CAYOM Year 5: Part 1

[Blankments]

Shiverin’ Gulch

Director: Alex Hirsch

Genre: Traditional Animation/Western/Horror

Date: August 6

Studio: Blankments Productions

Cast: Linda Cardellini as Deputy Susan Burlap, Kristen Schaal as Eliza Burlap, Idris Elba as Hal, Alex Hirsch as Sheriff Will, Alfred Molina as Governor Don Weig, Dante Basco as the leader of the riders, America Ferrera as Jane, and T.J. Miller as Douglas.

Music by: Brad Breek.

Runtime: 93 min

Tagline: The Legend of a Slave, a Girl, a Deputy, and a Monster

Plot Summary: A small town in Colorado in 1860 deals with the paranormal disappearances of a local boy and their Sheriff.

Plot:

Blankments logo appears, and it fades into the night sky. We pan down to the town of Shiverin’ Gulch, population 92, in what will soon become the state of Colorado. The year is 1860, just six months prior to the Civil War began. Everyone is asleep, with the exception of a fifteen-year-old boy, running the streets with his thirteen-year-old girlfriend. The girlfriend, Eliza, looks at the clock, which reads 11:30, and says they need to get back inside before the midnight curfew. The boy, Douglas, just laughs, saying that curfew doesn’t matter at all. Eliza won’t take that, and she leaves Douglas, saying that she’ll talk to him in the morning. Douglas is disappointed, but refuses to go back home. Instead, he hitches up his horse, leaves the town, just to see what is so bad about staying up past midnight. We see the town clock strike twelve: Low Midnight. Douglas and his horse, now quite a distance away from the town, hear a shudder. Douglas dismounts his horse, and as he walks towards where he heard the shudder, suddenly, something jumps in front of him. Douglas screams, and his horse runs away, back to the town, as opening credits begin. When the horse finally reaches the town’s welcome sign, the title is shown:

SHIVERIN’ GULCH.

We see the hero of the story, the Deputy of Shiverin’ Gulch, Susan Burlap wake up. She gets ready for work, and puts on, with pride, her deputy badge. She stops in Eliza’s, her daughter, room, seeing she is still asleep. Susan smiles, and then heads out, and hitches her horse to go to work. Eliza wakes up, and remembering the events of the night before, decides to go to Douglas’s house. When she arrives, Douglas’s mother, Jane, answers the door who says worriedly that she hasn’t seen Douglas since last night. Eliza tells Jane about what happened the day before, and the two head out to find the Sheriff.

Meanwhile, Susan and Sheriff Will are patrolling the town on their horses, getting ready for the arrival of the governor of the territory on the following day. Both Susan and the Sheriff hope for it to be a great visit, since the town needs funding for a new schoolhouse. The Sheriff begins talking about his slave, Hal, and how annoying he has been recently. Susan reveals herself to be an Abolitionist, but the Sheriff says that they are much too close of friends to let such a “petty” thing divide them.

Eliza and Jane run to Susan and the Sheriff, reporting that Douglas has gone missing. Susan, who never approved of Douglas dating her daughter, tells her daughter to go to school, while she, Jane, and the Sheriff look for Douglas. Eliza, upset, listens to her mother and goes to school. Her teacher, Hal, asks her why the long face and Eliza says she is worried.

The Sheriff and Susan ask Jane if they have any lead on where to find Douglas, and Jane says their horse woke her up last night, and maybe Douglas took the horse somewhere, and the horse ran back without him. The Sheriff and Susan decide to go to the only horse whisperer in town, Hal. Hal says he will help the Sheriff and Jane find Douglas, but Susan will have to sub for the class. Both Susan and Eliza don’t approve of this, but the Sheriff does not care.

Susan teaches the class about Indian legends of the area. Eliza decides to take the opportunity to ask her mother about why the town has a curfew, and Susan has no answer, as she does not know. Meanwhile, Hal speaks to the horse, and translates back to the Sheriff and Jane terrible news: Douglas has been eaten by a Wendigo. The Sheriff asks what a Wendigo is, and it cuts back to Susan teaching about the legend of the Wendigo, a monstrous creature that eats human beings. One of the kids asks if Wendigos kill, and Susan says that generally when you eat someone, that kills them. Susan then asks the kids why this is even on the curriculum, and the kids have no idea why. Susan continues the story, saying whoever kills a Wendigo becomes one, but then laughs it off as a lie.

Hal has just given the explanation of Wendigos to the Sheriff and Jane. Jane believes Hal, but the Sheriff shrugs, saying he does not believe in the mumbo-jumbo. The Sheriff tells Jane they’ll rescue Douglas, and tells Hal to ride Jane’s horse to where Douglas was supposedly eaten. Hal warns the Sheriff against this, but the Sheriff pulls out a pistol with each hand, and shoots them both. The bullets graze the head of Hal. The Sheriff reminds Hal that Hal is just a slave, and he will follow his orders. Majorly against it, Hal talks to the horse, and the horse gallops off into the direction of where Douglas went.

