cryptexcode/MPST huggingface dataset:
Le choix des armes

Plot synopsis:
Noël, a former gangster now breeding horses on his large estate outside Paris with his beautiful wife Nicole, has his quiet life turned upside down when two wanted crooks arrive in a stolen car. One is an old accomplice called Serge, fatally shot, while the other is a young psychotic called Mickey. When Serge dies, Noël buries him. Mickey goes into Paris and on his return finds two police detectives, Bonnardot and Sarlat, at Noël's house. After threatening them, he escapes and holes up with Dany, a friend in Paris.
Thinking that Noël had betrayed him to the police, he turns up one evening as a dinner party is in progress and terrorises everybody. Realising that Mickey must be stopped, Noël sends Nicole to a hotel for safety and calls on two old accomplices to help him find the madman. But, learning that a prize mare is sick, Nicole breaks cover and slips back home one night. Mickey is waiting there and takes her captive. However, the police have been trailing her and Sarlat challenges Mickey. In an exchange of fire, Sarlat kills Nicole while Mickey gets away.
Eventually, Noël and his friends locate Mickey's hide and it is Noël on watch one morning when Mickey and Dany sortie out to rob the local bank. The bank guard shoots Mickey and, picking up the wounded man, Noël takes him to a safe house to die. However, the police have located the safe house and, in an exchange of fire, Sarlat kills Mickey. Then, considering Noël equally culpable, he empties the rest of his magazine without managing to hit him. After the last shot, Noël takes him captive and drives away. On a lonely road, he empties the rest of his magazine at Sarlat, deliberately not hitting him, and leaves him there in shock. In a postscript, we see Noël adopt the little daughter of Mickey, whose mother had committed suicide.

Tags: violence

Review:
You Can Count on Me

Plot synopsis:
As children, Sammy and Terry Prescott lose their parents to a car accident. Years later, Sammy (Laura Linney), a single mother and lending officer at a bank, still lives in her childhood home in Scottsville, New York, while Terry (Mark Ruffalo) has drifted around the country, scraping by and getting in and out of trouble.
After months of no communication with his sister, Terry is desperate for money, so he comes to visit her and her son, Rudy (Rory Culkin), who are excited about reuniting with him. Sammy lends him the money, which he mails back to his girlfriend. After the girlfriend attempts suicide, he decides to extend his stay with his sister, which she welcomes.
For a school writing assignment, Rudy imagines his absent father as a fantastic hero. Sammy only gives him vague descriptions of the truth while Terry lets his feelings be known about Rudy Sr.'s abandonment. Sammy rekindles a relationship with an old boyfriend, but is surprised when he proposes to her after a short time. She needs time to consider it.
At the bank, the new manager, Brian (Matthew Broderick), tries to make his mark with unusual demands about computer color schemes and daily timesheets. He is particularly tough on Sammy, requesting that she make arrangements for someone else to pick up her son from the school bus rather than leaving work. After some minor arguments, they end up having an affair, despite Brian's wife's being six months pregnant.
Terry grows close to Rudy during their time together. Yet he pushes the limits of Sammy's parental control during a late-night game of pool at a bar. She turns to her minister (Kenneth Lonergan) to counsel Terry about his outlook on life. While Terry resists his sister's advice, he stays on good terms with his nephew. Realizing her own questionable decisions, Sammy turns down her boyfriend's marriage proposal and breaks off her relationship with Brian.
After a day of fishing, Terry and Rudy decide to visit Rudy Sr. in the town of Auburn. Confronted by his past, Rudy Sr. (Josh Lucas) is incensed, leading Terry to assault him and get arrested.
Sammy brings her brother and son home and asks Terry to move out, which he does the next day. He plans to go back to Alaska and scoffs at Sammy's suggestion to remain in town and get his life back on track. While at first it appears the separation will be another heartache, they reconcile before Terry leaves, coming to terms with their respective lifestyles.

Tags: tragedy, realism

Review:
Mon oncle

Plot synopsis:
M. Hulot (Jacques Tati) is the dreamy, impractical, and adored uncle of nine-year-old Gérard Arpel, who lives with his materialistic parents, M. and Mme. Arpel, in an ultra-modern geometric house and garden, Villa Arpel, in a new suburb of Paris, situated just beyond the crumbling stone buildings of the old neighborhoods of the city. Gérard's parents are entrenched in a machine-like existence of work, fixed gender roles, the acquisition of status through possessions, and conspicuous displays to impress guests, such as the fish-shaped fountain at the center of the garden that, in a running gag, Mme. Arpel activates only for important visitors.
Each element of Villa Arpel is stylistically- rather than functionally-designed, creating an environment completely indifferent to the comfort, or lack of comfort, of its occupants. In choosing modern architecture to punctuate his satire, Tati once stated, "Les lignes géométriques ne rendent pas les gens aimables" ("geometrical lines do not produce likeable people"). From inconveniently-located stepping stones, to difficult-to-sit-on furniture, to a kitchen filled with deafeningly loud appliances, every facet of Villa Arpel emphasizes the impracticality of a dedication to superficial aesthetics and electrical gadgets over the necessities of daily living.
Despite the superficial beauty of its modern design, the Arpels' home is entirely impersonal, as are the Arpels themselves. In fact, M. and Mme. Arpel have completely subordinated their individuality to maintain their social position and their shiny new possessions. Tati emphasizes his themes surrounding the Arpel lifestyle (as well as M. Arpel's automatonic workplace, Plastac) with monochromatic shades and cloudy days.
By contrast, Monsieur Hulot lives in an old and run-down city district. He is unemployed, and gets around town either on foot or on a VéloSoleX motorized bicycle. Gérard, utterly bored by the sterility and monotony of his life with his parents, fastens himself to his uncle at every opportunity. Hulot, little more than a child himself at times, is completely at home with Gérard, but also completely ineffectual at controlling his horseplay with his school friends, who take delight in tormenting adults with practical jokes. Exasperated at their relative's perceived immaturity, the Arpels soon scheme to saddle him with the twin yokes of family and business responsibilities.

