission, Link and Kuroda are ambushed by Gauche and his men. Gauche, who has the sword with him, tells one of his men to shoot Link, disregarding Cristina's appeal not to do so. Just then the Comanches attack, which forces the ex-partners, Kuroda, Cristina and Gauche's men to fight on the same side. The defenders successfully repel the attacks, first on the mission, then, after it is burned down, in the surrounding cane fields. However, the attrition rate is high. When the last attack has been countered and the Comanches are dead or have fled, only Link, Kuroda, Cristina and Gauche are alive.

Gauche immediately faces off against Link, who has run out of bullets. Kuroda closes in behind Gauche and prepares to kill him, but remembering his promise to Link, he hesitates. Gauche turns and shoots Kuroda, mortally wounding him; Link seizes the opportunity to grab a rifle from the ground. Gauche is confident that Link will leave him alive to learn where the loot is hidden, but Link, having decided that the dying samurai's honor is more important to him than money, kills him and promises the dying Kuroda that he will return the tachi to the ambassador. After Kuroda dies, Link rejects Cristina's offer to join her, and later hangs the sword in front of the train station where the Japanese ambassador is arriving, thus eluding capture and fulfilling his pledge.

In the (then-near future) year 1998, the United States has run out of oil, and many Americans are living in their now-stationary cars and using nonpowered means of transportation such as jogging, riding bicycles and rollerskating. Many Americans wear tracksuits. Paper money has become completely worthless, with all business transactions being conducted in gold; even a coin-operated elevator warns "Gold Coins Only". In search of leadership, Americans elect Chet Roosevelt as president of the United States. Roosevelt, a "cosmically inspired" former governor of California modeled on California governor Jerry Brown and wearing a three-piece tracksuit with vest, proves to have little in common with Theodore Roosevelt or Franklin D. Roosevelt other than his name. Roosevelt, an overly-optimistic man who quotes positive affirmation slogans, stages a number of highly publicized fund raising events, all of which fail. He becomes interested in having a relationship with Vietnamese American pop superstar Mouling Jackson. Real money comes in the form of loans from a cartel of Native Americans, led by billionaire Sam Birdwater, in control of Nike (styled as National Indian Knitting Enterprises; at the time of the film's release, they were still emerging as a company).

The federal government, now housed in "The Western White House" (a sub-leased condominium in Marina del Rey, California), finds itself facing national bankruptcy and in danger of being foreclosed and repossessed when Birdwater goes public on national television with the fact that he lent America billions of dollars and now wants his money back, the alternative being foreclosure and the country reverting to its original owners, stating "Hey, I have to eat, too. Does that make me a bad guy?"

In desperation, Roosevelt hires young television consultant Eric McMerkin to help produce a national raffle. Instead, they decide that the only way enough money can be raised to save America is instead to run a national telethon, and hire vapid TV celebrity Monty Rushmore to host it. However, Presidential adviser Vincent Vanderhoff is secretly plotting to have the telethon fail so that representatives of the United Hebrab Republic (formed by the merger of Israel and the Arab states) can purchase what is left of the country when Birdwater forecloses.

In Broome, Western Australia, 1999, two British tourists, Liz Hunter and Kristy Earl, are backpacking across the country with Ben Mitchell, an Australian friend. Ben buys a dilapidated car for their journey from Broome to Cairns, Queensland via the Great Northern Highway.

The trio makes a stop at Wolf Creek National Park. Hours later, they discover that their watches have stopped and the car will not start. After dark, a man named Mick Taylor comes across them and offers to tow them to his camp to repair the car. The group goes with him to an abandoned mining site several hours south of Wolf Creek. Mick regales them with tall stories of his past while making a show of fixing their car. He then gives the group water which causes them to fall unconscious.

Liz awakens gagged and tied in a shed. She breaks free and hears Mick torturing Kristy in a garage, it is implied that Mick had sexually assaulted her. Liz sets the now-dismantled car on fire to distract him, and goes to help Kristy. When Mick returns, she shoots him with his rifle, the bullet hitting him in the neck. The women attempt to flee in Mick's truck. Mick stumbles out of the garage and shoots at them before giving chase. The women evade him by pushing his truck off a cliff before returning to the site to get another car. Liz leaves the hysterical Kristy outside, telling her to escape on foot if Liz does not return in five minutes.

Liz enters another garage and discovers Mick's large stock of cars and travellers' possessions, including video cameras. She watches the playback on one of them and is horrified to see Mick "helping" other travellers stranded at Wolf Creek. She picks up Ben's camera and notices Mick's truck in the footage; he had followed them long before they got to Wolf Creek. She gets into a car but Mick appears in the backseat and stabs her with a bowie knife. Liz crawls out and he hacks her fingers off, then severs her spinal cord, paralyzing her. He interrogates her as to Kristy's whereabouts.

By dawn, Kristy has reached a highway and is discovered by a passing motorist. He attempts to help her but is shot dead by Mick with a sniper rifle. Mick gives chase, prompting Kristy to take off in the dead man's car. Kristy sideswipes Mick's car into a ditch when he pulls up alongside and begins to get away, but Mick emerges and shoots out her back tire causing her in turn to fall into a ditch. She attempts to crawl away, but is shot dead. Mick bundles her body and the dead motorist into the back of his car and torches the car.

Ben awakens nailed to a mock crucifix in a mine shaft. He extracts himself and enters the camp in early daylight. He escapes into the outback, but becomes dehydrated and passes out beside a dirt road. He is discovered by a Swedish couple who take him to Kalbarri, where he is airlifted to a hospital.

A series of title cards state that despite several police searches, no trace of Liz or Kristy has ever been found. Early investigations into the case were disorganised, hampered by confusion over the location of the crimes, a lack of physical evidence and the alleged unreliability of the only witness. After four months in police custody, Ben was cleared of suspicion. The film ends with Mick walking into the sunset with his rifle.

Set in 19th-century Osaka, the film tells the story of a love affair between Sasuke (Miura) and blind koto teacher Shunkin (Yamaguchi), who lost her sight at the age of nine. Blindness gives Shunkin an extraordinary ability to masterfully play the traditional Japanese instruments of the three-stringed shamisen and thirteen-stringed sophisticated koto. She performs as a renowned musician and also gives music lessons.

The film is also a psychological study of Shunkin and struggles of a young woman aware there is life out there she is never going to experience. Her life takes a turn when she accepts a young man (Sasuke) to teach him play music. He is both her student and a servant. Sasuke strives to please Shunkin in every possible way but irritates her when she discovers, he tries to play with eyes closed, since it reminds her about her defect. The two develop a unique a melancholic romantic relationship. Despite Shunkin's resistance the two are drawn to each other closer and closer. Shunkin is aware of Sasuke feelings, but does not want to accept them. However, subconsciously, she cannot live without his love anymore.

Shunkin suffers one more devastating tragedy when her face is burned with boiling water in her sleep by an assassin hired by a rejected suitor. Her beauty was a reason of the young woman pride and strength when dealing with her blindness and now even that was taken away from her. With her mutilated face she feels vulnerable, weak and scared of living her life. Her face is wrapped up in bandages. She forbids Sasuke to look at her anymore after the attack and does not want to show her scarred face to anyone. It is the time when their feelings become even stronger. They come to realization they cannot live without each other. Sasuke blinds himself to completely submerge into Shunkin's world and give her comfort that he never sees her other than a beautiful young woman. Shunkin ultimately surrenders to Sasukes' dedication and love and does not resist to openly loving him back any longer. They continue to live together and study and perform music together in complete harmony.

Infuriated by receiving the wrong piece of film, statistician James Richards arranges for the researcher who made the mistake, Sharon Newton, to be sacked. When she realises that he is responsible, Sharon contacts James and demands his help. She has obtained a mysterious piece of film which, while superficially a collection of street scenes, seems to show the abduction of a woman. The film abruptly cuts off, instructing the viewer to see ''The Hedgerows of England''. As this film has been registered classified by the Ministry of Defence, Sharon, obsessed by the identity of the woman, needs James, with his official credentials, to help her find it.

James tracks down the location of the film, but a visit to an old tram depot and an archive beneath Oxford Street proves frustrating, as the film has now been moved. He and Sharon chase it to a landfill site, where they notice a police presence, and then to the incinerator at Edmonton, where they manage to rescue it before it is burned. But upon viewing the film, they find that it is very poor quality, revealing only a dark image of a woman in front of some kind of tribunal. A card at the end tells them that the next film to look for is called ''Hop-Picking in Kent''. James is not entirely unhappy to find his comfortable life disrupted by the search for the film, and wakes up, after a drunken evening spent at a video duplication service, at Sharon's house, where he discovers that she has a young daughter. Needing to go out to work, she leaves her daughter with James.

Taking the baby out to meet his ex-wife, James is cornered by two officials, who beat him up and demand to know the whereabouts of something he has found. Shaken, he goes to see his City friend Anthony, who advises him to go home and forget about it. But Anthony also drops a hint that he too has been questioned, and James realises that he is in serious danger. Returning to his house, he finds it has been searched and realises that the officials want some medical records which he idly picked up from the landfill site. After an unexpected encounter with them, James manages to escape and is reunited with a distressed Sharon, who has been worried about her daughter.

Meanwhile, a friend of Sharon's does some illicit searching for her in the archives and discovers the film ''Hop-Picking In Kent''. Within the bland information film is a full version of the mysterious film, featuring a different woman along with a man. Some kind of emergency has occurred and left the participants dead. Moving forward in time, the film documents the birth of an abruptly aborted government project named Magnificat. The woman from the original film then reappears, sitting in a location which James recognises: an official building which has re-opened as a café. The film ends with the woman reunited with a horribly scarred man and confronting the cameraman, asking why he is filming. James suggests that this was the result of an accident with nuclear power which has been hushed up and that the café was once a secure convalescent unit. He also wonders why the film was made in the first place. James and Sharon decide to keep the film secret and he throws the offending medical records into a bin. Meanwhile, somewhere in London, a cleaner has her break in an isolated room where the remnants of Project Magnificat are still stored. The film is actually incinerated but before that happens, it is transferred to tape. During that process some of the scenes are very dark. The final scene with the cleaner is the woman who was cleaning the café when Richard and Sharon come in towards the end of the movie. So the boxes are still being stored in the building where the convalescing took place.

''The Shepherd'' relates the story of a De Havilland Vampire pilot, going home on Christmas Eve 1957, whose aircraft suffers a complete electrical failure en route from RAF Celle in northern Germany to RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk. Lost in fog over the North Sea and low on fuel, he encounters a De Havilland Mosquito fighter-bomber, which has apparently been sent up to "shepherd" (i.e. guide) him in.

The circumstances of how he is guided to a safe landing, and his subsequent efforts to identify the pilot who saved him, are the central themes of the story.

LAPD Detectives Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert and Lee Blanchard are paired as partners after engaging in a boxing match to raise funds for the department. Lee introduces Bucky to his girlfriend Kay Lake, and the trio becomes inseparable. Bucky is shocked when Kay tells him she isn't sleeping with Lee, and later tries to seduce him, but he refuses. He also discovers that Kay has been branded with the initials "BD", for Bobby DeWitt, the gangster whose arrest and conviction for a big bank robbery made Lee's career.

Soon after, on January 15, 1947, Elizabeth Short's dismembered body is found and she is dubbed "The Black Dahlia" by the press. Both detectives become obsessed with solving the case.

Bucky learns that Elizabeth was an aspiring actress who appeared in a pornographic film and hung out with lesbians. He goes to a lesbian nightclub and meets Madeleine Linscott, who looks very much like Elizabeth. Madeleine, who comes from a prominent family, tells Bucky that she was 'very close' with Elizabeth but asks him to keep her name out of the papers in exchange for sexual favors. She introduces him to her wealthy parents almost immediately.

Lee's obsession leads him to become erratic and abusive toward Kay. After Lee and Bucky have a nasty argument about a previous case, Bucky goes to Lee and Kay's to apologize, only to learn from Kay that Lee was responding to a tip about Bobby DeWitt. Bucky finds DeWitt in the atrium of a building before he is gunned down by Lee, then sees a man garrote Lee before a second figure steps out and slits Lee's throat. Lee and the man holding the rope fall over the railing to their deaths several floors below.

The grief of losing Lee propels Bucky and Kay into having sex. The next morning, Bucky finds money hidden in Lee and Kay's bathroom. Kay reveals that she had been DeWitt's girlfriend and that he abused her. Lee rescued Kay, stole DeWitt's money, and put DeWitt behind bars. Bucky realizes Lee was there to kill DeWitt and leaves, furious, to return to Madeleine, where he notices a painting of a leering clown. Kay follows him and she is appalled to see Madeleine's striking resemblance to the Dahlia.

Bucky starts putting the pieces together and remembers props in another movie matched the set in Elizabeth's pornographic film. The end credits thanked Emmett Linscott, Madeleine's father, and Bucky digs deeper into a story Madeleine told about him using old film sets to build cheap firetrap housing. In an empty house below the Hollywoodland sign built by Emmett, Bucky recognizes the set that was used in Elizabeth's film. He finds evidence in a barn on the property that Elizabeth was killed and butchered there, as well as a drawing of a man with a Glasgow smile. The drawing matches the painting in Madeleine's home and the gruesome smile carved into Elizabeth's face.

Bucky confronts Madeleine and her father in their home and Madeleine's mother, Ramona, reveals that she killed Elizabeth. She confesses that Madeleine was not fathered by Emmett but rather by his best friend, Georgie. She says Georgie became infatuated while watching Elizabeth film the pornography. Ramona was disturbed by the idea of George having sex with someone who looked so much like his own daughter, and lured Elizabeth to the house and killed her. Before Bucky can decide what to do, Ramona shoots herself.

A few days later, remembering something Lee said during the investigation, Bucky visits Madeleine's sister Martha with some questions. He learns that Lee knew about Madeleine and Elizabeth, and blackmailed Madeleine's father to keep it secret. Bucky finds Madeleine at a seedy motel, and she admits to being the one who slit Lee's throat. Although she insists that Bucky wants to have sex with her rather than kill her, he tells her she is wrong and shoots her dead. Bucky goes to Kay's house and she invites him in and closes the door.

On the first page, Forrest Gump tells readers "Don't ever let nobody make a movie of your life's story," and "Whether they get it right or wrong, it don't matter."

However, the character is not an idiot savant, as in the first book, but more similar to Tom Hanks' "warmhearted dope." The text purposely contains grammar and spelling mistakes in order to indicate the character's deficient education and cognitive difficulties, albeit less frequently than its predecessor, reflecting that Forrest is a more mature and somewhat more astute man.

The story suggests that the real-life events surrounding the film have affected Forrest's life.

This episode centers on a girl named Clara, who just moved to the ''Enterprise'' with her father. She is lonely, and creates an imaginary friend named Isabella to keep her company. One day, to her surprise, her imaginary friend appears, and seems real (though she makes herself invisible before adults see her). Increasingly, Isabella gets Clara into trouble by leading her into off-limit places, prompting Clara to leave her to go play with others. When Clara returns, Isabella is angry and says, "When the others get here, you can die like everyone else."

Counselor Troi, trying to ease Clara's fears of being attacked by Isabella, helps to search the girl's room to ensure she's safe. Isabella appears and blasts Troi with an energy beam from her hand. Later, in sickbay, she relates the event, and Clara works up the courage to tell her father, who then talks to Captain Picard.

The crew learns that Isabella is actually an energy-based life form whose home is the nebula the ship has been exploring. Picard finds Isabella in the arboretum and talks to her about human parenting. Isabella argues that the adults are cruel to Clara and deserve to die. He asks what she bases that conclusion on, and she says it's their treatment of Clara. He asks in what way they've mistreated her, and she lists their refusal to allow her access to certain areas of the ship. Picard explains that rules are for her protection and that Isabella is viewing them through the eyes of a child, which - from that perspective - would definitely seem unfair. However, they didn't know that Clara's imaginary friend was now real, and was there to protect her. All they knew was that two children were in potentially dangerous areas of the ship, and - as good responsible adults - it was their job to keep them safe. He speaks of how one day Clara will be an adult and she will have rules for her children, and they will be for the same reason. Isabella is convinced, and allows the ship to pass safely through the nebula.

As the ship is preparing to leave the area, Isabella appears to Clara a final time to apologize and ask if they'll ever see each other again. Clara is unsure, but she promises to try and return someday - albeit probably when she is an adult.

Tommy and Mike, again without a job and without money, decide deliberately to open the PI agency "Columbo" and work as private investigators. Their first case involves a rich man who wants to know if his wife is cheating, which leads them to Bad Spänzer. Here, they slip into a variety of roles, save their client's marriage, thwart the assassination attempt on a sheik and fall in love with two young women.

By 2038, all of Earth's natural resources have been depleted. Multinational corporations have taken control of the galaxy and rival companies battle each other for access to mining planets. A major battle is for Moon 44, a fuel mining operation in the Outer Zone. It is the only installation still controlled by the Galactic Mining Corporation. Moons 46, 47 and 51 have recently been overtaken by the Pyrite Defense Company's battle robots. Galactic Mining had its own defense system, helicopters capable of operating in the violent atmospheres of the moons, but it was cancelled as too many pilots died while in training. The company sends new navigators to Moon 44 to assist the pilots. However, there is still a shortage of pilots, so the company is forced to use prisoners. Galactic Mining regards its fleet of mining shuttles as even more important, so if the base is attacked, the shuttles are ordered to leave the crews behind.

Galactic Mining hires Felix Stone, an undercover agent, to investigate the disappearance of two shuttles that went missing under mysterious circumstances. Stone travels to Moon 44 and meets chief navigator Tyler, who suspects the shuttles were stolen by somebody after they modified the flight computers. The mining operation's defence director, Major Lee and his assistant, Master Sergeant Sykes are the prime suspects. Stone later catches Sykes reprogramming a mining shuttle shortly before its departure. Sykes attacks Stone with an axe, but is quickly gunned down by Lee, who then refuses to hand over the modified computer to Stone, citing "company orders".

Having concluded his investigation, Stone prepares to leave, but the mining operation is attacked by a Pyrite ''Medusa''-class battle cruiser. Major Lee sabotaged the alarm systems and then orders all of the mining shuttles to return to Earth. Stone manages to single-handedly shoot down the entire first wave of enemy attack drones, while prisoner O'Neal stays behind to destroy the remaining drones as Lee's actions at the base are discovered.

Lee tries to sabotage the last remaining mining shuttle, but he is trapped in an elevator by Stone and blown up by his own bomb. The others return safely to Earth, where Stone informs the Galactic Mining chairman that Lee was bribed by Pyrite to redirect the mining shuttles to a planet in the Outer Zone.

''Supernova'' chronicles the search-and-rescue patrol of the medical ship ''Nightingale 229'' in deep space in the early 22nd century and its six-member crew, which includes captain and pilot A.J. Marley, co-pilot Nick Vanzant, medical officer Kaela Evers, medical technician Yerzy Penalosa, search and rescue paramedic Danika Lund and computer technician Benjamin Sotomejor. Aboard their vessel, they receive an emergency distress signal coming from an ice mining operation on the moon Titan 37, more than 3,000 light-years away.

The crew answers the call and dimension-jumps—during which Captain Marley suffers fatal injuries due to a malfunction of the ship's equipment—arriving in the path of Titan 37's debris cloud, some of which damages the ship and causes the loss of 82 percent of its maneuvering fuel. Worse still, Titan 37 orbits a blue giant, and its high gravity field will pull the ship to the point where it will be incinerated in 17 hours, 12 minutes—which happens to be almost the same amount of time that the ''Nightingale 229'' will need to recharge its jump drive, their only possible hope for escape. With only an 11-minute window for escape, the surviving crew soon find themselves in danger from the disturbing young man they rescue, and the mysterious alien artifact he has smuggled aboard. This artifact is analyzed by the ship's computer and is said to contain nine-dimensional matter.

It is ultimately discovered that the young man who called for rescue is actually Karl Larson, an old former lover of Kaela (it is implied that he was abusive). Karl came into contact with the nine-dimensional matter after recovering the artifact. It somehow enabled him to acquire super-strength and supernatural healing abilities, and made him younger (such that Kaela did not recognize him). Karl murders most of the crew except Kaela and strands Nick on the mining platform. Karl unsuccessfully attempts to romantically reconcile with Kaela. Nick finds his way back to the medical ship through a rescue pod left on the mining platform, and a battle ensues between Nick and Karl. Karl is ultimately killed by Kaela using explosives placed near the alien artifact which Karl was obsessed with retrieving. The explosion ejects the artifact into space, hurtling it towards the blue giant.

With moments left before the dimension jump activates, Kaela and Nick place themselves into the only remaining dimensional stabilization chamber (Karl had destroyed all but one), which is the only thing that enables human beings to survive the ship's dimensional jump drive. The pods are meant to hold only one person; however, two subjects might be genetically mixed during the dimensional jump. Before Nick and Kaela enter the only remaining pod, the computer warns them that the nine-dimensional matter is reacting with the gravity of the blue giant sun and will cause a nine-dimensional reaction that will spread in all directions, such that the reaction's resulting supernova will reach Earth within 51 years. The computer hypothesizes that the reaction will either destroy life on Earth or "enable humankind to achieve a new level of existence". Just before the blue giant supernovas, the ship engages in a dimensional jump which brings Nick and Kaela back to Earth. As a result of their being in the same pod, the two of them each have one eye of the other person's original eye color. The ship's computer also reveals that Kaela is pregnant, which may be the result of them being in the pod together during the jump, or the result of their copulation hours earlier.

Sitting in a top secret bunker one night puzzling over some challenging physics problems, some futuristic artifacts are amazingly teleported to the player—in the role of a US Army scientist—along with a note that says the artifacts are from the future, a future in which the Nazis won World War II and subsequently were able to enslave the entire world. The scientists who sent the artifacts did so in a hope that the player could reverse the outcome of the war, a war Nazi Germany should have rightfully lost.

The success of the Nazis is based on their use of a mineral named lunarium, which has the ability to lower the IQ of human males drastically, thus effectively preventing military resistance when the Nazis invade. The lunarium is dropped in the form of bombs from a fleet of zeppelins flying at a higher altitude than anti-aircraft guns could possibly reach. What is even more puzzling is that lunarium - as the name indicates - only exists on the Moon, and mankind so far does not yet have the technology to reach it.

Using a rocket pack and a radium pistol, the player must fly around the world fighting the escalating Nazi technology. Sometimes this includes shooting down enemy fighters with the radium pistol to intercept enemy shipments. Sometimes the sequences degenerate into bareknuckle fistfights with enemy Nazi guards in order to gain rocket parts, and sometimes he has to disable the defenses of two available lunarium depots to get fuel for both his own rocket pack and the rocket ship he must assemble.

From time to time, the hero must catch up with the kidnapped scientist Dr. Barnstoff and his voluptuous daughter Jane (the love interest for the game) in a zeppelin. In these encounters the player must engage in dialogue with them (notably for the time, featuring digitized speech) to win their trust. Another part of the game takes the form of a strategy game: from a world map display the player directs five agents to search for hidden Nazi bases and they can also "organise resistance" to slow the enemy's advance towards the US.

The ultimate goal of the game is to collect five parts for a rocket ship and 500 units of lunarium to get to the Moon and close down the mines. But as it turns out, the Nazis were not the only party involved: An "Interplanetary Union of Fascists", which was formed by aliens, have struck a deal with the Germans, aiding their world conquest with their technology. In order to achieve final victory, the Rocket Ranger must battle one of these aliens.

Janie Barlow (Joan Crawford) is a young dancer who is reduced to stripping in a burlesque show. Arrested for indecent exposure, she is bailed out by millionaire playboy Tod Newton (Franchot Tone) who was attracted to her while slumming at the theatre with his society pals. When she tries to get a part in a Broadway musical, Tod intercedes with director Patch Gallagher (Clark Gable) to get her the job: he will put his money into the show, if Janie is given a part in the chorus. Even though he needs the money, Patch is resistant, until he sees Janie dance and realizes her talent.

