The story takes place ten years after an unspecified World War between two warring factions. The game follows a commando who must infiltrate an enemy base and foil the enemy's plot to launch missiles. The hero must stop a missile from launching and then fight the final boss, the leader of the enemy forces, guarded by an armed bodyguard.

When local housewife Simone Hollingsworth doesn't show up for bell-ringing practice, nobody even raises an eyebrow, let alone suspect anything sinister. However, after her suspicious neighbours, the elderly Brockleys, notice her husband digging holes in his garden late one night, they call in Chief Inspector Barnaby for help unearthing his dark secrets.

In a town in the province of Ferrara in 1943, a pharmacist by the name of Pino is permanently crippled and unable to walk without crutches. He observes the town's activities from his upstairs window while his lonely wife Anna begins an affair with Franco, an old friend, and a deserter from the army.

Local Fascist leader Carlo Aretusi, better known as 'Sciagura' ('Calamity'), wants to assassinate his opponents in the Fascist party and blame it on some resistance supporters, including Franco's father.

On the night of 15 December, while Anna is out with Franco, Sciagura orders the suspected assassins to be shot in front of a wall of Estense Castle. Pino can see everything from his window but doesn't say a word.

Anna returns from Franco's home to find the bodies of the executed victims lying in the street where they fell and confronts Pino. Anna is then rejected by Franco and leaves town.

The townspeople follow the Fascists into the town square for a rally to celebrate the defeat of "traitors".

It is revealed that Pino's disability is due to syphilis, which he caught when Sciagura forced him into a brothel at gunpoint after participating in the March on Rome.

Years later, after the war, Franco returns to the town with his wife and son, and shows them a plaque located where his father was killed. He runs into Sciagura, who seems happy and content and ha no regrets about what he did during the war. He says Franco looks like his father.

While attending an amateur production of ''Amadeus'' to watch his wife, Joyce's performance, Chief Inspector Barnaby witnesses the gruesome, all-too realistic murder of an actor on stage, after the tape applied to blunt the razor blade used to slit his character's throat is removed, revealing the lethal blade.

As he investigates the shocking crime, Barnaby unearths a whole host of dark passions and resentments nestling beneath the surviving cast's genial facade.

In the summer of 1943, Countess Luisa and her son Andrea left Milan to escape the Allied bombings of the city and retired to their country villa, where they hosted two of Andrea's peers, his cousin Carlo, the son of a Fascist official who fled to Switzerland, and the friend Ferruccio, son of an army officer engaged in war. The three young people pass the time in the dolce far niente, sunbathing along the river, only vaguely aware of the ongoing conflict, thanks to the broadcasts of Radio London. They begin to become aware of the seriousness of the situation when displaced people arrive from the city and Andrea, out of weakness and not out of solidarity, is forced to accept to host some in the villa, to the annoyance of his mother.

Among the displaced there is the young worker Lucia, whom Andrea falls in love with and thanks to whom he finally comes out of his golden world to face the tragic reality that surrounds them and take responsibility. In the absence of his mother, to whom he is linked by a morbid relationship and towards whom he is in complete awe, he seems to mature and, when Italian soldiers arrive in the village, escaped from a German convoy that was taking them to the labor camps, he finds the courage to hide them in the villa, supported by Carlo and Lucia. But Ferruccio tells what is happening to the old fascist authorities of the country, who inform the Germans.

Having discovered the boy's denunciation, the runaway soldiers flee by truck towards the mountains and the partisans. Lucia, Carlo and Andrea should go with them, but the arrival of the countess, accompanied by a German officer, extinguishes all the initiative of the last, who agrees to stay with her and abandon her companions to their fate. As he drives away, safe, Andrea sees the German soldiers searching the villa and then when he hears gunshots he realizes, with desperation, that Lucia has been killed.

''Bionic Commando'' takes place sometime in the 1980s and centers on two warring states: the Federation and the Empire. Federation Forces discover top secret documents about "Albatros", an unfinished project developed by the Empire's predecessor, the "Badds" (also known as the "Nazz" or Nazis in the Japanese version). Imperial leader Generalissimo Killt decides to complete the project himself. Upon learning the Empire's plot, the Federation sends in its national hero, Super Joe (the main character from the 1985 Capcom game ''Commando'') to infiltrate the Empire, but he is captured. The Federation then sends in a second operative named Ladd to rescue him and to uncover the secret behind the Albatros project. Ladd is a member of the FF (Double Force) Battalion, a team of commandos specially trained to use wired guns to infiltrate enemy bases.

Gameplay begins as Ladd starts in Area 1, in which he is told that the first several areas, already infiltrated by Federation troops, have communication devices and rooms that can be used to stay in contact with the Federation and for wiretapping to gain intelligence from the Empire. Upon reaching Area 3, Ladd finds through enemy intelligence that Super Joe has been transported to the Imperial "disposal area", which a Federation spy later confirms. However, upon reaching the disposal area, an Imperial commander tells Ladd that Super Joe has been transported elsewhere. Eventually, Ladd rescues Super Joe, who informs Ladd that the Albatros project is a powerful laser cannon the Badds were unable to complete. However, the one person vital to the project's completion, Master-D (Hitler), is dead, and Generalissimo Killt has been unsuccessfully trying to resurrect him. Super Joe tells Ladd that they must stop Killt before he succeeds, and he asks Ladd to accompany him to the Imperial base located in Area 12.

When Ladd reaches the Imperial base, Super Joe tells him to break the power system in order to release two power barriers that are guarding the incomplete project. After doing so, Super Joe tells Ladd to defeat Killt and escape while he goes to destroy the base's power source. When Ladd reaches Killt's chamber, Killt boasts that the Albatros project has been completed without Master-D's help, turning off the device that would have resurrected him. As Killt is about to kill Ladd , electric shocks begin to occur around the holding tank containing Master-D's body, reviving Master-D and instantly killing Killt. Master-D then exits the tank and approaches Ladd, saying that he will use the Federation's forces to take over the world. Ladd vows to fight against Master-D, who calls Ladd a "damn fool" and unveils the Albatros. After destroying the Albatros, Ladd encounters a dying comrade named Hal, who gives Ladd a bazooka and tells him that Master-D is escaping and that he needs to shoot the bazooka into the cockpit of Master-D's escape chopper. Ladd uses his bionic arm to swing himself towards Master-D's escape chopper and fires the bazooka into the cockpit; upon doing so, Ladd screams: "Your number's up! Monster!" Then, in a series of slow-motion frames, the game shows Master-D's head explode.

The 60-second alarm inside the Imperial base sounds off. Ladd escapes, realizes that Super Joe is still inside, and runs back in to rescue him. The Federation's commander orders the full evacuation of the base. At the Federation base, troops surround Ladd and Super Joe to celebrate their victory. On August 2, 2010, an old Super Joe recalls the entire story and hopes that it will live on.

In a country manor house currently owned by a New Age cult of mystics, the mysterious death of member William Carter stirs all the local gossips into a frenzy of speculation. However, the rumours of sinister events are confirmed when the so-called Master of the Lodge Is killed with a carving knife during a psychic regression.

Meanwhile, untrustworthy financier Guy Gamelin tries reconciling with his estranged, cultist daughter Sylvia, now called Suhami, as does her alcoholic mother. Chief Inspector Barnaby finds himself lost amidst a labyrinthine puzzle of deception, evil and pseudo-supernatural forces.

The peaceful land of Karinia is being terrorized by an evil man named Arturus. He is the leader of an evil army called the Avars, who have terrorized Karinia for years. As the Elite Forces fight the Avars, they receive a fragmented communication from Commander Joe (presumably Super Joe), an ally who had infiltrated their territory. Joe's message revealed that Arturus was planning to launch the Albatross Project. After that, communication with Cmdr. Joe was lost. The Bionic Corps contacted the Elite Forces to help stop the Avars, prevent the fall of Karinia, and rescue Joe. It is essentially a repeat of the events of the 1988 ''Bionic Commando'', except with a different twist by the end - rather than the resurrection of a long-dead dictator, it is revealed that the Albatross was originally a wrecked space vessel of unknown origin that can give its owner mutant powers.

Ferne Basset vicar's wife Ann Lawrence accuses Carlotta, a young homeless girl her husband has taken in, of stealing her precious heirloom earrings. Their argument escalates and the pair end up fighting on the area's picturesque bridge, when Carlotta falls off into the river below.

After her body doesn't re-surface, witness Charlie Leathers begins blackmailing Ann for money, until he's found garrotted and his pet dog, Candy, left savagely beaten. However, still another blackmail demand arrives and this time Ann won't pay. Meanwhile, Chief Inspector Barnaby peels away at the wholesome veneer of Ferne Basset in his hunt for a dangerous and sadistic killer.

2008: John Benton is celebrating his birthday by having a few friends round to his house at Hilsley Halt. But the monsters are lurking.

1908: Writer George Mackenzie-Trench is suffering from writer’s block unable to foresee the ending of his novel, ''Time’s Champion'', nor the consequences of its completion.

9908: The planet Caliban is under attack from Cyber-forces, and governor George Mackenzie-Trench intends to save their world by unleashing Abaddon, a powerful computer virus. But Abaddon has other instructions.

Meanwhile, Gallifrey is under attack and the Keeper is seeking answers within the Matrix. President Romana is helpless: no-one is who they seem and the conspiracy goes even deeper than she can imagine. She needs the Doctor...

But the Doctor is on Earth in 2008, fighting to save the life of a child who must survive at all costs.

As Gallifrey is attacked by ghosts from the past, the Doctor, Mel and Benton find themselves in the middle of an epic and final battle as the ancient gods choose their Champions and allow chaos to reign across all of time and space.

Kate and John Coleman's marriage is strained after the stillbirth of their third child, Jessica, whose loss is particularly hard on Kate who is a recovering alcoholic. She and John decide to adopt a 9-year-old Russian girl, Esther, from St. Mariana's Home for Girls, a local orphanage. While their 5-year-old deaf daughter, Max, embraces Esther, their 12-year-old son, Daniel, is cold towards her.

One night, John and Kate begin to have sex until Esther interrupts them. Kate becomes suspicious when Esther expresses far more knowledge of sex than expected of a child her age. Esther then exhibits hostile behavior in front of Max and Daniel, such as killing an injured pigeon and badly injuring a classmate who was bullying her. Sister Abigail, the head of the orphanage, visits the household, warning Kate and John that tragic events and accidents occur around Esther, including the house fire that killed her last adoptive family. When Sister Abigail leaves, Esther causes her to crash her car on the road and then bludgeons her to death with a hammer. She forces Max to help her move the body and then hides the evidence in Daniel's treehouse. Daniel sees them at the treehouse, and later that night, she interrogates him about what he saw, threatening to castrate him if he tells Kate and John.

As Kate becomes further convinced about Esther's unusual behavior, John believes she is being paranoid and tells Esther to do something nice for Kate. Esther rips out the flowers from Jessica's grave and gives them to Kate as a bouquet. Kate is horrified and roughly grabs Esther's arm in distress, asserting that she did this on purpose. That night, Esther breaks her own arm and falsely blames Kate, causing further strife in Kate and John's marriage. The next day, Esther releases the brake in the car, causing it to roll into oncoming traffic with Max inside. She also points out the wine she found in the kitchen, causing John and Kate's therapist to suggest Kate returns to rehab, with John threatening to leave her and take the children if she refuses. Kate discovers that Esther came from an Estonian mental hospital, and the orphanage she claims she was from has no record of her.

When Daniel learns about Sister Abigail's death from Max and searches the treehouse, Esther sets it on fire and attempts to kill him but is thwarted by Max. Daniel is seriously injured, and while in the hospital, Esther tries to smother him to death with a pillow, but doctors revive him. Kate, enraged, slaps Esther before she is restrained and sedated. That night, Esther dresses provocatively and attempts to seduce John, who threatens to send Esther back to the orphanage after realizing Kate had been right about Esther's behavior.

At the hospital, Kate is contacted by Dr. Värava of the Saarne Instituute and learns that Esther is actually a 33-year-old woman named Leena Klammer, born in Estonia. She has hypopituitarism, a rare hormonal disorder that stunted her physical growth and caused proportional dwarfism, and she has spent most of her life posing as a little girl. Leena is violent and has murdered at least seven people, including the last family that adopted her. After failing to seduce her adoptive father, Leena removes the ribbons she was wearing around her wrists and neck, which have been hiding scars from trying to break out of straitjackets during her time at the asylum. Leena removes her disguise and stabs John to death. Kate rushes home, and Leena attempts to shoot her, wounding her arm. After Leena opens fire on Max, Kate breaks through the roof and knocks Leena unconscious.

Kate and Max flee as police arrive, but Leena attacks Kate near the frozen pond, hurling them onto the ice. Max tries to shoot Leena but shatters the ice instead, sending Leena and Kate underwater. Kate begins to climb out, with Leena clinging to her legs. Leena reverts to her Esther persona, begging "Mommy" not to let her drown with a knife hidden behind her back. Kate retorts angrily that she is not Leena's "Mommy" and kicks her in the face, breaking her neck. Leena's body sinks into the pond as Kate and Max are met by police.

''Seventeen Against the Dealer'' is the final novel in the seven-part Tillerman Cycle. The novel takes up the story of Dicey Tillerman, now 21, who has dropped out of college despite a scholarship in order to start her own business building wooden sailboats. Dicey is the oldest of four Tillerman children, whose journey to Crisfield, Maryland and subsequent life there with their grandmother, Abigail Tillerman, or Gram as the children call her, is described in the preceding novels ''Homecoming'', ''Dicey's Song'', and ''Sons from Afar''.

As a continuation of the preceding Tillerman novels, this novel contains characters developed in the previous Tillerman books, notably Dicey's siblings James (now 18), Maybeth (16), and Sammy (15); her boyfriend Jeff Greene (23); her friend Mina Smiths (21), and Gram, the Tillerman's maternal grandmother with whom they have lived for 8 years.

The book is set in around 1986, and the events of the novel take place over a short time-span, between New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day. At the start of the novel, Dicey is just beginning her new boatbuilding business, which she has dropped out of college to start. To learn the trade, she has worked hard in a series of low-paid jobs in Annapolis and Crisfield and now she has built up a small amount of savings that she hopes will enable her to start realizing her dream. Dicey becomes increasingly absorbed in and even obsessed by her work, to the detriment of her relationship with Jeff, who asks Dicey to marry him at the start of the book, explaining that he does not want to have a casual relationship with her. Dicey makes some crucial mistakes in her new business, including failing to take out insurance on the tools and equipment in her workshop. When the workshop is broken into, she loses all she has and cannot make it up, despite help from Jeff. Increasingly desperate, Dicey takes help from a smooth-talking drifter who turns out to be a con artist. Eventually Dicey stacks the odds against herself and has to close up shop. As Dicey's preoccupation with her work increases, her family and friends fade from the pages of the novel, reflecting her neglect of them. Eventually, after a series of crises culminating in Gram's serious illness, Dicey realizes that her relationships are as important, if not more so, as her work..

The novel also develops, albeit in a lesser way, the characters of the other three Tillerman children, now young adults. James is a stellar student at Yale but as in previous novels experiences problems associated with reason and ethics. He has made close friends - including with Toby, whom he meets in ''Dicey's Song'' and is a chess aficionado. Maybeth has grown into a beautiful young woman, who has many female friends and is attractive to men - yet she is still studying hard and failing most classes in school. As she is courted by older men, the novel is haunted by the danger that she could repeat the mistakes of her mother, who left home to pursue an affair with a drifter twelve years her senior. Sammy is a hardworking young man who has a part-time job pumping gas in a service station; he has learned to take apart engines and helps the Tillermans buy their first car. He is a budding tennis star and wants to attend an expensive tennis summer camp.

The Tillermans' home has grown from an isolated place into a centre for social activity - on New Year's Day, for example, a tradition has grown up whereby family and friends gather at the Tillerman home, and a festive meal is eaten with singing and merriment. Gram is a central part of this, having grown considerably since her days of extreme isolation and loneliness.

Although Voigt's characters grow and learn over the course of the novel, the ending does not provide any definite resolutions or total closure. The characters still face difficulties and problems, and it is not clear how marriage to Jeff, for example, will bring Dicey, a hardworking and independent young woman, a resolution to her need and desire to express her independence through work.

Category:American young adult novels Category:1989 American novels Category:Fiction set in 1986 Category:Atheneum Books books

The ''Enterprise'' is sent to investigate Klingon activity in the galactic core. They encounter a shuttlecraft piloted by Thomas Clayton, from the long-lost ship, the USS ''Rickover''. Clayton is also an old friend of Kirk's, a former roommate from his time at Starfleet Academy.

Kirk is prepared to dismiss his unfortunate friend as a madman until a mysterious force seizes control of the ship. Clayton declares the ''Enterprise'' is now going to meet his new god.

Undercover FBI agent Jeff Crane is planted in the same prison as Sonny Black, who is suspected of belonging to the notorious Purple Gang. Jeff helps Sonny escape in the hope that he will lead Jeff to the rest of the gang.

Sonny is seriously wounded during the escape. Once the fugitives reach his home in central Wisconsin, he sends Jeff for Dr. Josiah Glass, an alcoholic who has saved the lives of many of the gang members. In his rush, Jeff forces a bus off the road during a late-night rainstorm. One of the passengers, Maria Theresa "Terry" O'Reilly, badgers him until he takes the stranded people back to town. However, he refuses Terry's persistent requests that he drive her to her destination, only a few miles away.

Jeff finds Dr. Glass, but has to wait, as the storm has made a bridge impassible. During that time, he and Terry become acquainted. He learns that she is going to see her brother "Dinkie". She has not seen him in many years, and he has not responded to her letter about his inheritance from their uncle. Jeff is shocked when he sees a photograph of her brother: Dinkie is Sonny. Terry is unaware of Sonny's criminal activity.

When Jeff takes Dr. Glass to Sonny, Terry stows away in the car. She meets Sonny, and learns that he is the subject of a nationwide manhunt. However, family ties are strong, and she helps nurse him back to health. Later, when Sonny slaps Terry for persistently trying to persuade him to turn himself in, Jeff cannot control himself. He punches Sonny. Sonny angrily orders Jeff and Terry to leave, at gunpoint.

Jeff's boss, Special Agent James Duff, had warned Jeff not to get involved with Terry. The whole operation seems to be derailed, so Duff fires Jeff.

However, Jeff has an idea. Knowing that the gang is planning to strike that day, he tricks Dr. Glass into taking him to their hideout, a roadhouse named Little Paree. He notifies Duff, who arranges an ambush. A fierce gunfight ensues. All of the gang members are killed except Sonny, who escapes. A dying Dr. Glass confirms that Sonny was the boss.

Weeks go by, but Sonny eludes capture. A newspaper publishes photographs of Sonny and Jeff side by side—one captioned "Public Enemy No. 1", and the other "Public Hero No. 1". Duff and Jeff learn that Sonny has undergone plastic surgery. Knowing that he must be short of money, they place an advertisement supposedly from Terry offering to provide Dinkie with money. His sister is placed under surveillance at the vaudeville theater where she is the cashier. Sure enough, he approaches her for money at the theater and is spotted. Terry warns him, but he is gunned down in an alley by Jeff.(Several critics have noted the similarity between Sonny's death scene and the killing of John Dillinger outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago.)

Afterwards, Terry wants nothing to do with her brother's killer. However, Jeff corners her on a train and they reconcile.

Slug McSlug, a notorious criminal (and anthropomorphic dog) rides a green sedan to the Last National Bank. He gets out of the car, uses a bump key to unlock the door of the bank, and commits a successful robbery. Then radios announced the robbery and Slug McSlug is chased by police. During the chase, He paints his sedan yellow and finally reaches his country hideout, where he is promptly visited by an uninvited Daffy Duck, who is a door-to-door salesman of a variety of items. McSlug slams the door in Daffy's face, but Daffy doggedly persists in his efforts to sell ''something'' to McSlug, raising the ire of the wanted criminal. McSlug hammers a fake foot by Daffy, who zaps McSlug with a joy buzzer. Daffy is evicted, but brings McSlug more confusion when he gets back inside via this time, in a helicopter ("Just a little device to gain entrance to where one is not exactly welcome."). McSlug throws Daffy out of the house again, but Daffy brings him even more confusion when he saws a hole and uses an elevator to gain entry and tells McSlug that he is not leaving until he sells him something. McSlug asks for brass knuckles and when he gets them, the bank robber prepares to punch Daffy, only to shatter them and hit his fist on an iron (Morse code is heard). McSlug opens fire on Daffy with a machine gun, who, conveniently, is wearing a sample of his company's bullet-proof vests. "Guaranteed to get your money back if it fails to work!" says Daffy. McSlug then tries to punch out Daffy, but he literally flies through the wall. In the dark, Daffy is looking for McSlug, and insults him, but when the lights turn on, he finds that he is looking at himself in the mirror, and Daffy, realizing that he is insulting his own reflection in the mirror at "Nincompoop", and McSlug, finally growing tired of his persistence and impudence, says, "Why, you!", and starts to chase after Daffy, but Daffy gets the drop on him again by having McSlug run into a brick wall. When Daffy turns on the gas of McSlug's stove to demonstrate the igniting power of his sample lighter, McSlug literally throws Daffy out and tries the lighter himself, which blows the hideout and McSlug sky-high. The victorious Daffy yells toward the sky: "Hey, bub! You need a house to go with this doorknob!!!"

In the Los Angeles streets, Danny Boy is a gangster without compassion or regret. His sends his gang out to carjack a rapper dubbed Cash Flow. However, in the process, his gang ends up killing Anita Terrazas, the former girlfriend of a local TV-station manager, Bryan Gordon. The victim also happens to be the mother of Mario, who is the leader of Danny Boy's own gang. Gordon's ambitious young reporter, Samantha Rodriguez, used to be involved with the local gangs, but has now cleaned up her act and lectures high school kids about the ills of gangs. Anita, Mario's grandmother, thinks he is wasting his life. She also disdains Gordon for the way he impacted her daughter's life. Soon, all the gangs band together to get Danny Boy, but he is smart, fearless and driven without conscience. The police are also after him. It is a race to see who will get him first.

Summary

''Blood Noir'' appears to take place a short time after ''The Harlequin''; however it is not noted exactly how much time has elapsed. There are a few main themes in the novel, which are mostly resolved by the end.

• In Jason's hometown, one of his ancestors had more than his fair share of offspring. Hence, Jason's features are repeated in various cousins and other relatives. During high school Jason was always confused with two of his cousins who happen to be twins. Keith Summerland used the confusion to his benefit a few times, tricking people to believe he was Jason or letting Jason get the beating for Keith's deeds.
  ** As soon as Jean-Claude's private jet lands in North Carolina, Jason is confused for Keith. The local and national media is interested in Keith Summerland because he is getting married and his father, who is currently a governor, is thinking of running for the Presidency. Meanwhile, Jason's father has been given only weeks to live, so time is of the essence. In addition, Jason has rented a hotel room in the same location that Keith is supposed to stay in and where the bridal party is taking place. ** Keith Summerland is in trouble again, he's fallen for a vampire and would rather marry her than the girl his father wants to marry him to. However, the vampire is already married and her husband does not take kindly to Keith trying to take his bride.

• In ''The Harlequin'' Anita was given a charm that is supposed to keep Marmee Noir away. When Anita meets a tiger that calls to one of the tigers inside her, the charm fails or perhaps the Mother of Darkness overpowers it. Previous books have had Anita give her beast to someone else since she cannot shift with a fair amount of success, however Jason would only be able to help Anita if her inner wolf was giving her trouble. Marmee Noir uses Anita to send out a call to every unattached tiger in the nation. ** Specifically, two tigers in the area come to Anita, and Jason, instantly and are essentially raped by her for two days. One is Crispin from Las Vegas (who broaches the rape issue), a stripper and the other is Alexander Pinn, who is a closeted reporter. Crispin is from a white tiger clan, while Alex is from a red tiger clan. ** Once again, Anita could be pregnant. Jason tells the possible-daddies-to-be tigers that the would-be baby is probably his and they then allow her to get a morning-after pill. Otherwise, either tiger would have happily married and taken Anita back to his clan. Crispin appears to have been rolled by Anita and is rather heartbroken when she sends him away, while Alex had a harder time fighting Anita's call.
  ** Marmee Noir may be thousands of miles physically from Anita, but she can still reach out and touch the necromancer. When Anita loses consciousness, Marmee Noir wakes her and slashes her shirt open despite being so far away. However, she does not reveal why she is so interested in Anita. It could be that she wants Anita for her own human servant, as other Masters of the City may as well. When the link between Anita and Jean-Claude is broken, they believe that Anita may have been marked by Marmee Noir, but once Anita reclaims her anger from Richard the link is back. Marmee Noir cannot understand Anita's rage because it belongs to Anita and was not passed down from her to any of Marmee Noir's vampire descendants.

• The last theme is the desire to be "normal", which most of the main characters admit to wanting. Normal as in what society says most humans want: find a true love, meet the family, get married, have kids, live happily ever after. Unfortunately for Anita, her life is anything but normal, but she's the only one who appears to accept that. When Jason takes Anita home to meet his family, Jean-Claude and Micah both express the desire to do that as well.
  Jean-Claude is jealous because while he would want Anita to meet his family, they have all died so long ago that no one knows him from when he was human is left. Anita tells him that she has in a sense met his mother, she's in some sense met Belle Morte and he replies that she is not 'his people.' Belle Morte may be the head of Jean-Claude's bloodline but she is not the matriarch of his family.
  Micah broke his ties with his family to keep them safe. When Chimera was alive, he would use family against the members of his pard. With Chimera dead, Micah expresses the desire to introduce Anita to his family. However, Nathaniel is also a part of Anita's and Micah's life which leaves Micah uncertain if all three of them should visit. Nathaniel's role in their life is not so clear and simple nor "normal" as the roles of 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend.'
  ** Richard also wants his life to be normal, he wants Anita to be his wife and to live essentially behind a white picket fence. They have quarreled about this many times in many books. When he finds Anita has gained two more lovers to her list or bed post, Richard is distressed. Once Anita takes away her rage from him, he gains a new talent. The talent is the ardor and unfortunately, there is a learning curve to it and at first he tries to use it against her until Jason calls him on it and then Richard simply leaves Anita alone. ** Jason's desire to be normal shows in trying to appease his father one last time. To try to convince him that Anita is his girlfriend is the least he can do, while he still has time left to say goodbye to his father. A media frenzy of poor timing and rumors will not stop him in visiting his abusive father in the hopes for that one perfect moment of acceptance that he never had when he was growing up. Jason had no desire for athletics and his choice of theater was not what his father wanted for him. In fact, nearly everything Jason has tried to do to please his father has failed. It is not until the end of the book, when Jason is nearly taken away from his family that Franklin Schuyler realizes exactly how much Jason means to him.

Patrick Martin (Joseph Cotten), known as P.M., is a wealthy attorney and rancher in the border town of Nogales, Arizona. He returns home to find his brother Donald (Van Johnson) hiding in his garage. A former drunkard, Donald had been sent to the penitentiary five years previously for killing a man in a barroom brawl. It was in self-defense but P.M. hadn't defended his brother and he was convicted.

Donald has escaped and wants his brother to help him across the Santa Cruz River into the Mexico-side Nogales, where his wife (Shawn Smith) and children (Kim Charney and Sandy Descher) are in dire straits. The straits get even more dire when P.M. tells him the river is flooded and it will be days before anyone can cross.

P.M. is all atwitter because his wife Nora (Ruth Roman), whom he married after Donald had gone to prison, doesn't know about his jail-bird brother. He introduces Donald to Nora and the rest of his Cadillac Cowboy and ranch society friends as an old friend, Eric Bell, and is kept busy trying to make sure Donald doesn't find anything harder than ginger ale to drink.

Donald gets a telephone call telling him that his family has gone from dire straits to destitution, and when P.M. refuses to help through his contacts in the Mexico side of Nogales, Donald knocks him down, grabs a couple of bottles of whiskey and dashes out of the house into the rain.

Nora eventually discovers Donald's true identity and persuades P.M. to help Donald's family. But after a report that Donald has committed a theft, Hal Breckinridge (Jack Carson) forms a posse to bring Donald back. P.M. is reluctant to aid a felon, but eventually shows Donald a place in the river to cross safely into Mexico, but falls off his horse and then nearly drowns. Donald saves his life, then surrenders to the law.

The story opens with Armstrong and his colleague Ferdy Foxwell returning from a six-week mission aboard a nuclear submarine, gathering data on Soviet communications and electronic warfare techniques in the Arctic Ocean. He and Foxwell visit "The Bonnet", a rural Scottish public house. On returning to London, Armstrong's car breaks down on his way home and he decides to use the phone in his old flat, for which he still has the key. He is surprised and disturbed to discover that the flat has been refurnished, including photographs which he owns but with someone else replacing him in the images, wearing identical clothes. He discovers a door hidden in the back of the wardrobe leading into the adjoining flat, which has been fitted out as some kind of sick bay. When he leaves the flat thinking that a taxi he ordered has arrived, he is confronted by Special Branch officers who have a former member of the Studies Centre verify who he is before releasing him.

While they were away, the Studies Centre acquired a new boss, the abrasive American, Charles Schlegel, a former Marine Corps Colonel. Foxwell and Schlegel do not get on at all well and even less so when Schlegel makes Armstrong his Personal Assistant. Shortly after his return, Armstrong is about to leave his flat when it is ransacked by KGB Colonel Oleg Stok and two assistants, who even blow open a safe left by the previous occupant. They offer no explanation for this, leaving Armstrong yet more puzzled. At a party at Ferdy Foxwell's palatial London house, Armstrong learns that Foxwell is close to MP Ben Toliver and has even been passing him classified information. Also at the party is Dawlish, the head of the intelligence organisation WOOC (P) of earlier books. We learn that Armstrong worked for Dawlish before deciding to quit intelligence work. Dawlish tries to recruit him but Armstrong turns him down.

Toliver has a suspicious car accident returning home from Foxwell's party. Armstrong traces the woman who was reported to be with him to a small French restaurant, where he discovers photos of a Soviet Rear-Admiral and a Soviet Rear-Admiral's uniform being made. He returns to the restaurant later to discover it deserted. Breaking in, he discovers all traces of what he had earlier seen have been removed, along with all paperwork. Armstrong uses the Studies Centre library to find the name of the Soviet Rear-Admiral: Remoziva, whose equally high-achieving sister is leading a Soviet delegation negotiating the re-unification of East and West Germany.

Leaving the restaurant, he is met by a high-ranking police officer who escorts him to Battersea, from where a helicopter takes him to Heathrow Airport, from whence he is flown north in a small single-engine aircraft. It takes him to a remote location in the West of Scotland, where he finds Toliver and his co-conspirators. It appears that they have been running their own unauthorised intelligence operation to arrange the defection of Admiral Remoziva, who will die within a year if he does not receive treatment for a kidney condition. The plan is to meet the Admiral on the Arctic ice and leave a corpse in his place. They had planned to keep him at Armstrong's former flat, and use the adjoining medical bay to treat him. Armstrong receives a message from an unidentified member of the clique advising him to leave, which he does. After a nightmare journey through a snow storm, he reaches a road, where he finds Dawlish and Schlegel waiting. They tell him that the defection is still on, though using a USN submarine instead of a British one.

Out on the Arctic ice, they rendezvous with Remoziva's helicopter but it turns out to contain Colonel Stok. After a brief struggle the helicopter takes off with one of Stok's men holding on to Foxwell. Armstrong grabs Foxwell's legs and is also hauled aloft. He fires at the man holding Foxwell and they both fall to the ice. He manages to lift Foxwell and staggers off to where their submarine has surfaced but by the time he reaches it Foxwell is dead. At the end of the book it is revealed that the scheme was to discredit Remoziva and by association, his siblings; his sister is forced to step down from the German Re-unification negotiations, causing the talks to collapse.

Image from the Game Boy game The Game Boy version follows the same plot as the NES version, changing the present-day setting of the NES version with a futuristic one. The player takes the role of Rad Spencer (Ladd in the original NES version), an agent of the FF Corps (the FF Battalion in the NES version), whose mission is to rescue his ally Super Joe from the Doraize Army and prevent their leader, Director Wiseman (named after the Weizmann character from the Japanese Famicom game, who was renamed Killt in the NES localization), from the Doraize Army's secret project codenamed Albatross

This version also shifts the military theme present in the original to a more sci-fi territory. The uniforms and helmets of the enemies are changed for futuristic armors and "spiky" hair. This version also adds a more modern cinema-like opening and ending sequences. These sequences and character drawings in the in-game dialogues, making the Game Boy version more story oriented.

The core plot of Foreign Body concerns "medical tourism in India, focusing on “a group of dangerous Indian beauties” whose nursing skills will be put to some nefarious use."

The narrative revolves around a high school student named Shinya Matsumoto and his love story, which takes place in the summer vacation. Shinya unexpectedly encounters a car accident, which results in a mother and son being taken to a hospital. The son, Daisuke Kirishima, is completely fine while his mother, Reiko Kirishima must stay in the hospital for three weeks and is unable to look after her son thereafter. Reiko’s younger sister, Yuki Kirishima, visits the hospital but she turns out to be Shinya’s classmate and love interest. Yuki, who needs to care for Daisuke Kirishima, faces problematic situation as there is no place for Daisuke to settle down. Shinya suggests that he will provide room for Daisuke to live and Yuki visits his house on regular basis to care for them. Shinya then starts a romantic relationship with Yuki.

In 1902, adventurer Gilbert De Quincey, a descendant of Thomas De Quincey. is hired by the editor of a Chinese newspaper to stop auctions of trafficked Chinese women to be the brides of Chinese men resident in the United States. The community is split down the middle with those feeling the traditional practice is the only way for overseas Chinese to obtain brides, and those who regard the practise as indecent.

Tenussian Vaccuvasco (the word does not have any meaning except perhaps a state of chaos, and is just another word play by Shokof) was made in Berlin, Germany in 2000. It was produced by Taies Farzan, and was shot in 3 days with digital cameras and had a cast of over 100 people who had to undergo amazing physical burdens for the film.

Each window in the building shows the life of a crowd and or residents in the apartment in the building block. Residents differ from Boxers to drug dealers to lovers and or a Maniac couple slapping each other in the face for fun. Their funny ritual of slapping each other in the face ends in a bloody finale. As the film continues the stories begin to become more intertwined and complicated. Finally they start to relate to one another and begin to even collide and connect. The hilarious situations peak as people start going into other people's apartments through the open windows in the building block. The party people enter the room of the drug dealer and steal the drugs that actually belongs to bad group of organized crime people who are after the dealer anyway, and will later find him to clear their accounts. Many different situations and absurd dramaturgy of each scene in each apartment keeps the tenants busy and engaged with humorous results.

Soon more twists and troubles prevail alongside much fun and comedy moments that give the whole film a layer of lightheartedness. Shokof explained that some of the actors had to run up and down the stairs in order to be ready to act in the next scene and in a different apartment more than 5 times in a single hour to keep the continuity of the scenes intact as they had to shoot without a "cut". The Boxers had to box for over half an hour in their room on the fourth floor before the crane and camera could have reached them after covering other stories from the first floor up and "uncut". The boxers had to remain boxing for almost an hour to keep the film in continuity when the camera finally reached their scene on the fourth floor.

The music contributions by Ravi Shankar and Mikis Theodorakis, Dissidenten, Geheimbund, and Taies Farzan make the whole film a popular one for regular movie viewers, even though the film remains an experimental effort to the end.

A bookshop renowned for its rare works is mysteriously filled with copies of a book entitled ''1'', which doesn't appear to have a publisher or author. The strange almanac is filled with tables and statistics that describe everything that happens in the world in the course of one minute. A police investigation begins and the bookshop staff, along with a mysterious visitor from Vatican City who arrived just as the book did, are placed in solitary confinement by the Bureau for Paranormal Research (RDI - Reality Defense Institute). As the investigation progresses, the situation becomes more complex and the book increasingly well known, raising numerous controversies. Slowly, the lead investigator, Phil Pitch, begins to lose his grip on reality.

A woman is found dead in the atrium of a Roman building. In that same building lives the police commissioner Pietrangeli, in charge of the investigations, with his daughter Silvia. It soon turns out that Manni, the new tenant of the building, was the husband of the dead woman. The couple had been separated for some time, but the woman kept asking him for money. The man tries to exonerate himself, but the alleged alibi cannot be revealed, in fact Manni has for some time now formed a bond with Silvia who has never had the courage to speak with her father. Cornered, the girl confesses and runs away with the man but she is tracked down thanks to the help of Giorgio, another tenant. During a tough confrontation, the police arrive who had been alerted by an anonymous phone call. Thanks to this phone call from a night club, the commissioner will be able to discover the identity of the murderer and withdraw the resignation he had submitted due to the delicate situation in which he found himself.

In 1960, in a bar lounge in Manhattan, Don Draper (Jon Hamm), creative director for the advertising agency Sterling Cooper, is facing professional adversity: how to effectively advertise cigarettes in light of the growing public awareness to the dangers of smoking and new government regulations prohibiting the use of false health claims. He seeks input from customers and his girlfriend Midge Daniels (Rosemarie DeWitt) but is unable to find a solution, while rejecting the academic research results provided by the company's consulting psychologist that suggests some customers are drawn to smoking not only despite the health risks but because of them, in a collective "death wish" scenario.

Concurrently, it is Peggy Olson's (Elisabeth Moss), first day at Sterling Cooper as Don's secretary, where she experiences the common sexual harassment that occurred in the 60s. A wide-eyed Brooklyn girl, she is a little overwhelmed but excited to be working in Manhattan. Office manager and subversive Venus Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks) advises Peggy on how to appeal to men for success in her career here until she finds the ultimate success: marriage. Junior account executive Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) makes juvenilely boorish comments about Peggy's appearance and clothing, for which Don rebukes him. On her break, Peggy attends a doctor's appointment arranged by Joan, during which she undergoes a vaginal examination and is given a prescription for the recently introduced oral contraceptive, Enovid, which at the time was only supposed to be prescribed to married women with their husband's consent.

Don and Roger Sterling (John Slattery) meet with Rachel Menken (Maggie Siff) for a consultation on her father's high end and Jewish department store. In an attempt to make Rachel more positively-inclined towards the agency, Roger enlists the only Jew in the company, a young man from the mailroom, to attend the meeting disguised as a member of the art department. Don mistakes the man for the owner due to his assumption that it will always be a man. Rachel, looking to attract refined and wealthy customers, is disappointed by the agency's suggestions of coupons to attract housewives as well as their questioning of why she did not select a Jewish agency, to which she replies that she was under the impression that Sterling Cooper was innovative, and that when she consulted with the Jewish agencies their research favored coupons too. Don, having never being spoken to by a woman like that, reacts negatively and leaves.

A later meeting with executives from Lucky Strike tobacco company also goes downhill, as reliably creative Don has yet to find a pitch. Pete inserts himself with the "death wish" idea put forth by the company's research, which he found snooping through Don's garbage. The executives reject this and prepare to leave displeased but Don tells them to wait. Pulling a new tagline from the process of making cigarettes and thin air—"It's toasted!"—associating their product with sunshine and making it sound benign, exemplifying what Don believes about advertising: that it is based on one thing. Happiness. The client is pleased, and after the meeting, Don expresses his anger with Pete. Remembering Joan's advice, Peggy attempts to thank Don in flirtatious way, for standing up for her with Pete earlier, and tears up from shame when he rejects it. However, he tells her that he understands she only did it because she thought she had to.

Begrudgingly, Don meets Rachel for dinner to make amends for the meeting. During the dinner, Don rebukes her naïve take on love and attempts to play the part of the Byronic bachelor, but Rachel recognizes in Don the element of an outsider, and says that she too knows what it feels like to be disconnected and out of place. The two of them begin to bond, and she agrees to give Sterling Cooper another shot. Meanwhile, Pete and some of his co-workers go to a gentlemen's club to celebrate Pete's impending wedding. There, a woman rejects Pete's advances, and feeling dejected from this and Don's recent criticisms, Pete arrives drunk at Peggy's apartment, to which she lets him in. Don takes a train to a large house in the suburbs, where he is greeted by his wife, blonde beauty Betty Draper (January Jones), who has not been mentioned before in the episode. He checks on their two sleeping children as she watches from the doorframe.

The planet Tasak is about to enter its industrial age. But it arrives as the result of a terrible secret from its past.

At a junkyard in the far future, the Doctor discovers the fate of some old friends.

The Sanctuary of Imperfect Symmetry on Indigo 3. And the Crocodiles are coming.

The game takes place within a house called "Maison Lolita" where under-aged cartoon girls run around without clothes, and play games which involve cheating death. The player must solve puzzles in order to save the cartoon girls from violent deaths, or to see the girls without their clothes on.[http://erogamescape.dyndns.org/~ap2/ero/toukei_kaiseki/memo.php?game=18169&uid=Lumis.Eterne 「ロリータシンドローム」の感想], ErogameScape The game was not originally advertised as containing gore, and this element was only hinted at on the game's packaging:

It's a race to steal the mysterious Black Diamond in 19th century Sweden.

The Doctor and Lucie are visiting Auntie Pat in the 1980s, where she owns a lakeside hotel and is married to a man named Trevor. Two executives from a record company to convince Trevor, a former folk singer, to make a comeback, but Trevor refuses. That night, Lucie follows the executives to the lake and sees them drinking Skarasen milk before being caught. When Lucie returns to the Doctor she insists that they investigate the cellar, and they find a Zygon body-print machine with the ''real'' Trevor inside.

The Doctor and Lucie reveal to Pat that her husband is a Zygon, but she already knows, and loves him anyway. Lucie returns to the executives, and it is revealed that they are all Zygons in disguise. They need to recover a vital control crystal from Warmaster Hagoth – Trevor – but he has given it to Pat as a brooch, and now it's fused to the skin of her throat. When the executives kidnap Pat, the Doctor and Trevor follow her to the Zygon ship, with the fake Lucie in tow. On the ship, the Doctor rescues the real Lucie and outs the fake.

The Zygons rip the brooch from Pat's throat, killing her in the process and allowing them to arm warheads and launch an attack on the Earth. Trevor, distraught over Pat's death and not caring about his own life, allows the Doctor and Lucie to escape and then commands the Skarasen to attack and destroy the ship, stopping the Zygon plot. Lucie is unable to accept that her Auntie Pat is dead, since she knew her in the future. Once Lucie has gone to sleep Trevor returns in his Zygon form. Using the last of his strength he permanently takes the form of Auntie Pat and resolves to live an ordinary life and allow Lucie to believe the real Pat survived.

Rabbi Avraham and his wife Esther have one son, Menachem, whose birth they regard as miraculous. Menachem's curiosity about the world is repeatedly stymied by his father, who in one instance forces him to rip up an "idolatrous" picture. Foreshadowed by an instance of ''Shiluach haken,'' a trip to the Dead Sea — the eponymous "summer vacation" — ends with Menachem drowning and his parents mourning.

Every school year, Leigh Botts writes a letter to his favorite author, Boyd Henshaw. In the 6th grade, Leigh's class has an assignment to write letters to their favorite authors. Leigh includes all the questions he was given as a numbered list. Mr. Henshaw writes back, teases Leigh for not doing research, and includes more questions for the boy to answer. Leigh is angry and at first refuses to answer. When Leigh's mother finds out, she demands he show Mr. Henshaw the courtesy of a reply.

