From Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ===== Teen-aged Fong Sai-Yuk is a gifted Martial Artist but he is a poor student at school and is a constant troublemaker, despite the fact that the school is run by his father. Powerful Manchu officials in Guangdong are achieving hegemony over the native Han Chinese population and threaten to shut the school down. Sai-Yuk exacerbates matters when he picks a fight with the leader of the Manchus. In order to save her family's honor and keep the school open, Sai-Yuk's mother makes a bargain with the Shaolin monk San Te for her incorrigible son to be given refuge in the temple's 36th Chamber, which is a training hall for non- monks. However, Sai-Yuk is too full of pride and lacks respect for authority, so he continues his trouble-making ways. Sai-Yuk constantly goes out of the Shaolin Temple at night, while his fellow students are asleep. He regularly visits the town, governed by Manchu officials, and then boasts about his adventures to his fellow pupils. During one of these night excursions, Sai-Yuk finds himself in the town where some festive celebrations are going on. Intrigued, Sai-Yuk climbs a wall to see the festivities and dance. He is seen and reprimanded by one of the Manchu officials, who orders him to climb down. When Sai-Yuk ignores him, he orders a few of the Manchu fighters to teach him a lesson. Sai-Yuk, out of his pride and with the Kung-Fu skills attained at Shaolin, over-powers all the Manchu fighters with ease. Seeing this, the head Manchu decides to get information about the Shaolin Temple by befriending Sai- Yuk for the time being, promising his fellow Manchus that he will kill Sai-Yuk once he has taken all the information and Kung-Fu knowledge from him. Sai-Yuk, in his innocence, falls into the trap and inadvertently starts sharing Shaolin secrets with the Manchu on a regular basis. Sai-Yuk starts visiting the hostile town daily, where he is repeatedly honored to make him believe that the Manchu are actually very nice and gentle. But every time Sai-Yuk visits the town, the Manchus try to dig something new out of him - be it life within Shaolin Temple, the number of students and teachers inside the Temple or their Kung-Fu techniques and skills in general. Sai-Yuk is impressed by the Manchu hospitality, and keeps on giving details about Shaolin. Finally, at the Manchu leader's request and impressed by his shrewd fake friendship, Sai-Yuk persuades all his fellow pupils to go the Manchu town for the celebration of his daughter's marriage. The Manchu leader had a devious motive behind this, as he had planned to poison all the pupils to remove the threat of the Shaolin temple's monks once and for all. San-Te, the abbot and teacher of the 36th chamber and instructor of Sai-Yuk, becomes suspicious and tries to stop Sai- Yuk. When he fails, he decides to go to the wedding in order to save his pupils and show the true colors of the Manchus to all. A fierce fight between the Shaolin students and the Manchus erupts upon them realizing that the Manchu actually wanted to poison all the Shaolin students. The movie ends when Sai-Yuk spits his poisoned blood in the Manchu leader's mouth, making him swallow the poison instead. San-Te brings all his pupils, including Sai-Yuk, back to Shaolin safely, and their training continues. Sai-Yuk has learned his lesson and mended his ways to become more humble and less chaotic. ===== During a martial arts tournament, the American finalist Drew Carson (Reese Madigan) is humiliated by his opponent, ruthless and sadistic kickboxer Trevor Gottitall (Trent Bushey) who pantses him during the match. To add to the insult, Drew's teacher Master Kwan (Kim Chan) confesses that he is not—as he had claimed—a Shaolin monk, and therefore he had not passed on the actual knowledge of Shaolin kung fu to Drew. Determined to learn the actual art to prevent another such situation, Drew departs for China and arrives at the Shaolin Temple. At first, the monks do not let him enter, but with the help of a pretty tea shop waitress, Ashena (Alice Zhang Hung), and an old monk (Henry O) who gives him a decisive advise, he waits outside of the temple for a week, after which he manages to be admitted. The old monk also turns out to be the abbot of the temple, Master San De, and he and his stern taskmaster train Drew and a number of other young apprentices in the ways of the Shaolin. At first Drew causes much trouble as his American teenage temperament clashes with the tranquility within the temple and with his fellow student, Gao (Daniel Dae Kim), but under the rigorous physical and mental training he both improves his fighting skills and learns the meaning of discipline, humility, and patience. He makes friends with Gao and also manages to pass the two final tests: the Test of Spirituality, and the Test of the Chamber. Accepted as a full-fledged member of the Shaolin Monastery, he accompanies—along with Ashena—a delegation of his fellow students and the abbot to a martial arts tournament in Shanghai. At the tournament, Drew encounters Trevor once again. Trevor taunts Drew before proceeding with this match against Gao. Gao initially gains the upper hand, but Trevor resorts to his dirty fighting techniques and injures Gao. With Gao pinned against the ropes, Trevor demands a match against the "American Shaolin". Drew rises, but sits down again, refusing to fight Trevor on the principle of non-violence and selflessness. Infuriated, Trevor continues to beat up Gao and hurls him out of the ring. Encouraged by Master San De, Drew finally enters the ring to fight Trevor. Trevor immediately used dirty tricks again, but Drew prevails and even offers his hand to the defeated Trevor. The crowd voices their support for Shaolin, and Master San De declares that "this is the future of Shaolin". ===== Newly married Mary Sage (Shirley Eaton) is distraught when her husband Charlie (Bob Monkhouse) receives his call-up papers during their wedding breakfast. He travels to Heathercrest National Service Depot, meeting fellow recruit Horace Strong (Kenneth Connor), a terminal hypochondriac who is devastated at having been passed as fit. The new recruits are assigned to Sergeant Grimshaw (William Hartnell). Grimshaw will soon be retiring from the army and takes on a £50 bet with Sergeant O'Brien (Terry Scott) that his last bunch of squaddies will be his first champion platoon. With beady-eyed inspection from Captain Potts (Eric Barker) and disgruntled support from Corporal Copping (Bill Owen), Grimshaw decides to use some psychology and treat his charges kindly rather than simply shouting at them. But basic training does not start well and he struggles to take his platoon through it. They include failure Herbert Brown (Norman Rossington), upper-class cad Miles Heywood (Terence Longdon), rock 'n' roller Andy Galloway (Gerald Campion), delicate flower Peter Golightly (Charles Hawtrey) and supercilious university graduate James Bailey (Kenneth Williams). His attempts seem doomed. Mary is determined to spend her wedding night with her husband and smuggles herself into the depot to get a job in the NAAFI, a situation Charlie is eventually able to legitimise. Strong spends most of his time complaining to the Medical Officer, Captain Clark (Hattie Jacques). It is only the adoration of doe-eyed NAAFI girl Norah (Dora Bryan), which he initially rejects, that makes him realise his potential and inspires him to become a real soldier. On the eve of the final tests, Grimshaw is in despair, but he is overheard bemoaning his lot to Copping. The squad decide to win the best platoon prize at all costs. On the day, they indeed beat the other platoons at all tasks and Grimshaw is awarded the cup for best platoon. ===== In 1923, the young Kim Shun-Pei moves from Cheju Island (South Korea), to Osaka (Japan). Through the years, he becomes a cruel, greedy and violent man and builds a factory of kamaboko (processed seafood products) in his poor Korean-Japanese community, where he exploits his employees. He makes a fortune, abuses and destroys the lives of his wife and family, has many mistresses and children and shows no respect to anyone. Later he closes the factory, lending out the money with high interest and becomes a loan shark. His hateful behavior remains unchanged to his last breath, alone in North Korea. The film is told from the perspective of Masao, his legitimate son by his abused and degraded wife, who knows nothing about his father other than to fear him. ===== Max Hagan, a Texas oil tycoon, is going through a difficult divorce. When his soon-to-be ex-wife throws him out of his house with nothing but the clothes he's wearing (including the titular "white pants"), he becomes entangled in a sex, drugs and rock-'n'-roll-laden adventure with his daughter's punk-rocker boyfriend as he tries to make things right between himself and his dysfunctional family. ===== Note: In the North American release of Front Mission 4, the United States of the New Continent was changed to the Unified Continental States (UCS). This change is exclusive to this version of Front Mission 4. Set in 2096, the story of Front Mission 4 takes place in Venezuela and Europe. Since the revelations of the true causes behind the 2nd Huffman Conflict in 2092, the world grew wary of the Republic of Zaftra. Zaftra began losing foreign investments and many businesses withdrew from the union, resulting in major economic losses. Superpowers such as the United States of the New Continent (USN) refused offers from the union to import their natural resources, the major economic driver of their economy. With a failing economy and growing distrust from the world community, the Republic of Zaftra disbanded the Peace Mediation Organization (PMO) in 2094. Meanwhile, the discovery of natural resources in Poland led the European Community (EC) to stop importing raw materials from Zaftra. Consequently, Zaftran citizens began migrating to other countries in search for work. In 2096, the Republic of Zaftra returned to the spotlight after a mysterious blitzkrieg of EC military bases leaves Europe in an imminent resource crisis. Elsewhere in the world, Venezuela suddenly declares independence from the USN. ===== The "Mystery Inc." gang find themselves stranded near an old farmhouse adjacent to an apparently abandoned amusement park. Approaching the farmhouse for help with the Mystery Machine (their van), the gang learns that the Gobs, the residents of the home, own the adjacent park, Gobs O' Fun. However, the park is being haunted by a phantom, scaring customers away. Without any customers, the Gobs are on the brink of bankruptcy, which will force them to sell the park. The gang agrees to help the Gobs find the culprit in exchange for help getting their van repaired. ===== Joe Smith, a heroin addict, is on a quest to score more drugs. Joe has problematic relationship with his on-off, sexually frustrated girlfriend, Holly Sandiago. During the course of the day, Joe overdoses in front of an upper-class couple, attempts to fool welfare into approving his methadone treatment by having Holly fake a pregnancy, and frustrates the women in his life with his drug-induced impotence. ===== Gary Grobowski and Brooke Meyers meet at Wrigley Field during a Chicago Cubs game and begin dating, eventually buying a condominium together. Gary works as a tour guide in a family business with his brothers, Lupus and Dennis. Brooke manages an art gallery owned by eccentric artist Marilyn Dean. Their relationship comes to a head after the latest in an escalating series of arguments. Brooke, feeling unappreciated, criticizes Gary's perceived immaturity and unwillingness to work on improving their relationship. Gary is frustrated by Brooke's perceived controlling, perfectionistic attitude, and expresses his desire to have a little more independence, particularly when arriving home from work, wanting to unwind. Brooke becomes irate when Gary fails to offer to help her clean up after a big dinner party at their home. Still frustrated from their earlier, unresolved argument, she breaks up with him (despite still being in love with him). Brooke seeks relationship advice from her sister Addie, while Gary goes to tell his side of things to friend Johnny Ostrofski. Since neither is willing to move out of their condo, they compromise by living as roommates; but, each begins acting out to provoke the other in increasingly elaborate ways. Gary buys a pool table, litters the condo with food and trash, and even has a strip poker party with Lupus and a few women. Meanwhile, Brooke has Gary kicked off their "couples-only" bowling team, and starts dating other men in an attempt to make Gary jealous. When their friend and realtor Mark Riggleman sells the condo, Gary and Brooke are given two weeks' notice to move out. Brooke invites Gary to an Old 97's concert, hoping that he will figure out that the gesture is meant to be her last-ditch attempt to salvage their relationship. Gary agrees to meet her there, but misses the hidden agenda, and misses the concert—unwittingly breaking Brooke's heart. When Gary goes out for a drink with Johnny, his friend points out that Gary has always had his guard up, has been guilty of a lot of selfishness, and never gave Brooke a chance, emotional intimacy-wise. Afterwards, Brooke quits her job in order to spend time traveling Europe. When she brings a customer from the art gallery home one evening, Brooke finds the condo cleaned and Gary preparing a fancy dinner to win her back. He lays his heart on the line and promises to appreciate her more. Brooke becomes devastated and states that she just cannot give anymore, and, therefore, does not feel the same way. Gary seems to understand and kisses her before leaving. It is later revealed that Brooke's "date" (who initially asked her out, but she politely rejected) was actually a client interested in a piece of artwork she kept at the condo. Both eventually move out of the condo. Gary begins taking a more active role in his tour guide business, while Brooke travels the world, eventually returning to Chicago. Some time later, they meet again by chance on the street as Gary is bringing home groceries and Brooke is on her way to a meeting. After some awkward but friendly catching up, they part ways but each glances back over their shoulder and they share a smile. ===== Kevin, a boy on Earth, is upset because he has to move away from his younger friend Donna. Declaring that he doesn't care, he decides to run away and ends up in The Land Without Feelings, which is ruled by a misanthropic and winter-centric mad scientist named Professor Coldheart. He turns Kevin into a green amphibian-like goblin via a soda-like potion and declares him a slave. The Care Bears, along with Donna, go into the Land Without Feelings to save Kevin along with the other children who were turned into Coldheart's goblin slaves. Tenderheart Bear makes an attempt to climb up to Coldheart's castle, but is caught in a trap by Coldheart himself on the way up. Wish Bear makes an immediately granted wish to be teleported to Coldheart's castle with Grumpy Bear and Donna (and all the other Care Bears too, including Tenderheart), after several times being interrupted when attempting to make a wish and seeing if it would actually come true. The Care Bears use their magic 'Care Bear Stare' to change Kevin and the other children back to human, and Coldheart makes a break for it. ===== > "While the Apprentice Sorcerer slept his master's music was stolen away. Now > his dreams must restore the notes so the music again can play." ===== Still in the Divergent universe, the Eighth Doctor and Charley are captured by the insect like Kromon. Charley is forced into becoming a hybrid-insect Queen, and the Doctor is forced to share his knowledge of space-time travel with the rapacious Kromon... ===== Gigolos Christopher Tracy (Prince) and his cousin, Tricky (Jerome Benton), swindle wealthy French women. The situation gets complicated when Christopher falls in love with heiress Mary Sharon (Kristin Scott Thomas) after planning to swindle her when he finds out that she receives a $50 million trust fund on her 21st birthday. Mary's father Isaac disapproves of the romance and provides an excellent adversary for Christopher. Christopher rivals his cousin Tricky for the affection of Mary. ===== After the events of Eagle Strike, Alex Rider goes on a school trip to Venice, Italy in order to investigate Scorpia, having been told to do so by Yassen Gregorovich if he wished to learn about his father, John Rider. With the help of his best friend Tom Harris, Alex manages to sneak into a party hosted by Julia Rothman, whom he believes to have a link to Scorpia, and discovers evidence linking the organization to a pharmaceutical company called Consanto Enterprises. Before Alex can learn more, he is confronted by a Scorpia agent named Nile, who overpowers him and locks him in a room that will flood as the Venice tide increases, drowning him. Alex manages to escape into the Grand Canal. He then managed to board a train with Tom, as Consanto happens to be near Naples, where Tom's brother, Jerry, is staying. With the help of Jerry, Alex BASE jumps into Consanto Enterprises, and is eventually confronted by Dr. Harold Liebermann, the head of the organization. Nile shows up, but much to Alex's surprise, he kills Liebermann and takes Alex to see Rothman after blowing up the factory. While having dinner with her, Alex is told about Scorpia, an organization that carries out acts of terrorism for money, that his father was a Scorpia agent, and was not killed in a plane crash as MI6 claimed, but was in fact murdered by them while being exchanged for one of Scorpia's hostages (the son of a senior British civil servant), at the command of Mrs Jones. After hearing this, Alex decides to join Scorpia and begins his training at Scorpia's "institute" on Malagosto, an island near Venice. He becomes a top student, but his instructors become concerned upon learning his unwillingness to kill. On Rothman's suggestion, the headmaster, Professor Oliver d'Arc, sends Alex to kill Mrs Jones, Deputy Head of MI6 Special Operations, in hopes that it will overcome his psychological barrier. Meanwhile, Scorpia mail a list of political demands for the American Government to the British Government, such as complete military disarmament and withdrawal from every country on the planet, one hundred billion dollars to be paid to the World Bank, and the resignation of the President, warning them that if the demands are not followed through by 48 hours from issue, Scorpia will use a weapon codenamed "Invisible Sword" to carry out a massacre of children in London. As a demonstration, Scorpia use the weapon on the England national football team reserves as they return from a tournament in Nigeria. Despite the high security put in place at the airport, the team are all killed inexplicably. Elsewhere, disguised as a pizza delivery boy, Alex infiltrates Mrs Jones' apartment where he attempts to carry out his operation, thanks to gadgets supplied by Scorpia (including a latex prosthetic face mask, thickening motorcycle leathers, a phony lift control disguised as a pizza promotional card, a blowgun with a drugged dart disguised as a drinking straw, door lock- destroying flares disguised as pizza olives (with the detonator concealed in the carrier bag), and a pistol with one bullet in a specially modified large bottle of Coke). Though Alex finally fires at Mrs Jones, the bullet hits an invisible pane of bulletproof glass, and he is captured by MI6. Alex later learns that he actually turned the gun away at the last moment. Alan Blunt convinces Alex to help provide some information to a meeting of the United Kingdom's emergency COBRA committee. Based on Alex's observations, COBRA deduces that Scorpia, through the use of nanoshells, has secretly added a lethal poison to a number of vaccines at Consanto Enterprises, including the yellow fever vaccines given to the football team and the BCG injections recently received by London schoolchildren. They also figure out that Scorpia can activate the poison at will using beams of terahertz radiation. A search of the city for the dishes that will transmit the terahertz beams begins, but Jones and Blunt suspect that there is more to Scorpia's plan that meets the eye. They fake Alex's escape from MI6 custody to enable him to rejoin Rothman and learn the true location of the terahertz dishes, by having Smithers outfit Alex with a locator beacon disguised as a mouth brace. Alex secretly deduces that Scorpia has always wanted to kill him, as he recalls being injected when undergoing a medical examination earlier at Malagosto. Rothman and Nile bring Alex along to witness the launch of a hot air balloon which will lift the dishes into position, keeping them out of sight until Scorpia's deadline. Rothman reveals Scorpia's plan to destroy the special relationship between Britain and America; the demands to the Americans were deliberately made unreasonable to them. Once Invisible Sword has been used in London, Scorpia will threaten the Americans with the same weapon while making more lenient demands, intending to expose them as unwilling to help their allies and turn them into an international pariah. Alex alerts MI6 to the launch site's location with the tracking device, but gives himself away when he reveals his knowledge that children will be the primary target of the attack. An SAS force sent to follow Alex assaults the launch site, and Alex uses the distraction to climb onto the balloon, closely followed by Nile. He manages to destroy the balloon, with Nile getting himself killed in the process due to his fear of heights, and the terahertz equipment is destroyed. Alex survives by clinging onto the balloon. Rothman attempts to flee, disguised as a tramp, and slips past the MI6 and SAS men, but she is crushed and killed by the falling terahertz equipment. A week later, Alex is briefed by MI6 and learns that John Rider was in fact an MI6 double agent within Scorpia, and that his death at the hostage exchange had been faked, in order to both get him out of Scorpia and allow him to retire from the spy world; he even meets the hostage, James Adair, now a university lecturer, whose father, Sir Graham Adair, is Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office, and whom Alex met at COBRA. James reveals that he met John Rider afterwards, and reveals that he and his wife named their oldest son after John. Alex's parents had indeed been killed in a plane crash shortly after his birth, arranged by Rothman once she learned of John's betrayal. As Alex leaves MI6's headquarters, he is shot by a Scorpia assassin in retaliation for his actions, and the story ends with Alex lying on the street seeing visions of his parents. ===== In a prelude chapter that takes place fifteen years before the main series, two unnamed assassins (referred to as Hunter and Cossack) travel through the Amazon jungle in search of their target, a major drug lord known only as 'the Commander'. Locating him, they prepare to take him out from his secret hideout before he boards a helicopter. However, a black widow spider lands on the neck of Cossack, compromising the mission. Changing his position, Hunter manages to hit the black widow and take out the target with a single shot from his sniper rifle, leaving Cossack with a scar on his neck. Once escaping, Cossack thanks his partner for saving him before heading back to civilization. After the events of Skeleton Key, Alex Rider is on holiday in the south of France with his friend Sabina Pleasure and her parents, where he spots Yassen Gregovich at the beach and follows him, but stops after a close encounter that endangers him. Later, the house that Sabina and her family are staying in explodes, injuring Sabina's father, Edward, in the process. Convinced it was Yassen, Alex locates him on a yacht but is captured by Yassen's associate, Franco, and Yassen sends him to fight a bull in a bullring. Alex manages to escape from the bullfight and discovers that the man Yassen was recently in contact with was a billionaire pop star-turned environmentalist, named Damian Cray. Failing to convince MI6, Alex starts his own investigations on Cray and attends Cray's launch of a new gaming system called "Gameslayer", and its flagship game, Feathered Serpent, in which he participates in a demonstration. His suspicions about Cray grow as the next day Alex hears about the death of a journalist who questioned Cray, at the launch, over the violence of the game, which is set in Aztec times and involves science fiction themes, implying that their gods were aliens. He then locates a journalist named Marc Antonio, a friend of Edward Pleasure's, in Paris. Antonio reveals that he has been investigating Cray and a deal he made with a man called Charlie Roper, an American NSA agent. Antonio is killed by Cray's men, while Alex manages to escape. Alex sneaks into Cray Software Technologies' headquarters in Amsterdam, where he hears Roper and Cray talking about a flash drive, before they start arguing about the deal. Roper is then trapped in a room, and two million dollars worth of nickels (owed to him by Cray as part of their deal) is poured on top of him, both paying and killing him. Cray catches Alex as he tries to sneak away and puts him in a real-life version of Feathered Serpent. Alex manages to escape and steals Cray's flash drive. A pursuit breaks out between Alex and Cray's men across the streets of Amsterdam, which Alex narrowly survives, thanks to a bicycle laden with gadgets (including heat-seeking missiles in the handlebars, an oil slick in the water bottle, a magnesium incendiary flare in the front light, a smoke screen in the wheel pump, an ejector saddle, puncture-proof tyres and magnetic clips), courtesy of MI6 gadget-master Smithers. In response to Alex stealing the flash drive, Cray captures Sabina at a hospital when she goes to visit her father, and holds her for ransom. He explains to Alex, via a new flatscreen TV and webcam installed at Alex's house in Chelsea, that if he does not surrender himself and the flash drive, Yassen will kill Sabina, and then hunt down everybody Alex knows, before finally killing Alex. With no alternative, Alex goes to Cray's convent home and attempts to force Cray to release Sabina (threatening to fill the flash drive with superglue if he refuses to let her out), but Cray refuses and forces Alex to hand over the flash drive. Over afternoon tea in the garden, Cray then explains his reasons for attempting to have Sabina's father killed and having Antonio killed. Cray reveals his plan, code-named "Eagle Strike": he will board Air Force One and use its missile room to launch a total of twenty-five nuclear missiles at major drug-running countries around the globe to eradicate the drug trade, at the cost of millions of innocent lives. Leaving Sabina and Alex locked in a cellar together, Sabina and Alex apologize to each other and reconcile. Yassen comes in and forces the two to put on hazard suits. After creating a diversion using an exploding plane full of fake nerve gas (which Alex saw back at Amsterdam), Cray, Yassen, Alex, and Sabina board Air Force One at Heathrow International Airport. Cray drags Alex into the missile room, plugs in the flash drive and activates the missiles, before asking the pilot, Henryk, to fly them to Russia, where Yassen will be honoured as a hero. After Sabina insults Cray, Cray demands Yassen to kill Sabina and Alex, which he refuses, saying that he does not kill children. Yassen is then killed by Cray before Cray shoots at Alex. Sabina goes berserk and attacks Cray. Before Cray can kill her, Alex, saved by a bulletproof cycling jersey (given to him by Mr. Smithers), gets up and fights Cray. After an intense fight that progresses across the entire plane, Sabina and Alex manage to push Cray out and into the jet engine, vaporising him instantly. The engine is destroyed after a drinks trolley is also sucked in, causing the plane to lose control and crash before takeoff. Alex and Sabina survive the crash, but Alex is wounded and Sabina is forced to use the self-destruct button in the missile room to destroy the missiles. As Yassen lays dying, he reveals to Alex that he knew his father, John Rider, and he had worked with him as an assassin. He even shows a scar on his neck, which shows that Alex's father had saved him once (Referring to the fact that he is "Cossack" from the prologue). Yassen then tells Alex he must go to Venice, and find "Scorpia", before he dies. At the end of the novel, Alex is visited by Mrs. Jones, who apologises for not believing him, and questions him about the final interaction between him and Yassen. She asks whether Yassen told him anything. Lying to her that Yassen shared nothing important, Alex vows to discover the truth of Yassen's story and prepares to find Scorpia. Later, he meets with Sabina, who tells him that she and her family are moving to San Francisco. She kisses him and the two go their separate ways. ===== The plot centers on a ski resort run by Will Carver (Anson Mount). When his grandfather dies, Will discovers that the resort has been left to his younger brother David (Oliver Hudson), an irresponsible layabout who returns to pick up the reins. There is familial conflict over the resort and over Maria (Alana de la Garza), a woman who previously dated David, but then dates Will. Additional conflict comes from the efforts of land developer Colin Dowling (Mitch Pileggi) and his attractive daughter, Max (Elizabeth Bogush), who falls for David. ===== Justin Quayle, a British diplomat in Nairobi, Kenya, is told that his activist wife, Tessa, was killed while travelling with a doctor friend in a desolate region of Africa. Investigating on his own, Quayle discovers that her murder, reportedly committed by her friend, may have had more sinister roots. Justin learns that Tessa had uncovered a corporate scandal involving medical experimentation in Africa. KVH (Karel Vita Hudson), a large pharmaceutical company working under the cover of AIDS tests and treatments, is testing a tuberculosis drug that has severe side effects. Rather than help the trial subjects and begin again with a new drug, KVH covered up the side effects and improved the drug only in anticipation of a massive multi-drug- resistant tuberculosis outbreak. Justin travels the world, often under assumed identities, to reconstruct the circumstances leading to Tessa's murder. As he begins to piece together Tessa's final report on the fraudulent drug tests, he learns that the roots of the conspiracy stretch further than he could have imagined; to a German pharmawatch NGO, an African aid station, and, most disturbingly, to himself, corrupt politicians in the British Foreign Office. John le Carré writes in the book's afterword: "by comparison with the reality, my story [is] as tame as a holiday postcard". The book is dedicated to Yvette Pierpaoli, a French activist who died during the course of her aid work. ===== Troy Johnson (Josh Janowicz), the supplier of prescription drugs to fellow high school students in the fictional southern California town of Hillside, commits suicide. Troy's best friend Dean (Jamie Bell), is prescribed more antidepressants by his psychiatrist father Bill (William Fichtner) after discovering the body. When Dean returns to school, he is antagonized by drug dealers Billy (Justin Chatwin) and Lee (Lou Taylor Pucci), who were supplied by Troy. Their friend, Crystal Falls (Camilla Belle), flirts with Dean, but he soon realizes that her true intentions are for Dean to retrieve the remaining drugs in Troy's home and refuses to cooperate. To force Dean to procure the drugs, Billy and Lee plan to kidnap Dean's brother, Charlie (Rory Culkin), as a ransom, but they end up kidnapping another boy named Charlie Bratley (Thomas Curtis) instead. The kidnappers hold Charlie Bratley - whose parents are unaware that he is missing - overnight at Crystal's home. Dean eventually agrees to go to Troy's house to find the drugs. Upon delivery, Billy discovers that the bag doesn't contain the prescription drugs and starts a fight with Dean, leading to Dean's arrest. While trying to explain everything to Officer Lou Bratley (John Heard), Charlie's father, Dean reveals that his brother Charlie replaced the drugs with a bag of the vitamins that their mother Allie (Allison Janney) sells. Neither Officer Bratley nor Dean's father believes his story, but he is released, whereupon his father increases his dosage of antidepressants. Meanwhile, Charlie crushes the real drugs and puts them into a casserole that his mother made for Troy's memorial. The next day is Troy's memorial service and the wedding of Mayor Michael Ebbs (Ralph Fiennes) to Charlie Bratley's mother Terri (Rita Wilson). Lou finally realizes that his son actually has been kidnapped and heads out to look for him. Now at Lee's house, Crystal asks Lee to help stop the kidnapping scheme, but he does not comply. Crystal goes to Dean's house for help, where she finds him hallucinating about Troy's death and finally expressing his grief. Meanwhile, a paranoid Lee, encouraged by Billy, tries to kill Charlie Bratley to avoid being caught, but Charlie fights back and slices the knife through Billy's eye. Billy runs out into the street, screaming in pain, and is hit by Lou's police car. Dean attends Troy's memorial, where all of the visitors are intoxicated by the drugs that are in his mother's casserole. Troy's mother, Carrie (Glenn Close), discloses to Dean that she never knew her son. Dean tells her about Troy and acknowledges that they were best friends, and she thanks him. Billy is later sent to prison. Lee, who successfully changes the narrative of his involvement during the trial, is acquitted. A closing voice over explains that Dean and Crystal "escape together", and they are shown kissing. ===== In the film's opening sequence, young reporter Jim Benton (Bruce Love) asks train engineer Mr. Wilson (John Carradine) about three men — Griffin, Cook and Landis — who hopped his freight train five years earlier, in 1961. "He ran all the way to hell," the engineer remarks about Griffin. The title sequence follows, and afterwards the film proper picks up, switching to 1961 for the duration. Griffin (Coleman Francis) escapes from jail and runs into Cook (Harold Saunders) and Landis (Anthony Cardoza). The three make their way to an airstrip run by Cherokee Jack (George Prince) who flies them to a military training facility, where they will be paid to take part in the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Having been deceived about the money they were to receive, the three attempt to escape, but are recaptured and forced to invade Cuba. They are soon captured again, this time by the communist Cuban forces; a lengthy sequence of executions is ended when they escape again. They abandon their badly-wounded superior officer, Bailey Chastain (Tom Hanson); although he begs them to take him along, they refuse because they cannot carry him during their escape. Desperately he informs them of his family's mine back home that contains pitchblende, tungsten, and other precious metals. The trio find an airstrip and steal a light aircraft to return to the U.S. Back on American soil, the three engage in a variety of crimes to get to the home of Chastain's wife to help her mine the metals her husband had mentioned in Cuba. They throw café owner Cliff Weismeyer (Charles F. Harter) down a well and Griffin rapes his blind daughter (Elaine Gifford), then they steal his car and escape; they also hop Mr. Wilson's train in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They then arrive in Arizona and meet Chastain's wife Ruby (Lanell Cado) and head towards the mine, but the car runs out of oil. The law catches up with them along the way and police cars approach them; Griffin impulsively shoots Ruby and runs into the fields, while Landis and Cook are arrested. Chastain returns from Cuba alive and is reunited with his surviving wife after she is rescued and escorted home by a policeman. Griffin dies in a shootout with the police who then collect his belongings, a penny and a bent cigarette, and a voice-over (Francis) somberly intones that Griffin "ran all the way to hell... with a penny and a broken cigarette" as the film ends. ===== Film student and would-be writer/director Nick Chapman, a native of the Midwest, finds himself the winner of a prestigious student film contest in LA. Overnight, Hollywood VIPs want to make deals with Nick. He settles on a quirky agent to represent him, and signs a deal with a major film studio to make his dream movie. Nick finds the Hollywood studio "process" distasteful, and is forced to make many creative compromises, but he now has money and meets fast, new Hollywood friends. Likewise, the now- affected Nick throws old friends overboard, as his instant success crowds out his old relationships, including that with his girlfriend, Susan. Nick's new world is suddenly turned upside down again when a new studio head decides to cancel his film project. Unable to strike any new film deals, college educated Nick is reduced to entry-level jobs to pay the bills like bus boy, moving man, cold call sales and message delivery man. His life is re-enacted in film parts. Ultimately, a humbled and repentant Nick reunites with old friends and, with Susan, carves an unexpected path to getting his film produced, this time on his terms. ===== After years of backing away from criminals and gunfights, one resident of the small western town of Firecreek decides to fight back. Part-time sheriff Johnny Cobb (James Stewart) decides to avenge the death of a young man against gunmen led by Bob Larkin (Henry Fonda). Cobb has a lot on his mind, particularly with his wife Henrietta (Jacqueline Scott) about to give birth. He is a peace-loving farmer whose childishly made sheriff's badge is practically an honorary one. Larkin's men ride into town and disrupt the peace. Earl (Gary Lockwood), Norman (Jack Elam), and Drew (James Best) run roughshod over the local citizens and Larkin has no inclination to stop it, despite Cobb's requests. Larkin is more interested in getting to know an attractive widow named Evelyn (Inger Stevens). The only person in town willing to help Cobb is a slow-witted stable boy named Arthur (J. Robert Porter). When one of Larkin's men attacks a woman, Arthur kills the man. Cobb's wife goes into labor and he has to leave town. While he is gone, Larkin's men hang Arthur and no one in the town tries to stop them. Cobb returns to town to discover that Arthur has been hung in the stable. He lowers the body, then demands that the apathetic shopkeeper eyewitness, Whittier, hand over his own gun. Cobb then goes after Larkin and his men, one of whom gets caught in a rope tied to his horse, which bolts off, dragging him. They all but kill him and he takes them all out except Larkin, who is shot with a rifle by the widow Evelyn from a 2nd-story window, as he is about to kill Cobb. ===== The Japanese fishing vessel Yahata Maru is trying to find its way to shore in a horrible storm, when a giant monster emerges from an eruption on a nearby uninhabited island and attacks the boat. A day later, reporter Goro Maki finds the vessel intact, along with its sole survivor Hiroshi "Kenny" Okumura. The Japanese Prime Minister, Mitamura, is informed of the attack and that the monster is Godzilla; he orders that this be kept secret from the public. Maki's report is not published by his newspaper because it is "national security risk” and could cause mass panic. Maki is told to interview bio-physicist Hayashida instead. Maki finds Naoko, Okamura's sister working as a lab assistant to Hayashida and informs her that her brother is safe, against the government's orders. She rushes to the hospital. Godzilla attacks and destroys a Soviet submarine. The Russians believe the attack was orchestrated by the Americans and the situation threatens to escalate into war. Mitamura is informed of the submarine attack and shown evidence that Godzilla was responsible. The media blackout is lifted and the Americans are absolved of blame. The Japanese arrange a meeting with the Soviet and American ambassadors. Prime Minister Mitamura decides nuclear weapons will not be allowed in Japanese territory even if Godzilla were to attack the Japanese mainland. The Americans balk at this, while the Soviets are in full agreement. However, a Soviet Navy officer secretly prepares a nuclear satellite, claiming Moscow has ordered this. Godzilla appears on an island off the coast of Japan and attacks a nuclear power plant, removing the nuclear reactor and feeding off the radiation. Godzilla suddenly drops the reactor and follows a flock of birds back out to sea. The Japan Self-Defense Forces are deployed to wait for a possible attack by Godzilla at Tokyo Bay. General Kakura of the JSDF briefs the Japanese cabinet about a top-secret weapon known as the "Super-X attack plane" that can be used against Godzilla. Through the use of "ultrasonic images", Hayashida determines that Godzilla's brain is bird-like, only mutated. Hayashida realizes that Godzilla has a conditioned response to birds chirping and suggests they duplicate the sound electronically. Hayashida assists the Japanese emergency task force and plans to lure Godzilla into Mt. Mihara's volcano by emitting bird sound frequencies. The Prime Minister authorizes both the JSDF plan and the plan to use the volcano against Godzilla. Steve Martin is brought into the Pentagon to assist against Godzilla. Godzilla is sighted in Tokyo Bay, which is immediately evacuated. Godzilla proceeds to attack Tokyo and the JSDF launch the Super-X. In the attack, Godzilla sinks a Soviet merchant ship which was in actuality an intelligence collection vessel. Before dying of his injuries, the captain launches the nuclear missile. The Pentagon prepares to assist the Japanese but Martin cautions that weapons will only confuse and antagonize Godzilla further. Hayashida uses the bird signaling device on Godzilla, which works initially, but before it can be tested further, Godzilla is attacked again by the JSDF. The Super-X arrives and defeats Godzilla with cadmium missiles. At that moment, the Soviet missile is detected by the Americans as it draws closer to Japan. When Washington warns that the blast will be 50x that of the Hiroshima bombing Mitamura permits the Americans to make an interception attempt. Hayashida and his signaling equipment are evacuated and sent to Mt. Mihara. The Americans launch a counter-missile and successfully intercept the Soviet missile. However, the nuclear blast fallout reawakens Godzilla and he destroys the Super-X. Hayashida relaunches the signal and lures Godzilla into the mouth of Mt. Mihara. Using explosive bombs to cause the mountain to erupt, Godzilla becomes imprisoned after falling into the volcano. ===== In New York City's Spanish Harlem, police detectives Dan Madigan and Rocco Bonaro break into a sleazy apartment and arrest Barney Benesch, a hoodlum wanted for questioning by a Brooklyn precinct. Momentarily distracted by the suspect's nude girl friend, the two detectives are outwitted by Benesch, who escapes with their guns. When it is discovered that Benesch was wanted for homicide, Madigan and Bonaro are reprimanded by Police Commissioner Anthony X. Russell. Aside from this new problem, Russell is troubled by other matters: his married mistress, Tricia Bentley, has decided to end their relationship; a black minister, Dr. Taylor, is claiming that his teenaged son was subjected to brutality by racist policemen; and proof has been established that Russell's longtime friend and associate, Chief Inspector Kane, has accepted a bribe to protect a hangout for prostitutes. Irritated by the fact that Madigan and Bonaro broke the rules by working for another precinct, Russell gives the two men 72 hours to arrest Benesch. Despite the deadline, Madigan tries to spend some time with his wife, Julia, who is socially and sexually frustrated as a result of her husband's dangerous and time-consuming job, though unknown to her he has a girl on the side, Jonesy, a nightclub singer. (Though she's sexually frustrated as well, and Madigan tells her he only loves Julia.) The commissioner confronts Kane with the bribe evidence. The inspector was trying to help his son out of a jam. He offers to turn in his badge but resents Russell's outrage at how he could have done such a thing, asking the commissioner what he would know about being a father. Madigan takes Julia to a fancy dress ball for the department, which includes getting to stay at the Sherry-Netherland Hotel. She's excited and happy until she realizes he's going to ditch her early on and go back to work. Knowing Julia was looking forward to dancing, he leaves her in the hands of Captain Ben Williams, who uses the opportunity to get her drunk and seduce her—he nearly succeeds, but she can't go through with it. Benesch shoots two policemen with Madigan's gun. The detectives finally get a lead through bookie Midget Castiglione, who puts them in touch with Hughie, one of Benesch's pimps. Tracing the fugitive to a Spanish Harlem apartment, Madigan and Bonaro bring in a police cordon and order the killer to surrender. When he