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Maid


            On February 1, self-centered and sour TV meteorologist Phil Connors (Bill Murray), news producer Rita (Andie MacDowell) and cameraman Larry (Chris Elliott) from fictional Pittsburgh television station WPBH-TV9 travel to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to cover the annual Groundhog Day festivities with Punxsutawney Phil, the Groundhog. Having grown tired of this assignment, Phil begrudgingly gives his Groundhog Day report the next day (February 2) during the festival and parade.After the celebration concludes, a blizzard develops that Connors had predicted would miss them, closing the roads and shutting down long-distance phone services, forcing the team to return to Punxsutawney. Connors awakens the next morning, however, to find it is February 2 again, and his day unfolds in almost exactly the same way. Connors can change his behavior, but other people do and say the same things they did and said the previous day, unless Connors changes something. He is aware of the repetition, but everyone else seems to be living February 2 for the first time. This recursion repeats the following morning and the one after that, and over and over again. For Connors, Groundhog Day begins each morning at 6:00 A.M., when he wakes up in his room in a Victorian bed and breakfast. His clock radio is always playing the same song, Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe." His memories of the "previous" day are intact, but he's trapped in a seemingly endless time loop, repeating the same day in the same small town.After briefly trying to rationalize his situation, and then thinking he is insane, Connors takes advantage of learning the day's events and the information he is able to gather about the town's inhabitants, and finds that his actions have no long-term consequences for himself. He revels in this situation for a time: seducing beautiful women, stealing money, even driving drunk and experiencing a police chase. However, his attempts to seduce his producer, Rita, are met with repeated failures. He begins to tire of, and then dread, his existence, starting the day by smashing the alarm clock and professing the inanity of Groundhog Day as a holiday in his newscast. In a vain attempt to break the cycle, he kidnaps Phil the Groundhog. After a police pursuit, Connors drives a stolen truck into a quarry, causing both man and rodent to die in a fiery explosion; but the loop does not stop. He commits suicide several more times. He electrocutes himself, lets a truck hit him on the road, and jumps from a tall building (other attempts are alluded to) but mere death cannot stop the day from repeating. After he dies, he simply wakes up listening to Sonny & Cher in the same bed, on the same day, over and over again.He initially tries to seduce Rita by learning as much as he can on a daily basis. First he asks what she wants in a man: someone who is humble, kind, generous, courageous, and sensitive; someone who likes children; someone who loves his mother and plays a musical instrument. He learns what she likes (rocky road ice cream, sweet vermouth, French poetry) and what she doesn't like (white chocolate) and pretends to share her tastes. This also fails consistently; in scene after scene, Rita slaps him before the night is over. However, he is able to befriend her in a more sincere fashion. He tells her of his circumstances -- how he is reliving the day over and over again -- and manages to convince her of the truth with his extensive knowledge of events to come, the lives of the Punxsutawney townspeople, and Rita herself.He opens his heart to Rita, and her advice helps him to gradually find a goal for his trapped life: as a benefactor to others. He cannot, in a single day, bring others to fulfill his needs but he can achieve self-improvement by educating himself on a daily basis. After seeing an elderly homeless man die, Connors vows that no one will die on "his" day and performs many heroic services each and every repeating day, including performing the Heimlich maneuver on a choking man and saving a little boy who falls from a tree. However, he becomes despondent at being unable to save the homeless man, despite trying to get him medical care. When he demands to see the man's medical chart, a nurse tells him "sometimes people just die." Connors replies "Not today," but he never manages to prevent it.Though the film does not specify the number of repetitions, there is enough time for Connors to learn many complex skills, such as how to play jazz piano, speak French, sculpt ice, and memorize the life story of almost everyone in town. He also masters the art of flipping playing cards into an upturned hat, which he offhandedly suggests takes six months.(According to Danny Rubin, who shares screenwriting credit with the director, the intent in the original script was for the time-frame of Connors' repeating days to be ambiguous, but longer than a single lifetime. The studio objected to this, asking that it be reduced to two weeks. Director Harold Ramis tried to leave the time-frame loop ambiguous as how many times Connors re-lives February 2, but it is strongly speculated by Connors (and the viewers) to be at least 10 years.)Eventually, Phil sees his own shadow, so to speak, and changes from an inconsiderate, callous egocentric into a thoughtful, kindhearted philanthropist, refining his understanding of human decency, which, in return, makes him an appreciated and beloved man in the town. Phil is able to befriend almost everyone he meets during the day, using his experiences to save lives and help the townspeople. In the process, he gets closer to Rita. He crafts a report on the Groundhog Day celebration so eloquent that all the other stations turn their microphones to him. After the big Groundhog Day evening dance, Rita and Phil retire together to Phil's room. They believe that if Rita's there, the cycle may be interrupted. He wakes the next morning in bed with Rita (they're both still fully clothed) and finds the time loop is broken; it is now February 3. Phil is a different person than he was on February 1 and, after going outside, Phil and Rita talk about living in Punxsutawney together. Connors suggests: "We'll rent to start."The closing song is "Almost Like Being in Love" from Brigadoon, a musical which also dealt with a village trapped in time.
    