There is a montage of the two of them riding, without ever speaking to each other. They arrive at the area where Douglas was, which is in between railroad tracks and a cave. Hal says that it must be where the Wendigo lives, and tells that if the Sheriff wants him to go in the cave, he better get one of the pistols. The Sheriff does not believe Hal, but he does believe that that is the best bet to find the body of Douglas. Although a bit suspicious, the Sheriff tosses Hal a pistol, and the two of them go in. They sneak around a bit, and Hal tells the Sheriff to be quiet, as in natural environments, Wendigos sleep twenty-three hours a day, only waking up between midnight and 1AM. The Sheriff just laughs, and tells Hal to get over his superstition or leave. Hal warns the Sheriff again, and the Sheriff begins yelling for Douglas, just to annoy Hal. Hal walks away, but the Sheriff won’t take that. He turns around, and shoots Hal in the arm. Hal falls to the ground in shock, and the Sheriff tells Hal that no matter what happens, he needs to remember he is his property. A growl is heard and something jumps down behind the Sheriff. Hal’s eyes widen, and he stands up and runs away. The Sheriff looks behind himself, and he screams.

Back in the town, the school day has ended, and Susan and Eliza are back at home. Eliza is still annoyed with Susan for some reason, and Susan doesn’t have time for it. They go to bed, and the next day, Susan wakes up, checks in on Eliza, and goes to work. She remembers that she and the Sheriff are meeting the governor at the train station. She hitches up her horse, and rides to the train station. She is surprised when the governor, Don Weig, walks out holding, in handcuffs, Hal. The governor introduces himself to Susan, and he explains that they stopped the train when they saw Hal, unconscious, on the tracks. They put him in handcuffs, and took him here. They also saw the Sheriff dead on the side of the road. Susan says that Hal was the Sheriff’s slave, and the governor is surprised, saying that they found the Sheriff’s pistol in Hal’s pocket. The governor says that Susan must now be the Sheriff, and that Hal must be hung for his crimes. Susan thinks that something is suspicious, but has someone take Hal to the Sheriff’s office.

Susan takes the governor to the Sheriff’s old home, saying that this is where he will be staying. Susan apologizes for the suddenly macabre setting, but the governor says he’ll be fine, since he will be the new Sheriff. Susan is confused, and the governor explains that there’s no way a lady would be Sheriff, and that he will be the Sheriff for his two week stay, while looking for a suitable replacement. Susan tries to argue with the governor, saying that Sheriff Smith said she could be sheriff after his possible death or retirement, but the governor will not take it. The governor says he will meet her at the courthouse in one hour, to set a hanging time for Hal.

Susan rides on back to her house, and finds that Eliza is hiding something. Susan tells Eliza she better fess up what she has, and Eliza says that she doesn’t believe that Hal is guilty. Susan realizes what it is, and she goes into Eliza’s room, finding Hal, still unconscious, on her bed. Susan slaps him awake, and asks him what has happened. In a panic, Hal explains that Douglas and the Sheriff were eaten alive by the Wendigo. Hal swears to Eliza and Susan that he didn’t kill the Sheriff, and Susan believes him. However, she says that Wendigos aren’t very good alibis unless he can prove that the Wendigo is real. Hal is fearful, but he says that if he can stay at Susan and Eliza’s house until 10PM, then he can take them to the Wendigo’s cave, while it is still asleep. Susan and Eliza agree to this pact.

Susan then goes to the courthouse to talk to the governor. The governor is insistent on killing Hal before the day is over, but Susan asks to give Hal a day to live. The governor relents, and then heads off to the sign to change the population from 92 to 89. Susan says that only two people have died, and the governor says they might as well count Hal’s death right now. Susan grimaces, but then the governor says it’s time for his bed. Susan looks at the town clock, which reads 6PM. She looks back at the governor, but he has disappeared.

We see the clock go from 6 to 10PM, and now Eliza, Susan, and Hal are all on one horse, in an awkward arrangement. They slowly canter off to the cave with Eliza pointing out it would’ve been faster to just walk. Hal looks at the moon, worried, saying it is now around 11:15. They go inside with a torch, and find absolutely nothing. Susan says to Hal that he has no proof, and he may have to be hung. Hal is desperate, but when they leave the cave, they find the horse gone. Eliza, worriedly, asks Hal what could’ve happened. Hal’s eyes widen, saying that in intense hunger, the Wendigo eats horse flesh to whet its appetite. A huge roar is heard, and we finally see the white Wendigo in all of its terrible glory.

The three begin running to the train tracks, where there is a mine cart. They quickly load onto it, with Hal using his one useful arm to propel the tracks. Eliza hides under the seats as Susan pulls out her pistol, and attempts to shoot the Wendigo. The Wendigo will not go down, and begins a chase scene with the three. Eventually, Susan’s down to her last two bullets, and she shoots the Wendigo perfectly in both of its eyes. The Wendigo screams, and then smiles, shrinking down into a human form, revealing he is the governor. Susan attempts to kill the governor, but the governor says that while she is out of bullets, he still had a gun hidden in his Wendigo fur. The governor pulls out the gun, but then Hal steers the mine cart backwards, which runs over the governor.

Eliza asks if that killed the governor, and Hal answers by pumping the cart again, saying that the Wendigo will continue chasing them until one of them died. As the governor quickly transforms back into the Wendigo, Susan offers herself for sacrifice, but Hal will not let her. He kicks Eliza and Susan out of the cart, and tells them to run back home. Susan nods her head at Hal, and runs off with Eliza. The Wendigo stops and tries to decide who to chase, so Hal throws a rock at it. The Wendigo chases Hal, who continues on the mine cart to a canyon. He then runs off the canyon, down to his death. The Wendigo, refusing to lose its prey, jumps down into the canyon, where Hal reveals he had one bullet left in his pistol all along. Hal shoots the Wendigo through the heart, killing it before he can die.