refuses, the two detectives rush the building and break down the door. In the exchange of gunfire, Madigan is fatally wounded before Bonaro can kill Benesch. Russell tries to comfort Julia, but she accuses him of being a heartless administrator. As the commissioner leaves with Chief Inspector Kane, he is asked about Dr. Taylor's situation and other pressing matters at hand. Russell tells him that these are things they can address tomorrow. ===== Drizzt and his friends try and track down Wulfgar's magical hammer Aegis Fang. They stop Wulfgar's new wife Delly Curtie from being murdered in Waterdeep and are eventually reunited with Wulfgar himself with help from their old crewmate Robillard of the Sea Sprite. They track down the pirate Sheila Kree, the one who bought the hammer back in Luskan and who has now turned it into a symbol of her power. They discover her cohabiting in a cave complex with an ogre clan which she has bent to her will. There, Drizzt is faced by Ellifain, the elf child he saved when he was a part of a drow surface raid. She blames him for killing her mother; they fight and he unintentionally kills her, and with a little help from Morik the Rogue they succeed in taking back Wulfgar's weapon. Wulfgar then takes his family to Mithral Hall to live with his old friends. ===== Jumborg Ace teams up with Chaiyo's own Yuk Wud Jaeng, known as Giant in this film. Together, they fight some of Ace's foes. ===== Marge worries she may be pregnant again after a home pregnancy test is inconclusive, so she drives to Dr. Hibbert's office to take another test. While she is gone, Homer tells Bart, Lisa and Maggie the story of their marriage and Bart's birth. In 1980, Homer worked at a mini-golf course while dating Marge. Marge's mother Jacqueline and twin sisters Patty and Selma disapproved of Homer's lack of prospects and unattractive physical appearance. One night, Marge and Homer saw The Empire Strikes Back (whose twist ending Homer inadvertently ruined for the next audience) and made out inside a golf course castle. A few days later, Marge felt sick and told Homer she might be pregnant. Homer was not thrilled when Dr. Hibbert confirmed this. Since he loved Marge, he proposed marriage to her and she accepted. They married in a seedy wedding chapel across the state line and spent their wedding night on the living room couch at Marge's family's house. Homer's wages from the golf course were insufficient to support his growing family, so he applied for a job at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. He was rejected because Smithers favored two other applicants who were members of his college fraternity. When Homer and Marge's newly purchased baby supplies and Marge's wedding ring were repossessed, Homer left to find steady work, hoping to return once able to support his family. Marge was devastated when she read his farewell note. Patty and Selma spotted Homer working at a Gulp 'n' Blow fast food restaurant. Seeing how unhappy Marge was without him, Selma reluctantly told her where to find him. Marge tried to persuade Homer to come home with her. Homer applied for a job at the power plant again, telling Mr. Burns he would be the perfect employee due to his unwavering subservience. Burns was so impressed that he hired Homer on the spot. Homer returned home to learn Marge was in labor at the hospital. He found Marge with Selma and an angry Patty, who berated him. Fed up with her disrespect, Homer angrily told Patty and her family to show him some respect since he now had a well-paying jobnews which delighted Marge right before she gave birth to Bart. After Homer ends his flashback, he tells Bart, Lisa and Maggie he is blessed to have such children. Marge arrives home with the news that she is not pregnant and high-fives Homer. ===== Homer visits Moe's Tavern, where he learns Moe is struggling financially because people are drinking less and he neglected to pay his Duff Beer distributor. Homer tells him about the Flaming Homer, a drink recipe he invented when Patty and Selma made his family watch slides from their vacation. Homer mixed drops of liquor from near-empty bottles, inadvertently including a bottle of Krusty Brand non-narcotic cough syrup. When Patty dropped cigarette ash in the drink and set it aflame, Homer discovered that fire greatly enhanced the drink's taste. Moe makes a Flaming Homer for a customer, who loves its taste. When the customer asks what the drink is called, Moe insists it is his invention, a Flaming Moe. Soon word of mouth spreads, leading to a business boom for Moe. To handle the extra customers, he hires a waitress named Colette. Moe renames his tavern Flaming Moe's, which soon becomes one of Springfield's trendiest nightspots and Aerosmith's new hangout. Homer is angry with Moe for stealing his drink recipe and vows never to return. Homer grows obsessed with Moe's betrayal, even hallucinating visions of Moe's face everywhere. A restaurant chain which wants to buy the drink's recipe has identified all of its components except the secret ingredient. A company representative offers Moe $1 million for the recipe, but he refuses. After Colette learns that Moe stole the recipe from Homer, she makes him promise to apologize to Homer and compensate him. As Moe is about to accept the deal — and share half of the money with him — Homer arrives at the tavern, unhinged by resentment. He loudly reveals to everyone in the bar that the secret ingredient is "nothing but plain, ordinary, over-the-counter children's cough syrup." The representative quickly retracts his offer and leaves. Soon nearly all bars and restaurants in Springfield are serving Flaming Moes, leaving Moe's business to dwindle again. Homer visits Moe's, where they reconcile after Moe serves him a Flaming Homer free of charge. ===== San Francisco debutante Nicki Collins goes to visit her aunt in New York. Her father's employee, Haskell, is to meet her and facilitate her stay. Before reaching Grand Central, Nicki's train makes a brief stop and she looks up from reading a mystery by novelist Wayne Morgan—and witnesses a murder in a nearby building. Upon arrival, she slips away from Haskell and goes to the police, but the desk sergeant, seeing the novel in her hand, assumes she imagined the crime. She decides that Wayne Morgan must be able to solve a murder, finds him, and pesters him to get involved. Following Morgan and his fiancee into a theater, she sees a newsreel about the "accidental" death of shipping magnate Josiah Waring—and recognizes him as the murder victim. Unable to find the crime scene, Nicki sneaks onto the grounds of Waring's mansion. She is mistaken for Margo Martin, who was expected but has not come. Waring's will is read by his lawyer, Wiggam: Waring's nephews Arnold and Jonathan are not surprised to receive a token $1 inheritance, while the bulk of the estate goes to Margo Martin—his trophy fiancee, a singer at a nightclub he owns. Nicki snoops around the house and takes away a pair of bloody slippers that disprove the story of an accident. Two conspirators in the murder try but fail to stop her: Saunders, who turns out to be the nightclub's manager and another heir, and the chauffeur Danny. Back with Haskell, Nicki makes another attempt to involve Morgan, phoning him and pretending a man is there attacking her—not realizing that Danny is there and is about to. Before he can, she makes another call, to her father. While she is singing to him, Danny spots the slippers and departs, separately attacking Haskell and Morgan. (Nicki assumes they mistakenly attacked each other.) For various reasons, everyone goes to the nightclub. Nicki speaks to Margo and becomes suspicious. She locks Margo in a closet, goes on stage, and sings in her place. When freed, Margo tells Saunders she was never interested in the plot and stalks off; she is later murdered. Arnold and Jonathan make romantic overtures to Nicki, but Saunders has her called backstage. He and Danny admit their involvement in the murder and threaten her, but Morgan breaks into the room and Nicki takes the slippers back. A series of backstage fights follows. Nicki escapes back to the stage and sings again. Morgan learns that one of the people she is sitting with—Arnold, Jonathan, and Wiggam—must be the murderer and manages to warn her. Meanwhile, Morgan's fiancee, thinking he is two-timing her with Nicki, dumps him. Danny shoots Saunders. Nicki and Morgan leave with the slippers, but are arrested in the morning based on false information from Danny. Nicki tries to present the slippers, but Morgan's valet has them—and proudly shows how clean they now are. Arnold, Jonathan, and Haskell all arrive at the jail to pay Nicki's bail. Arnold says the Warings would like to meet her and drives her to their company's offices, but nobody is there. They talk about the case and he admits that he had motive, but so did Jonathan, Wiggam, and especially Saunders. Nicki, frightened, manages to get away from him. Finding Jonathan in the building, she tells him that Arnold is the murderer. They hide in a room—and it is the scene of the crime she saw from the train. Jonathan is the murderer. He confesses braggingly: next he will kill her, frame Arnold, and kill Arnold supposedly while defending Nicki. Arnold slips into the room and grabs Jonathan's gun, but then Morgan arrives and mistakes the situation, and Jonathan gets it back. As Morgan tries unconvincingly to tell Jonathan that the police will be coming, they do. In the final scene, Nicki and Wayne Morgan are newlyweds on a train. She is enjoying his newest book so much she tells the porter not to make up their beds until she finishes reading, and Morgan promptly tells her how it ends. ===== According to an ancient Japanese legend, mermaid flesh may grant immortality if eaten. However, there is a much greater chance that consumption will lead to death or transformation into a damned creature known as a Lost Soul (Deformed Ones in the English dub). Mermaid Saga tells the tale of Yuta, an immortal who has been alive for five hundred years after eating mermaid flesh. However, he is tired of his immortality and throughout the series, he wanders across Japan searching for a mermaid who may be able to turn him back into a normal human. He encounters Mana, a young woman who is about to be sacrificed. She has been forced to eat mermaid flesh so that after she is killed, her flesh can be used to rejuvenate a village of ageing immortal women. Yuta rescues her and they travel on together while Yuta pursues his quest to become human again. ===== Set during September 1949, confusion reigns when St Swithin's Girls' School is accidentally billeted at Nutbourne College: a boys' school. The two heads, Wetherby Pond (Alastair Sim) and Muriel Whitchurch (Margaret Rutherford), try to cope with the ensuing chaos, as the children and staff attempt to live in the newly cramped conditions (it being impossible to share dormitories or other facilities), and seek to prevent the children taking advantage of their new opportunities. Additional humour is derived from the departure of the Nutbourne College domestic staff and their hurried (and not very effective) replacement with the St Swithin's School Home Economics class. The main comedy is derived from the fact that the parents of the St Swithins girls would consider it improper for their daughters to be exposed to the rough mix of boys in Pond's school, and from the consequent need to conceal the fact that the girls are now sharing a school that's full of boys. Pond is offended at the suggestion that his boys are not suitable company for the young ladies of St Swithin's, but he needs to appease Miss Whitchurch to salvage his chances of an appointment to a prestigious all-boys school for which he is in the running, and which depends on his ability to prevent his current post presenting the appearance of a beer garden. Matters come to a head when a group of school governors, from the prestigious establishment to which Pond has applied to become the next headmaster, pay a visit at the same time as the parents of some of the St Swithin's girls. Frantic classroom changes are made, and hockey, lacrosse and rugby posts and nets are swapped about, as pupils and staff try to hide the unusual arrangement. Two simultaneous tours of the school premises are arranged: one for the girls' parents, and a separate one for the governors, and never the twain must meet! The facade finally collapses when the parents become obsessed with seeing a girls' lacrosse match at the same time as one of the governors has been promised a rugby match. The punchline is delivered – a clever swipe at post-war bureaucracy – when, weeks too late, a Ministry of Schools official arrives, to declare everything sorted out. "You're a co- educational school, I believe; well I've arranged for another co-educational school to replace St Swithin's next week... Oh, it appears they're ahead of schedule." At this point, several more coachloads of children and staff appear noisily, and utter chaos reigns. Fade out on Alastair Sim and Margaret Rutherford, quietly discussing in which remote and unattractive corner of the British Empire they might best try to pick up the pieces of their respective careers, with her mentioning having a brother who "grows groundnuts in Tanganyika." ===== Veterinary technician Corky Romano (Chris Kattan), banished from his family after the death of his mother, is unaware of their criminal connections until he receives a call from his father "Pops" (Peter Falk), a Mafia crime lord. Indicted on racketeering charges and knowing the strong case against him, Pops has concluded the only solution is to destroy the FBI’s evidence. At the family mansion, a bedridden Pops convinces Corky to infiltrate the local FBI office, since the Romano family cannot send anyone with known underworld connections, such as Corky's brothers Paulie (Peter Berg) and Peter (Chris Penn). With the aid of a computer hacker, Corky obtains a false identity, “Agent Corky Pissant” and gains access to the building, where he discovers from office chief Howard Schuster (Richard Roundtree) that, according to his falsified résumé, "Pissant" graduated from Harvard, speaks five different languages, is an expert sharpshooter, and has extensive martial arts training. Corky makes several trips to the evidence room, only to be sidetracked each time. He is sent on investigations and raids, with several assignments tied to the Night Vulture, a heroin trafficker who is number six on the FBI's Most Wanted List. Corky's frequent mistakes often inadvertently solve the problem at hand, leading others at the FBI to assume Corky has developed intricate strategies. He receives praise at the office and in the local media, though Agent Brick Davis (Matthew Glave) remains jealous and suspicious. Corky develops feelings for FBI agent Kate Russo (Vinessa Shaw), but she seems uninterested until they bump into each other at the Romano mansion, where Russo has been sent undercover to collect more evidence against the family. Corky convinces Russo that he is also working undercover, and befriends agents Bob Cox (Roger Fan) and Terrence Darnell (Dave Sheridan). Cox and Darnell are captured trying to infiltrate one of Pops' underground casinos. Corky comes to the rescue, but is caught by the bouncers; revealed to be a member of the Romano family, he asks them to let his friends go. Corky obtains the evidence file regarding Pops, and discovers that his father will be facing murder charges. Shocked, he tells Pops, who vehemently denies killing anyone. Snooping through family photo albums, Russo discovers that Corky is a Romano and not an FBI agent. The entire FBI office raids the Romano mansion, where it is revealed that family friend Leo Corrigan (Fred Ward) is an FBI informant and has been lying about the extent of the family's crimes, including the alleged murder; it is also discovered that Brick Davis is the Night Vulture. Corky knocks Leo unconscious with a light fixture, and Davis is arrested by his fellow agents. Corky and Russo marry and drive off in Corky's bright yellow Mazda Miata. Corky gains the respect and love of his entire family, and his former boss at the veterinary clinic retires, giving Corky the keys to the business. ===== When the existence of a strain of plague (vaguely identified as pneumonic) is revealed at the US mission at the International Health Organization, three terrorists seek to blow up the US mission. Two of them are shot, one mortally, by security personnel but one escapes. The surviving terrorist is hospitalised and quarantined and identified as Swedish. Elena Stradner and US military intelligence Colonel Stephen Mackenzie argue over the nature of the strain, which Stradner suspects is a biological weapon but which Colonel Mackenzie claims was in the process of being destroyed. The third terrorist, Eklund, escapes and stows away on a train bound from Geneva to Stockholm. Stradner believes that the train should be stopped so that the terrorist can be removed and quarantined, but Col. Mackenzie is concerned that all of the passengers on the train might be infected. Mackenzie insists on rerouting the train to a disused railway line which goes to a former Nazi concentration camp in Janov, Poland where the passengers will be quarantined. However, the line crosses a dangerously unsound steel arch bridge known as the Kasundruv Bridge or the "Cassandra Crossing", out of use since 1948 (former railway Zagorz-Solina- Turka-Lviv between Poland and Ukraine) Mackenzie understands that the bridge might collapse as the train passes over it. The presence of the infected terrorist, and the rerouting of the train, precipitates the second conflict, among passengers on the train; they include Jonathan Chamberlain, a famous neurologist, his ex-wife Jennifer Rispoli Chamberlain, a former inmate of Janov and Holocaust survivor Herman Kaplan, and Nicole Dressler, the wife of a German arms dealer. She is embroiled in an affair with her young companion Robby Navarro. Navarro is a heroin trafficker being pursued by Interpol agent Haley, who is travelling undercover as a priest. Mackenzie informs Chamberlain of the presence of Eklund, who is found, but attempts to remove him via a helicopter are unsuccessful because the train enters a tunnel. Chamberlain is also told that the plague has a 60% mortality rate. Mackenzie, however, informs passengers that police have received reports of anarchist bombs placed along the rail line, and that the train will be rerouted to Nuremberg. There the train is sealed with an enclosed oxygen system and a US Army medical team is placed aboard, with the now-deceased terrorist being placed in a hermetically-sealed coffin. Chamberlain learns of the risk of the Cassandra Crossing. He also begins to suspect the disease is not as serious as originally thought: few of the passengers have become infected and few of those have actually died. He radios MacKenzie suggesting the infected portion of the train be uncoupled and isolated, but MacKenzie, acting under orders, has no intention of stopping the train: if, as expected, the Cassandra Crossing collapses, it will neatly cover the fact that the U.S has been harbouring germ warfare agents in a neutral country. Chamberlain and Haley form a group of passengers to overcome the guards and seize control of the train before it reaches the doomed bridge. After Navarro is killed by the guards trying to reach the engine, and Haley and Kaplan sacrifice themselves, Chamberlain manages to separate the rear half of the train, hoping that with less weight the front half will cross safely. But the bridge collapses, killing everyone aboard the front half. Max, the train's conductor, applies the manual brakes and stops the remaining cars just before reaching the downed bridge. The survivors soon evacuate the remaining cars and head off on foot, no longer under guard or quarantine. In Geneva, both Stradner and MacKenzie depart: she keeps hope of survivors while he feels quiet guilt over the whole affair. After they leave, Major Stack informs MacKenzie's superior that both the colonel and the doctor are under surveillance. The Garabit Viaduct arch bridge was used to represent the condemned "Cassandra Crossing". ===== The action takes place amid the deserted dunes and screaming gulls of a chilly Baltic shore. Two lonely, damaged people, played by Irena Laskowska and Jan Machulski, whose characters remain nameless throughout the film, happen to meet on a deserted beach. Both are haunted by vivid memories of World War II and make silent, imperfect attempts to reach out to each other, but they cannot find a means to communicate. ===== The novel tells the story of Gack, a teenage boy from Giganda. Gack is a cadet commando in Fighting Cats: an elite army unit of the Alai Duchy. In the first chapter of the novel, Gack is mortally wounded in a dogfight with an attacking tank unit of the army of the Empire. Kornei Yashmaa, a progressor finds him and takes him to Earth where the doctors practically resurrect Gack. Yashmaa tries to help Gack adjust to life on Earth. However, Gack does not want to cooperate, neither he believes that Earth is real. At first, he thinks that everything Yashmaa and other Earthlings tell him is a part of his psychological training as an officer of the Alai Army. Even after Yashmaa proves to him that he is indeed on a different planet, Gack still thinks that he was sent to Earth with an unknown secret mission by the Alai military. His next idea is that the Earth wants to conquer Giganda and wants to use him as a test subject or a future propaganda agent. As he learns more about the technology and lifestyle on Earth (he is even given an android servant), he becomes more and more confused. Accidentally, Gack discovers that other Gigandians have been taken to Earth as well, but they have integrated into the society and do not want to deal with him. After a month since Gack's arrival on Earth, Yashmaa tells him that the war on Giganda was stopped by progressors and that the Alai Duchy as well as the Empire is no more. Gack is shocked by the news so much that he demands to go back to Giganda immediately. When Yashmaa refuses, Gack tries to escape by force. With the help of his android servant, he manages to construct an assault rifle and ammunition to it. Gack threatens to shoot Yashmaa if he does not send him back. Yashmaa can easily disarm Gack, but, persuaded by Gack's actions, decides to let him go. In the last chapter Gack is back on Giganda and helps local doctors cure a plague ravaging a nearby city. He is home. ===== Mars Daybreak takes place in a future where Mars is terraformed into an Earth-like planet. The once dry red planet is now covered over by one large ocean (except for the peak of Olympus Mons). Due to human intervention, various animals and machines now have human-like intelligence and the people reside in large floating cities called city-ships. The Martian economy is based mostly on water, a readily available resource and the planet's main export. However, a ceasefire in the Pan-Galactic war has reduced demand for the export of water, causing the Martian economy to weaken and also affected the quality of life to its inhabitants. The ocean-covered environment makes a perfect setting for commercial trade ships and pirates to utilize submarines to make a living. At the same time, the pirates also raid those very trades for personal profit. The most renowned and feared of the pirate vessels is the Ship of Aurora, which makes a habit of reselling its booty cheap so that it can be redistributed to the less fortunate folk. However, the pirates had pose such a problem that the Earth government, which controls Mars, dispatches their own aquatic forces to deal with the threat of piracy. Through specialized aquatic mobile suits, called Round Bucklers (aka RBs), both opposing sides battle for their supremacy over Mars' waters. The story focuses on the protagonist, Gram River. A vagrant and orphan, Gram has spent the latter of his life living on the slums of the city-ship Adena. He and his little friend, Bon, had just lost their jobs and in need of money. A local thug offered to reward Gram handsomely if he agreed to show him ways to infiltrate and steal goods from protected warehouse; Gram refused, but Bon secretly took Gram's place. After Gram learned what happened from Bon's little sister, Shie, he intervened to rescue him. Coincidentally, the Ship of Aurora, attacked and destroyed an area that Gram was in. Causing him to fall underwater, Gram was sinking until his necklace reacted and mysteriously summoned an unclassified RB that shows great resemblance to the Aurora's high- performance RB, belonging to Yagami "The Reaper" Arian. Unclear how did the RB came into his possession (later christened as Hope), Gram engaged Earth Forces and was assisted by Yagami. After escaping their battle against Earth Forces, Yagami invited Gram to join him as part of Aurora's crew. Gram initially agreed to help the Aurora crew for a single mission, but Yagami wanted Gram to stay for his talents. After surviving an initiation sword fight with its captain, Elizabeth Liati, he was accepted as part of the crew and spent the latter of his time in the Aurora's mess hall making extra money as their new cook. In between all that has happened, an old flame returns, Vestemona "Vess" Lauren. Vess and Gram grew up and survived together in the slums. However, by chance, Vess was adopted by the wealthy Lauren family and left for Earth; she recently returned to Mars as an Earth Forces officer and stationed back at her hometown of Adena. During the conflict between the Ship of Aurora, news had revealed that Gram was part of the Aurora's crew and she made it her mission to hunt down Gram in attempts to save him from the lowly pirate life. By chance, Gram bumps into Vess as he was bidding Bon and Shie farewell. Vess tries to stop Gram, even threatened to shoot him, but Gram stopped her and surprised her with a goodbye kiss; it became Vess' mission to take down Gram. While traveling aboard the Aurora, Gram had rescued and taken in Enora Taft (secretly the granddaughter of Earth's President Taft) as part of the crew. Gram had also earned the unwanted attention of Kubernes, a freelance pirate that realized the potential behind Gram's necklace and constantly battles with the Aurora crew for his allegiance. It was only later, at the city-ship of Rigaoka (descendants of the first Martian colonizers) that Gram learned that his necklace is called the Elder Emblem (aka Mark of the Chief) and the key to unlocking the Box of Guidance to show him where the Stone of the Gods (aka God Stones) was. By chance, Gram encountered Garma, the guardian of the box and she entrusted him with the box and even suggested he might be a descendant of their people. The captain was intrigued by the legend of the treasure and decided to search for it. During the Aurora's quest to find the treasure, Vess wasn't far behind to hunt down Gram. Unfortunately, Vess' past connection with Gram was finally revealed and the military had arrested her under suspicion of her allegiances with Earth Forces. However, she managed to escape and tried to exact her anger towards Gram for ruining her life. Unfortunately, she barely survived the encounter and Gram thought she had died in combat. However, she was rescued and recruited by Kubernes as his new RB pilot. Taking advantage of her anger, Kubernes tried to direct Vess' rage towards the Aurora. Vess later reveals she's alive and settles their problems in combat. She confronts Gram in a sword fight on an old shield-ship. During the fight, Vess confesses that she's angry with Gram because he did not try to stop her from going to Earth and because he let her go alone; Gram argues he thought it was the best future for her. After Vess vented all her personal frustrations, the two finally make up their differences and embrace each other as a loving couple. However, before the two can be together, Vess had to settle things in her terms; she surrenders to the military to face punishment, but her father intervenes and walks away unpunished and agrees to return to Earth after he concludes his business in Mars. Gram and the Aurora crew eventually found the God Stones. However, there was resistance as Kubernes unsuccessfully fought Gram for the treasure and the crew had to face Niall Poe (a self-proclaimed revolutionist who owns the Aurora). Unfortunately, the Aurora crew didn't agree with Niall's views; the crew lost claim of the God Stones and was arrested by the Earth Forces. Gram, Yagami, and Enora (due to her grandfather) escaped capture, but the remaining crew faced a public execution. When Vess realized that her father is involved in shady dealings with Niall Poe and that the Aurora's crew faced death, she defected to save Gram. After Gram reunites with Vess, he made an unlikely choice of hiring Kubernes (moved by his sentiment for his comrades) to help him save Aurora crew. On the day of execution, Yagami, Gram, Vess, and Kubernes successfully launched their rescue mission of the Aurora's crew. The Aurora in turn ruined Niall Poe's exploitation of the God Stones. However, Gram's RB was destroyed and he abandoned it as he no longer needed it. The story ends afterwards as the God Stones was liquidated into its bacterial state (later proven beneficial towards Mars' ocean and future). At Adena, Gram receives his family with a new sub (found in the Ice Graveyard), rechristened as the Ship of Hope, Gram intends to live aboard the ship with Vess, Bon, and Shie for a new life across the seas and bids the crew of the Aurora farewell. ===== The novel concerns a doctor who develops a mechanical method of eradicating painful memories from people's brains so that they can feel good about life again. The protagonist persuades his lover to try the process after she has been seduced by a rival. She is transformed until the protagonist awakes and realizes that he has dreamt of the doctor and his process and that his lover has committed suicide. ===== Escaping from China with a microfilm of the formula for the mysterious "Lotus X", Lord Edward Southmere, a Kings Messenger, is chased by a group of Chinese spies. Back in London, Lord Southmere manages to escape from a chauffeur who is trying to kidnap him and then runs into the Natural History Museum. Chinese spies, led by Hnup Wan, follow him, so he hides the microfilm in the bones of one of the large dinosaur skeletons. He is relieved to meet his former nanny, Hettie, in the museum, and asks her to retrieve the microfilm. Southmere then faints and is captured by the Chinese, who tell Hettie and Emily (another nanny) that they are taking him to a doctor. Hettie and Emily enlist other nannies to help them search. They hide in the mouth of the blue whale display until after closing time and then begin looking over the skeleton of a Brontosaurus. They are unsuccessful and most of them have to return home to care for their children, but Hettie, Emily and their friend Susan remain to continue with the search. They are captured and taken to the spies' London headquarters, underneath a Chinese restaurant in Soho. The nannies are locked up in the 'dungeon', with Lord Southmere, but are able to outwit their captors and escape. Meanwhile, the spies have decided to steal the dinosaur, so that they can search it properly. That night, they trick their way into the museum. The three nannies follow on a motorbike and sidecar and watch from the shadows. After the Chinese load the Brontosaurus skeleton on the back of their steam lorry, the nannies steal the vehicle. The spies give chase through the foggy streets of London in their charabanc and a Daimler limousine, but the nannies drive into a railway goods yard, onto a flat wagon at the back of a train, and are carried off to safety. The nannies fail to find the microfilm on the skeleton. Meanwhile, back in London, Hettie's two young charges, Lord Castlebury and his younger brother, Truscott, have been captured by the spies. They are taken to the museum and the chief spy retrieves the microfilm from the other large dinosaur, a Diplodocus skeleton. The two boys are allowed home and tell Hettie the news. Realising that Lord Southmere is now in danger, Hettie organises a rescue. Hettie and her team of nannies invade the Chinese restaurant base and battle with the spies over Lord Southmere. Meanwhile, Emily and Susan return with the Brontosaurus skeleton and the lorry and bring the fight sequence to a shattering conclusion. Everything ends well and the secret of the mysterious "Lotus X" is finally revealed. It turns out that Lotus X is actually a recipe for Wonton soup, to which Southmere says that he tried to tell Hnup Wan that he was a businessman. Wan then advertises the recipe and makes peace with the nannies. ===== U.S. energy giant Connex Oil is losing control of key oil fields in a Persian Gulf kingdom ruled by the al-Subaai family. The emirate's foreign minister, Prince Nasir, has granted natural gas drilling rights to a Chinese company, greatly upsetting the U.S. oil industry and the U.S. government. To compensate for its decreased production capacity, Connex initiates a shady merger with Killen, a smaller oil company that recently won the drilling rights to key petroleum fields in Kazakhstan. If Connex-Killen were a country, it would rank as the world's twenty-third largest economy, and antitrust regulators at the DOJ have concerns. A Washington, D.C.-based law firm headed by Dean Whiting is hired to smooth the way for the merger. Bennett Holiday is assigned to promote the impression of due diligence to the DOJ, deflecting any allegations of corruption. ===== ===== The setting of the book is Gordon High School in Spring 1969. The plot revolves around a history teacher Mr. Ben Ross, his high school students, and an experiment he conducts in an attempt to teach them what it may have been like living in Third Reich Germany. Unsatisfied with his own inability to answer his students' earnest questions of how and why, Mr. Ross initiates the experiment (The Wave) in hopes that it answers the question of why the Germans allowed Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party to rise to power, acting in a manner inconsistent with their own pre-existing moral values. Ross considers this and plans an experiment: the next day, he starts to indoctrinate the class using the slogan STRENGTH THROUGH DISCIPLINE, ordering them around in ways such as sitting in a specific way, and telling how to answer questions. The class reacts well to this, embracing the sense of empowerment it gives them, and they continue their newly disciplined behavior into a second day of class, surprising Ross. He decides to take the experiment further and create a group, The Wave, adding two more slogans—STRENGTH THROUGH COMMUNITY and STRENGTH THROUGH ACTION—which leads to further rules of conduct, a symbol, a salute, and an organizational structure. Laurie Saunders, a student in Mr. Ross's class early in the week, starts to think that The Wave is having too much of an impact. Laurie receives a letter for the school paper, of which she is editor in chief, detailing how members try to recruit others with bullying. That weekend, the football team is unable to win against Clarkstown, as their newfound drive does not compensate for a lack of proper training and planning. Laurie's boyfriend David is confused by this turn of events, as the football team had joined the Wave, while Laurie and her staff on The Grapevine plan a special issue of the paper devoted exclusively to The Wave and the negative impact it has had on the school. While some thank her, especially the teachers and the principal, others do not. David, who has been in The Wave since the beginning, tries to get her to stop bad-mouthing it. He eventually shoves her to the ground and this makes him realize how dangerous The Wave really is. Now united in the belief that The Wave must be stopped, Laurie and David go to the Ross home in order to convince Ben Ross to terminate the program. He tells them he will do exactly that, but that they must trust his moves the next day. He calls a Wave meeting in the auditorium and requests that only Wave members be present. They gather in a similar fashion to the Nazi rallies, even equipped with banners and armbands emblazoned with the Wave. Ben tells The Wave members that they are only one in many schools across the nation that is involved in the Wave, and that they are about to see the leader of the whole organization and that he is going to speak to all of them on television to create a National Wave Party for Youths. Everyone is shocked when Mr. Ross projects the image of Adolf Hitler. He explains that there is no leader, and that there is no National Wave Party. If there were a leader, it would be the man on the projection screen. He explains how their obedience led them to act like Nazis. The shocked students drop all their Wave-branded trinkets and items, and slowly leave the room. As Ben turns to leave, the one person who really flourished in the Wave, Robert, is standing alone, upset that The Wave ended. During The Wave, he was finally accepted as an equal, no one picked on him, and he had friends, but his new-found social status is now worthless without The Wave. ===== In Tokyo, there lived a fifth grader (now sixth grader a year later) named Honmaru Edojo (voiced by Minami Takayama) who is a naughty youngster who is one of the most trodden-upon losers in his class, rule breakers and plausible outcast, until the time he meets Magical Taruruuto-kun (voiced by Tarako). Taruruuto's powers help him deal with all his hardships, such as girls, bullies, and numerous other challenges. At the end of the series, Honmaru now graduates from Nanno Elementary and began to enter middle school along with his only crush Iona Kawai. ===== Francisco Romero is a small-town teacher who decides to try his luck in Mexico City. He joins the faculty of Prep school number 10 "Rosario Castellanos" and soon realizes that his work is more demanding than he expected; in addition to having to prove himself as a teacher, he must prove himself as a human being. He will find that, in order to make a difference with his students, he will also have to assume the roles of counselor, psychologist, doctor, and even detective. The themes this story deals with are: dropping out of school, teen pregnancy, street gangs, men who abuse their stepdaughters, teenagers forced to work to support their families, and alcoholic parents who lead their children down the same path - that is, problems of a very real nature, experienced by high school students the world over. This is also a love story. Both students and faculty fall victim to Cupid's random arrows, beginning with Francisco and Adriana (the school counselor) who, nonetheless, must put their hormones on hold long enough to become respected role models in the eyes of their students. But their love story is not destined for a happy ending, since Adriana will have to choose between Francisco and her love for her son. Francisco will have a second chance at love with Ana Maria, the new English teacher who will become his right arm when dealing with his students and their problems in and out of school. Ultimately, however, he will find true love in the arms of Angela, the woman in charge of the school cafeteria. She is a working mother whose teenage children Juan David and Sandra attend this same school, and who has managed to keep a fine balance between being a housewife, a working woman, a mother and a lover. The school itself occupies center stage in this story, and will become the forum where the main conflicts of the plot will be exposed and resolved, and where Francisco Romero, in his role as teacher, will not only show his students how entertaining learning can be, but will make them understand the importance of respect for authority, of friendship, camaraderie, love, and the values that will guide their conduct as they close the cycle of adolescence and move on to become adults. One of the recurring themes in this telenovela is friendship, which is best exemplified by the story of Gabriela and Marcela, two high school students who struggle to get ahead and maintain their friendship alive in spite of the painful experiences they go through and the many obstacles that threaten to drive them apart. Their friendship will be put to the test when one of them realizes that everyone will give you advice, but no one will stand with you to face the consequences. Alcohol abuse among teenagers, sexual responsibility, domestic violence and prostitution are also topics addressed in this production. More problems are Magdalena, a strikingly beautiful young woman with a rebellious nature. She faces domestic abuse, while another student Hugo, gets involved with gangs leading to his death. Carlos get swindled into drug dealing and addiction after his friend's death, Kike deals with heartbreak which leads to him becoming an alcoholic, Freddy who deals with being gay, and Daniela whose dreams of becoming a model almost lead her to the end of her life. While Tatiana comes as the teen who feels out of place as a rich kid whose family has gone poor and must adapt to face the gang 406. She ultimately leads to drugs much later on. The toughest struggle is when Francisco, their professor who has stuck through thick and thin with them must leave with his new wife. A new professor, Santiago, takes his place. Can the students accept him? Will he be able to fill the void that was left by his predecessor? His troubled past including a young girl who was sexually harassing him in an old school he taught and when he does not agree to have a relationship with her she accuses him of rape. The girl with the troubled mind is known as Jessica. Her story is one of the classics, a poor rich girl who wishes to act like a villain due to a father who doesn't pay attention to her, and a dead mother who she strives for. ===== Jeeves comes home after serving as a substitute butler at Brinkley Court, the country house of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia. She tells Bertie that Sir Watkyn Bassett was there and was impressed with Jeeves. Additionally, Sir Watkyn bragged about obtaining a black amber statuette to Aunt Dahlia's husband, Tom Travers, who is a rival collector. Jeeves dislikes Bertie's new blue Alpine hat with a pink feather. Bertie continues to wear the hat, and has lunch with Emerald Stoker, the sister of his friend Pauline Stoker who is on her way to the Bassett household, Totleigh Towers. He then sees Reverend Harold "Stinker" Pinker, who is upset that Sir Watkyn has not given him the vicarage, which Stinker needs to be able to marry Stephanie "Stiffy" Byng, Watkyn Bassett's niece. Stinker tells Bertie that Stiffy wants Bertie to come to Totleigh Towers to do something for her, but knowing that Stiffy often starts trouble, Bertie refuses. Gussie Fink-Nottle is upset with his fiancée Madeline Bassett, Sir Watkyn's daughter. Jeeves suggests that Bertie go to Totleigh Towers there to heal the rift between Gussie and Madeline, or else Madeline will decide to marry Bertie instead. Though Bertie does not want to marry Madeline, his personal code will not let him turn a girl down. Bertie reluctantly decides to go to Totleigh, saying, “Stiff upper lip, Jeeves, what?”