Groundhog Day

Short Cuts

Jane by Design


            Set in Baton Rouge.Ann Bishop Mullany (Andie MacDowell) is talking to her psychiatrist (Ron Vawter) about a dream in which she is taking out the garbage. Ann is frustrated and has reached the point where she no longer desires sex; although, she says that her husband, John (Peter Gallagher), had already stopped trying to touch her a long time earlier. Ann says that she also is irritated with John for having invited an old friend to stay with them at their house without Ann's consent; however, Ann tells the therapist that it is, after all, John's house, insofar as he is paying the mortgage. We learn that Ann has stopped working altogether, as John is quite successful, a self-made, aspiring big shot -- he plans to become a law office partner soon -- and the couple lives comfortably.Meanwhile, John has been having an affair with Ann's sister, cheeky Cynthia Patrice Bishop (Laura San Giacomo), who is sexually carnivorous and somewhat unrefined, in stark contrast to the more genteel Ann. The sisters enjoy something of a close relationship (talking and visiting often), although it has been clearly tainted by long-established friction. Ann, naturally, does not know of the affair, but has her suspicions.While Ann is in her therapy session, John and Cynthia are having sex. The lovers talk afterward and Cynthia tells John she harbours a "perverted" desire to make love to him in her sister's bed. Returning to his law office, John finds Ann had called while he was away to tell him that his old friend, drifter Graham Dalton (James Spader), has just arrived.The three of them, Ann, John and Graham, are having dinner together. John is critical of his old friend, whom he feels has changed considerably since their glory days (mainly, it seems, because Graham wears a black shirt, which John describes as undertaker's clothing). John mentions that Graham ran away from Elizabeth, his old beloved girlfriend. The tension between the two builds further when Graham remarks that liars are the second-worst people in the world, surpassed only by lawyers.The next day, Ann accompanies Graham in search of an apartment. One landlord (Earl T. Taylor) shows them a flat, and after haggling briefly over the rent, Graham takes it. Soon afterward, at a café, talk between Ann and Graham progresses on to the topic of sex. Ann says that women are not generally as interested in sex as men think. Graham admits to being impotent, that he can't have an erection while in the company of anybody else. (We later learn that he masturbates while watching women he has recorded on videotape talking about their sexual lives and fantasies.) Meanwhile, John calls Cynthia so that they can have sex together the way she wants. Cynthia calls him "scum", but, of course, seizes the opportunity to fulfill her fantasy and goes to the house where John waits, naked, on the bed he shares with Ann, covered only by a strategically-placed potted plant.On a later unannounced visit to Graham's apartment, Ann interrupts Graham while he is watching a videotape of one of his old girlfriends (Alexandra Root) detailing her sexual experiences. Through her inquiry, Ann learns of Graham's unusual fetish and asks him to watch a tape with him, but Graham refuses: He had promised all the subjects not to let anyone else see their tapes. Ann leaves, disturbed by the revelation (or, more likely, indignant over Graham's refusal) and advises her sister, during their next phone call, not to get in touch with Graham, as Cynthia, ever on the prowl, had promised to do. Cynthia, however, is only intrigued more so by this and visits him, anyway, even though, up to this point, they have never met. Graham soon invites Cynthia to make a videotape. During the recording, she then recalls her first sexual experiences aloud...Immediately afterward, Cynthia, worked up from the experience, calls John demanding he leave work immediately to have sex with her. In spite of the growing pressures of his job, he begrudgingly obliges, though he has to change important work commitments, which he does using "a family crisis" as an excuse.Later, Cynthia tells Ann that she has been videotaped by Graham, but refuses to be specific about what she may have told him. And while she assures Ann that nothing sexual occurred between them, she does reveal that she had chosen to masturbate for Graham, to which Ann expresses her extreme dismay.Ann visits Cynthia at the bar where she works to show her (and collect money for) the sundress she's bought as a joint-gift between the sisters for their mother's birthday. A tipsy regular (Steven Brill) who flirts constantly with Cynthia, tries to make a pass at Ann. They both ignore him. Ann leaves annoyed after Cynthia and the barfly remark that the dress looks more like a tablecloth.That night, Ann finally confronts John, asking why he was not in the office when she called, whether he's having an affair, and specifically if he has been having sex with Cynthia. John denies everything, playing both roles of offended husband and lawyer. It works and he convinces her.The following day, John gets angry with Cynthia upon hearing of her visit to Graham's and of her agreeing to make the videotape. After some heated talk, Cynthia tells John to leave, that she doesn't feel like going on with the affair any longer. Meanwhile, Ann is at home vacuum-cleaning the master bedroom when she discovers Cynthia's lost pearl earring stuck inside the machine. Slowly, Ann pieces together what has been going on, how foolish she has been, and reacts, first trying to smash the earring with the vacuum cleaner, then leaving the house after changing her clothes in a rage.Ann arrives at Graham's apartment. She quickly learns that Graham already knew (from Cynthia) that John was being unfaithful, but felt it wasn't his place to tell her. Ann now wants to make her own videotape. Although Graham is hesitant at first, she finally convinces him...Ann returns home very late, John already having started calling friends, frantically concerned that something may have happened to her. As soon as she sits down, Ann tells him she wants out of the marriage. John tries to play innocent once again, keeping calm, but upon hearing that Ann, too, has made a videotape, becomes irate and goes after Graham.John storms into Graham's apartment, punches Graham in the face, locks him outside, and watches Ann's tape. On screen, Ann reveals she's never had an orgasm, not even with her husband. Ann and Graham both admit to having had fantasies of each other. Ann wonders aloud whether Graham could give her an orgasm. Ann then begins turning the tables subtly on Graham, now asking him the questions. It emerges that Graham has spent the last nine years feeling sorry over his idealized ex-girlfriend, Elizabeth, with whom he somehow expected to reconnect, and that this was his reason for drifting back to Baton Rouge. Ann tells him that Elizabeth would never want him back after nine years and especially not with all his unresolved issues. Ann picks up the camera herself and now focuses it on Graham. He confesses that he used to lie compulsively, to everyone, and that the lying, as well as "non-verbal" acting-out of his feelings, was what destroyed his relationship with Elizabeth... After some quiet, affectionate moments together on the couch, Graham switches off the camera...As John leaves, having seen all of Ann's videotape, and perhaps truly knowing her for the first time, he spitefully reveals to Graham that he had once had an affair with Elizabeth while she and Graham were still together, even before the relationship started to go downhill. Once John is gone, Graham destroys his collection of videotapes.Some time passes. While John is in his office with a colleague (David Foil) prior to their golf game, John's most important client, the one he had run out on during the affair with Cynthia, calls to say he has found another firm to take his business. John's boss then insists upon seeing him immediately (suggesting that John is likely to be fired because of his irresponsibility).Ann surprises Cynthia with a visit during her shift at the bar to give her a small birthday present along with a new telephone number, the sisters making their first small step toward forgiveness and acceptance of each other. Ann then joins Graham where he waits outside his apartment. They take each other's hands as she walks up, then curl up together on the steps. It appears they are now a couple.It starts to rain.
    