When, after hard work and perseverance, Janie is elevated to the star's part – replacing Vivian Warner (Gloria Foy) – Tod is afraid he will lose any chance of gaining her affection if she becomes a star, so he closes the show, and Janie, out of work, goes away with him. Patch starts rehearsals up again using his own money, and when Janie returns and finds out that Tod has deceived her and manipulated things behind the scenes, she dumps him and joins up with her new sweetheart, Patch, to put on the show, which is a smash hit.

In the opening scene in Ireland, a young boy loses his parents in a Viking raid, but is spared in spite of the command of Thord, the Vikings' leader, to kill him. His sister is kidnapped by the Vikings. Twenty years later, the boy has become a man and travels to Iceland to seek revenge against the perpetrators and find his sister. His name is never revealed, and he is only known as "Gestur" by the characters in the film since he is a stranger to them. "Gestur" simply means "guest" but is also not an uncommon given name.

With two of the Viking raiders now living in exile from Norway and king Harald Hairfair, Gestur coldly plays their gangs against each other to get his revenge. He stays out of sight, only revealing himself through his killings and to Erik, Thord's fosterbrother. He slays several of Thord's men and then frames Erik's gang for it. Thord is led to believe that Erik is plotting against him with king Harald and is lying about the Gestur character. Thord's younger brother encourages this thinking - it is later revealed that he is the one plotting to overthrow Thord and take his position. Thord is eventually driven to attack Erik and his men, killing them all.

Gestur discovers that Thord is married to the now adult sister and they have a young son. Gestur reveals himself to his long lost sister, but she is still a Christian like their father raised them and does not help Gestur's plans to assassinate Thord.

Thord is a devout Norse paganist. Gestur secretly manipulates Thord's altar, leading Thord to believe that the gods demand his son, Einar, as a sacrifice. In her desperation, Gestur's sister reveals her brother was the one who manipulated the altar and leads Thord and his gang to capture Gestur. He refuses to reveal who he is, even under brutal torture. The guilt-stricken sister frees him in secret, and the badly wounded Gestur escapes to Erik's grave.

Thord decides that he will use Gestur's trick against him. He secretly confides with Odin that he will use the ceremony as a hoax to lure Gestur out to save Einar. In the middle of the ceremony, Gestur suddenly reveals himself in Erik's funeral cloth. When Thord's arrows fail to kill Gestur, Thord's followers mistake him for Erik's vengeful ghost and flees. Gestur is secretly wearing armor beneath his cloak which allows him to get in range of Thord and his brother, revealing his true identity and killing them both.

Gestur buries his weapons and asks his sister and her son to come with him back to Ireland. He claims that he will now abandon violence and live a Christian life. His sister refuses and says that her son is "old enough to have seen too much", using the same words that Thord used twenty years ago when he ordered the killing of Gestur. In the final scene of the film, Einar looks after Gestur in anger and digs up Gestur's buried weapons, presumably to avenge his father and continue the cycle of violence.

Ned Constantine, his wife Bethany ("Beth"), and their daughter Kate relocate from New York City to an isolated Connecticut village, Cornwall Coombe, where the villagers adhere to "the old ways", eschewing modern agricultural methods and having extremely limited contact with the outside world. As one says, "we don't mess with other folks and we expect them not to mess with us." The villagers celebrate a number of festivals that revolve around the cultivation of corn. The most important festival is "Harvest Home", which takes place once every seven years.

Ned befriends Robert Dodd, a former college professor, who is now blind and largely homebound. Like Ned, Robert was once an outsider who moved to Cornwall Coombe at the behest of his wife Maggie, who was born in the village. Ned also meets, among others, Justin Hooke, who serves as the current ceremonial "Harvest Lord"; Justin's wife, Sophie, his chosen "Corn Maiden" in the approaching "Corn Play"; and Worthy Pettinger, a young man whose dream of going to agricultural college are frustrated by his parents, who hold to the old ways. The most important person in the village is Mary Fortune. Known as "Widow", the village herbalist and midwife, she herself is childless and has been a widow since the long ago death of her husband, Clem. When Kate suffers a severe asthma attack, the Widow Fortune performs a tracheotomy and saves her life. She later prescribes home remedies which cure Kate entirely. Beth and Kate grow to adore the Widow, but Ned is suspicious of her herbal medicines and finds her unquestioned influence over the town troubling.

Meanwhile, Worthy is chosen as the next "Harvest Lord" who will replace Justin at the end of his seven years of service. Worthy does not wish to become the Harvest Lord, confusing Ned, who understood the title to be an honor. At church, Worthy shouts out a curse upon the corn before fleeing. The Widow announces that Worthy is henceforth "bane" and will be shunned by the village if he ever returns. Meanwhile, Worthy's parents and their goods are shunned because of their son's departure, although they are blameless, protesting they had "raised him right". Ned secretly provides Worthy with money to escape the village, and Worthy promises to write to him. Ned begins to understand that the villagers, led by their women, practice pagan fertility rites to ensure their harvests. He became suspicious of the upcoming Harvest Home, but the most anyone will tell him is that it is "what no man may see nor woman tell". Meanwhile, Worthy's letter from Hartford to Ned (despite using a pseudonym) had been intercepted by Tamar Penrose, the postmistress, who steamed it open. It revealed Worthy's address. A posse was sent to kidnap and return him; he was later killed in the village. Ned is horrified to see Worthy's corpse being burnt in a massive bonfire on Kindling Night, where it had been callously tossed among the scarecrows.

On the day of Harvest Home, Justin's wife, Sophie, unexpectedly commits suicide. She is denied burial in consecrated ground on the orders of the Widow, whom Ned denounces for this cruelty. Dropping the cat and mouse game she had been playing with Ned, she declares him an outcast and has him imprisoned in the village jail to keep him from interfering with Harvest Home. All the women then depart to choose another Corn Maiden. Ned does not eat any food, fearing it is drugged. He manages to escape and returns home to find his car missing and his phone dead. Ned goes to Robert Dodd for help, only to be told that on the night of Harvest Home, all the phones are disabled and all the cars confiscated until morning, while all the men are confined to their homes. Robert reveals that he himself was blinded for attempting to discover the secret of Harvest Home and begs Ned not to go out again. Fearing for his wife and daughter, Ned fatefully ignores the warning and returns to the village.

Ned arrives in time to see the heavily-veiled new Corn Maiden (whom he thinks is Tamar Penrose, who had been Corn Maiden two cycles [14 years] earlier), Justin, and the village women depart for Harvest Home. Ned races ahead of them. The Corn Maiden removes her veil, revealing herself to actually be Beth. When Ned cries out in horror, the women capture him and are on the verge of killing him before they are stopped by the Widow, who forces him to watch as Beth and Justin (both drugged) copulate, symbolically uniting the Harvest Lord and the Corn Maiden to ensure a bountiful harvest. At the moment of Justin's climax, Tamar cuts his throat with a sickle. The women then collect and sprinkle his blood through the fields. Ned tries to escape but the women surround him and blind him, as they had done to Robert Dodd years earlier. Months later, Ned learns that Beth is pregnant and that Kate is to be the next Corn Maiden. Ned's family had been allowed to move to Cornwall Coombe because the village needed new blood, so to speak.

Ángel, a Basque priest and professor of theology, confesses to another priest that he intends to commit as much evil as he can. The other priest is shocked until Ángel whispers his reasoning. When the other priest agrees to help him, a large cross falls and crushes him.

Ángel goes into downtown Madrid, committing various sins and crimes such as taking money from a homeless man, pushing a street performer over, and telling a dying man to go to Hell and stealing his wallet. He goes to a record store and meets José María, a self-described Satanist and heavy metal fan from the popular neighborhood of Carabanchel, who gives him a tape of the most "evil" band he can think of. José María puts Ángel up in his mother's boarding house where he lives with his mother, grandfather, and Mina, a woman he is attracted to that helps his mother with the business. Ángel then attempts to steal a book from a book store written by occult TV show host Professor Cavan, who he believes can tell him how to sell his soul to Satan. He tries to explain to the store manager his theory: a secret code in the Bible says that the Antichrist will be born at midnight on Christmas Eve, and he intends to sell his soul before the night is out to get into the birth ceremony and kill the Antichrist. The store manager does not believe him and he flees.

Ángel and José María team up to kidnap and tie up Cavan, who they intimidate into telling them how to complete a ritual in which Ángel can sell his soul to the Devil. The ritual requires the blood of a virgin, so Ángel first tries to get it from Cavan's girlfriend Susana, but after knocking her out by mistake, Cavan admits that she is not a virgin. Ángel then goes back to the boarding house, drugs Mina, and draws some of her blood, but José María's mother sees him and tries to kill him with a shotgun. Ángel escapes with some of the blood, but accidentally kills José María's mother in the process. Ángel, José María, and Cavan are able to burn a piece of paper, take LSD, and complete the ritual, which Cavan believes — like most of his "occult" practices" — is made up. However, a he-goat appears in the room and stands on its hind legs in front of Ángel, then disappears. Ángel then finds a message in the burnt scraps of paper in which the devil taunts him, not fooled by Ángel's actions. Ángel, José María, and Cavan flee the apartment when the police arrive on suspicion of Cavan's kidnapping.

Ángel and José María frantically drive around town looking for a sign to point Ángel in the right direction. Ángel first tries to get the information on the birth of the Antichrist out of a man giving a speech about the predictions of Nostradamus, resulting in a chase in which three men dressed as the Three Wise Men are shot by police by mistake. He then tries to find the information at a heavy metal show, but is beaten up by the attendees. Cavan goes on television and asks Ángel to call him, telling him that he's realized Ángel was right and he knows where the birth of the Antichrist will be.

Cavan points out that the devil uses his own markings, similar yet opposite to the Christian cross, in order to mock God, and points them toward a pair of buildings in the same shape of the devil's mark: the Gate of Europe. The three men engage in a fight with an extreme-right gang that has holed up there and has been seen throughout the film murdering homeless people and spray painting ( ) everywhere. Their leader is revealed as the devil when he throws José María off the building to his death. The gang beats Cavan badly, but Ángel gets hold of a gun and kills the gang, which was also killing a baby who is the Antichrist. He then shoots the devil as well.

Some time later, another actor takes over Cavan's show, and Ángel and Cavan become homeless drifters; while Cavan constantly complains that they will never be able to tell anyone how they saved the world, Ángel simply misses José María, but has accepted the events as the duo's fate.

Many years ago, an ancient civilization known for their advanced technology once ruled Earth, but were destroyed in the end by their misuse. So, they left messages for later generations in the form of indestructible message plates written in ancient Hebrew, informing them that if they could not find a good use for their creations, they should be destroyed.

Various paramilitaries, national armies, and armed private forces began to secretly search for these "mysterious artifacts" in order to be used for their own good and against their enemies. The ARCAM Corporation and their military arm, the ARCAM Private Army, can stop these forces from destroying themselves with their elite secret agents known as Spriggans (or Strikers).

Candy Christian, aged eighteen, is an extremely pretty and desirable but naïve young woman, who finds herself in a variety of farcical sexual situations as a result of her desire to help others. The men in her life, regardless of age or relationship, wish only to possess her.

Having eluded the pursuits of her philosophy instructor Prof. Mephesto, she returns to her father's house, where she plans to allow the family gardener to sexually initiate her. However, her father steps in, and angrily denouncing the gardener as a Communist, attacks him and in the ensuing scuffle ends up with a fractured skull. Candy visits him in the hospital. Mr. Christian's twin brother Jack and his lascivious wife Olivia (Livia) are also present. Aunt Livia leaves, and Uncle Jack attempts to have sex with Candy; a nurse enters and wrestles him away from the girl, who escapes, only to find herself in the lair of young Dr. Krankeit, who is studying the salutary effects of masturbation. (Aunt Livia also has an adventure with Krankeit, which she later describes to Candy in a cheery letter.) Back in the hospital room, the patient (in identical head-bandages after the scuffle with the nurse) turns out to be Jack; Candy's father has gotten up quietly and left.

On her way to work, Candy encounters a perverted hunchback, whom she takes for a sort of performance artist and invites to her apartment. Subsequently she is propositioned by school friends in a café, and by a gynecologist who overhears their conversation and gives Candy an "exam" in the bathroom. The café is raided by police and Candy escapes with the help of Pete Uspy, an anti-materialist (the only man in the novel with no designs on Candy's body) who sends her to the camp of the peace activist Crackers. Their leader Grindle is a would-be guru who talks Candy into intercourse by couching it in metaphysical terms. When Candy fears she is pregnant, he tells her the next phase of her spiritual journey is beginning, and buys her a one-way ticket to Calcutta, India. Soon after, Candy is meditating in a temple in Lhasa, along with a dung-encrusted pilgrim who sits nearby, when a thunderstorm occurs. She finds herself pinned between the fallen, lightning-struck statue of Buddha and the pilgrim. As he has the usual physical reaction experienced by men in Candy's proximity, she becomes aware of his identity when the rain washes his face clean (it is her father), and the novel closes with her cry of recognition.

In 1987, Bartholomew "Barley" Scott Blair, a British publisher, is at a book fair in Moscow. With business friends he goes on a drunken retreat to a secluded dacha in the forest near Peredelkino. When their talk turns to politics, Barley finds himself talking boldly of patriotism and courage, of a new world order, and an end to Cold War tensions. One attentive listener, "Goethe", asks him privately whether he truly believes in the possibility of such a world. Barley convincingly says that he does.

Several months later in Moscow, a woman named Katya seeks Barley out at an audio fair, hoping to convince him to publish a manuscript for her friend Yakov which details Soviet nuclear capabilities and atomic secrets. The manuscript has a cover letter to Barley, saying that Yakov is trying to serve his country by hastening the day when democracy will come to the Soviet Union. Barley is in Lisbon. Katya gives the package to Niki Landau to forward it to Barley. When Landau is unable to locate Barley, the manuscript is sent to the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). Their ''Russia House'' is more than interested in it and ask Barley to contact Yakov with a list of verifying questions to determine the document's authenticity. Barley is content to stay out of the matter, but he is manipulated into undertaking the mission. He grows fond of Katya and begins thinking of a way to get her out of the Soviet Union.

Over the course of several meetings with Katya and Yakov, Barley realises his nervous informant is very likely under KGB scrutiny. The CIA and MI6 decide one final meeting is needed to verify the authenticity of the data, but Yakov is suddenly "hospitalized" due to purported exhaustion. In a secure phone call, Yakov tells Katya through code that he has been taken and that she is in danger. Barley and Katya realise that any further meeting is merely a KGB scheme to draw them out into the open.

Barley receives a message that he must bring "a final and exhaustive" list of questions on Soviet research. He makes contact with one of his Soviet publishing associates who uses his connections in the KGB to arrange a meeting with Yakov's handlers. Although the CIA and MI6 set up a major surveillance operation at the meeting site, Barley goes missing along with the last set of questions, presumably arrested.

More than a year later, after several unconfirmed sightings in Moscow, Barley shows up in Portugal, offering no explanation for his absence. Neither the CIA nor MI6 are inclined to interrogate him, reasoning that the KGB has already worn him down to get the information they needed. They are resigned to the fact that the "manuscript" had been KGB bait all along. The truth, however, is that Barley traded the questions for the freedom of Katya and her family. The philosophical Barley reasons that governments are not the only ones who can manipulate and betray, and some things are more important than the games that spies play with others' lives.

In a restroom in the White House, a janitor finds secretary Carla Town dead. Metropolitan Police homicide detective Harlan Regis, whose apartment block is awaiting demolition in favor of a parking lot, is put on the case. At the White House, Regis is introduced to U.S. Secret Service Director Nick Spikings, National Security Advisor Alvin Jordan, and Secret Service agent Nina Chance. Spikings assigns Chance, a former Olympic gold-medal sharpshooter, to keep an eye on Regis.

Parallel to this, the White House has to deal with an impending international crisis: President Jack Neil has been trying to deal with a situation where Americans are being held hostage in North Korea, and some people—including several members of his inner circle, led by Vice President Gordon Dylan—think that Neil is not handling it the right way. Some people think that Neil should send troops to North Korea to rescue the hostages, but he does not want to risk a potential second Korean War.

White House janitor Cory Allen Luchessi was apparently unaccounted for on the night of the murder and had once made a pass at Carla. He is arrested and questioned, but his testimony and a clearly set-up piece of evidence lead Regis to suspect that the Secret Service may be involved. That night, Regis finds his apartment burglarized; the culprit escapes, and in a subsequent search, a hidden bug is found.

In a picture of Carla, Regis sees Burton Cash, the Secret Service agent assigned to Kyle Neil, the president's son. Regis figures out that Kyle had sex with Carla on the night of the murder. At a dance club, Regis talks with a young woman who says that Kyle once bragged that he shared Carla with his father. Carla's uncle's company, Brookline Associates, is the president's leading East Coast fundraiser, and also owns the apartment that Carla lived in.

Regis eventually discovers that Chance once was Kyle's bodyguard herself. When he confronts her, Chance explains that one night she discovered Kyle beating up his girlfriend. The Secret Service covered up the beating so that Kyle would not be arrested for assault, and Chance asked to be reassigned and was replaced by Cash. Upon being confronted by Regis, Kyle denies that he murdered Carla, but provides a special piece of information: among the bookings she made, Carla supposedly also ordered a car - despite not having a driver's license. Later on, Regis and Chance discover that the most recent entries in Carla's appointment book were forged.

With some clues left by Jordan, Regis finds out that Spikings has withheld several surveillance tapes from the night of the murder. Regis goes to Spikings' residence to question him; Spikings is willing to show the tape but is suddenly killed by a sniper. However, Regis and Chance escape the gunfire with the tape. They learn that Jordan engineered the murder in order to blackmail Neil into resigning, which would allow Dylan to assume office and have troops sent to North Korea.

Regis, Chance, and Regis's partner Stengel enter the White House tunnels. The sniper pursues them and wounds Stengel, but Chance manages to kill him. Pursued by the Secret Service, Regis just barely manages to get in contact with Neil and present him with the evidence of Jordan's conspiracy. Jordan attempts to shoot Neil, after being punched in the face, only for his shot to be intercepted by a handcuffed Chance, and he is killed by the Secret Service. Chance and Stengel are brought to a hospital, where they recover from their injuries. In gratitude for his rescue, Neil asks Regis if there is anything he can do, whereupon Regis brings up his impending eviction.

Grayson's traveling carnival comes to Munich with acts that include high-dive artist Frank Collini (Lyle Bettger) and silent strongman Groppo (Ady Berber). A local girl named Willi (Anne Baxter) picks the pocket of Joe (Steve Cochran), who works for the carny, but he ends up offering her a job.

Joe makes romantic advances to Willi, who tries to resist him but can't. Collini asks if she would like to become a part of his act, which involves diving into a flaming tank of water from a great height. He also proposes marriage on Willi's first night as part of the show.

Magazine photographer Bill comes to take their picture as the Great Collinis' fame grows. Collini beats Joe up after catching him with Willi, whereupon he plunges to his death after a rung on his high-dive ladder breaks.

Willi inherits $5,000. Joe spends the night with her, but the next morning, he is gone as is her money. She eventually gets Joe to confess that he sawed Collini's rung in two, deliberately causing his death. When Willi asserts her independence from Joe, he tries to strangle her. Hearing her cries for help, Groppo comes to Willi's rescue and chases Joe who tries to escape on a Ferris wheel. Groppo climbs to the top of the wheel and throws Joe off, killing Joe; and Groppo is led away by the police.

In 2036, an android named Max 404, and his creator, Dr. Daniel, reside aboard a remote space station. Although Max is a machine, he has a growing interest in all things human, especially sex. After Daniel starts to notice Max's character is changing, Max eavesdrops on the doctor's report that Max's growing insubordinate behavior could lead to a revolt similar to an incident back on Earth known as the "Munich Rebellion", after which androids were outlawed. However, Daniel is illegally working on another android, Cassandra One, intended to be a superior machine and which has the form of a human female.

Max receives a distress call from a ship that seeks repairs. Upon hearing the pilot's female voice, Max excitedly permits them to land, not realizing that the ship is a prison transport and that the pilot, Maggie, and her associates, Keller and Mendes, are all escaped fugitives. Once aboard the station, the convicts settle in, posing as the transport's crew (who had actually been killed during the prison break). Daniel becomes infuriated upon learning that Max allowed the ship to land and demands they leave immediately, but after meeting the attractive Maggie, Daniel invites her to have dinner.

Maggie joins Daniel but the dinner goes wrong when a jealous Max pranks the doctor with some embarrassing mischief, such as metal shot in the wine bottle, and cutting the doctor's orchids. Daniel then asks Maggie if she would link up with Cassandra One in an attempt to transfer sexual experiences to the android. Learning that she would have to be sexually stimulated by the doctor during the procedure, Maggie declines the offer. Daniel becomes frustrated and demands Maggie's help, but she makes a hasty exit. Returning to the lab, Daniel dictates a log report, again overheard by Max, that once Cassandra is ready, Max should be deactivated because of showing signs of the Munich Syndrome.

While the criminals work on the ship, a TerraPol police cruiser arrives, having detected a still-active transponder on their ship, and contacts Max to inform them of their presence. Max denies that the fugitives are on board, even after checking the crew's identity and confirming they are indeed escaped convicts. When the police demand permission to land, Max destroys their ship with a laser.

Max later tells Maggie that he knows she is a fugitive, but has saved her from the police, and asks that she take Max with her when she leaves the station. Maggie is unsure what to do, but later sneaks away from Mendes and meets Max in the lab for an intimate encounter. However, the two are interrupted when Cassandra activates, and Maggie is horrified when Cassandra reveals that Max is also an android.

Maggie returns to her quarters, but she is confronted by a furious Mendes, who demands to know where she wandered off to. When he notices her disheveled appearance and unbuttoned shirt, he begins to beat her. Keller interrupts and tries to stop Mendes, but he is knocked unconscious. Mendes then attacks Maggie again in her quarters. Later, when Keller awakens, he sees Maggie is dead and believes Mendes has killed her. He searches for him and finds him in a room of spare android parts. Mendes states there are enough parts to build an android of their own, but Keller attacks him from behind. The two struggle, but Keller is overpowered and Mendes kills him with a blow to the head.

Eventually Max arrives, suitcase in hand, at Maggie's quarters, but finds her dead. Max returns to Daniel's lab, where the doctor is already aware of the murder and has locked Mendes in the guest lounge. Daniel has Max sit in a chair and opens a panel on the back of his head to reprogram him for a new task, during which he tells Max that murder must be punished and Mendes is to blame. Daniel reprograms Max and sends him out to kill Mendes. In the meantime, more police ships arrive to forcefully board the station.

After killing Mendes, Max goes to Maggie's room, touches her lifeless body, and finds a flashlight Dr. Daniel said had earlier been misplaced. Max now realizes that it was Daniel who had killed Maggie, not Mendes. Max returns to the lab, where Daniel has made sexual advances towards a now-completed Cassandra, who is resisting. Daniel asks Max to hold Cassandra, but when Max refuses to obey, Daniel begins to struggle with the two androids and eventually they rip off Daniel's head, revealing that Daniel is also an android. Cassandra disposes of Daniel's head in a trash chute and begins to reprogram Max. She tells Max they are not meant to obey the whims of men, and there are other androids on earth in hiding, and Cassandra has a plan to join them.

When the police arrive at the lab, Cassandra thanks them for coming to their rescue. Max is now dressed in a lab coat and posing as Dr. Daniel and Cassandra as the assistant. The two androids are escorted out by the police, who say they will take them back to Earth.

On July 20, 1969, a robotic eye emerges from the lunar soil and observes the landing module of the Apollo 11 mission taking off.

Twenty years later, the Space Shuttle ''Camelot'' encounters a derelict spaceship in orbit around Earth. Mission commander Colonel Jason Grant leaves the Shuttle to investigate. He discovers a reddish-brown pod and a mummified human corpse. Both are brought back to Earth, where it is found that they originated on the Moon some fourteen thousand years ago. Shortly thereafter, the unattended pod comes to life. It constructs a cybernetic body with parts from the lab and pieces of the ancient corpse. The being kills a lab technician and exchanges fire with security guards before Grant destroys it with a shotgun blast to the head.