Tags: psychedelic, humor, satire, prank

Review:
The Desperate Trail

Plot synopsis:
On a stagecoach in the old West, Marshall Bill Speakes (Sam Elliott) is escorting his prisoner Sarah O'Rourke (Linda Fiorentino) to her hanging. Also in the stage are Jack Cooper (Craig Sheffer), Mamie Hollister (Robin Westphal), and her husband Zeb Hollister (John Furlong). The stage is attacked by three men (Boots Southerland, Daniel O'Haco, and Joey Hamlin). The stage runs over one, but the driver is killed by the leader and the stage takes off. The Marshall handcuffs Sarah to the stage and gains control of it. One of the bandits climbs onto the back. Sarah grabs his gun and she and the Marshall shoot him. The Marshall finally shoots kills the leader. Sarah then surprises the Marshall and takes his gun. The strongbox is opened and Sarah prepares to take off with the cash, but Jack wrestles her gun away and runs off with the cash himself.
Jack heads to a nearby town and takes a hooker up to his room. Some time later, Sarah drops by and gets the drop on him. She escorts him to the lobby to get the money from the safe, but they are both surprised by the Marshall and Mr. Hollister. In the shootout, they both escape.
Jack talks Sarah into a scheme to rob a bank. They get some cash from a poker game after Sarah shoots most of the other players. Meanwhile, the Marshall gathers a posse and heads after them. The posse catches up to them in another town. During a shootout, Jack is wounded and is rescued by Sarah. They ride off. Hollister has been shot and is acting incoherently, so the Marshall kills him, showing his dark side.
Jack and Sarah get chummy. She reveals that the person she was to be hanged for killing the Marshall's son, who had beaten her. They travel to the ranch of Jack's brother, Walter (Frank Whaley). Jack and Sarah fight, and she takes off but is captured by the posse and taken to town for hanging. Walter spots her there and tells Jack. They come up with a plan to rescue her. Meanwhile, the Marshall shows more of his bad side by mentally torturing Sarah in her cell.
Jack goes to town and gets captured intentionally. He is put into the jail with Sarah. Using some chemicals given to him by Walter, he breaks out of his cell and he and Sarah take off. They hide in a large crate in the shipping office. Walter picks up the crate the next day and gets them back to the ranch.
While Jack and Sarah are out, the posse comes to the ranch and starts to torture Walter. Jack breaks in and shoots some of the posse. In an involved shootout, all of the posse except the Marshall are killed. The Marshall kills Walter, then wounds Jack. Sarah distracts the Marshall and Jack shoots and kills him. Jack and Sarah ride off.

Tags: revenge, suspenseful, murder, violence

Review:
Rude Awakening

Plot synopsis:
In 1969 New York City, two hippies, Fred Wook (Eric Roberts) and Jesus Monteya (Cheech Marin), flee the US to avoid arrest by the FBI and hide out in the jungles of Central America. Fred is an idealist, working on an underground newspaper with his friend Sammy (Robert Carradine), while Jesus is a stoner whose brain has been fried after being given huge amounts of LSD by researchers (the theory being that acid and appropriate visual stimulation can turn pacifist hippies into committed soldiers; Jesus proves their failure by wishing them 'peace' as he leaves the lab.) The two flee the inner-city commune they are living in, leaving behind Sammy who feels it is important that he keep writing and publishing their message, and Fred's girlfriend, artist Petra (Julie Hagerty).
Twenty years later, Fred and Jesus are still living in the jungle, when they find a dying man who has been shot by soldiers. He gives them some documents and tells them it is vital they get the papers back to the US government. The documents imply that the US is planning to invade that very country, and outraged, Fred and Jesus decide to return to the US to get the action stopped. Having been living in isolation (and by implication, stoned the entire time) for the last 20 years, Fred and Jesus return to New York City only to find the 1980s, entrenched in the yuppie ethos, to be something of a shock. Sammy and Petra have both embraced the materialistic culture, and it takes considerable persuasion from Fred and Jesus (including a memorable speech where Jesus makes numerous profound points, ending each one with 'That's all I got to say', before launching into another ramble) before they will agree to help.
Fred, Jesus, Sammy, and Petra join forces to lead a sit-in at the University of New York to protest the planned invasion, which leaves the group despondent; the student body is indifferent and the documents turn out to be a theoretical exercise and not any genuine invasion plans. However, the controversy brought up by their publication implies that Americans would welcome a war 'we can win' and so the invasion actually happens.
Fred is broken by the idea that he started a war, and gives up all hope for the world and human race in general. Fred plans to leave New York with Jesus for places unknown, while Sammy and Petra refuse to come along with them-relunctant to give up their yuppie lifestyle. Just then on the street, some college students show up and ask Fred for his help in mobilising action; they are concerned by the numerous ecological and social problems they see around them and that Fred's sit-down protest at the university inspired them. Fred realizes that despite having failed in his personal mission to prevent war, as long as there are young and idealistic people out there that share his views, there will always be hope for the world.
The film concluded with an onscreen sing-along to the song "Revolution" during the closing credits.