Sex, Lies, and Videotape


            In the beginning of the film, we see that Charles (Hugh Grant), a confirmed British bachelor and serial monogamist, lives with his tone-deaf sister Scarlett (Charlotte Coleman) in London. The pair are habitually late to weddings (as we gather from remarks made by others at the wedding they attend late right now, which is the first wedding in the film). At the wedding, Charles meets Carrie, an American (Andie McDowell) and ends up spending the night with her. Also at the wedding, David (David Bower), the deaf younger brother of Charles and Scarlett, is targeted as an object of affection by a guest. We see that Fiona (Kristin Scott-Thomas) and Tom (James Fleet) are brother and sister and very wealthy and Gareth (Simon Callow) and Matthew (John Hannah) are a gay couple. We also briefly meet Bernard and Lydia who are at the wedding. Bernard (David Haig) likes Lydia (Sophie Thompson), but she dismisses him, saying that she is not as desperate as that. As the friends leave the wedding, we see Bernard and Lydia kissing passionately.Charles ends up spending the night with Carrie and is surprised to see that she is leaving in the morning and returning back to America. The next thing we know, Charles and Scarlett are late again to wedding number 2 in the film, that of Bernard and Lydia. Father Gerald (Rowan Atkinson) officiates the service, his first, and seems to be unable to say the names of the bride and groom right and some other cues for added humor (Rowan needs no introduction of course).Charles is elated to see Carrie at the wedding, until she introduces him to her fiance, a boorish, Scottish politician who is much older than she. To top things off, Charles is stuck at a table with four of his ex girlfriends. The girl who liked David introduces herself to him in faulty sign language and he is enchanted with her. Despite the fact she is engaged, Carrie sleeps with Charles again that evening after her fiance has gone off to Scotland. We now see that the two really care for one another.The interim is when Charles receives an invitation to Carrie's wedding to Hamish Banks (Corin Redgrave) in Scotland. He goes to a very expensive store to choose a gift and meets Carrie. They spend a few hours shopping for her wedding dress and having a drink in a pub where Carrie reveals that she has had 33 lovers. After they part, Charles rushes off to tell Carrie that he loves her, but stops short. Instead, he refers to the "words of David Cassidy" which is the song "I Think I Love You." Carrie is affected, but kisses him on the cheek and moves on.The next wedding is the third in the film and is that of Carrie and Hamish in Scotland. It is here where Scarlett meets a tall Texan named Chester (Randall Paul) who fancies her. Gareth tells everyone to find spouses for themselves. We find out that Fiona has been in love with Charles since she has known him and she reveals this to the stunned Charles and a table mate. Tragedy strikes when Gareth dies suddenly, presumably of a heart attack, at the wedding.Now is time for the funeral - that of Gareth. Matthew gives the eulogy, which is the poem "Funeral Blues" by WH Auden. Carrie attends the funeral and sees Charles. Charles and Tom end up talking and Tom says that he is not waiting for the lightening bolt to hit, he just wants to meet someone and settle down.We then see an invitation for the fourth wedding, Charles and xxxx. The audience does not know that he will be marrying Henrietta, his slightly wacky ex-girlfriend who was at weddings 2 and 3. The friends get to the wedding where Tom meets his distant relative while seating the guests and feels "the thunderbolt." Carrie appears at the wedding and tells Charles that she is separated from Hamish and that their timing has been very bad. Charles does not know what to do - he loves Carrie but is now committed to marrying Henrietta (Anna Chancellor).David, who now is very steady with the young lady who learned sign language is at the wedding along with Scarlet and Chester. When Charles stays in the back of the church and asks Tom to delay the wedding, David wants to know what is going on. He tells Charles that he has three choices - he can go on with the wedding or tell everyone that the wedding is off. He says he can't think of number three.Charles stands with Henrietta to get married and when the priest asks for objections, David comes up with the third idea. He objects to the wedding. He asks Charles to translate for him and says that the groom loves someone else. When the priest asks if he does love someone else, Charles answers "I do" and gets punched in the eye by the bride. Chaos erupts at the church.The next scene is in the home of Charles and Scarlett with all the friends present. Carrie comes to the door and Charles, in the rain and outside, finally starts to let some of his feelings out. He asks her if she will agree "not to marry him" for the rest of their lives. Carrie answers "I do."The song "Going To The Chapel" is then played as we see Henrietta marry a member of the guard, Scarlett marry Chester, David marry his girlfriend, Tom marry the distant relative, Matthew with a new partner (Duncan Kenworthy), Fiona marrying Prince Charles, and Charles and Carrie with their son, presumably not married.
    

Four Weddings and a Funeral

Kevyn Aucoin: Beauty & the Beast in Me

Harrison's Flowers

The Dress Up Gang

Cedar Cove

Unstrung Heroes

The Beach House


            Scotland, 1885. The young John Clayton of the house of Greystoke (Paul Geoffrey) plans a voyage to Africa, to one of the colonies near the coast, along with his pregnant wife, Alice (Cheryl Campbell). John bids farewell to his father, the Sixth Earl of Greystoke (Ralph Richardson).Months later, off the coast of Equatorial West Africa, we see the remnants of a shipwreck, the very one chartered by Clayton. He and his wife have survived the wreck, but are now marooned in the jungle. They set up a house in the trees using timber and decking from the ship. Alice soon gives birth to their baby, a son named Jonathan Jr., but develops a severe fever soon after. During her sickness, Clayton writes in his journal of the difficulties in caring for his ill wife and their baby. Alice's breast milk becomes virulent and she deteriorates further. One day, Clayton checks on his wife to find her dead. As he weeps over her body, a large primate called White Eyes, leader of a nearby clan of apes, enters the home. Petrified, Clayton lunges for his gun but is quickly overtaken by the ape and killed when the ape charges him and beats him to death. Several other apes from the clan enter the house and begin to curiously inspect the house. A female named Kala, mate of the ape Silverbeard, enters the home carrying the body of her recently deceased baby. When she discovers John Jr. crying in his crib, she drops her baby's lifeless body and claims John as her own. She flees the house with the rest of the apes as one of them accidentally discharges Clayton's revolver while examining it.John (at age five Danny Potts) grows, brought up as an ape with the assumed name of Tarzan, but falls under constant persecution from White Eyes, who considers him an outsider because