Through his answers to Mr. Henshaw, Leigh's concerns and conflicts are revealed. He struggles with his parents' divorce, being the new kid in school, his relationship with a neglectful father, and a school lunch thief. In a later letter, Mr. Henshaw encourages him to keep a diary of his thoughts and feelings. Leigh is reconciled to the writer, and his new diary is at first written to a Mr. Pretend Henshaw.

Through writing this diary, Leigh learns to accept the parts of his life he cannot change. He must deal with problems that many other children also have to cope with, such as feeling lonely because he is new in town and completing school assignments. His parents will never remarry, he can never fully depend on his father, and he must find adult ways to deal with "bad things", such as not finding the person who still steals his lunch.

Leigh decides to write for the Young Writers club. When he is unable to turn out a story or poem for a school writing contest, he writes a memory of when he and his father hauled grapes to a factory. This earns him an honorable mention in the school yearbook. When one of the contestants turns out to have cheated, Leigh earns his place for lunch with a famous author. Even though the author is not Mr. Henshaw, she compliments Leigh's story.

The two main characters, Bruno Walton and Melvin “Boots” O'Neal, are small-time troublemakers who share a room at the Macdonald Hall boarding school some miles north of Toronto, circa 1980. Across the road is a girls' boarding school, Miss Scrimmage's Finishing School For Young Ladies. Best friends, they play mischievous pranks on the school, faculty and other students. They are constantly under the watch of Headmaster William Sturgeon, nicknamed “The Fish” due to his surname but also due to the trademark stern, fishy-like stare he uses on his students whenever he disapproves of them.

Following the abduction of an overweight cat mascot of a rival hockey team (in an attempt to demoralize them), Sturgeon forbids them from seeing each other and separates them. Bruno moves in with the school genius, Elmer Drimsdale, while Boots is placed with wealthy hypochondriac George Wexford-Smith III. The two can't stand their new roommates and decide to meet at a cannon at night to discuss ways of getting back into their old room together.

The two prominent ideas they have, including having both Elmer and George complain to the headmaster to get them to move elsewhere, and then framing their roommates to have themselves moved away from them, get them into more trouble.

Eventually they come up with the idea to study hard to get into the Honor Roll to show they're capable and should be able to move back in together as a reward, but the plan backfires after Sturgeon attributes the boys' resulting high marks as the result of their separation. In desperation they meet again, but en route to the cannon, they spot an entangled hot air balloon stuck in a tree and find a boy stuck up there. They rescue the boy (named Francisco) using a volleyball net and take him to Sturgeon, who realizes he's the son of an important ambassador from Ottawa who got lost in a balloon during the day. They are then interrupted by Elmer Drimsdale, who witnessed the balloon in his telescope and had concluded it was a UFO. He causes a massive disturbance between both schools.

The next morning, the Ambassador arrives at the school to retrieve his lost son and honor the people responsible for rescuing him – Bruno, Boots, and Elmer, who receive medals from the RCMP, the Ontario Provincial Police, and the Ambassador, who is ironically representing the country of ''Malbonia'', the country of which flag Bruno and Boots had used in a prank earlier in the novel. For Macdonald Hall to honour them, Elmer receives a new telescope and Bruno and Boots get their wish – to share a room again.

In Act I Pan challenges Apollo to a musical contest, with Tmolus as the judge. Tmolus awards the victory to Apollo. Pan challenges his decision, asking the mortal King Midas to decide the contest. Midas has a bias towards Pan and decides in favour of him. Apollo, upset at this mortal's interference in immortal affairs, punishes Midas by turning his ears into ass's ears, saying "thus to the world / Wear thou the marks of what thou art, / Let Pan himself blush at such a judge". Zopyrion, Midas's prime minister, helps the king figure out to hide his ears: they design a crown to hide them. Although Zopyrion is determined to keep the king's secret, he still finds the situation hysterical. When he encounters Asphalion, a courtier, he misunderstands him and thinks that Asphalion also knows the secret. Asphalion discovers he has a secret, but not what it is. After Asphalion leaves, Zopyrion whispers the secret to the "greenest reeds that sway / And nod your feathered heads beneath the sun". Bacchus then arrives, searching for Silenus. Bacchus decides to reward Midas for his hospitality and offers to grant him any wish he wants. Although his prime minister suggests that he wish for his original ears back, Midas wishes that everything he touches be turned to gold. During this conversation, Midas is convinced he hears Zopyrion whispering his secret, but it is really the reeds saying "Midas, the king, has the ears of an ass."

Act II begins with Midas enamored with his new power of turning things to gold. However, his courtiers complain of being forced to wear heavy golden clothing. Midas rebukes them, saying "I am a God!". But Midas himself begins to experience the problems of turning everything he touches to gold: he cannot eat, for example. He starts to regret his wish, saying "Oh! fool! to wish to change all things to gold! / Blind Ideot that I was!". Midas prays to Bacchus to take away his power, begging "Make me a hind, clothe me in ragged skins— / And let my food be bread, unsavoury roots, / But take from me the frightful curse of gold". Midas has his courtiers sacrifice to the gods to see if he can be relieved of his curse; Bacchus relents and tells him to bathe in the river. The courtiers find it strange that he does not remove his crown while he swims; one of them resolves to peek under his crown while he is sleeping. Returning from his swim, Midas celebrates nature, saying gold "is a sordid, base and dirty thing;— / Look at the grass, the sky, the trees, the flowers, / These are Joves treasures & they are not gold".

In their continuing journey to find the feathers which are the fragments of Princess Sakura's lost memory, Syaoran, Kurogane, Fai D. Flowright, Mokona Modoki and Sakura move through time and space. They visit the Country of Birdcages, an apparently-peaceful country where people and birds live together; each person has a companion bird. When they arrive Syaoran, Princess Sakura and Mokona are separated from Kurogane and Fai, who are confronted by the King's warriors and captured. Syaoran, Sakura and Mokona meet Koruri, who introduces them to her princess (an alternate version of Princess Tomoyo). Tomoyo tells Syaoran's group that the king (her uncle) oppresses the country's citizens, seizing their birds and planning to seal the country with a key. They are attacked by the king's bird-like soldier, who easily defeats Syaoran and Tomoyo's commander and kidnaps Princess Tomoyo and Mokona.

Syaoran, Princess Sakura, Koruri and the commander infiltrate the king's castle to rescue Tomoyo. The king unleashes Dodo, an enormous bird. Fai, Kurogane and Mokona escape from their cages, and are confronted by Dodo's offspring. They rejoin Syaoran's group, and climb to the castle's upper floors to stop the king. Princess Sakura gives Syaoran a ring which she had received from Princess Tomoyo; Syaoran confronts Dodo, realizing that the ring is composed of all the citizens' birds. Princess Tomoyo's bird Lei-Fan helps Syaoran fight Dodo, who is carrying the king. Tomoyo tells Syaoran to use the ring to fight the king and Syaoran, surrounded by fire, launches himself to destroy Dodo. He knocks out the king, whose body transforms into a bird and leaves one of Princess Sakura's feathers behind. Because of the ring the country remains trapped in darkness, and Syaoran's group asks Dimensional Witch Yuko Ichihara for help. Princess Tomoyo gives Yūko her bell, sacrificing the relationship between the citizens and the birds in exchange for a key which frees the country from its darkness.

Ruslan Drachev (Steven Seagal) is a former Russian mobster and a current writer of hardboiled pulp fiction novels living in California when he gets a call from his ex-wife Catherine (Inna Korobkina) that his daughter Lanie (Laura Mennell) is getting married.

Not wanting to miss the wedding, Ruslan catches the red eye to New Jersey and heads into Trenton to see Lanie, who is an attorney in the D.A.'s office in Trenton. Ruslan is somewhat concerned that Lanie is marrying Stephan Abramov (Dmitry Chepovetsky), the son of Mikhail Abramov (Igor Jijikine), the brutal boss of the local Russian mob outfit.

Later on, Ruslan finds that Catherine is now married to wealthy local defense attorney Terry Goldstein (Robert Wisden). Lanie tells Ruslan that Terry is a jerk. Ruslan pulls Stephen to the side, and Stephen assures Ruslan that he has no interest of joining the family business and just wants to love his new wife and start a new life.

After everyone but Catherine and Lanie leaves to go to the church where the wedding will take place, A pair of men break in, stab Catherine to death, and then stab Lanie, leaving her in critical condition.

Detective Norden (Ingrid Torrance) and Detective Lavastic (Zak Santiago) are heading the investigation. It was made to look like a robbery, but Ruslan knows full well that it was not a robbery. At East Lawn Hospital, Dr. Brown (Linda Minard) tells Ruslan that she expects Lanie to recover.

Ruslan starts his own investigation and learns that Mikhail, who hates Ruslan, was behind the attack. Terry, who is Mikhail`s attorney, is also in on it. Mikhail despised the thought of Stephan marrying a prosecuting attorney instead of following in Mikhail's footsteps, and Catherine was about to blow the whistle on some of Terry's corrupt activities. However, Ruslan is willing to do whatever it takes to make Mikhail and Terry pay for what they did.

Peter Gwazdauskas, a third-grade boy with Down Syndrome is beginning traditional school with regularly developing students for the first time. Originally, he was in a school only with other students with autism and special needs. Peter was enrolled in a traditional school because federal law states that students with special needs should be educated with regularly developing students in traditional schools. Peter's first half of the school year was not going well because he was exhibiting behaviors such as making loud noises, rolling around on the floor, and being injurious towards other students in class. But when it was the middle of the year in January, things started to improve much better for Peter and he did just fine towards the end of the school year. Because of his improvements throughout the year, Peter received an award for being an exceptional student on the last day of school along with his other classmates.

The story revolves around a practical joke played by the monk E'in. E'in erects a sign next to the Sarusawa Pond reading "On the third day of the third month, the dragon of this pond will ascend to heaven".Akutagawa, Ryūnosuke. "Dragon: The Old Potter's Tale." 1919. ''Rashōmon and 17 Other Stories''. Trans. Jay Rubin. New York City: Penguin Group, 2006. 3-9. However, though E'in intended the joke to affect only those in his immediate area, his sign ends up attracting many from miles around, including many influential lords and his superstitious aunt. A numberless crowd watches the lake faithfully as E'in both scoffs their ignorance and marvels at the turnout. Eventually, the sky darkens and everyone gathered, including E’in, believe they see a dark powerful dragon ascending towards the sky. Afterwards, no one will believe E'in's claim that the sign was a practical joke; even E'in, the instigator, believes a dragon from the pond actually flew towards his home.

As their wives and girlfriends embark on a trip to Thailand, four men spend the next 14 hours trying to engage in romantic affairs before their return.

Tsubame is a young teenage boy searching for his one true, Agemaki. When he meets Kanoko, a girl with a birthmark of a butterfly on her left hand, he believes that she is Agemaki. Kanoko doesn't believe it at first, but they meet several other teenagers with similar birthmarks and stories. As the series progresses, she begins to fall in love with Tsubame, only to learn that he may not be her soul mate after all.

Boni (Pauline Suen) is a frustrated advertising executive that becomes caught in a time loop (19 March).

The plot is based on the Mark Stock painting "The Butler's in Love". It concerns the romance between a butler and the wife of the host of a fancy dress party in 1912.

''Red Sonja Unconquered'' is an adventure scenario intended for high-level player characters, featuring Red Sonja.

In New York City in the fall of 1937, 17-year-old high-school student Richard Samuels meets Orson Welles, who unexpectedly offers him the role of Lucius in ''Caesar'', the first production of his new Mercury Theatre repertory company. The company is immersed in rehearsals at its Broadway theater. Charmed by Welles, Richard learns that he is having an affair with the leading actress while his wife is pregnant. Richard finds ambitious production assistant Sonja Jones is attracted to him.

Welles tells Richard a few days before the premiere that he is worried, because he has recently had nothing but good luck; he fears that he will finally have bad luck with the premiere, and that the play will be a flop. During rehearsals Richard accidentally sets off the sprinkler system, soaking the entire theatre. When accused by Welles he denies having anything to do with the deluge, and suggests that the catastrophe was the bad luck that Welles needed to get out of the way.

Welles decides the entire production crew would benefit from a coupling game, and Richard cheats to ensure he is paired with Sonja. Richard spends the night with Sonja, but becomes jealous when she spends the next night with Welles. He confronts Welles, mentions his pregnant wife, and is fired. An apparent reconciliation follows, and Richard performs on the first night. The anti-fascist adaptation of ''Caesar'' is a huge success, but after the premiere, Richard is told that Welles only needed him in order to secure a successful first-night production and, that done, he has again been fired.

The broken-hearted but wiser Richard spontaneously recites lines from Julius Caesar in his high school English class, to his classmates' applause. He later meets up with a likely new girlfriend, Gretta Adler, a young aspiring playwright whom he met in a music store at the film's beginning. With Richard's and Sonja's assistance, Adler manages to get a story published in ''The New Yorker'', and she invites Richard out, to help her celebrate.

In the year 2300, the human race created an Earth federation government and spread out into space to begin colonizing the surrounding planets. However, an alien species from the far reaches of outer space began attacking the human forces, putting the very survival of the human race at stake. Though it was only a matter of time before Earth fell to the enormous power of the enemy forces, the Earth's army commander issued an order calling all of the units dispersed around the colonized planets to return to Earth. The player takes the role of a young soldier who was stationed with the Rayieza unit on the planet Mars. The journey begins as he makes his way back to Earth along with the other members of his unit.

Willy Loman returns home exhausted after a canceled business trip. Worried over Willy's state of mind and recent car crash, his wife Linda suggests that he asks his boss Howard Wagner to allow him to work in his home city so he will not have to travel. Willy complains to Linda that their son Biff, who is visiting, has yet to make good on his life. Despite Biff's promise as an athlete in high school, he flunked senior year math and never went to college.

Willy is prone to frequent flashbacks in which he sees events and figures from his past, such as his long-deceased older brother Ben, Willy's idol. Unable to distinguish between his memories and present-day reality, he speaks to the people in his flashbacks as if they were real, startling those around him. Biff and his brother Happy, who is also visiting, discuss their father's mental degradation while reminiscing about their childhood together. When Willy walks in, angry that the two boys have never amounted to anything, Biff and Happy tell Willy that Biff plans to make a business proposition the next day in an effort to pacify their father.

The next day, Willy goes to ask Howard for a job in town while Biff goes to make a business proposition, but neither are successful. Willy gets angry and ends up getting fired when Howard tells him that he needs a rest and can no longer represent the company. Biff waits hours to see a former employer who does not remember him and turns him down. Biff impulsively steals a fountain pen. Willy then goes to the office of his neighbor, Charley, where he runs into Charley's son Bernard (now a successful lawyer). Bernard tells him that Biff originally intended to go to summer school to salvage his academic and athletic career after flunking math, but when Biff made an emergency trip to Boston to seek help from Willy, who was then on a sales trip, something occurred there that changed Biff's mind.

Happy, Biff, and Willy meet for dinner at a restaurant, but Willy refuses to hear bad news from Biff. Happy tries to get Biff to lie to their father. Biff tries to tell him what happened as Willy gets angry and slips into a flashback of what happened in Boston the day Biff came to see him. Willy had been in a hotel on a sales trip with a young woman named Miss Francis when Biff unexpectedly arrived and realized that Willy was cheating on Linda. From that moment, Biff's view of his father and all of his father's cherished hopes and dreams for him changed irrevocably, setting Biff adrift.

Biff leaves the restaurant in frustration, followed by Happy and two girls, Miss Forsythe and Letta, that Happy has picked up. They leave a confused and upset Willy behind in the restaurant. When they later return home, their mother angrily confronts them for abandoning their father while Willy remains talking to himself outside. Biff goes outside to try to reconcile with Willy. The discussion quickly escalates into another argument, at which point Biff forcefully tries to convey to his father that he is not meant for anything great, that he is simply ordinary, insisting that they both are. The feud culminates with Biff hugging Willy and crying as he tries to get him to let go of the unrealistic dreams that he still carries for Biff and wants instead for Willy to accept him for who he really is. He tells his father he loves him.

Rather than listen to what Biff actually says, Willy realizes that his son has forgiven him and thinks that Biff will now pursue a career as a businessman. Willy—with encouragement from Ben, whom he "sees" and speaks to in one of his flashbacks—kills himself by intentionally crashing his car so that Biff can use the life insurance money to start his business. However, at the funeral, Biff retains his belief that he does not want to become a businessman. Happy, on the other hand, chooses to follow in his father's footsteps.

''Lee and Grant at Appomattox'' depicts the surrender of the Confederate States of America to Union soldiers. In specific, it portrays the surrender of General Robert E. Lee to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, helping to bring about the end of the American Civil War. Kantor mainly discusses the feelings of each army, both victorious and shellacked, and pays special attention to the history and interaction between Grant and Lee. The story also addresses the lasting bitterness between the North and South for years following the Civil War.

Professor Wurzle, a know-it-all scientist, inveigles Jonathan, the master cheeseman of the High Valley, into accompanying him on a trip downriver. Wurzle's real plan is to revisit Hightower Castle, from which the heroes routed Selznak in the previous novel. There the pair discover a treasure map and encounter Miles the Magician, a travelling wizard, in a nearby inn. Miles alerts them that the Squire, a linkman they befriended in the previous novel, has disappeared. Learning that Selznak was seen nearby at the time they fear the worst.

The trio travel to the Territory, ruled by the Squire's father. There they once again encounter linkmen poets Bufo and Gump, as well as Twickenham the elf, who flies the mysterious elfin airship. Twickenham and Miles determine that the Squire has accidentally activated the Lumbog Globe, a magical paperweight allowing travel into the land of Balumnia. Balumnia can also be reached through magical doors, using one Jonathan, Ahab, the Professor, Miles, Bufo, and Gump enter Balumnia.

The group has adventures as they make their way to Landsend, a major port and subject of the treasure map. The dark presence of Selznak and an omnipresent, sinister witch is mitigated by light encounters with an inept stage magician, and an extraordinarily extended panegyric to the virtues of coffee. In Landsend the adventurers encounter the natural fool Dooly with his grandfather Theophile Escargot, who trades in Balumnia using his marvellous submarine. After searching for the treasure, the group splits and Jonathan, Ahab, and the Professor find themselves once again menaced by the evil Selznak, who is plotting to use the Lumbog Globe to terrorize the High Valley. As in the previous novel, however, unexpected allies such as the Strawberry Baron and Cap'n Binky of the magical blend prove crucial in resolving the plot.

The story begins with Bob Lee now living in Idaho. There along with his wife, former wife of his spotter Donny Fenn, he is cultivating his land by using a scythe. The story starts while Bob Lee is cutting away at his land with the scythe while an expensive car pulls up. Bob Lee is aggravated by this, since his previous encounters with such cars and men in them have led him into troublesome situations.

Having this predisposition to the men within the car, Bob Lee confronts them to make them leave him and his family alone. Instead he finds a man roughly the same age as himself, looking for Bob Lee, since he is the son of the man that was killed by Bob's father during the battle of Iwo Jima. Here the book changes to the situations that led to the awarding of the Medal of Honor, to Earl Swagger during a battle on Iwo Jima.

Category:2007 American novels Category:Sequel novels Category:American thriller novels

Category:Novels set in Idaho Category:Simon & Schuster books

The story is told primarily through flashbacks as Virgil, a suicidal animated character born to human parents, details his life story to a sympathetic reporter.

Virgil describes how he was born to a biker girl whose partner left shortly after he was born due to his "condition", forcing her to raise him on her own. He didn't get along with other kids his own age and his only solace was watching ''Viking Girl'', a cartoon featuring a beautiful, voluptuous blond Viking warrior. Convinced that she was real, he sets out to Hollywood so he can confess his feelings to her. Despite some misadventures during the trip, Virgil finally arrives at the ''Viking Girl'' studio, only to learn that she was never real. Heartbroken, Virgil straps dynamite to himself and goes to the Hollywood sign to take his own life, which is why the reporter was sent to interview him.

The reporter begs Virgil not to end his own life and tells him that he could become the first living cartoon star, as his plight has gained him a legion of fans. This appeals to Virgil and he decides to live. Before he can do anything else he is shot by Gary Coleman, who tells him that the price of fame is not worth it. Virgil dies and goes to an animated heaven where Viking Girl is waiting for him. The two begin having sex but before they can finish everything turns dark and Virgil discovers he has been sent to Hell and that he has been humping Satan's leg, who himself is in the form of Gary Coleman in a red devil costume.

Upon being informed that he is terminally ill with pancreatic cancer, Max, who works at a used car lot, steals over seventy thousand illegally gained euro (perhaps around $1 million) from Hans, his employer and best friend, and drives off in his Jaguar. Hans gives chase, but quits when it becomes too dangerous. Max crashes the roadside barrier at high speed, ending up in a small pig and poultry farm miles from anywhere. He is lifted unconscious from the wreck by the farmer, Emma, a strong woman who lives alone. She discovers the money, torches the car and tends to Max's injuries, which are not serious.

When Max regains consciousness she lies about the fire and denies having taken anything from the car. Max hides from her the fact that he is dying. He also hides from the police, in the form of the nearby village's young officer, Henner, who has many times offered to marry Emma and help solve her debt problems. Love blooms between Max and Emma after some stumbles, such as his finding out that she had taken the money. She surreptitiously returns the money to him and he, just as surreptitiously, pays off her debts. His sickness worsens and they marry.

A recurring theme is Emma's love for her animals and the way she slaughters a pig by caressing it while gently cutting its throat with a sharp blade. After what is clearly to be Max and Emma's last roll in the hay (literally), she reaches for the knife but then returns it — she cannot bring herself to do the deed. Max then presses it into her hand. The camera then focuses on his face as he loses consciousness.

Cooky Bradford wants to make enough money to buy a lunch wagon. He ends up falling for, and fighting for, boxing manager Pop Baldwin's daughter, Honey.

Dmitri Gurov works in a Moscow bank. He is nearing 40, married, and has a daughter and two sons. Unhappy in his marriage and the monotony and meaninglessness of his life, he is frequently unfaithful and considers women to be of "a lower race". While vacationing in Yalta, he sees a young woman walking along the seafront with her little Pomeranian, and endeavors to make her acquaintance. The lady, Anna Sergeyevna, is also unhappily married and vacationing without her husband. Anna and Dmitri soon commence an affair, and spend most of their time together, often walking and taking drives to the nearby village of Oreanda. Though she is expecting her husband to come to Yalta, he eventually sends word for her to come home, saying that something is wrong with his eyes. Gurov sees her off at the station. As they part, both feel that they will never see each other again, and thus their affair is over.

Returning to Moscow, to his loveless marriage and his daily routine, working by day and socializing by night, Gurov expects to soon forget young Anna, but to his surprise, her memory haunts him. Unexpectedly, he fell deeply in love for the first time, after many affairs and just as he is approaching middle age. He feels that he must see Anna, despite the obvious complications. On the ruse of going to St. Petersburg to attend to personal business, he sets off to Anna's hometown to find her. Learning the location of the family's residence from a hotel porter, he finds the house, only to realize that it would be unwise to intrude. In despair, he rationalizes that Anna has probably forgotten him and found someone else, and heads back to his hotel.

In the evening, he remembers having seen a sign earlier in the day announcing the opening performance of ''The Geisha''. Reasoning that Anna and her husband might attend, he goes to the theater. The couple enters and he watches intently. When the husband goes out for a smoke during the first interval, Gurov greets Anna, who is bewildered and runs from him. After following her through the theater, he confronts her and she confides that she has been thinking of him constantly. Frightened, she begs him to leave and promises to see him in Moscow.

Anna makes excuses to travel to Moscow, telling her husband that she is going there to see a doctor, which he "believes and does not believe". The pair are now fully aware that for the first time in their lives they have actually fallen in love, and they both wonder how they might overcome the many challenges that face them and achieve their fervent wish to spend their lives together. They desperately try to come up with a plan, but the story ends without offering a resolution:

"They … talked of how to avoid the necessity for secrecy, for deception, for living in different towns and not seeing each other for long stretches of time … and it was clear to both of them that … the most complicated and difficult part of their journey was just beginning."

The very scary story begins with an indifferent Mary Martin (Young) sitting in a courtroom full of people, on trial for murder. As the jury leaves to deliberate her fate, the story flashbacks on Mary's hard life as a woman living in a large city of the 1930s, as well as on the two lusty men—a gangster, Leo Darcy (Cortez), and a lawyer, Tom Mannering, Jr. (Tone)—with whom she is involved.

The scene opens with John Xavier Omsk drinking some bicarbonate of soda in the privacy of his office. Pete Smith, as the narrator, diagnoses John's stomach trouble as a "simple case of bad cooking." As the scene transitions to Mrs. Omsk in a disheveled kitchen, Smith's diagnosis is offered confirmation. Frustrated with her attempts to follow a cookbook on "How to Stuff a Duck", Mrs. Omsk throws down the book and beats the frozen duck, which surprisingly quacks each time it's struck.

Smith decides to help the inept Mrs. Omsk by conjuring up Bizetti, a Master Chef, to show her how to cook. Unable to work in such messy surroundings, Bizetti accepts Smith's offer to tidy up by reversing the scene back to the spotless, organized kitchen before Mrs. Omsk's culinary attempts. Smith's uncanny film-editing magic of replacing the old frozen duck with a better one surprises Mrs. Omsk and excites Bizetti, who cleans the duck, stuffs it and sews it up. As the duck cooks in the oven, Bizetti shows Mrs. Omsk how to fix her husband's favorite dessert, baked apples.

Smith then causes Bizetti to disappear, leaving Mrs. Omsk alone again in the kitchen and all prepared to satisfy her husband with an appetizing meal.

Set in late 1944 Germany, during the assault on the Siegfried Line, the novel follows 15 days in a US Army Rifle Squad led by the venerable Sergeant Cooley. Everett 'Hack' Hackermeyer, a troubled 18-year-old from a hellish family upbringing, is just one of several teenage soldiers. Over the course of the story, Hackermeyer will come to realize the value of his own life and shed his guarded cynicism.

In 1944, German intelligence strives to find the target of an upcoming raid by the reputed "B-99 bomber". To achieve this end, they interrogate a recently shot-down aircrew from a B-99 reconnaissance mission that was shot down over Italy. The aircrew is sent to Dulag Luft POW camp.

The German officers, commanded by Major von Behn (Carl Esmond) use various methods to discover this information, some of them quite subtle. While interviewing Lieutenant Frank L. Williams, Jr. (Don Porter) and Captain James Spencer (James Seay), the two airmen at first resist any probing for information. Other members of the crew include Sergeant Alfred Mason (Arthur Kennedy).

Though no physical brutality is used, the Germans at one point stage a mock execution to scare a prisoner. Another prisoner is subjected to isolation to heighten his fear. Red Cross officers and a nurse (Poldi Dur) use their positions to extract information from the prisoners. Each airman eventually provides useful information because of their arrogance, fear or naivety. Some of what they say, which the enemy finds useful, seems innocuous but is used by the Germans as pieces to solve the larger puzzle.

In the end, the Germans are able to determine the target of the raid and the B-99 bombing mission is intercepted. The intended target is spared heavy damage with 21 B-99s shot down and the loss of 105 aircrew.

The U.S. intelligence officer (Lloyd Nolan), in his briefing to the surviving members of the raid, stresses not talking under any circumstances because of the danger of talking too much; even innocuous conversation can help the enemy. He also says not to let down one's guard, that everything in a prison camp is suspect, and not to try to outwit the enemy.

'''Act 1''' '''Scene 1''' Having been cast ashore from a shipwreck, Frederick is glad to be alive ("The lingering pangs of hopeless love, condemn'd"). He sees his shipmate Robin who recognize that they have landed on the shore of Cornwall within the vicinity of Robin's brother-in-law, George Crop, "an honest farmer." At mention of the name, Frederick realizes that Crop is also the father of his lover, Louisa. Robin explains that Crop married his sister, since deceased, and is now married to another wife. William and other shipmates reveal that nothing has been salvages from the ship and they will stand watch while Frederick and Robin go to Crop.

Robin reveals to Frederick that he went to see to escape a lawyer who took property Robin had wanted to give to Louisa. Frederick reveals that he went to sea on a ruse: he pretended to be poor so that Louisa would not love him for his money, but the plan backfired: Louisa rejected him because she did not want her family to be burdened by poverty. Robin promises not to reveal Frederick's secret.

*'''Scene 2''' George Crop and his wife Dorothy enter and argue, she complaining ("Go, George, I can't endure you") followed by his complaining ("No care beyond the morrow"). Louisa enters but after a few words Crop scolds his wife for tormenting Louisa, who reflects on their poor relationship ("I thought our quarrels ended"). Crop leaves and Dorothy's servant Nelly enters. The dialogue between the two women reveal that Dorothy is very fond of Mr. Endless who is due at the house before Crop returns.

*'''Scene 3''' - outside of Crop's house Margaretta enters, singing ("With lowly suit and plaintive ditty"). She reveals that she wanted to marry Robin, but her father refused on account of the potential groom's lack of money. But Margaretta still loves Robin. Nelly and Dorothy enter and tell Margaretta she must leave. Margaretta becomes suspicious at their insistence, and leaves briefly. In her absence, Mr. Endless's servant Thomas delivers bottles of wine to Nelly. Margaretta notices and wonders what is the occasion. Mr. Endless enters and reveals a plan to disposes Crop of the house and take his wife Dorothy. Margaretta exits in such as way as to make Endless take notice.

*'''Scene 4''' Inside the house, Crop and Dorothy argue and agree that the first person to speak shall shut the door. Crop stays silent as Robin and Frederick approach the house. After not receiving any words from Crop, Dorothy speaks up first, causing her to shut the door. Crop tells Robin that Louisa is away but, despite his years at sea, continues to pine for him. Robin is delighted at the confirmation of Louisa's continued affection for him.

*'''Scene 5 - Act 1, Finale''' Crop enters with Robin, Frederick and William, bemoaning their walking ("How often thus, I'm forc'd to trudge"). Margaretta and Dorothy enter and join in singing of how their efforts will be rewarded.

'''Act 2''' '''Scene 1''' William leads the sailors in song ("From aloft the sailor looks around"). Robin tells Crop that some of the ship's material has been salvaged; the sailors have hidden in. Meanwhile he still loves Margaretta and hope she feels similarly.

*'''Scene 2''' Margaretta wanders by and is upset at having to make entreaties to a lawyer ("A Miser bid to have and hold me"). She encounters Crop, asking whether she can have lodging for the night.

*'''Scene 3''' Inside of Deborah's Cottage. Deborah, Louisa's grandmother, tells Louisa to forget Frederick, but Louisa says she won't. Frederick enters disguised. He sings to her ("Pretty maid, your fortune's here") and tells her that her Frederick was on a ship that hit a rock. Upset at the news, she faints, at which point Frederick removes the disguise and proves to her that he's still alive. The two are happy that they have been reunited ("Thus every hope obtaining, the doubtful conflict o'er ").

*'''Scene 4''' In Crop's house, Endless and Dorothy are discussing Endless's plan. As Nelly serves dinner there is a knock at the door. It is Crop, and both Dorothy and Nelly rush to hide Endless in a sack and put him with other sacks. Crop enters with Margaretta, wondering what took them so long to answer the door. He asks for dinner but is told there is only cheese. Robin enters happily carrying a keg from the ship which is revealed to be holding a cache of gold ("Three years a sailor's life I led"). Unseen, Margaretta worries that Robin will marry a rich woman, but when Robin reveals he wants to marry Margaretta, she enters. Although there is little food, he encourages to sing a song before dinner and she complies ("Across the Downs this morning"). After the first verse, it is revealed there is lamb, to which Margaretta sings the second verse ("This lamb so blithe as Midsummer"). In singing the third verse ("This monstrous stone, the shepherd flung") Margaretta reveals that Endless is hiding in a sack. Crop finds Endless and throws him out of the house. Crop and Dorothy agree to put their quarreling behind them. Frederick enters with Louisa, now having unmasked himself as affluent and everyone sings optimistically of the future ("Let shepherd lads and maids advance")>

Cheryl Gannett and Jared Mercer are second bests at their school, so they decide to form a club consisting of their school's other second bests; Jason, Karin, Abbie, Darren, and Randall. Their club is called the Shadow Club, consisting of other students who also consider themselves to be "in the shadows" of people who are better than them at the things they are good at. They start out by pulling pranks to humiliate their enemies, the "unbeatable". However, their pranks quickly escalate, to the point of becoming dangerous. In addition, the most recent pranks were not carried out by the Shadow Club at all and the club members believe that they are being framed by Tyson, their school's biggest underachiever and pyromaniac. The pranks climax when Jared's biggest enemy, Austin Pace (nicknamed L'Austin sPace), a student training to be an Olympic racer, is permanently injured. After this even, the members of the Shadow Club gather to discuss their problem and decide that their only solution is to force a confession out of Tyson in the worst way possible; by punching, kicking, and pushing him, and even by trying to drown him. After he almost dies, they let him run off, and return to their meeting place, which they called "Stonehenge." Meanwhile, Jared, who has taken part in half of Tyson's interrogation, discovers that it was not Tyson who pulled the pranks, it was the members of the Shadow Club, each acting independently, so that none of the others knew of their actions, and each of them truly believed that they pulled one prank, but that Tyson did the rest. Realizing their mistake, Jared rushes back to find the members of the club in Stonehenge, all with horrified looks on their faces. They share their mistakes, and here the ones from the Shadow Club that had been tormenting Tyson share what they learned about him; that he is a pyromaniac, and all the school fires had been cause by him. Jared goes over to the lighthouse where Tyson lives to apologize for their mistake. But what he sees is a burning building, and Tyson was no doubt in it. Refusing to turn his back on Tyson, Jared runs into the lighthouse, and manages talk him out of burning to death, with difficulty. The two escape by jumping from a window, into the ocean below, and Jared carries Tyson to shore as he is unable to swim. In the end, he had to admit to the Shadow Club to his parents. After the talk with Mr. Greene, the school's vice principal, Tyson, Jared, and Cheryl join at Stonehenge for a final meeting (the others refused to show). Cheryl gives the charter to Tyson, who tosses it into the flames, and it burns, ending the Shadow Club, but leaving all the members, mostly Jared, with a bad reputation.

Category:American young adult novels Category:1988 American novels

Robin the Frog is delighted that he and the Muppets are finally going on a vacation. His hopes are dashed, however, when he learns that rather than Krakatoa or England, their destination is a 'run-down, old castle in the middle of nowhere'. His Uncle Kermit reminds him that they had to accompany Dr. Bunsen Honeydew on this journey to hear the reading of his uncle's will, emphasizing the value of friendship. After becoming frightened of his surroundings and the door of the castle being opened by a mysterious figure, Robin fainted.

Robin the Frog is awoken by Pepe the King Prawn, Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew in some sort of underground laboratory. Dr. Bunsen Honeydew explains that the laboratory belonged to his late uncle and that after Robin fainted, the group of Muppets was ambushed and many of them transformed into monsters by the castle's 'evil energy'. In addition, the castle's energy has begun to permeate the nearby village causing it to become twisted and evil. Robin the Frog asks what can be done, and Honeydew presents him with a special 'Power Glove' that takes evil from monsters and stores it in a backpack. Informing him that the glove will only work with "the amphibian anatomy," he sends Robin on his way to collect evil energy from the village and try to save the Muppets from being monsters forever.

Robin embarks on his adventure with assistance from Pepe, who transmits important information to him at key points in the game. Other Muppet cameos include The Swedish Chef (who requires ingredients to be collected) Rizzo the Rat (who has a Muppet Token and teases Robin to come and get it in numerous levels), and Beaker himself (who appears with a jetpack on his back that can be used to destroy obstacles in Robin's way). He is able to travel wherever he pleases using the "Hub" (a portal to all the areas of the village) as long as he has collected enough evil energy,

Robin initially fights his way through the innards and grounds of the Castle von Honeydew itself, facing its corrupt knights and guards, before defeating (and thereby rescuing) Gonzo who has turned into the vampire "Noseferatu."

Next, Robin ventures into the outskirts of the village nicknamed "The Deadlands" where he encounters villainous pirates and reanimated skeletons. Robin defeats the "Wocka Wocka Wearbear" and transforming him back into Fozzie Bear.

Robin is able to advance to the forests around the village called "Neverleave Forest." After avoiding falling prey to transmogrified hunters and evil pumpkin farmers, Robin must fight his own Uncle Kermit to save him from an eternity as "Ker-Monster" (a spoof of Frankenstein's monster).

Having done this, Robin moves into the river-dwelling and Arab quarters of the village before doing away with the fearsome Muck Monster who transforms back into Clifford.

With over half the village now saved and purified, Robin moves into Madness Marsh, a treacherous region of the village which is home to its heavily armed hiking community, as well as ravenous piranha, puffer fish, and hungry crocodiles. Robin dispatches them in short order and comes to face the fearsome "Ghoul-friend of Ker-Monster" (a thinly veiled parody of ''Bride of Frankenstein'') and initiates her transformation back into Miss Piggy.

Having now gained access to the village's more mountainous regions, Robin battles through what is locally called "The Whatsamatterhorn," defeating all manner of foes including a group of violent monks.

Having saved his friends and believing his journey to be complete, Robin returns to the center of the castle only to find one final enemy awaiting him....Baron Petri von Honeydew himself (who has the appearance of Erik from ''The Phantom of the Opera''). Robin manages to turn the Baron's projectiles against him and finally lays his mad soul to rest. Having achieved all this in such a short space of time, Robin succumbs to another faint.

He is awoken once again by Dr. Bunsen Honeydew. This time however, all the other Muppets are with him and seemingly unchanged. He is also lying in the hallway of the Castle itself, where the butler Chives (the figure who opened the door) has led the group of Muppets. Robin exclaims that he has had the most amazing dream and describes his adventure to all those present, who assure him it was indeed a dream. However, as he and the group ascend the stairs and pass a painting of the late Baron von Honeydew, the painting appears to move and say 'shush' to Robin as the Power Glove suddenly appears on Robin's hand again, indicating his adventure may well have been something more than a dream after all.

Veteran assassin Mark Shields is hired to track down the head of an elusive drug cartel centered in Tijuana, Mexico. Shields takes the assignment in a weary daze, as he is fresh off a case that claimed the life of a woman he continues to see in his mind.

Meanwhile, Javier Salazar, the head of the cartel Shields is assigned to, is dying. Salazar hands over his position to his nephew, the cocky Pelon. Pelon takes charge with a different agenda, however, planning to change the cocaine being transported to heroin from Afghanistan.

Shields recruits Wire, an old friend, to help in an assassination attempt. Pelon is leaving one of his warehouses when he is attacked not only by Shields and Wire, but a different group set up by a contractor named Anthony. A shootout ensues, ending in Anthony's team being forced to withdraw. Shields aborts the operation, but Wire is kidnapped.

Pelon sees Padre Antonio after the shootout. Then he goes to talk to Salazar, who tells his nephew that their operation won't ever be in jeopardy if the Americans simply keep taking out the leaders. Salazar believes that someone will always be there to take the seat of the fallen leader.

Shields is mugged but is found by a local woman named Olivia, who takes him into her home. Shields stays until he recovers, then leaves. He later finds out that Wire was tortured and killed.

Pelon is attacked once more by Shields, and is kidnapped. Shields takes Pelon to Salazar's home. It is revealed that Salazar faked his illness, hired Shields and set up an elaborate twist for his nephew. Pelon is executed by Padre Antonio, another dupe set up by Salazar. Shields then gives his pay to Olivia (local woman) and boards a cab. On a ride to the airport Shields realizes that he was shot sometime when he was kidnapping Pelon, and he slowly lays down in the back of the cab and dies.

Jaron (Josh Janowicz) struggles to work for sleazy publisher "Uncle" Lou (Marcus Giamatti) in order to settle the obligations of his friend Tara (Angela Sarafyan), who works in a peep show for Jimmy (Paul Ben-Victor). He meets Balery (Brittany Snow), a call-girl who wants to place an ad in Lou's paper. She seeks an accomplice to help her rob a regular client she particularly dislikes. Jaron decides to take up the offer himself. Meanwhile, Wes (Clayne Crawford) whores out his girlfriend Chantel (Shanna Collins) in order to make enough money to buy her an engagement ring just to shut her up about his lack of commitment. Wes gets violently upset when he discovers she's been performing lurid sex acts on her customers just to make the extra money he wants. Two intimately close high school girls Melody (Candice Accola) and Courtney (Chloe Domont) play flirtatious games with their teacher Mr. Garrett (Eddie Jemison) in order to improve their grades, without realizing the violent dangers their teasing could lead to.

Middle-aged Martin Mirkhein (Griffin Dunne) is a complete failure. He's run a successful business into debt, his marriage is falling apart, and now he owes the IRS $147,956 in back taxes. Martin may not have much going for him but he has read "Daniel Strong," a best-selling, self-help novel by the popular TV guru Dr. Waxling (Dennis Hopper). Now he wants to turn the novel into a major motion picture. To do that, Martin needs the rights and the revenue. Given his grating personality and terrible track record, it won't be easy to get hold of either. He sets out to meet with Dr. Waxling but ends up sleeping with Waxling's screenwriter-assistant Marie (Illeana Douglas) instead. Determined to make a movie, Martin and Marie move to New York. There, they get involved with wealthy Kim Ulander (Christopher Walken), an enigmatic businessman with quirky tendencies and a repressed desire to live dangerously. If they aren't careful, this daring duo may not come out of this deal alive.

Corobo is a lonely boy who enjoys playing with his toys in his dark and cluttered room. One day, while chasing out a group of rats, he wanders into a mysterious land and finds a crown. Upon putting it on, he discovers that the crown allows him to give people orders with which they cannot refuse. Corobo is also appointed the ruler of a little kingdom known as Alpoko, accompanied by Howser the Bull Knight, his friends, Liam and Verde (who become Minister of Anything and Record Keeper, respectively), and a slew of obedient citizens.

After building up Alpoko slightly, Corobo is issued a challenge by a foreign kingdom, which he defeats and conquers, gaining more money, territory, and a princess to keep and be with. Howser then encourages Corobo to unify the other six kingdoms under his reign. These kingdoms are ruled by kings which are: the evil Onii King (the one who issued the challenge in the first place and the leader of a group of demons called Oniis), the drunken King Duvroc (who uses his skill with liquor as a form of fighting), the obese King Shiskebaboo (who uses his obesity to fight back), the riddling Omelet King (a weakling that has his men do all the work while he cowers on his toilet), The TV-obsessed TV Dinnah, the tall Long Sauvage (who is, in reality, a pygmy), and the giant eraser man King Jumbo Champloon (the first man created by "God"). While doing this, the little king also meets Skinny Ray, a man who claims that the universe is coming to an end as evidenced by earthquakes of growing magnitude, though nobody listens to him. Eventually, Corobo unifies the whole world and gains an additional six princesses; however, as the quakes escalate to Armageddon scale, it is decided that the king must build a flying machine (which he does) and discover the cause of Armageddon. Right before, he discovers that his kingdom has gone bankrupt and that all of his princesses demand to come.