.Wodehouse (2008) [1963], chapter 4, p. 36. Jeeves commends his spirit. At Totleigh Towers, Madeline is touched to see Bertie, thinking he came to see her because he is hopelessly in love with her. Sir Watkyn's friend Roderick Spode, formally Lord Sidcup, loves Madeline but hides his feelings from her. At dinner, Madeline says that her father purchased the black amber statuette from someone named Plank who lives nearby at Hockley-cum-Meston. Stiffy says the statuette is worth one thousand pounds. Jeeves tells Bertie that Gussie is unhappy with Madeline because she is making him follow a vegetarian diet. The cook has offered to secretly provide Gussie steak-and-kidney pie. The cook is in fact Emerald Stoker, who took the job after losing her allowance betting on a horse. She has fallen for Gussie. After telling Bertie that Sir Watkyn cheated Plank by paying only five pounds for the statuette, Stiffy orders Bertie to sell it back to Plank for five pounds, or else she will tell Madeline that Gussie has been sneaking meat, and then Madeline would leave him for Bertie. Stiffy takes the statuette and gives it to Bertie. Bertie goes to Hockley-cum-Meston and meets the explorer Major Plank. Plank mentions that he is looking for a prop forward for his Hockley- cum-Meston rugby team. When Bertie tries to sell the statuette back to him for five pounds, Plank assumes Bertie stole it from Sir Watkyn, and intends to call the police. Jeeves arrives, saying he is Chief Inspector Witherspoon of Scotland Yard. He tells Plank that he is there to arrest Bertie, claiming that Bertie is a criminal known as Alpine Joe. Leading Bertie safely away, Jeeves tells him that Sir Watkyn actually paid the full one thousand pounds for the statuette and had lied to spite Tom Travers. Jeeves returns the statuette to Totleigh Towers. Spode sees Gussie kissing Emerald, and threatens to harm him for betraying Madeline. When Stinker moves to protect Gussie, Spode hits Stinker. Stinker retaliates, knocking out Spode. Spode regains consciousness, only to be knocked out again by Emerald. Seeing Spode on the ground, Madeline calls Gussie a brute. He defiantly eats a ham sandwich in front of her, and their engagement ends. Gussie and Emerald elope. Sir Watkyn offers Harold Pinker the vicarage, but changes his mind when he finds out that Stinker punched Spode. Meanwhile, Madeline resolves to marry Bertie. Major Plank, after learning from a telephone call with Inspector Witherspoon that Harold Pinker is a skilled prop forward, comes to the house and gives him the vicarage at Hockley-cum-Meston. Because of this, Stiffy no longer needs the statuette, which she stole a second time to blackmail Sir Watkyn, so she gives it to Jeeves to return it. Hiding from Plank behind a sofa, Bertie overhears Spode and Jeeves convince Madeline that Bertie did not come to Totleigh Towers for love of her but rather because he wanted to steal the statuette, which Jeeves says he found among Bertie's belongings. Madeline decides not to marry Bertie. Spode proposes to Madeline and she accepts. Bertie is discovered and Sir Watkyn, a justice of the peace, intends to make Bertie spend twenty-eight days in jail. After being arrested by Constable Oates, Bertie spends the night in jail. In the morning, Bertie is released. Sir Watkyn is dropping the charge because Jeeves agreed to work for him. Bertie is shocked, but Jeeves assures him it will only be temporary. After a week or so, he will find a reason to resign and return to Bertie. Moved, Bertie wishes there was something he could do to repay Jeeves. Jeeves asks Bertie to give up the Alpine hat. Bertie agrees. ===== Þórhallur Sverrisson stars as "Tóti", a 29-year-old grade school graduate who tries to earn his living by importing Bulgarian cigarettes to Iceland. His 18-year-old girlfriend "Dagmar", played by Hafdís Huld, is trying to put up with him and his hobbies and soccer, while in high school (Menntaskóli). His best friend "Valli", a house painter and a longtime friend of Tóti speaks his mind throughout the movie, such as his thoughts on women and his patriotic ideas on Iceland, he is played by Jón Gnarr. ===== The story begins in the year 972, when Romieux de Provence, a young nobleman descended from Charlemagne and King Alfred, leaves his native Kingdom of Arles for England and the royal court of Edgar I. After being shipwrecked on the coast of Cornwall, Rumon encounters Merewyn, a teenage girl who claims to be a descendant of King Arthur. Merewyn leads him to her house, where Merewyn's dying mother, Breaca, reveals to Rumon that in fact, Merewyn is the product of her rape by a Viking warrior. This is later confirmed by the Prior of Padstow Monastery, who witnessed the Viking raid. Swearing Rumon to secrecy, Merewyn's mother charges Rumon to take the girl to her aunt Merwinna, Abbess of Romsey Abbey. After the death of Merewyn's mother, Merewyn and Rumon make the journey from Cornwall to England. The party travel to Lydford where King Edgar is holding court. Rumon meets Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, who befriends Rumon, and introduces him and Merewyn to King Edgar and his Queen, Alfrida. Edgar welcomes Rumon into the English Court, while Queen Alfrida employs Merewyn as one of her ladies-in-waiting. The two subsequently witness the King and Queen's coronation at Bath in 973; however, Dunstan catches Rumon in a romantic tryst with Queen Alfrida, and so takes Rumon away from the Royal party to settle at Glastonbury Abbey. Despite Merewyn meeting with her aunt Merwinna at the coronation, Queen Alfrida refuses to let her go to Romsey Abbey, and instead employs Merewyn. A few years later, Rumon starts an illicit affair with Queen Alfrida, who is living in Corfe Castle after her husband's death. Merewyn learns of the affair, and leaves the employment of the Queen for Romsey Abbey. Rumon then witnesses Queen Alfrith's treachery and deception, which leads to the murder of the young King Edward in 978. Alfrida plans Edward's death in order to give the throne to her own son Æthelred, and promptly dumps Rumon after her plan succeeds. Disgusted, Rumon returns to Glastonbury Abbey, under the care of Dunstan who plans for Rumon to enter a religious life. Merewyn is also encouraged to enter a religious life by her aunt Merwinna, and her friend Elfled, who is staying with her at Romsey Abbey. Merewyn has unresolved feelings for Rumon however. A Viking raid on Romsey Abbey weakens Merwinna, and causes her death. Merewyn embarks on a pilgrimage to Padstow to return her aunt's heart to the place of her birth. On the way, she goes to Glastonbury Abbey and encounters Rumon. Merewyn admits her feelings for Rumon, but he rejects her. Merewyn then continues to Padstow. Belatedly, Rumon realises that he too loves Merewyn, and follows her. However, Merewyn encounters another Viking raid, and is captured by Ketil, a Viking who raided Padstow years earlier. Ketil intends to rape Merewyn, but the Prior of Padstow Abbey informs him that he is Merewyn's father. By the time Rumon arrives at Padstow, Ketil has taken Merewyn away on a Viking Longship. Rumon charts a ship, and embarks on a rescue journey overseas to find Merewyn. After stopping in Limerick, Ireland, Rumon's ship is caught in a storm and is blown off-course. The ship eventually finds the mouth of the Merrimack River on the coast of North America. There, Rumon encounters a Merrimack tribe who have been converted to Christianity by a group of Irish Culdee Monks. The tribe (under the influence of the Culdees) capture Rumon and his crew, and steal their ship. Meanwhile, Merewyn has settled in Iceland, where she lives with her father Ketil, and her new husband Sigurd. She also has a son called Orm. Rumon eventually escapes from the Culdees and tracks down Merewyn. Merewyn does not appreciate seeing Rumon, and promptly lets him know that she has settled into a new life. Rejected, Rumon returns to England alone. Ketil and his family then follow Erik the Red, and set sail to colonise Greenland in 985. The family attempt to make a living in the harsh climate of the new colony, and Merewyn gives birth to a mentally disabled daughter called Thora. Ketil, however, succumbs to old-age and dies on the Longship he used on Viking raids for so many years. In the year 1000, Sigurd dies too, and Merewyn persuades her son Orm to take her and his sister to England. Merewyn wishes to find Rumon, but soon learns that he was ordained as a monk at Tavistock Abbey, and that he had famously defended the Abbey from a Viking raid. Merewyn then takes her family to Romsey Abbey where she finds that her old friend Elfled is now Abbess. Elfled takes in Thora, while Merewyn marries and settles with Wulfric, a wealthy thane of King Æthelred. Orm cannot settle into life in England however, and leaves to rejoin the Viking peoples. Merewyn then proceeds to rejoin the Royal Court as a Lady-in-waiting for Queen Ælfgifu and then Queen Emma. After gaining back her social status in the English nobility, finally Merewyn is summoned to Tavistock Abbey, where she reconciles with Rumon before he dies. Rumon makes one last request that Merewyn admit her true birth at court. She fulfills his wish, admitting her Viking parentage to the King and Queen. Queen Emma sympathises with Merewyn's story, and Merewyn's husband Wulfric declares that he does not care about her lineage. Merewyn then settles down to a comfortable life with Wulfric. ===== ===== In a show of force, General Tannis destroys the city of Annit — population 9 million — and then demands the surrender of Admiral Mettna. This is the first stage in the Canisian invasion of the Santine Republic, which falls quickly. Tannis himself kills their president. It is to this world the Seventh Doctor and Antimony have arrived. The Doctor soon meets Senator Sala, the leader of the resistance and rescues her and other resistance fighters from captivity. When the Doctor sees burning trees, he realises someone is trying to contact him. A being identifying himself as a "God of the Fourth" appears on a spaceship to rescue a prisoner — that prisoner is Ace. He tells her that he is Casmus, and that she was rescued so that she could learn. The Doctor and Antimony travel to the Temple of the Fourth on the planet Micen Island, where they see the statues of long dead Time Lords. They see an inscription "We serve the many, until the many are One, until twilight falls and death comes to Time." A Time Lord called The Minister of Chance arrives, it was he who had sent the Doctor a message. The Minister informs the Doctor that two Time Lords — the Saints Antinor and Valentine have been brutally murdered on Earth. The Doctor wistfully says that even Time Lords die, but the Minister fears a greater evil. The Minister travels to Santiny to replace the Doctor, whilst the Doctor sets out to investigate what has happened to the Saints. \---- The Doctor and Antimony arrive at an analysis centre for radio telescopes. They meet Dr Kane who tells them Dr Valentine and Antinor were killed by animals — perhaps a dog or a large cat — they were bitten. The Doctor asks her what they were investigating before they died. The Doctor discovers that black holes are being created and that existing ones are growing at a drastic rate. Something has torn a rent in space-time. Two policemen, Campion and Speedwell, arrive at the centre investigating the Doctor's activities at the crime scene, but Speedwell is called away to another animal attack in the East End of London, accompanied by the Doctor. The Doctor sees the body of a young woman with bite marks in her neck, and also another police constable. Investigating further they enter a bar and find twenty bodies with their throats ripped out, and see a figure flee from the scene. Meanwhile, Ace wakes from a dream about being rowed to the edge of a whirlpool by a man who seems friendly but dangerous. Casmus teaches her how to remember dreams, and tells her that soon they will be going to Mount Plutarch to have her abilities tested by the Kingmaker. On Santine, the Minister of Chance arrives and meets with the leaders of the resistance. When the Doctor and Speedwell find more bodies, they notice there appears to be two different styles of killing, some for feeding, and some were just in the way. They see a man hole, and beyond they run into the killer — the vampire Nessican who had killed Valentine. Speedwell shoots him, but to no effect as only severing the spinal column would kill a vampire. Nessican attacks the Doctor and succeeds in drinking some of his blood, but the Doctor had eaten some garlic flakes which kill the vampire. On hearing a description of a woman who fled the bar, the Doctor recognises who it is and realises she is the second killer. Back at the laboratory, Campion has been attacked and killed. Dr Kane appears detached about his death before Antimony — he realises she killed him. When the Doctor and Speedwell arrive, Speedwell shoots her, but this time succeeds in severing her spinal column. Kane tells the Doctor that the rent in time is the work of a Time Lord, but not who, before she dies. Before his death, Nessican had managed to contact his employer, Tannis, and informed him that the Earth is rich in resources and completely defenceless. The Doctor gives Speedwell Nessican's transmitter and asks him to take it to a certain man. Speedwell knows the man – it is his boss, Speedwell is not in fact a policeman but a lieutenant colonel. \---- The Minister of Chance takes Sala to Captain Carne and hands her over to him. He suspects a ruse but sends her away to be tortured, planning to kill the Minister at a later date. On the Canisians homeworld, Premier Bedloe announces the defeat of the Santine Republic by Tannis, claiming that its people had been freed from oppression. Meanwhile, Tannis's troops have surrounded the city, and he has taken Bedloe's child as a hostage. When Bedloe confronts him, he denies wanting to overthrow the Premier, but he intends to use him as a front while Tannis wields the true power and goes about his plans of universal conquest. Tannis leaves Bedloe accompanied by one of his men, Major Bander, who will prevent him from coming to any harm, unless Tannis says otherwise. The Doctor realises that the tears in the fabric of time could only be caused by another Time Lord misusing his powers for evil. Antimony wonders whether it could be the Minister of Chance, but the Doctor thinks otherwise. He plans to strike back on Alpha Canis whilst the Minister keeps Tannis busy on Santine. Casmus explains to Ace that he predicted that she would be on the Canisian prison ship from where he rescued her. He tells her that there is no true chaos in the Universe, just an Order of great complexity than can be easily perceived. Sala is tortured and afterwards put in the same cell as the Minister, who heals her wounds. Her broken wrist repaired, they will be able to infiltrate the base and find the other political prisoners. When Carne interrogates the Minister, he is told that the Santine resistance plans to attack a prison at Luria. His reaction reveals to Sala and the Minister that the prison really exists, which they had not known with certainty. They turn the tables on Carne threatening to inform the Fleet Pilot that he had revealed the prison's existence. Carne shows them a prison map, and the Minister tells him where the resistance intend to attack. Having seen all the weaknesses of the prison, the Minister uses a word of power which causes the planetary computer system to shut down. The Minister and Sala flee in the confusion. On Alpha Canis, the Doctor tells Antimony that they can't just kill Tannis, as someone else would take his place. It is the Doctor's plan to give Tannis another enemy to fight — Premier Bedloe. The Doctor investigates the Premier's family and works out what Tannis has done to Bedloe. The Doctor informs a public wallscreen that he has kidnapped Bedloe's children and waits for the City Guards to turn up and arrest them. The Fleet Pilot reports what the Minister has done to Tannis, but he is not surprised at all and orders him to locate the Minister. However, when found Tannis will deal with him personally. Ace and Casmus spend some time star gazing and Casmus tells her that she will never have normal relationships with other humans, now that she has a special relationship with Time. Ace sees the loneliness of being a Time Lord. Bedloe decides to question the Doctor personally about his "confession", while Bander reports back to Tannis that the man he was told to look out for has arrived. The Doctor admits the confession was just to get Bedloe's attention. Bedloe says that he would move against Tannis if his child could be kept from harm. Trusting the Doctor, he tells him of Tannis's private villa. The Doctor and Antimony break into the villa, rescue the child and return him to his father. When they return however, they are confronted with Tannis, who has struck a new deal with Bedloe. \---- On Santine, the Minister of Chance and Sala try to find their way back to the resistance. The Minister tells her that his true name is unpronounceable and she gives him the nickname "Snake". She is still in a weakened state from her interrogation, and the Minister has to use his healing powers again. Just as Sala asks to be left behind, they are found by a resistance member who tells them that they now have the required information to rescue the prisoners from the Lurian camp. When Sala asks the Minister why he doesn't use his powers to save everyone's life, he tells her that she cannot understand his people's position. Ace faces a test known as the "Cavern of Infinite Death". Casmus tells her she must pass through the Cavern without touching the red liquid that flows through it, as it would have disastrous consequences. Stepping on the stalagmites, Ace proceeds to cross, but at one point stumbles and falls into the liquid. She panics, but Casmus tells her the liquid is not poisonous, merely coloured red. Soon she will be able to break the rules of the Universe. Casmus warns her that her new powers could easily be misused. Tannis threatens to shoot either the Doctor or Antimony if they move. He then reveals his secret — he is a Time Lord — but unlike the Doctor or the Minister, one who wants to use his powers to rule the Universe. The Doctor tells Antimony to flee, but he refuses. Tannis says that this is because Antimony, without realising it, considers the Doctor to be his father. He then shoots Antimony in the leg, revealing circuits and servo-mechanisms. Having seen so many companions leave or die, the Doctor built a companion who would always stay with him. To the Doctor's dismay and helplessness, Tannis taunts him saying the Doctor could save Antimony by speaking Tannis out of existence, but that he won't do it. Finally, Tannis shoots Antimony in the head, and leaves the Doctor to watch him die. Back on Santine, Tannis reveals to the Pilot why he is concerned about the activities of the Minister. He had dropped a plague on a particularly obstinate planet to exterminate the population, but after three days the plague had vanished, the population unharmed. Upon investigation, Tannis discovered a cult dedicated to a god they called "Manaster". The Santine resistance mount their attack on the Luria prison, but Tannis is prepared, and sends in ships to slaughter the escapees. Sala pleads with the Minister to use his powers to interfere, but he refuses until Sala is singled out by the Pilot. Seeing her gunned down, the Minister loses his self-control, and unleashes a rage upon Tannis's ships. Many of them explode, and Tannis orders the rest to retreat. Leaving the fate of the Minister to others, Tannis decides it is time to visit the Earth. Ace is brought to the cave of the Kingmaker, an old woman who watches over the Time Lords, as they themselves watch over time. She gives Ace a test, she will be sent to Anima Persis, a world ravaged by biological and psychic warfare. She must restore the planet to its rightful inhabitants without abusing her new powers. Ace is given a TARDIS and a wand. Casmus tells her the wand has the ability to manipulate time, a power the Time Lords resist using. She leaves in the TARDIS to Anima Persis, with a strong warning not to use the wand there. Casmus tells her he will be waiting for her when she returns, but the Kingmaker knows his time is near to an end. \---- Ace arrives on Anima Persis in a wasteland where she encounters the terrified survivors. Identifying herself hesitantly as a Time Lord, she informs them she is there to defeat the ghosts and reclaim the planet. A young girl named Megan offers to guide Ace, and takes her to a crater. There, Ace is assaulted by her own thoughts, directed back at her by the dead spirits. They threaten to take her new TARDIS and use it to travel throughout the Universe spreading terror, unless Ace gives Megan over to them. The dilemma cracks Ace's resolve and she uses her forbidden Time Lord powers to manipulate time to destroy the spirits. Later, she wakes within the TARDIS, and finds herself with Golcrum, a Canisian guard on the ship from which Casmus rescued her. He was exiled to Anima Persis by Tannis because of that failure, and Ace was the first living being he has seen. Ace is despondent as she wiped out the villagers in her attempt to destroy the dead spirits, and misused her Time Lord powers. Casmus is visited by Tannis, who has come to kill him. Tannis has eliminated the other Time Lords and set the Doctor and the Minister against each other. Casmus reveals Ace has been transformed into a Time Lord, but Tannis laughs at him, and he says he will destroy her too. Casmus says the age of the Time Lords has passed, and expresses pity for Tannis even as he prepares to shoot him. The distraught Doctor goes to Mount Plutarch to plead with the Kingmaker, but she will not interfere with Tannis's actions. He is utterly evil, but has broken no laws of time, only amassing power through the use of conventional force. She tells the Doctor that Tannis is not responsible for the damage to time, it is in fact the Minister of Chance who is the cause. The Doctor is charged with the responsibility to destroy his friend, before the damage engulfs the Universe. The Doctor goes to Casmus's garden, and is reunited with Ace. They mourn Casmus's death, and the Doctor reassures Ace about the events she witnessed on Anima Persis. There have been no living beings on that planet for centuries, everything she had seen was an illusion. She has not yet developed the powers she thought she had. Ace produces Casmus's wand, but the Doctor shows her it is just a stick. Anima Persis was a test, one that all Time Lords fail, so that the memory of failure stays with them forever as a stark warning. Now, together, they must deal with Tannis. Ace and Golcrum leave for Earth to prepare a welcome for Tannis, whilst the Doctor must now confront his old friend. Consumed with grief and fury, the Minister shouts at the Doctor to leave him alone. The structure of time has been corrupted, so the Doctor revokes the Minister's TARDIS, and leaves him to face himself, now powerless. At NASA mission control, a fleet of spaceships is detected approaching Earth. The President is informed, and receives an ultimatum from Tannis. He must surrender immediately, or a bomb will be dropped on London. The President receives a telephone call from the British Prime Minister, who informs that counter-measures are being taken. The bomb explodes in the ship before it is launched, and to Tannis's shock, a fleet of shuttles emerges from behind the Moon. Tannis then himself receives a message from Brigadier Lethbridge- Stewart, and some of his ships are destroyed. Tannis orders his troops to make a ground assault, and they land near Stonehenge. They move towards London, but are confronted by UNIT troops, led by Lieutenant Colonel Speedwell. Abandoning his troops to their fate, Tannis seeks out the Doctor. He finds Ace first and starts to beat her to death, before the Doctor finds them. Tannis baits him, that he dare not use his powers to save Ace, as he had not saved Antimony. However, Tannis must be stopped. With no surviving Time Lords, Tannis would then be free to misuse his own powers. He had not done so before so that other Time Lords would not act in concert against him. With the choice between himself abusing his powers, or leaving Tannis free to abuse his, the Doctor must use them to stop Tannis and does so, even though it means his own passing. Declaring himself a God of the Fourth, the Doctor unleashes the power, and afterwards, he and Tannis are gone. Speedwell, Golcrum and the Brigadier celebrate the defeat of the Canisians, but Ace finds them and tells them the Doctor is gone. Ace returns to the Kingmaker, and, conferred with full Time Lord powers, a new age is begun. ===== The novel is about Dominique, a bored twenty-year-old law student at the Sorbonne in mid-1950s Paris. The back of the 1986 Penguin English translation describes Dominique as young, thin and cynical. ===== Late one night, youngster David MacLean (Jimmy Hunt) is awakened by a loud thunderstorm. From his bedroom window, he sees a large flying saucer descend and disappear into the sandpit area behind his home. After rushing to tell his parents, his scientist father (Leif Erickson) goes to investigate David's claim. When his father returns much later in the morning, David notices an unusual red puncture along the hairline on the back of his father's neck; his father is now behaving in a cold and hostile manner. David soon begins to realize something is very wrong: he notices certain townsfolk are acting in exactly the same way. Through his telescope, David sees child neighbor Kathy Wilson suddenly disappear underground while walking in the sandpit. David flees to the police station for help and is eventually placed under the protection of health-department physician Dr. Pat Blake (Helena Carter), who slowly begins to believe his crazy story. Invaders from Mars trailer (2:14) With the help of local astronomer Dr. Stuart Kelston (Arthur Franz) and Dr. Blake, David soon realizes the flying saucer is likely the vanguard of an invasion from the planet Mars, now in close orbital proximity to Earth. Dr. Kelston contacts the U.S. Army and convinces them to immediately investigate: An important government rocket research plant is located nearby. In short order, the Pentagon assembles troops and tanks under the command of Colonel Fielding (Morris Ankrum). An alien sabotage plot at the plant is soon uncovered, leading back to the sandpit, and the army surrounds the saucer landing site. Standing well away from the army search, Dr. Blake and young David are suddenly sucked underground. They are captured by two tall, slit- eyed green humanoids and taken via tunnels to the flying saucer. Army troops locate and blow open an entrance to the tunnels, and Colonel Fielding and a small detachment make their way to the saucer entrance. Inside, they confront the Martian mastermind: It has a giant green head with a humanoid face atop a small, green partial torso with several green arm-tentacles, and is encased in a transparent sphere. The Martian is served by the tall, green, silent, synthetic mutants. Under their master's mental commands, the mute humanoids have implanted mind-control crystals at the base of the skull of their kidnapped victims, forcing them to attempt sabotage at an atomic rocket project being built at a military plant near the town; if they are caught, the mind control devices explode, causing a fatal cerebral hemorrhage. The troops and Colonel Fielding, with Dr. Blake and David in tow, open fire on the pursuing mutants as their group escapes the saucer. After a short running battle in the tunnels, they return to the surface. Orders are given for everyone to quickly leave the area: Fielding's troops have planted timed explosive charges aboard the saucer. David runs downhill away from the sandpit, and artillery opens fire on the sandpit, as the charges ticking timer slowly approaches zero. Following the large explosion, David is suddenly back in his bed during a thunder and lightning storm. He runs into his parents' bedroom, confused and frightened; they reassure him that he was just having a bad dream, telling him to go back to sleep. Having returned to his bed, more wind and loud thunder is heard. David climbs out of bed again, goes to his window, and witnesses the very same flying saucer in his nightmare slowly descending into the sandpit, to which he responds, "Gee whiz"! ===== Eleanor and Frederick Little are intending to adopt a new family member. They go to an orphanage where they meet an anthropomorphic mouse named Stuart. Despite misgivings from Mrs. Keeper, they adopt Stuart as their son and take him home. However, Stuart is greeted coldly by their younger son George, who refuses to acknowledge the mouse as his brother, and the family cat, Snowbell, who is disgusted at having a mouse for a "master". Despite Eleanor and Frederick's intentions, Stuart is treated as an outcast due to his small size. Stuart admits his feelings of loneliness to his adoptive parents, who ask Mrs. Keeper to search for the whereabouts of Stuart's real biological parents. After accidentally stumbling across George's playroom in the basement, Stuart finally bonds with George when they play together and plan to finish George's remote-controlled racing sailboat, the Wasp, for an upcoming boat race on Conservatory Water in Central Park. However, Monty, Snowbell's alley cat friend, visits unexpectedly and discovers Stuart. Determined not to have his reputation destroyed, Snowbell later goes with Monty to an alley for a meeting with his boss Smokey, who agrees to have Stuart removed from the household at Snowbell's request. Stuart and George finish the Wasp in time for the race, but on the day of the race, the controller is smashed by accident. To make it up to George, Stuart pilots the Wasp himself, but ends up in a tussle with a larger boat piloted by George's adversary and bully, Anton. Stuart manages to win the race, gaining George's respect. However, during the family celebration, the Littles are visited by a mouse couple, Camille and Reginald Stout, who claim to be Stuart's birth parents who gave him up to the orphanage due to poverty. Reluctantly, Stuart leaves with the Stouts and George gives him his favorite toy car as a farewell gift. A few days later, Mrs. Keeper arrives at their house and reveals the truth to the Littles that Stuart's real birth parents died many years ago in an accident at a supermarket. Realizing that the Stouts are imposters and mistakenly believing them to be kidnappers, the Littles call the police, who start a search operation. Fearing retribution should the Littles discover his deception, Snowbell talks with Smokey, who had manipulated the Stouts to become Stuart's parents and forced them to fetch Stuart from the Little household in order to have him brought over to the alley cats, but the Stouts, having grown to love Stuart like their own, reveal to him the truth and instruct him to flee before the cats can find him. In Central Park on his way home, Stuart finds himself confronted by Smokey and his gang, who chase him through the park and into a sewer drain, where he manages to outrun them, but loses his car and luggage in the process. Stuart finally returns home, but he unfortunately comes early to find that the Littles are already gone as they are putting up posters of him all over the city. Stuart enters the house where he meets Snowbell, who lies to him that the Littles have been enjoying themselves greatly since Stuart's departure. Feeling unwanted, a heartbroken Stuart leaves. The Littles return home with no success of finding Stuart. Meanwhile, Smokey, Monty and the other alley cats manage to pinpoint Stuart's location back to Central Park and bring Snowbell along for the hunt. Snowbell, having suddenly redeemed himself since he felt guilty over his selfishness, finds Stuart and rescues him from the cats while admitting to him that he lied. Although Snowbell defeats Monty and the other cats by snapping a tree branch they are standing on which causes them to land in a river, Smokey attempts to kill him, only for Stuart to intervene and save Snowbell by hitting Smokey in the face with another branch, causing Smokey to land in the same river and resulting in him to be chased off by stray dogs. Stuart and Snowbell eventually return home, where Stuart happily reunites with the Little family, telling them that Snowbell actually helped him on the way back. ===== Dr. Leo Quintum and his team from P.R.O.J.E.C.T. are exploring the Sun when they are remotely sabotaged by Lex Luthor. Superman rescues them, and acquires the ability to project his bio-electric aura. Luthor orchestrated this event to overwhelm Superman's cells with massive amounts of solar radiation; Quintum determines that Superman's new level of power is also killing him, and that he has one year left to live. Luthor is arrested, thanks to a Daily Planet article by Clark Kent. Superman decides to keep his impending death secret from the public. Superman on the cover of All-Star Superman #10 (May 2008); artwork by Frank Quitely However, Superman reveals his secret identity to Lois Lane, because he wants to spend his remaining time with her. Lois initially refuses to believe that Clark and Superman are the same person. For her birthday, Superman takes Lois to the Fortress of Solitude, where they have dinner in a stateroom of the RMS Titanic, which Superman has raised and restored. During this visit, he also tells Lois that she can explore the Fortress save for one room he is constantly checking. Superman's furtive behavior heightens Lois' suspicions and she becomes paranoid. She attacks Superman with a Kryptonite laser, but his enhanced powers have rendered him immune to it. Superman calms her down and reveals that he was preparing her birthday present in the off-limits room: a liquefied form of his DNA that will grant her all his superpowers for 24 hours, as well as a leotard for her costume. Using the name "Superwoman", she joins Superman as he stops a monster attack in Metropolis involving Samson, Atlas and an Ultra-Sphinx. Superman drives Samson and Altas away and he and Lois spend an eventful day that ends with them kissing on the moon before her powers fade and she falls asleep. Superman flies her back home. Luthor is convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death. Clark meets with Luthor for an interview at Stryker's Island. Luthor discloses his respect for Clark as a journalist and states that he has no desire to escape as long as he defeats Superman by causing his death. He reveals to Clark that Superman is dying, hoping that it will be published in the Daily Planet. Nearing death, Superman accomplishes a variety of tasks that significantly help both humans and Kryptonians, and completes his last will and testament. Meanwhile, Luthor survives his execution as he took a serum similar to what Superman made for Lois and escapes. Superman then learns of Luthor's ally Solaris, who has tampered with the sun. Superman engages Solaris until a Sun-Eater that Superman had cared for in the Fortress and subsequently released returns to weaken it. After Solaris destroys the Sun-Eater, Superman defeats Solaris, leaving its body intact because he has learned from the Superman Squad that Solaris will become an ally in the future. Clark returns to the Daily Planet to submit his article but falls dead. As the staff tries to save him, Luthor arrives and attacks Metropolis. Believing he is on his home planet of Krypton, Superman joins his Kryptonian father Jor-El, who reveals that Superman's body is converting itself to a solar radio-consciousness. He offers him a choice; remain or come back to life. Clark wakes up, and confronts Luthor, firing a gravity gun at him. The gravity gun warps time for Luthor, speeding up the exhaustion of his powers. As his powers fade, Luthor briefly sees the world as Superman sees it, and weeps before Superman knocks him out. Superman and Lois embrace and he proclaims his love for her once and for all. He takes off, flies into the Sun and repairs it, saving the day for one last time. One year later, Lois tells Jimmy that she still believes Superman will return. Inside the sun, Superman, now a solar being, maintains machinery to keep the sun alive. The story concludes with Quintum revealing that if something happens, they will be ready, standing before a door with Superman's characteristic shield, but with its usual "S" replaced with the number "2". Kal-El himself would one day emerge from his seclusion: he was seen once from countless thousands of years in the future, having evolved into a sort of golden god, meeting with his past self shortly after the death of Jonathan Kent and his masquerade as the Unknown Superman, and shortly before his own "death". The future Superman presented his dying past self with an indestructible golden flower from New Krypton, "For him, from all of us. In remembrance of all that we are. And all that we will be". The flower was planted at Jonathan Kent's grave. ===== The film opens in the final days of World War II as Soviet forces close in on the outskirts of Berlin. Panzer Korps General Helmut Kladen (Richard Lynch) is dispatched to the Swiss frontier with top secret documents to be used as a bargaining chip with the Allies to save Germany from the Soviets. He is subsequently intercepted by the U.S. Army and turned over to Army Intelligence. In contemporary Los Angeles, Lt. Barney Caine (George C. Scott) is assigned to solve the murder of his former boss and friend Tom Neeley, which presumably occurred during a drug deal gone wrong. However, Neeley has written "Gene" on a newspaper in his own blood, and Caine finds a map of Germany with the name "Obermann" on it. Caine is surprised to learn that Neeley provided drugs at parties hosted by the tycoon Adam Steiffel (Marlon Brando). When he interviews Neeley's ex-wife (Beatrice Straight), he quickly catches her in several lies, and when he returns to interview her a second time, he finds her shot dead in her hot tub. Steiffel reveals in his interview that Neeley was working for him as a bagman. Neeley was sent overseas by the company to deliver money to business partners. Caine becomes convinced he must go to Germany to solve Neeley's murder, he convinces his Chief (Alan North) to allow him to go to Germany to continue the investigation. Later, the Chief is seen phoning one of Steiffel's cronies (G. D. Spradlin) to tell him that Caine has taken the bait. Once in Berlin, Caine meets Paul Obermann (David Byrd) at the Berlin Zoo. Obermann explains operation "Genesis" - a synthetic fuel formula that the Nazis had produced (and could wreck the current oil-economy). This confirms Caine's hunch that Neeley was killed over Genesis. Obermann is then murdered outside the zoo. At his apartment, his niece Lisa (Marthe Keller) shows up to be interviewed by the police. At Obermann's memorial service, Caine asks Lisa to accompany him to act as his interpreter. Lisa agrees and they follow up on a lead that Obermann gave him regarding Professor Siebold who worked on the formula. During their interview with Siebold (Ferdy Mayne), he reveals that the inventor of the formula, Dr. Abraham Esau (John Gielgud), is still alive. After they leave his apartment, Siebold is shot in the head through a window. When they meet up with Esau, he writes down the formula for Caine, after he makes Caine promise to make it public. Lisa and Caine make photocopies and send them to the LAPD and a Swiss energy company. Caine also hides two copies from Lisa, depositing them in the hotel's safe. Subsequently, he reveals that he has deduced that she is not Obermann's niece at all, but a spy sent to keep tabs on him. Lisa admits it, but claims she didn't sleep with him because of her orders. At the border with East Berlin, Caine confronts Tadesco who relates how he knew Neeley, and what transpired after his capture by the Americans. As Tadesco walks towards his car, Lisa kills Tadesco, then walks towards East Berlin. At the airport before flying home to Los Angeles, Caine realizes the two copies of the formula in the hotel safe were replaced with fakes by Lisa, and that the only real copies are with the LAPD and the Swiss. After landing in Los Angeles, he heads straight to Steiffel's office. Steiffel has kidnapped Caine's partner (Yosuta) and is holding him to exchange for the copy of the formula. After exchanging the formula for Yosuta's release, Caine demands answers from Steiffel. Steiffel then outlines the cartel's plan since the end of the war, to keep the formula secret. They had been able to keep it secret until Swiss businessman, Tauber, began searching for the members of the original Genesis team, in the hope the team could recreate the formula. Tauber's actions made the members of the Genesis team a liability to the cartel, so Steiffel had pulled strings to get Caine sent on a trip to Germany, which would serve as a cover for the cartel's plot to eliminate the remaining members. Just before leaving, Caine reveals that he sent the formula to Tauber. After their meeting, Steiffel makes a phone call to Tauber, asking him to keep the formula secret for another 10 years in exchange for a 25% share of his anthracite holdings. They negotiate briefly, and Tauber agrees to not use the formula for 10 years. ===== Willie Loomis, the Collins family handyman, is searching for old treasure in the family mausoleum when he accidentally frees Barnabas Collins, a 175-year-old vampire who enslaves him. Upon his release, he attacks Daphne Budd, secretary to Collinwood's matriarch, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard. She is discovered by Jeff Clark, who takes her back to the house where Dr. Julia Hoffman administers medical attention to her. Barnabas introduces himself to the family under the guise of a "cousin from England". Elizabeth and the others are intrigued by Barnabas and take an instant liking to him. Barnabas insists on moving into the Old House and hosting a ball in honour of the family; however, on the night of the ball, Elizabeth's daughter Carolyn Stoddard is bitten by Barnabas while she is getting ready. Later on at the ball, he is introduced to young David Collins's governess and Jeff's girlfriend Maggie Evans and is instantly smitten with her, as she bears a striking resemblance to his long-lost fiancée, Josette du Pres. Maggie is thinking about leaving Collinwood, but Barnabas persuades her to stay. Back at the Old House, he tells Willie about Josette and how she took her own life on the night they were to be married. Carolyn overhears and threatens to expose him out of jealousy. Enraged, Barnabas delivers a deadly bite to Carolyn, much to Willie's horror. A shaken Willie takes Carolyn back home; she slowly walks to the doorway, but she is soon discovered slumped in the doorway—dead—by the maid, Mrs. Johnson. Funeral services are held for Carolyn, and she is buried in the Collins family mausoleum. Dr. Hoffman analyzes samples of Carolyn's blood and recognizes trace elements of the same unknown virus that was present in Daphne Budd's blood sample. Professor T. Eliot Stokes, a friend of the family, confers with Julia and tells her that the recent attacks in Collinsport may have been caused by a vampire. Carolyn rises as a vampire and almost attacks David. Stokes and Julia try to explain, but Elizabeth and Roger refuse to listen. Carolyn's former fiancé Todd encounters her and she bites him. After he is taken back to Collinwood, the family realize that Stokes and Julia were correct about the vampires. Todd again sneaks out in search of Carolyn, but she is cornered and staked, instantly killing her. Julia eventually discovers that Barnabas is the vampire responsible. She visits him at the Old House and convinces him that she can use her methods to make him human and he reluctantly agrees. Julia gives him injections which allow him to walk in the daylight. Over time, Barnabas and Maggie begin to spend time together while Jeff is away in Boston. Stokes confronts Julia about helping Barnabas--and realizes she is love with him--and reminds her that he is in love with Maggie. Overcome with jealousy, Julia gives Barnabas an injection which causes him to age rapidly. Out of rage, he strangles her to death. A terrified Maggie witnesses this and tries to flee, but is caught and bitten by Barnabas before she can escape and he vows to come back for her. Jeff soon returns, and he is informed of the family history by Stokes and Roger and that Barnabas intends to make Maggie his bride. That night, Barnabas bites Maggie again, rejuvenating him, and then abducts her. Jeff and the others pursue them; however, Roger and Stokes are killed. Jeff eventually finds Maggie at an old church in a trance and in Josette's wedding gown. Willie warns him against trying to stop Barnabas and knocks him out. Willie leads Maggie out of the room to where Barnabas is waiting for her. He lays her down on an altar and is about to bite her when Jeff wakes up and shoots at him, but Willie, running to stop Barnabas, moves in the way, and is hit by Jeff's crossbow bolt. Barnabas lures Jeff out of his hiding place and forces him to be a witness by placing him in a trance; however, as Barnabas attempts to bite Maggie, he screams in pain as he's struck in his back. Turning around, he's shocked then enraged to discover that it was Willie—in his final act of redemption—who stabbed him with the crossbow bolt. Barnabas strangles the mortally wounded Willie, but Loomis's attack breaks Jeff out of Barnabas's trance long enough for Jeff to finish driving the bolt through the vampire's back, ultimately bursting through his bloody chest. Maggie, now revived, is rescued by Jeff, both briefly observing the bodies of the presumably dead vampire and Willie Loomis before departing the ruined chapel. In a post-credits scene, Barnabas's body transforms into a bat and then vanishes. ===== Psychic Academy follows the life of Ai Shiomi, a boy with psychic powers, also known as "aura power" in modern-day Japan. This ability has emerged in the world, but not all people have it. Aura power itself allows certain elements such as fire, water, ice, wind, lightning, earth, and light to be used by those who have the ability. Which type of power they can use depends on their aura and what they are taught. Ai agrees to attend the Psychic Academy School after being pressured by his brother. The school is where the elite students go to learn how to use their elemental aura power. Ai knows that somewhere within the Academy is his childhood friend Orina. At school however, she is known as Sahra, after her aura code. On his way to his first day at school, Ai encounters a girl named Myuu. She is another student at the Academy and is a very quiet, seemingly moody girl. Ai also learns that his older brother Zero, a legend amongst those with aura powers, will be one of his teachers. As Ai struggles with his new school, a life he is not sure he wants; a crazy rabbit takes him as his student. His feelings for Orina and Myuu begin to develop and contrast