Tags: comedy, cult, dark, adult comedy

Review:
Maid to Order

Plot synopsis:
Jessie Montgomery (Ally Sheedy) is a spoiled rich girl in her mid 20's whose hard partying lifestyle and lack of self-respect as well as a lack of respect for others is starting to wear thin on her widowed father Charles (Tom Skerritt), a wealthy philanthropist, and on her boyfriend Brent (Jason Beghe), who breaks up with her over her immature and self-destructive behavior. When Jessie is arrested for drunk driving and drug possession, she finally pushes Charles beyond his limits. He is frustrated and disappointed. While in the company of family retainer Woodrow (Theodore Wilson), he says the one thing he thought he'd never say....he wishes he'd never had a daughter. In pops Stella Winston (Beverly D'Angelo), a fairy godmother who has been assigned to the Montgomery family. To keep Jessie from ruining her life, Stella casts a spell "erasing" Jessie's life as it is, as if Charles did never have a daughter. Then she bails Jessie out of jail.
When Jessie tries to go home, her father doesn't recognize her and claims that he has no daughter. Stella appears and tells her that she's getting what she deserves. She tells Jessie that if she wants to eat and have a place to sleep, she'll have to find employment. Jessie, who has never worked a day in her life, is forced to find work as a live-in maid for an eccentric couple named Starkey (Valerie Perrine and Dick Shawn) who got rich by winning the lottery some years back.
Jessie has to interact with the other mansion staff, consisting of former singer-turned-cook Audrey (Merry Clayton), Hispanic servant Maria (Begoña Plaza), and chauffeur Nick (Michael Ontkean), a struggling songwriter. Jessie learns the true meaning of love, friendship, hard work, and self-respect. When she chooses the happiness of her new friends over her own, she is rewarded with having her old life returned to her, albeit vastly improved.

Tags: alternate reality, satire

Review:
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things

Plot synopsis:
Sarah (Asia Argento) becomes involved with a series of men who treat her and Jeremiah (Jimmy Bennett) poorly, and she uses them as an excuse to abandon her son. She disappears to Atlantic City with her boyfriend, Emerson (Jeremy Renner), and then abandons him; Emerson returns to their home and rapes Jeremiah. After a trip to hospital, Jeremiah's grandmother (Ornella Muti) takes him to a West Virginian radical Christian cult led by his grandfather (Peter Fonda). After he has been three years with the cult, Sarah returns to reclaim the 11-year-old Jeremiah (Dylan and Cole Sprouse).
Sarah's current lover, Kenny (Matt Schulze), a truck driver, eventually abandons them at a truck stop while Sarah is soliciting. Sarah realizes that if she is going to keep her men she cannot say Jeremiah is her son. She persuades Jeremiah to cross dress so he can act as her "little sister", and Jeremiah's cross-dressing evolves to include his mother's seduction techniques. After dressing up as a "baby doll" version of Sarah, Jeremiah/Sarah seduces Jackson (Marilyn Manson), his mother's latest man, who initially tries to rebuff the boy's advances, but then gives in. Sarah is furious with Jackson for giving in to the boy's advances and with Jeremiah for ruining her panties, and she takes Jeremiah and leaves.
Later, they are in a house where the basement houses a methamphetamine laboratory, which later blows up with Sarah's latest boyfriend inside. After fleeing, and while detoxing from methamphetamine, Sarah is convinced that everyone is after them and that only certain foods are edible (mainly chips and soda). She convinces Jeremiah that if they eat anything but those foods, they will be poisoned which leads them to a failed attempt to shoplift at a grocery store; afterwards, Jeremiah finds a hamburger to eat from a dumpster. His mother, in a state of "meth psychosis", is convinced the food he ate was poison, and makes him drink ipecac in order to make him better and rid him of any "poisons".
Jeremiah wakes up in the hospital with his grandmother beside him. She tells him that Sarah is in the psychiatric ward. Later that night, Sarah collects Jeremiah from his hospital room, and, rather than have him go back to the cult, she clutches his hand and they walk away in hospital gowns. The final scene is of Sarah and Jeremiah driving away.