Upon choosing any one of the princesses or Verde (who also loves Corobo) to be with him, the king sets forth into space only to discover that his universe is contained within a box, and that its inhabitants are actually microscopic in size. It is then revealed that many of the characters are actually fantasy versions of people the owner of the box knows (Howser being a deceased grandfather turned into a knight and many of the bosses being parodies of various influences throughout this person's life). In fact, Little King's Story appears to be a child's diary acted out in the box. After facing a nasty group of rats, who are the cause of the tremors, little Corobo discovers himself to be alone while a giant boy awakens and chases him into a corner, only for a light to reveal that the giant is actually Corobo as he was at the beginning of the story. The game ends there without telling us whether the entire story was Corobo's dream or if there are two respective Corobos (a miniature king version and a regular boy version), as well as two different worlds.

The film opens in 1932 during an historical event known as the Bonus March. World War I veterans are protesting and rallying in Washington, D.C., demanding immediate cash redemption of bonus certificates that were due to be paid in 1945. Troops from the U.S. Cavalry and Infantry are present for crowd control. Major John Hardesty (Bob Gunton), orders the mounted cavalry to present their sabers, in order to hold back the protesters. First Sergeant or "Top" John Libbey (Don Johnson) and three fellow soldiers refuse to draw their swords because the demonstrators are men with whom they served during the war. As a consequence, their military careers are tarnished and they are relegated to duty at a remote post in Texas.

Two years later, young Lieutenant Marshall Buxton (Craig Sheffer) arrives at his new post. During his interview with retiring Colonel Stuart (Rod Steiger), it is revealed that he has been assigned to this post because he attacked another soldier for hurting his horse. Many other men are there because of insubordination. Lieutenant Buxton meets Sergeants Libbey, Quinlain (Neil Melville), Mulcahey (John Dennis Johnston), and Shattuck (Robert Coleby), who together manage the herd of remounts.

Commanding officer Colonel Stuart is replaced by Colonel Hardesty (on Hardesty's promotion). Hardesty's mission is to aid the transition to a mechanized army. To accomplish this, the horses at the outpost will have to be destroyed. When Buxton is ordered to take the herd to be killed, he tries to tell Colonel Hardesty that he cannot have that on his conscience. Hardesty refuses to change his mind, telling Buxton that he will do as ordered or face a court-martial. While watching the first 100 helpless horses being shot in a mass grave, Lieutenant Buxton decides to end the massacre and drive the remaining herd to safety. The other sergeants agree to help him.

A manhunt ensues that forces the renegade men and horses north. Along the way, the men get a little help from the retired Colonel Stuart, who is in good standing with the U.S. War Department, and from Stuart's daughter, Jessica (Gabrielle Anwar), who is a journalist. Many of the horses are lost during the journey, due to exhaustion and injuries, but Buxton is still determined to save the ones that are left. The original plan is to take the horses to the Indian Reservation in Montana, where they will be safe, but because of Hardesty's Armored Division they are forced to go north to Canada. When they cross the border, the Americans cannot follow.

When they reach the Canada–US border, they make a final run with the herd. Jessica brings a letter from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, granting them pardons, but they are already being fired on by light artillery. None of the shells hit them, because the Gunnery Sergeant, who does not believe in shooting American soldiers, “accidentally" set the range incorrectly. Buxton's men and the remaining horses make it across the river and are met by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who are on their side. Lieutenant Buxton decides to return to the United States to face charges, hoping to do something in court to stop this kind of thing from happening again, Sergeant Libbey decides to head further north, to Alaska, and the others decide to stay in Canada.

After the events of the previous book, Mr. Benedict, and the children's parents, plan to bring the children back together for another adventure using their teamwork, skills, and intelligence. When the children arrive at his house, they find out that Mr. Benedict was kidnapped by his evil twin, Mr. Curtain. In a letter, Mr. Curtain explains that he needs a certain rare plant and that a person extremely close to Mr. Benedict knows where to find it. He also says that Mr. Benedict and his assistant, Number Two, will be in danger if he doesn’t get this info. Constance, Mr. Benedict’s adopted 3-year-old genius, soon reveals that Mr. Benedict gave her a letter to open when the others came. A series of riddles lead them to take the MV Shortcut, the fastest ship in the world, bound for Lisbon.

They sneak off to the ship, which is captained by Phil Noland, a friend and former navy colleague of Mr. Benedict, who has been expecting them. Noland tells them more about Mr. Benedict, including his recent communications. Noland gives them a two-way radio for communication, but Reynie mistrusts him and later disposes of it. They find new info, which leads them to a castle in Portugal. There, they find evidence that leads them to a science museum in a city in Holland called Thernbaakagen. At the museum, they learn that the rare plant is called duskwort, capable of inducing a spellbinding sleep, and might be extinct. It has the power to put an entire city to sleep and also has the power to cure narcolepsy, the disease that Mr. Benedict and his brother have.

They rest at a hotel that evening but are found by Mr. Curtain’s agents called Ten Men, then rescued by Milligan, Kate’s recently found father. They then go to the island that the library said had the last remaining duskwort. On the island, they find Number Two, who tells them that Mr. Benedict is being held captive. When Milligan tries to rescue Mr. Benedict, the children are attacked by the Ten Men. Milligan comes back and saves the children by fighting the Ten Men while the children escape. Later, they find Mr. Curtain, who tricks the children into being captured also. After Mr. Curtain leaves to run an errand, Mr. Benedict tricks S.Q., their guard, and they get away. The children escape, along with Mr. Benedict, Milligan, and Number Two.

As they climb down the mountain, Mr. Benedict falls asleep due to his narcolepsy and the children carry him down the mountain. They soon find Milligan, who is extremely injured from the battle with the Ten Men, and after Mr. Benedict wakes up, they run to the bay and are soon surrounded by the Ten Men. But just in time, the Shortcut and its crew come to save them. Everyone runs into the security hold of the ship and try to hide from the Ten Men, but the Ten Men find them. Just as the Ten Men plant a bomb near the hold, the Royal Navy shows up. Kate throws away the bomb and Mr. Curtain escapes, but the children make it back home to their families.

Jerry Reed plays the "Iron Duke", an independent trucker who stands up to the local trucker boss, King Carroll, who tries to drive independent truckers out of business through intimidation tactics by a gang led by his partner Harvey. Duke's friend Rane, played by Peter Fonda, comes to visit his friend and ends up helping him. Rane and Pickup suggest hauling a load of illegal liquor to a lumber camp, in order to become secure enough to resist King and Harvey's pressure, and thus inspiring other independents to resist as well.

Duke is shot, and Rane organizes the other truckers to confront King and Harvey. Pickup is kidnapped by Harvey. Back at King’s headquarters, Harvey knocks Pickup unconscious, shooting King when he protests. As the truckers arrive and fight King’s men, Harvey puts Pickup in his car and drives away. Rane sees Harvey and gives chase. When Harvey stops, he and Rane confront each other in a fight. Both men draw their weapons and Rane shoots Harvey, then embraces Pickup. At the end of the film, Rane drives away in Pickup’s truck.

The movie was described as "a modern day western, with trucks instead of horses." Another observer said it could be summarized as "Pow, crash, screw, fight, collide, punch, slam, crash, screw."

While set ostensibly in the United States, the CN Tower appears in the background during the film's climax, and all vehicles carry Ontario plates.

Anthropologists Ben Hazard and Ed Stone join a top-secret project which uses a time-travel device, affectionately known as "the Bucket", to return in time to observe human development throughout history. They are shocked to discover that, if they travel far enough into the past to research hominids such as Sinanthropus, they find nothing. There is no trace of humans or any related species in the deep past.

Hazard returns from a trip in which he proves that Sinanthropus did not exist in the time indicated by the age of the bones. He, Stone and their mentor, Franz Gottwald, discuss the problem. Gottwald, a by-the-book scientist, insists on facts, not speculation. They therefore decide on an exhaustive effort to discover when, and how, humans did appear on Earth.

Travelling back and forth in the past, Hazard and Stone happen upon an extraordinary event in France, over 25,000 years ago, near a cave where Cro-Magnon remains were found in their time. They see a gigantic spaceship land. Humans emerge, along with robots of various shapes and sizes. Using fantastic technology they shape the land into a primitive home, complete with artifacts such as stone tools. They deposit some apparently brainwashed humans wearing animal skins. They also bury objects in local caves. Hazard is sure that these are bones left for future generations to find.

Returning to modern times, they join Gottwald to try to solve the mystery. Clearly humans did not arise on Earth. The bones planted were probably genuine, but must have been brought from the real home of humanity. They can understand why humans might be seeded on another world, but not why the bones were planted.

Hazard takes a fishing trip to take his mind off the problem, hoping that an idea will occur to him. Remembering one of the chimpanzees used by his project trying to solve a simple puzzle, he decides that the whole thing is a gigantic experiment, a puzzle to be solved with some reward at the end. He also realizes that a necessary part of the experiment is an observer, someone who can monitor it. Such a person would want to get close to the time-travel project, and the best candidate is Gottwald himself, who came from Europe and never talks about his past.

Hazard finds Gottwald's house deserted. Entering, he finds a letter addressed to him, from Gottwald. It tells him that he has solved part of the puzzle, and for the rest he must press a hidden button and stand outside. He does this and is transported to the spaceship, still in orbit about Earth after 25,000 years. There he meets Gottwald and his wife, who are the last survivors of the people who came in the ship. Humans arose on a distant world, discovered faster-than-light space travel, carved an empire for themselves, and were then almost exterminated by the Enemy, a race of vicious monsters. So horrific are these creatures that they are part of human "racial memory", being the demons and dragons and other creatures out of nightmare.

The ship is one of four sent as a last desperate measure. The human race had to start again. It needed a "transfusion" of new ideas and ways of thinking, in order to survive the inevitable future encounter with the Enemy. Gottwald tells Hazard that his people never discovered time-travel. It may be the answer they were seeking. They wait for Ed Stone, who will surely solve the problem and join them. After that, they will begin the process of giving the ship's technology back to humanity, so they can be ready for the battles to come.

Matthew Putnam (Victor Jory) is summoned back to his small hometown of Rockridge by his aged, bedridden aunt Nettie (Helen Lowell) after seven years of enjoying himself in Europe, where he had been sent to study. She is tired and wants him to take charge of Putnam Dairies, the family business and the town's major employer. Every mother with a marriageable daughter is excited by the return of the wealthy young man, including Mathilda Sherman (Clara Blandick). However, Matthew shows no interest in Mathilda's daughter Irene (Geneva Mitchell).

When Matthew visits his good friend Will Oliver (Charley Grapewin), he is pleasantly surprised to see how grown up and beautiful Will's daughter Marge (Jean Arthur) has become. His reluctance to remain in town evaporates as he spends more and more time with her flirting with her at the bank where she works.

This does not sit well with Roy Daniels (Robert Allen). When Roy makes his bid for her affections, she turns him down, so he decides to leave for New York City the next day. Marge is up late at night trying to balance the church's finances, for which she and Roy are responsible. Finally, an irate Will calls over the shared telephone line (a "party line") and leaves an angry message for Roy to come over to straighten out the mess before he leaves town. However, telephone eavesdroppers misinterpret the message and assume that Roy has gotten Marge pregnant and is trying to leave town without marrying her.

Mathilda is delighted at the ostensible scandal and bullies her husband Tom (Oscar Apfel), the president of the Sherman Bank, into firing Marge. She also disqualifies Marge's winning entry in the prestigious annual flower show. Marge and Matthew are oblivious to the rumors. He asks her to marry him; she accepts, provided they elope the next day. When Matthew is late for their elopement, Marge assumes he believes the stories. Will, having discovered it was his call that started the whole mess, shoots himself, but botches his suicide and survives with only a minor head wound.

Marge and Mathew separately find out about the ugly stories being circulated about Marge. Matthew decides to teach the town a sharp lesson. He first transfers all his money out of the Sherman Bank, which would lead to its collapse, and orders the replacement of all 300 local workers with out-of-towners. Faced with the destruction of their community, the workers organize a meeting that Matthew attends in the new town hall. Before things get totally out of hand, Matthew's aunt Nettie who hadn't left bed the last fifteen years shows up and gives the townsfolk a tongue-lashing for their malicious gossip by bringing up their own past misdeeds.

Everything is eventually straightened out and the couple sneak off to the nearby town Springfield to get married. However, the chastened townspeople have not changed their ways. A mock disagreement between the newlyweds about where they should spend their honeymoon is seen and misreported as a full-blown argument by Bert West.

In April 1917, former newspaperman William Gordon (William Powell) is commissioned in the U.S. Army. The day before he is to leave Washington, D.C. for France, he meets socialite Joel Carter (Rosalind Russell) at an embassy gathering. The couple spend the day together where Gordon confides that because he once wrote a book on cryptography under a pen name, the army is searching for him to put him to work behind a desk, but he is eager to get into the fighting. Just before he boards his train, Gordon is ordered to report to Assistant Secretary of War John Carter (Samuel S. Hinds). Over his objections, Carter assigns Gordon to the code-breaking room to help break an intercepted German message that Major Brennan (Lionel Atwill), an experienced British cryptologist, has been unable to decipher. Gordon learns that Carter is Joel's uncle, and that she revealed his true identity to keep him in Washington.

The U.S. is deeply concerned about the U-boat threat to its troop and supply convoys headed to France. To defeat the threat, British escorts will meet American transports before they enter the most dangerous zone. The rendezvous point will not be given to the ships until the day before they meet, transmitted by wireless in a new code devised by Major Brennan. An ammunition ship is sent first to test the new system. However a German spy ring in the city has already gained access to the code and allows the ship through to lure more valuable troop transports into their U-boat trap. Gordon deciphers the intercepted message and realizing that the code has been compromised, alerts his superiors. A troop convoy has already sailed for France and in three days they will have to send it the rendezvous location in the no longer secret code.

Brennan suspects his mistress, Olivia Karloff (Binnie Barnes), has stolen his code. He catches her red-handed, but she shoots and kills him in panic. Her unhappy superiors order her to divert the Americans away from the spy ring. Although he has a circular mailed to Olivia that contains a message written in invisible ink, and has her brought in for questioning, Gordon releases her to lead him to the rest of the spies. Joel mistakenly thinks he has been enchanted by her seductive wiles. Olivia covertly warns Captain Nicholas Nieterstein (Cesar Romero), an attaché in a foreign embassy who is part of the spy ring, that the Americans have the circular, which requires use of a reagent to reveal the message. Olivia is told that the spy ring is going to betray Nieterstein to dupe the Americans into transmitting the rendezvous location to the troop convoy.

Dining later with Gordon, Olivia "accidentally" drops one of Nieterstein's military medals in her possession into a glass of water, revealing the reagent and his complicity. The stolen code book is found in his possession, planted by his own compatriots, and he is arrested. Nieterstein commits suicide. Gordon forces Olivia to lead him to the spies in a hotel staffed by enemy agents. Joel jealousy follows them and becomes a hostage of the spies. Gordon is also captured and under duress pretends to decode the position message to the convoy. However he has given them coordinates of the hotel. When the spy ring passes along the information, the Americans intercept it, and Carter recognizes the address. Justice Department agents shoot their way into the hotel to rescue Gordon and Joel. Gordon resumes his journey to France, but as he is about to board his train, Joel again uses her influence to keep him in Washington.

The game's plot happens one year after ''Shiren the Wanderer GB2: Magic Castle of the Desert''. Shiren and his partner Koppa reunites with his swordsman, Sensei, then led by him to embark on a journey to solve the mystery of the legendary Karakuri Mansion.

Captain Nathan Hansard is an officer of the United States Army in the near future, when a machine has been developed to transmit matter instantly. The United States has created a Mars base, Camp Jackson Mars, to which supplies and personnel are transmitted regularly. Captain Hansard, stationed at Camp Jackson Earth, is reassigned there and thus is transmitted. Hansard, however, discovers an unknown side effect of the process. He is not on Mars but remains on Earth in a phantom state; unable to be perceived by anyone in the original world. He is able to walk through buildings and swim through solid ground. He can only fully interact with other copies of people or items sent through the matter transmitter. Air and water are available near another transmitter that sends these to Mars, but he has no food. He is pursued by a group of soldiers in the same situation who have turned to cannibalism, waiting nearby to kill other newly created duplicates.

Hansard is saved when he finds a friendly group of two duplicates of the transmitter's elderly and wheelchair-using inventor, Panofsky, and three copies of Panofsky's wife, Bridgetta. She has adopted various roles named Jet, Bridget and Bridie. They explain that each time anyone is transmitted, a copy (or "echo") of that person is made. The original Panofsky is providing provisions to the group. He believes theoretically that this copying process is taking place and is sending the group food and drink on the pretext of testing the effect of transmission on foodstuffs. For a time, they are able to avoid the soldiers. Eventually, however, they are found and Hansard kills the leader of this group, at the expense of the death of one Panofsky duplicate and of one of the Bridgettas, whom Hansard was about to marry.

Meanwhile, the original world is faced with nuclear disaster. An order is sent to Mars with the original Hansard (Hansard 1) to launch nuclear weapons on to Earth on a certain date. Copies Hansard 2 and Panofsky 2 decide that this must be stopped at all costs, but they need to be able to communicate with someone in the original world. This might possibly be done by a copy occupying the same space as the original and subtly affecting the original's mind during sleep. Hansard 2 transmits to Mars (creating a Hansard 3 echo who dies) and links up with Hansard 1 to communicate a plan to avoid the destruction of the Earth. Hansard 1 builds some transmitters and places them in specific spots on the Earth. He then transmits the Earth to the other side of the sun to avoid the nuclear weapons. To atone for guilt about killing a child during the Vietnam War, Hansard 1 chooses not to be transmitted and dies, left behind in space. The Earth's echo, Earth 2, becomes solid for Hansard 2.

Earth 1 and Earth 2 are now safe, with Panofsky 2 making plans to retrieve the Moon, left behind when Earth 1 was transmitted. It is no longer orbiting the insubstantial Earth 2. Multiple weddings take place between the three Hansard and Bridgetta duplicates on Earth 2. They are transmitted to different destinations for their respective honeymoons, creating further, tertiary, duplicates. Panofsky wishes the latter, via a note, "Happy Honyemoon".

Judge James K. Hardy (Lionel Barrymore) hopes to be re-elected, but his campaign is put in jeopardy by his opposition to a wasteful public works program. Hardy and his family—wife Emily, adult daughters Joan and Marion, and teenage son Andy (Mickey Rooney)—live in Carvel, a small, fictional midwestern American town.

Spurned contractor Hoyt Wells and newspaper publisher Frank Redmond swear to block Hardy's re-election campaign. Frank agrees to use his paper, ''The Carvel Star'', to publish disparaging stories about the family.

That evening Judge Hardy's daughter Marion returns home from college. Older daughter Joan Hardy Martin moves in as well, after a secret separation from her husband Bill. The family throws a party for returning Marion. At the party they are warned by a ''Star'' gossip columnist that only negative stories are going to be published about the family. Later that night teenaged Andy Hardy reluctantly takes his childhood sweetheart Polly to a party, and is pleasantly surprised by what a beautiful woman she has grown into. Marion has found love in Wayne Trent, an engineer who has come to town to work on the aqueduct. Facing the possibility of her boyfriend losing his job, she questions her father's decision to block the construction.

Meanwhile, Joan confesses to her father that she and Bill are separated after she went to a roadhouse with another man. Although the encounter was innocent, Bill was enraged, and they soon separated.

''The Carvel Star'' publishes an article stating that people are calling for Judge Hardy's impeachment. Judge Hardy attempts to bring contempt of court proceeding against the ''Star''.

Five years after the events of ''Saints Row 2'', the 3rd Street Saints have merged with the Ultor Corporation to become a media and consumer empire with their own brand. While robbing a bank in Stilwater to promote an upcoming film about themselves, the Boss (Troy Baker, Kenn Michael, Robin Atkin Downes, Laura Bailey, Tara Platt, Rebecca Sanabria, or Steve Blum) and their top lieutenants, Shaundi (Danielle Nicolet) and Johnny Gat (Daniel Dae Kim), encounter unanticipated resistance on the job, which ultimately leads to them being arrested. The group are turned over to Phillipe Loren (Jacques Hennequet), head of an international criminal enterprise known as "the Syndicate". After refusing his deal to give the Syndicate most of their profits in exchange for their lives, the Saints stage a breakout, though Gat is forced to sacrifice himself to allow the Boss and Shaundi to escape. In response to the incident, Loren orders the Syndicate to attack the Saints, and ensure that their empire is destroyed.

Shaundi and the Boss land in the city of Steelport, firmly ruled over by the Syndicate's three main gangs: the Morningstar, a sophisticated gang led by Loren and his lieutenants, sisters Viola (Sasha Grey) and Kiki DeWynter (Megan Hollingshead), who dominate the sex trade; the Luchadores, a Mexican wrestler-themed gang led by Eddie "Killbane" Pryor (Rick D. Wasserman), who operate their own casino; and the Deckers, a hacker gang led by Matt Miller (Yuri Lowenthal), who dominate the city's cyber black-market. After Saints lieutenant Pierce Washington (Arif S. Kinchen) arrives with backup, the Saints secure a hideout, and go after Loren's operations, ultimately killing him in his own building. In the process, they rescue Oleg Kirrlov (Mark Allen Stuart), a former KGB agent being forcefully cloned to provide brutes for the Syndicate, who helps them to track down other allies: ex-FBI agent Kinzie Kensington (Natalie Lander), who seeks to disrupt the Deckers; veteran pimp Zimos (Alex Désert), who lost his business to the Morningstar; and Angel de la Muerte (Hulk Hogan), Killbane's embittered former wrestling partner.

With Loren dead, a power struggle ensues amongst the Syndicate, culminating in Killbane taking over after he kills Kiki in a jealous rage. Out of anger, Viola defects to the Saints and helps them finish off the Morningstar. Meanwhile, the lawlessness in Steelport leads to the federal government approving the initialisation of a taskforce to combat it - the Special Tactical Anti-Gang (S.T.A.G.), led by Cyrus Temple (Tim Thomerson) and supervised by Senator Monica Hughes (Tasia Valenza). Armed with highly advanced technology, STAG puts the city under martial law until order can be restored. During this time, the Saints focus on the Deckers, with the Boss acquiring items needed by Kinzie to allow them to access the Deckers' network with a virtual avatar. Once inside, the Boss battles Matt's avatar and defeats it, forcing Matt to retire his gang and leave the city. With only the Luchadores left, Angel suggests humiliating Killbane during his next major wrestling match, resulting in him going on a rampage across Steelport after he loses.

While pursuing Killbane admist the chaos, the Boss is informed that Shaundi, Viola, and Mayor Burt Reynolds (himself) have been kidnapped by STAG and taken to Steelport's most prominent monument, which has been rigged with explosives. At this point, the player must choose between continuing their pursuit of Killbane, or trying to stop STAG. In the canon ending, the Boss rescues their gang members and Reynolds and prevents the monument's destruction, resulting in the Saints being hailed as heroes and STAG being forced to leave Steelport after their actions become severely questioned by the federal government. The Saints decide not to pursue Killbane, who has fled Steelport, and instead resume their consumer activities, focusing on a new film called ''Gangstas In Space'' that stars the Boss. If the player alternatively chooses to pursue Killbane, they ultimately kill him, but Shaundi, Viola, and Reynolds die when STAG destroys the monument, which the Saints are framed for. The Boss exacts revenge and destroys STAG's flying aircraft carrier, before declaring Steelport an independent nation under the Saints' rule.

Mary Stuart, cousin to Queen Elizabeth, has fled to England after she has lost the support of the Scots after marrying Bothwell, whom the people believe murdered her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. She has left her son in Scotland in the hands of the Protestants and expects her cousin to restore her to her throne. Secretly, however, Mary recognizes herself as Queen of Scotland (since she was born to it), France (since she married to it), and England (since Elizabeth's paternity and her mother's marriage to her father is questionable). As Mary plots to overthrow Elizabeth, Elizabeth puts her in the custody of George Talbot and his wife, Bess of Hardwicke, in response to Mary's repeated attempts to claim the English throne. Mary is indignant at the captivity, repeatedly stating her royal status, and is upset when she is given some of the reigning queen's gowns to wear, saying that they are "hand-me-downs." She is unafraid of punishment for any reckless or insulting behavior she makes to her cousin, believing that one would never execute a fellow monarch. Most of the novel centers around the first few years of Mary's Stuart's imprisonment, during which time she makes several failed escape attempts and almost immediately begins to seduce the earl. George slowly begins to feel his loyalty to Elizabeth fade, replaced by a strong attachment to the captive queen. This results in marital problems with Bess, who ultimately separates from him.

The last chapter takes place fifteen years after the previous one. It is narrated by Bess, who reveals that Mary has recently been executed for participating in a plot to steal the throne of England. George watched the beheading in tears and was bankrupt from the years of expense to house her. Bess ends the book saying that she is well off, wealthy and prosperous, and that her granddaughter Arbella is an heir to the English throne. (However, this claim was not acknowledged, and Mary's son James I was crowned after Elizabeth's death in 1603.)

In the last novel of the series, Mara's actions in the first two books come back to haunt her. Although revered by the general population as the Servant of the Empire, her enemies plot revenge. Mara's son and heir Ayaki is killed by the Hamoi Tong in an attempt on Mara's life. Although the tong is known for preserving the secrecy of its employers, a token of the Anasati house is found in the assassin's hiding place. With her heart set on vengeance, Mara, as leader of Clan Hadama, calls for war with Clan Ionani, of which the Anasati, led by Lord Jiro, are a member. The Assembly of Magicians, "Great Ones" tasked with protecting the Empire, forbid the war, claiming the conflict would tear the Empire apart.

Two years later, an assassin of the Hamoi Tong poses as a Midkemian trader and poisons Mara with a chocolate drink. Mara's Spy Master Arakasi ruthlessly tortures the apothecary who sold the poison in order to find an antidote, and her husband Hokanu, although ambushed by assassins, manages to survive and return with the recipe. Mara survives, but her unborn child dies, and it is discovered that Mara will be able to bear only one more child. As she recovers, Arakasi is given the task of destroying the Hamoi Tong by stealing its records.

Mara gives birth to Hokanu's daughter, who is named Kasuma, but Hokanu's reluctance to accept a girl as his heir damages the intimate connection between him and Mara. Arakasi infiltrates the tong, killing its leader and stealing the records. On delivery, it is discovered that the death of Hokanu's father, Kamatsu, had been paid for by Jiro. Mara realizes that the Great Ones forbade the war against the Anasati as a result of a centuries-long policy of keeping Tsurani culture in stagnation, as well as a fear that she will be responsible for a radical upheaval in society. Hoping to find a way to resist the Assembly, Mara commits her children to the protection of the Emperor and journeys to the heart of the Thuril Highlands and Chakaha, the city of the cho-ja, where she convinces the cho-ja to aid her. Two cho-ja mages powerful creatures whose presence in the Empire is forbidden under the terms of an ancient treaty between the Tsurani cho-ja and the Assembly return with her to her estates, where she immediately learns that the Emperor Ichindar has been assassinated and that all the Houses of the Empire are mobilizing for war.

Mara quickly realizes that her enemies, the Anasati foremost among them, seek to claim the Emperor's Golden Throne and that it is Jiro's intention to marry the late Emperor's daughter, Jehilia. Mara's children, trapped in the Imperial City of Kentosani, represent major threats to anyone who wishes to take the throne; in particular, because of her adoption into the Imperial Family in ''Servant of the Empire'', Mara's twelve-year-old son, Justin, is Ichindar's closest living male relative. Allies of the Anasati are situated within immediate range of Kentosani, and although the Acoma army is able to block reinforcements, neither Mara, Hokanu, or Jiro can initiate the conflict without incurring the wrath of the Assembly. Fighting breaks out amongst other Houses, but without the involvement of the Acoma, Shinzawai, or Anasati, no definite conclusion can be reached.

Mara and Jiro are summoned to Kentosani by the Assembly; Jiro, who is several days closer, orders his allies to attack the city once he is inside, while Mara devises a way to disrupt his plans. She takes ten guards and makes her way toward Kentosani, while her oldest advisers and a large honour guard provide a distraction on the main roads. At the same time, she commands her army to attack the Anasati army, and though the Acoma are the larger force the battle is interrupted by the Great Ones, who force a withdrawal and, after questioning her Force Commander, begin to suspect her alliance with the cho-ja. They set out to find her, but in an expensive sacrifice the decoy force succeed in taunting a hot-headed Great One into destroying them all, allowing her time to avoid an Anasati ambush and enter a cho-ja hive.

Hokanu launches a mounted attack on Jiro's own honor guard, who prove ill-prepared to fight against men on horseback. Hokanu strangles Jiro, then proceeds toward Kentosani. The Great Ones, angered by Mara's new alliance, inadvertently break their treaty with the cho-ja in an attempt to kill her, and the cho-ja mages are able to transport her to the Imperial City. A marriage is hastily arranged between Justin and Jehilia, which takes place as the Great Ones try to breach wards set by the cho-ja. Justin's coronation is completed just as the Great Ones are about to break through, but, faced with a new emperor who holds the support of the temples (and the Gods), they are forced to accept Mara as Regent as well as the introduction of a new social order.

The series ends with a reunion between Mara and Kevin of Zūn, who returns to Tsuranuanni as an ambassador from The Kingdom of the Isles, unknowing that he has fathered a child, and shocked to find his son upon the Imperial Throne. Kevin and Mara, who has divorced Hokanu, quickly resume their romance.

Arakasi, Mara's Spymaster, is focused upon more in this novel: he falls in love whilst infiltrating the Hamoi Tong, and his struggle to reconcile his emotions and his profession form a running subplot.

Category:1990 American novels Category:1990 fantasy novels Category:American fantasy novels Category:Books with cover art by Don Maitz Category:Doubleday (publisher) books Category:Collaborative novels Category:Novels by Raymond E. Feist Category:Works about women in war

Having risen in wealth, power and social standing but still threatened by powerful enemies, Lady Mara of the Acoma is in as much danger as ever after her triumphs in ''Daughter of the Empire.'' Lord Desio of the Minwanabi, son of the defeated Lord Jingu, swears an unbreakable blood oath to the Red God of Death that he will destroy the Acoma or end his own bloodline. He enlists into this cause his cousin Tasaio, the cruel military genius who had managed to send Mara's father and brother to their deaths without breaking any laws or losing honor.

Though challenging the norms of Tsurani society had served her well, Mara remains a product of her culture and does not question many of her beliefs and conventions. Through the eyes of her Midkemian slave Kevin of Zūn, she begins to see the flaws, contradictions, limitations and potential of the Tsurani Empire—and finds Kevin, a love like she has never known. The Minwanabi plot to kill the Acoma military commander Keyoke and then force Mara into a campaign in the faraway desert lands of Dustari. Thanks to Mara's cho-ja warriors and Kevin's innovative "barbarian" tactics, Mara and her ally the Lord of the Xacatecas manage to overcome a Minwanabi ambush and secure an unprecedented treaty with the desert chiefs of Dustari. Tasaio is exiled for his failure against Mara, but ascends to Lord of the Minwanabi after Desio's death in battle on the barbarian world of Midkemia. Mara barely survives an extended overnight attack orchestrated by Tasaio and a second attack sent by powerful members of the Omechan clan who seek the office of Warlord in the Imperial capital of Kentosani. Mara continues acquiring allies and favors toward an endgame she knows is unavoidable. Her hopes of freeing Kevin from slavery are dashed by a proclamation from the Emperor Ichindar forbidding such practice, and soon she is even forced to relinquish Kevin for an Imperial exchange of prisoners with the Barbarian King. However, Mara manages to influence Ichindar and manipulate the High Council to thwart Tasaio's ambitions and destroy the Minwanabi once and for all. Mara—pregnant with Kevin's child—is named Servant of the Empire.

Category:1990 American novels Category:1990 fantasy novels Category:Books with cover art by Don Maitz Category:Doubleday (publisher) books Category:Collaborative novels Category:Novels by Raymond E. Feist Category:Works about women in war

At the age of 17, Mara's ceremonial pledge of servantship to the goddess Lashima is interrupted by the news that her father and brother have been killed in battle. Now Ruling Lady of the Acoma, Mara finds that not only are her family's longtime enemies, the powerful Minwanabi, responsible for the deaths of her loved ones, but her military forces have been decimated by the Minwanabi betrayal and House Acoma is vulnerable to utter destruction. An immediate assassination attempt thwarted, Mara relies on the loyalty and advice of her military commanders Keyoke and Papewaio, her former nurse Nacoya, and her own wits to find solutions that will stave off the enemies who would see her ruined.

Mara bends tradition to suit her needs by contriving a way to recruit grey warriors — the former soldiers of fallen Houses, traditionally outcast — to bolster the ranks of her army. Among them is the Spy Master Arakasi, whose network of informants had failed to save his former Lord from destruction at the hands of the Minwanabi, but remains intact and at his disposal. Mara makes an alliance with the Queen of a new colony of cho-ja, an insectoid species comprising both fierce warriors and gifted artisans, improving both her military might and potential wealth from cho-ja exports.

Mara also arranges a political marriage with her family's second most powerful enemy, the Anasati. Given a choice between the second and third Anasati sons, she makes the surprising choice of Buntokapi, the third son, generally regarded as incompetent and brutish. After their marriage, Buntokapi reveals himself to be a strong military leader and much smarter than others have given him credit for, but also proves to be both an abusive husband and a somewhat inept ruling lord. Mara becomes pregnant with an heir, securing her alliance with the Anasati, and sets in motion the rest of her plan; falling prey to her machinations, Buntokapi finds himself forced to commit ritual suicide to save his honor. Finally, facing Lord Jingu of the Minwanabi himself on his own estates at a celebration attended by the many noble families of Kelewan, Mara avoids assassination and turns the tables to contrive Jingu's own "honorable" suicide, avenging her father and brother.

Category:1987 American novels Category:1987 fantasy novels Category:American fantasy novels Category:Doubleday (publisher) books Category:Collaborative novels Category:Novels by Raymond E. Feist Category:Works about women in war

Part one

At the close of World War II, Hermann Göring surrenders to the United-States and enjoys the hospitality of a U.S. Army Air Force base. Samuel Rosenman, acting on the orders of U.S. President Harry S. Truman, recruits U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson to prepare a war crimes tribunal against Göring and the surviving Nazi leadership. Göring, Albert Speer and others are arrested for war crimes and imprisoned in a U.S. Army stockade at Bad Mondorf in Luxembourg. Jackson, his assistant Elsie Douglas, and his prosecution team fly to Germany. Psychologist Gustave Gilbert arrives at the stockade with prisoner Hans Frank, who has attempted suicide.

Jackson negotiates with Allied representatives Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, General Iona Nikitchenko and Henri Donnedieu de Vabres to ensure a unified prosecution. Jackson selects the Nuremberg Palace of Justice for the site of the trials and reconstruction work commences. Göring and the others are stripped of their rank and transferred to the prison in Nuremberg, where they come into conflict with the guards under the command of the strict Colonel Burton C. Andrus. Major Airey Neave serves Göring, Speer and the others with their indictments. U.S. judge Francis Biddle arrives to take control of the court but reluctantly passes the honour at Jackson's insistence. Following the suicide of prisoner Robert Ley, round-the-clock watches are posted and Gilbert is appointed prisoner liaison.

Sir Geoffrey Lawrence opens the trial with all defendants pleading not guilty, and Jackson gives a stirring opening statement. At lunch a jovial Göring holds court over the other defendants while Speer begins to show signs of remorse. Maxwell-Fyfe puts forward an emotive eyewitness account of the Nazis' genocidal policies toward Jews and others, while Jackson reads out dry documentation. As the court begins to tire of Jackson's meticulous approach, Maxwell-Fyfe urges pushing on to the witness interviews, which reveal the horrors of the concentration camps. The court is shaken by documentary footage of the camps; even Göring appears unsettled.

Part two

Speer explains Göring's dominance to Gilbert and insists that his control over the others must be broken. Göring takes the stand and begins speaking to the German people. Jackson, at Gilbert's suggestion, has Göring isolated. Under cross-examination, Göring outmaneuvers and humiliates Jackson, who later accuses Biddle of giving Göring free rein in court. Douglas talks Jackson out of tendering his resignation, and the two share a kiss. Under advice from Maxwell-Fyfe, Jackson returns to confront Göring with evidence of his crimes against the Jews and successfully dismisses the defendant’s denials.

At a Christmas party, the German housekeeper refuses to serve the Soviets, but Douglas rescues the situation before slipping away with Jackson. Gilbert visits the defendants and, under Jackson's advice, attempts to convince them to take responsibility for their crimes. Andrus relaxes the prison rules for Christmas, and Göring shares a friendly drink with his guard, Lt. Tex Wheelis. The cross-examination of the defendants intensifies and the defence calls Rudolf Höß, who casually reveals the horrors of Auschwitz. Speer is implicated in the enslavement of foreign workers by fellow defendant Fritz Sauckel and in response accepts collective responsibility for the crimes of the Nazi regime.

Gilbert interviews Göring's wife Emmy, who reveals that Hitler had ordered them all executed, which led to the family's surrender. Jackson is moved by Gilbert's summation of his examinations — that the source of the evil behind Nazi Germany was a complete lack of empathy — to give an impassioned closing statement. Göring uses his final statement to condemn the trial, and is sentenced along with several others to death by hanging. Speer uses his final statement to commend the tribunal and is sentenced to 20 years in prison. Göring commits suicide after his request to be executed by firing squad is denied. Andrus presides over the executions of the others while Jackson and Douglas head home.

Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper are two intelligent young physicists who have a combined IQ of 360 and claim to have "beautiful minds" that understand how the universe works. However, they are socially awkward, especially around women. After fleeing a visit to a sperm bank for high-IQ donors, they return home and meet Penny, an aspiring actress who has moved into the apartment adjacent to the one they share. Leonard is immediately infatuated and hopes to date Penny, which Sheldon considers unlikely to happen. Leonard persists in at least forming a friendship with her and awkwardly invites her into their apartment to have lunch with them.

Sheldon is quite content spending his nights playing Klingon-language Boggle with their socially dysfunctional friends, fellow geeks Howard Wolowitz, a wannabe ladies man, and Rajesh Koothrappali, who has selective mutism in front of women. However, Leonard is so infatuated with Penny that after letting her use their shower on account of hers being broken, he agrees to try to retrieve her TV from her macho ex-boyfriend, Kurt. However, Kurt de-pants Leonard and Sheldon, and they are unable to retrieve the TV. Feeling bad, Penny offers to buy the guys dinner; Sheldon realizes that Leonard will continue pursuing her.

Maggie Rohrer (Lorraine Bracco) is a seductive con-artist scamming the rich in Miami Beach. When she picks the wrong mark, Jack Shanks (Christopher Walken), he blackmails her into working with him on the ultimate scam in Jamaica. He wants to use her talents in a much bigger scam: ripping off a crime lord by getting at his programmer's computer files. But she starts to have doubts about what he's really after when she finds a huge stash of loot with the disks. He claims no knowledge of the money, she distrusts him, he's using her, things start getting dangerous and even murderous - and then her boyfriend shows up. When the scam turns deadly, murder and double-cross become the only way to finish their dangerous game.

Eva de Jesus (Cristine Reyes) comes from a poor but a loving family in a small Philippine fishing village. After losing her father at an early age, she and her mother Edeng (Sylvia Sanchez) have been making ends meet on their own. De Jesus wishes to finish school and settle down with her boyfriend Joel Dakila (Jason Abalos). She is perpetually targeted by the town's men because of their perception of her as beautiful and innocent.

When town rich kid Val Mendez (Baron Geisler) returns from Manila, he seeks out and rapes de Jesus; causing her life to circle the drain. Her boyfriend leaves her, and her family is devastated. In her quest to seek justice, she accidentally stabs Mendez's father, Don Ismael (Mark Gil). Whilst imprisoned, her sister dies from a freak accident. De Jesus escapes imprisonment and flees to Manila. Whilst there, she saves beauty agency manager Patricia "Tita Patty" Rosal (BB Gandanghari) from an assailant; grateful, Rosal offers her work as a model.

De Jesus's modelling career rises quickly, and Rosal informs her a Japanese company has hired them. She and de Jesus fly to Japan, where they meet company president Toshiro Fonda (Lito Legaspi). Fonda secretly plans to marry de Jesus; de Jesus accepts and their marriage is solemnised; however, a week after their wedding, Toshiro dies from heart complications.

Eva, now surnamed Fonda, returns to the Philippines, only to be preyed on by Mendez again. Mendez has kidnapped Dakila and another friend, Rosanna "Osang" Paredes (Princess Ryan), and confined them in a dilapidated building.

The game's plot involves one of two characters that the player can choose, Remeer or Ferris. The chosen hero awakens in a temple, on an unknown island. As the player explores the temple, it is discovered that, in order to make it home, he/she must travel to different worlds that lie within the temple and find the different arks that lie within each world. When the player retrieves all the arks, he/she is given access to the final area of the temple, to face the final boss and finally return home.

Each different world has its own specific storyline, involving Miriene the witch, Reeshine the grappler, Lux the tetujin, Kamiwoo the ogre, Meisia the priestess and Tokio the ninja. As such, the game plays out more of an anthology of stories with the temple tying the story as a whole together.

This short animates the changing of the seasons through the eyes of the gnomes responsible for spring, as well as their hard work that makes it possible. A dark cloud with a deep bellowing voice is used to animate winter, and the elements which nature must fight to put this season behind us.

The plot concerns the black-clad Legion of the Winged Serpent, a rogue group of human-like telepathic aliens led by Captain Rameses (Christopher Lee). The Legion's home planet Alpha in the Orion constellation is about to be destroyed in the imminent supernova of its star, and Rameses is leading a small force of flying saucers to Earth to examine its suitability for their race. Performing several alien abductions, they discover they are descendants of transplanted humans, and thus the Earth is perfect for them. They cover their tracks using a device that causes the abductees to commit suicide after a short time. They plan to take over after using a larger version of the device so that everyone on Earth will kill themselves.

Opposing any attempt to interfere with less-developed planets is the Intergalactic League of Races, a highly advanced group of bald, big-headed aliens from Zeta Reticuli. The League operates an observation base on Earth in the form of a pyramid hidden beneath the ocean. Rameses lands at the base, pretending to be a friendly researcher, and the League reminds him that under the Galactic Treaty he is to have no contact with humans. While taking a tour of the base, he is disturbed to see a television broadcast featuring human UFO expert and astronomer Professor Allan Duncan (Robert Vaughn) discussing Rameses' abductions. He laughs it off and indulges in the local entertainment.

Rameses' crew sabotages one of the League's three saucers, which is later shot down when approaching a United States Army base. The League sends its two remaining saucers to investigate. When they leave, Rameses and his crew kill everyone left in the base and destroy their robots. One of the League saucers manages to return to the base, but its crew is killed in a shootout. Rameses sends his ship to attack the remaining League saucer, but it loses the battle and is destroyed. Rameses then calls in reinforcements, hiding behind the Moon, to hunt down the surviving League ship. Rameses also deploys the "extermination device", the orbiting, global-scale version of the suicide device. The United States armed forces discover it in orbit, but are powerless to prevent the ensuing suicide epidemic.