as the school year progress. Ai also makes discoveries about his rare light aura. To further complicate things, a group of researchers try to artificially awaken the dormant aura genes within all humans, heedless of the danger and damage to society it might cause. ===== Shiro Kazami accidentally witnesses a murder by the evil organization Destron, making him their next target. In their first attempt, they planted a bomb pebble into his coffee, but the attempt was foiled when Shiro's sister, Yukiko, surprised him, causing him to spill his coffee. In their second attempt, they attacked him while practicing motorcycle racing with Tobei Tachibana. In their third attempt, a Destron soldier, disguised as a doctor, tried to put a poison shot in Shiro, while he was being transported to the hospital (after Destron's second attempt), but Shiro regains consciousness and kills the soldier. Meanwhile, a young woman named Junko Tama stumbled upon Destron's base. Suddenly, she was attacked by Destron. While trying to escape, she ran into Shiro, who was heading home on his motorcycle, but Shiro didn't see the Destron soldiers. Surprised, Junko fainted and Shiro took her home. While Junko was being taken care of by Shiro's family, Shiro reported her story to the police. When he returned home, he found his family being murdered by the Hasami Jaguar, a jaguarlike monster with blades for hands. Hasami Jaguar then prepares to kill Junko and Shiro, but is stopped by Shiro's high school teacher, Takeshi Hongo, who transformed into Kamen Rider 1. Shortly after he drove off the Destron forces, Kamen Rider 2 shows up, but too late. A vengeance-fueled Shiro asked the Riders to turn him into a cyborg, but the Riders refused, explaining to Shiro what would happen if he did get turned into a cyborg: he wouldn't be able to live up to his family. Then the Riders asked Junko for the location of the Destron base she stumbled upon earlier. The next day, the Riders infiltrate the base, only to find no one inside until they heard the voice of their old foe The Great Leader Of Gel-Shocker who revealed that the Gel-Shocker Leader was just one of his forms. To make matters worse he attempted to kill the Double Riders with the Cyborg Disruptor Ray, Until Shiro shows up and saves their lives, but gets injured in the process. The Riders had no choice but to turn Shiro into a cyborg. When the Riders were attacked and almost killed, by Kame Bazooka, Shiro shows up as Kamen Rider V3. Now, Shiro uses his new power to protect humankind against Destron. Later on, he is joined by Jōji Yuki, a former Destron scientist who fights as Riderman to get his revenge on Destron for being accused of treason. ===== Kaspar is loosely based on the story of Kaspar Hauser. "Raised in a dark hole, at 17 he wandered into a 1824 German town knowing only a single sentence and became a scientific curiosity: a nearly-adult human without language and external influences, a tabula rasa upon which society and its scientific teachers could write with impunity.""You Are The Lucky Owner of a Sentence," A Review by Linda Eisenstein, Theatre Perspectives International, May 1994. ===== Yussel Rabinovitch is a young, fifth- generation Jewish cantor performing at the synagogue of his imperious father. Yussel is married to his childhood friend Rivka, and settled down to a life of religious devotion. But on the side, he writes songs for a black singing group, and when a member of the quartet is arrested, Yussel covers for him at one of their gigs by wearing blackface. The engagement is a success, but one of the patrons notices Yussel's hands are white. A fight ensues, and the band is arrested. Yussel's father comes to the jail to bail them out and discovers there is not a Yussel Rabinovitch there, but a Jess Robin. Yussel confesses to his father this is a professional stage name he uses when performing. His father tells him that his singing voice was to be used for God's purposes, not his own. Bubba, a member of the singing group, is Yussel's best friend, although he knows him only as Jess. Bubba informs him that the band has a gig in Los Angeles, performing back-up vocals for a successful singer (Keith Lennox). Yussel begins composing a song that will eventually become "Love on the Rocks." His wife Rivka notices his song writing, and senses that he yearns for a bigger stage for his voice. Bubba calls from Los Angeles to inform Jess that Lennox loved "Love on the Rocks" and wants to record it. He asks Jess to come to L.A. to oversee the recording session. Jess views this as the opportunity he has been waiting for, but Rivka and his father are opposed to him going. Jess arrives in L.A. and is picked up by music agent Molly Bell. At the studio where Lennox is recording, Jess is shocked to find his ballad is now being recorded as a hard rock song. Jess asks the producer if he can perform the song as a ballad, so Lennox can get an idea of the song's framing. This leads Molly to decide that Jess's performance is the way the song should be done. Lennox is not convinced, and fires the group. Later, Molly corners Eddie Gibbs, a booking agent, and plays Jess's recording of "Love on the Rocks." Gibbs is impressed, but says he can't book anyone from just a tape recording. Molly arranges for Eddie to visit a club where Jess is playing. His performance convinces Eddie to book Jess as an opening act for Zane Gray's television special. Meanwhile, back in New York, Cantor Rabinovich reminds Rivka that her place is by her husband's side. He pressures her to go to California to try to bring him home. Rivka arrives on Jess's opening night, and tells Molly Jess needs to return home. At the after party, Jess is met by an enthusiastic crowd and given a recording contract. Jess asks Rivka to stay, but she says she wants something different. Realizing she has lost him, she returns home. Later, Jess confesses his love to Molly, telling her he and Rivka have split. As time passes, Jess' career success continues. His father visits, attempting to persuade him to come home, but Jess refuses, insisting he's making a name for himself. Jess reveals that he and Rivka are divorcing. When Molly suddenly arrives home, Jess's father angrily disowns his son and leaves in tears. Heartbroken, Jess struggles at his recording sessions, taking out his anger on his band mates. He storms out of a recording session and drives away aimlessly. When his car runs out of gas, he hitchhikes and lives the life of a drifter for a few months, but eventually returns home when Bubba finds him and tells him Molly has given birth to his son. Molly once again meets Eddie Gibbs and persuades him to let Jess perform on Zane Gray's television special. At rehearsal, the day before Yom Kippur, Jess learns that his father is in the hospital and won't be able to sing Kol Nidre at the synagogue. Jess is initially reluctant to go to his father, but Molly insists and he relents. Jess tries to make amends with his father, who refuses to speak to him until learning he now has a grandson, at which point the two finally reconcile. The film ends with Jess performing "America," with his father and Molly in attendance. ===== Agent Maxwell Smart is called back into service in order to stop a nefarious KAOS terrorist plan from exploding a bomb that destroys only clothing, so as to leave KAOS as the only supplier of clothes to the entire world. Norman Saint-Sauvage, the KAOS fashion designer, finds everyone else's clothing designs gauche, so he builds a machine capable of cloning his favorite seamstress and implements the Nude Bombs. He wears a costume including thimbles over each finger, and his mountain lair is entered via a giant zipper. ===== Newspaper reporter Tom Krome is sent to the small Florida town of Grange to interview JoLayne Lucks, an African-American veterinary assistant who holds one of two winning tickets to the state lottery. She agrees to an interview, but politely declines to have a news story written about her. The other winning lottery ticket is held by Bode Gazzer and his best friend "Chub," two unemployed white supremacists. Bode is the founder and self-proclaimed "leader" of a fledgling militia, which consists solely of himself and Chub. Unwilling to accept only half of the $28 million jackpot, Bode insists that they track down the owner of the other winning ticket. Discovering that this other winner is black seems to vindicate Bode's conspiracy theory that the government is keeping "Christian white men" from winning the lottery, and makes his and Chub's next decision easy. After Bode and Chub savagely beat JoLayne and steal her ticket, she appears in Tom's hotel room pleading for help. Tom urges her to contact the police, but she says she can't: she plans to use the lottery proceeds to buy Simmons Wood, a pristine forest plot near her home, to prevent it being redeveloped; she can't afford to wait for the police, since a labor union in Chicago has already made an offer for the property. Before leaving Grange, Bode and Chub approach "Shiner," the clerk at the convenience store where JoLayne bought her winning ticket, and convince him to hand over the store's security video showing the purchase by playing on his small-town boredom and offering him a place within the new "brotherhood." Tom's editor, Sinclair, who believes in innocuous "feel-good" stories, refuses to allow any kind of investigation into the alleged lottery theft. Tom quits in disgust and helps JoLayne track down the robbers, an easy task given the duo's flagrant use of her stolen credit card. JoLayne provides Moffitt, her friend and an agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, with the license plate number for the robbers' truck. Moffitt identifies Bode and searches his apartment, deducing that the ticket has likely been concealed inside a condom in Bode's wallet. Moffitt leaves an ominous message on the wall of the apartment that sends Bode's paranoia into overdrive, leading to the robbers fleeing south in Bode's truck. Before doing so, Chub orders Shiner to kidnap Amber, a waitress at Hooters who Chub has become smitten with, and bring her to his and Bode's refuge. Meanwhile, Tom is surprised to hear from his attorney that his house has exploded. His girlfriend, Katie, is married to a violently jealous circuit court judge named Arthur Battenkill, Jr., who sent his law clerk Champ Powell to burn down Tom's house. The clerk accidentally ignited the fire with himself inside, and his charred remains are similar enough to Tom's for the coroner to declare Tom dead. Unknown to Tom, his lawyer plans to use the situation to his client's advantage: his estranged wife, Mary Andrea, has gone to absurd lengths to avoid being served with divorce papers, including assuming false names and traveling throughout the U.S. and Canada. Tom's lawyer predicts that Mary Andrea, an actress, will attempt to capitalize on the publicity surrounding his "death", and return to Florida long enough for her to be served. Bode and Chub steal a motorboat and plan to make a refuge on Pearl Key, a small island in Florida Bay. However, because of their inept navigational skills, Tom and JoLayne easily follow them in a boat of their own. As Tom predicted, tension over Amber's presence -- coupled with Shiner's belated realization that Bode and Chub never intended to share the jackpot with him -- eventually causes the three men to fall out arguing, allowing Tom and JoLayne to ambush and disarm them. Chub is interrupted in his attempt to rape Amber by a shotgun wound to his shoulder, while Bode is knocked unconscious and tied up, allowing JoLayne to remove a lottery ticket from his wallet. Krome sends Amber and Shiner back to the mainland in the thugs' boat, with Amber armed with Chub's revolver to make sure Shiner behaves. Bode loosens his bonds and tries to escape the island in the only remaining boat. While wrestling with Tom in the shallows, Bode inadvertently kicks a napping stingray, which pierces his femoral artery with its barb. JoLayne does her best to treat Chub's gunshot wound, but can do nothing to save Bode, who dies cursing his own rotten luck. Tom and JoLayne depart the island in the remaining boat, leaving Chub behind with some meager supplies. They collect JoLayne's first lottery payout in Tallahassee, and return to Grange in time to bid against the mob-controlled union for Simmons Wood. At first, Bernard Squires, the union's representative, is ready and willing to outbid JoLayne, but Moffitt drops by and threatens to put him and his real employer in the newspapers. Squires withdraws from the negotiations and flees to South America with $250,000 in cash from the union. While Shiner is driving her home, Amber is surprised to discover the other winning lottery ticket (the one originally belonging to JoLayne) hidden in an empty chamber of Chub's revolver. With Shiner's reluctant agreement, she decides to return the ticket to JoLayne. The crowning irony of the novel is that, throughout the story, Bode and Chub are the only ones who know that they are the rightful owners of the second winning ticket; the other characters act from the belief that there is only one winning ticket in their possession, which eventually results in both tickets winding up with JoLayne. A chance meeting at the newspaper office brings Katie and Mary Andrea into contact, and they go to Grange to say their goodbyes to Tom. Katie informs on her husband to the police, leading to his arrest for felony murder. Chub, unable to attract the attention of passing boats or aircraft, eventually dies of thirst and starvation on Pearl Key. Tom and JoLayne, now a couple, and the holders of both winning lotto tickets, decide to make their home near Simmons Wood, now safe from development. ===== Emily Hollander (Shire) is the subject of a lesbian obsession of Andrea Glassen (Ashley), her next-door neighbor. Emily, a shy, recently divorced woman, lives alone in a New York City apartment. A man forces his way into her apartment and performs a bizarre "rape." He forces her to make sounds of erotic satisfaction, capturing them on his tape recorder. She reports the attack to the police, and while they are interviewing her, Andrea stops by to comfort her. Emily seeks safety by moving to an apartment in another section of the city. However, while she is moving out, the same man tries to attack her again. This time, Andrea just happens to be visiting Emily, and she is able to prevent the man from entering Emily's apartment. It soon becomes apparent that Andrea is not the helpful neighbor that she seems. She has the recording that were made during Emily's first attack. Andrea has developed an erotic fascination with Emily. She hired a taxi driver to perform the attacks, with the purpose of gaining the recording, to which she repeatedly listens to and eventually recites while fantasizing of Emily. Unaware of the situation, Emily continues to view Andrea as a friend. She also begins a relationship with the police detective (Cortese) who responded to her case. At this intrusion into her fantasy, Andrea becomes increasingly unhinged. She takes to spying on Emily through a telescope. When Emily unwittingly hails a taxi driven by the very man who assaulted her, he strikes up a conversation "because you look familiar." She finally realizes who the man is and asks him to stop at a phone booth. She calls the police, who advise her to get back into the taxi and engage the man in harmless conversation until they can arrive to assist her. With the taxi driver getting arrested and confessing to the entire plot, Emily and Andrea have a confrontation. Andrea professes her love for Emily, but Emily slaps her hard on the face and tells a devastated, weeping Andrea that they never will speak to each other again. Her ordeal over, Emily greets the detective at her front door. ===== The game is set in the 21st century. The player character, an unnamed soldier, is hired to protect the Brokaw Territory and stop Drexel (Walter Koenig), who is trying to replace humanity with evil cyborg beings which transfer information by means of umbilical data cords. It is up to the player character to destroy his bases and ultimately face him in the final battle. Alongside him in the fight are a mercenary named Jo (Yasmine Bleeth), a computer hacker, and the resistance commander. ===== When a super computer is linked to a video game network, the computer programmer who designed the game must enter the virtual reality world of his fantasies and defeat the computer before it causes worldwide chaos. ===== While investigating rumors of a mystical "healing earth" whose powers are said to flow forth from the sacred Gudjara Mountain, geologists Philip and Betsy Ames (Michael Shannon and Nancy Paul) are killed in a cave-in, leaving their young daughter Janet an orphan. Janet is adopted by Shaman, a woman of the native Zambouli tribe (Princess Elizabeth of Toro), and because of a prophecy about the cave-in ("when the sacred mountain cries out") she is viewed as a child of the gods and renamed Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. As she grows up, Sheena (Tanya Roberts) learns much from Shaman about the lore of the jungle and the ways of all its creatures. She is even entrusted with the secret of telepathic communication with the animals. Outsiders rarely disturb their territory, since that part of Tigora is under the special protection of King Jabalani (Clifton Jones). But trouble is brewing in Tigora; the King's ex-football champion younger brother Prince Otwani (Trevor Thomas) is conspiring with his brother's fiancée, Countess Zanda (France Zobda), to have Jabalani assassinated so that they can exploit the titanium-rich Zambouli land. (This may or may not have something to do with the healing properties of the soil, but this is never explained). Experiencing a vision foretelling the death of the King, the Shaman hastens to Tigora's capital of Azan to try to warn him, but is arrested by corrupt police officers working for Zanda. Otwani's old "friend", reporter Vic Casey (Ted Wass), and his cameraman Fletch Agronsky (Donovan Scott) are in Tigora to do a story on the former football player. When King Jabalani is killed and the Shaman is framed for it, Vic and Fletch realize they are on to a much bigger story than they had anticipated. Heading to a remote prison compound to interview the Shaman, they bear witness to her rescue by Sheena and her animal friends: "Chango", an elephant; "Marika", a zebra; and "Tiki", a chimpanzee. As they escape back into the jungle after destroying the prison, Vic and Fletch follow. Soon after however, Shaman dies of injuries. Otwani obtains the services of Colonel Jorgensen (John Forgeham) and his small army of soldier mercenaries, the Black Berets. Their mission is to eradicate the Zambouli people so their territory will be open for strip-mining. Vic must join forces with Sheena to stop the evil Prince and his army, and along the way, Vic and Sheena fall in love. The climax of the film takes place on the African Serengeti, where Sheena leads her people against the mercenaries and Otwani. Sheena successfully shoots Otwani in the heart with her arrow and fulfills the prophecy, but she is also positioned to be hit by Otwani's vehicle. Vic saves her life by crashing into Otwani's vehicle, resulting in severe burn wounds. Vic is healed with the earth, and wants to stay with Sheena, but realizes if he tells his story to the outside world, then other corporations will destroy Sheena's home. Vic and his cameraman Fletch leave on an airplane back to New York. Before leaving, Sheena records a farewell message on his tape recorder, wishing him a safe journey. And at the end, Sheena takes a ride on Marika. ===== The novel fictionalizes Albert Einstein as a young scientist who is troubled by dreams as he works on his theory of relativity in 1905. The book consists of 30 chapters, each exploring one dream about time that Einstein had during this period. The framework of the book consists of a prelude, three interludes, and an epilogue. Einstein's friend, Michele Besso, appears in these sections. Each dream involves a conception of time. Some scenarios may involve exaggerations of true phenomena related to relativity, and some may be entirely fantastical. The book demonstrates the relationship each human being has to time, and thus spiritually affirms Einstein's theory of relativity. The novel is sometimes cited as the source of the urban legend apocryphal "universal force" letter from Einstein to his daughter, Lieserl, but the novel does not contain the letter. ===== The story of Shonan Junai Gumi deals with the Oni- Baku (Demon Explosion) duo, consisting of Eikichi Onizuka and Ryuji Danma, and their quest to lose their virginity and reach maturity. They are widely feared bōsōzoku, and are known for their tenacity and viciousness in a fight. However, this lifestyle does not endear them to the opposite gender, so they decide to change their ways. However, this is easier said than done. As the story unfolds, we meet the Oni-Baku's wide range of friends and foes, and the crazy situations they all get into. The story begins as a gag manga, but more serious issues present themselves as it continues, eventually striking a balance similar to that of GTO (which this manga predates). ===== On 9 March 1993 a small-time thug, Gul Mohammed, is detained at the Nav Pada police station in Bombay and confesses to a conspiracy underway to bomb major locations around the city. The police dismiss his confession and three days later, a series of explosions take place in the city, leaving 257 dead and close to 1400 injured. Investigators discover the bombs, made of RDX, were smuggled into the city with the aid of customs officials and the border police. Tiger Memon is an underworld don whose office is burned during the Bombay riots. The participation of Muslim minorities in the riots leads to a meeting of underworld leaders in Dubai who take it upon themselves to seek retribution. Memon suggests an attack on Bombay would send the strongest message of retaliation. Asgar Muqadam (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), his secretary, is arrested on 14 March 1993. He is beaten until he provides whatever information he has about the bomb blasts. This initiates a full-scale police inquiry. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Rakesh Maria is put in charge of the case. Badshah Khan(Aditya Srivastav), one of the henchmen who had left Bombay and gone into hiding, is arrested by the police on 10 May 1993. Following the blast, accomplices to the crime are forced to lead a life of anonymity and secrecy as it becomes evident the Mumbai police have begun picking up the suspects one by one. To make matters worse, their passports seem to have been destroyed at the behest of Memon. Despite assurances to the contrary, the high command blatantly refuses any help once the bombings have occurred. Tired of being let down by his own people, and without a place to hide, Badshah Khan realises there is no justification for his acts and decides to become a police witness. On 4 November 1993, the police file a charge sheet against 189 accused. The Central Bureau of Investigation takes over the case. On 5 August 1994, Tiger's brother, Yaqub Memon, willingly turns himself in to the authorities. In a candid Newstrack interview on national television Yaqub states that it was Tiger and his underworld associates who orchestrated the conspiracy. ===== The Katakuris are a four- generation family of failures: patriarch Masao Katakuri (Kenji Sawada), his wife Terue (Keiko Matsuzaka), his father Jinpei (Tetsurō Tamba), his formerly criminal son Masayuki (Shinji Takeda), his divorced daughter Shizue (Naomi Nishida), her child Yurie (Tamaki Miyazaki, who narrates the film), and their dog, Pochi. The family uses the father's redundancy pay to purchase a large old home situated on a former garbage dump near Mount Fuji that they have named the ‘White Lover's Inn'. They have the intention of converting it into a bed and breakfast, since the road running nearby is supposed to be expanded up to the house, which would bring many guests and tourists. However, the road hasn't been expanded yet and the Katakuris subsequently have no guests. When one finally shows up, he subsequently commits suicide during the night, and the Katakuris make the decision to save their business by burying the body and concealing the death. The second guest, a Sumo wrestler, also dies of a heart attack during a tryst with his much younger girlfriend, who also dies. Somehow, each of their guests ends up dead—by suicide, accident or murder—and pretty soon the bodies in the back yard begin to pile up. The Katakuris soon find themselves sucked into a nightmare of lies and fear. Meanwhile, the recently divorced daughter falls in love with a man calling himself Richard Sagawa (Kiyoshiro Imawano), a U.S. naval officer who claims to be the nephew of Queen Elizabeth II herself. Just when Richard stumbles onto a clue that might lead him to uncover the string of disappearing guests, a nearby volcano begins rumbling to life. ===== Amy Benic (Mira Sorvino) takes a vacation at a spa outside New York City. Virgil Adamson (Val Kilmer) is a masseur at the spa and gives Amy a massage. Amy inexplicably cries and Virgil comforts her. While complimenting Virgil on the massage, Amy realizes that Virgil is blind. Virgil asks her out, and the two eventually begin a relationship. Virgil lives alone, though his over-protective sister Jennie (Kelly McGillis) lives next door and takes care of him. Virgil reveals that he went blind when he was three and that the last thing he saw was something fluffy. While researching Virgil's condition, Amy learns of Doctor Charles Aaron, a specialist in eye treatment who suggests to Virgil that, with surgery, he could restore his sight. Virgil angrily refuses. Jennie reveals that their father left the family after putting Virgil through several kinds of treatments in order to restore his sight. Virgil eventually decides he will give the operation a try. It is a success, but after Virgil regains sight, he becomes confused and disoriented, unable to perceive light and distance. Dr. Aaron suggests that he should visit Phil Webster (Nathan Lane), a visual physiotherapist. Webster in turn suggests that Virgil needs to learn everything from scratch himself, through experience. Virgil and Amy begin living in New York City. The pair begin drifting apart, as Virgil finds it hard to decipher the look on Amy's face at times. Amy finds herself constantly having to explain basic things to Virgil. While at a party, Virgil walks into a glass pane due to his poor perception. Virgil's father sees him on television and arranges a reunion; Virgil goes to his father's workplace, but decides at the last minute that he cannot face him yet. On one of the regular visits with Webster, they engage in a deep conversation, where Webster notes that instead of just "seeing", Virgil should "look"; there are a lot of things that sight alone cannot solve. Virgil confesses that he and Amy are drifting apart, but insists that Amy is the most important thing in his life. Upon returning from a work trip to Atlanta, where she and her ex-husband shared a sensual moment, Amy decides to save the relationship. She finds Virgil in a park looking for "the horizon" in the city. Virgil's sight begins deteriorating. After consulting with Dr. Aaron, Virgil realizes that he is losing his sight yet again. He decides to look for his father. Virgil reveals to him that he is going blind again, and asks him why he left. His father tells him that he felt he was a failure when he did not find a way to help his son regain sight. Virgil states that he should not have left because his mother and sister suffered greatly after his father walked away. Virgil looks for Amy, who tells him about her plans to travel with him to places like Egypt and Europe. Withholding the fact that he is again going blind, Virgil tells her there is one thing he really wants to see, and brings her to a New York Rangers game. At the game, Virgil realizes that the "fluffy cloud" he last remembers seeing was cotton candy. He suffers a lengthened vision blackout and admits to Amy that he is going blind, which Amy refuses to accept. Back home, Virgil and Amy argue. He asks if she wants to spend her life with him if he is going to be blind forever. Amy hesitates, and Virgil decides to return home. Virgil eases back into his old way of life. While losing his sight, Virgil decides to look at as many things as possible, going through magazines and pictorial books in the library. He stays up to watch the sunset, seeing the horizon for the first and last time. After he has been blind again for some time, Virgil is at a park with a guide dog. Amy approaches and they reconnect. Amy apologizes to Virgil for trying to change him and for moving too fast. She asks if he wants to take a walk and "see what they see". They leave the park together. ===== Dymer follows the adventures of its titular protagonist from his birth in a totalitarian state, mockingly referred to as 'The Perfect City', to the events leading to his death at the hands of a monster he begat. From the opening, Dymer grows to the age of nineteen under the control of the state, until, under the influence of spring and the sight of a songbird, he rises in his lecture-hall and murders the aged lecturer before his class, then leaves the stunned civilians behind as he wanders outside The City. Dymer casts off his clothing along with civilization, wandering in the forests until he comes upon an empty mansion with food prepared. After dressing himself again with finer clothing, and feasting alone at a banquet table, Dymer sleeps with an unseen female figure who comes to him in the darkness of the mansion. Upon awakening, Dymer steps outside of the palace and wanders blissfully in the woods. Returning to the palace in search of his lover, he finds every entry barred by a hideous old she-monster. After pleading with her to 'yield but one inch; once only from your law', Dymer approaches the woman with intent to fight his way past her. What happens at this point is uncertain, except that Dymer emerges wounded from the palace and limps into the woodlands. It begins to rain that night in the woods, and Dymer encounters yet another person he cannot see in the dark, this time a wounded man. This man also hails from The Perfect City, and tells Dymer of what happened in his absence, specifically that a revolutionary named Bran used Dymer's actions and name to instill violent protest in the citizens, who then went on to sack and raze the city. Dymer is dumbfounded at this information, and stays silent in the night until the man's wounds prove fatal, then sets out again for the wilderness. Dymer encounters another individual in the wilderness, a man who uses a liquid to put himself into an extended dreaming state. Convincing Dymer that the answer to his anguish is in the dreaming world, Dymer swallows a cup of the liquid. In his hallucination, Dymer encounters his former lover from the mansion, but realizes she is monstrous. Instead of accepting this as the truth, he flees the scene as demons rise to assault him. Upon awakening, Dymer is threatened by the dreaming man, and sets off into the wilderness again. Dymer later arrives at a cemetery where he encounters an angelic guardian who tells Dymer of a horrible monster lurking about. The monster was conceived by a union between a divine being and a mortal. Realizing that the beast is his own offspring, Dymer states he must face his own son in battle. Donning the guardian's armor, he prepares to fight the monster, which ends in his own death and the beast becoming a god. ===== The story is set just after the Union of Scotland and England (1707), in the Liddesdale hills of the Scottish Borders, familiar to Scott from his work collecting ballads for Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. The main character is based on David Ritchie, whom Scott met in the autumn of 1797. In the tale, the dwarf is Sir Edward Mauley, a hermit regarded by the locals as being in league with the Devil, who becomes embroiled in a complex tale of love, revenge, betrayal, Jacobite schemes and a threatened forced marriage. Scott began the novel well, "but tired of the ground I had trode so often before... I quarrelled with my story, & bungled up a conclusion." The introduction to The Black Dwarf attributes the work to Jedediah Cleishbotham, whom Scott had invented as a fictional editor of the Landlord series. It is here that we have the most complete view of this character. ===== In 1943, the German army occupies Rome. Pope Pius XII (John Gielgud) is approached by General Max Helm and SS Head of Police for Rome Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Kappler (Christopher Plummer). The Colonel expresses concern that escaped Allied prisoners may attempt to seek refuge in the Vatican, and requests permission to paint a white line across St. Peter's Square in order to mark the extent of Vatican sovereignty. The Pope does not protest, but when the SS officers leave, he sees out of the window that the white line had already begun to be painted. Opposing Kappler is Monsignor O'Flaherty (Gregory Peck), an Irish-born Vatican priest who runs an underground organization which provides safe haven and escape to escaped POWs, Jews, and refugees in Rome. O'Flaherty is assisted in this enterprise by others, including locals, clergy and the diplomatic corps. The Nazis attempt to destroy the group, but Kappler is frustrated by O'Flaherty's successes, due to his cleverness, disguises, and his straining the limits of the Vatican's neutrality. Met with continuous failure, Kappler begins to develop a personal vendetta against O'Flaherty. Despite O'Flaherty's efforts, Kappler manages to recapture many escaped POWs, deport many Jews to death camps, and exploit and oppress the general population; a number of O'Flaherty's friends are also arrested or killed. O'Flaherty is himself the target of an assassination attempt instigated by Kappler, which however fails due to the monsignor's boxing skills. The rescue organization continues operating, and succeeds in saving many lives. As the war progresses, the Allies succeed in landing in Italy and begin to overcome German resistance, eventually breaking through and heading towards Rome itself. Colonel Kappler worries for his family's safety from vengeful partisans, and, in a one-to-one meeting with O'Flaherty, asks him to save his family, appealing to the same values that motivated O'Flaherty to save so many others. The Monsignor, however, declines, refusing to believe that, after all the Colonel has done and all the atrocities he is responsible for, he would expect mercy and forgiveness automatically, simply because he asks for it, and departs in disgust. As the Allies enter Rome in June, 1944, Monsignor O'Flaherty joins in the celebration of the liberation, and somberly toasts those who did not live to see it. Kappler is captured in 1945 and interrogated by the Allies. In the course of his interrogation, he is informed that his wife and children were smuggled out of Italy and escaped unharmed into Switzerland. Upon being asked who helped them, Kappler realizes who it must have been, but responds simply that he does not know. The film epilogue states that O'Flaherty was decorated by several Allied governments after the war. Kappler was sentenced to life imprisonment, but was visited in prison every month by O'Flaherty, his only regular visitor. Eventually, the former SS officer converted to the Catholic faith, and was baptized by the Monsignor in 1959. ===== Stefen "Stef" Djordjevic (Tom Cruise) is a Serbian American high school defensive back who is gifted in both sports and academics. He is seeking a college football scholarship to escape the economically depressed small western Pennsylvania town of Ampipe and a dead- end job and life working at the mill like his father and brother Greg (Gary Graham). He dreams of becoming an engineer right after he graduates from college. Ampipe is a company town whose economy is dominated by the town's main employer, American Pipe & Steel, a steel mill struggling through the downturn of the early 1980s recession. Stef gets through his days with the love of his girlfriend, Lisa Lietzke (Lea Thompson), and his strong bond with his teammates. Most of the film takes place after the big football game against undefeated Walnut Heights High School. Ampipe appears headed to win the game, when a fumbled handoff in the closing seconds—as well as Stefen's pass interference penalty earlier in the game—leads to a Walnut Heights victory. Following the game, Coach Burt Nickerson (Craig T. Nelson) lambastes the fumbler in the locker room, telling him he "quit" the game. When Stefen retorts that the coach himself quit, the coach kicks him off the team. In the aftermath, disgruntled Ampipe fans vandalize Coach Nickerson's house and yard. Stefen is present and is a reluctant participant, but is nonetheless seen by Nickerson as the vandals flee. From there, Stefen deals with personal battles, including dealing with the coach blackballing him among colleges because of his attitude and participation in the desecration of Nickerson's yard and house. Stefen gets in an argument with Lisa, and his best friend Brian (Penn) declines a scholarship offer to USC and plans to marry his pregnant girlfriend. Frustrated by what Nickerson did, Stefan angrily confronts his former coach which ends in a shouting match out in the street. But Lisa decides to talk to Nickerson's wife to try and help. In the end, Nickerson realizes he was wrong for blackballing Stefan. He has accepted a coaching position on the West Coast at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and offers Stefen a full scholarship to play football there, which he accepts. ===== The play opens in a county home (an inpatient psychiatric facility) in Baltinglass, Ireland in 1932, some years after Irish independence. In the opening scene, Dunne appears to be raving incoherently, reliving an episode of his childhood. As the play continues, Dunne slips from moments of lucidity to reliving parts of his career as a senior officer in the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP), especially the handover of Dublin Castle to Michael Collins in 1922 after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. He also relives memories of his family, particularly his daughters, Annie, Maud, and Dolly. Dunne is also visited by the ghost of his son Willie, killed in WWI; Willie's ghost appears to him in the form a 13-year-old child but dressed in the soldier's uniform of his 18-year-old self. These imagined visitations and reveries are interspersed by actual interactions between Dunne and two attendants from the county home, Mrs. O'Dea and Smith, who attempt to wash him and measure him for a new suit of clothes. Smith initially berates Dunne for his role in the DMP, particularly his ordering of the charge against the striking workers during the Dublin Lock-out in 1913 that left four dead; however, he warms up to Dunne after reading a letter written to him by his son from the battlefield. Mrs. O'Dea demonstrates more sympathy to him, eventually sewing some gold thread into Dunne's suit, as he frequently pleads for. The play mainly alternates between the dramatized memories of 1922 and Dunne's present, mentally deteriorated state at the county home in 1932. (It does, however, contain one actual visit from Annie and Dunne's son-in-law, Matthew.) It consists largely of monologues from Dunne which serve to explain his past loyalties and decisions, before ending with the depiction of the traumatic event that started Dunne's downward spiral into madness: he brandished a sword at Annie and destroyed various pieces of furniture in her house after hearing of Michael Collins's death and the increased violence in the country due to the Irish Civil War. The play concludes with Dunne recounting a story from his childhood about the family sheepdog killing and eating one of the sheep. Dunne's father initially threatens to kill the dog as punishment, but much to young Dunne's relief, the father decides ultimately to spare the dog, which suggests that a similar forgiveness can be extended to Dunne despite his personal and public mistakes. ===== Convict Van Duff is the leader of a large-scale prison break. The breakout works as the six survivors hide out in a forgotten mine working near the prison. Once the coast is clear they then set out on a long, dangerous journey. The convicts take by foot, car, train and truck in an attempt to get to some hidden stolen bank loot. On the journey, the doomed prisoners meet with some locals including a farm woman (Beverly Michaels), a kidnapped doctor (Percy Helton) and a young woman on a train (Gloria Talbott). ===== When race car driver, Brewster Baker, stops at a gas station, parts are stolen from his race car. Then while in a diner in a small Texas town, he sees some people stealing parts from another car, and chases the thieves. When the thieves' van goes into a river, Brewster rescues them and discovers that they are orphaned children. The kids were stealing auto parts for "Big John" the corrupt county sheriff, who jails Brewster for breaking and entering, larceny, resisting arrest and speeding. After the kids help break Brewster out of jail, Brewster reluctantly takes the children with him. Eventually, they form a friendship and bond. The end of the movie features real race footage from the 1982 NASCAR Coca-Cola 500, held at Atlanta Motor Speedway and won that year by Darrell Waltrip. ===== The film begins with clips of John Wayne's past films. Aging gunfighter John Bernard "J.B." Books arrives in Carson City, Nevada on the same date as Queen Victoria's death: January 22, 1901. Books' life is also ending soon as he is diagnosed with terminal cancer by "Doc" Hostetler. Doc directs Books to a boarding house owned by Bond Rogers, a widow who lives with her teenaged son, Gillom. Books' attempt to remain anonymous fails and Bond, unreceptive to Books, summons Marshal Thibido. Thibido orders Books to leave town until Books says he will die soon. Thibido allows him to stay, but wishes him a quick death. Word spreads that Books is in town, causing all manner of trouble from those seeking to profit off his name to those seeking to kill him. Doc prescribes laudanum to ease Books' pain, and advises him to choose how he dies, as opposed to allowing the cancer to do it. Books orders a headstone, but rejects the undertaker's offer of a free funeral, suspecting he would charge the public admission to view his remains. Two strangers seeking notoriety try to ambush Books as he sleeps, but he kills them. Gillom is impressed, but his mother is losing boarders and she is angry. She is also concerned the fatherless Gillom will be influenced by violence and alcohol. Books and Gillom have a dispute over Gillom procuring a buyer for Books' horse without his permission, but resolve their differences and their relationship improves after a shooting lesson. Books asks Gillom to tell three men - Mike Sweeney, Jack Pulford and Jay Cobb - that he will be at the Metropole Saloon at 11 am on January 29, Books' birthday. Sweeney seeks revenge for Books' killing of his brother, Pulford owns the saloon and gambles professionally, and Cobb, Gillom's employer, is a local troublemaker. On January 29, the headstone arrives which includes Books' death year as "1901" but no day carved. Books gives Gillom his horse, bids farewell to Bond, who has grown to like him, then boards a trolley for the Metropole Saloon. The room is deserted except for the four men and the bartender. Books orders a drink and raises a toast to his birthday and his three "guests". First Cobb, then Sweeney, and finally Pulford all attempt to shoot Books, who successfully shoots and kills all three, but is wounded in the gunfight. Gillom enters the bar in time to see the bartender fire a shotgun into Books' back as Books turns to leave. Gillom kills the bartender with Books' gun, then throws the pistol across the saloon. Books smiles, nods approval at Gillom's decision, and dies. Gillom covers Books' face and leaves the bar in silence as Doc arrives. Gillom sees his mother outside and they walk home together. ===== Five years have passed since the events of the first God of Gamblers film. Ko Chun (Chow Yun-fat) is now living a peaceful retirement on his French estate with his pregnant wife Wan Yau (Sharla Cheung), while his disciples Knife and Sing (from the All For The Winner series) have become world-renowned in their own right. Chun declines repeated challenges from other top-ranked gamblers, having given up gambling in favor of the quiet life. Chun's friend and former bodyguard, Dragon (Charles Heung), the "God Of Guns", comes to pay him a visit. While the two are away from the house for a friendly shooting competition, Chau Siu-Chee (Wu Hsing-kuo), a Taiwanese gambler and the world's number one contender to Ko Chun's title, arrives and murders his wife and unborn son in order to goad Chun into a gambling match. After a shootout with Chau Siu-Chee's henchmen, Ko Chun arrives to discover his wife dying. With her last breath, she asks Chun to