Tags: autobiographical

Review:
Framed

Plot synopsis:
Mining engineer Mike Lambert (Glenn Ford) takes a temporary job driving a truck. When the brakes fail while coming down a steep highway, he steers his way through a small town and is lucky to just dent the pickup of Jeff Cunningham (Edgar Buchanan). Jeff demands Mike's employer pay for the damage, but the man refuses. Mike pays him himself. Later, the police find Mike in a bar and arrest him for reckless driving and having an expired license. A total stranger, barmaid Paula Craig (Janis Carter), pays his $50 fine. When Mike gets drunk, Paula quits her job and finds him a hotel room. Then she meets Steve Price (Barry Sullivan) and tell him, "I found him", a stranger with the same height and build as Steve.
The next day, Mike goes looking for a job. The clerk at the assay office puts him in touch with Jeff, a prospector who has found a rich vein in an old, abandoned silver mine. He offers to cut Mike in for 10%, a generous offer he quickly accepts. However, Mike makes the mistake of telling Paula all about it. When Jeff goes to get financing from Steve, the vice-president of the Empire Bank, Paula gets him to turn Jeff down.
An opportunist, Steve obtained his position through his wife Beth's father. He has embezzled $250,000 from the bank and hidden it in Paula's safety deposit box. The plan involves a fatal, fiery car crash, with Mike's body to be mistaken for Steve's.
Mike wins some money in a craps game and pays Paula back everything she spent on him. He saw her get in the car with Steve, and is very suspicious of a barmaid with lots of money. Paula tells him she persuaded Steve to reconsider Jeff's financing.
Mike, Steve and Paula drive out to see the mine. On the way back, Steve persuades Mike to stop for a drink at his place. However, when Mike goes to wash his hands, he notices a robe with "Paula" embroidered on it. Mike gets drunk and passes out. Steve drives him to the spot chosen for the accident, but Paula knocks Steve out and sends the car - and Steve - over a cliff. She is able to convince Mike that he accidentally killed Steve in a drunken rage and that she staged the accident to cover for him. She begs him to run away with her. Mike then learns that the authorities know Steve was killed and Jeff has been accused of his murder. After going to see Jeff in jail, Mike suspects Paula, but has no proof. He goes to question Mrs. Woodward, Steve's secretary, pretending to be a reporter. She confirms that a Helen Bailey called while Jeff was meeting Steve. The suspicious husband calls the police, but Mike punches him and gets away.
He asks Paula if she knows Helen Bailey. She denies it, then heads to the bank to get the money. Mike follows her there and confronts her. She begs him to go with her, but he turns her down, and the police, tipped off by him, place her under arrest.

Tags: revenge, murder

Review:
Count Duckula

Plot synopsis:
Several episodes explore the theme that each resurrection creates a new incarnation with little to no memory of its past life, the immediate past incarnation referred to as the current's "father". Thus, every incarnation is free to develop its own personality and pursue its own personal interests. The vampire is able to pose as a "dreadful dynasty, the counts of Duckula". The preceding generations included knights, sorcerers, scientists, artists, Egyptologists and even professional gamblers, all of whom are also secretly "vicious vampire ducks".
However, as the title sequence puts it, "the latest reincarnation did not run according to plan". The successful conclusion of the ritual requires blood (a send-up of the Hammer Dracula films), the source of sustenance for any vampire, but Nanny accidentally substitutes tomato ketchup. Consequently, the newest version is not a blood-sucking vampire, but a vegetarian one. He is more interested in juicy carrots than hunting for victims. Igor is appalled. Even worse, his "new" master is obsessed with pursuing wealth and fame as an entertainer.
The stories often centre around Duckula's adventures in search of riches and fame, assisted by the castle's ability to teleport around the world, in one episode, to the deserts of Arabia. Another regularly occurring theme is the repeated attempt by Igor to turn Duckula into a proper vampire. Some episodes feature Duckula's nemesis Doctor Von Goosewing (based on Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, the nemesis of Dracula), a vampire hunter who blindly refuses to believe the current incarnation of Duckula is harmless. There is also an array of bizarre, often supernatural foes, from zombies to mechanical werewolves. Another feature of the show is a cuckoo clock whose bat-like Russian-accented characters come out and make jokes about the current situation (or corny jokes in general). The clock is also a vital part of the castle's travelling mechanism, and even has the ability to turn back time.
A series of annuals and monthly comics further detailing the adventures of Count Duckula and associated characters were released throughout the time that the series originally aired and for a short time afterwards.

Tags: psychedelic, cult

Review:
Desert Saints

Plot synopsis:
Arthur Banks (Kiefer Sutherland) is an Ivy League-educated hitman for Latin American drug cartels who picks up solitary women, uses them as cover for a hit, then kills them. His trademark is a bullet with a tungsten core. Over the years, he has become wary of the FBI's attempts to catch him, including by use of satellite and security cameras, which leads him to mostly stay in rural desert areas when not working. The FBI team is spearheaded by Agent George Scanlon (Jamey Sheridan), who lost five years of his career when Banks killed a witness he was guarding 15 years ago while leaving no evidence behind. In a desperation sting, Scanlon plants Agent Bennie Harper (Melora Walters), portraying a drifter, in Banks' path, and Banks picks her up for what he says will be his last job, a hit on a Mexican presidential candidate. Scanlon and Agent Donna Marbury (Leslie Stefanson), along with several support agents, follow Banks and Harper through the Southwest, but the scheme goes wrong when one of the tailing agents is spotted and caught by Banks.
Thinking quickly, the agent pretends to be Harper's jealous and abusive ex-husband, but this plan goes awry when Banks, who seems more interested in Harper than normal, kills the agent out of Harper's sight and then disposes of the body in a manner not witnessed by Harper (incineration), leaving the FBI once again with no evidence to arrest him. That night, Banks and Harper become lovers at a remote motel. Scanlon decides to cancel the sting after the agent's death and to withdraw Harper, but Harper talks him out of it, pointing out that Banks is their only lead to his employers in the drug cartels. On the road, Banks confides to Harper that he hates his job but hasn't had a chance to get out of it for years until now.
In Mexico, Harper double-crosses both Banks and the FBI, first shooting Banks to stop him from committing the assassination and handcuffing him to the balcony, but then killing the thugs who hired him and taking their key for the payoff from the hit. She tells Banks that she expects the FBI will be so happy to catch and question him that she'll depart with the payoff without much problem, which is why she leaves him alive. However, by the time Scanlon responds to her call on Banks' location, he has escaped. Meanwhile, the FBI agents follow Agent Marbury's sighting of a fleeing Harper to the local airport, only to lose her there, because the "sighting" was actually Marbury herself in a disguise, which she sheds in a washroom, permitting Harper's undetected escape.
In the last scene, Harper and Marbury meet in the desert and kiss, while discussing their new wealth. In the distant brush, we see Banks' boots and bloody hand, unnoticed by the two women. After the screen goes black, we hear a single shot.