The surviving League ship has suffered minor computer damage, and contacts Duncan for assistance. He enlists the help of his friend Malcolm (Henry Ramer), a computer expert, who repairs the ship using parts picked up in downtown Toronto. They are discovered shortly after taking off and are intercepted by one of Rameses' ships, but they shoot it down and it crashes into First Canadian Place. Duncan and Malcolm's "abduction" makes the front page of the ''Toronto Star''. After repairs and refueling, they leave Earth in an attempt to enlist the help of other League ships. Malcolm's improvised repairs burn out shortly past the Moon, so Duncan's knowledge of the masses of the planets is put to use by Malcolm's pocket calculator to plot their course to the outer Solar System.

The ship successfully reaches a League squadron, and they set out to attack the Legion. Rameses uses the computer in the League base to calculate superior strategies and begins to destroy the League ships. One of the robots in the base is only damaged, not destroyed, and re-takes command. He causes the extermination unit to destroy itself, and then directs Rameses' ships to collide with each other. His fleet destroyed, the super-weapon eliminated, there is no hope for Rameses and the League pleads with him to surrender. When Rameses discovers his sun has gone supernova during the battle, he crashes his ship into the Moon.

During the action the extermination unit had passed over Toronto, causing Duncan's wife (Helen Shaver) to slash her wrists. The League races to Duncan's home and easily revives her.

Volunteers arrive for a psychological study led by Dr. Archaleta (Stevens). Among the volunteers is Travis (Brody), a proud anti-war protestor, and Michael Barris (Whitaker), a 42-year-old man who still lives with his domineering mother. After interviews measuring responses to scenes of violence, a chosen 26 are driven to an isolated prison setting with 24 hour camera coverage. The group is split into six guards and 20 prisoners, thereafter referred to only by number. Travis is assigned as a prisoner (#77), and Barris as a guard. Basic rules are outlined: prisoners must fully consume three meals a day; there will be 30 minutes of mandatory rec daily; prisoners must remain within designated areas, and cannot speak to any guard unless spoken to first. The guards must ensure prisoners obey the rules, and deal commensurately with transgressions within 30 minutes. If the rules are broken, the guards have 30 minutes to restore order or a red light will signal the end of the experiment. Archaleta stresses that the experiment will end immediately at the first sign of violence or quitting. If all manage to follow the rules for two weeks, each man will be paid $14,000.

Travis shares his cell with Benjy, a graphic novelist, and Nix, a member of the Aryan Brotherhood who served prison time before. Barris, concerned that some of the guards may be capable of violence, tries to dissuade them from aggressive behavior. Instead, the guards grow more forceful in order to make prisoners 'obey at all costs'. Barris becomes more and more sadistic. Realizing Travis, who grows defiant, is influencing prisoner dissent, Barris decides to humiliate him. Under Barris' lead, Travis is abducted, head shaved, and urinated upon. The red light does not come on, and Barris takes this as a sign that his actions were "commensurate". When fellow guard Bosch dissents, Barris pressures him to continue; quitting early will cause payment for everyone be forfeited.

Travis discovers that Benjy, now severely ill, concealed his need for insulin, thinking that he could manage his diabetes with just diet. When Travis pleads for Bosche to intervene, Bosche tries to help by locating Benjy's insulin, but is caught by other guards. Barris, to Travis' surprise, puts insulin within Benjy's reach, but later has all the guards beat Bosche severely, who is then left among the prison population. Barris also orders Travis to clean the prison toilets as punishment for his defiant attitude and attempt to help Benjy. Travis taunts Barris. The guards respond by shoving Travis' head into the toilet, nearly drowning him.

One morning while being humiliated during roll call, Travis removes his prison shirt as a sign of protest, and is followed by the other prisoners. Travis climbs up to one of the cameras and demands that the group be let go, but the guards choke him. When Benjy tries to defend Travis, Barris hits Benjy hard on the head, leaving the man twitching on the floor. Guards lock Travis into an old boiler pipe overnight, attack remaining prisoners, and handcuff each man across the cell doors.

While locked in the dark boiler, Travis realizes that there is a hidden infrared camera watching him, even there. As his despondence turns to anger, he manages to get out and interrupts Chase's attempt to rape a prisoner. The intended victim and Travis beat Chase and knock him out. They set the other prisoners free. Finding Benjy dead from his head injury, Travis leads an assault against the guards, chasing them through the building. As the rest of the guards try to lift the garage door to escape, Barris tries to keep them in, unwilling to let go of his power. A vicious brawl ensues with the prisoners overwhelming the guards by sheer numbers. Travis personally confronts Barris who tries to stab him only Travis to stop the blade with his bare hand. Shocked by his own actions, Barris does nothing as Travis beats him to a pulp. Only then does the researcher's red light come on and the door open, signaling the end of the experiment.

The group emerges into bright sunlight, and sits on the grass in silence until a bus arrives. They are later shown on the bus, being driven home, already changed into clean clothing, and paid for their participation in the experiment. Audio news snippets suggest that Archaleta is being tried for manslaughter in Benjy's death. Travis meets his girlfriend in India, which was his goal to enter the experiment.

Oakington is one of the lesser-known public schools in England, and Dr Roseveare, its headmaster, has been trying hard for seven years to improve its reputation. When, in the winter term of 1927-1928, one of the pupils is killed in his sleep by an old gas fitting falling down from the ceiling he contacts Colin Revell, an Old Boy, to discreetly investigate the matter. Not entirely convinced that there was no foul play involved but unable to pin down a motive on anyone, Revell leaves again after a few weeks, and most of the evidence is destroyed by the installation of electricity in the whole building.

A few months later Revell is shocked to learn that the deceased boy's brother has also died under mysterious circumstances—he seems to have jumped into the school's indoor swimming pool late at night after the water had been drained—and travels to Oakington of his own accord. Now it turns out that the closest relative of the two brothers, who have been orphans for years, is actually a teacher at Oakington, and that he stands to inherit a small fortune. At the same time Revell falls in love with that teacher's beautiful young wife.

Widow Rika starts working as a maid in the okiya (geisha lodging house) of geisha Otsuta, who lives with her daughter Katsuyo, her younger sister Yoneko and Yoneko's child, and geisha Nanako. Of the seven geisha who once worked for Otsuta, only Nanako and Someka are left; a third girl, Namie, has just run away, convinced that she has been tricked out of her share. Otsuta's older sister Otoyo tries to pressure Otsuta into finding a financially secured husband to pay back the loans on the house which the two of them mortgaged together. Ohama, a former geisha sister of Otsuta, tries to help by making contact between her and her nephew's employer Hanayama, a former patron of Otsuta. The situation tightens when Namie's uncle shows up, demanding the money which he thinks his niece is entitled to. Otsuta tries to compensate him with 50,000 yen, half of Hanayama's onetime donation, but he refuses and goes to the police instead, resulting in the questioning of Otsuta and Katsuyo. Eventually Ohama pays for Otsuta's mortgaged house, but only to move the Tsuta House out and open her own restaurant instead. She offers Rika an employment in her future business, but Rika declines. In the final scene, Rika, instructed not to tell anyone of Ohama's plans, watches Otsuta giving music lessons to apprentices.

A team of daredevil pilots form the Flight Squad. With their own airplane fleet that is a high-yielding as it is varied, Flight Squad is organized as an independent air services company, carrying out "à la carte" missions for their clients.

Small town woman Letty Lawson (Madge Evans) moves to New York City and lives in a boarding house run by Mrs. Merrick (May Robson). Eventually she asks her friend and Mrs. Merrick's daughter, Carol (Una Merkel), to get her a job at her workplace, an exclusive beauty salon owned by Madame Sonia Barton (Hedda Hopper). Though both Carol and her brother Bill (Edward J. Nugent), who is in love with her, warn her that it is not a fit place for a young woman of good character, Letty insists she knows what she is getting into.

After proving herself, Letty is sent on a house call to attend to spoiled, scatterbrained, chatty Mrs. Sherwood (Alice Brady). When she leaves, she discovers her hat has been chewed up by Mrs. Sherwood's Pekingese. Lawyer Mr. Sherwood (Otto Kruger) returns home and is quite fond of Letty and offers her to go and buy her an expensive replacement. By chance, she meets him again when they both seek shelter from a rainstorm in the same place. Sherwood is delighted when a fear of lightning makes Letty reflexively seek the comfort of his arms several times. They start seeing each other, though nothing very improper occurs.

Meanwhile, Carol has a rich, older, indulgent boyfriend, Freddy Gordon (Charley Grapewin), while Jane (Florine McKinney), another salon employee, is secretly seeing Burt (Phillips Holmes), Madame Sonia's mining engineer son.

Finally, Sherwood asks Letty to take the next step in their relationship. She asks for a week to think it over.

Carol convinces Freddy to take her along on his business trip to Paris. While seeing her off aboard the ocean liner, Letty runs into the Bartons. When Letty later mentions that Burt is leaving on the same ship as Carol, Jane becomes very upset. It turns out that Burt had promised to marry her the next day after she told him she was pregnant. Though Letty tries to comfort her, late that night Jane leaps from her window to her death.

Influenced by the examples of both Jane and Carol (after her first and only love turned out to be a married man who eventually went back to his wife, she became calculating and cynical), Letty turns Sherwood down. Then, she reluctantly agrees to marry Bill.

Specifically requested by Mrs. Sherwood, Letty is forced by Madame Sonia to go to her home. When her client notices her engagement ring, she reveals that she is getting married soon. Mr. Sherwood coolly congratulates her. However, on the wedding day, she cannot go through with it.

The next day, Mrs. Sherwood asks her husband for a divorce so she can marry Robert Abbott (John Roche), the architect of the new country mansion she had commissioned. She tells him that she will ask for no alimony, as she is independently wealthy. Sherwood is furious, as it is after Letty's supposed wedding, but is quite willing to let his wife go.

Carol, having finally gotten Freddy to propose, goes house hunting. The real estate agent takes them to see the Sherwood mansion. When he reveals that it is being sold because the couple are divorcing, Letty rushes over to the real estate office to stop the sale and be reunited with her love.

Joss, Sonnet and Robyn are all dorm-mates at London University, a university in southern Ontario. Joss is studying for exams, but while on a snack run, she's nearly overrun by zombies. Initially afraid, the "First Rule of Zombie Movies" kicks in for Joss: confronted with zombies, ordinary people will transform into tough, adept and ruthless fighters. Joss survives the attack and runs back to her dorm in a panic, but Sonnet and Robyn don't believe her. The zombies have since dispersed, and are nowhere to be seen.

Later, during the exam, the zombies return. Joss gets Sonnet and Robyn, and they barricade themselves in their dorm, since the nearest mall is too far away (another Zombie Rule: "Never leave the mall"). The phones are out, according to another Rule, so they remain in the dorm room. Meanwhile, the Canadian Army are figuring out what to do about the zombies. A high-ranking officer mentions that his son, Robyn, can "turn the tide of a Zombie invasion".

The next morning, the zombie epidemic is just as bad. Joss wants to stay in the dorm and await rescue, but Sonnet and Robyn know another Rule: no one ever rescues the survivors. They make a break for it, armed only with a spork. Soon, however, they're surrounded. As the Zombies close in, Joss' English professor emerges, and explains that he created the zombie epidemic by poisoning the coffee at the campus coffeehouse as a statement about the cheapening of higher education: few university students care any more about education, and would rather just pay for a degree. They are figurative zombies, so the professor has turned them into literal zombies.

Just then, the Army launches air strikes to purge the zombies. Joss, Sonnet and Robyn still need to get away, however, so Joss follows another Zombie Rule: sacrifice yourself to lead the zombies away. The zombies corner her in the university library, which is then bombed.

Joss survives the collapse, and wakes up a few weeks later in the hospital. The university is in ruins after a large portion of its student and faculty population became zombies and were purged. Mortified to hear this, Joss decides to vacation in England.

The Canadian government has paid for Joss' trip to England. There she meets a boy wearing a Canada T-shirt, and they go walking along the Thames together.

The tale begins with two college-age brothers, Barion and Coyul, members of an advanced alien world. Their race is endowed with the power to manipulate physical matter with their minds, a power which is exploited incessantly by the young adults. An accident strands the brothers on Earth, which at the time has no human race. The brothers hope for rescue, but eventually grow despondent. In their free time, they cause a series of evolutionary changes in the indigenous primates of Earth, which eventually lead to the blossoming of human civilization.

The brothers grow fond of their project, which they ardently monitor, intervening when necessary. With all the progress they are able to endow humans with, they are never able to rid them of the dim memory of primal darkness, causing a permanent schism between intellect and emotion, which is termed "spiritual schizophrenia". Humans have an insatiable need to decipher the meaning of life, a thirst which leads to stubborn belief systems and immense amounts of violence.

Eons later, the brothers' creation is in danger due to an unlikely courtship. Charity Stovall is a passionately religious young woman from a small American town. She is poised to marry Roy Stride, a violent young fascist. The young couple is oblivious to the fact that if they were to bear a child, it could possibly be more destructive than Hitler to human culture and possibly humanity itself. Subsequently, the two brothers literally put the duo through hell to keep them apart, subjecting them to outrageous scenarios beyond their control.

The book is written in the form of a diary kept by Clotee, a young slave girl on a Virginia plantation in 1859. Clotee secretly teaches herself to read and write while fanning William, her owner's young son, during his lessons with his mother Miz Lilly. Clotee is discovered by Mr Harms, the tutor, who is actually an abolitionist working to help slaves escape via the Underground Railroad. When Clotee is given the opportunity to escape, she must decide whether to run away to freedom or stay behind to help other slaves escape.

Clotee's best friend on the plantation is a very strong girl named Spicy. Spicy desperately wants to change her name to Rose (the name her mother picked out for her), but is forced to accept the name given by her owners. Clotee later writes in Spicy's Bible, the only keepsake that Spicy has from her mother, that Spicy's name is actually Rose. Spicy is also in love with Hince, the person who Clotee calls her "brother-friend".

Clotee and Spicy are the property of "Mas' Henley," a cruel man. While Master Henley never whips or beats Clotee in the book, he does strike Spicy across the face in the final chapter. Mistress Lilly Henley is a weak, foolish woman and a disinterested mother. Clotee's mother was Lilly Henley's personal maid, but Master Henley forced his wife to sell her maid; Clotee's mother later died far from her daughter. Clotee's father is not present in the story as he drowned in the river before she was born. Mistress Lilly often tries to make Clotee her little pet, claiming that Clotee's mother was a very good friend of hers. Clotee always finds a way to decline and Lilly soon gives up, taking another housemaid under her wing and trying to turn the household servants against each other.

When Ely Harms is driven off the Henley Plantation, Clotee takes his place as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Clotee comes up with a plan so that Mr Harms didn't get arrested. Clotee eventually runs away; we later learn that she has become a teacher. She also keeps up correspondence with William Henley, who becomes an abolitionist as well. Clotee dies at the age of 92, and the book ends with the quote from her gravestone: "Freedom is more than a word".

World War I still rages on in Europe, and Tom Swift is still inventing wartime technology, but inspiration comes in the form of infatuation: while taking Mary Nestor for a brief flight, he is unable to communicate due to the noise of the engine, which sets Tom onto the track of developing a totally silent airship. While Mary Nestor was the spark, Tom intends to offer this to the United States government for use on the western front.

While this is still a germ of an idea, Tom is approached by Mr. Gale and Mr. Ware, representatives of the Universal Flying Machine Company, a competing airship manufacturer. Tom is offered a lucrative salary to join the firm, but Tom is uninterested in the money. Tom's refusal infuriates the men, and events are set in motion, which include the (accidental) kidnapping of Mr. Nestor, Mary's father.

Struggling young writer Tony Blake (Adam Faith) is served an eviction notice by Mr Slate (Clive Dunn) from his rented room in a Chelsea house shared with other artistic types including abstract "flicking" painter Arnold (Charles Hawtrey). Tony hatches a plan to drum up interest in his rejected book on the Loch Ness Monster by faking a sighting of the creature. He and his friend Vernon (Terence Longdon), who makes electronic music, construct a phony monster, which they photograph in the Serpentine, startling a tramp (Spike Milligan). The two friends and Vernon's ditzy girlfriend Charlotte 'Charlie' Pinner (Carole Lesley) decide to visit Scotland to further their ruse. Driving in a second-hand Rolls Royce hearse, they pick up a young French hitchhiker, Marie (Marie-France), along the way. They are pursued by Charlie's dipsomaniac father (Freddie Frinton).

Tony and his friends arrive at a Loch Ness inn, whose landlord Harry Sutton (Sid James) is trying to conceal dozens of poached salmon from two local policemen (Gordon Rollings and Terry Scott). Tony befriends the local postman (Wilfred Brambell) and other locals, who become more convinced the monster is real when they hear a monstrous roar from a speaker secretly installed by Vernon. The next day, the inn is swarming with customers and the press, much to the delight of Sutton and the locals. However, the crowd's enthusiasm wanes when Tony is unable to produce a promised photo of the monster. In the midst of these events, Vernon and Charlie decide to get married, Marie falls for Tony, and the poached salmon are inadvertently loaded into a police car.

Tony and his friends secretly make another phony monster to photograph, only to discover that several locals, in an attempt to draw business and attention back to the area, had the same idea and made their own fake monsters. The locals also discover the hidden speaker Tony used to broadcast roars, and realize they were deceived all along. An angry mob chases Tony and Marie, who try to escape by rowing across the loch, only for the real monster to rise from the loch as the film ends.

In the year 10,001 B.C., a caveman runs away from a predator through a plain and immediately gets into a fight with Wolf. After defeating him, the caveman then encounters the predator, a saber-toothed, gasoline-drinking Amy Winehouse, who informs him that the world will end on August 29, 2008, and that their fate lies in a Crystal Skull.

The sequence is then revealed to be a dream of everyman Will in the present day. He then finds out that his girlfriend Amy is having an affair with Flavor Flav, and she breaks up with Will because he is not admitting his true feelings for her.

Later that day, Will has a "Super Duper Sweet Sixteen" party at his house, despite being 25. The guests include Juney, Dr. Phil, Will's best friend Calvin, and Anton Chigurh, among others. During the party, Amy arrives with her new boyfriend, a Calvin Klein underwear model. The party then comes to a halt when the room shakes and the lights go out. A bulletin on the radio claims there is a meteor shower and it is the end of the world. Soon after, the city starts to freeze over, and Will, Juney, Calvin, and Calvin's girlfriend Lisa retreat to a garage for shelter. When Juney mentions that the calamities are caused by global warming, Will realizes his dream as a caveman could be related. Later, Will is chided by the others for not committing himself to his relationship with Amy.

The gang leaves the garage and Will gets a call from Amy, where he admits his feelings for her before the call is dropped. He decides to go to rescue Amy. Lisa is later killed by a meteor. While the others comfort a distraught Calvin, Giselle, a prostitute, climbs out of a manhole and gets hit by a taxi. Calvin catches her, and they immediately fall in love with each other. Giselle's pimp, Prince Edwin, challenges Calvin to a dance fight for her love, but a tornado appears and Prince Edwin flees. Iron Man, Hellboy, and the Hulk attempt to fight it, but all are defeated by cows thrown by the tornado. After taking shelter, Will, Juney, Calvin, and Giselle encounter rabid knockoffs of Alvin and the Chipmunks, who attack the gang and kill Juney. The "Chipmunks" then go after Will and Calvin, but they trap them in a trash can, fatally suffocating them as they attempt to escape.

On their way to the museum where Amy is trapped, the group runs into Batman, who informs them that they must go to evacuation buses and that there will be no chance of survival if they go to save Amy. With time against them, Princess Giselle kills Speed Racer, and the group hijacks his Mach Five to drive to the museum. At the museum, they save Amy, who reveals that the Crystal Skull is the only thing that can stop the end of the world. Calvin and the Princess then find that the museum doors are closed and all of the artifacts have come alive, including Po from Kung Fu Panda, who fights Calvin but is defeated. When Calvin makes out with the Princess, Calvin accidentally pulls her wig and discovers that she is actually a transvestite. While this happens, "Po" takes out a katana and simultaneously kills Calvin and the Princess.

Meanwhile, Will and Amy run into a nude Beowulf, who fights with Will. After Amy stabs "Beowulf" in the back, Will and Amy encounter Indiana Jones, who is revealed to be Will's father. "Indy" tries to put the Crystal Skull on the altar, but he flies through a stained glass window in the room. Will does it instead, and he averts further destruction. Will and Amy have a wedding ceremony performed by "The Guru Shitka", which ends with a musical number about all of the characters in the film dating each other (having sex in the unrated version) parodying "I'm Fucking Matt Damon" by Sarah Silverman and the film closes with the "Chipmunks" getting crushed to death by a falling cow before the credits start to roll.

Tam (Aaron Kwok) is an impoverished private detective. One day, a guy nicknamed Fatty asks Tam to find a lady who wants to kill him. He leaves Tam a portrait and a large amount of cash without giving any other details. Tam cannot resist the offer and so his investigation starts.

Knowing that Sum, the lady in the picture, is a frequent visitor of a store where the picture was shot, Tam tries to get hints of her whereabouts from the storekeepers. He is told to find her through her mahjong playmates. Tam starts with Ming, but when he arrives at Ming's home, he finds Ming hanged in the living room.

As Tam continues to search for other mahjong playmates of Sum, he is shocked to find each of them murdered every time he is about to contact with them. He discovers a half-burned photo at one of the scenes. Tam realizes the suspicions behind the deaths and decides to protect the next target of the invisible murderer. The photo is the only clue for Tam to solve the case.

Oliver Courtney is an arrogant composer who lets other people write songs he takes credit for. Bob Sommers writes his tunes with Billy Starbuck. At the night of a social Christmas party, Oliver introduces Bob's song "What Would Shakespeare Have Said?" as his own. Later that night, Oliver thanks Bob for his loyalty and offers him a contract for $50 a week for three years. He refuses, saying he would rather have a catboat to visit his uncle at his river hotel, called Nobody's Inn.

After his lyric writer dies, Oliver finds a replacement in Cherry Lane. She is reluctant about being a ghost writer, but accepts his offer. He is satisfied with her first lyric. She becomes ambitious to write better lines, but is not able to concentrate at home, and it is suggested she move to a small and quiet place. Meanwhile, Bob and Cherry meet several times, without knowing they are working for the same employer. She does not think highly of him.

To work in a perfect environment, Cherry travels to Tarrytown and stays at Nobody's Inn. Bob decides to give the inn a visit at the same time, and they are shocked to run into each other yet again. They soon become acquainted and actually start liking each other. They even compose their own song together. However, because they are not allowed to tell who they are working for, they do not find out they are colleagues. She becomes mad at him when he plays the song she wrote the lines for and states he wrote it himself.

Bob is confused and travels back to town to resign. Cherry has come to office as well to inform her boss she thinks someone has stolen his lines. They realize they were working together all along. Bob and Cherry make up and decide to start their own music composing careers. After a few unsuccessful auditions, Bob agrees to start a band. They audition for Mr. Westlake, but he is only interested in Cherry. He offers her a job as a nightclub singer, but she is loyal to the band and rejects his offer.

Bob notices it is a great opportunity for Cherry and gives her his consent to work for Westlake. He takes his job back as Oliver's ghost writer and raises $200 so Cherry can premiere with the song they wrote together at Nobody's Inn. However, she is unhappy at her new job and is helped by Bob to get out of her contract. Oliver feels sympathetic toward them and persuades them not to walk away by announcing the song is not written by him. After announcing they will soon marry, Bob and Cherry perform their song.

''The Riddles of Epsilon'' focuses on the character of Jessica (‘Jess’), who moves with her mother and father to the fictional island of Lume, far from the mainland (Scotland), after being expelled from school. While speaking to her friend Avril in an internet chatroom, Jess encounters the mysterious character of ‘V,’ Who was a ghost who begins to warn her of an impending danger, relating to Lume’s distant past. Later she dreams of a boy named Sebastian, who she realizes lived in this same house nearly one hundred years previously. As the story progresses, events in Jess’s life begin to parallel those of Sebastian’s, particularly the fact that both the children’s mothers seem to be acting incredibly strangely. Much of the exposition in the novel is handled by way of riddles and clues, which take the form of puzzles and images, through which Jess discovers, with the help of ‘V,’ the truth about the strange events taking place on Lume.

Jess, having recently moving house to the Island of Lume after being expelled from school, is talking with her friend Avril in an internet chatroom, when someone called V also appears in the chatroom, who kicks Avril out of the chatroom. He talks about her being on Lume, despite her not mentioning the name to Avril. Later, exploring the island, Jess discovers a small cottage in the forest near the "Big House", where she now lives. On the black obsidian doorstep are carved symbols and the words "WHERE _ _ SILON DWELLS". She goes into the cottage, where she thinks she sees a tall shadowy dark man standing by a rocking chair, but when she blinks, he is only an old coat with the sleeve resting on the chair. She attempts to explore the house, but then sees the rocking chair moving by itself. Terrified, she rushes out into the garden, where she discovers an arrow carved on the garden wall, pointing into the ground. She digs down at the place specified and discovers an old bucket, with a symbol like "half a feather, on its side" and the word "EPSILON" carved on its base. In the chat room that evening telling Avril about it, the mysterious V appears and tells her to put the bucket on her windowsill. Later investigating, Jess finds that she can find no trace of "V" in the chatroom history or on the print-outs of her conversations with Avril.

As V told her, she puts the bucket in her window and finds that somehow 37 symbols are projected on the walls of her room, despite there being nothing on the bucket for them to reflect off. She copies them down, and upon entering the chatroom, is told by V to use the symbols on the black doorstep at the cottage to translate them. She questions him as to how he knew the black doorstep was there, but he logs out of the chatroom. She uses the English words on the doorstep to translate the symbols from the bucket when her parents are out which turns out to be the verse,

"With a mirrored dream A followed sound Thus let it begin."

Before she can puzzle this out any further, her parents return from their walk, having found a "whole belemnite, whatever that is". Later that night she has a dream about a boy, sleeping in her attic bed, who wakes in the middle of the night and scribbles on a piece of paper before rushing outside, drinking from a water pump and then following the sound of a flute down towards the cottage. Jess wakes up herself, writes about her dream in her diary, before realising she too can still hear the flute music, which she follows down to the cottage. She walks in the door, and the flute music stops, the flute itself falling to the ground, as if whoever had been playing it had literally just dropped it. She picks it up, and finds it dusty and ancient, with Epsilon's symbol carved on it. She tries to blow it, and blows out a piece of paper stuck inside it. The paper is a sketch of her, sitting in her attic bed, reaching out for her globe lamp, and also a diary page written by a boy called Sebastian Wren.

The diary page is apparently what she saw Sebastian writing in her dream before he went down the cottage, and in it he talks about just having a dream himself about a girl who follows a flute down to the cottage (Jess). He talks about her nose ring being a sign of the 'Borus, which Jess does not understand, and also that Epsilon has told him to write the diary. He signs it, using the words "as Agapetos is my witness", and the date, 1894. Jess is bewildered, but realises the words a "followed sound" mean the flute music, and the "mirrored dream" is what she and Sebastian have just experienced: "I drew him, just as he looked when he woke after dreaming of me. He drew me, just as I looked when I woke from a dream about him." But she doesn't know what will now begin.

The next day Jess falls ill, and her Mum, concerned, gives her the belemnite she found, which Jess does not appreciate - ")Oh wow. A baby stone carrot. Why can't she give me a CD like other mums?)" The doctor, Dr. Parker, also comes to check her over, and tells her that it is probably just running about in the heatwave, and that even in the early mornings when she goes out she must be careful. She spills out all her woes to Dr. Parker, but feels protective when he picks up the bucket off her windowsill, and feels like something is flowing out of it. He invites her to his garden party, the Greet, next week, and leaves, but when Jess checks the bottom of the bucket again, the base is bare - Epsilon's name and symbol have gone.

In the chatroom, Jess works out that V is actually Epsilon, as he gives her the riddle "V is a letter that is not a letter". The letter V actually corresponds to the Roman numeral 5, E is the fifth letter of the alphabet, and in Greek the letter "E" is called "Epsilon". Epsilon tells her that her mother is in danger, and that she shouldn't trust Dr. Parker. He also tells her that someone evil is watching her, whom he calls the "Eye of Miradel". Jess becomes exasperated with him and leaves the chat room. She later goes down to the cottage, where she spots the tall, dark man again. She opens one of the drawers in the desk, to find 3 boxes, only the first of which she can open. In it she finds another diary page from Sebastian. He has discussed the girl he saw in his dream (Jess) with Epsilon, and the whole village is getting ready for the Greet. His mother is behaving strangely, collecting hundreds of shells from the beach, which she has dumped in his father's hollyhocks, which has made him angry; Epsilon has warned Sebastian to look after her. He also writes down the "Ballad of Yolandë", which he has heard the carver of the may pole (or the Coscoroba), Jerry Cork, singing. Epsilon also warns him that this ballad is not all it seems and gives him the clue "V then V then V then V", which Sebastian does not understand. He has also heard his mother singing this ballad in the middle of the night, which worries him.

Jess reads the ballad and cannot understand what Epsilon means about it, as it seems perfectly innocuous. But then, in another chat Jess has had with Epsilon, when Epsilon said goodbye, E, "Or should I say V." At this she realized there were 5 V's, not four, and this is what she finds out from "The Ballad of Yolande" (every five words):

"I awake in the time of dark choices I stir in my wrath For the treasures of the deep Are hidden from my eyes. The workers of my enemy are busy. I will call my faithful out From east, west, north and south. I sip weakness like nectar - Crush honesty to dust. My bone hands bring lies and death. I must possess! My black heart sows ruin; To ruin is my delight. Mark my chanting, travellers -- Flee from my song of beauty!"

She was appalled at this, and went on the greatest, biggest adventure of her life, to save her mother, and herself, and destroy the evil beings.

Sommelier and wine shop owner Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman), a British expatriate living in Paris, is concerned with how to save his business in his daily conversation with Maurice (Dennis Farina), a wine lover from Milwaukee who is Spurrier's regular (sometimes only) customer. He concocts a plan to hold a blind taste-test intended to introduce Parisians to the quality wines coming from elsewhere in the world.

Spurrier travels to the not-yet-famous Napa Valley in search of contestants for his Judgment of Paris taste test, where a chance meeting introduces him to founding vintner Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman) of Chateau Montelena. Barrett wants no part in it, believing it to be a set-up designed by the French to humiliate New World wine producers. Barrett's son, Bo (Chris Pine), secretly passes Spurrier a couple of bottles of the Chateau's chardonnay for the competition. Comely and nonconformist university graduate student Sam Fulton (Rachael Taylor) arrives at Chateau Montelena seeking an internship, and is promptly put to work while stirring up interest among Bo and vineyard foreman Gustavo (Freddy Rodriguez).

Due to reductionist techniques in wine making (the absence/reduction of oxygen during the wine making process), the chardonnay has turned brown in the bottles, causing Barrett Sr. to call for the whole vintage to be carted away for dumping. But Bo discovers the brown color is only temporary and races back home. On the way back to Chateau Montelena, however, Bo's truck runs out of gas, forcing him and Sam to find someone to help them out. After several unsuccessful attempts on Bo's part, Sam takes over and gets a driver (who turns out to be a police officer) to pull over by exposing her breasts. Even though she could get arrested for indecent exposure, the officer agrees to help them out. Bo eventually manages to recover the vintage, thanks to the help of local bar owner Joe (Eliza Dushku) who had intercepted the bottles on the way to the dump, intending to recycle the bottles.

Bo is asked to travel to Paris to represent the Napa Valley vintners at the contest. After tallying the scores from the eight Parisian judges, Spurrier is shocked to find that Montelena's Chardonnay has won the competition.

The report is featured in an article of ''Time''; restaurants and wine shops all around America are asked continuously for the wine (Chateau Montelena Chardonnay 1973) and forced to admit that they do not have it. This twist of fate and the resultant oenological epiphany forever changes the fortunes of Napa Valley wineries and the global wine industry as a whole, as it is revealed that French wines are in fact not unbeatable.

In the end, the futures of the characters are revealed: Jim Barrett continues to make wine into his 80s, although Bo now runs the winery. A bottle of Montelena Chardonnay 1973 and the red wine, Stags Leap cabernet sauvignon 1973, also from California, that had won the same competition were given a display case at the Smithsonian Institution. In 2006, thirty years after the first competition, Steven Spurrier hosted another contest, this time with full confidence that French wine would win. California won again.

Following Battle of Pequawket (Hawthorne uses the name ''Lovell's Fight'') in 1725, two survivors of the battle struggle to return home. Roger Malvin and Reuben Bourne are both wounded and weak, and they have little hope that they will survive. They rest near a rock that resembles an enormous tombstone.

Malvin, a much older man, asks Reuben to leave him to die alone, since his wounds are mortal. Reuben insists that he will stay with Malvin as long as he remains alive, but the old man knows that this would mean death for both of them. Malvin convinces Reuben to leave.

Reuben survives. Because he has not honored his promise to bury the old man, he is not at peace. His unease is exacerbated by his failure to tell his fiancée, Dorcas (Malvin's daughter) that he left her father to die. Reuben is considered a brave man by his compatriots, but inside he feels that he has failed them.

Dorcas and Reuben marry, but Reuben's guilt-induced moodiness renders him unfit for normal society. Many years later, when Reuben and Dorcas's son is already grown, Reuben decides that they will move away from the town and settle on a piece of land by themselves. They travel through wilderness. While encamped, Reuben and his son wander into the forest while Dorcas prepares a meal. They become separated. Reuben thinks he hears a deer in the brush and fires his gun, but discovers that he has killed his own son. As he observes the terrain, he realizes it is the same place where he had left Roger Malvin many years before.

Walter Mancini (Nero), an alcoholic reporter, and his wife Eve (Cléry) are on a road trip with a trailer heading back to Los Angeles. Along the way, they pick up a hitch-hiker (Hess) who introduces himself as Adam Konitz. Konitz soon turns out to be a sadistic escapee from an institution for the criminally insane, and he is running from the law after robbing two million dollars with his partners. He takes the couple hostage and orders Eve to head to Mexico. They are soon stopped by two policemen and after Walter attempts to signal them by writing "SOS" on his matchbox, Konitz shoots them both.

While the three stop for the night, Konitz's two partners, whom he had betrayed to get all the loot for himself, shoot at Konitz and take control of the money and the car. They decide to keep the Mancinis alive until reaching the Mexican border. While driving, they are attacked by someone in a truck. The attacker turns out to be Konitz who kills his former associates and again takes the Mancinis hostage. After they reach a secluded place, Konitz rapes Eve and forces Walter to watch the act. As Konitz gets ready to kill Walter, Eve shoots him with Walter's hunting rifle.

Despite Eve's opposition, Walter decides to keep the two million instead of going to the police. After the four young motorcyclists the couple met at a gas station pass them and pour oil on the road, the Mancinis' car goes off the road and crashes. One of the youngsters takes three hundred from Walter's pocket, but leaves the suitcase on the back seat untouched. The thieves then ride away. Eve is badly hurt and requests help from Walter. Walter brings Konitz's body from their trailer and plants it on the accident scene. He then tells the dying Eve that the thieves had only helped him. He had planned to stop after 15 to 20 miles, kill her and make it look like an accident. After lighting up a cigarette and setting the car and the trailer on fire, Walter starts walking and, hearing a car come by, thumbs a ride.

;Issue 1 A boy named Toby Goodman recently started reading ''Secret Wars'' comics. His parents are divorced, he is ostracized by his classmates and doesn't have many friends. Toby is seen walking home with his dad (Jerry Goodman), when he thinks that he sees the Red Skull in the window of a house. Toby is reluctant to tell anyone about his discovery, but then he sees the Vulture on the television. Toby revisits the house where he saw the Red Skull and finds Doctor Doom and Mole Man talking about taking over our world. Dr. Doom hears Toby and orders his minions to chase after him. Toby runs away to the woods and trips over The Hulk, ending the first issue.

;Issue 2 The Hulk tells Toby his mind is currently that of Bruce Banner, and that he was pulled into this world by an unknown force. Just then, the Juggernaut comes out from the woods, and attacks the Hulk. The resulting devastation prompts Toby to run away. Meanwhile, Toby's dad goes to an assisted living home to see Clyde Wyncham, a catatonic man whose house is the one in which the Marvel villains were seen. Clyde is Toby's father's childhood friend. Toby finds his father and tells him about the Hulk. His father responds to by saying he shouldn't go near the Wyncham house again, and that he shouldn't tell anyone about what happened, because "People won't want to hear it ...Believe me". When Toby comes home, his mother and stepfather tell him that his stepfather is up for a job in England, and if he gets it, they will move. Finally, the Stilt-Man is seen walking by Toby's dad's house, and the Sandman and Electro attack a couple at their home, one of whom was the nurse at Wyncham's nursing home.

;Issue 3 Toby and his father attempt to escape in his father's van which is attacked by The Lizard. Other characters like MODOK and Fin Fang Foom appear throughout the city as the military begins to evacuate civilians while trying to fight Abomination, Blob, Mandarin, Molten Man, Morbius, the Living Vampire, and Sauron.

;Issue 4 Rather than leave, Toby runs back to the old Wyncham house, where he finds a portal to the Marvel Universe. The Trapster discovers him and Toby leaps through the portal, lands in the middle of New York City and shouts "Call the Avengers, there's an emergency."

;Issue 5 The Trapster quickly pursues Toby, but is struck by a car just before shooting the boy. Toby makes his way to the Avengers Mansion, only to be patronized and sent on his way by Edwin Jarvis, who says "Parallel worlds fall under the Fantastic Four's jurisdiction". Taking Jarvis' advice, he attempts to enlist the Fantastic Four in saving his world, only to be told to wait his turn as there is a line to see them. Finally, he visits the office of the Daily Bugle where he lures Peter Parker to the roof. He tells Parker he knows his identity along with details of his personal life. Almost immediately, Toby loses his footing and is saved from a fatal fall by Spider-Man. Meanwhile, Toby's father narrowly saves his ex-wife from an encounter with Wendigo. As they escape in a van, Galactus looks over the city and declares: "I hunger".

;Issue 6 Galactus is shown towering over the city, firing a destructive eye beam. Jerry warns Julie that Galactus plans to suck the earth dry with an elemental converter. The Lizard surrounds their van along with other villains, including Mole Man, and identifies the confused Jerry Goodman by name. Just as Doctor Octopus' tentacle breaks through the windshield and grabs Jerry by his throat, Captain America's flying shield slices it off. Toby is shown, returned from the Marvel Universe, with the Avengers assembled behind him. As the heroes and villains fight, Toby reunites with his mother and Jerry reveals that it is time to "finish this".

Flashback 20 years to the Wyncham house, where Clyde Wyncham's mother blames Jerry for people being hypnotized and the death of Clyde's father. When Clyde admits to her that he has reality-altering mind powers (he was the first mutant of the real world), she knocks him in the head with a candlestick, causing severe mental damage. While Clyde recovers in a nursing home, his comics are taken away. He loses his temper and summons the super villains to teach people a lesson. Jerry tries to reason with Clyde, but before Clyde can react, Red Skull shoots Jerry. Clyde screams "Enough!" and banishes the villains to where they came from, including Galactus. With the fight over and the asylum closed, Captain America offers to take Clyde with him to the Marvel Universe.

Moving ahead in time, Toby is revealed as the author. With his creative power, Toby ensures that his father didn't die earlier. Instead, Toby admits him to a hospital in the Marvel Universe, under the care of Dr. Blake, where he scores a date with his childhood crush, nurse Jane Foster. Jerry recollects how things turned out, thanks to his son, and there is nothing else left to say other than "Excelsior".

Owen Peadman is a Minnesota bartender who arrives in Los Angeles to try to help his father raise money to save his small restaurant. Owen moves in with his gay uncle, Earl, and tries to integrate himself into the high society of Hollywood, where he has a chance run-in with a wealthy socialite named Lisa Mancini and her uptight actor boyfriend Hayden Field. Owen, using a little influence and blackmail, gets a taste of the scandalous lifestyles of the Hollywood upper crust while dealing with his growing romantic feelings for Lisa.

The film opens to a ceremony occurring in Santa Barbara, California. Ramona Gonzaga (the title character's mother), a Native American woman, and Angus Phail (Richard Sterling), a white man, are getting married. Soon after their marriage, a half-Indian, half-White girl named Ramona (Mabel Van Buren) is born. Meanwhile, in another part of America, the film depicts land-hungry white settlers driving off Native Americans from their lands to occupy them.

The film cuts to Ramona (Ann Dvorak) growing up as a child, dearly loved by her mother. In this phase of Ramona's life, her mother passes away and gives Ramona to the care of Senora Moreno (Lurline Lyons) before her death. Ramona grows up in Senora Moreno's household with Felipe, Senora Moreno's son.

As Ramona (Adda Gleason) becomes a young woman, she becomes very beautiful with hair like her mother's, and eyes like her father's. She begins a relationship with Felipe (Nigel De Brulier). One day, Ramona sees a young Indian man named Alessandro (Monroe Salisbury), son of an Indian chief, playing the violin and meets him. They immediately fall in love with each other, but are discovered by Senora Moreno, who forbids them from seeing each other and locks Ramona in her room.

Alessandro goes back to his village, to find it burned down by white settlers. Despite his loss, he isn't too hurt by it due to his newfound love for Ramona. He goes back to Ramona's village and leaves with her. They get married in secret by Father Salvierderra (Martin Best) and move to the little settlement of San Pasqual, where they are able to live in peace for a while.

The film shows the white settlers moving closer and closer to San Pasqual, threatening the peace and quiet of Ramona's life. With this danger imminent, Ramona moves into the mountains with her family, which now consists of Alessandro, their young child, and a dog. While venturing in the mountains, Ramona and her family face many hardships, including a blizzard. However, they finally find a shelter.

Driven mad by the hardships his family has had to endure due to encroaching white settlers, Alessandro confronts a white man on horseback and is killed. Ramona is now alone with her child and her dog. Meanwhile, Felipe leaves his home to search for Ramona. After getting help along the way, Felipe finally finds Ramona and her family and brings them his home. Soon after, Ramona and Felipe get married and have several children, with the oldest of them named Ramona.

Minden, Illinois, is a former factory town with a failing economy and a pathetic football team that no one believes in. Curtis Plummer, a washed-up former football player, returns home broke and directionless until he meets his niece Jasmine, the daughter of his no-good brother Roy. Jasmine has worn her father's watch ever since he left five years ago in the hopes that he will one day return. Her mother Claire asks Curtis to take care of Jasmine after school as she is too busy with her job at the local diner. Curtis realizes Jasmine has a talent for throwing a football, which he nurtures into a passion for the game. He then persuades her to try out for the town's Pop Warner football team, the Minden Browns, because he thinks it would be good for her. The team, including the coach, are against admitting a female player, but Jasmine's abilities gain her a spot on the team. However, the coach deliberately keeps her on the bench. In the fourth game, after much prodding from Curtis, the coach puts Jasmine in the game, and although the Browns lose, everyone said they could have won if she had played from the beginning. Jasmine is then assigned as the starting quarterback and the Minden Browns quickly become a winning team.