promise that he will not gamble or admit his real identity for one year, in the hopes that he will not lose his life in an impulsive act of revenge. Chun agrees as she dies in his arms. Nevertheless, he proclaims that he will avenge her after his promise is fulfilled. Chun travels the world for eleven months anonymously. In the twelfth month, he arrives in mainland China and gets into a series of comic misadventures with a small-time hustler named Little Trumpet (Tony Leung Ka-fai), a police captain (Elvis Tsui), and Hoi Tong, a crime boss's daughter (Chingmy Yau). Hoi Tong also has a score to settle with Chau Siu-Chee after he sent assassins to murder her father. Chun also becomes close with Little Trumpet's sister Yiu Yiu (Jacklyn Wu), who idolizes the God of Gamblers (but is unaware of Chun's true identity). With three days before his promise ends, Ko Chun and his group arrive in Taiwan to confront Chau Siu-Chee. Still bound to his word to keep his identity secret, Chun proclaims that he is Little Knife, the disciple of the God of Gamblers, and that his master will arrive in three days for a match with Chau to determine the true champion. The group retires to Hoi Tong's family compound to plan for the upcoming match. Later, Chau Siu-Chee meets with Cheung Po-Sing, reputed to be the only person to have ever beaten Ko Chun in a poker match (by physically changing Chun's hole card using supernatural powers). Chau is initially skeptical but after a demonstration of Cheung's powers Chau is convinced and enlists his help. Chan Kam-Sing, Ko Chun's opponent from the first film, arrives at Hoi Tong's home to warn Chun that Chau Siu-Chee is insane, so obsessed with gambling that he made Chan bet his hands in a match and subsequently had them amputated when he lost. Chau Siu- Chee's men then storm the compound to kill Ko Chun and the group, but Dragon arrives to save them. In the ensuing firefight, Chan and Yiu Yiu are killed, with Chun promising to avenge them. With his promise fulfilled, Ko Chun, Dragon, and the rest of the group head to Chau Siu-Chee's casino for the final showdown. As the five card stud game proceeds, Ko Chun gains an early advantage, but ends up losing several rounds due to Cheung Po-Sing's interference. In desperation, he puts up his entire wealth and holdings and his eyes for one final deciding round. Chau agrees to match the bet and shows his straight flush, gloating that he has Ko Chun beaten, but Chun reveals his hand - a higher-ranked straight flush, indicating that he has won the game. Chun reveals that "Cheung Po-Sing" is a magician and a good friend of his, that all the instances of card changing were simply sleight of hand tricks, and that the rumors that Cheung had beaten the God of Gamblers were started by none other than Ko Chun himself, a year ago. Ko Chun then demands that Chau make payment in full, including his eyes. Enraged, Chau removes a concealed pistol and attempts to kill Ko Chun, but is in turn killed by Chun, finally avenging his wife, Yiu Yiu, and all the other people Chau had hurt. As the crowd cheers and applauds, Ko Chun and Dragon prepare to depart. Ko Chun notices Dragon is crying and remarks that he didn't think Dragon was capable of shedding tears. Dragon quips, "I was really afraid that you were going to lose all of my money." Ko Chun waves to the crowd one last time as the film ends. ===== Mary Beth Hughes as Connie Wallace The film opens following a murder at a cabaret in Mexico City in 1936, and then presents the events leading up to it in flashback. The Great Flamarion (Erich von Stroheim) is an arrogant, friendless, and misogynous marksman who displays his trick gunshot act in the vaudeville circuit. His show features a beautiful assistant, Connie (Mary Beth Hughes) and her drunken husband Al (Dan Duryea), Flamarion's other assistant. Flamarion falls in love with Connie, the movie's femme fatale, and is soon manipulated by her into killing her no good husband during one of their acts. After Al's supposed accidental death, Connie convinces Flamarion to wait three months before the two can marry and flees back to Minnesota. Meanwhile, Connie has already begun a relationship with another performer, Eddie (Stephen Barclay). After failing to show up at an arranged meeting place three months later, Flamarion goes into a downward spiral of drinking and gambling. Flamarion eventually finds Connie who informs him that she never loved him and used him to get rid of her husband. ===== Sonny Boy's parents are in the midst of a bitter divorce when the boy's mother talks her sister into kidnapping him because she is terrified that her husband will take the boy out of the country after the divorce. The nervy sister takes the lad to the apartment of her sister's husband's lawyer who believes that she has gone away for a time. A merry mix-up ensues when he returns to the apartment with his parents in tow. To maintain appearances, the sister must pose as the lawyer's wife. Eventually she decides to take the boy and flee, but then she realizes that Sonny Boy has vanished. It seems he saw an interesting theater marquee, climbed down the fire escape, and went to the movies. The adults arrive just in time to hear a rousing rendition of the hit song "Sonny Boy". ===== Most character names below are the shortened names of the U.S. version. ===== The noted robotics expert Dr. Kohmyoji created a powerful android to protect Japan from evil forces. When Hakaider starts his own evil organization, Dr. Kohmyoji's android, Kikaider 01, awakens to fight Hakaider. Hakaider has three assistants, Red Hakaider, Blue Hakaider, and Silver Hakaider. Together, they devise various schemes to cause destruction, but Kikaider 01 stops them all. Kikaider appears to assist Kikaider 01. Their chief goal is to capture a young boy, named Akira. After Hakaider's attempts fail, a new, mysterious character appears, Shadow Knight. Shadow Knight is member of a competing, evil organization, SHADOW. When SHADOW proved to be more powerful than Hakaider, Hakaider unwillingly becomes a member of SHADOW. It was later revealed that Hakaider has the brain of Professor Gill (also from the Kikaider TV series) within him. Professor Gill had designed a powerful robot, and had tattooed the plans onto his two sons: Akira and his brother Hiroshi. Throughout the series, SHADOW helps Gill in building his robot, and Kikaider 01's fight to stop them. ===== Data is sent to Barkon IV, a planet inhabited by a pre-Industrial society "roughly equivalent to that of the Renaissance on Earth" to recover the radioactive remains of a deep space probe that crashed on the planet. However, Data is injured during the recovery, and without memory of who he is or his mission, walks into a village carrying the case of radioactive parts. Garvin, the village magistrate, and his daughter Gia, take Data to their healer, Talur, who determines he must be an "ice-man"; Gia names Data "Jayden". Garvin discovers the probe's fragments, unaware of their hazard, and attempts to sell them to make a profit. As the village folk begin to wear the fragments as jewelry, they start to succumb to radiation poisoning, though Talur is unfamiliar with the symptoms. Data uses his own, more scientific methods and concludes that the metal fragments are causing the illnesses, and, with Talur's help, attempts to urge the villagers to get rid of them. Instead, the villagers attack Data, believing him to be the cause for the illness, and cause his mechanical innards to be exposed. When Gia sees this, she is alarmed, but then realizes that Data is trying to help them. Data is able to prepare an antidote for the poisoning, administering it to Garvin and Gia, and doses the entire village by putting the rest of the antidote in the village's well. The villagers, still angry at him, attack Data, apparently killing him. Garvin and Gia bury Data, and bury the metal fragments in the forest outside of town. When Riker and Crusher arrive under the guise of friends of Jayden, they learn of his fate from Gia. Data's body and the metal fragments are beamed to the Enterprise. Data's functions are restored, but he has no memory of his life as "Jayden". He theorizes that his positronic brain must have been overloaded from a power surge from the probe as he recovered the fragments, leading to his memory loss. A separate plot during these events follows Deanna Troi's efforts to become a bridge officer. She easily passes all of the required examinations except one – a holodeck simulation, supervised by Riker and meant to test her command abilities. After several failed attempts to save a badly damaged Enterprise without putting anyone at risk, Troi realizes that she may not be able to avoid sacrificing some of the crew, and orders the holographic Geordi to perform repairs in a hazardous area that will quickly kill him. She passes the test and earns a promotion to Commander. ===== An elderly husband and wife, Ernest and Mary Ross, are the parents of Toby, a young man who appears mentally impaired. At some point, apparently very early in his life, Toby displayed the ability to summon things he has seen (by looking at the picture and saying the word "Bring!") Ernest and Mary are clearly aware of this and it is revealed that they have lived as recluses for many years so as not to expose Toby to images of things that he might then "bring." (It is later revealed that when Toby attempts to "bring" living things such as animals that he has seen in pictures, whatever he brings is dead when it appears.) Ernest and Mary have had to place an ever-growing amount of restrictions on what Toby can be allowed to see. At the beginning of the episode, Toby pleads with his parents for doughnuts, which he dearly loves. They insist that he finish his dinner first. Ernest then unlocks a drawer containing pictures of doughnuts that Toby looks at in order to "bring" them. But on this night, before Ernest can show Toby the pictures, Toby succeeds in producing the doughnuts on his own, without seeing the pictures. This greatly disturbs Ernest, who fears that Toby's mysterious power is growing stronger and who knows what he might decide to "bring" if he doesn't need to see the objects he wants. Later that same night, Toby has become seriously ill with terrible pain in his stomach. Ernest suspects that since Toby no longer needs to see pictures in order to "bring" items, that he may have produced dozens of doughnuts after being put to bed and then made himself sick on them. Mary, now frantic, asks about calling a doctor who still makes house calls. Ernest tells her "Mary, no one makes house calls anymore!" Finally, Ernest calls for an ambulance. The Rosses spend the night at the hospital and plan to take Toby home the next day, but the parents' overprotective behavior attracts the attention of a social worker, Miss Kemp, who, unaware of Toby's terrifying powers, is concerned that he is being mistreated and deprived of the benefits of special education that is now available for people like Toby. Toby accidentally kills his mother when he sees a picture of a heart and summons it. Ernest remains determined to look after his son without outside interference but when Miss Kemp threatens to take Toby away Ernest persuades his son to demonstrate his ability by summoning items from a picture book. Miss Kemp still believes Toby needs professional help, but Ernest insists that if psychologists and scientists discover what he can do then they will abuse him. The social worker eventually leaves but makes it clear that Ernest will see her again. Upset by these events, Toby uses an old photograph to summon his mother from the grave—Mary's corpse then appears in the armchair. While burying Mary's body in the backyard, Ernest talks to his wife and tells her that it's finally time. Ernest then sits with his son and presents him with one more picture—a picture of fire. When Ms. Kemp returns, the house is ablaze. ===== Chuck Scott (Robert Cummings) is a World War II veteran who is now a penniless drifter in Miami tormented by bizarre dreams. After finding a wallet and showing his honesty by returning it to Eddie Roman (Steve Cochran), a vicious gangster, he is hired by Roman to be his driver. Roman tests his new driver, whom he nicknames 'Scotty,' by assuming control of his car from the back seat. Unbeknownst to Scotty, Roman has an accelerator installed in the rear passenger compartment so that he can "take over" the vehicle whenever he wants. This bizarre trick unnerves his new driver as well as Roman's right-hand man, Gino (Peter Lorre). Roman reveals himself as a tough gangster by killing any competition, and even locks his wife, Lorna (Michèle Morgan), in her room every night to control her. Lorna goes for a drive every night at 9:30 pm, and one day she asks Scotty to take her to Havana, Cuba in exchange for $1,000. He consents and realizes that he is in love with her. When they get to Havana, they stop for a drink at a club, where Lorna is murdered with a knife while in Scotty's arms. All the evidence, including the fact that Scotty apparently purchased the knife that was used to kill Lorna earlier that day, points to Scotty being the killer, and he realizes he is being framed. The photograph from the club that proves Scotty was innocent is destroyed by Gino, who has come down to Cuba to exact revenge against Lorna and Scotty. Scotty escapes police custody, but is gunned down by Gino when he returns to the curio store where the knife came from. Suddenly, Scotty wakes up back in Miami on the night he and Lorna are supposed to abscond to Havana. He is sweating profusely and immediately takes his pills that he is prescribed, presumably to deal with posttraumatic stress disorder from battle. Scotty remembers nothing, and goes to the naval hospital to seek treatment from his doctor, Commander Davidson (Jack Holt). Davidson urges him to try to remember details of why he was dressed as a driver, but Scotty is unable. The two go drinking at the Florida Club. Meanwhile, Lorna is shocked that Scotty abruptly quit his job and left earlier that night, and she is locked in her room after Roman discovers her writing a love letter to Scotty. Roman and Gino go to the Florida Club to cool down, unknowingly sitting across the club, and behind a partition, from the missing Scotty. Davidson, who presumably had been treating Roman, realizes that the woman Scotty is in love with is actually Roman's wife, but by this time, Scotty remembers where he was supposed to be and leaves to find Lorna. He rescues her and the two head for the port, but Gino and Roman are also heading to the port once they find out that Scotty was seen at the port buying tickets earlier that morning. Because Roman uses his master accelerator to push the car up to speeds of 100 mph, it crashes with an oncoming train, killing both gangsters. Scotty and Lorna are now free to sail to Cuba and be together. ===== Journalism major Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) is expelled from Harvard University after cocaine is discovered in his room. Though it belongs to his roommate, Matt is afraid to speak up because his roommate Jeremy comes from a wealthy and powerful family, and is offered $10,000 for taking the blame. Matt accepts the money and uses it to visit his sister Shannon (Claire Forlani), her husband Steve (Marc Warren) and their young son Ben in London. There, Matt meets Steve's brother, Pete (Charlie Hunnam), a teacher and football coach who leads the local football hooligan firm – Green Street Elite (GSE). Steve asks Pete to take Matt to a football match. Though Pete is reluctant to take a "Yank" to a football match, he decides to take Matt to the game, thinking he might "learn something." Matt meets Pete's friends and his firm in their local pub and they befriend Matt, with the exception of Pete's stubborn right-hand man, Bovver who takes an immediate dislike to Matt. A few pints in and they head to the match. Afterward, Pete, Bovver, and the other firm members go off to fight some Birmingham City fans, but Matt decides that it is not for him and heads to the train home. On his way back, Matt is jumped by three Birmingham fans but is rescued by some GSE members. Though grossly outnumbered, the GSE manage to stand their ground until reinforcements chase off the Birmingham firm. Matt does well in his first true fight, is inducted into the GSE, and moves in with Pete. The GSE firm then head to an away game against Manchester United. Matt ends up sneaking onto the train to help when they are warned that 40 Manchester United firm members are waiting for them at the station. Bovver pulls the train's emergency stop handle and at Matt's initiative the firm persuades a van driver to take them into Manchester, posing as a moving equipment van for a Hugh Grant film. When past them, the GSE charge out to attack the United firm members. They win the fight and leave, taunting the United firm. Jealous of Matt's rise in the ranks, Bovver talks to Tommy Hatcher (Geoff Bell), the head of GSE's rival firm; the NTO. After one of the members of the GSE sees Matt meeting his father, a journalist for The Times, for lunch, they assume Matt is a "journo" as well. Bovver informs Pete of this, and Steve goes to the Abbey to warn Matt, discovering that Steve is the founder and former leader of the GSE; “The Major", who retired from football hooliganism after witnessing the death of Tommy's 12-year-old son in a fight. Bovver secretly informs Tommy and the Millwall firm of Steve's presence. Pete angrily confronts Matt in the bathroom over his identity as a "journo" right before the Millwall firm then crash the Abbey and petrol-bomb the bar. On arrival, Tommy confronts Steve and stabs him in the neck with a broken bottle, telling him that if he dies tonight then they are both even. Bovver, who had been knocked unconscious by Tommy's right-hand man upon arriving, helps get Steve to the hospital where Pete slams Bovver for his betrayal. Shannon decides to return to the United States to ensure the safety of her family. The two firms meet near the Millennium Dome the next day for a final brawl. Matt and Bovver show up to fight for the GSE, but Shannon turns up with Ben and is subsequently attacked in her car by Tommy's right-hand man. Matt and Bovver come to their rescue. Pete notices that Tommy is approaching the car and goads him to "finish him off." When Tommy says the NTO will end it, Pete retorts that Tommy is to blame for his son's death, having failed to protect him. Tommy snaps and tackles Pete to the ground, eventually beating him to death. Everyone on both sides gathers around Pete's dead body in shock. Matt returns to the United States and confronts the now wealthy and successful Jeremy in a restaurant toilet; with Jeremy admitting to being the cocaine stash's owner. Matt pulls out a tape recorder saying that it's his "ticket back to Harvard." Jeremy lunges at him to get the tape, but Matt fends him off with ease. Matt walks out with a smile down the street outside the restaurant singing "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles". ===== Looking for Alibrandi begins light-heartedly, and conveys Josie's character through her interactions with friends and family. However, the optimism initially associated with Josie fades as she struggles to cope with her final year of school, including the racist attitude of one girl in particular, Carly Bishop (Leeanna Walsman), the suicide of her crush, John Barton (Matthew Newton), and the meeting with Michael Andretti (Anthony LaPaglia), her absent father, who has only just learned of her existence upon returning to Sydney for work. She is also in continual conflict with her grandmother, Katia Alibrandi (Elena Cotta). However, these complications are seemingly resolved quickly, in keeping with Josie's brusque and forthright outlook on life. For example, in response to Carly's frequent snide remarks, she breaks her tormentor's nose with a history textbook. It is this drastic act that brings her father back into her life. Another complication—the suicide of her close friend and unrequited crush, John Barton—tests her resilience. Struggling with her grief, she finds some comfort from Jacob Coote. An apparent 'bad boy', he turns out to be sincere and caring person. The most significant complication and challenge for Josie, is her rocky relationship with her father. When they finally get to know each other, and recognise themselves in each other, their rift heals, and she can confide in him. ===== In the mid-17th century, the Manchus conquer the territories of the former Ming Empire and establish the Qing Empire. While nationalistic sentiments start brewing within the wulin (martial artists' community), the Qing government immediately imposes a ban forbidding the common people from practising martial arts. The warlord Fire-Wind sees the new law as an opportunity to make a fortune so he offers to help the government execute the new rule. Greedy, cruel and immoral, Fire-Wind ravages northwest China with his army and kills thousands of resistance fighters and innocent civilians. His next goal is to attack Martial Village, which houses a large number of martial artists. Fu Qingzhu, a retired executioner, feels an urge to stop Fire-Wind so he sets forth to save Martial Village. He brings with him two young villagers, Han Zhibang and Wu Yuanying, to Mount Heaven to seek help from Master Shadow-Glow, a reclusive swordsman and sword-forger. Shadow-Glow allows his four students – Chu Zhaonan, Yang Yuncong, Xin Longzi and Mulang – to accompany the trio on their quest. He also gives each of them a special sword he forged. The seven of them call themselves "Seven Swords". The Seven Swords return to Martial Village in the nick of time and successfully defeat and drive away Fire-Wind's soldiers. In order to buy time for the villagers to prepare for an evacuation, the Seven Swords head to Fire-Wind's base and cause damage by burning down their barn and poisoning their horses. During the raid, Chu Zhaonan encounters Fire-Wind's Korean slave girl, Green Pearl, and brings her along as they make their escape. As the villagers evacuate Martial Village and make their way into the hills, strange things start happening along the way. Their food and water supplies are poisoned and their trail is marked by signs leading the enemy to them. The Seven Swords realise there is a spy among them and agree they must eliminate him/her before Fire-Wind catches up. Green Pearl immediately becomes the suspect because she does not speak their language. The situation is further complicated by a romantic affair between Chu Zhaonan and Green Pearl. At one point, Green Pearl and Chu fall into a trap set by Fire-Wind. Chu uses his sword to free Green Pearl from a net cast by Fire-Wind's men but loses his weapon. While Chu is captured by the enemy, Green Pearl manages to escape and convey her message that Chu has been captured to the other swordsmen before succumbing to her injuries. The other six swordsmen travel to Fire-Wind's base and engage him in battle to rescue Chu Zhaonan. During the Seven Swords' absence, the spy, Qiu Dongluo, sets fire to the entrance to the cave to inform the enemy of the villagers' whereabouts. He reveals his identity and begins killing the unsuspecting villagers systematically. He is discovered by the village chief's daughter, Liu Yufang, who eventually kills him by accident. However, she is so traumatised by the experience that she becomes hysterical. Meanwhile, the Seven Swords defeat and slay Fire-Wind, and forces his army to retreat temporarily. The swordsmen return to the hideout, only to find that all the villagers have been killed, except for Liu Yufang and the children. Han Zhibang calms Liu down and decides to stay behind and protect the survivors. The Seven Swords realise the only way to save the wulin is to persuade the Qing emperor to withdraw the ban on martial arts. Liu tells Han that she can take care of the survivors alone so Han rushes to catch up with the other swordsmen as they travel towards the capital. ===== The film opens early in the twentieth century, at an English country mansion with the apparent murder of Lord and Lady Morley in their car by a figure in a black cape. Inspector Winship (Knotts) and Dr. Tart (Conway), two American detectives transferred over to Scotland Yard because of problems in the United States, travel to the Morley mansion, brandishing a letter from the late Lord Morley asking them to investigate his own murder. They encounter the attractive heiress - the Morley's adopted daughter Phyllis Morley (Trisha Noble) - and are introduced to the manor's questionable staff. As the two investigate the murder, each of the staff, which includes a samurai, a hunchback, a busty maid, a gypsy, and an insane butler, are seemingly killed. However, each of their bodies disappear before the detectives can show them to the heiress. Their attempts to update Scotland Yard via homing pigeon are continuously thwarted, typically by the death of the pigeon. After discovering the manor's numerous hidden passages, the detectives wind up in a "torture chamber" and Winship is caught in a deadly trap. While Tart clumsily searches for a way to help, the caped figure ("The Shadow") leaps out to rescue Winship from the trap. A boa constrictor then frightens them into a trash compactor, where they survive being compressed into a bale of garbage. Once out of the garbage, they find the heiress taking the Morley money and preparing to leave the mansion. She then confesses to having killed the Morleys for their money as she has a gambling habit. Planning to kill the detectives and escape the mansion, she falls backward into a flower bed while retreating, where she is grabbed by the shadowy figure, who has been hiding in the dirt. The shadow scares her to the point that she faints, at which time the shadow takes off his cape, revealing himself to be Lord Morley. Morley had escaped the car crash and gathered the staff to gain their help in a plan to get the heiress to confess to the murder of his wife and the attempt on his own life. Morley remained "dead" (in hiding) as part of the plan, writing the letter to Scotland Yard in order to request Winship and Tart as investigators, presumably because of their incompetence. As Morley explains what he did, the members of the staff appear, having faked their own deaths as part of the plan. The heiress is arrested and Winship and Tart are thanked with a gift of a very rare sarcophagus, which is placed in their car. As Winship and Tart drive away, they argue over the existence of creatures known as "wookalars," said to be manlike creatures with superhuman strength and a pig-like face. The film ends with their car careening down the road as they scream in terror, due to the sudden appearance of a wookalar from the sarcophagus. ===== ===== Wanting to see the world and unable to live with his uncle anymore, Bunyip Bluegum the koala sets out on his travels, taking only a walking stick. At about lunchtime, feeling more than slightly peckish, he meets Bill Barnacle the sailor and Sam Sawnoff the penguin who are eating a pudding. The pudding is a magic one which, no matter how much one eats it, always reforms into a whole pudding again. He is called Albert, has thin arms and legs and is a bad-tempered, ill-mannered so-and-so into the bargain. His only pleasure is being eaten and on his insistence, Bill and Sam invite Bunyip to join them for lunch. They then set off on the road together, Bill explaining to Bunyip how he and Sam were once shipwrecked with a ship's cook on an iceberg where the cook created the pudding which they now own. Later on they encounter the Pudding Thieves, a possum named Patrick and a wombat named Watkin. Bill and Sam bravely defend their pudding while Bunyip sits on Albert so that he cannot escape while they are not looking. Later that night sitting round the fire, Bill and Sam, grateful for his contributions of the day, invite Bunyip to join them and become a member of the Noble Society of Pudding Owners. Later the next day, through some well-thought-out trickery, the Pudding Thieves make a successful grab for the Pudding. Upset and outraged, Bill and Sam fall into despair and it is up to Bunyip to get them to pull themselves together and set off to rescue their Pudding. In the course of tracking down the Pudding Thieves they encounter some rather pathetic and unsavoury members of society, but eventually manage to get led to the Pudding Thieves' lair. Bunyip's cleverness lures the robbers into a trap from where Bill and Sam's fists do the rest and they retrieve their pudding. Some time later the Pudding Thieves approach the three Pudding Owners proclaiming that they bear gifts of good will and will present them to the pudding owners if they would only look inside a bag they have with them. When doing so they pull it over their heads and tie it up leaving them defenceless as the thieves take their pudding and run off. An elderly dog, market gardener Benjamin Brandysnap, comes along and frees the Pudding Owners. The bag had been stolen from his stable, and he joins the Pudding Owners to get revenge on the Pudding Thieves. Another clever plan by Bunyip lures them into another trap where the Thieves are given yet another battering and the Pudding retrieved. The next day the travellers come to the sleepy town of Tooraloo where they are approached by men dressed in suits and top hats and claiming to be the real owners of the Pudding. They turn out to be the Pudding Thieves up to yet another attempt at getting the Pudding and the subsequent fight brings along the Mayor and the cowardly local Constable. In the argument that follows, the bad-tempered Pudding pinches the Mayor, who orders his arrest. The Pudding is taken to court where the only officials present are the judge and the usher who are playing cards, but they prefer to eat the defendant rather than hear the case. To settle matters, Bunyip suggests that they hear the case themselves. Bill becomes the prosecutor, the Pudding Thieves are charged with the attempts to steal the Pudding and the theft of Benjamin Brandysnap's bag and the Mayor and the Constable stand in as “12 good men and true” -- conceding that the unconstitutionality of the court is "better than a punch on the snout". The proceedings do not go well however, and result in utter chaos. When it is at its height, Bunyip suddenly announces that the Pudding has been poisoned. The judge, who has been eating away at the Pudding, goes suddenly crazy and attacks the usher, the Pudding Thieves, the Mayor and the Constable with a bottle of port. In reality, Albert was never poisoned and the Pudding Owners take advantage of the confusion to beat a hasty retreat. They then decide that it would be best to settle down somewhere rather than continue with their travelling. They build a house in a tree in Benjamin's garden and settle down to a life of ease. ===== The Story of the Exodus or freedom of Hebrews from Egypt is told in a perspective which highlights Moses' efforts to persuade first the stubborn Pharaoh Merneptah, who was his adopted cousin, to release his work force of slaves. Then, once free and in the wilderness en route to the Promised Land, Moses must prove to be a pious and patient leader or lawgiver to a people who still think they want more out of him or God. For 40 years, Moses (Burt Lancaster) must carry on this load and challenge for God and Israel. With the help of his brother Aaron (Anthony Quayle), and Joshua (Aharon Ipale), the nation or people of Israel are officially born or created after centuries ago God promised and vowed Jacob/Israel that he would be the father of a mighty nation. ===== A young man (Rechy uses the term “youngman” when referring to hustlers) travels across the country while working as a hustler. The book focuses chapters on locations that the youth visits and certain personages he meets there, from New York City, to Los Angeles, San Francisco and New Orleans. Throughout the novel, the unnamed narrator has trysts with various peculiar characters, including another hustler, an older man, an S&M; enthusiast and a bed-ridden old man. All of these relationships range in the extent of their emotional and sexual nature, as well as in their peculiarity. The book includes writing about the Cooper Do-nuts Riot, which happened in 1959 in Los Angeles, when the lesbians, gay men, transgender people, and drag queens who hung out at Cooper Do-nuts and who were frequently harassed by the LAPD fought back after police arrested three people, including Rechy. Patrons began pelting the police with donuts and coffee cups. The LAPD called for back-up and arrested a number of rioters. Rechy and the other two original detainees were able to escape.Faderman, Lillian and Stuart Timmons (2006). Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians. Basic Books. pp. 1–2. ===== Julie Richman is a Valley girl who seems to have it all: good looks, popularity, and a handsome Valley dude boyfriend, Tommy, but she is having second thoughts about her relationship with the arrogant and selfish Tommy. At the end of a shopping trip with her friends, Loryn, Stacey, and Suzi, Julie runs into Tommy and breaks up with him. Later that day at the beach, Julie trades shy glances with a young man in the distance. That night, at a party at Suzi's house, Julie locks eyes with Randy, a Hollywood punk who has crashed the party with his friend Fred. They hit it off, especially after Julie learns Randy was the young man at the beach. Tommy is jealous, and tries to bed Loryn. He fails and gets his cronies to eject Randy and Fred from the party. Undaunted, Randy sneaks back into the house and hides in an upstairs bathroom shower. Randy waits in the shower for Julie to enter the bathroom as various party goers come and go, talking about and trying to have sex, and doing drugs. When Julie enters, Randy convinces her to leave the party with him. Julie brings a reluctant Stacey for the ride with Randy and Fred. While at Randy's favorite Hollywood nightclub, Julie and Randy rapidly grow closer as Stacey continually rebuffs Fred's advances. Julie ignores Stacey's plight and the fact that she never wanted to be there or with Fred. Julie's friends, dismayed by her relationship with Randy, pressure her to get back together with Tommy. Julie asks her father for advice, and he kindly tells her she should follow her heart. Despite this, Julie reconciles with Tommy and later dumps Randy. A heartbroken Randy gets severely drunk, makes out with his ex-girlfriend, and nearly gets into a fight with a gang of low riders before Fred saves him. Fred chides Randy for moping over Julie, but tells him he needs to fight if he truly wants her back. After Randy flits about the Valley for the next few days just so he can get a glimpse at Julie, Fred says he has a plan that will reunite Randy with Julie as well as get revenge against Tommy. A subplot involves Suzi and her stepmother Beth vying for the attention of a boy named Skip. At her party, Suzi tells Beth, who is chaperoning, about Skip, whom she likes and hopes will show up. When Skip arrives, Beth is attracted to him. Skip also is attracted to Beth and goes out of his way to see her without Suzi's finding out. One day, Skip enters Suzi's house, apparently looking for Beth. He goes upstairs and finds a woman in the shower in Beth's bedroom. Skip and this woman, whose face is not shown, are then shown making love. Another woman arrives home and goes upstairs. The bedroom door opens, Beth enters, and only then it is shown Suzi was in the shower and in bed with Skip. Skip and Suzi go to the prom together. As the girls make prom decorations, Stacey and Loryn chat over their post-prom plans. Stacey reveals Tommy made a reservation at the Valley Sheraton Hotel as an after-prom "surprise" for Julie. Tommy and Julie ride to the prom in a rented stretch limousine; Randy and Fred arrive shortly after and sneak backstage. Randy increasingly becomes annoyed with watching the Valley High kids dance, but Fred assures him all is going according to plan. Julie and Tommy are escorted backstage, waiting to be introduced as king and queen of the prom. Randy confronts Tommy, and the two begin to brawl. When the prom king and queen are announced, the curtain pulls back to reveal Randy's beating up Tommy. Randy knocks Tommy out, then escorts a thrilled Julie from the stage through the crowd. Tommy recovers and storms through the crowd toward Randy and Julie, who start a food fight to slow Tommy down and facilitate their escape from the venue in Tommy's rented limousine. As the happy couple ride into the night toward the Valley Sheraton, Julie removes Tommy's ID bracelet, which had been a sign of the relationship between the two during the entire film, and throws it out the window. The scene, which echoes the final scene of the film The Graduate, pans to the overview of the Valley, and the limo turns past the Sherman Oaks Galleria glowing in the night. ===== After a particularly bad day -- Santa's Little Helper eats his homework and he forgets his permission slip for a school field trip to a chocolate factory -- Bart loses control of his skateboard during a downpour. He crashes down the stairwell of the Legitimate Businessman's Social Club, a Mob bar owned by the Springfield Mafia. At the club, Mob boss Fat Tony and his henchmen, Legs and Louie, are inhospitable towards Bart at first. They are soon impressed by his ability to pick winning horses and make excellent Manhattans. After Fat Tony hires him as the club's bartender and errand boy, Bart starts wearing Rat Pack suits, tries to bribe Principal Skinner to avoid punishment, and allows the Mob to store a truckload of stolen cigarettes in his bedroom until they can be fenced. The mobsters confront Principal Skinner when they find he is giving Bart detention after school. Skinner goes missing the next day and is assumed murdered. Bart rushes to confront Fat Tony at the bar after a nightmare about Skinner's ghost and his own execution. While Bart is there, the police raid the bar. Fat Tony blames Skinner's disappearance on Bart, who is put on trial for murder. At the trial, Fat Tony, Legs and Louie lie to the court, saying Bart killed Skinner. Judge Snyder is about to convict Bart when Skinner, unshaven and disheveled, bursts in the courtroom. He explains that neither Bart nor the mobsters killed him. Instead, Fat Tony and his henchmen visited his office and left sheepishly after Skinner scolded them for interfering in student discipline. When he returned home that day, Skinner became trapped beneath stacks of old newspapers in his garage and lay stuck there until freeing himself and racing to the courtroom. Bart is cleared of all charges, despite the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to have Skinner's speech stricken from the record. Bart quits Fat Tony's gang after learning that the bromide is true: crime does not pay. ===== Kayako Kirishima, who lives in Niigata, is almost ready to go off to college but is lonely and unsure of her future. Masami Endo is a girl who has been ostracized and made a social outcast for having an abortion. The two girls meet each other in class one day and become good friends. Gradually, Kirishima falls in love with Endo and the relationship becomes more personal. In the middle of the book, summer vacation starts and Endo leaves to go off with the man who got her pregnant. During this time Kirishima misses her and can't wait for her to return. When Endo does return, she lies about her experiences and says that she was traveling with old friends. Kirishima knows she is lying and becomes upset with Endo souring the relationship. Eventually the two forgive each other, but times have changed and Kirishima decides to go off to Tokyo and pursue a career in art while Endo chooses to stay in her hometown. The manga ends with Kirishima riding off in a train to Tokyo as Endo looks longingly towards the train. ===== When Bart is sent home from school with head lice and Lisa without shoes while Marge and Homer spend the day at a spa, they are accused of being negligent parents. Two Child Protective Services agents arrive at their house and take Bart, Lisa, and Maggie to a foster home—their next-door neighbors Ned and Maude Flanders. Bart and Lisa hate living with the Flanders, but Maggie enjoys it since she gets more attention from Ned than she ever did from Homer. Marge and Homer are forced to attend a parenting class to regain custody of their children. When Flanders learns the Simpson children were never baptized, he is distraught and drives them to the Springfield River. When Homer and Marge are declared fit parents, they quickly head for the river to stop Flanders from baptizing their children. Just as Flanders is about to pour holy water on Bart, Homer prevents the water from hitting him and making him a baptized member of the Flanders family. The Simpsons are reunited and head home together. ===== Peyton Farquhar, a civilian and plantation owner, is being prepared for execution by hanging from an Alabama railroad bridge during the American Civil War. Six military men and a company of infantrymen are present, guarding the bridge and carrying out the sentence. Farquhar thinks of his wife and children and is then distracted by a noise that, to him, sounds like an unbearably loud clanging; it is actually the ticking of his watch. He considers the possibility of jumping off the bridge and swimming to safety if he can free his tied hands, but the soldiers drop him from the bridge before he can act on the idea. In a flashback, Farquhar and his wife are relaxing at home one evening when a soldier rides up to the gate. Farquhar, a supporter of the Confederacy, learns from him that Union troops have seized the Owl Creek railroad bridge and repaired it. The soldier suggests that Farquhar might be able to burn the bridge down if he can slip past its guards. He then leaves, but doubles back after nightfall to return north the way he came. The soldier is actually a disguised Union scout who has lured Farquhar into a trap as any civilian caught interfering with the railroads will be hanged. The story returns to the present, and the rope around Farquhar's neck breaks when he falls from the bridge into the creek. He frees his hands, pulls the noose away, and rises to the surface to begin his escape. His senses now greatly sharpened, he dives and swims downstream to avoid rifle and cannon fire. Once he is out of range, he leaves the creek to begin the journey to his home, away. Farquhar walks all day long through a seemingly endless forest, and that night he begins to hallucinate, seeing strange constellations and hearing whispered voices in an unknown language. He travels on, urged by the thought of his wife and children despite the pains caused by his ordeal. The next morning, after having apparently fallen asleep while walking, he finds himself at the gate to his plantation. He rushes to embrace his wife, but before he can do so, he feels a heavy blow upon the back of his neck; there is a loud noise and a flash of white, and "then all is darkness and silence". It is revealed that Farquhar never escaped at all; he imagined the entire third part of the story during the time between falling through the bridge and the noose breaking his neck. ===== The story is about the adventures of a 14-year-old girl named Nico Hayashi, who uses her talents of changing and altering her voice to manipulate men over the phone who want to participate in enjo kōsai. Through this she learns a lot about human nature, and gains a keen understanding of people through their voices. An aging gangster notices her talents and decides to hire her to solve various cases. While Nico is on her first case, she meets with a geeky man named Iichiro Sudo, who has an obsession with robot toy models. This obsession that leads Nico to call him "Robo", and the two become an unlikely team. After completing her first case Nico proclaims herself "Sexy Voice" and a variety of short loosely linked character-driven adventures ensue. ===== War begins for the United Kingdom after a surprise aerial bombing of 20 cities, the first of many attacks. Young solicitor Peter Corbett, wife Joan, and their three young children leave Southampton after their house and Corbett's offices are damaged, friends are killed, and a cholera epidemic begins. They move aboard their small yacht, kept on the river Hamble, but as disease spreads and supplies diminish, flee the area. They sail to the Isle of Wight, but because of the fear of disease, other ports require them to provide a certificate of health or wait in quarantine; the Corbetts do not want to risk being bombed during the three weeks of quarantine. In the English Channel the family rescues two downed Fleet Air Arm aviators from . Their commanding officer gives the Corbetts supplies and suggests that the family sail to neutral France. While in quarantine at Brest, a friendly customs official states his belief that Britain will win the war because international horror of the enemy's terror bombing has caused the Dominions to enter the war and the neutral United States to provide aid. Corbett's family boards an ocean liner for Canada; because of his nautical experience, Corbett returns to the Victorious