CAYOM Year 7: Part 1

[4815162342]

Year 7 of CAYOM 2.0 officially begins! Since detailed instructions are contained in the players' guide thread, I'll simply summarize and say that this is the thread where you post all of your films with info including: Title, Cast, Director, Release Date, Theater Count, MPAA Rating, Budget, and a Plot Summary. I will edit this post a few times a day with updates based on postings.If your plot is of significant length, place it inside spoiler tags so it doesn't take forever to scroll down a page of this thread!!!!!The schedule: January 6-8Explosions and Half-Naked Attractive Ladies (2601 Theaters) (Page 4)Unbalanced 4 (3558 Theaters) (Page 2)January 13-16 (MLK Weekend)Childhood Ruined (2476 Theaters) (Page 3)Ice Station (3082 Theaters) (Page 3)The Idiot (Limited- 46 Theaters) (Page 3)January 20-22Coming Home (2703 Theaters) (Page 5)Ping (3030 Theaters) (Page 3)Psy: I'm a Gentleman (2112 Theaters) (Page 6)The Idiot (180 Theaters)January 27-29Penumbra (3150 Theaters) (Page 1)The Special Effects Team (3021 Theaters) (Page 4)The Idiot (456 Theaters)February 3-5The Best Foot Porno of All Time (2647 Theaters) (Page 6)Flying Spaghetti Monster the Great and Holy (2624 Theaters) (Page 6)We are the Champions (2803 Theaters) (Page 3)The Idiot (Wide- 1002 Theaters)February 10-12

The Choice (2917 Theaters) (Page 7)Walking with You (3102 Theaters) (Page 4)The Idiot (2155 Theaters)February 17-20 (President's Day Weekend)Bone: Solistice (3971 Theaters) (Page 2)The SCP Foundation (3034 Theaters) (Page 3)The Idiot (2698 Theaters)February 24-26Crusader (2648 Theaters) (Page 5)Taylor Swift: Sparks Fly (3054 Theaters) (Page 4)March 3-5Conventional Wisdom (3102 Theaters) (Page 3)The Wanders (3375 Theaters) (Page 2)March 10-12Assassin's Creed (3497 Theaters) (Page 2)

Frindle (2815 Theaters) (Page 7)White Cargo (722 Theaters) (Page 2)March 17-193:39 AM (3307 Theaters) (Page 5)Bear Market (2632 Theaters) (Page 4)White Cargo (1722 Theaters)March 24-26

After Party (2721 Theaters) (Page 7)

The Martian Chronicles (3567 Theaters) (Page 6) March 31-April 2Here Comes Peter Cottontail (3578 Theaters) (Page 4)Hush, Hush (3256 Theaters) (Page 3)April 7-9A Comedy (2738 Theaters) (Page 3)The Golden Legend: The Knight of Fire (3717 Theaters) (Page 2)Ke$ha: Animal, Cannibal, Warrior (2501 Theaters) (Page 6) April 14-16 (Easter Weekend)Blank (2637 Theaters) (Page 1)The Terrible Plight Of Freddy Zapper (3186 Theaters) (Page 3)April 21-23The Bronze Bow (3198 Theaters) (Page 5)Things Hoped For (2669 Theaters) (Page 5) April 28-30

Linkin Park: Burn it Down (2516 Theaters) (Page 4)Stephen King's It: Part 1 (2880 Theaters) (Page 5)May 5-7Justice League (4412 Theaters) (Page 3)May 12-14Crime Stinks (3466 Theaters) (Page 4)The Doppleganger (3207 Theaters) (Page 4)May 19-21Call Of Duty: Eye Of The Storm (4277 Theaters) (Page 1)May 26-29 (Memorial Day Weekend)Miserable Fans (3229 Theaters) (Page 3)South Pacific (3247 Theaters) (Page 2)June 2-4Life After Death (3530 Theaters) (Page 2)Spark: Ignition (3951 Theaters) (Page 2) June 9-11Tyrant II: The Inspector (3087 Theaters) (Page 4)June 16-18LucIId (3892 Theaters) (Page 5) June 23-25The Blue Belt (3818 Theaters) (Page 4)The Office: An American Workplace (3448 Theaters) (Page 5) June 30-July 4 (Independence Day Weekend)Thomas The Tank Engine (3982 Theaters) (Page 4)July 7-9Harlem Shake: 28 Days Later (2344 Theaters) (Page 2)The Scottsboro Boys (3384 Theaters) (Page 6)Top Gear Great Adventures: Our 'Nam (3285 Theaters) (Page 4)July 14-16The 39 Clues: The Sword Thief (4374 Theaters) (Page 1)July 21-23The Boy in the Watchtower (2811 Theaters) (Page 7)

The Dark Victorian: Pursuit (3711 Theaters) (Page 2) July 28-30Amulet (3873 Theaters) (Page 2)Reality Shift (3623 Theaters) (Page 6)August 4-6Extrasensory (2904 Theaters) (Page 2)The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (3827 Theaters) (Page 6)

Innocense (Limited- 4 Theaters)August 11-13Leviathan (3559 Theaters) (Page 4)Innocense (16 Theaters) August 18-20Fox in Socks (3792 Theaters) (Page 7)

Seeing Her (3079 Theaters) (Page 5)Innocense (230 Theaters)August 25-27Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls (3355 Theaters) (Page 5)Jazz: The Movie (Limited- 4 Theaters) (Page 5)Innocense (Wide- 743 Theaters) September 1-4 (Labor Day Weekend)My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic – The Return of Queen Chrysalis, Part 2 (2895 Theaters) (Page 5)Redeeming Love (2940 Theaters) (Page 3)Usher: Love in this Club (3052 Theaters) (Page 4)Jazz: The Movie (16 Theaters)September 8-10Tears of a Tiger (2570 Theaters) (Page 5)God is Dead (Limited- 6 Theaters) (Page 4)Jazz: The Movie (42 Theaters)September 15-17

Epic Battlers (3223 Theaters) (Page 7)The Rich & Famous (2853 Theaters) (Page 2)God is Dead (60 Theaters)Jazz: The Movie (98 Theaters)September 22-24The Fall Of Boss Tweed (3539 Theaters) (Page 1)God is Dead (157 Theaters)Jazz: The Movie (214 Theaters)September 29-October 1The 120 Days of Sodom (1675 Theaters) (Page 5)

Adventure Time: The Battle for Ooo (3053 Theaters) (Page 7)

God is Dead (382 Theaters)Jazz: The Movie (398 Theaters)October 6-8The 13th Night (2924 Theaters) (Page 6)Heavy Rain (3600 Theaters) (Page 1)God is Dead (Wide- 650 Theaters)Jazz: The Movie (Wide- 624 Theaters)October 13-15Jekyll Jr. 2 (2567 Theaters) (Page 5)Paper Towns (3316 Theaters) (Page 2)God is Dead (1007 Theaters)Jazz: The Movie (1088 Theaters)October 20-22Brother and Sister (2478 Theaters) (Page 6)Halloweentown IV (3575 Theaters) (Page 5)Risk Management (Limited- 2 Theaters) (Page 1)God is Dead (1916 Theaters)October 27-29 (Halloween Weekend)Amnesia: The Dark Descent (3333 Theaters) (Page 1)The Vast Dark: Shadows of the Past (3366 Theaters) (Page 4)A Woman in the Crowd (3453 Theaters) (Page 6)Risk Management (58 Theaters) November 3-5

Among the Hidden (3843 Theaters) (Page 7)The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer (Limited- 4 Theaters) (Page 3)Searching for Mr. Watterson (Limited- 113 Theaters) (Page 7)

The Storyteller (Limited- 13 Theaters) (Page 5)Risk Management (Wide- 602 Theaters) November 10-12Celluloid Heroes (3218 Theaters) (Page 7)

The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer (16 Theaters)Risk Management (1096 Theaters)Searching for Mr. Watterson (197 Theaters)

The Storyteller (Wide- 3017 Theaters)November 17-19The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (4072 Theaters) (Page 1)Hollywood (3085 Theaters) (Page 3)Journey (3333 Theaters) (Page 1)The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer (96 Theaters)Risk Management (1922 Theaters)

Searching for Mr. Watterson (230 Theaters)November 22-26 (Thanksgiving Weekend)Chuck Norris And Liam Neeson vs. Santa Claus, Ultimate Badass (3729 Theaters) (Page 6)One Hit Wonder (2744 Theaters) (Page 5)A Wish for Wings That Work (3651 Theaters) (Page 6)The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer (178 Theaters)Risk Management (3094 Theaters)

Searching for Mr. Watterson (Wide- 1005 Theaters) December 1-3Cop Hater (2525 Theaters) (Page 4)Le Plaisir, Faux (Limited- 4 Theaters) (Page 1) December 8-10The Mind Behind the Movies (2839 Theaters) (Page 5)A Series Of Unfortunate Events: Movie The Third (3883 Theaters) (Page 2)Shiloh (1890 Theaters) (Page 2)The Three-Month Funeral (Limited- 4 Theaters) (Page 1)The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer (394 Theaters)Le Plaisir, Faux (28 Theaters) December 15-17The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (2488 Theaters) (Page 2)The Rise and Fall Of Julius Caesar (3521 Theaters) (Page 1)The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer (Wide- 823 Theaters)Le Plaisir, Faux (98 Theaters)The Three-Month Funeral (16 Theaters) December 22-25 (Christmas Weekend)Boy Band (2988 Theaters) (Page 6)The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer (2345 Theaters)Le Plasir, Faux (212 Theaters)The Three-Month Funeral (421 Theaters)Monday, December 25: The Once And Future King: The Queen Of Air and Darkness (3927 Theaters) (Page 2)Monday, December 25: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (3255 Theaters) December 29-January 1 (New Year's Weekend)Le Plaisir, Faux (Wide- 694 Theaters)The Three-Month Funeral (Wide- 1042 Theaters)

Edited May 2, 2013 by 4815162342

[riczhang]

Le Plaisir, Faux

Director: Michael Haneke
Studio: Arcturus Entertainment
Genre: Drama
Format: 35mm Film
Cast: Isabelle Huppert as Anne Laurent
Guillame de Tonquédac as Georges Laurent
Laurent Lucas as Guilliame Montijoux 
Cinematographer: Darius Khondji
Budget: $15 million
Theatre Count: 4 [1 December] 28 [8 December] 98 [15 December] 212 [22 December] 694 [29 December] 945 [5 January]
Rating: R
Release Date: Limited: 1 December Wide: 29 December Widest: 5 January
Running Time: 1 hr 47 mins
 
Plot:

 

The film opens with several long shots of an elaborate townhouse. We see the lavish furnishings of the halls, the entrance room, the empty and dark study, and a large yet cosy dining room. There’s a meal set out on the dining room table. There’s only one plate on the table, yet the food all looks touched. We hear the noise of the television emanating from another room. We cut to a shot of a drawing room. The camera is in the corner and we see Anne Laurent (Isabelle Huppert) sitting on a settee watching the television. Her small figure is very graceful, and elegant. However, she despite her obvious wealth she does not look careful, or happy. Her figure is almost drowned in the enormity of the room and the prodigality of its decorations. We hear the television news announcer say, “The Time is now 11:30pm and here are the headlines at this half hour on Friday evening.”  At this time she reaches into one of the pockets of her robe and pulls out an iPhone 5. She unlocks it and dials a number. We hear her get redirected to voicemail, “You’ve reached the number of Monsieur Georges Laurent, Managing Director of Laurent Inc. Please leave a message after the tone.” She waits for a tone before saying in a steady voice, “Georges. This is Anne. I am calling to ask when you’ll be home from the office. It’s 11:30 at night.” After she hangs up, she puts the phone in her lap, and then is silent. Despite her calm facial expression, her eyes betray her true feelings of hurt, loneliness, sadness, and anger. 

 

We cut to Anne in bed. It’s even later at night now. Her room is illuminated only by the faint moonlight streaming through the window. We see that she is still awake. Just then we hear the sound of a heavy set of doors opening, the front doors. We hear some faint footsteps, and then we hear an almost imperceptible click before light streams into the room from under the crack of the door.

 

We cut to outside Anne’s room. We see Georges (Guillame de Tonquédac) walking down the hallway carrying a briefcase. He stops at a closet and hangs his jacket up. He then goes to the drawing room and puts his briefcase on the cocktail table The Briefcase as a logo imprinted on it, with the words Laurent Inc. imprinted below it. He then goes over to the liquor cabinet and pours himself a nice measure of cognac before sitting down on the settee that Anne was sitting on earlier and relaxing for a moment. We then cut to him walking down the hallway again; he stops outside Anne’s room and looks as if he wants to walk in. He doesn’t. Instead, looking perhaps just a little bit remorseful he walks into the room next door and gets ready for bed.

 

We cut to the next day. It’s a Saturday and both Anne and Georges are eating breakfast at the table. There’s certain coldness between the two; however they seem used to each other, they work well with each other. Georges mentions that he will have to go to the office this afternoon. Anne inquires why, and he replies that the takeover deal isn’t going so well and that he needs to put in a few extra hours. Even though Anne tries not to show it, she adopts a more upset posture. Georges see this, tells her that it is only temporary. He tells her that everything will be fine soon, and they’ll be making even more money. More money that we can even imagine, more money than we can ever know what to do with. After Anne finishes her breakfast she gets her, and Georges’s plates and scrapes the crumbs into the rubbish bin. We see inside the bin lie the remains of last night’s dinner.

 

We see the days slip past as Georges is perpetually gone and Anne is slipping deeper and deeper into some sort of catatonic state. One weekend morning, Anne and Georges are sitting at the dining room table. Anne is toying with her food, and Georges is reading the paper. Anne opens her mouth and says, “Georges, I – “ She gets cut off as Georges’s phone rings. He picks it up and says okay a few times into it before hanging up. He turns towards Anne and says, “I-“ Anne says, “You need to go to the office, I know. It’s okay.” Georges leaves upon hearing this. Anne now is alone in the dining room. She seems so alone in the dark room, a small figure in a large sea. As the sound of the front door locking is heard, we see Anne almost break down into tears as the emotions that are kept supressed below her steady exterior threaten to overwhelm her. As a single tear begins to slip down her cheek, we cut away.

 

The next scene is at a dinner party. We see Anne and Georges going around the room and making small talk with people. Everyone is congratulating him on his recent acquisition deal. It is obvious that the dinner party was hosted for this express purpose. A little while later we see George gather the attention of everyone and he thanks them for coming, hopes they have a good time, and expresses his happiness at the success of the merge, and his hope that his company Laurent Inc. will grow stronger because of this. Everyone claps after this and the party continues.

We cut forward a little while. Anne is standing at the side of the room, looking very forlorn and detached. Georges on the other hand is still making the rounds, sweet talking people, pandering after clients, and generating goodwill for future business transactions. Then Anne is approached by Guillame (Laurent Lucas), who is the person who used to own the business that Georges acquired in this deal. They seem to at least be acquainted with each other, and know each other by name. Anne tries to put on a brave face and be sociable but it is failing. She asks him how life feels after letting the company go and he says that it doesn’t feel much different. He says that he’s planning to move on and establish a new company already. He says that they’re always new opportunities for business. He then asks her why she isn’t with her husband and if she’s feeling alright as she looks a little off. Anne tenses a little at this, and Guillame is about to say, “I’m sorry if I’m over-stepping. You don’t have to respond.” Anne nods as if to say that she understands, but her mouth seems to disobey her wishes as she opens her mouth to say, “He seems to be doing fine without me.” Her words seem to carry a deeper meaning and Guillame is intrigued. They end up talking for a long time as he gradually gets Anne to open up. We hear some stories about how when Anne and Georges got married they weren’t initially like this, but something change in Georges. It was as if some sort of greed or love for work had taken hold of him. Guillame says that she’s live without fun for too long, and he’s going to show her some fun tomorrow.

 

We see Guillame take her on a whirlwind of a day in Paris. They shop, visit sights, act like tourists, relax outside the city on the banks of the seine, and etc. We see this almost from the perspective of a silent observer. Someone who observes but doesn’t experience what happens. Almost like a psychoanalytic psychologist, one who sits there and just lets their patient act and talk freely. Gradually we see Anne get more and more cheerful, and so this arrangement continues. Most of the time, they shop. Anne was initially sceptical at this approach but Guillame won her over. He keeps telling her that stuff is something that always stays with you and never abandons you. 

 

Eventually Anne opens up to the idea and she buys all sorts of stuff. It also seems like every time they go she buys more and more and more stuff. Georges despite his workaholicism also notices this and he asks Anne about it as Anne hasn’t been shopping much recently. Anne is very surprised and kinda nervous when he asks the question over breakfast one Saturday morning. She hesitates for a moment before answering that she’s not stressed anymore. She says that during the deal all his stress was making her stressed but now that everything’s over with she’s not stressed anymore and she’s feeling free to shop now. Georges looks a little sceptical about the answer but decides to accept it and Anne seems to let out a silent sigh. We see her eyes change from a little apprehensive to quiet relief.

 

However, soon a crisis in Georges’s company hits and they have to cut back and Georges begins to put even more hours into the office. However, Anne’s mood doesn’t dim and she keeps on shopping, which is now putting immense strain on their finances. Georges is quite surprised at this, and he feels almost betrayed that Anne doesn’t feel the need or urgency to be more fiscally responsible. He confronts Anne about this but she never gives him a straight answer. So, one day he decides to pretend to go into the office, but actually follows Anne when she goes out. We see the entire day from his POV as he sees Anne and Guillame together. We cut towards a shot of his face and he seems very stoic and has barely any response. Later that night Georges acts like everything is all right and nothing is wrong.

 

It is Saturday morning when Georges confronts Anne. It’s a quiet and subdued confrontation. Georges almost casually, but still in an authoritative tone says, “I know about you and Guillame.” Anne takes in a sharp breath and looks shocked before answering, “You abandoned me.” They go on for a while about this, and Georges tells Anne that while he can’t stop Anne from seeing Guillame to which Anne replies that there isn’t anything indecent going on between then and that Guillame is just a good friend. Georges laughs almost at Anne’s interruption and he says continues on his train of thought. He says that while he can’t stop Anne from seeing Guillame he would like to ask her to stop spending so much money. He says that they had to take out a large line of credit last month to cover their costs and that this is unsustainable. He says that they’re going to spend them into ruins. Anne simply says in a very cold and even voice, “All you care about is money. You love money.”

 

We see Anne and Guillame continue going out, and Anne keeps spending. However, it is noted that when she went to make the first purchase of the day she hesitated for a moment before paying. This continues on for just a little bit longer, and we see Georges putting more and more hours into work and the expenses keep piling up. We also see the Anne and Georges’s debt piling up. Georges seems to be under more and more stress, and eventually we see him file for bankruptcy. Although he doesn’t break down we can see in his eyes that he’s now a broken man. His dreams are broken. His greed in a sense broke him, he tried to expand too much in too little time and now his life has tumbled down around him.

 

He goes home early that morning to tell Anne about the sad tragedy. When he gets home he sees Anne dressed in expensive clothing getting ready to leave. He tells Anne to wait a moment before she leaves and tells her that he filed for bankruptcy this afternoon. Anne doesn’t even seem to have heard him as she tells him that they’ll talk about whatever’s so important tonight.

 

We see Anne and Guillame sitting at an expensive restaurant and eating. We maintain our distance even though Anne and Guillame seem to be having a good time. However, when the bill comes and Anne pays for her portion, her charge card doesn’t go through. So, Guillame pays for an embarrassed Anne. Anne seems to reflect for a moment when her card doesn’t go through at what Georges told her as she was leaving but she quickly pushes it aside.

 

We cut to the exterior of Georges and Anne’s townhouse house. George is standing outside, and is leaning against a car. In his hands he holds a gun. His hands are shaking and he seems to be waiting for someone, probably Anne.

 

As Anne and Guillame gets out of the taxi at her house, Guillame walks Anne up to the door of her townhouse. On her doorstep we see Guillame hug Anne really close and asks her, “May I?” Anne nods just a little bit and Guillame closes the gap between their lips and kisses her. It is at this moment we hear two shots ring out and we cut to black.

 

We then cut to several long shots of an elaborate townhouse. We see the lavish furnishings of the halls, the entrance room, the empty and dark study, and an empty and dark dining room. As we see this shots we also hear the police cars arriving in the distance. 

Edited March 25, 2013 by riczhang

[4815162342]

Call of Duty: Eye of the Storm

Genre: Action/War/Thriller
Cast: Luke Evans (Soap MacTavish), Sean Bean (Captain Price), Diego Luna (James Ramirez), Konstantin Khabenskiy (Vladimir Makarov), Til Schweiger (Nikolai), Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Yuri), President Vorshevsky (Karel Roden), Gedeon Burkhard (Kamarov), and Liam Cunningham (Colonel MacMillan)
Directed By: Paul Greengrass
Release Date: 5/19
Theater Count: 4277 Theaters
Running Time: 135 minutes
Budget: $160 million
MPAA Rating: R for graphic scenes of war violence and pervasive language

Previous Film: Call of Duty: Of Their Own Accord (Year 4)- 113.23 OW/292.66 DOM/550.45 WW, 5 Oscar Nominations, 2 Wins

Plot Summary: (All dialogue between Russian characters is in Russian)

The film opens just a few hours after the conclusion of the second film. Captain John Price (Bean), Nikolai (Schweiger), and Yuri (Lie Kaas) evacuate a badly wounded John "Soap" MacTavish (Evans) to a safehouse in Himachal Pradesh, India. As medical personnel work tirelessly to keep Soap alive, Price and Nikolai go over the current situation. General Shepherd has been killed, getting some vengeance for the betrayal, but they have no evidence proving his treachery, so the US and UK governments will generally consider Task Force 141 a rogue unit. Also there is the matter of Makarov, who will be emboldened now that Shepherd isn’t around to tie up loose ends. Price says that the trail leading to Makarov and his connection to the current world war will require lots of breadcrumbs to follow. At this point Yuri enters to tell them that Soap has been stabilized. Nikolai says “looks like we have someone who knows where the breadcrumbs are,” referring to the fact that Yuri has past connections with Makarov.

The scene changes to an aerial shot in the clouds that slowly descends though them to then reveal an epic long-distance shot of New York City at war, with Russian ships having clogged the harbor. We then cut to a reserve base in New Jersey where the members of Team Metal, including James Ramirez (Luna), are called in by the regional command to be briefed on a mission. The Russian assault of New York City is the second of its big thrusts to punish the US for its alleged crimes. Much of Lower Manhattan, Staten Island, and Brooklyn are held by the Russians, which maintain local air superiority with their powerful anti-air missile systems on their local fleet. If those systems are destroyed, American air power will cripple the fleet and force a withdrawal. Team Metal will use scuba gear and underwater motors to get close to a Russian Oscar II missile submarine, commandeer it, and use its anti-ship missiles against the Russian fleet.

We get a couple short scenes of banter and downtime with Ramirez and his unit, led by Sandman, and then we see the mission, with them scuba-diving into New York Harbor and motoring to intercept the lurking Oscar II. They board through docking hatches without detection and begin stealth-killing crew as they make their way towards the fire control center. They’re eventually spotted and an intense close-quarters, claustrophobic gunfight happens in the narrow sub corridors. Ramirez and others reach the fire control center and take out the captain and second officer, who carry the missile keys. As they spin up the missile system, Sandman sees on a monitor that a distress call went out and Russian ships are moving to their position. If they realize that the sub is taken they will sink it. So it becomes a race as Ramirez and other members try to work with the Russian interface and arm the missiles as Sandman has the sub ascend to the surface. They ignore the Russian ships’ attempts to communicate and when the sub’s missile doors open the Russians realize something is wrong and prepare to launch torpedoes at the sub. Ramirez keys in the final launch order and Team Metal rushes for an exit hatch, grabbing a pair of inflatable life rafts along the way, and get onto the sub’s exterior just as the first missile launches and the Russians launch their torpedoes at the sub. Team Metal gets the rafts into the water and gets away seconds before the torpedoes hit, sinking the sub. However by this point the sub had launched several missiles, which obliterate several major Russian warships. Team Metal looks at the carnage and Ramirez says he hopes that this made a difference.

Back at the safehouse in India, Soap wakes up. Nikolai is there and says Soap had been out for a week but the worst is past, though his wound will take a little more time to heal. He helps Soap up and leads him to a room that has become a war center of sorts, with maps, photos, etc postered everywhere. Price and Yuri are waiting and Price comes over to clap Soap on the back and say they had a scare there. Soap says it’ll take more than that to kill him and asks what’s going on. Price says that the Americans just won a major battle in New York City a few days ago and the Russians have pulled back their forces. The war is still going on, but it seems to be in a bit of a lull/stalemate. Price says that the lull will give them time they need to uncover dirt about Makarov and potentially find him as well. Soap says they should get to it, since Makarov won’t wait around long to try and re-ignite conflict. The others agree and Nikolai says that Yuri has been telling them about old contacts of Makarov from weapons purchases. If they can find these guys, it’ll backtrack their way to Makarov hopefully.

Soap still needs some recovery time before he’s ready for a mission, so they plan to relocate and go into hiding until Soap is ready. They go to Nikolai’s helicopter and depart.