Three months later, the town of Shiverin’ Gulch has recovered. Although the loss of Douglas and the Sheriff are still felt, the loss of Hal is felt the worst, and the new Sheriff, Susan, reveals to the town a statue dedicated to him. However, suddenly, some rough riders come into town. They claim the town for themselves, but Susan won’t allow it. She challenges the leader of the riders to a duel, but no one is prepared for the result.

High Noon. Susan and the leader of the riders draw and Eliza watches in terror. The clock begins to chime, when suddenly, a Wendigo comes into town, and growls at the leader of the riders. This scares him and the other riders, causing them to run away. Susan looks at the Wendigo in terror, but he shrinks down, transforming himself into Hal. Hal explains that after killing the Wendigo, he woke up at the bottom of the canyon as one. He began training himself into not falling into the cannibalistic tendencies of a Wendigo, and once he got down to just eating wildlife to help his bloodlust, he was able to transform from Wendigo, back into a human being.

Hal then turns himself into the Sheriff, saying that if she wishes, he will die at the stake in human form, which would allow no one to become a Wendigo. Susan asks Hal if he’s sure he has the instincts under control, and Hal answers that yes, he believes he does, and Susan says that Hal shall be the new deputy in town, and the town of Shiverin’ Gulch will now be anti-slavery. Anyone who disagrees with this action would have to deal with Hal. Hal is overjoyed, and he moves in with Susan and Eliza, serving as both a father figure for Eliza and as the town’s supernatural protector. THE END

Theaters: 3,529

MPAA Rating: PG for language, thematic elements, smoking, violence, and brief crude humor.

Budget: $30 million

[riczhang]

We're slowly approaching the amount of movies we had last year.

[Hiccup]

Paradise Lost

"Witness Our Fall"

Date- March 5th 5

Genre- Historical Epic/Adventure

Rating- PG-13

Theaters- 3,698 theaters

Budget- 150 million

Running Time- 180 minutes or 3 hours

Studio- O$corp Productions

Director- Tom Tykwer

Cast

God (voice): Liam Neeson

Adam: Channing Tatum

Eve: Olivia Wilde

Michael: Ryan Gosling

Satan: Ben Foster

Note about the film: The film flips between the story of Adam and Eve and the story of Satan and the angels.

Plot: The film opens with God creating heaven and the angels. We see Satan in his holy glory. He and the Archangel Michael are close friends. Satan however desires to be like God so he rebels. This breaks his friendship with Michael. An Angelic War over Heaven is is the result of this rebellion. Satan's rebellion followers engage is a epic large-scale warfare between the angels lead by Michael. This battle takes place over three days. Finally God intervenes and single-handedly defeats the entire legion of angelic rebels and banishes them from Heaven. Satan and the other rebellious angels are hurtled into Hell. In Pandæmonium (Satan's capital within Hell), Satan employs his rhetorical skills to organize his followers in a defeat of God and the angels; he is aided by Mammon and Beelzebub. Belial and Moloch are also present. When they hear of the creation of man they all caste lots to who will go and destroy God's new and most favored creation. Satan volunteers to go. Satan braves the dangers of the Abyss (between Hell and earth) alone. After an arduous traverse of the Chaos outside Hell, he enters God's new material World, and later the Garden of Eden.

Following the purging of Heaven, God creates the World, culminating in his creation of Adam and Eve. While God gave Adam and Eve total freedom and power to rule over all creation, He gave them one explicit command: not to eat from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil on penalty of death. The film shows Adam and Eves life in the Garden of Eden and their relationship with God. Adam and Eve have a full relationship while still being without sin. They are the ideal Godly couple. They have passions and distinct personalities and these are shown throughout the film. Adam is bold and devoted while Eve is cheerful and affectionate.

The film climaxes with Satan disguised in the form of a serpent successfully tempting Eve to eat from the Tree by preying on her vanity and tricking her with rhetoric. Adam learns that Eve has sinned so he knowingly commits the same sin. He tells Eve that since she was made from his flesh, they are bound to one another so that if she dies, he must also die. After eating the fruit, Adam and Eve have lustful sex, and at first Adam is convinced that Eve was right in thinking that eating the fruit would be beneficial. However they soon fall asleep and have terrible nightmares and after they awake, they experience guilt and shame for the first time. Realizing that they have committed a terrible act against God, they engage in recrimination, which eventually leads to Adam beating Eve physically. Adam shocked at what he has done flees. Eve finds him and she tells him that she forgives him. Her faithfulness to Adam gives Adam strength and boldness to enables approach God. Before approaching God, Adam encounters Michael who decides to give Adam a glimpse of humanities future. Adam is shown everything in history. The Great Flood, Mose leading the exodus of Egypt, King David, Rome's creation, Jesus's death, Rome's fall, Papacy, Renaissance, America discovered, Civil War, WWI, WW2, 1970's, 9/11, and the vast future beyond. Adam is very upset by this vision of humankind's future, which is utterly dark and bleak. Michael also tells him about humankind's potential redemption from original sin through Jesus Christ. Adam and Eve confront God who casts them out of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve now have a distant relationship with God, who is omnipresent but invisible. The film ends with them building a home and planting crops. The film ends with a narration about humanities future.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Andrew the Alien

[Alpha]

Move The Red Pyramid to May 14, haven't heard anything about Wonder Woman.

[Alpha]

Yes, I'm doing this again.

Magic Money-Printing Business Of Magic

Tagline: Believe (In Money).

