From Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ===== The novel follows Thomas Landman, an Afrikaner who becomes increasingly radicalised by an unnamed anti-apartheid resistance movement, loosely based on the African National Congress. Landman becomes involved in a conspiracy to assassinate the state president of South Africa, but he and his co-conspirators bungle the attempt and are forced underground. The novel follows Landman's increasingly harrowing experiences as a fugitive, and his subsequent escape to Botswana. ===== When a renegade band of young filmmakers breaks into an abandoned hospital to make their horror epic, they stumble upon a real dead body and decide to use it in their movie. They accidentally bring it back to life, open a portal to a dead world that releases dozens of other zombies, then struggle for their lives in a desperate attempt to flee from the creatures who apparently have them hopelessly trapped in the hospital. ===== The movie is set in a time warp in the colonial subcontinent Kashmirpur and its environs are seemingly inhabited by Muslims, Hindus and Christians. Beautiful white doves (symbolizing peace) also fly around in the foreground in idyllic slow motion while an audience is introduced to the local Mosque and its saintly Imam (priest) played by Abid Ali. The Imam completes his prayer and emerges from the distance as pigeons and doves flutter about in a mad frenzy. Meanwhile, we are shown that across the way there is a temple where instead of doves of peace, there is a python near a large group of snarling, drooling old men in orange robes, with funky hairstyles who are cringing at the voice of the nearby priest. So enraged are they by his voice that they hatch an evil scheme in collusion with the local godless firangi gora's (white men - who worship only money) to bring about the end to the voice once and for all. As the villains try to gun down the lecturing Imam, their guns suddenly malfunction by divine intervention and when the ghastly Hindus decide to fire some heavy artillery and rocket launchers at the mosque (it appears divine intervention only disables rifles and pistols but not rocket launchers) the super-human maulvi appears magically leaping in the way of the projectiles, thwarting any attempt at desecrating the mosque. Then, while in the background people turn from peace mode to crusade mode, the Maulvi mumbles a few pious utterances and launches his "tasbees" (holy beads) into the air to see it transform in mid- air into a holy sword. He dramatically catches the falling blade and proceeds to hack to death the entire lot of goons who had dared to try to attack the mosque. As the Imam finally caves in, he says to his child Moosa, "sorry Moosa" the maulvi says in slow motion at the death scene, his eyes burning with the fire of vengeance. Moosa grows up in a cave somewhere, having turned his back on his religion due to the disillusionment that he felt when his father was murdered. He has instead taken to living alone in some distant cave with his horse Sheru to keep him company. Moosa (Shaan) has turned into a cold-hearted mercenary but all that is soon to change with Saima's arrival. She shows up, dressed to kill with her father. He clearly had his own reasons for bringing his daughter to this place but when the goons start making moves on her, he turns defensive and starts throwing moralizing lecture, and for this he gets shot by one of the goons. Shamoon (Shafqat Cheema) sporting his usual bizarre "get up" with flowing pony tail becomes obsessed by Saima's voluptuousness, Shamoon imprisons Saima. However, in keeping with the film's utterly warped manner, Saima chooses to stab herself to death rather than to compromise her "izzat" (honour). Shamoon has her stitched up in the nick of time, yet she remains merely a captive pet for her tormentor, waiting for the first opportunity to flee. Saima is rescued from Shamoon's clutches one night by Moosa and whisked away to freedom, but just when she is beginning to take a fancy to her rescuer, it's revealed that all he intended to do was use her as part of a transaction or agreement. Saima is stunned when Moosa gives her over to another set of captors. Saima begs him not to do this, but he continues to walk away, stone faced and impassive. As Moosa is about to mount onto his horse and ride off into the distance, Saima comes up with an idea; she takes to covering her head with a scarf (in dramatic slow-motion) and starts reciting the words (with added echo effect) of the Quran in a last-ditch effort to get through to the stubborn Moosa. When Saima reaches a crescendo with the retort of "Kya tum Moosa nahin ho" (Are you not Moosa?) her words finally seem to hit the right spot and suddenly Moosa assumes the role that his father the saintly priest had always dreamed of. Moosa forcefully bludgeons his way through the fully armed opposition and rescues her again and makes away with Saima to the safety of the forest where they are joined by his childhood chum Jan Rambo. Love blossoms and Saima and Moosa get married and build their dream home away from the troubles of the world but Shamoon's henchmen are constantly searching every inch of the forest in order to recover Saima and destroy Moosa and it is a matter of time before they discover the mountainside home. Meanwhile, Saima gives birth to a child and forces her husband to bury his weapons and to take to praying for solace. One fateful day, while the child and father are away hunting, Shamoon's horrible henchmen show up. There follows the usual bloodbath and mayhem as child and dad return to begin their fight. In one of the more hysterical scenes of the movie, we have Moosa performing his prayers when a goon with a huge machine gun arrives firing shot after shot at Moosa, but these giant bullets float in Matrix-like slow motion towards our hero and each time by divine intervention they somehow fail to hit their target. In a moment of sublime ridiculousness, Moosa in fact catches the last bullet in mid-air and tosses it aside disdainfully before striding out, (angels in full battle cry by now) to purge the land of all evil. ===== This film story is about a girl named Kiran, daughter of a Pakistani man and an Indian woman living in Mauritius. This girl comes to Pakistan to see his grand parents' grave and she loses her passport and the cash money with her. Then she meets a poor boy in Lahore who helps her. They fall in love. The girl returns to Mauritius. Boy Nomi had promised her that he would come to Mauritius after her. Her uncle forced him to not come to Mauritius by influencing the country's embassy in Pakistan. Nomi travels illegally. Kiran's marriage breaks. Nomi gets caught as a terrorist. While he was struggling in Mauritius he met khan lala who becomes his friend. Meanwhile, khan lala gathers his people in Mauritius in support of nomi to prove him innocent. Court orders to deports nomi. In the plane, he finds out that Kiran and her parents had also boarded the same plane going back to Pakistan. ===== Six friends, Christian, David, Kate, Johnny, Sara, and Melody, are traveling in an RV to get to the wedding of their friend, Kelly, in Galveston, Texas. However they become lost in a small town called Lovelock, and decide to spend the night at the local bed and breakfast, owned by the creepy Mr. Wise. While staying, the group insult the chef, Henri, causing an argument to break out. After everyone goes to bed, David goes to the kitchen to get a snack, only to discover Henri brutally murdered, before Mr. Wise suffers a heart attack. With the phone line broken, it takes until morning for the sheriff, and his deputy, Enus, to be summoned for help. The sheriff is quick to suspect the group, and takes the keys to the RV away, so they can not leave the town until the investigation is over. The group goes into town, while the sheriff arrests a mysterious drifter, who quickly becomes the prime suspect. The drifter warns Christian and Sara of ancient exotic wooden box, that Sara realizes belongs to Mr. Wise. However it is too late, as Johnny arrives back at the bed and breakfast and opens the box, unleashing the "Kuman Thong" which possesses him, causing him to savagely murder various people. Meanwhile, Christian and Sara meet town local Lisa Belmont who swears she saw Mr. Wise dig up the body of his dead son and perform a form of black magic on the body. Sara and Christian return to the bed and breakfast and discover Johnny has opened the box. Sara and Christian alert the sheriff, who drives them to a local party, that David, Kate and Melody are attending with the rest of the town folk. The possessed Johnny arrives and a bloody massacre ensues, with the town folk, including Enus, becoming zombies as Johnny puts various body parts of his victims in the box. In the chaos, Christian is decapitated as David, Kate, Sara and Melody escape with the sheriff in a truck. They accidentally run over the drifter, knocking him unconscious after he escapes from his prison cell. Taking him with them, the radiator soon blows in the truck, forcing the group to take shelter in the bed and breakfast. They gather weapons, before the drifter tells them they must retrieve the body of Mr. Wise to kill Johnny. The zombies arrive at the bed and breakfast and the group fend them off, before the sheriff, Melody and the drifter sneak out the back door to retrieve the bones of Mr. Wise. At the bed and breakfast, the zombies retrieve some of David's blood that was on the step of the house, placing it in the box causing him to become possessed. David beats Kate to death with a metal pole, before attacking Sara. However Sara manages to kill David with a chainsaw. At the cemetery, the sheriff, Melody and the drifter retrieve the body of Mr. Wise and perform a black magic spell, taking the bones from the body. As they travel to the bed and breakfast they encounter a group of zombies. The sheriff has his neck snapped, killing him, before Lisa arrives and rescues the drifter and Melody, who continue on to the bed and breakfast. Meanwhile, at the bed and breakfast, the zombies break in. Sara fights them, but is soon cornered. The drifter, and Melody arrive outside, where Melody shoots Johnny through the heart with a bone from the body of Mr. Wise, killing him and the other zombies. Sara reunites with Melody and the drifter, and together they leave Lovelock in their RV ===== The story is set in old India under British rule, in the 1920s. The warring Pathans of the North West region of India had become more aggressive towards the ruling Britain. The Fakir of Ippy was already a living legend before he started a war that was fought over the love of a couple that knew no bounds of religion, cast, color or language. A wealthy Hindu girl named Ram Kori, using the alias Chand Bibi, runs away from her home with a Pathan boy Noor Ali Khan and meets a mystic Muslim leader called the 'Fakir of Ippy'. The Fakir marries Noor Ali Khan and Ram Kori after she accepts Islam and agrees to be renamed as Islam Bibi. The influential and rich Hindus of the area go to the British Court run by an English Political Agent involved in both the executive and the judiciary. The agent is, in actuality, against the warring Pathans, and he intends to teach them a lesson. In the court, the political agent decides against the couple's case. Since Islam Bibi had become a Muslim, she was to be tried under Muslim Law, where a girl of fourteen years is adult and can choose her husband. However, according to the political agent's decision, since under the English Law a girl is considered minor till she reaches the age of eighteen, both her acceptance of Islam as well as her marriage are made void. The Muslim lawyers representing Islam Bibi insisted that the court also decree that the girl will not be taken away from the city Bannu, which was granted. However, Islam Bibi was secretly taken away to Hoshiarpur where the girl's parents lived. Noor Ali Khan, at the behest of the faqir, goes to Hoshiarpur. He exchanges hot words with Islam Bibi's family, resulting in his stabbing a man and then his arrest. He eventually broke out of the jail, picked up Islam Bibi and come back to Waziristan area. The British, after a failed dialogue, attack the village. The Fakir, unhappy with the attack, wages a holy war against the English. Backed by German aid, he starts Guerilla warfare against the British. ===== The story is about a young Indian Sikh girl Preety played by Zara Sheikh, who goes to the historical city of Lahore, Pakistan for a religious pilgrimage of a Sikh holy place there with her father. She falls in love with a Pakistani boy named Ali (Shaan) who is a banker and also her dad's friend's son. After the pilgrimage, she goes back to her country. Ali realises what he feels lost without her and goes after her. They both are delighted to see each other but Preety's friend in India, who is also in the Indian Army, is not able to deal with Preety falling in love with a Pakistani as he wants to marry her. He sends his forces after the two lovers by claiming that they are spying for Pakistan. The couple flees and after days of hide and seek, Ali is finally able to destroy the Indian Army cars following them. In the last scene, the lovers arrive at the Pakistan-India border where they see a Pakistani Flag and their emotions are filled with joy and relief. ===== Tal and Milla make it from the shadowy 'Dark World' to the titular castle, a seeming place of peace. Both are unwanted by the castle's inhabitants, Milla the most. The two must avoid conspiracies and other dangers inside the castle, just to survive. ===== The novel's central plotline concerns the murder by drug dealers of a no-account deadbeat over an unpaid debt and the incidental killing of the intended victim's nephew, starting with the killers’ efforts to locate the victim and continuing through Strange's investigation of the murders and the killings’ repercussions in the world of the DC drug trade. Secondary plotlines involve efforts by Strange's white associate, Terry Quinn, to locate a young girl who has disappeared into prostitution, as well as Strange's background investigation of a potentially shady young man who is engaged to marry the beautiful daughter of Strange's wealthy friend. ===== While Shadowmaster Sushin maintains control over higher ranked chosen, Tal and Milla travel through the Castle's depths where they encounter the Freefolk, a group of the servant class Underfolk who possess a great hatred for all the Chosen. They also meet Lector Jarnil, a famous teacher. Tal and Milla learn more about the intricacies of Castle politics, including that Sushin, a Shadowmaster of the Orange, is the Dark Vizier of the Empress. He deals in unsavory matters and commands others under the authority of the Empress. They also learn that the Veil is maintained by the seven Keystones which lie at the top of each of the seven towers. Most of the Chosen leave the Castle due to the Day of Ascension. To prevent the Veil from failing, Tal, accompanied by the Freefolk leader Crow, climb the Red Tower and defeat the deadly Keeper. They also solve a puzzle of tiles to prevent any alarms from ringing out. Eventually they reach the Red Keystone and discover Lector Jarnil's cousin Lokar trapped inside. As Tal and Crow prepare to depart, they are assaulted by numerous unbound Spiritshadows. Tal is able to construct a miniature Veil in time to hide them, but accidentally binds Adras, his Spiritshadow, into it. As they near the Freefolk base, Crow injures Tal and flees with the Keystone. Tal recovers the keystone and Lokar convinces Tal to go to Aenir and consult the Empress to free Lokar. While Tal and Crow climb the tower, Milla returns to Odris by the labyrinth of tunnels below the Castle. On her way, she discovers the skeleton where her Primary Sunstone partially originated. Scrutinizing it closer, she notices a long Violet fingernail, which she puts on. Knowing that she will give herself to the Ice, she breathes the Tenth Pattern to assure the completion of her task of getting a Primary Sunstone. On her way, she is attacked by Arla and a band of Shield Maidens for bringing Odris. Milla accidentally kills Arla with her talon. She is then judged by the Crones, who will decide her fate. After reviewing Milla's thoughts and dreams, the Crones debate and decide to attack the Castle to stop the Spiritshadow trade and save the Veil. The Crones choose Milla to lead the attack. ===== Two people live unlucky in love in Boston: Erin, whose activist boyfriend Sean has just walked out on their relationship to help a Native American tribe fight off a land development deal. Alan, a plumber struggling to pay off family obligations while pursuing a career as a marine biologist. Both deal with personal and professional problems and stumble through relationships, continually crossing one another's paths without ever truly meeting and realizing how perfect they are for one another. Time and time again one almost catches the other's eye, but circumstances intervene. After a series of ups and downs both of their budding relationships with others crash and burn, just in time for a chance meeting on the MBTA train heading to Wonderland station, on the outskirts of Boston. ===== Joe Hardy's girlfriend, Iola Morton, is caught in a car bomb and dies. Joe is unable to believe it. The brothers begin their investigation. They meet a person who calls himself the "Gray Man," from a government agency called "The Network." Frank and Joe take his help to get to the person who planted the bomb. Soon they learn that it is not a person, but a group of terrorists who call themselves "Assassins." Joe vows to kill them. As the story progresses, some Assassins are killed in encounters while others escape. They come to know that the person who killed Iola is a member of The Assassins named Al-Rousasa. When the book is about to end, Frank, Joe, Chet (who is Iola's brother) and their other friends begin searching a shopping mall when they learn that the Assassins plan to kill a presidential candidate giving a speech in Bayport. Soon, Joe and Frank have a fight with Al-Rousasa at the top floor. The fight ends with Al-Rousasa falling to his death, and Joe remembers what he had been told - "Nobody takes an Assassin alive." ===== The Hardy Boys come to New York for a vacation. When the brothers spot The Gray Man in Manhattan, they learn about an investigation he is working on regarding a terrorist organization in France. While the Gray Man does not want the brothers involved because they are too young and the case is too dangerous, the Hardys secretly work to get themselves in the center of the investigation and soon they find themselves undercover in France as a couple of gun dealers who are into the punk rock scene, complete with dyed hair and grungy clothes. They get caught up in a company called Renyard and Company, which secretly sells guns and other illegal things to people. They are almost killed in a machine when a lady known as Denise helps them escape. The book has an interesting storyline in which almost everybody is betraying each other - Renyard and Company, Denise and many other people. The Hardy Boys are also captured by the French special police known as the Sûreté. They eventually escape by beating everybody up. Soon when the book is about to end, they are chased by the Chairman of Renyard & Company and his other partners. The people try to kill them but Denise saves them at the right moment. The case is then solved by the Hardy Boys and they return to the United States. ===== Ryū Knight tells the story of Adeu, a boy who lives his life by the "Ethos of Chivalry" (a code of conduct similar to the Knightly Virtues). He is on a quest to seek the Earth's Blade, a gigantic sword which is capable of reaching the sky from the ground. Along the way, he meets Paffy, who is a princess, and her two escorts: Sarutobi, a ninja, and Izumi, a priest. Together, they partake on an adventurous journey in which he comes across many villains, at first composed of thieves and bandits who are after the Ryu mechs, which are far stronger than the normal mechs (henceforth referred to as Solids). The plot expands as the series progresses. ===== ===== Maze wakes up in her house, everything is a wreck and she has amnesia. Before she can gather what has happened the girl Mill storms into her house thanking her for having saved her life. She tells Maze that her house suddenly fell down from the sky and crushed Mills pursuers under it. However, before long they are both on the run from further pursuers who want their hands on princess Mill. When re-enforcements arrive Maze accidentally discovers that she is a powerful Form Master. Furthermore, it is revealed that she can also pilot Dulgar, the most powerful Demi-Armour that Mill can summon. Due to confusion and uncertainty she is still losing though until nightfall. When the sunset Maze changes genders and personalities and the new Male-Maze easily deals with the most powerful fire spell known. So Maze wind up protecting Mill from her pursuers and eventually try and take back her kingdom. Along the way they pick up several companions. Demi-Armor hunters Aster and Solude, both of whom are interested in Female-Maze. Randy, handy guide and Exposition Fairy, quite literally. She's a tiny Winged Humanoid who usually hides in Maze's shirt when the going gets tough. Then Rapier, Knight and Demi-Armour pilot of the neighbouring kingdom ruled by Mill's uncle who joins up with the party when her kingdom falls to Jaina as well. Also goes on to explore the world, the origin of the Demi-Armours and reveal exactly who and what Maze is. They are only saved when Maze discovers that she has phantom light magical powers and can summon Mills family heirloom mecha. However her performance with the mecha is weak; that is until the sun goes down and she is turned in to a lecherous man. Soon other travellers join them as Maze tries to protect Mill and figure out what she is doing in this fantasy world. Maze and Mill meet more companions on their journey and become embroiled in a war to defeat Jaina and raise Mill back to the throne of Bartonia. ===== The story revolves around the trials and tribulations of a young Polish priest, Father Stephan Kovalski (a French priest named Paul Lambert in the original French version), the hardships endured by a rickshaw puller, Hasari Pal in Calcutta (Kolkata), India, and in the second half of the book, also the experiences of a young American doctor, Max Loeb. Father Stephan joins a religious order whose vows put them in the most hellish places on earth. He chooses not only to serve the poorest of the poor in Calcutta but also to live with them, starve with them, and if God wills it, die with them. In the journey of Kovalski's acceptance as the Big Brother for the slum dwellers, he encounters moments of everyday miracles in the midst of appalling poverty and ignorance. The slum dwellers are ignored and exploited by wider society and the authorities of power but are not without their own prejudices. This becomes evident by their attitude towards the lepers and the continuation of the caste system. The story also explores how the peasant farmer Hasari Pal arrives in Calcutta with his family after a drought wipes out the farming village where his family has lived for generations. The third main character is a rich American doctor who has just finished medical school and wants to do something with purpose before opening up his practice catering to the wealthy. The book chronicles not only the separation of the wealthy from the poor but the separation of the different levels of poverty, caste divisions, and the differences of the many religions living side by side in the slums. It touches on Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity as well. While the book has its ups and downs, both beautiful and horrific, an overall feeling of peace and well being is achieved by the story's end. Despite facing hunger, deplorable living conditions, illness, bone-breaking work (or no work at all) and death, the people still hold on to the belief that life is precious and worth living, so much so that they named their slum Anand Nagar, which means "City of Joy". The author has stated that the stories of the characters in the book are true and he uses many real names in his book. However, the book is considered fictional since many conversations and actions are assumed or created. The author and his wife traveled to India many times, sometimes staying with friends in the "City of Joy". Half of the royalties from the sale of the book go towards the City of Joy Foundation that looks after slum children in Calcutta. ===== The plot focuses on a young girl by the name of Mirai Ozora, living in Tokyo in the year 2045. Being obsessed with her hobbies of shopping and modeling, one would never expect her big brother Hiroshi to be a brilliant inventor for ZIC, a major technological corporation. It all begins with Hiroshi's invention of the "Mol-Unit", a device capable of allowing an object to operate outside of the normal laws of physics. Flight, super-speed and strength, invulnerability, all capable through the Mol-Unit's power. The only catch, however, is that it can only stay active for a limited time, only 666 seconds (just over 11 minutes). Such a device would have changed the world on a whole, but Hiroshi's motives for its invention are not so much for the world as it is for his own ego. Using the Mol-Unit and its power, Hiroshi develops a new superheroic personality for himself, Captain Tokyo. After his initial debut, "Captain Tokyo" becomes a media sensation, and Hiroshi eats it up. However, things backfire when, out of curiosity, Mirai finds the Mol-Unit and tampers with the costume it generates, giving it a more feminine appearance. In doing so, the Mol-Unit malfunctions, causing the costume to randomly alter between Hiroshi's design and Mirai's. Upon realizing this, Hiroshi is forced to lend the Mol-Unit to Mirai, whose own personal use for the device seems to be more lighthearted than her brother's. However, things are not right in Tokyo. A mysterious man by the name of "Dr. Machinegal" (actually an old friend and teacher of Hiroshi's, Professor Amagi) and his personal robot army, among them the destructive android group known as the "Machinegal Dolls" (all named after famous models and actresses) is bent on causing havoc upon the world. To make matters worse, Nozumu, the youngest of the Ozora siblings, has developed his own Mol-Unit and created a supervillain persona to oppose his brother and sister out of spite. Completely unaware of such events at first, but obligated to do something, Mirai finds herself thrown into the world of superheroism, which she takes in stride. ===== Tomomi and Mikage Matsunaga are identical twins with special powers. Together, they are able to teleport and communicate telepathically. The athletically challenged Mikage begs Tomomi to switch identities with her for her school's sports day track meet, where she and Tomomi are teamed with Mikage's arch-enemy Yuya Noda, in the relay race. Tomomi, however, finds herself drawn to Yuya. Tomomi's success in the relay causes the captain of the track team, Hideaki Kurashige, to try to recruit Mikage. So, once again the sisters switch identities. However, the science teacher, Shinichiro Kageura, finds out about their psychic powers, and begins to stalk Tomomi. Sensing that Mikage (who was really Tomomi) has been behaving strangely, Yuya visits them at home. ===== Amiga version gameplay screenshot Somewhere in the darkest corner of the Milky Way is a small, insignificant planet named "blot". This was a really beautiful place, but the inhabitants, friendly, always good-tempered creatures who called themselves Blotians had to flee from a terrible fate. The time had come to build a generational spaceship, to go and search for another suitable planet. To leave the past behind, their name was changed and now they were called "Fuzzy Wuzzies". Coincidentally, a suitable planet was also found. However, this happened quite involuntarily, as they had to make an emergency landing after a collision with an asteroid, and the only planet that was within reach, was good old Earth. But it was a blessing in disguise, they landed in the Pacific near an unknown island. After the Fuzzy Wuzzies came ashore, they built a city and the island was called "The Hippest Place in The Known Universe". What the Fuzzies did not know was that demons resided on the other side of the island who, of course, always had a bad temper. It was the friendly nature of the Fuzzies that got on their nerves and they hated the new name of the island. The demons came up with a cunning plan to get rid of the existence and therefore the good mood of the Fuzzies. They invited the Fuzzies to one of the biggest parties that had ever been celebrated on the island. The Fuzzies could of course not resist this invitation. They cleaned their fur and they all went to the party. But when the party was at its best, these nasty demons threw a net over the Fuzzies, captured them and locked them all up in their torture chambers. The only one who escaped these events was "Clyde Radcliffe", who left the party "slightly tipsy", and found a sleeping place in one of the bushes. The next morning he woke up with a throbbing headache and a breath so bad, he could even ignite trees with it. Nevertheless, our brave hero was ready to teach the demons a lesson and save his fellow Fuzzies from the horrible torture chambers. ===== In the future, the "Metal Fight" games are the most popular televised sport in the world and many robot contestants compete for the title of Best Metal Fighter in the World. Kurenai Ken, along with teammate Saeba Shôko (who was, at first, adamantly opposed), pilots the Super Robot Fighter, Red Baron and enters the contest with dreams of becoming its champion. He must, however, face an army of other rivals from around the world including "Kaizer" and the Tetsumen Tô doctors, and later allies like Tiger and ShinRon. ===== J. C. Wiatt (Diane Keaton) is a driven Manhattan career woman (nicknamed the "Tiger Lady") typical of the 1980s whose fast-paced life leaves her with no time for romance or relaxation (or as the narrator in the beginning puts it she works "5 to 9"), though she derives pleasure from her frantic schedule and demanding job. She works as an advertising executive at a high profile advertising firm on Madison Avenue and lives with an investment banker, Steven Buchner (Harold Ramis), whose job and life are likewise hectic. Her life is thrown into turmoil when she inherits a toddler, Elizabeth (twins Kristina and Michelle Kennedy), from a deceased cousin whom she had not seen in over 30 years. J.C. tries to give Elizabeth up for adoption but finds that she has grown too attached to the child, forcing a reevaluation of her priorities. When Steven learns of this, he is not thrilled. J.C. explains to Steven that a lot of working people raise kids and she believes she can, too, something Steven has no desire to partake in. The couple amicably break-up and Steven moves out. J.C. is left to raise the child on her own, though she hires a nanny to watch Elizabeth while she's at work. Her boss, Fritz Curtis (Sam Wanamaker) tells her that Hughes Larrabee (Pat Hingle), the head of "The Food Chain," a major organization that owns and operates many brands of foods, is looking for someone to manage The Food Chain account. Fritz tells J.C. that landing this account could make her a partner. J.C. manages to land the account with her tough business attitude and is therefore put in charge of it. Fritz also decides that Ken Arrenberg (James Spader), J.C.'s young apprentice whom she also recruited 2 years ago, is ready for the big time and will be on her team with the Food Chain account. Caring for the child soon occupies much of her time and her career begins to suffer, especially when she starts bringing Elizabeth to classes that are intended to help boost babies' intelligence. As a result, Ken starts taking up the slack on the Food Chain account without J.C.'s consent, though it pleases Fritz and Larrabee. Assuming correctly that `the boys' club' is taking over, especially when Ken starts making decisions without her, this starts to get on J.C.'s nerves. Frustrated at the interference, J.C. tells Fritz that she not only wants Ken off the Food Chain account but off of her team entirely. To her surprise, Fritz tells her that he's decided that `for the good of the account as well as the company', he's going to take her off the Food Chain account instead and have Ken take over full time. He tells J.C. that he's made his choice that got this company grossing millions of dollars a year, but has no idea how many grandchildren he has and she needs to do the same if she wants to continue her career. J.C. is offended as they wouldn't have had the account in the first place if she hadn't gotten it, but Fritz, knowing how unstable J.C. has become, tells her that he can't afford to take risks with the Food Chain account. He informs J.C. that he wants her to do low profile a.k.a. accounts no one else wants to deal with from now on as he feels they would be better suited for her now that she is raising a child. However J.C. understands the humiliation in the unwarranted demotion and quits her job instead. She moves into a house in the country in Vermont. Purchasing the home without first having seen it in person or having it inspected, she finds it is riddled with problems (failing plumbing and heating, lack of water, bad roof). Suffering a nervous breakdown and on the brink of financial collapse, she sees an opportunity to sell baby food applesauce she had concocted for Elizabeth from fresh ingredients. Amid the clamor for her new products she develops a relationship with local veterinarian Jeff Cooper (Sam Shepard). At first annoyed by him, she is opposed to Jeff's overtures and is focused now on returning to New York as fast as possible. Finding a buyer for the house proves almost impossible as it was for sale for 5 years and she was the only interested buyer. After a rough start, she succeeds in selling her "Country Baby" gourmet baby food line and soon business is booming. Orders for it start pouring in from all over America. J.C. and Jeff start to grow closer, even Elizabeth grows fond of him. Finally, her old boss Fritz and his client, Larrabee, take notice. The Food Chain offers to buy her company for millions, take her product nationwide, and give her back her career and high-prestige life. On the brink of accepting, she remembers how they treated her before and decides to give the men back a taste of their own medicine as she tells them that she can grow her enterprise on her own without having to sacrifice her personal life. She then returns to Vermont to be with her adopted daughter, her new lover and presumably wildly successful enterprise. ===== The anime follows one day in the life of Bean Bandit and Rally Vincent, as they find that they have been framed for the kidnapping of Chelsea Grimwood, the daughter of Mr. Grimwood, President of the Grimwood Company/Grimwood Conglomerate. However, it is Semmerling, by way of various disguises, tricks, and manipulations, who is the real kidnapper — and the real target is Mr. Grimwood himself. While the police are in hot pursuit of Bean and Rally, along with Chelsea in tow, Semmerling and her helper Carrie plan to make a secret getaway with Mr. Grimwood as hostage. ===== Aloysius T. McKeever (Victor Moore), a hobo, makes his home in a seasonally boarded-up Fifth Avenue mansion, each time its owner—Michael J. O'Connor (Charles Ruggles), the second richest man in the world—winters at his Virginia estate. McKeever winds up taking in ex-G.I. Jim Bullock (Don DeFore), who has been evicted from an apartment building O'Connor is tearing down for a new skyscraper, and later 18-year-old Trudy "Smith" (Gale Storm), who is actually O'Connor's runaway daughter. Jim soon invites war buddies Whitey (Alan Hale, Jr.), Hank (Edward Ryan) and their families to share the vast mansion when they are unable to find homes of their own. When Trudy encounters her father, she tells him she is in love with Jim. She has not told Jim who she really is because she wants to win his love for herself, not her wealth. She persuades her father to pretend to be a homeless man named "Mike". McKeever reluctantly takes Mike in, but treats him like a servant. When Mike becomes fed up, he gives Trudy 24 hours to get the squatters out. She seeks help from her mother Mary (Ann Harding), who is divorced from Michael. Mary has an idea; she comes from Palm Beach and pretends to be another homeless person to join the other squatters. As time goes on, McKeever, sensing Mary and Mike have feelings for each other, nudges them together. Eventually, Mike tells Mary he is a changed man and proposes. Mary accepts. Jim comes up with an idea to convert unused, post-war Army barracks into much-needed housing and even designs the layout. McKeever persuades him to bid for an Army camp on the outskirts of New York City. They raise money from hundreds of other ex-G.I.'s in the same predicament. O'Connor also wants the property, and a bidding war ensues before O'Connor finds out who his competitor is. To try to get rid of his daughter's suitor, he sees to it that the construction company Jim approaches about his conversion plan rejects it and instead offers him a well-paying job in Bolivia, on the strange condition that he be single. Celebrating Christmas Eve together, the residents are caught by two patrolmen, but McKeever convinces them to let the families stay until after the New Year. Jim then reveals that the camp has been sold to O'Connor, and he is considering the job offer in Bolivia, resulting in Trudy breaking up with him. When Mary and Trudy find out how Mike has manipulated the situation, Mary thinks he has not changed after all. She tells him that she and Mary will leave for Florida. Ashamed, Mike arranges a meeting with O'Connor for Jim and his partners, who are dubious but accept. At the meeting, Mike reveals his true identity and transfers ownership of the camp to them, provided that they not reveal his identity to McKeever. That night, everyone shares a New Year's dinner before restoring the house just as they found it. Mike, Mary, Trudy and Jim bid farewell to McKeever as he heads off to O'Connor's estate in Virginia, still unaware of the truth. Mike tells Mary to remind him to nail up the board in the back fence through which McKeever gets onto his property, intending to have McKeever come through the front door next winter. ===== Bearing similarities to Altman's 1975 film Nashville, along with a plotless structure, HealtH chronicles the progress of a health- food convention held at a luxury hotel in St Pete Beach, Florida. As the convention takes place, the members of an organization called HealtH hold a campaign to find out who will become its President. (Their name stands for "Happiness, Energy and Longevity through Health"; it also serves as their slogan.) The candidates are Esther Brill, an 83-year-old afflicted with narcolepsy who calls herself "the first lady of health"; Isabella Garnell, who is serious against commercialism and materialism; and Dr. Harold (Gil) Gainey, a salesperson-turned-independent. On the first day of the conference, The Steinettes (a female quartet dressed in green and yellow) introduce Dick Cavett, who is hosting his show on location and covering the details of the event. He interviews Gloria Burbank and Esther Brill, two of the candidates competing for the new Presidency of the HealtH organization. Burbank, a White House representative, has been sent to this venue on the President of the United States' behalf. Later that day at the hotel lounge, Burbank's ex- husband Harry Wolff plans to re-schedule the Cavett interview, due to difficulties with Brill during her profile. The moment Burbank heads to her room, Gil Gainey (a minor candidate) stops her and debates on the worth of her strategy. On the morning of the second day, several conventioneers notice a seemingly dead body sunk to the bottom of the pool from their balconies. Harry Wolff and the President's advisor on health, Gloria Burbank, are chatting by the deep end of the pool. Gloria then dives into the pool, not realizing there is a body floating on the bottom. As she approaches it, she finally sees it and screams in fear, heading back to the surface. Some other men dive in to rescue the drowned body, but it turns out that Gainey had been using an oxygen tank in order to play a publicity stunt. That night, Garnell announces a serious message from the top of the hotel through her loudspeaker; many guests take notice, and some complain. Around that time, a businessperson named Colonel Cody arrives at the conference, and heads to Garnell's room to interrogate and find out her plans. Next morning, Harry finds out that Burbank is beginning to support Garnell, and thinks that this is not right. Later on, while discussing breastfeeding and abortion with Brill, Burbank is astonished that Garnell and Brill were actually born male. After serving in the Army, both had sex change operations in 1960. Bobby Hammer, a dirty tricks specialist, actually concocted this revelation to trick Burbank. After another discussion with Brill, Burbank enters the empty convention hall, where Cody interrupts her. He finds her title, and the ideals of the HealtH organization, worthless. Ashamed and in tears, Burbank is shocked that he controls not only HealtH, but also the ongoing election; he even plans to rig the votes and the outcome. She runs back to tell Wolff on Cody's scheme. As the couple start making love, Burbank is worried that it will be all over for her if Garnell wins. Harry, however, assures her that Garnell is still a woman anyway. On the fourth and final day, the results of the HealtH election are announced live on Cavett's show, and Esther Brill comes out as the victor. Burbank and her ex- husband watch on from their balcony outside, and also take a glimpse at Cody proposing an offer to Brill. Some time later, Cody, who turns out to be her harmless nut brother, gets into a fit of anger, knocking down everything in his path, and demands to get away immediately. With the HealtH convention over, another one involving hypnotists is taking root at the hotel. Before he and the candidates leave, Cavett briefly greets Dinah Shore, the host on hand for this event. As the HealtH sign is taken down in front of the hotel, the Steinettes perform a Broadway-style show tune that closes the film. ===== The Hardy boys hear their father and a person named Emmet Strand talking about his daughter Holly, who has joined the group of Rajah. Holly was a close friend of Frank, so Frank decides to join the group of teenagers who serve the Rajah in order to save Holly. The Rajah claims that he shall give everybody peace, so every teenager who is fed up with life, or is very frustrated joins the group in hope of finding peace. The Rajah is a very powerful man - even police officials are linked to him and do as he says. On a mission to rescue their good friend Holly from the cult of the lunatic Rajah, the boys unwittingly become the main event in one of the madman's deadly rituals--human sacrifice. The Hardy Boys try to escape the ritual, during which, Joe is framed that he kills a person very close to the Rajah, known as Vivasvat. Holly pleads with them to take her along; actually, she is linked with Rajah and wants to kill them. The Hardy Boys escape with Holly. They are chased by a police officer who is linked with the Rajah. When they are travelling on a train, Frank is shot by a bullet and falls of the train. Holly attempts to kill Joe but fails. As the book progresses, the Rajah, taking revenge at the Hardy Boys, starts a riot in the city. He holds captive Emmet Strand. Rajah reveals that he is the son of Emmet Strand's first wife & that he is taking revenge for leaving his mother. Soon, the Hardy Boys catch him and he is handed to the police. Holly, along with her father Emmet, leaves the country. ===== May is hiding out at an old motel in the Southwest. She is staying at the motel when an old flame and childhood friend, Eddie, shows up. Eddie confronts May and seems to try to convince her in argumentative terms that their fates are somehow linked and that they should stay together. May vehemently refuses him. She says that she has absolutely no interest in living with Eddie under any circumstances, that she has a job and started a new life and knows that if she goes back to Eddie their relationship will repeat the same destructive cycle it has followed before. As May's current love interest, Martin, shows up for a date, Eddie begins to thicken the narrative somewhat about his relationship with May as having a dark secret hidden within. Throughout the film the character of the Old Man—apparently the father of both lovers—sits to the side and talks to May and Eddie and offers commentary on each character and about himself. It is revealed that the Old Man had led a double life, abandoning each family in the same town for different periods during each child's life. Without knowledge of their father's philandering, May and Eddie became lovers in their high school years and when their parents finally figured out what had occurred, Eddie's mother shot herself. May is afraid that Eddie has begun to emulate his father's feckless womanizing; taking to drinking and secretly seeing a woman May refers to as the Countess. The Countess returns twice to the old motel where May is staying in a black Mercedes and opens fire with a revolver apparently trying to shoot Eddie for his misconduct and mistreatment of her in their affair. In the meanwhile, the Old Man has begun to drift off in denial that Eddie's mother had been driven to suicide, and May's erstwhile date, Martin, is left standing bewildered to observe it all. When the Countess next returns for her revenge against Eddie, a stray shot from her revolver sets off an explosion which ignites the entire old motel into a blaze of fire. The "fools" in the play are the battling lovers, May and Eddie, at the run-down Mojave Desert motel which is left ablaze burning to ashes in a panorama before their eyes as the film ends. ===== Sherry (Jillian McWhirter), a professional woman, happily discovers she is pregnant. While this is happy news for her and her doctor husband (Arnold Vosloo), both begin having strange memories from the night of conception. Uneasiness then becomes terror when both are convinced that she is carrying something alien inside her body. Sherry's therapist Dr. Susan Lamarche (Lindsay Crouse) believes that Sherry has a psychological problem, of which Craig is to blame. The couple contact a UFO/Paranormal college professor (Brad Dourif), who, through the use of hypnosis takes Sherry back to the night she conceived. They discover that she was abducted by aliens and artificially impregnated. The viewer is shown this sequence several times, with each time showing that Sherry blocked or distorted certain parts of the event in an attempt to accept and understand what was being done to her. ===== ".hack//Roots" follows the tale of Haseo, a black 'Adept Rogue'(a class that can use multiple types of weapons) and member of the "Twilight Brigade", a small guild created within "The World R:2." In the year 2015, the CC Corporation's building burned down, and with it, most of the existing data for "The World." By splicing in data from what would have potentially been another game with what remained of "The World" after the fire, CC Corp. created "The World R:2" and released it in 2016, which is when the anime takes place. The main revisions in this release were that the game allowed for guild and PvP (player vs player) play. Haseo logs into The World R:2 for the first time and falls victim to the PKers (player-killers) that reside within the game. He is saved by Ovan, who prompts him to join the Twilight Brigade alongside Sakisaka, Tabby and Shino, who are in search of finding "The Key of the Twilight." However, a popular guild named "TaN" obstructs the Twilight Brigade in its mission and is attempting to obtain Ovan's unique character data. The Twilight Brigade has discovered special items, known as 'Virus Cores', and believed them to be the path to finding "The Key of the Twilight" and went to find them all. Once the Twilight Brigade had acquired all 6 cores, the guild headed out to use them in one of the "Lost Ground"s, after figuring out that the two were connected to one another. However, the group discovers that this was all a trap laid by the members of TaN in order to capture Ovan. With Ovan gone and no sign of the Key of the Twilight, the Twilight Brigade disband and previous members, such as B-set and Gord, quit the game entirely. Soon after, Shino is killed within the game by a mysterious PKer named "Tri- Edge". This somehow puts her into a coma in the real world, which devastates Haseo. Haseo then begins training in order to get strong enough to defeat Tri- Edge and save Shino from her real-life coma. Through this ordeal, Haseo becomes obsessed with power and ends up as a Player-Killer-Killer(PKK), in an effort to find information on Tri-edge. When Haseo competes in a special event that promises a special reward, he gains a new power, but his mind is corrupted and he begins to kill PKers with yet more aggression, gaining him the title of "The Terror of Death." ===== Nick and Angie have just had a baby, and to help them financially they decide to rent out the basement. Both Nick's father, Sam Tyler, and Angie's mother, Daphne Trenchard, want the basement apartment and the only solution is to share. Sam is a Cockney, while Daphne is Cheltenham-bred and has not forgiven her daughter for marrying Nick, a 'common' photographer. Both Sam and Daphne are widowed, and stubborn. There is mutual contempt between Nick and Daphne: however, Angie is fond of Sam and is forever trying, against all the odds, to keep the peace between him and Daphne. The situation is exacerbated, from Series Two onwards, by the presence of Sam's gloomy and pessimistic zoo-keeper friend Wilf Perkins, who, after being thrown out by his mother, ends up having to share Sam's room, much to Daphne's icy displeasure. Further complications arise through Daphne's brief and disastrous romance with a neighbour, the suave and crooked Major Giles Bradshaw, who is eventually sent to prison for acts of theft and fraud. The comedy came from the clashes between Sam and Daphne, and the eventual romance that develops between them. The next-door neighbour, Rhonda, was a catalyst for bringing them together. ===== Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) visits Monica (Courteney Cox) at her kitchen at Alessandro's, where she meets Tim, Monica's sous-chef. Phoebe and Tim really like each other, and Monica sets them up on a date. Monica wants to fire Tim because he lit her pastry chef on fire and is a really slow worker, but Phoebe convinces her to give him another chance. One day later, Monica still wants to fire him, and Phoebe wants to dump him because he is too anxious. Initially agreeing not to dump and fire him on the same day, they then argue about who should dump or fire him that day. When Phoebe meets with Tim at Central Perk to dump him, he gets paged by Monica for a meeting at work. This then results in Phoebe storming into Monica's workplace, interrupting the meeting. Left with no other options, Phoebe dumps Tim and Monica fires him simultaneously. However, when Tim says that Monica is the best chef he knows, she gives him another chance. Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) visits Joey (Matt LeBlanc) on the set of Days of Our Lives, where she meets Kash, another actor on the soap opera. She asks Joey to set them up on a date. Joey is at first pessimistic because of Rachel's pregnancy. Rachel convinces him and then struggles to persuade Ross, who is fearful about what impact the date would have on the baby. The date ends early when Rachel accidentally tells Kash that she is pregnant. Rachel is reassured by Ross after she bumps into him on the street. Having initially declined an offer to join Ross at Central Perk for a coffee, Rachel changes her mind, but then notices he is getting acquainted with Mona (Bonnie Somerville), whom he met at Monica and Chandler's wedding reception, and leaves, unseen. Whilst picking up Chandler (Matthew Perry) from his office for dinner plans, Ross meets Bob, a co-worker of Chandler who has always called him Toby for the last five years. While putting this into perspective, Chandler accidentally reveals that his middle name is Muriel, and Ross and Rachel make fun of him. When Chandler's boss wants Chandler's opinion about adding Bob to his team, Chandler is negative about it. When Bob finds out it was Chandler who blocked his promotion, he vents his anger to Chandler, who he still thinks is called Toby. Chandler then attempts to reveal his true identity to Bob, but cannot go through with it when he realises that Bob will be even angrier at him for it. Bob finally finds Chandler's office and starts trashing it. When Bob asks Chandler for help, he happily joins in destroying his own office. ===== The narrator, Mark Twain, sees a catchy jingle in the morning newspaper. The jingle promptly attaches itself to his mind, such that he loses concentration and can no longer remember what he ate for breakfast, whether he ate at all, and what words he was going to use in his novel. The jingle mentally incapacitates him, until, a few days later, he takes a walk with his friend, the Reverend, and inadvertently transfers the jingle to the reverend's mind. As this happens, Twain experiences a sense of relief, and returns to his normal life. Some days after Twain was cured, the Reverend visits him; he is in a terrible state, as the jingle, which keeps on repeating in his head, has already disabled his concentration. He tells Twain of some incidents where the rhythm of the jingle influenced his actions, such as when churchgoers started swaying to the rhythm of his homilies. Taking pity on the man, Twain decides to cure him, and brings him to a meeting of university students. The Reverend successfully manages to transfer the jingle from himself to the students, curing himself and, at the same time, continuing the cycle. ===== The plot concerns a Korean War veteran who comes home from the war depressed. With deep psychological wounds, he only feels alive in the world of boxing. ===== The novel is set in the 32nd century, in a communistic Utopian future. Humanity has colonized all of the Solar System, and is now making its first attempt at interstellar travel. Aboard a vessel called Gaia, 227 men and women leave the Earth for the Alpha Centauri system. After almost eight years of travel, they find signs of organic life on a planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, possibly originating on another planet within the Centauri system. The expedition meets an old artificial war satellite of the United States and its NATO allies. It was carrying still active biological weapons and nuclear warheads, which had accidentally left Earth orbit and got lost in space during the Cold War era, and the team destroys it. Gaia detects a radar signal directed at it, coming from one of the planets of Alpha Centauri. "Gaia" approaches this planet and tries to contact its civilization, but all messages remain unanswered. When they attempt to land on a planet, they are unexpectedly attacked, and 10 astronauts are killed. Nevertheless, the crew of Gaia does no strike back, supposing the inhabitants of the planet mistook a peaceful landing for aggression. Eventually the contact was established. ===== Matthew Price, a university lecturer in economic history, returns from London to visit his sick father in South Wales. The novel is set in the fictional village of Glynmawr in the Black Mountains, a rural area but closely connected to the nearby coal mining valleys of the South Wales coalfield. His father had been a railway signalman, and the story includes lengthy flashbacks to the 1920s and 1930s, including the General Strike and its impact on a small group of railway workers living in a community made up mostly of farmers. It also describes Matthew Price's decision to leave his own community, studying at Cambridge before becoming a lecturer in London. ===== Harold Owen, his brother Gwyn, son Peter and wife Kate all experience the contrasts. The book is based on the actual situation in Oxford of the 1960s, where the ancient university was right next to Morris Motors, as it then was. ===== The story tells about Nina, a mother of two, planning to go on holidays with her new boyfriend. However, the road away from the isolated winter bleakness of Sandling Island seems to be littered with obstacles, frustrating her plans at every turn. Most pressingly of all, her fifteen-year-old daughter, Charlie, has yet to return from a night out. Minute by minute, as Nina's unease builds to worry and then panic, every mother's worst nightmare begins to occur. Has Charlie run away? Or has something more sinister happened to her? And why will nobody take her disappearance seriously? As day turns to night on the island and a series of half-buried secrets lead Nina Landry from sickening suspicion to deadly certainty, the question becomes less whether she and her daughter will leave the island for Christmas and more whether they will ever leave it again. ===== Matthew Price and Peter Owen both have their roots within the borders of Wales. They each have contributed to a decision on the idea of building a new town, Manod, in the depopulated valleys of South Wales. A splendid idea - or is there more going on behind the scenes than is admitted? ===== The story centers around an apparently supernatural case taken by a family of investigators who make up the Veritas Project. About seventy years after the suicidal hanging of Abel Frye, a student at a high school who hanged himself after being unable to cope with the pressures of bullying, Jocks from the school's football team begin to lose their sanity after seeing what they believe to be Abel's ghost, which is rumored to be under the control of a group of witches out for revenge. Abel's ghost makes them go into a coma like feeling. ===== Dave Randall, a jaded, womanizing, reality dating TV producer, runs into his old college crush, Kelly, and soon realizes his bar-hopping, bed-hopping ways are leaving him unfulfilled. Dave has Kelly — the only woman he's ever loved — re-train him to become the nice guy he used to be. ===== Two emotionally estranged sisters, Ester and Anna, and Anna's son, Johan, a boy of 10, are on a night train journey back home. Ester, the older sister and a literary translator, is seriously ill. Anna coldly assists her, seemingly resenting the burden. They decide to interrupt the journey in the next town called "Timoka", located in a Central European country on the brink of war. Although Ester is a professional translator, neither she nor her relatives speak the language of this country. The sisters rent a two-room-apartment in a once-grandiose hotel. Ester suffers in her room, self-medicating with vodka and cigarettes while trying to work. Johan soon begins wandering around the hotel's hallways, encountering the elderly hotel porter and a group of Spanish dwarves who are part of a traveling show. Meanwhile, Anna ventures into the city and is openly advanced upon by a waiter in a cafe. Later, she watches a show in an uncrowded theatre, and is both repelled and fascinated when a young couple begin to have sex in a seat nearby. Anna returns to the cafe, brushes past the waiter, and returns to the hotel in time. Left with Johan while his mother is out, Ester attempts to form a more intimate bond with him, but Johan avoids her attempts to stroke his hair and face. On Anna's return, Ester is eager for an account of what her sister has done after seeing her soiled dress. Provoked, Anna spitefully fabricates a sexual encounter with the waiter to her sister. Anna also reveals her intention to meet him again that evening, which Ester, not wanting to be left alone, begs her not to do. Anna meets the man in their hotel, and Johan witnesses them kissing and entering a room down an adjacent hall. Upon returning to the room, he asks Ester, why his mother dislikes being with them, as she always departs as soon as she gets the chance. Ester tells him that she has learned a few words of the local language, and she promises to write them down for him. Johan, instinctively knowing Ester is seriously ill, embraces her in a show of concern and compassion. After Johan has fallen asleep, Ester sobs at the door of Anna and her lover, asking to come in. Anna lets her in and turns on the lights so that Ester can fully see the two of them in bed together. Anna tells Ester that she once aspired to be like her, morally elevated, but realized that her apparent goodness was actually a reflection of Ester's hatred of Anna and all that belonged to her. Ester insists that she loves her and that Anna is wrong. Anna gets furious and asks her to leave the room. On leaving, Ester says "poor Anna", enraging her even more. Anna's lover advances upon her again. Anna is laughing hysterically, but it turns into sobs. The next morning, Anna announces that she and Johan are going to leave the hotel after breakfast. Ester deteriorates while they are gone, having painful spasms of suffocation. She is helped by the elderly porter, who attempts to comfort her. She reveals her fear of death and loneliness but also her loathing for sexual contact. When Johan returns to say good-bye, Ester gives him a note. After he and Anna have boarded the train, Johan reads the title: "To Johan – words in a foreign language". Uninterested, Anna opens the window and cools herself with the outside rain. ===== Cornelius is a musical critic who visits the summer estate, Villa Tremolo, of the famed cellist, Felix, to write the musician's biography. Cornelius is greeted by Jillker, Felix's impresario, and Tristan, the chauffeur, but Felix himself remains chiefly unseen. Cornelius glimpses Felix heading for a bedroom with a woman whom he presumes to be Felix's wife. Cornelius meets Adelaide and tells her Felix has retired with his wife, but Adelaide reveals she is in fact Felix's wife. It turns out Felix is unfaithful and has several lovers. Aside from Adelaide, each is given a special nickname. The self-proclaimed "official" mistress is Ms. Bumblebee, who meets and has sex with Cornelius. While Cornelius is in bed with Miss Bumblebee, a woman enters the room with a pistol and fires several shots. No one is harmed, but Cornelius believes the shots were meant for Felix. Cornelius becomes concerned someone is trying to murder Felix and tells Jillker, who is unconcerned, as everyone must die. Cornelius remains unable to meet with Felix and finds it difficult to write a biography without an interview. He tells Adelaide that though the threat of murder might add interest to the biography, he hoped Felix's safety would be guarded. Jillker, citing Felix's total moral decline, resigns as his impresario. Felix emerges to perform in front of his lovers and Cornelius. During the performance, a woman takes out a pistol. However, Felix collapses, dead, during his performance without any shots fired. Four days after Cornelius' arrival to Villa Tremolo, the lovers, one by one, look over Felix in his coffin, each one remarking on how he looks the same, yet different. ===== The film is about the customers and personal lives of Greet (Ronnie Bierman) and Nel (Sylvia de Leur), two female prostitutes in Amsterdam. Greet and Nel are friends and live on different floors of the same canal house at the Prinsengracht. In this house they also receive customers. ===== The film begins in 1881 at Stavoren, a small Dutch rural town, and follows Katie's family to Amsterdam, where they hope to escape grinding poverty by finding work. Upon their arrival Katie secures employment at a dye-works, but is fired when she refuses to have sex with the director. She finds a job at a hat shop, where, during a business trip to a brothel, she discovers her older sister Mina working there. Later that evening, back at the hat shop, she is brutally raped by the owner and, in revenge, smashes the shop window. Weeks go by, during which Katie's father works in a factory on low pay and Mina descends into alcoholism. While attempting to steal bread, Katie is knocked unconscious by a policeman and taken to a sanitorium. It becomes apparent that her body is her only asset as a doctor diagnoses tuberculosis, but refuses treatment unless she sleeps with him. It is unclear whether this occurs, but on her discharge Katie rejoins her family and discovers her father has been sacked and her sister is too drunk to sleep with clients. Katie's mother decides that, rather than the family starve, Katie must also go into prostitution. Her first client is a gentleman, who Katie does not satisfy due to her inexperience. Her second client, an artist called George, takes her to his studio to pose for a painting depicting a Socialist revolution. He pays her the rate they negotiated for her services, but tells her he only wants her to model. He introduces Katie to Hugo, a banker, and Andre, a wealthy socialist, and they head to a nightclub for a meal. Katie's re-education has begun. Andre is attracted to Katie, but she seems enamoured with Hugo, with whom she goes home and sleeps. Hugo provides Katie with money for a new dress and they arrange to meet in the park. It is here that Katie's former life threatens to catch up with her when the gentleman she approached a few days earlier recognises her and informs Hugo he knew Katie when she only cost fifty pence. Hugo punches him, refusing to believe his story and promises Katie that she can move in with him "forever." Katie goes to see her family, informing them she intends to leave. Her mother asks how she will feed the children if Katie's not there to provide. Katie tells her mother she "should have fucked less" and storms out, kicking her hysterical mother out of the way. Once at Hugo's, Katie settles into the life of the bourgeoisie but is soon troubled at having to go spying on some of Amsterdam's less affluent shop owners to see who Hugo should refuse credit to. After being exposed in a coffee shop, and as a result, hot chocolate is thrown in her face, Katie tells Hugo she will not do his dirty work anymore. Very soon Hugo informs Katie that he intends to marry his fiancée and Katie must leave, stressing that their relationship was just a bit of fun that went too far. Katie, with nowhere to go, runs out onto the street and joins in a socialist march. The police arrive to break it up, opening fire on the marchers. During the confusion, Katie is reunited with George and Andre who are also present. Andre is shot in the arm and collapses, hitting his head. George takes them to a carriage waiting nearby and Andre and Katie board it, taking them to Andre's country mansion. Katie stays with him and, when he awakes, it becomes apparent that romance will blossom between the two. They discuss the subject of money, Katie telling Andre that "money turns people into bastards." When Andre's headwound begins to bleed, Katie informs Andre that the best cure is to suck the blood. "That's better," she says, a sliver of blood running from the corner of her mouth. The picture freezes and a roller-caption appears informing us that the film is based on true events from the life of Neel Doff and that "her indomitable spirit lives on in this film." ===== Touma Inaba is a high school graduate who is trying to get into the prestigious Keio University. After dismissing a weird call girl the night before, he meets and falls in love with a red-headed woman named Mieko Yotsuba on the day of the entrance exam. When Mieko is listed for Keio, but Touma is not, he pretends to have been accepted, while having to enroll in cram school. In the meantime, he lives together with his cousin Urara Kasuga, who has a crush on him and is willing to do anything to help him (including being that call girl in the first chapter). Urara encounters Mieko and Touma at karaoke, but pretends to be his sister. However, romance rival Tatsuhiko Mashu suspects something is up, and after sleeping with Urara's friend Komi Natsuki, learns that Touma is not a university student. Mashu tricks Touma into revealing the truth to Mieko. The heartbroken Touma starts a sexual relationship with Urara. The "happy couple" angers cram school teacher Kugenuma, who conspires to break the two up by framing Touma with harassment. The rumors force Touma to leave cram school, but Urara tries to work a deal with Kugenuma for him to return. But when Touma learns about the deal and that it involved sexual favors, he breaks up with Urara. When Urara discovers that she is pregnant, she joins Natsuki at an escort service to raise extra money. Suspsecting that Mashu has cheated on her, Mieko makes advances on Touma, and they finally have sex. Urara, Natsuki and another girl named Mizuki hustle a client, but it backfires when the client then beats Urara up (and gang rapes Natsuki). Urara suffers a miscarriage, but reunites with Touma. When Mashu sees Mieko with Touma, he tells Touma to back out, but when he refuses, Mashu hatches a scheme where he has Natsuki give Touma a "memory-enhancing" incense as a study-aid. The incense is actually speed, to which Touma becomes addicted as he prepares for his next mock exam. Urara gives him an ultimatum to stop using the drug. When Mizuki collapses and is hospitalized, Touma learns that she is his best friend Kouji's little sister and that she has been battling leukemia. When Kouji gets in trouble for shoplifting, Touma talks some sense into him. Urara takes on extra jobs to get a Christmas present for Touma, but when one of the hostess club patrons gets raunchy, she is saved by Ryuichi Kazama, a childhood friend who is ordered by Urara's father to be her home tutor and to secretly spy on them. When Ryuichi learns that Touma and Urara are living together, he kicks Touma out without telling Urara, and then tries to make a move on her. After Urara declines, Ryuichi conspires with Mashu to kidnap and to beat up Touma, but the plan goes awry when he pushes Touma in front of Mashu's car. Touma survives with a broken arm, but Urara does not know about it until later, as she breaks ties with Ryuichi. While Touma tries to recover, Akimoto learns Mashu is involved and attacks him, however, he is stabbed in the back and is hospitalized as well. Touma's arm heals in time for the real exams; his test scores place him with S Shuu University, but he misses the school's deadline to enroll because of his attention to Akimoto's hospital bills. That leaves him with K Sawa and eventually Keioh, both of which reject him. Frustrated with his bad luck, he smashes the windows of his middle school, but the police arrest Urara, whose student ID was found at the scene of the crime. Urara agrees to take the blame and declines her college admission. Touma's "little sister" childhood friend Momoe Shimizu visits for spring break. Touma sleeps with the big-breasted cram school receptionist Etsuko Koiwai. He encounters Kotomi Hayashibara, a twin-tailed high school student who idolizes Urara; she sleeps with Touma in order to frame him for infidelity. After the resulting fallout with Urara, Touma meets and sleeps with a shy, glasses-wearing Mieko Hotta. He eventually returns to Urara, who challenges him to ascend and descend the temple stairs a hundred times before agreeing to take him back. They must deal with her father's return. ===== Each story takes place in the year 2010, in a futuristic city named Neo- Acropolis on an artificial island in Japan. Among the city's residents are 11 girls, each facing a different dilemma. ===== Terumi () is a lonely high school girl, teased for being mousy and homely by her classmates. Her childhood friend Kouichi () is oblivious to her being in love with him. An ancient dragon lord offers to make her beautiful and popular in exchange for allowing him to possess her. Desperate, she agrees, and later rips apart the souls of the girls who once bullied her. Meanwhile, Kouichi is approached by another god, Susano (), who wants to possess his body, so he can defeat the dragon. Reluctantly, Kouichi agrees and later meets a priestess named Sayoko () who explains more to him about the current war between the gods. However, in order to kill the dragon, his host must die too leaving Kouichi struggling to figure out how to defeat the dragon spirits while also trying to save Terumi's life. ===== On the evening of November 14, 1970, Southern Airways Flight 932, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 chartered by Marshall University to transport the Thundering Herd football team back to Huntington, West Virginia following their 17–14 defeat to the East Carolina University Pirates, clips trees on a ridge just one mile short of the runway at Tri-State Airport in Ceredo, West Virginia, and crashes into a nearby gully, killing all 75 people on board. The deceased include the 37 players; head coach Rick Tolley and five members of his coaching staff; Charles E. Kautz, Marshall's athletic director; team athletic trainer Jim Schroer and his assistant, Donald Tackett; sports information director and radio play-by-play announcer Gene Morehouse; 25 boosters; and five crew members. In the wake of the tragedy, University President Donald Dedmon leans towards indefinitely suspending the football program, but he is ultimately persuaded to reconsider by the pleas of the Marshall students and Huntington residents, and especially the few football players who didn't make the flight, led by Nate Ruffin. Dedmon hires Jack Lengyel as head coach who, with the help of Red Dawson (one of two surviving members of the previous coaching staff) manages to rebuild the team in a relatively short time, despite losing many of their prospects to West Virginia University. Dedmon travels to Kansas City, where he pleads with the NCAA to waive their rule prohibiting freshmen from playing varsity football (a rule which had been abolished in 1968 for all sports except for football and basketball, and would be permanently abolished for those sports in 1972). Dedmon returns victorious. The new team is composed mostly of the 18 returning players (three varsity, 15 sophomores) and walk-on athletes from other Marshall sports programs. Due to their lack of experience, the "Young Thundering Herd" ends up losing its first game, 26–6, to the Morehead State Eagles. The loss weighs heavily on Dawson and Ruffin, who had been hurt on the first play of the game. The Herd's first post-crash victory is a 15–13 win against Xavier University in the first home game of the season. ===== Triangle Heart: Years ago, professional bodyguard Shirō Fuwa and his client Albert Crystela were killed by a terrorist organization that is known by the symbol of a clover leaf. Albert's daughter Fiasse blamed herself, but then grew closer to the Fuwa (now Takamachi) children, Kyōya and Miyuki, and decided to use her gift of singing to help the world. But now that they have grown up, Fiasse herself is being targeted by the same organization. Kyōya and Miyuki, swearing to protect Fiasse, become professional bodyguards like their fathers. Triangle Heart 2: Sazanami Joshiryō: Kosuke Makihara works as a substitute janitor of a huge boarding house called Sazanami Dormitory mostly consisting of young girls from grades of elementary school through high school, while the regular janitor and the dorms owner, who is his brother in law and his aunt respectively, are travelling abroad in Hong Kong, China. The story follows the lives of Kousuke and the girls and introduces each them one by one. Triangle Heart 3: Sweet Songs Forever: A mysterious organization keeps sending intimidating letters to Fiasse Christella, the principal of British Christella Music Academy. The purpose is to find the whereabouts of Fiasse's inheritance; although Fiasse already has a bodyguard, Ellis McGaren, she asked her childhood friends, the siblings Takamachi Kyouya and Miyuki to help Ellis. This of course is received by Ellis, as a professional bodyguard, with a cold shoulder. Kyouya remembered an incident that was happened several years ago, when he was about ten years old. This incident was actually aimed at Fiasse's father, senator Albert Christella. ===== After Ross accidentally says Rachel's name instead of Emily's during their wedding vows, a livid Emily agrees to continue with the ceremony but locks herself in the bathroom at their wedding reception, refusing to accept Ross' continual apologies. When Rachel talks to Ross about what has happened they agree that his saying "Rachel" was just a mistake, and there are no underlying romantic feelings. After realizing that Emily has escaped out the bathroom window, Ross searches for her in vain before deciding to wait for her at their hotel room. Instead, Emily's parents come to collect her things, and Ross convinces Mr Waltham (Tom Conti) to give Emily a message to meet him at the airport for their honeymoon. Meanwhile, Monica and Chandler are afraid their friendship may suffer following their night together before resolving to only continue a sexual relationship whilst in London for the wedding. However their efforts to have another sexual encounter are continually disrupted by others and they return to New York City alongside Joey without having had sex again. Once in New York they are reunited with a heavily pregnant Phoebe and, despite their agreement, Chandler and Monica decide to continue sleeping together, justifying that they are still on "London time". At the airport Rachel is still trying to get a flight back to New York, and runs into Ross who is still hoping that Emily will come and join him on their flight to Athens for their honeymoon. After Emily fails to show before the final boarding call Ross asks Rachel if she would like to come with him to Athens, since he does not want to be alone. She agrees, and the two are just about to board the plane when Ross notices Emily, who had just arrived. Emily, having seen Rachel board, leaves again and Ross tries to catch her in the airport, leaving Rachel on the flight to Athens by herself. ===== Events take place in a fictional country called Laurania, located somewhere on the Mediterranean sea, which is similar to Italy or Spain, but with an overlay of Victorian England. Laurania has an African colony which can be reached via the Suez Canal. It has been a republic for many years, and has a well established constitution. Five years previously (stated to be in 1883) the country was split by a civil war, as a result of which General Antonio Molara became President and Dictator. Unrest has arisen because of Molara's refusal to restore parliamentary rule, and the final events of his dictatorship are described in the book. The story opens with a description of the capital and fast-moving political events there. Molara has bowed to popular pressure for elections, but intends to do so on the basis of a grossly amended electoral register. Savrola is seen as the leader of the revolutionaries, deciding what they are to do, and presiding over conflicting factions with differing aims. Despite the unrest, society still proceeds on the surface in a genteel course, with state balls and society events. Molara decides to ask his young and beautiful wife, Lucile, to attempt to seduce Savrola and discover anything she can about his plans. Unfortunately for him, Lucile finds herself attracted to Savrola and her loyalties become confused. Events move from political manoeuvring to street fighting when a rebel army invades Laurania. While Savrola knows about the army and intended invasion, he has poor control over it, so the invasion has started without his knowledge or proper preparations. Both sides scramble for a fight, as Molara finds the country's regular troops refuse to obey his orders. He is obliged to despatch most of the loyal Republican Guard from the capital to oppose the invaders, leaving him with a much reduced force to hold the capital. Fierce street fighting takes place in the capital between the revolutionaries of the Popular Party and the Republican Guard. The revolution culminates in the storming of the Presidential Palace and the death on the steps of his palace of General Molara. The revolutionary allies start to break apart in the face of a threat by the Lauranian navy (which remains loyal to the president), to bombard the city unless Savrola is handed over to them. The council of public safety decides the most expedient position would be to agree to this, but Savrola escapes attempts to arrest him and flees with Lucile. The city is subsequently bombarded when Savrola is not produced, and the last scene is of Savrola watching the destruction from outside the city. ===== Murugan (Bharath) is a diligent scooter mechanic in Madurai and life goes on smoothly for the young man until a rich student Aishwarya (Sandhya) sets an eye on him. The infatuation reaches a dangerous level when she coaxes Murugan to take her from the constraint of her family, who have other plans about her future. Initially, Murugan hesitates to love her as she belongs to a rich family but later understands her true love and reciprocates. The couple knows that Aishwarya's family will not agree for the wedding and decide to run away to Chennai. Murugan's friend Stephen (Sukumar) helps them in their hour of crisis and the lovers unite in marriage. But Aishwariya's family dotes on her and is not going to give up so easily. The family tracks down the couple and reaches Chennai to meet them. But the family members pretend as if they had agreed for the wedding and convince them to return to Madurai along with them. On the way back to Madurai, the family members take the couple to their farmland where Aishwarya's relatives have gathered. They all beat Murugan and Aishwarya's father wants her to remove the mangalyam tied by Murugan. Aishwarya fears that if she does not obey her father, then Murugan will be killed and also Aishwarya agrees to marry another man to save Murugan's life. Murugan is heavily beaten and let go of the place. After a few years, Aishwarya while travelling with her husband and her child, comes across Murugan where she finds him as a mentally deranged beggar roaming near a traffic signal. Aishwarya faints realizing it is Murugan and gets admitted to the nearby hospital. At night she runs from the hospital to the same signal in search of Murugan and she finds him sitting over there. Aishwarys cries to Murugan and feels bad that she was responsible for his pathetic situation. Aishwarya's husband also comes to the spot and understands his wife's situation. He admits Murugan in a mental health centre and also takes care of him. The movie ends with title cards mentioning that this is a true incident narrated by the girl's husband to the director during a train journey which prompted him to make a film. ===== The story starts when the narrator, aged 15, experiences the physical side of young love with his twelve-year-old friend Kevin O'Brien. Although he is the younger boy, Kevin takes the lead in the sexual activity. Kevin's remoteness keeps the relationship one-sided; he forgets all about it once each session is over, whereas the narrator gets more and more worried about his deep feelings. As the book progresses, he starts to have cravings for anal penetration. The encounters between the two adolescents become infrequent and are pushed to the background as the narrator's soul-searching about his homosexuality continues. ===== Vishwa (Prashanth) spends his time hanging out with Anandham (Charlie) to avoid his mother (Ambika), who always quarrels with his dad (Manivannan). To find peace, he plays tricks on others. Among the victims is Jothi (Isha Koppikar). The story moves to London, where Vishva visits Princess Diana's grave and leaves a beautiful poem behind. At the same time, Jothi too visits the grave and leaves a note after reading the poem. Then begins a warm relationship between Jothi and Vishwa without seeing each other. Whether the two are united form the rest of the story. ===== Scrooge McDuck takes Donald Duck and his three grandnephews on an expedition to find the Philosopher's Stone, a mythical artifact that would turn common metals into gold. The stone is eventually found, and works. But it has some rather unpleasant side effects. Scrooge is eventually forced to give up the stone and gives it to Monsieur Mattressface of the International Money Council. ===== Louis Lamb is a twelve-year-old boy who lives in Kansas City in 1958. A new homosexual teacher, Jack Forster, takes an interest in Louis, an attractive but vulnerable child who likes playing with china animals rather than joining in the ball games the other boys love. He gives Louis one-on-one softball coaching and helps him develop his writing talent. Parents in the community, however, are suspicious of the teacher who lives with another man. Forster doesn't do anything in any way inappropriate with the boy, just occasionally squeezing his shoulder, but they do spend quite a lot of time together. Eventually, some of the children's parents start a witch-hunt against Forster, assuming that, because he is gay, his interest in Louis must be sexual. He is fired, and effectively blacklisted. Louis is devastated by losing his favourite teacher, a man who improved the boy's self esteem and developed his latent talents. Louis does not understand, nor does he feel it fair that Mr. Forster, who is such a good teacher and brings out the best in him, has been fired. Louis goes round to Mr. Forster's house to talk to him. Forster immediately rings Louis' Aunt Zona and asks her to come and collect him. In the meantime he sits and talks with Louis. Mr. Forster explains to him that life isn't always fair and that sometimes people just don't understand how other people love each other. On the way home, Aunt Zona says "I think your Mr. Forster is really good at heart. Maybe the Lord will forgive him for being that way." On the last page of the novel, when the children have been asked by their new teacher to write a thought for the day, Louis knew what to do: 'Then I took out my pen, but not to write down the Thought for the Day. I wrote about Mr. Forster.' ===== Lobby card for Love on the Run Rival London-based American newspaper correspondents Michael "Mike" Anthony (Clark Gable) and Barnabas "Barney" Pells (Franchot Tone) flip a coin to determine who will cover which of two boring assignments. Mike gets to cover the wedding of millionairess Sally Parker (Joan Crawford) to fortune-seeking Prince Igor (Ivan Lebedeff), while Barney has to interview aviator Baron Otto Spandermann (Reginald Owen) and his wife, Baroness Hilda (Mona Barrie). When Mike sees Sally running out of the church, he follows her, hoping to get a story. At her hotel, Mike runs into the suspicious Barney, but does not tell him what just happened. He then sneaks into Sally's hotel room, tells her that he has admired her for years, and suggests that he help her "get away from it all." When the gigolo prince comes to the hotel, Mike slugs him when the prince recognizes him as a reporter. He and Sally run away, using the Baron and Baroness's flying suits as disguises. Barney chases them to the airport, but is too late. They fly away, though neither is a pilot. Just before they crash land in France, they find a munitions map in a bouquet of flowers intended for the Baroness and realize that the aviators are spies. Although Mike has sent a secret cablegram about Sally to his editor, Lees Berger (William Demarest), in New York, he is even more excited about the spy story. In Paris, Mike and Sally are found by Barney, then are spotted by the Baron and Baroness. Barney comes along when they flee, but Mike pushes him into the back of the truck they steal and convinces Sally that Barney is a lowlife reporter. By nightfall, they arrive at the Palace of Fontainebleau and sneak in to spend the night. During the evening, they realize that they are in love, and Mike tries to tell her that he is a reporter, but cannot. Next morning, Barney finds them again, but Sally does not believe him when he accuses Mike of being a reporter too. Soon, however, an ashamed Mike gives her a newspaper with his byline. He apologizes and tells her he loves her, but she sends him away. When Barney arrives, she says she will give him the greatest story of his career, and they go off to make headlines. A short time later, while they are traveling by train to Nice, Sally realizes that she still loves Mike and wants to go to him, but just then the Baron and Baroness come into their compartment with guns and demand that Sally give them the map. When they do not find it, after pushing Barney off the train, they leave. Barney catches up with Mike at a cafe in Paris and tells him what happened, Mike decides to save Sally. In Nice, Mike is reunited with Sally, and they go to the train station. In the station, the Baroness switches clothes with Sally in the ladies room, then goes with Mike, posing as Sally. The Baron finds Sally and takes her to a restaurant. She tries to alert the police, but when two policemen arrive, they believe the Baron's story that she stole his aircraft. The Baron then kidnaps Sally and the policemen and takes them to his chateau, where the Baroness has Mike bound and gagged. Having followed Mike and the Baroness (thinking that she was Sally), Barney at first laughs at Mike, then frees him. Using various ruses, Mike, Sally and the policemen eventually overwhelm the spies. Sally and Mike go off, leaving Barney tied up, but Mike has a change of heart and returns, once again finding Barney trying to get his story first by using the chateau phone to cable his editor. They finally agree to file a joint byline. Sally and Mike agree that they will soon be married. ===== The SS Claridon is an old ship that is scheduled to be scrapped after just a few more voyages. Cliff (Robert Stack), Laurie Henderson (Dorothy Malone), and their daughter Jill (Tammy Marihugh) are relocating to Tokyo and decide to sail there on board the ship. A fire in the boiler room is extinguished, but not before a boiler fuel supply valve is fused open. Before Chief Engineer Pringle (Jack Kruschen) can manually open a steam relief valve, a huge explosion rips through the boiler room, the many decks situated above it, and the side of the ship. Pringle and a number of passengers are killed, and Laurie is trapped under a steel beam in the family's stateroom. Cliff runs back there and can't get Laurie out alone. He then finds Jill trapped on the other side of the room. He tries to use a shattered piece of the bed to get to the other side, but it falls into the hole made by the explosion. Third Officer Osborne believes that the crew should start loading the passengers into the lifeboats, but Captain Robert Adams (George Sanders) is reluctant, as he never lost a ship. Cliff rescues Jill by placing a board for her to crawl across the hole on. Down in the boiler room, Second Engineer Walsh (Edmond O'Brien) reports to Captain Adams that a seam to the bulkhead has broken away. Cliff tries to get a steward's help, but to no avail. A passenger states that he overheard his conversation, and wants to help. Osborne (George Furness) reports that the boiler room is now half full. The ship then begins to transmit an