TWO MONTHS LATER

We see a televised address by Russian President Vorshevsky (Roden) where he announces plans to make peace with the United States at a summit in Hamburg, Germany, saying that this stalemate conflict has cost too many lives for no gain. The Russian media uproar is big and Vorshevsky confides to his close advisors he suspects that the Ultranationalists will make a move against him to stop the peace. He soon travels to the airport and boards his official plane, meeting his daughter Alena onboard.

After a couple minutes showing personal and political scenes on the plane, a Russian fighter jet comes behind it and fires a missile. The plane deploys countermeasures and tries to evade and the missile explodes prematurely, though the explosion damages the rudder and forces the plane to make an emergency landing in a Belarusian field. There the security tries to coordinate an extraction, but several helicopters arrive with paramilitary forces who engage Vorshevksy’s protective detail and kill his staff. Alena and her protective detail are able to slip away into the forest. Vorshevsky however is guided towards what he thinks is a rescue chopper but turns out to be Makarov’s. Makarov’s men gun down Vorshevksy’s agents and Makarov tells the Russian President that the two of them will need to have a nice long chat.

We briefly turn our attention to Team Metal, which is enjoying a rare moment of relaxation during the conflict. Ramirez and the other shoot the breeze, but then Sandman enters with word that they are traveling to the UK on the first leg of a trip to Germany for the peace summit, since word hasn’t arrived of the kidnapping yet.

By this point Soap is largely recovered from his injuries, so Yuri gives Price intelligence about an arms deals involving Makarov in Sierra Leone, as Makarov has had to funnel most of his weapons purchases through African warlords. While Nikolai stays in the background to provide communication and logistic support, Soap, Price, and Yuri travel to the outskirts of Sherbro, Sierra Leone, which is controlled by rebel paramilitary forces. On the way Price asks Soap if he’s ready to be back in action and Soap playfully tells Price to watch out for himself instead of worrying. They have to sneak their way through the forest to the outskirts of town since there are plenty of militia patrols. Along the way they encounter several militants about to arbitrarily execute some villagers. Yuri says they should press on but Soap and Price are reluctant to do that, so from cover they quickly take out the militants with silenced weapons. They emerge and are quickly thanked by the villagers. Soap says they are looking for a weapons warehouse in the town and need directions. One of the villagers says he knows the quickest way to get there undetected and offers to guide them. Price agrees.

With the guide’s help, Soap and the others evade militant patrols and enter Sherbro and are guided to the warehouse in town, but upon entering and killing the few guards find it totally empty. There’s a voice talking on one of the dead militant’s walkie-talkies and the guide translates it, saying the weapons have been moved to a church in the town square for pickup. Soap thanks the guard and says he can go after giving more directions. The guide does that, so the three set off on foot for the church, carefully using side streets and back alleys, and arrive in the town square just as a helicopter takes off, presumably with the weapons. Soap, Price, and Yuri therefore find themselves in the midst of a big firefight with the remaining militants who outnumber them and have lots of explosive. Through some creative trickery, they’re able to flank the militants and gun down several from behind, causing the others to retreat, thinking there’s more than just three. Soap and the others enter the church to find some scattered documents, some in English and some in Russian. Reading through them, they discover that Makarov just acquired several tons of a chemical nerve agent and has plans to use it on major cities in Europe.

We briefly return to Team Metal, which arrives in the UK to find out that the Russian President is missing, potentially dead, so the peace summit is off. Ramirez asks if this means they go back home but he’s told by their contact with the British SAS, Colonel MacMillan (Cunningham), that with a coalition of military leaders now running Russia, the war could reignite at any moment so they’re to stick around just in case. We then see some downtime with Ramirez and others adjusting to British living.

MacMillan in his quarters receives a message on a special frequency and grumbles, a sign he knows who it’s from: Price. He tells Price that he’s a wanted man and it’s considered treason to even talk to him. Price laughs and says MacMillan knows the official story is a load of shit. He says he has information for MacMillan and wants some in exchange. MacMillan says that because of Price saving his life in Pripyat 20 years earlier he’ll do this since he owes a debt. Price tells him about what they found in Sierra Leone and asks MacMillan to dig up any intel he can linking more African weapon merchants to anyone linked with Makarov, no matter how tenuous. MacMillan promises to find what he can.

Afterwards we briefly go to Price, Soap, Yuri, and Nikolai discussing how they’re now in a holding pattern. Yuri asks if MacMillan will keep his word and Price says that MacMillan owes him a debt for saving his life in the mission they executed to assassinate Imran Zakhaev 20 years ago (which is mentioned back in the first movie) and he’ll pay it. After some chitchat and banter Soap excuses himself, still being in a bit of discomfort. As he changes the dressing for his mostly healed wound Price drops by to express some concerns, saying Soap doesn’t have to go on the next mission. Soap says all of them are putting their lives at risk and he won’t hide in the corner. Price says that for a moment, Soap was clinically dead before the medics brought him back, and that after what Shepard did, he doesn’t want to lose anymore soldiers or friends. Soap reassures him that everything will be fine.

Not long afterwards, Ramirez and the rest of Team Metal are contacted by MacMillan and asked to join the SAS in an assault on suspicious activity in a dockyard. They agree and go join the SAS unit. They spring a trap and assault the dockyard, which is guarded by mercenaries. Several mercenaries escape in a truck and after a short car chase descend via construction pathways into London’s underground metro and we get a thrilling second chase with the mercenary truck and Team metal’s own truck weaving through tunnels and dodging oncoming subway trains, before Ramirez is able to shoot out the first truck’s tires, causing it to crash. Team Metal secures the cargo, which is an unstable chemical bomb. As Hazmat teams swarm to the site, MacMillan learns that a second bomb has exploded elsewhere in London and there are reports of more all across Europe…

We see President Vorshevsky in a dank holding cell, looking tired and dirty. Makarov enters with a pair of chairs, both of them sitting on one. Makarov says it never had to be like this, but Vorshevsky and the others decided to expel Makarov from a position of power once the Ultranationalists won the presidential election (between the first and second movies). Vorshevsky says that they considered Makarov a liability because of his aggressive and unstable behavior and he deadpans that “clearly your actions proved we were right.” Makarov smiles and says it’s Vorshevsky who’s now the liability, as his own cabinet supported Makarov’s plan to take the president prisoner. Vorshevsky asks why he’s still alive then. Makarov replies that the only portion of the military the new rulers don’t control is the Strategic Arsenal, Russia’s nuclear weapons. They refuse to change the launch codes given to Vorshevsky and turn them over to the government. However Vorshevsky has the codes memorized and if he turns them over, Makarov will be able to bypass the Strategic Arsenal leadership and launch them. Vorshevsky says Makarov is insane. Makarov laughs and says he’s simply trying to accomplish what all of them, including Vorshevsky, swore to Imran Zakhaev that they’d achieve: Destroy the West. Vorshevsky says he’ll never turn them over. Makarov agrees that currently he won’t, but then adds “but once we find your daughter and you see her tortured, you’ll feel differently.”

Cut to news footage of the chemical attacks, which have paralyzed Western Europe with bombings in the UK, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. Several Eastern European nations seem ready to become protectorates of Russia, reforming the Warsaw Pact.

We rejoin Soap, Price, Yuri, and Nikolai, who are now in Somalia. Price says that though MacMillan is occupied with helping coordinate Special Forces security, he was able to have contacts track down some leads, which indicate that the local warlord Waraabe is Makarov’s biggest weapons supplier. If anyone has a direct line to Makarov’s organization, it’s Waraabe. Soap points out that Waraabe is locked up tight in his compound and it’d take an army to get to him. Price looks at Nikolai who says his fellow Loyalists in Russia have arranged for some support to come their way, since they want Makarov dead.

Cut to Soap and Yuri on a hill overlooking the compound, looking through rangefinders. “Knock knock” Yuri says as a helicopter swoops in to fire a missile, blowing up the compound’s gate. As the helicopter provides intense covering fire, Price leads a dozen ex-soldiers on a direct assault as Nikolai relays spotter information from the helicopter. The ferociousness of the sudden assault kills many of Waraabe’s men and Price soon finds him cowering in the corner of his office. Price puts on a gas mask and tosses a gas grenade into the corner. As it starts to let out poison gas Price tells Waraabe he’ll give him a mask if Waraabe gives him names. Waraabe replies that his contact with Makarov’s organization is a bombmaker named Volk, in Germany. Price thanks him and then shoots him in the head before heading out.

The team regroups to debrief. Price says he’ll forward the information to MacMillan, who can get a closer team to Germany in to acquire Volk. Meanwhile it’s time for them to relocate to Europe, since Volk will likely provide information about key parts of Makarov’s organization, maybe Makarov himself. The head of the soldier unit says that Kamarov, an old friend of Soap and Price (from the first film) is setting up resistance cells in Eastern Europe to strike at Makarov or Ultranationalist forces. Soap says sounds like they need to link up with him for extra support.

We briefly return to Makarov, who is in a bunker with several televisions showing different news coverage of the chemical attacks, watching them with a slightly psychotic intensity. He’s interrupted by an underling who says that the Ukraine, Belarus, and Poland are negotiating treaties of alliance with Russia and that a potential military coup may occur in the Czech Republic for their side. Makarov is pleased and asks about progress on finding Vorshevsky’s daughter. The underling says that they believe her security detail has linked up with Russian Loyalists who are going to ground in Eastern Europe. Makarov says they need to narrow their search fast.

With the information from Price, MacMillan briefs Team Metal on Volk, giving some information on where to find him in Berlin, where he has a secret workshop. Ramirez is assigned point position and carefully leads an infiltration of the area, which has guards and lots of booby-traps. They get the drop on Volk and move in to arrest him but he grabs a detonator and threatens to blow the whole place up, but Ramirez is able to shoot his hand, making him drop it just as German cops show up to drive off the mercenary guards. Team Metal congratulates one another on the success and Ramirez is told by MacMillan that some SAS members will want to buy him a drink for nabbing the guy who designed the chemical bombs.

News of Volk’s capture reaches Makarov and he’s very displeased, since it could reveal information about his organization. His mood is repaired slightly by word that military coups have happened in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and both groups want the Russian military to intervene in support of the coups. Even better news is that Makarov’s men rooted out a Loyalist cell and through interrogations learned that the Loyalists have been escorting Alena Vorshevsky west and are currently stuck in Prague. Makarov smiles and says it’s time he took a trip.

The scene turns to the Czech Republic, with Price, Soap, and Yuri smuggled into the country while Nikolai is rebuilding his own resources. Using written directions, they get to a dingy town near Prague and enter a bar with everyone tensed up. Things get close to boiling into a fistfight brawl until Kamarov (Burkhard) appears to defuse the situation. He hugs Soap and Price in welcome and says he wishes he could see them in more peaceful circumstances. Soap asks if anything’s developed since they set out for Prague and Kamarov says a few things and has the three follow him to the basement where a resistance cell is holed up. Kamarov briefly explains about Alena Vorshevsky being stuck in Prague and says that if they get her safely to the West, it prevents her from being a bargaining chip against her father. Yuri comments that an escort seems simple enough, but then Kamarov adds there is a complication: His contacts report that Makarov is coming to Prague to meet with the new Czech government to secure an alliance with Russia. Price immediately wants to make assassinating Makarov the priority. Soap isn’t too sure, saying that it seems convenient and getting Alena out safely could be compromised by going for Makarov first. Yuri, in thought, says that if they remove Makarov, the threat to Alena and her father will dissipate. Price says that he and Kamarov will coordinate the assassination of Makarov while Soap and Yuri get Alena out of the city.

Later, Soap goes to talk to Price. Soap says he knows Price is dead-set on killing Makarov but he’s concerned that Price is letting vengeance get to his head. Price, who has been sharpening a knife the whole time, stops and says that Makarov had him locked in a dark cell for five years, collaborated with General Shepherd to stage a massive war that has killed thousands of innocent civilians, a collaboration which is the reason Shepherd cleaned house and killed many of Soap’s comrades in arms. “Shepherd got his due, now it’s Makarov’s time” Price says. Soap, frustrated he can’t reason with his friend, sadly shakes his head.

It’s soon action time, with Price and Kamarov setting off for the Hotel Lustig while Soap and Yuri take a team to rendezvous with Alena’s protectors. We first follow Price and Kamarov, who have to carefully sneak into Prague, which has pockets of fighting between the military coup forces (with Russian allies) and government loyalists and civilian freedom fighters. The two have a small team with them and while Kamarov feels bad about letting the enemy overwhelm the resistance, Price reminds him that any delay will cost them time and may get them trapped in a fight they can’t win. They soon get near the hotel and they observe several official cars arriving and Price sees a man who looks like Makarov walk in. Price tells Kamarov to take his squad on a diversionary assault while he infiltrates the hotel.

We then see Soap and Yuri driving a van with several allies in the back down the road towards Alena’s safehouse. There is a tense moment where they have to pass a military checkpoint but they get through. They soon reach the safehouse and enter, Alena’s detail taking the two to meet the President’s daughter, who is tired and nervous. Soap assures her that everything will be alright and to be ready to leave in a minute.

We go back to Price, using rope and other gear to scale the side of the hotel while gunfire is heard from the far end. He climbs up to the top floor (it’s only a handful of stories tall) and bursts through a window with a silenced pistol in hand. He sweeps through the top floor and in a grand reception room finds what looks like Makarov with two guards and Price guns down the three of them, though the one who looks like Makarov is still alive. Price walks over for a closer look…and it’s not Makarov, just a very convincing lookalike. A cell phone rings in the lookalike’s pocket and the man hands it to Price, saying it’s for him. Price answers and Makarov over the phone says that he’s sorry he couldn’t make the appointment, but he has “other” people to meet first. Price calls Makarov a son-of-a-bitch and Makarov replies he didn’t want Price to be lonely, so he’s arranged for a quick guest. The doors on the far side burst open and Kamarov is pushed through, handcuffed and wearing a bomb vest. Makarov bids Price farewell and hangs up as Makarov’s thugs open fire. Price rushes for the exit, but mercy-kills Kamarov first, then gets to the window and starts to rappel down the hotel side just as the bomb vest explodes. The explosion causes Price to fall a couple stories and he gets up with a bum leg. He hobbles into a side alley as military forces show up. Price tries to contact Soap but gets only static in return.

Back at the safehouse, Soap and Yuri are escorting Alena to their van, with other security going into a truck in front of them. Just as they get in, a RPG is fired from the roof of a nearby building and it blows up the truck. Yuri guns the engine of the van as Soap fires out the passenger window and the van speeds down the street, only to get broadsided by another van as it turns a corner. Soap’s van flips over and careens into a wall. Yuri is stunned and because of the emergency Soap focuses on getting Alena out of the back door, Yuri crawling out through the shattered windshield. Just as Soap gets Alena out of the van he is shot three times in the chest. Things slow down as we watch from Yuri’s perspective as Alena, shrieking and in shock, tries to run off but is grabbed by a Russian soldier. Yuri, struggling to get up, watches as Makarov emerges from the second van, walks over to a twitching Soap, and fires a final bullet into Soap’s head. Makarov notices Yuri and gives his old comrade a mocking smile before turning and walking away. Yuri, still dazed, slumps against a side rail as Makarov’s van drives off with Alena inside.

Cut to Price, getting his hurt leg bandaged in a resistance safehouse. Yuri enters the room and based on his facial expression Price instantly gets it. In a sudden anger he leaps up, grabs Yuri, and throws him against a wall choking him. Price wants to know why he’s still alive and Yuri barely gets out an answer: “because he wants us both to know he’s won, that we failed to stop him.” Price then lets go and says “Not fucking yet.”

Cut to a military prison, where Volk is locked up. MacMillan enters and sits down in front of the bombmaker. MacMillan carefully explains to Volk that a good friend of his would love to carve Volk up into pieces if it meant finding a way to Makarov, and MacMillan is of a mind to let him based on what Volk is responsible for. MacMillan therefore tells Volk that he can talk to MacMillan now, or wait the few days for MacMillan’s friend to arrive and talk to him instead. Volk, trembling, says he’d prefer not to wait. MacMillan smiles and says “good man.”

Cut to Ramirez and his team gearing up and climbing onto a large converted transport jet. Bidding them farewell, MacMillan tells them that their target is a former diamond mine in Siberia where they believe is Makarov’s main bolthole and where he is likely keeping President Vorshevsky prisoner. Ramirez asks for the mission priority and is told that getting Vorshevsky out is the number one objective. They’ll be dropped near the mine and will link up with “special” forces who are moving to the area for support. After passing the time on the flight, Team Metal does a HALO night airdrop into the area and is met by Price, Yuri, and Nikolai. After some initial friction, Team Metal only knowing the official story of Price and company being wanted criminals for murdering Shepherd, Price convinces them to play nice since they all want the same thing. Ramirez asks if Makarov will be in the mine too and Price says he hopes so.

In the bowels of the mine, President Vorshevsky is shoved into a dimly lit room and the lights turn on to reveal Makarov there with Alena. “Such a pretty daughter you have” Makarov comments with a hand on a terrified Alena’s shoulder. “Would be a shame for that not to be the case in the near future.” Vorshevsky, trembling, says if he gives Makarov what he wants, Makarov will just kill them both and then start a nuclear war. Makarov, looking downright sociopathic, says that in a few hours Vorshevsky will be begging him to kill Alena to spare her any further pain. He adds “I’ll leave you two together for now, so you’ll be reminded of what you stand to lose.” Makarov then exits the room as father and daughter tearfully hug. Makarov goes to a control room and is told of peculiar NATO air movements over Central Russia. Sensing something, Makarov tells a subordinate to start “breaking Vorshevsky in one hour” and contact him when the President is ready to talk. Makarov says he has some investments to take a look at.

On the way to the diamond mine, Nikolai walks up to Price and tries to talk, saying Price has been quiet since Prague. Price says there is nothing to talk about, until Makarov is dead none of this will stop. Nikolai says that Price’s focus on Makarov helped contribute to Soap’s death and Price, snapping a bit, says angrily that he knows that and he’ll remember it for a long time.

The combined strike team reaches a secondary access elevator that takes them directly into the heart of the diamond mine. Nikolai and most of Team Metal provide covering fire while Price, Yuri, and Ramirez plunge into the mine corridors to locate Vorshevsky and his daughter. They soon find the two being dragged into a thick sealed bunker, so the only way to get in is to blow the roof with C4. There are a few lines of dark humor as Price and Ramirez set up the C4, and then they blow the roof and in the couple seconds of chaos jump down and gun down Makarov’s men before they can kill either Vorshevsky or his daughter. Ramirez radios that the two are secure and is told to bring them to the extraction point. Price wants to continue on to find Makarov but Yuri convinces him Makarov can wait for another time. The five fall back towards the access elevator with enemy resistance growing more intense. Makarov’s chief subordinate receives an order to blow the mine to prevent Vorshevsky from escaping and he has men detonate charges in the deep tunnels to start a chain reaction collapse. As the mine begins to fall apart Price and the others reunite with Nikolai and the rest of Team Metal and fall back towards the elevator. Price tells Nikolai to grab Vorshevsky and his daughter and get out at all costs so Nikolai does that as the others move slower to fire at Makarov’s men. On the way, Ramirez is wounded in the chest and Price shouts for Yuri to get him out of there. Team Metal’s leader tells Price to get out as well and they’ll hold off Makarov’s men. Price says that’s a death sentence and the leader replies they all know what they signed up for. They shake hands and Price runs down the corridor, helping Yuri drag Ramirez to the waiting elevator which shoots upward just as the mine level they’re on begins to collapse.

Back on the surface, as Nikolai and Yuri tend to Ramirez, Price radios for extraction, saying that the hostages are secure, but with heavy losses.

Makarov hears a report about Vorshevsky being rescued. He is put in contact with the Ultranationalist leaders who say that Makarov is now a liability because he is traced to the chemical attacks and that if Vorshevsky still plans to pursue peace popular support will be behind him. Makarov says that so long as he lives, Zakhaev’s dream lives, and he will make everyone who turns against him pay.

Cut to news footage from a few months later showing President Vorshevsky meeting with Western leaders and shaking hands as a new peace deal is made. We see that Price is watching it from a hotel room in Dubai. “One job left” he says to himself. Someone knocks on the door and Price lets the person, MacMillan, enter. “I’m still a wanted man” Price says and MacMillan replies “only officially.” He hands a folder over to Price, who smiles when he sees the contents. “Thanks for this Mac” he says. MacMillan says that so long as Makarov goes down, no one really cares who pulls the trigger. The two shake hands and have a drink of scotch.

We see a fancy hotel building in Dubai, with Makarov, having grown a beard, living under an alias in the penthouse suite. A van pulls into the staff garage, right next to the cargo elevators. Price and Yuri are in the back, wearing heavy body armor, and they with Nikolai’s help hack the elevator and program it to take Price and Yuri straight to the top. A silent alarm is triggered, which spurs Makarov to order his guards to be ready while he contacts another ally to prepare transit. There is a tense moment as the elevator ascends, and then when the door opens at the penthouse level all hell breaks loose as Makarov’s guards open fire, their bullets pinging off the body armor as Price and Yuri methodically sweep through the floor, killing all guards, though the last guard throws a grenade. Price is able to fully dive around a corner but Yuri is partially caught in the blast and as a result is wounded. He tells Price to go on which Price does, going up stairs that lead directly to the roof where he sees Makarov trying to climb onto a helicopter. As the helicopter lifts off Price is able to shoot the pilot, which causes the helicopter to softly crash back on the roof. Price goes to pull out Makarov but is overwhelmed in a hand-to-hand fight, but before Makarov can execute Price he is shot in the arm. Makarov quickly wheels around and trades shots with a returned Yuri and gets hit a second time in the side while Yuri is shot in the head. This gives Price enough time to return to his feet and tackle Makarov onto the glass portion of the roof. As they struggle, Price grabs a loose cable, wraps it around Makarov’s neck, and shatters part of the roof making them both fall through. Price falls about 20 feet and lands on an interior walkway and looks up to see Makarov hung, his neck snapped. Price sits up against the wall, hearing sirens in the background. He contacts Nikolai and says the job’s done and Yuri’s dead. Nikolai says that police and emergency services are inbound towards the building and asks what Price intends to do. “Admire the view” Price replies. He pulls out a cigar and lights it and begins to smoke, watching Makarov’s corpse as sirens grow in the distance.

[riczhang]

The 39 Clues: The Sword Thief

Director: Gore Verbinski
Studio: Arcturus Entertainment
Genre: Adventure/Action
Format: 3D Digital IMAX
Cast: Thomas Horn as Dan Cahill
Molly C. Quinn as Amy Cahill
Elizabeth Olsen as Nellie Gomez
Frank Langella as William McIntyre
Unknown as The Man In Black
Mellissa Leo as Irina Spasky
Avan Jogia as Ian Kabra
Ariela Barer as Natalie Kabra
Unknown as Alistair Oh
Unknown as Jonah Wizard
Laurence Fishburne as Boderick Wizard
Eric Allen Kramer as Eisenhower Holt
Elizabeth Banks as Mary-Todd Holt
Autumn Shields as Madison Holt
Willow Shields as Reagan Holt
Alexander Ludwig as Hamilton Holt
Score: Patrick Doyle
Budget: $125 million
Theatre Count: 4374
Rating: PG
Release Date: 14 July
Running Time: 1 hr 48 mins
 
Plot:

 

We start in the Venice airport, we see Amy, Dan, and Nellie going up to the Japan Airlines ticketing counter to pick up their tickets. They then go to check-in and the rest of the airport standard procedure fairly quickly. They proceed to the gate just as the flight attendants are opening boarding. We see Ian and Natalie Kabra go up to the flight attendants, unnoticed by the three, and hand them a pile of cash. Then, he says something to them and they nod in confirmation. Ian smiles and then leaves. We see Nellie, Dan, and Amy get to the front of the line, and Nellie is the first to pass through. She then proceeds down the ramp and onto the plane, however, when Amy and Dan’s boarding passes are checked the flight attendants tell them that they are very sorry but it looks as if their boarding passes aren’t valid and that they aren’t allowed to board. Nellie seeing this tries to come back but the flight attendants tell Nellie that now that she’s boarded she must stay on the plane.

 

We cut to Amy and Dan sitting as the Japan Airlines plan takes off looking very glum. They have a conversation trying to figure out what they’re going to do as Ian and Natalie come by and gloat. Then, they get into a verbal and minorly physical confrontation as Dan accuses Ian of sabotage while Amy just kinda stutters. Ian says, “All’s fair in love and war” and then leaves. Then, Alistair Oh comes along, and he looks a little bit frazzled (from his encounter with the man in Black) and after wheedling out Amy and Dan’s situation out of tem offers them his private plane.  Amy and Dan are both wary of joining up with Alistair but they decide to accept because they have no other choice.

 

On the plane they discuss Japanese history and after googling it up they decide that the clues are pointing them towards Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the greatest warrior in the history of Japan, and the son of the first Tomas.  Once they are in Tokyo they figure out that the Yakuza are the descendants of Hideyoshi, and figure out that the clue must be hidden in the subway tunnels. However at this time they are ambushed by the Holts who capture them and transport them to the subway. They are forced to reveal their clue, and then forced to help the Holts search.

