[Q]: Build a movie plot around this: How long is Professor Grady Tripp's second novel? Over two and a half thousand pages
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[A]: Professor Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas) is a novelist who teaches creative writing at an unnamed Pittsburgh university (the movie was shot chiefly in and around Carnegie Mellon). He is having an affair with the university chancellor, Sara Gaskell (Frances McDormand), whose husband, Walter (Richard Thomas), is the chairman of the English department in which Grady is a professor. Grady's third wife, Emily, has just left him, and he has failed to repeat the grand success of his first novel, published years earlier. He continues to labor on a second novel, but the more he tries to finish it the less able he finds himself to invent a satisfactory ending. The book runs to over two and a half thousand pages and is still far from finished. He spends his free time smoking marijuana.Grady's students include James Leer (Tobey Maguire) and Hannah Green (Katie Holmes). Hannah and James are friends and both very good writers. Hannah, who rents a room in Grady's large house, is attracted to Grady, but he does not reciprocate. James is enigmatic, quiet, dark and enjoys writing fiction more than he first lets on.During a party at the Gaskells' house, Sara reveals to Grady that she is pregnant with his child. Grady finds James standing outside holding what he claims to be a replica gun, won by his mother at a fairground during her schooldays. However, the gun turns out to be very real, as James shoots the Gaskells' dog when he finds it attacking Grady. James also steals a very valuable piece of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia from the house. Grady is unable to tell Sara of this incident as she is pressuring him to choose between her and Emily. As a result, Grady is forced to keep the dead dog in the trunk of his car for most of the weekend. He also allows James to follow him around, fearing that he may be depressed or even suicidal. Gradually, he realizes that much of what James tells him about himself and his life is untrue, and is seemingly designed to elicit Grady's sympathy.Meanwhile, Grady's editor, Terry Crabtree (Robert...

[Q]: Build a movie plot around this: What is the name of the nuclear-powered ship? Enterprise
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[A]: In 2286, a large cylindrical probe moves through space, sending out an indecipherable signal and disabling the power of ships it passes. As it takes up orbit around Earth, its signal disables the global power grid and generates planetary storms, creating catastrophic, sun-blocking cloud cover. Starfleet Command sends out a planetary distress call and warns starships not to approach Earth.On the planet Vulcan, the former officers of the USS Enterprise are living in exile (after the events of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock). Accompanied by the Vulcan Spock, still recovering from his resurrection, the crewexcept for Saavik, who remains on Vulcantake their captured Klingon Bird-of-Prey starship (nicknamed the Bounty, after the Royal Navy ship) and head to Earth to face trial for their theft and destruction of Enterprise. Hearing Starfleet's warning, Spock determines that the probe's signal matches the song of extinct humpback whales, and that the object will continue to wreak havoc until its call is answered. The crew uses their ship to travel back in time via a slingshot maneuver around the Sun, planning to return with a whale to answer the alien signal.Arriving in 1986, the crew finds their ship's power drained. Hiding their ship in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park using its cloaking device, the crew split up to accomplish several tasks: Admiral James T. Kirk and Spock attempt to locate humpback whales, while Montgomery Scott, Leonard McCoy, and Hikaru Sulu construct a tank to hold the whales they need for a return to the 23rd century. Uhura and Pavel Chekov are tasked to find a nuclear reactor, whose energy leakage will enable their ship's power to be restored.Kirk and Spock discover a pair of whales in the care of Dr. Gillian Taylor at a Sausalito museum, and learn they will soon be released into the wild. Kirk tells her of his mission and asks for the tracking frequency for the whales, but she refuses to cooperate. Meanwhile, Scott, McCoy, and Sulu trade the formula of transparent aluminum for...

[Q]: Build a movie plot around this: What did George become in one of his dreams? The first American President
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[A]: George Washington Winsterhammerman lives an ordinary life. He has a wife, a kid, a house and a boat. Every day George gets in his minivan and goes to work as a Level Three Tunt at the Jeffers Corporation, the largest and most profitable corporation in the history of humankind. Though he lives an utterly comfortable life, George is growing nervous. People around him have begun explodingliterally. Fearing he might be next, George visits his doctor and learns that his recurring dreams are a symptom of impending explosion. Unfortunately, George cant stop dreaming, and as the explosion epidemic worsens, he is forced to question the life hes been living. This quirky and distinctive story, utterly original in every way, features inspired casting, particularly with acclaimed actor and comedian Zach Galifianakis as George. He is joined by the delightful Judy Greer and terrific indie mainstay James LeGros. VISIONEERS, the debut film from the sibling filmmaking team of Brandon and Jared Drake, offers a darkly comic view of a world so skewed it can't help but remind us of our own. [D-Man2010]First time feature filmmaker Jared Drake makes his directorial debut with this quirky black comedy set in the near future, and concerning a curious spike in cases of spontaneous human combustion. The Jeffers Corporation is the largest business in the history of mankind, and they got that way thanks to their strict philosophy of happiness through mindless productivity. But when people begin literally exploding due to unhappiness, Jeffers Corporation Level Three TUNT George Washington Winsterhammerman (Zach Galifianakis) begins to fear that his time will come sooner rather than later. [D-Man2010]George lives a comfortable yet completely uneventful life, and when he starts having dreams in which hes the first President of the United States, his doctor informs him that they could be signs of impending explosion. Later, as the dreams become more frequent and his co-workers continue to detonate, George is prompted to reevaluate his mundane...

[Q]: Build a movie plot around this: What is it about the Hansons that enthrails the fans? their aggressive fighting style
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[A]:
Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman) is the aging player-coach of the Charlestown Chiefs hockey team in the fictional Federal League. A perennial loser for years, the team's manager Joe McGrath (Strother Martin) has resorted to extreme cost-cutting techniques and embarrassing promotional antics to keep local interest alive. Dunlop, while not particularly talented as either a player or coach, is a skilled con man, and regularly manipulates the team to his own advantage. During a hopeless season, the Chiefs pick up the Hanson Brothers, bespectacled violent goons with childlike mentalities, complete with toys in their luggage. Horrified at being given players who seem stupid, immature, and unreliable, Dunlop initially chooses not to play them.When it is announced that the local mill will be closing and 10,000 workers will be unemployed, Dunlop grows concerned about the team's future. He makes several attempts to learn the identity of the team's anonymous owner (a running gag throughout the film), but is deftly deflected by McGrath each time. When McGrath accompanies them on an away game, top scorer Ned Braden (Michael Ontkean) overhears him attempting to get a job with another team. After Braden relays this information to his teammates, Dunlop confronts McGrath, who confirms that the Chiefs will fold at the end of the season.Determined to save the team at all costs, Dunlop starts provoking fights at games to secure goals and the Chiefs start to win games. In a moment of desperation, he lets the Hansons play and discovers that their aggressive fighting style enthralls the fans. He begins retooling the team as a goon squad in the Hansons' image and attendance quickly increases. Capitalizing on this growing interest, he plants a false story with eccentric sports news writer Dickie Dunn (M. Emmet Walsh) that a Florida retirement community is interested in purchasing the team, in order to bolster the confidence of the players and to hopefully inspire an actual sale.Most of the players, such as Dave "Killer" Carlson (Jerry...