SOS, on orders of Captain Adams. Cliff and a few other men return to his stateroom to try to help free Laurie, but find that they need a cutting torch. The carpenter reports to the crew that the boiler room is now two-thirds full. Captain Adams makes an announcement to the passengers to put on their life jackets. They begin loading and launching the lifeboats. Cliff finds a torch and tries to rush back to Laurie with the help of crewman Hank Lawson, but they still need an acetylene fuel tank. On instruction from Cliff, Lawson puts Jill in a lifeboat and asks him to return with an acetylene tank. The boiler room then floods, causing the ship to sink lower. On top of that, a second explosion occurs on the boat deck. Captain Adams is looking at his promotion letter to commodore of the line while Laurie holds a piece of a shattered mirror in her hand, contemplating suicide to free Cliff from risking his life to save her. She chooses not to die and tosses it away. When Cliff and Lawson are in the dining room, it also floods, causing water to burst through the large windows. Captain Adams returns to his office to retrieve the ship's logbook and papers, but is killed when the forward smokestack falls on him. Meanwhile, Cliff gets Laurie out from under the steel beam with the help of Lawson and Walsh. They get up to the boat deck along with Walsh. As they proceed to the stern where a lifeboat is standing by, Walsh jumps off the ship and swims away from it. Cliff, Laurie, Osborne, Ragland, and Lawson jump into the water and find a lifeboat just as the ship sinks. Cliff personally helps Lawson aboard, in thanks for his devotion to assisting Laurie's rescue, and the narrator concludes with, "This was the death of the steamship Claridon. This was her last voyage." ===== In the previous Antoine Doinel film, Bed and Board, the marriage between Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) and Christine (Claude Jade) had survived Antoine's infidelity. Love on the Run is set eight years later when Antoine is over thirty. Having an affair with Christine's friend Liliane (Dani) and divorced Christine, he gets a job as a proofreader, and falls in love with Sabine, a record seller. He also writes an autobiographical novel. He meets Colette (Marie-France Pisier), his teenage love who had appeared in Antoine and Colette, and who is now a lawyer. They impulsively go on a train journey and read Antoine's novel. However, later follows a meeting between Colette and Christine: His romance with Sabine is as complicated and unstable, and it turns out that two of his former flames, Christine and Colette, play a pivotal role in helping him find happiness. ===== Suhel Khan (John Abraham) and Jai Kapoor (Arshad Warsi) are Indian journalists working for Star News who are sent into Afghanistan to create a report on what life is like in the country following the US Invasion of the country in September 2001. The two are shocked at the state of the country and the ruins that remain due to years of rule by the Taliban Regime. They take a tour of the country in a Taxi starting in Kabul. This follows an escape from capture by the Taliban. On the way, they stop in the village of Ishtar along with the Taxi Driver Khyber (Hanif Humghum) who has watched his country fall apart over the decades. They stop in a small cafe selling Kebabs where they meet American journalist Jessica Beckham (Linda Arsenio) who is working for Reuters in reporting on the US side of the War in Afghanistan. Suhel and Jai then invite Jessica to join them on their tour of the country which she does. However, shortly after leaving Ishtar, they are caught by Taliban official Imran Khan (Salman Shahid) who has hitched a ride at the back of the Taxi in disguise as an Afghan woman. Imran demands they listen to him and travel straight to the Afghan border with Pakistan or he promises they will be killed. Imran is attempting to cross the border, get past Pakistani troops and negotiate with his Taliban associates in Pakistan. The four of them (Suhel, Jai, Jessica, Imran and Khyber) travel through various villages where they see horrific sights of poverty before reaching the southern city of Kandahar where Jessica gets the chance to interview US troops who are fighting to regain control of the city from the Taliban who occupy the area. In the meantime, Suhel and Jai attempt to interview Imran yet are unsuccessful when Imran threatens to shoot them. Once leaving Kandahar they travel through a farm and manage to capture a bullfight on film before stopping off at a stream coming closer to the Pakistan border. While Imran and the rest are out exploring, Jessica, discovers Imran's passport as a Pakistani passport. She discovers that he is not a Taliban, but in fact a member of the Pakistani army named Wassim Chaudrey sent to Afghanistan to support the Mujahadeen rebels in their war against the USSR back in the 1980s before he settled down in the country as a member of the Taliban Regime. When Imran discovers the break-in, he takes Suhel, Khyber and Jessica hostage and forces them to continue the journey to the Pakistan border. At one point, Imran abandons them for hours when he hears a noise. Gunshots are fired and the three travellers discover Imran to have 10 US soldiers who attempted to kill him. With Imran distracted, Suhel grabs a gun from one of the soldiers and points it at Imran threatening to kill him if he doesn't answer him in his interview. They leave Imran at the side of the road and start their journey back to Kabul. However, they stopped in their path when Imran manages to leap onto the Taxi and demands they continue their journey to the border. They soon arrive at the border where Imran bids them farewell. On the way, they stop at the village where Imran lived and Imran meets his long lost wife and daughter Zoya. But before Imran can reach anywhere he and the rest of them are attacked by the Mujahideen. Imran tells Suhel, Jessica, Khyber, and Jai to go while he uses his fighting skills to fight them off. Imran later travels on his own to the border and tries to persuade Pakistani troops to allow him entry into the country and that he is a Pakistani. However, they do not listen and Imran is shot on the border by the troops. ===== Shirakawa, Gifu, the village used as the basis for Hinamizawa. Higurashi: When They Cry takes place in the fictional village of in June 1983. Shortly before then, the main character, Keiichi Maebara, moves to the village and befriends classmates Mion Sonozaki, her twin sister Shion, Rena Ryugu, Rika Furude and Satoko Hojo. Keiichi soon learns of the village's annual Watanagashi Festival, a celebration to commemorate and give thanks to the local deity Oyashiro. Hinamizawa initially seems calm and peaceful, but shortly before the festival, Keiichi learns that for four consecutive years, people in the village have been killed or have disappeared on the evening of the festival. These crimes remain unsolved and have been named the "Oyashiro Curse" by the local populace. The day after this year's festival, police discover the corpse of visiting freelance photographer Jirō Tomitake, who appears to have torn his throat out with his bare hands, and the charred body of Miyo Takano, a nurse in the village clinic. In most chapters, Keiichi attempts to investigate the Oyashiro Curse, only for him or one of his friends to become paranoid and commit a crime, often the murder of someone within his circle. A few days after the festival, Rika's body is found in the family shrine dedicated to Oyashiro, and on the same day, a cataclysmic release of swamp gas wipes out the village's population. The answer arcs reveal that each of the preceding arcs were alternate realities in which Rika tried to prevent her own death. As a priestess of the Furude Shrine, Rika can communicate with the spirit Hanyu, who served as the prototype for Oyashiro and is the ancestress of the Furude clan. After Rika dies, Hanyu transfers her to another reality so that she may change her circumstance. Rika retains her memory of all past realities with the exception of the final minutes of her life, which prevents her from determining the cause of her fate. In the chapters Minagoroshi-hen and Matsuribayashi-hen, it is revealed that Miyo, who is studying a local endemic parasitic disease in the village, is responsible for some of the previous crimes, and is using the Oyashiro Curse as a cover. The disease manifests in those who move a distance away from the "Infection Queen", who releases a pheromone that prevents the aggravation of the villagers' condition. Infected persons gradually lose sanity and eventually kill themselves by tearing their throat out. The women of the Furude clan have all acted as Infection Queens, and Rika is the sole remaining representative of her clan after the death of her parents. Miyo kills Rika in each reality to unleash the disease and vindicate the work of her adoptive grandfather, who was mocked and shamed by the scientific community for his thesis about the disease. After several hundred loops, Keiichi becomes aware of them in a handful of flashbacks and subconsciously remembers several of his past loops, which allows him to avoid several critical points where various characters would be murdered or driven insane, and the group of friends nearly manages to outwit Miyo. In the final loop, the group asks Hanyu to join them, and the spirit manages to manifest a physical body. With her assistance, they manage to stay alive long enough to prevent Miyo's plan. Hanyu travels back to the past to save Miyo and her father, and to prevent their psychotic drive from forming. ===== The film opens in Porto Venere, Fascist Italy in 1936. The government kidnaps a child prodigy, Tadzio de Santis, and kills his family. The child is needed for an experimental project to create a Fascist supersoldier. The procedure's inventor, Dr. Maria Vaselli, objects to the cruelty of using the boy, and, under the cover of gunfire, flees to the United States to offer her services to the Americans. Seven years later, the American government finds a volunteer in Steve Rogers, a frail soldier who is excluded from the draft due to being partly crippled by polio. The formula successfully cures Rogers' ailments and gives him "the strength and speed of a world-class athlete", but before any more supersoldiers can be created, Vaselli is murdered by a Nazi spy secretly working with Lt. Flemming. Rogers is shot three times but manages to kill the spy. Meanwhile, the now adult de Santis—whose skin was burnt to a horrific, scarred red texture by the earlier version of Vaselli's procedure, but has physical prowess equal to Rogers—has become the Red Skull, and is planning to launch a prototype intercontinental ballistic missile at the White House. Having recovered from his wounds after mere days in a military hospital, Rogers—now code-named Captain America—is sent in to defeat the Skull and deactivate the missile. Rogers penetrates the launch compound, but after an initial battle, the Red Skull defeats Captain America and ties him to the missile as it is about to launch. Captain America grabs the Red Skull's arm and forces him to cut off his own hand to avoid being launched along with Rogers. While the missile is over Washington, D.C., a young boy named Thomas Kimball takes a photograph as Captain America kicks one of the missile's fins, changing its course mere yards from the White House and ultimately crashing somewhere in Alaska, burying itself under the ice with Rogers still attached. Over the next 50 years, Tom Kimball becomes a Vietnam War hero and is eventually elected President of the United States. A year into his first term, he pushes for aggressive new pro-environmentalist legislation that angers the military-industrial complex, who hold a secret conference in Italy led by the Red Skull. Following the war, the Skull had extensive plastic surgery to partially alter his disfigured features, raised a hitwoman daughter, Valentina, and became the leader of a powerful crime family. In the 1960s, this same shadow organization hired the Red Skull and his thugs to murder various Americans who were against their militarism and Red Skull's fascism, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President John F. Kennedy, and Robert Kennedy. The Red Skull does not approve Kimball's murder, pointing out how the organization also assassinated Elvis Presley which turned into public disbelief. Instead, Tadzio de Santis will organize Kimball's kidnapping and subsequent brainwashing. In Alaska, a team of researchers accidentally find Rogers' body frozen in a block of ice, and he awakens still thinking that it is the 1940s. His mysterious reappearance and escape make international headlines, alerting both Kimball and the Red Skull to the fact that their decades-old obsession is still alive. After escaping from some of the Red Skull's thugs, Rogers brushes off Sam Kolawetz, a reporter and childhood friend of President Kimball who has long hounded the Skull and his cartel, and hitchhikes his way back to his wartime girlfriend, Bernice, in Redondo Beach, California. While Bernice still lives at her old residence, she has long since married and raised her own daughter, Sharon, who gives Rogers a series of VHS history tapes to watch. Meanwhile, Red Skull's thugs, led by Valentina, break into Bernice's house, kill her, and cause her husband to have a heart attack during their efforts to find Rogers. He and Sharon visit the secret underground base where he gained his superpowers to recover Vaselli's diary and learn the original name of Red Skull. Although Rogers and Sharon find the diary, Red Skull's thugs grab it, but are defeated by Rogers with a makeshift shield. While visiting Sharon's father in the hospital, Rogers and Sharon learn from the news that President Kimball has been kidnapped, and vow to rescue him from the Red Skull. They travel to Italy and, in the Red Skull's childhood home, locate an old recording of the murder of his parents during a piano recital. Sharon agrees to be kidnapped to allow Rogers, who once again dons his costume, to enter the Red Skull's castle. Kimball escapes from his cell and soon encounters Captain America. Awestruck to finally meet his enigmatic childhood hero, Kimball teams up with Rogers in laying siege to the castle. In the midst of their battle, the Red Skull pulls out a remote trigger for a nuclear bomb, but Rogers uses Sharon's recording of the murder of Red Skull's family fifty-seven years earlier to distract him. Red Skull is lost in thought for a moment, but still tries to set the bombs off. Before he can, Captain America uses his shield to send Red Skull off a cliff. As Valentina prepares to kill Rogers, she is then hit from behind by his returning shield. The United States Marines arrive to save the President and arrest the Americans involved in the kidnapping as Rogers and Sharon embrace, and a news voiceover announces the passing of Kimball's new environmental pact as agreed upon by dozens of other countries around the world. ===== Harry and Nan, a middle-aged couple, are constantly at odds. Harry is having an affair with his emotionally unstable secretary. "Your secretary, Harry?" snipes Nan. "You're past cliché and into archetype."Silver, Nicky. Beautiful Child (New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2004) 10. This tone of acid comedy is replaced, however, by deep anguish, when their adult son, Isaac, announces that he has fallen in love with a child. He wants to return home and live with his parents, who have to struggle between their love for him and their guilt and horror at his transgression. They finally come to a compromise, which is almost as shocking as Isaac's offense: he can live with them, but must be blinded first, to keep him from ever being attracted to another boy. ===== June 30, 2008: Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson) wakes up alone in the Nevada desert, he takes out a red syringe and injects himself in the neck. He begins walking through the desert. Fortunio Balducci (Will Sasso) is on a houseboat with Tab Taverner-Former Mayor of Hermosa, his son Ronald Taverner (Seann William Scott) nephew, Jimmy Hermosa and friend, Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar). Fortunio is currently in an online-poker game with several American soldiers in Syria and loses, but the connection is lost because the soldiers were attacked – which means Fortunio is still going to lose his money anyway. Fortunio owes some bookies in Las Vegas $100,000 so Tab suggests that Fortunio get out of Nevada before the holiday weekend begins; this should buy him some time. Fortunio can't get across the border because he has no interstate visa to get across and will take some time for him to get one. Krysta Now tells Fortunio that she can get him a visa and to meet her at a bar called Buffalo Bill's situated at the border. Fortunio leaves the boat and drives towards the border. On his way, he finds Boxer passed out on the road. He pulls over and approaches him. Boxer stirs and says: ‘I am a pragmatic prevaricator, with a propensity for oratorical seniority, which is too pleonastical to be expeditiously assimilated by any of your unequivocal veracities.’ Fortunio puts him inside the car and they begin to drive off again. Fortunio asks Boxer how and what he was doing out in the middle of the desert. Boxer doesn't know and asks the date. He seems to suffer from amnesia. At the same time, a Nevada park ranger is tipped off about the whereabouts of an abandoned SUV with a burned-up dead body inside. The SUV is a prototype vehicle belonging to Treer which is powered by ‘Fluid Karma’. The vehicle and corpse is taken away to a facility nearby. The facility is broken into by armed-men, killing everyone inside and taking the SUV and corpse. Fortunio asks Boxer can he remember anything. The only thing he seems to remember is a maze made of sand. Fortunio says that he is a big fan of Boxer's. Boxer is confused and doesn't know what he's talking about. Fortunio tells him that he is Boxer Santaros-a very famous action star and ex-pro-football player. He then tells him of the incidents that occurred on July 4, 2005. The two make it to Buffalo Bill's where Krysta Now is performing on stage but instead of stripping, she begins to sing poetry. Fortunio explains the situation to Krysta, that he found Boxer lying in the desert, picked him up and that he has amnesia, so now he needs two visas. Krysta will get the visas on one condition-play along a game she has created. Using Boxer's amnesia to her advantage, she will tell Boxer that the two of them were together in Vegas for the weekend, partying and working on a script that she wrote called ‘The Power’, she was researching a character at Buffalo Bill's (her character in the movie is an intelligent dancer interested in astrophysics). She then goes on to say that Fortunio has to pretend that he is a private detective and was hired to find Boxer and bring him to Krysta, if he doesn't do it, she will deliver him to the bookies in Vegas. She ends up convincing the naive Boxer. Apparently, the script (‘The Power’) was written solely by Krysta, and that Boxer never had anything to do with it to begin with, but she has convinced him that he is starring in and directing the film also. He asks what it is about and who he plays. Krysta says that Boxer plays a renegade L.A.P.D. cop called Jericho Cane and that it revolves around the end of the world. She gives him a copy of the script to read. Krysta begins talking to Fortunio outside her hotel room. She tells him to contact a lawyer and have him draw up a short form contract for himself for ‘The Power’ and to give himself $100,000 to settle his debt with the bookies. While Boxer is reading the script, the phone begins to ring. He answers and the woman on the other end tells him: ‘is this the Pragmatic Prevaricator?-Stay with the girl, she is your only chance for survival, We saw the Shadows of the Morning Light, The Shadows of the Evening Sun, Until the Shadows and Light were One. Cross the Border At Dawn, Stay with the Girl, and whatever she says, Keep Taking the Injections, and whatever you do-do not board the rollercoaster.’ Krysta enters the room and asks about the script. Boxer says he likes it but there is lots of work to be done on it. Later, Boxer signs the contract given to him by Fortunio and Krysta. He goes to get a check from the bank, he places his thumb on the scanner, which is fed back to US-IDent (who are looking for Boxer). Boxer tells Krysta about the phone call and of his dream in the desert, she was in his dream and he remembers the song she sang in Buffalo Bill's in the dream also. She tells him that they have to ride the rollercoaster across the road from Buffalo Bill's. Boxer is hesitant at first but agrees. He takes an injection before they go on. Once they get to the top, Boxer has a vision...a vision of 1902, a Native-America tribe standing there. Boxer waves at one of them. He seems to have created a rupture in the fourth dimension. He goes back to 2008 all of a sudden and he tells Krysta about his vision. The two of them exit the rollercoaster together.... The book takes on a classical storyline and the title, "Two Roads Diverge" derives from Robert Frost's famous poem "The Road Not Taken". The cover also contains a quote from T. S. Eliot, stating that our world will not go out with a bang as we expect, but with a whimper. ===== A visible narrator (Robert Benchley) introduces the film and explains that he will be interjecting to explain the inexplicable. Sal and Chester Hooton, an old married couple, are visited by their equally old friend Duke Johnson, and the three reminisce about their previous adventure in the Klondike. The film flashes back to the turn of the century. Hooton and Johnson are doing a variety act as "Prof Zambini and Ghost-O". Their trick cons people out of money and they run when the hall is raided by the police. They escape and Johnson wants to head for Alaska. Hooton wants to go to New York. They part at the embarkation quay, but Johnson cheats Hooton out of money and when he runs back to challenge him he gets stuck on the ship going to Alaska. They have to work for their passage. While doing housekeeping duties in a cabin, Chester finds a map to a gold mine. McGurk and Sperr enter behind them, but Duke and Chester overpower the thugs and take their place (and their beards) to get off the boat. Meanwhile in Alaska Sal van Hoyden goes to see the owner of the Last Chance dance hall, Ace Larson. She has a story of a map of a gold mine stolen by two men: McGurk and Sperry. Instead of going to the police, Larson assures Sal that he will take care of things. He gives her a job performing in his saloon, an act which infuriates Larson's girlfriend, Kate. Larson tells Kate how he really plans to take Sal's gold mine for the two of them and passionately kisses her. Arriving in Alaska Chester and Duke find that the entire town is terrified of their personas. They see Sal's singing routine and are both instantly smitten. Sal plays up to both of them in turn: first Chester then Duke. She invites each to her room at midnight. She doubts they are the real killers, but Ace's lackey, Lebec, reminds her to get the map at all costs. Chester and Duke argue over who gets to hold the map and decide to tear it in half and each man keep his for safe keeping Duke and Chester manage to escape by dog sled; initially pulling the sled themselves with the large dog they found acting as passenger. En toute they meet Sants Claus on his sledge going in the opposite direction. They find a female in the snow and joke that it could be Sonja Henie (a very contemporary joke) but it is Sal. She and Kate have a cabin nearby and all four stay together. She chats up first Chester then Duke to establish where the map is. Duke confesses he is not McGurk. Sal, now realizing how much she loves Duke, refuses to go along with the plan. But Kate warns her that only Ace can keep them from being killed and the only way to get to him is to give up the map. Sal reluctantly agrees to steal the map while the men sleep, and does so. The two girls leave the next morning with Lebec. Duke and Chester are confronted by the real McGurk and Sperry and they realize the girls had stolen the map. They still manage to escape and the after a merry chase through the mountains head back to town. They readopt there McGurk and Sperry personas but are distressed to find the latter are likely to be hanged. They scare off the posse with a stick of dynamite and rescue Sal who is tied in a back room. They leave the lit dynamite in a candlestick just as the real McGurk and Sperry arrive, and they get blown up while the three escape. They escape by dog sled but the sled overturns. The ice splits with Duke and Chester each having one leg on each side as the gap widens. Eventually this, leaves Sal and Chester on opposite sides, with Duke on the side of the mob. He throws the map, wishes them well and turns to face the mob. The movie flashes back into the present, with aged Duke telling Sal and Chester how he escaped the mob. He is then surprised to hear that Chester and Sal have a son. They call for him, and he bears a striking resemblance to Duke. Chester looks into the camera and says, "We adopted him." ===== ===== The evil Prince Ancar of Hardorn, while experimenting with magic, accidentally draws the equally evil man-cat Mornelithe Falconsbane from his prison in the Void. Meanwhile, Heralds Elspeth and Skif witness the reunion of Clan k'Leysha, a tribe of Hawkbrothers which was divided because of a magical mishap. The two Heralds, together with Elspeth's lover Darkwind k'Sheyna, Skif's lover Nyara (Falconsbane's estranged daughter), the magical sword Need, the gryphons Treyvan and Hydona, the k'Treva mage Firesong, and the kyree Rris, are leaving for Valdemar, where the non-Heralds will be ambassadors for their various clans. Firesong's Gate (a magical portal enabling the person to cross large distances in a single step) is co-opted by the ghost of Herald Vanyel, a Herald-Mage who died saving the kingdom. The party find themselves in the Forest of Sorrows near Valdemar's northern border. Vanyel explains that he 'abducted' them because he is about to remove the magical protections around Valdemar. He feels he must warn them because Ancar of Hardorn may take advantage of the lowered defenses and magically attack. Vanyel then makes a Gate to send the party to his ancestral manor near the western border. They head to Haven with all speed, though the gryphons create a minor sensation along the way. Elspeth discovers that rumors have been circulating that she has been murdered by her stepfather, or that she intends to take the throne from her mother by force. Upon arrival in Haven, she renounces her claim to the monarchy so that she can pursue her new job as the first Herald-Mage since Vanyel. The mages in the group begin finding and training potential mages among the Heralds as quickly as possible. Ancar, prompted by Falconsbane, launches an attack immediately, using magic-controlled troops. Valdemar responds with an assassination team composed of Elspeth, Skif, Darkwind, Nyara, Need, and Firesong, intending to eliminate Ancar, Falconsbane, and Hulda, an evil witch who tried to corrupt Elspeth in her youth. Disguised as a traveling show, they move towards the capital. The situation is complicated somewhat when the assassination team learns that Falconsbane has a secret agent in his head; the evil Adept had found a way to cheat death by arranging to 'take over' the bodies of any member of his bloodline with Adept potential. The victim of the most recent takeover, An'desha, a boy of the Shin'a'in, survived; his personality took refuge in a hidden corner of Falconsbane's mind. Two Avatars of the Shin'a'in Goddess come to him to help him, and he is able to pass information to the assassination party through the Avatars and Need. He slowly becomes aware that it might not be possible to kill Falconsbane without also killing him. Firesong, Nyara, Skif, and Need lure Falconsbane out of the palace. Need deals the body a mortal wound, causing Falconsbane's spirit to flee into the Void. Firesong pursues him there and destroys him for good. Need is able to heal the damage she has caused and allow An'desha to have his body back. Darkwind, Elspeth, and her Companion attack Ancar and Hulda, who both perish, but Darkwind is injured and Elspeth also kills an envoy from the powerful Eastern Empire, causing it to turn its eye on Valdemar. With the death of Ancar, Valdemar has little difficulty repelling the Hardornen army. At the close of the book, An'desha and Nyara are healed from the damage Falconsbane had done to their bodies, and the party settles in to live in Haven. Category:1993 novels Category:Fantasy novels Category:Valdemar Universe Category:DAW Books books ===== Blues vocalist and petty criminal "Joliet" Jake Blues is paroled on good behavior grounds from Joliet Correctional Center after serving three years of a five-year sentence, and is picked up by his blood brother Elwood in his Bluesmobile, a battered, decommissioned police car. Elwood demonstrates its capabilities by jumping an open drawbridge. The brothers visit the Roman Catholic orphanage where they were raised, and learn from Sister Mary "the Penguin" Stigmata and old friend Curtis that it will be closed unless $5,000 in property taxes is collected. Jake offers to steal the money, but Sister Mary is offended. During a sermon by the Reverend Cleophus James at the Triple Rock Baptist Church, Jake has another idea: they can re- form their band, the Blues Brothers, which disbanded while Jake was in prison, and raise the money to save the orphanage. That night, state troopers attempt to arrest Elwood for driving with a suspended license. After a high-speed chase through the Dixie Square Mall, the brothers flee to the flophouse where Elwood lives, miraculously escaping a rocket launcher attack by a mysterious woman. The next morning, as the police arrive at the house, the woman detonates a bomb that demolishes the building, but somehow leaves Jake and Elwood unharmed, and saves them from being apprehended. Jake and Elwood begin tracking down members of the band. Five of them are playing a Holiday Inn lounge as "Murph and the Magic Tones," and quickly agree to rejoin. The sixth member, "Mr. Fabulous", turns them down as he is the maître d' at expensive restaurant "Chez Paul", but the brothers behave obnoxiously in the restaurant until he relents. On their way to meet the final two band members, the brothers find the road through Jackson Park blocked by an "American Socialist White People's Party"—"the Illinois Nazis"—demonstration on a bridge. It is mentioned that "The Nazis" won their court case, likely a reference to The Skokie Affair. Elwood runs them off the bridge, forcing them to jump into the East Lagoon. The commander orders a subordinate to record the car's license number. Meanwhile, the last two band members, Matt "Guitar" Murphy and "Blue Lou" Marini, who now work in a soul food restaurant, rejoin the band against the advice of Murphy's wife and restaurant owner, Aretha Franklin. The reunited group obtain instruments and equipment from Ray's Music Exchange in Calumet City, and Ray, "as usual", takes an IOU. As Jake attempts to book a gig, the mystery woman blows up the phone booth he and Elwood are using; once again, they are miraculously unhurt. The band stumbles into a gig at Bob's Country Bunker, a local honky-tonk. They win over the rowdy crowd, but run up a bar tab higher than their pay, and infuriate the country band that was actually booked there, the Good Ole Boys. Reproduction of the "Bluesmobile". Rusty's TV & Movie Car Museum, Jackson, TN. Realizing that they need one big show to raise the necessary money, the brothers persuade their old agent to book the Palace Hotel Ballroom, north of Chicago. They mount a loudspeaker atop the Bluesmobile and drive the Chicago area promoting the concert, but in the process alert the police, the Nazis, and the Good Ole Boys of their whereabouts. The ballroom is packed with blues fans, cops, and the Good Ole Boys. Jake and Elwood perform two songs, then sneak offstage, as the tax deadline is rapidly approaching. A record company executive offers them a $10,000 cash advance on a recording contract—more than enough to pay off the orphanage's taxes and Ray's IOU—and then shows them how to slip out of the building unnoticed. As they make their escape via a service tunnel, they are confronted by the mystery woman: Jake's vengeful ex-fiancée. After her volley of M16 rifle bullets leaves them miraculously unharmed, Jake offers a series of ridiculous excuses that she accepts, allowing the brothers to escape to the Bluesmobile. Jake and Elwood race back toward Chicago with dozens of state/local police and the Good Ole Boys in pursuit. They eventually elude them all with a series of improbable maneuvers, including a miraculous gravity-defying escape from the Illinois Nazis. At the Richard J. Daley Center, they rush inside the adjacent Chicago City Hall building, soon followed by hundreds of police, state troopers, SWAT teams, firefighters, Illinois National Guardsmen, and the Military Police. Finding the office of the Cook County Assessor (played by Steven Spielberg), the brothers pay the tax bill. Just as their receipt is stamped, they are arrested by the mob of law officers. In prison, the band plays "Jailhouse Rock" for the inmates. ===== Chan plays Kuo Cheng-Wah, a kind-hearted country boy who is quickly cheated out of all his money by Tung (Bill Tung) when he arrives in Hong Kong. Depressed and destitute, he encounters Madame Kao (Gua Ah-leh), a poor woman selling flowers on the street; she urges him to buy a red rose, saying it will bring him luck. He disagrees at first but after looking at his suitcase, he finally agrees. His fortunes immediately take a dramatic turn when he stumbles into a gang war, and renders assistance to a dying gang leader. When Fei (Lo Lieh) asks who will take his spot, the gang leader unwittingly makes Kuo his successor and dies. Kuo, awed, attributes his luck to Madame Kao's rose, and takes to buying one from her every day thereafter. This does not sit well with the gang, especially Fei, who feels that he was next in line to be the boss. Uncle Hoi (Wu Ma), the boss' right-hand man, helps Kuo adjust to being the boss. In a fight to test his toughness, Kuo wins the gang's respect, with the exception of Fei. Kuo reluctantly accept being a gangster boss and tries to find a different way to legitimately make a living for himself and his gang. When singer Yang Luming (Anita Mui) comes to him with money to pay off a debt the previous boss had loaned to her dad, Uncle Hoi comes up with the idea to open a nightclub. At the opening of the nightclub, rival boss Tiger comes to enjoy the nightclub, being introduced to Kuo. Before the music starts, the police and Inspector Ho (Richard Ng) interrupts the show. In Kuo's office, Ho privately tells him his plan to bring both gangs to jail. Ho leaves Kuo with Uncle Hoi, who tells Kuo everyone knows what they talked about since Ho always uses the same lines. Before a meeting with Tiger, Kuo goes to buy his usual rose from Madame Kao, but she is not at her post. Because of this, he is caught up at a fight in a restaurant. The fight ends when Tiger stops a fan from falling on Kuo, who dives out of his way to grab a rose. About to be taken for ransom by Tiger, he is saved again by Inspector Ho. Afterwards, Kuo searches for Madame Kao, and finds her terribly upset over a letter she has just received. The letter is from her daughter, Belle (Gloria Yip), a student in Shanghai whom Madame Kao has been supporting, all the time while concealing her sufferings and leading her to believe that she is a rich society woman in Hong Kong. She now comes to visit, bringing her wealthy fiance and his father, but Madame Kao is afraid that her poverty will bring disgrace to her daughter. Through Luming's persuasion, Kuo offers to help, buying Madame Kao expensive new clothes and arranging a lavish party for her, to which he invites some of his disreputable friends, including Tung as her husband (that he almost didn't remember), on the condition that they impersonate the local dignitaries. Also Kuo accidentally agrees to the wedding in which he later on decides to get the gangs to act as rich dignitaries with mixed results. Most importantly, his gang ties up photographers and business people, fearing that they might reveal Kao's sad true nature. Meanwhile, Fei has manipulated Tiger into thinking Kuo had some of his men killed when they were trying to bring him in for a negotiation. In reality, they were simply being held captive. On the eve of the party, Kuo tries to get to Inspector Ho but is instead captured by Tiger and taken to a rope factory run by Fei. It is clear to Kuo now that Fei has been behind the scenes of all the strife, but as Tiger is about to shoot Kuo, Tiger's missing men return, proving Kuo's innocence. Tiger sees this as an internal struggle and lets Kuo and Fei sort things out on their own with assurance from Tiger that there is no foul play. After a fight in the factory with Fei's men, Kuo triumphs. Fei is ready to fight Kuo himself, but Kuo wants to solve their issues peacefully, and more importantly get back to Madame Kao's situation, winning Tiger's respect in the process. After canceling the party and getting rid of the gangs that will play the rich dignitaries, Kuo tries to convince the real dignitaries of Hong Kong to help him. Madame Kao is about to confess to Belle's fiance and her father the truth when the real dignitaries come in for the party, Kuo having convinced them that he could not do this without them. This leaves everyone crying in relief, pulling off the illusion till the end. As Belle and her fiance take a ship back to Shanghai, everyone is there to see them off. Inspector Ho, wanted for embezzlement and abuse of power when he was conned by Tung, is also on the ship, denouncing Tung as they ship off. Happy with how things turned out, Kuo yells for Belle, her fiancé and his father to come back anytime, much to the horror of everyone who want to go back to their normal lives. ===== Under threat of execution after his conviction by the Time Lords at the end of The War Games, the Doctor is granted a reprieve if he agrees to undertake missions for the Celestial Intervention Agency. Accompanied and supervised by the ambitious Lady Serena, their first mission is to halt attacks upon three key figures in Earth's past: Napoleon Bonaparte, The Duke of Wellington, and Charles Maurice de Talleyrand. The Doctor re-encounters the Player known as the Countess and struggles to end her Grand Plan to allow Napoleon to win his various European campaigns. Her plan to set the City States of Europe against each other is stopped by the Doctor, despite her setting a Raston Warrior Robot and a vampire on him and Serena. In preventing the Countess's assassination scheme on Wellington, Serena is killed. The Countess has many back up plans, and at the Battle of Waterloo, her plan to prevent the Prussians coming to the English army's relief is thwarted when the Doctor imitates Napoleon himself to get through the French lines and deliver new orders to the Prussian commander Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. After returning to Gallifrey and discovering a traitor in the CIA who had been using the time scoop to assist the Countess, the Doctor is sent on a mission to investigate the time travel experiments of Kartz and Reimer. ===== After gaining amazing power over genetics and technology, three sects of humanity have developed and split after a civil war on earth forced them apart. Now, far into the future, the deported sect has returned to force their rule on the remaining citizens of earth. ===== The film takes place in England in 1865. Having been grotesquely disfigured in an African voodoo ceremony for a transgression against the native populace, Sir Edward Markham (Alister Williamson) is kept locked in his room by his guilt-ridden brother, Julian (Vincent Price). Tiring of his captivity, Sir Edward plots to escape by faking his death. With the help of the crooked family lawyer, Trench (Peter Arne), they hire witchdoctor N'Galo (Harry Baird) to concoct a drug to put Sir Edward into a deathlike trance. Before Trench has time to act, Julian finds his "dead" brother and puts him in a coffin (the title's "oblong box"). Embarrassed by his brother's appearance, Julian asks Trench to find a proxy body for Sir Edward's lying in state. Trench and N'Galo murder landlord Tom Hacket (Maxwell Shaw) and offer his corpse to Julian. After the wake, Trench and his young companion Norton (Carl Rigg), dispose of Hacket's body in a nearby river, while Julian has Sir Edward buried. Now free of his brother, Julian marries his young fiancée, Elizabeth (Hilary Dwyer), while Trench, Norton and N'Galo go their separate ways. Sir Edward is left buried alive until he is dug up by graverobbers and delivered to Dr. Newhartt (Christopher Lee). Newhartt opens the coffin and is confronted by the resurrected Sir Edward. With his first-hand knowledge of Newhartt's illegal activities, Sir Edward blackmails the doctor into sheltering him. Sir Edward then conceals his face behind a crimson hood and embarks on a vengeful killing spree. Norton is first on Sir Edward's list and has his throat slit. In between killings, Sir Edward finds time to romance Newhartt's maid Sally (Sally Geeson), but when Newhartt finds out about their affair, he discharges Sally and she goes to work for Julian. While searching for Trench, he is sidetracked by a couple of drunks who drag him into a nearby tavern. Here he ends up with prostitute Heidi (Uta Levka), who tries to roll him for his money, only to be killed by Sir Edward's knife. The police get involved, and the hunt is on for a killer in a crimson hood. Meanwhile, Julian has become suspicious about the body which Trench supplied to him, after his friend Kemp (Rupert Davies) finds it washed up on a riverbank. Julian confronts Trench, who tells him the truth about Sir Edward's "death". Soon after, Trench is dispatched by Sir Edward, but not before he tells him the whereabouts of N'Galo. Hoping he will cure him of his disfigurement, Sir Edward asks N'Galo for his help. Here Sir Edward learns the truth about his time in Africa: in a case of mistaken identity he was punished for his brother's crime of killing an African child. N'Galo fails to cure Sir Edward, and they fight; N'Galo stabs Sir Edward in the chest and Sir Edward retaliates by throwing hot liquid in his face. Sir Edward then returns to Newhartt's home, where Newhartt tends to his wound. Mistrusting Newhartt's medical treatment, Sir Edward slits his throat and sets off to confront his brother. Back at the Markham ancestral home, Julian learns the whereabouts of his brother from Sally and leaves for Dr. Newhartt's home, only to find him near death. Meanwhile, Sir Edward arrives back home to find Sally, who is repulsed by her former lover's killing. Sir Edward drags her out onto the grounds of the house, pleading for her love. Julian arrives back home and gives chase with a double-barrelled shotgun. Out in the woods, Sally snatches Sir Edward's hood from him and his deformed face is revealed for the first time. She screams. Julian catches up and Sir Edward confronts him about his crime. As Sir Edward lurches forward, Julian shoots him with both barrels. Leaning over the dying Sir Edward, Julian is bitten by him on the hand. Once again in his "oblong box", Sir Edward is resurrected by a vengeful N'Galo, but this time he is six feet under with no hope of escape. Meanwhile, back at the Markham mansion, Elizabeth finds Julian in Edward's old room. When she asks him what he's doing in there, he tells her it is his room, and turns to reveal that his face is becoming disfigured – Edward's bite has passed on the horrible disease to Julian. Elizabeth is flushed with fear, and the end credits roll over a close-up of her eyes widened with shock. ===== Set in a small Italian town rife with petty intrigue and gossip, it begins with Daniele, a minor civil servant, leaving town, ostensibly to attend a professional conference in Bologna. Actually, however, he is headed toward the border, planning to desert his wife Nina, who he finds insufferable. His plans are frustrated, however, by the appearance of a mysterious stranger, who introduces himself as a doctor, and begins to delve into the real dynamics of Daniele's marriage. Though the stranger urges Daniele to proceed with his plan, the young man is increasingly drawn back to his wife. When he returns home, he finds that Nina seems to have killed his supervisor, who had tried to coerce her sexually. Nina involves her husband in the murder plot, and eventually accuses him of the murder. Although Daniele could easily wash his hands of the entire matter, his continuing conversations with the mysterious 'doctor' lead him to discover the sexual, ethical, and even spiritual dimensions of his bond to Nina. When she is mysteriously wounded while trying to flee the town, Daniele helps her to the border, and confronts an invisible God, and challenges Him to justify Nina's suffering. In a final confrontation, Daniele repudiates the cynical nihilism of the 'doctor.' ===== The novel is divided in two parts, separated by more than 1000 years. The first part takes place during the rule of the pharaoh Djedefra (26th century BC), who decides to send an expedition to the South, in order to seek the famous and fabled Land of Punt and to seek the limits of the land and the start of the Great Arc, the circular ocean encompassing the entire world in Egyptian cosmology. The