of his hairless skin. Despite trying hard to fit in, Tarzan's human attributes prove beneficial to him. Sipping water from a stream with a peer, Droopy Ears, Tarzan is forced into the water when the two are attacked by a leopard. Tarzan's friend is killed but he finds that he has the ability to swim to safety, whereas the apes would have normally stayed out of the water.Later (at age 12 Eric Langlois), Tarzan eventually discovers the home his human mother and father built. He finds his mother's locket which contains pictures of the Claytons, though Tarzan does not recognize them. He also finds his father's dagger and finds that it can be used as a weapon. He fashions a belt for himself and carries the dagger with him. While foraging for food, Kala is attacked and shot with arrows by a native hunting tribe. Tarzan rushes to her rescue and tries to fight off the attackers. One of the hunters, wielding a spear, lunges at Tarzan who dodges the point as it hits his already dying mother. The blow finishes Kala and Tarzan, in a rage, breaks the man's back over his shoulder. As he crouches over Kala's body, Tarzan begins to moan and scream, a mournful sound heard by the rest of the hunters.Many years later another hunting party, this time English, enters the jungle near Tarzan's home. The party is led by the vicious Major Jack Downing (Nigel Davenport), a game hunter who's been charged with bringing primates back to Britain, alive or dead, to be studied or stuffed for museum displays. Among the party are Capitaine Phillippe d'Arnot (Ian Holm) and Sir Evelyn Bount (John Wells), both contemptuous of Downing's sadism. They find the Clayton home and set up camp but are later attacked by a native tribe. Downing is killed immediately along with most of the guides. D'Arnot is wounded when an arrow pierces his lower abdomen. He manages to escape the fray but is followed by a few natives. He loses them as he hides in a large tree and, shortly after pulling the arrow from his body, is found by an adult Tarzan (Christopher Lambert) and a few apes.Tarzan brings d'Arnot to the ape camp and tends to his wounds, much to White Eyes' disapproval. Tarzan also fends off the curiosity of his fellow apes while d'Arnot recovers. During this time he discovers that Tarzan is a talented mimic who can imitate most of the animals in the jungle along with d'Arnot's mumblings. One day, Tarzan begins to hum the same tune d'Arnot does. When d'Arnot finds that Tarzan has the ability to speak, he is delighted and teaches Tarzan rudimentary English. Tarzan shows d'Arnot the locket and takes him to the Clayton home where he found it. There, d'Arnot discovers Tarzan's ancestry from John Sr.'s journal and resolves to bring Tarzan (whom d'Arnot now calls "Jean"; the French pronunciation of "John") home to his family in England.However, Tarzan's first priority is to gain leadership of the ape tribe. Having been persecuted by White Eyes his entire life, Tarzan challenges the older ape to a showdown. The two engage in a vicious fight that continues through the jungle while d'Arnot and the other apes look on. Tarzan and White Eyes fall into a large pool and disappear under water. White Eyes appears at the surface revealing a large stab wound in his body. Tarzan emerges from the water victorious and is respectfully greeted by the other apes as their leader.D'Arnot continues to educate Tarzan, though he is met with resistance at first. Tarzan finds it difficult to easily discard his ape upbringing. Eventually, d'Arnot decides that John is civilized enough to return to the world & takes him out to a small settlement on the edge of the jungle where they make their way, by boat, back to England.Upon their return, John is brought to the home of his grandfather, the Sixth Earl of Greystoke, who is deteriorating a bit from age and exhibits some eccentric behavior, presumably from the loss of his son and daughter-in-law. Lord Greystoke welcomes his grandson, though sometimes forgetting that he is not his son returned. John meets Lord Greystoke's young ward, Jane Porter (Andie MacDowell), who is visiting from America and is engaged to another man. Finding it difficult to be seen as anything but a novelty in a social sense, and with his behavior seen as threatening and savage, John falls into a depression. His mood is lifted slightly when he befriends a mentally disabled worker on the Greystoke estate and, while in his company, is able to relax and act naturally.Jane takes it upon herself to teach John more English, French, and social skills such as table manners and dancing. The two become very close and develop feelings for one another, making love one evening in secret. Eventually, Jane leaves her fiance with the intent to marry John.During a large ball honoring John's return to the family, Lord Greystoke sneaks away from the crowd, appearing to enjoy a renewed vigor at the return of his grandson. Reminiscing of a childhood game he used to play, he uses a silver tray as a toboggan and slides down the grand staircase, only to crash into the railing at the bottom. John discovers him and holds his grandfather as he dies in his arms, apparently of a head injury. John reacts similarly as he did to Kala's death, devastated and confused by the loss and frustrated with his displacement in society.John is later on hand to cut the ribbon for a new wing at the Natural History Museum -- his grandfather was the chief benefactor. Bothered by the exhibits of preserved animals, John sneaks away into an alley and comes across an institute for the study of primates next to the museum. When he enters the lab he discovers, to his horror, several small monkeys and a gorilla that have been dissected. Several other primates are kept alive in cages, the largest of which contains an ape who John immediately recognizes as his adoptive father, Silverbeard. John frees him and the other primates and escapes. At the museum, Jane, d'Arnot, and Blount are informed by the police that John is running through the streets with an ape. John runs to a park where he and Silverbeard climb a tree as they are surrounded by police and a crowd. When Jane, d'Arnot, and Blount arrive, Blount gives the word to a rifleman who fatally shoots Silverbeard. John becomes enraged and sad, yelling that the ape was his father from Africa.That night, everyone discusses what is to be done with the distraught John. Jane and d'Arnot agree that he should be sent back to Africa. Because of the dual nature in his mind, he cannot adapt to life in the civilized world. Blount disagrees, stating that John is the last surviving member of the Greystoke family and that the legacy must be secured for the future. Suddenly, they hear John screaming and see him driving a team of horses around the circle outside. When he comes in, covered in mud, Blount assertively tells him that he must resume his life as a Scot Lord. John growls and forces Blount into a chair. He presses a hand to Blount's chest and tells him, "One half of me is Greystoke. The other half is wild!"John is taken back to Africa. At the waterfall in his former territory, he quickly meets another gorilla and runs off into the rainforest, while Jane and d'Arnot watch him leave.
    

Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes

Daydream Nation

Green Card

Dinner with Friends

Multiplicity

Dashing in December

Along for the Ride

At Home in Mitford


            Note: this is a remake of the 1984 movie of the same name.In the small rural town of Bomont, Georgia, a group of teens are having a wild party with music, drinking, and dancing. Five of them decide to leave and get in a car together. Bobby Moore (Blair Jasin), the driver, is not entirely sober. While crossing a bridge he leans over to kiss his girlfriend, loses control of the car, and runs head-on into a truck, resulting in a huge explosion, an upside-down car, and all five dead teens.A few weeks later, the grieving and fanatical Reverend Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid) is delivering a Sunday sermon; he feels the towns despair over the tragic deaths of five high school seniors, including his son, Bobby, in an auto accident the previous night after an evening of teenage drinking and dancing. Soon afterwards, the town council votes to ban partying, loud music and all forms of public dancing. Ariel (Julianne Hough), his young daughter, is upset and not happy about any of it.THREE YEARS LATERRen McCormack (Kenny Wormald) gets off the Greyhound bus in Bomont. He has arrived from Boston to live with his Uncle Wes (Ray McKinnon) and his wife and two kids, as Ren's divorced mother has recently died. As the owner of a local car dealership lot and garage, Wes lets Ren move into his "office", and is reminded by his uncle that this isn't Boston and adds: "So... no getting into trouble and to make sure you keep up in school." Wes tells him that his neighbor's cotton gin has saved a job for him, and that with the economy the way it is, he's lucky to have it. Uncle Wes gives him an old, broken-down VW, and says if he can fix it, he can have it. Ren gets to work, and soon enough, he has the car running. He takes it for a drive, with the stereo blaring, and is promptly pulled over by a local cop. When he asks why he was pulled over, the cop says for loud music and disturbing the peace. Ren talks back to the unfriendly cop, and can't believe that loud music is illegal here. The cop writes him up a citation.On Sunday, the family goes to church, and Ren catches the eye of a pretty girl, Ariel. She's the daughter of Reverend Shaw Moore and his quiet wife, Vi (Andie MacDowell). After church, Ariel tells her parents she has a school project to work on and will spend the night with her girlfriend, Rusty (Ziah Colon). It's a lie, as they have no project, and they just want to go to town and see Chuck Cranston, her older boyfriend (Patrick John Flueger) to race his car at the local racetrack. Afterwords, while Ariel ditches Rusty to go off with Chuck whom she wants him to have sex with her.At school on Monday, Ren meets Rusty and Ariel, and they comment on his more city-like attire. He literally bumps into a camo-wearing cowboy, and they verbally spar, until the cowboy laughs and introduces himself as Willard (Miles Teller). Willard informs Ren about the deaths of the students three years ago, and how the town went crazy and outlawed loud music, dancing and parties for kids. There isn't even a high school prom anymore. After school, Ren goes to the cotton gin and starts his job.Later that night, the high school kids go and hang out at the concession stand at the drive-in movie theater, listen to music and dance. Ren sees Rusty and Ariel there. Ariel dances and Ren is obviously attracted, and she likes that. Chuck sees it and is jealous. In comes Reverend Moore, and the pulls the plug on the music and orders all the teens to go home and for Ariel to go home with him. Ariel is embarrassed and angry with her father.The next day, Ren goes to court for his ticket, and his Uncle Wes speaks up for him. Since Ren has a job, the judge rules that he is eligible for a suspended jail sentence, but must not have any other violations in the meantime otherwise there will be jail time.A few days later, Ariel pays Ren a visit at the cottin gin and says that Chuck wants him to come to his daddy's race track tomorrow. Ren has no idea what to expect, and when he gets there, he is challenged by Chuck to a race in old school buses. They drive, smash up things, and eventually Ren wins.Another few days later, a kid at school, named Rich, offers Ren a joint but he refuses. The librarian sees it, and chases Ren down the hall. Ren quickly flushes it down the toilet, and is promptly taken to the principal. He tells the truth, that it wasn't his and he didn't want it. He also explains that he is a gymnast and never does any kind of drug. Ren is let off with only a warning, but his uncle is told and he yells at Ren for defying him and nearly getting into trouble.In anger, Ren drives to an old, deserted garage. He blasts the music, drinks a beer, and rips off his shirt. He dances his anger and stress out, and does gymnastic-flips, too. Ariel walks in after watching everything, and they begin to talk. As dusk approaches, she takes him to an abandoned train car, which is covered in graffiti, all of which is quotes, lyrics and poems. The local kids call it 'The Yearbook'. It is there they can express themselves freely, without fear of the tight laws in Bomont. Then, she takes Ren to the railroad track, and stands in the middle as a train is coming, and she won't get out of its way. As it barrels towards her, Ren yells and pleads for her to get off the track, and as she is about to get hit, he leaps and grabs her, and pushes her out of harm's way. Ren is angry at her stupidity. She says she has been reckless and lost ever since her brother died.A few days later, Rusty and Willard, along with Ren and Ariel, drive to Atlanta to the Cowboy Bar, for some live music and country dancing. While Willard refuses to dance, Ren, Ariel and Rusty have a great time. Rusty reminds Willard that he promised that there wouldn't be any fighting. A cowboy asks Rusty to dance, while the jealous Willard watches and then can't take it anymore. He cuts in, and then gets in a fight with the cowboy. Rusty, Williard, Ren and Ariel leave, and as they drive home across the bridge where the accident happened, they talk about the tragedy and its after effects.Another day later, Reverend Moore visits Uncle Wes at his car dealership office and tells him he doesn't like Ren hanging around with his daughter and wants him gone if Wes cannot control him. Uncle Wes tells him that Ren is a stand-up kid, who had to care for and watch his mother die from leukemia after his father abandoned them. Wes tells Moore that Ren is a good kid and strong-willed, but just misunderstood. Reverend Shaw leaves, not persuaded.Another day later, Ren decides to get a petition going, which he will present to the town council that asks for a repeal of the law against dancing. He wants a prom for his senior class. He thinks its time the law changed. His Uncle Wes and Aunt sign it, and say his mother would have been proud of him.During this time, Willard tells Ren he can't dance. He never learned how, and is afraid to try. Ren, along with his two nieces, teaches Willard (in re-cycled montage from the first movie as Willard practices dancing to the soundtrack of the 1980s song 'Let's Hear It For the Boy'), and soon Willard is an excellent dancer, and happy that he can now dance with his girlfriend, Rusty.Ariel meets Chuck at the race track and breaks up with him over his moodyness and jealousy. He doesn't take it well, and calls her a slut, and he punches her in the face. He leaves her face down in the dirt, and she staggers up, grabs a pipe, and wails on his truck, smashing in the headlights and windows. He is furious, and hits her again bloodying her face before driving off.At the church, when Reverend Shaw sees Ariel's bloody and bruised face, he immediately thinks Ren did it, and threatens to kill Ren. Ariel tells him it is just like him to blame Ren for everything, like he blamed everything on Bobby, her dead brother. She tells him she has been so lost since Bobby died. She also tells him she isn't a virgin, and he slaps her.Afterwords, Vi and the Reverend talk. Vi tells him that they overreacted with all the fast changes to the laws after the kids died. It was too much, too soon. She reminds him that his obligation is to his daughter first, and the congregation after family.At the town council meeting, Ren speaks and quotes the Bible (which Ariel gave him) and says, there is a time for dance. Ren requests to the council that the law banning public dancing be overturned or at least suspended so that the students of Bomont High can have their senior prom. Naturally, Reverend Shaw opposes the request and answers that they don't want the spiritual corruption that dancing brings with it brought to their town. Ren's request to overturn the no-dancing law is quickly denied.When Ren is at work the next day, his boss tells him that he hasn't noticed that the cotton gin is just over the city line, and isn't in Bomont, but Basin. So, he says, "Why not have the prom at the cotton gin there in Basin, where it isn't illegal?"That evening, Reverend Moore is rehearsing his next sermon in the chapel, and Ren comes in, and listens. When the Reverend notices him, he stops and they talk. Ren tells him they are having a dance at the cotton gin in Basin, and he wants to take Ariel as his date. Ren promises to be respectful to Ariel. He tells the Reverend that the dance means a lot to him, but his daughter means more. He won't go to the dance if he can't take Ariel. The Reverend has to decide, and Ren tells him, "You gotta do what you gotta do", thanks him, and leaves.During the sermon on Sunday, Reverend Shaw tells the congregation that we all need to take responsibility for our own lives. He explains that we have to trust, and can't hold on forever. He announces that because of the still-standing law banning music and dancing, the senior class is having a dance in Basin, and hopes that they can all support it. Ren and Ariel, and the other students smile and cheer.The kids all show up at the cotton gin to sweep, clean and decorate for the dance. They raise the lights, and it looks beautiful, and is ready.At her house, Ariel is getting ready for the dance, and her mom comes in and tells her she looks stunning, and hands her a corsage. Ariel tries to thank her, but she says: "It isn't from me" (implying that it is from the Reverend).She hears Ren's car and comes out before he can ring the bell. He is stunned by how beautiful she looks, and tries to let her in the car. The door is stuck, so she convinces him to lift her and slide her in through the window. Reverend and Vi are watching from the window inside the house. Vi comments that that was a smooth move (by Ariel), and the Reverend smiles.Ren and Ariel arrive at the dance, and no one is dancing. Ren and Ariel go on the floor and start dancing. Others join in, and soon everyone is dancing. Willard and Rusty arrive, and as they are walking in, Chuck and some of his posse drive up in trucks, and grab Rusty and start to gang up on Willard. Rusty had made him promise, "No fighting!", but as they hit him and restrain her, she yells, "Beat the hell outta them, Willard!". At that same time, Ren and Ariel came outside for some air, and see the fight and join in. Ren, Williard, and a few others beat up Chuck and his loser friends, and they drive way. Ren and company return to the dance, where Ren exclaims, "Let's Dance!" They all dance, confetti falls, and the movie ends as they all dance together.
    

