Deliverance (1972)Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 |
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Based on James Dickey’s novel, this film tells the story of an ill-fated canoe trip in deep backwoods America, where the people are as scary as the country is beautiful. |
Deliverance (1972)Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 |
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Based on James Dickey’s novel, this film tells the story of an ill-fated canoe trip in deep backwoods America, where the people are as scary as the country is beautiful. |
Killing Me Softly (2002)Friday, December 26th, 2008 |
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A London website designer ops out of her comfortable but ordinary relationship with a nice boyfriend when she forms a dangerously obsessive bond with a handsome, mysterious mountaineer, who turns out to have some secrets. |
Scarce (2008)Friday, December 26th, 2008 |
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SCARCE depicts the gruesome fate of three lost snowboarders trapped at an isolated forest cabin owned by two menacing locals who harvest human flesh. As the day of the slaughter nears, they attempt to escape barefoot through the frozen wilderness. |
Hair (1979)Thursday, December 25th, 2008 |
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This movie, based on the cult Broadway musical of the 60s, tells a story about Claude, a young man from Oklahoma who comes to New York City. There he strikes up a friendship with a group of hippies, led by Berger, and falls in love with Sheila, a girl from a rich family. However, their happiness is short because Claude must go to the Vietnam war. |
1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 |
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Big budget account of Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the Americas. Released in 1992 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery. Shows the disastrous effects the Europeans had on the original inhabitants, and Columbus’ struggle to civilize the New World. |
Brubaker (1980)Thursday, December 4th, 2008 |
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Henry Brubaker is the new warden at Wakefield prison. He makes his entrance as a prisoner in order to get a convict’s-eye-view of the real state of the institution. To his horror he finds all manner of abuse and corruption which, after disclosing his real identity, he sets out to correct. |
The Man Who Would Be King (1975)Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 |
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” The Man Who Would Be King” is about two ambitious ex-soldiers stationed in India who set out to become the rulers of an entire country. After finishing their tour of duty in India, Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnehan have decided that India is “too small for the likes of them,” so they decide to bribe a local ruler and extort money from him, in order to buy twenty Martini rifles, which they will use to take over villages in Kafristan. They face many challenges and perils along the way, including difficult terrain, hostile natives, freezing temperatures, and an avalanche high in the mountains. They eventually come to a small village, Urheb, where they meet Ootah and Billy Fish, an Indian who speaks English; he then becomes their translator. They then train the natives of this village to use the rifles, and soon conquer village after village. During a battle, Daniel is struck by an arrow that seemingly sticks out of his chest. The ignorant natives believe that he must be a God for not having died, and fall down and begin worshiping him. Daniel and Peachy decide that it would be easier for a “God ” to take over the country, so they pretend that Daniel is a god, the son of Alexander the Great who has returned after 2200 years to again rule Kafristan. The entire country celebrated the return of their new ruler, the Son of Segunda (”Alexander”). As a token of their admiration, the holiest of holy men gives Daniel all of the gold and riches left by Alexander in 328 B.C. It is enough to make them the richest men in the world . . . All goes well until Daniel’s ego and greed gets the best of him. He asks Peachy to bow when he walks in front of him. He later tells Peachy that he has decided to stay, and now believes that he is the son of Alexander ( ‘in spirit, anyways”), and that to fulfill his destiny, he will marry Roxanne, like his “father” Alexander did before him. The Kafiri’s believe that a mortal cannot marry a God, but Daniel goes ahead anyway. Peachy was set to leave with his share of the treasure, but Daniel convinced him to stay ” for old time’s sake” for the wedding. At the ceremony, Roxanne, believing that she would soon die, bites Daniel, drawing blood. The entire crowd realizes that since Danny is bleeding, that he is a man, not a God, and that he has been deceiving them the entire time. Peachy grabs Daniel and they run off with their twenty soldiers, shooting at the crowd of monks who set out to kill them. They are eventually captured, and Daniel is forced to walk out on a rope bridge. The monks cut the ropes, and Daniel bravely falls to his death. Peachy is later crucified; when they come to see him the next day, he is still alive, and they say that it is a miracle that he lived and they cut him down. He eventually climbs down into the valley and retrieves Danny’s head, still wearing the crown. He brings it back to Rudyard Kipling, a writer for the Northern Star, as proof that Daniel accomplished his goal, and became the King of Kafristan. Themes developed in the story: 1. ambition 2. friendship 3. taking risks 4. perseverance (not giving up) 5. power 6. honor and dignity |
Officer and a Gentleman, An (1982)Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 |
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Zack Mayo is a young man who has signed up for Navy Flight School. He is a Navy brat who has a bad attitude problem. Sgt. Foley is there to train and evaluate him and will clearly find Zack wanting. Zack meets Paula, a girl who has little beyond family and must decide what it is he wants to do with his life. |
Greedy (1994)Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 |
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An extremely wealthy and crafty old man (Douglas) toys with his greedy nieces and nephews as they circle about, waiting for their ill-deserved inheritance. The plot thickens as the old man takes a young mistress (d’Abo), and they fear that she will get the estate. In response, they locate the much-loved nephew (Fox) who walked away from the whole greed thing and became a professional bowler. Deception upon deception complicates matters as young Daniel is slowly drawn back under the spell of Greed. |
Kids (1995)Friday, November 14th, 2008 |
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Disturbing, dark, low-budget independent film about teen-agers growing up in poverty in New York City. The story focuses on Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick), a teen who has a goal to de-flower as many virgins as he can. When one of his old encounters discovers that she is H.I.V.-positive, after only one encounter with a guy, Telly remains undaunted. |