Director: Rich Moore

Writer: Jennifer Lee, Phil Johnston

Genre: CGI Animation

Date: May 14

Voice Cast: Sam Rockwell as the Easter Bunny, Tom Waits as Santa Claus, Anne Hathaway as the Tooth Fairy, Jeremy Irons as the Halloween Master

Composer: Harry Gregson-Williams

Theaters: 3,689

MPAA Rating: PG for sustained sequences of action violence, including some mild language

Budget: $150 million

Runtime: 108 min

Format: Digital 3D and IMAX 3D

Plot Summary: In fairy tales, the heroes are full of courage, honesty, and wisdom. In real-life, they are greedy businessmen doing their jobs for cheap cash. But one day, the evil Halloween Master awakes and the fairy tales have to do with their old ways to stop the Master.

[Alpha]

Move the Red Pyramid back to July 2.

[Blankments]

Some release date shuffling:The Fault in our Stars from September 24 to October 8.The Dogs of Babel from October 15 to October 29.And if you'd like to move Blue Beetle's listing from June 18 to May 14, feel free to. Remove Wonder Woman as well.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Blankments

[Alpha]

Never mind that change. Keep it.

[Alpha]

So sorry to stress you out Numbers

[Alpha]

Put Magic Business on July 2 now, instead of Red Pyramid, which will remain on May 14.

[Ezen Baklattan]

nvm

Edited October 27, 2012 by Spaghetti

[riczhang]

Now that Red Pyramid has moved away, I will now stake my claim with a Blockbuster on Fourth of July weekend.

[Alpha]

Now that Red Pyramid has moved away, I will now stake my claim with a Blockbuster on Fourth of July weekend.

Nope, I'm moving it back again, since Blue Beetle was an intended blockbuster and I'm moving it back again.

[riczhang]

Nope, I'm moving it back again, since Blue Beetle was an intended blockbuster and I'm moving it back again.

You can't keep doing that, you've moved it about 4 times in a day, it's making it really hard for me, and probably for most of us to schedule movies. I'll figure out if I can reschedule the movie. The blockbuster schedule is getting rather full. Edited October 27, 2012 by riczhang

[4815162342]

Alfred guaranteed Hindenburg will come out so leave it at that. Red Pyramid is ether staying on July 2 and will take its chances or it can move to the open June 18th date. Leave it at that.

[Ezen Baklattan]

Who needs some random fillers? Here you go.

Slit Happens

Date: March 12th

Theaters: 2,156

Genre: Horror/Comedy/Musical

Rating: EXTREMELY HARD R

Runtime: 86min (1hr, 26min)

Budget: $10 million

The story of a seeming normal business man by day, Patrick, but he turns out to be a crazed serial killer by night. He suffers from nervous breakdowns and tourette's syndrome, and he's pretty much just a nervous wreck. There are also scenes where he dreams about this happy animated wonderland, ruled over by a pot smoking beaver that sits on a cloud. (I'm not even kidding.) He is soon captured and forced into a government institution for dangerous criminals, as well as general monsters and psychopaths. However, these are being brought together solely for the purpose of taking down a lethal regime in the middle east. Given Patrick's constant desire to kill everyone, this will prove to be a rather viable mission. The scene where the capital is raided is a mess of blood and gore, and all of the kills are insanely campy. Patrick stabs the ruler repeatedly, but he accidentaly goes on a killing spree that night of his co-workers, and this is where the film ends. Oh, and it's also a musical, featuring songs such as "I Can't Stop Killing!" and "Let's Kill People!"

Cruisers: Second Gear (3D)

Date: October 15th

Theaters: 3,085

Genre: Action/Crime

RATING: PG-13

Runtime: 114min (1hr, 54min)

Budget: $35 million

Previous: 22/54/100 (OW/DOM/WW)

Tom has become a top racer with The Cruisers and his relationship with the attractive Elena Roderiguez, a fellow racer, is still going strong. However, trouble soon comes when another gang of street racers, the Road Knights, begin to take over the city. Even worse, they are actually commiting serious crimes across the city, including robbery, arson, and even a few cases of murder! The city's government strikes a secret deal with the Cruisers to chase the Road Knights out of the city. What follows in the course of the film is a series of intense car chases between the Cruisers and The Road Knights. In the end, the Cruisers take back the city, and Tom and Elena get married.

[Ezen Baklattan]

Make the following date changes:Psychonauts - April 23rdSome Assembly Required - September 24th

[SilverShark]

SpellForce – Shadow of the Phoenix

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Studio: Silver Shark Entertainment

Genre: Fantasy

Cast: Stephen Moyer (Elyras), Rufus Sewell (Hokan Ashir), Dominic West (Urias), Marion Cotillard (Alyah), Jessy Schram (Rinoli), Peter Mensah (Aslo), Adam Alexi-Malle (Kalai), Stephen McHattie (Emperor Cero), Kristen Bell (Dryad), Ian McShane (Rohen)

Budget: $ 250 million

Theater Count: 4,148

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: December 17th

Running Time: 2 hrs 23 mins

Previous Grosses: Order of Dawn: 65/284/822 (OW/DOM/WW)

Breath of Winter: 95/342/1.15B (OW/DOM/WW)

Plot:

(shot in 3D, which makes it the first in this series to be in this format)

Deep inside an ancient temple made out of bones, an old, frail man clothed in threadbare robes is chained to a cold stone wall. He is bound by magical runes. The masked wizard, who cast this ban, enters the old man´s prison, carrying a second male person. He lays the body of the second man, who apparently has been dead for quite a while, down on a slide of stone in front of the prisoner. We recognize the body as that of Rohen Tahir, the former magician of the Circle and mentor of Elyras.