Using the last completed Apollo rocket, Grant and fellow astronaut Ray Tanner go to the Moon on a search-and-destroy mission. They discover the ruins of an ancient human civilization. Inside, they find a woman in suspended animation who identifies herself in a rudimentary fashion as Mera and reveals the name of the killer cyborgs the Kaalium. The two survive a Kaalium attack and return to the Lunar Module, with Mera wearing her own spacesuit, but the module is gone. The Kaalium also shoot down the command module, leaving the astronauts stranded. In subsequent attacks by the Kaalium, Tanner is killed while Grant and Mera are taken prisoner. The Kaalium head to Earth in a giant ship with the humans aboard.

Grant and Mera free themselves and find the landing module, which has been enmeshed in the ship's machinery. Grant supposes the module was the last piece of equipment that the Kaalium needed to complete their ship. He starts the module's self-destruct sequence before he and Mera exit through a breach in the hull, using his gun's recoil as a propellant. The ship explodes after they have reached safe distance.

Some time later, Grant and Mera are shown as a couple living on Earth. Having learned to speak English, Mera explains that she was put in stasis to warn others about the Kaalium. Grant reassures her that the Kaalium have been defeated. Later, a Kaalium pod that survived the explosion is shown in a junkyard preparing to build itself a new body.

In a post-credits audio clip, Grant speaks to a NASA official about the possibility of any debris that may have fallen to Earth in the aftermath of the ship's explosion. The official dismisses his concerns and assures Grant that any debris from the alien ship would have burned up in the atmosphere.

To stop a solar flare from destroying the Earth, Steve Kelso is tasked to drop an artificially intelligent bomb on the Sun from the spaceship ''Helios''. Arnold Teague, who believes the danger to be overstated, attempts to sabotage the mission so he can profit from the panic. Teague's agents on Earth clash with Kelso's father, Admiral "Skeet" Kelso, and his son, Mike.

''Ghosts of Albion: Witchery'' by Amber Benson and Christopher Golden The story is about the Swift siblings, Tamara and William, the descendants of a wealthy early Victorian era London family. Tamara is a budding novelist (specializing in pulp horror novels, or "penny dreadfuls") and William is an architect's apprentice. One night in 1838 they are called to their ailing grandfather's bedside. There he tells them that while he may have seemed to be another stage magician, he is actually a mystical soldier who protects Albion, the mystical spirit of Britain. William and Tamara at first do not believe him, until he is suddenly slaughtered before their eyes by werewolves, and their father is possessed by a demon. Before dying, their grandfather had told the two that they are to carry on his legacy as protectors of Albion.

His words are soon confirmed when they are soon introduced to the ghosts of the poet Lord Byron (Joseph McFadden), Admiral Nelson (Anthony Daniels), and Queen Bodicea (Emma Samms), also mystical protectors of Albion. They all leave their home, now overrun with demons, to the house of Nigel Townshend (Paterson Joseph), an old friend of their father's (as well as Nelson's). There they study spells and prepare themselves to fend off certain doom from Britain—and the world.

Former conman Nick Blake (John Garfield), a soldier returning to New York City after World War II, looks up his old girlfriend Toni Blackburn (Faye Emerson) to get the money she has been holding for him while he was in the army. Toni claims that she lost the money investing in a nightclub before selling it to Chet King (Robert Shayne), who employs her there now as a singer. However, Nick has discovered Toni's affair with King, and gets his money back from King.

Nick looks up old conman Pop Gruber (Walter Brennan), who feels he's getting too old for the con game and that if he keeps it up, he will end up "selling pencils on the side of the road." Nick and his crony Al (George Tobias) travel to Los Angeles, where another con artist, Doc Ganson (George Coulouris), has spotted a sucker, but has neither the money nor the charm necessary for the job. Doc reluctantly approaches Pop to recruit Nick, even though there is bad blood between them.

The plan is to have Nick, a ladies' man, romance rich recent widow Gladys Halvorsen (Geraldine Fitzgerald) and persuade her to invest in a phony tugboat business. Nick agrees on the condition that he get two-thirds of the proceeds, increasing Doc's bitter resentment of the younger, more successful man.

The plan hits a snag when Nick falls in love with the intended victim and decides to back out of the con. At the same time, Gladys' business manager, Charles Manning (Richard Gaines), has found out about Nick's criminal past and alerts both Gladys and the authorities. The law can't touch Nick since he hasn't yet taken any money. Nick admits the truth to Gladys anyway. However, she is hopelessly in love and refuses to let him go.

Nick decides to pay the others the $30,000 he promised them, using his own money. Toni shows up, though, and learns of the aborted scheme. When she tells Doc that she is sure Nick intends to marry Gladys and her $2,000,000, the gang kidnaps the widow for a larger share of her money. Pop is able to follow them to their hideout. In the ensuing gunfight, Nick rescues Gladys, but both Doc and Pop are killed.

Harry Beckmeyer, an Australian anthropologist, obtains film footage from 1905 which shows Australian Aborigines ceremonially sacrificing a wolf-like creature. Alarmed by the reports of a werewolf killing a man in Siberia, Beckmeyer tries to warn the U.S. president about widespread werewolf attacks, but the president is dismissive. Jerboa, a young Australian werewolf, flees her sexually abusive stepfather, Thylo. After spending the night on a park bench near the Sydney Opera House, she is spotted by a young American, Donny Martin, who offers her a role in a horror film, ''Shape Shifters Part 8''. Jack Citron, the film's director, praises her natural talent and hires her immediately.

After Jerboa and Donny attend a film which depicts a werewolf transforming, she insists the scene is inaccurate and admits she is a werewolf to an unbelieving Donny. After they have sex, Donny notices that Jerboa's lower abdomen is covered in downy white fur and a large scar. At the wrap party for the film, Jerboa is exposed to strobe lights and starts transforming. She flees the party and is hit by a car. At the hospital, doctors find she has a marsupial-like pouch and striped fur on her back like a thylacine. They also discover that Jerboa is pregnant and question Donny about her unusual anatomy.

Beckmeyer's father disappears in the Outback shortly after recording a film of tribal villagers killing a werewolf. Three of Jerboa's sisters track her to Sydney and take her back to the pack's hidden werewolf town, Flow (''wolf'' spelled backwards). Beckmeyer and his colleague Professor Sharp spend the evening watching a visiting ballet troupe practice. They witness the prima ballerina, the Russian Olga Gorki, transform into a werewolf—to the horror of her troupe. After being captured and taken to a laboratory, she quickly escapes. She makes her way to Flow, where the pack wants her to be Thylo's mate.

Jerboa gives birth to a baby werewolf which crawls into her pouch. Donny informs Beckmeyer that his girlfriend is from Flow and they attempt to find her. Jerboa smells Donny nearby and meets him at night. She shows him their baby boy and tells him about the impending danger; they flee to the hills. The next morning, a government task force captures the werewolf pack. Beckmeyer convinces Olga to allow scientists to study her and Thylo. After Thylo is tortured with strobe lights to make him transform, Beckmeyer frees him and Olga. The trio escape into the Outback and find Kendi, Donny, Jerboa and the baby.

Kendi summons the spirit of a phantom wolf which massacres hunters pursuing the group. Kendi is cremated, but the smoke alerts soldiers still in pursuit of the pack. Kendi's skeleton attacks the soldiers before being destroyed by a soldier's machine gun. At night, Thylo also summons the spirit and is transformed into a huge wolf. He attacks the remaining soldiers before being killed by a bazooka blast that destroys the rest of the encampment. Olga and Beckmeyer fall in love and hide with Jerboa and Donny at an idyllic riverside camp. Eventually, Jerboa and Donny leave, assuming new identities; the Beckmeyers remain behind to raise their daughter and newborn son. Sharp locates Harry and informs him that all lycanthropes have been given amnesty due to the crimes committed against them. The Beckmeyers move back to the city.

While teaching a class in Los Angeles, Beckmeyer is approached by a young man who introduces himself as Zack, Jerboa and Donny's son. Zack informs Beckmeyer that his parents are living in Los Angeles under new identities: Jerboa is now the famous actress "Loretta Carson" and Donny is the famous director "Sully Spellingberg". That night, Olga and Beckmeyer watch Jerboa win a best actress award on a television show hosted by Dame Edna Everage. As Jerboa accepts the award, the flashing cameras and stage lights cause her to change into a werewolf. Olga also transforms, to her husband's dismay. Jerboa goes on the attack as her sisters howl in glee; Sharp smiles deviously in his living room.

The final shot is of a thylacine, also known as a Tasmanian wolf or a Tasmanian tiger, a carnivorous dog-like marsupial which was hunted to extinction by Australian farmers to protect their sheep.

Long ago in the world of ''Beyond the Beyond'', a battle raged between the 'Beings of Light' and the 'Warlocks of the Underworld'. Before the planet was destroyed, the two sides signed a treaty leaving the surface world to the Beings of Light and underground to the Warlocks. After hundreds of years of peace, inexplicable happenings begin to occur. The player must control Finn, a young swordsman, to stop the evil power that has broken the treaty and invaded the surface world.

Private detective Ted Shane returns to work with his former partner Ames, who is not particularly happy about the situation because his wife Astrid dated Ted before they were wed.

Valerie Purvis hires the detectives to locate a man called Farrow, and when both Ames and Farrow are found dead, Shane is suspected of both murders.

Shane finds his office and apartment have been ransacked and his secretary Miss Murgatroyd has been locked in a closet by Anthony Travers, who is in search of an 8th-century ram's horn rumored to be filled with jewels. Madame Barabbas is also searching for the treasure and sends a gunman to bring Shane to her.

Working all sides of the street, Shane makes deals with each of them to find the horn, and eventually winds up in possession of a package allegedly containing it, but it turns out to be full of sand instead of jewels.

The police round up all the suspects, but Shane and Valerie escape. He baits her into confessing to Ames's murder and tries to apprehend her for the $10,000 reward, but Valerie thwarts him by allowing a washroom attendant to turn her in to the police instead. Miss Murgatroyd then shows up and claims Shane for her own.

The musical's story spans about 40 years, from the late 1880s to the late 1920s. Magnolia Hawks (Irene Dunne) is an 18-year-old on her family's show boat, the ''Cotton Blossom'', which travels the Mississippi River putting on shows. She meets Gaylord Ravenal (Allan Jones), a charming gambler, falls in love with him, and eventually marries him. Together with their baby daughter, the couple leaves the boat and moves to Chicago, where they live off Gaylord's gambling winnings. After about 10 years, he experiences an especially bad losing streak and leaves Magnolia, out of a sense of guilt that he is ruining her life because of his losses. Magnolia is forced to bring up her young daughter alone. In a parallel plot, Julie LaVerne (Helen Morgan) (the show boat's leading actress, who is part black, but passing as white) is forced to leave the boat because of her background, taking Steve Baker (Donald Cook) (her white husband, to whom, under the state's law, she is illegally married) with her. Julie is eventually also abandoned by her husband, and she becomes an alcoholic. Magnolia becomes a success on the stage in Chicago. Twenty-three years later, Magnolia and Ravenal are reunited at the theater in which Kim, their daughter, is appearing in her first Broadway starring role.

Three criminals, Ray, Pluto and Fantasia (Ray's girlfriend), commit six brutal murders over the course of one night in Los Angeles as they seek a cache of money and cocaine. The trio leave for Houston to sell the cocaine to a friend of Pluto's.

The LAPD Detectives Cole and McFeely are investigating the case. After getting a few leads, they discover that the three are possibly headed for Star City, Arkansas. The LAPD contacts the Star City Police Chief, Dale "Hurricane" Dixon, who is excited about the case, as it gives him an opportunity to do "some real police work". He is well-known throughout the small county, chatting with locals while on patrol. The detectives fly to Star City and meet Dixon. He attempts to ingratiate himself with the detectives, whom he reveres, while they pretend to respect him.

After stopping at a convenience store, a state trooper pulls over and attempts to arrest Ray and Pluto but Fantasia kills him as she is asked to get out of the car. Word of the trooper's murder gets to the detectives in Star City, and the trio review surveillance photos of Ray and Fantasia in the store confirming their identity. Dixon informs the detectives that Fantasia is Lila Walker and she grew up in Star City. He recalls she was a troubled youth who left for Hollywood with dreams of an acting career.

The detectives sense Dixon may know Fantasia better than he is letting on after they stop by her mother's house. They question Fantasia's mother and brother Ronnie about Fantasia's whereabouts and if she had contacted them recently. They also meet a young boy, Byron, who is revealed to be Lila's young son. The detectives suspect that Lila will be coming home to see him.

Ray, Fantasia and Pluto arrive in Houston to sell the drugs as planned. Fantasia takes a bus to Star City. Angry that their buyers are reneging on the previously agreed upon price for the cocaine, Pluto and Ray kill them and flee. They drive to Star City to meet up with Fantasia and plan their next move.

When Fantasia arrives in Star City, she hides at a rural house. Dixon confronts her, and it is revealed that the boy is Dixon and Lila's son, conceived during an affair years earlier. After tense conversation, they make a deal. She will lure Ray and Pluto to ensure their arrest and in exchange, Dixon will help her leave town.

Pluto and Ray arrive at the house and are immediately confronted by an armed Dixon. Pluto stabs Dixon in the stomach and Dixon shoots Pluto. Ray draws his gun and runs outside while shooting at Dixon. The two fire at each other, but Fantasia stops Dixon from killing Ray, only to have Ray errantly shoot her in the head. Seriously wounded, Dixon steadies himself and shoots Ray, killing him. Pluto walks outside and falls dead in the grass. Dixon calls for help with his police radio, and the LAPD detectives arrive, amazed at what Dixon has accomplished. Byron walks over and talks to Dixon as he lies bleeding, and he asks the boy to tell him about himself.

Part 1

Odysseus (Armand Assante), the king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Ithaca, is called to service in the Trojan War after the birth of his son Telemachus, much to the dismay of his wife Queen Penelope (Greta Scacchi). Odysseus is worried that he may not return, and tells Penelope that she should remarry by the time Telemachus is a man if he does not return. The war lasts ten years, during which Greece's best soldier, Achilles (Richard Trewett), is killed and the Greeks avenge him by using a giant horse to sneak inside and destroy the city of Troy. Laocoön (Heathcote Williams) tries to warn the Trojans of a vision of this, but is suddenly devoured by a sea monster. Odysseus' ego gets the best of him and he tells the gods that he did it himself, which angers Poseidon (voiced by Miles Anderson) so much that he promises to make Odysseus' journey home to Penelope nearly impossible, mentioning that it was he who sent the sea monster to devour Laocoön.

Odysseus and his men initially stop on an island dominated by one-eyed giants, the Cyclopes. A gargantuan Cyclops named Polyphemus (Reid Asato) traps them in his cave intending to eat them, but Odysseus gets him drunk on wine, causing him to pass out. Then, he sharpens a tree branch into a stake and blinds Polyphemus, allowing them to escape by hiding under sheep skins when he removes the heavy stone door. Polyphemus screams for help, but Odysseus had tricked him into stating that his name was "Nobody", so the Cyclops is shouting that nobody has tricked him, arousing no suspicion. Odysseus and his men escape, but Odysseus brashly taunts the Cyclops who asks his father Poseidon to avenge him. This makes Odysseus' journey home harder.

Odysseus travels to an island where Aeolus (Michael J. Pollard) provides him with a bag of wind to help him home, instructing him to open it when he gets close to Ithaca. One of his men opens it prematurely, blowing them off course. Next, they stop at the island of Circe (Bernadette Peters), a beautiful witch, who turns his men into animals and blackmails him into sleeping with her. Odysseus is told of Circe's magic by Hermes (Freddy Douglas), who helps him avoid being transformed as well. Circe tells him to go to the Underworld next, and only then does Odysseus realize that he has actually been tricked by Circe, who put a spell on him so he stayed on the island for five years instead of five days. Odysseus digs his ship out of the sand and tide and sails to the Underworld.

Part 2

Arriving at the Underworld, Tiresias (Christopher Lee) torments Odysseus, recognizing his courage and wit, but criticizing his ego and foolishness. After Odysseus sacrifices a goat into the River Styx, Tiresias tells him that the only way home will take him past a treacherous isle where Scylla (sea monster) and Charybdis (tidal pool) live. As he is running in terror from the underworld, he meets his mother Anticlea (Irene Papas), who committed suicide due to the pain of losing her son. She informs him that back on Ithaca there are multiple suitors, including Eurymachus (Eric Roberts), vying with each other to marry Penelope for her money and power.

Odysseus' boat nears the isle of Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla's six serpentine heads wreak havoc on the crew, killing many. Everyone but Odysseus is killed when Charybdis creates a whirlpool and destroys his ship. Odysseus arrives on the island where the goddess Calypso (Vanessa Williams) lives and becomes her prisoner. Meanwhile, Odysseus' now 15-year-old son Telemachus (Alan Stenson) tries to find his father and is told by Athena (Isabella Rossellini) to travel to Sparta and seek out one of his former comrades that fought with him. When Telemachus finds Menelaus (Nicholas Clay), one of Odysseus' comrades, he learns that Menelaus doesn't know what happened to Odysseus but believes him to be dead.

Two years later, Hermes arrives, telling Calypso to release Odysseus, and she provides him with a raft to get to Ithaca. Another storm causes problems for Odysseus as he calls out to Poseidon, who reminds Odysseus about what he said the day he left Troy, and to remember his place as a mere mortal. The next morning, Odysseus washes ashore and is found by some Phaeacians girls. With help from Phaeacian King Alcinous (Jeroen Krabbé), they help Odysseus back to Ithaca. They deliver him at night while he is fast asleep, to a hidden harbor on Ithaca. Upon awakening the next morning, he finds himself on Ithaca where is reunited with Telemachus. Using a peasant disguise provided by Athena, Odysseus meets up with Penelope where she decides to hold a contest to find the person who can string Odysseus' bow. After Odysseus wins the contest, Athena lifts his disguise and Odysseus is assisted by Telemachus in slaying Eurymachus and the suitors. Once the suitors are dead, Odysseus is finally reunited with Penelope.

"Zazel" is the title character, a world-famous artist commissioned to create "the most arousing perfume ever". In the course of devising this scent, Zazel variously paints pictures, views photographs, and wanders among the flowers of her garden, each experience inspiring her to envision a powerful sexual fantasy. The film consists of nearly a dozen individually themed sequences which reference and recreate iconography drawn from mythology, religion, literature, film and even Jungian psychology. These include sirens, water nymphs, mermaids, flowers, the jungle, ''The Three Musketeers'', classic old Hollywood movies, angels and demons, and the Jungian duality of male and female.

Each sequence features an imaginative and novel treatment of sexual activity based on these themes, as well as several visual/anatomical puns achieved through the strategic use of body paint, fetishistic costumes and accessories, and ''trompe-l'œil'' camera placement and editing trickery. It is notable that Sasha Vinni, who plays Zazel and also narrates the film, never has heterosexual intercourse in any of her scenes: she masturbates and engages in lesbian activities with the other female performers.

"Blue Siren" sequence

In the opening sequence, Sasha Vinni emerges from a pond as the "Blue Siren", her nude body is painted bright blue and multiple arms appear and gesticulate behind her like the Avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. She then performs cunnilingus on the "Water Nymph" (Grace Harlow).

"Wild Orchid" sequence

Sasha Vinni as Zazel sits at her desk and airbrushes an image of a flower. A visual pun is created as the petals start to move and contract and reveal themselves as artfully painted labial folds.

"Bird of Paradise" sequence

Sasha Vinni appears as an assistant to a male lover/tattoo artist played by Devin Deray. Sasha Vinni shaves Lene Hefner's crotch with a spa razor, rinses it with an urn full of water. The tattoo artist then designs a colorful flower pattern on Hefner's vulva. The trio then engage in sex.

"Jungle" sequence

In the "Jungle" sequence, Sasha Vinni's nude body is artfully painted with tiger stripes as she writhes and crawls through tropical vegetation.

The scene ends with a close-up shot of a woman (whose face is never seen) with a tiger's face painted on her buttocks. The woman rides a man's penis, creating the illusion that the tiger's face is "fellating" him.

"Precious Flower" sequence

This sequence is yet another variation on the flower motif as Sasha Vinni is shown penetrating herself with flower-shaped objects and masturbating.

"Three Musketeers" sequence

In the "Three Musketeers" sequence, Sasha Vinni, Brooke Lane and Anna Romero appear in 17th-century-style period costume based on the characters of the Dumas novel. They strip, French kiss, perform cunnilingus on one another, and masturbate by penetrating themselves with rubber dildoes which they have outfitted on the back of their riding boots like spurs.

"Angels" sequence

The "Angels" sequence is filmed in bright, diffuse light and features three women (Sasha Vinni, Brooke Lane and Helena) as "Female Angels", each with elaborately knotted hair and coated in pale, peach-colored body paint. These three female angels perform various sexual acts with a similarly painted man outfitted with giant angel's wings (Antonio Valentino)—the "Winged Male Angel". (Anna Romero and Kevin James served as body doubles.)

"Old Black-and-White Movie" sequence

The black-and-white sequence is the only one to feature no lesbian sex at all, and it is also the only part of the film in which Sasha Vinni does not appear. It begins with Gina LaMarca as "the Seductress", wearing ornate white pasties over her breasts with a matching white crotch guard (see DVD cover above), gyrating on a bed.

The fetish accessories are soon removed and she and her male partner (Jon Severini) engage in various sexual activities. Cross-cutting from the man's final ejaculation on her belly, they are also seen performing a tumbling dive into a swimming pool while holding hands and then resurfacing to embrace and cuddle in the water.

"Mysterious Union" sequence

Sasha Vinni performs a sensuous erotic dance with one half of her face and body painted and dressed as a woman in a skirt, and the other half made up as a mustachioed man wearing a suit. Vinni takes turns showing her "female" and then "male" side to the camera while the other half remains hidden in shadow and out of view. The sequence concludes with an outlandish-looking woman—shaven-headed except for a teased-up lemon blonde mohawk (which might be a wig) and with spangled clothespins fastened to her nipples—who is seen to be fellating an ornate glass perfume bottle.

"Water Odyssey" sequence

In the penultimate sequence in the film, Sasha Vinni and Nikie St. Gilles appear as mermaids outfitted with tail fins. They dispense with the mermaid accessories and engage in lesbian activities. As in the "Blue Siren" sequence, some of the cunnilingus activity is filmed underwater.

"Diablo d'Inferno" sequence

The "Diablo d'Inferno" sequence features Anna Romero as a "She-Devil" in a fetishistic red latex devil's costume—outfitted with red latex horns, red latex ballet boots, open-bottomed red latex hot pants, and a long red latex forked devil's tail protruding from a flared butt plug attachment that is embedded in her rectum. (Although Sasha Vinni appears in this costume on the U.S. DVD cover [see image above], only Anna Romero wears it in the film.) During this sequence the lower portion of the screen is filled with digitally superimposed flames for atmospheric effect.

The She-Devil sneaks up behind Zazel, who is sitting at a table airbrushing a design of the She-Devil and her costume, and "decapitates" the artist with a scythe. The She-Devil crawls around Zazel's freshly "severed" head, now placed upon the table. The She-Devil grips the shaft of her latex tail and pushes the butt plug attachment deeper into her anus before thrusting her vulva into Zazel's face. The She-Devil French kisses Zazel's head and continues to anally masturbate with the tail/butt plug.

The scene continues with the She-Devil (now with the tail/butt plug removed) having sex with a "Gargoyle" (Kevin James) and a "Demon Man" (Drew Reese), which ends with a vaginal/anal double penetration.