 

The group then goes to a train station according to the lead that Amy and Dan had figured out. They begin to search the route but Dan and Amy nearly get hit by a train. However, Alistair pulls them both off of the tracks and leads them to a room, saving them both. Alistair then quickly lock the door behind them and Amy and Dan asks why. Alistair tells them that he doesn’t want the Holts to find them and that he’d much rather work with Amy and Dan than the Holts. In this room, they find a haiku, which tells them to use geometry to find Hideyoshi's treasure. Later after venturing deeper into the complex of rooms they find some geometric shapes, but are chased by the Yakuza and are once again nearly killed. They are rescued by Nellie, who has struck a deal with, and is accompanied by, the Kabras. After they reach the surface they strike a shaky partnership with the Kabras. They board the car with the Kabras to go to a hotel to figure out the clue. Ian gives Amy a small coin of importance to the search, after their hands brushed up against each other in the car, hoping that this token can gain Amy's trust.

 

They decode another message in the shapes, and some English letters. The message tells them to go to Korea, and they do. Ian and Natalie in their own private plane, and Alistair, Amy, and Dan in Alistair’s. In Korea, everyone goes to Alistair's house. There, Alistair announces that he is tired so he'll take a nap, then they all can search for the Clue, Ian asks Amy if she wants to go in the maze with him, she refuses him since Alisair said no one should go wondering on the grounds, after a while, Ian comes out the maze screaming since Alistair's dog has bitten him on the bum, and ripped his trousers, he blushes in front of Amy, but quickly changes his attitude back in front of everyone else, since the screaming woke Alistair up, then he gives them a Clue to enter his secret library 'Why leave the factory when the workers are in their prime?', the Kabras automatically give up as they have no idea what time people work at, Amy is sure she has an idea, she figures out that 'why' sounds like 'y', when 'y' leave the factory, you get 'factor', then she notices the word 'prime', meaing 'prime factors', Dan quickly solves the puzzle, '5, 7, 11, 13', when multiplied together, they get 5005. They are then welcomed into the Oh sanctuary. There, they look up books about the Cahill family in Alistair's secret library, this fascinated Amy and Dan since they've never been told before about their family, while the Kabras find it rather boring since they've known everything since they've been children.

 

By reading one of them, Amy and Dan figure out that the secret of the 39 Clues is the secret to alchemy (the philosopher's stone), and also in one of the books they learn by matching up a part of their clue with the writings in the book that they have to go to a mountain called Pukhansan. While trying to find the mountain Ian offers a race between himself and Amy to a near-by boulder, to show she is strong, she accepts and beats Ian by a second, there they both stand on top of the boulder out of breath, Amy looks into Ian's eyes seeing him from a different point of view, her example is changing the angle of a painting and finally understanding the meaning, she feels embarrassed and thinks Ian is laughing at her, but realizes that his eyes are inviting her to laugh with him, her heart is racing as their faces are only inches apart, they soon get interrupted by Dan who calls them 'Mr and Mrs Kabra', causing Amy to blush. While on the boulder Amy spots the mountain and they all start to head to it, they find an entrance, and open it with the coin they have, it causes the cave to rumble and a boulder to nearly hit Amy, but Ian runs over to save her and lands on top of her, he places his hands to lock with hers and re-adjusts himself so his lips are brushing up against Amy's, the dust clears and everyone gets up, Ian realizes that instead of thinking about himself first, he thought about saving Amy first, which shocks and confuses him.

 

Inside, they find all of Hideyoshi's treasure, and the third Clue, Gold. The Kabras have a plan, but little do they know that Dan also has a plan. He discovers an anagram and says the next location is Lake Tash which he claims is located in Kyrgyzstan. The Kabras then betray them and seal them inside the cave, burying them alive. Dan begins to tell Alistair and Amy that he tricked the Kabras into going to a non-existent Lake Tash, but is interrupted by Amy. She realizes that they are surrounded by charcoal and gunpowder. Using the matches Dan took from the Thank You Very Much Hotel, they blow up the cave. Dan and Amy make it out, but Alistair appears to be crushed under falling rocks, and is presumed dead. The cops arrive and Dan and Amy tell them about Alistair. They then see Bae Oh talking to The Man in Black.

 

Dan and Amy find Nellie and Saladin in the parking lot of the park. On the way back to Alistair's house, Amy tells Nellie what happened. When they get back, Dan tells Amy that the actual word is Alkahest, not Lake Tash, which is the word for the philosopher's stone. Amy then figures out that it isn't Alkahest, but instead, Al Sakhet. 'Al' means 'of' and 'Sakhet' was an Egyptian goddess. They learn that their next location is Egypt. Nellie suggests that Dan and Amy both go take a shower. Dan walks into Alistair's bedroom to use the shower, and finds a pair of filthy white gloves on the bed. He realizes that Alistair is alive. At first he is extremely happy, but realises that he ditched them again.

 

Then we cut to Bae Oh, sitting in his office. He pages his secretary, but Alistair answers instead. Alistair threatens his uncle, and when Bae looks in his receiving room, no one is there.

 

 

Edited March 25, 2013 by riczhang

[4815162342]

The Rise and Fall of Julius Caesar

Genre: Historical Epic
Cast: Clive Owen (Gaius Julius Caesar), Henry Cavill (Marcus Antonius), Matthew Goode (Marcus Junius Brutus), Paul Bettany (Titus Labienus), Matthew Macfadyen (Gaius Cassius Longinus), Virginie Ledoyen (Cleopatra), Richard Madden (Octavian), Stephen Dillane (Cato), Rhys Ifans (Marcus Lepidus), Dan Stevens (Gnaeus the Younger), with Tom Wilkinson (Cicero), and Mark Strong (Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus)
Written and Directed By: Peter Weir
Original Music by: Patrick Doyle
Release Date: 12/15
Theater Count: 3521
Budget: $162 million
Running Time: 202 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for graphic battle sequences, nudity, and sexual content

Previous Film: Alesia (Year 4): 65.26 OW/251.37 DOM/771.4 WW, 16 Oscar Nominations, 3 Wins

Plot Summary:

The film opens in December, 49 B.C.E., almost a year after the conclusion of the first film, as we see Gaius Julius Caesar (Owen) victoriously returning to Rome after a swift military campaign. Riding with him at the front of his troops is his right-hand man, Marcus Antonius (Cavill). As the procession parades through Rome, we see the remnants of the Senate assembling. Among the Senators is Cicero (Wilkinson), the legendary Roman orator. Also there is Marcus Lepidus (Ifans), the most vocal supporter of Caesar in the Senate. Through dialogue we learn that shortly after Caesar crossed the Rubicon his long-time rival Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Strong), known as Pompey, retreated from Rome with several generals and many Senators who feared or hated Caesar. After some military maneuvering in Italy Pompey evacuated his supporters across the Adriatic Sea to Greece, where they have been gathering strength for almost a year. In the meantime, Caesar has secured his support in Italy itself and has just finished a campaign where he crushed Pompey loyalists in northern Spain. The Senators who have remained are either supporters of Caesar or neutral, though the neutral ones are nervous about what Caesar might do. Lepidus assures the Senators that Caesar will respect their authority. Cicero says that while he is suspicious of Caesar’s motives and intentions, he can do more to keep Rome’s ideals pure by working within the Senate rather than playing at war.

The military procession ends and Caesar and Marcus travel to the Senate. Marcus is ambivalent about the Senate’s role and purpose these days, but Caesar says it still has its use and it remains part of Rome’s grand legacy. They enter and Caesar gives his report about the victory in Spain and his plan to confront Pompey in Greece and defeat him. The Senate is wary about endorsing a massive expedition but Caesar says that the quicker the resolution to the civil war, the sooner the Senate can return to its normal business. This convinces the Senate to vote to levy funds for the expedition, Cicero voting in favor. Afterwards Caesar asks Cicero to stay to talk and asks why he voted for the expedition even though he distrusts Caesar. Cicero says that though he is a man of words, he understands actions and agrees that it is better for Rome for the war to end sooner rather than later. Caesar, half-smiling, asks “but who do you wish to win it?” Cicero chuckles and says “the people.”

We see a couple short scenes showing preparations being made over some weeks and Caesar assembling several legions in southeast Italy. He appoints Lepidus to govern Rome in his absence. He discusses strategy with Marcus and his plan is to take half his army to land in Epirus with Marcus then leading the second half over once the beachhead is secure. Marcus asks Caesar if he is ready for this and Caesar says one is never quite ready to face old friends in battle and he remarks that he has several waiting for him across the sea.

We change scene to Central Greece, where Pompey is assembling his forces from the eastern half of Rome’s provinces. Among his council of war are Titus Labienus (Bettany), who defected from Caesar’s army at the end of the previous film, Cato (Dillane), a renowned Roman statesman who is the political leader of the opposition, Marcus Junius Brutus (Goode), Cato’s nephew, and Gaius Cassius Longinus (Macfadyen), Brutus’ brother-in-law. Also present are Pompey’s two sons Gnaeus (Stevens) and Sextus. Many of the senators siding with Pompey are eager for a quick victory but Pompey says that time is on their side as they have more resources in men and money, so they will allow Caesar to expose himself first. Cato is the most virulent critic of Caesar, calling him a plague on the Republic. Afterwards we have a scene where Pompey talks to Brutus and we learn that Brutus was mentored by Caesar in his youth and the two remained good friends until the civil war began. The two talk a little about how times like this can destroy close friendships, as Pompey used to be a close friend of Caesar’s as well. We also see a short scene with Brutus and Cassius and learn that Brutus had intended to sit the civil war out because of his divided loyalties but Cassius had convinced him to join Pompey.

The film jumps to a few weeks later with Caesar’s army having landed in Greece and established a beachhead. As Caesar fortifies, Pompey’s scouts detect the landing and report in. With news that only half of Caesar’s army has landed, Cato urges Pompey to strike. Pompey is cautious but agrees to move his army west.

Meanwhile we see Marcus assembling his force, but inclement weather forces him to delay and in consultation with his legion commanders decides the rough seas will force him to land several dozen miles north of Caesar.

We see a couple short scenes of Caesar readying his men in the face of news of Pompey’s advance. Caesar is informed that Pompey’s army is estimated to be three times as large as his. Though those odds are dismal, Caesar maintains determination even though there is no sign of Marcus’ men.

Pompey’s army arrives to within a few miles of Caesar’s beachhead. He has another council to organize a battle plan. While he favors a siege to wear down Caesar’s army, the others all want an attack with overwhelming numbers. Pompey says such a plan as risky but Cato launches into a diatribe and cows Pompey. He gives the order for an attack the following morning.

The following morning we see short scenes of the battle, with Pompey’s men advancing and steadily pressing Caesar’s army back by sheer numbers. Caesar personally leads a counterattack that stops a rout from occurring, but realizing the danger his army is in, orders for a northward retreat, leading the attack that breaks through Pompey’s far flank so his forces can withdraw. Pompey, observing from a hill, declines to give chase, telling his council that he suspects a trap. The other councilors argue, but Pompey says they appointed him military commander and his decision is final. Titus supports the decision, having fought with Caesar in Gaul. Therefore Caesar safely retreats north and that night remarks to a centurion that the enemy’s victory today would have been absolute “had there been anyone among them to take it.”

In Pompey’s camp Brutus goes to talk with Cassius and finds him with Cato. Cassius and Cato have lost some confidence in Pompey’s ability and say that scouts report of a second army landing to the north, which will put Caesar’s army not much below Pompey’s in numbers. Brutus has concerns also but says that Pompey has more experience than them combined. Meanwhile Titus talks with Pompey about the scout reports and the council rumblings. Pompey is aware of the dissension but says he would rather be cautious than get fooled by Caesar. Titus understands the concerns, but says that Caesar is human and he makes mistakes too, even if only rarely. Titus says “I fear we will never get another chance like we had this morning.”

We see Caesar’s army discovering Marcus’ landing, doubling Caesar’s numbers. Caesar is glad to have Marcus with him again and says that Pompey won’t make the same mistake again now that his foe has reinforced. They plot to lure Pompey away from the coast into the valleys of Central Greece. Marcus points out that doing this will cut them off from their supply lines, so anything but a quick victory will result in starvation for the men. Caesar says that’s the point, it will be too good bait for Pompey to pass up.

We see a few short scenes showing both armies on the move and the passage of time and we end up several weeks later with both forces in Central Greece. Pompey observes that that Caesar’s men have worse position and are backed by a river, and with reinforcements he has nearly double Caesar’s men, so he would prefer to starve Caesar out. However nearly everyone else wants an immediate attack, even Titus, but it is only when they have Pompey’s own sons argue for an attack that Pompey agrees.

This leads into the Battle of Pharsalus. Caesar matches the width of Pompey’s lines but thins them out to put an infantry reserve behind his cavalry on the north flank, which he personally leads while Marcus commands the main line. Titus commands Pompey’s cavalry. Both armies advance and the movie focuses on the cavalry engagement in the north. Titus’ numbers force Caesar back in a cavalry charge, but then Caesar orders his hidden reserve to charge forward and they use throwing spears to quickly decimate Titus’ frontline. This causes Titus’ men to rout from the battlefield, which in turn allows Caesar to have his cavalry and infantry reserve flank Pompey’s men from the north, which collapses that side of Pompey’s army. As his men start to pull back in a disorganized retreat, Pompey loses heart and quickly departs, ordering a retreat.
A decent remainder of his army and their leaders are able to retreat in good order. In a hurried session, Pompey says he will travel to Egypt to seek aid from there and delegates command of the senatorial faction to Cato. His sons wish to accompany him but he urges them to go with Cato and Titus, who plan to regroup their forces in North Africa.

Meanwhile Caesar’s men celebrate on the field of victory. He remarks to Marcus that this battle has broken the opposition for good, but it may take some time to clean up the remnants. Marcus asks what he will do to his rivals when he catches them and Caesar says he hopes they see the futility of further struggle and surrender, as he intends to be merciful.

As Pompey and his men break up to follow the plan, Brutus urges Cassius to stay. Brutus says that the war is lost and convinces his brother-in-law that the smart thing to do is to surrender to Caesar now. Cassius is very reluctant, thinking Caesar is going to ruin Rome if unchecked, but in the end he agrees to lay down his arms.

They ride to Caesar’s camp the following morning and officially surrender themselves to his custody and judgment. Caesar is pleased and says he is formally pardoning them since they were fighting for a cause they thought just. He tells them to return to Italy and resume their station in life. Later that day Caesar summons Brutus and the two talk about Brutus’ surrender and his past with Caesar. We learn that Caesar was very close to Brutus’ mother in recent years though political difficulties ended their relationship. Caesar says he had hoped Brutus would have joined him when the war began out of past friendship, but says it is time to make amends and that he hopes Brutus will support him reforming the Roman government. Brutus says he will do what he can to serve Rome.

We later see Caesar and Marcus discussing how thousands of soldiers chose to surrender rather than flee with most of their leaders. Caesar tells Marcus to return to Italy to manage affairs while he pursues Pompey.

We briefly return to Rome as word of the victory reaches the Senate. Most of the Senators become resigned to Caesar being the dominant power in Rome for many years. Lepidus uses the victory as a reason to start forcing through some minor changes to Roman law Caesar has promised to enact Those who are still thinking of dissent ask Cicero for advice and are told by him that when Caesar’s victorious armies parade through Rome he will have all the people with him, so open resistance would be futile. When pressed about other means, Cicero says “I am a man of words, nothing more.”

We briefly see Marcus with the bulk of Caesar’s army returning to Italy. Brutus and Cassius are with the force. Marcus and Brutus strike up a conversation with Marcus talking about the reform ideas Caesar is planning. Brutus thinks some of the ideas do sound good and the two seem to get along well.

The scene changes to Egypt, over a month later. Though a North African area, the rulers of Egypt are Caucasian, descended from Greek nobility who conquered in the time of Alexander the Great. The ruler of Egypt is Ptolemy, a teenager and we see him holding court, with many people present including his older sister, Cleopatra (Ledoyen). A messenger from Pompey arrives at the capital of Alexandria with word that Pompey will be landing soon to discuss an alliance. Ptolemy says he will consider it. There is discussion about Pompey’s offer and the councilors are evenly divided on the issue. Ptolemy is afraid of retribution from Caesar for shielding and aiding Pompey and when Cleopatra attempts to offer advice he sharply cuts her off, a sign of friction. Ptolemy says he will think on this.

That night, Ptolemy’s most trusted adviser Pothinus approaches him. Ptolemy is not just scared of Caesar but of his older sister, who technically is co-ruler of Egypt but was pushed out of power. Pothinus says that Caesar is looking to remove all enemies and will thank Ptolemy and support his rule if Ptolemy “removes” Pompey. Ptolemy is uneasy but is convinced it is the best way to secure his rule with Roman support.

Therefore, when Pompey lands on the Egyptian coast, he is met by two old comrades who inform him that Ptolemy wants to discuss an alliance against Caesar. Pompey, happy, relaxes and starts to reminisce with the two and talk about his hopes for the future. As he does this, the two men come up behind him and stab him in the back.

We jump to a couple weeks later, in the fall of 48 B.C.E., when Caesar arrives in Egypt. He is escorted with pomp before Ptolemy who says he will cast his lot with Caesar. Pothinus then presents to Caesar Pompey’s head in a basket. Instead of being pleased, Caesar is horrified by the sight and barely hides his anger. He thanks Ptolemy for the gift and departs with his men carrying the basket. We then cut to Caesar at his camp on the coast, holding a Roman funeral for what remains of Pompey he has. He stands over the grave and speaks to it, saying he had never wanted for things to go so far but the Senate forced his hand. He wishes Pompey had come to him in peace so the two could have worked out a solution before war began. Caesar weeps since Pompey had been a close friend and his brother by marriage (before Caesar’s sister died).

Caesar returns to his tent and is informed of a visitor. It is Cleopatra, who has traveled in secret since Ptolemy is looking for any excuse to kill her. Despondent over Pompey’s murder, Caesar is a bit susceptible and Cleopatra is able to charm him and appeal to his anger over Pompey’s death. Caesar agrees to force Ptolemy out of power and hand Egypt to her.

Cue a scene change to Alexandria, the aftermath of a battle with Roman and Egyptian soldiers pulling other soldier bodies off the street. In the palace Caesar hails Cleopatra as the ruler of Egypt before the nobles of the land and we learn that Ptolemy is dead, drowned while fleeing across the Nile. Caesar is given accommodations at the palace while a treaty between Rome and Egypt is worked out. That night Cleopatra comes to his quarters and after some flirtatious talk she kisses him, which leads into a sex scene. The morning Cleopatra asks when he will return to Rome. Caesar says he will go when Cleopatra’s rule is secure, “which may take a little time” he says with a smirk as they move in for a kiss.

In modern-day Tunisia, Cato and Titus learn of Pompey’s murder and Caesar’s role in the Egypt regime change. With the military centerpiece of the resistance dead they have to split up their forces to survive. Cato will remain in control of North Africa while Titus goes to Spain to start a second front. Titus will take Gnaeus, Pompey’s eldest son, while his younger son Sextus will be sent with their naval forces to the Central Mediterranean islands.

News of Pompey’s death also reaches Rome and it puts to rest any open dissent. Marcus is administrating with help from Lepidus, though Cicero has taken a personal dislike to Marcus. Marcus has appointed Brutus to an administrative role and Brutus does well. Cassius in private berates his brother-in-law for so quickly joining the victors.

We jump to the spring of 47 B.C.E. with Caesar returning with pomp to Rome. He is received with mixed reactions by the Senate, some of them enthusiastically joining the bandwagon, others in reluctant acceptance. Caesar announces that the civil war was the result of bureaucratic inefficiency and corruption and that he will slowly begin the process of reforming the outdated elements of the government. Later he meets with Marcus and the two talk about the future. Marcus urges Caesar to rule over Rome as dictator. Caesar refuses the idea, saying that if he assumes the dictatorship now, with opposing armies still in the field, it would rally support for them. He says that they must start small, piece by piece, until all of their enemies are defeated. The conversation turns to Caesar’s family and we hear that his closest relative is his niece and her son Gaius Octavius, colloquially called Octavian, who is near 16.

We then see Caesar visiting Brutus. Caesar says he has great plans for developing Roman power and is glad Brutus joined him. Brutus says with Pompey defeated he could find no worth in fighting futilely, though he has concerns. Caesar sympathizes and says that is why he plans to pardon all those who submit, since government only works if dissenting voices are there to plead their case, since sometimes they’re right. This seems to ease Brutus’ concerns.

We briefly go to North Africa, where Cato has cemented an alliance with Juba, the King of Numidia. In exchange for fighting with Cato, Juba’s African holdings will be expanded. Cato then briefly meets with his subordinates and says that they will likely outnumber any force Caesar brings. When a subordinate replies that greater numbers didn’t help Pompey Cato says the alternative is death.

We return to Rome for a solemn ceremony where Caesar’s grand-nephew Octavian (Madden) is awarded his toga virilis, the official sign that he is an adult. Caesar is at the ceremony with and congratulates his relative on the rite of passage. He has dinner with Octavian’s family and says that after concluding political matters he will move to North Africa to defeat the Pompeians there. Octavian expresses interest in joining the expedition but Octavian’s mother forbids it.

We see some short scenes showing Caesar consolidating power. He appoints many loyal followers to the Senate to fill the seats of those who fled Rome to join Pompey. Cicero bristles at the new senators since most are not members of the aristocracy. Cassius approaches him to talk about his concerns that Caesar is attempting to reinstate the monarchy. Cicero laughs, saying that while Caesar may control Rome, even he wouldn’t dare declare himself king. Cassius departs and we see him going to an estate where several senators are. Cassius says that Cicero will not be with them. The senators say that Cicero joining them will give them political legitimacy but Cassius says that Cicero doesn’t appreciate the threat Caesar poses to Rome. He says that it will be hard to accumulate support in secret, but once they have it, “Caesar will die.”

It’s now winter of 47 B.C.E. and Caesar is assembling his army to cross to North Africa, Marcus joining him. He tells Lepidus and Brutus to share the task of administering Rome while he is gone. Brutus is surprised by the honor. Caesar is then approached by Octavian, who asks his great-uncle to let him join the expedition. Caesar says he will respect the wishes of his niece, but tells his grand-nephew that his time will come.

Cut to Caesar’s army landing in North Africa, modern-day Tunisia. He confers with Marcus and says they will advance to besiege Thapsus, the home base for Cato. Marcus says this will draw all the opposition forces to bear on them and Caesar says that will end the siege even quicker.

Cato tries to organize his defense but he isn’t a military leader, so the main rebel general disregards his plan to wait Caesar out and arranges to meet their Numidian allies in the field and then turn back to fight Caesar. Cato is frustrated that his plan is being ignored.

We briefly return to Rome to see Lepidus and Brutus administering things. There is minor friction between them since Lepidus is a little jealous of Brutus. Brutus meets with Cicero. Cicero says Brutus is governing fairly and he hopes that when Caesar is done with his battles he will take heed of Brutus’ example. Brutus thanks Cicero and says he will strive to uphold the virtue of the Senate. Later Cassius visits him and mocks him for becoming Caesar’s lapdog. Brutus says it is better than pointless death, since they can keep Caesar in check by working with him. Cassius says that all Caesar wants is to anoint himself king one day. Brutus thinks that is absurd and Cassius replies “just wait brother, soon enough you’ll see your friend for who he is.”

We return Thapsus, now Spring 46 B.C.E. and through the mists of the coastal terrain the camera in an elaborate swooping shot shows a panoramic view of the Battle of Thapsus, with the combined Rebel/Numidian army outnumbering Caesar’s forces by 50% as they assault it laying siege to Thapsus. We see Caesar and Marcus in the heart of the fighting and leading counterattacks that soon break the center of the Rebel forces. As the center routs, we see that King Juba loses confidence and orders his men to retreat, reducing the rebel army by 1/3. This in turn causes the entire rebel force to collapse and Caesar’s army soon has total victory. Night is falling and Marcus asks if they should attack the city itself. Caesar says they will give Cato and his colleagues the night to think and then ask for surrender in the morning.

That night Cato looks out from the city walls at the Roman camp and sighs in despair. The other leaders with him bicker about whether they should surrender and Cato says they may decide what they wish, but he will never suffer to be ruled. He withdraws to his chambers, takes hold of a knife, and after some hesitation stabs himself in the gut and collapses, knocking over a table. Within seconds people rush in and they notice that the wound isn’t immediately fatal, so they call in a physician. As the physician gets to work, Cato revives and upon seeing what is going on screams “No!” and pushes the physician away. He then thrusts his hands into the open wound and starts to tear out his own bowels, collapsing just as he rips some out. He quickly bleeds out.

The following morning Thapsus surrenders and Caesar and Marcus are escorted to the main chambers where Cato lies in state. Caesar, disappointed, walks to Cato’s body and says “Cato I must grudge you your death, as you have grudged me the chance to save your life.” Marcus appears beside Caesar and says it’s a pity, since Cato was a smarter, more efficient man than almost anyone in Rome. Caesar nods and says sparing Cato would have netted him much favor with those in the Senate who still doubted his intentions. They walk and talk and Marcus says that Titus and Pompey’s sons are still out there. Caesar says their time will come, but he must again return first to Rome to continue the process of overhauling the government.

The scene changes to Rome, with Octavian and his family learning of the victory at Thapsus. Octavian is sullen about missing out on the chance to participate but his mother says that the time he is spending learning administrative tasks will be more useful.