Everything is going great until Coach Fisher suffers a heart attack, and the assistant coach asks Curtis to step in as a replacement for the last two games. He hesitates at first, still haunted by his past failures, but is eventually talked into it. The Browns win the two games and are able to go to the Pop Warner Super Bowl in Miami Beach. Roy suddenly shows up to meet them, having seen his daughter play on TV. Claire and Curtis are both unhappy and suspicious about his return, but Jasmine is ecstatic, convinced that Roy finally wants to be a part of her life.

The Browns are nearly forced to skip the Super Bowl due to a lack of money, but are able to raise enough from the town; even Curtis pitches in by donating the last of his life savings. Jasmine plays poorly in the first half when Roy does not show up to watch. Curtis talks her through her feelings and the Browns rally for the second half. They lose the game after a teammate drops the ball on the last play, but everyone is glad nonetheless that for the first time, the Browns made it to the championship. Jasmine finally confronts her deadbeat father and returns his watch, cutting him out of her life for good and accepting Curtis as the father figure she always wanted.

A successful member of the UK Secret Intelligence Service during the Second World War, ex-Major David Somers is dismissed following the failure of a mission. The only work he can find is cataloguing butterflies at the country house of Nicholas and Jess Fenton. (The "clouded yellow" is a rare species of butterfly.) Somers and Sophie Malraux, Jess's niece, become attracted to each other. After the murder of Hick, a local gamekeeper and Jess's lover, suspicion wrongly falls on Sophie. She is considered mentally fragile because of the apparent suicide of her parents when she was six, the memory of which she has suppressed.

Somers helps Sophie to evade arrest, and they go on the run together, with Somers using his secret service skills and contacts to stay one step ahead of the police and Willy Shepley, an SIS agent. After a cross-country chase, the pair arrive at Liverpool with the intention of leaving the country by ship. The true identity of the murderer of Hick is revealed to be Sophie's uncle Nicholas, who also killed Sophie's parents because her father was another of Jess's lovers. Nicholas chases Sophie onto a warehouse roof, where he slips and falls in the path of a passing train.

The film depicts Ramona, who is half Native American, as she is raised by a Mexican family. Ramona suffers racism and prejudice in her community, and when she finds out that she is half Native, she chooses to identify as a Native American instead of a Mexican American so that she can marry Alessandro, who is a Native as well. This romantic tragedy relays the tragic death of Ramona and Alessandro’s child at the hands of a Caucasian doctor, who refuses to help their child because of his skin color. Shortly after, the couple moves away, and Alessandro is killed by a white man for robbing him of his horse; Ramona eventually reunites with her childhood friend Felipe and starts a new life as a depressed woman. She is only able to recover from her depression and remember her feelings for Felipe when he sings a song from their childhood to restore her memory.

Angel Perez is found by Kirisin and Simralin, and brought to the blind elven tracker Larkin Quill for healing. Leaving Angel, Kirisin and Simralin use a hot-air balloon to travel to the elven city of Arborlon where they discover a demon army hiding outside the city, waiting for the order to attack. The two manage to evade the demon army and enter the city where they gain an audience with the elven High Council. The King is still skeptical about the danger awaiting Arborlon until it is violently revealed in the Council that the elven tracker Tragen is a demon in disguise. Tragen is killed and the elven King is finally convinced that the Arborlon and its guardian tree, the Ellcrys, must be transported within the Loden Elfstone to a safe location.

Meanwhile, the Ghost tribe is reunited with Hawk, Tessa, and Cheney. Hawk uses his magic to heal the comatose Logan Tom who has a vision in which he is instructed to help the elves bring the Loden to safety. Logan leaves the ghosts and, with the help of an Owl named Trim, finds Arborlon. There, he meets, and falls in love with, Simralin. Kirisin then uses the magic of the Loden to encase the entire city and most of its inhabitants within the small stone. Simralin, the King, and a small contingent of elves hold off the demon attackers so that Logan can help Kirisin escape with the stone. Simralin and her companions are separated from Logan and Kirisin, but not before Kirisin gives Simralin the blue Seeking Elfstones for protection. Kirisin is later captured by flying demons called Skrails, but manages to drop the Loden before he is taken to the demon camp. After a frightening interrogation by the demon commander, Findo Gask, Kirisin is rescued by Logan. They then make their way to the camp of refugees led by Helen Rice.

After being healed by Larkin Quill, Angel and Larkin encounter a monstrous demon called the Klee which was sent by Findo Gask. The demon kills Larkin then suddenly flees. Angel leaves and travels towards the refugee camp.

As the Ghosts move eastward Tessa reveals that she is pregnant with Hawk's child. After a skirmish with some militia, they are then attacked by the Klee. Hawk finds he can use his magic to make himself invisible, and after a struggle with the Ghosts, the Klee flees again. The Ghosts eventually return to the refugee camp, with the Klee secretly following.

Logan, Angel, and the Ghosts are reunited at the camp. Logan and Angel leave in search of the Loden, which they find in the grasp of a fallen elf comrade. They return to the camp and make preparations to defend the main bridge across the Columbia River against the advancing demon army. They hope this will give the refugees time to put some distance from their demon pursuers as they escape. After defending the position as long as possible, the order is given to blow up the bridge. However, the detonation mechanism fails. Fixit, a member of the Ghosts, manages to repair it and is killed instantly in the following explosion.

While searching for the Klee, Logan Tom finds Simralin, who recounts her narrow escape from the demons. They affirm their love for each other and return to the camp. The Klee, meanwhile, using its shape shifting ability tricks Hawk and Tessa to leave the camp to kill them. Candle senses the danger and brings Angel Perez, the wolf-dog Cheney, and several Ghosts to the rescue. Together they succeed in destroying the Klee.

Catalya, a human who is slowly turning into a Lizard due to radiation exposure, decides to leave the camp and travel the world on her own before she completes her transformation. She is worried that the Ghosts will reject her in her misshapen form. Panther uses Cheney to track her, and the three ultimately decide to travel north together on their own, choosing to live their lives in the wilderness.

When the demon army eventually catches up with the refugee caravan, Hawk uses his magic to create a massive earthquake which swallows the demon forces. Findo Gask, riding a Skrail, confronts Hawk and Angel and cripples both. Logan and Simralin return in time and Logan engages Findo. Just when it seems Findo has won, Simralin uses the Seeking Elfstones to weaken him, giving Logan the chance to deal the finishing blow.

The caravan continues eastward towards the mountains for weeks, picking up equipment and groups of travelers, including various mutants, along the way. They finally arrive at a pristine valley and release Arborlon from the Loden. Hawk then leaves his friends and climbs to a lookout point where he uses his magic to generate a mist that encapsulates the entire valley, enveloping him as well. The refugees are protected from the nuclear winter that occurs when a military officer, gone mad from being trapped within a nuclear missile bunker, launches all of the weapons.

The world outside Arborlon is devastated, while the refugees remain safe in the valley within the bubble of Hawk's wild magic. An unknown time later, Hawk emerges from the mist, now drained of his magic powers, and heads back into the valley in search of his old life.

Paula Eastman (Raquel Welch) is a Hollywood actress with an alcohol problem. Her career is doing poorly, and she sometimes sleeps with actors and producers to get roles; often, she comes home drunk. Paula changes her manager, and her career improves, but her personal life isn't improving along with it. Because of her alcoholism, her relationship with her daughter Delphine (Alicia Silverstone) is strained.

One night, Delphine photographs her mother while she is drunk. After Paula sees the photos, she enters rehabilitation because she doesn't want to see her daughter unhappy. In rehab, she meets a firefighter named Mike (Jack Scalia) who has similar problems. After she returns home, she wants to forge a relationship with Mike and spend time with her daughter, but Delphine is suspicious of Mike, believing him to be much like the other men in her mother's life.

Following the assassination of his crime-boss biological father (Robert Forster), whom he had not even known existed, a young Ohio investment advisor (Michael Rapaport) must impersonate a Mafia Godfather for a few weeks to prevent a gang war.

He tries to keep this new life secret from his real family, especially his very jealous fiancée (Christine Taylor), with the help of his new "family" and his father's chief lieutenant (Christopher Walken). At the same time he is being pressured by his boss at work to sign-off on a due diligence report for a questionable investment, trying to keep his family safe, dodging assassination attempts, and trying to uncover who killed his father.

At the start of ''Wandering Son'', Shuichi Nitori is a student in the fifth grade who transfers into a new school. She quickly becomes friends with another student: the tall, boyish Yoshino Takatsuki. Yoshino soon learns of Shuichi's desire to be a girl. In a show of friendship, he confesses a similar desire to be a boy. Shuichi also becomes friends with Saori Chiba and Kanako Sasa, two other girls in the class. Saori instantly takes a liking to Shuichi and continuously encourages her to wear feminine clothes. After Shuichi, Yoshino, and their friends enter sixth grade, Shuichi meets Makoto Ariga, another student their age from another class who is also a closeted transgender girl. Shuichi and Yoshino become friends with an adult named Yuki, who is a trans woman living with a cis man named Shiina. Shuichi's older sister Maho becomes a model and eventually becomes friends with Maiko, a teen model whom she idolizes, and two other teen models: Tamaki Satō and Anna Suehiro. Maho gets a boyfriend, Riku Seya, and Shuichi confesses a crush on Yoshino, but Yoshino cannot reciprocate Shuichi's feelings. After Saori learns of this, she confesses she likes Shuichi, but Shuichi too cannot return her feelings. This results in a falling-out between Shuichi's friends as they prepare to enter junior high school.

In junior high school, they meet a tall, eccentric girl who befriends everyone, Chizuru Sarashina, and her prickly friend Momoko Shirai, who does not get along well with the others—especially Saori. Eventually, Saori and Yoshino rejoin Shuichi's group of friends, though Saori says she still hates Yoshino and Momoko. Shuichi and Anna start dating, much to the surprise of their friends and Shuichi's sister. Yoshino and Saori manage to halfway repair their friendship, though Saori is still standoffish to others. Shuichi's friends are split up into several classes upon entering their second year in junior high school. Shuichi becomes friends with Shinpei Doi, who previously teased her about wanting to be a girl. Yoshino attends school in a boy's uniform for a short time, and Shuichi tries to go to school dressed as a girl one day, but is laughed at, and becomes discouraged. Shuichi's friends worry as she begins skipping school. Although Shuichi eventually starts attending school regularly again, Anna breaks off their relationship. By the time Shuichi, Yoshino, and their friends enter their third year in junior high school, Shuichi's voice is changing which causes her dysphoria to worsen. The group of friends start thinking about their future high school plans, and Shuichi and Anna start dating again.

Shuichi begins attending the same all-boy high school as Makoto and Doi, while Yoshino and Saori begin attending a high school where uniforms are not required. Saori starts dating Fumiya Ninomiya. Yoshino starts working at Anna's modeling agency and Shuichi begins working at a cafe, but later quits. Shuichi starts writing a semi-autobiographical novel. Yoshino later tells Shuichi that he no longer wishes to be seen as male and has decided to continue living as a girl. He also confesses a romantic attraction to Shuichi who rejects him, causing him to lament that his lack of gender affirmation hurts more than a rejection from someone he loves. The pair briefly hold hands before saying goodbye. Shuichi informs Anna of her true gender identity, and much to her surprise Anna decides to stay in a relationship with her. After graduating from high school, Shuichi moves out and goes to the same college as Doi. Shuichi continues to write the novel, which is given the title .

Naive schoolgirl Camille Pelleveau meets the slightly older and more experienced Joëlle, a promiscuous woman who has just been thrown out of a car by her abusive boyfriend. Camille follows Joëlle as they go on a rampage where she discovers sex as they pick up men. Joëlle also shows Camille the darker side of life, as they start by crashing the men's cars and then decide to take on the whole town. However, medical researcher Dr. Marc Antoine Worms has invented a sexually transmitted disease and used Joëlle as a guinea pig by infecting her with it, so that he could become famous as the discoverer of its cure. Camille eventually learns about AIDS and fears she may have contracted the disease.

The story involves flashbacks, and in one sequence we learn that Camille's parents are feuding. Illogically, she tries to persuade them to reunite long enough for her conception to take place. The surreal plot and series of stylized scenes is in keeping with postmodern cinema, which challenges the notion of original creative thought.

George Mulliner, a nephew of Mr. Mulliner, was cursed with a terrible stammer but was not terribly concerned about it until he fell in love with Susan Blake, the daughter of the vicar of East Wobsley, the Worcestershire village in which they lived. Determined to get rid of the stammer, he visits a specialist in London who advises him to go and speak to three perfect strangers each day as a confidence building measure. George decides to do this immediately on the train back to London. Unfortunately, the first person he meets also stammers and to stammer back at this man 'would obviously be madness'. The second person he meets turns out to be a lunatic runaway from the local asylum who thinks he is the Emperor of Abyssinia and wishes to perform a human sacrifice with George playing the lucky lamb. George manages to escape and takes refuge under a bench seat in a railway carriage. A woman takes a seat in the same compartment, and when George emerges from under the bench and tries to speak to her, she assumes that George must be the escaped lunatic. When George, unable to speak, decides to sing instead she faints. When a thermos falls and shatters as the train passes over some points, she leaps up and pulls the emergency cord, bringing the train to a halt. When a host of rustics appear, George decides to remove himself and does so at a high speed followed by twenty-seven rustics headed by a bearded man with a pitchfork.

Late that night, a bedraggled George appears at the vicarage and presents himself to Susan Blake. Cured of his stammer, he proposes and she accepts. The mob arrives and George removes himself again at top speed but his stammer is cured for ever.

The ''Polifemo'' is composed of 63 stanzas, each of which are composed of 8 lines in total. In its entirety, the ''Polifemo'' comprises 504 lines. Throughout the poem there is an abundance of poetic correspondences (i.e. organic or interior referencing), which contrast sharply with the abstruse quality of the ''cultismos'' (i.e. highly idiosyncratic linguistic modifications, classical lexicon and scholarly references) themselves. Additionally, the ornamentality and detail of the work is further complicated by a profuse usage of classical symbolism and external referencing (i.e. relevant mythological accounts communicated through metaphors and anecdotes). A ''cultismo'', though often intuited as an umbrella term for a particular display of culteranismo, can be thought of as a poetic device that abandons the precision of ordinary language for the sake of artistic expression. Within the poem, parallelism, proportionality, dissonance and intricate array of puns involving both similitude and antithesis also give the poem greater complexity than that of its classical predecessors.

Opening (dedication to the Patron of Niebla) – Stanzas 1–3

The elaborate summoning of the Sicilian Muse Thalia celebrates antiquity and the pastoral genre. Furthermore, this introduction involving a Grecian muse emphasizes ''ingenio'' itself over that of a more rudimentary imitation delineated by regulations and set expectations. ''Imitatio'' (the reverential imitation of the art of the ancients) was prevalent in Renaissance poetry as seen in the verse of the highly influential Spanish poet Garcilaso de la Vega who in turn borrowed heavily from the Italian Dolce Stil Novo poets, such as Petrarch, who revolutionized the poetry of the 14th and 15th centuries.

The Cave and the World of Polifemo – Stanzas 4–12

Contrary to the tranquil and idealized settings typical of the pastoral genre, Góngora maintains a fluctuating Background–Foreground dynamic throughout the ''Polifemo'', which makes itself apparent at the very beginning of the poem. Given his fondness for convoluted and self-fashioned metaphors in addition to his profuse use of hiperbatón, the quality of the lyrical poetry defamiliarizes and reconfigures all aspects of the original narration (see ostranenie). The presence of contrasts, of antithesis and dissimilitude reflects a veritable lack of aesthetic concentration as well as deficient narrative unity deemed necessary in traditional Aristotelean aesthetics. Instead, Góngora juxtaposes conflicting images of beauty and ugliness, harmony and discord to hint at an underlying dichotomy of erotic love as both prolific and destructive.

The interspersing of the unsavory and the melancholic with the idyllic deviates from the Renaissance ideal, which differentiated forms by establishing boundaries, namely foregrounds and backgrounds where central objects or figures displaced the prominence of other things. Within the art of the Renaissance, there is a higher degree of hermetic focus, concentration and stability of form. “In contrast to the classical delineation of boundaries”, which gives precedence to forms with greater density and texture, the Baroque style sought to dissolve the divisions between the ‘intended figure’ and ‘unintended background’ or apeirion “in favor of a vision characterized by ‘a mysterious interflow of form and light and colour.’”.

In Góngora's description of the scenery and the characters of the Polifemo, the descriptions themselves become the focus and take on an existence of their own. No longer are properties subordinate to the objects from which they emanate. No longer is there the subjugation of form required in Renaissance art. Instead, the Baroque is often characterized by a breakdown in such distinctions and the deterioration of these established ideals. As with Baroque visual art, within the Polifemo, there is a genuine lack of easily recognizable forms. In turn, this new awareness and appreciation of form in-itself became the chief artistic concern for ''culteranists'', a group of like-minded poets who furthermore celebrated and, at the same time, critiqued the Western Humanist and Hermeneutic traditions of this epoch.

The figures of the ''Polifemo'' themselves are often depersonalized by their metaphoric descriptions, by anecdote and by the portrayal of their circumstance or immediate environment in which they are blended. In the context of Baroque aesthetics, depersonalization in this sense is not the complete abandonment or deterioration of the individual as a distinguishable entity, but emphasizes instead the justification of those characters as forms themselves. The objective individual exists as both a series of phenomena as well as an aspect of the overall representation. Conversely, it is the subject who is the ultimate arbiter of artistic experience though they also limited to merely reflect a bundle of individual perceptions and privately held associations. Using this understanding, the distinction between Polyphemus and his cave is no longer deemed relevant as an overarching sympathy exists between the two.

All of these forms serve an aesthetic purpose of preeminent importance as both capture the melancholic sense of longing and neglect that Góngora attempts to develop and incorporate into the overall narration. Ultimately, it is the poet who goes beyond the mere resemblance and commonality of things as orchestrator of inter-subjectivity to both imagine and project a kindred will. This issue of similitude and the underlying perception of persistent sympathies that arise between two separate entities was an idea deeply rooted in the 16th century épistémè, as Michel Foucault exposes in his highly influential work Les Mots et Les Choses.

Galatea described – Stanzas 13–17

Góngora portrays Galatea as both the inspiration whom the whole island of Sicily admires and adores. He goes on to deify her in the minds and rituals of the Sicilian locals. Her femininity remains the unparalleled source of inspiration for all of the inhabitants of the island as well as 'the good' (summum bonum), the ultimate pursuit and the sole object of desire. The sanctification of feminine beauty and grace eventually leads to an emerging cult of Galatea.

Description of Sicily – 18–24

Sicily, the setting of the tale, resembles the classical archetype of Arcadia. This contrasts sharply with the Darkness of Polyphemus’ cave. Contrasts or dissimilitude were often employed in Baroque art, more so than in the art of the Renaissance. As Enrica Cancelliere explains in her article "Dibujo y Color en la fabula de Polifemo y Galatea", the commonality of aesthetic interests existing between visual and poetic artists was often quite remarkable during the Baroque epoch:

Being a work written during the Baroque Epoch, an epoch which favored the profuse use of contrasts in painting more so than any of the other period in Western History, the Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea takes upon itself this very theme concerning chromatic contrasts, the clash between darkness and radiance. The poem was written with a technique akin to the chiaroscuro style one would see in the visual arts. As Dámaso Alonso wrote: "On one side, there is this gloomy presence, that accompanies that which is monstrous, that which is foreboding, that which is surly, that which is grotesque; at the same time, there is the presence of the precious flower and the purest of silver, that which is immaculate, the crystalline, that which is sweet, immortal and beautiful. What we have, in sum, are the respective domains of Polyphemus and Galatea." This radical technique, which in Spain was dubbed tenebrismo, also applies on the allegorical level in form of the characters and symbols that are depicted: life-death, Cupid-Thanatos, grace-perdition, all of which reemerges in the theatre of Calderón where they assume an intelligible form, they bring harmony to the scene with games of light and shadow that pass from scene to verse y from verse to scene. If at the poles we find the limits of the chromatic scale -white and black-, in the interior, the painting explodes with specks of vivid color, dissolve to the oxymoronic that by means of the underlying symbolic meanings construct whole images, characters, settings, thoughts and emotions.

This poetic trend entranced with antithesis is concurrent with the Chiaroscuro style that matured in 17th century Western painting. The striking contrast of the poem rests in the juxtaposition of the dark, gloomy and burdened existence of Polifemo with the figure of Galatea, the paragon of light, beauty and contentedness.

;Description of Acis and the meeting of the lovers – Stanza 25

An interesting correlation of Góngora's poem to that of the classical source is the individual's appeal through his pedigree. The divine lineages of the two suitors, an issue of prevalence within classical works, is incorporated into the poem.

;Meeting of the two lovers and courtship – Stanzas 26–37

In these lines, Acis pursues Galatea with a different approach than his wistful cycloptic rival. John McCaw in “Turning a Blind Eye: Sexual Competition, Self-Nontraditional, and the Impotence of Pastoral in Góngora’s Fabula de Polifemo y Galatea” affirms that Acis's courtship stratagem engages the sensuality of Galatea and triumphs over the “contemplative love” of Polifemo. Acis expresses his desire through means of luxurious material offerings, hinting at the old pagan practice of the Anathema, as well as unadulterated “erotic passion” that is not transcendent and thus, anti-intellectual.

;The consummation of the lovers – Stanzas 38–42

In these stanzas, Galatea's inaccessible character as an ideal (see Platonic idealism) is made tangible:

“Following the initial shock, Galatea becomes somewhat friendlier and less inaccessible. She coaxes the lucky young man to his feet; sweet and smiling, she is now ready to give, not peace to sleep, but indeed allowing a truce to rest, i.e., not excluding it, but postponing it for later. A hollow rock forms a shady cover for a cool, inviting settee with ivy twines serving as green shutters, climbing around trunks and embracing rocks.” (English Prose Translation by Miroslav John Hanak)

Song of the Cyclops – Stanzas 43–58

Contrary to Acis, Polyphemus represents failed self-cultivation, convention as opposed to nature, and the fruitless application of the virtues of neo-platonic thought, which stressed upward progression, refinement, beauty and universal harmony Unlike the usual burlesque representations of Polyphemus and Galatea (as seen in Theocritus), the words of the Góngora's Cyclops are incongruous with his outward appearance and his essential barbarism. The emphasis on the intellect, the dialectical or, the ancient rationalism Aristophanes satirically labelled as "thinkery" (Phrontisterion - from The Clouds) as well as the vigilance against moral and bodily corruption are central to neo-platonic understanding that finds its way into this bucolic landscape through the most unlikely of characters. Throughout the poem the Cyclops's eye is identified with the sun, a traditional Apollonian symbol for dispassionate truth or enlightenment. The Cyclops realizes his surrogate beauty in the form of discourse and song, which he contrasts with the tangible beauty of a lover.

It is within the Song of the Cyclops where Polyphemus arises from his obscurity. His perpetual pain and incessant longing drive his lyrics. It is through his situation that his art emerges.

As stated by Cancelliere in her investigation of the poem's visual dynamics, primordial darkness itself, embodied by the character of Polifemo, seems to be the recurring cradle and grave of all perception or advancement:

The night, in its vacuity, welcomes the possibility for redefinition or regeneration and this is possible not merely by means of its concavity, its uterine topology which begs to be filled, but by means of the natural overturning occurring firstly on this very chromatic dimension, connoting the black, the absolute absence of color, an infinite receptive and regenerative possibility: realm of possibilities where one can await the recurrent birth of light, of life, of both profundity and form and, ultimately, the esoteric cavern of Plato, of those ancient rites and of those long forgotten mysteries.

Lovers discovered, death and transformation of Acis – Stanzas 59–63

In the versions of both Góngora and Ovid, the ending of the poem is one of violence and transformation. In both tales, after the Cyclops laments, the two lovers are eventually discovered, thus provoking the anger of Polyphemus who strikes the fleeing Acis with a boulder that he rips from the landscape. In both the Latin and the Spanish poem, the youthful Acis is crushed and killed by Polyphemus's striking boulder. Only after violent death is the boy is subsequently transformed into a river.

Hui Chi Ho (Jimmy Lin) comes from a well to do family. On the first day at his new school he has the family chauffeur drop him off at school. Everyone at school is in awe of the new rich and handsome student. Chi Ho likes his new school and class a lot since the prettiest girl at school Xin Fu "Princess" (Ruby Lin) is in the same class as him. Crow (Franco Jiang) and his small gang immediately target Chi Ho for protection money. Chi Ho refuses to pay and does not tell his parents about being bullied at his new school since he does not want to be treated special by the school administrators. Crow and his gang wait for Chi Ho after school everyday to harass him for money and beat him up.

One day another new student with a bad rep sheet arrives, Eagle (Takeshi Kaneshiro). He has been expelled from all his previous schools. The school dean makes it clear to Eagle that if he gets in trouble he will be expelled immediately. Eagle is put in the same class as Chi Ho, Princess and Crow. Everyone at school is afraid of him since he was rumored to have served prison time for killing someone. Eagle immediately notices that Chi Ho is being bullied by Crow and his gang on his first day. He decides to protect Chi Ho and soon the two become good friends. Chi Ho finds out about Eagle's past and realizes that his bad rep from his previous schools comes from fighting while protecting the weak from bullies.

Crow and his gang does not dare to offend Eagle and soon the school is no longer afraid of Crow and his gang. Crow not being able to stand that he no longer has control of school hires outside triad member Bull (Chin Ho) to teach Eagle a lesson. Bull and his gang beats up and destroys Eagle's motorbike at school. Not wanting to go through the cycle he went through in his previous schools Eagle does not fight back and decides to no longer attend school. Crow thinking he has won and rid of Eagle soon finds out his plan has backfired as Bull and his gang tell him that they want control him and the school.

Crow in desperate need of help teams up with Chi Ho to rebuild Eagle's motorbike and begs Eagle to return to school to help rid the Triad gang from their school. Crow, Chi Ho and some of their friends agree to meet and fight Bull and his gang under an expressway overpass to settle things. Chi Ho, Crow and their friends are no match for Bull and his gang, just when the classmates think they have lost the fight, Eagle arrives and beats up Bull and his members.

All of the classmates become friends and the school is finally peaceful. The movie ends with all who were involve in the fight thinking they're in trouble with the school dean because of fighting with outsiders, but the school dean has decided to let it slide seeing how they were protecting the school.

Beatriz Pengson, or simply Betty, is an aesthetically challenged career-oriented girl who happens to work in a posh advertising agency known as Ecomoda Manila. In an industry where everyone thrives on beauty and perfection, her lack of good looks and outdated sense of fashion make her an instant outcast amongst her superficial colleagues. Despite her shortcomings, Betty's capabilities and innate kindheartedness have gained her a set of loyal friends.

Betty's lackluster life, however, heads a turn for the better (or is it for worse?) when she meets the man of her dreams, Armando Solis, the President of Ecomoda Manila. How will Betty catch the elusive heart of someone who's way out of her league? Is it possible that a good-looking guy like Armando will eventually fall in love with a certified ugly duckling?

Koichi and Eiichi are two brothers, who were separated after the suicide of their father and the collapse of his business. Ten years later, Eiichi tracks Koichi down, and tells him that all their misfortune was because of a man named Okamura. Eiichi is now rich and has control over an important company, and financially supports his brother, who lives near Okamura's daughters. Eiichi has driven Okamura to bankruptcy and away from his three daughters, Yuki, Emi and Risa. Koichi starts investigating Okamura's three daughters, but he falls in love with one of the sisters, Emi, and starts a relationship with her.

Over the course of a few days, Koichi discovers the secret ambition of his brother, totally swallowed up by his desire for money: Eiichi is forcing women into prostitution. Eiichi, who wants vengeance at all cost against the Okamuras, starts to persecute them: he offers work to Yuki, the eldest, in a lingerie bar; she agrees, because of the financial problem of the Okamuras. Eiichi also gives lingerie to Risa, the youngest, and he kidnaps Emi. This prompts Koichi to turn against his brother and infiltrate his office to rescue her. After rescuing her, there will be several possible endings, depending on whether the player chose to have sex with Risa, Yuki, his schoolmates, or some combination of the above. If he didn't, then Koichi survives after the building catches fire. Eiichi burns to death inside the building, trying to keep the money with him. Emi confesses her love for Koichi, and the three sisters' father returns home.

Set in the Egypt-like kingdom of Ashdod and primarily narrated by the glass-working slave Tirzah, the novel takes place during the final stages of the construction of the titular Threshold, an enormous glass-clad pyramid. Designed by the Magi, an order of mathematically obsessed sorcerers, it is meant to open a gateway into Infinity, allowing the Magi to pass through and unite themselves with the One, an abstract proto-Platonic ideal of perfection. When the pyramid is activated, however, it instead allows the demonic entity Nzame to cross from Infinity into Ashdod, taking control of its people and turning most of the land into stone and black glass. Among those who escape are Tirzah, who is secretly an "elemental cantomancer," able to communicate with the spirits of objects, principally those of glass, and her former master, the conflicted Magus Boaz, who may hold the key to the destruction of both Nzame and Threshold.

Category:1997 Australian novels Category:1997 fantasy novels Category:Novels by Sara Douglass Category:Voyager Books books

An airplane crashes in the jungle of the Kenya Colony of British East Africa in 1956, stranding passengers Gamage Dean (Yolande Donlan), Diana Penrod (Betta St. John), "Doodles" Fletcher (Wilfrid Hyde-White), Carl Kraski (George Coulouris), and Dick Penrod (Peter Arne). Before the plane slides into a gorge the group is rescued by Tarzan (Gordon Scott), who undertakes to lead them back to civilization.

Diana is kidnapped by warriors from Opar under Chief Ogonooro (Orlando Martins). The Oparians desire the strangers as sacrifices for their lion god. She is recovered by Tarzan and hunter Tusker Hawkins (Robert Beatty), whose advances Diana rebuffs. Secretly, however, Hawkins is in league with the Oparians, and plans to sell the castaways to the natives for a fortune in ivory.

Tarzan, rightly suspecting Hawkins' untrustworthiness, exposes his treachery. Now openly in league with the natives, the hunter helps them take the white party captive in Tarzan's absence. The ape man returns to save them before the sacrifice can take place, aided by his chimpanzee ally Cheeta, who sets fire to the native village. He then leads them to the safety of a nearby settlement.

Hawkins meets his fate at the hands of the Oparians, to whom Tarzan has signaled the villain's double-dealing by a creative use of jungle drums.

The film begins with a man named Conrad von Starke (Adriano Micantoni) driving down a road, listening to a war crimes trial on the radio. He stops the car and exits at the ruins of an old death camp. There he meets Lise Cohen (Daniela Poggi). It is revealed that Lise is a former prisoner of the camp and that the man, Conrad, is the former Commandant who has arranged to meet her several years after the end of World War II. He thanks her for the testimony that she provided at his war crimes trial, which saved him from certain death and helped him integrate into the new West Germany. After touring the ruins of the camp, Lise and von Starke make love.

Lise has a flashback to the time she spent at the camp during the war. A shipment of female prisoners arrives. Some are immediately sent to the gas chamber and some are burned alive. In a hall, other women are stripped naked before naked members of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, aroused after watching a porn film which includes photos of rape, mother-daughter incest, bondage, coprophagia, urination and extreme sex. The female inmates are then raped, tortured, sodomized with bats, and sexually humiliated in an orgy while Commandant Starke and a visiting SS General watch.

Later, a woman has sex with an SS guard, who is himself shot when he speaks out against her rape by other guards. An inmate having her period is ordered to be thrown to the dogs by Alma (Maristella Greco), a female SS guard and the commandant's lover. More sex scenes between guards and inmates take place. Meanwhile, Starke and his SS staff debate Nazi theories at the dinner table, and an SS Guard tells them of his hopes that there will one day be farms so the Jews can be eaten as a food source. The staff become aroused by this and practice both cannibalism and infanticide, eating a stew made of unborn Jewish infants. When one of the female prisoners passes out in shock, they douse her body in brandy and set it alight, before eating her corpse as well.

Starke becomes interested in Lise, finding himself obsessed by her unbreakable spirit. Since whatever he does to torture her does not demoralize her, Starke grows angry and drops her only friend at the camp into a pit of quicklime as Lise, stripped nude and hanging from her wrists, is forced to watch. The Commandant threatens to drop Lise into the pit as well. Unfazed by this, Lise is whipped, has her head lowered into a box filled with rats (clearly gerbils in the film), and raped, but still she does not cry out. She goes to the hospital and is treated by a pacifistic young Doctor (Fulvio Ricciardi), revealing to him why she does not cry. She wants to die, as she betrayed her family to the Nazis years earlier and feels intense guilt about it. When the Doctor tells her it was not her fault, she becomes determined to survive. She has sex with the Doctor, reaffirming her decision to live.

Lise is tortured further by Starke, who tells her he has fallen in love with her. She claims to love him as well, and begins an extreme sexual relationship with him, willingly donning a gruesome belt made of the scalps of fellow inmates to prove her affections. The Commandant is later sodomized with his own whip by jealous Alma, who realizes the extent of Starke's feelings for Lise. In response, he fatally strangles Alma. Lise gives birth to a child, but the baby is killed by Starke because it is "half-Jewish", and a "half-breed" would have no place in the world. Back in the present day, Lise and Starke still stand in the ruined camp and are having sex. Lise shoots him, and his body falls into a nearby pit. In an alternate ending of the film, Lise shoots Starke and then herself.

The unhappy marriage of Jane (Shanna Reed) and her alcoholic policeman husband Bonner (Terry O'Quinn) leads to divorce and Jane get the custody for their son. Soon, she meets a gentleman in her workplace, after a few weeks they fall in love and get married. Gentleman Douglas Patrick Brody (Pierce Brosnan) and his new wife Jane Brody attempt to build a new life, and move to a new state. However, the former husband follows them. This is just a beginning of the story filled with suspense and surprises. As it turns out, Patrick Brody (Pierce Brosnan) is the villain behind a number of crimes.

The film focuses on Minerva Mirabal and tells the true story of how she and her sisters came to represent the greatest threat to dictator Rafael Trujillo and his regime. The Mirabal sisters were involved in an underground movement against the government. They were assassinated in 1960 by men under the instruction of the Trujillo regime according to General Pupo Roman, although their death was made to appear as an automobile accident. Many citizens were outraged and a few months later Trujillo was assassinated by an ambush led by Antonio de La Maza, who was played by actor Cesar Evora. Antonio de la Maza was killed in turn by a death squad led by Ramfis Trujillo.

The director (John Malkovich) is flying to Italy following the conclusion of his latest film. On the airplane, as he looks out beyond the clouds, he begins to think about his next film and the art of filmmaking. Upon landing, he drives through the night through thick fog, with people appearing and disappearing like apparitions.

;''Story of a Love Affair that Never Existed'' In Ferrara, Italy, Silvano (Kim Rossi Stuart) meets Carmen (Inés Sastre) and asks her where he can find a room for the night. She directs him to a hotel where she is staying. After checking in, Silvano sees her in the hotel restaurant and joins her. Silvano learns that Carmen is a teacher. They are attracted to each other, but they retire to their separate rooms. She undresses and waits for him, but he never comes. The next morning, he finds that she has checked out of the hotel.

Two years later in a movie theater in Ferrara, Silvano sees Carmen again and later approaches her outside. As they walk past the Castello Estense, she speaks of words that need to be spoken, but he says the only words worth speaking are hidden inside. Silvano walks Carmen to her home, where she reveals that she lived with a man for a year, and only recently he left her. "Words do us good," she tells Silvano, "even in writing. A woman expects them. She always does." Although seemingly attracted to Silvano, Carmen rebuffs his attempted kiss, and he leaves. Later he returns to her room, they undress, and he passes his hand over her skin as if unable to touch her. They move to passionately kiss, but they do not. Finally, he leaves without making love to her. Out in the street, he looks back at her watching from a window.

;''The Girl, The Crime ...'' The director visits a deserted beach on a dreary day. The wind sweeps the sand across the beach. He finds an old photograph of a seaside town cradled on a hillside. In Portofino, Italy, while exploring the quaint passageways above town, the director encounters a beautiful woman (Sophie Marceau) and follows her to a seaside clothing shop where the woman works. In the shop, she gives him a look of recognition. They do not speak, but seem drawn to each other. As the director leaves, she gestures to him but he does not respond.

Some time later, the woman meets her friend at the Caffè Excelsior, but notices the director sitting nearby. She approaches him and confesses, "I killed my father. I stabbed him twelve times," and then walks away. The director follows and they talk about the killing that took place a year prior, for which she spent three months in jail before being acquitted. She takes him to the "scene of the crime" at the waterfront. Conflicted by her feelings for the director, she says, "You remind me of somebody." They walk to her apartment and make love. Later, the director sits at a pool above the town contemplating the woman's story and its impact on the film he is writing.

;''Don't Try to Find Me'' In a Paris café, a young woman (Chiara Caselli) approaches a man (Peter Weller) sitting by himself. She wants to talk with someone about a magazine article she just read. The man is enchanted by the young woman's story. Three years later, the man returns home after seeing the young woman, who is by now his mistress. His wife, Patricia (Fanny Ardant), confronts her husband with an ultimatum: he must choose between them. When he goes to break up with his mistress, they end up making love. He returns home to find his wife drunk. "Everything seems ridiculous," she tells him. He assures her that he will leave his mistress, and they make love for the first time in three years. The husband returns to his mistress who becomes jealous when she learns that he slept with his wife. They fight, but again they end up making love.

Meanwhile, Carlo (Jean Reno) returns to his high-rise apartment to find it empty. He gets a phone call from his wife who has just emptied the apartment of most of their belongings and left him. After a brief angry exchange she hangs up on him. Looking around the apartment he sees a picture of his wife naked that she had ripped up before leaving. Patricia arrives at the apartment which she has just rented from Carlo's wife. Patricia has just left her husband and is expecting their furniture to arrive shortly—she too has emptied her husband's home. Carlo reveals that his wife left him for her lover because he was away too often on business. Patricia then gets a phone call from her husband, and she tells him, "Don't try to find me." Carlo and Patricia approach each other and he says, "There's a cure for everything." Patricia responds, "That's what disturbs me." He kisses her hand gently.

In the French countryside, a man pulls a woman from the railroad tracks as a train passes. On the train the director considers the "limits of our brains, of our experience, of our culture, of our inspiration, of our imagination, of our sensitivity." A woman enters his compartment, gets a phone call, and says, "Don't call me again." Meanwhile, on a nearby hill, an artist (Marcello Mastroianni) is painting the very landscape the train is passing through. He explains to a woman the value of copying from the masters.

;''This Body of Filth'' In Aix-en-Provence, the director is contemplating the paintings in his hotel lobby when he notices a man entering the building across the street to deliver architectural drawings. When he reemerges, the man, Niccolo (Vincent Perez), passes a young woman (Irène Jacob) in the doorway and decides to follow her. He asks if he can accompany her, and she tells him she's going to church. Niccolo is surprised that this quiet woman has little to say and seems uninterested in the world around her. She tells him that to be happy we need to eliminated pointless thoughts — that she prefers the quiet.

As they walk along the cobblestone streets, the young woman tells Niccolo that she longs to escape her body, that it needs too much and is never satisfied. Niccolo seems more interested in her body. When she does not respond to his romantic approaches, he observes that she looks like someone who is in love, like someone who is satisfied. She acknowledges that she is. When they arrive at the Church of Saint-Jean-de-Malte, the young woman enters the church, and he follows her inside. During the service, the young woman appears deeply spiritual as the choir sings. Detached and bored, Niccolo walks around like a tourist gazing up at the architecture before sitting down away from the congregation.

Later Niccolo wakes up in the now empty church following the service. He runs out into the dark streets looking for the young woman, finding her at a well. They talk about the impermanence of things. He admits that he is scared of death, and she tells him she is scared of life — the life people lead. Niccolo accompanies the young woman home, stopping in an entrance to escape the rain. Asked what would happen if he fell in love with her, she responds, "You'd be lighting a candle in a room full of light." When they reach her apartment, he asks to see her the next day. She replies simply, "Tomorrow I enter a convent." Niccolo walks out into the night and the rain.

The game begins as the last one ends, with Philip sending the 'kill them all' message. As soon as he finishes, one of the Infected barges in and hits Phillip on the head with something unseen. The player then controls a character in some kind of tomb. Items need to be collected in each chamber in order to move on to the next. In the journey, the player starts to see familiar places from other parts of the facility and begins to receive communications from persons who Philip had encountered previously, such as Dr. Richard Emminis who Philip encountered in the Computer Room of ''Black Plague'', a member of the Archaic Elevated Caste called Eloff Carpenter, as well as a person who later identifies himself as Philip's former adviser, Red, from the first ''Penumbra'' game.

As time goes on, various strange happenings occur, such as the Computer referring to both Philip and the Player directly by name as well as more bizarre environments and puzzles. The game, and the entire series, has two possible endings. One concludes with Philip joining Red in the incinerator from ''Overture'', deeming regular life not worth living. As the rest of ''Requiem'' seems to have been a figment of Philip's mind, this leaves him dead in the room where the game originally began and where ''Black Plague'' ended. Philip can also choose to leave Red to die on his own, and return to the fishing boat which was originally used to take him to the mine in the first place. This seems to be a fulfilling of Red's statement that it is "better to have a story and end it than never to realize it has begun".

Checkin' Out (from ''That's So Raven'')

Raven steps up to organize an important photo shoot showcasing Donna Cabonna's new fashion line for young men at the Tipton Hotel in Boston because Tiffany, the usual assistant, is sick with a fever. Donna gives her a Secretech, a device for secretaries that helps organize events and has Raven conduct a video conference on it. She assures Donna that she knows how to use one, even though she doesn't, and no one can help her. She accidentally sends the photographer, Pistache, to the Tipton in Milan, Italy. Also, the models (Juan and Kvelte) did not get their plane ticket from Raven, so the models are stuck in the made-up country of Budapragoslovakia. While Raven is talking to Secretech support she has a vision. She tells Zack and Cody to put their hands out and they end up catching a celebrity, Tyler Sparks (Tiffany Thornton) which is how she gets the twins to help her. As a result, Raven substitutes the fashion models with Zack and Cody, and she pretends to be Pistache. Donna Cabonna finds out the bad news so she tries to take matters into her own hands by impersonating the photographer too. As the two Pistache impersonators are doing the photo shoot, the real Pistache comes in, having arrived by "an outrageously expensive private jet" (billed to Donna Cabona). She notes that Zack and Cody are not the models she chose, but they are even better. She tells them to turn around and she takes pictures of their backs. The episode seems to end on a happy note with Raven's vision that has Donna Cabonna saying that the boy's line is a success. However, the episode turns sour when Raven misses her flight because her Secretech has the wrong time in Boston which is 3 hours ahead from San Francisco.

Meanwhile, Cory and Eddie find out that Chelsea is a natural at paddleball, so they try to get Chelsea to break the record for the world's longest paddleball session so they can claim the prize money. They think they have the record in the bag until the competition—none other than Stanley—proves to be a formidable paddle ball opponent. Stanley scams Chelsea by making her win the title and prize money. She then feels bad and ends up giving Stanley the money. Cory and Eddie are furious with Chelsea because Stanley has scammed her. Chelsea responds that not only does she not feel scammed but both she and Stanley got what they wanted, the record and the money respectively. When Eddie and Cory protest that they did not get what they wanted (a share of the prize money), she slyly responds that they "got what they deserved" (which was nothing). Then she proceeds to break the record for the longest paddleball session behind her back.