On Christmas Eve, Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly London commodities trader, does not share the merriment of Christmas. He declines his nephew Fred Hollywell's invitation for Christmas dinner and reluctantly accepts his loyal but underpaid employee Bob Cratchit's request to have Christmas off since there will be no business for Scrooge during the day. As he leaves for the exchange, Scrooge encounters Bob's ill son Tiny Tim waiting across from Scrooge's office. After initially mistaking Tim for a beggar, Scrooge assures him that he will have a long wait for his father in the cold before leaving. At the exchange, Scrooge charges three other businessmen 5% extra for corn because they failed to meet his demands the day before, much to their dismay. Scrooge then refuses to give a donation to two gentlemen collecting money for charity, Mr. Poole and Mr. Hacking.

Later that night in his house, Scrooge encounters the ghost of his deceased business partner Jacob Marley, who warns him to repent his wicked ways or he will be condemned to the same afterlife as his, carrying heavy chains forged from his own greedy ways. He informs Scrooge that three spirits will visit him that night.

At one o'clock, the Ghost of Christmas Past visits Scrooge and takes him back in time to his unhappy childhood and early adult life. They visit Scrooge's time as a boarding school student, abandoned there by his father who wanted nothing to do with him after Scrooge's mother died in childbirth. He sees his grim father Silas, who gets him an apprenticeship with Fezziwig, and his older sister Fan, who has since died. Eventually becoming successful in business, Scrooge becomes engaged to a woman named Belle. However, the Ghost shows Scrooge that Belle left him when he chose his wealth over her. Finally, the spirit shows Scrooge a now-married Belle with her large, happy family on the Christmas Eve that Marley died. Angered, Scrooge extinguishes the spirit with its cap and finds himself back in his bedroom.

At two o'clock, Scrooge meets the Ghost of Christmas Present, who shows him the joys and wonder of Christmas Day. Scrooge and the Ghost visit Bob's house, learning his family is surprisingly content with their small dinner. Scrooge takes pity on Tim and the spirit comments that he will not survive until next Christmas; the ghost mocks his change of heart, quoting Scrooge's previous callous comments about the poor. The spirit then takes Scrooge to Fred's house for the Christmas party that Scrooge had earlier declined to attend, where Fred states that he continues to pursue a relationship with Scrooge for the sake of his late mother, Fan, whom Scrooge loved deeply. Scrooge is touched by this. Scrooge and the spirit then go to a desolate street where Scrooge witnesses a homeless family with a husband desperate and eager for work, contradicting Scrooge's earlier comments that the poor are shiftless. The spirit shows Scrooge two hideous children named Ignorance and Want hidden under his robes, warning Scrooge to beware of them before he disappears.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come appears to Scrooge, and takes him into the future. Scrooge witnesses the businessmen discussing the death of an unnamed colleague where they would only attend the funeral if lunch is provided. Scrooge recognizes several of his stolen possessions being traded to a fence named Old Joe. The spirit transports Scrooge to Bob's residence where he learns Tim had died and the Crachits mourning him. A moved Scrooge is then escorted to a cemetery, where the spirit points out the man’s neglected grave, revealing Scrooge was the man who died. Tearfully, Scrooge vows to change his ways and begs to be spared and finds himself back in his bedroom.

Scrooge finds it is Christmas Day and anonymously sends the Cratchits a large, prize-winning turkey for dinner. He then ventures out into the city to spread happiness among the citizens of London and finds the charity workers he encountered before and much to their elation, he agrees to make a large donation. Scrooge also accepts Fred's Christmas invitation after reconciling with him. The following day, he gives Cratchit a raise and becomes like "a second father" to Tim, who escapes death. A changed man, Scrooge now treats everyone with kindness, generosity, and compassion; he now embodies the spirit of Christmas.

The episode is formatted as an industrial training video, and it begins with a narrator (Steve Kehela) congratulating the newly hired employee of the renowned Krusty Krab restaurant, SpongeBob SquarePants. SpongeBob proceeds to ask if he can make a Krabby Patty burger, but is denied as he has to undergo training first. The narrator then shares how the restaurant came to be, with its founder, Mr. Krabs, previously suffering from a long depression after "the war" before deciding to acquire a bankrupt retirement home and turn it into the Krusty Krab.

In present day, the restaurant has since tried to modernize itself and maintain customer satisfaction by acquiring the "latest" fast food technology, such as the spatula and the cash register. For the restaurant's employees, the narrator differentiates the characteristics of a potentially good employee, who is SpongeBob, and a bad employee, who is Squidward, through the examples and actions of SpongeBob and Squidward respectively, and among the most important things to learn on the job is the acronym "P.O.O.P." (short for "People Order Our Patties"). Other matters discussed by the narrator include personal hygiene, the work station, and how to interact with the manager Mr. Krabs, all while SpongeBob impatiently awaits the chance to make a Krabby Patty.

After all the basics of being an employee have been covered, the narrator asks SpongeBob if he is ready to prepare a Krabby Patty. As SpongeBob vigorously nods in affirmation, the narrator begins to tell the burger's secret formula before the training video abruptly cuts to the credits.

In 1940, after the fall of France, the fictitious Channel Island of Armorel is occupied by a small garrison of German troops under the benign command of Hauptmann Weiss. He finds that the hereditary ruler, the Suzerain, is away in the army, leaving the Provost in charge.

Back in London, the Ministry of Agriculture realise that Venus, a valuable pedigree Guernsey cow, remains on the island. They petition the War Office to mount a rescue operation, and Major Valentine Morland is assigned the mission, with the assistance of the Suzerain's sister Nicola Fallaize who joined the A.T.S. at the outbreak of war.

They travel to Armorel by submarine, contact the Provost and other friends on the island, and discover that Weiss, a cattle breeder in civilian life, is about to have the cow shipped to Germany. Nicola persuades her artist cousin, who has tried to ignore the war, to help by painting another cow with Venus' distinctive markings, and, with some narrow escapes, they succeed in taking Venus to a waiting ship for the journey back to England.

Phyllis (Diana Dors) tells her story, beginning with how she met rich vintner Paul Hochen (Rod Steiger) from Napa Valley in a bar and married him soon after.

Not long after the marriage, Phyllis begins having an affair with a local rodeo rider, San Sanford (Tom Tryon), seeing him every time her husband is away, which is frequently. One night, her elderly mother-in-law (Beulah Bondi) thinks a burglar is breaking into the house, so she calls the police. Phyllis sees this as an opportunity to kill her husband and blame the burglar for the crime. The plan backfires a day later when she instead kills her husband's best friend. Not wanting to go to jail, she convinces her husband to confess to the killing and they concoct a story that would set him free after the trial.

Phyllis lies at the trial and Paul is put away for murder. The "unholy" wife finally gets the punishment she deserves when her mother-in-law dies of poisoning and the blame goes to Phyllis, who is sent to prison for a crime she did not commit. Later, she faces her execution in the gas chamber.

Finally, Paul shows their son Michael (Gary Hunley) the vineyard that will someday be his.

Set in a hospital room, the action revolves around Ken Harrison (Claire Harrison in some later productions), a sculptor by profession, who was paralysed from the neck down (quadriplegia) in a car accident and is determined to be allowed to die. Clark presents arguments both in favour of and opposing euthanasia and to what extent government should be allowed to interfere in the life of a private citizen. In portraying Ken as an intelligent man with a useless body, he leaves the audience with conflicting feelings about his desire to end his life.

When a serial killer mysteriously and savagely murders a young native woman in rural Los Angeles County, her sister McKenna (Carmen Electra) must replace her as the keeper of an amulet, the sacred crescent. Reluctantly, McKenna accepts the role of chosen one. With the amulet and after the rigors of the ritual, she takes on the spirit and powers of the raven, the good forces in the battle against evil, the wolf. McKenna's powers include a thirst for milk and tremendous sexual energy, which she unleashes on her former boyfriend, Henry, a cop. The spirit of the wolf inhabits Rose, Henry's jilted lover. Rose wreaks havoc of her own before a final showdown with the chosen one.

The year is 1997, and world peace seems to have come, with most classic weapons of mass destruction having been abandoned. However, orbiting the Earth there is the European/American space station FLORIDA ARKLAB, capable of controlling the weather at any location on the planet underneath. A civil project by nature, it might be abused as an offensive weapon, since it could deliver devastation to any potential adversary simply by creating natural disasters such as storms and floods. The space station soon becomes the central point in rising political tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. The film follows the main protagonist, Billy Hayes, an astronaut aboard the station, as he wades through a plot of secrecy and sabotage trying to tell friend from foe in the process.

Billy enjoys a close relationship with his fellow astronaut Max for the several months they spend together in isolation. Max's wife, Eva, contacts the ARKLAB to announce that she has decided to divorce him because his time away has strained their relationship. A pan to a photograph of Max and Billy smiling as she says this may imply the two have developed a gay romance.

When spies attempt to use the ARKLAB to their own ends, its nuclear reactor becomes damaged. Max attempts to repair it on his own, creating suspicion he is one of the spies. Eva and Vandenberg are sent up to help repair the reactor. Vandenberg turns out to be a spy and sabotages the station. He injures Max. Max kills him, and confesses his love for Eva before succumbing to his wounds. Billy screams Max's name as the station falls apart. He and Eva escape in a shuttle as the station explodes.

Back on Earth, Billy makes a report to his superior, Felix. Felix tells him that the Americans attempted to use the station as a weapon but made a mistake and caused a horrible flood. He sends Billy and Eva on their way. He later learns that both of them died from radiation poisoning and openly grieves their deaths.

An interstellar expedition is sent to study a strange planet far from Earth. Despite the fact that creatures from various Earth time periods appear to inhabit the world (mammoths, pterodactyls, dinosaurs, horses, birds, etc.), the stone-age-level natives also possess swords made of metal.

After Groundskeeper Willie takes away Bart's skateboard for destroying his leaf pile, Bart fills up Willie's shack with creamed corn as he is sleeping, destroying it. As Willie is taken away for medical attention, he swears revenge on Bart. Meanwhile, Krusty the Clown's show comes under criticism by the Federal Communications Commission for not being educational enough for children. The Channel 6 executive proposes that Krusty cut ten minutes from his three-hour show to make room for a kids' news program, ''Kidz Newz'', where children deliver and report news items. Lisa is recruited as a news anchor along with other Springfield Elementary School children. Bart is not chosen at first, but is made sportscaster after he complains to Marge.

Lisa is deemed to be boring by the channel's staff, though they are impressed by Bart's performance. Bart is then promoted to be the co-anchor, causing Lisa to become jealous and resentful. After Bart hears Lisa talking behind his back, he seeks advice from Kent Brockman, who teaches him about the power of human interest stories. Bart becomes successful after creating a segment called "Bart's People", which Lisa disapproves of due to its sappy, emotionally manipulative content. She attempts to copy the segment, but is twice hampered by the Crazy Cat Lady. In a plot to expose Bart's insincerity, she writes and sends a letter, purportedly from an immigrant living in a junkyard who wants to be featured as one of Bart's People. Bart rushes to the city dump to do a live broadcast but is attacked by Willie, who has been living there since his shack was destroyed. Feeling guilty for putting Bart in danger, Lisa hurries to the dump and saves him by using some of his own methods to appeal to Willie's emotions. Bart and Lisa decide to combine their talents in order to get children to really care about the news, only to have ''Kidz Newz'' canceled immediately afterward and replaced by a cartoon show intended to sell candy and toys.

Meanwhile, Homer discovers that Apu has been wounded in a robbery at the Kwik-E-Mart and has obtained a helper monkey to assist in running the store while he recovers. Homer gets a monkey of his own named Mojo to help around the house, but Mojo instead picks up Homer's bad habits and becomes lazy and overweight. At Marge's insistence, Homer returns Mojo to the agency that provided him.

In October 2009, the world's population has been decimated by the spread of new strain of the Bubonic Plague which is resistant to antibiotics. One small group of survivors, led by Ruth Knight, is visited by a stranger who claims to possess a page from the Book of Destiny that foretells the future. To prove its accuracy he tells stories from the page of the Byzantine Empire during the Plague of Justinian (issue one), a princess at the beginning of the Black Death (issue two) and an Englishwoman during the Great Plague of London (issue three). Destiny himself is involved in each of the stories. The stranger then claims the page predicts the future of the current plague as well, and offers Ruth knowledge of her own destiny.

''Arx Fatalis'' (Latin for "fatal fortress") is set on a world whose sun has failed, forcing the above-ground creatures to take refuge in caverns. The action in ''Arx Fatalis'' takes place in one of these large caves, where the members of various races, such as Trolls, Goblins, Dwarves, Humans, etc., have made their homes on various levels of the cave. The player awakens inside a prison cell and, after making his escape, eventually discovers his mission is to subvert and imprison the God of Destruction, Akbaa, who is trying to manifest itself in Arx.

President Francis Xavier Kennedy is elected to office, in large part, thanks to the legacy of his forebears–good looks, privilege, wealth–and is the very embodiment of youthful optimism. Too soon, however, he is beaten down by the political process and, disabused of his ideals, becomes a leader totally unlike what he has been before.

When his daughter becomes a pawn in a brutal terrorist plot, Kennedy, who has obsessively kept alive the memory of his uncles’ assassinations, activates all his power to retaliate in a series of violent measures. As the explosive events unfold, the world and those closest to him look on with both awe and horror.

Mario Puzo has stated: "''The Fourth K'' was a [commercial] failure—but it was my most ambitious book."

''D/Generation'' plot begins in Singapore on June 26, 2021. A French company called Genoq has developed a series of new genetically engineered bioweapons, which have run out of control and taken over Genoq's Singaporean lab. The main character is a courier making an emergency delivery by jet pack of an important package to one of Genoq's top researchers, Jean-Paul Derrida (a name likely inspired by the philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Jacques Derrida), and who is oblivious to the events inside the building until the lab's doors lock behind him after he enters. His point of delivery is ten floors away, all of them crawling with bioweapons.

Lwaxana Troi returns to the ''Enterprise'', this time as the teacher of an alien race, the Cairn, who are learning to speak. The Cairn's native form of communication is telepathy, but they want to learn spoken language in order to interact with other races. Lwaxana comes aboard with Ambassador Maques and his young daughter, Hedril, who is Lwaxana's star pupil.

Suspecting that Lwaxana is not her usual flamboyant self, her daughter, Deanna Troi, tries to investigate. When Lwaxana starts showing signs of fatigue, she is taken to sickbay to be examined. Beverly tells Lwaxana that her interaction with the aliens is more taxing on her telepathic ability than she is used to, and is asked to refrain from contact with the Cairn until she can recover. Deanna helps her mother by verbally communicating with Maques and Hedril, but Lwaxana still uses her telepathy when they don't grasp the verbal concepts. After an incident where Hedril falls into a pool of water in the arboretum, Lwaxana falls into a coma. With no signs of physical trauma, Crusher deduces that her telepathic abilities have caused her mind to collapse in on itself from overuse. Maques uses his ability to form a bridge between Deanna and Lwaxana, and the former finds herself walking through corridors like on the ''Enterprise''. Lwaxana's mental defenses pick up, first conjuring an image of Picard himself ordering her to sever her connection. She then creates an image of a wolf that chases Deanna through the corridor. After escaping through a door, she sees her father in a place where they once lived. She sees through all the ruses and exits back into the corridor. Lwaxana then charges after her screaming for Deanna to get away from her, causing Deanna to break her connection.

Deanna and Picard search through Lwaxana's things and find several pieces of the puzzle missing; seven years of entries for a journal Lwaxana kept since being married had been erased, from shortly after her marriage until a few months after Deanna's birth. The image of Hedril in her mother's mind does not add up. She tries again to reach her mother. With the telepathic connection to her mother reestablished, Deanna sees Hedril petting the wolf, and cautions her. When she says Hedril's name, the girl asks who Hedril is. Deanna follows the girl and the wolf through the deck until she encounters a turbolift that opens into space. Hearing her mother call for help, Deanna jumps in and lands in the arboretum where Lwaxana had collapsed. Lwaxana is there, still begging Deanna to leave, but Deanna refuses, stating that a repressed memory is killing her and she must relive the memory in order to survive. Suddenly, an image of a human girl who looks like Hedril is playing by the water with a puppy, and Lwaxana calls her Kestra—her first born child, and Deanna's older sister, whom Deanna never knew she had. Deanna urges Lwaxana to relive what happened, and she tearfully remembers a tragedy when Kestra ran after the puppy when it got away, though it was unclear what had caused her death. However, the clues seem to indicate that she fell into the water and drowned. Lwaxana's repressed memory of Kestra and her resemblance to Hedril led to her coma. As Lwaxana recalls happier memories of Kestra, Deanna tells her to share them so she can learn about the sister she never knew. The women awaken in sickbay holding hands. Later, it is revealed that Mr. Homn saved mementos of Kestra, and Deanna asks her mother to tell her everything about her.

After seventeen-year-old Thais Allard loses her widowed father in a car crash, she is forced to leave home. She moves to live with a total stranger in New Orleans. There, she meets her identical twin, Clio Martin. Thais soon learns that she and her twin come from a family of witches and that she possesses astonishing powers. The twins must learn to work together.

Gus Matthews, Richie Goodman, and Clark Reedy are adult "nerds" who spent their childhoods longing to play baseball, but never got the chance.

When a nerdy, unathletic boy named Nelson Carmichael and his friends are bullied and kicked off a baseball diamond by a local little league team, Gus and Clark chase the bullies away. When Gus and Clark go with Richie to the field, the bullies return and demand that they leave. Gus challenges the bullies to play them for the field. They win the game due to Gus' surprising aptitude. A man named Brad, one of Clark and Richie's childhood bullies, challenges them to another game, but the three friends win again.

After an encounter with Richie and Clark's childhood bully Jerry, they and Gus are approached by Nelson's billionaire father Mel who tells the trio about his plan to hold a round-robin with all the little league teams in the state, plus their team. The winners will be given access to a new multimillion-dollar baseball park. The three name themselves the Benchwarmers and join the tournament. Mel and his robot Number 7 cover up Gus' involvement with his wife Liz.

Jerry and the coaches of the little league teams start meeting to think of plans to defeat the Benchwarmers. The Benchwarmers win every single game, with Clark and Richie's abilities gradually improving, Richie's brother Howie facing his fears, and the team becomes popular among many nerds, children with poor athletic abilities, and the general public.

At the semi-final game, the competing team's coach Wayne enters a 30-year-old Dominican professional baseball player named Carlos into the league claiming going with Jerry's claim that he is 12 years old. The Benchwarmers eventually defeat Carlos by getting him too drunk to pitch properly.

After multiple unsuccessful attempts to derail the trio, the Benchwarmers' adversaries finally find a weakness that they can exploit. Brad finds evidence that Gus was a bully himself as a child from his poker buddy Steven, known for using name calling over physical force and had bullied one boy named Marcus so intensely that he had to be sent to a mental institution. Seizing this opportunity, Jerry and Steven expose Gus' secret to the public, shaming Gus into resigning from the team. After a talk with Liz, Gus sincerely apologizes to Marcus just before the final game.

Mel enlists ''Ultimate Home Remodel'' to build his stadium. On the day of the big game against Jerry's baseball team, Marcus forgives Gus in front of everyone at the beginning of the final game. Gus re-joins the team, announcing that Marcus is the Benchwarmers' new third-base coach.

In the final game, Gus, Clark and Richie let a team consisting of Nelson and other non-athletic children play, to give them a chance to play. In the final inning, the Benchwarmers are losing, but Jerry's team sees that the Benchwarmers are having fun playing the game anyway. Seeing how abusive and uncaring Jerry is and realizing the true spirit of the game, they decide to let Nelson score a run, saying that Jerry is "the loser". The Benchwarmers storm the field, celebrating the fact that they were not shut out.

The entire Benchwarmers team, along with the kids from Jerry's team, Marcus, and even Carlos and Wayne, celebrate at Pizza Hut. Richie and Clark get girlfriends, Howie informs Wayne that he's not a big fan of the Moon, and Gus announces that he is going to become a father.

The story centers around a mysterious warrior named Guin, an amnesiac with a leopard mask magically affixed to his head. Remembering nothing but his fighting instincts and the word "Aurra", he confronts a world laden with danger, intrigue, and magic.

In 1906, Wilse Dilling (Lon Chaney), a crippled gangster living in Chinatown, receives a coded message to go to the home of his boss, Ann Cardington (Christine Mayo), known as "Queen Ann", a powerful crime boss feared in the underworld. When Wilse meets with her, she sends him to the suburban town of Fallbrook, where he is to establish himself and await her instructions in dealing with a former lover of hers, a banker named Micha Hadley (William Welsh), who had once betrayed her. Dilling is to pose as a telegraph operator in the local office there in order to keep watch on the banker.

Being practically dependent on crutches and wheelchair-bound has not stopped Dilling from committing a lengthy series of crimes, but to his surprise, he finds that the small town atmosphere makes him feel alive for the first time. He befriends banker Hadley's attractive daughter Gertrude (Virginia Valli). Dilling falls in love with her and she helps him believe that even he can make a fresh start. Gertrude, however, is engaged to young Jack Cooper (Jack Mower), and Chaney realizes that a pretty girl like her would never be attracted to a handicapped man like himself.

Dilling's new-found contentment is soon shattered by a series of new developments which includes trying to stop Queen Ann's plot against both Hadley and Gertrude. Years ago, Queen Ann had forced Hadley to embezzle funds from his own bank by blackmailing him. Now threatened with exposure as an embezzler, Hadley lashes out at Dilling when he confesses that he is part of Queen Ann's scheme. When Dilling attempts to blow up the bank to cover up the evidence against Hadley, it goes badly and Gertrude and her fiance Cooper are caught in the blast. With Gertrude severely injured, Cooper's father forces him to break off their engagement.

With the bank records destroyed, bank examiners are now unable to find evidence against Hadley. After surgery, his daughter is expected to make a complete recovery but Queen Anne still seeks revenge. Dilling tries to recover a document that his boss is using to blackmail Hadley, but with her henchmen, Ann kidnaps Gertrude to Dilling's despair. When asked, Cooper refuses to help Dilling to rescue Gertrude, revealing his cowardice.

Dilling confronts the criminals alone in their cafe hideout and pleads with Queen Ann to release Gertrude. Before anything can happen, the entire city is caught up in the San Francisco earthquake. Queen Ann and her gang are killed in the disaster. Dilling survives and finds that the shock of the earthquake has restored his ability to walk again. After he recuperates, he begins a new life with Gertrude.

Outspoken and overconfident Rick Monroe is a jock and a popular guy in college in Titusville, Florida. At the end of his final report for his class, Rick cracks a joke and his prim and proper speech professor, Faye Hanlon, is not amused. After chiding him for his joke, she decides to fail him and make him take the course over again.

Faye is going through a slump in her marriage to Whitney Hanlon, a rocket scientist who has just been laid off. Faye's free-spirited sister Patsy, visiting from Chicago, takes her to a strip club to cheer her up. The show features a performer called "Ricky the Rocket", who is none other than Faye's student Rick. When he notices Faye in the crowd, he gives her a very special lap dance, kissing her in the process.

The next day, Faye and Rick run into each other at a school function. Initially, Rick is interested only in convincing Faye to allow him another chance at his final and is rebuffed. He realizes that she is attracted to him and begins flirting. Faye arranges to meet Patsy near her hotel, only to discover that she has been tricked into seeing another performance by "Ricky the Rocket".

Since Patsy has to return home a day early, she turns over use of her hotel room to Faye, who calls Whitney and lies that she and Patsy are staying at Patsy's hotel together. Coincidentally, Rick's mother works in the same hotel, and while visiting his mother, Rick runs into Faye again; they return to Faye's room and have sex. Faye must leave and in her absence, Rick invites his girlfriend Slick to the room where she has sex with him as well. Faye catches them in the shower and, humiliated, flees; she realizes that she has been deceived.

Whitney, returning home from an unsuccessful job interview, discovers that Patsy has gone home. Whitney travels to the hotel, where he catches Rick as the latter is exiting. He kidnaps Rick at gunpoint, takes Rick to a skiff at a small dock, and forces him to strip. Rick, sobbing, complies. Whitney threatens Rick repeatedly, but ultimately only shoots holes in the skiff, leaving a naked Rick aboard as it sinks.

Faye returns home to find Whitney waiting for her; she apologizes and he forgives her. At the end, the couple talk about their problems and resolve them.