to accept a commission as sub-lieutenant from the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. ===== Miriam Knight is an intelligent but unattractive young woman who is treated disrespectfully by those around her due to her homely appearance. She has changed colleges five times in three years. In that time, she has taken a lot of different classes but is still unable to find a boyfriend. At her new college, things go from bad to worse. She is either ignored or humiliated by almost everyone. Miriam finally lands the lead in a play, but her jealous roommate, knowing that Miriam is allergic to roses, places some in a box during Miriam's performance, causing Miriam to sneeze herself into humiliation. She tearfully speeds away from the college campus, but is involved in an automobile accident. Miriam requires reconstructive surgery on her face. Once the bandages are removed, they reveal a brunette bombshell. From the moment she steps outside the room in the hospital, she makes it her mission to exact vengeance on all those who did her wrong by killing them, one by one. Miriam uses her new good looks (which make her unrecognizable as the "old" Miriam) and the skills that she acquired in many of her classes to commit the crimes. A police detective, Ralph Varone, who had a brief encounter with the "old" Miriam, solves the crimes committed by the "new" Miriam and discovers her motive. Varone falls in love with Miriam, becoming the only man to love her for her mind. They marry with Miriam in custody, preparing to serve a lengthy jail sentence. ===== One night in New York City, a possessed Lucas Kane stabs a man to death in the restroom of a diner and then flees the scene. The case is assigned to Detective Carla Valenti and her partner. Lucas sees a spiritual medium named Agatha, who places him in a trance to try to recall the events from before. Upon discovering that he had been approached by a strange man, who seemed to be controlling him during the slaying, Lucas leaves. He returns the following night, only to find Agatha dead. Meanwhile, the police have identified Lucas as the prime suspect, and lay a trap to capture him. He demonstrates superhuman strength, defeating them all and escaping onto a moving train. Directed by what appears to be Agatha's spirit, Lucas learns that what occurred in the restaurant was a Mayan sacrifice. He sets up a meeting with a specialist on the Maya civilisation, according to whom, the ritual was meant to unlock a passage into the "Other World". However, the executioner was traditionally supposed to commit suicide afterwards. Eventually, Lucas' ex-girlfriend is kidnapped by the man from the diner, a Mayan Oracle, in order to draw him out. In his efforts to rescue her, both perish, but he is brought back to life by a group of artificial intelligence (AI) that seeks the Indigo Child, a young girl who carries a secret that grants unlimited power to whoever hears it. Carla's investigation leads her to interview a convict whose modus operandi mirrored Lucas'. He tells her about the Orange Clan, of which the Oracle is a member, and their search for eternal life. Lucas makes contact with Carla and convinces her to trust him. He explains that the Oracle will do anything in pursuit of the Indigo Child. Lucas discovers where she is, bringing her to a military base where Lucas grew up and was exposed to Chroma, a force which gave him the ability to resist the Oracle's attempts to drive him to suicide and will enable the Indigo Child to deliver her message. The Oracle and AI follow them, and a final battle takes place. Three months later, Lucas is living with Carla, who has become pregnant. ===== A teenage girl is troubled by dreams and fantasies that parallel the life of another girl who lived over 200 years before. The book revolves around a young New Englander, Amy Delatour, a teenager of French Acadian-English lineage, who often goes into a fugue state where she believes she is a tormented soul named Ange-Marie, a French Acadian in exile in eighteenth century Connecticut who had been separated from her beloved husband, Paul. The shy and bookish Amy lives in a state of anguish and uncertainty, until one of her high school teachers, Martin Stone, takes an interest in this unusual, highly intelligent young woman. Together they try to get to the bottom of her mysterious dream states and her fire phobia. ===== In 1999, Gigelf Liqueur, aided by the Magician's Guild, set into motion a plan to open a gate between Earth and the world of Nemesis. The intent was to exchange Earth's polluted air and water with clean air and water from Nemesis. To aid in this endeavor, a huge cyclotron was built under Tokyo. However, Ganossa Maximilian, Gigelf's old apprentice, sabotaged the plan by opening the gate early and perverting the gate for his own means. For a number of years following this event, Gigelf and the Magician's Guild battled an invasion of Lucifer Hawk, their name for the inhabitants of Nemesis. Gigelf was killed in 2006 and it appeared the rest of the Guild met with similar fates over the next few years. In 2023, Rally Cheyenne felt partially responsible for the growing attacks on innocent humans by marauding creatures from Nemesis. She is of mixed heritage because her mother Lufa Cheyenne was a Magician's Guild member but her father was from Nemesis. Rally started the organization called the Attacked Mystification Police (AMP), with only three officers (Kiddy Phenil, Lebia Maverick and Nami Yamigumo) and a sub-commander (Mana Isozaki). Over the next few years, she added Yuki Saiko, Katsumi Liqueur and Lum Cheng to the team, all aiding in the fight to protect Earth from the vicious Lucifer Hawk. ===== Frank Martin has relocated from southern France to Miami, Florida. As a favor to a friend, he becomes a temporary chauffeur for the wealthy Billings family. The marriage of Jefferson and Audrey Billings is under great strain due to the demands of the husband's high-profile government job. Frank bonds with their son, Jack, whom he drives to and from elementary school in his new Audi A8 W12. Later, a somewhat drunk Audrey shows up at Frank's home and tries to seduce him, but he tactfully sends her home. Frank prepares for the arrival of Inspector Tarconi, his detective friend from France, who has come to spend his holiday in Florida with Frank. When Frank takes Jack for a medical checkup, he realizes barely in time that impostors have killed, and masqueraded as, the doctor and receptionist. A lengthy fight erupts between thugs, led by Lola, and the unarmed Frank; Frank manages to escape with Jack. Just as they arrive at Jack's house, he receives a phone call, informing him that he and Jack are in the sights of a sniper capable of penetrating the car's bulletproof glass. Forced at gunpoint to let Lola into the car, Frank speeds away with Jack, evading many pursuing police cars. They arrive at a warehouse, where Frank meets Gianni, the ringleader of the operation. Frank is ordered to leave without Jack. He discovers an explosive attached to the car and succeeds in removing it a split-second prior to detonation. Jack is returned to his family after the payment of a ransom, but unknown to them and Frank, Jack has been injected with a deadly virus that will eventually kill anyone who the child breathes on. Suspected by everyone except Audrey of being one of the kidnappers, Frank tracks down the remaining fake doctor, Dimitri, with Tarconi's assistance. Frank infects Dimitri with the same virus, then lets him escape. Dimitri panics and hurries to a lab to get the cure, with Frank following behind. In his panic, Dimitri kills Tipov, another of Gianni's men, in his attempt to force the scientist in charge of the lab to give him the cure. Frank arrives and kills first another henchman, then Dimitri (after revealing the Dimitri was not infected after all); but when Frank refuses to bargain with him, the scientist hurls the only two vials containing the antidote out of the window into traffic. Frank manages to retrieve only one vial intact. Frank sneaks back into the Billings home and tells an already ailing Audrey what is happening. He uses the antidote on Jack. Meanwhile, a coughing Jefferson, the director of National Drug Control Policy, addresses the heads of many anti-drug organizations from around the world at a conference; infecting all of them in the process. Frank drives to Gianni's home, and finds that Gianni has decided to inject himself with the remaining supply of antidote as a precaution. After dispatching Gianni's many henchmen, Frank has the archvillain at gunpoint. Gianni explains that a Colombian drug cartel is paying him to get rid of its enemies; and that Frank cannot risk killing him, for his death would render the antidote unusable. An armed Lola shows up, leading to a standoff. Gianni leaves Lola to deal with Frank; which results in Frank finally killing her by impaling her on a wine rack with sharp metal points. Frank tracks Gianni, who is making an escape in his helicopter to a waiting jet. Using a Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster from Gianni's garage, Frank speeds to the airport and boards Gianni's jet by driving onto the runway and climbing onto the jet's nose gear. After killing the co-pilot Frank gets into the interior of the plane and confronts Gianni, who pulls a gun on him. When they wrestle for it, a wild shot kills the pilot and the plane crash-lands in the ocean. Frank incapacitates Gianni by paralyzing him (rendering him immobile while preserving the antidote in his system), then pushes his captive and himself out of the sinking plane. Boats converge to pick them up. The Billings are given the antidote. When Frank visits them in the hospital, before entering their room, he sees them with Jack, who is joking with them. He silently walks back to his car, where Tarconi is waiting. He drops his friend at the airport. Alone, Frank receives a call from a man who needs a transporter, to which he replies: "I'm listening." ===== Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) becomes part of the Mitchell family when she marries Grant Mitchell (Ross Kemp) in December 1991. But months later the couple begin rowing. Grant wants a wife who behaves like one, and Sharon refuses to comply. He also wants a baby but Sharon prefers to concentrate on making The Queen Victoria pub a success to honor her late father Den Watts (Leslie Grantham), The Vic's previous landlord. During a major row in July 1992, Sharon confesses that she has carried on taking the contraceptive pill because she doesn't want to have a baby with Grant. He loses his temper, and after smashing The Vic up he disappears for a few weeks, leaving brother Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) to comfort a devastated Sharon. Sharon begins to wonder if she has married the wrong brother. Grant returns, and despite promises to try harder he immediately returns to his old ways, staying out with his friends all night and leaving Phil to help Sharon run the pub in his place. Grant's thuggish behaviour only brings Sharon and Phil closer together. Sharon confides in Phil while clearing glasses away and one night they both kiss, and this eventually leads to Phil and Sharon beginning their affair; However, Sharon cannot bring herself to leave Grant, and upon his return she chooses him rather than Phil. Grant's reign of terror continues, and he begins to get involved with crime. He intimidates Sharon and her friends; he smashes up The Vic again and later, sets fire to it in an insurance scam, unaware that Sharon is inside. Sharon is furious when she discovers his involvement in the fire at her beloved pub and when Grant realises his marriage is over and wants to sell The Vic, she decides to take a holiday to visit her mother Angie Watts (Anita Dobson) in America in January 1993. Upon her return three months later, she attempts to seize Grant's half of The Queen Vic and gain full control. More arguments follow and after another heated argument Grant hits Sharon across the face. Sharon tries to hide her injuries, but both Phil and Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully), Sharon's best friend, notice there is something wrong. When Grant's behaviour does not improve, Michelle calls the police, but when they arrive Grant loses his temper and begins attacking them. He badly injures one policeman and Michelle gets punched by Grant. Grant is arrested and sent to prison on remand. With Grant out of the way, Sharon's affair with Phil resumes. While he is serving his prison sentence, Grant begins to suspect that his wife may be seeing someone else, and threatens to kill the man if he ever finds him. Phil then has to mediate between his brother and his lover. However, Sharon and Phil are both tormented with feelings of guilt, and neither want to tell Grant the truth. When Grant is finally released from prison, Sharon takes pity on him, and by the end of June that year they reunite. Phil, still in love with Sharon, marries Nadia Borovac (Anna Barkan), a Romanian refugee so she can gain a visa, though their marriage is short-lived. After Phil's first marriage collapses, he begins a relationship with Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) and the two are eventually engaged. When Sharon learns of the engagement and visits Phil, with the hope of reigniting their affair, they kiss, but Phil suddenly stops himself and throws her out. The storyline eventually comes to a climax in October 1994. Sharon has put her affair with Phil behind her and she and Grant are even thinking about starting a family. Michelle's boyfriend, Geoff Barnes (David Roper), has an idea about interviewing local girls for his book about the 'social and economic importance of women in the East end'. Sharon agrees to contribute, so long as Michelle conducts the interview. During the autumn of 1994 the interview takes place, with Michelle taping the conversation on a tape recorder. However the girls forget to turn the tape recorder off after the interview finishes, and prompted by Michelle, Sharon begins to reveal the full details of her affair with Phil, leaving the incriminating evidence in the tape machine, which eventually finds its way into the glove compartment of Grant's car - for him to find later. Weeks later, on the night of Phil and Kathy's engagement party, Grant goes on an errand to collect some beer from a nearby pub. On his drive home, he searches through the glove compartment to find a cassette to put on, and by chance chooses the one containing the incriminating interview. On hearing Sharon's confession that she had sex with Phil, Grant goes into a state of shock and anger. He arrives at The Queen Victoria pub, where the party is taking place, stops the music and then plays the tape to the crowded pub. Kathy reacts by slapping Sharon and calling her a slut, whilst Grant goes to The Arches garage, later followed by Phil who tries to explain. Grant then beats him up, leaving him hospitalised with a ruptured spleen. Phil spends some time in intensive care, but goes on to make a full recovery from his injuries. He and Grant reconcile after Grant coerces him into blaming Sharon for their affair. Grant makes Sharon's life a misery. He constantly humiliates her in public – branding her "the pub whore", and acts in an aggressive manner, which includes smashing plates on the table where she is sitting. Sharon wants to reconcile so she puts up with the abuse for several months, refusing to give in to his demands for a divorce. However, Grant finds ever more inventive ways to humiliate her and by Christmas Day that year Sharon finally agrees to sign the divorce papers. She moves to the United States to live with her mother. This leads to the return of Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor), the mother of Phil and Grant, who takes over as acting landlady in Sharon's place. Sharon returns in March 1995 to hostility from Grant, Phil and Peggy. Sharon is not perturbed and her gutsy behaviour eventually earns her the respect of her ex-husband Grant, who begins to realise that he is still in love with her. Sharon is determined to get revenge for her mistreatment, so she leads Grant on, while confessing to Michelle that it is really her plan to publicly humiliate him. She leads him to believe that a public proposal of remarriage would seal their reunion. Grant decides to pop the question at The Queen Victoria pub quiz night, and Sharon is ready to turn him down in front of the packed pub and his family. However, in the end, she cannot go through with it, and stops him from proposing before he humiliates himself. She then confesses to him that she still loves him, before heading for America to join her mother, leaving Grant devastated. Before she returns to Angie in America, Sharon reluctantly sells her half of The Queen Vic to Peggy. ===== The story is told through the viewpoints of Lieutenant Robin Savage and the innocent but determined Anne Hildreth, although Savage's viewpoint predominates later in the novel. It begins in 1879, when Britain and Afghanistan are engaged in the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Anne Hildreth and Robin Savage have met and become attracted to each other before the narrative starts. Anne is the daughter of a Commissariat officer and is travelling with her parents to the military post at Peshawar in the North-West Frontier Province of India. En route, she witnesses the murder of an Afghan stranger. In his last moments, the murdered man writes the word "atlar" (horses) in his own blood. Meanwhile, Robin is part of a military column in Afghanistan. He is the son of a distinguished soldier and has almost been forced to follow in his father's footsteps, but has no particular thirst for action. As the result of an accident, and a superior officer's bungling, he is accused of cowardice, and is also sent to Peshawar to await a military court of inquiry. Life threatens to be awkward, but an acquaintance, Major Hayling, connects the murder witnessed by Anne with a souvenir collected by Robin in Afghanistan, a jezail with the words "atlar shimal" (horses, north) engraved on it. Realising that Robin's true passion is for solitude and empty spaces, Hayling recruits him into the Secret Service and sends him in disguise into Central Asia. Accompanied by a faithful Gurkha orderly, Robin sets out to discover the motive behind the murder and determine whether it is connected with the ambitions of Tsarist Russia. Before departing he marries Anne. Ultimately returning to British India, Robin is reunited with his wife and infant children. He is decorated with the Distinguished Service Order in recognition of his achievements, and appears to have achieved conventional success. However, he disappears across the frontier again in pursuit of his semi-mystical goals. Anne is left to accept the unbridgeable divide between herself as the Lotus and Robin as the Wind. ===== It introduced the fictional Savage family, whose history of service in British India rather resembled that of Masters's ancestors. ===== The Oklahoma land rush of 1889 prompts thousands to travel to the Oklahoma Territory to grab free government land; Yancey Cravat (Richard Dix) and his young bride, Sabra (Irene Dunne) cross the border from Kansas to join the throngs. In the ensuing race, Yancey is outwitted by a young prostitute, Dixie Lee (Estelle Taylor), who takes the prime piece of real estate, the Bear Creek claim, that Yancey had targeted for himself. His plans for establishing a ranch thwarted, Yancey moves into the town of Osage, a boomer town, where he confronts and kills Lon Yountis (Stanley Fields), an outlaw who had killed the prior publisher of the local newspaper. Having a background in publishing himself, Yancey establishes the Oklahoma Wigwam, a weekly newspaper, to help turn the frontier camp into a respectable town. After the birth of their son, Cimarron, a gang of outlaws threatens Osage, led by "The Kid" (William Collier Jr.), who happens to be an old acquaintance of Yancey's. To save the town, Yancey faces and kills The Kid. Beset by guilt over his killing of The Kid, when another land rush appears, Yancey leaves Sabra and his children to participate in settling the Cherokee Strip. After his departure, Sabra takes over the publication of the Oklahoma Wigwam, and raises her children until Yancey returns five years later, just in time to represent Dixie Lee, who had been charged with being a public nuisance, and win her acquittal. Osage continues to grow, as does the Territory of Oklahoma, which gains statehood in 1907 and benefits from the early oil boom of the 1900s, including the Native American tribes, that Yancey supports, through editorials in his newspaper, after which Yancey once again disappears from Osage for several years. At the time, Sabra is vehemently anti-Native American, despite her son's involvement with an Indian woman. Years later, when Sabra becomes the first female congresswoman from the state of Oklahoma, she lauds the virtues of her then Indian daughter-in-law. Sabra and Yancey are reunited one final time when she rushes to his side after he has rescued numerous oil drillers from a devastating explosion. He dies in her arms. ===== Los Reyes is about a working-class family and Edilberto "Beto" Reyes, the head of the family, who suddenly gets hired as president of a multinational company. This happens when he stops the former president of the company, a middle-aged woman with a terminal disease, from committing suicide. Beto shows the woman his daily life and his people, helping her get back on her feet. The president is grateful, and goes to France to get a treatment for her disease. When she leaves, she thanks Beto by giving him the presidency of the company. The vicepresident, Emilio Iriarte (wrongly called "Urinarte"), who sought the company's presidency after the former president disappeared, and his family swear to take revenge. They focus on making the Reyes family go back "where they belong", but problems arise when Emilio falls in love with Laisa, Beto's 'sister'. Laisa conducts a television show on which famous real- life celebrities appear. 354 chapters. ===== In Kansas City, gently-reared Sabra Cravat (Maria Schell) packs to join her new husband, lawyer Yancey "Cimarron" Cravat (Glenn Ford), in the Oklahoma land rush of 1889. On the trail, they encounter William "the Kid" Hardy (Russ Tamblyn) an old friend of Yancey's, and his buddies, Wes Jennings (Vic Morrow) and Hoss Barry (George Brenlin). The boys give Sabra a fright and a glimpse into Yancey's past. On the trail, Yancey helps Tom (Arthur O'Connell) and Sarah Wyatt (Mercedes McCambridge) and their eight children, taking them aboard their wagons. At the jump off point, it seems to Sabra that her husband knows everyone in Oklahoma, from Ned the cavalry officer to dance hall girl Dixie Lee (Anne Baxter). A small crowd cheers Bob Yountis (Charles McGraw) and his henchman Millis (L. Q. Jones ) when they attack a Native American family, whipping Arita Redfeather (Dawn Little Sky), her baby in her arms, overturning their wagon and beating her husband, Ben (Eddie Little Sky). Yancey joins his friend Sam Pegler (Robert Keith) in fighting them off. When a Cavalry officer confirms that the couple have a right to be there, the crowd disperses. Yountis threatens Pegler, a newspaper editor, if he tries the same crusading here that he did in Texas. Sabra is angry that Yancey risked his life for an Indian—and is chastened at the icy reactions to this remark. She steps forward to join the others, including peddler Sol Levy (David Opatoshu) and printer Jess Rickey (Harry Morgan) in righting the wagon. That night Sam and his wife, Mavis (Aline MacMahon), reveal more about Yancey's past as a cowboy, a gambler, a gunman, and a lawyer. They scoff at his being a rancher. They hope to pass the legacy of the paper on to him. At noon on 22 April 1889, 50,000 settlers race across the prairie on every conceivable form of transport. There are 2 million acres—enough for 12,500 homesteads. Tom falls, and Sarah claims a dry, worthless patch a step across the line. Pegler is trampled to death, and Dixie beats Yancey to the land he wanted, so he asks Jesse to stay and help him run the paper. The new town of Osage consists of tents and half-built storefronts; the Oklahoma Wigwam is selling briskly. Yountis and The Kid terrorize Levy in the street; Yancey tries and fails to persuade the Kid to change. One night, Yountis leads a mob in lynching Ben. Yancey arrives too late, but he kills Yountis and brings Arita and her baby, Ruby, home. Meanwhile, Sabra has given birth to a boy whom they name Cimarron, Cim for short. Four years later, Osage is thriving. On Yancey's advice, Tom has built an oil-drilling apparatus. He is a laughingstock. Wes, Hoss and The Kid, wanted outlaws, try to rob the train in town. Hoss is killed, and Wes and the Kid run to the schoolhouse, where Wes seizes a little girl as a shield. The Kid pulls her to safety and is shot. Yancey kills Wes. When Yancey destroys the $1000 reward check, Sabra is furious: He never thinks of their son's security. Yancey is ecstatic when a news service telegram announces the opening of the Cherokee Strip. He tells Sabra: They are going. She says No. He goes. Five years later, Tom is still working on his oil well. A duffel bag arrives from Yancey, from Alaska, with nothing in it but a polar bear skin. Yancey joins Roosevelt in Cuba and eventually "Osage's Own Rough Rider" returns. Sabra—who was planning to scold him—runs into his arms. Cim also forgives him. Then Tom bursts in, covered in oil. Oilfields spring up, marking the passage of years. Yancey is thrilled to spread the word that there is oil on the wretched land of the reservation. He is disgusted to learn that Tom bought the oil rights. Yancey's campaign to win the Native Americans justice is a huge success, and the President invites him to be Governor of the Oklahoma Territory. Sabra discovers that Cim and Ruby have grown close; she is desperate to separate them. In Washington, D. C., Yancey and Sabra are invited to the Congressional New Year's Eve Party; Yancey thanks her for everything she has put up with. His New Year's resolution is to make it up to her. While she dresses, he goes to another room in the hotel to meet with a group of influential men and is surprised to find Tom there. He learns that the price of his appointment is his integrity. He wishes them Happy New Year and takes Sabra to the party. When he tells her that he can't be governor, she sends him away, forever. Cim and Ruby marry, without warning. He has a job in Oregon; when they say goodbye, Sabra tells him he is throwing his life away. Ten years later, it is the Oklahoma Wigwam's 25th anniversary. Sol and Tom want Sabra to pose for a statue representing the Oklahoma pioneer. She refuses. There is a surprise party, and Cim, Ruby and their two children are there, as is Mavis Pegler. Sabra talks about Yancey. The phone rings: War has been declared. In December, she reads a letter from him. On the table is a telegram from the British War Office notifying her of his death in action. She remembers their years together, and the camera zooms in on the finished statue: It is Yancey. ===== Rahul Verma (Arjun Rampal) and Karan Srivastav (Zayed Khan) are business partners. The film begins with the discovery of the body of Pooja Sharma (Amisha Patel), Rahul's wife. Pooja has apparently committed suicide by hanging herself, however, before the postmortem can take place, her body goes missing. A flashback reveals that Karan used to be Pooja's ex-boyfriend. Karan was extremely possessive of Pooja, and the pair broke up after an incident where Karan stabbed a man with a fork and forced Pooja to leave her home and her father (Alok Nath). After the break up, Karan leaves town, and Pooja meets Rahul, who is a loving and successful businessman. The pair get married, however tragedy strikes when they are involved in a car crash and Rahul loses his eyesight. Karan has now become a wealthy businessman, and becomes partners with Rahul, unaware of who his wife is. At a meeting held in Rahuls house, Karan is shocked to learn that Rahul and Pooja are married. In the present, the police investigating the case begin to suspect that Pooja's death is not a suicide after all. They also believe that Karen may have been involved in the crime. Pooja's jewellery and other evidence is found at Karen's house. Karan believes that he is being framed, and enlists his friend Rajat Saxena (Rakesh Bedi) to help him prove his innocence. Karan thinks that Rahul is the most likely suspect, and sets out to confront him. Karan ends up bribing Rahul’s servant Alex (Veerendra Saxena) to tell confess if Rahul is blind or not and he agrees to say this in court. The men end up in a fight, after Rahul uses his eyesight to save a young boy from an incoming train. It is revealed that Rahul has actually regained his sight and is not blind after all. Karan believes that Rahul had killed Pooja, and forces him to confess, recording the admission. However, Rahul had control of the remote for the recording device and only captured Karen's words, making it appear as if he was confessing to the murder. The police, lead by Inspector Khan (Rajesh Vivek), arrive at the scene. In court, Rahul testifies against Karan and so does Alex after he exposes him of the bribe and will always remain loyal to Rahul. Karan is arrested for the murder and sentenced to life imprisonment and the Judge (Achyut Potdar) rules that Saxena can no longer be Karan's lawyer. In the holding cells, Karan manages to bribe a Constable, exchanging his watch for a tape recorder. That night, Rahul comes to meet Karan, and tells him that he knows that Karan did not kill his wife. Rahul explains that he had found out that his blindness was curable, and secretly travelled abroad for the operation, telling his wife that he was on a business trip. He intended to surprise Pooja, but upon his arrival, he found her in Karan's arms. This infuriated him, but he kept quiet. However, later that day Pooja realised that he was no longer blind and short while after, she committed suicide. After her death, Rahul and Alex found an audio cassette recorded by Pooja. In the cassette, Pooja explained that while Rahul was on his business trip, Karan came to the couple's house. Pooja threw him out after an argument, but he followed her back into the bedroom and threatened to burn the house down with her inside it, unless she renewed her relationship with him. Pooja had no choice but to agree to divorce Rahul and then marry Karan. That night, Pooja tried to contact Rahul, but Karan caught her and told her that the stress of the situation would cause Rahul to become permanently blind. The next morning, Karan wrote up divorce papers for Pooja and Rahul, after which he embraced her. At that moment, Rahul returned from his trip and saw the pair. Rahul tells Karan that Pooja did indeed commit suicide, but her death was a result of Karen's actions so he is her murderer. Rahul then explains how he vowed to get vengeance by framing Karan for the crime, so that he and his wife may finally have peace. Karan reveals that he has finally caught Rahul, and jubilantly shows him the tape recorder. However, Rahul tells him that he had anticipated this move and says that the tape recorder has no batteries. Rahul further reveals that Saxena has been working with him the entire time and helped him with the plan. He finally walks away, leaving Karan distraught and alone in his cell. In the end, Rahul is seen immersing Pooja's ashes in the river. ===== Carl Taylor and James St. James, a pair of troublemaking garbagemen who dream of owning a surf shop, are known for tossing garbage cans in the street and making noise that disturbs their residents. A local cop, Mike, hassles them frequently, but Carl and James are used to this treatment and shrug it off. After completing their shift, they are put on probation for their antics and are told they will be receiving an observer for their next shift: their supervisor's brother, Louis. After work, the pair spy on a woman, Susan Wilkins, living across the street with a telescope and watch as she is mistreated by a man who is with her. Once she leaves the room, Carl, in a form of payback, shoots the man in the rear with a pellet gun. As James and Carl hide and laugh, two men enter the room, strangle the man and drag him away. His body is then stuffed in a barrel that falls out of their vehicle and ends up found the next day by Carl and James on their garbage route. James and Carl, being the one that shot him, freak out when they realize the body is that of Jack Berger, a city councilman who was running for mayor. Louis, a semi-crazed no-nonsense Vietnam War vet, calms the two down by explaining that Jack had been strangled. Louis, demanding that the cops not get involved, commandeers the situation by having them stash the body at Carl's place. Carl, seeing Susan come home, decides to meet her by going over to her apartment building. They hit it off and decide to go for a night drive. Meanwhile, Louis exacerbates their problems when he kidnaps a pizza delivery man who sees James with the body. James tries to call the police, but Louis unplugs the phone and drags James, the pizza guy and the body into following Carl and Susan. While pursuing Carl and Susan, they are pulled over by Mike and his partner, Jeff. Louis, using the pellet gun and the pizza guy as a hostage, forces Mike and Jeff to drop their guns before handcuffing them together in a compromising position at a playground. Meanwhile, Carl and Susan are discovered and kidnapped by Biff and Mario, the hitmen who had killed Jack. The couple are brought before Maxwell Potterdam III, a corrupt businessman that has been dumping toxic waste illegally. Jack was covering for him and when he tried to back out, Maxwell had him killed. Carl and Susan are stuffed into cans and set to be disposed of in the lake that serves as the illegal dump site. Carl's barrel falls off the truck and he is freed, and he and James manage to grab onto the truck carrying Susan while Louis follows behind in a rent-a-cop car. Carl frees Susan and the group neutralizes Potterdam's squad of goons, terrorize him with their pranks and the body, and then throw him in the toxic water. ===== Kim Sun-woo (Lee Byung-hun) is a high-ranking enforcer and loyal subordinate of crime boss Kang (Kim Yeong-cheol). The two share concerns over business tensions with Baek Dae-sik (Hwang Jung-min), a son from a rival family. Previously Sun-woo had beaten up Baek's men for overstaying their welcome at their nightclub. Kang, preparing to leave on a business trip, assigns Sun-woo to shadow his young mistress Hee-soo (Shin Min-ah), whom he fears is having an "affair" with another man. As Sun-woo performs his duty — following Hee-soo, and escorting her to a music recital - he becomes quietly enthralled by the girl's beauty as glimpses into his lonely, empty personal life become prevalent. When he does come to discover Hee-soo and her lover at her home, he beats up the man and prepares to inform Kang. However, he changes his mind and spares the two on the condition that they no longer see each other again, earning him Hee-soo's enmity. Later, a man asks Sun-woo to apologize for beating up Baek's men, but he refuses. Agitated, he gets drunk in his apartment, and is kidnapped by Baek's henchmen. They prepare to kill him, but Kang saves him with a phone call. Kang, who has learned of his attempted cover-up of Hee-soo's affair, questions his motive, but he doesn't answer. Kang orders his men to torture Sun-woo, but gives him a chance to fix his mistake. Instead, Sun-woo escapes and vows revenge. Sun-woo delivers Hee- soo a farewell gift, then attempts to buy a handgun. The deal goes bad and he ends up killing the arms dealers. This incurs a vendetta with the brother of one of the dealers, who goes to the nightclub he works at. Sun-woo lures Baek to an ice rink and kills him, getting injured in the process. Undeterred, he arrives at the night club and kills his way in. Confronting Kang, Sun-woo vents over how badly he has been treated despite his years of loyalty. Receiving no justification, Sun-woo kills Kang. Baek's henchmen, who have been trailing Sun-woo, shoot at him and Kang's henchmen. Sun-woo emerges as the only survivor of the battle, just as the arms dealer's brother appears. Bleeding profusely, Sun-woo recalls watching Hee-soo's music recital. That was the only time he was seen smiling. The arms dealer's brother then executes him. The film ends with a continuation of an earlier scene, where Sun-woo looks out of a window at the city below him. After making sure he's alone, he begins to shadowbox his reflection in the glass, looking very happy. ===== A series of murders take place in Avadi, Chennai, in the same pattern; stabbing by a knife. Each time the victim is paralysed before being killed. Police, led by IPS officer Krishnaswamy, suspect several people and they narrow down the killer by his age, which should be more than 70 years based on his the writing style on a letter left behind by the killer while murdering his recent victim, an officer in the government treasury. The officer is killed by an old man who is later known to be Senapathy, a veteran Indian freedom fighter who was a member of the Indian National Army led by Subhas Chandra Bose, for threatening a poor old woman to bribe him to hand over compensation amount of 10,000 given by the government as her husband got killed in a riot. Chandra Bose alias Chandru is a small-time broker stationed outside the Regional Transport Office at Chennai, who aids people in greasing the right officials inside the RTO for getting permits and licenses. His assistant Subbaiah, and Paneerselvam, an RTO official, are engaged in regular tiffs while Aishwarya, Chandru's love interest and an avid animal rights activist, also battles it out with Sapna, a medical student and the daughter of an RTO official. Chandru hobnobs with Sapna and her family to secure a job as a brake inspector at the RTO. Aishwarya is irked by the fact that Sapna as well as her mother are exploiting Chandru's situation, getting him to do grocery shopping, laundry, and almost every household chore. It is soon revealed that Chandru is none other than Senapathy's son. They both had parted ways due to Senapathy's excessive insistence on honesty and righteousness, which Chandru considers to be dead and worthless. Meanwhile, Krishnaswamy manages to trace his way to Senapathy's house. When he tries to arrest Senapathy, he and his wife Amirthavalli, a puppeteer, escape with his expertise in Varma kalai. Senapathy then goes on to commit a murder in front of television audiences by killing a corrupt doctor, who refused to attend immediately to Senapathy's daughter Kasturi, who was suffering from third degree burns, because he insisted on a bribe which Senapathy refused in the past, thus killing her. Public support surges for Senapathy as he exposes so many corrupt people. Senapathy does not do his son any favours either. Chandru had earlier taken a bribe and given a safety certificate to a bus with faulty brakes, which eventually killed 40 school children it was carrying, plus the driver operating it, and thus, Chandru is held responsible. But, Chandru tries to put the blame on the bus driver for drunk driving and manages to bribe a police officer and a doctor on the same. Senapathy is bent on giving Chandru the same punishment as he gives others, i.e., death. Despite pleas from Amirthvalli and Aishwarya to spare Chandru's life, Senapathy heads for the airport where Chandru is attempting to flee to Mumbai. A chase then culminates at the airport, where Senapathy kills Chandru and apparently dies in an explosion involving an aeroplane. However, Krishnaswamy, on investigsting discovers that Senapathy escaped moments before the jeep exploded. The epilogue shows Senapathy calling Krishnaswamy from a foreign land, indicating that he will be back when the need for him would arise. ===== As an American infantry battalion aboard a troopship prepares to land on Guadalcanal, Charlie Company's First Sergeant Welsh tells Private Doll he had not provided him with reports that Doll insisted that he gave to Welsh. They are overheard by their company commander Captain Stone. The Captain speaks with Welsh privately and tells him that he witnessed Doll hand Welsh the reports. Welsh replies that he knew he did but that war is insanity and the only way the men can survive the upcoming battle is to live with that fact. The Captain informs Welsh he is not pleased with his attitude. Welsh and Doll continue to be at odds with each other over Doll's independent thinking that extends to his stealing a pistol from another soldier that he thinks will give him an edge in surviving. Once ashore, Charlie Company engages the Japanese with Doll killing a Japanese soldier with his stolen pistol, increasing Welsh's animosity towards him. During the campaign Doll shows his independent thinking by leading a successful attack against enemy emplacements when Stack, his platoon sergeant, panics and proves incapable of leadership. As Doll gains combat experience, his relationship with Welsh grows more strained. Charlie Company is assigned to capture a strategic hill called "The Dancing Elephant" that the two other rifle companies of the battalion have failed to capture. The approach through a minefield called "The Bowling Alley" leads Captain Stone to initially refuse to order his men into a killing field controlled by enemy fire. Doll and Welsh climb the surrounding hills sending boulders into the Bowling Alley that set off the land mines. Though Charlie Company's attack is a success, Captain Stone is relieved of his command by his battalion commander Lt. Colonel Tall for being too close to his men. Charlie Company next captures a village held by the enemy who appear to retreat but counterattack during the night. The survivors including Doll and Welsh attack The Dancing Elephant. ===== The film narrated by Chet Huntley (future NBC nightly newscaster) tells the story of a two federal agents, one from Customs and one from Narcotics, out to stop the distribution of opium that came in on a ship in the Port of New York but was smuggled off by drug dealers. The leader of the drug dealers is the suave Paul Vicola (Brynner). Customs agent Waters and FBI agent Flannery jointly investigate the pure opium shipment that goes missing on the S.S. Florentine. The purser was murdered. Toni Cardell was a passenger on the ship and girlfriend of drug dealer Paul Vicola. Because she played a part in the smuggling, she is upset about the murder and wants out. When Vicola refuses to stake her for a new life elsewhere, Toni calls the police to become an informant. She makes a brief interview on a subway platform with Flannery to plan another meeting, but Vicola garrotes her before she can complete her plans. She had a train reservation so police search all the lockers at Penn RR station and find a parcel of opium drugs. They stakeout the locker and follow the pick up man to a nightclub. Comic Dolly Carney, the recipient, under police pressure discloses his contact to be Leo Stasser at North River yacht. Carney's friend, a dancer at the nightclub named Lili Long, saw his arrest by Waters and Flannery, and on a tip from the nightclub owner goes to Vicola for help. Waters and Flannery stake out Stasser at his harbor marina. Waters slips in undercover by working on a boat there. That night they search Stasser's office and find he has all the lab supplies ready to cut the "junk." Flannery also finds a message from a G. W. Wyley about the drug deal. Stasser and his men return and find Waters, but Flannery escapes. The next day Waters is found floating dead in the bay. Stasser bails Carney out of jail. But intending to silence him, Stasser throws Carney out his high rise apartment window. The police arrest Wyley on his flight layover in Chicago, and Flannery poses as Wyley arriving at La Guardia as scheduled to complete the drug deal. As the deal proceeds on Vicola's yacht, Lili Long, comes to him again to find out why Carney would have killed himself. She exposes Flannery as a cop, and a shootout starts. The Coast Guard is following the yacht, and Vicola and his drug gangsters are caught. Narrator states that justice is served. ===== The film centers on the adventures of two children and a dragon as they fight the arch-enemies of Earth. ===== An unnamed narrator recounts his experiences as a nine-year-old member of the Comanche Club in New York City in 1928. The leader of the club, “The Chief”, is a young law student at New York University who is described as lacking in physical attractiveness but appears beautiful to the narrator. He is widely respected by his troop for his athletic strength and storytelling ability. Every day, after the troop has completed its activities, The Chief gathers the boys for the next episode in an ongoing story about the eponymous Laughing Man. In the format of a serial adventure novel, The Chief’s story describes the Laughing Man as the child of missionaries who was kidnapped by bandits in China, who deformed his face by compressing it in a vise; he was obliged