Tags: violence, neo noir, philosophical

Review:
A Bullet for Pretty Boy

Plot synopsis:
Oklahoma farmer Charles Floyd marries Ruby. At the reception, some goons insult Ruby and Charles attacks them. This results in Floyd's father and one of the goons being killed. Floyd is convicted of the crime and sent to work on the chain gang.
Several years later Floyd escapes from prison and takes refuge in a brothel run by Beryl, where prostitute Betty falls for him. Beryl's brother Wallace wants Betty for himself and starts to hate Floyd, giving him the nickname "Pretty Boy".
The brothel is a hangout for Ned Short and his gang of bank robbers. Floyd joins them and becomes a full-fledged criminal.
Floyd returns to Oklahoma to see his wife. They still love each other but she can't be with him because he is now a bank robber.
He then goes on a crime spree with another member of the gang, an old friend called Preacher. Pretty Boy Floyd is eventually killed.

Tags: neo noir, suspenseful, depressing, murder, violence

Review:
The Gangster

Plot synopsis:
Shubunka is a racketeer, at odds with Cornell, a rival. Shubunka has a girlfriend, Nancy Starr, a showgirl, and offers protection to a New York beachfront cafe owned by Nick Jammey.
A regular customer, Karty, has gambling debts and has stolen money from his brothers-in-law's garage. He begs Shubunka for help but is refused. Dorothy, the cafe's cashier, quits her job, disillusioned by Shubunka's involvement in the rackets and concern for no one but himself.
Cornell wants to take over Shubunka's rackets. Jammey gives him inside information on Shubunka's organization. After a couple of Cornell's men beat him up on a picnic, Shubunka angrily accuses Nancy of having him set up. Karty has disappeared, meantime, but when his frantic wife appeals to Shubunka for help, he again infuriates Dorothy by saying no.
Karty gets into a fight with Jammey at the cafe and accidentally kills him with a skillet. Cornell mistakenly believes Shubunka to be responsible and goes after him. This time Nancy does betray Shubunka, having been bribed with a Broadway stage offer by Cornell.
Shubunka runs to Dorothy for help, but she declines, calling it just deserts for his unwillingness to help anyone else. With nowhere to hide, Shubunka is killed by Cornell in the street, just before the police arrive to place Cornell under arrest.

Tags: violence, murder

Review:
Eureka

Plot synopsis:
Eureka is a drama set mainly in rural Kyushu, Japan, and is almost entirely shot in sepia tone. It tells the story of the lasting effects of a violent experience on three people, a teenage brother and sister, Naoki and Kozue Tamura and a bus driver, Makoto Sawai. These three are the sole survivors after the bus is hijacked by a gunman. The actual violent events which traumatise them are not shown in detail. The extent to which the three have been affected slowly becomes apparent. Naoki and Kozue do not return to school, do not speak and become dissociated from their parents. Some time after the hijack, their mother abandons the family. Later their father is killed in a car crash. It is not clear whether his death is suicide. The two children continue to live alone in the family home. Meanwhile, Makoto is finding it impossible to carry on normal life and takes to the road, leaving his estranged wife living in the family home with his elderly father, elder brother, his wife and their daughter. After some time, Makoto returns home to find that his wife has left him. He cannot return to driving a bus and takes a job as a day-labourer with an old school-friend.
Relationships between Makoto and his brother begin to deteriorate and Makoto moves in with Naoki and Kozue. He takes over the housekeeping and makes sure they eat properly. Kozue now begins to communicate a little but Naoki remains mute. The detective who dealt with the hijacking begins to harass Makoto about the murder of a woman in the neighbourhood, apparently without any evidence. While Makoto is out at work one day, the children's older student cousin Akihiko arrives and states he intends to stay to look after the children. He and Makoto are uneasy with each other but the four people settle down into a kind of family arrangement.
A further murder takes place and this time the victim is a friend of Makoto's. He is arrested and questioned by the detective but is finally released. He talks to his friend and co-worker about his wish to return to driving and forms a plan to get all of them, Naoki, Kozue, Akihiko and himself away from their troubles. He buys an old bus which they convert for living accommodation and they all set off on an extended tour of the island. Kozue becomes more relaxed as they travel around but Naoki appears more disturbed. It eventually becomes clear that it is Naoki who is the murderer. Makoto confronts him and persuades him to give himself up. The remaining three carry on with the journey until Makoto finally loses his temper with Akihiko's cynical and shallow outlook and throws him off the bus. Makoto and Kozue continue on their journey until,finally, when they reach the peak of the highest mountain in Kyushu, both realise they are able to face ordinary life again. As they reach this understanding the film briefly turns to colour.