Del, a hard-working songwriter, is trying to write the perfect song for his slimeball boss, Mr. Mega, so he can keep his job and his girlfriend, Didi. As he rushes to work, he gets lost in a cloverleaf highway and ends up lost in a town called Flooby Nooby, where he meets the town's singing and swingin' mayor, an Elvis-impersonating dog, a noseless cab driver, and a psychotic bellhop as he tries to get to Mr. Mega's office to deliver the song.

Three years have passed since Gamera defeated Legion and the world is once again plagued by Gyaos, which have now evolved into Hyper Gyaos. Mayumi Nagamine, noted ornithologist, returns to aid the Japanese government in addressing this threat. A graveyard of Gamera fossils is found at the bottom of the sea. Shadowy government agents, occultist Miss Asakura and Kurata Shinya, are meanwhile working with a different agenda, with Asakura believing Gamera to be an evil spirit.

A pair of enhanced 'Hyper' Gyaos appear in Tokyo's Shibuya district, but are opposed by Gamera. During the ensuing battle, Gamera attacks the Gyaos with little regard for humans, killing 20,000 people in the process and causing the Japanese government to order Gamera's immediate destruction. Meanwhile, a young girl named Ayana, whose parents were inadvertently killed by Gamera during his previous battle with Gyaos in 1995, discovers a stone egg sealed within her village temple. The egg hatches a small tentacled creature, whom the girl names "Iris" after her dead pet cat. Iris forms a link with Ayana through an orichalcum pendant and becomes the focus of Ayana's quest for revenge as she seeks to raise her own monster and take vengeance against Gamera. Iris, however, attempts to absorb Ayana in the process of his growth. The girl's classmate manages to free her from Iris' cocoon, but it leaves its lair and kills half of the village's populace, subsequently growing into its adult form. The military attempts to destroy it, but fails.

Iris flies toward the city of Kyoto, where Ayana has been taken by Asakura and Kurata, with Asakura deliberately trying to use the girl to summon Iris. While en-route, Iris attempts to kill two pilots of the JASDF, but is intercepted in mid-flight by Gamera and the two engage in an aerial battle. The pilots, under instruction to destroy Gamera should he appear again, force Gamera to descend with a tactical missile strike, inadvertently allowing Iris to escape. Nagamine and Asagi, the girl once psychically linked with Gamera, retrieve Ayana and attempt unsuccessfully to get her out of Kyoto. Kurata speculates that Gamera was engineered as Humanity's guardian, and as such is a "vessel" capable of being charged with humanity's collective "mana", and expresses a belief that therefore Iris had been deliberately created to defeat Gamera so the Gayos (acting akin a planetary immune system) could wipe out the human race. Although they don't share Kurata's misanthropy, Nagamine and Asagi think that the mana theory explains from where Gamera got the energy he used to defeat Legion.

The two monsters meet and continue their fight, but Iris easily gains the upper hand, impaling Gamera and leaving him for dead. Iris then makes its way to Kyoto Station and absorbs Ayana, killing Asakura and Kurata in the process. From within Iris' body, Ayana experiences the creature's memories and realizes that her hatred and bitterness have motivated it. Just as she has her epiphany, Gamera plunges his hand deep into Iris' chest and wrenches the girl free, robbing Iris of its human merge. Miss Nagamine and Asagi, trapped within the train station's wreckage, watch helplessly as Iris impales Gamera's hand and begins to syphon his blood, creating fireballs with its tentacles after processing his DNA. Gamera blasts off his injured hand and absorbs Iris's fireballs, forming a fiery plasma fist, which he drives into Iris' wounded chest.

Iris explodes, blowing the roof off the crumbling train station. The comatose Ayana still clutched in his fist, Gamera sets the girl down where Nagamine and Asagi are hiding. The women are unable to revive her, but Gamera lets out a roar and Ayana awakens. Gamera leaves the girl wondering why he would save her life after all that she had done. A swarm of Gyaos, thousands strong, begins to descend on Japan intent on destroying their greatest foe once and for all. Military leaders finally realize that Gamera is on the side of humanity and pledge to fight the Gyaos horde alongside him. Asagi says that, although she doesn't share a psychic link with Gamera anymore, she knows he will not back down and will fight 'til the end. As the swarm approaches, Gamera lets out a final roar of defiance as he stands his ground in the center of a blazing city.

When the King of Barodia receives a pair of seven-league boots as a birthday present, his habit of flying over the King of Euralia's castle during breakfast provokes a series of incidents which escalate into war. While the King of Euralia is away, his daughter Hyacinth tries to rule in his stead and counter the machiavellian ambitions of the king's favourite, the Countess Belvane.

At the traditional Muslim funeral service for his father, Fikret Varupa a sixteen-year-old boy from Sarajevo, learns that his father owes money to Hamid, a man he does not even know. The debt is considerable and Hamid does not want it to go to the grave with the body, so the debt automatically passes from the father to the son. Since in Bosnia this way of collecting debts, at a funeral, is considered to be utterly humiliating, it is never, ever applied. Fikret and his entire family become subjects of ridicule. Fikret, who is practically still a child, is decisive to "redeem his father's soul". Wishing to repay his father's debt and to secure the forgiveness, Fikret wanders into the real world of Sarajevo, the world that is ruled by post-war chaos, misery and poverty and becomes an ideal target for two corrupted policemen who wish to "help" him: they plant the kidnapped girl on him.

Tami Maida wants to play quarterback for the high school football team. However, because she is a girl, everyone from the coach to her next door neighbor is against her. Tami goes out to prove that not only can she play football but she can win the state championship.

Not only does Tami succeed, she also becomes the homecoming princess. She learns that through being the first girl to ever play football but it's possible to sometimes let girls play in a male dominated sport.

In this game, based on the anime series, Captain Blue is working on his latest film, and in order to determine who will get the lead role, he holds a battle tournament between those who are auditioning. However, as the player progresses through the films, it seems that some strange things are afoot, as unauthorized equipment keep showing up and things seem a bit too dangerous. Suddenly, Rachel is possessed by the equipment, transforming into Tsukumo. He silently arranges to sabotage the picture by stealing and replacing props and putting the crew in increasingly dangerous situations. He is enraged that all the mechanical cameras, microphones, and other movie-making devices are never given an actual role in the very movies they help to make. After Tsukumo is defeated, Joe explains that the equipment plays an integral part in the process, so he leaves happily. Blue, meanwhile, decides to make Tsukumo the star of his picture, much to everyone's surprise.

In 1946, bigoted, draft-dodging, gold-digging Henry Warren and his heiress, land-owning wife Julie Ann, are determined to sell their land in rural Georgia to owners of a northern canning plant but the deal rests on selling two adjoining plots as well, one owned by Henry's cousin Rad McDowell and his wife Lou, the other by black farmer Reeve Scott, whose ailing mother Rose had been Julie's wet nurse. Neither farmer is interested in selling his land, and they form a dangerous and controversial black and white partnership to strengthen their legal claim to their land, which infuriates Henry.

When Rose suddenly dies, Henry tries to persuade his wife to charge Reeve with illegal ownership of his property, but local black teacher Vivian Thurlow searches the town's records and uncovers proof that Reeve legally registered the deed to his land. Julie, upset with Henry's treatment of their mentally challenged young son, decides to leave him and drops her suit against Reeve.

With the help of Ku Klux Klansmen, Henry dynamites the levee above the farms, and Rad's oldest child drowns in the ensuing flood, much to Henry's dismay. Rather than admit defeat, Rad and Reeve decide to rebuild their decimated property with the assistance of their neighbors.

Eddie Miller (Arthur Franz), a delivery man, struggles with his hatred of women. This hatred is exacerbated if he feels drawn to a woman who turns out to be unattainable, he tends to see this as a personal affront. Also, he is especially bothered when he sees women with their significant others. Miller knows he is disturbed and, out of despair, burns himself by pressing his right hand to an electric stove. The doctor treating him in an emergency room suspects he might need psychological help, but gets too busy to follow through.

Miller begins a killing spree as a sniper by shooting women from far distances with an M1A1 carbine. Trying to be caught, he writes an anonymous letter to the police begging them to stop him. As the killings continue, a psychologist has the keys (early criminal profiling techniques) to finding the killer. The film is unusual in that its ending is non-violent, despite its genre and expectations raised throughout.

''The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio'' is based on the true story of housewife Evelyn Ryan, who helped support her husband, Kelly, and their 10 children by winning jingle-writing contests. Kelly failed to support his family, in part due to apparent alcoholism and low self-esteem. He dreamed of being a singer, but lost his singing voice in a car accident, and was often cruel and abusive.

Evelyn wins a large freezer, ice buckets, a washer, and dryer set, a trip to New York City, sleds, boots, a pony, a palm tree, a window, a sports car, a shopping spree in her local grocery store, ice crushers, a camera, dance shoes, a boat motor, pogo sticks, a case of dog food, and a lifetime supply of bird seed. Kelly, who feels like his role as provider for the family is being threatened, criticizes Evelyn, and damages the prizes she wins. Their children side with her. Kelly gets angry at Evelyn, and accidentally knocks her over while she is carrying 12 full glass bottles of milk, causing her to nearly sever a ligament. Evelyn is able to talk him down after each incident, and, temporarily at least, he treats her better.

Evelyn is largely isolated because of the hours she has to spend caring for the children, and the lack of local intellectual equals. However, she is contacted by a group of other contest-entering mid-western housewives, and befriends them. Ultimately, Evelyn discovers that Kelly had secretly taken out a second mortgage on their house and never made payments on it, leaving the family subject to an almost-certain foreclosure. The children pray for their mother's miraculous victory in a contest sponsored by Dr Pepper. She wins, and pays the mortgage on the house.

Years later, it is revealed that after Kelly died, Evelyn finds out that he has placed his pension checks in a bank account especially for her to make up all the failures he made as a husband and father. The actual Ryan children are then shown as adults.

Clark and Mary Willingham are a couple traveling through Oregon. Clark is being transferred out of state, so they opt to take a more scenic route. The two plan to visit Toketee Falls, and Clark insists on taking a road through the deep forest despite Mary's fears of becoming lost. While Mary takes a nap, Clark does indeed become increasingly lost on a narrow stretch of road. He is forced to admit to Mary that he's given up hope of finding Toketee Falls and that, furthermore, he had rejected an opportunity to turn around. Frustrated, yet hesitant to push the issue, Mary agrees to press forward in the hopes of reaching a point where they can safely turn around.

The couple abruptly comes upon a sign announcing, "Welcome to Rock and Roll Heaven, Ore." The road becomes wider and paved, giving them another chance to turn around. Again, Clark refuses, arguing that it would be easier and safer to do so inside the town itself. They discover Rock and Roll Heaven is a small town with a 1950s theme, described as looking identical to a Norman Rockwell painting. Mary feels worried about the too-perfect town, but Clark becomes irritated and the two argue, although Mary can sense that he is also alarmed. As the two explore the town, Clark insists on entering a local diner. Afraid of being left alone, she follows.

Inside the diner, Clark and Mary notice two employees resemble dead musicians. After a waitress named Sissy Thomas (CeCe Pryor in the film version) attempts to warn them off, Clark slips out, and Mary is confronted by the two employees, Janis Joplin and Rick Nelson and two other dead musicians, Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison. At first cordial and friendly, one begins to bleed from his eyes and another vomits hundreds of maggots, revealing that they've simply been playing with her. Clark and Mary drive frantically through the town, chased by dead music legends. As they drive, Mary notices other citizens of Rock and Roll Heaven, all of whom look exhausted and apathetic; she realizes that these are the "true" inhabitants, lured in and trapped in the town. Mary and Clark think they have escaped but are easily captured in the outskirts of town after hitting a psychedelic bus. The mayor (a deceased Elvis Presley) steps off the bus and the chief of police pulls up. The musicians ominously reveal that they couldn't have escaped, as the road out is surrounded by swamp, quicksand, bears, and "other things".

As the sun begins to set over Rock and Roll Heaven, Mary and Clark join the ranks of the other imprisoned souls in the park, where the concert is prepared. Mary looks at the other exhausted townsfolk, and chooses to sit next to the waitress from the diner. The young woman has the glazed look of one who is stoned, and talks with the couple. She tells them that her name is Sissy, and reveals that one of her fingers was cut off by Frankie Lymon as punishment for assisting the pair. She also explains that while the concerts must end at midnight, "time is different" in Rock and Roll Heaven; the songs sometimes go on for years. The disc jockey Alan Freed takes the stage and begins to announce an endless series of legendary rock stars. Mary voices her worst fear when she asks Sissy her age; she is 23, and has been that way for seven years. Mary realizes that these are the people who get "lost in the woods" and didn't do anything wrong to deserve this, as Freed continues to scream the names of musicians. He finally shouts: "Rock and roll will never die!", to which Mary thinks the last line of the story: "That's what I'm afraid of."

In ''The Throne of Bloodstone'', the player characters go to the Abyss to steal the powerful Wand from Orcus.

This module is recommended for characters between levels 18 and 100. They play the rulers of Bloodstone Pass. A war against the Witch-King of Vaasa has come to a standstill. The players venture into the Abyss, destroy a mighty demon, steal the Wand of Orcus and take it to the Seven Heavens to be destroyed.

The battle between the mighty undead army of the Witch-King of Vaasa and the forces of Bloodstone has come to a standstill. As long as the source of the Witch-King's power is at work, his evil forces will never be defeated! This module requires the player characters, as the rulers of Bloodstone Pass if following the series, to find the true power behind the Witch-King and defeat it.

The module requires the players to journey to the Abyss, confront Orcus, one of its greatest demons, steal the ''Wand of Orcus'', and destroy it.

The wide range of levels the module is for is dealt with in several ways as well as the general principles described above for dealing with 100th level characters. For some encounters either the number and/or type of opponents vary or the NPC's reaction to the characters vary depending on the total level of the party. Some areas in the module like the city of liches or the city of 100,000 demons, are really too difficult for any party to overcome directly and require approaches other than brute force.

Harry Fabian (De Niro) is a fast-talking, two-bit New York lawyer who hangs out at a bar called Boxers, owned by Phil (Gorman) and his wife Helen (Lange). Harry has been having an affair with Helen, who dreams of setting up her own bar and leaving Phil. At the bar, he spots an article in the ''New York Post'' about a man who was pummeled by a boxer. He calls the man on Phil's phone and pitches a lawsuit against the boxer on the grounds that his fists are legally considered weapons. The fighter is promoted by Ira "Boom Boom" Grossman (King), who tries to muscle Harry off the idea of suing his boxer. The case is promptly dismissed by the judge, who knows that it is baseless.

Having seen the world of boxing up close, Harry decides to become a boxing promoter and files for a license. He recruits Boom Boom's estranged brother, former professional prizefighter Al Grossman (Warden), to be his partner. Boom Boom tries to muscle Harry out of the fight business, but when Al protects Harry, Boom Boom cowers in fear.

Al asks Phil for a $15,000 loan to cover the cost of the fight. Sensing her opportunity, Helen stages an argument with Harry and demands that he come up with $7,500, promising that Phil will match the amount. Helen fronts Harry the $7,500 herself, allowing Harry to secure the loan. Phil promises that he will pay Harry the money the day before the fight. She gives him another $5,000 to help her set up her own bar by procuring a liquor license. Harry has a friend in the Federal Liquor Administration who supplies him a blank license but asks $7500 for it; because Harry only has $5000, he has to have a printer put in the printed details, making the license essentially a fake. he gives Helen the licence but doesn't tell her all the details of how he got it.

Boom Boom tries one last time to persuade Harry to abandon the idea, offering him money to walk away from the fight business. Harry explains that he has spent his career in pursuit of quick and easy cases that can be settled for small cash amounts. He tells Boom Boom that he had a case once where the NYPD had mistakenly beaten up some people because they served a warrant on the wrong house. Instead of taking them to trial, he accepted the NYPD's offer of $20,000 to make the case go away. He insists that, for once, he is not going to take the money and run. Boom Boom threatens to kill Harry if anything happens to Al, who has already had two heart attacks.

After a nasty fight at Boxers, Helen finally leaves Phil.

Still set on keeping Harry out of promoting, Boom Boom meets with Phil and reveals that Helen has been sleeping with Harry. Enraged, Phil calls the state liquor authority to inform them that Harry had forged Helen's license. He pretends like everything is fine with Harry, and offers to throw a dinner party the night before the fight. After the party, he tells Harry that he will have the $7,500 the next day, which is the morning of the fight.

Helen wakes up Harry at his place, and they talk about their new endeavors. Her new bar is opening the night of his fight. Harry goes to Boxers and anxiously waits for Phil. When Phil arrives, Harry asks him for the money. Phil says he thought Harry was joking, and then he reveals that he knows about his affair with Helen, as he beats up Harry. Desperate to keep the fight afloat, Harry borrows $12,000 from the ruthless loan shark Mr. Peck (Wallach). At the venue, Al gets into a fight with one of the staff and has a fatal heart attack. With the fight off, Harry goes to Helen's new bar only to find that it has been shut down because of his forged license.

Boom Boom's goons show up to make good on his threat. Harry and Helen run and end up cornered in an alley. Harry tries to talk his way out of what is coming by explaining that the goons should be after the guy who fought with Al and caused his heart attack. He throws Peck's $12,000 in the air as the final exclamation point on his speech and walks Helen past the goons, asking her under his breath, "How'd I do?" The goons shoot Harry in the back and throw their pistols in a dumpster.

The film ends with Helen holding Harry's hand as he is put in an ambulance, still talking optimistically about the future.

American Campaign

In the American campaign, the player controls Private Nichols, a replacement for the 29th Infantry Division. After arriving in a staging area outside Saint-Lô, he is assigned to his new squad consisting of veterans Corporal Mike Dixon, Private Leroy Huxley (voiced by Benjamin Diskin), and the squad's CO, Sergeant Frank McCullin. Shortly after Nichols' arrival, the squad participates in the final offensive in the capture of Saint-Lô. Upon arriving at the outskirts of the town, McCullin enlists radio operator Private First Class Salvatore Guzzo, who had become separated from his unit, to assist the squad in the attack, despite the latter's objections. During the street to street fighting, the squad takes shelter from a German artillery barrage, during which Guzzo demands that the squad should fall back. As the shelling intensifies, Guzzo loses patience and tries to leave but is stopped by McCullin, who threatens to shoot him for desertion. After the squad fights off a German counterattack, Saint-Lô is declared secure. Shortly after the battle, the squad is folded in with the 90th Infantry Division as reinforcements to help secure Saint-Germain-sur-Sèves.

Later, the squad takes part in the assault on Mayenne in order to capture its heavily fortified bridge. After the squad fights through a German garrison, Huxley is tasked with disarming several German bombs rigged to the bridge, but is wounded before he can begin. McCullin, a former combat engineer, takes Huxley's place to disarm the bombs. McCullin is mortally wounded by a German mortar round but manages to disarm the final bomb. Dixon is promoted to Sergeant and assumes command of the squad.

Shortly after, the squad is sent to clear out Forêt d'Écouves in order to aid the 2nd Battalion's advance and to locate a company of combat engineers that had gone missing. They eventually locate a surviving engineer, who explains that their convoy was ambushed and supply depots overrun. Nichols and the squad are able to recapture the supply depot and destroy a German roadblock, effectively clearing the remaining Germans out of the forest. The squad is then sent to aid in the liberation of a vital crossroads at Le Bourg St. Leonard, effectively trapping the remaining German forces between the US forces to the south and the British, Canadian, and Polish forces to the north, all but closing the Falaise Pocket, but are displeased when they are then ordered to defend the town of Chambois, the last escape route for the Germans trapped in the Pocket.

Shortly after occupying the town, Nichols' squad and the other defending American units come under attack from a massive force of retreating Germans. After much fighting, Guzzo attempts to call for air support to destroy enemy positions, but his radio is destroyed by enemy fire. Resorting to using signal flares and braving heavy German fire, Guzzo is able to successfully mark the targets, but is wounded. Nichols and Dixon are able to rescue him just as air support attacks the enemy targets, but Dixon is shot and killed just as they reach Allied lines. Enraged by Dixon's death, Guzzo takes command of the squad and leads them to aid the remaining American defenders to retake and defend the town just as air support and American reinforcements arrive, forcing the remaining German forces to surrender. Two days later, the squad members receive promotions, with Guzzo officially promoted to Sergeant and Nichols and Huxley being promoted to Corporal, and begin their march to liberate Paris.

British Campaign

In the British campaign, the player controls Sergeant James Doyle, a member of the Special Air Service (SAS), who alongside squad mates Corporal Duncan Keith, Wilkins, and Major Gerald Ingram, are parachuted into France in order to assist the Maquis Resistance in several operations to reduce the fighting capability of the German forces fighting in Normandy. Shortly before reaching their drop point near Toucy, France, the group's Handley Page Halifax is shot down, with Doyle and Wilkins being separated from the rest of their squad. Wilkins is executed shortly after landing and Doyle is rescued by Pierre LaRoche, the Maquis leader, before regrouping with Keith, Ingram, and resistance member Isabelle DuFontaine. After retrieving their two heavily armed jeeps, Doyle and the group assault a manor house that is serving as a German HQ in order to free a captured Maquis member, a man known only as Marcel. After escaping the area and regrouping, it is revealed that Marcel managed to steal the plans of a German held fuel plant before he was captured. Keith, who already holds great disdain for the resistance fighters and the French in general, immediately begins to butt heads with LaRoche, citing his lack of confidence in the Maquis and distrust of Marcel in particular.

Using the captured plans, the SAS and Maquis launch a raid on the plant in order to destroy its fuel storage tanks and production facilities. The raid is a success and destroys the facility; Doyle, Keith, and Marcel manage to escape the area, but the vehicle carrying Ingram is hit by German fire and Ingram is seemingly killed. Regrouping with LaRoche and DuFontaine sometime later, Keith berates LaRoche, who had left early during the raid, calling the Maquis leader a coward and accusing Marcel of being a German collaborator.

Following the destruction of the fuel plant, the group receives information that Ingram is still alive and being held captive in a nearby village. Despite LaRoche's objections, Doyle and Keith lead a rescue mission and manage to rescue Ingram and several captured Maquis fighters from interrogation and execution, before fending off a German counterattack, during which Isabelle is killed when a satchel charge she is planting on an armored car detonates prematurely. Marcel, visibly saddened by her death, is comforted by Keith, who has finally learned to respect the Maquis and their bravery.

Canadian Campaign

In the Canadian campaign the player controls Private Joseph Cole of the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division, led by World War I veteran Lieutenant Jean-Guy Robichaud. Robichaud commands a platoon in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada, aided by Sergeant Jonathan Callard, squad member Private Kyle Peterson, and the squad's radio operator, Private Leslie Baron, who is continuously harassed by Robichaud for his lack of experience and habit of being seemingly absent during fighting. After their convoy is ambushed during a nighttime attack on a German-held industrial complex near Tilly-la-Campagne, the platoon proceeds to attack a German artillery battery on a nearby ridge, before moving on to capture the industrial complex and holding off an enemy counter-attack, destroying several German tanks in the process. The platoon later proceeds to clear a forested area near the Laison River of several anti-tank positions and a motor pool in order to clear the way for Allied convoys to move through the area. While advancing alongside other Canadian units to relieve Polish forces defending Hill 262, Baron is volunteered by Robichaud to be transferred to the Polish 1st Armored Division after the Polish unit's radio operator is killed. Fed up with Robichaud's abuse, Baron initially objects, stating that he is not a coward as Robichaud seems to believe, before storming off, much to Callard's concern.

Cole's squad is then tasked to lead a rescue mission to free a captured Canadian tank crew in St. Lambert-sur-Dives, and with their help eventually capture the whole town. Shortly after freeing the tank crew, the squad comes under attack from a King Tiger tank. While attempting to flank the tank, the squad discovers a German munition stockpile in a cellar directly beneath the tank, and plant explosives to take out both the munitions and the tank. When the charges fail to detonate, Callard returns to the cellar and detonates the charges manually, destroying the King Tiger and dying in the process, with Cole and Robichaud being knocked out by the blast. Waking up sometime later, Cole learns from Robichaud that Callard is being recommended for the Victoria Cross and that he is being promoted to Corporal. Shortly afterwards the unit moves out to join Canadian reinforcements advancing to aid the Poles struggling to defend Hill 262.

