Game of Thrones


            The two main characters of the story are Amir, a well-to-do Afghan boy from the dominant Pushtun ethnic group, and Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant Ali, who belongs to the historically downtrodden Hazara minority. The boys spend their days in a peaceful Kabul, kite fighting, roaming the streets and being boys. Amir's father, Baba, loves both the boys, but seems often to favor Hassan for being more manly. He is critical of Amir. Amir's mother died in childbirth, and Amir fears his father blames him for his mother's death. However, he has a kind father figure in the form of Rahim Khan, Baba's friend, who understands Amir better, and is supportive of his interest in writing stories.A notoriously violent older boy with Nazi sympathies, Assef, blames Amir for socializing with a Hazara, who he claims is an inferior race that should only live in Hazarajat. He prepares to attack Amir, but Hassan bravely stands up to him, threatening to shoot Assef in the eye with his slingshot. Assef and his henchmen back off, but Assef says he will take revenge.Hassan is a "kite runner" for Amir: he runs to fetch kites Amir has defeated by cutting their strings. He knows where such a kite will land without even seeing it. One triumphant day, Amir wins the local tournament, and finally Baba's praise. Hassan goes to run the last cut kite (a great trophy) for Amir, saying "For you, a thousand times over." Unfortunately, Hassan runs into Assef and his two henchmen. Hassan refuses to give up Amir's kite, so Assef exacts his revenge, assaulting and anally raping him. Wondering why Hassan is taking so long, Amir searches for Hassan and hides when he hears Assef's voice. He witnesses what happens to Hassan but is too scared to help him. Afterwards, for some time Hassan and Amir keep a distance from each other. When Hassan wants to pick up their friendship again, Amir holds it off. When people ask what is the matter, Amir reacts indifferently. He feels ashamed, and is frustrated by Hassan's saint-like behavior. Amir worries that Baba loves Hassan more, and would love him even more if he knew what happened to Hassan and about Amir's cowardly inaction.To force Hassan to leave, Amir frames him as a thief, and Hassan falsely confesses. Baba forgives him, despite the fact that, as he explained earlier, he believes that "there is no act more wretched than stealing". Hassan and his father Ali, to Baba's extreme sorrow, leave anyway. Hassan's departure frees Amir of the daily reminder of his cowardice and betrayal, but he still lives in their shadow.A short while later, the Soviets invade Afghanistan. Amir and Baba escape to Peshawar, Pakistan and then to Fremont, California, where Amir and Baba (who lived in luxury in an expensive mansion in Afghanistan) settle in a run-down apartment and Baba begins work at a gas station. Amir eventually takes classes at a local community college to develop his writing skills. Every Sunday, Baba and Amir make extra money selling used goods at a flea market in San Jose. There, Amir meets Soraya Taheri and her family; Soraya's father is contemptuous of Amir's literary aspiration. Baba has lung cancer but is still able to do Amir a great favor: he asks Soraya's father to grant permission for Amir to marry her. He agrees and the two marry. Shortly thereafter Baba dies. Amir and Soraya learn that they cannot have children.Amir embarks on a successful career as a novelist. Fifteen years after they said goodbye, Amir receives a call from Rahim Khan, now dying from an illness, who asks him to come to Pakistan. He enigmatically tells Amir "there is a way to be good again". Amir goes.From Rahim Khan, Amir learns the fates of Ali and Hassan. Ali was killed by a land mine. Hassan had a wife and a son, named Sohrab, and had returned to Baba's house as a caretaker at Rahim Khan's request. One day the Taliban ordered him to give it up and leave, but he refused, and was murdered, along with his wife. And the secret truth about Hassan is that Ali was not his father. Hassan is the son of Baba, and thus Amir's half-brother. Finally, Rahim Khan reveals that the true reason he has called Amir to Pakistan is to go to Kabul to rescue Hassan's son, Sohrab, from an orphanage.Amir returns to Taliban-controlled Kabul with a guide, Farid, and searches for Sohrab at the orphanage. However, he does not find Sohrab there. The director of the orphanage tells them that a Taliban official has recently taken the boy. He tells Amir to go to a football match and look for aTaliban official making speeches; this will be the man who took Sohrab.Amir goes and secures an appointment with him at his home. There he finds out that the Taliban official is actually his childhood nemesis Assef. Sohrab is made to dance dressed in women's clothes, and it seems Assef might have been sexually assaulting him (Sohrab later says: "I'm so dirty and full of sin. The bad man and the other two did things to me"). Assef agrees to relinquish him, but only if Amir can beat him in a fight to death, with Sohrab as the prize. Assef brutally beats Amir, but Amir is saved when Sohrab uses his slingshot to shoot out Assef's left eye, fulfilling the threat his father had made years before.Amir tells Sohrab of his plans to take him back to America and possibly adopt him, and promises that he will never be sent to an orphanage again. Sohrab is emotionally damaged and refuses to speak. This continues on for about a year until his frozen emotions are temporarily thawed when Amir reminisces about his father, Hassan, while kite flying. Amir shows off some of Hassan's tricks, and Sohrab begins to interact with Amir again. In the end Sohrab only shows a lopsided smile, but Amir takes to it with all his heart as he runs the kite for Sohrab, saying, "For you, a thousand times over." This is an echo of the last words spoken to Amir by Hassan before the rape, and signifies the sense of atonement that permeates the novel.
    