second part starts in Ancient Greece during its Aegean Period (no precise dates are provided, but one can assume a date c. 1000–900 BC).The book mentions the abandoned capital of Akhetaten, constructed by the pharaoh of same name c. 1350 BC and abandoned shortly afterwards. Those facts are place as 400 years away at the time the novel takes place. A young sculptor named Pandion sets off on a journey to Crete, but a storm finally lands him in Egypt, where he is enslaved. He manages to win his freedom and after a long and perilous journey comes back home. On the way, he carves a cameo which portrays his friends and some details of their adventures. In a short framing narrative, modern researchers examine the cameo and contemplate its possible origins. ===== The series begins with the story of Lady Glencora (Susan Hampshire), fiancée of the dry, aristocratic Plantagenet Palliser (Philip Latham) who will inherit the title of the Duke of Omnium and Gatherum from his uncle (Roland Culver). Although they marry, Lady Glencora still pines for her unsuitable but handsome admirer Burgo Fitzgerald (Barry Justice). Palliser becomes aware of this situation and takes his wife on a long tour of Europe, even though he had recently been offered the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer, the one political position he craves. While on their grand tour, the newlyweds come to a better understanding, and upon their return to London Glencora becomes an ambitious society hostess. Whilst Plantagenet succeeds in his political aspirations, Irish barrister Phineas Finn (Donal McCann) is elected to Parliament for the family seat of Loughshane. In London, Finn rises quickly in high society and falls in love with Lady Laura Standish (Anna Massey) who is struggling to maintain her lifestyle after paying off the debts of her brother, Lord Chiltern (John Hallam). Lady Laura marries Robert Kennedy (Derek Godfrey), a wealthy Scottish MP and Finn is forced to resign after a defeat on the Irish Tenant Right. Lady Laura's marriage collapses and she moves to Germany. Finn spends Christmas with Lady Laura only to be accused of adultery by Kennedy. Finn is later arrested for murder but the Pallisers finance his defence. ===== Bert Wheeler plays Chick Bean, a New York bootlegger who comes to the Mexican town of San Lucas to get a divorce so he can marry Dolly (Dorothy Lee). After the wedding, Ned Lovett (Robert Woolsey), Chick's lawyer, informs Chick the divorce was invalid, and advises Wheeler to stay away from his bride. The Wheeler-Woolsey plot is actually a subplot of the film, and the main story features Bebe Daniels (in her first "talkie") as Rita Ferguson, a south-of-the-border beauty pursued by both Texas Ranger Jim Stewart (John Boles) and local warlord General Ravinoff (Georges Renavent). Ranger Jim is pursuing the notorious bandit Kinkajou along the Rio Grande, but is reluctant to openly accuse Rita's brother, Roberto (Don Alvarado), as the Kinkajou because he is in love with Rita. Ravinoff successfully convinces Rita to spurn Ranger Jim on the pretext that Jim will arrest Roberto. Rita unhappily agrees to marry Ravinoff to prevent him from exposing Roberto as the Kinkajou. Meanwhile, Wheeler's first wife, Katie (Helen Kaiser), shows up to accuse him of bigamy, but conveniently falls in love with Woolsey. At this point, the film switches into Technicolor. During the wedding ceremony aboard Ravinoff's private barge, Ranger Jim cuts the craft's ropes so that it drifts north of the Rio Grande. The Texas Rangers storm the barge, arrest Ravinoff as the real Kinkajou just in time to prevent the wedding, and Roberto is revealed to be a member of the Mexican Secret Service. Jim takes Rita's hand in marriage and Roberto escorts Ravinoff back to Mexico for trial.Green, Stanley (1999) Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.), pub. Hal Leonard Corporation page 9 File:Rio-Rita-1929-LC-1.jpg File:Rio-Rita-1929-LC-2.jpg ===== Zed, a 15-year-old boy who lives in a city called "Calm", is frustrated by his current situation in life; he feels that somewhere out there is a place where he can live more fully. One day, at the invitation of a mysterious wind, he dives into a space- time crevasse (portal), seeking the answers that might be there. Riding on the wind, he is transported to a war-torn world where magic users called "Shard Casters" fight endlessly with each other, using spells in the form of marble- like "Shards". He is transported to a country known as Templar. With the power of the Shards, the Shard Casters are able to use spells and control monsters called "Spirits". Fascinated by that power, Zed aims to become a Shard Caster. However, he still doesn't know that residing in his body is "Amil Gaoul", a mighty Spirit with the power to influence the world's future. Amil Gaoul is one of the "Key Spirits" that, when together with the other Key Spirits, can destroy or save the world. There are a total of six Key Spirits: Amil Gaoul, Pronimo, Sachura, Monadi, Dynamis and Shadin. Zed undergoes countless trials in order to find out who he really is and what is most important to him. ===== In Lenfell's far past, its population is decimated by the Waste Wars, and the ruling class has emerged based on the ability to have healthy children. This leads to a very matriarchal society with women holding all the power and men treated as cattle. The plot centers around a war between two rival magical factions, the Mage Guardians and the Lords of Malerris. In the midst of this war are the three primary characters, Glenin, Sarra, and Cailet Ambrai, sisters who were torn apart after the destruction of Ambrai, their home. The book starts with Collan, who is enslaved by Scraller. Col is rescued by Gorynel Desse, and then Collan starts his work as a bard. The three girls are descendants of the Ambrai line. After a political confrontation, the father, Auvry Feiran, takes Glenin to Ryka Court. The mother, Maichen Ambrai, takes Sarra to Ostinhold, where Maichen gives birth to Cailet, but then dies. Sarra is then taken to live in Roseguard with Lady Agatine and Orlin. Cailet stays in Ostinhold as a relative of the Ostins. ===== The Mageborn Traitor continues the story of Glenin, Sarra, and Cailet. Divided into two parts, the first part is separated into three sections: 'Wraiths', 'Twins', 'Prentices'; as is the second part: 'The Hunt', 'The Chase', 'The Kill'. Continuing from the end of 'The Ruins of Ambrai', the beginning sees little change in the characters' circumstance. However, this is quickly amended. After the first section, 'Wraiths', time lapses at a much faster pace. From Cailet's dreams of building the Mage Hall, this is quickly seen to be her reality. Similarly, Sarra's children become the focus of the story and the respective sections 'Twins', 'Prentices' sees their rapid maturation from children to young adults. As characteristic of her works, Melanie Rawn deftly handles the multiple story lines. Whereas 'The Ruins of Ambrai' established her world-building, 'The Mageborn Traitor' extends it. It is difficult to pin down the exact main storyline of the story - there are many - or the true meaning of the title 'The Mageborn Traitor', though the obvious idea is that it is one of Cailets Mages who happens to betray them all near the end of the novel, unravelling all that Cailet has worked for. However, the overriding plotline to the story is the battle between the Mage Guardians and the Malerrisi. The former is represented by Cailet and Sarra and the latter by the eldest sister, Glenin Feiran. ===== The film begins with a prologue, showing Asif and Nabi, a fictional portrayal of two of the Flight 11 hijackers during the 9/11 attacks, debating the number of virgins they get as a reward for carrying out the attacks. After a long debate, they decide to call Osama bin Laden, their leader, to find out the exact amount. Osama tells them that there "are not enough virgins to go around", and upon hearing this, the two hijackers abandon the attack in dismay and happily change their flight path to the Bahamas. At this moment, however, the passengers of the plane storm the cockpit and attempt to retake the plane (this was based on what happened on Flight 93, one of the other hijacked aircraft during 9/11). In the struggle, the terrorists try and reason with the passengers, but to no avail, and ultimately, the plane inadvertently flies into the North tower of the World Trade Center. Five years later, in the town of Paradise, Arizona (a ghost town in real life), where the volatile Postal Dude, after being mocked at a job interview, kicked out of his local unemployment office and discovering that his morbidly obese wife is cheating on him with various and skinny townsmen, is more than a little angry and is desperate to get enough cash to finally leave his dead-end town. He decides to team up with his Uncle Dave, a slovenly con artist turned doomsday cult leader who owes the US government over a million dollars in back-taxes. With the help of Uncle Dave's right-hand man Richie and an army of big-breasted, scantily clad cult members, the Dude devises a plan to hijack a shipment of 2,000 Krotchy Dolls, a rare, sought-after plush toy resembling a giant scrotum. Uncle Dave plans to sell them online, where their prices have reached as high as $4,000 a doll. Unbeknownst to them, Osama bin Laden and his group of Al- Qaeda terrorists, who had been secretly hiding in Paradise since the 9/11 attacks, under the watchful eye of bin Laden's best friend President George W. Bush, are after the same shipment, but for entirely different reasons. Hoping to outdo the catastrophe of 9/11, they plan to instill the dolls with Avian influenza and distribute them to unsuspecting American children. The two groups meet at the shipment's destination, German-themed amusement park called Little Germany. A fight between Postal creator Vince Desi and Postal director and park owner Uwe Boll (which ends with Boll being shot in the genitals, confessing "I hate video games"), sparks a massive shootout between the cult, the terrorists and the police, resulting in the deaths of dozens of innocent children. The Dude and the cult are able to get away with both the shipment and the park's opening day guest, Verne Troyer, pursued by Al-Qaeda, the police and a mob of angry citizens. Upon returning to their compound, which has been overtaken by the terrorists, the Dude, Uncle Dave and the rest covertly sneak into the compound's underground bunker, where Richie reveals that he must now fulfill the prophecy foretold in Uncle Dave's fictional Bible: to bring about the extinction of the human race. As per Uncle Dave's Bible, the event initiating the apocalypse is the rape of a "tiny entertainer" by a thousand monkeys. After Verne Troyer is quickly thrown into a pit of chimpanzees, Richie shoots and kills Uncle Dave, then imprisons the Dude. The Dude manages to escape the compound with a plethora of weapons, deciding to wage a one-man war against al-Qaeda, his uncle's murderer, his cheating wife, the police and the many people who want him dead. On the way to his trailer (where he plans to blow up his spouse), he meets up with an attractive young barista, Faith, who joins forces with him after an explosive gunfight followed later by the Dude's heartfelt but futile monologue about war. The two of them then proceed to kill all the terrorists, all the bloodthirsty townspeople, the remains of the now-mad cult, his wife, and her multiple lovers. In the midst of the shootout, bin Laden is wounded but escapes to a payphone, where he calls Bush for help. Bush sends a helicopter to save him and plans for the two to rendezvous. Having won their war, the Dude, his dog Champ and the barista drive away in a stolen police car. They casually turn on the radio, only to learn that Bush has blamed the day's shootouts and explosions on China and Pakistan, and has been "forced to destroy both countries with extreme nuclear force". The United States then launches thirty nuclear missiles at China and Pakistan each. In retaliation, China and Pakistan launch thirty nuclear missiles each as well towards America, all missiles are scheduled to hit their targets in under two minutes. The film's final shot features Bush and bin Laden skipping through a field together, hand-in-hand. As mushroom clouds explode on the horizon, bin Laden laughs and says, "Georgie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship". At that moment, all of the nuclear missiles hit, and the country, and possibly the world is destroyed. ===== In March 1957, commander Dr. Eldon Galbraithe (Nelson Leigh), engineer Henry Jaffe (Christopher Dark), radioman Herbert Ellis (Rod Taylor) and scientist John Borden (Hugh Marlowe), are returning to Earth from the first spaceflight, a reconnaissance trip around Mars. Suddenly, their spaceship is somehow accelerated to incredible velocities, and they are knocked unconscious. Their ship crash lands on a snow-covered mountain. When they venture out, they discover that they have become victims of time dilation and are now in the future. They theorize, from seeing time-worn gravestones and after their ship's instruments register heightened residual radiation, that a devastating atomic war had broken out in 2188, and that they are at least 200 years past that date. (They later learn that the year is 2508). Jaffe is particularly hard hit, as he realizes that his wife and children have long since died. After surviving an ambush by giant, mutant spiders, they are attacked by one of the two remnants of human society. The "mutates" (as the astronauts label them) are violent, primitive surface dwellers. They have mutated due to generations of exposure to heightened radioactivity. (However, the background radiation has decreased to tolerable levels, and the men later learn that normal humans are often born to the mutates. These, however, are enslaved.) Seeking shelter from the attacking mutates in a cave, the four men discover the entrance to an underground city, whose residents are the descendants of those who fled there from the atomic war. These people live in a high-tech, sophisticated culture. They are a peaceful group led by Timmek (Everett Glass), the president of the ruling council. Underground, the men have grown less virile, and there are fewer and fewer children born each generation. In contrast, the women remain physically vital (and ready for romance). Elain (Shirley Patterson), admires a shirtless Herbert Ellis, commenting that the astronauts are "more muscular than our men". Deena (Lisa Montell), rescued from the surface as a child, falls in love with Ellis. The astronauts try to persuade the underground people to arm themselves and reclaim the surface, but they are content with their comfortable existence. When Timmek's daughter Garnet (Nancy Gates) shows she is attracted to John Borden, Mories (Booth Colman), an already hostile member of the council, becomes jealous. He retrieves the astronauts' confiscated pistols, but has to kill a man when he is caught in the act. Mories plants the guns in the astronauts' quarters. Finding the weapons, Timmek orders the astronauts expelled, but Deena testifies that she saw Mories hide the guns. Mories flees to the surface, where he is killed by mutates. With Timmek now cooperative, the astronauts manufacture a bazooka and head back to the surface. Fleeing the deadly bazooka fire, the mutates take shelter in caves. Borden offers to fight their chief, Naga (Mickey Simpson), in single combat for leadership of the mutates after Naga threatens to slaughter the unmutated slaves. Borden slays Naga and orders the remaining deformed mutates to leave. The astronauts then establish a thriving settlement, including members of both groups. ===== Ibira initially pictured Karas as a horror story with a vengeance theme. It had a simple plot similar to the manga, Dororo. The protagonist karas is on a quest, slaughtering mikuras to recover the body parts of his murdered lover. Until he recovers all the parts, he assembles them into a katana to kill the mikuras. The final version of Karas was more of a superhero action story, and originally intended for three leading heroes in the same vein as the Japanese period drama, Sanbiki ga Kiru!. The characters Otoha, Nue, and the human detective Kure were the leads but the final version primarily focused on Otoha.Karas Vol. 2 (DVD), Project K. The presentation of Karas differs in several ways from typical anime. The show maintains a serious tone and never indulges in slapstick, exaggerated facial expressions, or super deformed characters. It avoids heavy expositions. Dialogue tends to be short and viewers have to infer what is going on based on very little presented information. The team had left out substantial amounts of information from the show, printing them in a booklet of the final DVD package. ===== ===== One night, Bagular enters a junkyard inside of his UFO. He finds the bodies of the five Dastardly Bombers, and then sucks them into his UFO. Upon doing that, he sets all five on tables, and begins working on reviving them! Upon hearing this, White Bomber and Black Bomber set out to stop the five Dastardly Bombers, and ultimately defeat Bagular himself. The two set out to save the day once again! ===== While the Third Doctor and Jo Grant are away, taking the Doctor's apparently repaired TARDIS on a test flight, UNIT is called in to investigate the crash of an RAF plane which had reported seeing a UFO. The dead body of the still-living MP Frederick Jackson is found aboard, and autopsy reports indicate that the body is that of the genuine Jackson, although his appendectomy scar seems to have vanished. The Brigadier requires a new scientific advisor to help solve the mystery, and as Liz Shaw is away on a lecture tour, he contacts the RAE and is put in touch with Ian Chesterton and his wife Barbara. Ian soon determines that the crashed aircraft is mildly radioactive, indicating that it has recently been somewhere other than the Earth, but before he can investigate further, the Minister without Portfolio Carswell arrives and demands that the plane be disposed of to prevent radioactive contamination of the countryside. Against orders, Mike Yates removes a fragment of the wreckage for Ian to examine later. The Magnum Bank is raided by robbers armed with AK-47s, and when DI George Boucher and his nephew and partner Rob Thorpe enter the bank without waiting for backup, Thorpe is gunned down by the escaping robbers. Boucher is left to agonise over how to tell his sister about her son's death, and only feels worse when he is taken off the case due to his personal involvement. The robbers targeted specific safety-deposit boxes owned by the criminal mastermind Victor Magister, who prefers to be known as "the Master", who orders his criminal lawyer Ross Grant to investigate and teach the perpetrators a lesson. Grant has Joseph Barron question an informant and learns that the raid was apparently planned by the "69 Krew", a Scottish criminal syndicate. He therefore leads a team of heavies to target the Krew, but realizes too late that Barron has led him into a trap; the thugs from the Master's gang are all killed, while Grant is taken prisoner and tortured by the Master's accountant, Marianne Kyle. Barbara, seeking something constructive to do, goes to interview Jackson to determine whether he is the real thing, only to find that he has been murdered. Boucher is assigned to the case, and the Brigadier, unable to fill him on the full details for reasons of security, asks Barbara to help Boucher in case he should find something relevant. Barbara learns that Jackson's replacement is hiring new people to fill positions amongst his staff—and that the ads were placed a week ago, long before Jackson was killed. Boucher and Barbara research recent missing persons reports, and discover that a number of prominent politicians have recently vanished and then reappeared within a few days—and that one of them was Carswell, the man who tried to have the suspicious plane destroyed. The Brigadier assigns Lieutenant Beresford to keep Carswell under surveillance, and Beresford soon spots Carswell meeting with Joseph Barron, arranging for more of Kyle's people to be "brought over"; Carswell also meets with a group of men who are later traced to the Royal Navy's submarine base at Faslane. Ian concludes that the radioactive damage to the plane could not have occurred on Earth, which means they need alien technology to analyse it. Since the Doctor is not available, Benton suggests turning to the Master, who is still imprisoned in Aylesbury Grange detention centre. The Master, although amused by the Brigadier's request for help, refuses to assist him unless his freedom is restored, and the frustrated Brigadier returns empty-handed to UNIT HQ. There, Corporals Bell and Osgood have analysed the recording of the downed plane's last transmission, and have heard the chimes of Big Ben in the distance, proving that the transmission was faked. Something else happened to the plane, and the people responsible are familiar enough with UNIT's true agenda to falsify a UFO report to set them on the wrong track. Meanwhile, when forensics reports indicate that Jackson was killed with the same weapon used in the Magnum bank job, Boucher is taken off the case and given compassionate leave. The Brigadier, sympathising with his plight, tells him of the connection to Faslane, and Boucher goes there to investigate on his own time. There, he breaks into the naval yard and discovers that one of the navy's helicopters is the same one used on the bank job. He is spotted and recognized by Kyle, and is chased by ratings who attempt to shoot him rather than arrest him. He flees from the base, but in his haste to get away runs out onto the road, and is struck and killed by a passing motorist. A naval surgeon named Harry Sullivan happens by the accident, and the dying Boucher tells him to get word to Brigadier Lethbridge- Stewart of UNIT. Kyle sends her agent Voshinin to dispose of the Master, but the Master has already hypnotised the entire prison staff and only remains in the prison while it suits him to do so. He escapes before Voshinin can get to him, but mistakenly assumes that the attempt on his life was made by the 69 Krew and returns to the bank to discuss retaliation with Kyle. By now, Kyle has learned from the dying Grant that the Master is a Time Lord, and after their meeting she and Barron secretly follow the Master to a Rolls Royce which she realizes is his TARDIS. While the Master prepares to meet the leaders of the 69 Krew, Kyle arranges for his TARDIS to be sent to Faslane and then on to the Conclave. Barron, assuming that Kyle only wanted the Master alive for his TARDIS, decides to eliminate him on his own initiative, and takes two attack helicopters to the hotel where the Master is attempting to impose his will on the representatives of the 69 Krew. The Master escapes again, but knows that only Barron and Kyle knew where to find him—and when he tries to return to his TARDIS he finds that it has been taken beyond the range of his sensors, indicating that it was stolen with technology beyond that of the 20th century. Kyle abandons Barron to his fate, and the Master tracks him down and tortures him for information, only to learn that Barron believes Kyle and her associates are members of the Russian Mafia who are bringing their own people over to fill prominent positions in Britain. As this is obviously not true, the Master disposes of Barron, and reluctantly turns himself in to UNIT, knowing he will need their assistance. The Brigadier has serious reservations and is fully aware that the Master has an agenda of his own; nevertheless, he reluctantly accepts the Master's help and gives him access to the Doctor's laboratory. There, the Master sets about using the defunct time machines from the Dalek-invasion timeline to detect phase shifts and the operation of time machines in the vicinity. Boucher apparently returns, claiming to have found nothing at Faslane, but he soon slips up and is revealed to be an impostor. Realizing that he has been found out, Boucher takes Barbara as a hostage and flees from UNIT HQ, and to discourage pursuit he kills a homeless woman who resembles Barbara and makes it appear as though she burned to death in a car crash. Ian is devastated by Barbara's apparent death and nearly commits suicide, but the Master, who still needs his help, talks him down and convinces him to turn his despair into anger for use against his enemies. An autopsy of the woman's body reveals the truth, but the Master intercepts the information and keeps it from Ian in order to keep him focussed on the task in hand. Barbara, meanwhile, is transported to a world which has been devastated by some natural disaster, and finds that its occupants are travelling via a dimensional transference arch linked to what appears to be the TARDIS console. She is interrogated and admits to being only a schoolteacher, but Kyle can't believe that she's nearly been outwitted by mere civilians, and has her sent to the Conclave for more in-depth interrogation. Meanwhile, the Master detects a transference shift in Faslane, and the Brigadier receives a call from Lieutenant Harry Sullivan telling him about Boucher's death. Boucher's body has vanished from the morgue, however, and when Sullivan checks the paperwork he finds that the body was taken by a "Doctor Williams"—who doesn't exist. Sullivan waits in the morgue and nearly catches Williams trying to remove the paperwork, but when he tries to call in ratings to arrest him, the ratings try to kill Sullivan instead. Sullivan escapes and warns the Brigadier, who now must determine how many people in the base have been compromised. Using the Dalek time machine, the Master builds a device which will enable three travellers to follow the phase shifts to their source. Ian, Yates and Benton use the device and are transported to a radioactive plain, where they see the prototype NASA shuttle coming in for a landing—with an unfamiliar flag on its side. When they return to Faslane with their story, the Master soon guesses that they were transported to a parallel timeline. The Brigadier sends to UNIT HQ for the file on the Inferno incident, in which the Doctor travelled to such a timeline, only to find that it has been stolen by Corporal Bell, who admits that she has been spying for the duplicates since they kidnapped and threatened to kill her brother. The parallel Earth was all but destroyed by the fallout from the Stahlman Project disaster, but the few survivors, the leaders of the totalitarian Earth, were alerted to the existence of parallel Earths by the Doctor's arrival, and they are thus planning to escape from their dead world and replace their counterparts on this Earth. The Master attempts to transport himself to the parallel Earth and recover his TARDIS, and the Brigadier and Ian are transported along with him while trying to stop him. There, the Master turns himself in to the surprised Kyle, claiming that he has come to help her, and to prove his loyalty he turns in the Brigadier and Ian. However, the Brigadier finds a gun in his cell, along with one of the Master's gloves, indicating that the Master has another agenda in mind. The Master is taken to the home of the Conclave, a moonbase in which the leaders of the world survived the destruction of the Earth; there, he learns that their transference arch is linked to the TARDIS of his own counterpart. In this world - the Master, still a loyal Time Lord named Koschei, was stranded on Earth when his TARDIS was destroyed in a battle with the Great Intelligence which tried to shroud the world in web. The Conclave learned of the TARDIS' abilities due to surveillance records of the Doctor's activities at the Stahlman project, but when Koschei refused to help them evacuate to an alternative Earth, they imprisoned and tortured him for information. Koschei is now on his final incarnation, and is kept alive, in agony, by life-support systems. The Master claims to have no feeling for his counterpart, and agrees to mass-produce demat boxes for the Conclave. First, however, he claims he must interrogate Barbara—and once he reaches her cell he helps her to escape and uses the distraction to get to his own TARDIS. He has no intention of helping the Conclave, who must be taught a lesson for torturing his counterpart and attempting to use him as their pawn. Kyle returns to Faslane to warn her compatriots of the Master's treachery, while the Master kills Koschei at the dying Time Lord's request. The Master then takes Barbara to the parallel Earth, where the Brigadier and Ian have escaped; despite his hatred of Boucher, Ian is unable to take his life, but the Master does so, casually revealing to the stunned Ian that Barbara is alive in any case. He then destroys the space-time element and dematerialization circuit from Koschei's TARDIS, thus depriving the Conclave of their transference arch and stranding the remaining Conclave members in this continuum. Yates and Sullivan manage to convince Faslane's commanding officer, Commodore Bennetts, that his base has been infiltrated by traitors. Bennetts, who believes UNIT to be a covert anti- terrorist squad, agrees to submit his men for screening, and Sullivan soon identifies "Williams" as the CPO of HMS Redoubt, a nuclear submarine which has been submerged in an experimental IDPF net for magnetic degaussing, and which will therefore be undetectable if the duplicates manage to escape. The Master materializes aboard the Redoubt to complete his work and destroy the other end of the dimensional link; however, he allows Kyle to escape, amused by her persistence and by the thought of leaving her alone and friendless on an alien world, perhaps to cause trouble for the Doctor some day. His work done, he attempts to evade the Brigadier and return to his TARDIS, but he is captured by Yates, Benton and Sullivan, who have boarded the Redoubt to prevent the duplicates from escaping. Before the Brigadier can impound the Master's TARDIS, he sends it by remote control to the crypt of Devil's End. The Master is then returned to prison, and some time later, the Doctor and Jo return, having discovered to their disappointment that their trip to Peladon was engineered by the Time Lords, and that the Doctor is still exiled to Earth. ===== The tale starts in the Tokugawa shogunate when Yui Shōsetsu meets the old Mori Sōiken, who in the story had survived to the Shimabara rebellion and learned the dark arts of ninpou in order to get his revenge. Knowing they both wish for the dethroning of the shōgun, Soiken forms an alliance with Shosetsu and reveals a spell devised by him, the Makai Tensho, which can rise dead people as his puppets. They soon gather an undead army of legendary warriors and sorcerers, among them Amakusa Shirō Tokisada, Miyamoto Musashi and Araki Mataemon, and plan to use their supernatural skills to destroy the shogunate. However the crown of their army, Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi, breaks free from their control and becomes determined by his own reasons to stop their rebellion before it starts. ===== A group of friends play the Japanese game Kokkuri to summon Kokkuri-san, a spirit who can answer any question as a pastime but apparently reveals dark secrets that will make these girls turn against each other. ===== High school sweethearts — the star of the high school track team (Cody) and a cheerleader (Belinda) — marry. He becomes a successful businessman; she's a stay-at-home mom. A high school acquaintance (Man) returns to town and rents the room over their garage and upsets the delicate balance of their relationship, raising questions about who they want to be, who they are, and what made them that way. The play's title refers to Man's frequent breaking of drama's Fourth Wall as he addresses the audience in between scenes. He prefaces his remarks to set up the next scene with "This is how it goes..." or his remarks on the preceding action with "This is how it went...". Deeply in love with Belinda, or at least the Belinda he remembered, he professes to being an unreliable narrator. Occasional scenes may not to have occurred as he relates them at first and get re-acted in a style that the audience might find more reasonable or plausible. ===== On New Year's Eve in Liverpool, Michael (Michael Angelis) becomes the new manager of the Charleston Club, a run-down function hall on an industrial wasteground which, he later discovers, is owned by an organised crime syndicate. He also discovers that the previous manager, MacArthur, in an attempt to spite the hall's owners, has hired it out to two groups of senior citizens for New Year's Eve; one group are hardline Catholics and the other are hardline Protestants, and the entertainment consists of a magician (Elvis Costello) with stage fright, a homosexual comedian (Pete Price) and his boyfriend, a talentless punk band, and a fancy dress competition with a non-existent prize. The two parties arrive and are joined by another group of senior citizens who are mentally handicapped and suffering from senile dementia. After discovering MacArthur being tortured in a back room by the hall's owners, Michael, along with bouncer Bernard (Bernard Hill) and kitchen porter Cheryl (Joanne Whalley), attempts to keep things in order amid the threat of violence in the air. As the night goes on, however, things start to go wrong; the comedian's routine is badly received, the magician has to pull out because of the death of his rabbit, and the band's poor performance leads to the groups throwing missiles at the stage whilst the band members fight amongst themselves. Meanwhile, things begin to boil over when former Loyalist boxer Billy McCracken (Ray McAnally) strangles on-the-run terrorist Norman Donohue (Mark Mulholland) to death in a toilet cubicle after Norman makes comments about McCracken's daughter "marrying out", and an Orange Order marching band arrives playing sectarian tunes, leading to a mass brawl in the toilets and the discovery of Norman's body. Meanwhile Michael and Cheryl begin singing "If You Need Me" together on stage while Bernard phones the police, who arrive and defuse the situation. The situation dies down by midnight, and the groups all go their separate ways peacefully. Michael and Cheryl share a kiss, before going back to Cheryl's house together. The film ends with McCracken at home phoning his daughter and asking to speak to his son-in-law, before wishing him a happy New Year. ===== Polish defector Leiser (Christopher Jones) is offered a chance of UK citizenship by MI6, but only if he agrees to undertake a highly dangerous espionage mission behind the "iron curtain" in East Germany. Leiser's role is to replace an MI6 agent who has already been murdered, and to gather photographic intelligence on a covert East German rocket system - in violation of international agreements. The mission goes wrong from the start when, shortly after arriving in East Germany, Leiser is forced to kill a young East German guard, and later murders a lorry driver who makes homosexual advances. Leiser's objective is further undermined when he falls in love with an East German woman looking for a way out of the country. ===== The title character Nathan Never is a special agent in a semi-dystopian near future where crime-fighting is shared between the police and corporate detective agencies such as Never's employer Agenzia Alfa. Stories typically merge classic urban crime, noir, and drama, with occasional forays into political thriller, survival horror, and space opera. Many issues quote classic science fiction film and literature, for example in names, locations, technology, etc. Primary sources of inspiration are Blade Runner and Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. While most plots are self-conclusive within one or two issues, some storylines span five, ten, or even twenty issues, such as Alfa's quest to capture arch-villain Aristoteles Skotos, the Mutants' struggle to obtain equal rights, and the Earth's war with the rebelling space stations over food supplies. Continuity is a cornerstone of the series, with the effects of previous storylines accounted for and considered in subsequent plots. ===== Spike is a young black man from Suriname who lives in the Bijlmermeer. He is a student first, but drops out. In order to have enough money to impress his white girlfriend Rosalie (Sophie van Oers) he joins a gang led by Delano (SugaCane) and commits various robberies. A related gang operates a cocaine smuggling route from Suriname to the Netherlands with mules swallowing cocaine pellets. As a mule, Spike is arrested on departure from Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (Zanderij) near Paramaribo, and incarcerated at Santo Boma prison. Rosalie volunteers as mule also, in order to be able to visit Spike. The film ends after this visit, it does not show whether she actually swallows and smuggles cocaine pellets. ===== Set in and around Bath, Somerset immediately after the First World War, the story opens at an expensive mental clinic in the country where the young and recently widowed Lady Franklin is being discharged. The owner of a smart hire car, former sergeant-major Ledbetter, chauffeurs her to her unsympathetic mother in Bath. Hired to take her on outings, he becomes the only person she can talk to as she slowly lifts out of deep depression. When he takes her to a boxing night at a boys club that he helps to run, she meets another committee member, the young former officer Cantrip. Like Ledbetter he is struggling to return to normal, in his case politics, after his traumatic experiences in the war. Cantrip starts wooing the wealthy Lady Franklin while still sleeping with his lover Connie, who is probably a war widow. Ledbetter's mental equilibrium becomes progressively more fragile. His business is failing, his casual relationship with the waitress Doreen brings no joy, his deepening affection for Lady Franklin is no longer returned and his rage against his more successful rival is intensified by Cantrip's concealed involvement with Connie. When he finally confronts Cantrip and Lady Franklin together, they tell him that he has no place in their lives because they have become engaged. Leaping into his Rolls-Royce and swigging frequently from a bottle of alcohol, he drives blindly back to his garage and proceeds to run amok in the little courtyard, driving heedlessly back and forth into the walls and reversing and on and on like an animal in a frenzy in a cage. ===== Lulu Massa is a highly productive worker at a factory paying piece work but is disliked by his colleagues as his efficiency is used by management to justify their demands for higher output. While employees are told to care for and rely on their machines, they see radical students outside the factory campaigning for higher pay rates and less work. Lulu lives with Lidia and her son. He puts his lack of interest in sex with her down to the pressures of the job. Lulu loses a finger in a work accident, which the workers blame on the faster times. Shocked, he adopts the students' analysis and takes strike action to end piece work, against the unions' policy, which is for simply an increase in piece work rates. Lulu pursues an affair with a female co-worker but finds that having sex with her in an automobile is difficult. Lidia, unhappy with his new far left sympathies, moves out with her son, who cries, but is told that Lulu never really cared for him, and reminded that Lulu would slap him occasionally. When the employees go back to work, Lulu is fired for promoting the students' extremist views. Lidia and her boy return to the apartment, to find that Lulu has destroyed their inflatable Scrooge McDuck doll. Syndicalists arrive to inform Lulu that they have agreed a deal with the employers on work regulations and won Lulu's job back. ===== Macarthy is a country football player who is kidnapped by the South Melbourne Football Club and made a star player in the city. The Club Chairman, Colonel Ball-Miller, gives Macarthy a job in one of his companies and makes him attend night school. He is seduced by his English teacher, Miss Russell, and has an affair with Ball-Miller's daughter, Andrea. Macarthy and Andrea get married but then divorce. Macarthy goes on strike to claim the family fortune. ===== Sixteen years after the end of World War II, Thérèse Langlois owns a pub in Puteaux, Paris. Wrapping up the season, she plans her annual vacation in Chaulieu with her lover, but is growing emotionally distant towards him. At the pub, a tramp walks by daily singing The Barber of Seville aria and other opera songs. Intrigued, Thérèse has her bartender Martine call the tramp in for a drink. The tramp, who says he lives by the river, reveals he is suffering from amnesia but carries identification indicating his name is Robert Landais. After the tramp leaves, Thérèse follows the tramp to the river and studies his face and movements; she becomes convinced he is in fact her long-lost husband Albert Langlois. Determined to make the tramp remember his past identity, Thérèse brings Albert's aunt Alice to the pub, along with Albert's nephew. While the tramp is sitting at another table, the three Langlois loudly recount Albert's story; During the war Albert had been arrested by the French police in Chaulieu in June 1944 and turned over to the Gestapo in Angers, and spent time in a camp with his friend Aldo Ganbini. Thérèse herself (née Ganbini) was originally from Chaulieu but stayed in Puteaux, they recount. The tramp leaves the pub without acknowledging himself as Albert. Alice discloses to Thérèse she did not recognize the tramp and that she believes he is not a physical match for Albert, also pointing out Albert had no knowledge of the opera. Thérèse disagrees, arguing Albert could have learned the songs while imprisoned with Aldo. Thérèse ends her relationship with her lover. She meets with the tramp for dinner, after which they dance. The tramp still does not indicate he remembers anything about a past life as Albert. As the tramp leaves, Thérèse loudly calls out the name Albert Langlois and other friends join in. Overwhelmed, the tramp stops, raises his hands in a pose of surrender, and flees. As he runs, he narrowly avoids a traffic accident. Thérèse's friends tell her the tramp is unharmed but that he is gone, and try to persuade her to give up on bringing his memories back. Thérèse is unconvinced by them, deciding that it will be easier to try to restore the tramp's memories in the upcoming winter season. ===== Joe Yately (Stanley Baker), who everyone calls Tom, has just been released from a year in prison and is determined to start a new life. He goes to Hawletts, a contractor which transports loads of gravel ("ballast") from a quarry, to look for work. He is directed to Mr Cartley (William Hartnell), the manager. Tom tells Cartley's secretary Lucy (Peggy Cummins) that he met a former Hawletts driver who had a serious accident. Tom assumes that there is a job available as a result. Lucy recommends him to Cartley. Cartley tells Tom that his drivers transport their ten-ton loads fast over bad roads. They are expected to deliver a minimum of twelve loads a day; if a driver falls behind, he is fired. Each run is round- trip; the top driver makes eighteen runs a day. Tom goes on a trial run with Ed, the mechanic, in truck no. 13. He narrowly avoids colliding head-on with two other Hawletts trucks speeding the other way. Cartley hires him, and he is assigned truck 13. Tom meets the other drivers, including Red (Patrick McGoohan), the Irish foreman and head driver. Tom befriends Gino (Herbert Lom), an Italian driver who is in love with Lucy. Red offers a £250 gold cigarette case to anyone who can make more runs than him in a day, and Tom is determined to try. However, he learns that Red has kept his place at the top by taking a very dangerous shortcut that none of the other drivers will risk any more. One evening, the drivers go to a dance at a nearby hall and start a fight. When the police are called, Tom flees the scene. Red calls him a coward and the other drivers (except Gino) turn on him, bullying him incessantly, impeding his runs and calling him "yellow belly." He does not fight back. Tom visits his brother Jimmy (David McCallum) and mother (Beatrice Varley) in their tobacconist's shop. His mother refuses to accept money from him, blaming him for involving Jimmy in his (unspecified) crime and making him a cripple who needs crutches to get around. Lucy and Tom are attracted to each other, but he refuses to betray Gino. Lucy tells Tom that Cartley and Red have been scamming money by hiring five fewer drivers than the company pays for and pocketing the difference. Tom confronts Red and beats him in a fistfight. Gino offers to switch truck numbers with Tom the next day, so that the others can harass him instead of Tom for a change, to help Tom to win the cigarette case. That night, Lucy breaks up with Gino, revealing that she loves Tom. Despite his heartbreak, Gino switches numbers as arranged, not realising that Tom has given up and is waiting to catch a train for London to go back to a life of crime. Then Lucy rushes into the waiting room and tells him that Gino has been seriously injured in a crash. Distraught, they rush to the hospital, where the doctor tells them Gino is dying. Gino tells Tom, "I threw them off like we planned, for you to win. Crazy. You don't even come." Tom asks him if it was Red who caused his crash, but Gino dies without answering. Tom returns to the depot and confronts Cartley. He tells him that Gino has died and he knows why, and that he knows about the scam. Cartley offers him a share of the stolen money and Red's place in truck no. 1. Tom is having