Footloose


            In an introductory scene, Leonardo da Vinci is in his studio, working on a variety of projects. The largest, a complex mechanical machine which focuses the sun's rays, is intended to turn lead into steel, but when activated, it turns out that the machine has turned the lead into something far more valuable: gold. Realizing the danger such a machine could wreak, he decides to hide the essential gemstone component, made of three pieces, by hiding them amongst his various works.In the present, Eddie "Hudson Hawk" Hawkins (Bruce Willis) is being released from Sing Sing Prison after doing 10 years, presumably for burglary. As he is checking out of prison, he is met by his corrupt parole officer, Gates, who offers to excuse him from community service in exchange for pulling off an art heist. Hudson declines, and meets his buddy (and presumable partner-in-crime) Tommy Five-Tone (Danny Aiello), who offers him his favorite drink, a cappuccino, but spills it when he slams on the brakes. The pair return to their old haunt: their co-owned bar Five-Tone in Hoboken, but when Hudson enters, he finds it converted from a comfortable hole in the wall full of working-class regulars, to an elite, upscale urban professional bistro. While attempting to enjoy a fresh cappuccino, he is interrupted by local crime bosses Cesar Mario (Frank Stallone) and Antony Mario (Carmine Zozzora), who reveal they are behind the art heist proposed by Gates, and try to pressure Hudson into doing it.Hudson decides to go through with the heist, and plans the job with Tommy, while his desires to live a straight life fight against it. Sneaking into an auction house, the duo mislead the guards by rewinding the security camera recorders, playing back earlier footage of a quiet building, while Hudson cracks the safe, retrieving a bronze statue of a horse. All the while, the duo are singing a song -- "Swinging On A Star" -- to themselves, separately, in order to keep time with each other. As they reach the end of the song, the guards discover them, but the two manage to escape by jumping off the building's roof.In a surreal cut-scene, Hudson, statue in hand, finds himself landing in an armchair in Gates' living room, with Gates and the two Marios waiting. Gates gleefully takes the statue from Hudson. Soon, an English butler, Alfred (Donald Burton) arrives, taking the statue from Gates, admiring it as one of da Vinci's finest works, then smashing it over his head. It shatters, and Alfred retrieves a fist-sized gemstone from the remains. Alfred then dispatches Gates, releasing a switchblade machete from his sleeves and slashing Gates' throat, and then leaves, with the Marios in tow.The next morning, Hudson appears at the Five-Tone, telling Tommy the story of the previous night, but Tommy is already ahead of him. Reading from the morning paper, he tells Hudson about their heist, which is reported as an attempted heist, foiled by guards, and the horse statue, the Sforza, will be auctioned off that night as planned. Intrigued, and confounded, Hudson rents a tuxedo and attends the auction, where he meets Anna Baragli (Andie MacDowell), a Vatican antiquities expert, who is invited onstage to verify the authenticity of the statue; to Hudson's bemusement, she does. During the auction for the Sforza, a flamboyant and impetuous man, Darwin Mayflower (Richard E. Grant) storms in and declares his bid of $1,000,000. Immediately afterwards, an equally flamboyant and impetuous woman (Sandra Bernhard) trots in, dog in tow, and declares a bid of $1,000,001, outbidding the man, who is identified as her husband. As the auctioneer calls for closing bids, the man and woman, as well as an assorted cadre of people eating candy bars scattered in the audience, duck; as the auctioneer's gavel hits the podium, it violently explodes, killing the auctioneer and scattering art pieces everywhere. The man and woman promptly leave, unscathed. Meanwhile, Hudson tackles Baragli to save her from a falling column; and is subsequently knocked out by a swinging hung sculpture.Hudson awakes to find himself in an ambulance, but instead of doctors, is surrounded by the Mario crime family, ecstatic about their latest gig. The Marios are planning to kill Hudson, but instead, he manages to hit the ambulance's driver, and incapacitate Antony with a rack of syringes. Cesar kicks Hudson out of the ambulance, shuttling the gurney he is lying on onto the freeway. The disruption in the ambulance causes it to run offroad and flip over, killing the Marios. Hudson, still strapped to the gurney, manages to dodge traffic and even a toll booth, and direct the gurney to an offramp, before it eventually comes to a stop in the industrial district, where he meets up with a group of characters he recognizes as the candy-eating people from the auction. The first introduces himself as Snickers (Don Harvey), who shocks Hudson with a cattle prod. Hudson is released from the gurney from a mute man (David Caruso) who shows him a white card identifying himself as Kit Kat. A young black woman appears (Lorraine Toussaint), identifying herself as Almond Joy, explaining their names as code names. A tall muscular man with a crew cut (Andrew Bryniarski) exits a portable toilet, which he accidentally knocks over, and then introduces himself as Butterfinger. Finally, the team is revealed to be led by a seasoned CIA veteran, and former nemesis of Hudson, George Kaplan (James Coburn). The Sforza heist is revealed to be part of a CIA sting operation against the Mayflowers, in which Hudson is now an unwilling accomplice. Hudson is knocked out and stashed in a wooden crate of packing peanuts. Hudson wakes up from his induced sedation, escaping from the packing crate, and finds himself in an ornate room. Looking out a nearby window, he sees the Coliseum; Alfred appears, and welcomes him to Rome. He is taken to the Mayflowers' corporate board room, where Darwin Mayflower announces his plan for world domination via recomposing da Vinci's La Maqunia d'Oro and convert lead into gold, flooding world markets and making the commodity worthless. The company has reverse-engineered da Vinci's plans for the machine, and have identified the three pieces containing the shards of the machine's essential gemstone; the Sforza was the first. The second is contained in a secret pocket of da Vinci's Codex, which is on display in the Vatican.Hudson visits the Lateran museum in Vatican City to case the joint; while there, he happens into Baragli, who is giving a tour. At the end of the tour, the Codex is shown, kept it it's own basilica and protected with a glass case and a security cage hanging overhead. Hudson grabs a young girl's toy elephant and flings it towards the case, which triggers proximity sensors, releasing a gas cloud and causing the security cage to suddenly drop over the glass case. Baragli finds Hudson, and brings him through a secret door which leads to the Vatican postal railway. Charming her, he arranges to meet her for dinner. Meanwhile, he has planned out the job to snatch the Codex. While phoning Tommy to tell him about his latest adventure, he manages to miss seeing Tommy, already in Rome, living it up with the Mayflowers just feet away from the phone booth. He runs into Kaplan's team, where Kit Kat warns him about "the blue wire." Snickers informs Hudson that he has to do the Codex job tonight, which he protests, but Almond Joy takes his materials list and the team begins procuring the items.That night, Hudson sneaks into the Lateran museum, using mirrors to deflect the security lasers, and a fishing pole to hook the Codex. When a security guard notices the mirrors missing, he runs down the stairs to the Codex, seeing Hudson's setup. Upon reaching the setup, frantically calling for backup, Hudson yanks the Codex off its plinth, causing the gas to escape and trapping the guard inside the security cage, while Hudson escapes through the glass basilica roof. Running from remaining gendarmerie, Hudson is chased along rooftops, eventually escaping by falling into a chicken truck, which, it happens, drives right past the restaurant where he is meeting Baragli for dinner. Kaplan's "candy bars" CIA team is also there, watching their table. Baragli fawns over Hudson, and they retreat to her place, where she gets intimate, but she demurely rejects his sexual advances. Suddenly, a secret