Caesar and Marcus return to Rome and with a little aid from Lepidus politicking the Senate votes to give Caesar the title of Dictator for a period of ten years, giving him power over the Senate. Cassius is disgusted by the vote and complains to Brutus in private, who admits he is a little troubled but says it is just to ensure Caesar can finish off his enemies. Cassius says his brother-in-law is in denial. As his first act as Dictator, Caesar institutes reforms on the administration of provinces, aiming to treat them more equally. Talking with Marcus and Lepidus, he says this will turn the Republic into a single, strong unit that will be governed easier.

It is late summer of 46 B.C.E. and Caesar is surprised when he gets word that Cleopatra is visiting Rome imminently. He has a lavish reception readied for her and treats her with every respect given to Roman ladies. The warmth and extravagance ruffles some feathers since Caesar is still married, but in a conversation his wife Calpurnia tells him she doesn’t care if he sleeps with the “Egyptian” so long as he knows who his duty is towards. Caesar understands, which is shown when Cleopatra shows him her year-old son, Caesarion, which she claims is Caesar’s. Caesar, in a rare show of anger, says that he doesn’t know if Cleopatra speaks true or false but he will not acknowledge the infant and tells Cleopatra never to claim his paternity again. Cleopatra, used to persuading Caesar, is cowed and meekly agrees. We later see Caesar and Marcus talk about Cleopatra and Caesar says he does love Cleopatra but “there are greater things in the world than that.” He tells Marcus, who we learn is getting remarried, to always beware of feelings that will make him disregard what is best since they will cause more harm than good if indulged. Marcus says that now is not the time to get embroiled in romantic affairs anyway.

Scene changes to southern Spain, where the last Pompeian army is encamped. Titus is in co-command with Gnaeus and we learn that they have rallied many thousands of troops and have driven out the officials installed by Caesar. The two walk up a hill and talk about this being the last chance to bring Caesar to a halt. Gnaeus says there is also his younger brother Sextus, who is in hiding in Sicily, but Titus says that if they lose here, the last major force against Caesar dies, and who would risk rising up for yet another attempt? Titus, a bit melancholy and fatalistic, says that when Caesar comes, and come he will, it will decide Rome’s fate.

We then get a helicopter tracking shot as the camera passes from their camp over hills and valleys, the terrain changing to reflect winter arriving and then receding, and concluding with a curving shot of a beach on the Mediterranean coast that is filled with thousands of legionaries. It is March, 45 B.C.E. and Caesar has come. We see him receiving reports of stragglers coming in from troop transports and supply ships. He says they will wait one week and then advance to threaten the city of Ategua, which will force Titus to offer battle. He goes to his tent and soon afterwards Octavian enters, dressed in military attire but looking weathered. Caesar is happy and hugs his grand-nephew, saying that when he heard Octavian’s ship had run aground he feared the worst. Octavian says it would take more than that to stop him from joining Caesar and thanks him for finally persuading his mother. Caesar smiles and tells Octavian to sit down and listen, since this is education. Octavian does and the camera focuses on him looking self-assured as Caesar reads the military reports aloud off-screen.

The scene returns to Rome, where Marcus has been left in charge. We see that he has developed a friendship with Brutus and acts as a mediator between Brutus and Lepidus. Cicero continues to assail Marcus politically. Because of Cicero’s popularity and influence, Marcus has to weather the storm in the Senate. Brutus appears content. Meanwhile we see Cassius visiting a senator at night and persuading him to join the movement to strike against Caesar.

The film returns to Spain and we see that Caesar has moved his army to Ategua and scouts report to him that Titus’ army is enroute to confront him by Munda. Caesar nods and goes on a walk with Octavian and tells him that this battle will be the hardest he will ever fight, since the opponent is a close friend who knows how he fights. Caesar stares out at the horizon with a sigh.

Daylight. Caesar’s camp is roused by trumpets and assembles. Caesar gives the order to march and the army sets out and we see after a handful of shots showing the advance that they have arrived at Munda to face Titus’ army which is on a slight hill. In their army, Gnaeus says they should strike now but Titus says they have the numbers and the terrain and they should not yield them. Caesar will have no choice but to advance on them. In Caesar’s army Octavian suggests trying to lure the enemy down the hill but Caesar says that Titus is too smart for that. He gives the order for a frontal attack and tells Octavian to stay in the rear as this is his first battle.

Caesar’s army, 40,000, advances up the slight slope to clash with Titus’ army, 70,000. This is a straight-up slugfest across the whole line with Titus’ numbers balanced against Caesar having the more battle-hardened legionaries. The clash of tens of thousands of men is ferocious and the battle line shifts back and forth with no clear victor and Caesar personally charges into the fray to directly inspire his men. Gnaeus, impetuous to avenge his father, does the same against Titus’ urging. As the battle drags on, Octavian gets restless and leads Caesar’s cavalry reserve on a flank maneuver to raid the enemy camp. Titus, seeing an opportunity to destroy Caesar’s cavalry, leads his own larger reserve to intercept. Though strategically the right move, it has an unfortunate result as a number of soldiers stupidly interpret the move as Titus fleeing and they decide to retreat as well. This trickle turns into a stream, and then turns into a flood as Caesar throws himself forward with his men. Gnaeus tries to rally his men but is slain by a centurion in mid-yell. Meanwhile Titus’ force has intercepted Octavian’s force and the battle here goes in Titus’ favor with Octavian’s smaller division being battered. Octavian barely avoids death in a couple places but things look grim until Titus sees thousands of his men retreating, he recalls his cavalry with him to sort things out and sees that his army is now in tatters as Caesar’s army continues to push forward. Titus sees only one option and that is “charge!” His cavalry, heavily outnumbered, plunges forward in a suicidal gesture and the camera cuts to black just as Titus makes contact with the enemy and swings his sword into the camera.

The scene fades in showing the battlefield with the fighting over, littered in bodies. Caesar is standing in the middle of it, looking sad, and we see he is standing over Titus’ body. Octavian arrives to congratulate Caesar on the victory and Caesar slaps him, saying that the only reason they won was that many of Titus’ men were stupider than Octavian. Octavian says he saw a chance to win glory and Caesar says that anyone can win glory, but that isn’t the same as victory. He says if Titus’ men had held firm, the only result would have been that their cavalry reserve would be destroyed and Octavian would be dead or prisoner. Octavian, realizing his error, apologizes and asks what he should do. Caesar tells him to acquire the necessary materials to give Titus a proper Roman funeral. Octavian leaves and Caesar goes down to one knee by Titus and we see he is near crying. He tells Titus’ corpse that he is sorry it came to this and that he failed in convincing Titus of the worth of his cause. This scene slowly morphs into Titus being buried with dignity and respect on the hillside.

The scene returns to Rome with word of the victory at Munda arriving. Cicero, who had been holding out hope that Caesar would eventually lose, resigns himself in talk with senators to a new time for Rome that no man can stop. Marcus talks with Brutus about the great things they can now accomplish now that there is no one left to oppose Caesar. Brutus nods but does seem troubled. One night Cassius approaches him again but Brutus is very reluctant since Caesar spared their lives and some of his policy changes are good. He says he won’t betray his brother-in-law either. Cassius, caustically, says that Brutus can’t have two masters and will soon have to choose between the Rome he holds dear and the friend he holds dear.

It is now summer and Caesar returns in a lavish triumphant parade. He is welcomed into the Senate with rapturous applause and at Lepidus’ urging the Senate votes to elect Caesar as Dictator for life. It seems that Caesar’s rule is now complete.

We see Caesar settle into power in Rome, splitting time between affairs of state and administration and some personal time with Cleopatra who has remained in Rome. We see Caesar tell Octavian that he is sending him to Illyria to get additional schooling, to prepare him for his future. Not long afterwards we see Caesar working on a document with great care that he entrusts to his wife. He talks with Marcus about how he will change Rome significantly now that he is in power for life and there are no more enemies to fight. Marcus mentions that Cicero has denounced the election and Caesar says that Cicero can say whatever he wants, since his influence is declining and “after all, he’s not foolish, he’ll complain but toe the line.”

Brutus, growing conflicted, talks with Cicero and Cicero says that the election is disturbing since it has been over 450 years since Rome was ruled by someone for a life term. Brutus asks what Cicero intends to do and Cicero says “Speak, it is all I can do; it is what I am known for. I will talk and pray that one day the people will listen. More blood won’t restore the Republic.”

We see Caesar cementing power: Reforming the Roman constitution to allow for new judicial positions to interpret laws and control public order, and Caesar is the one controlling who gets appointed. Brutus speaks with Marcus and says he has concerns about Caesar going too far. Marcus says that ideally yes no one should hold this much power, but this is a very fragile period after a civil war, so Caesar is simply holding things together for a time. Brutus is unconvinced so he has Marcus accompany him to meet Caesar. Caesar thanks Brutus for his honesty but gives a response similar to Marcus’. He says that the Republic fell into civil war because of corruption, petty bureaucrats, and weak central command. “Without a strong government ruling the Republic as a single unit, we are doomed to wars in the future.” Brutus suggests more modest measures but Caesar slams a nearby table and shouts “THIS is the way it must BE!”

That night Brutus visits Cassius and says “I am with you brother.” Cassius hugs his brother-in-law and says there is work to be done.

We see a couple short scenes showing the progression of time through fall and winter. Caesar is at a coastal villa with Cleopatra, talking about his vision for Rome. Cleopatra asks him what he envisions for her and her people, since they are a rich ally for Rome. Caesar smiles and says that once he is secure in Rome, he will launch a campaign against the Parthians in the Levant and Mesopotamia to avenge their murder of Crassus less than a decade earlier, and this will remove Egypt’s great rival to their east. Cleopatra is pleased by this promise and the two get intimate.

Meanwhile in Rome, the underground anti-Caesar conspiracy is in its final stages. Cassius leads the meetings but Brutus is accorded high rank. Cassius says that the goal is to assassinate Caesar when he attends a Senate meeting. This is because only Senators are allowed in the Curia and it is easy to conceal knives under togas. Then, “Rome will once again be free of tyranny and ruled the authority of the Senate.” Brutus says that Caesar plans to leave for the East in late Spring, so they will have a limited window to get him into the Senate. Cassius and some of the others have created a kill list with the names of many Caesar allies on it, including Marcus and Lepidus, but Brutus, who is a friend of Marcus, persuades them to get rid of the list, saying that they are not engaging in a coup, but a liberation, one that would be stained if too much blood is shed. One of the conspirators looks uncomfortable during the talks.

March 14, 44 B.C.E. Caesar is working on his plan for the Parthian campaign when a messenger arrives with a request from the Senate. Marcus and Lepidus are present. Caesar reads it and says that the Senate has petitioned him to recall Tillius Cimber’s brother from exile and asks for his answer in person the next day. Lepidus scoffs and says that if Cimber couldn’t bother to present the petition in person Caesar shouldn’t feel obligated to reply in person, but Caesar says that going to the Senate is a sign of respect and he will do it to keep the Senate docile.

That night, Caesar is home with his actual wife, Calpurnia, and she tells him of a terrible dream she had about his death and asks him to stay close until he leaves for his military campaign. Caesar, who does love her in a fashion, assuages her concerns.

We see Brutus, unable to sleep. He stares up at the stars in melancholy.

March 15. We see Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, and others rising early. Marcus too is up and goes to the Roman Forum where he encounters a Senator late for session. It is the conspirator who looked uncomfortable during the final plotting meeting. He gives a vague warning to Marcus about Caesar and the Senate before fleeing. Marcus, who is in military attire, looks deeply worried and tries to make his way to the Senate.

Caesar enters the Senate building, with all the other Senators present including Cicero, Cassius, Brutus, and Lepidus. As he enters the main chamber, Tillius Cimber steps forward to re-present his petition and a number of senators, including Cassius and Brutus, step down from their seats to give support. Caesar waves Cimber away but Cimber, anxious, grabs at Caesar’s toga. Caesar pushes Cimber away just as the nearest senator pulls out a dagger to strike. Caesar turns to catch the attacker’s arm, shouting “what is the meaning of this?” The attacker cries “Brothers! Aid me!” This motivates the conspirators, at least 40 senators, to produce daggers and they swarm Caesar, who does his best but with no weapon and no help, he is overwhelmed quickly. For a couple seconds he locks eyes with Brutus and has a sad look of understanding while Brutus has a look of self-loathing just before he stabs Caesar in the chest. As this goes on the majority of the Senate are frozen in shock. The conspirators then back away to form a circle around Caesar’s dead body. Cassius gives Brutus a nod. Brutus steps forward and announces to the Senate “People of Rome! We are once again free!” Instead of applause or thanks, the rest of the Senate makes for rear exits in a panic. Brutus looks at Cassius, who says they must now let the people know, and the conspirators all exit.

Marcus arrives, minutes too late with backup. He kneels over Caesar’s body in a dramatic overhead shot.

Rome is completely silent, the population afraid to leave their homes because of a fear of violence. The conspiracy leaders, including Brutus and Cassius, are jubilant and make plans to persuade the Senate to undo Caesar’s laws when it returns to meet. Brutus has some lingering regrets over the killing.

In his home, Cicero receives several Senators who are unsure where to stand with Caesar dead. Cicero says that if he had known of the intention to murder Caesar he would have stood with the assassins, even if he fears violence will only prolong strife. He says it is a pity the conspiracy chose only to kill Caesar as opposed to killing off Lepidus and Marcus, the latter he especially dislikes.

Marcus and Lepidus meet, both shocked. Lepidus says they should flee the city to avoid being killed next. Marcus briefly considers this but in the end says that the people loved Caesar and they would not stand for all of his work undone. Marcus says the first step is to ensure no more killings happen. We see him visit Cleopatra, who is having all of her things packed for immediate travel. We see she is genuinely upset over Caesar’s death and Marcus embraces her as a means of comfort. He tells her to take her son back to Egypt, since it is the best way to ensure their safety in the coming times.

The scene changes to a Senate meeting, in a different building than before. All the conspirators are present, so are Cicero, Lepidus, and Marcus. Cicero takes the floor and says in a speech that the welfare of Rome must be preserved to avoid another civil war and the best way to ensure that is to grant the assassins a pardon. The whole Senate looks to Marcus, who they presume to be Caesar’s appointed successor. Marcus, a bit uncomfortable, says he will not object to the Senate passing such a law. The pardon is passed and Brutus and Cassius look pleased. Cicero tells them he did not expect Marcus to cave in so quickly, which means he either wanted to supplant Caesar all along, or he has other designs. The two disregard the warning.

A few days later is Caesar’s funeral and Marcus is the one giving the oration to tens of thousands of citizens. Many of the conspirators are present, with triumphant smirks. Marcus, in mid-oration, changes tone and springs into accusing the conspirators of murder, showing the crowd the slash marks on Caesar’s toga and naming each and every killer who participated. The crowd and by extension Rome, who loved Caesar, rises into a fury, and erupts into a mob that attacks the homes of many conspirators. Brutus, Cassius, and the others are forced to flee from Rome to avoid being lynched. Cicero, shocked, accuses Marcus of breaking his work. Marcus replies “I said the Senate could grant a pardon, I never said Rome could.”

The following day Caesar’s will is read to the public, it being delivered by his wife Calpurnia (the document we saw him work on and give to her earlier). Many, including Marcus, are shocked by the contents, as it names Octavian the sole heir to Caesar’s name and fortune. Lepidus observes to a friend that this makes Octavian the heir to Caesar’s legacy. Marcus, his honor bruised since he thought Caesar would at least delegate some of his honors to him, sulks and considers seizing Rome for himself.

We briefly see Brutus, Cassius, and the majority of the conspirators on a ship cross the Adriatic Sea. Their mood is sullen since they expected the people to rise and join them in restoring the Republic. Brutus’ feelings are mixed but Cassius reinforces their resolve by saying the people were bewitched by Caesar and if they don’t voluntarily renounce his works, they will tear it down by force. He starts giving orders to various conspirators to travel to various provinces in Greece and Asia Minor to raise armies for war.

News quickly races to Illyria where Octavian is studying of both Caesar’s murder and his being named heir in Caesar’s will. Though only 19 years old, we know by this point that Octavian is bold and he decides that though the political climate is very unstable, he has to go to Rome.

Octavian arrives at Brundisium, Italy where he is welcomed by one of Caesar’s most loyal legions and they cheer him as Caesar’s heir. News of the landing reaches Rome and Marcus is troubled. Cicero however sees an opportunity and says to a confidant that if he can play the two men against one another and himself support Octavian, he could finish the work of those who murdered Caesar.

After some time of parading in Southern and Central Italy to gain support, Octavian arrives in Rome with many crowds cheering him on. He goes to meet with Marcus and their initial conversation is cold and full of friction since both see themselves as the one to carry on the work Caesar started. Marcus says that everything Octavian has is because of his great-uncle’s name.

A letter from Cicero reaches the conspirators in Greece informing them of events. Cassius writes back to ask Cicero to continue destabilizing the politics in Rome so that they can have more time to marshal forces and control the East.

We see several short scenes showing the progression of many months in Rome as things seethe on the brink of conflict between Marcus and Octavian. We see Cicero giving a set of speeches that caustically denounce Marcus and praise Octavian. We see Octavian trying to make deals with various Senators to obtain support and we see Marcus doing the same and reaching out to the loyal veterans who served with Caesar since Gaul. Marcus in his dealings with the veterans says that if it comes to civil war again he will have the wealth of Egypt supporting him, which eases their concerns over potentially fighting Octavian and the Senate. Through all of this Lepidus is concerned by Marcus and Octavian letting their ambition dominate.

Things seem to come to a boil when Marcus announces he is claiming Cisalpine Gaul (which is actually Northern Italy and not in France) as his personal province due to the powers invested in him. Cicero engineers a bill of censure from the Senate to pass and pleads with Octavian to deal with Marcus. Octavian agrees and marshals several legions to join him to march north to confront Marcus who has several legions of his own. Unbeknownst to them both, Lepidus also leaves Rome to travel north on his own. Meanwhile Cicero gloats that if Octavian finishes off Marcus, then the work will almost be complete. If Marcus kills Octavian, the result will be the same since by this point the Senate is totally against Marcus.

We see Marcus and Octavian moving their forces into position. Marcus, who has far more experience than Octavian, is planning for battle when Lepidus arrives, tired and dirty on horseback. Lepidus begs Marcus to delay going to war, saying that Marcus and Octavian are being manipulated into fighting one another instead of the men who killed Caesar. Marcus says that so long as Octavian demands to be the sole power in Rome he cannot stand down. Lepidus says he will convince Octavian as well.

Lepidus arranges for Marcus and Octavian to meet in Bononia, Northern Italy. The two hostilely exchange words but Lepidus is able to calm them down and say that the men who butchered Caesar still live and are gathering armies this very moment. While Marcus and Octavian weaken themselves the real enemy gains strength. This shames the two into agreeing to cease any plans against the other and with Lepidus agree to set up a ruling triumvirate that will govern Rome, Lepidus being the man to ease tensions between Octavian and Marcus. Marcus says that reports show the conspirators have taken all of Greece, Asia Minor, and Syria and have over 100,000 men at their disposal already. He says that to counter that would require obtaining money they don’t have. Lepidus says he has a suggestion for that.

We return to Rome to find the Senate, persuaded by Marcus and Octavian making peace, to craft a legal order that creates an official triumvirate that will give Marcus, Octavian, and Lepidus near total powers for a term of five years. Cicero futilely argues against the plan and is decisively outvoted. Marcus then takes the floor to say as the triumvirate’s first act it is “proscribing” all of the men who assassinated Julius Caesar. Proscription was a judgment not used since Sulla was in charge 40 years earlier. It declares a person an enemy of the state, orders a death sentence, and declares all of their possessions forfeit to the state. The news unsettles some and a greater stir is caused when Marcus says as more enemies of the state are uncovered, more names will be added to the list.

This leads into a series of very brief scenes showing various people in Rome and the surrounding countryside being seized by soldiers and put to death and valuables being carted away. Word of this reaches the conspirators and Brutus says that this move will give Marcus and Octavian the funds needed to raise an army against them. We see in a long shot the size of the conspirators’ army, which is huge.

Back in Rome we see a scene with the three leaders discussing names to add to the list. After a handful of names are discussed Marcus puts forward Cicero’s name. Octavian objects, since Cicero had been supportive of his position since he landed in Italy, and the two argue vociferously until Lepidus calms them down. Lepidus says that while normally he would agree with Octavian, because of Cicero’s status, this is an abnormal situation, since Cicero aimed to divide them at a time when unity was paramount. No one else in Rome has his influence or ability to stir up mischief, and for all they know he could be doing such at the behest of the assassins. Faced with this argument, Octavian agrees.

This causes Cicero to flee Rome and because of his general popularity leads to finding him are few. Still, his wealth in Rome is seized and Octavian and Marcus’ army continues to get funded to the point that they can field equal numbers to those of the conspirators. Marcus and Octavian will jointly lead the army in campaign while Lepidus remains in Rome. We briefly see a big shot of hundreds of ships crossing the Adriatic.

Word of the Marcus/Octavian army landing in Greece reaches the conspirators and Cassius, who has some battle experience, plans to draw their opponents into eastern Greece, far from their supply lines and close to the Aegean Sea, across which the conspirators get supplies from Asia Minor. Some of the conspirators are nervous and losing heart so Cassius tears into their fears with a blistering monologue. Brutus in public joins his brother-in-law’s forcefulness, but in private confesses to him doubts they will succeed.

We then see Marcus and Octavian’s encampment in Greece and see a meeting between the two leaders. Octavian reluctantly has delegated overall command to Marcus because of Marcus’ military experience and the two talk about their plans to confront the conspirators’ army near Philippi. The two express concerns about what will happen once they get victory since Caesar wouldn’t want his work undone by their infighting. Marcus says that avenging Caesar is their first priority and settling the fate of Rome comes later.

We get a few shots of the two forces marching and maneuvering and finally encamping within a few miles of one another.

Back in Italy, Cicero, who has been sheltered by various friends, decides to retrieve some valuables and some documents and records from a villa he has in southern Italy before making his escape across the sea in a ship. However he is spotted by an informer and his carriage is soon intercepted by a Roman patrol on horseback. His servants and friends with him urge resistance but Cicero says he won’t have innocent blood shed on his behalf. He exits his carriage, walks up to the patrol leader, and gets on his knees and tells the soldier to do his job. The patrol leader dismounts, pulls out his sword, and decapitates Cicero.

Back near Philippi, Brutus has disturbed sleep, dreams bringing him back to the day of the assassination and Caesar staring mournfully into his eyes. He awakes in a sweat and looks at the lights of the opposing army’s camp with some evidence of regret.

The following morning the battle begins, with Marcus’ forces on the right assaulting Cassius’ fortifications while Octavian’s forces on the left defend against a fierce assault by Brutus. Both sides have well over 150,000 men each and the size of the battlefield, natural geographic obstacles, and the clouds of dust kicked up by the armies make it difficult to see what is going on beyond the immediate fighting. We intercut between the fighting in general with brief reaction scenes involving the four major characters present. As the battle goes on we see that Marcus’ force is driving Cassius’ men out of their fortifications, but on the north side of the battle Brutus’ attack has pierced Octavian’s lines and Octavian’s camp is being pillaged. The result is that the battle is essentially working itself out to be a draw, with Octavian able to skillfully extricate his men from what could have been a smashing debacle.

However, a messenger Cassius sends to get word from Brutus gets turned around by avoiding enemy forces and by the size of the battle and dust clouds and winds up mistakenly reporting back to Cassius that Brutus has been defeated. This disheartens Cassius and he orders his men to retreat. As his men fall back, he stands on a hillside and orders his manservant to kill him. The manservant is unwilling to but when Cassius continues to shout at him he finally stabs his master several times, killing him. This is witnessed by many of Cassius’ troops and they start to desert from the field.

The result is that when Brutus’ army returns to its own camp victorious, Brutus learns of the triple-whammy of Cassius being defeated, Cassius committing suicide, and much of the rest of Cassius’ army deserting or surrendering. Cassius’ body is brought before Brutus and Brutus, teary, berates his dead brother-in-law for foolishly and hastily ending his own life without knowing of Brutus’ own victory. A number of the other assassins are dead or have already fled and the rest ask Brutus what they shall do. Brutus says that with half of their army already defeated or run away, it won’t take long for the ripple effect to hit the army here. Since all the assassins are marked for death, it’s up to them whether they die now or try to live in hiding somewhere. The other assassins quickly depart the tent leaving Brutus alone with a subordinate and Cassius’ body. Brutus tells the subordinate to surrender the army in the morning to avoid unnecessary violence and the subordinate then departs. Brutus looks over Cassius’ body, pulls out his sword, whispers “Liberty or death” and then stabs himself in the gut, falling over dead.

The following morning the conspirators’ army surrenders and Marcus and Octavian parade through the enemy camp. Brutus’ and Cassius’ bodies are shown and while Octavian wants the corpses dismembered and presented as trophies, Marcus persuades him to allow the two a decent Roman burial. Octavian leaves, grumbling, and Marcus walks to Brutus’ body and says after learning that he did not die with Caesar because of Brutus’ words, giving Brutus a proper burial was the least he could do for his former friend. We briefly see the two conspirators buried.