none of it, but takes truck no. 1 to pick up a load. When Red turns up, he forces Cartley to join him in what they think is truck no. 3 and sets out to silence Tom. Red guesses that Tom will take the dangerous shortcut through the quarry, and they lie in wait there. When Tom appears with his truck full of ballast, Red sideswipes him several times, finally forcing him off the road and onto the edge of the quarry, where the truck dangles precariously, with Tom knocked unconscious. But the brakes on Red's truck, which Red finally realises is Tom's no. 13, fail and he and Cartley drive off the edge and are killed. Tom wakes up and escapes just before his own truck tumbles into the quarry. Lucy (who followed them in a jeep) runs to him. ===== The difference from actual history starts with the participation of Harriet Tubman in Brown's uprising in 1859; her sound tactical and strategic advice helps Brown avoid mistakes which in real history led to his downfall. As a result, instead of the American Civil War, the U.S. faces a full-scale slave revolt throughout the South helped by a handful of white sympathizers and various European revolutionaries such as Giuseppe Garibaldi, and an invasion by Mexico, which seeks to regain the territory it lost in 1848. After a great deal of bloody fighting and an increasing dissatisfaction in the North which is required to send troops to fight the rebellious slaves, the blacks succeed in emancipating themselves and create a republic in the Deep South, led by Tubman and Frederick Douglass. (Brown himself did not survive to see the victory of what he started.) Abraham Lincoln – a Whig politician who never got to be President – tries to start a war to bring back the secessionist black states into the Union, but he fails and is himself killed in that war. Blacks remember him as their archenemy. Later, the black state (named "Nova Africa") becomes Socialist, touching off a whole string of revolutions and civil wars in Europe. The Paris Commune wins out in 1871 instead of being crushed by the French Third Republic, Ireland breaks away from British rule in the 1880s, and the Russian Revolution is just one of many similar revolutions in different countries. Finally Socialism also wins out in the rump U.S., following a revolutionary outbreak in Chicago. Socialism works out as predicted by the German philosopher Karl Marx, bringing happiness and prosperity to all of humanity. (Marx himself is mentioned in the book as an enthusiastic supporter of the rebellious slaves, though he does not personally come to America to help them.) The book has two levels. The overt plot takes place in 1959, in a Utopian Socialist world far in advance of ours in all ways. To mark the centennial of Brown's raid, black astronauts lead a manned landing on Mars. However, the story of the protagonist, a young black woman grieving the death of her husband on an earlier Mars mission, is mainly the framework for excerpts from the vivid diaries of two people who lived through the stirring events of 1859 and its aftermath – her ancestor, who was then a young black slave, and a white Virginian doctor who sympathized with the rebellion. In this world, an alternate history book is published called John Brown's Body, which describes a world in which Brown failed and was executed, the slaves were emancipated by Lincoln rather than by themselves after a war between two white factions, and capitalism survived as a political and economic system. It is considered a dystopia, describing a horrible world in all ways inferior to the one which the people in the book know. ===== After the retirement of his dad (Krishan Dhawan), the responsibility is on Bharat (Manoj Kumar) to look after his Delhi-based family. He has two younger college-going brothers, Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) and Deepak (Dheeraj Kumar) and a sister of marriageable age, Champa (Meena T.). Although Bharat is a college graduate, the only work he can find is as a low-paid singer, much to the frustration of his girlfriend, Sheetal (Zeenat Aman). Meanwhile, Vijay has turned to crime as a last resort to provide for the family, but after an argument with Bharat, he leaves home to join the army. Sheetal starts working as a secretary for rich businessman Mohan Babu (Shashi Kapoor) and Mohan becomes attracted to her. She becomes attracted to Mohan but is more interested in his wealth and luxury. She loves Bharat but cannot contemplate a life in poverty. Bharat finally finds a job as a builder but starts to realise that Sheetal is slowly drifting away from him. Soon he loses his job after the government takes over the building site and his financial problems increase further. When Mohan proposes marriage to Sheetal, she accepts, leaving Bharat heartbroken. After losing his love, Bharat also loses his father, which devastates him. Frustrated, he burns his diploma on his father's funeral pyre. Meanwhile, Champa has found a suitor, but Bharat has no money to pay for the wedding and it cannot go ahead. Depressed at the state of his life, Bharat soon finds salvation by helping a poor girl, Tulsi (Moushumi Chatterjee), who lives in poverty but gets by. He also makes friends with Sardar Harnam Singh (Prem Nath) who comes to his rescue when he attempts to save Tulsi from a gang of hoodlums. He then receives an offer from a corrupt businessman named Nekiram (Madan Puri) who persuades Bharat to do his illegal activities so he and his family will come out of poverty and be wealthy, for which he accepts. {| class="wikitable" | colspan="4" |Deepak also joins Police . Bharat who is working for Nekiram decides to inform the police regarding his Malpractices of dumping the Ration . When Nekiram gets to know about this he decides to take revenge and puts blame on Bharat and Deepak who is in police is appointed for arresting the Bharat. Bharat along With Vijay decides to Stop Nekiram and during this rift Sheetal dies who already has realised her mistake of leaving Bharat for the money. Bharat, Vijay, Deepak, Mohan Babu and Sardar Harnam Singh fights with Nekiram and his troop and finally he is jailed. Bharat finally feels sheetal presence in Tulsi and accepts her. |} ===== Havaldar Ratan is a rookie at the local police station, and is assigned duty on foot patrol on Manoranjan Street, a notorious red-light area, on the very first day of his job. He strikes up a conversation with a good-looking young woman named Nisha, and tells her that there is a possible violation of Suppression of Immoral Trafficking Act taking place on this street. He witnesses several women soliciting men, and decides to call in the paddy wagon, and get them arrested. Alas, one of the men frequenting the prostitutes is none other than Ratan's superior officer, who immediately summons Ratan, and has him removed from service on corruption charges. Nisha takes pity on a homeless and unemployed Ratan, and asks him to live with her. He does not want her to sell her body, and so he decides to work at night, and during the day he takes on the guise of a rich Nawab and spends time with her. Things go along smoothly, until Ratan decides that it is now time to get rid of the "Nawab", and he does so, only to find out that the police have been informed that he has killed the Nawab, and they are out to arrest him. What follows is hilarious chaos that will change Ratan and Nisha's lives forever. ===== Circumstances have made Shaka a career criminal. When plague empties a town of its inhabitants, he takes the opportunity to burgle a house. He finds nothing except Shanti, a widowed daughter-in-law who has been left to die by her cruel relatives. Shaka nurses her back to health. When her relatives return, they are not pleased to find her alive and even less pleased to discover that someone has tried to rob them. Shanti gets the blame and a beating. Shaka saves her from worse, at the hands of brother-in-law, and the pair flee. They set up home in Shaka's house, much to the displeasure of the respectable neighbours, who are all too ready to think the worst. Shanti's relatives are dismayed when a lawyer arrives to announce that Shanti has been left a legacy. They hatch a plot to get her back. Meanwhile, Shaka's rehabilitation is proceeding - much to the chagrin of his former criminal associates. Fire and redemption for some, death and handcuffs for others is what fate has in store. ===== Jai (Sanjay Dutt) and Veeru (Govinda) are good friends and also partners in crime, thus their friendship is named Jodi No. 1. They first gain the confidence of people and later con them. But soon they have to run from Bombay after an encounter with a local Bhai, because they end up having a brawl with his younger brother (Rajat Bedi) and they by accident kill him in a night club. While on the run, Jai and Veeru meet Vikram Jeet (Aashif Sheikh), an NRI, who is on his way to work as a manager, in Goa, for Rai Bahadur (Anupam Kher), a wealthy businessman who owns a beer factory. Jai pretends to be Vikram Jeet and both he and Veeru move into Rai Bahadur's house intending to befriend then rob him. However, they fall in love with Rai Bahadur's daughters (Monica Bedi and Twinkle Khanna) and in a series of hilarious scenes, save the family from Sir John (Ashish Vidyarthi). In the end, while Jai is stealing money from Rai to release Veeru from Sir John, the entire Rai clan is watching the news and find out that Jai and Veeru are not who they claim to be, but con men. In the end, Rai then lets Jai go with the money to save Veeru and all goes well and they marry the daughters of Rai. ===== Havaldar Major Jaswant Singh (Jayant) makes a citizen's arrest of petty thief Ajit (Dharmendra) and hands him over to the police, and after due process of law he is sentenced to six months in jail. After completing his sentence, the jailer asks him to approach Jaswant Singh for employment, and so he does. Jaswant asks him to help him with his farming work. Ajit meets Anju (Asha Parekh - lead female) and both fall in love. Ajit comes to know of Jabbar Singh (Vinod Khanna) a dacoit who is terrorizing the surrounding community, and Ajit decides to take on Jabbar. In retaliation, Jabbar abducts Anju, and instructs Ajit to come unarmed. Ajit decides to follow these instructions, however, as soon as he reaches Jabbar's hideout, he too is captured, and at the mercy of Jabbar and Munni (Laxmi Chhaya), who has been scorned by Ajit, and it is now up to her to decide Ajit's fate. ===== Kusum (aka Guddi) (Jaya Bachchan) is a spunky and carefree schoolgirl who lives with her father (A. K. Hangal), brother and sister-in-law (Sumita Sanyal). Guddi has a crush on film star Dharmendra, whom she regards as a superman who can do no wrong, unable to distinguish between his on-screen image and the real person behind the star. Nobody knows the extent of her crush until she visits Bombay, where her sister-in-law's brother Navin (played by Bengali film actor Samit Bhanja) proposes to her, only to be taken aback when Guddi discloses that she is in love with Dharmendra. Navin discusses the matter with his uncle (Utpal Dutt), who decides that the only solution is to make Guddi realise the difference between illusion and reality. The uncle contacts Dharmendra through a mutual friend. With his help, they show Guddi the difference between the real world and the make-believe world of cinema. Exposed for the first time to the grime and the cruel and heartless world behind the glamour of cinema, Guddi realises that nothing is true in the reel world. While her respect for Dharmendra grows, Guddi comes to realise that he is just as human as anyone around and lives with the same fears and insecurities as anyone else. The film ends with Guddi agreeing to marry Navin. ===== Princess Lenore suffers from "a surfeit of raspberry tarts" — eating too many sweets. She insists she is gravely ill, but if her father brings her the moon she'll be well again. Her father, the king, asks the wisest men in his court how he can give his daughter the moon, and becomes outraged when they all claim that it is too large, too far away, and composed of unstable or dangerous substances. Despairing, the king confides in his court jester. The jester then asks the princess what she thinks the moon is made of, how big it is, and how far away. According to the princess, the moon is as big as her thumbnail and made of gold. She says it's so close that he could climb a tree and pluck it from the sky. He promises to do just that, that very night. Instead, the jester takes the princess's specifications to royal goldsmith, who creates a necklace with a moon-like pendant. It is presented to the princess and she becomes well again. The next day, the King fears she'll see the moon in the sky and realize that the necklace is a forgery. He consults the wisest men in his court, who propose outrageous schemes to prevent her from seeing it in the sky. Ultimately, the jester visits the princess, who is fondly gazing at the newly-risen moon. He asks her how the moon can be in two places, and she tells him the moon always grows back: like a child's tooth, a unicorn's horn, or flowers. ===== In the era of Guru Ram Das, one cannot leave out Rajni, youngest daughter of Rai Duni Chand, revenue collector (kardar) of Patti. (The story has all the myth, magic and miracles of a genuine Sakhi, but is nevertheless a charming story). Rajni was a Sikh, a disciple of the Guru. One day she was sitting with her sisters admiring some new clothing they all had received from their father. The girls were ecstatic and exclaiming how good their father was to them. Rajni observed that all gifts are ultimately from God. Their father was merely an instrument of His greatness. Unfortunately for her, he overheard her comment and became very angry. It was not the first time that she incurred his wrath because of her extreme piety. The infuriated father, believing her to be an ungrateful wretch, married her to a leper with a taunt that he would see how her God would help her lead a normal life. The leper was severely disfigured and a foul smell came from his body. The poor girl had accepted her fate ungrudging and worked hard to maintain herself and her crippled husband. She kept repeating the name of God, and was certain that he was testing her with this turn of events. She was forced to beg for a living. Still she bathed and fed her leper husband, never losing faith. One day, she reached the site of a pool on her way to a neighboring village. Placing the basket containing her husband by the side of the pool, she had gone oft on an errand, most probably to look for food. In the meantime, her crippled husband had seen a black crow dip into the water of the pool and come out white. Amazed at this miracle, the man crawled up to the edge of the pool and managed a dip. He found himself completely cured. When his wife returned, she was amazed to find her husband in good health. He was handsome and whole. At first, she was alarmed and suspected that he might be a different person. He had, however, kept one finger with leprosy marks un-dipped. He showed her the diseased finger as proof of his identity. The couple thanked God, and went to the Guru to seek his blessings. The pool was the future site of the Golden Temple. The medicinal properties of the water are said to have come Word of God (Gurbani believed as sacred texts by Sikhs). Rajni's leper husband was cured in the pool. Sakhi relates that if one keeps faith in God then one day all rewards are paid. Bibi Rajni had always kept the faith in Guru and God, being happy with whatever she had and thus was rewarded at the end. ===== ===== While deciding what to do with the fortune he made after the events of Jhereg, Vlad is alarmed to discover that his wife has joined a group of revolutionaries consisting of Easterners and Teckla from the ghetto of South Adrilankha. One of their members, Franz, has been murdered. Fearing for Cawti's safety, Vlad resolves to investigate the matter. After some aggressive investigation, Vlad learns that the Jhereg boss of South Adrilankha, Herth, ordered the assassination after the revolutionaries attacked his businesses. By getting involved, Vlad becomes a target in the ongoing feud. Vlad takes the information back to Kelly, the leader of the revolutionaries, but he is unafraid. He plans to not only revolt but to break the Cycle itself. Several of his followers tell Vlad their stories, including a Teckla sorcerer named Paresh, but Vlad is unmoved. He accuses them of parroting Kelly's slogans, which put impossible ideals ahead of individuals. Vlad's relationship becomes strained as Cawti's changing values pull her away from his lifestyle. Distraught over his failing marriage, Vlad lets his guard down and gets captured by Herth's men. They torture him for information about Cawti and the revolutionaries until Vlad's men rescue him. Jarred by his brush with total helplessness, Vlad becomes temporarily suicidal, but Cawti drugs him before he can harm himself. After awakening, Vlad remains troubled by the incident, but reaffirms his desire to save Cawti and destroy Herth. Vlad suspects that Herth has sent an assassin after him. He begins casing Kelly's headquarters to watch events unfold and draw out the assassin. The revolutionaries attempt to barricade South Adrilankha and the Phoenix Guards are called in to restore order. Amidst the chaos, the assassin strikes, but Vlad fights him off. Vlad identifies the assassin as Quaysh and hires his own assassin, Ishtvan, to kill Quaysh. Vlad decides that the only way to save Cawti is to end the revolution by killing Kelly and his top- ranking followers. He sneaks into Kelly's headquarters, but Franz's ghost appears before he can start the job. After conversing with the ghost, Vlad becomes unnerved and abandons the plan. He returns the next day looking for Cawti, but winds up in an ethical debate with Kelly over their respective lifestyles. Kelly's accusations closely mirror Vlad's own self-doubts. Still committed to saving Cawti from self-destruction with the revolutionaries, Vlad concocts a plan to solve all his problems at once. During another altercation between the revolutionaries and the Phoenix Guard, Vlad tricks Herth into entering Kelly's headquarters. He hopes that Herth would kill Kelly, the revolutionaries would kill Herth, and the Phoenix Guards would kill the revolutionaries. Vlad teleports into the headquarters and recklessly decides to kill Herth himself. Miraculously, Vlad disables all of Herth's bodyguards while Ishtvan kills Herth's assassin and disappears. Kelly convinces Vlad against his better judgment to allow Herth to live. The next day, Vlad has an epiphany on how to solve his problems. He offers to buy all of Herth's holdings in South Adrilankha, using the remainder of his fortune. Herth agrees and retires from the Organization, thus ending all of his conflicts with Vlad and the revolutionaries. Vlad breaks the news to Cawti and they tearfully embrace. Though many unresolved issues still loom between them, Vlad feels relieved that the most pressing dangers are gone. ===== Jan Nisar Akhtar Khan (Amitabh Bachchan) works as a Forest Officer, and lives with his wife Zakhiya (Madhavi) and his daughter Neelu. One day while on duty he comes across some poachers who were cutting sandal wood trees illegally. When challenged, they retaliate, a struggle ensues, and one of them, Ram Gupta (Amrish Puri), is killed. Khan is charged with killing him, tried in Court, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. His shocked and devastated wife kills herself along with their daughter. Years later, an angry and embittered Khan is released from prison. One day he comes across another young man, Vijay Singh (Rajnikanth), and finds out that he is struggling with taking vengeance against three men who had traumatized and killed some of his family members, and decides to help him. It is then Khan finds out that Gupta is still alive and decides to kill him, quite dramatically in the same courtroom where he was convicted for his murder. Vijay also has a sister, Miss Durga Singh (Hema Malini), who has joined Police department just to take revenge against those three men, but law-fully whereas her brother Vijay has decided to kill them one by one by taking law in his own hands as he like Khan does not believe in law. How he succeeds is the entertaining story of this movie. ===== It was love at first sight for unemployed Ashish Khanna and Rani Bhalla at a cold drink stall. When Rani introduces Ashish to her businessman dad, Tau, and mom, they unanimously frown upon this alliance, until Ashish promises to get a job, save enough money, buy a flat, etc. Ashish does get a small job with Izzat Papads, he then also begins to sell steroids out of the back of a van. He gets noticed by an Ad-firm owner, and gets hired. Soon he has all the luxuries that he had always dreamed of. When the Bhallas come to know about this, they decide to welcome him as their son-law, and a lavish engagement party takes place. It is then Ashish finds out that he has cancer, and he begins to create misunderstandings between him and Rani. He tries becoming an alcoholic, but that is considered normal with the Bhalla family; he confesses to Rani that he has loved Sania, a model with ad-agency, which is welcomed by Rani as being truthful and honest. But when Rani notices that he has put up Sania's photos all over his apartment, it is then that she breaks off the engagement. Ashish knows that Sania will not marry him, as she is a flirt. But when he is assigned to go to Malaysia with Sania, that is where he finds out that Sania is not quite a flirt, but wants to marry him. She even introduces him to her brother, Anna, who instantly approves of the match. Now Anna inducts Ashish into the family business - which is extortion, and a stunned Ashish is trained to use guns and defend himself. When the time comes for marriage, Ashish confesses that he has cancer. An angered Anna summons Dr. Rustom, who in turn gives him a clean health chit, and confirms that Ashish had overheard a conversation about another patient and had misunderstood. While Ashish becomes happy, Rani and their friend Rocky are planning to get married as Rohit always had feelings for Rani. Meanwhile, Sania also wants to get Ashish at any cost. In the climax in a car chase sequence, Ashish confronts Rani and confesses everything. It is then revealed that marriage with Rohit was a plan by Sania and Rohit as they knew how much Ashish loved Rani. Finally, they unite and the film ends on a happy note. ===== Bonnie Adams is told by her father Professor Adams on his death bed of his discovery of a radium deposit on an island off the coast of Africa. Ben Arnold and his girlfriend Aileen Chandos want the radium for themselves and befriend Bonnie for that purpose. The captain of the boat taking them to their destination, Harry Drake, falls in love with Bonnie en route. ===== The rings around Thotmess, a gas giant in the system of the star Niletus where planets are called for Ancient Egyptian gods, is a completely lawless place. The only human inhabitants are rugged miners, riding small "donkey ships", who need to contend with both the harsh natural environment and fierce human competitors. "Claim jumping" is frequent and miners must be ready at any moment to take up a gun or a bazooka to defend their finds of "grey matrix in which abyssal crystals occur". (The reader is not told what this may be, except that it is evidently valuable enough to kill for.) The extra-solar environment is chosen by Leinster in order to convey the feeling of an ever-expanding frontier - Sol's own Asteroid Belt has become "tame", as did the rings of Saturn, and the rough adventurous types move further on. (Leinster's historical model is the recurring Gold Rush of the Nineteenth Century, drawing adventurers in 1840s from the settled East Coast to wild California, and in 1890s from settled California to the wild Klondike.) Category:1967 American novels Category:1967 science fiction novels Category:Novels by Murray Leinster ===== Would you be the greatest pirate in the South China Sea or would you hang up your sword to be with the woman you love? Malaysia, 1849. The Tigers of Mompracem are a band of rebel pirates fighting against the colonial power of the Dutch and British empires. They are led by Sandokan, the indomitable Tiger of Malaysia, and his loyal friend Yanez De Gomera, a Portuguese wanderer and adventurer. After twelve years of spilling blood and spreading terror throughout Malaysia, Sandokan has reached the height of his power, but when the pirate learns of the extraordinary "Pearl of Labuan", his fortunes begin to change. ===== Hopalong and his sidekicks are Texas Rangers who set out to find how 25 Mexicans have disappeared after being hired by the "Silver Bullets" mine. They ride into town and find that the mine owner is a one-man government, played by Russell Simpson as "Orestes Krebes." Hopalong and his friends are arrested on trumped- up charges and are tried before a kangaroo court and sentenced to swing but not until after lunch. With the help of the girl, they escape, free the captive mine workers and together defeat the evil gang. ===== Split into two parts ('Going Away' and 'Coming Home'), the novel follows the life of a young boy growing up in Calcutta, who is educated in Delhi and then follows with the experiences he has in London. His family – the Datta Chaudhuris - and the Price family in London are linked by the friendship between their respective patriarchs – Justice Datta Chaudhuri and Lionel Tresawsen. The narrator adores Tridib, his uncle, because of his tremendous knowledge and his perspective of the incidents and places. Tha'mma thinks that Tridib is the type of person who seems 'determined to waste his life in idle self-indulgence', one who refuses to use his family connections to establish a career. Unlike his grandmother, the narrator loves listening to Tridib. For the narrator, Tridib's lore is very different from the collection of facts and figures. The narrator is sexually attracted to Ila but his feelings are passive. He never expresses his feelings to her afraid to lose the relationship that exists between them. However, one day he involuntarily shows his feelings when she, unaware of his feelings for her, undresses in front of him. She feels sorry for him but immediately abandons him to visit Nick's (the Price family's son, and the man who she later marries) bedroom. Tha'mma does not like Ila; she continually asks the narrator "Why do you always speak for that whore?" Tha'mma has a dreadful past and wants to reunite her family and goes to Dhaka to bring back her uncle. Tridib is in love with May and sacrificed his life to rescue her from mobs in the communal riots of 1963-64 in Dhaka.Amitav Ghosh - Books, 'The Shadow Lines' ===== The story is a melodrama concerning two lovers who are kept apart by the woman's strict parents, who lock her in her house. ===== ===== A group of people have joint ambitions to establish an unprecedented scientific theory. They called it the "crystalline substance transfer theory in dimensional physics." This helped to accomplish the rapid progress in recent years. The fear of leaks of confidential material is a huge expense that the leaders could not possibly afford. As a result, all the research was done on expansive grounds in a nationally sponsored facility that was built behind the rocks. However, because the near future also demands practical research, the people lost contact with the scientists working at the facility. Defense forces are immediately dispatched to an elite survey of troops. A sky reconnaissance plane was shot down last; forcing the area to go into a state of emergency. ===== Supercriminal Dr. Fu Manchu plots to freeze the world's oceans with a diabolical new device. With his evil daughter, Lin Tang, his army of dacoits, and the help of the local crime organization led by Omar Pasha (whom Dr. Fu Manchu double-crosses), Dr. Fu Manchu takes over the governor's castle in Istanbul, which has a massive opium reserve, to control the largest opium port in Anatolia, since the drug is an important ingredient for the fuel for his machine. Dr. Fu Manchu needs the help of an intelligent scientist with an ailing heart whom he has imprisoned. In order to keep the scientist alive, he kidnaps a doctor and his wife to give the scientist a heart transplant from one of his obedient servants. Opposing him from Britain's branch of Interpol are his nemeses, Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie. ===== In Kaka Ferskur, Pippi meets Age, a Swedish ghost at the beach. He challenges her by saying if she can prove to him that she isn't growing up, she may remain a child, living with her pets in her grand mansion "Villa Villekulla". But if she loses the bet, she must admit to Age in the end that she is coming of age and must leave childish things behind. She later catches up with her friends Annika and Tommy, and they go to Hollywood. There, Tommy loses the girls, and they embark on a journey to find him. In the journey, they see a man nude, enjoy hot, fresh rolls (hence Kaka Ferskur), and do other things like get drunk and throwing rolls at adults. ===== The Menno Meyjes directed drama stars Adrien Brody as Spanish bullfighter Manolete, in a film that covers his late life love affair with actress Lupe Sino (Penélope Cruz) before he was gored to death in the bull ring. Sino's communist politics turned their affair into a scandal in the early 1940s, especially after discovering her previous marriage to a PCE member. The film begins with Manolete's last day in Linares. ===== Sid, Russ and Jerry are three wannabe criminals looking for easy money to break out of their nowhere lives. Despite a bungled jewelry store heist which exposes their incompetence, they are convinced they can pull off an armored-truck robbery. While plotting their caper, their dysfunctional families spin out of control all around them. ===== Matt, a six-year old boy, is kidnapped by his father, Denny, whom he had never met. Though he has always dreamed of meeting him, nothing is the way he thought it would be, given his father is only using Matt to impress his sister who often brags about her two well-raised sons. Denny has also taken Matt's dog, Pookie, and then dropped him off in a park. With few clues to follow, Matt's mother, sister, and the police, are doing everything they can to find him. Some old folks found Pookie and later gave him back to Matt's mom and sister. Matt's sister, Bonnie, sees Matt at a Mariner's baseball game, but is caught by Denny. Now both captive, the siblings attempt to escape. On the ferry, Bonnie signals to Matt to throw his hardest pitch. The baseball hits Denny, which allows the two to escape. Denny is arrested, and the children return home safely. ===== Ace is a young man living with his mom and sister in the Harlem ghetto working a dead-end job at a dry cleaning shop. His sister's boyfriend, Calvin, is a successful cocaine dealer while Ace's close friend Mitch is a flashy, popular drug dealer. Despite both of them promising a life of easy money, expensive cars and women, Ace decides to live a law-abiding life. While at work, Ace finds some cocaine in one of his customers’s pants. The customer, Lulu, is a cocaine supplier who lets Ace keep the drug. When Calvin gets arrested on drug charges, Ace runs into one of his customers and easily sells him the cocaine for $100. Impressed, Ace goes back to Lulu for more cocaine to sell. Lulu has a top-quality supply of cocaine which Ace sells on the street at a cheap price, quickly luring away customers from other drug dealers. Ace starts wholesaling his product to other dealers in the neighborhood, believing everyone can make money and be happy. Meanwhile, Mitch is arrested for killing a stickup man who robbed one of his workers. When a fight breaks out between Mitch and another inmate, Mitch is aided by East Harlem inmate Rico who impresses Mitch by his ferocity and show of support. Mitch is able to beat his murder charge and both him and Rico join Ace's drug empire when released from prison. The trio become wealthy, buying foreign cars, jewelry and expensive champagne. Ace maintains a low profile, Mitch returns to his life as the popular hustler while Rico is a ruthless enforcer who worries Ace with his overzealous, high-profile behavior. When Calvin is released from prison, Ace agrees to give him product to sell in his old drug spot, but Calvin quickly becomes dissatisfied what he feels is a marginal position. When Ace refuses to let Calvin run his old block, Calvin retaliates by attempting to rob Ace at his Aunt June's apartment, holding June and Dora hostage. When Ace is unable to open the safe, June and Dora are executed by Calvin as another associate shoots Ace in the head, leaving him for dead. Despite his wounds, Ace survives as baby is born the same night. Feeling the physical and psychological effects of the shooting, Ace decides to quit the drug trade. Rico tries to assuage Ace's concerns by revealing that he killed Calvin to show potential enemies that the organization is strong. Ace strongly disagrees with Rico's initiative and remains steadfast in his position to retire. Mitch understands Ace's perspective that the drug game does not reciprocate any love or generosity. Mitch decides to stay in the drug game because he loves the hustle, comparing himself to professional basketball players that continue to chase glory despite having enough money to retire. Ace decides to let Mitch and Rico take over, vowing to introduce Mitch to his drug supplier. While Ace is recovering, Mitch's kid brother Sonny is kidnapped for ransom. Mitch reaches out to Ace who provides him with enough cocaine to pay Sonny's ransom and allow Mitch and Rico to resume business. Mitch enlists Rico to help sell the cocaine to pay the ransom, but Rico instead kills Mitch and steals the cocaine. Suspicious, Ace questions Rico who claims he had not seen Mitch the day he was killed. Ace knows he's lying and settles the issue by giving him the contact to a pair of undercover FBI agents he had spoken to and avoided previously. Rico is arrested and is last seen in custody giving up information on his drug connections in Washington D.C. in order to avoid a 25-to-life sentence. He refuses to inform on anyone in Harlem, intending on reclaiming his position when he is eventually released from prison. Sonny's kidnapping and subsequent murder were orchestrated by his own uncle who resented Mitch for not providing him with money and for kicking him out of his family's apartment. Ace retreats from the criminal underworld and makes a new life for himself and his family using diamonds that he previously found in Lulu's apartment. ===== Mitochondria are the "power house" of biological cells. It is thought that they were originally separate organisms, and a symbiotic relationship between them and early cellular life has evolved into their present position as cell organelles with no independent existence (see endosymbiotic theory). The novel's plot supposes that mitochondria, which are inherited through the female line of descent, form the dispersed body of an intelligent conscious life-form, dubbed Eve, which has been waiting throughout history and evolution for the right conditions when mitochondrial life can achieve its true potential and take over from eukaryotic life-forms (i.e. humans and similar life) by causing a child to be born that can control its own genetic code. Eve is able to control people's minds and bodies by signaling to the mitochondria in their bodies. She can cause certain thoughts to occur to them and also make them undergo spontaneous combustion. The conditions Eve has waited for have arrived; she has found the perfect host in the body of Kiyomi Nagishima. At the start of the book, Eve is the mitochondria in Kiyomi's body. She causes Kiyomi to crash her car; Kiyomi survives but is brain dead. Kiyomi's husband is Toshiaki, a research assistant teaching and researching biological science. Eve influences Toshiaki and a doctor to ensure that one of Kiyomi's kidneys is transplanted into the teenage girl Mariko Anzai as an organ donation. As part of Kiyomi's body, the kidney is also a part of Eve; this prepares Mariko to be a suitable host for giving birth to mitochondrial life, as her immune system would otherwise rebel. Eve influences Toshiaki to grow some of Kiyomi's liver cells in his lab in sufficient quantities to provide Eve with an independent body, he thinks that he is doing this as an experiment using different cultures of the liver cells. Forming some of the cells into a body, Eve possesses Toshiaki's assistant Sachiko Asakura and intermittently takes control of Asakura to work upon the cultures. Eventually, she takes control of Asakura during a conference presentation speech and announces her presence. Leaving Asakura's body, she returns to the lab. Toshiaki pursues her, and she rapes him in the form of Kiyomi to capture some of his sperm, which she uses to fertilize an egg of her own production. Moving to the hospital, she implants this egg in Mariko's womb. The egg develops into a child that is born almost immediately. Eve anticipates that her child will be able to consciously change its genetic code, thus being an infinitely adaptable "perfect life form" capable of replacing humanity and similar life-forms. Mariko's body will be host to a new race of these life-forms. The experiment fails, since Toshiaki's sperm carry a separate line of "male" mitochondria (inherited through sperm) that will be wiped out in the new order; these resist the change by fighting for control of the child's body, causing it to switch between male and female forms. The child dies; Toshiaki also dies, merging his body with the child's to control the bursts of psychokinetic-like power it gives out in its death throes that threaten to kill many people. In the novel's epilogue, it is revealed that some samples of the Eve cells in Toshiaki's lab survived. However, they are destroyed shortly after being found. ===== The novel is set in modern times against the background of the legendary Medieval Welsh colonization of Mobile, Alabama under the prince Madoc in the 12th century. The modern Pendragon, King Arthur's secret successor, must recover Arthur's famed sword Excalibur. ===== The film is a cinematic work of historical fiction, taking as its premise the idea that Jones was murdered by Frank Thorogood, a builder who had been hired to renovate and improve Jones's house Cotchford Farm in East Sussex, though there is a curious ghost-epilogue where Jones comes back to earth, to thank chauffeur/minder Tom Keylock - not Thorogood - for making him into an immortal martyr. The film also paints a picture of Jones's use of alcohol and drugs, and his relationships with Anita Pallenberg and Anna Wohlin. ===== Phoebe arrives at the hospital with the group, where she tells the nurse at the desk that she is in labor. In Phoebe's hospital room, Ross and Rachel enter with bad news: her doctor fell and hit her head in the shower, meaning she is unable to make it to the birth. The replacement doctor, Dr. Harad assures Phoebe that she is in good hands, until he spontaneously declares his admiration for Fonzie, from Happy Days several times. Phoebe demands that Ross goes and find her another doctor, but when the replacement Dr. Oberman (T. J. Thyne) is too young for her liking, Dr. Harad returns. She moreover begs Rachel to talk to her brother Frank, and convince him to let her keep one of the triplets, after having second thoughts over the surrogate process. In the delivery room, Phoebe gives birth to a boy and two girls. Rachel breaks the news to Phoebe that she will not be able to keep one of the babies. She asks her friends to leave, in order to have a moment alone with the triplets. She tells the babies she wishes she could take them home and see them every day, but she will settle for being their favorite aunt, and the four of them cry together. Rachel informs Monica that she has managed to find two male nurses who would be willing to go out on a date with either of them. Monica declines the offer at first, not wanting to jeopardize her secret relationship with Chandler but when he assumes she is willing to go out with nurse Dan (Patrick Fabian), Monica decides to date him after all. After Phoebe gives birth, Chandler approaches Monica in a hallway to ask if she is really going to date Dan. She replies to him that since both of them are just "goofing around", she figured why not "goof around" with Dan too; Chandler asks if Monica had checked up the term in the dictionary, noting the technical definition is "two friends who care a lot about each other, and have amazing sex, and just want to spend more time together". Monica, smitten by Chandler's words, kisses him and goes to call off her date with Dan. Meanwhile, Joey is in a hospital room of his own, where a doctor informs him that he is suffering from kidney stones. As they are too close to his bladder, Joey is given two options: wait until he passes them naturally, or have a procedure, which he finds too invasive. Opting for the former, he gives 'birth' to the kidney stones, concurrent with Phoebe's birth. ===== The series takes place in the town of Gamebridge where, through the accidental opening of a portal from the fictional Mix Master video game world of Atreia, the peaceful little town is invaded by the funny and sometimes dangerous game creatures, known as "hench", as well as the game world's evil Prince Brad. The main protagonist, 11-year- old Ditt Lee, is given a card shuffler by the eccentric Dr. Joeb, and now must "mix" those hench (as learned from the fictional video game) to achieve peace and safety, while he grows into his destiny to become the one true "Mix Master". The series presented over two hundred henches from different species. They can be fused or 'mixed' together to form a new, stronger hench. Henches are ranked from 1 (low) to 7 (high) depending on their power. Animals and plants are present. To be mixed, henches must be of the same rank and species. Henches are shown to be like humans, as they can sleep, eat, talk and tire out if they are overused. They bond with humans who show honesty and friendship. They have to obey the orders of the person who owns their card shuffler, even against their will. They seem to grow old and die. Although Henches are ranked as high as 7, above level 7 one hench is known as the Ultimate Hench and is the most powerful. Ultimate Hench exists when all the 8 Henches of Rank 7 are fused with the help of the Mix Master and The Master Hench. According to legend, the Master Hench has to find one human friend whom it trusts above all else, and that human becomes the Mix Master. It appears that the Master Henches are somehow related, as Pachi's brother was the previous Master Hench. The Master Hench can be mixed to become the ultimate Hench that can defeat Giara. The series was followed by a sequel season, Final Force. ===== Stella Blackstone (Ellen Page) and her best friend Albert (Michael Kanev) are twelve- year-olds with ambitious intentions of creating an extremely spooky Halloween house. While checking for hints online they open up a web link that opens a doorway through which an annoying ghost (Carlos Alazraqui) leaves his world and enters theirs. They find they must help this ghost resolve his problems or put up with him forever. ===== After high schoolers Wyatt, Lyle, Dante and Angie unwittingly open a portal from a video game called "Maldark: Conqueror of All Worlds" into the real world, characters from the game and the Internet start leaking into the real world of the four teenage characters. The group consequently finds itself balancing the everyday lives of its members with the extraordinary things that show up in their town from the virtual world which always resorts to using NeverFail to help send the monsters back into the game by "barding" them. ===== Marion Crane steals $400,000 from her employer to get her boyfriend, Sam Loomis, out of debt. She flees Phoenix, Arizona, by car. While en route to Sam's California home, she parks along the road to sleep. A highway patrol trooper awakens her and, suspicious of her agitated state, begins to follow her. When she trades her car for another one at a dealership, he notes the new vehicle's details. Marion returns to the road but, rather than drive in a heavy storm, decides to spend the night at the Bates Motel. Owner Norman Bates tells Marion he rarely has customers because of a new interstate highway nearby and mentions he lives with his mother Norma in the house overlooking the motel. He invites Marion to have supper with him. She overhears Norman arguing with his mother about letting Marion in the house; and, during the meal, she angers him by suggesting he institutionalize his mother. He admits he would like to do so, but he does not want to abandon her. Later that night, while Marion is changing, Norman secretly watches her from a peephole in his office and masturbates before heading back to the house. Marion resolves to return to Phoenix to return the money. After calculating how she can repay the money she has spent, Marion dumps her notes down the toilet and begins to shower. An unidentified female figure, presumed to be Norman's mother, enters the bathroom and stabs Marion to death. Later, finding the corpse, Norman is horrified. He cleans the bathroom and places Marion's body, wrapped in the shower curtain, and all her possessions—including the money—in the trunk of her car and sinks it in a nearby swamp. Sam is contacted by both Marion's sister, Lila, and private detective Milton Arbogast, who has been hired by Marion's employer to find her and recover the money. Arbogast traces Marion to the motel and questions Norman, who lies