“You cannot reawaken them, Hokan,” the prisoner tells the wizard in a calm voice, “they would rip this world apart again and their greed for power would ensure their descend into darkness.”

But Hokan Ashir´s only answer is derisive laughter, for his plan allows for nobody to gain power – only himself. He makes a little cut into the prisoner´s chest and gathers the blue liquid dripping out of it in a phial. Hokan starts to chant an incantation and at the end of the incantation he instills the blue liquid into Rohan´s body. The great magician of the Circle is revived, but his dangerously gleaming blue eyes tell us that Rohan is not in charge of his own mind.

SpellForce – Shadow of the Phoenix

Only one year has passed since the dragon Aryn fell back into his deep sleep again and the world was saved from eternal winter. In the meantime, Elyras has arrived at the country Xu, which is very far in the south. It is Elyras´ last hope to find peace and a quiet life and to keep away the artifacts, which he guards, from the world forever. But then his old comrade Rinoli finds him and tells him that the Army of the Iron Ones has appeared again. The army is led by a masked wizard and is marching through the lands of Xu. Elyras senses how both the Phoenix Stone and the Sword of Souls whisper to him that his end is near. But this Elyras has known since he drove the sword through the chest of the Fial Darg. Since he used the blade, he feels how his own soul slowly vanishes and how darkness is slowly taking grip of him. Rinoli notices some changes in the rune warrior as well, he looks weaker and haggard. Elyras and Rinoli are just setting off for Empyria, the capital of Xu, as they notice the sounds of battle. They hurry to a hill and see hordes of undead warriors fighting against soldiers of the Order of Dawn. Under the leadership of Urias, the living try to defend themselves from the dead, but a never ending tide of skeletons is slowly pushing them back. Elyras touches the Phoenix Stone and focuses his thoughts. A blinding light flashes over the whole area. When it disappears again, all the undead warriors have crumbled into dust. Of late, Elyras has been able to gain even more power from the artifact, but this power comes with a price. Before he blacks out, the rune warrior sees Rinoli and Urias rushing towards him.

Three days later, Elyras wakes up feeling very weak and lying on a pushcart. Rinoli sits beside him and is very happy that the rune warrior his awake again. Urias and an unknown woman are riding alongside the pushcart. The woman´s name is Alyah and she has offered to show the Order of Dawn the way to Empyria. She explains that in recent years, Xu has become more and more dangerous, because Emperor Cero has increasingly withdrawn himself and has left control to his advisors. Finally, they arrive at Empyria and are shocked by the decay of the former metropolis, which once was the cultural center of the southern kingdom. Giant slums have sprung up around the city walls, which once shone resplendent in daylight. Elyras even sees a group of people fighting for a loaf of bread as if it is the last meal they will ever have. After a half an hour ride through the slums, the pushcart stops and Alyah invites everyone into her shed. In the shed, a dozen children are crouching in the corners. Alyah has ministered to them and tries to take care of them. She tells Elyras that she knows a way how he can regain his powers. The so called “woman under the tree” can help him. They say she is a dryad, a being of pure life, which the emperor keeps captive in his palace garden. But to get to the garden, Elyras has to pass the whole palace. By accident, Elyras finds out that Alyah is the emperor´s daughter, who has abandoned her father, after his mind was poisoned by a masked advisor. When he comes to Alyah, several imperial guards are surrounding her. Elyras drops into a defensive stance, but Alyah calms him down. Captain Aslo is going to help them to get to the palace garden. He has known Alyah since she was a baby and has guarded her ever since. In the same night, Also shows Elyras a secret way through the palace, which was originally built as a secret escape route for the Emperor. But the entrance to the palace garden itself is protected by two stone guardians. Elyras uses the power of the Phoenix Stone to make them crumble into dust, but by doing so he uses his last strength. He feels how the black blade of the Sword of Souls is devouring his own soul bit by bit. Suddenly imperial guards storm into the room and surround Elyras and Aslo. Then the Emperor and the masked advisor join them. Elyras recognizes Hokan Ahir and wants to warn the Emperor of his masquerade, but Hokan silences him with a spell before he can do so. The Emperor is deeply disappointed in Aslo and orders his arrest. The rune warrior is to be killed immediately, but suddenly Alyah appears and knocks off the guards. She helps Elyras to flee to the garden, where he makes the entrance collapse. Thereupon, he blacks out again. Alay rushes off too and the Emperor orders his guard to pursue her, but they are not to harm her. Hokan Ashir tries to get to the garden as well, the collapsed entrance is no problem for him. But another spell denies him entry to the garden. Hokan smirks, soon the dryad will not be powerful enough anymore to fend him off.

Under the cover of darkness, Alay hurries back to Urias and Rinoli. Both are apprehensively awaiting her report, but of course, the daughter of the Emperor has only bad news to tell. Urias and Rinoli are horrified by the developments and want to storm the palace with their soldiers, who are waiting behind the last city gate. But Alyah advises them against that, she has another plan to retake control of Empyria. She tells Urias and Rinoli to speak with Gyfro, a master of elemental magic. The reverend teachers of magic want to continue their studies without any supervision as well and are prepared to oppose the Emperor and his false advisor. The main part of their order has escaped the capital months ago.