The Kite Runner


            The movie begins as Montgomery "Monty" Brogan (Edward Norton) is driving in New York City with Kostya (Tony Siraguza), his Ukrainian mobster-type muscle. Kostya has a heavy accent and some trouble with English idioms. He references "Doyle's Law" rather than Murphy's Law. While they're running late to meet with some "important people," they happen upon a badly injured dog that was obviously abandoned after a dogfight, and Monty wants to first shoot the dog with Kostya's gun as a mercy killing, but decides to save him instead, impressed by the dog's resilience. He grabs the dog in his jacket, and sticks it in his trunk, and though the dog bites him, he's very impressed with that fighting spirit. They drive on.Monty is sitting on a bench at the pier with the dog, now recuperated from his wounds, whom he named Doyle. It's early morning; people are jogging. Monty is approached by strung-out junkie begging for a fix, and Monty tells him to go to Harlem, because he's been "touched" and is out of the business. The junkie just doesn't seem to get it, says he's been coming to Monty for 5 years and that he'll remember this! He lurches off, and Monty wanders away with Doyle.Monty and Doyle walk along the streets of New York, and end up on the campus of what looks like a private prep school. Monty stands looking at a display of sports trophies and old photos, until a school administrator confronts him and tells him to leave with the dog. He tells her that he used to go to this school, and was on the basketball team, was doing well until he was kicked out of the school for fighting. She thaws a little bit as he shows her himself in the photo and says he held some big record. She tells him that record was broken just last year, and she knows because she coaches the girls' team. He's a little taken aback. He asks if she could help him find Jake Elinsky, his friend.In a classroom, Jakob "Jake" Elinsky (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is teaching his poetry class. The chairs are all arranged in a circle. One of the students, Mary (Anna Paquin) is reading a poem aloud to the class. She is dressed in a crop top revealing a large henna tattoo around her navel. The rest of the class seems like they're completely dead/disinterested.Just then, Monty shows up at the door and briefly talks to Jake. He tells him to get in touch with Frank and that they can't meet for dinner because he has to go see his dad. That they should meet afterwards at a bar and then there's a "going away" party for him that night at the Bridge club. He notes that Mary's appearance and that she's giving him the eye. He leaves and the bell rings; the students all scatter.Mary comes to see Jake in the teacher's lounge to ask about her grade. Mary argues about the unfair B- grade that he gave her on her last assignment, saying she needs better grades to get into college. She notes he gave another student an A+ for a story about his dead grandmother, despite it being low-effort. He diverts the conversation by asking about her tattoo and she implies that her mother doesn't really care what she does. The conversation resolves with Mary asking again if Jakob will change her grade, him stating he won't, and Mary angrily storming out.Francis "Frank" Xavier Slattery (Barry Pepper), a trader on Wall Street, receives a call from Jake, but quickly hangs up to attend to the hustle and bustle of his investment bank. Frank's boss comes and reprimands him that he needs to sell contracts he has been holding onto. It's obvious that Frank has a very high pressure job and deals with a lot of money, but is on top of it all. He doesn't do what the boss asks, seemingly confident his plan will be a success. It looks like he was right not to sell the contracts, however, when the financial network broadcasting channel reveals the employment number as Frank leans back in his chair satisfied with the outcome.Monty and Doyle go home. Out on the stoop, Naturelle (Rosario Dawson), Monty's girlfriend, is waiting for him. She's been sitting there all day, worried when he was already gone when she woke up. He says he needed to get out. It's obvious that there's a lot of tension between them. She wants to know if they're going to spend any time together or what. He tells her about the party being thrown tonight for him by Uncle Nikolai, and she really doesn't want him to go, but he says he can hardly avoid it. She then has him open a jar of honey, and she eats it straight out of the jar with a spoon, which he calls "a nasty habit." They kiss, and she asks him to take a bath with her, but he declines.In a flashback, Monty and Naturelle are in the bath together, joking around about having kids and Monty teasing Nat for getting a tattoo of the Puerto Rican flag when she's lived her whole life in New York City. They are affectionate and intimate with one another.Someone knocks on the door and Nat gets out of the tub to answer it, thinking it might be her mom. Instead, she opens the door to a group of four DEA agents. Monty joins them and is told by Agent Flood (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) they have a warrant to search the apartment. It's obvious they know where what they're looking for is hidden, as none of the agents are searching very hard. One of the agents opens up the couch cushions, revealing large amounts of money and drugs. Agent Flood mocks Monty with his discovery, and the flashback ends.In the present, and Monty's sitting on the couch. Naturelle keeps bugging him about spending time together, but he remains irritable and aloof, asking her to be quiet while she begs him to have a real conversation with her. Monty tells her he has to go see his father and that he'll see her at the club later. He asks her to wear the silver dress, because that's how he wants to remember her, before he leaves the apartment.Outside, Kostya is waiting at the stoop admiring and cat-calling the female passerbys outside. Kostya reminds Monty about the party at the club being held tonight by Uncle Nikolai in his honor. Monty's wondering why people keep insisting he go to the party. He says he'll be there with Naturelle and some friends. Kostya says he shouldn't bring Naturelle and implies that she was the one who tipped off the DEA. Evidently, that is what everyone in their circle believes. Monty rejects this claim as absurd, but states he hasn't asked her. Monty goes off to have dinner with his dad. A shot shows Naturelle was listening in on the conversation from a window above.We next see Monty inside Brogan's, an Irish pub owned by his dad, James Brogan (Brian Cox). The pub is decorated with paraphernalia and an altar dedicated to New York City firefighters. The patrons at the pub are sparse.During their conversation, we discover that Monty's dad used to be a fireman and an alcoholic. It is also revealed that James evidently owed money to a man named Sal and Monty had been paying it off using money earned from his illicit activities. His mom died when Monty was only 11, and James blames himself for how things have turned out, lamenting his Monty didn't become a lawyer or a doctor instead of falling into criminal activity, but Monty assures him it wasn't his fault. Monty leaves the table to use the restroom.While in the bathroom, Monty looks in the mirror and sees that it's got "Fuck You" written on it. Monty begins an impassioned, enraged rant about just about everyone in New York and beyond: pan-handlers, Sikhs and Pakistani taxi drivers, the "Chelsea Boys" of Manhattan, Korean grocers, Russian mobsters, Hasidic Jews, Wall-Street brokers, Puerto Ricans, "Dumbinacans" (Dominicans), the Bensonhurst Italians of Brooklyn, Upper East Side wives of Manhattan, the "Uptown brothers," the NYPD, the Catholic church and Catholic priests, Jesus Christ, Osama Bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and radical fundamentalist as a montage shows clips of the people he is ranting about. He curses out his friends Frank and Jake, his girlfriend Naturelle, and his father James. In the end, he says, "Fuck you, Montgomery Brogan, you had it all and you threw it all away." He tries to wipe the "Fuck You" off the mirror, but it's painted on.He returns to the table and asks his dad if he trusts Nat. After some prodding, Monty notes what people have been saying about her and admits he is questioning whether she was the one who turned him in. He says he only really trusts his dad and Frank and Jake, his two oldest friends. He leaves to go meet Frank and Jake without finishing his dinner, and his dad says he'll come in the morning to drive him to the jail. Before he goes, his father gives him a family picture of a young Monty in a fireman's helmet, his father, and his late-mother, who named Monty after the American actor Montgomery Clift.Jake meets up with Frank at his apartment, which overlooks Ground Zero. The two men talk as they look down at the horrifying sight. Frank says that he has no intention of moving. The two men then discuss Monty while sitting by the window overlooking the site. Jake seems to think that after Monty gets out, they'll still be friends, but Frank tells him that it's going to be over. Frank believes they'll never see him again and that Monty deserves his punishment as a result of his crimes. Jake wonders what will happen to Doyle