Tags: violence, murder, flashback

Review:
The Accidental Tourist

Plot synopsis:
Macon Leary (William Hurt) is a Baltimore writer of travel guides for reluctant business travelers, which detail how best to avoid unpleasantness and difficulty.
His marriage to his wife Sarah (Kathleen Turner) is disintegrating in the aftermath of the murder of their twelve-year-old son, Ethan. Sarah eventually leaves Macon, moving out of their house and into an apartment. After he falls down the basement stairs and breaks his leg, Macon returns to his childhood home to stay with his eccentric siblings.
Macon is pursued by Muriel Pritchett (Geena Davis), an animal hospital employee and dog trainer with a sickly son. Macon eventually hires Muriel to put his dog through much-needed obedience training. Although Muriel at first seems brash and unsophisticated, Macon finds himself slowly opening up to her and trusting her, and he spends most nights at her house. When Sarah becomes aware of the situation, she decides they should move back together into their old home. Macon leaves Muriel, and he and Sarah set up house once more.
When Macon visits Paris for research, Muriel surprises him by showing up on the same flight and stays in the same Paris hotel, recommended by Macon in one of his travel guides. She suggests that they enjoy themselves as if they are vacationing together. Macon insists he is there strictly for business, and he keeps Muriel at arm's length.
After Macon is bedridden in his room by his back problem, Sarah comes to Paris to care for him and make day-trips to help complete his travel research. After some time, Sarah confronts Macon about his relationship with Muriel, but he refuses to discuss the situation in any depth.
Macon dresses while Sarah still sleeps, then wakes her to tell her that he is going back to Muriel. On the way to the airport, Macon spots Muriel hailing a taxi and tells the driver to stop. Thinking the driver stopped for her, Muriel bends to gather her luggage and catches sight of Macon in the taxi. She smiles, and Macon returns the smile.

Tags: psychedelic

Review:
Gunfighters of Casa Grande

Plot synopsis:
Joe Daylight is on the run along with members of his outlaw gang, The Kid, Doc and Henri. After fleeing from a bank robbery, they manage to elude the posse chasing them after crossing into Mexico. The gang had agreed to meet up later to divide up the money, however Daylight instead tells them that he has used the money to buy a hacienda, the Casa Grande. Although several of them protest, the gang agrees to follow Daylight to the ranch. He also enlists a mystical Mexican gunfighter called ”Viajero” (Traveller) – who knows the neighbourhood and comes from a haciendero family (though few know this) – to help him fit into the role of a Mexican hacienda owner, a hidalgo.
In effect, Daylight has won the hacienda in a poker game and his plan is to keep the gang together and use the ranch as a cover to rustle cattle from his neighbors and sell them at inflated prices across the border. However, his comrades soon adapt to life on the ranch. The Traveller and The Kid meet two women named Dona Maria de Castellar and Pacesita, with whom they eventually fall in love.
Daylight's plans are temporarily threatened by another bandit gang led by Rojo, who begins stealing cattle from numerous ranches in the area including his own. Organizing the local ranchers against the bandits, they succeed in destroying Rojo and his men. This has an unintended consequence however as Daylight's men have decided to remain at Casa Grande. He and his men begin to argue and, during the course of events, shoots and kills Doc causing The Traveller to kill Daylight in turn. With their former leader dead, the men stay on the ranch and The Traveller and Maria begin a new life on the Casa Grande.

Tags: western, violence

Review:
Big Miracle

Plot synopsis:
In small town Alaska, Adam Carlson a news reporter recruits his ex-girlfriend Rachel – a Greenpeace volunteer – on a campaign to save a family of gray whales trapped by rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle. Adam names the adult whales Fred and Wilma, and the infant Bamm-Bamm.
Drawn into the collaborative rescue work are several normally hostile factions: Inupiat whale hunters, a Greenpeace environmental activist, an oil executive, ambitious news reporters, the National Guard, the American president and politicians on the state, national and international levels. Also joining in the effort are two entrepreneurs from Minnesota, who provide de-icing machines to help keep the hole open.
Finally an enormous Soviet ice-breaker ship arrives to remove the last barrier before the whales die. The ship's first attempt doesn't work and leaves only a dent. The ice is finally broken and the adult whales Fred and Wilma escape the ice. Sadly, the infant whale Bamm-Bamm dies from injuries and does not surface again.
In the epilogue narrated by Nathan reveals that McGraw used his new reputation to uphold a contract to clean up the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Karl and Dean's de-icers made them local celebrities, Scott and Kelly were married, Jill worked her way up to a national news network, Greenpeace membership became more prominent, Adam confesses his love for Rachel and she returns his affections and they share a kiss, Adam got to stay being a news anchor, and both Nathan and Malik became closer to one another, and Nathan recalls about the hole in which the whales were first found and quotes "It kept getting bigger and bigger, until it let the whole world in."
In a post-credits scene Fred and Wilma swim away free in the ocean.