unconvincingly that Marion stayed for one night and left the following morning. He refuses to let Arbogast talk to his mother, claiming she is ill. Arbogast calls Lila to update her and tells her he will contact her again in an hour after he questions Norman's mother. Arbogast enters Norman's house and, at the top of the stairs, is attacked and murdered by the Mother figure. When Arbogast does not call Lila, she and Sam contact the local police. Deputy Sheriff Al Chambers is perplexed to hear that Arbogast saw a woman in a window, as Mrs. Bates had been dead for ten years. Norman confronts his mother and urges her to hide in the cellar. She rejects the idea and orders him out of her room, but Norman carries her to the cellar against her will. Posing as a married couple, Sam and Lila check into the motel and search the room Marion had occupied. They find a scrap of paper in the toilet with "$400,000" written on it. While Sam distracts Norman, Lila sneaks into the house to search for his mother. Sam suggests to Norman that he killed Marion for the money so he could buy a new motel. Realizing Lila is not around, Norman knocks Sam unconscious with a golf club and rushes to the house. Lila sees him and hides in the cellar where she discovers the mummified body of Norman's mother. Wearing his mother's clothes and a wig and carrying a knife, Norman enters and tries to attack Lila. But Sam, having regained consciousness, subdues Norman with Lila's help. After Norman's arrest, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Simon Richmond tells Sam and Lila that Norman's dead mother is living in Norman's psyche as an alternate personality. After the death of Norman's father, his mother found a lover. Norman went over the edge with jealousy and murdered both of them. He stole her corpse and preserved the body. When he is Mother, he acts, talks and dresses as she would. Norman imagined his mother would be as jealous of a woman to whom he might be attracted just as he was of his mother's lover, and so Mother kills any woman for whom Norman has feelings. When Norman regains consciousness, he believes that his mother has committed the crime and covers up for her. Richmond concludes that the Mother personality has now taken complete control of Norman's mind, erasing his existence. In the final scene, Norman sits in a cell, thinking in Mother's voice. In a voice-over, Mother explains that she plans to prove to the authorities she is incapable of violence by refusing to swat a fly that has landed on her hand. Marion's car is shown being recovered from the swamp and is followed by the ending credits. ===== In this Depression-era tale, Calef McKinney (John Furlong) is traveling from Michigan to California and stops in Spooner, Missouri, where Lute Wade (Stuart Lancaster) hires him for odd jobs. McKinney gets involved with Wade's niece, Hannah Brenshaw (Antoinette Christiani). But she is married to Sidney (Hal Hopper), a wife-beating drunk who hopes to inherit his uncle-in-law's money. Sidney and an eccentric preacher named Brother Hanson (Frank Bolger) plot against McKinney, who finds it difficult to conceal his mysterious past and his growing affection for Sidney's wife. Sidney winds up burning his farm and attempting to frame Mckinney. He rapes and murders the preacher's wife and is killed by the lynch mob. ===== Robert Donat and Elissa Landi in The Count of Monte Cristo In 1815, a French merchant ship stops at the island of Elba. A letter from the exiled Napoleon is given to the ship's captain to deliver to a man in Marseille. Before he dies of a sickness, the captain entrusts the task to his first officer, Edmond Dantès (Donat). However, the city magistrate, Raymond de Villefort, Jr. (Calhern), is tipped off by an informer, the second officer, Danglars (Raymond Walburn), and has both men arrested after the exchange. Dantès' friend Fernand Mondego (Sidney Blackmer) accompanies him to the jail. However, he, Danglars, and de Villefort all stand to gain from keeping Dantès imprisoned: Mondego is in love with Dantès' fiancée, Mercedes (Landi); Danglars wants to be promoted captain in Dantès' place; and the man who accepted the letter turns out to be de Villefort's father (Lawrence Grant). De Villefort consigns Dantès without trial to a notorious prison, the Château d'If, on the false testimony of Danglars. When Napoleon returns to France, giving Dantès' friends hope for his release, de Villefort signs a false statement that he was killed trying to escape, which Mondego shows to Mercedes. Deceived, she gives in to her mother's deathbed wish and marries Mondego. Eight years of solitary confinement follow for Dantès. Then one day, the aged Abbé Faria (O. P. Heggie), a fellow prisoner, breaks into his cell through a tunnel he has been digging. The two join forces; Faria calculates it will take five more years to finish. In the meantime, he starts educating Dantès. However, as they near their goal, a cave-in fatally injures the old man. Before he dies, he bequeaths a vast hidden treasure to his protégé (Faria's enemies had tortured and imprisoned him in an unsuccessful attempt to extract its location). The body is sewn into a shroud, but while the undertaker is away, Dantès substitutes himself for the corpse undetected. He is cast into the sea. He frees himself and is picked up by a smuggling ship. Dantès later follows Faria's directions and finds the treasure on the uninhabited island of Monte Cristo. With a fortune at his command, he sets in motion his plans for revenge. To begin, he arranges to have Albert (Mercedes and Mondego's son) kidnapped and held for ransom. Dantès "rescues" the younger man in order to gain entry into Paris society, using his purchased title of Count of Monte Cristo. First to be brought to justice is Mondego. While the French ambassador to Albania, Mondego gained renown for his bravery in an unsuccessful defense of Ali Pasha. Dantès arranges a ball to "honor" his enemy, then arranges to have him exposed publicly as the one who betrayed Ali Pasha to his death at the hands of the Turks. Unaware of the count's role in his disgrace, Mondego goes to him for advice. Dantès reveals his identity and they engage in a duel; Dantès wins, but spares Mondego, who returns home and commits suicide. Next is Danglars, now the most influential banker in Paris. Dantès uses his services to buy and sell shares, sharing tips he receives from his informants. When these turn out to be infallibly profitable, Danglars bribes a man to send him copies of messages to Dantès. Greed leads him to invest all of his money on the next report, just as Dantès had planned. When the tip proves to be false, Danglars is bankrupted. Dantès reveals his true identity to Danglars, who is left penniless and insane. However, there are unexpected complications that threaten Dantès' carefully conceived plans. Albert Mondego learns of his involvement in his father's downfall and challenges him to a duel. Mercedes, who had recognized her former lover upon their first meeting, begs him not to kill her son. He agrees. Albert deliberately changes his aim because his mother has told him who Monte Cristo really is, and the duel ends without injury. De Villefort has risen to the high office of State Attorney. Dantès sends him information about his true identity and activities, which leads to his arrest and trial. At first, Dantès refuses to testify, in order to shield de Villefort's daughter Valentine (Irene Hervey), who is in love with Albert. However, when she learns of it, she urges him to defend himself. Dantès does so, providing evidence of de Villefort's longstanding corruption. At last, with all of his enemies destroyed, Dantès is reunited with Mercedes. ===== As he grows up, Gabriel starts to suspect that he is not like other boys, and engages in a series of sexually oriented games with Noel, a young male friend. He is later caught in the act by his childhood friend Fergal. During adolescence, Gabriel is convinced by his cousin Connor to sexually experiment with him, learns he is attracted to his own sex, and tries to fight it by trying to make himself attracted to girls. At sixteen, he is also abused at school by a priest Father Cornelius. The story ends with Brendan's revelation and Gabriel about to leave Ireland to go to University in England, and the reader has to draw his or her own conclusions about whether Gabriel will continue his relationship with Fiona – with whom he is in love but can't have a sexual relationship – or reconcile with his homosexual leanings. ===== In 1923,The death of Warren G. Harding takes place during the story. an American named Delapore, the last descendant of the De la Poer family, moves to his ancestral estate in England following the death of his only son during World War I. To the dismay of nearby residents, he restores the estate, called Exham Priory. After moving in, Delapore and his cat frequently hear the sounds of rats scurrying behind the walls. Upon investigating further, and through recurring dreams, Delapore learns that his family maintained an underground city for centuries, where they raised generations of "human cattle"—some regressed to a quadrupedal state—to supply their taste for human flesh. This was stopped when Delapore's ancestor killed his entire family in their sleep and left the country in order to end the horror, leaving the remaining human livestock and a surviving relative to be devoured by the rats inhabiting the city's cesspits. Maddened by the revelations of his family's past, a hereditary cruelty and his anger over his son's death, Delapore attacks one of his friends in the dark of the cavernous city and begins eating him while rambling in a mixture of Middle English, Latin, and Gaelic, before devolving into a cacophony of animalistic grunts. He is subsequently subdued and placed in a mental institution. At least one other investigator, Thornton, has gone insane as well. Soon after, Exham Priory is destroyed and the investigators decide to cover up the existence of the city. Delapore maintains his innocence, proclaiming that it was "the rats, the rats in the walls", who ate the man. He continues to be plagued by the sound of rats in the walls of his cell. ===== Two scientists are attempting to distribute the cure for a demon virus that is affecting people all over Japan, however, things have become complicated. One of them has become infected. So begins his battle with himself, as he attempts to not only control his emerging demon side, but also to save the lives of others by wielding its great strength. ===== Three porn star triplets are abducted from Lula's house and she decides to rescue them. After finding her keys, Lula leaves her home in Beverly Hills and travels to San Francisco, Las Vegas, and New Orleans to rescue them. ===== The book is written in the present tense. It's 1978, New Jersey: Saturday Night Fever and Grease are big. 13-year-old Robin MacKenzie is caught in a triangular relationship with next-door neighbor Todd Spicer and classmate Scott Schatz. Robin develops a fascination for 17-year- old neighbor Todd who, despite often teasing him, initiates a sexual relationship with the younger boy, whom Todd invites to a party after which they go swimming on a golf course. Robin further forms a close bond with fellow freshman Scott Schatz, whose father is physically abusive. Robin learns that, two years earlier, Todd and Scott were involved in a sexual relationship. Robin is troubled by this, but his relationship with Scott is ultimately unaffected. During the novel, Robin's younger brother Jackson dies some time after falling from a slide and breaking his neck, an incident Robin blames himself for although it isn't anyone's fault. As a result Robin's family begins to break down: his father becomes violent towards Robin, and Robin's longstanding bond with his mother begins to be affected. His younger sister Ruby becomes religious and also closer to Robin. ===== A future post-apocalyptic world is ruled by the good- looking people. A terrorist group of disabled people, who see themselves as mutants, take arms against their oppressors. They plan to rid the world of "beautiful people" and superficiality. They are very inept at what they do and mistrust one another. They assassinate body builders, massacre an aerobics class on live TV and blow up a sperm bank as part of their violent campaign. Led by their chief Ramón Yarritu (Antonio Resines), they plan their final hit before retirement; the kidnap of Patricia Orujo (Frédérique Feder), the daughter and only heiress of billionaire businessman Lord Orujo (Fernando Guillén), the plan involves kidnapping the girl in the middle of her wedding but the scene becomes a massacre when the girl cuts the cake with a large sharp knife puncturing the chest of one of the terrorists that was hidden inside of it, badly hurt he opens the cake top and open fire on the alarmed and unsuspecting attendees, 2 members of the terrorist group are killed in the middle of the fray but the rest manage to flee with Patricia as their hostage. They staple Patricia's lips together with a special electronic device and escape from the police in their spaceship whose disguised as a gigantic fish merchant ship. Ramón, planning to keep the ransom money for himself, hides from the group that the amount set for the exchange is 100 million and declares its only 10 million, the gang accidentally watches a news flash report where the correct amount to be delivered by the girl's family is revealed, the gang gets upset and summons Ramón to explain the misinformation but he turns the gang members against each other by convincing them there is a traitor on board the ship and that is part of the crew. His scheme and plot leads to the deaths of all the crewmen/henchmen of the gang seemingly accidentally each time a member was murdered by Ramón himself, while killing the last one of the terrorists - Juan (Juan Viadas), who has a siamese twin .. Álex (Álex Angulo), he is discovered and a fierce fight starts culminating in the destruction of the guidance system of the ship. They crash on a planet called Axturiax, a brutal and forgotten mining planet inhabited only by male crazed, sex-starved miners because all women had died. Ramón and Patricia, who has developed Stockholm syndrome, are captured by miners but manage to escape, but not before they attempt to gang-rape her, Álex survives the crash too and after he friendlies with a blind experienced miner, he decides to pursue Ramón to avenge his death brother and to rescue Patricia, he must drag the attached dead body of his brother Juan around with him for the rest of the film, A planned ransom drop trick by Orujo turns into mayhem, when a portable nuclear device is activated by lord Orujo to wipe clean the whole area, the event is compounded by live TV coverage for the ransom negotiations when Álex arrives and kills Lord Orujo with a headshot, initiating a dogfight inside the bar that goes to its climax when the police forces join the show and Ramón decides to sacrifice himself to allow Patricia escape and survive the bar fight with the police forces outside ... greeting Patricia with a French kiss and Álex by telling him he is still useless, he uses Lord Orujo mini nuke to evaporate the police army outside entrance while the bar trembles and crumbles due to the mini nuke shockwave. When the nuclear blast is over Álex finally gets rid of his siamese twin attached body and finds Patricia hidden below a metal cage that saved her, they hold each other in order to ready a machine gun and get outside the destroyed bar. ===== Paedophilia is at the heart of the story. Oliver Gold's pure thoughts, and seemingly asexual life contrast with the reality of his desires and deeds. Oliver abuses Bobs over a long period. Category:1998 British novels Category:Novels by A. N. Wilson Category:British philosophical novels Category:Child sexual abuse in literature Category:Pedophilia in literature ===== Whilst travelling in time, the TARDIS suddenly shakes violently. The Eighth Doctor shuts it down, concluding that it is tearing itself apart attempting to escape a force that is forcing it to land. As the Doctor, Anji and Fitz emerge onto a wasteland, they are captured by soldiers. They learn that they have landed on a planet that is host to a war between two factions of humans: the Plutocratic empire and rebels known as Defaulters. Both sides have weapons that can slow the flow of time, or speed it up in small areas, but because of this, both sides have reached a stalemate. The soldiers take the Doctor to an officer called Lane. She assumes that the Doctor is the time expert the Plutocrats were sending, and the Doctor decides to agree. Lane takes them to a military outpost called Station 40. When they arrive, one of the soldiers, a man called Bishop, who had his arm aged by a time storm, is placed in a decelerated time capsule until his fate is decided. The commander of the base, Commander Bragg, reveals that one of his scientists, Dr Patterson, has developed a time capsule, which they plan to use to stop the war from ever happening. Two men, Ash and Norton, get inside the machine and go back in time, but the machine spins out of control. The Doctor brings the machine back to the present, and Ash and Norton are placed in quarantine and develop disorientation, anachrophobia, memory loss and physical trauma. The Doctor finds a breach in the machine's walls, meaning that the machine's interior was exposed to the time vortex. Meanwhile, Norton's condition is getting worse: time is moving more slowly around him and he cannot recognise his own face as his past is slowly being erased. The Doctor decides to travel in the time capsule and Fitz demands to go with him, but Bragg learns that the Doctor is not the time expert and stops Anji from carrying on with controlling the capsule. Meanwhile, inside the capsule, time slows down and something begins banging on the door. Lane goes to check Ash and Norton, but they attack her and in her rush to leave she tears her time proof suit. Time then jumps back one minute, and lane contacts Bragg, giving Anji the chance to overpower him and return The Doctor and Fitz to the present. However another staff member, Shaw, overpowers Anji and locks the Doctor and his companions away. Time begins to flow more slowly over Lane and time jumps back a minute, confirming that Ash and Norton infected lane, who has now infected Bragg. A man called Mistletoe arrives at the station, claiming to be an auditor sent to review the experiments. Shaw releases the Doctor, Fitz and Anji and brings them to the lab as Mistletoe moves Bishop to the quarantine ward. Bishop becomes infected and Ash, Norton and Bishop face's all turn into clock faces. The Doctor uses gas to knock out the infected and after examining them, reveals that they are turning into clocks. Elsewhere, Patterson sees Bragg's face turn into a clock, but when he reaches the Doctor to warn him, his face turns into a clock, and he finds that he can travel throughout his own lifetime. The Doctor warns him not to, as he fears that the infected are offered the chance to change their personal timelines, but if they do, they have their history erased and become empty vessels for the clock creatures to take over. After hearing this, Patterson commits suicide. Fitz and Shaw go looking for the others, but as they do, a Defaulter bombing causes safety doors to lower. Shaw takes Fitz down to the lower levels, leaving The Doctor and Anji trapped with Bragg. The Doctor opens the door and seals it again, but Bragg rewinds time to get through. The Doctor and Anji seal themselves in the control room with Mistletoe, but it is too late for the clock creatures to rewind time. Fitz and Shaw are attacked by Lane, but due to her time reversal abilities, he cannot shoot her. Lane releases Ash, Bishop and Norton from the quarantine ward as Doctor, Anji and Mistletoe flee to the medical bay. the Doctor exams battle reports and finds them full of strange tactics. Mistletoe then admits that the war is being prolonged to increase profit for the empire. The Doctor then decides to use mustard gas on the creatures as it takes an hour to take effect and the clocks will not be able to rewind time far enough to save themselves. Fitz and Shaw retrieve Mustard gas from the stores and release it. Anji cannot find the Doctor, until Fitz brings him back into the medical bay, having found him outside with no gas mask on. The infected people slowly die, but Mistletoe remembers that Bishop was taken to Station One, the main headquarters of the Plutocrats, to study his infection. The station has a population of 60,000, all of whom will be infected. The survivors sent out in a van in pursuit of Dr. Hammond, only to find his van ambushed by Defaulters, but the whole area has been frozen in time due to Bishop's capsule being smashed. Dr. Hammond reveals himself to be a robot while Shaw reveals that he is a Defaulter agent. As Shaw prepares to shoot everyone, an accelerated time bomb brings time back to normal, and a Defaulter soldier shoots Shaw and injures Bishop. Hammond's power supply explodes, which kills the Defaulter. Bishop uses his powers to rewind time, kill the defaulter and flee from Hammond. however, his face turns into a clock. Plutocratic soldiers mistakenly rescue Bishop, but as the Doctor pursues them, they go through a small patch of decelerated time with broken shielding and arrive at station One months later. They find that all of station One has been converted, but they are allowed to pass through unharmed. At the central audit bureau, they meet the Actuaries, robot accountants who have been running both sides of the war for profit. However, they cannot remember why they are making money or who for, as they have not received any contact from the Empire for one hundred years. They funded the time travel experiments to try to find their purpose. However Bishop enters and infects the Doctor. As the clocks try to tempt him, he remembers that as the clocks exist outside of normal time, they depend on the hole in time that the capsule tore. The Doctor travels along his own timeline to the point where he sealed the airlock before the mustard gas was released. He runs to the lab and fills the time capsule with chrononium, the material used to make the time weapons, then he sets up a clockwork timer. After exposing himself to the gas, he returns to the present, without having changed history. The capsule then launches, sealing the hole. the clocks are killed, and the Doctor passes out. Mistletoe reveals himself as Sabbath (he is not named in the text, but it is clearly him from the description) to Fitz and Anji. Sabbath explains that the clocks were not invading the universe but fleeing Sabbath's allies in the time vortex, and that both the clocks and the Doctor were manipulated into coming here, in the hope that the Doctor would destroy them. Sabbath then leaves, and Fitz and Anji carry the Doctor to the TARDIS. ===== Lord Dismiss Us is set in an English boys' public school in the 1960s. The novel deals with the love affair between two boys, together with the internal politics of the school itself. Carleton, a sixth former loves Allen, a boy two years his junior. At the same time, the headmaster is trying to enforce a policy against such liaisons. At the time of writing it was a contemporaneous work. As such it now depicts a school at a period in history. It was published in the same year that homosexuality between consenting adults was legalised in the UK. The author, Michael Mussen Campbell, b. 1924, was the grandson of the 1st Lord Glenavy and brother of the 3rd Baron, the humorist Patrick Campbell. He was a Dubliner who attended St Columba's school and Trinity College. Lord Dismiss Us was apparently based on the suicide of a St. Columba's schoolmaster. Briefly a barrister at the Irish bar, Campbell worked in London for the Irish Times. His other novels included Peter Perry (1956), a 'story of Dublin Theatrical Life', and Oh Mary, This London (1959), a fantasy set in London, and Across the Water (1959). Michael Campbell succeeded his brother Patrick in 1980 to become the 4th and last Lord Glenavy. He never married, dying in 1984. ===== Set far in the future, the human race is in the middle of a cold war with an alien race called the Thanatosians. During a target practice by an Earth fleet that will destroy an uninhabited planet, the heavy destroyer Jeremiah O'Brien is infected with an unknown virus that mutates the crew. No longer recognized due to the changes in their DNA, the O'Brien's security robot, simply known as "the Ship's Defender", assumes they are invaders and kills them. An apparent technical malfunction has caused the O'Brien's computer to believe that it was in a real life war situation, and select the planet Calliope as a target for destruction. Like all of the human fleet's Cerberus-class destroyers, the O'Brien carries a weapon known as "Iron Helix", which is capable of destroying all life on a planet in a single act. An attack on Calliope, a peaceful Thanatosian planet, would cause the war to go "hot". The player is on board the scientific exploration ship Indiana, and is contacted by the Earth's forces in an attempt to stop the O'Brien, as it was the only ship nearby. As the ship is infected with the unknown virus, the player instead remotely controls a zoological robot that is sent over to explore. As much of the ship's systems are locked out using DNA detectors, the robot must collect uncontaminated samples of the crew's DNA to access different secured areas on board. The robot can also interface with dataports on the O'Brien to operate its systems, from opening doors to issuing executive commands. ===== The story is spun off of the Korean historical drama Dae Jang Geum, though it is aimed for a younger audience. The plot is basically the same: a girl named Jang Geum with a dream of becoming a palace chef (의녀). However, the complex line of corruption and sometimes even murder present in Dae Jang Geum does not appear in Jang Geum's Dream. Jang Geum's Mother is revealed to have passed in Season 2. The plot is kept light throughout with quite a bit of comedy. Through the story, Jang Geum enters the palace and amazes people with her skills and willingness to learn. However, after receiving much approval from the royals and upper sang goong, she abandons her thought of cooking to see people's smiles and turns to winning and impressing. Lady Han, a sang goong that has always watched over her, warns her of the path she is taking but Jang Geum continues to strive to impress. Finally she is found out by the sang goongs after stealing a sacred book and thrown out of the palace with her friends, Yeon Shan and Chang Yi. Jang Geum travels with her friends and slowly realizes the mistakes she made and turns back to the train of thought she once had. She realizes that she had forgotten the importance of natural flavor. At the end of this series, Jang Geum wins a competition by preparing food that is beneficial to each individual eating it and is allowed back into the palace. However, she demotes herself to the lowest palace maid because she wants to start over. The story continues with Jang Geum's Dream Season 2 in 2007. ===== The film opens at a mid-1950s press conference, where scenes are shown for an upcoming film starring Nina (Liza Minnelli), a popular screen celebrity. While on her way to the conference, Nina looks at herself in an ornate mirror, which triggers a flashback to her arrival in Rome, when she was 19 years old. Her cousin, Valentina (Tina Aumont), has arranged for her to work as a chambermaid in a dilapidated hotel. In the course of her duties, Nina meets an ailing, eccentric Senora Contessa Sanziani (Ingrid Bergman), who was once the toast of Europe. The Contessa receives a visit from her husband, Count Sanziani (Charles Boyer), from whom she has been estranged for 40 years. Old quarrels are revived and Sanziani leaves the hotel, sadly telling the manager that he does not wish to be informed if anything should happen to his wife. After having a discussion with Nina, the Contessa decides to take her under her wing and turn her into a lovely and sophisticated woman. Nina is troubled by a birthmark on her forehead, but the Contessa assures her that someday important men will be eager to press their lips to it. One evening, the Contessa summons Nina to her room and shows her a scarlet sari an Indian ambassador had once given her. She insists that Nina undress and places the sari on her. The Contessa then cuts Nina's long, dark hair and puts makeup on her and transforms the maid into a beautiful woman. Nina tells the Contessa she wishes she could be just like her, but the Contessa says that is a silly desire. While listening to the Contessa's stories, Nina imagines herself living out the Contessa's existence, triggering a series of fantasy sequences, all set in elaborate settings such as casinos and Venetian palazzos. On a rare day off from work, Nina explores Rome and begins to sense the wonderful possibilities that may lie in store for her. That evening, while she is performing a task for the Contessa, the latter suffers a mental breakdown. The manager of the hotel, angered by the Contessa's wailing, insists that she must leave the hotel within a few days. The next morning, Nina seeks help from Mario (Spiros Andros), a frustrated screenwriter who lives in the hotel. She has brought with her some of the Contessa's old stock certificates, hoping that Mario will be able to determine their worth. Mario tells her the certificates are worthless and that he feels no pity for the Contessa. Nina reacts angrily and leaves his room. Later on, Nina goes to a bank and finds that Mario was very nearly right. Most of the certificates are, indeed, worthless, but one, from the Bank of Congo, is worth enough to pay the Contessa's hotel bill for several weeks – ₤150,000 (about US$240 in 1954, the year the film takes place). She uses part of this money to help pay the Contessa's hotel expenses. That same day, Nina goes to a restaurant to pick up the Contessa's dinner. A screen director, Antonio Vicari (Gabriele Ferzetti), sees Nina in the restaurant and asks Mario, who is writing a screenplay for him, to introduce him to the young woman. The introduction is made, and arrangements are made for Nina to have a screen test. Before she leaves for the studio, she finds that the Contessa has abruptly checked out of the hotel to find an old flame, Gabriele d'Orazio (Orso Maria Guerrini). The Contessa is no longer thinking clearly; she hurries into the street and is hit by a car. She is taken, unconscious, to a Catholic charity hospital. Meanwhile, Nina has difficulties with her screen test, until Mario gets her to talk about the Contessa. Her subsequent show of passion impresses Vicari, who decides he wants Nina to star in his next picture. Nina hurries off the set, and after a search, she and Mario locate the hospital where the Contessa is under the care of Sister Pia (Isabella Rossellini, her real-life daughter, in her first film role). Nina is taken to the Contessa's bedside, but the old woman has just died. Deeply saddened, Nina takes the Contessa's ornate mirror as a remembrance and leaves the hospital. The film jumps forward to the present time. Nina has become a motion picture star. She arrives at the press conference. As she steps out of her limousine, a girl hurries up and says she wants to be just like Nina when she grows up. ===== Technician Ted is an enthusiastic young computer hacker who works at the chip factory. He begins his work every day at 8.30am and must complete 21 tasks before clocking off at 5.00pm. Unfortunately, his boss has not told him what the tasks are or where they are located. Ted speaks to his mate, who tells him that his first job is to get to his desk, and from there he must make his way to the "Silicon Slice Store". ===== The Doctor, Steven, and Vicki land in what seems to be Venice in 1609, where they meet a host of major historical figures including Galileo Galilei and William Shakespeare. However, with the arrival of old acquaintance Irving Braxiatel, Vicki's abduction and the framing of Steven for murder, the Doctor soon finds himself embroiled in the sinister machinations of an alien invasion. ===== Vlad Taltos, a mobster and assassin in the magical metropolis of Adrilankha, is given the largest contract of his career, but the job is even more complicated than he expects. ===== Ironwood follows the adventures of Dave Dragavon, a juvenile dragon existing only in human form (not yet having matured enough to take full dragon form) who is hired by the beautiful Pandora Breedlswight to find the wizard Gnaric in order to free her from a curse. The comics are a mixture of sword and sorcery, sexual situations and adult humor. ===== Martin Lloyd (Willie Garson), an extraterrestrial turned Hollywood writer, returns to Stargate Command looking for assistance from SG-1 with his script for the movie adaptation of the television show Wormhole X-Treme, first featured earlier in the series in the episode "Wormhole X-Treme!". The team, especially Lt. Colonel Mitchell (Ben Browder), is reluctant to help. Mitchell is excited about his next off-world mission because it marks his 200th trip through the Stargate. However, when technical glitches prevent the team from setting off on their mission, they are stuck in the briefing room under the orders of General Landry (Beau Bridges), because the Pentagon believes a successful science fiction film about intergalactic wormhole travel will serve as a good cover story to keep the real Stargate program a secret. The notes session quickly devolves into the team members pitching their own versions of a successful sci-fi film, including a zombie invasion (from Mitchell), a previously unseen mission where O'Neill became invisible (from Carter), "tributes" to The Wizard of Oz and Farscape (from Vala), and Teal'c as a private investigator (from Teal'c himself). Also featured are a vignette of the team's mental image of a "younger and edgier" SG-1 (sparked by the studio's suggestion to replace the original Wormhole X-Treme cast), a suggested scene by Martin that turns out to be both scientifically inaccurate and highly derivative of Star Trek, a re-imagined version of the SG-1 pilot episode where all the characters are marionettes in the style of the television series Thunderbirds, and an imagined wedding that features the return of General O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson). Also, there's a hint that O'Neill could have been Mitchell's father, as SG-1 had travelled back in time to 1969 in "1969", but it turns out to be just a joke. Ultimately, the planning session is all for naught, as the studio decides to cancel the movie in favor of renewing the series. At the end of the episode, the focus shifts ten years into the future, where the Wormhole X-Treme cast and crew are celebrating their 200th episode, as well as renewed plans for a movie. ===== In 2003, Mahmood was responsible for reporting an alleged plot to kidnap Victoria Beckham to the police. The subsequent trial collapsed after it emerged that Mahmood's main informant, Florim Gashi, had been paid £10,000 and could not be considered a reliable witness, and was later deported from the UK. Judge Simon Smith referred the News of the Worlds role in the affair to the Attorney General. One of the men involved later sued the News of the World for libel and won. The paper issued an apology and paid libel costs. ===== Set between July 1999 and January 2000, the story revolves around Russian presidential candidate Igor Komarov, head of the right-wing Union of Patriotic Forces (UPF). A highly popular and charismatic politician, victory is all but guaranteed for Komarov and the UPF in the national elections on 16 January 2000. However, a secret document, later known as the "Black Manifesto", is stolen from his secretary's empty office at UPF headquarters by Leonid Zaitsev, an elderly janitor and ex-soldier who happens to skim through the document while cleaning. The document contains extremely sensitive information regarding Komarov's future policies as president, such as the restoration of slave camps, creation of a one-party state, destruction of political opponents, invasions of the former Soviet republics, and genocide of Russia's ethnic and religious minorities. Komarov's team capture and kill Zaitsev, but not before he gives the document to the British, who later translate it and show it to influential Western leaders. Sir Nigel Irvine, former head of the SIS, comes up with a plan to thwart Komarov's victory. Searching for a suitable man to carry out this plan, former CIA Deputy Director of Operations Carey Jordan recommends Jason Monk, a former recruiter and runner of Soviet agents for the CIA and Vietnam War veteran. In parts of the novel, there are flashbacks to earlier years, detailing Monk's background and recruitment of several Soviets as US agents. These include government figures and a physicist. However, CIA mole Aldrich Ames, soon betrays these agents, along with all other CIA agents in the Soviet Union. Nearly all are rounded up by the Soviets, and are either executed or sentenced to hard labour after lengthy interrogation and torture by the ruthless Anatoli Grishin. Colonel Nikolai Ilyich Turkin, the first Soviet to be recruited by Monk, develops a close friendship with him after Monk saves his son from dying of a tropical disease. He is, however, the last CIA agent caught by the Soviets, with Grishin supervising the capture in Berlin as Monk watches close by after their last meeting. Turkin is interrogated and sent to a labour camp. There, dying of typhoid, he pens a letter to Monk detailing his interrogation and torture at the camps, and bids a final farewell. Monk, filled with anger and grief, attacks a bureaucrat known to have aided Ames, and this leads to his dismissal from the CIA. In 1999, he leads a quiet life in the Turks and Caicos Islands, taking tourists on fishing trips. Irvine visits him and talks about the plan against Komarov; Monk refuses, having sworn never to return to Russia, but agrees when he is given the chance to take revenge on Grishin, who is working as Komarov's security chief. He returns to Russia and rounds up a ring of influential figures to his cause by showing them the "Black Manifesto", and, with the aid of the Chechen mafia, whose leader owes Monk his life, he begins a series of schemes aimed at derailing Igor Komarov's presidential campaign. ===== The story begins with the narrator calling "Halloa! Below there!" into a railway cutting. The signalman standing on the railway below does not look up, as the narrator expects, but rather turns about and stares into the railway tunnel that is his responsibility to monitor. The narrator calls down again and asks permission to descend. The signalman seems reluctant. The railway hole is a cold, gloomy, and lonely place. The signalman still seems to be in fear of the narrator, who tries to put him at ease. The signalman feels that he had seen the narrator before, but the narrator assures him that this is impossible. Reassured, the signalman welcomes the newcomer into his little cabin, and the two men speak of the signalman's work. His labour consists of a dull monotonous routine, but the signalman feels he deserves nothing better, as he wasted his academic opportunities when he was young, although he has been spending his time during his shifts teaching himself mathematics and learning a foreign language (albeit with questionable pronunciation). The narrator describes that the signalman seems like a dutiful employee at all times, except when he twice looks at his signal bell when it is not ringing. There seems to be something troubling the signalman, but he will not speak of it. Before the narrator leaves, the signalman asks of him not to call for him when he's back on the top of the hill or when he sees him the following day. The next day, as directed by the signalman, the narrator returns and does not call. The signalman tells the narrator that he will reveal his troubles. He is haunted by a recurring spirit which he has seen at the entrance to the tunnel on separate occasions, and, with each appearance, was followed by a tragedy. In the first instance, the signalman heard the same words which the narrator said and saw a figure with its left arm across its face, while waving the other in desperate warning; he questioned it, but it vanished. He then ran into the tunnel, but found no-one; a few hours later, there was a terrible train crash with many casualties. During its second appearance, the figure was silent, with both hands before the face in an attitude of mourning; then, a beautiful young woman died in a train passing through. Finally, the signalman admits that he has seen the spectre several times during the past week. The narrator is sceptical about the supernatural, and suggests that the signalman is suffering from hallucinations. During their conversation, the signalman witnesses a ghost and hears his bell ring eerily, but the narrator sees and hears nothing. The signalman is sure that these supernatural incidents are presaging a third tragic event waiting to happen, and is sick with fear and frustration: he does not understand why he should be burdened with knowledge of an incipient tragedy when he, a minor railway functionary, has neither the authority nor the ability to prevent it. The narrator believes that his new friend's imagination has been overtaxed and suggests taking him to see a doctor. The next day, the narrator visits the railway cutting again and sees a mysterious figure at the mouth of the tunnel. This figure is not a ghost, however; it is a man, one of a group of officials investigating an incident on the line. The narrator discovers that the signalman is dead, having been struck by an oncoming train. He had been standing on the line, looking intently at something, and failed to get out of the way. The driver of the train explains that he attempted to warn the signalman of his danger: as the train bore down on the signalman the driver called out to him, "Below there! Look out! For God’s sake, clear the way!" Moreover, the driver waved his arm in warning even as he covered his face to avoid seeing the train strike the hapless signalman. The narrator notes the significance of the similarity between the driver's words and actions and those of the spectre as the signalman had earlier described them, but leaves the nature of that significance to the reader. ===== Six months after he took control of his own territory in the criminal Organization, Vlad engages in his first turf war with a rival boss. Each chapter's epigraph is a quote from its chapter. Vlad narrates this story from a point in his life before the events of Jhereg. He quickly summarizes the series of turf wars and assassinations that led him to rise in the ranks of the Organization from low- rung assassin to the boss of his own neighborhood. As the story begins, Vlad has held his territory for six uneventful months, but then he receives word that a neighboring boss, Laris, has started to move in on his territory. A turf war between Vlad and Laris erupts. Vlad receives indirect help from several of his powerful friends in the House of the Dragon, but remains one step behind the better-prepared and better-informed Laris. Vlad survives several attempts on his life, but eventually two of his bodyguards betray him and allow him to be attacked by two female assassins, a Dragaeran and an Easterner. Vlad's lieutenant had received timely warning of the attack and sent word to Vlad's friends, Morrolan and Aliera, who teleport to the scene. They kill the assassins but are unable to rescue Vlad, who is killed by the Easterner assassin. Aliera revivifies Vlad as well as the two assassins. Vlad meets the Easterner assassin, Cawti, and the two quickly fall in love. Aliera discovers that Cawti's partner, Norathar, is the former heir of House Dragon, having fallen into disgrace as a bastard some time ago. The current heir, Aliera, is looking for a way out of the position, and does a genetic test to determine the legitimacy of Norathar's claim. Vlad turns his attention back to his ongoing turf war, now with the help of Cawti. After yet another failed assassination attempt, Vlad begins to suspect that his war with Laris is only a ruse to cover some larger plot. After Norathar is confirmed as the legitimate heir, Vlad reasons out that the genetic test that incorrectly dubbed her a bastard was part of a plot to keep her from the throne. Further investigation suggests that Vlad's whole war with Laris has been orchestrated to get Norathar killed and to discredit Morrolan and Aliera. Vlad quickly reasons out that the Sorceress in Green, a prominent Yendi, has been working in consort with Sethra the Younger, an ambitious Dragonlord, to put a Dragon heir on the throne who will appoint Sethra as Warlord. Sethra wants to invade the Eastern Kingdoms and needs to install a sympathetic Emperor to achieve her ambitions. Sethra's namesake, Sethra Lavode, learns of her former apprentice's plans and teleports her away to deal with her personally. Morrolan, Aliera, Vlad, Cawti, and Norathar all pursue the Sorceress in Green, who leads them into a trap. Morrolan, Aliera, and Norathar fight through the Sorceress's thirty guards and magical defenses while Vlad and Cawti watch. Once most of the guards are slain, Vlad sneaks behind the Sorceress, destroys her magical wards with Spellbreaker, and threatens to kill her with a Morganti dagger if she does not give him Laris's location. She complies without hesitation. Vlad backs away and allows the battle to reach its conclusion, with Norathar killing the Sorceress. Vlad summons his enforcers and storms Laris's