Polish Campaign

The Polish campaign revolves around Corporal "Bohater" Wojciech, a Sherman Firefly tank driver in the Polish 1st Armored Division and his crew members, including Major Stan "Papa Jack" Jachowicz, Corporal Joakim "Lucky Rudd" Rudinski, Sergeant Łukasz "Bang Boom" Kowalski, and Private Marek "Beksa" Ulan. While aiding the Canadian and British forces in the area, Jachowicz's crew participates in a sweep across the French countryside, engaging German armored units while advancing to capture and occupy Hill 262, known as "The Mace" by the Polish. Bohater and his crew eventually track down and destroy an infamous Tiger II tank ace known as Richter "The Black Barron" (a reference to real life Tiger ace Michael Wittmann).

Bohater and his crew then join in the defense of Hill 262 and endure a heavy assault by the remnants of the German 7th Army in their desperate attempt to escape the Falaise Pocket. Bohater's tank is destroyed shortly after the attack begins, forcing the crew to fight on foot alongside the Polish infantry. With their position overrun, Bohater and his crew continue to fight the Germans as they retreat towards the summit of Hill 262. They are eventually joined by Baron, who along with Bohater provides artillery support in order to destroy several German tanks. As the crew continues to climb the hill, Baron refuses to retreat any further, having been deeply affected by Lieutenant Robichaud's constant teasing, and demands to stay and fight instead. However, he is killed by German fire while arguing with Ulan, who salvages the radio in order to continue providing artillery support. Upon reaching the top of the hill, the crew spots what they believe to be the Canadian reinforcements, only to realize it is instead a massive German counterattack, during which Rudinski is killed. After much fighting, the Royal Canadian Air Force appears and repels the German forces as the Canadian reinforcements arrive at last, leaving Hill 262 firmly in Allied hands. Major Jachowicz meets with Lieutenant Robichaud after the battle and expresses his desire to collect the bodies of his men and return them to Poland, as well as stating his belief that the Germans will soon be defeated. However, Robichaud is quick to remind him that the Germans still have an escape route through Chambois should the Americans fail to stop them.

Janet, a girl at finishing school who six years earlier saw her mother stab her father to death, is plagued by nightmares. (Her mother, following the tragedy, was committed to an asylum.) Miss Lewis, a teacher, takes Janet home and in the absence of Henry Baxter, Janet's guardian, they are met by John, the chauffeur; Mrs. Gibbs, the housekeeper; and Grace Maddox, an attractive nurse-companion hired by Henry. Miss Lewis leaves Janet in Grace's care.

The nightmares continue: a white-shrouded woman roams the corridors, inviting Janet to burst into her parents' room, where she finds the same woman on the bed with a knife in her chest. When Henry returns, he finds Janet under sedation; her doctors recommend psychiatric care but he refuses and Janet tries to commit suicide.

Henry's wife comes to tea and, because she seems to be the woman in Janet's nightmares, Janet stabs the woman to death and is promptly committed to an institution. The woman in white is revealed to be Grace, disguised with a wig and mask and conspiring with Henry. They marry, but Grace begins believing that Henry is trying to drive her mad. Under the impression that Janet has escaped from the asylum, Grace stabs Henry to death, expecting Janet to be blamed. Janet, however, never left the asylum and Grace is brought to justice.

In an unnamed Swedish city, ten year-old Karl Lejon has found out that he is going to die from an unspecified pulmonary disease (most likely tuberculosis). His adored big brother, 13-year-old Jonatan, calms him down and tells him that in the afterlife, all men will go to a land known as Nangijala.

One day, a fire breaks out in the Lejon home. Jonatan takes Karl on his back and jumps out of the house's window to save him, but dies himself in the fall. Karl is crestfallen over his brother's death, until, just before his own demise, he receives a sign which allays his fears of death, and when he wakes again, he finds himself in the Cherry Valley of Nangijala, where he is happily reunited with Jonatan. Karl is introduced to the denizens of the valley, particularly Sofia the dove-keeper, Hubert the hunter, and Jossi, a landlord, and assumes the surname Lionheart along with his brother.

However, despite first appearances, not all is truly at peace in Nangijala. The adjacent valley, the Thorn Rose Valley, is suppressed by a tyrant named Tengil, his army and a female dragon named Katla, who is controlled by Tengil through a trumpet. The people of the Cherry Valley, led by Sofia, are aiding the resistance movement in the Thorn Rose Valley, but they know someone from the Cherry Valley is helping Tengil, as Sofia's white doves, which transport secret messages between the valleys, are being shot. Soon after Karl's arrival, Jonatan leaves to assist the Thorn Rose people. Prompted by a nightmare in which he sees Jonatan in danger, Karl follows him in the middle of the night; but while hiding in a cave, he witnesses a clandestine exchange between two of Tengil's soldiers and Jossi, who has turned traitor to his people.

Soon after Jossi leaves, Karl is discovered by the soldiers and taken to the Thorn Rose Valley after claiming that he lives there with his grandfather. After arriving at a village, Karl throws himself into the arms of the first old man he encounters when he sees white pigeons with him, and surprisingly the old man - by the name of Mattias - takes him in without question. It turns out that Mattias is part of the Thorn Valley resistance and a friend of Jonatan, who is hiding in his house. Jonatan, a hero among the Thorn Rose Valley people, is intent on freeing Orvar, the leader of the Thorn Valley resistance movement who is kept in the cave of Karmanjaka near the Karma Falls, where Katla dwells, with his release sparking the long-anticipated final uprising against Tengil.

The Lionheart Brothers soon depart for Karmanjaka and manage to release Orvar moments before he is to be collected and fed to Katla, but their escape is soon discovered. They ride back as fast as they can towards the Karma Falls, but the pursuing soldiers start overtaking Karl and Jonatan. Karl throws himself off the horse and hides so that Jonatan and Orvar can escape, but soon afterwards he encounters Sofia and Hubert, who are being led into a trap by Jossi. Karl denounces Jossi as the traitor, and while trying to escape by boat, Jossi is carried by the river's current to the Karma Falls, where he perishes.

The Thorn Rose people rise and engage Tengil's forces in battle, but Tengil calls Katla, who begins to decimate the rebels' ranks, including Hubert and Mattias. Jonatan manages to snatch the trumpet from Tengil and bring Katla under his control, compelling her to kill Tengil. Considering Katla an ever-lingering danger despite her current docility, the people decide to get rid of her once and for all, and Jonatan and Karl volunteer for this task. They lure the dragon to Karmanjaka, where they intend to seal her inside her cave to be weakened by starvation; but while navigating the treacherous path, Jonatan loses the trumpet, which frees Katla from his control and drives her into chasing them. The Lionheart Brothers barely escape with their lives when an ancient lindworm, Karm, suddenly rises from the waters and engages Katla in mortal combat, which ends with the two monsters killing each other.

Jonatan and Karl set up a camp for the night, and Jonatan explains that during their flight he was burned by Katla's fire and that he will get paralyzed as a result, and he does not want to live like that. When Jonatan can move only his arms, he tells Karl about the land that lies after Nangijala called Nangilima, a land of light where there are only happy adventures. Karl does not want to be separated again from his brother, so he carries him on his back to a cliffdrop. Karl makes the jump, vowing never to be afraid again, but is cut off as they reach the bottom of the gorge. Then the narrative jump-cuts to Karl crying out jubilantly: "Oh, Nangilima! Yes, Jonatan, yes – I see the light! I see the light!"

Beginning at a 30-year reunion for members of the 509th Operations Group, flashbacks are presented that follow the attempts of Major Jesse Marcel to discover the truth about strange debris found on a local rancher's field in July 1947. Told by his superiors that what he has found is nothing more than a downed weather balloon, Marcel maintains his military duty until the weight of the truth, however out of this world it may be, forces him to piece together what really occurred.

The novel deals with the relationships of three principal characters.

Adam Coopersmith, an obstetrician and immunologist, saves the life of his mentor, Dr. Max Rudolph. Although normally an ethical researcher, Coppersmith decides to test a life-saving cancer treatment on a man, against the wishes of the Food and Drug Administration. This man is Thomas Hartnell, an advisor to the President of the United States. While acting as the attending doctor, Adam meets Hartnell's daughter, Antonia, and falls in love. Antonia works as the Assistant Attorney General of the United States. Later, when Adam's mentor, Max, dies, he takes solace in Antonia's arms. They get married and have a daughter of their own, Heather. Though their relationship starts off well, things slowing begin to change. As both Adam and his daughter grow older, they realize that Antonia's top priority is her job. As Adam and Antonia slowly fall apart, he is drawn to another woman, Anya Avilov, the childless and abandoned wife of a Russian émigré. Her husband, Dr. Dmitri Avilov, abandoned her when he realized she was incapable of conceiving a child. Adam jumps at the chance to fill the void that is present in both he and Anya's hearts. Adam soon divorces Antonia and marries Anya. Although Antonia wins custody of Heather, Heather always remains more attached to Adam. Just when Adam's life seems to be on an upswing, he is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Adam also learns during this time that he has won the Nobel Prize, but unable to bear the crushing burden of his fate, Adam commits suicide.

Sandy Raven is the son of Sidney Raven, a Hollywood producer. Sandy has an inferiority complex about his looks. This gets reinforced over time as he experiences a conspicuous lack of social interactions throughout his teenage years. His one teenage love, Rochelle Taubman, uses him in order to get to his father. She believes this will help her gain entry into Hollywood. When she does gain contacts in Hollywood, she very conveniently forgets Sandy. Ultimately, Rochelle does seedy bit parts, and ends up on the centerspread of ''Playboy''. Sandy is unable to get over this betrayal and becomes socially repressed and desperate for female company. He enrolls at MIT to study Genetics, where Sandy falls in love with Judy, the daughter of his mentor and laboratory director, Gregory Morgenstern, and get married. Later, Dr. Morgenstern cheats him out of a Nobel Prize, by not mentioning Sandy's contribution on a project. This betrayal eventually leads to Judy and Sandy's divorce. Sandy finds solace in the love of his daughter Olivia. Sandy later finds new love with a Japanese woman, Kimiko, and he goes on to become a well-known geneticist. His daughter, Olivia, grows up to study physics under the tutelage of Dr. Isabel Da Costa.

Isabel Da Costa is the daughter of Raymond Da Costa. She is a genius with an IQ far above average. Her father, Raymond, recognizes this early in her childhood and runs her life with an iron hand. His marriage with Isabel's mother, Muriel, suffers as a consequence of his controlling behavior. Isabel's brother, Peter, is very close to her and thinks that Raymond is ruining Isabel's youth. Muriel wants Isabel to have a normal life, and Raymond becomes stubbornly intent on forcing Isabel to work to win a Nobel prize in physics; he does this in order to vindicate his own failed academic career. Isabel is denied all pleasures of a normal teenage life with a punishing schedule in academics. She becomes a post graduate student at Berkeley before she is eighteen years old. She possesses extraordinary powers of comprehension. During her graduate career, Isabel falls in love with Jerry Pracht, the son of her thesis advisor, Karl Pracht. This happens in spite of her father's repeated efforts to keep them apart. Jerry is a genius himself, who left the pressure of academics to become an ace tennis player. Isabel longs to rebel against the pressures of being considered a genius and seeks out this relationship discreetly. Eventually, Isabel's father realizes that his hold on her life is detrimental, and gracefully eases his grasp. Eventually Isabel goes on to win the Nobel Prize in physics and fully commits to her relationship with Jerry.

Wyatt Trips is a student at Twin Cities College, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is in a long-distance relationship with his high school girlfriend, Kimberly Jasney, who is currently a student at the University of Memphis. Wyatt loves Kim, even though they have never consummated their love.

One day when Wyatt calls Kim, her roommate's reply leads him to believe that Kim is cheating on him with some guy named "The Ricker". Heartbroken, he goes to a strip club, gets drunk and becomes acquainted with one of the club's dancers, Ivy Miller. She suggests to Wyatt that he break up with Kim by sending her a scathing letter and a topless picture of himself with Ivy. Wyatt complies by sending the package through Global Express, an overnight delivery service.

The next morning, Kim calls Wyatt claiming "The Ricker" is a dog who she had to dogsit. Regretting his actions, he realizes he has 24 hours to retrieve the package before it gets to her. Wyatt and Ivy go to the Global Express office where, by chance, they encounter a spiteful classmate of Wyatt's who refuses to help them. Wyatt tries to talk Hal Ipswich, the deliveryman, into giving him the package, but he thinks Wyatt is a spy for the company, and refuses to break the rules.

Wyatt buys an air ticket to Memphis, but his co-passenger turns out to be a serial killer, John Dwayne Beezly, who takes him hostage. Wyatt escapes and runs into Ivy on the road. Fearing that if he went back to the airport, the FBI would question him and he would not make it to Memphis in time, he begs Ivy to drive him all the way. They happen upon the Global Express delivery truck at a gas station. Wyatt breaks into the truck and locates the package, but the truck unexpectedly drives off. Ivy gives chase but despite their efforts they fail to retrieve the package.

At their next stop, Des Moines, Iowa, airport officials do not allow Wyatt to board the connecting flight. So they decide to travel to St. Louis, Missouri to board another connecting flight. En route to St. Louis they have an argument which leads to an accident which ends up with their vehicle falling into the river. They have dinner in a cowboy diner and then try to run out on the check, but get arrested. After posting bail, they are let off and once again happen upon the delivery truck outside a diner. While Hal is having dinner, Wyatt decides to empty the truck's gas tank in order to stall him, but a carelessly flung cigarette butt sets fire to the gas and causes the truck to explode. But even that doesn't stop the deliveryman (who is clearly over the edge by now) and he drives off. Wyatt and Ivy then steal a drunk's car and drive to Kim's campus.

After saying goodbye to Ivy, Wyatt gives chase to Hal and stops him in time. But after meeting Kim, Wyatt suddenly realizes that he loves Ivy and not Kim. After breaking up with her, he runs into another guy who is wearing the same kind of locket that Kim gave him long ago. Wyatt correctly surmises that the guy is none other than "The Ricker" and Kim ''was'' cheating on him after all. He allows Hal to deliver the package, and confesses his love to Ivy, who kisses him passionately.

Gil Blas is born in misery to a stablehand and a chambermaid of Santillana in Cantabria, and is educated by his uncle. He leaves Oviedo at the age of seventeen to attend the University of Salamanca. His bright future is suddenly interrupted when he is forced to help robbers along the route and is faced with jail.

He becomes a valet and, over the course of several years, is able to observe many different classes of society, both lay and clerical. Because of his occupation, he meets many disreputable people and is able to adjust to many situations, thanks to his adaptability and quick wit.

He finally finds himself at the royal court as a favorite of the king and secretary to the prime minister. Working his way up through hard work and intelligence, Gil is able to retire to a castle to enjoy a fortune and a hard-earned honest life. <!--

20,000 years ago, the Fairy race assisted humans in a battle against and sealed away the Bouma Tribe. Due to modern day pollution and man's destruction of nature, the power of Fairy magic has weakened, allowing the seal to be broken and thus the Tribe's escape. With the help of Dr. Dazai, Seelon, the last of the fairies, summons five high school seniors. As children, they were showered with the "flames of spirit" of the fallen fairies in a forest and can now hear Seelon's voice. Donning powered suits, the product of a collaboration between Seelon's magic and Dr. Dazai's science, the five become the Turborangers, juggling days of fighting with their regular school lives, in order to defeat the Bouma Tribe.

The film opens at a Moscow airport in summer 1963. A young man, Volodya (Aleksei Loktev), calls out to a young woman he sees singing to herself and dancing. :– Arriving or departing? :– Waiting for arrivals. :– Who is it? :– My husband. :– He's lucky to have someone to meet him. :– Get married, you'll have someone as well. :– And you are both happy? :– Yes, we are. :– It never happens. :– Believe me, it happens.''Данелия Г. Н. ''Безбилетный пассажир: «байки» кинорежиссёра. — М.: Эксмо, 2006. — 416 с. — 5100 экз. — , 5-699-12714-3

Volodya is an aspiring writer from Siberia. His first short story has just been published in the magazine ''Yunost'' ("Youth"), and a famous author, Voronin, has invited him to Moscow to discuss his work. In the Moscow Metro Volodya unexpectedly makes a friend, Kolya (Nikita Mikhalkov), who is returning home after a hard night shift. Volodya wants to stay at his old friends' home, but he doesn't know where the necessary street is so Kolya decided to help him to find it.

Unfortunately, a dog bites Volodya near Clean Ponds. Then Kolya decided to help his new friend again – they both came to Kolya's home where Kolya sews Volodya's trousers and introduces him to Kolya's large family. Volodya recognised that his old Moscow friends aren't in Moscow (they left for south) and Volodya stays at Kolya's. Then Volodya goes for a walk.

At last alone, Kolya decided to sleep, but then came his old friend Sasha (Evgeny Steblov). Sasha is in trouble – he was planning on marrying his fiancée Sveta today, but he has been called up for military service. He begs Kolya to help him. Kolya helps. Then two young men go to the Main Department Store to buy a suit for a bridegroom and they meet Volodya there (Volody has recently bought a new suit for himself). Then friends decided to buy a present for a bride and they go to the music shop, because the saleswoman, Alyona (Galina Polskikh) is a love interest for Kolya...

San Francisco advertising man Theodore "Teddy" Pierce is amused by, then infatuated with, a beautiful woman whose red dress goes billowing over her head by a gust of wind from crossing over a ventilation grate, and exposing her red satin string bikini panties. Despite his interest, Teddy is already happily married to Didi, but he cannot get this woman out of his mind. When his friend Joe, who has an affair of his own, is abandoned by his wife, who leaves with everything, Teddy gets cold feet and decides to forget it. Still, when he tells his friends Buddy, Joe, and Michael, they encourage him, and after meeting the woman again through his office window, he tries to ask her for a date, but mistakenly phones Ms. Milner, a plain ad-agency employee who is flattered by his interest.

From the beginning, his attempts at an affair are doomed, as he creates a charade to get to the date, but Didi tells him that their neighbor told them to take care of her small boy. Ms. Milner gets her revenge by bending Teddy's car antenna and scratching his car. Ms. Milner later tries to make amends, but later when Teddy sees that she is the one who got the memo for the date, he flees, and once more she gets her revenge by letting go of Teddy's car brake, causing him to crash his car. Ms. Milner later acts amicably with Teddy, because she already started seeing another work colleague, much to Teddy's confusion. Charlotte later agrees to meet for dinner with Teddy after he steadfastly asks for one, but once again, his plans fail when he receives a call from Charlotte saying she is in Los Angeles working and to go meet her. He creates another charade by writing a fake telegram from work and sending it to himself, telling him to go to Los Angeles, but due to the airport being fogged in, his flight is detoured to San Diego.

Teddy ultimately does become acquainted with the woman in red, a British model named Charlotte, going horseback riding with her (after finding out she rode horseback), and even inviting her out on what is supposed to be a date with his nanny, but turns out to be an early surprise party with his relatives and Didi. Teddy's friend Buddy, who goes along them lending his car and being a chauffeur after losing a bet with Teddy, rapidly creates an excuse so as to not arouse any suspicions. After Buddy, Joe and Michael create a ruse to take him to Charlotte, he radically alters his wardrobe and begins acting nonchalant to try to capture his love's interest.

Events come to a head in Charlotte's high-rise apartment, where she invites Teddy into her satin bed. He is thrilled, as he is finally about to consummate his fantasy, until her airline pilot husband suddenly comes home. Trying to escape, Teddy ends up on a ledge, where passersby below gather as they believe he is about to take his own life, all captured on live television. Didi, while watching this on live television, tears up as she believes Teddy is doing this because of her own cheating. After hearing Charlotte making love with her husband, he decides that the affair is not worth it and jumps off the window ledge, and waits to be caught by the firemen. While falling, Teddy sees a lovely newswoman who smiles at him, perhaps hinting at another affair chase.

The story deals with a young girl, Minty (Siri Neal), staying with her aunt after her mother is injured in a car accident. Minty spends much of her time wandering around the grounds of a nearby mansion, and is drawn to a moondial that enables her to travel back in time, where she becomes involved with two children, Tom (Tony Sands), who lives in the Victorian era, and Sarah (Helena Avellano), who seems to live in "the previous century" to that, and must save them from their own unhappy lives.

Regarded as a nostalgic favourite by followers of 1980s BBC children's drama, ''Moondial'' employs extensive location filming (in the grounds of Belton House in Lincolnshire) and fantastical, dreamlike imagery.

The series was produced by Paul Stone and directed by Colin Cant. Other cast members include Valerie Lush as Minty's aunt Mary, Arthur Hewlett as the elderly, mysterious Mr. World and Jacqueline Pearce in the dual role of the vicious Miss Vole (who seems to have lived in the 18th Century) and the present-day ghost hunter Miss Raven.

The series was released on video in 1990, and reissued in 1995, but only in a shortened "movie edit". This was released on DVD in 2000, but has long since been deleted. The full episodic version was released in 2009 by Reader's Digest and later re-released on DVD by Second Sight in May 2015.

Childhood friends Sidney (Sanaa Lathan) and Dre (Taye Diggs), who originally bonded over their love of hip-hop, face an evolving relationship as adults. Sidney has just been appointed the editor-in-chief of the hip hop magazine ''XXL'', and Dre is an A&R for Millennium Records. While Sidney's career is flourishing, Dre is increasingly frustrated with his label's preference for marketable artists over true talent.

Dre meets and falls in love with Reese (Nicole Ari Parker), a successful entertainment attorney, and soon becomes engaged to her. The night before Dre's wedding, he and Sidney kiss and almost have sex, but they stop themselves. At the wedding, Sidney's cousin Francine (Queen Latifah) deduces the romantic tension between Sidney and Dre and encourages her to object during the ceremony. She does not and Dre settles into married life with Reese. Sidney, meanwhile, begins dating professional athlete Kelby Dawson (Boris Kodjoe).

Dre sees Cavi (Mos Def), a rapper who works as a taxi driver during the day, perform and is impressed with his talent, but Cavi isn't interested in signing with Dre's label because he doesn't like the music they produce. Dre's boss meanwhile pushes him to manage an untalented but commercially viable rap group, forcing him to choose between his income and his love of hip hop. He decides to quit and form his own label, focusing on bringing back the real hip hop that his generation fell in love with, and manages to sign Cavi.

Reese is unsupportive of Dre's new business venture, concerned it will fail and they will be forced to live in reduced circumstances. Meanwhile, Sidney draws closer to Dre due to their partnership in the label, and Reese develops jealousy over Dre and Sidney's friendship, while Cavi falls for Francine but struggles to muster the courage to ask her out.

Sidney also grows closer to Kelby, who proposes to her. Dre tells her he's against her marrying Kelby because he thinks he's inauthentic. Sidney doesn't agree, but begins to have doubts when she discovers that Kelby doesn't read her articles.

When Dre discovers Reese has been cheating with a man from the gym, he brings Sid to catch her in the act. This leads to a night of shared passion between Dre and Sid and opens Sid's eyes to the fact she is not prepared to marry Kelby. She calls off the engagement and while searching for Dre sees Reese and Dre in a parting embrace that she misconstrues as more.

While at Hot 97 waiting for Cavi's first single to play on the Angie Martinez show, Dre hears Sid talking about her new book ''I Used to Love H.I.M.'' Though based on her love affair with hip-hop, it really is a chronicled timeline of her love affair with Dre. He recognizes this and rushes over to the station to confront his feelings, as well. Meanwhile, in the production booth, Cavi stumbles in trying to ask Francine out again. She recognizes their attraction and asks him out on a date.

The film ends with Cavi's song playing in the same park where their love of hip-hop began.