Tags: boring

Review:
Release

Plot synopsis:
Father Jack Gillie (Daniel Brocklebank) enters prison a guilty man, convicted for a crime that sees the Church abandon him, his congregation desert him and his faith challenged. His fellow inmates believe he's been convicted of paedophilia and begin to plant the seed of doubt into the mind of his teenage cellmate; Rook (Wayne Virgo). After rescuing Rook from a beating Jack now becomes the inmates prey. Protection comes in the unlikely form of a prison officer, Martin (Garry Summers) with whom Jack falls in love and together they embark on a dangerous and illicit affair behind cell doors. As trust forms between the two men so Jack feels enabled to confess the truth behind the crime for which he has been imprisoned. Emboldened by Jack's honesty the two men plan their lives together post Jack's release.
Prison gang leader Max (Bernie Hodges), however has ulterior objections and sets about ruining this relationship and manipulates the Governess; Heather (Dymphna Skehill), into suspending Martin for misconduct after disclosing the affair. Alone and vulnerable Jack is now tormented and hunted by Max who takes revenge on him for his crime.
Waking from the near fatal actions of Max, Jack keeps his head down and bides his time comforted by letters of love and support from Martin - delivered with disgust and loathing by one of Martin's colleagues. With the end of his sentence in sight Jack readies himself for a new life and a new beginning with Martin. The only obstacle to this, remains Max and Father Elliott (Dave Jones) the Church's messenger sent to establish what Jack's intentions are once free.

Tags: murder

Review:
Limbo

Plot synopsis:
Adam Moses is a lawyer with a problem. He is caught in a repeating loop of time that lasts for 1 hour. At the end of the hour, time resets. Everything he was wearing when he was caught in the loop is back on him.
An interesting note is that his position in Space does not change. If he was across town when time resets, he does not end up back where he was when he became caught in the time loop. In theory he could travel as far as he could in the 1 hour and just keep going when time resets.
He feels that he is alone until he starts meeting others that are also caught in this loop.
The movie keeps track of his "Cycles" or time loops. When he is telling the story it is Cycle 8729 and we see another loop begin at the end of the movie.
Living that many loops, his sanity begins to fray. He begins to question his faith.

Tags: dark, flashback

Review:
...Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya

Plot synopsis:
Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya revolves around a progression of love between the two protagonists, Bobby Oberoi (Bobby Deol) and Ashi (Aishwarya Rai). Ashi is a free-spirited woman, in her early twenties, who has no plans to get married soon. Her father, Kailashnath (Anupam Kher), is traditional and believes important things in life, such as marriage, should adhere to the family's customs. He expresses his desire of marriage for Ashi and tells her he has a guy picked out for her, Rohit Malhotra. Ashi gets enraged at first, and then agrees to the marriage on the condition that she be allowed to meet him anonymously and observe his character and personality. Ashi's father obliges and Ashi is soon off to Europe to meet Rohit Malhotra. Ashi pursues her search of Rohit in Switzerland.
While she is there, she meets a man who continuously teases her and happens to be staying in the room next to her. This man is Bobby Oberoi. He dotes on and flirts with her, but she doesn't reciprocate. She becomes frustrated in her failed attempts to find Rohit and Bobby over hears that she is searching for a man named Rohit Malhotra. To win Ashi's heart, Bobby lies and tells her he is Rohit.
Gradually, they fall in love and she finds out his real identity. Upon their return to India, the families meet and agree for the marriage. Bobby's mother (Beena Banerjee) is the manager of the bank where Kailashnath deposits money. The police visit the bank to investigate a recent business scandal. It turns out that Kailashnath is part of the scandal and Bobby's mother has no option but to cooperate with the police, even though it might strain relationships with her soon to be family-in-law. Subsequently, Kailashnath is arrested. For him, that was a humiliating event. He furiously cancels Ashi's marriage to Bobby. Furthermore, he arranges Ashi's marriage to Rohit. After a whole other twist to the film, it ends with Ashi marrying her soulmate.

Tags: romantic

Review:
Befikre

Plot synopsis:
Set in Paris, Befikre begins with a nasty fight between Dharam (Ranveer Singh) and Shyra (Vaani Kapoor), which leads to a sudden break-up; Shyra leaves Dharam, and goes to her parent’s house, asking them to let her in without any questions about Dharam. Dharam hails from Karol Bagh, New Delhi, and is a stand-up comedian working in his friend, Mehra’s (Aru Krishansh Verma) doomed restaurant, where he mocks people in relationships and single bachelors.
The film travels back in time when Dharam came to the French capital in search of work and adventure. To his surprise, he shares his room with a girl who is a lesbian. Mehra takes him to a party where he meets and hooks up with the fun-loving Shyra, a tourist guide, who is an Indian by origin and French by nature. He later asks Shyra out on a date when she dares him to slap a police officer. Thereafter, they keep giving crazy dares to each other.
In the present, Dharam mocks his broken relationship at the same restaurant. The two keep meeting accidentally, showing that they still haven’t gotten over each other. In another flashback, they decide to enter a live-in relationship and Dharam meets Shyra’s parents, who are chefs in their own restaurant. After many misunderstandings and fights, Shyra moves out and shifts with her family. They celebrate their breakup anniversary on the famous Love Padlock Bridge and swear never to fall in love with each other.
Now, Shyra starts dating Aney(Arrmaan Ralhan), an investment banker whereas Dharam starts dating Christine(Julie Ordon),a French girl. Aney proposes Shyra to marry him wherein Shyra accepts the proposal. So, Dharam and Shyra both remain good friends until one day, when they get into a heated discussion and become rivals. Soon, Dharam and Christine both decide to marry each other.
Knowing that both Dharam and Shyra are going to marry different people they still are emotionally attached to each other. They do a face-off dance at the ‘Sangeet' ceremony, which leads to their reconciliation as friends. Dharam secretly tells Shyra that he is not ready for marriage and also wants to stop it. During the conversation both start developing love for each other.
On the wedding day, Dharam however manages to stop the wedding and tells Shyra that he truly loves and can't be a friend of her anymore. Eventually Dharam and Shyra run away from their wedding ceremony.
The film ends with the marriage of Dharam and Shyra.