and wishes that Monty could take his beloved dog to jail with him. The scene ends with multiple shots of the construction workers and heavy equipment vehicles that were part of the clean-up at World Trade Center site.In another flashback, Monty is being interrogated in an interrogation room by the DEA agents from earlier, while Naturelle gets let go. The DEA agents try to rile Monty up by implying that she was the one who tipped them off about him. The conversation reveals Monty got kicked out of school for selling marijuana to other students. They explain to Monty that the Rockefeller Laws in the state of New York make possession of 1 kilogram of drugs a major felony which holds a fifteen-year minimum sentence if convicted for a first-time offense. They tempt him by proposing he can lessen his sentence if he cooperates and gives them information on Uncle Nikolai's operation, but he refuses and talks smack to the agents instead. The agents leave the room.Frank and Jakob then go over to a Chinese restaurant and converse over dinner. Frank tells Jake that Jake's in the 62nd percentile of all the city's bachelors, while he, Frank, is in the 99 percentile. Frank elaborates that while the criteria includes the money he makes, Jake has a trust fund and is ashamed of being a wealthy Jewish kid. Frank tells Jake that he also has chronic bad breath. Jake is annoyed at Frank's comments and points out that Frank's lack of table manners and dying of his hair. Frank notes that Monty is in the 0 percentile since he is going to jail.
Another flashback shows Naturelle at the park with a friend, both in uniform, discussing their plan to skip practice to hang out instead. Monty meets up with a man in a suit, who gives him a number to call. Monty approaches Naturelle, asking to borrow Nat's lighter to burn the number. They start chatting and flirting, while Naturelle's friend leaves. A coy, but friendly Naturelle shares that she plays basketball and is on a scholarship, like he was. She also tells him she is eighteen, to Monty's satisfaction. Monty ends the conversation by telling her he will go see her play one day.
Frank and Jake arrive at the bar where they wait Monty, still talking about their percentile rankings, which the cute female bartender is aware of. Jake starts telling Frank about his teacher "friend" who has is interested in pursuing a sixteen-year-old student of his. Frank, naturally, sees through this, and gives Jake a hard time about crushing on a student. Naturelle arrives at the bar, cutting off their conversation, wearing the silver dress Monty requested. They banter for a while at the bar, then Nat goes to the bathroom. Monty shows up and the bartender serves them free drinks and invites them all to her birthday party that weekend which elicits an awkward silence from the trio. They drink and then they all take off to the club where the going-away party is being held.There's a long line of mostly young people trying to get into the club, but Monty's group has VIP access through the backdoor. The bouncer tells Monty the long line is for the popular seventeen-year-old DJ Dusk, who is playing at the club. As the gang heads toward the back entrance, Mary spies Jake and runs up to him, surprised to see him in attendance for DJ Dusk's show. Monty approaches the two, and remembering Mary from earlier, invites her to join the group inside.Inside the club, champagne is served, the group cheers, and Mary drinks her glass down. She and Naturelle go and dance, while Frank goes upstairs for whiskey. Jake and Monty converse alone, and Jake conveys worry that somehow it'll get out that he brought Mary into the club and he will lose his job. Monty dismisses the idea, pours Jake a drink, and requests a toast. Jake fails to find the words to say, so Monty dedicates the toast to Doyle. He states Doyle was the best thing that has happened to him and expresses he would like Jake to have him. Jake accepts Monty's wishFrank comes back and then Kostya shows up. Kostya says it's time to go see Uncle Nikolai and he, Monty, and Frank start going upstairs. Monty asks for five minutes alone with Frank. He tells Frank that he had all these thoughts of going straight and investing the money with Frank's help, but he got greedy. Frank basically tells him the opposite of the stuff he had said to Jake. He tells Monty he's a fighter, that he's going to be OK, that when he gets out, he'll be there for him and they can start an Irish bar together. He assures Monty, telling him they've known each other since they were three and he has never once broken a promise to him. Monty says that is all true, but ultimately asserts that he won't be there for him tomorrow. He says he has a plan that might buy him some time and he makes Frank promise to help.In the meantime, a visibly intoxicated Mary comes back to see that Jake's nodding off at the table. She straddles Jake, waking him up by rubbing his hands across her body, but Jake pushes her away. When asks her to keep all this quiet, she responds with questioning the grade change from earlier. She asks him where the bathroom is and heads that way. After some initial hesitance to follow her, the likewise inebriated Jake goes up there and kisses her. They exchange looks, but say no words, and Jake leaves the bathroom.Meanwhile, Nat is at the club's bar with Frank, who is downing several drinks quickly. She asks him to look out for Monty tonight, make sure he doesn't hurt himself. The conversation progresses to Frank feeling guilt over having not stopped Monty from going further into his life of crime, but ultimately ends with Frank accusing Naturelle of using Monty for his money and betraying him. She slaps him and storms off. Jake comes to the bar and tells Frank he kissed Mary. Frank tells him to shut up and have another drink, saying that they can't leave yet because they have to be there for Monty.Monty and Kostya in the meantime are in a back room where Uncle Nikolai (Levani) and his goons are. Uncle Nikolai tells Monty about his first time in prison when he was fourteen-years-old. He tells him that Monty should find someone who's not being protected and beat them in front of the other prisoners, and that way seem like he's a little crazy, but still respectful of the right people. Nikolai and his henchmen make indirect threats at Monty's father, but Monty assures him he did not give information to the police.Nikolai then suddenly orders his henchmen to beat Kostya, revealing that only he and Naturelle knew where Monty's stash was. Nikolai tells Monty to kill him, but after questioning Kostya over his why he blamed Nat, Monty tells Nikolai to "do his own dirty work" and leaves without killing him. Nikolai reminds Monty to "survive" and as the door closes, the other Russian mobsters are beating Kostya.Monty, Frank, and Jake leave the club to go home and get Doyle. Monty asks if they don't mind staying out a little later to do something. Monty goes into the bedroom, where Naturelle is sleeping. He embraces her warmly and apologizes for the way he has acted with her. He says he'll come back, but there's "one last thing" he has to do first. He, and Frank, and Jake all go out walking by the river with Doyle.Then they go into the park and Monty calls in his favor to Frank. He wants Frank to "make him ugly" as a way to repulse the other prisoners from messing with him, but Frank refuses. They all start screaming at one another, and Monty tells Frank he knows he's wanted to slap some sense into him. Eventually, Jake gets in the middle, and Monty punches him. Frank begin punching Monty repeatedly while he is on the ground, disfiguring and bloodying his face. Jake is able to get Monty back to his feet while Frank cries in despair. Monty walks back to home alone,greeted by Naturelle, horrified to see him this way. She tries to get him cleaned up and wants him to go to the hospital, but he refuses.We see Frank sitting in the same spot by the river that Monty was earlier. Jake's walking with Doyle and gets some attention from a girl because of it.Monty's dad shows up to take him to jail, and Monty reluctantly agrees to go with him instead of going alone. He tells Nat she should forget about him and live her life, though she swears she'll wait for him. She gives him ice for his face, but he dumps it all out on his way down and gets into the car with his dad. Monty sees the smiling faces of many of the New Yorkers he repudiated in his rant as they drive away.As they drive up the turnpike, his dad offers to just keep driving. Over a montage of scenes of them driving out West, James tells Monty of how he can find some town out there in the desert, disappear, make a new life for himself. He'll never see him again, but he'll know his boy's OK. Eventually, maybe, Monty can be reunited with Naturelle, and they can have kids and someday, he can tell the kids about his earlier life and how close it came that this blissful life "almost didn't happen." The montage shows this playing out -- them driving through the desert, them drinking a final shot of whiskey together, Monty getting a new ID, a new job, reunited with Nat, the kids, and everything.And as the "almost didn't happen" is said in the voiceover, we cut back to the car and see that they're still driving up the turnpike towards the jail, as Monty gazes out the window.
    

25th Hour


            The story takes place in the fertile, eastern lands bordered by the Mediterranean Sea and kept by the gods. Within the cradle of ancient civilization empires are built, wars fought, alliances forged, and heroes born.Agamemnon (Brian Cox), king of Mycenae, has united most of Greece's kingdoms under his rule and now advances his army upon the nation of Thessaly, hoping to include it in his collection of ever-growing conquests. King Triopas (Julian Glover) bargains with Agamemnon to each let one of their best fighters decide who wins the battle rather than engaging in open war. Triopas calls upon the giant Boagrius (Nathan Jones) while Agamemnon calls to Achilles, but the legendary warrior is nowhere to be found. A messenger boy (Jacob Smith) is sent to fetch him and Agamemnon curses the stubborn nature of the fiercest warrior Greece has ever seen. A half-god and blessed with incomparable strength and skill, Achilles lives to fight but he refuses to associate with Agamemnon, preferring instead to seek his own destiny and be immortalized in history. Achilles easily defeats Boagrius, sealing Agamemnon's control over the nation, and calls out if there is anyone else worthy enough to fight him. Triopas offers the Scepter of Thessaly to Achilles to pass on to Agamemnon. Achilles refuses the request and stalks off.Meanwhile, Prince Hector (Eric Bana) and Paris (Orlando Bloom) of Troy feast in the banquet hall of King Menelaus of Sparta (Brendan Gleeson) as honored guests and peace ambassadors to their home nation. However, young Paris sneaks away to be with Menelaus' beautiful wife, Helen (Diane Kruger), whom he loves dearly. He convinces her to come back with him to Troy, stowing her away on his brother's ship. When Hector finds out he is clearly angry but it is too late to return to Sparta with Helen and seek pardon. Finding Helen gone, Menelaus vows revenge on Troy and seeks the approval of his brother, Agamemnon, who is only too happy to oblige, though Agamemnon's decision comes mostly from his desire to sack Troy the seemingly undefeatable city.Odysseus (Sean Bean), king of Ithaca and under command of Agamemnon, goes to convince Achilles to accompany them in the conquest of Troy. He finds him sparring with his young cousin, Patroclus (Garrett Hedlund), who is more than eager to join in the fighting. Achilles refuses to go, despite Odysseus' assurance that this war will go down into history. Achilles later seeks advice from his mother, the sea nymph Thetis (Julie Christie), who is gathering shells to make a new necklace for him. She tells him that if he chooses to stay home he will find a wife, raise a family, and die old and loved. If he goes to Troy, he will find his eternal glory and history will remember his name for thousands of years. However, should he go to Troy, he is doomed to die and will never return.Meanwhile, Hector and Paris return to Troy with Helen, greeted warmly by their fellow Trojans. The city is guarded by a high, thick wall that has remained impenetrable since its founding. They meet their father, King Priam (Peter O'Toole), who welcomes Helen and praises her beauty. Hector is reunited with his wife, Andromache (Saffron Burrows), and his infant son.Achilles decides to join Agamemnon's campaign against Troy but brings his own warriors, the fierce and infamous Myrmidons, led by Eudorus (Vincent Regan). Patroclus accompanies them as well. The Myrmidons prove to be faster rowers than the Greeks and arrive on the shores of Troy before anyone else. Achilles gives an impassioned speech to his men, telling them that they will be immortalized in the campaign. Concerned for this cousin's safety and inexperience, Achilles tells Patroclus to stay and watch the ship. The Myrmidons take the beach with ease and sack the Temple of Apollo where priestess and cousin of Hector and Paris, Briseis (Rose Byrne), is taken captive. In a defiant move, and despite a warning from Eudorus not to offend the gods, Achilles decapitates the statue of Apollo. Prince Hector leads an offensive to keep the Greeks at bay and runs into the temple where Achilles confronts him but refuses to fight him. Achilles explains that their fight would be suited best in front of an audience and he allows Hector to leave.Briseis is brought to Achilles' hut as his prize. She berates him for killing priests of Apollo before he is summoned to see Agamemnon who is preparing to celebrate the victory. There, tensions rise as Achilles and the king argue over claims to the victory. Agamemnon goes further by bringing in Briseis, claiming her as his own spoil of war, enraging Achilles. He threatens to fight for her but she angrily interjects, saying that no one else will die for her. Achilles stays his blade, to the surprise of Agamemnon. Achilles vows that Agamemnon will one day fall under his sword.That night, Priam seeks the advice of his advisors and elders with his sons in attendance, discussing how best to defend against the Greeks. Paris offers an alternative to bloodshed; he will fight Menelaus for Helen's hand. The winner will take her home and the loser will burn before nightfall. Later, Priam speaks with Paris in a courtyard and admits that, in all the wars hes fought for power or land, a war fought for love makes more sense. He gives Paris the Sword of Troy, forged at its founding and containing the history of their nation. He explains that as long as a Trojan wields it there is hope for their people.Hector goes to see his wife and son. She fears for his life and can't imagine living on without him. He comforts her before getting up to see his brother. In the halls, he sees a cloaked figure and gives pursuit to find that it's Helen trying to leave the city. She is remorseful for being the sole reason so many Trojan men died that day but Hector tells her that returning to Menelaus will not end the war and that she is a princess of Troy now. Helen returns to Paris.The next day, Agamemnon's army marches for Troy while Achilles, still seething over his loss of Briseis, watches from a nearby hill with his men. Hector and Paris ride out to meet Agamemnon and Menelaus before battle. Agamemnon demands that the Trojans return Helen to his brother and submit to his rule. Hector bravely rebuffs but Paris offers to fight Menelaus one-on-one, hoping that will settle the dispute. While Agamemnon could care less about returning Helen to his brother, he allows Menelaus the opportunity to issue revenge. The two begin their fight and Menelaus is clearly stronger. Paris, fighting under his brother's advice of waiting until Menelaus tires, is wounded and disarmed but, before Menelaus can deliver a death blow, ducks away and crawls back to his brother. Stunned at his cowardice, Menelaus demands the fight to continue but Hector defends his brother and drives his sword through Menelaus, killing him. Enraged, Agamemnon charges forward with his army.Watching from his hilltop, Achilles curses under his breath at Agamemnon's inability to keep his ranks in formation. Hector proves to be the more able warrior and overpowers the Greeks with his tactics. One of the strongest Greek warriors, Ajax (Tyler Mane) is felled by Hector. Odysseus advises Agamemnon to fall back before he loses his entire army and the Greeks retreat to the beach where their archers provide defense.With Menelaus dead, the primary reason for the assault on Troy is gone and Agamemnon struggles to think of a way to rally the troops to his cause. Odysseus suggests that Agamemnon put his reservations aside and enlist Achilles to fight again. Outside, Briseis is tossed around between Greek soldiers, having been given to them by Agamemnon. Before she can be cruelly branded, Achilles steps in and takes her back to his hut. He gives her a wet cloth to clean with and some food. When she questions why he fights and defies the gods, he shows her a more reflective side to his nature and explains that the gods are jealous of men for their short, mortal lives. As such, everything is more beautiful.Priam consults with his advisors again while Paris laments over his cowardice. Helen assures him that, though Menelaus was a strong warrior, she hated her life with him. She'd rather have someone to love and grow old with than to see him die on the battlefield. Hector advises his father that the Greeks underestimated Trojan strength and that they should not do the same. However, General Glaucus (James Cosmo) wants to strike preemptively. High Priest Archeptolemus (Nigel Terry) claims Troy is favored by the gods, citing bird omens. Despite Hector's warnings to keep behind their walls, Priam favors his advisors and issues an attack before daybreak.As Achilles sleeps that night, Briseis takes a dagger and holds it to his throat. Without opening his eyes, he encourages her to kill him but she hesitates. They realize their feelings for each other and make love. Achilles decides that he's had enough of war and offers to take Briseis away from Troy. Afterwards, he speaks with Eudorus and tells him that they will go home. Patroclus is devastated, having hoped to take part in battle. Achilles returns to his hut.Just as dawn approaches, the Trojan army, led by Hector, set up on the dunes and sent hundreds of lit arrows into the sand. The Greeks awake in time to see large balls of hay being rolled down the hill towards camp, ignited in huge fireballs by the torched arrows. Banging their shields to intimidate their enemy, the Trojans advance towards the Greek camp. Suddenly, Achilles appears in his armor and rallies the troops to fight. Achilles fights his way towards Hector and the two engage in combat. Greeks and Trojans alike surround them, edging them on, until Hector slits Achilles' throat with a swift slash of his sword. Achilles falls, gasping for breath, while the Myrmidons look on in horror. But when Hector removes his helmet, he discovers that the man he wounded is not Achilles but Patroclus. Hector, repentant but resolute, drives his sword into the boy's chest to finish him. He addresses Odysseus and tells him they've fought enough that day. Before leaving, Odysseus tells Hector that Patroclus was Achilles' cousin.The Myrmidons return to camp as Achilles emerges from his tent. Seeing them battle-worn, he asks why they disobeyed him. Eudorus laments that Patroclus disguised himself in Achilles' armor, even moved like him, and fell under Hector. Achilles is outraged and attacks Eudorus. Briseis tries to stop him but he throws her to the ground.Hector returns to his wife. He admits that he killed a boy who was much too young and feels that his actions will have severe repercussions. He shows his wife a hidden passage under Troy that she can take civilians through to get to the mountains should he die and the walls be breached. Though she is upset to have to consider the plan, she heeds his advice.Achilles puts his cousin on a funeral pyre and sets it alight. Agamemnon watches and says, "That boy may have just saved the war for us," knowing that the rage of Achilles will not wane until he's had revenge. Meanwhile, Helen watches as Paris practices his archery in preparation for battle, hitting his target with increasing accuracy.The following morning, Achilles sets off to enact vengeance upon Hector. Briseis begs him not to go, but he ignores her. He takes his chariot to the gates of Troy and calls for Hector who dresses in his armor and says goodbye to his wife. He meets Achilles outside alone. Achilles throws down his helmet so that Hector can see his face. Though Hector tries to reason, Achilles is bent on bloodlust. As they begin to fight, Priam and Paris watch while Helen comforts Andromache who can't bring herself to look. The two fight furiously, breaking each other's spears. Hector trips on an embedded stone and is ordered by his opponent to stand and resume the fight. Achilles overpowers Hector by driving his spear into his chest before finishing him with his sword. He then ties Hector's legs together behind his chariot and drags him away, back to the beach. When he returns to his hut, Briseis cries out and asks when the killing will stop before leaving.That night, Achilles is visited by a stranger in a cloak. The stranger kisses Achilles' hand before revealing himself as none other than King Priam. Having stealthily entered the Greek camp unnoticed, Priam begs for the return of his son's body to be given a proper burial. He tells Achilles that, while Hector killed his cousin, he did not know who it was and he asks Achilles how many cousins and brothers he's killed in his time. Despite being enemies, he asks for respect. Achilles relents. He weeps over Hector's body, promising to meet him in the next life, before giving him to Priam. When Briseis comes forward, Achilles allows her to go home and apologizes for hurting her. He gives Priam his word that the Greeks will not attack Troy for 12 days to allot for proper mourning.When Agamemnon hears of Achilles' secret treaty with Priam, he becomes incensed. But Odysseus, who notices the sculpture of a horse a fellow soldier has made for his son, proposes a plan, putting the 12 days of mourning to their advantage.After 12 days, the Trojans discover that the beach has been abandoned and various bodies lie in the sand. They appear to have been taken by disease and, where the heart of the camp once was, a large wooden horse has been erected. Priam is advised that the horse was left as a gift to the god Poseidon and is encouraged to bring it back to Troy. Paris, who is suspicious, urges his father to burn the horse, but Priam brings the horse into the city where its revered as a sign of the end of the war. A Trojan scout, hiking through the cliffs outside the city, comes upon a cove apart from the main beach and discovers the Greek armada hiding there. However, he is killed by arrow before he can warn the rest of Troy.Meanwhile, the whole city celebrates into the night. Once everything has quieted down, the horse opens and Achilles, Odysseus, and a small detachment of Greek soldiers emerge and slay several guards and open Troy's gates. The Greek army quickly pours into the city, pillaging and burning homes and killing any Trojan who stands in their way while a tearful Priam can only watch. Soldiers of Troy attempt to defend the royal palace, but fail. As Priam prays before the statue of Apollo and asks why he's been forsaken, Agamemnon comes up behind him and stabs him in the back. Achilles, meanwhile, searches the city for Briseis.Paris and Andromache lead surviving civilians down to the secret passage where Paris gives a young boy, Aeneas (Frankie Fitzgerald) (a progenitor of the Romans), the Sword of Troy, reciting what his father told him. He then returns with his bow and arrow to help fight.Briseis is praying before a statue of Apollo when she is grabbed from behind by Agamemnon. Achilles finds them and rushes to her rescue. Agamemnon tells Briseis his intent to take her back to Greece as his slave before she takes a concealed knife and fatally stabs him in the neck. His guards accost her but Achilles kills them. As he is helping her up, Paris arrives and shoots an arrow through Achilles' left heel. Standing up to face Paris, despite Briseis' cries, Achilles is shot again through the chest. He removes the arrow only to be shot several more times. He finally collapses and tells Briseis that she was his peace in a lifetime of war and urges her to escape. Briseis goes with Paris and they leave as the Greeks arrive at the palace to find Achilles dead, seemingly taken by a single shot to the heel (thus perpetuating the myth surrounding his death).Achilles' body is burned honorably on a funeral pyre within the ruins of Troy the following day as Odysseus watches and exalts, "If they ever tell my story, let them say I walked with giants. Men rise and fall like the winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Hector, tamer of horses. Let them say I lived in the time of Achilles."
    

Troy


            
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The Writers' Room


            Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) and Tommy Cahill (Jake Gyllenhaal) are brothers. A Marine captain about to embark on his fourth tour of duty, Sam is a steadfast family man married to his high school sweetheart, Grace (Natalie Portman), with whom he has two young daughters, Isabelle and Maggie (Bailee Madison, Taylor Grace Geare). The film opens with Tommy being released from jail for armed robbery, not long before Sam departs for Afghanistan in October, 2007.
Soon news comes that Sam's helicopter has crashed over the water, killing all of the Marines aboard. In reality, he and a hometown friend, Private Joe Willis (Patrick Flueger), have been taken prisoner in a mountain village. With Sam "gone", Tommy attempts to redeem himself in the eyes of his family by wrangling old friends to help with kitchen repairs for Grace and the kids. Grace slowly sheds her previous resentment towards her brother-in-law.
As months pass, Grace and Tommy bond over their mutual mourning, culminating in a passionate fireside kiss. They regret it afterward, and do not take this attraction any further, though Tommy continues to win the favor of his nieces. Meanwhile, Sam and Joe are abused and tortured by terrorists, forced to make videotaped dismissals of the military and their mission, though only Joe cracks. The captors eventually deem him useless and force Sam, at gunpoint, to beat Joe to death with a lead pipe. He does so and reacts angrily. Sometime later, Sam is rescued.
Sam returns home, clearly traumatized by his experience. He drifts through encounters in a cold, paranoid daze, refuses to explain to his family what happened while he was in Afghanistan, and lies to Joe's widow that he does not know how Joe died. He also believes Tommy and Grace had a sexual relationship in his absence. During Maggie's birthday party, a resentful and jealous Isabelle claims that Sam's paranoid assumptions are true: that Tommy and Grace slept together. Sam becomes enraged, destroying the newly remodeled kitchen with a crow bar and pulling a pistol on Tommy who arrives and tries to calm his brother's violent tantrum. The police arrive, and after a frantic confrontation in which Sam holds the gun up against his head and nearly commits suicide, Sam surrenders.
Sam is admitted to a mental hospital. Grace visits him and tells him that if he does not tell her what is tormenting him, he will lose her forever. Faced with this decision, Sam finally opens up about the source of his pain, confiding in her that he killed Joe and they embrace. A letter between husband and wife is read in voice over, with Sam wondering if he will be able to continue living a normal life.
    

Brothers


            The film opens with a car crash on Brooklyn Bridge, and introduces Henry Letham (Ryan Gosling), a survivor of the crash, sitting next to a burning car on the bridge.Psychiatrist Sam Foster (Ewan McGregor) and his girlfriend an art teacher, Lila (Naomi Watts) are then introduced in a new scene. Sam discusses his patient, Henry, a college student and aspiring artist whom he describes as depressed and paranoid. Sometimes Henry hears voices, and he seems able to predict future events. Henry is also suspicious of Sam because he has suddenly replaced his ordinary psychiatrist, Beth Levy (Janeane Garofalo). Henry has told Sam that he, Henry, will kill himself that Saturday at midnight, which Sam finds very troubling. Lila, who has survived a past suicide attempt, offers to help to dissuade Henry from killing himself.Sam investigates Henry's circumstances in an effort to help. After repeatedly attempting to reach Dr. Levy, he comes to her apartment to find her disoriented and lethargic, mumbling incoherent phrases like "I didn't touch him; I know you're not supposed to move him." Henry claims to have killed both of his parents, but Sam finds Henry's mother (Kate Burton) and her dog living in a bare house, confused about Sam's identity (she insists that he is Henry) and refuses to respond to his questions. Henry's mother insists on feeding Sam, but when she opens the fridge it is completely empty. Her head starts bleeding and when Henry attempts to help her, her dog bites Sam.At the clinic to have his arm bandaged, Sam discusses the visit with a police officer who is curious as to why he would visit that house. Sam explains what happened, but the police officer tells him that the woman who lived there is dead. This seems to send Sam into a fugue in which the same scene is repeated several times.Later, Sam contacts a waitress named Athena (Elizabeth Reaser), whom Henry has mentioned and fallen in love with. She is an aspiring actress and he meets her at a script reading where she is reading lines from Hamlet with another man. She agrees to take him to Henry, but after a long trip down winding staircases he loses her. When he gets back to the rehearsal room, she is there reading the same lines as when he first met her.The search continues until 11:33 pm on Saturday, less than half an hour before Henry plans to kill himself. At a bookshop known to have been frequented by Henry, Sam finds a painting that Henry had painted and bartered for books about Henry's favorite artist. He learns that the artist had killed himself on Brooklyn Bridge, on his twenty-first birthday. Henry's twenty-first birthday is Sunday, and Sam realizes that Henry plans to commit suicide on Brooklyn Bridge in imitation of the artist.Sam finds Henry on the Brooklyn Bridge in a physical atmosphere that is increasingly unraveling. Sam turns away as Henry puts the gun in his mouth and pulls the trigger.The car crash of the first scene is then reprised. Henry was fatally wounded in the crash but, in his last moments, is suffering survivor guilt. Each of the characters introduced earlier in the film was in fact a random spectator at the site of the crash, including Sam, a doctor, and Lila, a nurse, who treat Henry in an attempt to save him. The brief remarks they make are the same ones heard previously by their dream-world counterparts earlier in the film. They fail to rescue Henry, and Henry dies, but not before seeing Lila as Athena and proposing to her, which Lila accepts out of sympathy.The entire film up until Henry's death had existed only in his mind - in his last moments... (a plot device used most famously in the short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge). However, there are clues that the people surrounding Henry as he lay dying were actually drawn into another world in some way. For instance, after Henry dies and is being loaded into a body bag, Janeane Garofalo's character is heard telling her name to the police: Elizabeth Levy. Since Henry died before hearing this, he would have no way of knowing how to "dream" her true name. Additionally, before parting, Sam appears to get a flash in his mind of the experiences between him and Lila that Henry had constructed, and asks Lila out for coffee.
    

Stay


            In 1845 in North-Western Territory, British North America, young James Howlett (Troye Sivan) sees his father John Howlett (Peter O'Brien) killed by his friend Victor Creed's father, Thomas Logan (Aaron Jeffery). In an act of vengeance, James kills the elder Logan using bone claws which have grown out of his hands due to the stress of the incident. With his dying breath, Logan tells James that he is also his son. James runs out of the house, followed by Victor, who finds him and promises his younger brother that he'll look out for him. James and Victor (Michael-James Olsen) run away, pursued by a torch-wielding mob.In the years that follow, adult brothers James (Hugh Jackman) and Victor (Liev Schreiber) are seen fighting together in the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, and eventually the Vietnam War. Their regenerative powers keep them from being killed in the battlefield and they both age considerably slowly compared to non-mutants. James is forced to act as a check on Victor's increasing rage and ferocity. In Vietnam, Victor kills a superior officer after being stopped from raping a girl, and James and Victor are sentenced to death by firing squad, though their unique regenerative abilities keep them alive.While they are incarcerated, Major William Stryker (Danny Huston) approaches the two mutants and offers them membership in Team X, his elite group of mutants. The team consists of mutants Fred Dukes (Kevin Durand), who possesses super strength and invulnerability; John Wraith (Will.i.am), who can teleport; Chris Bradley (Dominic Monaghan), a.k.a. Bolt, who can control electricity and possesses telekinetic abilities; expert marksman Agent Zero (Daniel Henney); and mercenary Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), an amazing swordsman who never stops talking. The brothers join the group and are sent to the team's first mission: Invade the headquarters of a diamond trafficking operation in Lagos, Nigeria, to retrieve a meteorite. When Stryker asks the diamond smuggler about the source of the meteorite, the smuggler tells him that it came from a remote village further into Nigeria. The team goes there and Stryker and the team brutally interrogate the local people to learn where the meteorite was found. James is disgusted by the murders committed by his teammates and abandons the group over Victor's persuasions and protests. Six years afterward, James -- now going by his last name, Logan -- is a lumberjack living with his girlfriend Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins). Meanwhile, Victor hunts down and murders Bradley, who works at a circus; Victor mentions that Wade is already dead. Stryker locates Logan and claims that someone is killing members of the now-disbanded team. Stryker asks Logan for help, but is refused. Shortly after, Silverfox is murdered by Victor. Wolverine hunts down his half-brother, but is easily defeated. Stryker once again asks Logan for help, and Logan agrees. Stryker has Logan's skeletal system reinforced with adamantium, a virtually indestructible metal retrieved from the meteorite source found by Team X in Nigeria. Before the procedure, Logan asks for his new dog tags to say "Wolverine," a reference to a story that Kayla told him. After the procedure, Stryker orders Wolverine's memory to be erased, but Wolverine overhears this and flees. Stryker orders Agent Zero to hunt him down and take his head off.An elderly couple, Travis (Max Cullen) and Heather Hudson (Julia Blake), see Wolverine -- who escaped in the buff -- enter their barn. They're wary but welcoming, giving him food and clothing, including a leather jacket of their son's -- and their son's motorcycle. The next morning, both are shot dead by Zero. Wolverine takes out several HMMWVs, a helicopter and Zero himself, telling Stryker over Zero's radio, that he'll hunt him down. Stryker warns Wolverine that if he chooses to go after the answers he seeks, he won't like what he finds. Wolverine locates former associates John Wraith and Fred Dukes (who is now massively obese from a guilt-driven eating disorder), seeking to learn the location of Stryker's new laboratory. After beating Dukes in a boxing match, Wolverine learns the disbanded team had been capturing young mutants for Stryker. One of them, Remy LeBeau (Taylor Kitsch), also known as Gambit, escaped the island laboratory and knows its location. Dukes tells Logan that his brother Victor is actually working for Stryker, capturing and killing mutants for him. Meanwhile, Stryker captures a teenaged Scott Summers (Tim Pocock) with Victor's aid.Wolverine and Wraith locate Gambit in a New Orleans bar. Wolverine talks to Gambit while Wraith keeps watch outside, but Gambit suspects Wolverine was sent to recapture him and, using his ability to charge objects with kinetic energy, throws several playing cards at Wolverine that send him flying through a wall. Outside, Wolverine sees Victor has killed Wraith and taken a sample of his blood. Wolverine fights Victor, only to be interrupted by Gambit. Victor escapes, and after a brief struggle, Gambit agrees to take Wolverine to the Stryker's secret mutant prison/laboratory. The facility turns out to be Three Mile Island. Once there, Wolverine confronts Stryker and learns Silverfox is still alive; Victor faked her death with hydrochlorothiazide. She was keeping track of the mutant to free her sister, Emma Frost (Tahyna MacManus), who is also in the prison. Wolverine is devastated by this betrayal.Now having no quarrel with Stryker, Wolverine departs. Victor, angered that Stryker let Wolverine go, demands the adamantium procedure. Stryker, however, tells him that he won't survive the procedure and in an act of rage, Victor tries to kill Silverfox, her power of persuasion failing to influence Victor despite her physical contact with him. Wolverine hears Silverfox's screams and attacks Victor. Finally having the chance to kill Victor, Wolverine chooses not to give in to his animal instincts and instead knocks him out. Silverfox shows Wolverine to the holding cells, and he frees the mutants there; among them are Emma Frost and Scott Summers.Panicking, Stryker prematurely activates his newest creation, Weapon XI (Scott Adkins and Ryan Reynolds), a bald, pale-skinned and deformed Wade Wilson, lacking a mouth and with patterns on his skin marking his adamantium bone structure. As the rescue party approaches an exit, it is blocked by Weapon XI, who is under Stryker's control. Wolverine tells them to find a new exit as two long blades extend from Weapon XI's arms. The blades are similar to Wolverine's claws, but more like katana swords, Wilson's weapon of choice. Wolverine realizes that this monstrosity is actually Wade Wilson. "Looks like Stryker finally found a way to shut you up," he quips.Weapon XI, also called Deadpool, is a mutant Frankenstein's monster, with the abilities of several of the killed and captured mutants: Summer's optic blasts, Wraith's teleportation, and Wolverine's healing ability. During the escape, Silverfox is mortally wounded. The other mutants escape through the facility's tunnels, guided by Scott who is unable to tell them how he knows the way out. Emerging from the tunnel, the party encounters a helicopter. Riding in the helicopter is a familiar figure: Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), who has guided them to safety and offers them a home at his school.Meanwhile, the fight between Wolverine and Weapon XI moves to the top of one of the nuclear power plant's cooling towers. Weapon XI overpowers and prepares to decapitate Wolverine, but Victor returns to aid his brother. Wolverine and Victor, now working together, are able to decapitate Weapon XI, sending its head, still firing optic blasts, down into the cooling tower. Wolverine coldly informs Victor that despite his help, their relationship is over. Victor reminds him that as brothers, they can never be finished, and jumps off the the cooling tower. The damage from the optic blasts causes the cooling tower to collapse, but Wolverine is rescued by Gambit.Wolverine asks Gambit to ensure the prisoners are safe, while he returns to find Silverfox, who stayed behind because she was wounded. As he carries her to safety, Stryker shoots him in the back with an adamantium bullet. Wolverine charges Stryker to kill him but is shot in the head, knocking him unconscious.Stryker approaches Silverfox and prepares to shoot her as well but she uses her powers of persuasion to order Stryker to first throw away the pistol and then walk away until his feet bleed. She then dies from her injuries. Gambit returns to assure Wolverine that the mutants are safe, but due to amnesia caused by the brain damage the adamantium bullets inflicted, Wolverine does not remember anything (this was Stryker's intention, knowing that even the adamantium bullets could not kill Logan but will cause amnesia). Gambit tries to get Wolverine to come with him, but he declines. Gambit wishes Wolverine good luck before departing, and Wolverine flees the scene as the ambulances and police arrive.The film has several additional scenes during and after the credits. The first of these scenes plays a few seconds into the credits, and depicts William Stryker walking down a road. Due to Silverfox's order, the toes of his shoes are torn and bloody from walking for so long. A military vehicle drives up behind him and he is apprehended by military police for questioning about the death of General Munson. (Stryker murdered the general earlier in the film in order to protect his vendetta against mutants.)Depending on which theater the movie was shown in, one of two possible endings then appears following the credits. In the first ending, Weapon XI's hand reaches out from the rubble of the nuclear complex to touch his severed head. Deadpool's mouth is now open and he says "Shhhhhhhh" to the audience. The second alternate ending shows Logan drinking at a bar in Japan. The bartender asks if he is drinking to forget; Logan replies that he's drinking to remember.
    

X-Men Origins: Wolverine


            Expert assassin Henry Brogan (Will Smith) is hiding out in a field as he awaits his target, suspected terrorist Valery Dormov (Igor Szasz), to pass by on a moving train. Just as Henry gets ready, his spotter and fellow DIA agent, Marino (EJ Bonilla), informs him that there is a little girl standing in front of Dormov. They must wait until she is out of sight, allowing Henry to take the shot. He just manages to strike Dormov in the neck, but he still kills him. Marino later shows Henry a video of civilians' reactions to Dormov's killing on the train. He orders Marino to delete it, as he wants no memory or image of that in his head.Henry decides to retire from the assassin life and is later visited by his handler, Del Patterson (Ralph Brown). Henry expresses his remorse over all the lives he has taken over his career, and how one wrong move could have ended that little girl's life.Henry goes to rent a boat, meeting the shop's new manager Dani Zakarweski (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) before going to meet his friend Jack Willis (Douglas Hodge). He tells Henry that Dormov was actually an innocent man working as a molecular biologist who worked in the States for 30 years. Jack thinks Henry's file on Dormov was spiked. When Henry asks where he is getting this information, Jack tells him it's his informant in Budapest, Yuri Kovacs (Ilia Volok), and he passes on this information. This whole encounter is bugged and listened in on by DIA director Janet Lassiter (Linda Emond) and GEMINI director Clay Varris (Clive Owen). Clay orders Lassiter to find a way to take care of Henry.Henry goes back to the shop and suspects Dani of working with the DIA and is following him. She denies it, and Henry feels like a jerk, so he invites her out for dinner. During their outing, it is confirmed that Dani is DIA, but she says she was following in her FBI father's footsteps. Henry also mentions his retirement and why he is choosing to leave this life behind.Later that night, a team of insurgents sneak onto Jack's boat to kill him and his girlfriend, and then dump their bodies in the water. Soon after, Henry wakes up at home and realizes men are breaking in. He calls Marino to warn him, but he hears him get killed over the phone. Henry has no choice but to run. He kills the intruders and then goes to Dani's house to warn her. He figures that since she doesn't seem to know about it that she must not be in on it, and she may be the next target. When Dani is left alone for a moment, she is attacked by a mercenary, but she gets the upper hand on him and beats the information out of him (along with some teeth). Dani confirms to Henry that Lassiter sent them.Henry and Dani ride a boat out somewhere obscure until they are found by Henry's pilot friend Baron (Benedict Wong). Henry contacts Del just to figure out what is going on. He tells him about GEMINI working with the DIA to wipe out their agents. It turns out that Dormov was working with GEMINI, and Henry figures out Clay's involvement. Henry asks Dani what she knows about GEMINI, which is just a paramilitary organization run by Clay, who originally wanted Henry and Baron to join him since they knew him as a marine, but they both declined. GEMINI specializes in wiping out specific targets with the utmost discretion.The trio go to Cartagena, Columbia temporarily. In their hotel room, Henry spots a shooter running across the adjacent rooftops. Henry runs out and starts shooting at the man. He quickly discovers that the shooter looks exactly like him, and he is named "Junior". He utilizes the exact same skill set as Henry, which makes him hard to strike. Junior chases Henry as they both ride motorbikes, resulting in Junior trying to hit Henry with his flaming bike before it explodes. Before Junior can kill Henry, authorities arrive, and he flees. Baron and Dani "take" Henry into custody as they head somewhere safer. Henry figures out their next move is to go to Budapest to meet Yuri to get more information from him. Baron finds someone who loans him a plane to get them there.Junior goes to his safe-house to treat his wounds. He is met by Clay, who makes Junior feel like a son (hence "Junior"). Junior expresses his astonishment at Henry managing to dodge his attacks and moves, but he didn't actually get a good look at his target. Clay later shows Junior the training exercises that other GEMINI operatives go through.Dani reveals to Henry that she sent DNA samples of himself and the cap that Junior was wearing, which reveals that Junior is Henry's clone. Henry is left bewildered at why a clone of himself would be sent to kill him.The trio arrive in Budapest and meet Yuri. He tells Henry that he is against Clay as well, and reveals that Dormov worked with GEMINI on the cloning project. He helped design clones that could be stronger and smarter, but Clay wanted soldiers without consciences and pain. Dormov walked away from the project and was marked for death.Henry gets a messenger to find Lassiter and inform her that he knows everything about her, so if she sends someone to kill him again, he will send someone after her first. He tries to negotiate with her to send Junior to him in order to let Dani get back to the U.S. safely. Lassiter arranges for Junior to be sent to Budapest, and he later meets Dani alone in a garden. He orders her to strip to make sure she isn't wearing a wire. He then takes her in and informs Henry about this to get him closer, and they agree to meet somewhere specific. On the ride there, Dani tries to talk to Junior to prove that he is not the cold-blooded killer he was bred to be. When she asks him why he is trying to kill Henry, Junior says he was told that Henry killed the other operatives that GEMINI killed.Henry manages to catch Junior and free Dani. He tells Junior he doesn't want to kill him but will do so if necessary. Henry also tells him who Clay really is, as well as who Junior is, expressing how empty they both feel unless they are killing someone. Junior learns he is a clone, but he doesn't want to believe it. He fights Henry and almost kills him before Dani intervenes, and Junior escapes. He returns to GEMINI and asks Clay to tell him the truth. Clay does, but he assures Junior that he is better than Henry, and that he is Clay's son.After returning home, Junior finds Henry, Dani, and Baron. He hits Henry with bee venom, knowing they are both allergic to bees, but then quickly administers an epipen. Junior decides to team up with the trio to stop Clay for good. Junior asks more questions about Henry's life to know what his own history would have been like. As they drive into town, Clay contacts Junior and tells him to run. They are hit by an ambush when a tank rolls in. Henry, Dani, and Junior jump out of the van, but Baron is killed when the tank blows it up. Soon, more GEMINI operatives start to attack, including one wearing all armor and firing a machine gun at the heroes. Henry and Junior manage to kill the operatives, but the armored one goes after them. Junior finds Clay, and they start fighting, with Junior managing to knock Clay out. They manage to subdue and kill the armored man, and he is revealed to be another clone of Henry. Clay regains consciousness and finds them. He tells Henry that this was all to reduce the cost of human life in warfare, and using someone as skilled as Henry was the perfect plan. Junior aims his gun at Clay, but Henry stops him from killing him, as he doesn't want Junior to feel the same trauma from killing people. Henry instead decides to blast a hole in Clay's chest.Sometime later, GEMINI's program is shut down, and there are no more clones running around. Henry and Dani meet on a college campus where Junior is now attending with the name "Jackson Brogan", using Henry's mother's maiden name. The three walk off together.
    

David Benioff

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