to wear a mask, but compensated by being profoundly athletic and possessed of a great Robin Hood-like charm and the ability to speak with animals. The narrator summarizes the Chief’s ever more fantastic installments of the Laughing Man’s escapades, presenting him as a sort of comic book hero crossing “the Chinese-Paris border” to commit acts of heroic larceny and tweaking his nose at his archenemy “Marcel Dufarge, the internationally famous detective and witty consumptive”. Eventually, The Chief takes up with a young woman, Mary Hudson, a student at Wellesley College who is described as both very beautiful and something of a tomboy. As the Chief’s relationship with Mary waxes and wanes, so too do the fortunes of The Laughing Man. One day, the Chief presents an installment where the Laughing Man is taken prisoner by his arch-rival, bound to a tree, and in mortal danger; then he ends the episode on a cliffhanger. Immediately afterward, the Chief brings his troop to a baseball diamond, where Mary Hudson arrives. The Chief and Mary have a conversation out of earshot from the boys, and then both return, together yet distraught. In the final installment of the story, the Chief kills off the Laughing Man, much to the Comanches’ dismay. ===== Henry Palfrey (Ian Carmichael) is a failure in sport and love, and the easy victim of conmen and employees alike. So he enrols at the "School of Lifemanship" in Yeovil, run by Dr. Potter (Alastair Sim). Late for his appointment, he overhears Potter explaining the principles of lifemanship to the new intake: Palfrey is given an object lesson in this when he has his interview with Potter, who proceeds to win a name-calling game. When Palfrey explains that he is a failure, Potter surmises that a woman is involved. In flashback, Palfrey recounts how he first met April Smith (Janette Scott), knocking parcels from her hands when he rushes to catch a bus. He manages to arrange a dinner date with her. When Palfrey shows up at work, his loafing employees are unconcerned, despite his being the head of the family firm. They pay much more respect to his senior clerk, Gloatbridge (Edward Chapman). In private, Gloatbridge is patronising toward his erstwhile boss, making the business decisions. Palfrey asks him to make a dinner reservation, and has to fend off Gloatbridge's unwanted restaurant suggestion. That night at the restaurant, the head waiter (John Le Mesurier) cannot find Palfrey's booking at first; he does finally locate it under a slightly different name, but still refuses to seat them, as they are late. When Raymond Delauney (Terry-Thomas), a casual acquaintance of Palfrey's, arrives and sees April, he invites them to his table, where he proceeds to try to seduce April and cast Palfrey in a bad light at every opportunity. As Delauney has a fancy sports car, Palfrey tries to counter by purchasing an automobile of his own. However, two salesmen (Dennis Price and Peter Jones) sell him a ramshackle 1924 "Swiftmobile". To further his humiliation of his rival, Delauney suggests a "friendly" tennis match; he wins easily. The film then returns to the school. Over the next several weeks, Palfrey proves to be an apt pupil in learning various ploys to gain the upper hand. The next phase of his education involves a field test of his new skills, evaluated by Potter. Palfrey convinces the car salesmen that his car, after some tune-up, is now a valuable and sought-after vehicle. They trade him an Austin-Healey sports car and 100 guineas (£105) for his Swiftmobile, which promptly breaks down. After putting Gloatbridge in his place, Palfrey challenges Delauney to a rematch. Using some stratagems, he thoroughly frustrates his foe before they even start playing. Then, with April watching, Palfrey proceeds to win the set 6-0. April becomes disgusted with Delauney's behaviour afterward and drives off with Palfrey. They go back to his place for a drink. Palfrey arranges for April's scotch and soda to spill on her dress. He suggests she take it off to dry and put on his dressing gown. Eventually, they end up in his bedroom through his tricks, but Palfrey cannot bring himself to take advantage of April. Then Delauney barges in, dragging Potter with him. Delauney had found out that Potter was Palfrey's guest at the tennis club and got the story out of him. However, after Delauney informs her, April realises that Palfrey genuinely loves her, and they embrace, much to the disgust of both Delauney and Potter. Potter breaks the "fourth wall" and apologises to the audience for his pupil's behaviour. The film ends with Delauney getting off the train at Yeovil station and heading in the direction of the school. ===== Ethel Whitehead (Crawford) is a weary housewife living at the edge of the Texas oil fields. When her young son is killed in a bicycle accident, she leaves her laborer husband Roy (Egan) for the big city. She quickly learns to use her physical charms to get ahead. In cahoots with bookkeeper friend Martin Blackford (Smith), Ethel works her way into the entourage of George Castleman (Brian), a mobster who enjoys an elegant lifestyle. With the help of socialite Patricia Longworth (Royle), Castleman grooms Ethel in the arts of cultured living. After making her his mistress, he tries to use her to trap his arch- rival Nick Prenta (Cochran). The trap fails when Ethel falls in love with Prenta. The betrayed Castleman kills Prenta and goes gunning for Ethel but dies in a shootout with Blackford. ===== Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) continues to struggle in deciphering an encrypted Starfleet message that they previously obtained through the Hirogen relay system ("Hunters"). Neelix (Ethan Phillips) returns to Voyager with a guest, Arturis (Ray Wise), who helped him obtain supplies. Arturis learns of the encoded message and helps decrypt it. The message is from Starfleet Command, with a nearby set of coordinates where their means of getting back home can be found. Though the rest of the crew is elated at this news, Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) remains cautious, given that the Borg have never been able to assimilate Arturis' species. Voyager arrives at the provided coordinates to find an unmanned Starfleet vessel, the Dauntless, of unknown design. Aboard, they find the ship uses quantum slipstream technology, which will allow them to reach the Alpha Quadrant within a few months. Janeway begins to share Seven's suspicions and warns the crew to stay alert, but remains optimistic. The new engine system is compatible with Voyager, but the ship cannot stand the stresses of the slipstream for long. The crew would have to abandon the ship to use the Dauntless to travel home. Janeway reviews the decoded message an discovers it to be fake. She transports to the Dauntless to confront Arturis. He activates a panel on the ship, igniting the engines. All but Janeway and Seven are transported out before the ship enters the slipstream. Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) orders Voyager to pursue the Dauntless into the slipstream, aware that the system has not been fully tested yet. The Dauntless is revealed to be Arturis' own ship, masked as a Starfleet vessel. He explains that his homeworld was recently assimilated by the Borg, an event that might not have happened if the Borg were still at war with Species 8472. He directly blames Janeway and her crew for interfering in that war ("Scorpion") and vows to bring Voyagers crew to the Borg for assimilation. Suddenly Voyager appears and targets the shields on Arturis' ship, allowing them to transport Janeway and Seven off the ship. Voyager breaks off pursuit and alters slipstream trajectory away from Borg space, while Arturis finds himself deep among an array of Borg cubes and quietly accepts his fate. Though the slipstream technology is deemed unusable for the immediate future, Voyagers brief use of it has shaved 300 light years off their journey home. ===== The Last Samurai is about the relationship between a young boy, Ludo, and his mother, Sibylla. Sibylla, a single mother, brings Ludo up somewhat unusually; he starts reading at two, reading Homer in the original Greek at three, and goes on to Hebrew, Japanese, Old Norse, Inuit, and advanced mathematics. To stand in for a male influence in his upbringing, Sibylla plays him Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, which he comes to know by heart. Ludo is a child prodigy, whose combination of genius and naïveté guide him in a search for his missing father, whose identity Sibylla refuses to disclose -- a search that has some peculiar byways and unexpected consequences. The novel starts with a prologue which outlines the early life of Sibylla, the main character's mother. It brings up the theme of the importance of education, a theme which runs throughout the entirety of the novel. The beginning of the novel is told in the perspective of Sibylla, as she gives the reader background as to her relations with Ludo's father. The novel then progresses to see Ludo at ages three and then six. During these scenes the reader watches Sibylla teach her son a variety of languages, including Greek, Hebrew, then Japanese and even Inuit. The young single mother also teaches her son complicated mathematics, which he masters with ease. The next portion of the novel describes Ludo at age eleven, with no formal schooling and the only social interaction he has coming from his participation in a Judo class in which his mother has enrolled him. For the first parts of the novel, the reader sees only the interactions between Ludo and his mother, however, Sibylla becomes increasingly absent during the second half of the novel. Instead, Ludo replaces her involvement in his life with the pursuit of various potential fathers. Ludo interacts with several adult male geniuses, testing each to see if they would make a good candidate to be his father. When he finally does meet his father, he deems him undeserving due to his lack of genuine intellect. Throughout the novel the reader sees Ludo mature and grow up, switching roles with his mother and becoming more of her parental figure than vice versa. In the end, the boy has matured into a genius who has learned much about both life and death. ===== In the film, Ross's character, named Pauline Cooper, is a former medical student who becomes ill with paranoid schizophrenia and loses 18 years of her life due to the sickness. After her release from a mental ward, Pauline struggles to rebuild her life with help from doctors, nurses, and a new experimental medication that will help aid her back to health. Throughout the movie, Pauline seeks to better herself in a world that she felt had shunned her. The story is open-ended, concluding with Pauline seeing a homeless woman rummaging through junk cans and talking to herself, leaving Pauline in tears. The question of whether this will be Pauline's future or was a fate Pauline had avoided but to which she could still fall victim to was not answered, only raised. ===== The film is set in a future where death from illness has become rare. When Katherine Mortenhoe is diagnosed as having an incurable disease, she becomes a celebrity and is besieged by journalists. The television company NTV (headed by Vincent Ferriman) offers her a large sum of money if she will allow her last days to be filmed and made into a reality television show – they have already spied on her as she is told of her diagnosis (her doctor is colluding with them) and prepared posters for the show which show her face (to her annoyance when she sees the posters on display before they have contacted her). Katherine pretends to agree but evades NTV's employees and goes on the run with the assistance of a casual acquaintance called Roddy. The audience knows – but she does not – that Roddy is, in fact, a senior NTV cameraman who has undergone an experimental surgical procedure which implants cameras and transmitters behind his eyes, so that everything he sees is relayed back to NTV, who use it as the basis for their reality show. Roddy has done this mainly for money to give his estranged wife and their son. A side-effect of the procedure is that he will go blind if he experiences more than a short period of darkness; he uses drugs to keep awake, has learned to sleep for brief periods with his eyes open, and carries a flashlight which he shines on his eyes at night. Meanwhile, Katherine's doctor has discovered that she is not actually dying and he informs NTV who tell no one and continue with the show, broadcasting an edited version of Roddy's feed. Continuing on the lam, Katherine asks Roddy to take her to Land's End. The two arrive and sit on the beach and have a long talk. Katherine then asks Roddy to take her to town and buy her some lipstick. He persuades her to stay by the beach knowing that she will be recognized if she goes with him. In town, Roddy sees "Death Watch" playing in a pub and begins to cry. He returns to the beach as night is falling and has an emotional breakdown, losing his flashlight. Katherine comes to him and he asks her to help him. She finds the flashlight and shines it in his eyes, but he has already gone blind. Roddy admits who he is, and what he is doing, to her. As the feed has ended to NTV due to Roddy's blindness, they send a helicopter to Land's End with a film crew to finally reveal to Katherine that she is not dying. However, Roddy and Katherine leave undetected as the helicopter arrives. Katherine takes Roddy to her husband's home in the country nearby. She has not seen her husband Gerald in 6 years. After the two stay overnight, Katherine and Gerald talk about their relationship as Roddy sleeps in a chair outside. NTV calls Gerald's home and after he speaks with them, he tells Katherine they are coming and that she is not dying and needs to stop taking the medicine she was given. Instead, Katherine takes all of it. Gerald is angry at first but finally accepts her decision. Roddy awakens and Gerald informs him that Katherine has died. NTV arrives by helicopter with producer Vincent and Roddy's wife in tow. Roddy and Gerald threaten to kill Vincent and he and the rest of the NTV crew leave with Roddy's wife staying behind. Roddy reconciles with his wife and introduces her to Gerald. ===== In the early morning, dancers are warming up on an English beach (Clacton-on-Sea, Essex), and Neil Tennant appears on a bicycle. The song "It couldn't happen here" is being played. He cycles up to a kiosk, where he buys some postcards from the shopkeeper (Gareth Hunt). The shopkeeper complains about the political faults of the modern world, but Neil ignores him and fills out his postcards. Meanwhile, Chris Lowe is at a bed & breakfast. He is in his room packing everything into a seemingly bottomless trunk. He runs downstairs and waits for the landlady (Barbara Windsor) to bring him breakfast. In the breakfast room, an Uncle Dredge (Gareth Hunt) is making bad jokes. When the huge fried breakfast arrives, Chris empties the contents of the tray over the landlady and runs out onto the street. He runs along the promenade being chased by a group of Hells Angels on bikes. Back at the beach, Neil continues to cycle along the beach. He passes a priest (Joss Ackland) who is reciting verses whilst leading a party of school children. Two of the boys are the Pet Shop Boys at a younger age and they run to the pier (Clacton Pier). In a building on the pier, the adult Neil is seeing an exotically dressed female fortune teller; as he leaves she uncovers her face to reveal that "she" is Chris Lowe (filmed in the West Cliff Theatre bar). The young Neil and Chris (Nicholas and Jonathan Haley) look in a Victorian era Mutoscope and see a short bedroom farce: a slapstick performance featuring a squire (Chris Lowe) and a butler (Neil Tennant) making advances to a French maid (Barbara Windsor) (Filmed at the West Cliff Theatre). The priest catches up with the boys and shouts more verses at them. The boys escape into the amusement arcade where they see a rock star (Neil Tennant) in a gold tasselled suit. Then they pass into a theatre, where they see a group of nuns perform a risqué dance routine to "It's a Sin". The priest catches up with them again and he takes them outside where it is now evening. On the pier, he commands twelve fishermen to haul a huge cross out of the sea and onto their ship. The adult Neil and Chris pass three rappers performing "West End Girls" and go to buy a classic car. The salesman (Neil Dickson) insists on presenting his full sales spiel, so Neil and Chris try to interrupt. They pay for the car in cash and drive off with Chris at the wheel. In the car, the news report on the radio tells of a hitchhiker who has hacked to death three people who have given him lifts. Chris pulls over for a female hitchhiker whom they see on the roadside, but instead an elderly man (Joss Ackland) gets in after a scream and banging is heard. The passenger, who fits the description of the killer from the radio, offers strange and witty anecdotes to questions asked before turning on the radio, which plays "Always on My Mind". During the song, the passenger, with a mad look in his eyes, unpacks several knives from his bag then suddenly asks to be let out and the Pet Shop Boys continue unharmed. They arrive at a transport cafe where they're sat next to a traveller (Gareth Hunt). Whilst "Love Comes Quickly" plays on the jukebox, they order an inappropriate gourmet meal, but the waitress doesn't flinch. At another table a pilot (Neil Dickson, more or less reprising his lead role in Biggles), fiddles frustratedly with a hand-held computer game that says "divided by... divided by... zero" (taking lyrics from "Two divided by zero"). A voice from the traveller's briefcase asks to be let out and the traveller does so, revealing a ventriloquist's dummy. The dummy starts philosophising about the concept of time. He asks whether time can be likened to a teacup in that a teacup is no longer a teacup if no one has the intention to use it as such. To shut him up Neil puts a record on the jukebox ("Rent") and the wall of the cafe rises to reveal some dancers. Meanwhile, the pilot is seen back in his office reading W.H. Newton-Smith's book The Structure of Time. After a while he reaches a conclusion that "the dummy's a blasted existentialist". He boards his plane, determined to put an end to such daftness. Neil and Chris are driving along a country lane, when the pilot attacks. "Two Divided By Zero" is playing. The car is covered with bullet holes but the Pet Shop Boys drive on, again unharmed. The pilot's monologue piece is known to be extracted from Newton-Smith's book. They stop by a telephone box which is being vandalised by a group of youths. Instead of attacking Neil, they politely open the door for him and he phones his mother (Barbara Windsor). The two of them exchange the lines to "What Have I Done to Deserve This?". At the end Neil puts his head against the broken glass on the door and blood appears. In a suburban street a commuter leaves home and there is a scantily clad woman in his upstairs window. He is covered in flames but doesn't seem to notice. At the railway station, a zebra is led by two zebra-faced men into a goods van. Neil and Chris sit on the platform watching, then get into another van where a large snake coils itself around them. The van takes them to Paddington station. At Paddington station, soldiers stand guard and there is a limo waiting for Neil and Chris. They get in and drive through a tunnel as the chauffeur (Neil Dickson) quotes passages from Milton's Paradise Lost at them. They are driven through a battlefield with bombs exploding all around them. They pull up by a nightclub and Neil and Chris enter. They perform "One more chance" to a crowd of dancers. Each dancer has a number on their back. Once the song is finished, Neil and Chris walk up the stairs to leave and on their back are numbers too – except that both of them read "0". ===== Setting: The play takes place in the city of Seville in the Castille region of Spain during the second half of the 11th century. Act IChimène - Costume for Massenet's Opera based on Le Cid by Ludovic Napoléon Lepic in 1885The play opens with Chimène hearing from her governess, Elvire, that Chimène's father believes don Rodrigue, who Chimène also favors, to be the stronger choice for her marriage. Chimène, however, does not allow herself yet to be overjoyed, and fears that fate might change her father's mind. In the second scene, the Infante (or princess) reveals to her maid that she is in love with Rodrigue, but could never marry him because of his lower social class. Therefore, she has decided to bring Chimène and Rodrigue together in order to extinguish her own passions. In the third scene, Chimène's father, Don Gomès, Count de Gormas, has learned that the king has asked Rodrigue's old father, Don Diègue, to tutor the Prince of Castille. The count believes he is worthier of the position than Diègue, and tells Diègue this. Diègue says the two should become friends and have their children married. The count refuses and slaps Diègue, who draws his sword but is too weak to hold it. The count disarms him and insults him before leaving. Diègue is ashamed by this encounter and asks his son to avenge him and fight the count. Rodrigue realizes if he fights and kills the count, he will lose Chimène's love, but still chooses to fight to honor his father's name. Act II Don Arias tells the count that the king forbids a duel between him and Rodrigue, but the count arrogantly disobeys and wants to fight regardless. He taunts Rodrigue but also commends him for his lack of fear and spirit and asks him to stand down, but Rodrigue refuses. The Duel - Drawn for Massenet's Opera based on Le Cid Chimène tells the princess how distraught she is about her lover and her father fighting. A page notifies them that he saw the two men leaving the palace. Chimène realizes they have gone to duel, and leaves quickly. The Infante considers if Rodrigue wins the duel, Chimène will reject him, and the Infante will be able to win him after all. Meanwhile, the king tells Don Sancho and Don Arias of his anger regarding the count's cruelty to Diègue and his agreement to duel Rodrigue. The king also worries about a potential impending attack by the Moorish navy moving toward his lands. Don Alonse enters and announces that Rodrigue has killed the count. Act III Rodrigue comes to Chimène's home, and tells Elvire that he will be killed by Chimène's hand. Elvire tells him to flee, and he hides as Chimène approaches. Chimène tells Elvire of her conflicting feelings, but that she must make sure Rodrigue dies. She plans to follow him in death afterward. Rodrigue reveals himself and gives Chimène his sword to kill him, but she cannot. Rodrigue returns home, and his father tells him the Moors are going to attack. Rodrigue must fight them, and if he returns alive and a winner, the king will praise him and he will regain Chimène's love. Act IV Rodrigue goes to war and is very successful. The captured Moors even revere him, and call him “The Cid.” The Infante begs Chimène to give up her quest to kill Rodrigue, but Chimène refuses. The king tricks Chimène into believing Rodrigue has been killed, and her reaction proves to everyone that she still loves him. Regardless, she still feels the need to avenge her father's death. Don Sanche says he will fight Rodrigue on her behalf, and she promises to marry whoever triumphs. Act V Rodrigue comes to Chimène and says he will not defend himself in the fight against Don Sanche. She says he must truly fight to save her from a marriage to Don Sanche. In a monologue, the Infante declares that Rodrigue belongs to Chimène, if so little hatred has come between them since he killed her father. Chimène sees Don Sanche come in with a bloody sword, and believes he has killed Rodrigue. She cries that she loved Rodrigue, and pleads not to marry the victor, but will instead enter a convent and grieve forever over her father and Rodrigue. She will leave all of her possessions to Don Sanche. However, the king tells her Rodrigue is still alive. Rodrigue disarmed Don Sanche but decided to let him live. Don Sanche says the two should marry because of their obvious love for one another. The king tells Chimène she has served her father enough by putting Rodrigue in danger and no longer needs to avenge him. He tells her to do something for herself by marrying Rodrigue, but realizes she still needs time to “dry her tears.” They will be married in a year, and in the meantime, Rodrigue will continue to fight against the Moors and remain faithful to Chimène and become even more worthy of her love. ===== The White Dragon follows the coming of age story of Jaxom, the young Lord of Ruatha Hold, who had accidentally impressed the unusual white dragon Ruth in Dragonquest and Dragonsong. As Jaxom grows up, he has to deal with the difficulty of being both a Lord Holder and a dragonrider, the maturity of Ruth (who, besides being white, is a runt), his own teenage angst and desire to fight Thread on his own, and the rebellious Oldtimers, who attempt to steal a golden egg from Benden Weyr. Ruth always knows when he is and can travel through time to avert the growing political crisis. But while fighting Thread, Jaxom falls ill with a potentially deadly sickness called "Fire-Head". This leads him to recuperate in Cove Hold, and while there he discovers some of the mysteries that the Ancients, the ancestors of the Pernese, left behind, and he begins to make more sense of the past. ===== The president of the United States is informed by the head of SAC that a Soviet first strike is underway. The Soviet Premier offers the United States three choices via a HOTLINE message: #Accept the damage and the exchange will end. #Respond in kind, which will cause the deaths of 3 to 9 million people on both sides. #Respond with a massive counterattack (to which the Soviets would respond in kind). As the order to respond in kind is passed on, the first wave of Soviet ICBMs and SLBMs arrive, crippling most of America's missile silos and bomber bases. A Soviet missile detonates near Chevy Chase, Maryland and the president is told the Soviets have launched a second strike. The president reluctantly gives a second order to respond just before SAC and Omaha, Nebraska are destroyed. As he is being evacuated from the White House, the president is told that the second Soviet launch was directed at the Chinese. This causes further strikes against the United States. A nearby detonation causes Marine One to crash, seemingly killing the president. As missiles speed towards their targets and the alert goes out, the novel begins its sub-plot: tracking the actions of "Polar Bear One," a nuclear-armed B-52 bomber. The craft speeds towards the Soviet Union to await orders. Believing the President to be dead, a US Navy admiral codenamed "Harpoon" is given the assignment of locating a successor, who turns out to be the Secretary of the Interior. He is sworn in and given the codename "Condor." Harpoon's Boeing E-4B becomes the American military's new command center. It's revealed that, along with Omaha, Baton Rouge, Seattle, Los Angeles, Colorado Springs, New Orleans, Phoenix, Raleigh, Honolulu, and Washington, D.C. have been destroyed. Massive social disorder and rioting have broken out in America's remaining cities. It is briefly mentioned that Europe remained neutral during the conflict and that India and Israel have declared war on Pakistan. Harpoon urges Condor to turn the bombers around to see if the Soviets respond in kind as a way of signaling an intent to de-escalate since communications are down and direct talks are not yet possible. Colonel Fargo, a Soviet capabilities expert, suggests a decapitation strike targeting Soviet leadership bunkers with American's nuclear submarines. Believing that the US is "losing" the war, Condor orders the decapitation strike. Polar Bear One refuses the E-4B's orders and turns around. Seeing it as a sign for a truce, the Soviets turn 15 of their bombers around. Condor is urged by "Alice," now in charge of SAC aboard the Looking Glass Plane, to turn another squadron of B-52s in response. Condor refuses. It is then revealed that the president is alive in a Federal Emergency Management Agency bunker outside of Olney, Maryland. He learns that the Soviet premier is attempting to make contact through shortwave radio. The two negotiate a cease-fire. The president then contacts Alice, whom he orders to turn the bombers around. Alice, an Air Force general, cannot issue direct orders to the Navy, and the President's identity codes conflict with Condor's. The president contacts Condor, urging him to help secure a cease-fire. Condor, thinking he is a Soviet imposter, refuses. Alice tells the President that if both he and Condor give the submarines two different sets of orders, the submarines will go with the original orders (Condor's). The president and Alice attempt to create a plan to stop Condor. Alice suggests using the Looking Glass as a weapon to intercept the E-4B, thus killing Condor and relinquishing authority to the president. Alice attempts to catch up to Condor during a seven-hour window until the submarines surface to listen for new orders, at which time Condor will give the order for the decapitation strike. With minutes left, the flight crew of the E-4B, loyal to Alice, turn the plane into the path of the Looking Glass, killing everyone on board both. Command is returned to the president, who orders a full cessation of hostilities. The Soviet Union responds in kind, however, Polar Bear One's fate and the outcomes of the conflicts in the Middle East and between the Soviets and Chinese are left unanswered. ===== Kevin Harrison (Robert Wagner), a corrupt arms dealer, attempts to destroy an American-owned Concorde on its maiden flight after one of the passengers, reporter Maggie Whelan (Susan Blakely), learns of his weapons sales to communist countries during the Cold War. The Concorde takes off from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. Captain Paul Metrand (Alain Delon) makes conversation with Isabelle (Sylvia Kristel), the purser. They land at Dulles Airport outside Washington, D.C. Maggie reports on the "Goodwill" flight on the Concorde the following day, which leads to a story of Harrison and his Buzzard surface-to-air missile project. A man named Carl Parker (Macon McCalman) shows up to Maggie with a claim about documentation of illegal arms deals, but is shot by an assailant who then chases Maggie throughout the house before a passerby triggers a fire alarm, scaring the assailant away. Maggie is told by Harrison someone is framing him. He sends Maggie off in a limo, then plots to have the Concorde's departure delayed and the drone test reprogrammed. Capt. Joe Patroni (George Kennedy) joins Metrand aboard the Concorde, creating some doubt as to which pilot is in command. They are joined by Peter O'Neill (David Warner), the 2nd officer and flight engineer, who is living with a controlling girlfriend. Harrison surprises Maggie at the airline check-in desk to see her off. He asks if the documents showed up, but they have not. As he is walking away, Parker's wife (Kathleen Maguire) delivers the documents to Maggie as she steps into the mobile lounge. She looks them over and realizes that Harrison lied to her. The Concorde takes off for Paris. Unbeknownst to the flight crew, an off-course surface-to-air missile is headed straight for them. At his company headquarters, Harrison tells his controllers to alert the government. The USAF scrambles F-15 fighter jets to intercept the missile just as it locks onto the Concorde. After several evasive maneuvers by the passenger plane, an F-15 shoots down the missile before it collides with the Concorde. As the Concorde is approaching the European coastline, an F-4 Phantom II sent by Harrison engages the Concorde as French Air Force Mirages scramble to help. The Concorde manages to evade the F-4's missiles, but the explosion of one of them damages the plane's hydraulic system. The Mirages shoot down the F-4 and the Concorde continues to Paris, although to Le Bourget airport instead of Charles de Gaulle. The plane reaches the French coastline, landing with a damaged hydraulic system and just barely stopping at the last safety net. Metrand and Isabelle invite Patroni to dinner. Harrison promises Maggie to go public with the documents but attempts to bribe her into "polishing" his statement. After being paid by Harrison, a mechanic, Froelich (Jon Cedar), places a device in the Concorde's cargo door control unit, timed to open during flight. As the passengers board, a well- dressed woman (played by Charo) attempts to smuggle a dog aboard. She is caught by an alert Isabelle and leaves. Froelich is in line at the security checkpoint when some of his money falls out of his pant leg. The X-ray technician attempts to return it, but Froelich pretends not to hear and runs off panicked. On the runway, where the Concorde is taking off, the aircraft's exhaust kills Froelich and scatters the money he received from Harrison. The aircraft is en route to Moscow when the automatic device opens the cargo door. Metrand sees the carpet tear down the middle of the aisle, signifying the fuselage is under tremendous stress and the aircraft is about to break apart. The cargo door is ripped off, extensively damaging the aircraft and ripping a segment of the floor as it spirals toward the ground. The airline founder's seat lodges in the hole, acting as a plug. The pilots attempt to fly to Innsbruck, Austria, for an emergency landing, but realize they are losing too much fuel and do not have enough to make it there. Metrand realizes they are flying towards a ski area he knows in the Alps; they could make a belly landing on a mountain-side. The aircraft approaches the landing site while the ski patrol marks a runway. It lands successfully. While passengers are being rescued, Maggie gives a report of the accident to a news reporter and mentions a major story she is about to release. Harrison is seeing the newscast in his private plane and commits suicide. At the crash site, the last of the crew leaves the Concorde shortly before the fuselage caves in and explodes from the leaking fuel. ===== Laura is a young café waitress dreaming of owning a piano. Laura stumbles across Sampson, a drunk elderly man who fills her with exciting stories of a boat that sank with millions of dollars in gold. Although Chris Barnes, Laura's boyfriend, keeps telling her that Sampson's stories are all false, Sampson makes her believe that they are indeed true. Laura takes Sampson to a library, where she finds on old a newspaper article that matches up the events he described. After becoming a true believer, Laura convinces Barnes, Sampson and Ben Keating, an experienced sea diver, to search for the treasure. Together they set off from Key West in the baker's boat that Barnes is supposed to be looking after. Keating shows a liking for Laura, and because of this, Barnes begins to feel uncomfortable with him. After spending some time in the water, their dreams become reality, but the discovery of gold begins to change their personalities. Tensions fill the air as passions rise in the wake of greed and jealousy for both the fortune and Laura. ===== Dissatisfied with the life that his fame, fortune, and revolutionary image has bought, Bucky Wunderlick retreats to an unfurnished apartment on Great Jones Street in Manhattan and tries to pare things down. A spokesperson for Happy Valley Farm Commune, named Skippy, delivers to Bucky for safekeeping a package containing a drug that debilitates the language centers of the brain. Wunderlick's iconic status in the counterculture, and his privateness, had attracted the attention of Happy Valley, a domestic terrorist organization. A skinhead-like offshoot known as the Dog Boys also rampages through his apartment building. Bob Dylan is reputed to be one of the models for the character of Bucky Wunderlick. A key subplot involves the theft of Wunderlick's unreleased Mountain Tapes. These are clearly inspired by Dylan's The Basement Tapes, which would not be released until the summer of 1975 and were still shrouded in mystery. Ambitious but neurotic guitarist Azarian reflects less-than-complimentary stories about The Band's Robbie Robertson. Wunderlick's characterization by withdrawal and contrariness fits the public image of Dylan. In the novel, Wunderlick's girlfriend Opel passes away from neglect of her health. She had arranged for the Mountain Tapes to arrive at Wunderlick's apartment for his birthday. The novel also covers his relationship with the other tenants in the building; upstairs lives a struggling author, and downstairs a mother who is ashamed of her disfigured son and keeps him locked in his room after she was unable to sell him to the circus. The Mountain Tapes are eventually destroyed by the Happy Valley commune. They also inject Wunderlick with a drug that affects the language center of the brain, so that he will no longer be able to form words, only meaningless noises. Near the end of the book the drug wears off and he begins to gain back his speech, beginning with the word "mouth". Category:1973 American novels Category:Novels by Don DeLillo Category:Novels set in New York City Category:Houghton Mifflin books Category:Novels about music ===== Allende's story is split into six parts, each part dealing with one stage of Diego de la Vega's life, with the last part serving as the epilogue. The novel chronicles Diego's upbringing as well as the origins of his Zorro alter ego. He goes to America to find his dream. ===== Astronauts William Fletcher, the can-do captain, and Peter Craig, the malcontent co-pilot, set down in a canyon on an alien planet to repair their ship. While arguing, Fletcher asks Craig what he would want if he had things his way, and Craig responds that he'd like to be the one giving the orders. Shortly after, Craig hears a sound, though Fletcher does not. Craig goes scouting over a period of days, leaving Fletcher to repair the ship. One day Craig returns, strutting a bit, and Fletcher asks why he does not seem to have drunk any water in the past two days. Fletcher discovers that Craig has found water. Pressed, Craig reveals that he found a city populated by people no bigger than ants, and takes Fletcher to see them, revealing that he used mathematics to communicate with them. He says he loves having an entire population terrified of him, and refers to himself as a god. Craig begins terrorizing the population by crushing three of their buildings. Fletcher knocks him out and apologizes to the tiny folk. Later, Fletcher finds that Craig had coerced the tiny people to build a life-size statue of him. Fletcher tells Craig that the repairs are done and they can depart. Craig pulls a gun on Fletcher and orders Fletcher to leave the planet without him. Fletcher does his best to talk Craig into coming along, telling him he'll be lonely, but Craig fires at the statue, blowing off the head, and again orders him to leave. Fletcher leaves in disgust. Craig gloats and throws the broken- off head of the statue at the city, cackling maniacally as tiny voices cry out in panic and tiny sirens wail. Another ship lands and two spacemen, taller than the mountains, emerge. They too are repairing their ship. Craig shouts at them to go away, claiming, "I am the god, don't you understand?! I am the god!" One of them notices and picks Craig up to examine him, unintentionally crushing him to death. He casually discards the body and the two giant spacemen leave. The little people rejoice at his death, pulling the statue of Craig down on top of his lifeless body. ===== The novel contains two central characters, both fourteen years of age: the first, Aurora Thorpe (rabbit queen), has been forced by her overprotective mother and stepfather to attend the prestigious St Dymphna's Non-Denominational Ladies' College. The second, also attending St Dymphna's, is Web Richardson (rabbit king), an outcast from a single parent family. Aurora and Web share a prickly connection, despite Aurora's reluctance to be associated with the terribly unpopular Web. In an abruptly unfamiliar environment, and under the pressure of family and social expectations, Aurora becomes increasingly concerned with losing weight as a means of achieving the acceptance of her peers and living up to her own rigorous standards. Meanwhile, Web endures life without a mother, having only the scant guidance of her timid father, overbearing aunt, bitter grandfather and volatile older sister to rely on. Web desperately tries to stop Aurora from "disappearing", at the same time struggling with her mother's absence and the need for a friend. There are many references throughout the book to suggest that the school "St Dymphna's" is in fact the selective Mac.Robertson Girls' High School in Melbourne. This is the school that the author attended. ===== Created by Eric Fogel, The Head is the story of Jim, a trade-school student in New York City who awakens one morning to find that his cranium has enlarged to mammoth proportions. A week later, out bursts Roy, a little purple alien with an odd sense of humor who has taken up residence in Jim's head. Roy needed a place to stay to adapt to the Earth's environment while on a mission to save the world from a power- hungry alien named Gork. Roy explains that there are two races of symbiotic aliens: his own, which is mutualistic; and Gork's, which is parasitic. Aiding Jim and Roy are Jim's girlfriend, Madelyn; his personal physician, Dr. Richard Axel; and a group of "human anomalies." The group consists of Ray, a landscaper who has a lawnmower blade lodged in his skull; Mona, a beautiful young woman with a short tail; Ivan, a Russian who has a mouth in his chest; Raquel, who has an enormous nose and buckteeth which give her a slightly ratlike appearance; Earl, who has a fishbowl in his mouth; Chin, a long-limbed former freak show performer from China; and the annoyingly normal head of the group, Shane Blackman. ===== The plot of Front Mission Alternative revolves around the Independent Mobile Assault Company (IMAC), a special joint unit of soldiers from the OCU and the SAUS led by OCU Ground Defense Force 2nd Lt Earl McCoy. The SAUS government deploys the IMAC to stop the civil conflicts in its territory and in the other blocs. Piloting a new bipedal weapons platform called the wanderwagen or WAW, the IMAC successfully quells the violence across the continent. As they travel north to support the Western African Liberation Front, the company starts encountering unknown WAWs and WAW-vehicle hybrids known as "mobile weapons" being used by terrorist forces. The EC intervenes through the deployment of an elite anti-terrorism unit, but appear to be aiding the UNAS in prolonging the war. As the IMAC starts fighting their way into UNAS territory, they uncover connections between the terrorist uprisings, civil conflicts, the true cause of the war, and how the EC factors into the situation. ===== Jack McCall, an American living in Rome with his daughter, is trying to find peace after the recent trauma of his wife's suicide, but his search for solitude is disturbed when a telegram from a family member summons Jack back to South Carolina to be with his ailing mother. He begins to explore his past and all its demons, as well as a new mystery: His sister-in-law and two school friends invite Jack to help them track down another classmate who went underground as a Vietnam protester and never resurfaced. As Jack begins a journey that encompasses the past and the present in both Europe and the American South, he also begins a quest that will lead him to shocking truths—and ultimately to catharsis, acceptance and maturity. ===== The story focused on Judy and Jimmy Barton who go to the enchanted world of Maybeland to recover their missing Silver Star that belongs on their Christmas tree. Helping on the search is the Cinnamon Bear, a stuffed bear with shoe- button eyes and a green ribbon around his neck. They meet other memorable characters during their quest, including the Crazy Quilt Dragon (who repeatedly tries to take the star for himself), the Wintergreen Witch, Fe Fo the Giant and Santa Claus. Episodes began at Thanksgiving and ended at Christmas, with one episode airing each night. The show was created by a group of merchants as an advertising promotion, and was recorded in only a few weeks. It was produced by Lindsay MacHarrie, who also provided the voice of Westley the Whale and several other characters. ===== This story starts with Dahl introducing his Uncle Oswald's diary. He then goes on to the story, which begins in Paris on a Wednesday. At the start of the diary entry, Dahl's fictitious Uncle Oswald was trying a new honey sent by his friend when someone by the name of Henri Biotte called him and told him to go over to the latter's house. Uncle Oswald then introduces Henri Biotte in a flashback, whom he met three years previously in Provence where he went to spend a summer weekend with a lady. Biotte was a fellow guest in Provence like Uncle Oswald. It is then discovered that Biotte was a Belgian olfactory chemist with an amazing sense of smell. He approached Uncle Oswald with the intention