That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana (from ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'')

After the Tipton's concierge, Irene, tells Raven that her flight is cancelled, Raven is stuck in Boston for the weekend. She then has a vision that Cody is in danger of being attacked. Raven tells them that she has a "feeling" that the one in a sweater vest is in trouble and should avoid sneezing followed by bells. Cody, the only twin that wears sweater vests, becomes paranoid and avoids anything that remotely resembles Raven's vision – even the surprise birthday party that he, Zack, and the other Tipton employees are throwing for Carey. Zack then switches clothes with Cody to make him go to the party and wears his black sweater vest to Carey's surprise party while Cody wears one of his other shirts. However he ends up landing head first in the vanilla flavor birthday cake when Arwin's babysitting machine, his gift to Carey, goes out of control.

Meanwhile, Maddie is trying to help Raven by getting London to wear one of Raven's original designs, but London swears she'll never wear anything that's not from a famous designer – even her diapers were made by designers. Maddie then switches the label of London's Attoro Vittali and sews it onto Raven's dress. London wears the dress thinking that it is a Vittali original. Maddie tells her the truth, and London gets upset that Maddie tricked her into wearing a dress that wasn't made by a famous person, but changes her mind when teen pop star Hannah Montana checks in and admires Raven's dress, asking her to make a similar one, to which she replies that it is a "one-of-a-kind Raven Baxter original made only for her " (London). Later, Hannah starts a catfight with London over the dress, and Raven is overjoyed by this, but as Hannah goes up to London to get a closer look of the dress, her ring gets caught in it and it tears (off camera), much to Raven's upset.

On the Road Again (from ''Hannah Montana'')

When Hannah Montana/Miley Stewart stays at the Tipton, she befriends the candy counter girl Maddie Fitzpatrick. Listening to Miley's dad sing, Maddie says that he sounds just like Robbie Ray, the "Honkytonk Heartthrob", before realizing that he ''is'' Robbie Ray. Apparently both she and her mother were Robbie Ray fans. When Maddie talks to Hannah/Miley about his career back in the day, Miley starts to believe that her father gave up his dream to sing so that Miley could pursue her own career as Hannah Montana. To give him back the stage life, she recruits the help of his former manager to get Robby back on the road. Robby goes to San Diego while Hannah's bodyguard Roxy Roker takes care of Miley and her brother Jackson. Unfortunately, Roxy is very overprotective and will not let the children go out of her sight, and even ties them up along with her when they sleep. Jackson gets fed up and goes to San Diego, followed by Miley and Roxy. Billy Ray Cyrus (as Robbie Ray) performs "I Want My Mullet Back" in this episode. However, upon watching his father's performance and hearing about him being offered to go on tour in Hawaii with Toby Keith, Jackson changes his mind. However, Robby decides not to go on the tour because he doesn't want to leave his kids again. Maddie then also shows up, but is chased away by Roxy. At the end of the episode, both Robby and Miley perform an encore performance of "I Want My Mullet Back", complete with mullet wigs and Jackson, also wearing a mullet, doing the underarm trumpet.

A communist returns to Greece after decades of exile in the Soviet Union. He is disappointed by what he finds.

Pufftop Palace's prince Starfy is suddenly awakened by a rabbit who fell from the sky through the roof of the palace. A group of pirates, the Terrible Trio fails to capture the rabbit; Starfy then searches the rabbit after he escaped and, alongside Moe, goes into the ocean.

After saving the rabbit from a gigantic octopus, Starfy recovers a crystal shard, and the rabbit, presenting himself as Bunston, is revealed to be amnesiac. All together, they cross along the ocean to retrieve the missing shards.

Learning the shards are parts of a ship, Bunston recovers his memory and the events: as a prince of the planet Bunnera, he holds the most of their powers. The Terrible Trio was sent by the space pirate Mashtooth to steal the Bunnera's power. Bunston escaped in a ship predestinated to Pufftop.

With the ship rebuilt, they depart to Bunnera and confront Mashtooth; Starfy winning, Mashtooth crashes on the moon and he never seen after. Starfy and Moe return to Pufftop and take a nap. Meanwhile, Starly – Starfy's sister – searches for him.

The plot revolves around a fictitious ''Onion'' television news anchorman, Norm Archer (Len Cariou), who is forced to face the inevitability of a corporate takeover by the ''Onion'''s perennial fictitious multinational, Global Tetrahedron. ''Onion'' news is described as "fair and balanced" in the context of the film. The plot serves as a springboard for various comedy sketches featuring ''The Onion'''s satirical humor. Vignettes include parodies of music videos reminiscent of Britney Spears' work, and Steven Seagal appearing as a parody of the type of action hero he normally portrays. The film is interrupted (fictitiously) by film reviewers and commentators weighing in on the progress of the film, with one commentator preparing to stage an immediate walkout of all African American audience members unless a positive portrayal of an African American is inserted into the film.

The film involves a young schoolgirl Chu Yuen Fong (Fennie Yuen) who becomes caught in a tragic stranglehold of triad activity after she testifies over a triad beating. When this news reaches the triad leader Brother Smart (Roy Cheung), Yuen Fong must pay him protection money for what she has done as events begin to escalate.

The film is divided into four parts, which Godard has subsequently given by name.

Theater

In the first part, Vicky Vitalis, an elderly film director, is casting a new project called "Fatal Bolero," assisted by his nephew, Jérôme. A group of actors lines up to audition, but Vicky is dissatisfied with each of their line readings. The director nevertheless manages to secure funding from a man called Baron Felix, who himself secures one of the actresses named Sabine, to the chagrin of Sabine's plaintive boyfriend. Later, Jérôme accompanies Vicky's daughter, Camille, a professor of philosophy, as she searches for a copy of ''The Game of Love and Chance'', the play by Pierre de Marivaux. Her intention is to stage the play in war torn Sarajevo. However, unable to find a copy, she settles instead on the Alfred de Musset play ''One Must Not Trifle with Love'', happily noting that she shares the same name as the play's heroine. Jérôme, smitten with his cousin, decides to go to Sarajevo with her, to his mother Sylvie's dismay. Sylvie persuades her brother Vicky to accompany them, and the family's maid, Jamila, also decides to go. Camille and Jérôme decide to cast Jamila in the play as the character Rosette.

One Must Not Trifle with Love in Sarajevo

In the second part, the four take a train to Bosnia and rough it in the wild. Increasingly unable to share in his young charges' idealism, Vicky abandons them, filling the role of a West European who turns his back on the horrors of the Bosnian war. The spectre of tanks begins to appear in the forest, and not long after, Camille, Jérôme, and Jamila are captured by Serbian paramilitaries and taken to a derelict mansion the paramilitaries are using as a base. There, Camille and Jérôme metaphorically dig their own graves when they correct a Serbian commander on his account of Georges Danton's participation in the French Revolution. After being anally violated, they are forced to literally dig their own graves, and are killed in an ensuing attack on the base. Jamila, and a soldier having taken a liking to her, escape.

The Film of Disquiet

The third part sees Vicky working on "Fatal Bolero" by the seaside. Baron Felix, the film's financier, holds court at a nearby casino. There the former actress Sabine, now the Baron's dutiful assistant, transcribes the dialogue of an anally fixated porn film while the Baron doles out money for Vicky's film. On the beach, Vicky arranges an unnamed Actress and Actor on the sand in imitation of Camille's and Jérôme's deaths. Later, he relentlessly shoots take after take of the Actress as she tries to articulate her lines – statements once spoken by Camille – amid a torrent of wind and rain. The elderly director eventually instructs the young Actress to shout simply, "yes." The scene shifts to the film's debut at a small theater. The people lining up don't even make it inside. Realizing that it is an art film shot in black and white, depicting the horrors of war, and not the least bit prurient, they wander off in disgust to see something called "Terminator 4," while the theater owner hurriedly removes the posters for the film. Sabine's ex-boyfriend arrives and declares to Baron Felix that "justice has been served."

For Ever Mozart

In the fourth and final movement, a group of people files into an ornate hall to attend a Mozart piano concerto performed by a youth orchestra. The performance is unable to begin until the pianist, an effete young man in period garb, secures one of the set runners from "Fatal Bolero" as a page turner. As the performance commences, a fatigued Vicky keeps time to the music in the hallway, unable to make it past the top of the stairs. Inside, the music plays on, and the pages, showing Mozart's carefully crafted notation, keep turning.

Part I (Issue #16)

Buffy fights future slayer Melaka Fray, in midair in the future New York City. Flashing back to the past, Xander, Willow, and Buffy discuss what Willow saw during her encounter with Kumiko. Willow believes that she received the message for a reason, and that they must act before they lose another slayer. Dawn, meanwhile, turns into a centaur.

Somewhere in a lab, Twilight and Warren argue about a missile, which is covered in magical runes. They succeed to blasting the Scottish castle in which the 'Scoobies' live. In New York City, Buffy is transported to the future while confronting mystical time disruptions. She then meets Fray.

Part II (Issue #17)

Fray and her sister Erin find that their sibling Harth, now a vampire, has allied himself with a mysterious, dark haired woman. While supervising kidnap victims, said woman tells Harth that their actions 'now' will affect the past. Fray has a vague recollection of the woman, due to research.

Meanwhile, back in the present, Willow has tamed the demon that switched places with Buffy during the time incident. In Scotland, snake-warriors invade the castle; it is severely damaged. Several unnamed Slayers have died in the attack but most have escaped.

Fray and Buffy meet an ally, Gunther, a fish-like mutant in an attempt to gain more information about their enemies. Elsewhere, Harth tells his partner that he wants to kill Fray for being the only thing he ever loved; her pain is his joy. It is then revealed that Harth's ally (known to him as "The Madwoman") is none other than Dark Willow.

Part III (Issue #18)

In the Scottish woods after the main castle's explosion, Xander and Dawn continue their escape from the creatures that invaded the castle. During a brief respite, a horde of forest creatures threaten them and order them to leave their woods. The forest beings become nonplussed when Dawn tells them they aren't as scary as what has been chasing them.

In the present, Willow continues to find a way to retrieve Buffy from the future while Kennedy questions if Willow can contact her source instead. In response, Willow asks if Kennedy truly trusts her and if she believes that whatever they do is for the greater good - when Kennedy agrees, Willow explains that she must speak to Saga Vasuki and in order to do this, she must orgasm. Kennedy and Willow then have sex to achieve this end and when Willow finds Saga she asks her how to get Buffy back to the present. Saga tells Willow that the time rift will reopen that night and she only wants Willow to reach inside and take Buffy out without looking inside. Willow obeys and bids farewell for now to Saga.

Buffy searches through the Watchers' diaries and is completely befuddled and upset because there are a few ambiguous references to her and absolutely nothing recorded about the Slayer army she created. She and Fray decide to head to the "Uppers," a normally secure area of Haddyn where vampires cannot usually get access to, and steal a flying car with access to the area. Meanwhile, Gunther is visited by Harth and other vampires. In response to Gunther revealing Harth's activities to Fray, Harth leaves a squad of vampires to attack Gunther instead is his tank. Buffy and Fray witness a group of vampires attacking defenseless humans. While Fray wants to slay the vampires, Buffy attempts to stop her, reminding her that according to Gunther, Harth sends out hunting parties of vampires, that they need to find where the parties are coming from, and that they cannot afford the time to rescue everyone who needs rescuing. Fray refuses to listen and slays the vampires, leaving Buffy alone to drive the flying car. After Fray finishes off all the vampires, Dark Willow approaches Fray, informing her that she has not been human for "quite some time now." She tells Fray that her concerns are more personal than just getting rid of the lurks and shows that her magical powers have almost completely deteriorated, before requesting to show something to Fray.

Buffy returns to Fray's apartment alone, where she is confronted by Fray's sister Erin, who believes Buffy is an intruder. After Buffy reveals that she is looking for Fray, Erin apologizes and the two discuss various matters relating to Fray, sisters, and how Buffy is a slayer from the past. In the middle of the conversation, Buffy is zapped with a ray gun and falls to the floor in pain. As Erin kneels over Buffy's unconscious body, remarking "Mel...are you sure about this?", as Fray responds: "I'm sure. We're saving the world."

Part IV (Issue #19)

In the present, Dawn, Xander and the forest creatures prepare to battle against the demons that invaded the castle. As the fight starts, they are outnumbered until Xander's team of slayers appear with a group of Wiccans, who use magic to make the creatures corporeal, and easier to kill. Meanwhile, Twilight watches as Warren and Amy argue over the failed attack on the castle as Twilight turns to a new ally: Riley. Riley reveals that Buffy secretly met up with him in New York and requested that he act as her inside man against Twilight.

In the future, Buffy has been kidnapped and tied up in Dark Willow's lair by Fray and Erin. While Buffy is unconscious, Dark Willow laments on how long she has lived. Fray asks what the plan is, telling Dark Willow that she won't kill a slayer, no matter what Dark Willow has shown her. Willow tells Fray to keep Buffy there long enough to miss the "extraction" at midnight; she seems to want Buffy not to go back to the present.

Fray tells Erin what Dark Willow showed her: that if Buffy goes back, she will "change the world" - Willow has told her that Buffy going back to the present will result in changes that will mean Fray's future will not come to pass. Buffy regains consciousness and is stunned to see Dark Willow. Before they can speak further, Harth appears with a pack of vampires and reveals that Dark Willow told him that bringing Buffy to the future would cause his world to be, but told Fray the opposite. Willow responds that her intention for bringing Buffy to the future was in order to die; however, it is a matter regarding not who will die, but who kills them that matters. Furthermore, she admits that she is lying to either Fray or Harth but won't say who. As Harth threatens to kill everyone in the room, Gunther appears, still angry after his visit from Harth and his lurks, and causes a commotion that frees Buffy. Still wishing to save her world above all else, Buffy escapes and searches for the building where the extraction (caused by Willow in the present) is due to take place. When she arrives Fray is there, refusing to let Buffy leave in fear that Buffy's return to the past will erase Fray's present. The two slayers fight as Dark Willow watches.

In the present, a blindfolded Willow prepares to bring Buffy back. In the future, Buffy runs for the portal that appears and manages to beat Fray. Confronted by Dark Willow, Buffy questions her true motives before reluctantly (but with emotional pain) stabbing her in the heart. Present-day Willow reaches through the portal and brings Buffy back to the present, where Buffy is relieved to see Willow is still alive and well. In the future, Fray is aghast, but is surprised and comforted by Erin, who comments that their present still exists.

The film is inspired by a popular song against the French monarchy, created during the French Revolution.

During the 7th century, the lazy and messy King Dagobert I goes to Rome to ask Pope Honorius I for forgiveness of his sins of revelry and fornication. But Dagobert does not know that the pope, while he is still traveling, was replaced in a conspiracy by a perfect double. The replacement is a crude and rude man, even more stupid than Dagobert is.

As the team grieve for their fallen colleague ("For Warrick"), Grissom makes a life changing decision ("One to Go"), during the ninth season of ''CSI''. Also this season, Sara investigates the death of a woman attacked nine years ago ("The Happy Place"), new CSI Riley Adams joins the team ("Art Imitates Life"), and she and Nick witness a store robbery on Halloween ("Let it Bleed"), Grissom attends the trial of the Miniature Killer ("Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda"), and an infamous serial murderer brings Dr. Raymond Langston face-to-face with the CSI team ("19 Down"). As Catherine adjusts to life as the team's leader, she investigates the bizarre, the brutal, and the unlikely, including an S&M related murder ("Leave out all the Rest"), an arson-homicide ("The Grave Shift"), the murder of an FBI agent ("Disarmed & Dangerous"), death-by-toothpaste ("Deep Fried & Minty Fresh"), and a Mexican wrestling related death ("Mascara"). Nick, meanwhile, investigates the happenings of a seedy motel over the course of a year ("Turn, Turn, Turn"), and Hodges and Wendy attend a sci-fi convention ("A Space Oddity").

During a trip to Mexico with his fiancée, salesman Henry Lefay (Tim Allen) disappears while parasailing and is presumed dead. His grieving daughter (Elisha Cuthbert) begins to make funeral arrangements, a process made tricky when his current wife and five exes descend and wage a fierce power struggle over the burial.

Thomas Zelda (Tim Allen) has been paroled from prison for being involved in movie piracy. He is picked up by his eccentric sister Viki (Sigourney Weaver) who is revealed to be a habitual liar (she claims it's so people aren't hurt by the truth).

Tommy arrives at Viki's home, where he plans to spend some time putting his life back together when it is revealed that his grandmother was told (by Viki) that he went to France instead of prison. Due to her heart condition, Tommy keeps up the story leading to a euphemism where France means "prison". Viki's husband Ed (J.K. Simmons) asks Tommy if he thinks he'll go "back to France" soon.

During dinner, Gray (Ray Liotta), Tommy's old partner from the movie piracy business, shows up and his sister runs him off.

The next day, Tommy meets with his parole officer, Angela Popadopolous (Jeanne Tripplehorn), who requires him to work at a pirate-themed restaurant called "Pirate Burger" as part of his parole. He informs Angela that he wants to start up his father's painting business instead, but is told that he is required to work at the restaurant.

While on the job, Tommy sees Christy (Julie Bowen), his "dead" ex-girlfriend come up to the drive-through window. Realizing Viki lied to him, he takes the delivery car to see Christy leading them to spend the night together. The next morning, it is revealed that Christy is engaged to Frank (Kelsey Grammer) and Tommy is forced to escape the apartment.

Since he took the delivery car without permission, Tommy is fired from "Pirate Burger" and risks going back to jail for breaking the terms of his parole. Tommy is given another chance and goes back to work.

That night, Tommy is "kidnapped" by Gray and Gray tries to persuade him to get back into the piracy business. Tommy refuses stating that he wants to "go straight".

Tommy is called to make a delivery. He arrives at the apartment of Angela. Her son Ethan is trying to play matchmaker to get her to start dating again. While there, Tommy notices that the apartment is in need of a paint job. Tommy decides to show Angela the kind of work he can do. With the help of two ex-con coworkers Rick and Edgar (Malcolm Goodwin and Jon Gries) from Pirate Burger, Tommy breaks into Angela's apartment while she's away and repaints the living room.

Meanwhile, the fictional story about Tommy's "France" trip continues to evolve including a relationship with Simone, a French astronaut who was killed on the launchpad so that Tommy's mother would not fly everyone to France to meet her (because she does not exist).

Angela is furious at Tommy for breaking and entering, but understands what he was trying to do and doesn't press charges. She sets him up to paint a judge's home. While doing the job, Angela shows up to check on Tommy's work and invites him to observe Ethan's little league team. Later, the judge's wife who is impressed by the work invites Tommy to paint the upstairs as well.

While getting tools together, Edgar and Rick prepare the upstairs for painting and knock the judge's wife's diamond ring off the dresser. Wanting to do something nice for Tommy, Edgar steals the ring and gives it to Christy as a "gift from Tommy". Tommy, who doesn't know that the theft has occurred, joins Angela at the little league game and they begin to express feelings for each other. They set up a formal date.

When Tommy arrives at Angela's apartment for the date, Angela is furious over the theft and demands the ring back. Tommy goes to Pirate Burger to confront Edgar and Rick, but they have disappeared. He steals the delivery car (his vehicle refuses to start) and calls Edgar and Rick. They inform him of the ring's location and he drives to Christy's house to get the ring back. After a short confrontation with Frank and Christy, he gets the ring and returns it to Angela.

The manager of Pirate Burger presses charges on Tommy, and he goes back to jail. Gray shows up to bail him out and, disillusioned with his attempts to "go straight", Tommy teams back up with Gray.

Meanwhile, Ethan shows up at Viki's house wanting to see Tommy but he is not there. Viki finds Tommy with Gray at the airport and makes up a story about Ethan going missing. Tommy chooses to abandon Gray at the airport (after Gray pushes Viki to the ground) to find Ethan. When he shows up at Angela's apartment, he finds out that Viki has lied to him again. Tommy's concern for the well being of her son softens Angela's animosity towards him.

At the behest of Viki, Tommy invites Angela to come to a dinner at Viki's house. Angela shows up for the dinner. A story Viki told Tommy's grandmother about Angela being Tommy's "grief counselor" falls apart when Angela informs her that she is actually Tommy's parole officer, and the France story falls apart too. Viki tries to act surprised, but nobody buys it.

The film contains four short stories loosely linked together. A group of Hong Kong tourists visit the Philippines and encounter paranormal events.

Fourteen-year-old Jake is forced to be left to live at a retirement home in Poughkeepsie, New York while his father, Dr. Robert Lansa, travels to help his friend Bill set up a jaguar preserve. Doc, as everyone calls him, takes longer than expected in Brazil and sets up a plane ride for Jake to visit during his Spring Break. When he arrived in Manaus, Jake met Buzz, the expedition's pilot who is supposed to track jaguars at the preserve. Jake meets Doc but is angry with him for not arriving home, not keeping in touch, and not meeting him at the airport. A couple mornings later, Bill is working on the boat they received, and Buzz, Doc, and Jake are heading outside when the boat explodes. This explosion kills Bill, injured Buzz's leg, and injured Doc's arm. At first, the expedition is called off, but Silver, a skipper who lives in his boat nearby, offers his boat. At first, the expedition declines, but they decide that Jake could be the pilot and they could take the boat up the Amazon. Flanna, the expedition's botanist, goes with Doc to Brasilia to get the exploration permit changed. Meanwhile, Buzz teaches Jake how to fly the Morpho, a small ultralight plane. One night, Jake goes into Silver's boat and while looking at some of Silver's books, he is attacked by a man with a scar on his face and knocked out. Jake keeps this a secret between himself and Silver. When Doc and Flanna return, Doc, Flanna, Silver, and Jake get ready for the trip up the Amazon.

Silver is the captain of his boat, named the ''Tito''. Silver secretly knows about the man with the scar and encourages everyone to keep a shotgun nearby on the boat. The boat breaks down and they must stop at a village while Silver finds a mechanic there. This is a miserable shantytown with an Indian camp nearby and a gold mine that has small claims from virtually everyone in the shantytown. Jake sees the man with the scar through binoculars and runs to warn Silver. Soon Jake finds Silver and Doc is worried and finds Jake. Then, Doc learns of a jaguar that comes to the town every night and "vandalizes" the town. There is a betting pool for whoever gets the weight of it right when it is caught. Doc meets with the Indian, Raul, who helps him tranquilize the jaguar under the conditions that he gets to come on the expedition to see it let go and that it gets weighed. Doc agrees and they successfully capture the jaguar, get it weighed, and quickly leave the village. Raul wins the betting pool and donates the money to his camp before he leaves.

The expedition continues until Silver wants to go up a tributary that he said might lead to the center of the preserve. Doc, Flanna, and Jake agree not knowing that he would try to look for the Lost Mines of Muribeca. They try to turn around but the reverse control malfunctions so they continue up the narrow tributary. They find a beautiful lake at the end of the tributary and set up camp there. For several weeks, Doc and Raul tag animals while Flanna studies the plants. Jake tracks the tagged animals using the Morpho. Meanwhile, Silver takes trips out into the rain forest by himself and looks for the lost mines. Things are going well until Doc and Raul take a week-long trip to the rain forest and Silver disappears. Doc returns without Raul and is extremely sick with malaria. Jake lands from one of his flights and Tyler ( the man with the scar) and Fred, who threatened Jake and Doc at the shantytown are both behind him. Tyler holds an automatic rifle and ties up Flanna and Jake. Since Doc can't move, they leave him in the tent. After Fred disobeys Tyler, Fred is shot. Tyler asks Jake and Flanna about Silver, but they don't have any information. Jake is able to deceive Tyler after Tyler wants to know how the tracking equipment worked in order to track down Silver. Jake gives Tyler the frequency for a jaguar's collar and Tyler sets out. Doc comes and untieds Flanna and Jake, afterwards, Jake flies off to find Silver. He purposely crashes into the canopy and finds Silver nearby. Silver talks with Jake and Silver indicates he found the Lost Mines of Muribeca but that he did not want to steal from the natives. They rescue Raul, captured by the isolated Indian camp and they trap Tyler using the killed jaguar's collar. He falls into a pit and after a brawl with Raul and Jake, Silver has to drop his gun and step back. Jake is ordered to sit down by Silver and is almost killed but Flanna shoots Tyler with a compound bow. The night before they would leave the lake and find another place to set up camp, Woolcott, the one who is willing to fund the preserve, along with Buzz, lands in a very nice floatable private plane. He accepts the preserve and Jake flies back to Poughkeepsie, New York for a few more weeks of high school and a trip with his grandfather, Taw, to Arizona while Flanna and Doc stay to run the preserve.

In the midst of a serial killer's rampage and kidnappings, beautiful young Riley Lawson goes missing. When her desperate parents, Will and Kate, are contacted by her kidnapper, insufferable FBI Special Agent Hotchkiss takes charge of the case.

But, from deep within the psychopathic subterranean world created by Otis Broth, Riley turns the tables on her tormentor, manages to escape and to contact her parents. Fed up with the inability of the FBI to find their girl, Will, Kate, and Riley's brother, Reed decide to take matters – and revenge – into their own hands.

The prologue begins in autumn of 1699, with the murder of an unidentified woman in Hokkaido, followed by the kidnapping of Sano Masahiro, son of the Shogun's Lord Chamberlain, Sano Ichiro, at the autumn festivities at the Zōjō Temple in Edo city.

Several months later, Sano is summoned by the shogun to undertake a mission. Lord , who administers the country's northernmost domain, has failed to report to the capital as scheduled, and messengers despatched to Hokkaido have not returned. With tensions rising between Sano and his rival, Lord Matsudaira, the last thing Sano wants is to leave Edo, but Matsudaira produces the piece of a toy sword belonging to Masahiro: it seems Matsudaira's agents have sent Sano's son north, leaving him no choice but to go to Ezogashima.

Left with little choice, Sano departs, accompanied by a small retinue, including his wife Reiko, his chief retainer , and "The Rat", an Ezo migrant to Edo. Hirata had been training with an ancient martial arts mystic when he sensed Sano was in trouble. He also sensed that the attainment of the next level of mastery which had eluded him would be found in the mission.

The mission was almost over before it began when their ship was wrecked off the coast of Hokkaido. The survivors were found and sheltered by local natives who refer to themselves as the Ainu instead of the derisive term Ezo used by the Japanese. The Ainu were much spiritually closer to their natural world than the Japanese, and in there Hirata sensed the key to his breakthrough.

When Sano finally managed to get an audience with Lord Matsumae in his court at his castle in Fukuyama, he found the ''daimyō'' half-mad with grief at the unsolved murder of his favourite concubine, who was an Ainu native.

In order to locate and rescue his son, Sano agreed to investigate the murder to find the real culprit. He was simultaneously assisted and hindered by the daimyo's retainers, who on the one hand had little regard for the concubine for her perceived barbaric background, and on the other hand, desired their master's return to normalcy.

As the story developed, Sano and his friends got a first-hand glimpse on the little-known effects of the impacts and clashes of the "civilised" Japanese people intruding into the lives of the natives who were of very different backgrounds and views of the world.

Tatsu (Hayakawa) lives within the mountains of Hakawa, Japan, creating a series of paintings and disposing of them upon completion, shouting to the gods to return his fiancée, a princess who he believed was turned into a dragon. Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Kano Indara (Peil, Sr.), a famous painter, seeks a protege and heir to continue the family bloodline of master paintings.

Tatsu heads to a nearby village and demands some paper from the locals. His unusual behavior catches the attention of Uchida (Fujita), a surveyor and friend of Indara. While on a surveying expedition in the mountains, one of Tatsu's discarded paintings comes into Uchida's possession. Amazed at the artwork, Uchida invites Tatsu to Tokyo, claiming that Indara knows the whereabouts of the lost princess.

Tatsu arrives at a dinner prepared in his honor, but his wild disposition causes a ruckus. He throws a cushion and chases off other guests. Tatsu is about to leave when Indara presents a dance by the lost princess, who he explains is in the form of his only daughter, Ume-ko (Aoki). Tatsu demands Ume-ko's hand in marriage; Indara agrees on the condition that Tatsu be his son and disciple to carry on the Indara name.

Shortly after their marriage, Tatsu unable to paint, explains that ever since he found happiness, he has no reason to do so. The Indaras try to encourage Tatsu to paint but to no avail. Realizing that Tatsu's longing to find his lost princess is what granted him his ability to paint, Ume-ko tells her father that by her death, Tatsu's talent may be restored. The following morning, Tatsu discovers a letter from Ume-ko, saying that she had committed suicide in hopes that it would restore Tatsu's ability. Distraught at what has happened, Tatsu attempts suicide by drowning at a nearby waterfall, but is unsuccessful. Tatsu's sorrow continues to grow as time passes until one day he sees what appears to be Ume-ko's ghost at the family garden, which motivates him to paint once more. Tatsu's latest work gives him and the Indaras international recognition, but shortly after his success, his sorrow returns. This prompts Ume-ko, who was in hiding all the while, to return to an amazed Tatsu. The film ends with Tatsu painting in the mountains with Ume-ko by his side.

Donna Foster works for publisher John Caine. She agrees to have his niece, Christabel, live with her in San Francisco while attending business school.

Christabel proves to be a scheming, socially ambitious tramp. She flirts with Donna's fiance, the wealthy Curtis Carey, at a party for Donna's friend, painter Gabriel Broome. She also attracts the interest of aspiring author Nick Bradley.

While having her portrait done by Broome, a call from Curtis brings her eagerly to a jeweler, only to discover to her disappointment that he merely seeks her advice in buying Donna an engagement gift. After he purchases an expensive one, Christabel plants a seed of doubt in Donna's mind and makes her feel guilty by insinuating that in accepting such a lavish gift, Donna is giving Curtis the appearance of being after his money.

Christabel then turns around and cunningly does the same to Curtis by convincing him to propose a pre-nuptial agreement. Donna is offended and the couple break up, which turns out to have been Christabel's plan all along. With Curtis now available, Christabel rebuffs a marriage proposal from Nick, whose novel is about to be published by Caine.

A romance develops that leads to Christabel marrying Curtis and becoming a high society lady. However, it turns out that she is still attracted to Nick, whom she begins seeing on the side. On one occasion, she slips away from a vacation resort, telling Curtis that she is going to see her aunt Clara. Her lie is exposed by Caine, her uncle, who informs Curtis that the aunt had died while Christabel claimed to be visiting her.

Curtis reunites with Donna after sending away Christabel with nothing more than a few expensive furs.

An unwed mother named Letta Strong (Loretta Young) was raised in a healthy family environment, but she became pregnant at the age of fifteen and ran away from home. Letta was eventually taken in by an elderly man named Fuzzy (Henry Travers). In due course, Strong gave birth to Mickey (Jackie Kelk) in the back room of Fuzzy's bookstore. Surviving life as a grifter, Letta taught her son Mickey to be streetwise, so that he would not be mistreated like she was. All the while, Fuzzy strongly disapproves of how Letty is raising her son. At age seven, Mickey decides to skip school and wander aimlessly around town. Meanwhile, Letty earns a living by entertaining buyers in order to prop up her friend Steve Karns (Russell Hopton).

One day a milk truck driven by Malcolm "Mal" Trevor (Cary Grant) hits Mickey as he is roller-skating in the street. When Letty's acquired lawyer, Adolphe (Harry Green), learns that Mal is the wealthy president of Amalgamated Dairies, he talks Letty into seizing an emerging opportunity in the form of money. Both Adolphe and Letty convince Mickey to lie about the extent of his injuries. However, during the trial, Mal's attorney (Paul Harvey) produces films showing a fully recovered Mickey. The irate judge has Mickey taken from Letty and put in an institution for boys.

Mal and his wife Alyce (Marion Burns) have no children. Mal offered to adopt Mickey and with Letty's approval. She was able to visit with her son frequently. Mickey thrived on Mal's country estate, as he was in a loving environment. Mickey enjoyed having a stable home, of which consisted of a doting father and mother.

Letty is not satisfied with this arrangement and she wants her son back. At Adolphe suggestion, Letty seduces Mal into falling in love with her, while recording the whole scheme. Since her objective is the return of her son Mickey, Letty has no love for Mal, but he falls for her and they spend the night together. However, the next morning Mal informs a surprised Letty that he has already told his wife about their affair. Alyce is willing to sacrifice herself for Mal's happiness. Letty comes to realization of her true feelings for Mal, and breaks off the relationship, all the while pretending to have only been toying with him. She returns to Fuzzy and asks for her old job back at the bookstore.

Boston bank manager Nathan Smith has been shot through the head while lying in bed. His new wife Mary, is the chief suspect, although she swears she was watching television at the time and never even heard the gunshot. Despite mounting evidence against her, and a prosecution witness who claims Mary hired him to kill her husband, the defence make a last-ditch attempt at proving her innocence by hiring Spenser, the Boston-based P.I. However, everyone Spenser speaks with is systematically murdered.

Category:2002 American novels Category:Spenser (novel series) Category:American detective novels

The main figures Winter and Somer and their companions have a fierce debate about which of the two is the most important season of the year for making love. Both are convinced they are: Winter because of the long nights indoors; Somer because of the "happy season for happy hearts".

With tempers running high, they decide to have a duel to see who is right; they both expect to win to get rid of the other for all time. While both are preparing to fight, Moyaert runs to seek the intervention of the goddess Venus as the arbiter of questions of love.

Venus separates the two, who after some reluctance yield out of respect for her. Venus points out the importance and equality of the two seasons and the fact that the one cannot be without the other. There is only one loser and the end of the play: Cockien had wanted Somer to win.

In a secret military laboratory operating under the guise of a pesticide manufacturer, there is an outbreak of a virulent bacteria. During routine work, a sealed tube is broken, releasing the secret biological weapon. Whereupon, detecting the release of the weapon, Joanie Morse, the plant's security officer, activates "Protocol One," a procedure sealing all of the workers inside from the outside world.

Tom Schmidt believing the cause for the lock down to be a pump malfunction, with another worker, Bob, restart the pump. After several moments of being unable to contact Dr. Nielsen in the biohazard P4 lab, Dr. Nielsen contacts Security, confirms "Protocol One", and advises Security to open the safe and contact USACT, the U.S. government's Accident Containment Team, to deal with the problem.

Cal Morse, a local County Sheriff whose wife, the security officer, is trapped inside, is advised to retain the help of Dr. Dan Fairchild, a past employee who is a known alcoholic, who created an antidote to the weapon. Vic Flint, frustrated over the quarantine of his son Bob, attempts to shoot his way in. Fearing someone being shot accidentally, Cal confiscates his .357 magnum revolver when the bullet ricocheted off the steel blast doors.

USACT led by Major Connelly arrives, sets up quarantine procedures (including of 3 workers who left early before the "Protocol One" was activated; Bob's girlfriend Dana being one of them). The 3 workers are sealed inside plastic "bubbles" for the duration of the film but expect to be in them for 3 days. Connelly appeases the public with the cover story of a contamination of experimental yeast while a rescue team enters the facility to retrieve the antidote and administer it to the workers.

Upon the release of the weapon, the P4 lab workers sanitize the area, destroy lab animals, and inoculate themselves with the antidote. Hours later, the USACT team locate Dr. Nielsen and his team incapacitated on the floor near the P4 lab air lock. A short time later, they notice the bodies have disappeared, the air lock smashed open from inside, and a power outage from inside the building caused by Dr. Ramesh Kapoor, a P4 worker, by destroying a power box with a fire axe.

A group of workers—including Bob, Schmidt, and Tippett—believe themselves to be unaffected and want to leave, despite the "Protocol One" quarantine. Unbeknownst to the workers, they became infected by the breach of the P4 air lock, the bypassed pump circulating contaminated air throughout the building, and Schmidt's contact lens contaminating the building with the weapon. The Security officer destroyed the piece of paper containing the code to deactivate the lockdown, but remembered the code. The group, now led by Tippett, torture her for the code, which is discovered to be invalidated once USACT tapped into the system.

While inside the building, the rescue team encounters this group of workers. The rescue team order the group to remain under quarantine; Tippett is shot dead when he refuses. The rest are placed in a room to await inoculation when the rescue team returns with the antidote.

Dr. Fairchild directs the rescue team into an unoccupied service conduit as a direct way to the P4 lab. The rescue team encounters Dr. Nielsen. Suspecting something to be wrong, Fairchild directs the rescue team to retreat, leaving Dr. Nielsen behind. The rescue team are ambushed and murdered by the P4 workers, one of which is murdered by Dr. Kapoor with the fire axe. Despite being inoculated, the antidote didn't work; suffering from the effects of the weapon, all of the infected workers become enraged, blood-thirsty homicidal maniacs. They are lucid in thought yet deranged in their intentions, most notably Dr. Nielsen. According to a history remembered by Dr. Fairchild, the biological weapon that they are seeing in action was one synthesized from a virus found in the dead bodies of horses who had attacked each other to death. The virus was found to produce violent, psychotic rage.

Upon the death of the rescue team, USACT activates "Protocol Two", leaving all employees to await the deadly effects of the weapon and sanitize the location afterwards. Hearing this, Cal urges Dr. Fairchild to assist him in retrieving the antidote, stopping the contagion, and saving his wife. As Cal and Dr. Fairchild enter the facility, they encounter an infected Bob, armed with a fire axe. When he tries to attack, he is shot dead by Cal armed with his father, Vic Flint's, confiscated .357 magnum revolver.

As most of the workers succumb to their infections, Schmidt realizes that somehow Joanie is unaffected. He pleads with her to go to the P4 lab to retrieve the antidote. As they make their way, they encounter Dr. Nielsen who wants to contain the knowledge of the incident and Dr. Kapoor who wants to kill them. They escape the attack using a fire extinguisher and descend in the elevator to the P4 lab.

While in the P4 lab, Schmidt succumbs to his infection. Untreated, he becomes enraged as the P4 workers hunt them down. Joanie retrieves the antidote and makes her escape while Schmidt attacks the P4 workers, breaking Dr. Kapoor's neck before being thrown through a window and killed by the P4 workers.

In the hallway, Joanie encounters Cal and Fairchild. They repel a group of workers attacking them, but not before ripping Fairchild's biohazard suit, exposing him. They sneak into the P4 lab to find out why Joanie is unaffected while the antidote didn't work. A test discovers her blood is full of estrogen, progesterone, and antibodies; she is pregnant. As several workers attempt to enter P4 to attack the trio, they are set on fire by booby traps. One worker is able to rip Cal's biohazard suit before being set on fire by Joanie throwing a Molotov cocktail at her.

Before being incapacitated by his infection, Dr. Fairchild enters a recipe for a new antidote into a nearby computer: 1 part hormones, 2 parts antidote, and 1/2 part thorazine (to make the patient sleep while the other drugs take effect). Using Fairchild as a guinea pig, they try out the new hormone-based antidote on him; it works.

Armed with a new sidearm, inoculation injection guns, Cal and Fairchild make their way to the cafeteria where the workers discovered a group that was sealed inside and therefore not affected by the virus. Cal and Fairchild inoculate infected workers that begin attacking them while Joanie takes a batch of the new antidote to the building's decontamination system. Dr. Nielsen, refusing to be injected, flees back to the P4 lab. Celebrating their success, Fairchild reveals their new antidote works. Realizing his failure, Dr. Nielsen commits suicide with the .357 magnum revolver Cal left behind.

Joanie succeeds in locating the decontamination system. She administers the new antidote throughout the building, eradicating the weapon and treating workers breathing in the aerosolized antidote. Upon confirmation the infection levels are down, Joanie deactivates the "Protocol One" quarantine and Fairchild inoculates Cal, rendering him unconscious.

The crisis over, USACT evacuates the victims, retrieves the dead, seals the building, and congratulates Dr. Fairchild on his success and assistance. Upon waking up, Cal nails a "Building Condemned: DO NOT ENTER" sign on the entrance. Dr. Fairchild invites Cal and Joanie back to his home for breakfast - Zucchini pancakes and genetically grown corn on the cob.

In the beginning, Horus the falcon god of light and Set the god of evil fought to control Egypt. The council of the Gods decided, Set was sent to exile and Horus became the first pharaoh of Egypt. For two thousand years, pharaoh succeeded pharaoh. But Set had plotted his revenge, and deep inside his sinister black Pyramid of Ombos, Set imprisoned Horus in a magic sarcophagus. From then on, and no longer protected by the god Horus, Egypt was at the mercy of Set and his servant Aker. So the gods chose Papyrus, a young fisherman who must find the secret entrance to Ombos, free the god Horus and restore peace to Egypt.

''The Empress of Mars'' is set in a future in which Mars was colonized by the British Arean Company. Following the collapse of the colonization effort, a few score settlers are left to fend for themselves. The story follows Mary Griffith, a woman who owns the only bar on Mars, the titular Empress of Mars. After being let go as the xenobotanist for British Arean, she makes a new life for herself and her daughters on Mars. The story charts the gradual development of the tiny colony into a self-sufficient city. A series of new settlers arrive on Mars over the course of events, each of whom ends up becoming pivotal in the establishment of a new service for the city. Mary and her allies must contend with interference by British Arean, resistance from various local collectives and a Neo-Pagan Ephesian Church.

The idyllic jungle life of Tarzan (Gordon Scott), Jane (Eve Brent) and Tartu (Rickie Sorensen) is interrupted by a drum message telling them of predatory hunters loose in the jungle. Tarzan disrupts the animal-collecting expedition of the hunters, Schroeder (Lesley Bradley) and Rene (Maurice Marsac); he frees a baby elephant whose mother they have killed and then leads the elephant herd against them when they make hostages of Tartu and Cheeta the chimp.

Afterwards he warns off two other hunters, Sikes (Saul Gorse) and Lapin (William Keene), seeking to plunder the lost city of Zarbo. He is attacked by their men, but escapes and shadows their party. Aware of Tarzan's continued presence, the hunters capture his native friend Tyana (Sherman Crothers), and trap the ape man when he tries to free him. Tyana's tribe rescues the two. Finally, the hunters reach Zarbo, but find it empty of both people and treasure. In a final conflict, Tarzan overcomes the villains, who are then turned over to the authorities by the natives.

After ten years, Sheldon returns from New York City to Paris, Georgia. His mother is Evelyn, a laundress who is stubborn, ornery, opinionated, mean-spirited, insulting, and inflexible. Evelyn sends a ten-year-old boy claiming to be Sheldon's son to see Sheldon. Sheldon comes home to resolve the matter. Old arguments reignite between himself, his mother, his sister, and his brother.

Sheldon disputes that the boy is his son. He does not want to be a part of fatherhood or family. Then, a white man from New York arrives at Evelyn's door, claiming to be Sheldon's partner

Carlo Powers and Detective Sal Procida are having a conversation in a car when Sal shoots Carlo, grabs a bag of money and flees. Sal later confesses the murder to a priest, asking for help with his dire situation: his wife is pregnant with twins, and they live in a house that is too small for their four existing children; it also has mold that jeopardizes his family's health.

Desperate to move, Sal has arranged to purchase a larger home through a woman who owes him a favor. The down payment is due the following Tuesday, and Sal is still short. Sal, who is a highly skilled and accomplished narcotics detective, has begun to pickpocket drug money from raids.