Tags: romantic, flashback

Review:
Quack Pack

Plot synopsis:
The show centers around Donald and teenaged versions of his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. The actual age of the boys is not made certain. Donald works as a cameraman alongside Daisy, who is a reporter. The group travel around the world looking for a big scoop. The three boys are triplets but Huey had once referred to Dewey and Louie as his baby brothers. Huey must have been the first to be born, therefore making him the eldest of the brothers.
Huey, Dewey and Louie have more distinctive personalities than when they had been presented as younger. They usually resort to extreme and strange measures to avoid getting into trouble with their uncle and to achieve their ambitions. They usually do this by tricking Donald, or whoever else they wish to manipulate. But they usually feel guilty for any of the wrongdoings they had performed which may have upset loved ones, proving that they do possess good morals. Huey, Dewey and Louie share similar passions such as listening to rock music, getting revenge on those who anger them, impressing girls, getting money, pulling pranks, role models whom they look up to and admire, playing games and reading comics. They also share a profound knowledge of cars and mechanics. But there are certain aspects of their personalities that stand out more in each of them.

Tags: psychedelic

Review:
Lalola

Plot synopsis:
Ramiro "Lalo" Padilla (played by Juan Gil Navarro) is the director of the media company "High Five", editor of the famous magazine Don, and has many women around him. Romina (played by Marcela Kloosterboer), who is in love with Lalo, decides to punish his lack of commitment to her. She hires a witch to cast a spell on him, which turns him into a very beautiful woman, as Romina wanted him to know what it is like for a woman who is being harassed.
Lalo (now played by Carla Peterson) awakes as a woman, in a state of utter confusion. However, Lalo's friend Graciela ("Grace") Neira (played by Muriel Santa Ana) believes what happened as she heard Romina's phone call to Lalo's home saying what she did. As it seems unlikely anyone else will believe that Ramiro has been magically transformed, so Ramiro assumes a new identity: Dolores "Lola" Padilla, cousin of Lalo. Lalo "had to make an urgent trip to Germany because his father became ill", and has appointed Lola to take his place. While trying to find a way to change back, there are a whole new set of challenges to face that Lalo didn't have to experience before, both within and outside the workplace.
The show has been officially remade in 12 other countries: Portugal, Chile, Peru, Spain, Belgium, Greece, Turkey, Russia, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. All of these remakes start with mostly the same initial premise but many of them head in very different narrative directions and ultimate conclusions than the original show.

Tags: revenge, fantasy

Review:
Chori Chori Chupke Chupke

Plot synopsis:
Raj Malhotra (Salman Khan) and Priya (Rani Mukerji) are members of high society. They meet, get married and soon afterwards Priya gets pregnant. Very early in the pregnancy, Priya trips, miscarries, and becomes permanently infertile. On the doctor's (Prem Chopra) advice, they decide to look for a surrogate mother to bear Raj's child. The surrogacy is concealed from their conservative family. Raj meets Madhubala a.k.a. Madhu (Preity Zinta), a prostitute who agrees to have Raj's baby, in exchange for money. After some much-needed behavioural grooming and an image make over, Madhu meets Priya—who will be left unaware that Madhu is a prostitute—and the three depart for Switzerland together to carry out their plan.
Soon Madhu is pregnant with Raj's child, and he happily tells his family that Priya is expecting. Meanwhile, Raj's business partner (Adi Irani) has begun sexually harassing Madhu until she's ready to leave Switzerland, upset at the thought that Raj told his friend that she is a prostitute, although he didn't. Eventually, Priya finds out about Madhu's past, but she still believes that Madhu should carry their child, and she begs her to stay. Finally, Raj's friend assaults Madhu while he thinks she's home alone, but Raj saves her. Overwhelmed by Raj's kindness, Madhu falls in love with him.
Raj's family suddenly arrives in Switzerland. While Priya reaches for pregnancy-simulating pillows, the family meet the heavily pregnant Madhu and Raj tells them that she is a friend who is staying with him and Priya while her husband is business-traveling and she has no other family. Raj's grandfather (Amrish Puri) arranges a religious ceremony and tells Raj and Priya that they are going back to India; this also includes Madhu.
The ceremony is very important so Priya sends Madhu as herself. The emotion at the ceremony is too much for Madhu and she becomes conflicted about giving up her child. Priya finds Madhu's room empty and the money dumped on the bed, and pursues her to the train station, only to slap Madhu when she confesses that she loves Raj. By the time Raj gets there, Madhu has gone into premature labor. The doctor announces that only one—Madhu or her child—can be saved, and Priya asks him to save Madhu. However, both mother and baby survive and seem likely to thrive. Madhu gives the baby to Priya, who quickly settles into a hospital bed with "her" baby. The doctor tells Raj's family that Madhu's child was stillborn Madhu has made a recovery.
When Madhu is ready to leave, she promises Raj that she won't go back to prostitution. When he takes her to the airport he realizes that she loved him and kisses her forehead. Madhu leaves happily, ready and able to start fresh, as Raj and Priya start their own new lives as thankful and proud parents.

Tags: romantic, flashback

Review: