A LITTLE ROMANCE (1979)

Directed by: George Roy Hill

Based on the novel "E=mc2 Mon Amour" by: Patrick Cauvin

Starring: Laurence Olivier, Diane Lane, Thelonious Bernard, Arthur Hill, Sally Kellerman, Broderick Crawford, David Dukes, Andrew Duncan, Claudette Sutherland, Graham Fletcher-Cook, Ashby Semple, Claude Brosset, Jacques Maury, Anna Massey, Peter Maloney, Dominique Lavanant, Mike Marshall, Michel Bardinet, David Gabison, Isabel Duby, Geoffrey Carey, John Pepper, Denise Glaser, Jeanne Herviale, Carlo Lastricati, Judith Mullen, Philippe Brigaud, Lucienne Legrand

108 minutes

(PG - adult language, adult themes, adult situations)

PLOT:

Thirteen-year-old Daniel Michon, a movie buff, especially Hollywood movies, lives just outside of Paris with his crooked cabbie father. Thirteen-year-old American Lauren has lived in Paris for three years with her mother, self-absorbed actress Kay King, and her second stepfather, Kay's current husband, wealthy Richard King, a computer company executive. Lauren calls him Richard instead of a dad or father, because she expects him just to be the latest in a long string of stepfathers, and she figures it's easier to say goodbye to a "Richard" than it is to a "dad". Based on Kay's flirtations, it looks as if that next stepfather could be hack Hollywood movie Director George De Marco. Regardless, Lauren loves Richard, who seems to love Lauren more than Kay does, or at least understands Lauren more than Kay does. When Daniel and Lauren meet for the first time on the set of George's latest movie, it's love at first sight. That attraction is strengthened when they learn they are both intellectuals, and as such, outsiders among their peers. Their unlikely romance is threatened by an incident at Lauren's birthday party. As such, Lauren and Daniel decide to run away together to Venice to fulfill Lauren's romantic fantasy, hopefully before their money runs out, which they know will not last forever. Because they know they will have issues, especially crossing the border, they enlist the help of a kindly old gentleman named Julius Edmond Santorin, a true romantic. Julius uses a special skill he possesses to help the pair, that skill, if Lauren and Daniel found out, would require the trio to stick together more than ever to elude the authorities, who would be looking for all three of them.

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WITHIN (2016)

Directed by: Phil Claydon

Starring: Michael Vartan, Erin Moriarty, Nadine Velazquez, JoBeth Williams, Blake Jenner, Tom Wright, Misty Upham, Dorian Kingi, Ronnie Gene Blevins

88 minutes

(R - strong language, adult themes, adult situations, violence, scenes of terror)

PLOT:

A family move into a beautiful house, as they begin to settle, they begin to notice something isn't quite right. Things begin to move, food gets eaten. Things start to get worse when they realize someone is actually living in the crawl space of the home they've just bought. But they find out the hard way.

 

PATHS OF GLORY (1957)

Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

Based on the novel by: Humphrey Cobb

Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready, Wayne Morris, Richard Anderson, Joe Turkel, Christiane Kubrick, Jerry Hausner, Peter Capell, Emile Meyer, Bert Freed, Kem Dibbs, Timothy Carey, Fred Bell, John Stein, Harold Benedict, James B. Harris

88 minutes

(NR - adult themes)

PLOT:

1916. The trench warfare between the French and Germans on the battlefields of France results in little advancement of troops on either side - each advancement in tens of meters rather than kilometers - but in many casualties. Thus, the request by French General George Broulard to his subordinate General Paul Mireau to lead an attack to capture the Anthill, a key German held position which is just visible from the current French trench position, is generally regarded as futile. The request is largely one out of want for personal glory for the French military's upper echelon with little regard for the soldiers. Mireau hesitates in accepting the assignment until he learns that a prestigious promotion is on the line, one that is his regardless of success or failure. The regiment he assigns to carry out the attack is led by Colonel Dax, who has no other option but to obey orders despite both he and Mireau knowing the regiment's casualties would number over half without any guarantee of success. While Mireau's eyes are on his own personal gain, Dax is concerned both with carrying out the mission to the best of his ability while protecting his soldiers as a collective. What happens on the battlefield leads to a further rift in overall beliefs between Mireau and Dax in what is best for French society. What also results from the battle is a legal issue scapegoating three of Dax's soldiers, he who will protect his men to the best of his abilities against the cards stacked against them by the military elite.

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THE SUBSTITUTE (1996)

Directed by: Robert Mandel

Starring: Tom Berenger, Ernie Hudson, Diane Venora, Marc Anthony, William Forsythe, Raymond Cruz, Luis Guzman, Glenn Plummer, Cliff De Young, Shar-ron Corley, Richard Brooks, Rodney A. Grant, Willis Sparks, Peggy Pope, Maria Celedonio, Vincent Laresca, David Spates, Maurice Compte

114 minutes

(R - strong language, adult themes, adult situations, violence, brief nudity)

PLOT:

After a botched mission in Cuba, professional mercenary Shale and his crew Joey Six, Hollan, Rem, and Wellman head home to Miami, Florida, where Shale is reunited with his fiancé Jane Hetzko, who is a history teacher at Columbus High School in Miami. Some of Jane's students happen to be members of a street gang known as the "Kings of Destruction" (KOD), led by Juan Lacas, who has been terrorizing Jane. After Jane's kneecap is broken by a big Seminole named Bull, she tells Shale that she believes Lacas ordered the attack, so Shale goes undercover as Jane's substitute, and initially, Jane has no idea that Shale is doing this. At the school, Shale meets principal Claude Rolle, librarian Hannah Dillon, and English and drama teacher Darrell Sherman. It turns out that Lacas is one of Jane's students. As Shale investigates the attack on Jane, he discovers that drugs are being circulated into the school. Shale even investigates local drug kingpin Johnny Glades, who may or may not have someone inside the school distributing the drugs for him. Lives are threatened as Shale investigates and sets out to clean up the crime infested school.

 

THE FOUNTAIN (2006)

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Ellen Burstyn, Stephen McHattie, Mark Margolis, Cliff Curtis

96 minutes

(PG-13 - adult language, adult themes, adult situations, violence)

PLOT:

Three stories - one each from the past, present, and future - about men in pursuit of eternity with their love. A conquistador in Mayan country searches for the tree of life to free his captive queen; a medical researcher, working with various trees, looks for a cure that will save his dying wife; a space traveler, traveling with an aged tree encapsulated within a bubble, moves toward a dying star that's wrapped in a nebula; he seeks eternity with his love. The stories intersect and parallel; the quests fail and succeed.

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