intercom behind a crucifix in her apartment lights up and sounds an alarm, announcing that there's been a break in at the Lateran museum -- upon which, she trips over Hudson's satchel, revealing the Codex. Hudson tries to explain, but it turns out Baragli already knows he was going to steal the book, and confronts him with the fact he's working with the Mayflowers. They chat about his role in the Mayflowers' plot, but he insists that he's an unwitting patsy, "just a guy that's good at stealing stuff." Baragli knocks him out with a spiked cappuccino, and the Candy Bars enter; Baragli scolds them for not informing her and "her people" that the Codex theft was happening that night, and demands to meet with Kaplan. Kit Kat brings Baragli to see Kaplan, who tries to smooth out the rough edges with her. Upon leaving, she happens to spot the Mayflowers' dog there. After she leaves, Kaplan reveals that he's letting Baragli tag along in order to get closer to the "mysterious Vatican organization" she works with. Later, Baragli is seen in a confessional, talking to a priest, who it turns out is her superior in a clandestine Vatican counter-espionage operation. Upon exiting, she is wearing a nun's habit. She explains to her boss that, while the Vatican organization believes they are working with the CIA in order to stop the Mayflowers' plan, that in fact the CIA is working with the Mayflowers to help the plan succeed.Hudson is brought again before the Mayflowers where he is given the details on his next job, a heist of da Vinci's aerial screw helicopter from the Louvre. Hudson shuts them down, insisting he is not going to do another job for them. They blindfold him, then leave the room; he removes the blindfold to find Tommy, who explains that he was informed of the whole plot ahead of time, thinking it would be a lot of fun and give Hudson a breath of fresh air after his time in prison. Hudson and Tommy get into a struggle over a gun, bursting out of the room, past the Mayflowers and Candy Bars, and off the balcony, onto the ground below, where the gun goes off, and Tommy is shown bleeding. An ambulance appears, taking Tommy and Hudson away; the Mayflowers turn to Kaplan and direct him to execute "Plan B."The ambulance, then out of sight, drives into a rolling Vatican box truck, and Hudson, Five-Tone (unwounded, but covered in ketchup), and Baragli exit. They retire to Baragli's apartment, confident that the ruse has fooled the Mayflowers and the CIA team. With Hudson no longer working the job, the Mayflowers' plan is thus foiled. Hudson attempts another romantic advance on Baragli, which she again politely declines, to his dismay, asking him (and Tommy) to sleep on the couches. The next morning, Hudson and Tommy are awoken to find the Candy Bars in Baragli's apartment, with Baragli nowhere to be found. Almond Joy sedates the pair with curare-laced blow darts. Hudson insists that this will still not get him to pull off the Louvre job, but Kaplan tosses him a newspaper, showing that the Louvre was hit the previous night by a well-armed commando team -- Kaplan's team, who stole the da Vinci helicopter in a much more violent and excessive way than Hudson's cat burglar techniques. The last piece of the gemstone is revealed from the base of the helicopter, and Kaplan declares Hudson and cohorts to be "irrelevant." Just then, Baragli enters the apartment, aiming a gun at Kaplan, to Hudson and Five-Tone's joy. However, Almond Joy no-sells Baragli's threat, confident that Baragli won't shoot (over Hudson and Five-Tone's encouragement), because "I've read your dossier, Sister," and likewise immobilizes her with a curare dart. They then reveal that Baragli is a nun, which everyone in the room knew except for Hudson; Hudson is upset at the deception, but Baragli reveals that she does have special feelings for him.The Candy Bars take Baragli away, as they need her Vatican expertise for the "next level." However, they don't need two cat burglars anymore, and plan to set timed bombs in the apartment, using a unique adhesive-timed-bomb-launching gun. Hudson and Five-Tone begin to overcome the sedation of the curare, just as Almond Joy is about to re-administer it; they quickly get the jump on her, causing her to swallow a curare dart, immobilizing herself. As Snickers is about to set another bomb, they trip him; causing him to drop the gun, which spins around, launching a bomb onto his head. As Hudson and Five-Tone jump off Baragli's balcony, the bomb on Snickers' head explodes, destroying the apartment, with Snickers and Almond Joy along with it.Planning to stop the Mayflowers as well as rescue Baragli, Hudson and Five-Tone get to Castle da Vinci, where La Maquina is being restored, and proceed to breach the grounds, again timing their efforts with a song as they did in the auction house, this time singing "Side By Side." Meanwhile, the Mayflowers and Kaplan are trying to get Baragli to show them how to assemble the three shards into the correct final gemstone for the machine, but Baragli is feigning hallucinations from the curare. They then inform her that (as they believe) Hudson is dead. As the sounds of Hudson's and Five-Tone's breach (using the bomb-launcher taken from Snickers), Kaplan and Butterfinger leave to investigate, leaving Baragli alone with Minerva Mayflower and Kit Kat. Mayflower, with an iron crossbow trained on Baragli, suddenly turns on Kit Kat, shooting him fatally. Kit Kat, in his dying moments, releases Baragli from her bindings; meanwhile, Butterfinger, sent by Kaplan to report back to Minerva, is instead shot by her. Mayflower then returns her aim to Baragli, who overpowers her and escapes. Meanwhile, again at the moment the song ends, Five-Tone is caught by sleeve-machete-wielding Alfred, who takes him to the Mayflower's car, locking him in the back with Darwin, who he punches out. Hudson encounters Kaplan, who begins attacking him with martial arts; he seems to trap Hudson in an induced muscle spasm, but Hudson interrupts it, causing Kaplan to mis-aim a timed flying kick, sending Kaplan off the roof and onto the Mayflowers' car. Then, Baragli shows up -- "We're supposed to be saving you!" "I got bored, so I saved myself!" Meanwhile, with Five-Tone tied up in the back, Darwin leaves the car, and Alfred knocks it into neutral. Darwin calls up tauntingly at Hudson, as the car coasts off a cliff and explodes, with Five-Tone trapped inside and Kaplan on the hood. Hudson is devastated.Hudson and Baragli are taken inside the castle, where the Mayflowers are stumped, unable to combine the shards into the right gemstone. Hudson takes a shot at it, over Baragli's protests, and eventually crams the shards together into a completed gem. Ecstatic, the Mayflowers put the gem in place, and start the machine, proudly boasting their achievement. Baragli is disgusted at Hudson for helping the Mayflowers win, but Hudson reveals he left out one of the shards, which she happily acknowledges is "very bad." Shortly thereafter, the machine explodes, covering Minerva in molten lead, and burning Darwin to a crisp. Hudson and Baragli run, but are caught by Alfred, who extends both machetes. Hudson fights with Alfred, managing to shove both of Alfred's long knives into one of the castle's thick wooden doors, then slams the door shut, causing Alfred to be decapitated by his own blades. Subsequently, they are blocked by the Mayflower's dog, Bunny, who begins to attack Baragli's neck. Hudson, remembering that Bunny liked chasing tennis balls, takes a tennis pitching machine previously used by Darwin, and, getting Bunny's attention, launches a tennis ball out a window, which the dog gleefully chases out of it. With the castle rapidly catching fire and crumbling from the explosion of the giant gold machine, Hudson and Baragli escape using the da Vinci flying machine, landing eventually in a field near a small village. There, they visit a cafe and talk about their future, Baragli suggesting that God wants her to "keep an eye on him." Baragli mourns Five-Tone, but just then, to their amazement, Five-Tone emerges from a taxi, alive, declaring that the Mayflower's high-end town car had an interior fire suppression system, saving his life. With friends alive, love interest kindled, and having successfully defeated both the Mayflowers and the Candy Bars, Hudson finally gets to drink his cappuccino.
    