We cut to Marcus’ and Octavian’s return to Rome, where in a meeting with Lepidus they are informed of the deaths of many proscribed, including Cicero. With the civil wars finally concluded, now comes the task of ruling Rome. The three debate whether to jointly rule together or rule their own pieces separately. This cuts into a public announcement where we learn from the announcer that the Republic will be split into three allied sections. Octavian will control Italy and Gaul, Lepidus will control North Africa and Spain, and Marcus will control Greece, Asia Minor, and Syria.

We briefly see Octavian settling into Caesar’s old home in Rome, now a powerful leader in his own right. We see him in the Forum, looking on with pride as a statute of Caesar is erected in the square.

We then see Marcus, on a ship heading east. One of his subordinates asks him where they shall make their heading and Marcus, after some thought, says they shall first make a stop in Egypt, to visit someone who can be of great help to Marcus. The camera then slowly pulls out to a wide long shot of the ship making its way across the sea before fading to black.

[Impact]

Okay I have decided to play again this year. I am reserving this for...

Untitled Mental Internet Project

Drama/Thriller

Cast: TBAPlot: TBA

Rated: TBADate: October 13th-3,300 theaters

[riczhang]

Animals in the Savannah

Director: Roman Polanski
Studio: Arcturus Entertainment
Genre: Drama/Romance
Format: 35mm Film
Cast: Taraji P. Henson as Queen Ana IV
Pierce Brosnan as Lord Phillip Craven, 4^th Earl of Athlone
Cinematographer: Pawel Edelman
Composer: Alexandre Desplat
Budget: $25 million
Theatre Count: 2190
Rating: R
Release Date: 13 October
Running Time: 2 hr 04 mins
 
Plot:

 

TBA

Edited March 25, 2013 by riczhang

[4815162342]

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Cast: Mark Strong (The Patient/Danny), Tim Roth (Willie One-Hand), Felicity Jones (Viola), Henry Czerny (Chief Inspector Golden), Irrfan Khan (Inspector Patel), Paddy Considine (Inspector Nifflin), David Oyelowo (Towering Bob), with Simon Pegg (Doctor Kindle), and Colin Firth (Doyle Lonagan)Genre: Crime/Black ComedyWritten and Directed By: Martin McDonaghRelease Date: 4/14Theater Count: 2637 theatersBudget: $32 MillionRunning Time: 104 minutesMPAA Rating: R for violence, strong language throughout, sexuality, and some drug contentPlot Summary: The film is broken up into segments highlighted by title cards.

*Chapter One: Once Upon a Time in a Yorkshire Hospital Room…*The film is initially filmed in a first-person perspective, looking at an angle titled as if the head was propped on a pillow. The camera moves around to observe the surroundings and we see we are in a hospital room. As the camera moves around, we hear a person’s voice (Strong) narrating a funny and rather profane internal monologue as he tries to figure out where he is, how he got there, and what happened to him. Soon a doctor comes in and introduces himself as Doctor Kindle (Pegg). Kindle, in a voice that is calm yet befuddled, tells the patient that he has been in a coma for a month and that they have no idea who he is. The patient is currently unable to speak but once they wean him off of some sedatives he will be able to improve greatly. As Kindle explains things paternally the patient internally makes rude though funny comments about the situation. Kindle at last says he’ll make sure everything turns out fine. After that, the patient’s internal monologue returns, asking one question: Who am I?The film jumps ahead to sometime later as the patient is now able to move around and get out of his bed when necessary. We’re in normal third-person perspective again. Kindle comes in and the two chat, Kindle asking if the patient’s memory has improved at all, but it hasn’t, everything before him waking up remaining blank. The two chat humorously for a couple moments, until finally the patient asks Kindle to tell him how he happened to be put in a coma in the first place. Kindle then explains the manner of wounds the patient received in the order they were determined to have happened, with each explanation accompanied by a very brief shot (a second or so) of the actual injury happening. The patient was first hit around with a blunt object, then he got an injury to his left hand similar to what you would get from punching someone in the mouth, then he was shot three times in the chest, then he fell at least twenty feet (we see him falling out of a window), and then he was hit by a car while getting up. The patient comments that he had a bad day.A couple days later the patient is close to full recovery, though his memory is still blank. As he and Kindle talk again about the patient’s plans once he is discharged, we see two shady-looking men enter the hospital and make their way through it. Eventually they reach the patient’s room and throw Kindle to the side. One of them has a giant mustache and the other has an eyepatch. Eyepatch says “You should have died the first time, Danny. But you were always stubborn. We’re here from Willie to make sure the job is finished.” Mustache adds “Yeah and Lonagan can’t help you this time.” Danny, confused, tries to explain he has no idea what they are talking about, but to no avail. Eyepatch and Mustache move to pull out their guns but the patient suddenly reacts, grabbing a syringe from a tray and throwing it into Eyepatch’s good eye, blinding him. As Eyepatch is down for now, Danny grabs Mustache’s arm holding the gun and knocks it aside. He punches him several times, knocking him down, and then strangles him with an IV cord. As Eyepatch crawls, whimpering, Danny picks up Mustache’s gun and shoots Eyepatch twice. He then goes through the pockets, taking their ammo, money, identification, and any other useful things. He then looks at Kindle, who is curled up against a far wall in fear, and comments “I guess I remembered how to do all of that” before leaving the room.The next day two policemen from London arrive at the hospital, Inspector Patel (Khan) and Inspector Nifflin (Considine). They bring Kindle into an office and ask him questions about the two men, explaining that they were known hitmen from London. Kindle says he has no idea why they were there. Patel and Nifflin explain that they were there to kill Kindle’s patient, Danny. Kindle has no idea why since Danny was in a coma for a month and remembers nothing. Nifflin asks him if he has heard of Willie One-Hand and Kindle replies that everyone in England has heard of the infamous crime lord. Patel informs Kindle that Danny happens to be Danny Charleston, the right-hand man to Willie, one of the most dangerous men in all of England, and now a walking bulls-eye for every two-bit thug, hitman, and criminal with a score to settle.*Chapter Two: Living La Vida London*We see shots of downtown London at night, a vibrant, energetic, and frenetic city with the hustle and bustle, glitz and glamour, and high-rolling living you would expect. The camera follows a group of people as they enter an infamous club and in a single shot it navigates the hallways, main dance floor, back rooms, and so on, observing all manner of legal and illegal activities from drug use to intimate encounters and more. For a moment the camera stops at a table where a group of three people are seated, three men and a woman. As the camera turns we see that two of them are Nifflin and Patel and the third is soon identified through conversation as Chief Inspector Golden (Czerny), Nifflin and Patel’s superior who is a bit of a bumbling fellow keen on office politics. Nifflin and Patel explain to Golden that the club they are in is one of the most well-known fronts for Willie One-Hand’s criminal empire and yet with all of the infamy it is impossible to crack as any illegal activities they do detect are never traced to the club itself, and even when they are all but certain of certain crimes going down here, they can never find a shred of evidence. When Golden asks them what the point is to watching this place then, to which Nifflin and Patel reply that they can wait for Willie and his cohorts to screw up. Golden thinks that based on Willie’s reputation, the chance of that is “not likely.”The camera then takes off (still all the one shot), wanders about some more, and then finally winds up in a private basement room where a dozen people or so are seated in a booth round a large table, talking and laughing as they socialize, drink, with some making out, some taking drugs, and the others conversing. The focus of attention is a man in the middle who is the life of the party, cracking jokes and telling stories while waving his arms around dramatically. From this we see that the man has a prosthetic attachment on one arm in the form of a cigarette holder instead of a hand. From this we can see that this is Willie One-Hand (Roth).After a couple minutes of the characters shooting the breeze and enjoying it all, a beautiful woman enters, the camera seductively tracking her descent of the stairs as it moves up her body, grabbing everyone’s attention. It is Viola (Jones), Willie’s girlfriend. Willie warmly welcomes her and the two cuddle as he shows her off and says that with all of his business enterprises his most lucrative commodity is right next to him. This warm and fuzzy scene is then broken up by the appearance of three men in the private room. One of them is a heavy-set man with a messy bulging mass of scar tissue where his nose used to be and is missing a couple teeth from his mouth, and the other two are Eyepatch and Mustache. Willie rudely asks them what they came in for, though Viola asks him to be nice in front of their guests. No-Nose tells Willie that he and the other two learned from a friend up in York that a man up there has woken up from a coma with total amnesia, and that based on the physical description given in the local news, they figure it to be Danny Charleston. Willie asks the others to leave, though Viola stays behind, reminding Willie that she is a part of all of this Danny business.After the others leave, Willie tells No-Nose that his instructions were for Danny to be killed with no mistakes. No-Nose replies that he and the others messed him up pretty good, but it seems he was only somewhat dead. Willie laughs and, looking sinister, says to No-Nose “Listen, there’s no such thing as ‘somewhat dead.’ You’re either dead or you’re not dead. Here, let me show you” and he then quickly pulls out a gun and shoots No-Nose once in the middle of the head, the sound not heard outside the room as it is soundproofed. He then looks at Eyepatch and Mustache and tells them very profanely to dispose of the body and to get back to York and finish the job, otherwise they will be as dead as their friend. After Eyepatch and Mustache rush out a back door with the body of No-Nose, Willie complains to Viola about the lack of quality help these days. She asks if he is nervous about Danny still being alive and Willie says his only concern is that Doyle Lonagan decides to make a push and that a broken man like Danny won’t add much to that equation.*Chapter Three: Ye Olde Farm Lonagan*Danny, having acquired suitable clothes, enters a pub called the Strongman Arms, which is packed even at midday, and sits at the bar to order a drink. He chats with the bartender for a couple minutes about everyday stuff and then says that he’s asked around and found that this is the place to arrange a meeting with a Doyle Lonagan. Almost all activity in the bar stops when he says that and the bartender plays dumb, but Danny presses the issue, raising tension as some people slip out of the pub and others tense up as if expecting a fight. Sure enough a heavyset bouncer shows up and after looking at Danny says he recognizes his face and that he was here over a month ago asking to set up a meeting with Lonagan. Danny replies that since that is the case the man can do him a favor and set up another meeting. The bouncer refuses and tries to force Danny to leave, but Danny quickly beats the big man up and then points a gun at the bartender, telling him to get him on the phone with Lonagan.The bartender uses the phone at the bar to make a call and after explaining some things, such as saying “The boyo from London is back” and finally hands Danny the phone, saying “better play this smart you ponce.” Danny takes the phone and is greeted by the voice of Doyle Lonagan (Firth). Lonagan says he’s heard that Danny was in a coma and that he has lost his memory, so he wonders why he’s being bothered. Danny says he wants some answers to how he got into his situation and wants to meet with Lonagan to get them. Lonagan cheerfully obliges and tells Danny to come to a farm some distance outside the city where they’ll have a nice chat.As Danny leaves the bar, he is observed by two men, one of whom makes a phone call.Danny pinches a car and drives himself to the farm, where Lonagan is waiting with a handful of bodyguards. As Danny walks up to them, one of them sarcastically says “Danny-boy, how good of you to show your scoundrel self around these parts again. Danny’s reply is that he walks up to him and decks him with a single punch to the face. Lonagan holds his men from overacting and asks “so you remember that this wee shit was rude to you the last time we met?” Danny replies “Not at all. I just thought he looked ugly.”Lonagan takes Danny inside and, after satisfied that he truly has no memory, explains some things to him, though we are unsure just how true they are. Lonagan says that Danny is the number two guy for Willie One-Hand but that a couple months ago he came up saying he was going turncoat and would give Lonagan plenty of key info to destroy Willie’s organization and make him top dog in Britain for a nice price. Before the deal could be completed Willie must have got wind of it and had some killers attack him in York. Since they failed, Lonagan hopes Danny can still help him out, this time out of a desire for revenge. Though the original info Danny was to give is out of date (and he no longer remembers it), Lonagan thinks that Danny can be a perfect bait to draw out Willie and his men for Lonagan’s crew to dismantle. Lonagan gets to be the number one crime boss on the island and Danny gets his shot at revenge. Danny doesn’t trust Lonagan and wants to just leave things behind him, but Lonagan says that Danny deserves a chance to pay back Willie and that his past is there, even if he no longer remembers it. Danny says he’ll think about it and is given a cell number to call Lonagan at. As Danny is led away from the farm, one of Lonagan’s men asks Lonagan what his plan is. Lonagan says that Willie will be so eager to get his hands on Danny that he’ll make mistakes, which will give them a chance to obliterate the competition. As for Danny, as Lonagan says, “the poor chap is expendable.”Danny is escorted back to York and left in an inn room for the time being. He lies on his bed and talks to himself about the total mess he has gotten into and that since he remembers nothing it’d be nice if he could start over his life. His musing is interrupted by a pair of thugs, the two we saw moments earlier, breaking into his room. They order him to get up with his hands in the air. Danny does so, sighing, and the thugs gloat about getting the big bounty from Willie. In their exuberance they let their guard down and Danny kicks a bedside table at them, knocking one down and obscuring the other’s sight long enough to charge him. He pummels that second guy to the ground, wrestles for the guy’s gun, and shoots the first guy as he tries to rise. Swearing, he quickly gathers his stuff and leaves, only to find as he enters the street a horde of police pulling up and slapping him in handcuffs before he can react. Inspectors Patel and Nifflin are with the group and parade Danny, in full view of a couple of Lonagan’s men, into the back of their car, Patel driving while Nifflin gets in the back too. The car drives off and once they are out of town, Nifflin is able to quiet down the profanity-laden protests of Danny and uncuffs him. “Sorry about the show back there” he says, “but we had to make everyone, even the Yorkies, think that we have you dead to rights.” Danny wants an explanation for what the hell is going on with his life. “You’re a CI Danny, an informant” Patel says from the front. “You’ve been working for the London PD for over a year now. That’s why we think good ol’ Willie tried to put you down like a dog.” Danny is beyond confused now and looks out a window dazed as the car speeds down the highway towards London.*Chapter Four: What You See Isn’t What You Get*Two Months EarlierDanny, dressed very stylishly, ducks into a West End restaurant where in a back booth await Patel and Nifflin. Danny informs the two inspectors about a few minor illegal shipments and bookkeeping activities, but they want more impressive stuff and are impatient to nail Willie on something big. Danny says unless he finds the perfect opportunity it could fail and he’d be liable to get killed. Nifflin and Patel tell Danny that they have had to bring in their superior, Golden, into the fold since the stakes have gotten higher. Danny is annoyed since the more people who know of his status, the greater chance that word could slip back to Willie. After the meeting ends and Danny leaves, Nifflin and Patel talk about Danny and remark that they hope he doesn’t do something very stupid.Danny returns to his flat just in time to answer a telephone call. It is from Willie (both characters are shown on a split-screen), whose prosthetic hand is currently the form of a backscratcher and he uses it a few times during the call. Willie tells Danny that he needs someone to go up to York in a few days to meet with Lonagan’s men and work out an amicable deal. Willie wants him to be the go-to-guy for the job. Danny asks why they can’t just “carve the man up” to which Willie says that you can’t just take out crime lords carefree, it’d cause anarchy which is bad for business. The call is soon ended after they chat friendly for a minute or so. Danny goes to fix himself a drink but midway through it he has to answer the doorbell. At the door is Viola. The two talk with a few double-entendres before Viola kisses Danny. The scene segues into a short and semi-explicit scene of the two having sex and then moves on to the aftermath. Dialogue between Danny and Viola indicates that the two of them have been having an affair for some time and that Danny has been planning to eventually betray Willie and stage a getaway for the two of them. Danny tells Viola that he thinks it is time for them to do what he has wanted to for so long and that a trip he has to take to York should get things started. He then gets up to take a shower, leaving her alone in his bedroom.Before Danny leaves for York, he goes to a friend of his, Towering Bob (Oyelowo), a witty arms dealer (who isn’t tall at all) who sells to anyone who pays and has a habit of pranking friends and customers, even dangerously at some times, for his own amusement. After one such prank, they catch up on recent events and Danny gives a briefcase for Towering Bob to hold in safekeeping. Later, as Danny confidently drives north Viola makes her own surprising move. She calls (unseen, voice only) Willie from her own flat and tells him she needs him to come over. Willie arrives to find Viola huddled on the floor, her dress badly torn and her body bruised. She tells a distraught Willie that she found out that Danny is going to betray him to Lonagan and when Danny discovered this he beat her up and threatened to kill her. Willie flies into a rage and immediately gives an order that Danny is to be found and killed.Danny arrives at the pub from Chapter Three and asks to see Lonagan, saying he is the man sent by Willie. A meeting is set up and Danny is taken to Lonagan’s farm outside of York and meets the crime boss, who alternates between cheerfully humorous and sternly threatening. Danny then tells Lonagan that he is tired of being Willie’s lapdog and that he wants to take the man down. He says he has information with him at a hotel room about a few minor shipments Willie is organizing but that he can access the big stuff when he gets back to London, stuff that would require Lonagan to handle in person. In return, Danny will be paid very handsomely, half of it up-front wired to an offshore bank account. The two shake hands and Lonagan cheerfully says “You double-cross me and you’ll be neutered like the lapdog you say you are.”Danny is taken back to York where he takes a couple of Lonagan’s men to his hotel room. He slips away for a moment and leaves a voice message with Nifflin and Patel, telling them he is planning something that will solve their mutual problems and that he can tell them about it when he is back in London. He is just about to wrap up his business with Lonagan’s men when a sextet of men burst into the room and a close-quarters gunfight breaks out. Lonagan’s two men and three of the attackers are quickly disposed of and Danny is backed into a corner by the surviving three: our old friends No-Nose, Mustache, and Eyepatch. The scene then plays out in an elongated and full version of the snippets we saw in Chapter One, with Danny being beaten up while trying to fight back, knocking out a few of No-Nose’s teeth (which cuts his hand), shot three times, falling out a window twenty feet up due to the momentum, and then getting hit by a car as he struggles to his feet. As Danny lies motionless on the street, the three thugs from Willie observe that he looks dead and depart. People on the street go to check on a facedown Danny.*Chapter Five: Crime Doesn’t Pay…Sometimes*At a roadside restaurant, Nifflin, Patel, and Danny are eating, Danny suspiciously watching the two inspectors more so than anything else. The two policemen finish their meals and ask Danny if he’s sure he has total amnesia. Danny gets a quick flash of images showing a couple locations and people, but unsure what it means says he doesn’t. Nifflin and Patel aren’t sure how to proceed but decide to take Danny into protective custody. They call up Golden to let him know they are bringing Danny in and then get back to driving. They have only just entered London when they are ambushed by a pair of trucks that block their route. Men fire from the trucks into the front of their car, riddling Nifflin and Patel with bullets. Danny grabs a gun and flees, firing wildly at the men in the trucks who drive after him and then chase him on foot. Danny is nicked a couple times in the chase and drops two of the attackers. He manages to lose them by catching an Underground train seconds before it departs. As he sits on the train out of breath, bleeding a little, he has some more flashes, after which he smiles.At a police precinct, Golden learns of the ambush that killed Nifflin and Patel and panics a bit since losing Danny could really hurt his reputation. After comically bumbling around for a minute, he realizes he knows an underworld source who passes on news to the police for the right price.Willie is also displeased when he hears the news, wrecking a lot of his apartment’s living room. He has no idea how much Danny remembers but since someone reported about Danny meeting Lonagan again, he assumes Danny remembers everything. Viola comforts him and says that Danny will resurface and present himself as a target. She also tells him that Lonagan’s involvement will allow them to kill two birds with one stone, so he must be patient.Danny shows up at Towering Bob’s place, his friend very glad to see Danny alive and well. Danny says his memory’s very fuzzy thanks to Willie’s goons but he remembers he left something very important with Bob for safekeeping and asks for it. Bob says he’ll need to make a call to make sure things are good and disappears. Danny looks around Bob’s place for a moment and some more memory flashes come back before Bob returns. Bob says he has to meet someone around the corner who is dropping the stuff off from safekeeping.Lonagan with a small platoon of henchmen has arrived at a London safe house. Word has reached him of the assault on Danny. He orders his men to be ready for word from Danny, since he’ll certainly now be ready to get revenge. They soon get a call, but not from Danny, but from Viola. She explains she got the cell number from Danny who she is working with and that she is helping him set up Willie and that Danny will be in touch very soon. Lonagan is a bit confused but pleased nonetheless. Viola hangs up and then walks around a street corner where she hands a large envelope to Towering Bob. She asks Bob to not mention her involvement to Danny. Bob asks her “what” her involvement is anyway, to which she replies “some secrets are better not asked about.”Bob returns to his place and gives Danny the envelope and avoids answering about who was holding it for him. Bob asks what the envelope has and Danny replies “my ticket out of this fucking zoo.” At that moment a dozen London police burst into the building. Danny looks at Bob, who says he actually made two calls, one of them to a London PD inspector looking for Danny. That inspector is Golden, who walks in and cheerily says to Danny he’s happy to meet them and now it’s time to improve both of their lives.Danny calls Lonagan, both shown via split-screen. Danny, looking at pages from the envelope he has, tells Lonagan there is a large warehouse on the south bank of the Thames that is a storage site for Willie transferring highly illegal goods in and out of the country. A strike there will disable Willie’s import/export capacities greatly and weaken him. After Lonagan thanks him and says the second half of the payment will be put in his offshore account immediately, Danny hangs up and makes a call to Willie, who replaces Lonagan on the split screen. Danny taunts Willie and says he wants to settle this like men. Willie is very angry, cursing up a storm. Danny suggests they meet at the aforementioned warehouse and Willie agrees, adding he’ll bring Viola since she was the one who informed on Danny. This news shakes Danny, but he hides it.The scene shifts to Danny in a police precinct with Golden and many other cops clustered around him. Golden tells the assembled cops that tonight the two most infamous crime lords in Britain will be converging on a single point due to irresistible bait, and they will be taken down with extreme prejudice. Danny will need to go in first to make sure Willie is there and draw him out.Short scenes show Willie and Lonagan making preparations to get their crews ready to move out. Willie has concerns that it could be a trap but Viola encourages him to remove the persistent problem that is Danny once and for all.Danny shows up at the warehouse as Golden and a couple dozen cops set up far enough away so they can’t be detected. He enters and shouts out for Willie, calling him names. Willie appears on a second floor overlook with Viola and sarcastically welcomes Danny home, over a dozen men with automatic weapons showing up below. Willie says he’d like to kill Danny personally, but he doesn’t take chances. Danny, hearing the noise of cars pulling up, says it’s a good thing he brought more guys. At that point Lonagan with a dozen men of his own enter through the front door and aim their guns at Willie’s men, Lonagan saying “this was a bit unexpected.” The two crime lords now exchange insults, trying to force the other to back down. During this Danny looks up sadly at Viola, who he is getting some flashes of his relationship with, and notices she is slyly slipping away. More car noises are heard that everyone hears, turning to look. Armored cars burst through the side walls, swerving to the side as from each a dozen heavily armed policemen burst out. Golden appears from one vehicle and demands the criminals surrender. Lonagan and Willie look at one another for a second, their hatred of each other shifting to hatred of cops, and then quickly turn to fire at the policemen, some of their men doing the same while others fire at the opposing crime lord’s henchmen.A massive and confusing three-way firefight breaks out as Danny dives behind cover and slowly crawls behind an armored car as criminals and policemen drop like flies around him. Most of the three sides are taken out in the first minute due to the crossfire, the rest retreating behind any cover they can find and exchanging potshots. Golden and Lonagan take each other out with several gunshots apiece. Danny from his hiding spot spies Willie getting lightly wounded in a shoulder before running off. Danny, determined for revenge, gets up and follows.Danny chases Willie to an exterior dock but is wounded when Willie turns and fires at him. Willie comes back to fight, his prosthetic hand now a hook, and the two fight hand-to-hand as gunshots continue to sound in the background. Danny lands in several good punches, but Willie slices Danny across the chest with his hook and then steps back to point his gun at a kneeling Danny. Viola then shows up and Willie, laughing merrily, says to Danny that he and his girl always come out on top. A gun appears next to Willie’s head and Viola says “No, just the girl” and pulls the trigger. Willie’s corpse falls into the river and a stunned Danny just looks at Viola. Viola sticks her gun into a concealed shoulder holster and tells Danny “you’ve been a fucking terrible headache for me and my superiors.” Danny is finally able to eke out a question: “who the fuck are you?” Viola smiles and says “Violet Downing, MI5. I was under deep cover for nearly two years, until you decided to get greedy and take Willie down for your own benefit.” Danny was not expecting this answer. “You’re Secret Service?” he asks. Violet says that MI5 has been building a case against England’s crime syndicates for years, but Danny’s plan to betray Willie jeopardized her undercover work so she had to turn Willie against him. It was only afterwards that MI5 found out that Danny had been an informant for London PD and when it was learned that Danny had survived, she activated her contingency plans and maneuvered Willie and Lonagan to the same spot where they could be taken out. Violet was here to ensure that neither of the two crime bosses made it out alive. Danny says he still has a shitload of questions, but he’ll settle for knowing what happens next. Violet says as far as she’s concerned Danny’s held up his bargain and since he now has a comfy payment from Lonagan in an offshore account and a broken memory, it’s the perfect opportunity to start a new life. She starts to leave, but first Danny asks her how much of they had was real. Violet looks back with a cute smirk and says “It was fun Danny, we’ll leave it at that.” She starts walking again and Danny smiles a bit sadly.The final scene is at a poolside bar in the Caribbean somewhere. A news report over the radio talks about a recent shootout in London that left dozens of criminals and policemen dead or wounded before getting switched off. It is Danny, more than a bit tipsy and happily dressed in beachwear. He orders another round of drinks from the bar and when the bartender comments that the only people he’s seen drink so much are those drinking to forget, Danny with lots of cheer replies “Well not me, I’ve already forgotten it all.” He smiles and the film cuts to black.

[ChD]

Penumbra

 

Genre: Thriller/HorrorCast: UnknownDirected By: UnknownRelease Date: January 27Theater Count: 3150 TheatersRunning Time: 95minBudget: $14 millionMPAA Rating: PG-13

 

Plot:

The movie is set in the year 2000. When Philip, a thirty year old physicist, whose mother recently passed away, receives a letter from his supposedly dead father, he starts following a series of clues that lead him to a mysterious location in the uninhabited part of northern Greenland.

 

 The harsh cold forces Philip to take shelter in an abandoned mine. After he enters it, the entrance collapses, trapping him inside it and forcing him to move deeper inside. Within the mine, as he progresses, Philip starts discovering diary extras written by some sort of scientist, who was alone and gradually retorted to eating cave-dwelling spiders as an alternative food source as his supplies diminished.

In the diary extracts, it’s also mentioned that the scientist discovered a psychoactive toxin in the spiders and said that after eight months of consuming it, it was beginning to have an effect on him, physically. After Philip finds a radio, he starts receiving messages from someone named Tom “Red” Redwood, a man driven insane by cabin fever.

 

Red promises to Philip that, if he finds him, he will give Philip all the answers he wants. The movie then follows Philip as he descends deeper and deeper into the mines, searching for Red while unraveling the secrets of the mine’s previous and currents inhabitants.

 

Philips quickly discovers that the mine is inhabited by an ecosystem of abnormally large and hostile animals like dogs, giant spiders and gargantuan earthworms, among others, which he either can fight against or hide away. Abandoned outposts and various scattered papers found throughout the mine indicate that a secret society is studying some unusual phenomena inside the mines.

 

Following clues and solving various puzzles, Philip arrives in an area of the mine where Red is waiting for him. When he finds him, Red is inside an incinerator where he starts begging to Philip to kill him. With no other option, Philip activates the incinerator and kills Red.

 

Among Red’s remains, Philip finds items that he needs in order to progress into a new area of the mine which is identified as being “The Shelter”. Once inside, Philip notices something that appears to be a human, standing in the dark, at the end of the corridor, looking at him. Philip starts walking towards the figure, but the light suddenly extinguishes and Philip is knocked out and dragged away.

[riczhang]

Edited April 1, 2013 by riczhang

[ChD]

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

 

Genre: Thriller/HorrorCast: UnknownDirected By: UnknownRelease Date: October 27Theater Count: 3333 TheatersRunning Time: 102minBudget: $25 millionMPAA Rating: PG-13

 

Plot:

In late August 1839, Daniel, a young man from London, awakens in the dark halls of the Prussian Brennenburg Castle with little to no memory about himself or his past. All he can remember is his name, the fact that he lives in Mayfair and that something is haunting him. Shortly after awakening, Daniel discovers a note written to himself from which he learns that he has deliberately erased his own memory, and that he needs to descend into the Inner Sanctum of the castle to kill the Baron, Alexander.

 

Daniel starts exploring into the dark depths of the castle, following a trail of strange, pinkish red liquid that seems to be put there by him, in order to point the way where he should be heading. It isn’t just a exploration of the castle, but a journey into his own erased past, as he discovers not only notes and his own journal entries, but experiences visions of past events that took events within the castle’s countless chambers, including some memories that aren’t even his own.

 

While he unravels the mysteries of Brennenburg Castle, he also finds himself hunted by a dangerous unearthly presence that manifests itself as a corruption that is slowly covering the castle walls in fleshy, acidic growths, and bizarre monsters against which his only defense is to flee. These events are linked and pertain why Daniel came to Brennenburg.

 

Daniel finds out that he was once part of archaeological expedition to Africa, in an attempt to excavate a tomb called “The Tomb of Tin Hinan”. He came across a mystical orb buried within the ruins of the ancient temple, and brought its broken pieces back to England where he successfully assembled them. Daniel started to seek information about the Orb’s history from a geologist and a professor.

 

However, he began to be plagued by nightmares, and several people who came across his path, and that of the Orb, died horribly at the hands of the “Shadow” that appears to dog his footsteps. Desperate and despairing, he received a strange letter from a Prussian baron named Alexander, who promised protection if Daniel would sojourn his castle.

 

Daniel saw no other choice but to flee to Brennenburg. As he arrived at the castle, he was greeted warmly by the baron, Alexander of Brennenburg and his servants, who appeared to be very pleased by Daniel’s arrival. But the young man was unaware that the enigmatic deity had silently chased him to Brennenburg. Alexander knew this, and promised Daniel that they will banish the cosmic beast forever.

 

Alexander told Daniel all he knew about the Orb’s power. Daniel doesn’t seem to be interested about the artifact’s true nature and suggested that they should throw it away. Alexander advised against that as Daniel would still be part of the Orb, and would be eventually consumed by the Shadow. Having the Orb, he could still fight back. Daniel asks Alexander about the letter he sent to Daniel. Alexander simply said that things can be done, but at a price.

 

Alexander showed various parts of the Brennenburg castle to Daniel, including the archives, a refinery, a prison where he kept the ‘criminals’, a bottomless pit called the Chancel and the Inner Sanctum itself, where they can permanently banish the Shadow.

 

During the visit at the Inner Sanctum, Alexander began to tamper with the Orb, thus enraging the Guardian, whose fleshy residue appears in the Sanctum. Alexander quickly covers the Orb and the Shadow disappears. He tells Daniel that they have very little time to banish the Shadow. They must quickly start the Warding Ritual before it’s too late.

 

However, Alexander’s promise of salvation was a lie. He is actually an otherworldly life-form who has spent centuries in Brennenburg, attempting to open a ‘gate’ back to his own world. To do this, he needs a substance called ‘vitae’, which can be harvested from the blood of agonized humans. He also needs a usable Orb. As such, Daniel is a boon to his efforts: Alexander employs him as his personal torturer, replacing his former servants who become the monsters Daniel flees from, and claiming that the vitae will fuel a ritual to banish the Shadow from Daniel’s presence forever.

 

Daniel initially embraces this role, particularly when Alexander tells him that the humans he is seizing are vile criminals. In order to produce enough vitae, Alexander and Daniel feed the prisoners they torture with Amnesia potion, which makes them forget the method of their torture, and ensure that they will be just as terrified the second time around, without becoming accustomed or resigned to the pain (Damascus rose is alluded to as either one of the ingredients of the Amnesia potion, or as a flavoring that Daniel perhaps added to the mixture to disguise its taste). As the experiments continue, however, Daniel’s faith in Alexander is shaken, and finally shattered when he murders a little girl in cold blood following her escape from a prison cell.

 

Alexander saw that the event had taken a toll in Daniel’s mind. Taking the Orb with him, Alexander sealed himself in the Inner Sanctum, leaving Daniel to be brutally maimed by the cosmic guardian.

 

Despondent over how far he has come, and furious at Alexander’s trickery, Daniel chooses to drink the Amnesia potion himself so that he can atone for his sins without the burden of crippling the emotional trauma, leaving but a note his new self to murder Alexander.

 

The new Daniel found the note his former-self left, telling him to kill Alexander, but also to escape the approaching Shadow as long as he can. Then he came across a lantern, which he carries with him. As he started to travel in the castle, he realized that his former-self warning was right. This beast, the Guardian of the Orbs, dogs his footsteps, as do the terrible monsters patrolling in the corridors of Brennenburg.

 

Daniel eventually manages to find the Inner Sanctum buried deep below Castle Brennenburg. He breaches its defenses with a newly assembled Orb and the help of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, an alchemist that Alexander has kept imprisoned in Brennenburg for centuries with the use of strange alchemy. Agrippa, who once studied Orbs with his student, Johann Weyer, explains the purpose of the Shadow: It protects the Orb, slaying anyone who threatens to abuse their power. He also mentions that Weyer managed to travel to Alexander’s world using the power of the orb, and he begs a favor: that Daniel separate Agrippa’s head from his body with the help of a tonic that will ensure his head will remain alive, and then take it with him.

 

In the Inner Sanctum, Daniel managed to destroy the device creating the Gate, managing to escape with his life, saying that he was content to be leaving Brennenburg, having redeemed himself and knowing that Alexander has paid the prize for his sins.

Edited March 25, 2013 by ChFloppit

[riczhang]

Edited March 25, 2013 by riczhang

[ChD]

Journey

 

Genre: Fantasy/AdventureCast: UnknownDirected By: Ang LeeRelease Date: November 22

Composer: Austin WintoryTheater Count: 3333 TheatersRunning Time: 102minBudget: $125 millionMPAA Rating: PG

 

Plot:

The movie opens with a wide shot of a desert that stretches itself to the horizon. The sand gets carried through the air by the wind, making it hard to see in the distance, but there is a mountain visible. Suddenly, a bright object that looked like a meteorite passes in front of the screen at high speed. The camera starts following it over the sand dunes that had some looking pillars sticking out of them. The pillars had a few small holes in their top, and a few of them even had some kind of red cloth with golden symbols on them, attached to them, fluttering in the wind.

 

Suddenly, the object rises up into the sky, and the suddenly heads back towards the earth at a high speed. It collides with it, emanating a lot of light, making the whole screen white. As the light fades, we can see the sand slowly settling, and in the place where the object collided with the earth, there was a small crater that had a person inside it, lying on the ground. She was wearing a red robe that went down to just under her knees, and a hood that didn’t reveal her face, but her long, curly brown hair was seen sticking out of under her hood.

 

She looks around the desert, which seemed endlessly, trying to make out where to go. On a nearby sand dune, she sees two pillars sticking out of the sand, one of them having a piece of red cloth attached to its top, fluttering in the wind. She starts walking through the golden sand that reflected the sun light nearly like a mirror. Reaching the top of the dune, the camera moves backwards, showing us a wide shot of her up on the done, next to the two pillars, looking into the distance, at the mountain which now had its peak split in two, with light radiating out of it. The name of the movie slowly appears above her, and then it transforms into sand that’s taken away by the wind, disappearing from the screen.

 

She then jumps down the sand dune, starting to slide through the sand like through snow. The camera starts filming from behind, at ground level, as the sand that was being swept away goes directly towards it. When she reaches the base of the dune, the ruins of a building becomes visible, a light rising from its top, heading directly into the sky.

 

She goes to the ruins of that building and climbs on top of it. On its top, which was just a few feet away from the ground, meaning that the rest of the building was underneath the sand, there was a stone that had a few strange golden symbols carved in it. Above the stone, there were some flying pieces of red cloth that kept following each other in circles. In the distance, the mountain is still visible, and on its left, barely visible through the sand that was carried by the wind, there was the sun visible, slowly making its way into the sky.

 

She approaches that stone, and starts studying the flying pieces of red cloth quite fascinated. She then shouts (A soft, musical one – the whole movie) loudly, and the scarves start flying around her, frantically, slowly transforming into sand that falls on the ground. Then, on her back, we can see a red scarf that had golden symbols on it, appear from nowhere.

 

She then jumps of off that building, taking off and starting to fly as the scarf on her back was slowly changing: the golden symbols started losing their color with every second she kept flying through the air.

 

She starts following the strange looking pillars that were scattered all around the desert. While following them, she stepped over some pieces of red clothing again and shouted, her scarf getting charged again, giving her the ability to fly again, but this time the flying pieces of red cloth didn’t turn into sand since she already had her scarf and only needed recharging. She did that a few times on her way, and recharged her scarf every time she found another pieces of red clothing. The pillars led her to the top of a sand dune, from where she looked down on the other side, at what seemed to be the center of an older town, and saw the ruins of a few very tall buildings. There was one building in the middle of more buildings that were built around it, in circle. The building in the middle was the shortest one, though, only its top pointing out of the sand, whilst the other buildings were more than half outside the sand. Outside the circle of buildings, there were other, smaller buildings that were located with the help of flags, which probably were the homes of some people before the sand stole them away.

 

She then jumped of off that dune, which was pretty high, and flew all the way down, landing on the top of the building that was in the middle. There, she found four pieces of red clothing attached to the corners of a square area. Shouting once, the scarves flew away from there and the sound of a mechanism activating itself followed. A few moments later, the square area, which turned out to be a trap door actually, opened itself and hundreds of pieces of red clothing flew out from inside the building. They started flying around her, picking her up from the ground and giving her a strong push that sent her through the air, making her land in front of a large door, situated in another building, which looked like the entrance to a palace.

 

In front of the entrance, there were six small pillars, three on each side of a triangle shaped stone. She approached the stone, slowly, and then shouted once. The six pillars activated, releasing a golden symbol that entered the triangle shaped stone, each, then they sank into the ground, disappearing.

 

In the stone, after the symbols entered it, a few drawings appeared, carved in it. She sat down in front of the stone, and started studying the drawings. Suddenly, she finds herself in the middle of a white room, the only thing visible being the mountain peak, which was in the distance, still glowing. Then, an angel like figure appeared in front of her and looked down at her, shouting once, and disappearing afterwards. As that happens, the camera focuses on the peak of the mountain, which then suddenly turns into a drawing of the mountain in the stone, with a crystal being the object that split its peak in two.

 

From the crystal, a light beam goes directly into the sky, where numerous golden symbols represent the stars. Next to the mountain, we can see birds flying and plantations, and a few clothed figures that looked exactly like her, but with white cloth instead of red. Then, the last part shows the appearance of the red cloth and how all clothed figures turned from white to red. They were all bowing in front of a piece of red cloth that was fluttering in the wind.

 

-

 

The screen goes white and we cut back to the stone, where she was still sitting in front of it. The enormous gate behind it opened itself, the dust falling down from it as it slowly opened wider and wider. She got up on her feet and headed towards it. She ascended the stairs and was met by a long corridor that was very large. At the end of it, there’s a bright light. She enters the corridor and starts walking towards the light. The camera zooms out, the light becoming brighter with every second that passed until she disappeared in it.

 

 

-

 

 

We cut to the other side of the temple, where she is currently making her way out. She looks ahead and sees a few giant stone pillars that seemed to be part of a bridge that used to be there. The respective bridge started from the exit of the temple, from the platform she currently was on, and went across the canyon, on the other side of it, where a light that rose to the sky, was seen. In the sand, which was moving, there are a few pieces of the collapsed bridge and some strange figures that looked like winged serpents made out of stone. There were some very big pieces of red cloth attached to the body of the winged serpent.

 

Noticing that the sand was moving, she looked to her right, from where the sand was flowing downhill, where she was met by an amazing view. From a high cliff, there was a sandfall that made the sand flow like water, downhill. It was an amazing sight. She then looked downhill, in the direction the sand flowed, and sat a few bridges in the distance, but most of them were also destroyed. A few were still standing, but some smaller parts of them were still missing.

 

She jumped down on the body of one of the serpents, where there was a red cloth attached to it. It was all covered in sand, and it was fluttering in the wind, despite its size. She went next to it and shouted once, jumping on it, starting to ascend the cloth like she was flying. The sand slowly disappeared from it, showing its true color: a bright red one, with golden symbols all over it.

 

She reached the top and from there, she flew off and landed on a piece of the collapsed bridge, where she was safe from the flowing sand. She then looked back, amazed, as the sound of multiple trap doors opening was heard. From each piece of stone that was forming the body of the serpent, hundreds of pieces of red cloth came flying out.

 

They started flying towards the broken pieces of the bridge, slowly attaching themselves to each other in mid air, forming a giant piece of red cloth that attached itself to the two ends of the bridge, making it possible to talk over to the other side.

 

She reached the other side of the bridge, where she found yet another again, but this time, instead of three pillars on each side, it had six of them on each side. She shouted once, activating the pillars that released the golden symbols that entered the stone, the carved drawings magically appearing, and then sat down as the pillars once more sank into the ground, disappearing.

 

The drawings continue to tell the story from where it left of the last time. It shows how they found out that the red cloth could be used for more than just gaining flying powers, and they started using it as a energy source for their buildings.

 

Once more, a door opens behind that stone, and she goes through it, continuing her journey. She again passed another long corridor to arrive at the end find… nothing. There were no more buildings, no more red cloth, but just desert as far as the human eye could possibly see. Despite that, she continues her journey until she finds another body of a winged serpent. A piece of red cloth was attached to what seemed to be its head, so she went next to it and shouted once. The sound of a single trap door opening was heard, and suddenly a flying piece of red cloth that looked very much like the winged serpent itself, appeared. It started flying around her, signaling her to follow it. She started following it to more bodies of winged serpents where she found more trapped pieces of red cloth which she gladly freed.

 

She continued her journey by following the pieces of cloth that she thought would guide her to where she needed to arrive next. On her way, she kept stepping over ruins of buildings that used to be there. The strange thing was that she always found only one building, in the middle of nowhere, so she assumed that only the taller buildings stayed above the sand, and the smaller ones ended up underneath it.

 

After walking for some time, she arrives at a couple of tall buildings, in the middle of a sand storm that stopped the sun light from penetrating it, making it seem like it was the middle of the night. On one building, there was a light barely visible through the sand, but she saw it. She started heading towards it, starting to climb on the building. Whilst she did that, she could hear the loud sound of a machine that was inside the building, still working. With every move that machine made, the building started shaking underneath her legs. She could hear some of the pieces of red cloth, trapped inside the building, shouting desperately, but she couldn’t help them out as the way out of the building was already underneath the sand.

 

Once she arrived on the top of the building, she found more pillars and yet another stone. She activated the pillars and watched how the golden symbols entered the stone, the drawings appearing carved into the stone. She sat down just as the pillars sank into the building.

 

The story told by the drawings continues from where it left off last time. It goes on by showing how they kept using the red cloth as an energy source and how they discovered they could use them to build greater machines and build things higher, achieving something closer to godhood. They achieved something new every day. They had become addicted to evolution.

 

The next shot features her standing up from the ground just as the sound of a giant trap door opening was heard. From behind the building, hundreds and hundreds of pieces of red cloths flew up into the sky, shouting and circling each other happy that they had been freed. She went past that stone, at the edge of the building, and looked ahead, where she saw a giant wall that was blocking everything from sight. She knew she wouldn’t be able to pass that wall alone.

 

Just as she thought that, one of the red cloths stopped next to her and shouted once, signaling to her to jump on its back. She did and then the red cloth flew her above the wall, where she dropped her off directly on a steep dune. She started sliding down through the sand that had the color of burning red because the sand storm was still blocking some of the sun’s light.

 

She went on sliding down, jumping over broken pieces of fallen bridges, which now formed ramps, until she entered a long corridor. She passed through it and at the end jumped through a sandfall that was situated just above the exit. She then jumped and flew a good portion of the long drop that was there because the building was very high. She managed to land safely on the body of a winged serpent, where she started freeing more pieces of red cloth. She then jumped into the flowing sand, starting to slide downhill together with it. She passed through gates, underneath bridges and ended up entering a small corridor that led to the entrance of what seemed to be a palace. She entered a small town that now was abandoned, and while sliding, she looked to her right, where she could see a large temple, with the golden sun partially behind its peak, shining down on the sand, giving it the color of burning red. In the distance, hundreds and hundreds of flying pieces of red cloth were seen above the abandoned buildings.

 

She kept sliding through the town, taking a few turns between the buildings and ending up on a very steep hill that led to the middle of the town, where there was a giant hole, in which she fell. She landed down, safely. The sun light couldn’t enter here because the depth of the hole and because the buildings that were situated around the hope were tall, too. A few steps away from where she had landed, there was yet another stone that had pillars on each side.

 

She activated the pillars and sat down in front of the stone. She watched how the golden symbols entered the stone, the drawings appearing carved into the stone. The drawings continue the story from where it last left off. It shows how the red cloths escaped from them, the energy for their buildings and everything else they had built with the help of the red cloths, was now useless. It shows how they became white clothed people because of the lack of red cloth, and how they started building guardians, the winged serpents out of stone, to trap the red cloth and force them to serve as a source of energy for their civilization.

 

She got up and continued her journey, entering through a long corridor that was behind that stone and that led to a very dark hall. As she entered, the giant door behind her closed itself, leaving her all by herself in a dark place where the sun light barely entered through the small trap doors that had been built above for exactly that reason.

 

She continues to find more and bigger buildings that showed just how much the red cloth helped the ancient civilization. They were simply enormous, far behind anyone’s imagination (even yours, dear reader / viewer). She keeps going until she steps over some buildings that had red clothes attached to them. They didn’t seem to be fluttering in the wind, mainly because there was no wind blowing, but yet, something kept them straight up, making them dangle from left to right, slowly.

 

She flew up on a high building and ended up looking down on the other side of it. The whole place was filled with pieces of red cloth that were attached to each other, leading down into the darkness, where nothing was visible, and which reached incredible heights. She uses them to ascend higher and higher while she shouts, and then a wide shot of her follows, while she climbs the red cloth. It is revealed that the place she was in was actually a very large building, not a cave, as it was initially thought. It had a couple of extremely big windows, and a few visibly smaller ones above them, which still were pretty big for windows.

 

She kept going through the building until she stepped over a large hole in the ground. The floor had been ripped apart by something, and underneath it, there was a tunnel that led straight on. As she entered the tunnel, and slowly progressed, she was crept out by the strange noises that were coming from all directions around her. She progresses until she stepped over the body of a winged serpent. It had only one eye that emanated a bright green light, but the body overall didn’t move nor do anything else. It was dead.

 

She continues her journey until she enters a large hall that had at least a dozen of large statues representing the winged serpents, the guardians. In the middle of the hall, in the far back end of it, there was the largest winged serpent statue of them all. She approached it and then a noise started that sounded a lot like someone was approaching her, at high speed. Then, suddenly, the large statue was broken to pieces as a guardian went through it, shrieking loudly. It had a bright light that came out of his eyes, which he used to search for red cloths and people who wore them. It noticed her immediately and it headed towards her to attack her, but she managed to get out of its way. It entered the sand, still throwing her a few feet through the air, knocking her out, and then came out a few hundred of feet later, continuing his way.

 

It took her some time get out of the sand, and by that time, there was no monster around anymore. She went on arrived on a corridor that took a right turn then a left one. She took the first turn and there, at the end of the corridor, was a large window in front of which a winged serpent passed, looking for her. She stopped abruptly, not knowing what to do, but in the end she just continued, thinking that it was safe.

 

She went around the next corner, to the left, which led her to yet another entrance to a great hall. She wanted to enter it, but as she approached it, a guardian passed directly in front of the door, scaring her. She still ran inside, hiding in the dark, behind a few large pillars, occasionally peeking to study the monster that was looking for her around the hall.

 

She witnessed how the monster found a few pieces of red cloth flying around the hall, and brutally attacked them, trapping them inside him. (Remember the dead ones she found at the beginning: they contained red cloth that had been trapped, and which she freed). She went on, trying to get past the hall, barely avoiding the monster a few times. She kept going and then, suddenly, in front of her, from underneath the sand, a monster emerged, shrieking loudly. She fell on her back, shocked, but she was lucky that the guardian didn’t notice her.

 

She continued her way, having more encounters with the two monsters. She used the collapsed pieces of buildings as hiding spots. She then arrived at a place where there was a steep hill, which meant that she had to slide down. She noticed that the end there was a place that was glowing golden for some reason. She started sliding down, but suddenly two monsters appeared, one from each side, and saw her. An epic chase started, with her avoiding a few of their attacks before finally jumping on that platform that had some kind of force field that kept the guardians out.

 

The place where she ended up was on a platform that had four high pillars on each side, each of them having numerous golden symbols on them. The floor underneath, again, was covered in golden symbols. There was a stone and six small pillars, which she activated and started watching what drawings the golden symbols would carve this time.

 

The drawings continue the story from where it left off last time. It is shown how the white clothed people died out and all the great things they had built slowly disappeared underneath the sand. The guardians still remained, and they have the same purpose as they always had: trap the red cloth. The last carved image shows how the chosen one, her, appears in the desert from the stars, his purpose being to free the red cloth they had trapped and fix the things they had done wrong.

 

She gets up on her feet as the giant door opened itself behind the stone. She looked behind and it is revealed that the force field didn’t stop only the monsters from entering that area, but the water too. She had been under water the whole time since she had fallen into the hole in the middle of that abandoned town.

 

She enters through the door afterwards, and arrives in large, round hall that had a high round tower in the middle. There were a few platforms attached to the ceiling, each of them at a new level, which she had to climb to with the help of the red cloth that would be released once she activated a few pillars on each level. She did that, and with each couple of pillars activated, pieces of red cloth were released and water was left entering the building. The pieces of red cloth would connect two platforms between each other, making it possible to walk across. The water slowly rose until she managed to arrive at the top of the tower that turned into gold when it was under water. There, under the water, was also a winged serpent that was formed out of red cloth and which helped her get to the top of the tower since the platforms didn’t go that high. When it was underwater, the golden symbols that were on the red cloth were glowing gold and the winged serpent was shouting loudly every few seconds.

 

On the top, she found yet another stone and activated the pillars, but this time, something different happened. The ceiling of the building started showing golden symbols that came out of the stone and started circling her. Then, suddenly, she found herself in a white room with the angel like figure, who points around. They were in a round room that had her journey carved into the walls. It showed everything she had done from the beginning until now, and even what she would be doing next. The next part was the last part also. It showed that she would be climbing the mountain, showing that the wind would be very strong and she would be struggling. The last image shows her on the ground.

 

A bridge appeared that connected the small tower in the mid with the door that led out of the building. She headed towards that door, and above it, there was a large window. She looks out the window for a bit, where she can clearly see the mountain peak, closer than ever. She went through that door, through the long corridor, which was slowly getting filled with cold air and snow, until she finally exited it, at the base of the mountain. She looked up at it, and then started the last part of her journey.

 

She started going through the snow, passing through some stone pillars that were there. Occasionally, a strong wind would come, so strong that it would push her back, so she had to use the pillars as a shield. Looking around, she saw that there were winged serpents circling around the mountain.

 

She kept going through the cold wind, pushing as hard as she could, but the more she stayed into the cold, the more her scarf was losing its bright golden symbols, after which she would start freezing. She went ahead and started going up on the side of the mountain, frozen, until she stepped over a room that had a strange round stone object attached to the ceiling which contained a golden ball that emanated warmth. She warmed herself up, the golden symbols re-appearing on her scarf, and continued afterwards.

 

She arrived in an open field where there were pieces of buildings she could use as a shelter. They had entrances and she could shield herself from the winged serpents that were circling around that area. There were many of them looking around, and it proved to be harder than she thought to get past them. She managed though, after hiding numerous times just on time so they wouldn’t see her.

 

She arrived at a gate that led to a narrow path through the mountain. Going through it, she arrived at a place where there were a few pieces of red cloth, frozen, and a few remains of buildings that also used to be there. Above everything, at quite some height, there was another gate, but she couldn’t get up there without her flying powers, which she could use only when her scarf was charged, which it currently wasn’t because of the cold. She unfroze a few pieces of red cloth and used them to ascend up to the gate, from where she went on.

 

She continued her way and ended up, once more, on the edge of the mountain, on a path that the ancient civilization built there. She started using that path, the wind being so strong that it pushed her back a few times and froze her completely. But she didn’t give up. She managed to get out of that path, out into an open field where there was a strong snow storm, with thunder roaring near the peak of the mountain. The wind was too strong for her and it pushed her in all directions, sometimes even throwing her to the ground. She managed to get on her feet every single time, only to be thrown to the ground again. Then, she was thrown a last time, a few good feet through the air. She fell down, barely moving anymore. She still managed to push herself on her feet and managed to take one step against the wind before she fell on her back, not moving anymore. The impact of her falling on her back made her hood fall off, revealing her face for the first time in the entire movie.

 

~Screen fades to black; Screen fades to white~

 

We can see six white figures looking down at her body, saddened. Her body slowly starts to rise into the air, her scarf unfreezing, and she starts moving. Then, suddenly, she catches a high speed and starts going through the storm clouds towards a light, with thunder roaring on her left and right side, and with the winged serpents passing in front of her, nearly hitting her, shrieking.

 

She enters that bright light and we cut to above the storm, where she had arrived. We can see the peak of the mountain, closer than ever, and two winged serpents formed of red cloth, flying around, shouting every few seconds. There were other, smaller pieces of red cloth flying in the distance. She started flying through a few gates that were on a few cliffs, next to lakes that were filled by waterfalls, and then the water from them went into a waterfall that went down the mountain. She stopped in front of a waterfall that was coming from a huge cliff. There were some red cloths attached to each other, going from the deepness of the lake, up to above the waterfall.

 

She started ascending those at high speed, gaining a boost in flying. She follow the small river from where the waterfall originated, arriving at a smaller waterfall that led her to an even bigger lake than the one before. She went through the water of that lake, with winged serpents formed out of red cloth flying through that late, and jelly fish shaped cloths, too.

 

She looked towards the peak and saw that there were a dozen of waterfalls, one bigger than the other. She kept flying until she arrived at the last gate before the top. She looked down one last time, at the beautiful she’s been through, and the hard ones, too, and slowly shook her head. She then turned around and started flying towards the top of the mountain, through golden symbols that were radiating from its peak. She landed there and slowly headed into the light that was in the middle of the peak.

 

(“Austin Wintory – I was born for this” starts playing)

 

The screen fades to white as she slowly disappears into that light, and we are now back in the white room where her journey was carved into the walls. We then see a last part we hadn’t seen before. It shows how she reaches the peak and then she takes off back into the stars, from where she came.

 

The End! Roll Credits.

 

 (“Austin Wintory – I was born for this” ends playing)

Edited March 25, 2013 by ChFloppit

[ChD]

Heavy Rain

 

Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller/Action
Cast:

Eric Bana as Ethan Mars

John Goodman as Scott Shelby

Cassey Affleck as Norman Jayden

Natalie Portman as Madison Paige

Jena Malone as Lauren Winter

Ray Liotta as Blake

David Tennant as Gordon Kramer

Martin Sheen as Charles Kramer
Directed By: Tomas Alfredson
Release Date: October 6

Composer: James Newton Howard
Theater Count: 3600 theaters
Running Time: 155min
Budget: $75 million
MPAA Rating: R

 

 

Plot:

The movie opens with a few shots of an empty house. The last shot features the bedroom, where a man, Ethan, is seen asleep in his bed. His alarm rings and he wakes up, takes a shower and then get dressed. After that, he goes downstairs and starts working until his wife and two children, Shaun and Jason, return home from shopping since it was Jason’s birthday today.

 

We cut to his wife and children finally arriving home. The two boys come running towards him and ask him if he wants to play to them, to which he gladly agrees. He takes them out in the backyard where they spend some time together before his wife calls them inside to eat before the birthday guests arrive.

-   A few days later -

We see Ethan, his wife, and their two children at the local mall. Jason and Shaun were running around them, playing catch, while Ethan was holding his wife’s hand. She then noticed a shop and told Ethan that she wanted to buy some shoes for Shaun and that he should look over Jason while she does that.

 

She grabs Shaun and heads inside the shop, leaving Ethan and Jason alone. Ethan looks around the mall, and then looks at Jason, but he had disappeared from his side. He looks around and notices Jason a few feet away from him, in front of a man dressed as a clown who was selling balloons, looking at a red balloon. Ethan goes next to him and asks him if he wants the balloon, to which Jason said yes. The clown handed Jason the balloon and Ethan started looking for his money. A few moments later, he found it and paid the man, but then looked around and noticed that Jason had disappeared again from his side.

 

He started calling out his name while looking for him, which was very hard because the place was really crowded. He tried to track him down by following his balloon, but it turned out to be another boy that had the same balloon as Jason. Ethan arrived at the exit that led into the street and noticed Jason across the street.

He exits the mall and calls out for him. Jason notices him and starts running towards him, crossing the street, without checking left or right for any cars. Ethan watched how a car came towards Jason at high speed. He jumped towards Jason to save him, but failed.

 

The last shot features Jason’s red balloon, slowly flying into the sky as, in the background police sirens are heard and his mother’s desperate cry.

-   2 Years Later   -

 

It’s a rainy afternoon, dark clouds gathering above the city, stopping the sun light from penetrating them, making it seem like it was late in the night. Ethan was for his son, Shaun, outside his school, in the rain.  He noticed Shaun coming out and greeted him, but he just walked past him, looking down at the ground, and murmured a boring ‘hi dad’ before climbing into the car. Ethan sighed and then climbed into the car too, driving off.

 

The whole day, Ethan tried to talk to Shaun, who wasn’t paying any attention to him because he was too busy watching TV. He was asked about his homework, to which he said he’ll do it later. He then was asked if he was hungry, but he said he wasn’t. That went on until Ethan had enough and turned off the TV, making Shaun angry at him. He ran up to his room, Ethan closely following from behind, knowing too well that he had been too hard on his son.

 

He entered Shaun’s room, where he found him on his bed, facing the wall. He went and sat down at the edge of the bed, trying to apologize to him, but Shaun just ignored him. He then told him to go away, saying that he hated him and that his mother was much better to him than he was.

 

Ethan decided to let it go for now, hoping that he would forgive him sometime in the future. He got up and went to close the window curtains. Whilst doing that, he noticed a drawing on Shaun’s desk, which he had made. He took it and saw that the drawing was of the day his older brother, Jason, had died. The drawing was with Jason lying in the middle of the road, with his parents and himself around him, crying, and police cars and ambulances parked next to them.

 

Ethan visibly saddened at that, and looked at Shaun a last time before heading out of the room, back downstairs. As he exited the room, though, a strong headache hit him and he started feeling dizzy. His vision became blurry and faded for a couple of times, after which he woke up in the middle of a dark street.

He looked around, confused, trying to make out what happened and how he ended up there, but he couldn’t remember anything. He then noticed that he had something in his hand: an origami figure. He slowly started walking in one direction, through the heavy rain, looking down at the ground.

-

Tuesday
00:06 AM
0.272 inches

 

We see a car parking in front of a small motel, situated in the darker parts of New York. A man gets out of the car and enters the motel. He goes at the register and asks where he can find Lauren Winter. The man who was at the register was reading a newspaper that had “Origami Killer – 7 Victim already” as the main headline and said that that name didn’t ring any bells.

 

Despite that, he still went upstairs and started looking for Lauren, knowing that she probably was around there but wanted not to be found given what she does for a living. He finally finds her apartment door and knocks on it. She opens the door just a little bit, looking at him through the crack, and says that she only accepts people that made appointments. She then closes the door, but he insists and she finally lets him in, saying that the price is $50 and she doesn’t kiss and weird stuff.

 

He nods and puts his money on the table as Lauren went to her bed and took her robe off. He looks at her and says that in fact he isn’t there for her services.

 

He introduces himself as being Scott Shelby, a retired Police Lieutenant who recently started working as a Private Investigator on the Origami Killer’s case. He then said he had a few questions for her, if she wanted to answer them.

 

When she heard that, she said that whatever he does right now wouldn’t help her save son, who was killed by the Origami Killer. Scott insists, but nothing works. He gave up and decided to leave, but before he did that, he left his card on the table, just in case she changed her mind. A few seconds after leaving the apartment, Scott had a respiratory stop from his asthma. He falls with his back against the wall, looking for his inhaler through all his pockets. He finds it and uses it just as a well built men walks past him, ignoring him, and knock at Lauren’s door. She opens the door and when she sees him she tells him to go away or she would call the police. The man became angry at that and forced his way inside.

 

Scott noticed what had happened, so he went to the door and knocked at it. The man answered, angry, and Scott noticed that Lauren was on the floor, crying, and forced his way in. They both engage into a fight that ended with Scott beating that man until he ran away, destroying half of the apartment during that. He then made sure that she was alright and then headed towards the door to leave, but Lauren stopped him and thanked him for helping her.

 

-

Tuesday
1:00 PM
0.765 inches

 

We see Ethan sitting on a chair, answering a few questions his psychologist was asking him. After that, he gets up from his chair and starts walking around the room. His psychologist asks him how he is, to which Ethan admitted that he was doing very bad right now, mentioning that his son, Shaun, was totally ignoring him and that he still felt guilty for Jason’s death. His psychologist then said that it wasn’t his fault that Jason had died, and that he was feeling guilty because he was lucky and had survived that crash, whilst Jason didn’t. Ethan looked at him and said he wasn’t feeling very lucky.

 

We cut to him and Shaun sitting on a bench, in the park. Ethan tries to talk to him, asking him how school was, to which he said that he had been punished for not doing his homework. There was an awkward silence between the two of them until Ethan saw Shaun’s boomerang and asked for his permission to take it. Shaun nodded and Ethan took it and threw it for a couple of times, for fun. Shaun was amazed by how it came back to Ethan and asked him to teach him how to do that.

 

They start having some fun in the park: on the seesaw, on the swing, and in the end, they went on a carousel. Before Shaun got on it, he apologized to Ethan for what he had said the day before, to which Ethan said that he had every right to do that since he had been too rough with him. The carousel then starts, and Ethan starts feeling dizzy again, his vision fading once more.

 

He then found himself in the middle of the same street like last time. He managed to jump out of the way of a truck that was coming towards him just in time.

 

He then realized that when everything happened, Shaun was with him, and there was no sign of him anywhere. Desperately, he ran back to the place where he saw him last time, the park, but it was empty. He found Shaun’s bag on the bench, where they had left it. He ran back home, hoping that Shaun had made his way home alone, but the house was empty, too. He ran out, in the middle of the street, and yelled out his name again and again and again, falling down on his knees. That’s when he realized that in his hand there was, yet again, an origami figure.

 

-

Tuesday
7:55 PM
1.326 inches

 

We cut to Norman Jayden, who is waiting outside an office. He looks over at the assistant and asks if he has a lot to wait until the captain would be ready for him, and she says that he’ll be ready any moment now. Norman grabs his ARI set (ARI – Added reality interface. The set is formed from a glove and a pair of glasses that create a virtual reality that the wearer can see and interact with. It’s also used in investigations as it automatically scans the area and points out things that could be considered clues) and creates a virtual wall in front of him. He starts throwing a virtual ball in the wall.

 

We cut to how the officers, who don’t see the wall, are looking at him. They are giving Norman strange looks and a few were even laughing at him, thinking that he was insane.

 

After some time, the captain exits his office and starts talking to his assistant, who tells him that Norman was there to see him. He turns around and sees Norman, who takes his ARI set off and goes to shake his hand, and apologizes to him that he has to leave for a conference. He asks him if he minds tagging along and talking at the same time.

 

Norman accepts and starts walking with the captain. He was asked if he had met Lieutenant Blake yet, to which Norman said that he had met him earlier that morning.

 

They kept talking until they arrived at the door that led out of the section. The captain turned at Norman and said that his assistant will show him to his office for this case.

 

He went back to the assistant’s desk and had to wait until she finished a phone call. While waiting, he noticed that on the table there was a basket that had a note in it that said “For Larry’s Promotion present”. He asked the assistant what that was and she said that the golden watch that was inside the basket was given as a present to officers who were upgraded to lieutenant. She also mentioned that they did this for more than twenty years.

 

Norman then asked her to show him to his office and she asked him to follow her. They went down the corridor, at the furthest office. He entered and got quite a surprise: it was a small and old office, the walls being damaged and in the middle of it there was an old desk that was covered with dust.

 

He thanked her and she left. He closed the door behind, pushed his desk against the wall, and sat down. He takes his ARI set out deciding to look over the clues he had found earlier that morning, when he went to a crime scene, a junkyard situated next to a highway, where they found another victim of the Origami Killer.

 

First of all, before looking over the clues, he changed the look of his office. He chose a theme and everything around him changed. It now looked like the planet mars, the other planets of the solar system being visible in the background.

 

He then goes over the clues he had found. First clue was a trace of blood that was on a nearby fence. Norman thought that it belonged to the Origami Killer so he scanned it with the help of the ARI. It reported that the blood suggests an advanced and long lasting state of exhaustion. The next clue he had found were the tire prints he had found next to the highway, where he thought the killer parked his car. The ARI reported that the tire prints were from a Chevrolet Malibu.

 

The last clue he had found was the part that suggested it was yet another person killed by the Origami Killer. The victim had an origami figure in its hand and an orchid on its chest. The victim also showed no signs of violence. Cause of death: Drowning with rainwater.

 

He then started feeling dizzy, a side effect of overusing the ARI kit. He quickly took the glasses and glove off and went to the bathroom to throw some cold water on his face.

 

We cut to Lieutenant Blake who was currently interrogating Ethan Mars, who came down to the section to report Shaun missing.

 

He was asked a few questions by Blake, like what time it was when he disappeared or what clothes he was wearing. Ethan answered as well as he could, but Blake was suspicious on how Shaun had managed to disappear from under Ethan’s eyes. Ethan insisted that he didn’t know or understand what had happened.

 

Another officer then asked him if he thought Shaun had any reasons to run away from home or something similar to that. Ethan admitted that Shaun was a sensitive child and that their relationship wasn’t the best. He was then asked about his wife, who he was divorced from, and he said that Shaun wouldn’t run off to her just like that, without telling him anything.

 

Blake told him that he had no more questions for now and that they were going to look for Shaun overnight. He also mentioned that if he had any more questions, he would call him. As he wanted to leave, Ethan stopped him and asked him if there was a chance that the Origami Killer kidnapped him, to which Blake said that it was highly unlikely and that Shaun would probably turn up within a couple of hours. Ethan asked ‘what if’ and Blake said that if it was so, they had around four days to find him alive.

 

We cut to Ethan’s wife, who was waiting for Ethan to tell her what the police had told him. He said that they thought that they could find him in around two hours. She desperately asked if there was a chance that the Origami Killer kidnapped him and Ethan said that they thought there was a possibility. She then started crying and blamed Ethan for losing their kid, once more. Crying, she asked him if Jason wasn’t enough already.

 

 

Realizing what she had said, she tried to apologize. Ethan wanted to hug her, but decided not to. He looked around the section while she continued crying.

 

-

Tuesday
9:52 PM
1.394 inches

 

Scott Shelby enters a super market and starts talking to the cashier. He introduces himself and says that he has a few questions for him related to the Origami Killer. The man says he can’t answers any questions because he doesn’t know anything about it. Scott tries to persuade him into telling, but the man insists he doesn’t know anything at all. He asks Scott why he only started investigating now, why not earlier. Maybe he could’ve saved a few lives, including his own son’s.

 

Scott said that he retired recently and that he realized only now that he missed his job so much, so that’s why he chose to become a Private Investigator. Scott says that if he came here, at least he can buy a new inhaler. He grabs it and goes to pay it at the counter. As he heads out, the man stops him and gives him a box, saying that he received it the day his son had disappeared.

 

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Wednesday
7:31 AM
1.700 inches

 

We see a couple dozen reporters in front of Ethan’s house, waiting for him to come out and answer a few of their questions. Inside the house, Ethan is reading a letter that arrived earlier that day. The letter told a strange story about some children that had disappeared, thing that made Ethan suspicious about it. He took the envelope and noticed that a key and a picture fell out. The key was from a locker, and the picture was of a statue that Ethan knew from somewhere.

 

Ethan exits through the back door and goes to the train station where he saw that statue. He arrived there and when he saw how crowded that place was, he started panicking. He started talking to himself, saying that he had to stay calm and pass through the crowd as fast as possible because he simply couldn’t take any kind of crowds.

 

Suddenly, his vision becomes blurry for a few seconds. His vision faded a couple of times and he then looked around. No one around moved, they were like statues. He slowly went and touched one man, who fell down like a ragdoll. After that, Ethan started hearing his son, Jason, calling out his name. He saw a red balloon in the distance and ran after him, but when he nearly caught him, he came back to reality and found himself having passed through the crowd.

 

Arriving at the Luggage Lockers wing, he went to Lane 18, Box Number 3, as it was written on the back of the picture, and opened it. Inside that locker, Ethan found a shoebox.

 

We cut to Ethan, who went at a motel since his house was surrounded by the media day and night. He was sitting at a chair, resting his forehead in his palms, staring at the floor. He looks up and sees the shoebox, which he still didn’t open, on the desk. He goes to the desk, opens it, and finds different items inside: A phone, a gun, a memory card, a camera and five origami figures.

 

Ethan takes an origami figure and unfolds it, finding a message written on it. On the origami figure it was written that if Ethan wanted to save Shaun, he had to go to the following address. He then took the memory card and put it inside the phone. A video of Shaun appeared on it. He was locked under a grate, in a water tank. The rain water slowly rose and at some moment, it would drown him. Shaun called for help, the water nearly reaching his waist. Then the following message appeared on the screen: “How far would you go to save someone you loved?”

 

The message also said that there are five trials, each origami figure for one. Each trial would reveal a few letters that, in the end, would for the address where Shaun was kept. Ethan quickly took the gun and the phone, together with the memory card inside it, and put them in his pocket. The other items he put back in the shoebox which he hid away so no one would find it.

 

-

Wednesday
9:31 AM
1.836 inches

 

We cut to Norman Jayden, who is holding a presentation on how the Origami Killer acts. He had set up a video projector and a few officers that were on that case gathered there. He said that the Origami Killer doesn’t kill out of hate, and that he chooses his victims randomly, having nothing personal against them. That’s was the reason why he always covered the victim’s face with mud, so they would remain unknown to him. The origami and the orchid on the victims is a sign, an apology for what he had done.

 

Blake, who was there, too, complains by saying that Norman didn’t help them at all with that. He said that they tried to catch him, not to study him and publish papers on how that animal acted. The captain interrupted Blake and told Norman to continue. Norman also said that he found out how the Origami Killer kills his victims: drowning them with rain water. The victims always turn up when the rain water was at 6inches so he came to the conclusion that the killer might be using some kind of tank with an opening into the sky so it would collect the rain water.

 

Norman went on by saying that a murderer always kills near his home at first, so he can quickly run back. As he becomes more assured that he’s face and that he will get away, he goes farther away from home. With the help of all the killings that went on, he said he was able to find a zone in which the killer might live.

 

Blake, still annoyed by the fact that this wasn’t helping them at all but just wasting their time, asked him how big that ‘zone’ actually was. Norman said that it was around ten square miles. Blake said that in that sort of area, thousands and thousands of people could live, then he added the he guesses Norman didn’t want to interrogate them all, or did he because that would fit with what he usually does: nothing useful.

 

Norman had enough and snapped back at him saying that this might not give them the killers address, but it’s something to go on. He then asked Blake if he had any better suggestions, saying he was all ears.

 

The captain then interrupted the two of them and asked what was next on Norman’s list. He said that, right now, he had two suspects who he wanted to interrogate.

 

Blake cut in saying that everything was just a loss of time and that this wouldn’t bring them a single step closer to the killer.

 

 Norman snapped again and said that he had enough of Blake and his stupid commentaries. He said that he got more on the Origami Killer in one month than Blake got the entire time he was on this case, that being two years.

 

Blake got up and said that he doesn’t matter that Norman has a psychology degree or his fancy FBI glasses, what it matters is being a good cop, which Norman isn’t. He said that once he went out there and saw how it was, he would end up crawling back and probably never leaving again.

 

Norman calmed down and said that it’s a possible way to find the killer, and that he was going to do that with or without his help. Blake then nearly started a fight with Norman, but the Captain stopped Blake and sent him out.

 

He then asked Norman if he was sure about the rain level and after Norman nodded, he asked him how much time he thought they had. Norman said that if the weather forecasts were right, they had around 72 hours to find Shaun.

 

-

 

We cut to Norman and Blake going to interrogate the first person. Norman knocked on the door, but there was no answers, so he wanted to leave, but Blake stopped him, saying that he didn’t come all this way for nothing, and added that they should take a look inside anyway. Norman said that there was nobody home, but before he had a chance to finish his sentence, Blake had already kicked the door open.

 

They entered the apartment that each wall covered with crucifixes. Norman asked what all this was about and Blake said that the police had dealt with him earlier. He had caused some trouble in a part, kept saying he heard some voices in his head that told him to do different things, and which also told him that the end of the world was near and that he should prepare.

 

He said that Nathaniel had tried to kidnap a kid from that part, and he blamed everything on the voices in his head.

 

Suddenly, Nathaniel came home and found them inside his apartment. When he saw Blake, he immediately grabbed his gun and pointed it at him, calling him the anti Christ. Norman quickly got his gun and pointed it at Nathaniel. Blake kept yelling that he should shoot him before Nathaniel shot him, but Norman couldn’t do it. After Norman yelled at him to put his gun down and he didn’t, he shot him in the head, killing him.

 

-

Wednesday
11:03 AM
1.938 inches

 

We see Ethan walk on a sidewalk, through the rain. He stops and looks down a piece of paper he grabbed out of his pocket, and which had an address written on it. He looks up and sees that a car service corresponds to that address. He enters it and finds the mechanic working at a car.

 

He gives him a card that says a certain car that was there belonged to him. The mechanic looked at the number and laughed, saying that he never thought he would come after it. He said the car had been there for two years and that they had checked every single month to see if the tires and batteries were alright, just like he asked. He then told him the instructions on how to find it, and Ethan went to look for it.

 

He found it after looking around for quite some time. He climbed it and checked everything in it, apart from the glove compartment, which was locked. He found a GPS underneath the seat, which he put on the board and activated it. It had a set destination which was four miles away. Ethan drove off.

 

As he reached the destination, which was at the entrance to the highway, the GPS said that if he was ready to show his courage in order to save his son, he had to drive against the traffic for five miles. If in five minutes, he didn’t reach his destination, he failed.

 

After Ethan considered his options, he decided to go for it. He did as he was asked, barely escaping the first trial. He nearly caused a few accidents that could’ve been fatally to him just as much as it would’ve been to the people in the other cars, but the fact that he loved his son so much kept him going. When he reached the destination, he lost control of the car and flew of off the highway, landing with the car upside down. The car caught fire and the GPS said that the first clue was in the glove compartment and that the key was inside the GPS. He managed to get the key out and open the compartment, where he found another memory card. He then crawled out of the car and ran away, leaving it in flames. In the background, police sirens were heard.

 

Ethan stopped and put the memory card into the phone and then a new video of Shaun appeared on the screen, showing him in the water tank, the water higher than it was the last time. Then, the first letters of an address appeared on the phone screen.