office, killing him without difficulty. Later, he learns that Aliera revived the Sorceress, believing that her humiliation was sufficient punishment (and also, they have used a mind probe on her and written down all the schemes in which she is involved). Sethra Lavode tells him how she teleported Sethra the Younger to an alternate dimension to do penance. Vlad and Cawti get engaged to be married and visit Vlad's grandfather. ===== This Earth of Mankind tells the story of Minke, a Javanese minor royal who studies at a Hogere Burger School (HBS) in an era when only the descendants of the European colonizers can expect to attain this level of education. Minke is a talented young writer whose works are published in several Dutch-language journals and are widely admired. But as a "native", Minke is disliked by many of his fellow-students, who all claim some European descent. He is portrayed as being bold in opposing the injustices imposed upon his fellow Javanese as well as challenging aspects of his own culture. Minke is introduced to an extremely unusual Indonesian woman, Nyai Ontosoroh, who is the concubine of a Dutch man called Herman Mellema. Though she is a concubine, Nyai Ontosoroh is the actual head of family and company as Herman Mellema lost his sanity in the past. of Minke falls in love with their daughter, Annelies, whom he eventually marries in an Islamic wedding in accordance with "native" customs, but which, according to Dutch law, has no legal validity because it was conducted without the consent of the under-aged Annelies' legal, Dutch, guardians. In that period, it was common for women to become the concubines of Dutch men living in the East Indies. They were considered to have low morals because of their status as concubines, even if, as in Nyai Ontosoro's case, they had no choice in the matter. Their children had uncertain legal status - either considered illegitimate "natives" with a corresponding lack of legal rights, unless legally acknowledged by their father, in which case they were considered "Indos", and their mother lost all rights over them in favor of the father. As a concubine, Nyai Ontosoro suffers because of her low status and lack of rights, but, significantly, is aware of the injustice of her suffering and believes education is the route by which her basic humanity can be acknowledged. She believes that learning is the key to opposing indignity, stupidity, and poverty. However, the decision to have the children of their relationship legally acknowledged as Herman Mellema's children has catastrophic consequences by the end of the book. For Pramoedya, education is the key to changing one's fate. For instance, Nyai Ontosoro, who had no formal schooling and who was educated by her experiences, from books, and from her daily life, was a far more inspiring educator than Minke's high school teachers. However, This Earth of Mankind also powerfully portrays the reality of Dutch colonial government in Indonesia through the lives of the characters, where Minke's education and Nyai Ontosoro's success in business count for little when ranged against the unyielding Dutch colonial law. ===== Pete Dumond, chief make-up artist for 25 years at American International Studios, is fired after the studio is purchased by NBN Associates. The new management from the East, Jeffrey Clayton and John Nixon, plan to make musicals and comedies instead of the horror pictures for which Pete has created his remarkable monster make-ups and made the studio famous. In retaliation, Pete vows to use the very monsters these men have rejected to destroy them. By mixing a numbing ingredient into his foundation cream and persuading the young actors that their careers are through unless they place themselves in his power, he hypnotizes both Larry Drake and Tony Mantell (who are playing the characters Teenage Werewolf and Teenage Frankenstein, respectively, in the picture Werewolf Meets Frankenstein, currently shooting on the lot). Through hypnosis, Pete urges Larry, in werewolf make-up, to kill Nixon in the studio projection room. Later, he wills the unknowing Tony to wait for Clayton in his garage at night and brutally choke him to death. Studio guard Monahan, a self-styled detective, stops in at the make-up room on his rounds one evening. He shows Pete and Rivero, Pete's reluctant assistant and accomplice, his little black book in which he has jotted down many facts, such as the late time Pete and Rivero checked out the night of the first murder. By this show of initiative he plans to get a promotion. Apprehensive, Pete--made up as a terrifying primitive monster, one of his own creations-- kills Monahan in the studio commissary at a later point on his beat. Richards, the older guard, sees and hears nothing, until he uncovers Monahan's body. Police investigators uncover two clues: a maid, Millie, describes Frankenstein's monster (Tony, in make-up), who struck her down as he fled from Clayton's murder and the police laboratory technician discovers a peculiar ingredient in the make-up left on Clayton's fingers from his death struggle with Tony. The formula matches bits found in Pete's old make-up room. The police head for Pete's house. Pete has taken Rivero, Tony and Larry for a grim farewell party to his home, which is a museum of all the monsters that he has created in his 25 years at the studio. Pete has stabbed Rivero to death secretly in the kitchen and hidden his body. Finding Tony and Larry trying to escape the locked living room, he attacks them with a knife. Larry inadvertently knocks over a candelabra, setting the living room on fire, and Pete is burned to death, trying in vain to save the lifelike heads of his monster "children" mounted on the wall. The police break through the door before the flames reach the boys. ===== Norman T. Kingsley is a filmmaker who is known as the "American Buñuel", and he is working on a sexually provocative drama about a brothel. Kingsley has his friends, actors, "wanna- be" actresses, and others join him on his estate in Upstate New York to audition for and work on his sexual drama. The twelve chapters in Maidstone are filmed in documentary form, and it depicts Kingsley's everyday life as an actor and filmmaker. Kingsley chooses the cast for his film which is made of several different men and women. Kingsley refers to himself as a narcissist. Several nice looking women are shown auditioning for a role in Kingsley's film, and Kingsley is shown criticizing them heavily. He places himself within the film to show the women actresses what he is looking for in his film. Kingsley is very realistic and convincing in his own acting. In addition to directing his film, he is also campaigning to become the president and, in doing so, he attracts journalists, scholars, and some African American radicals who question him about his campaign. Some of the attention that he draws leads to a group of people, known as PAX,C, discussing the need to have Kingsley assassinated. ===== The year is 1990. Space travel is well- established since humans first landed on the Moon twenty years earlier. At the International Institute of Space Technology, communications expert and astronaut Laura James monitors strange signals being received from outer space. Laura's superior, Dr. Farraday, translates the signal and discovers that it is from an alien race, who are sending an ambassador to Earth. Soon after, however, Laura receives a video log showing that the aliens' starship has crash-landed on Mars. The Institute launches a rescue mission aboard the spaceship Oceano, which includes Laura and astronauts Anders Brockman and Paul Grant. Oceano travels through a sunburst, suffering some damage, before completing the journey to Mars and locating the downed alien craft. Anders and Paul investigate and discover a single dead alien aboard. Faraday deduces that the surviving crew may have been rescued, so an observation satellite will be needed to locate the alien rescue ship. Laura's fiancé Allan and fellow astronaut Tony volunteer. They travel on the spaceship Meteor to Phobos, one of the two moons of Mars, where they launch the observation satellite. Tony finds an alien spaceship on Phobos. He and Allan are able to enter, finding an unconscious but still-living female alien. As their rescue ship holds only two, one of them must stay behind, so they toss a coin and Tony stays. Allan and the female alien arrive on Oceano, joining Laura, Paul and Anders. The alien regains consciousness and smiles at the three men, but not Laura. The alien refuses to eat all food offered and will not let Anders take a blood sample. That night, as Paul is guarding the alien, she attacks and kills him, draining his blood after first hypnotizing him. The surviving astronauts decide to keep her alive by feeding her blood from the ship's plasma supply. When this supply runs out, she kills Anders and feeds on him, leaving Laura and Allan the only humans aboard. The alien then attacks Allan, but Laura interrupts her before she can kill again. Laura scratches her in the struggle, and the alien screams in terror, quickly bleeding to death. Laura and Allen then find alien eggs hidden aboard. Allan hypothesizes that she was royalty, likely a queen (assuming human-like inbreeding among royalty, hence her hemophilia), and was being sent to Earth in order to breed. Their spaceship lands safely, but Earth authorities decide to study the alien eggs rather than destroying them outright, as Allan has urged. ===== Michael (O'Dell) is an African-American teenager in South-Central Los Angeles, being raised by a single mother and beginning to drift away from school. Before long, Michael is running with a tough local street gang, the Kingsmen, who christen him with the nickname "Youngblood". Michael greatly looks up to the gang's leader, Rommel (Hilton-Jacobs), an angry Vietnam War veteran who is beginning to accept the fact that he's getting to be too old to be involved in the street gang lifestyle. Shortly after Michael joins the Kingsmen, they move from merely battling other similar street gangs to becoming involved in a full-scale war against a local cartel of drug dealers. And, unknown to Michael and the Kingsmen, the head of the organization is Michael's own older brother. ===== A teen-aged intelligence officer from the planet Mars named Go-Go (Tommy Kirk) is ordered to Earth to prepare the way for a Martian invasion. Right from the start, he encounters problems. The power-pack he wears on his back malfunctions and he is suspended several feet above ground. However, he is saved by the first Earthling he meets, Aunt Wendy (Elsa Lanchester), an eccentric widow with problems of her own. Her shady neighbor, J. Sinister Hulk (Jesse White) -- alongside Chief Rotten Eagle (Buster Keaton) and his Swedish sex-bomb partner Helga (Bobbi Shaw) -- concocts a scheme to separate Aunt Wendy from her million-dollar inheritance. A subplot involves a motorcycle gang led by Eric von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck), a leather-jacketed, middle-aged delinquent with an irrational hatred for buxom beach-babes and their surfer- dude boyfriends. One such character, Connie (Annette Funicello), has a crush on a volleyball nut named Big Lunk (Jody McCrea). Inexplicably, he responds with disinterest. So Connie transmits a few subtle signals toward Go-Go, and he gets the message. But later, when she discovers Go-Go is a hostile Martian scout, she pouts and calls the whole thing off. In the meantime, Go-Go teleports a squad of Martians from the Red Planet, but he is emotionally depressed by the absence of Connie. At a climactic pajama party, he thus turns informer and helps save Earth from being overrun. He is re-united with Connie, and the world is made safe. ===== High school students Mainosuke "Mai" Hitomi and Yuu kiss for the first time but later that day Mai is hit by a truck and killed. Her scientist father Toshihiko Hitomi constructs an AI copy of her named "Ai" from a scan of her memories created before her death. Soccer, the CEO of the American tech company Digital Ware, wishes to awaken his own AI and sends an agent to shoot Toshihiko and take his software but Toshihiko sends Ai through the modem to safety before dying. Ai finds Yuu through a school computer terminal nicknamed "Icon" that has been enhanced by Satoshi Takanaka, Mai's genius half-brother with a terminal brain disease. Yuu transfers Ai to his laptop, through which she interacts with him and Mai's old friends, including Rika, who is jealous of Yuu's love for Ai. Soccer sends Satoshi and others to chase down Yuu and capture Ai. ===== Jared McCaverty has a sexual encounter with a friend, Paul Herzog, but his father finds out and beats him. He buys a gay magazine, but his father finds it and cannot accept his son's sexual inclinations. He then has another homosexual episode with Randy Sparks, a school friend, but his father discovers them having sex in Jared's bedroom. Jared meets Julian Clay, the new curator of the local museum, and a sexually abusive relationship ensues. Jared faces rejection by Julian and threatens him. Julian Clay then commits suicide. It is likely that he did so because Jared threatened to expose him as a pedophile and a rapist, and Jared blames himself for Julian's death. In the closing pages, Jared meets Alexandre, a sympathetic twenty-year-old Frenchman, and the reader is led to believe that Jared will have found true love. ===== An elderly woman uses her vast fortune to convince an eccentric yet brilliant scientist to transplant her brain into a new, youthful body. The bodies are provided by three immigrant young women who are hired to be servants. The old woman then chooses which of the girls she finds to be the most beautiful, and sets about replacing the young woman's brain with her own. ===== Don't Wait Up starts as Tom Latimer splits from his wife Helen. At the same time, his father Toby, also a doctor, announces his intention to divorce his wife of 32 years, Angela. Father and son then move in together and frequently argue about politics and medical practices, Toby being more of a 'Harley Street' type and well to the right of the more liberally-inclined Tom. The latter tries to get his parents back together, while beginning a romance with Toby's secretary Madeleine Forbes, whom he later marries. ===== The series was a police procedural drama, written by Derek Ingrey, about a police officer who has been sidelined from regular duties and, having been placed in charge of a records and evidence unit, has begun to specialise in investigating unsolved crimes. ===== Kaz the Minotaur is a novel that tells the story of Kaz the minotaur. ===== Professor Kantorek gives an impassioned speech about the glory of serving in the Army and "saving the Fatherland". On the brink of becoming men, the boys in his class, led by Paul Bäumer, are moved to join the army as the new 2nd Company. Their romantic delusions are quickly broken during their brief but rigorous training under the abusive Corporal Himmelstoss, who bluntly informs them, "You're going to be soldiers—and that's all." The new soldiers arrive by train at the combat zone, which is mayhem, with soldiers everywhere, incoming shells, horse-drawn wagons racing about, and prolonged rain. One in the group is killed before the new recruits can reach their post, to the alarm of one of the new soldiers (Behn). The new soldiers are assigned to a unit composed of older soldiers, who are not exactly accommodating. The young soldiers find that there is no food available at the moment. They have not eaten since breakfast, but the men they have joined have not had food for two days. One of them, "Kat" Katczinsky, had gone to locate something to eat and he returns with a slaughtered hog he has stolen from a field kitchen. The young soldiers "pay" for their dinner with soaps and cigarettes. The new recruits' first trip to the trenches with the veterans, to re-string barbed wire, is a harrowing experience, especially when Behn is blinded by shrapnel and hysterically runs into machine-gun fire. After spending several days in a bunker under bombardment, they at last move into the trenches and successfully repulse an enemy attack; they then counterattack and take an enemy trench with heavy casualties, but have to abandon it. They are sent back to the field kitchens to get their rations; each man receives double helpings, simply because of the number of dead. They hear that they are to return to the front the next day and begin a semi-serious discussion about the causes of the war and of wars in general. They speculate about whether geographical entities offend each other and whether these disagreements involve them. Tjaden speaks familiarly about himself and the Kaiser; Kat jokes that instead of having a war, the leaders of Europe should be stripped to their underwear and "fight it out with clubs". One day, Corporal Himmelstoss arrives at the front and is immediately spurned because of his bad reputation. He is forced to go over the top with the 2nd Company and is promptly killed. In an attack on a cemetery, Paul stabs a French soldier, but finds himself trapped in a hole with the dying man for an entire night. Throughout the night, he desperately tries to help him, bringing him water, but fails to stop him from dying. He cries bitterly and begs the dead body to speak so he can be forgiven. Later, he returns to the German lines and is comforted by Kat. Going back to the front line, Paul is severely wounded and taken to a Catholic hospital, along with his good friend Albert Kropp. Kropp's leg is amputated, but he does not find out until some time afterwards. Around this time, Paul is taken to the bandaging ward, from which, according to its reputation, nobody has ever returned alive; but he later returns to the normal rooms triumphantly, only to find Kropp in depression. Paul is given a furlough and visits his family at home. He is shocked by how uninformed everyone is about the actual situation of the war; everyone is convinced that a final "push for Paris" is soon to occur. When Paul visits the schoolroom where he was originally recruited, he finds Professor Kantorek prattling the same patriotic fervor to a class of even younger students. Professor Kantorek asks Paul to detail his experience, at which the latter reveals that war was not at all like he had envisioned and mentions the deaths of his partners. This revelation upsets the professor, as well as the young students who promptly call Paul a "coward". Disillusioned and angry, Paul returns to the front and comes upon another 2nd Company that is filled with new young recruits who are now disillusioned; he is then happily greeted by Tjaden. He goes to find Kat, and they discuss the inability of the people to comprehend the futility of the war. Kat's shin is broken when a bomb dropped by an aircraft falls nearby, so Paul carries him back to a field hospital, only to find that Kat has been killed by a second explosion. Crushed by the loss of his mentor, Paul leaves. In the final scene, Paul is back on the front line. He sees a butterfly just beyond his trench. Smiling, he reaches out for the butterfly. While reaching, however, he is shot and killed by an enemy sniper. The final sequence shows the 2nd Company arriving at the front for the first time, fading out to the image of a cemetery. ===== "Story of Your Life" is narrated by linguist Dr. Louise Banks the day her daughter is conceived. Addressed to her daughter, the story alternates between recounting the past: the coming of the aliens and the deciphering of their language; and remembering the future: what will happen to her unborn daughter as she grows up, and the daughter's untimely death. The aliens arrive in spaceships and enter Earth's orbit; 112 devices resembling large semi-circular mirrors appear at sites across the globe. Dubbed "looking glasses", they are audiovisual links to the aliens in orbit, who are called heptapods for their seven-limbed radially symmetrical appearance. Louise and physicist Dr. Gary Donnelly are recruited by the U.S. Army to communicate with the aliens, and are assigned to one of nine looking glass sites in the US. They make contact with two heptapods they nickname Flapper and Raspberry. In an attempt to learn their language, Louise begins by associating objects and gestures with sounds the aliens make, which reveals a language with free word order and many levels of center-embedded clauses. She finds their writing to be chains of semagrams on a two-dimensional surface in no linear sequence, and semasiographic, having no reference to speech. Louise concludes that, because their speech and writing are unrelated, the heptapods have two languages, which she calls Heptapod A (speech) and Heptapod B (writing). Attempts are also made to establish heptapod terminology in physics. Little progress is made, until a presentation of Fermat's Principle of Least Time is given. Gary explains the principle to Louise, giving the example of the refraction of light, and that light will always take the fastest possible route. Louise reasons, "[a] ray of light has to know where it will ultimately end up before it can choose the direction to begin moving in." She knows the heptapods do not write a sentence one semagram at a time, but draw all the ideograms simultaneously, suggesting they know what the entire sentence will be beforehand. Louise realizes that instead of experiencing events sequentially (causality), heptapods experience all events at once (teleology). This is reflected in their language, and explains why Fermat's principle came naturally to them. Soon, Louise becomes quite proficient at Heptapod B, and finds that when writing in it, trains of thought are directionless, and premises and conclusions interchangeable. She finds herself starting to think in Heptapod B and begins to see time as heptapods do. Louise sees glimpses of her future and of a daughter she does not yet have. This raises questions about the nature of free will: knowledge of the future would imply no free will, because knowing the future means it cannot be changed. But Louise asks herself, "What if the experience of knowing the future changed a person? What if it evoked a sense of urgency, a sense of obligation to act precisely as she knew she would?" One day, after an information exchange with the heptapods, the aliens announce they are leaving. They shut down the looking glasses and their ships disappear. It is never established why they leave, or why they had come in the first place. The heptapod languages have changed Louise's life, and once she knows the future, she never acts contrary to that future. Gary and Louise start spending time together and eventually marry. When Gary asks Louise if she wants a baby, she agrees, knowing that they will divorce, and their daughter will die young. ===== In San Francisco, private investigator Sam Spade (Ricardo Cortez) and his partner Miles Archer (Walter Long) are approached by Ruth Wonderly (Bebe Daniels) to follow a man, Floyd Thursby, who allegedly ran off with her younger sister. The two accept the assignment because the money is good, even though they disbelieve her story. Late that night, police detective Tom Polhaus (J. Farrell MacDonald) informs Spade that Archer has been shot and killed while tailing Thursby, but Spade turns down the opportunity to examine the body at the scene. As he is leaving, he has a brief conversation in Chinese with a man loitering in a doorway. Later, Polhaus and his superior, Lt. Dundy (Robert Elliott), visit Spade at his apartment. Thursby has been killed, and they want to know where Spade has been in the last few hours—they suspect him of killing Thursby to avenge the death of his partner. With no real evidence against Spade, they leave. The next day, Spade calls on Ruth Wonderly in an attempt to find out her real reasons for hiring them. She uses several different ploys to keep Spade on the case in spite of the two murders, but Spade sees through them. Despite this, he gets only a little information from her: Thursby was her accomplice whom she no longer trusted, and she feels she is in danger—but she will not tell Spade what she and Thursby were trying to pull off. Frustrated, Spade begins to leave, but then thinks better of it. He takes $500 from Wonderly, supposedly the last of her money, and goes. At the office, Spade tells his secretary, Effie (Una Merkel) to have Archer's name removed from the door, and he receives a visit from a Dr. Joel Cairo (Otto Matieson), who offers Spade $5,000 if he can retrieve an enamel figurine of a black bird that he is trying to recover for the "rightful owner". Not knowing anything about this statuette, Spade plays along, overpowering Cairo when he pulls a gun and attempts to frisk him and search the office. Nevertheless, he agrees to try to recover the statuette. That night, at his apartment, Spade questions Wonderly about Cairo and the black bird. Nervous about Cairo's offer and afraid of losing Spade's help, she begins to attempt to seduce him, but is interrupted when Dundy and Polhaus arrive. Spade keeps them outside the door as they question him about his relationship with Archer's wife, Iva (Thelma Todd), with whom Spade has been having an affair. They are about to leave when Wonderly screams, and they rush in to find her holding a gun on Cairo. Spade laughs the incident off with a preposterous story which nonetheless gets the police to leave, with Cairo in tow, allowing Spade and Wonderly to continue their "interrogation". The next morning, as Wonderly sleeps in his bed, Spade lifts her key and thoroughly searches her apartment, finding nothing. Returning to his own place, Spade gets a visit from Iva Archer. Spade tries to get rid of her, but she sees Wonderly in the bedroom doorway and leaves in a huff, threatening to tell everything she knows to Lt. Dundy. Spade receives a note from Casper Gutman (Dudley Digges), inviting him to come and talk about the black bird. Over drinks and cigars, Spade learns the history and value of the statuette, which is encrusted with precious jewels covered over with enamel, and that Gutman is the mastermind behind the attempt to steal the bird. Spade lies to Gutman that "for the right price" he can deliver the figurine in a couple of days, and they make a deal which Gutman seals with a $1000 bill. Just then, Cairo arrives and tells Gutman privately that Spade does not have the falcon, that Captain Jacoby (Agostino Borgato), whose ship La Paloma arrives from Hong Kong that night, does. Gutman then slips Spade a mickey in a celebratory drink, and retrieves his $1000. Later that night, Spade arrives back in his office, where he finds Effie asleep behind his desk. Suddenly, a man staggers in, collapses to the floor and dies—it is Captain Jacoby, having been shot several times. The suitcase he was carrying has the precious black bird in it. Spade checks the bag at a baggage check and sends himself the ticket in the mail. Called in to see the District Attorney (Morgan Wallace) because of what Iva has been telling the police, Spade stonewalls them, and is given 24 hours to wrap up the case and bring in the real killers. Wonderly lures Spade into his apartment, where Cairo and Gutman are waiting for him with guns. Knowing that Spade has the falcon, Gutman gives him ten $1,000 bills in an envelope, but Spade insists there also has to be a "fall guy" to give the police to account for the murders (Archer, Thursby and Jacoby), and suggests Gutman's gunman, Wilmer Cook (Dwight Frye), as the patsy. Gutman rejects this idea, and Spade then puts forward Cairo as a candidate. Cairo counters that Spade has been paid and should bring forward the bird, and they all settle in to wait for the morning, when Spade says he can produce it. As Wonderly leaves to make coffee and sandwiches, Gutman accuses her of stealing one of the bills from the envelope, prompting Spade to have her strip. When he finds she does not have the bill on her, he accuses Gutman of palming it, which Gutman admits. Now having the upper hand, Spade tells Gutman that Wilmer will be the fall guy, which Cairo and Gutman discuss in a whispered conference. Goaded by Spade, Wilmer pulls his gun, Spade knocks him out—and Gutman and Cairo agree to Spade's proposal. After Spade calls Effie and asks her to pick up the suitcase with the falcon in the morning and bring it to them, Gutman explains to him how Wilmer killed Thursby and Jacoby. When the bag shows up, Wilmer escapes out the window while the conspirators are frantically opening it and examining the black bird. They soon determine that it is a fake—they have been duped by the previous owner—and Gutman and Cairo decide to make another attempt to steal it. As they leave, Gutman takes back his $10,000 from Spade at gunpoint. Spade immediately calls Detective Polhaus and tells him to pick up Gutman, Cairo and Wilmer: he will provide Wilmer's guns as evidence. Confronting Wonderly, Spade accuses her of killing Archer to throw suspicion on Thursby and get him out of the way. She admits it, and Spade tells her that he is going to turn her in for the murder, despite their love for each other. When Dundy and Polhaus show up, they reveal that Wilmer shot Gutman and Cairo dead before being apprehended. Spade gives them Wilmer's guns, tells them that Wonderly killed Archer, and they take her away. We then learn from a newspaper article that Spade "caused a sensation at [Wonderly's] trial when he produced Lee Fu Gow, Chinese merchant, the only eye-witness to the Archer killing, who positively identified Miss Wonderly as the murderess". Spade goes to visit Wonderly in prison to tell her that he has been made Chief Investigator for the District Attorney's office. Spade instructs the prison matron (played by Lucille Ward) to treat Wonderly well and give her whatever she wants. When the matron asks who will pay for the special treatment, Spade tells her to send the bill to the D.A.'s office: "I'll OK it." ===== In San Francisco in 1941, private investigators Sam Spade and Miles Archer meet prospective client Ruth Wonderly. She claims to be looking for her missing sister, who is involved with a man named Floyd Thursby. Archer agrees to follow her that night and help get her sister back. Spade is awakened by a phone call early in the morning and the police inform him that Archer has been killed. He meets his friend, Police Detective Tom Polhaus, at the murder scene and then tries calling his client at her hotel, but she has checked out. Back at his apartment, he is grilled by Polhaus and Lieutenant Dundy, who tell him that Thursby was also murdered the same evening. Dundy suggests that Spade had the opportunity and motive to kill Thursby, who likely killed Archer. Archer's widow Iva later visits him in his office, believing that Spade shot his partner so he could have her. Later that morning, Spade meets his client, now calling herself Brigid O'Shaughnessy. She explains that Thursby was her partner and probably killed Archer, but claims to have no idea who killed Thursby. Spade distrusts her, but agrees to investigate the murders. At his office, Spade meets Joel Cairo , who first offers him $5,000 to find a "black figure of a bird", then pulls a gun on him in order to search the room for it. Spade knocks Cairo out and goes through his belongings. When Cairo comes round, he hires Spade. Later that evening, Spade tells O'Shaughnessy about Cairo. When Cairo shows up, it becomes clear that Spade's acquaintances know each other. Cairo becomes agitated when O'Shaughnessy reveals that the "Fat Man" is in San Francisco. In the morning, Spade goes to Cairo's hotel, where he spots Wilmer, a young man who had been following him earlier, and gives Wilmer a message for his boss, Kasper Gutman. When Spade goes to meet Gutman, alias the "Fat Man", in his hotel suite, Gutman will only talk about the Black Falcon evasively, so Spade pretends to throw a temper tantrum and storms out. Later, Wilmer takes Spade at gunpoint to see Gutman. Spade overpowers him, but meets Gutman anyway. Gutman relates the history of the Maltese Falcon, then offers Spade $25,000 for the bird and a quarter of the proceeds from its sale. After Spade passes out because his drink is spiked, Wilmer and Cairo come in from another room and leave with Gutman. On coming round, Spade searches the suite and finds a newspaper with the arrival time of the freighter La Paloma circled. He goes to the dock, only to find the ship on fire. Later, the ship's captain, Jacobi, shot several times, staggers into Spade's office before dying. The bundle he was clutching contains the Maltese Falcon. O'Shaughnessy calls the office, gives an address, then screams before the line goes dead. Spade stashes the package at the bus terminal, then goes to the address, which turns out to be an empty lot. Spade returns home and finds O'Shaughnessy hiding in a doorway. He takes her inside and finds Gutman, Cairo, and Wilmer waiting for him, guns drawn. Gutman gives Spade $10,000 for the Falcon, but Spade tells them that part of his price is someone he can turn over to the police for the murders of Thursby and Captain Jacobi, suggesting Wilmer, whom Gutman confirms actually did shoot both. After some intense negotiation, Gutman and Cairo agree and Wilmer is knocked out and disarmed. Just after dawn, Spade calls his secretary, Effie Perine, to bring him the bundle. However, when Gutman inspects the statuette, he finds it is a fake and Wilmer escapes during the tumult. Recovering his composure, Gutman invites Cairo to return with him to Istanbul to continue their quest. After they leave, Spade calls the police and tells them where to pick up the pair. Spade then angrily confronts O'Shaughnessy, telling her he knows she killed Archer to implicate Thursby, her unwanted accomplice. She confesses, but begs Spade not to turn her over to the police. Despite his feelings for her, Spade gives O'Shaughnessy up. ===== The film is about the residents of Pebbles Court in the Melbourne suburb of Homesville who are the unknowing test subjects for a new variety of "Vimuville" dietary supplement pills that arrive for free in their mailboxes. The pills are designed to produce the ultimate healthy human, but have unexpected side effects including hallucinations and mutations. Despite the attempts made to warn the townsfolk from a previous test subject, who is now undergoing rapid cellular decay, he arrives too late, and crashes his car and is killed by tentacles growing out of his throat. The pills are consumed by the residents, and produce liquefying flesh, elongated tongues, exploding stomachs, exploding penises, imploding heads, monstrous births, tentacles growing out of the face, living mucus, sentient placentas, and other gruesome mutations. Ultimately more and more of the residents of the Pebbles Court mutate or die horrific deaths, until almost every character has been dispatched. ===== This movie involves vampires, huge monster toads, and drunk monks. For some of the effects puppets were used, including a dummy version of the Drunk Monk. The fight scenes are creative and show off Yuen Woo-ping's weird sense of style and choreography. ===== The manga follows three American soldiers (who are anthropomorphic animals) in the Vietnam War named Botasky, Perky and Rats. All three are in the recon team called "Cat Shit One". Each mission (or chapter) shows the daily activities of the reconnaissance group in Vietnam. There are sections of the manga which give brief history and truths behind the war, such as the types of weapons used by different countries and the activities of forces in the war. At the end of volume one there is a chapter called "Dog Shit One"—separate from the main story—showing human characters. In Cat Shit One '80, the story continues to follow the three main protagonists as they became involved in various low intensity conflicts in the 1980s. Perky, now a member of the elite Delta Force, was attached to the Special Air Service and was involved in various SAS operations while Rats and Bota were involved with the US operation in Afghanistan against the Soviet invasion. An animated adaption of Cat Shit One was released in 2010. ===== It is 1934 and Nick is working, without great success, as a script writer at a film company. He gets invited by a colleague, Chips Lovell, to a party at the home of Lady Molly Jeavons. There he learns that Widmerpool is to marry the twice widowed, somewhat notorious (somewhat insane according to Nick) Mrs. Mildred Haycock. Nick subsequently has to endure having to lunch with Widmerpool and fending-off questions from Widmerpool's prospective in-laws becomes, for Nick, a motif throughout the novel. Also re-encountered at Lady Molly's gathering is old Alfred Tolland. A chance meeting by Nick with Quiggin (at a cinema where Man of Aran is showing) leads to a surprising and rather mysterious invitation of a weekend visit to the country. Quiggin and Mona Templer are staying in a cottage loaned to them by Erridge (Lord Warminster, eccentric head of the Tolland family). While there, they all visit the Tolland ancestral home, Thrubworth Park, for a frugal but eventful dinner. Just as the meal is finishing two Tolland sisters, Susan and Isobel, arrive. Some while later Nick meets Lady Molly's husband, Ted Jeavons, in a Soho pub and they visit Umfraville's nightclub. They encounter Widmerpool (suffering another bout with jaundice), Mrs Haycock and Templer. In Autumn 1934 Jenkins becomes engaged to Isobel. Erridge, wanting to study conditions for himself, goes to China at a time when the Japanese army are undertaking offensive operations. Mona goes with him, ditching Quiggin. Widmerpool's engagement to Mildred Haycock is broken off in farcical and, to most men, crushing circumstances. However, Widmerpool remains undaunted. *Adapted in part from material published by the Anthony Powell Society with consent ===== The novel is divided into four episodes, of which the first takes place at Stonehurst during the boyhood of Nick Jenkins on the eve of World War I. This introduces some of the figures encountered in earlier instalments of the sequence. They include the retired General Conyers, who tactfully handles the nude appearance among them of a parlour maid unhinged by jealousy at the news that the family servant Albert is going to get married. As the General is leaving Stonehurst after lunch there is the chance conjunction with him in the road of the eccentric cultist Dr. Trelawney and Nick's Uncle Giles. The story then returns to the time sequence of the novel series, with another lunch at the second episode's centre. Nick and his wife Isobel are staying with his composer friend Moreland and are included in the invitation to a meal with Sir Magnus Donners at Stourwater Castle. They are driven there by Nick's old school friend Peter Templer, whom has not seen for a long while. Sir Magnus has recently taken up photography and the party agrees to portray for him the seven deadly sins depicted on the drawing room tapestries. This culminates in the mental breakdown of Templer's second wife, again by reason of sexual jealousy. Just then Kenneth Widmerpool calls on business and is persuaded to drive the visitors home. Following his uncle's death, Nick journeys down to arrange for his cremation and stays overnight at the Bellevue, the dingy seaside hotel now kept by Albert in which Uncle Giles had been living. Also staying there is Bob Duport, the former husband of Peter Templer's sister Jean, with whom Nick had had a secret affair years before. Duport has been the victim of Widmerpool's business ruthlessness and is hiding from his creditors. When he and Nick return from an evening's drinking, they have to rescue Dr. Trelawney, yet another of the Bellevue residents, from the bathroom in which he has trapped himself. Afterwards he prophesies that "the sword of Mithras…will ere long flash from its scabbard", when once more "the Angel of Death will ride the storm". On the day of Nick's return, news breaks that the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact had been signed. Once World War 2 begins, Nick, who is in his thirties, tries to find a regiment which will take him as an officer. He makes unsuccessful approaches to General Conyers, and to Widmerpool, already a reserve officer in the Territorial Army. While calling on his relation by marriage, Lady Molly, he encounters the now homeless Moreland whose wife Matilda, a former mistress of Sir Magnus Donners, has returned to and is now about to marry Sir Magnus. Also staying in the house and processing the papers of Reservists is Stanley Jeavons, the brother of Lady Molly's husband, who agrees to speed through Nick's call-up. Category:Novels by Anthony Powell Category:A Dance to the Music of Time Category:1962 British novels Category:Fiction set in 1938 Category:Fiction set in 1939 Category:Heinemann (publisher) books ===== Ashes to Ashes is set in London, England. The film is a surreal journey into the dreams and misadventures of Gabriel Darbeaux, a young screenwriter and martial arts enthusiast who supplements his income by escorting wealthy women. We are introduced to Gabriel's character as he is chased and cornered by a group of Triad thugs armed with swords, sticks and nunchaku. Using his own nunchaku Gabriel manages to fight off the thugs, only to find that the whole episode was an early morning dream. The dream provides inspiration for the opening scene of his latest screenplay entitled "Ashes to Ashes", a thriller involving the Italian Mafia, Chinese Triads and a generous amount of martial arts action. While Gabriel believes that the success of this script will give him financial independence, his best friend Michael has plans of setting up his own escort agency. To fund this project, he resorts to making secret recordings of his sexual encounters with a banker's wife and hopes to earn £100,000 through blackmail. Gabriel receives a call to meet with one of his regular clients at an exclusive restaurant in the West End of London. The woman fails to show and instead Gabriel encounters the beautiful Arabella Simone, who draws him into a world which is disturbingly similar to that featured in his screenplay. Arabella is the former mistress to Valentino Tarantola, a possessive Italian gangster who employs "Laundrymen" Muhammed and Nelson to do his dirty work. When Valentino is apparently castrated and left for dead at Arabella's apartment, she runs to Gabriel for help with the "Laundrymen" close on her tail. Michael is called in to drive the two to a main line station from where they plan to take a train to France. Unfortunately, before the trio get very far, they are captured by the "Laundrymen" and taken to a warehouse where they are introduced to Enrico Tarontola, Valentino's sadistic younger brother. Bound and gagged, they are forced to listen helplessly as Enrico accuses Arabella of castrating and killing his brother Valentino and Michael of blackmailing his financial advisor's wife. All three, including Gabriel are to be put to a violent death. Without warning, henchmen of a rival Triad boss storm the warehouse. In the ensuing battle, Gabriel is forced to fight for his life against Triad enforcers and Mafia hitmen. The film ends with Gabriel waking from a violent dream, blurring the distinction between dream, reality and the fictional account that Gabriel is writing. ===== Young couple Kevin and Toby arrive in Dante's Cove, home to a sect dedicated to the supernatural religion Tresum. By freeing the charismatic Ambrosius from his magical imprisonment, Kevin reignites a rivalry between Ambrosius and the Tresum Avatar Grace that has simmered for over 150 years. Ambrosius's obsession with claiming Kevin and Grace's own obsession with avenging herself on Ambrosius threaten to tear Kevin and Toby apart forever, with unforeseen collateral damage. ===== Momo is a princess of , "the land of dreams in the sky". Fenarinarsa is a dwelling place for fairy tale characters. It was in danger of leaving Earth's orbit and disappearing, because people on the planet lost their dreams and hopes. The king and queen of Fenarinarsa sent their daughter Momo to Earth to help the people regain them. Momo became the daughter of a young childless couple, accompanied by three followers with the appearance of a dog (Sindbook), a monkey (Mocha) and a bird (Pipil). On Earth, Momo takes the appearance of a teenage girl. To help the planet regain its hopes and dreams, Momo transforms into an adult version of herself, with an occupation tailored to fit the situation (airline stewardess, police officer, football manager, veterinarian, and many more). Each time Momo succeeds in bringing happiness to the person affected, the Fenarinarsa crown shines. When it shines four times, a jewel appears in the crown. Once twelve jewels appear, Fenarinarsa will return to Earth. Later in the series, however, the task is left incomplete as she loses her magical powers and soon gets killed by an incoming truck. She is reincarnated as a baby, the real daughter of the couple on Earth. Now she has her own dream to realize. She also has a pink lizard named Kadzilla who helps her and her allies defeat an evil shadow who had been the source of the troubles of the people she had helped. ===== The second series follows a similar story structure to the first, but stars a new cast. This Momo came from , the "land of dreams in the bottom of the sea." She's accompanied by Cookbook (dog), Lupipi (bird), and Charmo (monkey) and enjoyed a happy life on the ground. Similar to the previous series, she is adopted by a young childless couple who became her parents on the ground and she used her magic to bring happiness to many people. Later on, Momo and her family become refugees. She understands that people have few hopes and dreams now. She eventually meets the Momo character from the first