Hudson Hawk


            Michael (John Travolta) is not a stereotypical archangel. He epitomizes the freedom that an angel might command if living among mere mortals. As the tagline says, "He's an angel, not a saint."Two reporters, Frank Quinlan (William Hurt) and Huey Driscoll (Robert Pastorelli), one cynical and the other innocent, work for a tabloid newspaper in Chicago. ("Quinlan" is a nod to one of the writers of the same name.) They travel to a sleepy hamlet in Iowa because Quinlan has received a letter from a woman, Pansy Milbank, (Jean Stapleton) who has an angel for tenant and he is able to convince his editor (Bob Hoskins) that they should visit her at the Milk Bottle Motel. She dies before their very eyes, and they "persuade" Michael to accompany them to Chicago. Traveling with them is an alleged angel expert, Dorothy Winters (Andie MacDowell) with whom they were saddled by their editor.Michael is in control of the entire trip. They stop when he says so because he causes their tire to go flat. He leads them in a fight in a bar for which they are jailed one night. And he resurrects the dog, Sparky, after it is runover by a truck.Throughout the story, there is romantic tension between the angel expert and Quinlan, the cynical reporter and Michael engineers their romance to the very end.The movie's climax comes when they finally arrive in Chicago and Michael breathes his last looking up at the Sears Tower. (Michael has a fascination for the biggest and tallest things in the world.) Michael wasn't dying; but he was exiting earth for his last time. Meanwhile, the angel expert is exposed as a spy for the manipulative editor, and she confesses that she was after Huey's job. In truth, she is a dog expert who was sent on the trip to befriend Sparky. Quinlan, who at one point was moving out of his cynicism, regresses and the story almost ends with the three traveling companions going their separate ways, knowing they had journeyed with an angel, but not understanding exactly what it meant.Finally, one night, Quinlan spots a figure that he thinks is Michael (who was lying about it being his last visit), and begins following him rapidly through the streets. He rounds one corner and careens into Dorothy, who apparently was following a Michael-clone herself. Their faith is restored, and their love blossoms once more. "Marry me, Dorothy," says Quinlan. "Yes," she replies. Then the scene freezes, and out pop Michael and Pansy Milbank -- we're left to ponder whether she became an angel when she died earlier, or that she was an angel all along -- and they dance through the frozen people until they merge with the light emanating from a car's headlights.
    

Michael

Crush

Christmas Inheritance

The Muse

The Object of Beauty

The Last Laugh

The End of Violence

Just the Ticket

Beauty Shop


            In February 2006, young Luke Abbate accepted a ride home from a fellow student following his high-school team practice. In a severe case of irresponsible and reckless teen-age driving, and over the objections of Luke and the other young passengers, the driver lost control of the car at nearly 90 miles-per-hour, spinning off a narrow road and landing in an embankment some seventy feet below. Luke suffered irreparable brain damage, and died in the hospital two days later - just four days before his sixteenth birthday.
While in the hospital, the Abbate family made the difficult decision to permit the doctors to utilize Lukes organs in a nationwide organ transplant program. Five recipients were almost immediately identified, including a young mother who was suffering with serious heart disease. Sharing an uncommon blood type, Lukes heart was flown to the young womans hospital location across the country, resulting in a successful heart transplant, and saving her life.  Following his brothers death, Jon considered giving up his football career but knew that doing so would not properly honor the younger brother who loved and idolized him. Upon his return to Wake Forest, Jon was given the approval of head coach Jim Grobe to change his number from his long-standing 40, to his brothers number 5. And, in so doing, dedicated the new season to the memory of his brother. The Abbate family founded The Luke Abbate 5th Quarter Foundation for the purposes of educating young people nationwide to the dangers and life-altering consequences of irresponsible driving.  A tradition began to evolve during the following Wake Forest games. In paying homage to Luke, Jon would signal his family sitting in the stands (Section 5) by holding up his hand with all 5 fingers outstretched. He did this at the end of the third quarter. Gradually, the rest of his team started to do the same. Within a couple of games, players from both teams, the fans in the stands, and those watching the games on television, would begin the final quarter by raising their hands with all 5 fingers outstretched in honor of Lukes memory. The final quarter became known as Lukes Quarter, the 5th Quarter, and this humble signal crystallized the entire team. And, although having lost their starting quarterback, starting running back, and starting defensive end to injuries at the beginning of the season, Wake Forest went on to complete their most successful season in school history, winning 11 games against 2 losses. Coach Grobe was selected the ACCs Coach-Of-The-Year, and Jon performed brilliantly in the ACC Championship Game with fifteen solo tackles against powerhouse Georgia Tech.
    

The 5th Quarter

Red Right Hand

Love After Love

Bad Girls

No Man's Land

Paper Year

A Sudden Case of Christmas

As Good as Dead

Mighty Fine

Deception

The Front

Ginostra

At Risk

Breaking at the Edge


            From Publishers Weekly-This perceptive, uplifting chronicle shows how much Simon, a creative writing professor at Bryn Mawr College, had to learn from her mentally retarded sister, Beth, about life, love and happiness. Beth lives independently and is in a long-term romantic relationship, but perhaps the most surprising thing about her, certainly to her (mostly) supportive family, is how she spends her days riding buses. Six days a week (the buses don't run on Sundays in her unnamed Pennsylvania city), all day, she cruises around, chatting up her favorite drivers, dispensing advice and holding her ground against those who find her a nuisance. Rachel joined Beth on her rides for a year, a few days every two weeks, in an attempt to mend their distanced relationship and gain some insight into Beth's daily life. She wound up learning a great deal about herself and how narrowly she'd been seeing the world. Beth's community within the transit system is a much stronger network than the one Rachel has in her hectic world, and some of the portraits of drivers and the other people in Beth's life are unforgettable. Rachel juxtaposes this with the story of their childhood, including the dissolution of their parents' marriage and the devastating abandonment by their mother, the effect of which is tied poignantly to the sisters' present relationship. Although she is honest about the frustrations of relating to her stubborn sister, Rachel comes to a new appreciation of her, and it is a pleasure for readers to share in that discovery. Agent, Anne Edelstein. (Aug. 26) Forecast: A blurb from Rosie O'Donnell and an author tour should pique women readers' interest.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal-Adult/High School-When she received an invitation to her mentally retarded sister's annual Plan of Care review, Simon realized that this was Beth's way of attempting to bring her back into her life. Beth challenged the author to give a year of her life to riding "her" buses with her. Even though Simon didn't know where it would take her, she accepted. During that time, she came to see her sister as a person in her own right with strong feelings about how she wanted to live her life, despite what others thought. Not everyone on the buses, drivers or passengers, liked or even tolerated Beth, and it shamed the author to realize that she sometimes felt the same way about her sibling. As the year passed, Simon came to the realization that "No one can be a good sister all the time. I can only try my best. Just because I am not a saint does not mean that I am a demon." The time together became a year of personal discovery, of acceptance, and of renewed sibling love and closeness. Clear writing and repeated conversations allow readers to hear the voices of both sisters. There is much to mull over, to enjoy, and to savor in this book.Peggy Bercher, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
    

Andie MacDowell

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