Elyras wakes up in a small paradise. The garden of the Emperor is stunningly beautiful and overwhelming purity. Elyrias is lying in a clearing swarmed with tweeting birds and other small animals. A soft voice tells him to wait, but Elyras sits up anyway. The dryad appears in front of him, she is the most beautiful woman with the most perfect body he has ever seen. Her body is covered only with leaves from her garden. “What does a rune warrior want from me?”, she asks. Elyras tries to explain, but he is barely strong enough for speaking. The dryad touches his chest and closes her eyes. “You were forced to do many horrible things, but you have done them by your own choice. Even though you have good intentions, you cannot control the Phoenix Stone and the Sword of Souls. The stone will rip apart your body and the sword will corrupt your soul. There will be nothing left of you but a dark shadow.” Elyras asks the dryad if she is able to heal him and if she can free him from the curse of both artifacts. But the dryad answers: “Nobody is able to heal you, rune warrior, not even the gods themselves. You have to accept your fate. There is no future for you, but you still can complete your mission.” After these words, the dryad kisses Elyras upon his brow. An incredible warmth rushes through his body, his powers return and he feels like newly born. He thanks the dryad and takes his leave. “You have regained your powers, but your fate will not change,“ the dryad says and whispers something into Elyras´ ear. As a gift, she teleports Elyras directly to Urias and Rinoli, who have already met up with Gyfro.

Alyah arrives at the arranged meeting place, and soon after Urias, Rinoli, Elyras and Gyfro join her. Elyras is quickly initiated into the plan, but before Alyah can end her explanation, a dozen imperial guards appear and try to arrest all of them. Gyfro freezes the guard into blocks of ice and buys them time to escape. Alyah knows only one rout of escape: the red desert, a grim place, which the guards avoid. Urias, Rinoli and Alyah walk through the portal to the desert. Gyfro gives Elyras a seal, which will show the magicians that their time has come. But before Elyras can escape through the portal, Gyfro is hit by black lightening and falls dead to the ground. Hokan Ashir and Elyras stand face to face, but Elyras is not yet ready for the deciding battle and flees through the portal. On the other side he blocks the portal by removing the portal stone. The sandy wind of the red desert blows into his face. A bleak wasteland lies ahead of Elyras. Alyah, Rinoli and Urias are waiting for the rune warrior. With them are several hooded charakters, which belong to the Hazim. Once, they were exiled by the Emperor and now lead their lives in poverty. But Alyah supports the Hazim and tries to combine her people and the Hazim into one nation. Kalai, the chief of the Hazim, leads the group through the seemingly endless desert to the next portal. The last remaining oasis, a gift from the dryad to the Hazim, is at the portal. But even this oasis is growing smaller and smaller, soon the Hazim will be without any refuge. Kalai warns Elyras about the place behind the portal, called the shadow border. The shadow border was once the last fortress of the dark elves, which were supposed to fend off the dangers of the black jungle. But after the fall of their once powerful kingdom, the bastion fell into despair and other, darker powers have taken possession of it. Now solely darkness reigns there. But Elyras has to make this journey, nobody else is able to do it. He asks Alyah, Rinoli and Urias to remain behind and together with the Hazim to work out a plan to overthrow the Emperor and to establish peace in Xu once again. He trusts in Urias and the Order of Dawn, which will support the rebellion.

In the meantime, the capital Empyria has changed even more. Dozens of Iron Ones have occupied the capital. Allegedly, they are only there to protect the Emperor, this is what the masqueraded Hokan Ashir assured the Emperor. Even the imperial guard has been disbanded. All known rebels have been arrested and huge labor camps have been erected outside of the capital. Captain Aslo is amongst those rebels, he is still desperately trying to convince his fellow countrymen to rebel. But the presence of the Iron Ones causes all hope to slowly die out. Hokan Ashir has also created a new soul smith, who is responsible for the armies in Empyria. In contrast to the last soul smith, the present one is not directly connected to the Iron Ones. Therefore, it is no longer possible to defeat the Iron Ones through his death. The masque advisor retreats from the Emperor´s court to pursue his dark plans. In his bone temple, situated in the darkest center of the black jungle, he continues to torture his prisoner, who actually is God Deleus, the god of writings. Only the blood of a god can revive a magician of the Circle. The god dies at the end of the process. Now, Hokan Ashir has gathered everything that he needs to recreate the circle. Hokan wants to gain control of the world by the power of the circle, under his leadership of course. He begins the ritual and a bit later, the twelve most terrible magicians that have ever existed are standing in front of him once again. “The world has not forgotten us, but it has forgotten to whom it has to bow down to.”

Elyras walks through the portal and sees the impressive fortress of the dark elves. After he has scaled the first level, he meets an old friend: Craig Un´Shallach, the old and new leader of the dark elves, helps him to climb the snowbound fortress. Nothing, except a few old traps, hinders them on their way. Finally after marching for half a day, they reach the portal to the black jungle, but before they can pass it, a giant undead dragon appears in front of them. Rohan Tahir, Elyras´ old mentor who died fighting his younger self, is riding the dragon. Elyras is completely confused, especially since Rohan attacks him at once. But soon the rune warrior has to accept that this is not the old Rohan he knew. It is only his corporal body filled by the dark mind of Hokan Ashir. Craig and Elyras attack him, but the magician of the Circle and his dragon can repel their attacks without problems. Rohan jumps off the dragon and creates a lance of pure magic, which he hurls at Elyras and floors him. Shortly before the old magician can spear the rune warrior with the lance, Craig tackles him. The dragon rushes after Craig, but Elyras attacks him with the Phoenix Stone and he disintegrates. However, Elyras refuses to use the stone against Rohen. Craig implores him to change his mind, because Rohan starts to collapse the entire fortress. But Elyras knows that the Phoenix Stone would obliterate his old master and friend forever. Rohan notices that the two are distracted and jumps at Elyras. But suddenly, the black blade of the Sword of Souls pierces through his chest. The dangerous blue gleam vanishes from his eyes and his once again lifeless body falls to the ground. Elyras pulls the blade out of the magician´s body and has to lean on it. Again, he feels how a small part of his soul is devoured by the sword. He has not much time left. He thanks Craig for his help and asks him to travel to Empyria, so that he can support Alyah and the others in their rebellion. Elyras himself walks through the last portal and steps into the black jungle.

In spite of its name, the black jungle could actually be a peaceful and exotic place, where uncountable rare and strange animals live. Nothing in the jungle would remind one of dark magic, war, desperation and other horrible things, if one could not see the gigantic temple made out of bones in the distance. Remembering the horrors of the Convocation and all his deeds, Elyras searches the jungle for a rune monument. After a while, he finds one, but it has been destroyed a long time ago. With the power of the Phoenix Stone, Elyras resurrects the monument and inserts the runes of his armies. But his soldiers show that their master has grown weaker as well. They still follow him, because their will is bound to that of their master. They march through the black jungle towards their ends.

In the meantime, Alyah, Kalai, Rinoli and Urias are back at Empyria. Through a hidden portal, they have been able to sneak up close to the capital. Alyah sneaks into the labor camps and tells her confidants about her plan. The first step is to take over the labor camps, which are not strongly guarded. Hokan Ashir cannot imagine for anyone to stand against the Iron Ones. The next night, the troops of the Order of Dawn overrun the camps and destroy the few posted Iron Ones. The hundreds of freed people of Empyria now join the rebellion and are taken to the base camp, where they are supplied with food, armory and weapons. The rebellion is also joined by a some dozen citizens form the capital, who no longer want to be oppressed. They report that now several thousand Iron Ones occupy the capital. The Emperor has been imprisoned in his palace and is insulated from everyone else. The gigantic soul smith rules Empyria now and suppresses every thought of rebellion. Alyah and Urias command about five thousand soldiers, but only three thousand are real trained. The soldier of the Order of Dawn are instructing the townsfolk, but it is not sufficient to lead a war. Kalai takes his leave and tells the two that he will return in two days with the entire armed force of the Hazim. Furthermore, he will contact the fled magicians, who will arrive at Empyria in a short time as well. Nevertheless, the attack should start soon, before to many Iron Ones are in the capital. Alyah and Urias decide that they will attack in the early morning. During the night, a few of Alyah´s people sneak to the city gates and put down some heavy bags in front of them. In the morning, more than five thousand armed men have lined up a mile outside the capital. Opposing them are about two thousand Iron Ones. According to reports from fled citizens, another two thousand citizens are waiting inside Empyria. Urias orders the attack and everyone starts running. The Iron Ones start attacking as well, their blades gleam in the rising sun. A burning arrow is fired and hits the bags in front of the gates. Suddenly, a huge explosion rips apart both the gates and a few hundred Iron Ones. The humans jeer and continue to run towards the Iron Ones, the armies clash and the fight for survival begins. The humans form several protection rings, which are able to fend off the blades of the Iron Ones with great shields. Meanwhile, great lances pierce through the metallic constructs.

In the black jungle, Elyras and his armies have arrived at the bone temple, but to their surprise, no Iron Ones are waiting for them. Instead, undead hordes, demons and other horrible creatures come storming out of the temple. The armies of the Circle have returned. The rune armies attack them and Elyras tries to get into the temple, but he is held up in several fights. From the top of the temple, Hokan Ashir looks down on the battle field. In the background, we see the other magician of the Circle, which have formed a circle. Hokan Ashir turns around to them and steps into the middle of the circle. With a pleased smile, he starts to read a chant.

In Empyria, the fight has reached the blown gates. The humans have forced the Iron Ones back a great distance. Then they are joined by the magicians, who use their spells against the metallic warriors. The soul smith observes the fight from a balcony at the palace and shows no emotions. Suddenly, the sandy ground quakes underneath the feet of the humans. Alyah, Urias and Rinoli trade horrified glances. Thousands of Iron Ones rise from the ground, they have been waiting for the humans to reach the gate. The two thousand Iron Ones from the city come running as well and close in on the human armies. The shortly budded hope disappears again. Even Urias and Alyah have to accept that this is their end. But then, they hear the horns of the Hazim. Twenty thousand Hazim, five thousand of them mounted, storm toward the capital from the east and drive into the fight. The soul smith reacts and splits his body into three parts, which become blade-whirls. These blade-whirls rush to the front lines of the battle and kill everybody that comes near them. Even the spells of the magicians cannot harm them.

Elyras´ rune armies have defeated the troops of the Circle and are now standing in front of the bone temple. Elyras turns to his men and asks them to return to Empyria and to support Alyah, Urias and Rinoli. He takes out the rune and frees them. Thus, his soldiers are no longer bound to Elyras and have freewill. First the soldiers, who are mortal again, do not know what to do, but then they cheer for Elyras and rush to the portal. They want to fulfill the wish of their former master. Elyras looks at the faces of his soldiers and remembers his first moments, when he himself was gifted freedom by Rohan. He thanks his soldiers in his mind and starts off to the top of the bone temple. There, the magicians of the Circle and Hokan Ashir are awaiting him. The ritual has been completed, and Elyras can only watch how the bodies of the magicians disintegrate and how Hokan Ashir absorbs their energies. Thereupon, the body and the voice of the dark wizard changes as well. He grows larger and seems even more menacing than before. “Rune warrior, I thank you for your help. You have brought me the mask of Belial and have assisted me to realize my plan. Now, see how vast the power of the only true god is.” Hokan Ashir becomes the reincarnation of Belial, the god of death. With only one blow, he flings Elyras around. The rune warrior tries to counterattack, but neither using the power of the Phoenix Stone nor the Sword of Souls, he can makes so much as a scratch. And he feels, how his soul is being devoured with every swing of the sword.

In Empyria, the battle continues. The blade-whirls of the soul smith mow down their opponents like scythes, the numerical advantage of the humans does not matter. But the human army does not give up. When Elyras´ rune armies appear and join them, hope slowly returns. Only Rinoli and Urias are slightly confused, they know that rune bound soldiers cannot travel through portals without their master. But they cannot focus on that now, they continue to issue orders and to bring Urias soldiers to formation. But even the rune warriors are helpless against the blade-whirls.

In the bone temple, the fight between Hokan Ashir and Elyras continues as well. But Elyras is vastly inferior position and after the next blow from the superior wizard, he stays down on the ground and does not move anymore. Hokan Ashir bursts into booming laughter, he is sure of his victory. Elyras slowly comes around and suddenly sees a vision of the dryad beside him. He remembers what the beautiful being told him. “Only the Phoenix himself can defeat everything. You have to free him. But only a soulless being can free the creature of allfire.” Elyras does not feel anything anymore, his soul has passed away completely. Therefore, he can only make one last sacrifice. He thrusts the Sword of Souls through the Phoenix Stone and breaks the artifact. Hokan Ashir is horrified by this and watches how pure fire surrounds the rune warrior. Seconds later, Elyras steps out of the flames. Now he has changed too, his body is filled with the power of the Phoenix. Elyras looks at Hokan Ashir for a last time. Then his body dissolves into pure energy and takes the form of the Phoenix. It spreads his conflegrant wings and unfold its force. He flies toward Hokan Ashir and hits him with full power. The allfire devours the wizard completely. Then the temple starts to collapse. The fire vanishes with a blinding light and only leaves a giant crater, where the bone temple once stood before.

In Empyria, all the Iron Ones and the blade-whirls of the soul smith crumble into dust. The humans break into cheers. Alyah and Urias look around and join the jubilation. But then, they rush to the palace to look after the Emperor, whom they find dead. He has been killed by the soul smith. While Alyah mourns for her father, Urias questions Elyras´ soldiers, who tell him how their master gifted them their freedom. The commander of the Order of Dawn sends two scouts to the black jungle to find out what happened there. Two days later, Urias, Alyah, Rinoli and all the kings from all over the world awaits their return. When they come back everybody is listening to them without making any sound. The scouts report that the bone temple has disappeared and only a giant crater remembers of it. They also have the broken Phoenix Stone and the shattered Sword of Souls with them. Not long afterwards, memorials for Elyrias are raised in all the kingdoms of Eo. At the memorial in Empyria the broken artifacts are layed down to Elyras feet. The rune warrior has vanquished the horrors of the Circle and the Convocation forever. Alyah is crowned Empress of Empyria and Xu and honors her promise to the Hazim, their people are now one nation again. Elyras´ rune soldiers and Rinoli split up and travel to all corners of the world to tell the story of Elyras, the free rune warrior. Even if the peace will not hold forever, his selfless sacrifice will never be forgotten.

SpellForce – Shadow of the Phoenix

Edited October 29, 2012 by SilverShark

[Alpha]

Tyrant

Tagline: You Will Obey

Director: David Cronenberg

Writer: David Cronenberg

Genre: Sci-Fi Thriller

Date: February 27

Cast: Dakota Goyo as Max Dells, Renee Zellweger as Sandra Dells, Mark Wahlberg as Alexander Dells

Composer: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

Theaters: 3,112

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some disturbing images and language

Budget: $35 million

Runtime: 114 mins

Plot Summary: A young child begins to develop telekinesis and clairvoyance. He eventually begins to think he is omnipotent, and can control his own town and people.

Full Plot: COMING SOON

Edited October 29, 2012 by etr906

[riczhang]

Double Standards

Director: Steven Frears

Studio: Arcturus Entertainment

Genre: Rom-Com

Format: Digital 2D

Cast: Unknowns

Budget: $20 million

Theatre Count: 2595

Rating: G

Release Date: 16 July

Running Time: 1hr 42 mins

Plot:

Marie, and Justin are two married couples, both established in their industry living in New York. Their marriage however is broken, and as they try to put aside their differences when both their in-laws come over, they discover hidden secrets about each other that were best let untold. And, as both set of in-laws sort out their differences, blaming their children's unhappiness on the opposite family, Justin, and Marie have to sort through a mess of lies, affairs, hypocrisy, financial disasters, and more. Justin upset, stays a night with a friend, but ends up in more trouble than he ever imagined. But, at the very end, reason, and love comes to save the day, and the two renew their vows in a happy ceremony, attended by the now peaceful cohort of in-laws, and friends.

Edited October 28, 2012 by riczhang