of asking for funding to continue his research and cultivation of the eighth and last smell that humans are supposedly able to sense. Biotte said that humans have a total of 8 types of olfactory nerves and cells, but only seven of them are used actively, while the last one is dormant due to lack of use. He wanted to cultivate a smell to unlock the last nerve in the hope of using it to control the world. The last smell is the smell related to the sexual psychology of humans. Biotte then goes on to explain the system of smell to Uncle Oswald. The flashback ends with Uncle Oswald reaching Biotte's laboratory. Biotte had finally cultivated the wanted smell called Bitch, named by both the author and himself. However, 11 cubic centimetres is produced in a long period of time. After lending him some nose plugs and a face mask, Pierre Lacaille, a boxer that Biotte hired to be a test subject turns up. The desired result of this test is that the male gets aroused by the new smell and unconsciously has sex with the female test subject Simone (Biotte's assistant and girlfriend) without exhaustion and control until the effects wear off. Biotte must also not be able to stop the male from continuing the sexual intercourse as a desired result. The test is successful and the boxer is paid. However, the boxer was not able to recall doing anything for the past 6 minutes and 23 seconds when he was having sex with the female. The effective distance of the smell was also recorded. The smell is ineffective on a female. The next morning, the author discovered that Simone had sprayed herself with the remaining dose of Bitch and having had Biotte smell her, he erupted into a sexual frenzy that killed him before he could write out the formula of the smell. He had a weak heart, which caused him to die easily. As the formula was not written down, the author was left with only one cubic centimetre of the liquid that Biotte had given him the previous day. He decided to make full use of it and humiliate the President of the United States of America. His plan was to plant a capsule made by his friend Marcel Brossolet around the ribbon of a stalk of flowers meant for Mrs. Elvira Ponsomby. She would be appearing on television with the President regarding a policy statement at a dinner given in his honor by the Daughters of the American Revolution in the ballroom of Waldorf Astoria. The author first bought a bouquet of orchids from a local florist. He then hid his capsule beneath the ribbon holding the flowers together, and delivered it to Mrs. Ponsomby's suite with the claim that it is for the President. During the broadcast, the capsule would burst open and the liquid would flow into Mrs. Ponsomby's bosom. The President would be aroused by the smell and begin having sex with all the females present, leading to his humiliation. When the author went to Mrs. Ponsomby's suite to deliver the flowers, she decided to wear the flowers on her dress. However, she had to unpin the smaller flower pinned onto her dress. Due to her being incredibly fat with a huge bosom, she had difficulty doing it. After getting the author to remove the smaller flower, they discovered that they did not have another safety pin to attach the orchids. Finally, Mrs. Ponsomby decided to use the safety pin from the first flower and before the author could stop her, she drove it into the stalk of the orchids, bursting the capsule hidden there unintentionally. "...the two of us were millions of miles up in outer space, flying through the universe in a shower of meteorites all red and gold. I was riding her bareback... "Faster!" I shouted, jabbing long spurs into her flanks. "Go faster!" Faster and still faster she flew, spurting and spinning around the rim of the sky, her mane streaming with sun, and snow waving out of her tail. The sense of power I had was overwhelming. I was unassailable, supreme. I was the Lord of the Universe, scattering the planets and catching the stars in the palm of my hand..." "Oh, ecstasy and ravishment! Oh, Jericho and Tyre and Sidon! The walls came tumbling down and the firmament disintegrated, and out of the smoke and fire of the explosion, the sitting- room in the Waldorf Towers came swimming slowly back into my consciousness like a rainy day...""Bitch" in Switch Bitch collection, When he woke up, the suite was in a big mess and he was naked. The story ends with Mrs. Ponsomby telling the author "Young man, I don't know who you are, but you've done me a power of good." ===== Avner, an adept Israeli military officer is selected as the leader of a Mossad team of expert agents for a covert mission to avenge the Munich massacre and other recent attacks. They are initially successful in their assassinations but as they progress it becomes harder and harder to find their targets and they themselves are targeted with varying success by their enemies. With Avner and Jean the driver being the only survivors the mission is called off. He wishes to retire from Mossad and rejoin the regular ranks of the IDF, but his case officer is reluctant to let his most valuable asset go. ===== The film tells the story of Niiro Tsurichiyo (Mifune) as the illegitimate son of a powerful nobleman, and the way of his life that made him a swordfighter but also a social outcast. He joins forces with the multiple clans against the Lord of Hikone, Sir Ii Kamonnokami Naosuke. Ii is the right hand of the shogunate and brought upon himself the wrath of the Satsuma, Mito, and Choshuu provinces after making an unpopular choice for the appointment of the 14th shogunate. Many critics arose after the controversial appointment, and Ii initiated the Ansei Purge to quiet critics of his choices. This, in turn, led to an assassination plot hatched by the three provinces in order to remove Ii from his position of power. The shoguns also weeding out Ii's spies from the plot. The film is based on a novel, which in turn was inspired by the historical Sakuradamon incident, in which the feudal lord Ii Naosuke was assassinated outside the Sakurada Gate of Edo Castle. ===== As a young man, JB (Jack Black) runs away from his religious family and oppressive Midwestern town for Hollywood after being graced by the word of DIO on a quest to form the world's "most awesome" rock band. There he meets acoustic guitarist KG (Kyle Gass), who is performing on the street, and begins worshiping him as a rock god because of his skills and attitude. JB attempts to ask KG to teach him rock and roll lessons, only to be refused. Later in the night, a crestfallen JB mopes on a park bench, seconds before being beaten up. KG takes pity on JB and agrees to teach him. KG feeds JB's fantasy by pretending to be famous with a self-named band ("The Kyle Gass Project") and exploits him to do work such as cleaning his apartment and buying him weed (under the promise that JB can audition for his fictitious band). After JB learns KG is actually unemployed and living off his parents, the two become equal, and KG apologizes to JB by giving him a brand-new guitar. They create their own band: Tenacious D, named after matching birthmarks found on their buttocks. Soon JB and KG learn the deepest secret of rock: all the rock legends used the same guitar pick, "the Pick of Destiny", which has supernatural powers. It was created by a dark wizard who’d summoned Satan for his own purposes, but was promptly attacked. A nearby blacksmith heard the commotion and distracted the demon by tossing a horseshoe at it, chipping its tooth in the process. As Satan was now “incomplete,” the wizard was able to banish Satan back to Hell. To repay the blacksmith, who desired the heart of a fair maiden, the wizard fashioned the tooth into a pick that would give its holder unnatural prowess with stringed instruments. Infatuated by the prospect of becoming the next great rock star, JB immediately sets Tenacious D on a quest to steal the Pick of Destiny from a rock history museum. Along the way, the band briefly splits up, when KG decides that sex comes first in "sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll" after getting invited to a party, while JB wants to stick to the mission at hand. They are eventually reunited after KG is kicked out of the party. Later, the two manage to steal the Pick of Destiny from the rock museum. Armed with this supernatural pick, they plan to use the winnings from a local bar's talent contest to pay their rent, but before they can go on stage, they argue over who gets to use the pick first, snapping it in half accidentally. The bar's owner persuades them to go onto the contest without the pick. The owner is actually Satan in human form, who places the Pick of Destiny back on his broken tooth. Complete again, he obtains supernatural powers on earth and threatens to make Tenacious D his first victims. To save their lives, Tenacious D challenge Satan to a rock-off, which under the terms of the "demon code" he cannot decline. The terms, suggested by JB, are that if Tenacious D win, Satan must return to hell and pay their rent, but if they lose, Satan can take KG back with him as a sex slave. After the duel, Satan deems his rock better and attempts to shoot KG with a bolt of energy. JB jumps in the way, and the bolt bounces off his guitar, blowing off a piece of Satan's horn. As Satan is now incomplete once again, JB sends him back to Hell with the wizard’s magical incantation. The two turn Satan's horn into the "Bong of Destiny", which the two smoke from as they write new songs. ===== In 60 B.C. Gaul, Druid chieftain Gutuart and his tribe witness the passing of a comet and interpret it as the sign of the coming of a new king for Gaul. Guttuart goes to Gergovia, the capital of the Arvernes tribe, for a gathering of chieftains. The young boy Vercingetorix, along with the young girl Eponia, sneak into the cavern where Celtill, Vercingetorix's father and chieftain of the Arvernes, hosts the meeting. Celtill intends to proclaim himself king of the Gauls, and as he shows off the crown once worn by the old kings, a disguised Roman spy shoots Celtill with an arrow. Gobanittio, Celtill's brother, places Celtill under arrest while the spy flees with the crown. Vercingetorix tries to reach his father, but Guttuart prevents the young boy from intervening and explains that destiny requires Celtill to meet his fate. The young Vercingetorix, watching his uncle burn his father alive, swears revenge. Years later, the adult Vercingetorix continues to seek revenge against his uncle. He and Guttuart go to a road being built by the Romans, but Guttuart flees upon seeing the approach of Julius Caesar and his legionaries. Caesar acknowledges Vercingetorix as leader of the Arvernes, and invites him to participate in an invasion of Britain. Vercingetorix returns to Gergovia and avenges his father's death by killing Gobanittio, then tells his tribe of Caesar's offer to give one half of the booty if the tribe joins in the expedition to Britain. At Bibracte, capital of the Eduens tribe, various chieftains gather to hear Caesar speak of his invasion plan. Dumnorix, chieftain of the Eduens, is skeptical, so Caesar takes his children as hostages. Vercingetorix is reunited with Eponia at a private meeting with Caesar, where Caesar reveals the crown of the kings of Gaul, and suggests that Rome choose Vercingetorix as king of the united tribes; Vercingetorix refuses, saying that the king should be chosen by destiny. When Dumnorix attacks a Roman garrison, Caesar orders Vercingetorix to capture him. Vercingetorix finds Dumnorix, who tells him that it was the Romans who orchestrated Celtill's death. Two Roman officers, who have been following Vercingetorix, kill Dumnorix. Vercingetorix kills one Roman and sends the other one back to Caesar, who learns that he has made an enemy rather than an ally. Vercingetorix, after being elected as leader of the Arvernes at Gergovia, uses scorched earth tactics against the Romans. After Vercingetorix kills the garrison at Avaricum, Caesar orders the massacre of the Gallic inhabitants of Avaricum, then leads his army to Gergovia. The Eduens also arrive at Gergovia, but they abruptly end their alliance with Rome because of Caesar's massacre of Avaricum. Caesar curses all Gauls and retreats. The Gallic chieftains elect Vercingetorix as commander-in-chief of a united Gallic army, while Caesar forms a pact with the fearsome Teutons at the Rhine River. Vercingetorix goes to Alesia but Caesar also arrives there with a large army to besiege the city. During this Battle of Alesia, the Romans quickly build a circle of siege- fortifications around the city, trapping Vercingetorix and his forces. Problems in the election of a commander for this Gallic relief army delays its arrival, but they finally reach the battleground. Vercingetorix orders the new force to surround the Romans, trapping them in a siege between the two Gallic forces. Caesar is aware that his army will starve to death, but destiny intervenes when the Gauls demand that Vercingetorix lead them into what they believe will be a decisive battle. Vercingetorix reluctantly agrees, and the Gallic warriors rush towards the Roman fortifications. The fortifications prove formidable, the Romans shoot volleys of arrows and javelins, and Caesar unleashes the Teutons into the battle. The Gauls are defeated, conquered by the Romans, and Vercingetorix lays down his weapons and kneels before Caesar. The film ends with Guttuart's narration that Vercingetorix, imprisoned in Rome, was executed by order of Caesar; two years later, Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March 44 B.C. on the steps of the Roman Senate. ===== Project Questor is the brainchild of the genius Dr. Emil Vaslovik, Ph.D., a Nobel laureate. Vaslovik had developed plans to build a superhuman android. A team of the world's foremost experts is able to build the android even though they do not understand the components with which they are working — they are only able to follow the instructions and install the parts left by Vaslovik, who has disappeared. Attempts to decode the programming tape were worse than merely unsuccessful—they also erased approximately half of the tape's contents. They decide to substitute their own programming, over the objections of Jerry Robinson (Mike Farrell), the only team member who had actually worked with Dr. Vaslovik. He is overruled by the head of the project, Geoffrey Darrow (John Vernon). When the android's body has been finished, the new tape is loaded, but with no apparent results. In desperation, Robinson persuades Darrow to allow Vaslovik's tape — what remains of it — to be loaded. Again, the team is disappointed, as there appears to be no response. Once left alone, the android comes to life. It adds various cosmetic touches to a previously featureless outer skin, transforming itself from an "it" to a "him", and he (Robert Foxworth) then leaves the laboratory to visit Vaslovik's office and archives; it is there that he first identifies himself as "part of Project Questor". The android then seeks out Robinson, whom he forces to accompany him in a search for Vaslovik, with Darrow in pursuit of both, following a minuscule datum in his original programming. Questor (who becomes more "human" as the story progresses) only knows that it has something to do with an "aquatic vehicle" — a boat — and that if he does not find Vaslovik before the end of a countdown, the nuclear generator in his abdomen will overload and explode. Vaslovik had programmed this into him to prevent his creation from being misused, and time is running out. The pair, traveling to England, escape from custody and travel to the home of Lady Helena Trimble (Dana Wynter), who had known and worked with Vaslovik. (Her name was an homage to Bjo Trimble, who had led the fan campaign to keep Star Trek on the air.) After Robinson refuses Questor's naive suggestion that the scientist seduce Lady Helena as a way to get information, Questor announces that he will make the attempt, adding, "I am fully functional." Just as Questor deciphers the clues and tells Robinson that he knows where Vaslovik is, he is shot by British soldiers, and returned to the laboratory. Robinson repairs Questor, and Darrow gives him two options: If Robinson puts a homing transmitter inside the android, they will be given a plane to go find Vaslovik, but if Robinson refuses, the android will simply be flown to a safe location where the explosion will not endanger anyone. Robinson implants the beacon, and they jet off to Mount Ararat; the "boat" imperative, as Questor had realized just minutes before being shot, had referred to Noah's Ark. Robinson and Questor reach a cave concealed inside Mount Ararat with seconds to spare. Questor's timer is made safe, and he has found Emil Vaslovik (Lew Ayres), who tells Questor and Robinson that he, too, is an android. Questor is the last of a series, going back to "the dawn of this world," left there by "Masters" to serve and protect mankind. They functioned by a law which Vaslovik quotes to Questor: Each of the Masters' previous androids had a lifespan of several hundred years, at the end of which each assembled its replacement. The unexpected, rapid advent of nuclear physics and the radioactive fallout from above-ground nuclear testing had damaged Vaslovik. Questor's design corrected these failures, and finally Vaslovik is able to die in peace, after asking Robinson to help Questor learn about humanity. Darrow, having followed the pair, has heard enough to know how important it is that Questor be allowed to fulfill his mission. Unfortunately, he has brought the military with him to destroy the android. The cynical Darrow believes that this is proof that humanity does not deserve Questor's help. Questor convinces him otherwise. Deciding to sacrifice his own life for Questor's sake, Darrow takes the transmitter and leaves, telling the military commander that not only Vaslovik had gone insane, but also that the android has escaped, and to send in jet fighters when the beacon signal is picked up. He then takes off in the jet that Questor and Robinson had used, turning on the transmitter as he goes so that they will think that the android is aboard. Robinson and Questor, now outside the cave, look up into the sky. Robinson tells Questor that he cannot see anything, to which the android replies, "I wish that I could not." This is notably his first verbal expression of emotion, Questor's first visual expression of emotion had occurred when his timer had been made safe; he had then regarded Robinson with a smile. The plane is then destroyed, killing Darrow. Questor and Robinson begin their mission together. ===== It is 1906 in upstate New York. Distinguished philosopher Leopold and his much younger fiancée, Ariel, are going to spend a weekend in the country with Leopold's cousin Adrian, and her crackpot inventor husband Andrew. Also on the guest list is womanizing doctor, Maxwell, and his latest girlfriend, a free-thinking nurse, Dulcy. Over the course of the weekend, old romances reignite, new romances develop, and everyone ends up sneaking off behind everyone else's backs. ===== Joe, the narrator, relates how two burglars got involved in a radio game after picking up the phone during a home burglary. He goes on to explain that he associates old radio songs with childhood memories. During the late 1930s and early 1940s young Joe lived in a modest Jewish-American family in Rockaway Beach. His mother always listened to Breakfast with Irene and Roger. His father kept his occupation secret. Joe later found out that he was ashamed of being a taxi driver. Other family members were Uncle Abe and Aunt Ceil, grandpa and grandma, and Aunt Bea. The latter was a serial dater, always on the lookout for a potential husband. Joe's own favourite radio show was The Masked Avenger. It made him dream of buying a secret decoder ring. In Joe's fantasy the Masked Avenger looked like a hero, but in reality the voice actor was short and bald. Other radio memories are stories about sporting heroes, news bulletins about World War II, a report of an extraterrestrial invasion, and a live report of the search for a little girl who fell into a well. With his friends from school Joe was searching for German aircraft, but instead they saw a woman undressing in her bedroom. She later turned out to be their substitute teacher. Alone on the coast Joe saw a German U-boat, but he decided not to tell anyone because they wouldn't believe him. Joe was fascinated by the glitz and glamour of Manhattan, where the radio broadcasts were made. He visited the Radio City Music Hall, and described it as the most beautiful thing he ever saw. Joe collected stories of radio stars, including that of Sally White, whose dreams of becoming famous were hampered by her bad voice and accent. Starting as a cigar salesgirl she got stuck on the roof of the radio building with Roger, who was cheating on Irene. After she witnessed a crime the gangster Rocco wanted to kill her, but following his mother's advice he ended up using his connections to further her career. She finally became a reporter of celebrity gossip. On New Year's Eve Joe was brought down from his room to celebrate the transition to 1944. Simultaneously the radio stars gathered on the roof of their building. The narrator concludes that he will never forget those radio voices, although with each passing of a New Year's Eve they seem to glow dimmer and dimmer. ===== After a suicide attempt, Lane has moved into her country house to recuperate in Vermont. Her best friend, Stephanie, has come to join her for the summer to have some time away from her husband. Lane's brassy, tactless mother, Diane, has recently arrived with her physicist husband Lloyd, Lane's stepfather. Lane is close to two neighbors: Peter, a struggling writer, and Howard, a French teacher. Howard is in love with Lane, Lane is in love with Peter, and Peter is in love with Stephanie. Diane, once a well-known actress, wants Peter to write her biography, primarily because, many years earlier, a teenage Lane supposedly shot her mother's abusive lover. Lane does not want this painful event to go back in the spotlight, but Peter thinks it would make a great story. One evening, Diane decides to host a party, ruining Lane's plans with Peter. Peter arrives early and confesses to Stephanie that he has wanted to be alone with her for a long time. Outside, there is an electrical storm, and the lights go out. Candles and piano music create a romantic setting. Diane finds her old Ouija board and talks to the spirits of her previous lovers. A very drunk Howard finally reveals his feelings to Lane, who does not return them. Peter tells Lane that he does not share her feelings. Lane seems to take the rejection well. When everyone else has gone to bed, Peter tries seducing Stephanie, but she is conflicted, later following him back to his house. The next morning, a real estate agent is showing a couple around the house; Lane is counting on the money from the sale to move back to New York. Lane is feeling depressed: she has not taken Peter's rejection well after all, exacerbating Stephanie's guilt. Soon after, Peter arrives and kisses Stephanie, just as Lane opens the door to show the room to prospective buyers, and Lane is shocked. Stephanie insists that it meant nothing, while Peter tells Lane that the two of them have deep feelings for each other. Diane comes downstairs, announcing that she and her husband are going to move into the house permanently. Lane becomes even more distraught, insisting that Diane gave Lane the property a long time ago. Diane dismisses it as one of her own drunken whims. Lane experiences a breakdown, accusing her mother of being fake and insensitive. The film's climax comes when an anguished Lane cries, "You're the one who pulled the trigger! I just said what the lawyers told me to say", thus revealing that Diane was actually the one who shot her abusive lover. Presumably Diane's lawyers thought it would be better if Lane took the fall, as she would be treated leniently. The ordeal has obviously been hugely detrimental to Lane. Diane finally concedes that if she could go back, she would behave differently. Everyone leaves except Stephanie and Lane. The film ends with Stephanie encouraging Lane to move on and "keep busy". ===== Marion Post is a New York philosophy professor past the age of 50 on a leave of absence to write a new book. Due to construction work in their building, she sublets a furnished flat downtown to have peace and quiet. Her work there is interrupted by voices from a neighboring office in the building where a therapist conducts his analysis. She quickly realizes that she is privy to the despairing sessions of another woman, Hope, who is disturbed by a growing feeling that her life is false and empty. Her words strike a chord in Marion, who begins to question herself in the same way. She comes to realize that, like her father, she has been unfair, unkind and judgmental to the people closest to her: her unsuccessful brother Paul and his wife Lynn, who feel they embarrass her; her best friend from high school Claire, who feels eclipsed by her; her first husband Sam, who eventually committed suicide; and her stepdaughter Laura, who admires her but resents her high-handedness. She also realizes that her marriage to her second husband, Ken, is unfulfilling and that she missed her one chance at love with his best friend Larry. She finally manages to meet the woman in therapy as she contemplates a Klimt painting called "Hope". Although she wants to know more about the woman, she ends up talking more about herself, realizing that she made a mistake by having an abortion years ago and that at her age there are many things in life she will not have anymore. She leaves Ken after catching him having an affair. She resolves to change her life for the better, and takes steps to repair her relationship with Paul and Laura. By the end of the film, she reflects that, for the first time in years, she feels hopeful. ===== Jack Stanfield is chief of security of Landrock Pacific Bank in downtown Seattle. He is visited by a collection agency, claiming he owes $95,000 to their online gambling site. Believing the incident is due to an identity theft, Jack entrusts a colleague Harry Romano to take care of the claim. He goes out for a drink with Harry who introduces him to Bill Cox, a potential partner. After they leave, Cox follows Jack into his car and forces him to drive home at gunpoint. At home, Jack finds his wife Beth and two children unharmed, but under surveillance by Cox's henchmen. The next morning, Jack is given instruction to transfer $10,000 each from the bank's 10,000 largest depositors – $100 million total – to Cox's bank account. Cox rigs Jack with a camera and microphone to make sure he cannot ask for help without them knowing. At Landrock Bank, Cox visits Jack, reintroducing himself as Bill Redmond, a potential partner. Cox asks Jack to give him a tour of the bank's security system. On the way back home, Jack attempts to bribe a henchman to betray Cox, but Cox kills the henchman. At home, Jack attempts an escape with his family, but his attempt is foiled. In retaliation, Cox gives Jack's son Andy a cookie containing nut products, sending him into an anaphylactic shock. Cox withholds the treatment (an EpiPen), until Jack acquiesces to their plan. The next day, Cox forces Jack to fire his secretary Janet, fearing that she is growing suspicious. Jack initiates a wire transfer to send the money to Cox's offshore accounts. Before leaving, Jack uses an employee's camera phone to take a picture of the account information on the screen. Cox then begins covering his tracks. He forces Jack to delete security data and surveillance tapes, and use a virus to cripple the building's system into disarray. Returning home, Jack finds the house empty except for Liam, one of Cox's men. Realizing Cox has no intention of letting him live, Jack kills Liam with a heavy glass blender. He calls Harry, but his colleague doesn't answer. Jack goes to Harry's house to inquire about Cox. However, Cox kills Harry with a gun he had earlier confiscated from Jack. Beth, held at gunpoint, leaves a message suggesting an affair on Harry's answering machine. This implicates Jack in Harry's death. In addition, the $95,000 debt will be considered motive for Jack embezzling the bank's money. Jack turns to Janet. She helps him retrieve the phone with the picture of Cox's account information. Jack hacks into Cox's Cayman Island accounts and transfers the money away. He calls Cox using Liam's phone and they arrange to free his family in exchange for returning the money. During the conversation, Jack hears the family dog in the background, and realizes he can locate his family by the GPS tracking unit in the dog's collar. The signal leads him to an abandoned house. He tells Janet to call the police and approaches the house. When one of his henchmen, Vel, takes pity on the family, Cox kills him. Jack's daughter Sarah runs out of the house. Another henchman, Pim, chases after her, but Jack rams him with Janet's car, which hits an RV that explodes, killing Pim and destroying the car. Cox takes Beth and Andy to the upper floor. Jack enters the house and engages Cox in a final showdown. Their fight eventually leads them into a ditch Cox had dug for Jack's family. Cox temporarily gains the upper hand, but Jack impales Cox with a pickaxe, killing Cox and saving his family. Jack reconciles with them before they all start to head back home. ===== At the start of the game, Mog takes Chocobo treasure hunting. They enter a monster-filled dungeon and Mog flicks a switch that separates him from Chocobo. Chocobo then meets the white mage Shiroma. She claims she has important work to do in the dungeon and leaves. Then Chocobo enters the dungeon again and finds Shiroma again. Shiroma decides to help Chocobo find his friend Mog. They succeed but due to Mogs greed he ends up sinking the dungeon into the sea and destroying Shiromas home forcing them to go to a nearby village where Shiroma's "Aunt Bomb" lets Mog and Chocobo stay. However, Shiroma is then kidnapped and it's up to Chocobo to save her. Chocobo gets the help of the local inventor Cid after helping him clear out the imps taking over his tower. ===== A criminal gang uses a gas canister to knock out the occupant of a car and then bundle him into a stolen ambulance. There they cut free a briefcase full of jewellery. Shortly afterward, when the criminals are changing vehicles, they are spotted by the police and a high-speed chase develops with the criminals getting away. Using the money from this job, crime boss Paul Clifton (Stanley Baker) builds up a team to hit a Royal Mail train coming south from Glasgow. A meticulous plan is put in place, but there are obstacles: Jack (Clinton Greyn), the driver of the getaway car in the jewellery theft, is identified in an identity parade and arrested (but refuses to name accomplices to police); gang member Robinson (Frank Finlay) has to be broken out of prison; and Inspector George Langdon (James Booth) is hot on the trail of the jewel robbers, and finds out through informers about plans for an even bigger heist. The gang gathers to do the job and change the signals to stop the train and escape with the cash. In the morning, Langdon and the police investigate the crime scene and explore possible local hideouts, including a disused airbase where the robbers are hiding in the basement, but are not found. The cash is divided up and the getaway vehicles hidden at a scrapyard. Members wait in turn to take their share to Switzerland. However, the paid-off scrapyard man is arrested at an airport and found with banknotes from the raid and confesses. Police then arrest some of gang as they retrieve cars at the scrapyard. This leads the police back to the airfield, where they arrest further gang members. Clifton evades capture. He places his cut of the money on a private plane and is last seen disembarking at New York with a different identity. ===== Time is set on Earth, the inner part of the Solar System and various other universes onwards from the 21st century. The novel covers a wide range of topics, including the Doomsday argument, Fermi paradox, genetic engineering, and humanity's extinction. The book begins at the end of space and time, when the last descendants of humanity face an infinite but pointless existence. Due to proton decay, the physical universe has collapsed, but some form of intelligence has survived by embedding itself into a lossless computing substrate where it can theoretically survive indefinitely. However, because there will never be new input, eventually all possible thoughts will be exhausted. Some portion of this intelligence decides that this should not have been the ultimate fate of the universe, and takes action to change the past, centering on the early 21st century. The changes come in several forms, including a message to Reid Malenfant, the appearance of super-intelligent children around the world, and the discovery of a mysterious gateway on asteroid 3753 Cruithne. Baxter's short story "Sheena 5" explores an alternate ending to the story of Sheena, the intelligent squid. ===== It's Penny Proud's 16th birthday, and she is excited for herself and her friends to be part of Fifteen Cent's dance group, due to the fact that he's Sticky's cousin. However, when Fifteen drives her home, her father, Oscar Proud, gets mad when he finds them kissing. He grounds Penny indefinitely and cancels her birthday, after which Penny outrageously resents him as her father. Oscar manages to create a serum that could make his Proud Snacks tastier but it instead causes the snack to expand and explode. As he is hauled away, he protests that his formula has no expiration date, which is overheard by Dr. Carver, who has been trying to create an army of humanoid peanuts but never got his formula stabilized and plots to get it. Disguising himself, Carver invites the Proud family to Legome Island. Trudy forces Oscar and Penny to go, hoping they will bond. Upon arrival, the Prouds meet the Cashews, dwarf-sized creatures made from peanuts. Carver tries to negotiate obtaining the formula from Oscar but when he refused, he reveals he has created peanut clones of his family from DNA snatched from them while they were partying. Oscar runs away and tries explaining to his family but they don't believe him. Meanwhile, the clones get a mix-up when the real Penny comes with them back to the mainland to search for the formula, while her clone remains with the original family. Penny soon enjoys the free life, which the clones allowed her, but gets tired of it soon enough. At that moment mysterious Cashew leads the Prouds and the Penny clone on a perilous journey to the other side of the island, saying there is someone who can answer their questions. Along the way, the Penny clone proves to be the kind of daughter Oscar desires—obedient. When they meet the person the Cashew wanted them to meet, he turns out to be Dr. Carver, who explains that he created a clone of himself out of a peanut. Unfortunately, the clone went sizzling crisp in the sun one day and turned to evil. Donning a disguise of his original form, the clone took over the island and the Cashews, turning Carver's peanut research for evil. Oscars realizes his formula is the key and tells the family he had left it in a locket for Penny's birthday, which she opened back home. Her clone informs the other clones, who take the formula. Penny gathers her friends to go back to Legome and rescue her family. Unfortunately, the Carver clone is set to bring his peanut soldier army to conquer the world and had already left. The original gives Penny a container of gas that could instantly turn solid peanuts into peanut butter. Just as Penny was on the verge of releasing the gas, the clone offers her the free life—without rules or responsibilities. However, Penny retorts that her family is looking out for her and unleashes the gas, foiling the clone's plot. Penny and her friends then end the movie with a song. ===== A mysterious woman named Emily (Arless) convinces the bellboy (Richard Rust) at a local hotel in Ventura, California to meet her later that day at a local justice of the peace to get married, offering him two thousand dollars in compensation. Baffled by the request, he agrees. The two arrive at the justice of the peace's home late in the night, and pay him to marry them. Emily then savagely murders the justice of the peace during the ceremony, and flees. She later gloats to a mute, invalid elderly woman named Helga (for whom Emily is a nurse and works for a wealthy family) of her deed. The police investigate the crime and learn that the nurse was given the name of a local flower shop owner Miriam Webster (Breslin), who has an alibi of the night of the murder. It is revealed that Miriam and her brother Warren, who has recently returned from Denmark after the death of his last surviving parent, are heirs to Warren's father's estate. The two talk about how Warren's father was abusive to Warren growing up and the details of the will. Miriam stands to inherit the estate if Warren dies before marrying, as Warren's father was a misogynist who went out of his way to make Warren his sole heir so that only a male child of his could inherit. Miriam also confesses to Warren good news of her own, that she is engaged to be married to her boyfriend. That evening, Emily breaks into Miriam's flower shop and wrecks the store. She is interrupted by Miriam's boyfriend, who comes to the store because he did not know that Miriam had left early that evening. Miriam and her boyfriend arrive at Warren's house the next day to visit Helga and confront Emily. Helga frantically tries to communicate with Miriam, who later finds out from Warren that Emily is actually his wife; he had hired her to take care of Helga and ultimately married her. Miriam later overhears Warren and Emily talking in the next room but does not see them together. Miriam's boyfriend learns of the murdered justice of the peace and that Emily resembles the suspect. Miriam ultimately goes to visit Warren and Emily, having realized that Emily is a murderer. She enters the house, and sees Helga descending the staircase on the stairlift. As she nears the bottom of the stairs, Miriam witnesses Helga's severed head fall off her body. She is then attacked by Emily; the two fight, and Emily removes her wig and prosthetic teeth, revealing herself to be Warren. Afterward, the police talk to Miriam as the truth about Warren is revealed: Warren was really a girl. The secret of the child's gender was known only to the child's mother, Helga the housekeeper, and the county clerk (who later became a justice of the peace), who had been bribed to enter the birth of a boy. This was done mainly to avoid the murderous wrath of Warren's father, who wanted a boy and would have harmed the child. "Emily" was an alternate identity Warren had created overseas to be able to live as a woman away from those who knew him. When Warren's father died and he learned of the clause in the will that would have denied him his inheritance if it was known he was a female, he resumed the alter ego of Emily in order to kill and silence those who would know the truth about him. ===== Pepperland is a cheerful, music-loving paradise under the sea, home to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The titular Yellow Submarine rests on an Aztec-like pyramid on a hill. At the edge of the land is a range of high blue mountains. The land falls under a surprise attack from the music-hating Blue Meanies, who live beyond the mountains. The attack starts with a music-proof glass globe that imprisons the band. The Blue Meanies fire projectiles and drop apples (a reference to the Beatles' then-new company Apple Corps) that render Pepperland's residents immobile as statues, and drain the entire countryside of colour. In the last minutes before his capture, Pepperland's elderly Lord Mayor sends Young Fred to get help. Fred takes off in the Yellow Submarine ("Yellow Submarine"). He travels to Liverpool ("Eleanor Rigby"), where he follows a depressed Ringo to "The Pier", a house-like building on the top of a hill, and persuades him to return to Pepperland with him. Ringo collects his mates John, George, and Paul. The four decide to help Old Fred, as they call him, and journey with him back to Pepperland in the submarine. As they operate the submarine, they sing "All Together Now", after which they pass through several regions on their way to Pepperland, including the Sea of Time, where time flows both forwards and backwards ("When I'm Sixty-Four"), the Sea of Science ("Only a Northern Song") and the Sea of Monsters, where Ringo is rescued from monsters after being ejected from the submarine. In the Sea of Nothing, the protagonists meet Jeremy Hillary Boob Ph.D., a short and studious creature ("Nowhere Man"). As they prepare to leave, Ringo feels sorry for the lonely Boob, and invites him to join them aboard the submarine. They arrive at the Foothills of the Headlands, where they are separated from the submarine and Old Fred ("Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"). They then find themselves in the Sea of Holes, an expanse of flat surfaces with many holes. Jeremy is kidnapped by a Blue Meanie, and the group finds their way to Pepperland. Reuniting with Old Fred and reviving the Lord Mayor, they look upon the now-miserable, grey landscape. The Beatles dress up as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and steal some instruments. The four rally the land to rebellion ("Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"). The Chief Blue Meanie retaliates by sending out the Dreadful Flying Glove, which John defeats by singing "All You Need is Love". Pepperland is restored to colour as its flowers re-bloom and its residents revive. The original Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band are released, and join the Beatles in combating the Meanies' multi-headed dog ("Hey Bulldog"). Jeremy performs some "transformation magic" on the Chief Blue Meanie, causing the Meanie to bloom roses and sadly concede defeat. John extends an offer of friendship, and the Chief Blue Meanie has a change of heart and accepts. An enormous party ensues ("It's All Too Much"). The real Beatles then appear in live-action, and playfully show off souvenirs from the events of the film. George has the submarine's motor, Paul has "a little 'love'", and Ringo has "half a hole" in his pocket (having supposedly given the other half to Jeremy). Ringo points out John looking through a telescope, which prompts Paul to ask what he sees. John replies that "newer and bluer Meanies have been sighted within the vicinity of this theatre" and claims "there is only one way to go out ... Singing!" The four oblige with a short reprise of "All Together Now", which ends with translations of the song's title in various languages appearing in sequence on the screen. ===== The shocking news arrives that Morn has been killed in an ion storm. Captain Sisko interrupts the memorial service with surprising news — Morn left Quark his entire estate. Inspecting Morn's quarters, Quark finds Morn's ex-wife, Larell, who tells Quark about Morn's hidden retirement fund of a thousand bricks of latinum—a valuable liquid pressed into bricks of gold to make it easier to handle. Quark offers Larell ten percent to keep her out of his hair, but he is unable to find the loot. Back at his quarters, Quark is confronted by two brothers, Krit and Nahsk. Claiming to be Morn's business associates, they tell Quark that Morn owes them all of the latinum. To intimidate him, Nahsk smashes one of Morn's paintings over Quark's head. The two parties finally agree to a figure of fifty percent, and the brothers leave. Quark discovers a storage locker claim slip woven into what's left of the painting. In the locker, Quark finds one brick of latinum inscribed with a message that the rest is in the Bank of Bolias. He hurries home to send for the rest of his inheritance, but another stranger, Hain, emerges from the shadows. Claiming to be a security officer from Morn's home planet, Hain explains that Morn is a prince, and that his latinum is the property of the royal family. When he learns Larell is on the station, he offers Quark a reward for her capture. Later, Larell, Krit, Nahsk, and Hain all converge at Quark's quarters. Quark learns that their stories are all lies — the money is the proceeds of a bank robbery the four of them and Morn committed. With the statute of limitations now expired, they have come to collect their share. Quark persuades them to split the money five ways. When the money arrives, the "partners" try to double cross each other. A shootout ensues, and Quark runs for cover until Odo arrives to arrest the four thieves. Quark excitedly examines the gold bricks, only to discover all the latinum has been extracted. Resigned to his fate, Quark returns to the bar to find Morn, alive and well. He faked his own death, leaving Quark to get the others out of the way. Morn reveals where he really hid the latinum — in his second stomach. He regurgitates a few milliliters (100 bricks' worth) as a reward for Quark, making the whole experience a worthwhile one after all. =====