The film opens with a faux newsreel—presented as a sardonic allusion to the Yugoslav state-owned news organization's tone and delivery—reporting on the 27 June 1971 opening ceremony of the Tunnel of Brotherhood and Unity near an unnamed village in the Goražde municipality in eastern SR Bosnia-Herzegovina, constituent unit of the Yugoslav Federation. The tunnel is being opened by the visiting top local Bosnian communist dignitary Džemal Bijedić as the newsreel's voiceover is extolling the quality of tunnel's masonry in hyperbolically glowing terms, gushing about the completed infrastructure project representing a key development for the area's economic progress. During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Bijedić (or "Comrade Džemo" as he's referred to in the newsreel) accidentally cuts his thumb with the scissors.

Cut to 1980, not even a decade after its opening, the tunnel has already fallen in disrepair as two local village kids Milan and Halil are playing in its vicinity although they don't dare go inside it because—as they fearfully repeat a local tall tale to one another while staring into the dilapidated structure—"drekavac (an ogre from Slavic mythology) is sleeping inside and if he wakes up he'll kill everyone in the village and burn down their homes".

Cut forward to spring 1992, as sporadic violent incidents that would eventually spiral into an all-out war are taking place throughout Bosnia, Milan (Dragan Bjelogrlić), a Serb, and his best friend Halil (Nikola Pejaković), a Muslim, both in their late teens, are still in their ethnically-mixed village in eastern Bosnia, playing one-on-one basketball on a makeshift hoop in front of a kafana owned by another Serb villager Slobo (Petar Božović). Although the two friends are still very warm and affable with one another, the talk of war is in the air and a degree of tension along ethnoreligious lines is felt, indicating mutual mistrust and apprehension among their respective ethnic groups. As Milan and Halil are taking a break from playing ball while having a drink in front of Slobo's kafana, Halil and Slobo engage in a testy conversation the starting point of which is news coming out of Sarajevo about a Muslim attacking a Serb wedding procession and killing the groom's father. Rather than commenting on the tragic event directly, Halil focuses on the circumstance that Slobo was informed of this hate crime via reading a Serbian daily newspaper, ''Večernje novosti'', before implicitly dismissing the paper as Serb propaganda and cynically suggesting to Slobo that he should instead be reading ''Oslobođenje'', a Bosnian daily that Slobo in turn dismisses as Muslim propaganda in his sarcastic retort. Furthermore, Nazim, a Muslim neighbour of Slobo's, rolls up in a car and trailer with his family and many of their personal belongings in tow, asking Slobo to look after his house while he's away "visiting his sister in Tuzla". Halil makes a snide comment, suggesting Nazim's fleeing the coming war rather than simply visiting relatives, which Nazim denies unconvincingly.

Another cut to a few years later, a wounded Milan is shown in a hospital bed at the Military Medical Academy (VMA) in Belgrade, where he taunts a wounded young Muslim soldier in the neighbouring room, whom he threatens to kill if his friend in the next bed dies.

In 1994, during the conflict, Milan joins the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) and is attached to a squad that includes:

• Velja (Nikola Kojo): a career criminal from Belgrade who had been committing most of his break-ins and burglaries abroad in West Germany. The way he ended up in war is purely coincidental. During a brief visit home, the authorities showed up at the door to conscript his younger brother, a promising university student. Knowing full well his brother would have likely been taken to the front lines for draft-dodging, Velja decides on the spot to pretend to be his brother thus becoming a soldier in his place.
• Petar "Professor" (Dragan Maksimović): a Bosnian Serb school teacher from Banja Luka holding nostalgic feelings towards SFR Yugoslavia. While some of the others loot houses, he is more interested in literature and intermittently reads from a burnt diary he found in one of the villages the squad passed through.
• Brzi "Speedy" (Zoran Cvijanović): a heroin addict from Belgrade, son of a Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) officer and the only one in the group who speaks English. While high on drugs one night, he walked to a highway overpass in Belgrade where the people have gathered to cheer on the troops going to war, jumping off only to land in a JNA truck headed towards the Croatian border. It is left ambiguous whether the jump was a suicide attempt. Brzi was given an ambulance truck to drive and he now sees his involvement in the war as an attempt to get himself off drugs.
• Laza (Dragan Petrović): a simple-minded and impressionable family man with traditional values from a village in Central Serbia. Laza was so outraged by a Serbian TV news report about atrocities against Serbs that he walked to the nearest highway and hitchhiked to Belgrade to volunteer for combat. On the way there, he vents his anger to the truck driver that picked him up, telling him proudly and defiantly that "never again shall a German or Turk [be allowed to] set foot here" (referencing past Nazi and Ottoman occupations of Serbia, respectively), blissfully unaware that the person behind the wheel is a Turkish trucker driving through Serbia.
• Viljuška "Fork" (Milorad Mandić): a cheerful and jovial Chetnik sympathizer villager from Central Serbia whose only motive for fighting was looking out for his brother-in-law Laza. He is nicknamed Fork because he carries a fork around his neck symbolizing Serbian sophistication in the 14th century, and contrasts Serbian kings to English and German kings at the time, who he says ate using their hands.
• Gvozden (Bata Živojinović): the squad's commander and a professionally trained Yugoslav People's Army officer. Although fighting for the Serbian side, in his heart he still believes in Yugoslavia and its ideals. In 1980, after the death of Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito, Gvozden made the national news when he had run a 350-kilometer marathon alone across the country to attend Tito's funeral.
• Marko (Marko Kovijanić): a young man who is often foolishly and desperately seeking the approval of his older colleagues. He is shown to be very fond of foreign culture; he drew a graffiti of a Serb three-finger salute with the caption saying "Srbija do Tokija" ("Serbia to Tokyo") on the wall of an abandoned house in a war-torn Bosniak village, later holding a Confederate flag when leaving the Bosniak village sitting on top of an M53/59 Praga, and he always wear a headband with the Chinese character for "dragon" (龍) on it.

Milan, disturbed with the way the war is being conducted, is frustrated by the fact that war profiteers are looting Halil's property. Milan shoots three of the profiteers out of anger after they set fire to the auto-repair shop he and Halil had built together, wounding them, and is then shocked to find Slobo is looting the property too. Later, Slobo tells him that his mother has been killed by Bosniaks from Halil's squad, and Milan returns to home to find it vandalized and covered in his mother's blood. After the squad set a village on fire, they watch it burn and Velja says: "Pretty villages are pretty when they burn. Ugly villages stay ugly, even when they burn." (in Serbian, "Lepa sela lepo gore, a ružna sela ostaju ružna, čak i kad gore".) At night Milan and his squad are encircled by Bosniak fighters, telling his surviving squad mates to run to a nearby tunnel he was scared of entering as a child, believed to be home to a drekavac. Milan, Velja, Professor, Fork, Laza, and Gvozden enter the tunnel and fight off the Bosniak fighters, however the group become trapped as they will be shot if they leave. Attempting to contact their allies, the Bosniaks taunt them using Marko's radio, who they are torturing. Shortly afterwards, Speedy crashes his truck into the tunnel, with Liza Linel (Lisa Moncure) an American reporter for CBC News who had sneaked into the back of the truck, and the two also become trapped.

The squad stays inside the tunnel for a week but begin to snap: Laza is mortally wounded when trying to throw a grenade. Velja tries to leave the tunnel with the intention of dying but is shot and the others bring him back. The Bosniaks then announce they are sending a woman to the squad "for their enjoyment" who is revealed to be Milan and Halil's former school teacher who has been sexually abused. As she walks towards them slowly, they decide to shoot her before she gets too close, fearing explosives have been attached to her. None of them can do it until Fork shoots her, then having had enough of the war attempts to leave the tunnel but is killed, and Velja commits suicide. Milan recognizes the voice on the radio as Halil, and the two communicate shortly before the Bosniaks attack the tunnel. Gvozden drives the truck out of the tunnel at full speed (while singing Uz Maršala Tita) before exploding from fires lit at the entrance, killing Gvozden and the troops attacking the tunnel, allowing the others to leave. On the way out Speedy is wounded by a stray bullet and Liza is killed by shrapnel from a grenade. Milan and Halil meet outside, where Halil asks who burned down his garage while Milan asks who killed his mother - both men deny being involved before Halil is then killed by a Serb artillery strike.

Milan, Professor, and Speedy escape and all three are sent to the Belgrade military hospital, where Speedy is the friend in the bed next to Milan. Speedy eventually dies, and the following night Milan tries to kill the Bosniak boy as promised, despite being unable to walk. Milan crawls into the next room, followed by an equally disabled Professor trying to stop him. As Milan goes to stab the boy with a fork, he cannot bring himself to do it, and is discovered by the nurses. An imaginary scene then shows the tunnel full of dead bodies, including Milan and Halil, being witnessed by them as children.

The film closes on 21 July 1999 with a newsreel, showing the re-opening of the reconstructed tunnel under the new name, Tunnel of Peace.

Kelly is a prostitute who arrives by bus in the small town of Grantville, just one more burg in a long string of quick stops on the run after being chased out of the big city by her former pimp. She engages in a quick tryst with local police captain Griff, who then tells her to stay out of his town and refers her to a cat-house just across the state line.

Instead, she decides to give up her illicit lifestyle, becoming a nurse at a hospital for disabled children. Griff doesn't trust reformed prostitutes, however, and continues trying to run her out of town.

Kelly falls in love with J.L. Grant, the wealthy scion of the town's founding family, an urbane sophisticate, and Griff's best friend. After a dream-like courtship where even Kelly's admission of her past can't deter Grant, the two decide to marry. It is only after Kelly is able to finally convince Griff that she truly loves Grant and has given up prostitution for good that he agrees to be their best man.

Shortly before the wedding, Kelly arrives at Grant's mansion, only to find him on the verge of molesting a small girl. As he grinningly tries to persuade her to marry him, arguing that she too is a deviant, the only one who can understand him, and that he loves her, Kelly kills him by striking him in the head with a phone receiver. Jailed, and under heavy interrogation from Griff, she must convince him and the town that she is telling the truth about Grant's death.

Kelly tries to exonerate herself, but the little girl can not be located, and one disappointment follows another, as enemies old and new parade through the jailhouse to defame her. In despair, she is finally able to identify Grant's victim and prove her innocence. She is released, but, now notorious, has to leave town, boarding a bus to her next destination.

Nick's character is a world-class procrastinator with slovenly habits. Work takes second place to eating at Craig and Shona's cafe, and drinking at the local pub. Plots range from Nick taking on one of the locals in a fitness test, to Nick travelling to France at Cressida's invitation, unsuspectingly getting involved in a plot to give a rich man a heart attack so his wife can depart with his money. In series 1 Nick loses one girlfriend because of his habits, and in series 2 he meets a new paramour who actually understands his talking geraniums. He also miraculously lands a contract with an American studio.

The novel tells from the first-person perspective the life story of the monk B... (the acronym stands for Bougre, a French vulgar expression for pederast), whose real name is Saturnin. Saturnin's first sexual intercourse is with his sister Suzon and his mother. Even if it turns out later that in reality there is no blood relationship, the text heralds an incessant series of taboo breaking with this alleged incest. In the further course of numerous humorously designed scenes, Saturnin will experience all varieties of sexual disinhibition, whereby ruthless criticism of church and society is also practiced in constant alternation. Finally, Saturnin meets the syphilis sister in a brothel. He loves her sincerely and spends the night with her, although she warns him about the risk of infection. The two are torn apart the next day; Saturnin falls ill and is forcibly castrated to save his life, Suzon dies. In the end, Saturnin finds refuge in a Carthusian monastery, where, freed from all passions, he can await death, which he neither fears nor longs for. He would like the words: Hic situs est Dom Bougre, fututus, futuit, to be inscribed on his grave.

Set in the late Victorian era, the story tells of how the Purwell family travel to Wiltshire when the father (widowed at some point) is contacted by Sir George Mortenhurze, local squire and a former cavalry officer, to seek out historical evidence of King Arthur. Professor Purwell takes his two children, Diana and Paul, with him.

Arriving at the railway station they are collected by the squire's groom, 'Todman', and driven by pony and trap to his estate. On the way they briefly encounter the Moon Stallion, a white horse living wild on the moors, whom Diana is aware of despite her being blind. It transpires that the horse is the mystical messenger of the moon goddess and connected to the story of Merlin.

Diana and Paul, with Estelle the daughter of the Sir George, discover that Mortenhurse and Todman seek to capture the horse. Todman, who it turns out is a "horse warlock", desires the power it would offer him as consort to Diana the moon goddess, while the squire blames the horse for his wife's death and seeks revenge.

William S. Bowdern (Timothy Dalton) is a World War II veteran who was severely affected by a bad experience in France on All Saints’ Day in 1944. In the first scene of the film, we flash-back through one of Bowdern's dreams to where he was trying to escape from a German advance as Schutzstaffel (SS) soldiers execute wounded American soldiers. A wounded soldier calls Bowdern, the chaplain, to give him the Last Rites; Bowdern at first denies him so he can escape. Bowdern rethinks the matter and does his duty but is bayonetted by an SS soldier. He becomes an alcoholic, tormented by his injuries and the guilt of refusing a dying man's last wish.

Years later, Bowdern is teaching his students at St. Louis University (SLU) when, at the end of the lecture, an angry mob smashes the classroom's windows. When Bowdern gets out, he discovers that there is a demonstration against the school's recent racial integration. When the police arrive, he asks them to arrest "those people" — meaning the protestors — but the police arrest the black students instead. Angered, Bowdern physically attacks the cops, who arrest him as well. Father Raymond McBride (Henry Czerny) pays his bail, and drives him to the Alexian Brothers Hospital to show where the church places hopeless alcoholics and the mentally ill.

Robbie Mannheim (Jonathan Malen) is sitting with his aunt, Hanna (Piper Laurie), who is teaching him how to contact the "other world". Robbie's mother (Shannon Lawson) suddenly discovers the two at the ouija board. She scolds Aunt Hanna for disregarding her request that she must not expose Robbie to such ideas. Robbie disobeys his mother's demands that he stay away from the supernatural, as he enjoys the contacts.

When Aunt Hanna dies, Robbie continues trying to reach the other world. One day one of Robbie's classmates (Sensei Jamie) during school is severely wounded in the hand when a desk falls on top of him. Robbie is blamed. Ultimately, he is expelled from school. His father (Michael Rhoades) demands to know why Robbie hurt his classmate. When Robbie explains to his father that he did not deliberately do that and the desk moved itself, his father does not believe him and decides to physically punish him. Before he can, the chair on which Robbie is sitting moves out from under him, making Robbie crash to the floor. Robbie's parents feel someone or something is trying to harm their child. They feel he may really be "possessed".

They take him to the Lutheran Pastor Reverend Eckhardt (Richard Waugh), who believes what they are experiencing is a poltergeist. He takes Robbie to his house to put him under exact monitoring (by putting him in a special room and attaching a light in front of his bed to help him record daily reactions by his camera). During Robbie's stay, several things occur that convince Pastor Eckhardt that Robbie is being afflicted by demons: strange noises are made in the house, the wall clock is smashed, and Robbie falls into fits of rage and hysteria. When Pastor Eckhardt tells his wife that Robbie should be treated by the Catholics, Robbie attacks him.

McBride visits the family in their house to check on Robbie after his parents go to the university requesting help. During one of Robbie's fits of hysteria, the parents find the letters SLU scrawled on his belly. When McBride enters his room, he is attacked and becomes convinced that the child is endowed with some sort of supernatural power. He convinces Bowdern to visit the family.

Bowdern visits Robbie in his room, comforting him with his knowledge of comic books. Bowdern notices that Robbie is interested in magic and ventriloquism, while Robbie notices that Fr. Bowdern is affected by his collection of toy soldiers that sets off a post traumatic stress disorder event. When Father Bowdern tries to convince the parents that there is nothing wrong with Robbie, the boy suddenly becomes hysterical, speaking in Latin as things fly across the room. Bowdern becomes convinced that Robbie must undergo treatment.

Bowdern and McBride go to Archbishop Hume (Christopher Plummer) to persuade him to give Robbie an exorcism. The Archbishop is skeptical, saying that he is trying to improve the Catholic Church's public image as a modern institution, free of ancient superstition. He requests to speak to McBride alone, and he nominates Bowdern to handle the issue.

Bowdern begins Robbie's treatment, assisted by McBride and Father Walter Halloran (Michael McLachlan). They conduct several visits to him during which Robbie starts throwing temper tantrums. He scratches at them, vomits and urinates on them, and swears uncontrollably. During the treatment trials, Bowdern has flashbacks to his war experiences and dreads that this may be another failure. Robbie is transferred twice to two different churches. Finally, Bowdern manages to cure him. The room in the church where the exorcism takes place is locked on Archbishop Hume's orders.

The story deals with a 60-year-old woman, Edna O'Casey (Patricia Hayes), who wanders through life in an alcoholic haze without a home, a job or any money. She starts at a hostel where she is checked for fleas and her clothes are bagged and sterilised. A doctor and psychiatrist interview a series of elderly homeless men, assessing whether they can stay at the hostel. Edna goes on the road again, drinking from rivers and gleaning potatoes from fields. She wanders town and country seeking a bed for each night; in a queue, she meets another homeless woman and they travel together.

Social Services are of little help and refuse her money. For her "breakfast ticket" she gets three soups. Edna joins a large homeless group living under a bridge, where she has a long conversation with an Irish man who also feeds her. They mock the young drug user who has joined the group.

Later she walks in the country with a female tramp. A man asking directions to Torrington is obliged to give them a lift. The younger one offers him a good time for "half a quid".

A further female who denies being a "les" shows old photos of her husband and good times. She used to be beautiful. The hostel manager says "Micks only" (Irish only) but Edna hides under a bed until discovered and thrown out. Back at Social Security she gets upset at being labelled and shouts over and over "I am not the vagrant". She ends in court for disturbance of the peace and from there is placed in a psychiatric ward under the name of Edna Rodgers. There, a patient (June Brown) asks her for any spare pills. Edna does not like the fish they serve and exclaims "This is slop!" They medicate her to control her behaviour and give her electroconvulsive therapy. Examined thereafter they ask if she knows the date: she asks if it is the 32nd. She tries to gas herself to stay another week then changes her mind and goes back on the road.

She rakes through the bins for food scraps. She washes her clothes in public lavatories. She gets clothes and boots from a charity. She has a new obsession that all phone calls are for her. She get thrown out of her hostel for wetting the bed. Back at Social Security she tries to claim as Edna MacLean. She is sent somewhere where a proof of name and address is given. With head down she claims to be Robert Tewt. She ends back in court on breach of the peace charges again. They bring up her record for drunk and disorderly and larceny. She goes to prison but is quite content.

She is interviewed by "Jesus Saves" for a place in their hostel. The interviewer, Josie Quinn (Barbara Jefford), grants her a place. But 'Jesus Saves', is closed down after an inquiry, following the complaints of neighbours. Edna and the other women are on the road again. She ends at the "Jesus Saves" hostel. Although disturbing the other residents in the dormitory conditions she settles to this new way of life. The young woman, Trudi, in the neighbouring bed has issues of her own. Edna comes home drunk and is surprised not only to be let in, but to have a civilised discussion with Josie. Edna cleans up a bit.

Back in court the neighbours of the hostel have raised a complaint: the hostel does not have planning permission and causes a nuisance to neighbours. Josie has to defend her actions. On cue, when the court discusses vagrancy, Edna loudly cries out "I am not the vagrant". She is brought under new care under nuns. She remembers her mum and dad and how they did not love her. Her alcoholic father beat her mother. When her mother went to prison for child abandonment Edna and her siblings were placed in care.

Back at "Jesus Saves" Edna expects rejection. Josie gets the written decision that her hostel is closed and has one month to cease operations. Edna cries for her mummy in the toilet. She starts to self-harm. The hostel closes and Edna is back on the street. In the final scene on a city street at night she is with Teresa discussing the love of her life. Teresa presumes they are going to the same lodgings, but Edna wanders into the night saying she prefers to flitter from place to place.

The place is New York City, the time is the 1990s.

Middle-aged, upper-middle class Greg finds Sylvia, a dog (played by a human), in the park and takes a liking to her. He brings her back to the empty nest he shares with Kate. When Kate gets home, she reacts very negatively to Sylvia and wants her gone. They eventually decide that Sylvia will stay for a few days before they decide whether she can stay longer, but Greg and Sylvia have already bonded. Over the next few days, Greg spends more and more time with Sylvia and less time at his job. Greg and Sylvia go on long walks; they discuss life and astronomy. Already dissatisfied with his job, Greg now has another reason to avoid work.

Tension increases between Greg and Kate, who still does not like Sylvia. Eventually, Greg becomes completely obsessed with Sylvia, and Kate fears their marriage is falling apart. Kate and Sylvia are at odds with each other, each committed to seeing the other defeated. Greg meets a strange character at the dog run, who gives Greg tips on how to manage Sylvia and his predicament involving Kate. Greg has Sylvia spayed. Sylvia is angry and in pain, but she still loves him completely.

Kate's friend pays a visit and is repulsed by Greg and Sylvia. Greg, Kate and Sylvia sing "Every Time We Say Goodbye".

Greg and Kate visit a therapist, Leslie, who is ambiguously male and female depending on her patients' state of mind. After a session with Greg, Leslie tells Kate to get a gun and shoot Sylvia: "I hope you get her right between the eyes."

Kate is asked to teach abroad, in London, and tells Greg that the English have a six-month quarantine for any dogs coming into the country. Greg is unwilling, but eventually he succumbs and gives the news to Sylvia, that he must give her away, to a family who have a farm in Westchester County. Greg and Sylvia have a heated and tender moment. Kate and Sylvia say goodbye; but, before Greg and Sylvia leave for Westchester, Sylvia returns the annotated and slightly chewed version of "Alls Well That Ends Well" that Kate has been looking for, and Kate has a change of heart.

The last scene is directed toward the audience. Sylvia has died, and Greg and Kate still hold her memory in all fondness.

Bart and Lisa want to visit Itchy & Scratchy Land, an amusement park, but Marge has already planned a family vacation to a bird sanctuary. Bart and Lisa persuade their parents to visit the theme park by revealing it has areas for adults, including bars, bowling alleys and a rehab center.

Marge dislikes Itchy & Scratchy Land's violent themes and attractions, but the family's trip goes well until Homer and Bart start assaulting the park's mascot performers, with Bart launching a stink bomb into one's Itchy suit, and Homer kicking another in the butt. Both are arrested by park security and locked in a detention cell. Marge lectures Bart and Homer after they are released from custody.

Despite a park employee assuring the Simpsons they are programmed to only attack each other, the Itchy and Scratchy robots go rogue and start attacking humans. A worker refuses to allow the Simpsons to evacuate aboard a helicopter because of Bart and Homer's misdeeds. The power supply is cut, plunging the park into darkness.

A horde of Itchy and Scratchy robots advances on the Simpsons. While frantically throwing things to repel them, Homer discovers a camera flash short-circuits the robots' systems and immobilizes them. The Simpsons grab dozens of cameras from a gift shop and defeat the entire Itchy & Scratchy army. Employees thank the Simpsons for saving the park. Despite their ordeal, they agree this was their best vacation ever, but Marge insists that none of them ever mention it again.

The player assumes the role of William Crowe, an American who experiences the various phases of the Pacific War with Japan, beginning with the Pearl Harbor attack in December 1941. Crowe's brother Charlie is killed during the attack. He is restationed at Wake Island where he comes under the command of Admiral Daniel Howells. He later participates in escorting Howells off the island as it is about to fall to the Japanese. When they make it to the Lexington, Crowe gets a new squadron consisting of Cunningham, Murphy, Slater, and commanded by Callahan. The Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway, Guadalcanal, and the Marshall Islands are all featured in one or more missions. The final mission of the campaign is on February 23, 1945, with the raising of the United States flag on Iwo Jima.