Officer Edward "Eddie" Dugan is a week from retirement after 22 years of unremarkable service to the force. Eddie is assigned to oversee rookies in the tough neighborhoods. However, his personal life is in shambles; as he swills whiskey in the morning to get out of bed, and the only person he can speak to honestly is Chantel, a sex worker he hires regularly.

Detective Tango Butler is an undercover cop working the drug beat. After losing himself in his role as a drug dealer, Tango is tired of the kind of attention attracted by a black man in a black BMW. Having been promised a promotion including a desk job for years, Butler is finally offered a way out if he betrays his close friend Caz Phillips, a known criminal recently released from federal prison. Federal Agent Smith instructs Tango to set up the drug deal that will ensure Caz's arrest and return to federal prison.

Eddie's first rookie partner came from the Marine Corps, and becomes disgusted with Eddie's apparent cowardice and cynicism. The rookie asks to be reassigned, but he is killed on his next assignment. Eddie's second rookie partner accidentally fires his gun near a teenager during a petty theft investigation. The teenager goes deaf, leaving the NYPD facing a public relations nightmare. During the investigation, Eddie is remorseful for what happened but refuses to play along with his superiors' attempts to imply that the teenager was a drug dealer.

When Tango warns Caz to abort their upcoming drug deal, they are ambushed. Caz is shot under orders from Red, a gangster Tango had previously humiliated. After Smith makes a racist remark and refuses to pursue Red, a furious Tango lunges at her but fellow officers restrain him.

Sal's latest raid on a complex is cancelled but he leaves to rob the money needed for his house. One of his team members, Detective Ronny Rosario, tries but fails to stop Sal from doing the raid. As he approaches the building, Sal passes Tango, who has come there to kill Red. Sal raids the apartment and, after killing three drug dealers, discovers their stockpile of cash. Unfortunately, Sal is shot and killed by a young man who became suspicious when he noticed Sal entering the building.

After Tango gets his revenge on Red, an arriving Rosario mistakes him for a gangster and shoots him in the back. Only after shooting Tango does Rosario realize he has shot another officer. He immediately calls for an ambulance. Rosario, still determined to stop Sal, leaves a wounded Tango to continue his search for Sal. Rosario witnesses the young man who shot Sal running away from the crime scene and is devastated when he finds Sal's dead body in the apartment.

Meanwhile, Eddie retires and visits Chantel, who declines his offer to move to Connecticut. Afterwards while sitting in his car contemplating suicide, Eddie sees a woman who was reported missing being shoved into a van. He follows the van to the Van Dyke housing projects, where he locates a sex slave dungeon in the basement. Eddie apprehends one of the men and is confronted by a second one.

When the second man does not comply with his orders to get on the floor, Eddie shoots him once in the chest, beginning a violent fight that ends with Eddie strangling his opponent with a zip tie. Eddie finds redemption by rescuing the missing girls.

Blossom (Pam Grier), a buxom bad girl, is the rough-and-ready girlfriend of a radical guerrilla leader, Django (Sid Haig). She keeps her relationship a secret, but is also quick to start a fight without knowing it. However, when Django's mercenary friends itch for some female companionship, she softens and the two devise a plan to liberate the inmates of a local women's prison, where the inmates are kept barefoot and subjected to brutally hard labor. A woman named Terry (Anitra Ford), a social climber, ends up in the prison herself because of Blossom and Django's earlier robbery. She is now forced to deal with crazy inmates, gay guards, and torture of the cage. Terry, Blossom, and Django (who busted in by seducing Rocco, one of the guards) eventually come together to face off against the warden Zappa (Andrés Centenera) to stage an explosive breakout.

Laida Magtalas is a modern-day Belle. "Miggy" is the youngest member of the Montenegro clan – a well-established family in the business. She applies as an Editorial Assistant at Miggy's newly launched men’s magazine, "Bachelor". Laida revels working in such close proximity with the man of her dreams.

The film opens with Laida starting out her day for a job interview with Flippage, owned and managed by her crush Miguel "Miggy" Montenegro. Unbeknownst to her, on the day of her interview, Miggy was having a heated meeting with his creative team on the issue of the Bachelor, Flippage’s men's magazine. Miggy’s mean demeanor and undermining of both his friend and editors causes a walkout of half of the team. In the middle of the chaos, Laida was hired on the spot after she presented Miggy with coffee left by an attendant who also walked out after being screamed at.

By some stroke of luck, Laida lands the job. Laida remains blinded to the fact that the Miggy of her dreams is very different from the real one. In reality, he is an unapologetic, hothead who always thinks he's in the right and obsesses about nothing making his magazine number one. Everyone is scared of him with the exception of the love-struck Laida, who adamantly defends him. Imperceptively, she caters to his every whim, even sending her in his absence on a date with his girlfriend, breaking her heart a little. Her colleagues question her unrelenting devotion to such a monster and when Laida continues to proves her loyalty to Miggy, gossip regarding her feelings for the boss starts to circulate.

However the moment was short lived, as the next day after Laida made a suggestion in regards to an article content that Miggy should put for the magazine, Miggy publicly humiliates her and her knowledge of sex and questioned her virtue (virginity) in front of the staff by making her say the word “Sex”. Miggy later embarrassed himself after he realized that it was Laida who made the last minute call to find a printing press to do a rush job on their magazines overhaul. After being chastised by the despotic Miggy, Laida’s finally opens her eyes and sees him for the tyrant he truly is.

The confrontation with Laida was a rude awakening for Miggy as well and he realizes why people are so put-off by him.

Miggy then tries with much difficulty on his part of apologizing in his own way to Laida. First by ordering pizza for the team and serving a slice himself to her, which Laida ignores. Laida, now disenchanted with Miggy was called in by her work. However upon arriving in Miggy’s apartment, she found him high with fever with very little food or necessities in his apartment, with no househelp or family to care for him. Laida took care of Miggy, missing her own mother's birthday. Miggy woke up during a break in fever and saw the exhausted Laida next to him patting his back as a mother would to a sick child. This prompted Miggy to realize his feelings for Laida igniting a change in him and wishing Laida to be more closer to him, as well as being more friendly with the rest of his team. The productivity and atmosphere of the company also changed on a positive note. Miggy became comfortable enough to tell Laida the truth about his past, that he was an illegitimate child of his father, who was later adopted into the main family after his mother's death. Thus, his strong desire is to prove himself to his father and older brother. For the first time in his life, Miggy garners the gumption to apologize and this new-found humility opens up a whole new world of “firsts” for Miggy. With Laida's help, Miggy slowly learns to be more of a team player and the true value of loyalty.

After an altercation at a party given by his girlfriend, U.S. Army private James Reese is arrested for assault. Reese comes to the attention of Major, the head of Army program attempting to help those with terminal illnesses deal with their pain via a brain implant. Reese is determined to suffer from schizophrenia, making him an excellent candidate for the experimental program. Dr. Frederick (Joss Ackland) is trying to find a way to ease the aggressive nature of soldiers by developing a microchip to access the pleasure centers of their brains.

Reese is transferred to the Veterans Hospital in Frankfurt, where the experiments are being conducted by United States Army. However, the experiment has taken a darker turn.

The Army doctors are drilling into the patients’ skulls, attach wires, and alter their brains to create better soldiers and happier men — human robots. The patients are three veterans waiting to go into the operation clinic. The implant is placed into Reese. Another soldier with the implant goes berserk, and Reese rips the wires and connections away from the soldier, the soldier dies. Reese escapes the hospital but is recaptured. He refuses to activate the implant, but the Major overrides his decision and activates it.

Reese, now docile and controlled by the Major, appears at a press conference as proof of the success of the program.

In December 1941, just before the entry of the United States into World War II, an American agent from the Naval Intelligence Office (Cusack) arrives in Shanghai to find his friend Conner (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) was recently murdered. Determined to find out who killed Conner and why, he begins working at ''The Herald'' newspaper using the alias Paul Soames, a Nazi-sympathizer cover he used while stationed in Berlin. He meets Anthony Lan-Ting (Chow Yun-Fat), an influential crime lord, and Captain Tanaka (Ken Watanabe) at the German embassy in Shanghai, during an invitation-only event. He later befriends Anthony when he saves him during an attack on Japanese officers by the Chinese Resistance at a night club.

Paul realizes that Anthony's wife, Anna (Gong Li), organized the attack and is the leader of the resistance. He then decides to help her pass on messages. After finally meeting up with Conner's contact in the Japanese Consulate, Paul finds out that Conner had an affair with a Japanese girl named Sumiko (Rinko Kikuchi) and after searching her home, uncovers numerous photos, which Conner took, in a darkroom nearby. Some of the photos include Captain Tanaka, other Japanese officers and the aircraft carrier ''Kaga''.

Unconvinced that Sumiko betrayed Conner, he determines to find her and get answers. After a few more encounters with Anna, Anthony, Captain Tanaka, and investigating an opium house, Paul realizes that Sumiko was Captain Tanaka's lover and was seduced by Conner to spy for him. Paul's cover is blown when Conner's contact is arrested, and Paul is interrogated by Captain Tanaka regarding the whereabouts of Sumiko, whose location he does not know. After being released, Anna takes Paul to a safe house where she has been hiding Sumiko, who is on the verge of death due to opium withdrawal and other illnesses.

Anthony gives Captain Tanaka the location of the safe house to save Anna from arrest; inside the safe house, Tanaka informs Paul that the Japanese fleet started attacking Pearl Harbor one hour earlier and that the invasion of Shanghai is also underway. Tanaka admits to killing Conner, but only out of jealousy as he found out about his affair with Sumiko. A distraught Tanaka then asks for Paul's help in administering drugs to ease Sumiko's death. After Sumiko dies, everyone prepares to leave, but Tanaka wants to question Anna which infuriates Anthony, causing him to gun down Tanaka's bodyguards and seriously wound Tanaka himself. Before he can kill Tanaka, Anthony is fatally wounded by a dying bodyguard.

Leaving behind a wounded Tanaka, Paul drives the Lan-Tings away through the burning streets of Shanghai and with his last words, Anthony asks Paul to get Anna out of Shanghai, which he agrees to. Before getting on a ship to leave the city, Paul and Anna encounter Tanaka once again, but Tanaka does not acknowledge them. It is revealed later that both Paul and Anna, at some point, returned to Shanghai.

The story revolves around a young boy, Henry, and his canine companion, Mudge, an English Mastiff. Throughout the series, Henry learns many lessons, usually with the help of the 182-pound Mudge, about life, loyalty and love. He has a cousin named Annie who often features as well (and who stars in her own follow-up series ''Annie and Snowball'', also by Rylant).

''Frontier'' begins with Raguna searching for a missing girl, Mist, who has moved to a new town because someone is calling to her in her dreams. Raguna moves into the town as well, living in the house next to her with a field. Then Raguna finds out that the whale island in the sky is in danger of falling on the town. Somehow Mist and another girl named Iris's fates are tied with the whale's. He then starts to fight monsters in the dungeons and slowly make a living in Trampoli. After going through the dungeons, he soon finds something peculiar is happening.

Tomboy Ellie May Adams (Ginger Rogers) keeps her virtue despite her difficult circumstances. Her alcoholic, Greek scholar father Homer (Miles Mander) is unemployable, leaving her loving mother Mamie (Marjorie Rambeau) to support the family by going out with men. Her ex-prostitute grandmother (Queenie Vassar) sees nothing wrong with their shared profession.

One day, Ellie May warily accepts a ride to the beach from Gramp (Henry Travers). Gramp runs a beachside restaurant and gas station along with wisecracking Ed Wallace (Joel McCrea). Ellie May falls in love with Ed and eventually, after lying to him about being thrown out by her family over him, gets him to marry her. She becomes an industrious, well-liked waitress in the restaurant.

However, she makes a grave mistake when she finally agrees to take Ed to meet the rest of her family. When her lies about her relations are revealed, Ed leaves her. To add to her woes, her father accidentally shoots her mother during one of his drunken, half-hearted attempts at suicide. Before she dies, Mamie gets Ellie May to promise to take care of the family.

When Ellie May cannot find work, in desperation, she finally takes up the family profession. Thelma (Vivienne Osborne), Mamie's friend and co-worker, arranges for Ellie May to accompany her, her current boyfriend, and "Mr. Smith" (an uncredited Charles Lane) on a car trip to San Francisco. On the way, Ellie May gets them to stop at Ed's favorite nightclub, where she bitterly pretends to be what her husband thinks she is. However, after a private talk with a sympathetic Mr. Smith, Ed figures out the truth and takes Ellie May back. He also accepts the burden of her family.

Tim and Sally Willows (John Hubbard and Carole Landis) are a spoiled well-off couple who constantly bicker and cannot agree on anything.

Tim Willows is considered to be the main cog in the machinery of his own advertising company Manning, Willows, and Clare. His wife Sally is his exact opposite, pampering herself in their home all day. And when Tim gets home, they start arguing, constantly watched by a strange Indian idol they got from a distant relative of Tim. They call it Mr. Ram.

After one extraordinarily stressful day at the office, Tim comes home to find Sally in the bath, and they start arguing like never before. In the heat of the moment, Tim expresses a wish to switch places with his lazy wife, to see how she goes about her days at nearly half speed. Sally also makes the same wish, seriously doubting the strain of running the advertising firm, having fun all day long. The Indian idol on the wall overhears their respective wishes and makes them come true, speaking loudly from its place on the wall.

When the couple wake up the next morning they have indeed switched places and bodies with each other. Chaos ensues, as active Tim stays home with the servants and wives of his colleagues all day, in Sally's body, while she goes to work and manages to be rude to the firm's biggest client. Sally also succeeds in landing another client that Tim had denied business before.

When the couple finally meet again in their home at night, they both beg on their bare knees to switch back into their regular bodies again. Their wish is granted this time too, and life goes back to normal. Tim has to clean up the mess Sally made at the firm, and she apologizes to all their friends. They blame everything on the fact that Sally is pregnant.

When everything seems to be just fine and dandy again, Mr. Ram explains that he made a mistake when changing them back into their ordinary bodies, and as it now happens, Tim is the one who is pregnant.

The series is set during the final stages of the First Cylon War. It focuses on a younger William "Husker" Adama in his fighter pilot days aboard ''Galactica'' while on an important mission to uncover the Cylons' “super weapon” on a mysterious icy planet.

The webisode series starts on the 4,571st day of the war (about 40 years before the destruction of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol). While ''Galactica'' is fighting Cylon threats, Adama faces his own problems when he discovers his lover has been gravely injured after her raptor is attacked by the Cylons. Adama soon finds himself swung into action shooting down Cylon raiders, but after a head-on collision with a raider, ejects and lands on the nearby planet, only to be confronted by the unexpected reality of what the Cylons have been working on.

The documentary consists of ten parts or "dispatches". Each explores a different facet of life in virtual worlds and purports to be an actual video diary filmed within Second Life by Molotov Alva.

Episode 1: Out of His Skin

A man leaves his Petaluma, California home and enters a virtual world called Second Life as an avatar named Molotov Alva. He arrives with no possessions, not even clothing.

Alva considers all that he has left behind in coming here, and concludes that when his memories of the real world eventually recede into nothingness, his old life will have disappeared.

Episode 2: Molotov's Conundrum

Molotov sets out to create a life for himself in Second Life. He begins by building his own home and furnishing it with objects he discovers during his travels.
However, he ultimately decides that his new home is merely a trap, one that keeps him tied to memories of the life he'd just left. Molotov eventually gets rid of his home (and everything in it) and continues on his journey.

Episode 3: The Trouble with Money

Molotov meets a hobo named Orhalla Zander, who introduces the "Five Ways of the Seeker". These include:

• The Seeker Goes Everywhere
• The Seeker Forever Remains In Motion
• The Seeker Tries Everything Once
• The Seeker Neither Earns nor Spends
• The Seeker only Journeys with other Seekers

Episode 4: Some Friends He Made

Molotov attempts to make friends in Second Life. Along the way he meets the people of Port Caledon, a Luddite community still living in the 19th Century. This episode was included in the Animation Show of Shows.

Episode 5: Oh The Places They Will Go

Molotov and Orhalla search for the Creator of Second Life. Their journey brings them into contact with Gorean sex slaves, Cyberpunks and Furries. Despite these encounters, Molotov and Orhalla fail in their search.

Episode 6: Molotov Perplexed

Molotov decides to search for a mate and settle down. Various misadventures ensue until Molotov finally meets Abigail.

They set up house together but are continually troubled by their inability to have physical intimacy. Orhalla ultimately appears with news that he's found the Creator. Faced with the decision of either staying with Abigail or joining Orhalla, he ultimately decides to complete his unfinished journey.

Episode 7: Somewhere Out There

Molotov and Orhalla return to many of the locations they’d visited earlier in the documentary, yet find no sign of the Creator. Orhalla ultimately brings Molotov to the Oracle, who explains that there is no one single creator of Second Life, but that it is, instead, a world made by its users, each of whom is the Creator.

Episode 8: Flower Power

Having solved the riddle of the Creator, Molotov sets out to become one himself. He apprentices at various jobs, including a stint with Otis Mapplethorpe, “the Johnny Appleseed of this new world”, before setting out to make his own exotic plants. The high demand for his products attracts the attention of a large company, which crushes him with their mass-produced goods. Molotov soon learns that corporations have entered this virtual world en masse and have filled it with their “brand pollution”.

Molotov tries to escape to a desert island, only to find that the corporations have made it even here.

Episode 9: Action / Reaction

Molotov's anger with this virtual world's shortcomings leads him to become a “griefer”. He joins a gang of them and takes part in a number of attacks on other members of the virtual world until deciding that such aggression is ultimately pointless.

Episode 10: Molotov Alva Will Live Forever

Molotov reconnects with Abigail and they rekindle their relationship. The two even consider starting a family, but after Molotov realizes that he is immortal he abandons the thought of having children. He subsequently becomes depressed and for the first time misses his real world life. Finally, Abigail announces that she has found a way out of this virtual world and leaves. Molotov realizes that Abigail is the only real thing he's found in this virtual world and follows after her.

Ace Reporter Don Stevens (Christopher Walken) is an American journalist who goes to Beirut, Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War. He stays in a hotel with English journalist Mike Jessop. He is promised an interview with a top PLO leader, Palestinian Yassin Abu-Riadd (Amos Lavi). However, this proves to be a set-up and he is duped into interviewing an impostor who claims the PLO are prepared to negotiate peacefully.

Outraged by this deception, Stevens becomes determined to find out the truth. In this quest he is helped by a Scandinavian doctor, Linda, who it emerges is Yassin's estranged girlfriend. Along the way, Stevens is hindered by everyone around him: The PLO threaten him, the Phalangists arrest him and the Israelis ignore him. Tricked and beaten, he gradually uncovers a murder plot, double agents, the bombing of the Phalangists headquarters and, most terrifying of all, a plan to massacre hundreds of civilians. In a story that takes the lid off events in Lebanon, Don Stevens becomes a reluctant hero, and in doing so, gets the scoop of a lifetime.

Protagonist Alan Corday is a young engineer, and is kidnapped from a spaceport called "New Chicago" and taken aboard the interstellar trading starship ''Hound of Heaven''. The ship is commanded by a charismatic leader named Captain Jocelyn, who tells Corday to use his skills to help the ''Hound of Heaven'' in its travels between Earth and space colonies in other star systems. On the first page of the book's prologue Hubbard cites "the basic equation of mass and time.... AS MASS APPROACHES INFINITY, TIME APPROACHES ZERO", meaning that interstellar travelers at near light speed experience time relative to their environment, and when they return to their home star will find that decades or centuries may have passed. Six weeks of time aboard the ship amounts to roughly nine years experienced by those on Earth. Corday resists mingling with the culture aboard the starship, but when he returns home after travels with the ''Hound of Heaven'' he finds that his fiancee has aged and has trouble with her memory. Corday realizes his only home has become that of the starship. Captain Jocelyn is killed in an ambush on a dystopian Earth, and Corday takes command of the ship.

Richie Flynn Parker (Alessandro Nivola) is a seemingly successful man living in Los Angeles, California who has just broken up with his girlfriend Maggie (Amanda Peet). He has also just been fired from his job as a health inspector when he discovers his father Nat (Christopher Walken), a cheap con-man, has a terminal brain tumor and he wants to see Richie. Richie, believing it's another con, grudgingly goes to Atlantic City to see his father who explains he has been living on five dollars a day, going to extremes to do so, such as constantly calling various radio station contests with different aliases to win things, like concert tickets he can then scalp. Nat shows Ritchie an x-ray of his skull, and asks Ritchie to drive him to New Mexico to seek a potential cure. The father and son hit the road driving a Sweet'n Low car free of charge provided they get gas at Chevron stations along the way. Richie calls his girlfriend to tell her about his life and the trip, using one of Nat's many free cell-phones with promotional minutes.

After their first stop to eat at an IHOP restaurant for free by Nat convincing them it's his birthday using a fake drivers license (which Nat continues to do at other IHOPs along the way), they stop at a vacant house that is for sale to spend the night, and narrowly avoid being found out by a realtor and some people looking at the home the following morning. The next day over a stolen room service meal from a motel, Richie finds out that Nat got him fired by telling his boss of an earlier jail sentence, which is later revealed that Richie took the fall for to keep Nat from going to jail for one of his crimes. This almost makes Richie abandon the trip. They proceed to drive to various cities, once staying at an open house for a retirement village. They then go to Amarillo, Texas, where they meet up with Richie's old babysitter, Dolores (Sharon Stone), who is now a professional model Nat has a thing for.

They then head to New Mexico so that Nat can collect a small sum of money from an old rival, Kruger (Peter Coyote), whom Nat lent money to start a used car dealership many years back, and whom Richie's mother later ran off with when he was young. Kruger, now owner of a hugely successful chain of car dealerships, and a well established member of the community with wife and family, agrees to give Nat a large sum of quiet money so that Nat does not upset Kruger's plans to run for mayor by embarrassing Kruger regarding Ritchie's paternity.

Flush with cash, Nat suggests to Richie that the two of them visit Las Vegas to spend some time together, but Richie soon realizes that Nat is not his actual father and Nat convinces him that his story about being sick was a ruse to get him to travel with him to New Mexico. Upset with this news, Richie runs off with the hush money and sneaks into Kruger's campaign kick-off party to confront him. Not satisfied with how Kruger responds, Richie rushes the campaign stage to announce Kruger's paternity and simulates the return of the hush money.

After escaping capture by campaign security, Richie returns to the hotel where he meets back up with Nat. After some discussion, Nat collapses and winds up in the hospital, actually very ill. Maggie shows up after Richie calls her to break the news. They sneak Nat out of the hospital, and Nat takes Richie to a beached boat house near the shore of a desert lake, where the two go skinny dipping.

Later, Richie and Maggie are shown sitting in a row boat on the lake, scattering Nat's ashes from a makeshift urn consisting of a large Pepsi cup that Nat got for free with a five dollar purchase of gas. The boat begins to sink as they laugh at their circumstance.

In 2020, an ancient alien spacecraft is uncovered on the North Korean-occupied Lingshan Islands, east of the Philippines. British SAS Sergeant Michael "Psycho" Sykes is a member of the Raptor Team, a squad of mostly U.S. soldiers outfitted with advanced nanotechnology. Sykes splits up with his team following a raid on a North Korean-controlled harbor. He witnesses a North Korean warship being bombarded by U.S. Navy fighter jets. Leaving the shore, he joins a Marine vehicle convoy driving through the jungle, and defends it as it is attacked by North Korean soldiers. The convoy is destroyed and the Marines fight into the night. The VTOL transport that tries to evacuate the destroyed convoy's Marines is hit by a missile and crash-lands. Psycho awakes and goes to find a better position for the surviving Marines, but gets attacked by an EMP blast from a container being lifted away by a North Korean helicopter. Psycho is later assigned a mission to pursue another North Korean container that JSOC believes contains a nuclear warhead. As the mission progresses, Psycho is reunited with friend U.S. Navy fighter pilot Sean O'Neill who was originally going to have Nomad's spot on Raptor Team. He was replaced by Nomad after failing an evaluation test. Psycho, against the wishes of Commander Emmerson, helps O'Neill after his F-35 jet is shot down, and takes him to a VTOL to escape.

Psycho fights through the jungle and coastlines against the North Korean military to track down the container and stop them from taking it. After he reaches a cargo submarine, he sees what's inside. Rather than a nuclear warhead, the container houses an alien war machine, which knocks Psycho out with an EMP blast. After he wakes up again, he is captured and tortured by the North Koreans. As the submarine submerges, the island is suddenly flash-frozen while mechanical alien "Exosuits" attack. Psycho pursues Colonel Lee Kim Sun through the frozen waters and valleys, eventually meeting up with another nanosuit team on the island, Eagle Team. Psycho and Eagle Team continue the pursuit, fighting off an enormous walking Exosuit. Eagle Team is separated from Psycho in a mine, while Psycho continues searching for the container. After reaching an underground train station, Psycho is ordered to get on the train the container is loaded on. Emerging above ground, Psycho fights off both North Korean soldiers and aliens trying to reclaim the container, while O'Neill assists him.

Psycho is ordered to destroy the container if he cannot capture it, and the train is stopped on a bridge which is rigged with explosives in case he needs to do so. Before the container can be extracted by friendly forces, Colonel Lee arrives and uses a captured U.S. Marine as a hostage to bait Psycho off the train, and Psycho loses the detonator while saving him. The Marine pleads with Psycho to drop him so Psycho can retrieve the detonator and destroy the container. Colonel Lee manages to escape with the container before the explosives can be detonated. Although Psycho survives the fall, the Marine, who was not wearing an armored nanosuit, does not. He takes out his rage on an injured nanosuited North Korean soldier he pulled off the bridge with him, and drowns him in the river. Struck with grief for not saving the life of the Marine, Psycho has an emotional breakdown, but regains his composure in order to finish his mission.

Psycho assaults the North Korean-occupied airfield where the container is waiting to be taken off the island, taking out numerous ground forces and North Korean tanks. O'Neill returns in a VTOL, and assists Psycho in destroying an upgraded Exosuit walker by guiding him to a crashed U.S. Air Force cargo plane, which was transporting a powerful experimental weapon, the PAX (Plasma Accumulator Cannon), which allows him to fight off the initial wave of attackers. As the two are about to start extracting the container, Colonel Lee shows up again to reclaim the container, holding O'Neill at gunpoint. Lee tries to shoot O'Neill, but O'Neill is shielded by a cloaked Psycho, who begins fighting with Lee as O'Neill retakes control of the VTOL and takes the container. Psycho and Lee begin fighting inside of the VTOL, and Psycho gains the upper hand, knocking Lee out of the back onto the tarmac, leaving him to the mercy of a massive alien warship. O'Neill takes off with the container, as Psycho relaxes in the back.

Throughout the game, audio clips from four years before the game takes place are heard. These clips show brief glimpses into how O'Neill failed his evaluation test probably causing the death of some other squad mate as can be guessed by the fact that Psycho says "Man Down". The dead squad mate might be the nephew of Dominic H. Lockhart, commander of the Crynet Enforcement Local Logistics (CELL). If so, this episode is probably the cause of Lockhart's grief for the nanosuits as seen in ''Crysis 2''. The final clip reveals a brief conversation between Psycho and Nomad at the end of Nomad's own, successful evaluation. Psycho asks Nomad if he is okay, to which Nomad replies "Did you disarm the warhead?" Psycho does not reply to the question, instead saying "That's my Nomad - always putting the mission first."

Four criminals are hiding from the cops after a robbery. Navarro is injured from a bullet wound. Soon, they discover a seemingly abandoned town. Three beautiful sisters—Chelsea, Tara, and Virginia—live there with Reverend, a bedridden old man. Chelsea nurses Navarro by stitching up his wound, then sews his mouth shut. Point, the leader of the criminals, has suspicions about the women, while his younger brother Lemon and partner Diego are infatuated with them.

Virginia asks Diego to help her with something in the barn. She points to a blanket on the floor and Diego understands her. He steps on the blanket and falls into a deep pit; Virginia shuts the metal door. He uses his lighter to look for an escape, but finds a skull and begins to panic. The metal door then opens. Diego looks up hopefully, but screams in terror instead as something jumps in the pit and devours him.

Virginia then turns to Lemon (AKA Lemuel), luring him into the skin house and seducing him. He is then knocked out and wakes up hanging upside down by a chain among the skinned rabbits. Point has had enough of the women's secrets. He then finds Navarro dead with a stake through the heart. He hears a strange growling and helps the Reverend, who is chained to his bed. The creature drags the Reverend by the chain out of sight and kills him. Point goes to find Lemon. Chelsea discovers the Reverend is dead and begins to cry as his corpse rises up behind her. She whispers a prayer and then swings an axe at him, cutting off his head.

Tara, who doesn't speak, shyly goes into the skin room and shows Lemon a picture she made of him as he begs her to let him down. She hears the creature growling and backs up to the door as Lemon screams for her to help him. Outside, Point yells for Lemon and hears screams coming from the barn. When Point enters the barn, he sees a creature hanging onto his brother. The creature turns around and goes for Point. Point begins shooting it, scaring it off. Tara sees Lemon's wounds and grabs an axe as Chelsea did. Point thinks she's attacking him and he pushes her, impaling her on a spike. Point lets Lemon down. He finds the remaining two women and convinces them to tell him what's going on.

Chelsea explains that when her people came to America from Romania, the creature hid among them. It is a vampire. In order to protect the outside world, the group decided to build the fort in their attempt to keep the creature in it. Eventually, the vampire picked off each member of the town until only the three girls and their father, the Reverend, were left. The Reverend allowed the creature to feed off him slowly until visitors came. The only way to kill it (or those infected by its bite) is either by burning, a stake in the heart, or decapitation. Virginia sees Lemon's bite and tries to kill him, but Point aims his gun at her, not allowing them to kill his brother, He tries to comfort Lemon, as the women beg him to kill Lemon.

A moment after Lemon dies, he rises as a vampire and attacks Virginia and bites her. He is then killed by Point. Chelsea is forced to use Virginia as bait for the creature so she and Point can kill it. They lower her into the pit. Sure enough, the creature comes to the pit. Point can't wait and knocks the creature in as Chelsea shuts the door. Point uses an axe to make holes in the door, pours gasoline in, and throws a lamp on it as Virginia shrieks from being attacked and then burned.

Chelsea and Point escape and watch the barn burn down, Chelsea takes Point's hand and he complies. The next morning, she opens the doors to finally leave the town. She then notices that Point is bleeding. It is a bite, either from Lemon or when he pushed the vampire. He looks at her in horror; she miserably shuts the doors, knowing it isn't over.

Jimmy and Fletch are two friends living in London, experiencing life problems. Jimmy is dumped by his unscrupulous girlfriend, and Fletch is fired from his job as a clown for punching a child. They decide to escape their woes and hike to a remote village in Norfolk that they find on an old map. As they arrive at a pub in the village, with Jimmy upset about Fletch destroying his phone, they see a number of attractive foreign female history students leaving.

Hoping to find more beautiful women inside, they are greeted by a morose crowd of men and approached by a seemingly crazed vicar who believes Jimmy is a long lost descendant of a local vampire slayer. As the barman offers the two men free ale as an apology for the vicar, they learn the students they saw earlier are going to a cottage, where they are to stay the night. Jimmy and Fletch pursue the students' van, catching up to it as the engine has broken down, and are introduced to four girls (Heidi, Lotte, Anke and Trudi). They are invited to join a party on the bus.

The group arrives at their destination, only to learn that a curse rests over the village and that every female child turns into a lesbian vampire on her 18th birthday. There is an old legend stating that the Vampire Queen, Carmilla, descended on the village during the night of a blood moon, killed its menfolk and seduced its women to her evil. When the ruler of the land, Baron Wolfgang Mclaren (Jimmy's great ancestor) returned from the Crusades, he discovered one of the women corrupted by Carmilla was his wife, Eva. The baron forged a sacred sword, then defeated Carmilla, but before dying, Carmilla cursed the village, adding that when the blood of the last of Mclaren's bloodline mixed with a virgin girl's blood, Carmilla would be resurrected.

Fletch and Jimmy spend the night with the women. Heidi and Anke are turned into vampires. After Lotte insists that the others try to find her missing friends, they witness Trudi being turned. Eva, Carmilla's mistress, tries to draw Lotte to her growing clan of lesbian vampires. The trio runs back into the cottage after killing Heidi and Anke and barricade themselves in after the vampires destroy the van. Jimmy's ex-girlfriend Judi arrives at the door and Jimmy, unwilling to give up on the relationship, takes her into the bedroom. Lotte reveals to Fletch that she is a virgin and wants to sleep with Jimmy.

At the church, the Vicar researches the vampire slayer who killed Carmilla before arming himself and setting off to find Jimmy. Judi reveals herself to be a vampire, and after a struggle, Fletch and Jimmy kill her. The vampires approach the cottage and Jimmy inadvertently invites them in. Eva discovers that Jimmy is the descendant of the baron who killed Carmilla and that Lotte is a virgin and kidnaps them.

The Vicar saves Fletch from Trudi and tells Fletch the truth about the village and Jimmy's identity. They go after Jimmy and Lotte in the Vicar's crucifix-covered car. As the vampires prepare to sacrifice Lotte and Jimmy, Fletch and the Vicar try to recover the Sword of Dylldo, the sword that killed Carmilla, from the baron's tomb. While Fletch works to open the tomb, the Vicar checks on his daughter Rebecca, but does not notice that she has been turned. Rebecca attempts to seduce Fletch, who does not know what she is. When she attacks him, she is inadvertently impaled on the sword. Fletch decides not to tell the Vicar of his daughter's death.

At Carmilla's tomb, Lotte reveals her love for Jimmy. The vampires begin draining the two of their blood to resurrect Carmilla. With the sword, Fletch and the Vicar drive to Carmilla's tomb. When they enter the woods, they bring various weapons, but forget the sword. Despite not having the sword, the pair reach Jimmy and Lotte. The Vicar releases them, but not before enough blood gathers to resurrect Carmilla. The Vicar sacrifices himself so the others can get back to the car for the sword. Eva separates Lotte from the men, attacking and seducing her. Lotte fights back while Fletch and Jimmy fetch weapons. Lotte kills Eva with her cross necklace, infuriating Carmilla. Fletch tries to kill Carmilla before Lotte is turned, but is captured himself. Jimmy saves them by hurling the sword at Carmilla, piercing her heart and destroying her for good. With the curse lifted, the three survivors decide to continue ridding the world of evil.

The film ends with the shot of a "Gay Werewolf" howling before the full moon.

In a jungle, a primitive tribe of people with black noses and dark skin with light muzzles are going about their day, with the jungle elements being intertwined with modern-day gags; for example, the people dancing around a tent (in a style more reminiscent of Native American fire dances) when it turns into a makeshift merry-go-round, to the tune of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down," which promptly deflates and slows to a halt, and at least one of the denizens wears a top hat in resemblance of minstrel show stereotypes.

A traveling dog-faced salesman named Manny (a parody of Al Pearce's character Elmer Blurt) comes by to offer them the latest in "assorted useful, useless, utensils". The natives, after initially trying their hardest to avoid him, decide he would make a delicious dinner, so they invite him in, ransack his goods, and throw him into a cauldron while a mammy chef prepares him as soup. They proceed to familiarize themselves with vacuum cleaners, batteries, light bulbs, etc.

The village queen (depicted as an old, chicken-like white woman, possibly to avoid any problems with the Hays code over the issue of miscegenation) hears of the arrival of the salesman, and desperate for a husband, she brings him in. As Manny delivers his sales pitch, the queen sees him as Clark Gable and Robert Taylor and is smitten, demanding her to be married right away. The two are rushed into a marriage, and when asked to kiss the bride, Manny panics and jumps back into the cauldron; in a closing shot, he curses his captors with the hope that "they all get indigestion" as he submerges into the pot to his death.

After 17 years of marriage, affluent Los Angeles suburban couple Richard Harmon (Van Dyke) and his wife Barbara (Reynolds) seem to have it all, but they are constantly bickering. When they discover they can no longer communicate properly, they make an effort to salvage their relationship through counseling, but after catching each other emptying their joint bank accounts (at the urging of friends), they file for divorce.

Richard finds himself living in a small apartment and trying to survive on $87.30 a week after his take-home income has been cut dramatically by high alimony. Richard meets a recently divorced man, Nelson Downes (Robards), who introduces him to ex-wife Nancy (Simmons). Nelson wants to marry off Nancy to be free of his alimony burden, so he can marry his pregnant fiancée. Nancy also wishes to marry because she is lonely. To end Richard's alimony woes, Nelson and Nancy plot to set up Barbara with a millionaire auto dealer, Big Al Yearling (Johnson), and the two begin a relationship.

On the night before the Harmon divorce becomes final, all three couples meet to celebrate the success of their plans. At a nightclub, a hypnotist pulls Barbara from the audience and puts her into a trance. After inducing her into performing a mock striptease, she instructs Barbara to kiss her true love. Barbara plants one on Richard, and they realize they love each other too much to go through with the divorce. An undeterred Nelson immediately tries to get Nancy interested in Big Al.

Dublin. Michelle Kelly (Renée Weldon) is an ambitious, successful lawyer. Her relationship with her doctor boyfriend Ivan (Declan Conlon) is on the rocks. Her mother Rosie (Susan Fitzgerald) has succumbed to premature dementia and lives in a home. Michelle visits her regularly.

Conor Flynn (Aidan Gillen) manages a quiet, traditional pub in the city, owned by his father. Conor takes care of the Old Man (Eamon Morrissey), a hardened drinker (who is actually his father). He has no girlfriend and has withdrawn somewhat from life. Joe (Gerard Mannix Flynn), a barman who has been there since his father's time works alongside him running the pub, Flynn's.

After a furious row with Ivan at a party (sparked by Ivan's clear interest in the sexy Eva, played by Irina Björklund, who is apparently not the first of his "distractions", and ending with him basically dumping Michelle), a visibly upset Michelle bursts into Flynn's pub after hours. Her friend Kathy (Sinead Keenan) comes to take her home but not before Conor's interest is piqued. The morning after, a chastened and hungover Michelle returns to the pub to collect her phone. There is a definite spark of attraction between them. Michelle begins to frequent the pub.

They go dancing with Joe and Kathy. She invites them all back to her apartment. Conor and Michelle kiss for the first time but they are interrupted. Conor asks her out on a date. They return to the apartment, alone this time. They kiss but unexpectedly he leaves. Michelle is intrigued. She asks him to accompany her to a dinner with her colleagues. Conor invites them all back to a music session in the pub. Michelle gets up and belts out a song. They go back to her apartment where they have sex for the first time. They become lovers and have sex at every opportunity. Their affair intensifies.

Ivan turns up at Michelle's apartment and they argue. He leaves but there is clearly still unfinished business between them. Michelle takes Conor away for the weekend to the country. They have an idyllic time together. On their last night Conor confesses that he is falling in love with her. Michelle is taken aback and urges caution. They return to the city.

Back in the city things start to normalise. Michelle is promoted and buys herself a sports car. The differences in their lives become more apparent. Conor suspects her feelings for him are cooling. After she stands him up they have a furious row. Things are said. Emotions spill over and she walks out.

They make up. After a night out they return to the apartment. They are interrupted by the arrival of Ivan, who lets himself into the apartment with his own set of keys, which he had earlier refused to give back. A serious argument develops. Ivan is forced to leave. As Michelle hadn't told Conor anything about Ivan he is angry and confused. Sensing betrayal, Conor freaks out and storms off. Michelle is upset.

Just as Michelle had started to really fall for him, Conor retreats. Hurt and angry, he rejects her when she comes to the pub to apologise. Their affair ends. Conor's father dies. He decides to sell up. Life is moving on for them both. They pass each other on the street. Conor walks by Michelle, pointedly ignoring her. Then he turns back and calls to her. They embrace. Reunited.

A 7-year-old girl who is convinced by her tough-talking toy fire engine, Rusty, that he is needed as a reinforcement for the FDNY on September 11.

The film concerns the American Revolutionary War encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and a planned escape by the men desperate to leave behind the terrible conditions of the winter.

Raymond Bettoun is released after 10 years in prison to come to his family in Miami, FL for his grandson Alexander's bar-mitzvah. His son, Maurice is a banker. Raymond soon finds out Maurice in laundering drug money. Raymond's nephew Roland lives in an island with his assistant Joseph. He is pulling the strings, stealing from Maurice's bank. Rolands brother Eli is planning to go away with Roland after he testify's again Maurice later on in the film.

Maurice comes into contact with drug lord Pasco Meisner who wants to be part of the same mob family as him. But Maurice's plan goes horribly wrong when members of his real family & drug family are all being killed off or kidnapped by Pasco & his assistant Verdugo, all when Roland too is trying to get Maurice killed to inherit the money from Maurice's bank.

The novel concerns the adventures of Con Levington, a Secret Service agent, who travels to the Gobi Desert searching for the source of the drug Koresh. There he discovers an ancient civilization.

Jack gets a job in politics as the "Homeland Security Director for Crisis and Weather Management"; however, it is not what he expected. When he learns that Don Geiss (Rip Torn), the CEO of General Electric, said "Jackie Boy" while in his coma, he schemes with another government employee, Cooter Burger (Matthew Broderick), to get fired after his letter of resignation is rejected. Jack also enlists the help of Celeste "C.C." Cunningham (Edie Falco), his Congresswoman (D-VT) ex-girlfriend, to approve research into a "gay bomb". Jack hopes that the bomb, an old Pentagon project that is expensive, inefficient and offensive to "both the red states and the gayer blue states", will ultimately result in their dismissal.

Meanwhile, Liz thinks she may be pregnant and is horrified when she discovers it is most likely the baby of her ex-boyfriend, Dennis Duffy (Dean Winters). After several pregnancy tests, she tells a visiting Jack that the positive tests are a result of her eating "Sabor de Soledad" ("Taste of Loneliness" in Spanish) cheese puffs, which contain bull semen. Nevertheless, she tells Jack that she is ready to have a child and wants to adopt. Kenneth learns of an opportunity to be an NBC page at the Beijing Olympics, however, head page Donny Lawson (Paul Scheer) tries to make sure that he does not submit his essay on time. Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) helps him complete his essay, but Donny stalls Kenneth by forcing him to deliver paper. This begins a sequence which references several Summer Olympic events. Pete shoots Donny in the leg with an arrow (archery), dressed in his gear from when he was an Olympic archer. Kenneth then goes through a series of obstacles themed to different Summer Olympic events. He begins by running and jumping over a "Wet Floor" sign (low hurdles) and then an airplane chair prop carried by two men (high hurdles). Kenneth next grabs a bamboo pole and runs with it, using it to push the button on the elevator before throwing it to another page (likely pole vault, but possibly javelin throw). He then does a forward flip into the elevator, ending with him standing and saluting to the back and front of the elevator (gymnastics/floor routine). Finally, Kenneth makes it to the 27th floor only to see his way blocked by workmen painting. As an executive opens the door to the NBC Olympic Headquarters, Kenneth spins and throws his application pack through the closing door (discus). He finally runs forward a few feet to break the blue painter's tape and collapse victorious, then throws up (sprint). Tracy's invention, the world's first pornographic video game, is nearly complete. He gives Frank, who has helped him, the prototype copy of the game.