series and ultimately decides to save all the remaining hopes and dreams, using her magic against many social issues. Despite her efforts, all magic and fairy tale characters begin to disappear. The King and Queen of Marināsa decide to escape from the Earth. Momo stays behind to fulfill her parents' dream of having a child, believing that hopes and dreams are never really lost. ===== ===== Andrea "Andy" Sachs is an aspiring journalist fresh out of Northwestern University. Despite her ridicule for the shallowness of the fashion industry, she lands a job as junior personal assistant to Miranda Priestly, the editor-in-chief of Runway magazine, a job that "millions of girls would kill for". Andy plans to put up with Miranda's excessive demands and humiliating treatment for one year in the hopes of getting a job as a reporter or writer somewhere else. At first, Andy fumbles with her job and fits in poorly with her gossipy, fashion-conscious co-workers, especially Miranda's senior assistant, Emily Charlton. After a disastrous dress trial meeting in which Miranda berates her in front of the entire team, she approaches art director Nigel to help her learn the ropes in the world of fashion. She begins to dress stylishly and starts showing effort for the position, accommodating all of Miranda's whims and fancies. Problems arise in her relationship with her chef boyfriend, Nate, who increasingly finds her spending all her time at her new boss's beck and call. Miranda starts to notice Andy's changed appearance and commitment and begins to give her more responsibility and complicated tasks to handle. Slowly but surely, Andy becomes more glamorous and begins aligning herself, unwittingly at first, to the Runway philosophy. She gradually begins to outperform Emily at her job. Emily, meanwhile, is consumed with the thought of attending Paris Fashion Week as Miranda's assistant, and starts to lose her health by attempting extreme diets. At a charity benefit, she fails to provide information about a guest making his way to meet Miranda. Andy manages to save Miranda from embarrassment and is rewarded by being asked to replace Emily as Miranda's assistant at Fashion Week. Miranda tells Andy to inform Emily that she won't be going to Paris, but when Andy calls Emily, she is hit by a car and ends up in the hospital. Andy then tells the recovering Emily the news and Emily is infuriated. When Andy tells Nate she is going to Paris, he is angered by her refusal to admit that she has become what she once ridiculed, and they break up. In Paris, Andy learns from Miranda herself about her impending divorce. Later that night, Nigel tells Andy that he has accepted a job as creative director with rising designer James Holt. Further, Andy spends the night with an attractive young writer, Christian Thompson, who reveals to her that Miranda is set to be replaced by Jacqueline Follet as editor of Runway. Feeling bad for Miranda in her current situation, Andy attempts to warn her but does not manage to get through. At a luncheon later that day, however, Miranda announces Jacqueline as the new creative director to Holt, leaving Andy and Nigel stunned. Later in the car, Miranda explains to Andy that she already knew of the plot to replace her and sacrificed Nigel instead to keep her own job. When Andy seems repulsed, Miranda points out that Andy did the same with Emily by stepping over her and agreeing to go to Paris. When they stop, Andy gets out and throws her cell phone into the fountain of the Place de la Concorde, leaving Miranda, Runway, and fashion behind. Sometime later, Andy meets up with Nate and apologizes, though it is unclear if they eventually reconcile as Nate found a new job as a sous chef in Boston. The same day, Andy is interviewed and accepted to work at a major New York publication company. The editor recounts how he called Runway for a reference, and was told by Miranda herself that he would be an idiot not to hire Andy. While passing the Runway office building in the evening, Andy sees Miranda get into a car and waves. Miranda does not acknowledge or wave back, but smiles to herself once she is seated in the car. ===== When poor old widow Berlingot asks Tyltyl and Mytyl, the young son and daughter of her more prosperous neighbors, for the loan of their pet bird to cheer up her ill daughter, Mytyl selfishly refuses. That night, when the children are asleep, the fairy Bérylune enters their home in the semblance of Berlingot, before transforming into her true beautiful appearance. She insists that the children search for the bluebird of happiness. She gives Tyltyl a magical hat which has the power to show him the insides of things. As a result, the souls of fire, water, light, bread, sugar and milk becoming personified, and their pet dog and cat can now speak with their masters. Before they all set out, Bérylune warns the children that their new companions will all perish once their quest is achieved. The fairy then takes them to various places to search. At the Palace of Night, the traitorous cat forewarns the Mother of Night, having heard the fairy's prediction. The dog saves Tyltyl from one of the dangers of the palace. In a graveyard, the dead come alive at midnight, and Tyltyl and Mytyl are reunited with their grandmother, grandfather and siblings. They receive a blue bird, but when they leave, it disappears. Next, they visit the Palace of Happiness. After seeing various lesser joys and happinesses, they are shown the greatest of them all: maternal love in the form of their own mother. Finally, they are transported to the Kingdom of the Future, where children wait to be born, including their brother. Nowhere do they find the bluebird. Returning home empty-handed, the children see that the bird has been in a cage in their home the whole time. Mytyl gives the bird to Berlingot. She returns shortly afterward with her daughter, now well. However, the bird escapes from the daughter's grasp and flies away. Tyltyl comforts the upset neighbor girl, then turns to the audience and asks the viewers to search for the bluebird where they are most likely to find it: in their own homes. ===== The setting is Germany during the Napoleonic Wars. Mytyl (Shirley Temple), the bratty and ungrateful daughter of a woodcutter (Russell Hicks), finds a unique bird in the Royal Forest and selfishly refuses to give it to her sick friend, Angela (Sybil Jason). Mother (Spring Byington) and Father are mortified at Mytyl's behavior. That evening, Father is called on to report for military duty the next morning. That same night, Mytyl is visited in a dream by a fairy named Berylune (Jessie Ralph) who sends her and her brother Tyltyl (Johnny Russell) to search for the Blue Bird of Happiness. To accompany them, the fairy magically transforms their dog Tylo (Eddie Collins), cat Tylette (Gale Sondergaard), and lantern ("Light") into human form. The children have a number of adventures: they visit the past (meeting their dead grandparents who come to life because they are being remembered), escape a scary fire in the forest (caused by Tylette's lies to the trees in a treacherous attempt to make the children quit their journey), experience the life of luxury, and see the future, a land of yet-to-be born children. The dream journey makes Mytyl awake as a kinder and gentler girl who has learned to appreciate all the comforts and joys of her home and family. The following morning, Father receives word that a truce has been called and he does not have to go to war, and Mytyl is inspired to give the unique bird (now discovered to be the titular Blue Bird she'd sought throughout her journey) to Angela. ===== Mytyl and her brother Tyltyl are peasant children who are led on a quest for the Blue Bird of Happiness by the Queen of Light, who gives them a hat with a magic diamond that allows them to call forth the souls of all things, both living and inanimate. On their journey, they are accompanied by the human personifications of a dog, a cat, water, sugar, bread, milk, and fire. They visit the kingdoms of the past and future and the queendoms of night and luxury, at each place absorbing more wisdom. Eventually they discover the blue bird they've been seeking has been in their own backyard all along. ===== Action begins in the big modern capitalist city. In search of food in the market the boy rescues a homeless Dog from the cruel seller. For it the old woman passing by who appeared the fairy gives it the Bluebird of happiness whom it is impossible neither to sell, nor to buy, but it is possible to present. He hides it on an attic among old things then to show it to the little sister. Having risen at night by an attic, it meets long ago dead the grandmother and the grandfather who explain to him that in the Bluebird of happiness the happiness for all is concluded, and therefore she has to be free. It isn't possible to let out a bird because the cage with it was stolen by suspicious Cat. Together with the Dog children go to look for the Bluebird of happiness and meet the Rich man who as it becomes clear, also looks for the Bluebird of happiness to feed with her the World War III which is grown up by it and to win the world. The rich man tries to feed children with various delicacies that they forgot about the Bluebird of happiness, but the Fairy doesn't allow them to be tempted and gives in the help of eternal companions of the person — Fire, Water and Bread. It appears, Cat stole the Bluebird of happiness on the instructions of the hostess Night who intends to sell it to the Rich man. Then Fire burns Night, Cat sinks in Water, and the Boy abducts a bird at the Rich man, but during a pursuit breaks together with it from a tower of hours. There comes morning. The boy wakes up in the tiny apartment, and it becomes clear that all this was a dream. Together with the sister they rise by an attic and set the Bluebird of happiness free. ===== In San Francisco in the 1850s, a city where gold fever has left shipowners short-handed, Bat Morgan, a sailor come ashore is robbed and nearly shanghaied aboard another ship. Managing to escape, he sticks around town to pay back those responsible and then to take a cut in the action in the vice district. Organizing the various gambling houses (and other forms of vice implied but, for Code reasons, not explicitly stated) into a consolidated enterprise in alliance with a corrupt city boss, Jim Dailey, he comes into conflict with a crusading newspaper, run by Jean Barrat, the daughter of the late murdered publisher, and Charles Ford, the idealistic editor. Loyal to his friends, even when they are on the other side, Bat Morgan protects the editor, when Jim Dailey orders him eliminated. He also falls in love with Jean, but his way of life and lack of any morality beyond looking out for number one make a permanent relationship all but impossible. Riled at a judge's snub, he determines to bring his Barbary Coast crowd to the opening night at the Opera House, which the Judge has opened as an alternative place of amusement to the gambling dens. A gambler, Paul Morra, shoulders his way into the judge's box and on a flimsy excuse, murders him. The outrage provokes a public outcry, and when Morra is arrested and jailed and a lynch mob gathers, crying for his blood, Bat arranges his release, not so much because he likes him as because he owes him a debt of gratitude for having started him on the upward rise. Soon after, Ford is murdered by Jim Dailey in a bar-room fight. Jean blames Bat, holding him responsible for all the evil done by those who work with him. A vigilance movement sets out to clean up the town, rounding up Morra and Dailey, and hanging them both. When the lowlife of the Barbary Coast determine to pay it back by wrecking the press and burning the city, Bat Morgan convinces them to do otherwise. Trying to keep them from fighting back as the vigilantes come to destroy the Coast, he is shot in the back by one of the underworld forces and captured by the vigilantes. Jean Barrat saves him from hanging, and he is permitted to go free, on her parole. ===== The title character, Ilsa Brandes, initially lives with her naturalist father, Dr. John Brandes, in a house on a beach, outside a fictional town in the American Deep South. 13-year-old Ilsa is a vibrant, outgoing, seemingly carefree person. She immediately captivates the book's narrator, Henry Randolph Porcher, who is ten years old as the book opens. Henry's mother hates Ilsa and Dr. Brandes, even to the point of refusing their help when her home is on fire. After the fire, Henry and his family go to stay with relatives in Charleston, where Henry gets his first hints about the family scandals that explain his mother's attitude. The circumstances of Ilsa's birth are the subject of controversy, both locally and in Charleston. After the death of her father, Ilsa goes to live with Henry's cousin, Anna Silverton. Henry's mother dies soon after this. Henry finally sees Ilsa again, and renews his friendship with her. Unfortunately for Henry, Ilsa later marries Monty Woolf, another cousin of Henry's. Despite his continuing love for Ilsa, Henry does little to further a romance with her, even after Monty's death. Nevertheless, he keeps returning to her side over the years. Ilsa and Henry experience numerous personal setbacks - including Ilsa's blindness and Henry's failure as a musician - and few if any triumphs. ===== Holger Brandt, a famous virtuoso violinist, meets Anita Hoffman, his daughter's piano instructor, during a trip home. Impressed by Anita's talent, he invites her to accompany him on his next tour. They begin touring together and a passionate relationship ensues. Holger's wife Margit asks him for a divorce. Knowing how much Holger misses his daughter Ann Marie and son Eric, and torn with guilt for breaking up his family, Anita decides to pursue her own career and leaves Holger. Holger returns home to see his children again. He first travels to Ann Marie's school, but as she runs across the street to greet him she is hit by a car in front of his eyes. He takes the injured Ann Marie back home, and confronts his angry son in an attempt to explain his infidelity. To Holger's relief, the doctor informs him that Ann Marie will survive and eventually recover from her injuries. Margit then forgives Holger and welcomes him back into his family. ===== Garlic (Nicky Wu) and Gimmick (Takeshi Kaneshiro) are both young CID police officers who are assigned to crack a drug case. While waiting for their informant at a park we find out that Garlic is named Garlic because he likes to eat raw garlic, comes from a rich family and doesn't really need to work but he is a cop because he enjoys his work. Gimmick is dirt poor, he lives off of Garlic, even the clothes and underwear he is wearing belongs to Garlic. Both are also extremely arrogant, think they are handsome and gods gift to women. Their informant is outed and reaches Garlic and Gimmick while he is dying but is able to tell them where the drugs are located before he dies. Garlic and Gimmick are happy and brag about how they don't have to pay their informant now. They are successful on their drug bust and brag about it on the nightly news by showing off all the drugs they have confiscated from the drug dealers. The drug lord sees the news and is furious, he sends out his thugs to lure Gimmick out of the bar where Garlic and Gimmick are celebrating there drug bust victory. They use an attractive women to act intimately with Gimmick and then snap pictures of them to blackmail him. Garlic comes out to save Gimmick and they find a note telling them that they must return the drugs they have confiscated from the drug dealers or else the pictures of Gimmick will be published in the newspapers. While trying to catch the thugs that set them up they cause a lot of damages to the city and their supervisor Police Chief C.K. Wong (Wong Yat Fei) finds out what happened. Garlic and Gimmick don't seem to care and even praises how great Gimmick looks in the blackmail photos. Chief Wong tells them with the mess they have caused they need to leave the police force for a few years and lay low. He suggest they go undercover on assignment, he gives them three undercover assignments to choose from. The first, go to Thailand and pretend to be transvestites to see if they are involved in drugs or not. They both turn it down, Gimmick saying his mom won't allow him to do that and Garlic saying he would get molested easily. The second, pretend to be gay lovers and investigate a gay club homicide. Both tell the Chief "NO" immediately. The third, go to "Wong Fei Hong High School" to protect Kong Mei-lai (Charlie Yeung) the future Hong Kong Police Commissioner's daughter. They have no choice but to accept the 3rd assignment since they turned down the first two. At school both Garlic and Gimmick don't seem to fit in with the rest of the other students. The school dean gives a stern lecture on their first day that if they don't do good at school they will be beaten to a bloody pulp with famous kung fu moves. Both don't care and think the school dean is crazy. Gimmick falls asleep in class and gets beaten to make sure he stays awake. Garlic gets a math answer right but is also beaten because he is too cocky about it. Both are late to class after lunch and gets beaten badly. They regret accepting the assignment and try to get transferred to the first two cases instead. The school dean introduces them to Miss Yip (Yip Chuen Chan) who will be their private tutor since both are the worst students at school. Once the dean leaves both flirt on Miss Yip immediately until they find out she is also an undercover police officer sent by Chief Wong to make sure they pass their classes. Chief Wong puts both Garlic and Gimmick through torturous courses to make sure they know their school material. Not certain if Garlic and Gimmick will pass their testes Chief Wong sends in the SWAT team to distract the dean to help Garlic and Gimmick cheat on their testes. Once they pass their tests their assignment finally begins when Kong Mei-lai arrives at the school. ===== Jonathan Cabot (Thomas) is approached by the Special Intelligence Agency (SIA) to play "the Game". The Game is an athletic competition in the fictional country of Parmistan, a tiny mountain nation which is supposedly located in the Hindu Kush mountain range. Parmistan forces all foreigners to play the Game, which is basically an endurance race with obstacles, all the while being chased by local Parmistan warriors. If a person wins, then they are granted their life and a wish. The SIA wants Cabot to win the game so that he can use his wish to install a US satellite monitoring station, which could monitor all satellites in space and act as an early warning system in case of nuclear attack. Cabot is told that the system could save millions of lives. As an extra incentive, Cabot is also told that his father (who went missing) was actually a SIA operative who was sent to play the game but was never heard from again. After a training period with martial arts teacher, Japanese guru, and a beautiful Parmistan princess named Princess Rubali (Tetchie Agbayani) he is deemed ready and sent to the town of Karabal, on the Caspian Sea, for infiltration into Parmistan. While in Karabal, he is attacked by terrorist agents who kidnap Princess Rubali. Jonathan Cabot quickly raids the terrorist training center and, using his unstoppable "gymkata" fighting style that combined gymnastics with karate, easily disables dozens of terrorists before rescuing the Princess and returning to the salt mine where he is staying. However, when he returns he finds out that his handler has betrayed him to the enemy. Luckily, the SIA arrives in the nick of time to save him. Finally, Cabot and Rubali use a raft to float down the river into Parmistan where they are promptly seized by Parmistan warriors and, after a fight, Cabot is knocked out. When Cabot wakes up, he is in the King's palace and is greeted by other players of the Game who also have arrived to play it. While waiting for the Game to start, Cabot learns from the Princess that the King's right-hand man and manager of the Game, Commander Zamir, is actually planning a coup against the King and will attempt to sell the satellite rights to the enemy. Zamir also intends to marry Princess Rubali. With all this in mind, Cabot starts the Game but soon learns that Zamir won't play fair, and constantly breaks the strict rules of the Game in order to kill Cabot. Meanwhile, the King's forces have been overpowered by Zamir's private army in the coup attempt which the King is tricked into believing is a set of security measures for his protection. Fighting many obstacles, including a crooked, sadistic participant named Thorg, Cabot is the only player left in the game and is about to be killed by crazed villagers when he is saved by a Parmistan warrior who turns out to be Cabot's father Colonel Cabot. His father explains that while playing the game he fell and disabled his arm, but was allowed by Parmistan warriors to live. As the two are catching up, Zamir fires an arrow into Cabot's father, who in a hushed voice tells Cabot to go on and win the race. Cabot races off, chased by Zamir's army. He is able to make his horse jump a gorge and gets away while only Zamir is brave enough to follow. Seeing that Zamir won't let him escape, Cabot decides to take him on and after a prolonged fight Cabot's gymkata skills allow him to defeat Zamir. Meanwhile, Princess Rubali finally convinces the King that Zamir is plotting to overthrow the monarchy. Using their combined fighting skills, the Princess and the King attack Zamir's men before encouraging the citizens of Parmistan to rise up and seize the rest. As the crowd takes down Zamir's army someone cries out that a participant is approaching the finish line. As the villagers runs to see who made it, Princess Rubali is thrilled to see that Cabot is riding in on a horse, leading his father, arrow-punctured but still alive, on another horse. The crowd seizes on the champion and as the movie ends, the audience is informed that in 1985 the first satellite monitoring station was installed. ===== Yang Rui is a handsome Beijing executive who is bored with his easy life and numerous female conquests. He is having an affair with his female boss, and in general seems to despise women and relationships. He hears about a woman named He Yanhong who is from out of town, beautiful but mysterious and quite reclusive. He soon falls in love with her, despite the fact that she rejects his advances and appears to have few friends. When she kicks him in the head after coming on too strongly, she shows some regret and compassion, nursing him back to health and they develop a friendship. He Yanhong tells him her nickname is An Xin ("peace" in English). Unfortunately, Yang Rui's scorned female boss becomes jealous, reveals she has been spying on the young couple, arranges for He Yanhong to lose her job, reveals that she has a child, and then frames him for accepting an illegal kickback that briefly sends Yang Rui to prison. He Yanhong arranges for a lawyer to free Yang Rui from prison, and he tracks her down, discovering that her real name is actually An Xin, and that she moved to Beijing to escape a disastrous love triangle that led to her former husband's death and threatens both her life and that of her child, Xiong. In revealing herself to Yang Rui, he learns the following: An Xin was an up-and-coming police officer in Yunnan Province of southern China, engaged to a journalist named Tiejun who also has a promising career. Before the date of their marriage, An Xin has a chance encounter with Mao Jie, with whom she has a brief but emotionally intense romantic fling. Neither is honest about their career, and only during a drug sting operation does An Xin discover that Mao Jie is part of a drug dealing family. Since neither knew the other's true profession, she is forced to testify against Mao Jie and his parents receive the death penalty. However Mao Jie is able to convince a judge to set him free because of accusations that An Xin may have framed him to exit their now extinguished love affair. In retribution, Mao Jie and his brother kills An Xin's husband to avenge his parents' death and her betrayal. From then on An Xin's life slowly unravels as she tries to build a new life while hiding from the Mao brothers. ===== A young white girl, Lia Eltham, is left in Fu Manchu's care. A British regiment, chasing Boxer rebels, fires on Fu Manchu's home, killing his wife and child. When Lia Eltham grows up, he uses her as an instrument for revenge, killing all descendants of those who killed his wife. Opposing Fu Manchu are Police Inspector Nayland Smith and Dr. Jack Petrie. ===== Jimmy is a conman who has been working for an insurance company in New York City that the FBI is investigating since it cannot pay policyholder claims following a hurricane. The mastermind of the scheme and his mentor, Marvin, is in Thailand. In Bangkok, Jimmy learns from Joseph Kaspar, a partner in the scheme, that Marvin is in Cambodia, where he is involved in a casino scheme. The roads are not safe so a guide takes Jimmy by back trail to Phnom Penh. There, he hires a cyclo driver named Sok, to take him to his destination, a run-down bar and hotel owned by a Frenchman named Emile. He learns to trust the word of Sok when attempting to make contact as there are unsafe places and people. He meets an NGO worker named Sophie and dabbles in romance with her while attending a rave party at an ancient temple. Marvin turns up, but the scam he is trying to put together – involving corrupt Cambodian government officials, high-ranking military and the Russian mafia – turns out to be more risky and dangerous than was anticipated. ===== In 1910 Wyoming, a widow and her seven- year old daughter travel by train to two great unknowns-a strange land and life in a remote frontier with a man they never met. Hen's Tooth Video Heartland Trailer 1981-Video Detective on YouTube ===== Maico is Japan's newest radio DJ. When she is not working she must stave off assassins, crazed fans and a couple of office workers as well. She believes she was created just to be the perfect DJ. What she does not know is that she is really a sexdroid — a robot specifically designed for sexual intercourse. However, her creator Otari Masudamasu wanted her to be as close to human as possible and not a sex toy. Maico has never had sexual intercourse and is shy at times. She constantly learns about love and matters of the heart. She later meets another sexdroid Rei, Masudamasu's first android, who is designed to be like her late sister. After saving her from her evil controllers, who only used her to try to destroy Maico and as a sex toy, she and Maico become crime fighting DJs called Cherry-Bombs. The anime version differs from the manga, with less sexual themes, and no crime fighting involved. Also, there is no mention of her being a sexdroid, and Rei is never introduced. ===== Shelby Gilmore (William Holden), who owns a newly constructed hotel on a remote Pacific island, wants desperately to marry his secretary, Kay Kirby (Jacqueline Bisset) and proposes to her under the impression that she'll become his seventh wife. Kay is in love with Hank Anderson (Paul Newman), an oil rigger whose scientists are warning him that a nearby active volcano is about to erupt. Shelby's partner, Bob Spangler (James Franciscus), assures guests at the hotel that the threat of the volcano is a total exaggeration, explaining that it only erupts once every thousand years. Spangler is married to Shelby's goddaughter Nikki (Veronica Hamel), but is cheating on her with Iolani (Barbara Carrera), an executive with Shelby's hotel. Iolani is engaged to Brian (Edward Albert), the hotel's general manager. Unbeknownst to all except Spangler, who chooses not to reveal the secret, Brian is his illegitimate younger half-brother and therefore part-owner of the resort. Guests at the hotel include a bonds smuggler, Francis Fendly (Red Buttons), who is being tailed by a New York City private investigator, Tom Conti (Ernest Borgnine). Also on hand are Rene and Rose Valdez (Burgess Meredith and Valentina Cortese), who are retired circus tightrope walkers. Hank's oil rig workers include Tiny Baker (Alex Karras), who has a wager going with cockfighting rival Sam (Pat Morita) on a prized rooster that has just been delivered to him. Sam and his wife Mona (Sheila Allen) own a local bar. Hank and Kay go for a picnic on the beach to discuss their relationship. During their time together, the volcano erupts and most of the island's population are wiped out. Tiny and all of Hank's workers are killed in town when a tidal wave crashes onto them. Sam takes Mona and two of his girls, Delores and Marsha, and escapes by car, while Hank and Kay rescue Nikki and some others at the stables by helicopter. The only survivors are those at Shelby's hotel, overlooking a disaster that will surely come straight for them, as the volcano is spewing fireballs. A fireball lands at the hotel, and Conti is blinded by the explosion, to Fendly's horror. Conti is told by the paramedics that the injury is superficial, and given time to heal, he will regain his eyesight. Some of the hotel guests panic and try to escape by stealing the helicopter, but it soon crashes, killing all those inside. Hank insists that everyone must evacuate the hotel and journey to a safe side of the island to await rescue. Spangler convinces the majority of the guests to stay, including mistress Iolani. Shelby bids a farewell to Nikki, who insists on staying with her husband. After one final attempt to persuade others to join them, Hank and Kay leave the hotel along with Shelby, Brian, Rene and Rose, Fendly and Conti, Sam, Mona and the girls, plus a few more. At the hotel, Nikki stumbles upon her husband's affair with Iolani, but now it is too late for her to follow the others though Spangler expels her from the hotel. Trucks carrying survivors manage to travel as far as a mountainside gorge. Everyone must cross the gorge on foot. Conti is guided by Fendly, and the two become friends. From there, the party comes upon a rickety wooden bridge over a river of molten lava. Hank crosses first to see if it is safe. The others go in pairs. Two native children, whose father died crossing the gorge, are afraid and run away. Rose, who had stopped to rest with Rene because of her weak heart, dies after telling her husband to find the children. After an explosion beneath the bridge causes Sam and Marsha to fall to their deaths into the lava, Rene hoists a child onto his back and recreates his old tightrope act to get the child safely across. Hank guides the second child to safety. The survivors take refuge in a cavern, during which time fireballs streak across the sky. Spangler pays for his arrogance when one huge fireball arcs directly towards the hotel; when it hits, the hotel explodes, killing him, Nikki, Iolani and all who had unfortunately chosen to stay. The next morning, the survivors, fearing they're the only ones left, continue on towards a beach to wait for rescue. ===== Teams from all across Germany descend on a quiet camping ground for a week of training leading up to a final rowing competition. The plot follows the members of the RSC rowing club from southern Germany as they train for the regatta. The boys are excited by the prospects of camping with a female rowing team from Berlin. However, by a stroke of fate, the Berlin girls' team cancels and is replaced by Queerschlag ("Queerstrokes"), a gay youth rowing team, and these boys are out, proud, and vocal about it. Amidst the occasionally tense interactions between the members of his team and those of Queerschlag, Tobi is himself forced to confront his long-time feelings for his close friend and teammate Achim, who is already romantically involved with his girlfriend Sandra. Spurned by Achim, Tobi is devastated, but is partly consoled by his new friendship with Queerschlag member Leo. The tension between the members of the two teams culminates in a scene set to the backdrop of a summer storm, during which Leo confronts Tobi about his homosexuality in front of his teammates. Tobi denies being gay, and, in an attempt to defend him, one of his teammates tells Tobi's girlfriend Anke to tell the rest of his teammates so. Anke, the only person to whom Tobi has confided his secret, remains silent. Ultimately, Tobi comes out to his teammates and his rowing team, who seem to accept Tobi no matter what, and they go on to compete with Queerschlag in the final regatta. ===== The story involves Chan Ho-Nam (Ekin Cheng) competing for control of Causeway Bay with Szeto Ho- Nam of the Tong Sing gang(Mark Cheng). Meanwhile, the Chinese-Malaysian governor (Paul Chun) has set up Ho-Nam involving real-estate fraud. ===== In a flashback to Young and Dangerous, "Chicken" Chiu (Jordan Chan) heads into exile and decides to go to Taiwan, after a failed hit. The first part of the movie details the events leading up to his return to Hong Kong, following the death of his boss "Uncle Bee" (Frankie Ng). In Taiwan, Chicken's cousin introduces him to the "San Luen" Triad, headed by an influential Taiwanese senator. Although the atmosphere in the city is quite different than Hong Kong, Chicken gains the senator's favor by assassinating his rival. Pleased with the youth's initiative, he promotes Chicken to branch leader and does not even mind Chicken having been smitten with his beautiful mistress. Upon hearing news of Bee's death, Chicken returns to Hong Kong and helps best friend Chan Ho Nam (Ekin Cheng) to get rid of corrupt "Hung Hing" Chairman "Ugly Kwan" (Francis Ng). The second part of the movie deals with returning Hung Hing Chairman Chiang Tin Sang (Simon Yam) trying to ally with San Luen and promote relationships, while trying to find a replacement branch leader of Causeway Bay, a position Bee held. Ho Nam is the most likely candidate, being Bee's must trusted underling, but a rivalry breaks out when another member "Tai Fei" (Anthony Wong) wants the position for himself. At the same time, Ho Nam's friend Pou Pan (Jerry Lam) recruits "Banana Peel" (Jason Chu), who bewilders Ho Nam and the rest of his friends because of his facial similarity to Pou Pan's deceased brother Chow Pan. During a visit back to Taiwan to see and thank the senator personally for helping them get rid of Kwan, Ho Nam and Chicken find him dead and are accused by San Luen of killing him. In actuality, the culprit is the senator's mistress, who uses this opportunity to lead San Luen and break Hung Hing's grip on their gambling spots in Macau, reinforcing San Luen influence in the area. To that end, Tai Fei willingly allies with her and plots to have Ho Nam's candidacy for the Causeway Bay branch leadership tainted. Ho Nam is barely swayed by Tai Fei's threats, until a car accident cripples his girlfriend Smartie (Gigi Lai), putting her in a coma. Although disheartened at her condition, Ho Nam does not back out of the candidacy, and plans to stage an intervention at a San Luen opening of a new Macau casino, during which an important member of the Macau government will attend. Ho Nam's sabotage of the event is successful, destroying any credibility San Luen has in Macau and to Tai Fei's nomination. In a tense Mexican standoff at town square, the senator's mistress and Tai Fei decides to settle things with Ho Nam and Chicken, summoning hundreds of San Luen and Hung Hing members. While it appears the victory is in the mistress' hands, it is Tai Fei who turns the gun on her: it was all a ploy on Hung Hing's part for him to ally with San Luen and provide a means to weed out any corrupt members in the Taiwanese society. Realizing it was she who killed the senator, San Luen's branch leaders decide to take her back to Taiwan for punishment, but Chicken requests he speak with her before she is led away. Upon stating she is the only woman he has ever truly loved, he executes her on the spot, knowing full well she will die more painfully in Taiwan. With the matter settled, Tai Fei abstains from the Causeway Bay branch leadership candidacy and Ho Nam is elected its leader. ===== Weeks after Chan Ho Nam (Ekin Cheng) is elected branch leader of Causeway Bay of the "Hung Hing" Society, "Chicken" Chiu (Jordan Chan), after joining the Taiwanese "San Luen" triad, is reinstated into Hung Hing by Chairman Chiang Tin Sung (Simon Yam). At the same time, rival triad "Tung Sing", led by "Camel" Lok (Chan Wai Man) begins to make a name for itself, establishing bars and clubs alongside Hung Hing's areas of operations. Things become heated when Tung Sing member "Crow" (Roy Cheung) fuels a deep-seated rivalry between him and Ho Nam, with the threat of open war between the two societies. Meanwhile, Ho Nam's stuttering girlfriend Smartie (Gigi Lai), who was critically injured in a vehicular accident and slipped into a coma, reawakens but with no prior memories to her meeting with Ho Nam for the first time. Regardless, Ho Nam assures her he and his friends will protect her. To add in a stick of comedy, Father "Lethal Weapon" Lam (Spencer Lam) introduces his daughter Shuk Fan (Karen Mok) to Chicken, having been good friends and a source of advice for him. During a business trip to Amsterdam with his mistress and Ho Nam, Chairman Chiang is assassinated by thugs. While the rest of Hung Hing believes the hit was orchestrated by Ho Nam, it is the deranged Crow who ordered the chairman's death, using Chiang's mistress to falsify evidence, framing Ho Nam. While Ho Nam goes into hiding back in Hong Kong, Crow is reprimanded by Camel; to add to his insanity, Crow kills his own boss and makes it look like a Hung Hing assassination. Drunk with power, Crow wants nothing more than to destroy Hung Hing and orders his men to search frantically for Ho Nam, who is quick to realize the ambush and escapes with Smartie, until Crow's men manages to separate the two. In their attempt, Smartie is captured but suffers a blow to the head, restoring her memories. Crow tells Ho Nam if he wants his name cleared and his woman back, he must meet him alone. Yet, the crazed Crow does not keep his word and kills Smartie in cold blood in front of Ho Nam. Just as Crow is about to finish him, Chicken bursts in and reaches a stalemate with Crow to ensure Ho Nam's safety. The saddened Ho Nam carries Smartie's body out with him and gives her a proper funeral. Now fueled solely on vengeance, Ho Nam decides to march into Tung Sing territory and kill Crow at Camel's funeral haphazardly. Ho Nam's friends and the rest of Hung Hing manage to capture and threaten Tung Sing member "Tiger" (Ng Chi Hung), who tells all of Crow's madness in killing both their societies' leaders. Crow is left nowhere to run from his enemies, and in the midst of a Hung Hing/Tung Sing brawl, he is killed in the funeral pyre. With Crow dead, Tung Sing is left in disarray, and Hung Hing re-establishes control in its territories. ===== Sylvia Tebrick, the 24-year-old wife of Richard Tebrick, suddenly turns into a fox while they are out walking in the woods. Mr. Tebrick sends away all the servants in an attempt to keep Sylvia's new nature a secret, although Sylvia's childhood nurse returns. While Sylvia initially acts human, insisting on wearing clothing and playing piquet, her behaviour increasingly becomes that characteristic of a vixen, causing the husband a great deal of anguish. Eventually, Mr. Tebrick releases Sylvia into the wild, where she gives birth to five kits, whom Tebrick names and plays with every day. Despite Tebrick's efforts to protect Sylvia and her cubs, she is ultimately killed by dogs during a fox hunt; Tebrick, who tried to save Sylvia from the dogs, is badly wounded, but eventually recovers. McSweeney's Collins Library imprint republished Lady into Fox in 2004. ===== Kelly's daughter falls for a revenue agent, and his divorced wife is after alimony. ===== Six months have passed since the end of The Summer Tree, and Kim is waiting for the dream that will tell her how to summon the Warrior to aid them in their battle against Maugrim. Jennifer is pregnant with Rakoth Maugrim's child and, surprisingly, is determined to have the baby—aware that Maugrim wanted her dead, she is determined not only to live but to have the child, believing that it will be both an answer and a threat to him. She and Paul are menaced in their own world by Galadan; Paul, tapping the potent but unreliable power of Mörnir that lives in him since his three nights on the Summer Tree, takes the two of them back to Fionavar. They arrive safely but the crossing brings on Jennifer's labor. When the child is born she names him Darien and gives him to Vae and Shahar, the parents of Finn. Jaelle sends Paul and Jennifer back to their own world. In the spring, Kim and the others go to Stonehenge, where a dream has revealed to Kim she can call on Uther Pendragon to find out where Arthur is buried. She succeeds in raising Uther and extracting from him the name by which Arthur may be summoned. Using the Baelrath, she sends the others to Fionavar and herself to Glastonbury Tor, where she summons Arthur with the name Childslayer. Arthur is bound to answer to this name because of the May Babies, children he had ordered slain in an attempt to forestall Mordred's growing to manhood. Kim and Arthur rejoin the others in Fionavar. This time, Fionavar is in the midst of an unnatural months-long winter. Upon meeting Arthur, a flood of memories awakens in Jennifer and she recalls her life as Guinevere. Unable to break through the walls she created to survive her ordeal in Starkadh, Jennifer retreats to the temple of Dana, relieved that at least there is no Lancelot and so although she cannot love Arthur, at least she won't betray him. Meanwhile, Darien is growing up unnaturally quickly, like all andain, so Vae, Shahar and Finn move to Ysanne's cottage by the lake. Darien is a loving little boy and devoted to Finn—but he also hears voices in the storm and sometimes unknowingly flexes the power he inherited from his father, which makes his eyes turn red. On the Plains, the eltor are bogged down in the snow and harried by Galadan's wolves. The Dalrei do their best to protect the herds but come under attack by an army of urgach mounted on slaug. Diarmuid and his men, with Dave and Kevin, arrive in time to thwart the initial assault, but it is Tabor, mounted on Imraith- Nimphais, who finally saves them. Ivor worries that his son's bond with the deadly but beautiful magical beast will weaken Tabor's hold on the real world. Kim, Dave, Levon and a small band make their way to the Cave of the Sleepers and Dave blows Owein's Horn to wake the Wild Hunt. Owein and seven shadowy kings awaken, but there are nine horses. Just as the Hunt is about to rampage forth looking for their missing member, Finn arrives and takes his place on the ninth horse: this is his Longest Road, riding with the Wild Hunt. The entire company (except for Paul who remains with Darien) journeys to Gwen Ystrat, a location sacred to the goddess, arriving (by chance?) on Midsummer Eve, or Maidaladan, a night of potent sexual/erotic magic. Kim, Gereint, Jaelle and the mages discover that Metran, renegade first mage of Brennin, is making the winter on an island; since all the ports are frozen, they cannot get to him to stop him. Kevin is wounded during a boar hunt which he realizes marks him as belonging to the Goddess. That night, Midsummer Eve, Diarmuid and Sharra admit their love for each other; meanwhile, Kevin follows Cavall to the cave of Dun Maura where he sacrifices his life to the Goddess, allowing her to intercede and, with the magic unleashed from his sacrifice, end the winter that has been looming over Fionavar. Freed from winter, war begins. Kim and Brock journey to the mountains where they are attacked by brigands. The Dalrei are attacked by a vast army of the Dark, and only Dave's summoning of the Wild Hunt by blowing Owein's Horn turns the tide. However, the Hunt are as wild as their name, and when they finish slaughtering the armies of the Dark they turn on the Dalrei and the other armies of the Light. Ceinwen intervenes, and that night she takes Dave as her lover. Meanwhile Darien has used his powers to accelerate his growth and, now a young man, overhears Cernan ask Paul why "the child" was allowed to live. Angry, hurt by Finn's desertion, feeling unwanted and unloved, Darien decides to seek his father, Maugrim. Jennifer comes to terms with her past and has one day of joyous reunion with Arthur, both of them daring to hope that this time things will be different since there is "no third" (i.e. no Lancelot). Arthur, Loren, Matt, Paul and Diarmuid set sail for Cader Sedat, and Jennifer goes to Lisen's tower with Brendel to await their return. The ship, Prydwen, reaches Cader Sedat and the company discovers that Metran is fueling his unnatural winter by draining the life from hundreds of svart alfar, resurrecting them again and again using the Cauldron of Khath Meigol. Loren breaks the spell and kills Metran but in the process draws so much power that Matt dies. Below the castle, the company finds the Chamber of the Dead and Arthur, shouldering the full weight of his repeated penance, awakens Lancelot du Lac. Lancelot exercises his gift of healing and brings Matt back to life, though death has broken the binding between Matt and Loren and so Loren is no longer a mage. The company prepares to depart; Lancelot is reluctant to accompany them, knowing that his mere presence will cause yet more pain to Arthur and Guinevere, both of whom he loves so deeply. "Then Arthur spoke, and there was sorrow in his voice and there was love. 'Oh, Lance, come," he said. "She will be waiting for you.' " (WF, p. 244). And so the company, including Lancelot, prepares to depart for home. =====