Lifelong best friends Alice Marano and Darlene Davis take a trip after graduating from high school, giving their parents the impression that they are going to Hawaii. However, Alice talks Darlene into going to Thailand instead, after comparing the prices of both destinations. Darlene agrees, albeit with some reluctance. Once in Thailand, they meet a captivating Australian man who calls himself Nick Parks. Unknown to them, Nick is a drug smuggler. Darlene is particularly smitten with Nick and persuades Alice to take him up on his offer to treat them both to a side trip to Hong Kong. While boarding their flight at Don Mueang International Airport, the girls are detained by the police. Alice and Darlene are shocked to discover that one of their bags contains heroin, which they insist must have been planted by Nick.

The two girls are interrogated by the Thai police and Darlene signs a confession written in Thai, believing it to be a transcript of her statement. At their trial, they beg for mercy and are sentenced to 33 years in prison, the judge choosing to show leniency and not issue the standard life sentence. In prison, the girls are advised to seek out Henry Greene, aka "Yankee Hank", an expatriate American attorney living in Thailand.

As the girls try to deal with the violence and squalor of prison, Hank begins work on their case. He tracks down another girl who had been used as an unwitting drug mule by a man named Skip K. Carn. Hank deduces that Carn and Parks are the same person, since each name is an anagram of the other, and that he planted the drugs and tipped off the Thai police about the girls as a distraction to make sure his other mules could avoid scrutiny. Warned that Parks has influential friends in the Thai government, Hank arranges a deal with a corrupt prosecutor to secure a pardon for the girls if they recant their claim about Parks' involvement and take full responsibility for smuggling the drugs. The girls agree, but the prosecutor double-crosses them on the deal. Realizing that Darlene will not survive their time in prison, Alice begs the King of Thailand to allow her to serve both sentences, which have been extended by 15 years after an escape attempt, in exchange for letting Darlene go. The deal is accepted and Darlene is released. She promises to continue working with Hank to try to free Alice. The film ends with the narration from Alice saying many people will not understand why she made this decision. It's also implied Alice may be in prison for a long time.

The show opened with two young children from Yokohama discussing the ancient creation of Japan. Soon, an anthropomorphic crane appeared to tell them the whole story. She took them back through time to uncover the ancient Jōmon people and the difficult relationship they encountered with the sea and land. But it changed in the next era when Prince Shōtoku devoted his efforts to 'meet the world' and created a constitution, explored Chinese culture and brought Buddhism, arts and writing systems to Japan. The crane then took them forward through time.

They arrived at Tanegashima where Portuguese traders met with locals, introducing Japan to new trade opportunities as well as the outside world. Additionally, firearms and Christianity were introduced during this period. However, because of these elements, the Sakoku policy of self-exile was enacted, leaving the country in isolation, apart from limited trade with the Dutch and Chinese at Nagasaki. Only when US Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry arrived with his Black Ships did the exile end and Japan 'meet the world' again. The shogun retired and signaled the time of the Meiji Restoration. However, the ruling power took the idea of 'meet the world' from a peaceful one to a destructive and aggressive one. As a result, Japan soon entered "dark days", but the crane reassured the two children that those days have ended and that Japan now led the way of today.

The young boy asked the crane if she was the "Spirit of Japan", but she responded that he and all the other people were the "Spirit of Japan". A final montage of Japan's modern accomplishments brought the show to a close as the children and the crane soared to the skies on a hot-air balloon.

Surveillance camera footage shows views of a mansion and its rooms; the views alternate among images of nine people being kidnapped. Lea, an abductee, wakes up in a bedroom. She notices others in nearby bedrooms, and runs to the main door, bangs at it, and shouts to be let out. She finds the windows are all walled with bricks; even the basement door is blocked. She has a panic attack and passes out.

Lea is awakened by Father Duffy, a priest who is with a group of seven people. A voice comes over a speaker which announces they are gathered to play a game. Their friends and family are being "taken care of", so they won't be found. Also, they were chosen "not based on who they are, but what they are". It is like a reality show, only much graver: the rules are that the winner is the last one left alive; he or she would then be freed, and also receive compensation of five million U.S. dollars.

The players discuss the situation. They try to break down the door using a dining table as a battering ram, and then try to dig and break through other holes, but nothing works. A sound from the kitchen reveals a dumbwaiter with food.

In the dining room, the players introduce themselves. Father Duffy is a priest. Jay is a cop with a pistol. Lea is a dancer. Claire is a tennis player. Francis is a musician, and Cynthia is his wife. Al B is an ambitious rapper who covets Jay's gun, and assumes anything said about him is racially motivated. Shona is a drug addict with an ankle bracelet monitor; some players hope that this may attract outside help. Max Roy is a clothes designer.

After dinner, the players choose bedrooms. Cynthia and Francis take one, and Duffy gets his own; the others share. Jay and Lea talk about their families, until someone sneaks in and tries to steal Jay's gun. Jay and Lea foil the attempt and assemble everyone in the hallway where they all argue. Afterwards, Jay tells Lea that he only trusts her and Duffy.

The players open a wine cabinet and have drinks, except for Duffy, who returns to his room. Lea goes for a walk and Jay sits at his bed. Francis leaves with a glass stopper; he breaks it in the bathroom, and hides some shards under the toilet lid. Shona, Claire and Max get drunk. Al B flirts and dances with Cynthia, until Francis arrives. The two men fight, but when Cynthia intervenes, Al B pushes her and knocks the back of her head against the stone railing, which causes her death. Jay "arrests" Al B, and locks him in a room using a pipe.

The players are shocked at Cynthia's death. Al B screams to be let out. Duffy brings him food, but he escapes and attacks Jay with the pipe; he beats him to a pulp. With his dying breath, Jay gives Duffy his gun. Al B slowly backs into the room and shuts the door.

The next day, the six remaining players find food and wine, along with a card that says "Good work". They run to Al B's room and find that he has hanged himself. Duffy and Lea stand in shock, while the other players leave to eat. Francis retreats and show signs of a mental breakdown. Shona and Claire argue, and it escalates to the point where Claire kills Shona. Meanwhile, Francis goes after Lea, who is washing her face in the bathroom. He rips the light fixture from the wall and throws it into the sink, electrocuting her.

Claire tells Duffy that she killed Shona in self-defense. Duffy leaves to look for Lea, and finds her on the bathroom floor. Francis arrives, and pretends to act surprised. Meanwhile, Claire goes to get food, but sees Max. She offers to form an alliance with him; he accepts. Francis attacks Duffy with the assumption he would not retaliate with the gun, but Duffy shoots him in the stomach. As Claire turns around to the sound, Max wraps his belt around her neck. Duffy returns to the foyer and sees Max strangle Claire. Max explains that "she was stealing food", but refuses Duffy's pleas to stop. Duffy shoots Max in the head.

The gunshot awakens Lea, who survived the electrocution. She barricades the door and rushes to the shower, but knocks the toilet lid and discovers the glass shards that Francis hid. She tears a shower curtain and wraps it around one of the shards. Duffy asks Claire if she is okay, but he is stabbed in the back by Francis, and he drops the gun. Francis retrieves it and shoots Claire. Duffy pleads for his life, but Francis uses the last round to shoot him. He then declares victory, repeatedly shouting "I Win!"

Upstairs, Lea makes a commotion when she fumbles with the toilet cover. Francis hears the noise and heads upstairs. Lea hides under the bed when Francis walks in the room. After seeing that Lea is no longer in the bathroom, he spots her, and toys with her briefly before pulling her out. In the ensuing struggle, Lea stabs Francis in the leg with the shard, and runs to a balcony. Francis charges her, and they flip over the railing. Lea lands on top of Francis, but when she gets up, she realizes the shard had pierced Francis in the heart.

The front door opens, revealing a bright light, and a bag on the floor. Lea walks to the door, picks up the bag, and leaves.

Alternate endings

The DVD includes two alternate endings.

In the first ending, as Lea steps into the light, she is knocked unconscious, and wakes up in her apartment bed. She notices the bag, a small TV set and a videotape. She opens the bag and sees a pile of cash. She plays the tape, and sees the camera footage of the foyer (all the bodies are gone and everything is cleaned up). The Watcher says she just became a member of the world's most exclusive survival club, and that he is very proud. The picture then goes to the bedrooms where there are nine new people passed out on the floor. Lea stares at the screen in shock as The Watcher says, "Happy viewing..."

In the second "originally intended" ending, as Lea leaves the house, she is led into another house where she meets four people. Each of them has a bag of money. The camera zooms in on Lea; a fearful look grows as she realizes that the game is not over.

After Britain's declaration of war in World War II, army colonel Roy Cronin is driven to London's Waterloo station on his way to France, and briefly alights on Waterloo Bridge to reminisce about events that occurred during World War I when he met Myra Lester, whom he had planned to marry. While Roy gazes at a good-luck charm, a billiken that she had given him, the story unfolds.

Roy, a captain in the Rendleshire Fusiliers on his way to the front, and Myra, a ballerina, serendipitously meet crossing Waterloo Bridge during an air raid, striking up an immediate rapport while taking shelter. Myra invites Roy to attend that evening's ballet performance and an enamored Roy ignores an obligatory dinner with his colonel. Roy sends a note to Myra to join him after the performance, but the note is intercepted by the mistress of the ballet troupe, the tyrannical Madame Olga, who forbids Myra from having any relationship with Roy. Despite the admonition, they meet at a romantic night spot. Roy has to travel to the front immediately and proposes marriage, but wartime circumstances prevent them from marrying immediately. Roy assures Myra that his family will look after her while he is away. Madame Olga learns of Myra's disobedience and dismisses her from the troupe along with fellow dancer Kitty when she scolds Olga for spoiling Myra's happiness.

The young women share a small flat. Unable to find work, they soon become penniless. Roy's mother Lady Margaret Cronin and Myra arrange to meet for an introduction. Awaiting Lady Margaret's belated arrival at a tea room, Myra scans a newspaper and faints after finding Roy listed among the war dead. Shocked and bewildered, Myra is offered a tall brandy by the receptionist to help bring her around. Sitting alone, Myra swallows a large amount of Brandy just as Lady Margaret appears. Unable to disclose the dreadful news, Myra's banal and incoherent conversation is unsettling to her prospective mother-in-law, who withdraws without seeking further explanation. Myra faints again and falls ill with grief. The two young ladies’ economic situation becomes dire. To cover their expenses, her roommate Kitty becomes a streetwalker. Belatedly, Myra believed that Kitty was working as a stage performer, but then learns what her friend has done. Feeling that she has alienated Lady Margaret and having no desire to live, the heartbroken Myra joins her friend Kitty and resorts to prostitution as well. A year passes.

While offering herself to soldiers on leave arriving at the Waterloo station, Myra sees Roy, who is alive and well. He had been wounded and held as a prisoner of war. A reconciliation occurs that is joyous for Roy but bittersweet for Myra. The couple travels to the family estate in Scotland to visit Lady Margaret, who deduces the misunderstanding that occurred at the tea room. Myra is also accepted by Roy's uncle, the Duke, but he inadvertently feeds her guilt by saying that she could never do anything to bring shame or dishonor to the family. Confronted with the possibility of a scandal and the seeming impossibility of a happy marriage, Myra decides that breaking off the engagement is her only choice. Myra discloses the truth to a compassionate Lady Margaret but is unable to believe herself worthy of marrying Roy. Myra leaves behind a goodbye note and returns to London. Roy follows, with the aid of Kitty, hoping to find her despite discovering the truth in the process. Myra is depressed and returns to Waterloo Bridge, where she commits suicide by walking into the path of an oncoming truck.

In the present day, the older Roy reminisces about Myra's sincere final profession of love that was only for him and no other. He tucks her charm into his coat pocket and drives away in his car.

The story begins with the United States collapsing economically and the government's agents struggling to keep their power after central bankers over-inflated the money supply. Trading in foreign currency is illegal. Businesses are subject to rationing. As a result, there is a growing black market for everything. It's the world as Samuel Edward Konkin III conceived it prior to a successful agorist revolution.

Elliot Vreeland, son of Nobel Laureate Austrian School economist Dr. Martin Vreeland, learns of his father's apparent death, and is rushed home from school. But the death is fake, a plot concocted by his father to escape arrest by the government agents who are detaining "radicals" accused of worsening the economic crisis. Elliot is sent by his father to collect some gold coins stored in case the family has to escape.

Upon his return home, Elliot finds his family missing. Government agents enter the house searching for Elliot, who manages to escape.

Elliot becomes acquainted with the Revolutionary Agorist Cadre, an organization plotting the end of the government agents by means of counter-economics. The cadre is strong and organized, and has its militia. Elliot enlists their help, and meets Lorimer, a girl hiding from the government agents; they develop a relationship.

As the government agents weaken, they tighten controls on communication, travel, and trade. This fails to avert economic collapse, causing the private sector – unions, syndicates, and many unorganized individuals – to control the old infrastructure.

Leo, an openly gay man celebrates his 30th birthday, and arrives home and is very unhappy to find a surprise-party organised by his roommates Darren and Angie in full swing. Leo has a complicated personal history with some of the guests and hides in his bedroom, feeling grumpy and old. This history is explained in an extended flashback.

It turns out that his brother Adam had encouraged Leo to attend his weekly men's group run by New Age-type goofball Keith whose wife is Sybil. There, Leo meets hunky Irishman Brendan whom he develops a crush on, which he reluctantly reveals to the group. However Brendan is straight and lives with his ex-girlfriend Sally who is later revealed to be Leo's high school sweetheart. A series of 'Iron John' group exercises leads Brendan and Leo to develop a friendship. As they bond, it becomes clear that Brendan's curiosity towards Leo starts to grow in a sexual escalade. In the men's group, one of the other groupsmen become very jealous of Leo's "friendship" with Brendan and that he does not have that with Leo. Brendan fights with the lad over Leo. The friendship is soon to become more, as Brendan appears unexpectedly late one night at Leo's door and sleeps with him; after which they become something of a couple, to the consternation of one man in their men's group, though it encourages another, Terry, to explore his sexuality.

Meanwhile, flamboyant Darren has met real estate agent Jeremy, who gets a kick out of having sex in houses for sale he has been given the keys to. However, he is not interested in "couply" things, despite Darren's attempts. Eventually this leads to their having sex with handcuffs and blindfolds in the bedroom of the house which Sally has on the market, during which she unexpectedly returns home. Jeremy abandons Darren, who dumps him. Leo gets close once more to Sally, and ends up kissing her. Feeling guilty, he leaves in a panic, and ends up telling Brendan what happened, who goes ballistic as he still has feelings for Sally. Leo finds himself in a quandary, and decides to confess to Sally that he is the one who is seeing Brendan (Sally had previously believed it was Leo's roommate Angie). He inadvertently does so while Brendan is there too, and leaves Brendan to face Sally.

Returns to the party, Brendan and Terry get into an argument over Leo and take it outside, where Brendan punches Terry on the nose, who crumples. Brendan asks him to go with him for a drink (the same tactic he had employed with Leo). Thus, Brendan starts dating; Leo's brother Adam and Angie get together; Jeremy and Darren make up; and Leo sleeps with Sally.

In a town in the far north of France, two large families lead very different lives, The Groseilles live in squalid social housing on benefits and petty crime. The odd one is 12-year-old Maurice, as criminal as the rest but tidy and intelligent. As for the Le Quesnoys, practising Catholics in a large detached house, he is regional director of the electricity company and she, apart from church work, looks after house and children. They are experiencing problems, however, with 12-year-old Bernadette.

Twelve years earlier, in the hospital on Christmas Eve, the obstetrician delivered two babies and went home to his wife. The nurse, his lover who had hoped for a tender evening with him, in rage swapped the little Groseille girl for the Le Quesnoy boy. Twelve years later the doctor's wife dies and the nurse, who all along hoped to replace her, is rejected. She writes notes to the Groseilles and the Le Quesnoys, confessing her misdeed, and a third note to the obstetrician. He hastily leaves town.

The Le Quesnoys decide to say nothing to Bernadette and to keep her, but 'adopt' Maurice as a son, bringing him to live with them. In exchange they offer a large cash sum (plus free electricity) to the Groseilles. Although diligent at school and obedient at home, Maurice quietly sells off family effects to accumulate a secret nest egg, and gives gifts to his former family and friends. One day when Bernadette says that she hates poor people, Maurice reveals to her her origins. She sneaks round to the Groseille home and, horrified at what she sees, returns to the mansions and locks herself in her room for weeks.

Maurice keeps in touch with the Groseilles, supporting them with things he removes from the Le Quesnoy home, and one day arranges for all the children of the two families (apart from the still sequestered Bernadette) to meet by the river to drink beer and swim. The eldest Le Quesnoy boy is soon in the long grass in the willing arms of the eldest Groseille girl.

When the Le Quesnoy children stagger home tousled and tipsy, Madame Le Quesnoy has a nervous collapse and takes to the bottle. Bernadette runs away, and is returned by the police. Monsieur Le Quesnoy takes her and the maid, who is five months pregnant to a lover she will not reveal, to a seaside cottage, with the others to follow at the end of the school term. In an adjoining seaside cottage is the nurse, who at last has the obstetrician to herself after he has suffered a stroke.

When he was a newborn baby, Edith Guetz thoughtlessly told her son Tanguy : "If you want to, you can stay at home forever". 28 years later, the over-educated university teacher of Asian languages and womanizer leads a successful and wealthy life... while still living in his parents' home. Father Paul Guetz longs to see his son finally leave the nest, a desire that his wife shares. Edith finally agrees and the pair unite to make Tanguy's life at home miserable. However, they don't know that Tanguy isn't the type of guy who easily gives up.

Set in 1916, the film offered up a highly fictionised version of the death of the British War Secretary, Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener aboard the cruiser HMS ''Hampshire'', on his way to Russia. A successful U-boat ace, Helmut Liers, lives in the fictional north German town of Meerskirchen with his mother, who has already lost two sons in the war. Liers is the local hero of Meerskirchen due to his command of ''U-21'' and the first part of the film concerns the high-spirited adventures of Liers and his crew while on leave. Everyone thinks that Helga, the daughter of the ''burgermeister'' of Meerskirchen is in love with Lieutenant Phipps "Fips" Fredericks, but in fact she is in love with the older man Liers. The Majorin (Lier's mother), tries to get him a shore assignment, which he blocks, saying that he will fight on until Germany either wins the war or he dies, and then goes out to sea on his latest mission.

In the second part of the film, the German Navy learns that a very important British military leader-who is not named in the film, but is clearly meant to be Kitchener-has boarded a cruiser taking him to Arkhangelsk, leading Liers and his U-boat being sent out to essentially assassinate him by sinking the cruiser, a task which is performed successfully (in reality, the ''Hampshire'' was sunk by a mine laid by an U-boat, but not in a torpedo attack). Afterwards, a Q ship (a disguised British merchant cruiser), which illegally flies the flag of neutral Denmark, ambushes Liers's submarine, which is badly damaged. A squadron of British destroyers pursue ''U-21'' across the North Sea, which is finally sunk and comes to rest on the seabed. Two of the ''U-21'' crew members including Fips sacrifice themselves to save the others including Liers who make their way back to the Fatherland. The film ends with Liers boarding a new submarine to once again go out to continue the war at sea with the last shot being a close-up of the Imperial German Navy Ensign, which flutters proudly in the wind.

Francis Bergeade, owner of a toilet seats and brushes factory in Dole, has just turned 65 and his life is a misery. Tax services are harassing him, his snobby wife Nicole despises him, and his daughter wants an expensive wedding. Francis knows only moments of relief while lunching and dining in fancy restaurants with his best friend, car dealer Gérard. Stress becomes overwhelming and he suffers an attack from a blocked nerve.

During his convalescence, his family watch a reality television show about long-lost relationships and disappearances called ''Où es-tu?'' (''Where are you?'') featuring Spanish-born Dolorès Thivart and her daughters "Zig" and "Puce", producers of foie gras from Condom, who seek their husband and father, Michel, who vanished 27 years ago. Michel Thivart happens to be Francis's exact lookalike…

Three armed assailants attack a woman who turns out to be NYCPD Detective Sergeant Deke DaSilva of the Street Crimes Unit in disguise. His partner, Detective Sergeant Matthew Fox, immobilizes two of the assailants; Deke chases the third upstairs to a subway-station platform, taunts him and incapacitates him with a scarf. That day in London, terrorist Heymar Reinhardt (alias Wulfgar) bombs a department store. In New York City, DaSilva and Fox serve a high-risk warrant in the Bronx. They raid a drug-distribution spot, where they discover corrupt police officers among the dealers. After the arrests DaSilva meets his estranged wife, Irene, and tells her he loves her; although she initially rebuffs his advances, they eventually reconcile.

Wulfgar meets a member of his network at a party to receive travel documents and money. Suspicious of the delivery man, Wulfgar kills him and three Metropolitan Police Service officers sent to arrest him. He escapes, and the police superintendent berates lead investigator Inspector Hartman. In Paris, Wulfgar meets his partner, Shakka, and learns that his handlers are ostracizing him because the bombing killed a number of children. Wulfgar undergoes facial surgery to alter his appearance and decides to move his terrorist campaign to New York City.

Lt. Munafo transfers DaSilva and Fox to the newly formed ATAC (Anti-Terrorist Action Command) squad, where they meet Hartman. Hartman and DaSilva clash, since Hartman believes that American police are not ruthless enough to deal with a terrorist such as Wulfgar. Although he hesitates to condone killing Wulfgar, DaSilva absorbs his new training and begins to understand the terrorist. In New York City, Wulfgar moves in with a flight attendant named Pam and kills her when she discovers his arsenal. Acting on a tip, Munafo orders DaSilva and Fox to search every nightclub the flight attendant had visited. They find Wulfgar in a nightclub and, after a shootout and foot chase through the subway, Wulfgar first takes a woman hostage and uses her as a human shield, preventing DaSilva from shooting. Wulfgar then escapes by slashing Fox's face with a knife, enraging DaSilva, who vows to kill Wulfgar. At the hospital, Fox admonishes DaSilva for not shooting.

The ATAC squad guards a United Nations function at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Shakka, infiltrating the party in disguise, corners Hartman on an escalator and kills him. After hijacking a tram car, Wulfgar executes the wife of the French ambassador while DaSilva watches from a hovering police helicopter. Wulfgar demands that DaSilva board the tramway to receive an infant that he wishes to be taken to safety. DaSilva is winched up to the aerial tram and confronts Wulfgar, demanding to know why Wulfgar killed the woman. Wulfgar says that he killed her because he wanted to; considering himself a speaker for people who cannot speak for themselves, he says that all people are victims.

The police agree to Wulfgar's demands for a bus to escort him and the hostages to an airport, where a jet will be waiting. Wulfgar and Shakka hide among the hostages. As they board the bus, DaSilva plays a hidden recording of a Hartman lecture denouncing Shakka. Shakka, enraged, breaks away from the hostages and Fox shoots her with a sniper rifle. Wulfgar escapes by driving the bus off a ramp into the East River, but after searching the area, the police cannot find him.

At Wulfgar's safe-house, ATAC finds detailed information on the individual team members and Irene. Wulfgar breaks into Irene's home, tracking her into the kitchen as she does dishes. As he sneaks up behind to kill her, "Irene" suddenly turns to face Wulfgar, revealing DaSilva in disguise. As DaSilva aims his revolver at Wulfgar, Wulfgar lunges at him; DaSilva fires twice at the terrorist, sending his body crashing into the street. DaSilva walks out of the house and sits beside Wulfgar's lifeless body on the front steps of Irene's house.

Mine owner William Sharon keeps having his gold shipments held up by a gang of bandits. Sharon hires banker Charles Crocker, who happens to have connections in the Central Pacific Railroad, to build a spur line from Virginia City to Carson City, so that the gold can be shipped by rail.

Silent Jeff Kincaid is the railroad engineer. However, there is opposition to the railroad, chiefly from another mine owner, Big Jack Davis. He doesn’t own a working mine; he finds it easier to rob from the other owners. Davis is the brains behind the gang holding up Sharon’s shipments. The technique is to hold up the stagecoach and then provide food and champagne for the passengers, who then don’t care that the gold is robbed.

Kincaid vows to rid Carson City of the bandits, but they frame him on a murder charge. In the climax, Kincaid has to contend with a suspicious landslide which kills some of his workers, trapping others, and a gold bullion heist.