The episode shows what happens three months later, in August 2008. Jack and Cooter present their "gay bomb" to the Pentagon, which works only in enclosed areas, making it useless in combat. However, Cooter accidentally breaks the vial, causing everybody in the room, including Vice President Dick Cheney, to "feel weird". Frank emerges from his office after playing Tracy's game non-stop for three months, not realizing the amount of time that has passed. While in Beijing, Kenneth gets involved with a Chinese woman who wants his kidneys. The last point was said in Mandarin without subtitles, leaving the English-speaking audience unaware of Kenneth's trouble.

The conversation roughly translates as:
Lady: "Kenneth, I like you, because I am attracted to your two healthy kidneys."
Kenneth: "What?"
(Man breaks down the door with gun drawn)
Kenneth: "I had no idea!"

The conversation in Mandarin: Lady: Kenneth, 我喜歡你，因為我看上了你那兩個健壯的腎。
Kenneth: 什麼？
(Man breaks down the door with gun drawn)
Kenneth: 真沒想到！

''The American Claimant'' is a comedy of mistaken identities and multiple role switches. Its cast of characters include an American enamored of British hereditary aristocracy and a British earl entranced by American democracy.

World War II, year 1944. Nazi Germany knows the Allies will launch Operation Overlord - an all-out invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe via France. To learn the actual date of D-Day and landing sites in advance, a cordial but uneasy partnership has been created between the German army (Col. Brausch (Max von Sydow)), the Gestapo (Hoffman (Horst Buchholz)) and the S.S. (Ritter (Helmut Berger)), with Hoffman in charge. Six times so far they've failed to capture an "Overlord" i.e. someone who knows the information they want, and the pressure is on. Brausch tells Hoffman they have an agent working in British Intelligence, codenamed Emerald (Gus Lang (Ed Harris)), whom they then task with delivering to them an "Overlord". But Lang/Emerald is really a double-agent who is working for the Allies. Patrick Callaghan, who is motivated by money, is Lang's contact with Brausch. Lang passes on fake details of a D-Day rehearsal including a ship carrying Overlorders, and suggests that a German E-boat squadron (heavily armed fast attack boats) should intercept them. Because Lang has invented the information, the E-boats will miss the ship but Lang would still appear to have fulfilled his mission. However, Lang's superior, Col. Peters (Patrick Stewart), says they will send a real ship, manned by unknowing sacrifices and certainly no Overlorders. Allied military command decides to hold a real D-Day rehearsal, for Omaha Beach, which naturally would include many Overlords. Peters refuses to inform the military of his intelligence scheme, telling Lang that there's a high-level Nazi secretly working for the Allies (due to disaffection with Nazi ideology) whose identity must be protected at all costs. This means that the exercise is attacked by the German E-boats and many Overlorders are killed in action. Several soldiers are captured by the Germans, including Lt. Andy Wheeler (Eric Stoltz), a U.S. army signalman whose job means he has intimate knowledge of the D-Day landings including the date and targets.

Wheeler is taken for interrogation to an old castle in Paris which is the Gestapo H.Q. Wheeler refuses to reveal any information to Ritter, not even his name and rank; Ritter has only found out his prisoner's name and rank by interrogating the other captured prisoners, and deduced from his signalman's job that the Nazis have captured an Overlord at last. Brausch, Hoffman, Ritter decide to include Lang/Emerald closely in their team because Lang, having grown up in the USA, can befriend Wheeler and get him to talk. They also know that the British would like Lang involved, believing him to be their own agent. Thus the Germans feel they have the upper hand and merely wait for Lang to arrive in France. Before leaving England, Lang is instructed that if Wheeler has talked he must report it at once and Operation Overlord would be delayed, and it would take months before it could be mounted again. Lang is also ordered that, if Wheeler hasn't yet talked, he may need to kill Wheeler to prevent him from talking. To keep Wheeler from being tortured, British Intelligence tells Lang they have contrived to add a false medical condition into Wheeler's army medical record. This medical condition (cardiac arrhythmia) can't be easily diagnosed. Lang "procures" Wheeler's medical record for the Nazis who do not torture Wheeler.

Lang parachutes into France where fishmonger Henri, a member of the French Resistance, meets him cycling to Paris. Henri drives him to Paris in his fish van and instructs him how to make contact with someone who will act as a go-between for him (Lang) and the radio operator who will secretly relay his reports to England. In Paris, Lang reports to Ritter. Ritter is fanatical about the racial inferiority of the Jews, and Lang avoids possibly awkward questioning on the matter by the arrival of Brausch and Hoffman. Ritter, Lang, Hoffman and Brausch agree on the interrogation method - Wheeler has been undergoing disorientation to soften him up for later, via enforced sleep deprivation, irregular meals and frequently being moved between different cells. Sometimes his cell has been occupied by another prisoner (a stool pigeon), sometimes he's in solitary confinement. Now they will introduce Lang as a fellow-American prisoner who must befriend Wheeler and persuade him to talk. In partly social, partly work conversation, it's suggested to Lang that he could acquire a girlfriend during his stay as he'll be working on Wheeler for only a few hours a day to begin with.

Lang evades his Gestapo tail in order to secretly meet Claire Jouvet (Cyrielle Clair) in a Paris Metro train carriage. For security, Lang will deal only with Claire, while Claire will pass on his reports to her Belgian friend who works for the Resistance and who has a secret radio hidden near the altar of a local church. Lang and Claire, knowing that Gestapo agents are following Lang all the time, pretend to be lovers although it develops into real romance. One night he stays overnight at Claire's apartment and they have sex for the first time, but are interrupted during the night by a disturbance downstairs - one of her neighbours, an elderly woman, is being arrested by the Germans as part of their tit-for-tat policy (20 people for 1 German). Claire protests but the German officer, to whom Lang has identified himself, apologises for disturbing them but warns that if they interfere he would have to report the matter. Lang drags a still-protesting Claire back to her apartment. The first time that Lang appears in Wheeler's cell, he starts befriending Wheeler by guessing that he's a Texan (yes, Wheeler says, adding that he's from Lubbock), and Wheeler soon introduces himself by name, and they converse about baseball - it looks as if Lang will be successful in obtaining the D-Day date, given time, and Brausch, Hoffman and Ritter celebrate.

Lang and Claire socialise with Brausch, Hoffman and Ritter and Ritter's lady-friend at a restaurant, and a photograph is taken of the group. Ritter, who is naturally suspicious, looks into the background of Claire Jouvet. She had told Lang that she has a son, a child by an absent father named Duchelle. Now Ritter arrests and questions Duchelle who reveals the friendship Claire has with a Belgian girl. Ritter orders a subordinate to obtain all the information Duchelle knows about Claire and then kill him. Ritter thus learns about Claire's connection with the Resistance and, as important for the Jew-hater, that an ancestor of Claire's 60 years ago had Jewish blood - Hoffman confides Ritter's actions to Brausch, saying that although not registering the Jewish blood is a capital offence, it is trivial.

Meanwhile, Lang gets Wheeler to reveal the D-Day landings will be at Calais (the decoy location being used by the Allies in Operation Quicksilver (deception plan)), but tells Brausch, Hoffman and Ritter that while Wheeler trusts him (Lang) he may have lied in case he was being overheard. Lang suggests some truly private time with Wheeler; everyone but Ritter thinks it is a good idea. Accordingly Lang and Wheeler are let into the open grounds of the castle for an hour's exercise. There Lang tells Wheeler he's a double agent, and allays Wheeler's fears by telling him what only an Overlorder would know - that D-Day will target Normandy (not Calais). Lang then gives Wheeler detailed instructions as to what information to reveal e.g. that the assault will be led by FUSAG in early July (actual D-Day was planned for 5 June; on 5 June it would be delayed to 6 June) [FUSAG was a non-existent and decoy U.S. army battalion based in Scotland]). Especially after Wheeler tells Lang that the thought of his girlfriend is all that keeps him going, Lang (no doubt thinking of his own girlfriend, Claire) determines to rescue Wheeler, ruling out killing him as per the in extremis order given him by Col. Peters and his superior Sir Geoffrey Macklin.

Hoffman's and Ritter's suspicions of Lang are increasing, however. Hoffman has a meeting with Callaghan, who has secretly started working for the Gestapo, because they pay better than Brausch. Callaghan tells Hoffman that Wheeler doesn't have a heart condition - the British altered Wheeler's army record but failed to change his ordinary medical record. Ritter shows Wheeler the photograph taken at the restaurant, and Wheeler recognises his buddy prisoner Lang in it. Ritter tells Wheeler he knows the American army faked his medical record and leaves him to contemplate the torture he can now expect. But Lang suddenly discovers a new ally - he secretly meets Brausch in a church and Brausch reveals that they have a mutual friend in Macklin i.e. Brausch is British Intelligence's high-ranking Nazi (mentioned but not named by Peters to Lang earlier). Brausch reveals what Hoffman had confided to him as to Gestapo suspicions of Claire and Lang, and that Callaghan was seen conversing with Hoffman. Brausch says that Hoffman will do something but will act alone as he never trusts anyone as it means no one can betray him, but it also means no one can help him either.

Hoffman, Lang and Claire go on a country picnic. Claire is painting a picture of the natural scene, while the chauffeur waits with the car that brought them. Hoffman invites Lang for a private walk and talk. Hoffman draws a gun and tells Lang that his cover is blown. Suddenly a shot rings out...and Hoffman falls dead - Claire has shot him. The surprised chauffeur starts to draw his weapon but he is felled too. Claire gets into the car and, after an emotional adieu to Lang, is driven by Henri to collect her son and then to an airfield, there to await Lang at 5pm and, hopefully, Wheeler once rescued. Later, at Gestapo H.Q., Lang, dressed in his Gestapo senior officer's uniform and acting very peremptory and very Nazi, hands Brausch a document which bears the signature of Hoffman. Actually it's a clever forgery by Claire who had practised earlier during one of the nights that Lang spent with her. Brausch, ordered by Lang to read the document to all the officers present, says that Hoffman is at Calais, removes Ritter's authority and puts Lang in charge with the task of bringing Wheeler to Calais at once. As soldiers bring in Wheeler, Ritter arrives having been alerted by one of the officers who had slipped out to warn him. Ritter and Lang exchange words and Lang asserts his authority by hitting him and flooring him. As he lies there and blood trickles from a cut on his mouth, Ritter sees Wheeler escorted away by Lang and Brausch. A suspicious officer rushes to a telephone, seeking personal confirmation from Hoffman of his orders. There is a delay (if nothing else, of course, Hoffman is not at Calais as he is dead), and the officer can only watch as Lang and Brausch slowly walk the exhausted Wheeler to the staff car. Once Wheeler is in the car, Lang tells Brausch to come with them but Brausch says he can buy them some time. Lang knows the Germans will figure out the plot, so Brausch's life is in danger, but Brausch says he is not important. Lang drives Wheeler out of Gestapo H.Q. just as the alarm is sounded. A chase ensues. Lang stops the car out in the countryside, and Henri appears with his fish van, and all three of them rush to the airfield. The Germans catch up with the staff car and start searching. At the airfield, the pilot of the rescue plane urges Claire to give up and leave as the rendezvous deadline looms. Claire and her young son get into the plane. At the last moment the fish van arrives and everyone gets onto the plane which takes off. Once in the air and heading for England, and having put paid to the pursuit, Lang and Claire kiss each other passionately, making Wheeler smile, no doubt thinking of his own girlfriend whom he'll soon see. The film ends with brief real footage and commentary of the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944.

The story starts with a meeting between Martian Manhunter and the Hawkman, who has been crying for help. Hawkman warns him (and several other characters from DCU) that a great danger is coming to all superheroes, but he doesn't say what kind of danger is coming.

Aragonés and Evanier have a talk in which is made clear that Aragonés has tried to get a job in DC, but was refused (allegedly, this occurs because he draws ''Groo the Wanderer'', or because he never drew any superheroes comics).

After the rejection, Aragones decides to draw some DC superheroes stories, reluctantly helped by Evanier, in order to get experience in the field. He starts with Superman. Jor-El, Superman's father, is talking to his wife about the imminent destruction of the planet Krypton, when suddenly the destruction itself begins. Since the rocket built by Jor-el is too small, he abandons the idea of saving himself and "chooses" to save his son, sending him to Earth (after a brief thought of sending the baby to the Sun). After the destruction of Krypton, the baby comes to Earth, where he's shown facing enemies like Lex Luthor (who hates Superman because of his hair loss) and Mr Mxyzptlk, besides being portrayed as Clark Kent, Superman's alter ego. After Superman saves a kid from being run over by a van (causing a huge traffic pileup in the process), Hawkman appears, and tells Superman "they're doomed". Superman and Hawkman then fly off the car crash scene.

Batman is the next portrayed character. After recounting Batman's origin, including his parents murder and the bat outfit choice, Aragonés shows Batman (or "The Batman", as the character constantly repeats) receiving a letter from the Joker. Batman goes to an abandoned carnival park after spending hours figuring out where the Joker is (even though the location was stated clearly in the letter), where he brutally beats an innocent clown before meeting the Joker. After a brief discussion between the two characters, Superman and Hawkman appear, and Batman leaves with them.

Wonder Woman appears next. She saves a man from being mugged, kicking the bandit in the testicles. After this, a large group of men appears and ask Wonder Woman to hit them (in an allusion to sadomasochism) when she threatens to lasso and beat up the mugger. A little girl shows up, and she leaves the scene to show the girl her lasso of truth abilities, her invisible plane and Themyscira, the Amazon island. The island is then suddenly attacked by a horde of men. These men come from the United States Supreme Court, which have decided that is illegal to restrict the access to the island in terms of gender (only women can live in Themyscira). After Hawkman arrives, Wonder Woman leaves the island.

The Legion of Superheroes is portrayed too, in a failed attempt to select members for the team. In the middle of the "job interviews", an alien spacecraft lands on Earth, and its commander demands to speak to the leader of the Legion. There's a huge fight to decide who's the leader. Hawkman shows up again, but leaves quickly, and the leader dispute restarts.

Finally, the Justice League of America (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, The Flash and Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern) is assembled. They try to find out who is trying to destroy them, and recount some milestone events of the DC Universe, like Barry Allen's death in ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' and Hal Jordan becoming Parallax. It's then revealed that Aragonés himself didn't choose the main villain.

After looking at old comic books, Aragonés chooses Johnny DC, the company's promotional mascot from the 1960s, as the villain. Allegedly, the character was "fired" by DC when a new comic book style was decided by the editors. Johnny DC talks briefly to the Justice League, condemning their change of attitude, and then "adapts itself to the 90s", becoming a gigantic monster, parodying the archetypes of characters of the time.

The monstrous Johnny DC attacks the Justice League (and some other characters) and defeats them easily. Superman asks Batman to think of a solution before they are all annihilated. After a merchandise page, Batman says he would buy a CD player, model CD YNNHOJ, to which Johnny DC queries "And what in the name of Mort Weisinger is a CD YNNHOJ?" Having pronounced his own name backwards (in the same trick that is used to make Mr. Mxyzptlk disappear), Johnny DC is defeated and disappears in a dense smoke.

Aragonés and Evanier, after finishing the story, go to the DC headquarters, where Aragonés expects to be well treated after showing the editors the story. Aragonés is kicked out of the DC building, but the story is published anyway, because a distracted DC employee puts the story along with other Vertigo comics selected for printing.

The novel concerns the friendship between Father Christmas, who lives for 100 years, and Father Time, who lives for only one. Each year Santa Claus watches a new version of his friend grow old and die, before being replaced; however, Santa's hundred years is up and it is now his turn to find a replacement. If he fails then no one will be around to take care of the infant Father Time and time itself will stop.

Sergeant Major Seong-gyu Noh, along with a friend in the army, are paying their last respects to Noh's wife. Later, in their car, Noh’s friend informs him of an assignment that the military has ordered him to do: head to Guard Post 506 to investigate a strange incident there.

At 21:07, Noh arrives at GP 506 about an hour later. On the way to the office, he passes a boiler room that has words written in blood on the wall, which says: “Kill all of them.” He is brought to the recreation room where the bodies were found, and watches in shock at the amount of blood splattered around the room.

In the present, Noh checks the guard post’s records and notices that someone has been controlling the weapons lately. All personal weapons were kept in the armory and not in the barracks, which was unusual. One of the soldiers reports to Noh, informing him that they have found another survivor, inside the generator room. This survivor portrays himself as Yoo.

Noh reports to his superior on the phone, who wants him to bring Yoo back, despite his objections as the investigation has not been completed yet and will be forced to end once the clean up crew arrives in the morning. Noh refuses to listen anymore to his superior and ends the call. He then goes off to look for Yoo at the canteen, only to find he’s not there.

Noh reads Kang’s personal records that he was a troublemaker, but he thinks that Kang doesn’t look like one who would go insane and embark on a killing spree. He pores over Yoo’s journal.

In the present, Doc returns with the bodies and Cpl. Kang lapses into critical condition. Despite Doc’s attempts such as defibrillation to resuscitate him, Kang dies. As they talk, Kim supposedly saw the dark silhouette of what he thinks is Sergeant Ma walking towards the medic room where they were. He went hysterical and pointed the shadow out to Yoo. Yoo passes out and on waking, finds Kim dead. He then confiscates all ammunition and live ordinance.

In the present, Doc is unable to find any cold medicine in the post first aid room which supposedly should have sufficient amounts of it. Meanwhile, Cpl. Kwak and his buddy are sent for sentry duty. Men start to notice a red rash appearing on their bodies.

In a matter of hours, the disease that inflicted the men of 506 will be present in the new men as well. Doc surmises that a rabic-like virus infects the men, making them turn violent and kill each other, but he does not know how the infection spreads. Moreover, it has remission period, that all the rashes are disappeared and the consciousness is back to normal, like perfectly normal healthy man, but ironically that period is most dangerous. After elapsing multiple remission periods, the rashes appear all around the body and even pours out abscess, thus becoming very violent. Even the victim's body is split in half, the victim is still alive and attacks the target.

Noh, Doc, 1st Lt. Bang and the sergeants gather the remaining men for an inspection due to the disease. Doc divides up the men according to whether they have the rashes on their bodies. However, when Noh orders the infected to strip their weapons and hand them over, they refuse and the soldiers present have a standoff. Meanwhile, Kwon, tied up in the generator room, struggles with his bonds and knocks out the electric supply temporarily, blacking out the bunker.

Noh, upon learning the truth from Kwon, beats him up in anger, due to him withholding the truth and his own selfish reasons of wanting to live, have caused his own men and Noh's group to die. Kwon retorts back, saying that HQ did not care about them when they were dying like mad dogs here. Later, while staring at the rain outside, Noh touches his family photo and comes to a terrible resolution: He decided to kill everyone alive including himself to stop the virus. However, Doc stands against Noh saying it is genocide, but Noh rolls up his sleeves and discovers Doc is infected, and Noh is infected as well. He goes into the office and finds the keys to the bunker. When leaving, he hears sobbing sounds from a corner, to find Sergeant Yoon. He discovers Yoon is infected and shoots him. Later, he also heads to Kwon, eventually killing him at 05:56.

Lee orders the men to look for Noh, who is busy spilling kerosene all around the rooms, passageways and corridors of the bunker. At 06:25, Noh spills all the remaining kerosene around the shower room. Shortly after, Lee and the soldiers manage to corner Noh in the shower room. Unable to kill Noh, Lee wants him to join them and deny that the disease ever happened.

As Doc interferes the standoff, Noh and Doc manages to kill 3 of the men, with Noh injured. Doc runs out of ammo in the end and is shot to death by Lee. Eventually, only one Private is survived and as he opens the door to escape GP 506, his act triggered the booby trap installed by Noh, killing him and ravaging the area with explosion and fire. At 06:57, The soldiers approaching the bunker instantly drop to the ground for safety, while GP 506 has turned into a smoking ruin.

The movie then focuses with the last recording made by Corporal Kang explaining about the virus and the disease, as well as the way to solve the disaster: killing everyone alive in the 506. It ends with the scene in which he brings the cake topped with burning candles to the barrack, and soon after shooting with his gun to kill everyone.

''Rush'' follows the lives of members of the prestigious Tactical Response team (TR), which is based on the real life Victoria Police Critical Incident Response Team, a highly mobile unit that fills the operational gap between general duties police and the SWAT-like Special Operations Group. The team is seen responding to violent incidents such as carjackings, suicides and armed offences.

Most of the episodes involve at least one main plot, with one or two smaller subplots throughout each episode. In some cases, they will focus on one plot, while the personal lives tend to fall into the form of smaller subplots that span over a number of episodes. Usually the team is divided into two, one team per case, with the team taking the minor subplot meeting up with the major team at some stage throughout the episode. The usual six-person team is split between two vehicles known as TR01 and TR02.

In series four, the composition of the plot was revamped with only one large and extensive arc featured throughout the 13 episodes, as opposed to the story-line structure of prior series.

The story begins abruptly, as the family’s alcoholic nurse drops one month old Johannes Friedemann from the changing table while the mother and three daughters are away. The main character is thus a marked man, a hunchback, not a writer or artist as in some other works by Thomas Mann. He grows up deformed and hunchbacked. He falls in love as a young boy with a girl, only to find her kissing another behind a hedge. He then swears off love dedicating himself to self-improvement. The result is a person of calm resignation, taking pleasure in music and literature.

Friedmann grows into a man with taste, interested in music, clothes, and literature. He is successful in his career and seemingly content. Soon, a military commander with a personable wife is stationed in Herr Friedemann's town. Frau Commandant von Rinnlingen destroys Herr Friedemann's seeming contentment. He falls in love with her on first sight, despite her lack of, what Mann describes as, classic beauty.

Herr Friedemannn and Frau von Rinnglingen make a deep connection, despite the brevity of their encounters and the constraints of society. Herr Friedemann confesses to Frau von Rinnglingen that, after meeting her, he has realized his life thus far has been a lie; he was only imagining happiness, but was not happy. Frau von Rinnglingen tells him this was brave and admits to knowing similar sadness. He confesses his love to her; she pauses, then breaks away from him laughing. Friedemann drowns himself in a river.

Some characters and locations of the story reappear in changed contexts in Mann's novel ''Buddenbrooks''. The theme of the story is recast with a very different leading character and a less dramatic conclusion in Mann's short story "The Dilettante".

The Doctor, now on his own, is drawn to the ruins an ancient weapon at the heart of a destroyed civilisation. There he discovers survivors from the world before, people who were children when the weapon fell out of the sky and destroyed the great city, now adults heading a small tribe with offspring of their own. The tribe rests far beyond the city, away from the dangers of the decayed buildings and the ghosts of those who once lived in them. But there are new dangers arising. A race of glass conquerors calling themselves 'The Eyeless' have also been drawn to the ruins by the ancient power of the weapon, and the Doctor must venture deep into the centre of it to uncover why it suddenly appeared, and why it destroyed everything...

Averie is thrilled to visit Chiarrin, a colonized land her father oversees as general of the Aebrian military. As the foreign rhythms of her new life sweep her along, the general's daughter begins to question the ethics and wisdom of colonial governance, depicted as a rough parallel to British rule during empire days. She delves into the culture, strains against the fussy restraints of her era and social class, and finds herself drawn to an officer of non-Aerbrian descent. But it is an interesting young woman from the marketplace, Jalessa, who truly opens a window into Chiarrizi culture. As political resistance begins to threaten colonial rule, security becomes tighter and tensions rise.

Lady Averie Agatha Winston, known as Averie, is thrilled to finally leave Aebria, where she grew up, and visit Chiarrin, a colony of Aebria, where her father and her fiance work. Her father, the general who oversees the colony, and her fiance, a captain in the military, are much less thrilled and very protective. They warns her of the dangers of Chiarrin, and also tell her that the people here are not happy with Aebrian occupation. But Averie can see nothing but beauty in this new land she gets to explore.

She befriends a Chiarrin local named Jalessa when she buys traditional Chiarrizi dress, headscarf, and sandals, who teaches her the meaning of the colors of Chiarrin headscarves. However, Jalessa is injured by a bombing on the market, carried out by rebels who refuse to submit to Aebrian rule. Averie brings Jalessa back to her house and offers her a job as her maid. Jalessa accepts, and the two become good friends. Averie pushes the boundaries of the strict older Aebrians who are also in residence, but her peers are infatuated by her unwillingness to follow the rules if she doesn't think they are good rules. Averie also begins to fall in love with another soldier and realizes that she may not be in love with her betrothed anymore. Averie learns that Jalessa doesn't speak Aebrian and offers to teach her, expressing regret that her new friend has been unable to understand their conversations. Averie's uptight governess Lady Selkie helps Jalessa learn Aebrian. The boldness of the rebels increases and Averie starts to see a darker side to the Chiarrizi culture. Jalessa teaches her about their gods, all of whom have been crippled in one way or another, yet still stand tall. Their gods, Jalessa says, cannot be held captive.

Averie wakes up to smoke one morning. The entire city is burning. Chiarrin has sacrificed itself to drive out the Aebrian military. Jalessa reveals that she is a member of the rebels, and was the one who signaled the bombers when she was injured. The plan was to kill the Aebrian women until the men left. Because Averie taught her to speak Aebrian, she was able to spy on General Winston's plans. Averie realizes she knows nothing about Jalessa's family or anything important to her. She asks Jalessa if she will just let her die, and Jalessa tells her to get out of the city.

Averie returns home. Most of the officers she had befriended are dead, and she broke up with her fiance. Her father was killed getting men out of Chiarrin. She claims her fortune, and tells the man she's fallen in love with, Lieutenant Ket Du'Kai, that she's going to follow him until he marries her. He agrees to let her come with him as he goes back home to Xan'tai, another Aebrian colony.

Li Ahh (Lim Ming Wei) and Li Ohm (Wong Zi Jiang) grow up motherless. Their father Sui (James Lee) is a workaholic who spends most of his time mending broken mannequins. Sui is an outsider to the two boys, the only legacy left by the woman he loved, or still loves.

While he shuts himself out from the world, the two brothers grow up with all the freedom of neglected children. They roam the streets; get into fights and other trouble in school. Along the way, they adopt a stray puppy, which becomes the most important thing in their lives.

When the puppy is sent away for being a nuisance, the boys are devastated. Sui is very much affected by his boys' strong emotional attachment to the puppy. For the very first time, he realises that he is still able to love and he's going to do something about it before it's too late.

Tarzan rescues Dr. Brooks, an elderly scientist, who is held by the followers of Zar, God of the Emerald Fingers, in their lost city. Mary Brooks, his daughter, and Bob Hall have also been searching for him, led by villainous safari guides, Jeff Herbert and Nick Moran.

Tarzan goes in search of Mary and finds her swimming and a Nile crocodile appears and Tarzan dives in to save her, wrestling the monstrous crocodile itself and saving Mary. Tarzan and Mary become interested in each other. Soon everyone is captured by the people of Zar and brought before Eltar, their high priest. Jeff and Nick are killed, but the others are free to go, provided they never return. Mary and her father decide to stay with Tarzan instead of returning to civilization with Bob Hall.

Eleanor Reed (Eleanor Holm) accompanies her parents, Roger and Penny (George Barbier and Hedda Hopper), and Nevin Potter (George Meeker), her fiance, on an expedition to Africa to capture wild animals to sell to a zoo. Ben Alleu Bey (C. Henry Gordon) spots Eleanor and wishes her to become the one hundredth wife in his harem. When she refuses, he follows their safari.

Both groups are followed closely by Tarzan, who releases the animals and woos Eleanor away from both Nevin and Bey. When Nevin discovers that Eleanor plans to remain behind with Tarzan, he attempts to kill him, but only grazes his shoulder with a round fired at close range. Tarzan attacks Nevin, but releases him at Eleanor's behest. As the Reeds' ship sails down the river, Tarzan and Eleanor go for a swim.

Frank 'Rhino' Rhinoslavsky (Quinn) is a dumb part-time cab driver in New York City who wants to break into film business. He doesn't have anything to offer, and just thinks that he can start at the top, as a writer. Opportunity knocks on Frank's door when he goes to the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France to deliver some props to Troma, Inc.

So, he meets Sy Lerner (Seymor Cassel), perhaps a bigger loser in movie business and as each person interviewed in this mockumentary, he has made a fool out of a lot of industry executives and cost them plenty of money. Lerner makes a bet with his friend that he can take any shmoe off the street and turn them into the biggest success around. And Frank is his shmoe. 'Rhino' is going to create the same success by letting others do all the work.

Sy Lerner takes on Frank as his pet project. He shows Frank how to dress and behave, tells him how to respond when being interviewed such as never saying too much, and always being ambiguous. Then Sy Lerner comes up with the vehicle for Frank's reputation, by naming him the writer of a new movie. Only the movie doesn't exist and Frank isn't a writer. And, even knowing Lerner's reputation, people buy into the garbage. And now, everyone wants a piece of that action. Lerner and Frank (now given a fitting industry name of "Frank Rhino") have everyone knocking down their door, popular directors, big name producers, and famous actors (including Johnny Depp and Jim Jarmusch). Interviews, press opportunities, everything: Frank is the "Cannes Man," and he didn't have to do much to get it. So, they are at the Cannes Film Festival. It's where deals get made, producers get laid, and stars get paid. It's where all the movie industry meets to buy and sell all the movies on the planet. And it's where the art of the deal can be filled with more laughs than the deal itself.

Book of Atrus

''The Book of Atrus'' serves as a prequel to the events of the eponymous first game in the ''Myst'' series, and introduces both new characters and old characters seen in the games. The book's protagonist is Atrus. He is raised by his grandmother Anna after his mother dies and his father abandons him. Eventually, Atrus' father Gehn returns from his explorations of the ruins of the D'ni empire and enlists Atrus to come follow him back to the fallen city. Gehn teaches Atrus the Art, a skill the D'ni used to create special books which allow transport between worlds known as Ages. Atrus is awed by the Art at first, but he is horrified when he witnesses Gehn's manipulation and dismissive attitude to the inhabitants of the Ages. He also comes to understand Gehn's selfish, cold cruelty and his own power-hungry nature; Gehn believes that he creates the Ages he writes, instead of creating links to preexisting universes. Gehn destroys Atrus' first Age, Inception, because it does not follow Gehn's style of writing. After attempting to escape his father, Gehn traps Atrus in a locked chamber in D'ni, with the only escape to Gehn's own Age of Riven. On Riven Atrus falls in love with a villager named Catherine.

Catherine and Atrus hatch a plan to trap Gehn on Riven. Gehn is stranded when Atrus and Catherine destroy all linking books on Riven, escaping by using a book Ti'ana wrote for them, leading to the Age of Myst. Atrus drops the Myst linking book into a massive disturbance on Riven known as the Star Fissure; the book falls through the fissure to be picked up by the Stranger in ''Myst''. The closing words of the book are the opening narrative from the video game.

Book of Ti'ana

''The Book of Ti'ana'' takes place earlier than ''The Book of Atrus''. The first part of the book focuses on life of Atrus' grandfather Aitrus with his parents Kahlis and Tasera, Aitrus' meeting with Ti'ana, and the birth of their son Gehn. The book also explains the destruction of the D'ni civilization. Two D'ni, Veovis and A'Gaeris, plot to destroy their civilization, which they believe has been corrupted. Veovis and A'Gaeris create a plague which wipes out many of the D'ni and follows them through the Ages. Veovis is murdered by A'Gaeris for refusing to write an Age where the two of them would have been worshipped as gods, and Aitrus sacrifices himself in order to lure A'Gaeris to an unstable Age, killing them both.

Book of D'ni

In ''The Book of D'ni'', Atrus opens the crumbled exit of the room in K'veer, where he had been imprisoned by Gehn, and gains access to the rest of D'ni. Atrus and his team set out to find linking books and search for D'ni survivors. Eventually, Atrus and the rest of the D'ni plan on rebuilding the civilization, but this plan is put to a halt when a book leading to a great lost Age called Terahnee is found. Terahnee is a sister Age to D'ni and is populated by descendants of the same ancestors as the D'ni.

At first sight, Terahnee seems like a Utopia. Everyone lives in sumptuous palaces, and nobody goes hungry; in reality, the society is run by slave labor. After writing new Ages, the Terahnee people capture the inhabitants to use as slaves, considering themselves gods over their Ages. The Terahnee people are taught not to 'see' the slaves; only the servants interact with the lower orders. The Terahnee are suddenly stricken by a plague the D'ni brought with them; Atrus and his companions help the Age's slaves recover and create a new society before returning to D'ni and sealing up the path to Terahnee.

When a low-level gangster (Satoshi Tsumabuki) is caught having an affair with his boss's wife (Eri Fukatsu), he pleads for his life by promising his boss (Toshiyuki Nishida) that he will recruit a famous hitman. When it quickly becomes apparent that he is never going to find the wanted hitman, he hires an actor (Kōichi Satō) to fill the role.

For much of the movie, the actor playing the hitman believes that he has been hired to play a part in a seemingly arcane gangster movie, and interacts with the other gangsters as though they are also hired actors. At times, this puts his employer (Satoshi Tsumabuki) in a precarious position.

The documentary links the origins of black metal to the birth of heavy metal itself with the formation of Black Sabbath, known for its early horror-inspired lyrics, it is even said that bassist Geezer Butler, who wrote many of the band's lyrics is to be considered the "godfather of black metal". It quickly moves to the existence of a similarly-named band, which was also often confused for Sabbath, called Black Widow.

Black Widow's stage act was highly controversial, as it was based on a black magic act (it is stated that the band received instruction from Alex Sanders) and featured shocking elements for the time, such as ritual nudity and mock weaponry. In separate interviews, Kip Trevor (vocalist) and Clive Jones (flute), both share their experiences as Black Widow. A contrast between both former members is seen, as Trevor rejects the occult as "teenage curiosity" and moves on to music as business, while Jones embraces it, even having grotesque statues in his lawn, naming a large black fish in his pond after Satan, and giving the interview while wearing pagan-inspired regalia.

Moving on to the 1980s, Jeffrey "Mantas" Dunn, guitarist and founding member of Venom, considered to be the band who coined the term "black metal" in their 1982 album of the same name dispels the notion that his former band's lyrics dealt exclusively with Satanism:

Also interviewed is influential thrash metal band Sabbat, who instead of talking straight about Satanism, prefer to explore pre-Christian pagan European religions. Precursors to black metal Bathory and Mercyful Fate are given passing mention.

Host Ackermann notes that music gets progressively more extreme, and then introduces a segment about the Early Norwegian black metal scene, which has given a unique image and reputation to black metal. The spiraling incidents and tensions, such as Mayhem vocalist Dead's suicide, the Church burnings and finally, the murder of Euronymous by Varg Vikernes are mentioned. However, musical experts from the metal scene all agree that the events were highly sensationalized by the media. Tsjuder's drummer Anti-Christian even calls Dead's suicide "a PR stunt".

Sophie and Josh Newman – 15-year-old twins – are in Paris with the alchemyst, Nicholas Flamel, and his friend, Scathach. They now face Niccolò Machiavelli and his colleague, but also rival, John Dee, who both work for the Dark Elders. Machiavelli is plotting to capture the twins and Flamel with the missing pages of the Codex – or Book of Abraham the Mage – before Dee can arrive in France from San Francisco. The twins seek out a friend and student to Nicholas, Comte de Saint-Germain, who teaches Sophie to use the elemental magic of Fire. Saint-Germain's wife, Joan of Arc, helps Sophie to learn to control her aura and to sort out the Witch of Endor's memories from her own. Josh is given the legendary stone sword Clarent, twin blade of Excalibur, by Nicholas. Clarent is an ancient Fire Elemental sword. Josh, Joan, and Scathach encounter three Disir, more commonly referred to as Valkyries. The Disir are ancient enemies of Scathach and bring along the soul-devouring Nidhogg, a ferocious monster once trapped in the roots of Yggdrasil – the world tree. The monster was freed after Dee destroyed Yggdrasil and attacks Scathach but fails to slay her. Instead, it captures Scathach in its claws, but flees with Scathach when the ancient sword Clarent, wielded by Josh, wounds it. Meanwhile, Nicholas' wife, Perenelle Flamel, who had been captured, is taken to Alcatraz as a prisoner.

While Josh is fighting Nidhogg, Joan of Arc and Sophie are busy fighting two of the Disir. After a lengthy battle, Sophie manages to freeze the two in an iceberg. They chase after Nidhogg. As Nidhogg flees, Dee, Machiavelli and Dagon (Machiavelli's assistant), who are watching, express remorse at the Disir's failure. Machiavelli then allows Dagon to chase Nidhogg and kill Scathach if the beast fails to do so. The monster escapes through the streets of Paris, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. One of the trio of Disir, as well as Josh (who is still trying to save Scathach) follow. They arrive on the banks of the Seine and, with the help of Dee, Josh manages to stall the Disir and escape. He then leaves with Dee and Machiavelli. Sophie, Joan, and Nicholas arrive and defeat the Disir and Nidhogg. The group are talking to Scathach when Dagon erupts out of the river and drags her back in with him. She is not seen for the rest of the book.

On Alcatraz, Perenelle is helped by the ghost of Juan Manuel de Ayala, a Spanish sailor. She explores Alcatraz and finds ancient monsters in cells. She gets attacked by the Morrigan because Dee has authorized her to be killed. Underground, Perenelle meets Areop-Enap, the spider elder. The elder explains that Dee could not have Areop-Enap killed because other elders would investigate. Together, the two incapacitate the Morrigan and her thousands of crows that accompanied her.

Sophie, Joan, and Nicholas decide to go after Josh and, by using Sophie's aura, they track Dee and his comrades to the catacombs of Paris. There, Josh's magical ability is awakened by Mars Ultor and he is given a special "gift" similar to what Sophie received from the Witch of Endor – Josh now has Mars' military knowledge. When Sophie, Josh, and the rest escape from the catacombs, Dee and Machiavelli have set a trap, making the gargoyles and statues of Paris come to life and attack. Josh, Sophie, Saint-Germain, and Joan of Arc combine powers to destroy the statues. Flamel and the twins escape via a train and head for London. Perenelle is still stuck on Alcatraz and fears recapture.

Woody is sifting through some travel magazines when he spots a tempting ad for the Swiss Chard Lodge. The lodge is situated in Idaho, and offers dining for its guests. Woody is ecstatic, and promptly books a train ticket. After disembarking at the train station at Sunstroke Valley, it becomes apparent that the lodge is still an additional 40 miles, with no adjacent roads or any form of transportation. Woody decides to take matters into his own hands by taking a short cut, skiing and singing his way through the mountains.

Upon Woody's arrival, lodge owner Wally Walrus (Jack Mather) advises that there are no accommodations without a reservation. Woody, of course, did not bother to inquire about such a rule. Drawn by the aroma of the warm food inside the lodge, Woody gains entry by disguising himself as Santa Claus. Wally is so excited at the prospect of Kris Kringle arriving that he quickly adorns the lodge with Christmas decorations. It does not take long, though, for the skeptical walrus to discover that it is, in fact, only October, making Santa's arrival somewhat premature.

Woody manages to stuff his Santa toy sack with food from the lodge, and starts singing and skiing his way down the mountain. However, upon opening the sack, Woody discovers a vengeful Wally Walrus who wrings the little woodpecker's neck in disgust and mocks Woody's trademark laugh.

The book takes the form of a memoir by Madeleine "Maddy" or "Monkey" Wirtz. Maddy is a fifty-year-old astronomer's assistant, but as a young girl was one of the five original members of Foxfire. This group included Betty "Goldie" Siegfried, Loretta "Lana" Maguire, Elizabeth "Rita" O'Hagan, and their leader, Margaret "Legs" Sadovsky. The girls all grew up together in the fictional town of Hammond, New York (the same setting Oates used for her 1990 novel ''Because It Is Bitter, and Because It Is My Heart'').

Legs is an athletic, charismatic girl with feminist ideals about female pride and solidarity. She holds a Foxfire initiation ritual on January 1, 1953, involving secret tattoos of the gang's symbol, a red flame. Soon afterwards, Legs announces her first plan for the gang: the public humiliation of their high school math teacher. Mr. Buttinger has taken an inappropriate interest in Rita, often mocking her in class and requiring her to stay after school for "disciplinary" sessions where he gropes her breasts. This first Foxfire adventure is non-violent; the girls paint graffiti messages on Mr. Buttinger's car such as "I TEACH MATH & TICKLE TITS". His secret now public, Mr. Buttinger is openly laughed at in school and quickly retires from teaching altogether.

Encouraged by this first victory, Foxfire becomes increasingly bold in their activities. Although much of their early activities involve small-scale vandalism and shoplifting, they also brutally beat Maddy's uncle, Wimpy Wirtz, after he sexually assaults her and repeatedly cons her out of receiving his old typewriter. Yet Legs also insists that the gang take an interest in charity, anonymously donating money to needy people in their community. They also successfully protest a local pet shop to end the cruel treatment of the animals for sale there, in the process acquiring a "silvery-haired raccoon-faced husky" named Toby who becomes Foxfire's mascot.

Foxfire begins to gain attention in school and around town. Several other girls ask to join the gang. One day, Foxfire members are involved in a schoolyard fight with boys from another gang. The girls run from the school and wind up going for a joyride in a car they find left with the keys in the ignition. This leads to a police chase that ends in a crash for the Foxfire girls. None are seriously injured, but Legs is sent to Red Bank, a girl's correctional facility. The other Foxfire members involved in the incident are placed on probation.

Legs spends more than a year at Red Bank. After her release, Legs manages to rent an old house outside town and dubs it the "Foxfire Homestead". Most of the gang members move into the house, but they have difficulty earning enough money to support themselves with their legitimate jobs. The gang eventually begins stealing and extorting money from older men. Eventually, Legs comes up with a plan for the "final solution" of their financial problems: the kidnapping for ransom of a wealthy local man.

When the kidnapping plan goes wrong, it results in the breakup of the Foxfire gang and the mysterious disappearance of Legs herself.

Two swindlers, Blackie Daw (Henry Carson Clarke) and J. Rufus Wallingford (Fred Niblo), arrive in Battlesburg, Iowa, and con the local townsfolk that they are wealthy businessmen. They use the town's money to establish plans for a factory to produce covered carpet tacks and set off a major real estate boom. They are about to leave town with their money when they receive a genuine order for a large supply of tacks. They decide to marry local girls and settle down in Battlesburg.

Nora, an actress (Enid Bennett), is performing in an adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin in a Texas town. A sheriff enters with an attachment against the show. Nora, dressed as Little Eva, escapes from the venue and gets onto a train. A tramp makes advances towards her, causing her to jump from the train. She lands in a field and is arrested for looking suspicious.

She is saved from jail by Ma Forbes (Gertrude Claire), who is after someone to help her with some residents at her boarding house. The boarders "Soup" McCool (Jack Nelson) and "Pug" Hennessy (Robert McKim) are actually criminals. They con Ma's son, James (Albert Ray) out of $300. They then plan a bank robbery with the help of Nora. They think she is a safecracker, who they've been expecting. Nora plays along, and opens the safe, as she was given the combination from James. Once the safe has been cracked, Nora raises the alarm and the crooks are caught. Afterwards, James proposes to Nora.