 

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Wednesday
3:15 PM
2.006 inches

 

We see a chopper being parked in the parking lot of a motel. The girl takes her helmet off and heads inside the motel. She goes to the desk, in the background a TV being turned on, the news saying that Shaun Mars was still missing. She was handed a register in order to get a room, which she filled immediately. She then got her keys and headed towards her room.

 

She finally finds her room, but before she enters, she notices a man holding himself against the railway, not looking very ok. She goes at him and asks him if he’s alright, but he collapses to the ground. That man is Ethan.

 

She offered to call an ambulance, but he refused, saying that he would be alright. She insisted, saying that he was badly hurt. He asked her if he could bring him to his room. She did so and when she arrived there she put him on the bed and started taking care of his wounds – disinfecting them and putting bandage on them, too.

 

She then gave him a painkiller, but he grabbed the whole box of pills out of her hand and takes a full fist of them. She said it wasn’t recommended to do that, but he ignored her and said that he was going to take a shower. She said she would be staying there, just to be sure he was alright. Whilst he was in the shower, she kept asking him questions, wanting to make sure he didn’t pass out.

 

They talked, asking about their names and reasons why they were at the motel. Madison said she was suffering from chronic insomnia and that, for some strange reason, she could sleep only in motels. He asked her what she was doing for a living, to which she said she was a photographer.

 

A few moments later, he came out of the shower and thanked her for staying, saying that he was feeling better now. She then said that she would be leaving, but before that she asked him his name since he never got to tell her whilst he was in the shower because she had asked him another question.

 

He said his name was Ethan and she said that whatever he was doing, he should be very careful. He nodded and she left the room. Ethan quickly sat down and opened the box. Taking out another Origami figure, he unfolded it and read the next trial. He then headed out.

 

-

Wednesday
4:26 PM
2.074 inches

 

We cut to Blake and Norman sitting in a car, in silence, drinking coffee. Blake asks Norman if it was the first time he killed somebody since it always affected the first time. He added that he would get used to it, soon. Norman admitted that he didn’t want to get used to that.

 

They look out the window and see their suspect. They get out of the car and go to talk to him. They introduce themselves, but the suspect throws his coffee in Blake’s face and runs away.

 

An intense chase scene follows, where they nearly get hit by cars, following him through a local market, the chase coming to an end at a butchery that was inside the market. The suspect hid somewhere between a few dead pigs that were attached to the ceiling.

 

Norman got his gun out and slowly walked between the pigs, looking for him, but he was attacked with a crossbar from behind. After a fight, in which Norman had managed to take his crossbar away, Norman manages to knock him out just as Blake, who had fallen behind during the chase, had arrived. Breathing heavily, he says that this time the Origami Killer didn’t escape them.

 

-

Wednesday
7:28 PM
2.244 inches

 

We see Scott Shelby sleeping with his head on his desk. He then woke up and yawned. He looked at the papers that were on his desk and thought he would never catch the Origami Killer at this rate. As he thought that, the doorbell rang and he answered it. It was Lauren, who said that she had changed her mind and that she wanted to help him now. He invites her in and offers her a seat.

 

He sat down behind his desk and she said that she remembered something: a letter that arrived in the mail the day before Johnny disappeared. She said that his father found it, read it, and then quickly left. It was the last time she saw him. She said she didn’t know if it was important or not, but she had brought the envelope with her.

 

He takes it and checks to see from where it had been sent. He figures out that the address was typed with a typewriter. He said this was a possible lead. Lauren then offered to team up with him and help him with the investigation. She then said that, if he refused to let her help him, she would take the envelope and leave. He said it was dangerous so she took the envelope in a hurry and left, but he stopped her at the door, saying that he could find a way to let her help him.

 

The next shot shows Shelby parking his car in front of a mansion. Lauren was together with him. They both get out of the car, and Shelby says that she should stay in the car, but she says that they are partners now and that she’s coming, too. He shows the guardian the invite and enters the building. Lauren asks what they are doing there and Scott says that he wants to visit an old friend of his, Gordon Kramer. She asked him if he thought he was the Origami Killer, to which Scott said that he only wanted to ask him a few questions.

 

They arrived in the living room, where the party was held. It was filled with drunken people everywhere. There was even a guy who was sleeping on the pool table. Shelby then asks Lauren to wait on a seat while he went to talk with Gordon. He knew where he could find him, upstairs, and wanted to go there, but there were two guards guarding the entrance. He tries to talk them into letting him pass, even bribe them, but nothing worked.

He goes back to Lauren and tells her that he can’t talk to Gordon and that they are leaving, but she immediately says that she can help in this situation. She asks him to be on the watch for when the guards leave the door so he can pass. She goes and dances around them, then made a few steps away from them and collapses to the ground. They both went to check on her, and, in the meantime, Scott walked past them and headed upstairs.

 

He entered his office and found Gordon watching cartoons, while two girls were making out next to him. He tries to talk to him, but Gordon ignored him. He insisted, but to not success.

 

Seeing that he wasn’t paying attention, he started talking directly, asking him what exactly happened to Joseph Brown. Gordon immediately tenses up and threw the girls out of his office. After they left, Shelby said that there were quite a few witnesses who saw Joseph get into his limousine.

 

Shelby said he knew he had been interrogated, that until his father made a phone call and he suddenly was innocent. He asked him what really happened that day, wanting to make sure that he had nothing to do with the Origami Killer. Calmly, Gordon said that the kid was lost and he had offered him to take him home.

 

Shelby said that it wasn’t the first time that he tried that, and that he wasn’t a mere suspect to the police, either. Gordon got up and started pacing around the room, saying that he was the Origami Killer. He said he kidnapped people and then used rain water to drown them, throwing their bodies on waste lands afterwards. He said he did everything because he was bored, and said that killing people was a creative and entertaining way of having fun. He slowly walked next to Shelby and asked him if he wanted anything more.

 

The bodyguards then grabbed Shelby and tried to beat him and throw him out, while Gordon was watching and laughing. Scott managed to escape the guard’s grip and engaged into a fight with all three of them, ending victorious. He looks at Gordon and says that he’s playing a dangerous game. Calmly, Kramer asks him if he knows who his father is and then asks him if he knew that he has to do to kill him was lift one finger. Scott Shelby then left his office without saying anything more, while Gordon continued watching his cartoons, his maniacal laugh echoing through the house.

 

-

Wednesday
7:42 PM
2.278 inches

 

We see Ethan park his car in front of a Power plant where he needed to pass his next trial. He gets out of the car and heads towards the entrance, stopping for a moment to look at the building. He jumps a fence, the entrance being locked. He entered through the backdoor.

 

He ended up in a room where there was a steel safe door which was opened and had a box of matches inside it. There was a tunnel (a small one, requires him to crawl through it) that led into darkness. He lit a match and tried to look inside, but he couldn’t see anything. He crawled inside to see farther in the back, but the door closed behind, trapping him inside.

 

He has no other choice than moving towards. As he did so, he saw what the real challenge was. The whole floor was covered with broken pieces of glass, sharp as a razor. He had to crawl through it in order to pass. He decided to go slowly so he wouldn’t rip his hands off.

 

He managed to through the first part, already bleeding, until he arrived at a part where the tunnel was splitting into two different directions. He lit a match and saw in what direction the wind was blowing, so he decided to go that way. He continued crawling through the glass, slowly, taking in the pain.

 

Then, once more, he arrived at a place where the tunnel was splitting up. He went with the wind again. He went on until he arrived where the tunnel split into three different directions. He used the matches to go with the wind. He had to slow down because his vision was starting to get blurry and he was afraid of passing out.

 

Another turn followed and he started seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Confident, he went forward, towards the light. He fell out of the pipe, having cuts all over his body, and managed to push himself up on his feet. Then, there was another pipe that was going down, and Ethan knew he had no other choice, jumped into it and slid town. He ended up in a big hall. There, he found a ‘maze of electricity’. The hall was filled with electrical conductors that were linked together via wires. If Ethan touched any wires, he would get electrocuted and would die instantly.

 

At the end of the maze, he saw an origami figure drawn on the wall and underneath it there was a table that had a memory card on it, which he needed to obtain. He barely managed to through the maze, nearly failing a couple of times. At the end, he grabbed the memory card and put it into his phone. The video of Shaun appeared again, the water once more being higher than the last time. Then, addition letters appeared on the screen of the phone, revealing a little bit more of the address where Shaun was held.

 

-

Wednesday
9:06 PM
2.346 inches

 

We cut to Madison, who was standing next to the railway where she had found Ethan the night before. She glanced at Ethan’s door and saw it was open. She looked inside through the crack and saw that Ethan was collapsed on the floor. She checked is pulse and noticed that he was still alive, so she moved him on the bed, after which he tried to talk to him to see if he was conscious, but there was no response from him.

 

While looking around for things to patch him up, she found the box with the Origami Figures. Confused, she asked herself what he could do with them, so she took one piece of paper that was an unfolded Origami figure and saw the message that was on it. She then remembered that his name was Ethan, as in Ethan Mars, the father whose son had been kidnapped by the Origami Killer. Ethan started moving so she put everything back to its place and started taking care of him.

 

After she took care of him, she left. We see Ethan getting up from his bed a few hours later, struggling to stand on his feet, and going to the box with the Origami Figures. He took another one that told him where he could find his next trial.

 

-

 

We cut to two officers interrogating the person Norman and Blake had caught earlier when he tried to make a run for it. He said he wasn’t the Origami Killer, but he was asked why he ran off when the two officers wanted to talk to him. He admitted that he didn’t report back to his parole officer and thought they would send him back to prison.

 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the window, where Norman, Blake and another officer was, they found out that he had an alibi for at least three of the murders. While Blake was cursing around, the phone rang and the third police officer answered it. He hung up the phone and said that Shaun Mars’ mother was there and that she wanted to speak to them.

 

-

 

We cut to her talking to the police officers, saying that everything happened a few months back, when Ethan came home at three AM, completely drenched. She asked him where he had been and he started murmuring different things about drowning and rain. She thought he didn’t make any sense, and thought it was just because he was tired, but she said there was something in his eyes, something that wasn’t him. She then said that the next morning, at the news, it was said that there had been found another victim of the Origami Killer.

 

-

Wednesday

9:55 PM
2.498 inches

 

We cut to Blake and Norman introducing themselves to Ethan’s psychologist. They said that they had a few questions about Ethan, but he said it was impossible for him to answer them since he was bound by an oath of secrecy and he is not allowed to discuss his patients under no circumstances.

 

Blake immediately became aggressive, saying that his job was to find Shaun Mars and that he wasn’t giving any shit about the stupid oath he had taken. Norman said that it was his duty to inform the police if he suspected one of his patients. The psychologist insisted that he couldn’t help them, then asked them to leave.

Blake started threatening him, while Norman stayed calm and said he knew he didn’t want to protect a murderer and if he suspected anything, he had to tell them, now. The psychologist became angry and said he would call the police and make a complaint about Blake’s behavior. As he picked up the phone to make the call, Blake hit him over the hand and went around the desk, grabbed him by his throat and said that slowly, he was losing his temper and that he should speak now since there’s a child life at stake and he probably knew something that could help them save that kid.

 

Norman said that Blake had no right to choke him, so Blake, angrily, let him go. Blake then suddenly turned around and grabbed him by his throat again, this time throwing him over the desk. He then said that he had an easy way or a hard way, and started punching him until Norman tried to interfere and stop him saying that he had no right to do that, but Blake just pushed Norman aside and continued punching him.

 

Norman got angry and pushed Blake aside. Blake started raging, saying that now that it was important, he had cold feet, and because of his stupidity, a child would die if he didn’t let him make him talk.

 

The psychologist managed to get on his feet, bleeding, and said that since Jason’s death, Ethan felt guilty, and that he had a vision of drowning bodies. He said that after one session, a few weeks ago, when he left,

something fell out of his pocket. He opened the drawer and removed an Origami Figure from it and showed it to the two officers.

 

We cut to Blake and Norman driving through the city at high speed, announcing every station in town that they had found the Origami Killer: Ethan Mars. He said he wanted every train station, every bus station, every airport and pretty much everything he could use to leave the city.

 

-

Thursday
7:00 AM
2.992 inches

We see Scott Sh

elby walking through a golf club building. There, he met with an old man, who was shooting some balls, and who was happy to see him. As soon as he saw him, he nicely asked him if he wanted any coffee, but Shelby said he didn’t. He then asked if he wanted to have a shot and he said he wasn’t good at it, but after the man insisted, he accepted to shot a few balls with him. He grabbed a gold club and shot a ball, listening to the old man’s instruction on how to do it.

 

They went on for a few shots until Scott finally said that he was pretty sure he didn’t invite him here to play golf. Charles Kramer, Gordon’s father, nodded and said he heard that Scott was asking questions about his son. He admitted that it was so, but just because he wanted to make sure there’s no connection between him and the Origami Killer.

 

Kramer said that his son had nothing to do with that sordid case to which Shelby said that if it was true, he had nothing to fear about his investigation. Kramer then said that he had no business investigating his son since he just told him that he had nothing to do with any of the Origami Killer’s cases. Shelby said that it was up to him who he wanted to investigate.

 

Scott took another shot and Kramer said that he was a very influential man and that he paid very well for loyalty. Shelby asked him if he wanted to buy him, to which Kramer said that he only wanted to show him where his real interest lie. He then asks him how much he wants to leave his son alone, but Scott says he doesn’t play that game. Kramer then said that if he ever went near his son ever again, he would regret it. Shelby, unimpressed, wished him a good day and left.

 

-

Thursday
7:47 AM
3.060 inches

 

Ethan stops his car in front of what seemed to be an abandoned building. He enters it and goes upstairs, where, on the ground, he finds porcelain wizards across the entire hallway. He starts breaking them, knowing that he needed to find something in them, until he finds a key that leads into one of the rooms.

 

He found the door and unlocked it, then entered it. Inside the room, there was a table in the middle of it, with a chair in front of it and a phone on it. He sat down and turned on the phone, after which it started talking, saying that he had a few minutes to cut off one section of any of his fingers, in front of the camera. If he succeeded, he would get his reward, if not, he would fail and he wouldn’t get the extra letters to the address.

 

A 5 minute countdown appeared on the phone’s screen and Ethan started looking around the apartment for something that he could use to cut his finger off. He found an axe, some disinfectant for the wound and bandage. He sat down and grabbed the axe. Closing his eyes, he took a few swings but he kept taking his hand away.

 

After the third try, he cut off his finger with the axe. He fell on the floor in pain, his hand bleeding. He yelled as loud as he could. A few moments later, he managed to get on his feet and grabbed the disinfectant, opened it, and poured it down on the wound.

 

His yells echoed through the building as he fell to the ground, tears coming out of his eyes already. He heard the phone say that the clue was underneath the table, and he barely got there. He looked underneath and saw that the floorboard had a hole in it. Inside that hole, a memory card lay, which he took out and put it into his phone. Once again, a video of Shaun popped up, the water nearly reaching his chin. Then, a few extra letters appeared on the phone screen.

 

-

 

We cut to Blake and Norman waiting in their car, which was parked just next to Ethan’s. Around them, there are a few police cars, all of them filled with police officers waiting for Ethan to come out. Norman asked what Ethan could be doing inside there, to which Blake said that he was the profiler and that he should be in the killer’s head all the time. Norman said he was, but the killer simply wasn’t Ethan Mars. Blake laughed and said that they should leave that decision up to the jury.

 

-

 

We cut to Madison, who is at the corner of the street, looking at the building, waiting for Ethan. She notices the police cars and decides to go and help him. She slowly walks down the street and enters the building, wanting to warn Ethan about them. She found Ethan, hurt. Desperately, she asked what had happened but dropped her questions and said that the police was outside, waiting for him.

 

She looked for a way to escape the building. She saw a few wooden boards covering a window, so she moved them aside and used a few boxes that were around to form some sort of stairs so they could climb out of it.

We cut to Blake who orders two men to go at the door and wait there until further commands.

 

We cut back to Madison. She just opened the window that led to the back alley. She helped Ethan climb out just as the police entered the building at Blake’s command.

 

In the back alley, another police officer found them and threatened to shoot them, but he didn’t because he could’ve ended up hurting Madison instead of Ethan.

 

She helped Ethan run to the subway, just as Blake was told that they had escaped. Blake ran after them, but they entered the subway station by the time he arrived on the street. Ethan started feeling dizzy because he couldn’t take crowds well and Madison had to help him walk.

 

Blake was after them but he couldn’t open fire because there were simply too many people around. They crossed the railway just as a train passed by, barely avoiding it, and got into the next train, escaping.

 

-

 

We cut to a TV where the news was on and said that the police had managed to identify the Origami Killer as being Ethan Mars, the father of the missing boy, Shaun Mars. He said a police manhunt was underway and that they hoped to catch him soon.

 

Ethan turned off the TV and threw the remote away.

 

He took the box and took another Origami figure out of it. He unfolded it and found another address. It also said that, in order to pass this trial, he had to kill the man who was living there, take a picture afterwards and send it. Inside the box, there was a gun which he took and left.

 

-

 

Thursday
11:15 AM
3.366 inches

 

We see Ethan in front of an apartment door, checking the gun to see if it was loaded. He looks around, worried, and then knocks on the door. The man who replied at the door immediately said that he didn’t want any junkies at his door and that if he wanted to score, he needed to call before. Ethan immediately got the gun out and the man calmed down, trying to reason with Ethan. He started asking Ethan what he wanted: dope, money, he had it all.

 

Ethan didn’t pay attention for one moment and the man hit Ethan over his hand, making him drop the gun. He got a shotgun out and started shooting at Ethan, but he managed to avoid a few bullets. After running through the whole house, Ethan ended up in a pink room, where he was at a dead end. The man came from behind, shotgun pointed at Ethan, and pressed the trigger, but he had no more ammo.

 

Ethan pointed his gun at the man and he dropped his, saying that he could give him whatever he wanted. He said he didn’t want to die and begged him not to kill him. He said he had children, pointing at the room around him, and then showed him a picture of two girls named Sarah and Cindy. Ethan told him to go down on his knees, and pointed the gun at his head. The man kept begging, saying that he was a father and that his girls needed a father. Ethan hit him over the head, knocking him out, saying that he was a father too, but he wasn’t a killer.

 

-

Thursday
4:30 PM
3.672 inches

 

We cut to Scott Shelby and Lauren sitting in his car. Lauren asks him what they are doing there and he says that they are going to spy on Charles Kramer a bit, thinking that he might hide something. They were parked not so far away from his building, and Scott notices him getting out of his building and getting into the car.

 

They follow him to a grave yard, where they see him put a bouquet of flowers at a tombstone. They wait until he leaves and go to check whose tombstone it was. It was of a boy named John Sheppard, who had the flowers in front of his tombstone, and an origami figure, which Scott found very odd.

 

They asked themselves who this boy was and how he had managed to die so young. As they thought that, a grave digger who was working there came from behind and said that he knew this boy so well and also what had happened to him. Scott and Lauren told him to tell them the story, and he started: “It was October ’77, I think”

 

We cut to a construction site. Next to the unfinished building, there is a trailer. From inside, a drunken man is yelling at the two boys that are standing outside, in the rain. He tells them to disappeared and come home only when their mother is back.

 

One boy sadly says that their father is drunk again, and the other one asks what they should do since its pouring rain and they can’t stay outside. The other one said that a little rain didn’t hurt anybody.

 

He then turned around and said that they should go playing a bit. They start running around, playing catch. They end up entering the unfinished building where they climb through it, passing through some dangerous places like passing one part of the building to another one by walking over a wooden plank, underneath them being a 30foot drop that could kill them both. They went around the construction side and got back to the trailer, where one of them suggested that they should play hide and seek. One of them starts counting while the other one runs away, looking for a hiding spot.

 

The screen fades to black as we hear the boy start counting, while the footsteps of the other one are heard going away. He counts to twenty and we see from his point of view as he starts looking around for his brother.

Suddenly, we can hear him call out for help, his voice weak. His brother looks for him desperately until he finds him. His brother had fallen into a pipe and was unable to escape because his foot was stuck because of the pressure of the increasing rain water that was flowing through it.

 

He was unable to free his brother and went to look for help.

 

We cut back at the old man at the graveyard, who continued by saying that he never found any help and that his brother ended up drowning in rain water.

 

Thunder is heard rumbling into the distance and the man, noticing that, says there is a storm coming and that they should go home. He turns around and leaves.

 

While Laura looks after the man, she remarked that it was a horrible story. She then realized that his brother drowned in rain water and asked if John Sheppard’s brother could be the Origami killer.

 

Scott said he didn’t know, but he knew that that storm was coming and they needed to head home. They both leave.

 

-

 

Thursday
11:32 PM
4.386 inches

 

After Norman investigated separately a bit, he found out that the building where Ethan was last seen belonged to Paco Mendes, and he apparently could be found at his club, The Blue Lagoon.

 

We cut to him entering the club and asking a bodyguard where he can find him, but the guard tells him there is no Paco there and that he should mind his own business. Norman immediately gets his FBI license out and asks him if he’s sure. The guard then told him where he could find Paco.

 

We see Norman head towards his office while we cut to Paco, who is currently talking to a man we can’t see (only his shadow). Paco said that he doesn’t know what he’s doing with that building, but whatever that shit is, he needs to be more careful with it because it’s beginning to draw attention.

 

Paco then said that it was true he kept him out of prison, but he did everything he was asked, and he said he thought his debt to him was finally paid. Just as Norman arrives at the door, we can see that the man has got a gun out, pointing at Paco, who tried to reason with him. Norman shows the bodyguard his FBI license and is let in. A long corridor follows, the door to Paco’s office being at far back end.

 

The man then shot Paco, the gunshot being covered by the loud club music. Norman entered Paco’s office and found him in his chair, dead, having been shot in the head. He gets his ARI set out and puts his glasses on. As he wants to put his glove on, he is attacked from behind. A fight between Norman and Paco’s killer starts and ends up with half of the room destroyed and the killer escaping. Norman got up a few moments after he had been knocked out and tried to follow the killer, but he was already gone.

 

He then went to the bodyguard at the door and asked him if he knew who visited Paco. The bodyguard said he didn’t knew, which led to Norman grabbing him by his neck and push him against the wall, asking again. The bodyguard said that his name was John. He was a friend of Paco’s who always goes straight up without anyone checking him.

 

He heads back inside to look for some more clues. The first thing he finds are two receipts from the same Gas Station, which, initially, were in the killer’s pocket which Norman had managed to somehow rip off during their fight. He then found his gun on the ground, the killer having knocked it out of his hand, and his ARI glasses which fell off when he was attacked.

 

With the help of his ARI he detected orchid pheromones, which made him think that the man he just fought was no other than the Origami Killer himself.

 

-

 

Thursday
11:39 PM
4.454 inches

We cut to Ethan, who is sitting on the floor, with his back against the wall. One hand was heavily bandaged because of his cut off finger. He sits there, his eyes closed, until he hears the door slowly opening. Madison comes in and goes next to him, asking him if he was alright.

 

He shook his head and admitted that he couldn’t do it, that he was supposed to kill that man in order to save Shaun, but he simply couldn’t do it. She said she knows he isn’t the Origami Killer and she can prove it. He said it doesn’t change anything, and that saving Shaun was everything that mattered to him right now.

Ethan looks into her eyes and they both start kissing, after which they have sex.

 

Ethan wakes up in the middle of the night and gets dressed, wanting to head out to get some fresh air. He wants to grab his jacket, which was on the chair, underneath Madison’s. He picks up Madison’s so he could pick up his, but a camera a notebook falls out from Madison’s jacket. He checked the camera and saw that it contained pictures with him, going to the trials when he was wounded, and a picture of him, at home, sleeping. In the notebook, there were some notes she took while she followed him.

 

He looked up, saying that all this time he didn’t know. She woke up and asked him what the matter was. He got up on his feet and started walking around the room, saying that he thought he meant something to her. She wanted to say something, but Ethan interrupted her by saying that she was a pretty good nurse for a fucking journalist.

 

She got up from the bed and started explaining, saying that she wanted to tell him. He kept asking her what kind of article she was going to write, what title it would get, and continued by saying that maybe she could get a book deal and then said that he hoped it was fucking worth it.

 

She then said that she was a reporter and that, at first, she thought about covering this story, but after she saw what he really was going through to save his son, and how much he loved him, she decided not to. She said that she thought he wouldn’t believe her. She continued by saying that all she wanted right now was that he will find his son alive, and that, afterwards, she wants to be with him.

 

He hugged her and she kept apologizing. Afterwards, after they broke apart, she asked him if he was leaving and he said he was, mentioning that this was the last trial and those were the last letters of the address. She said that she would head out to find something to eat, and that he should wait for her.

 

-

 

Thursday
11:43 PM
4.488 inches

 

We cut to Scott just entering his apartment together with Lauren. He finds Charles and Gordon Kramer inside, guns already pointed at Scott and Lauren. Charles said that he had told him to drop the investigation on the Origami Killer case. Scott said that Charles’s son was a serial killer, and then asked him how many innocent kids he has to kill before he turns him in.

 

He admitted that his son had his faults, but he was still his son, and said that Scott did not have any children to know how it was. He said that he didn’t leave him any choice, and that his investigation was over. He then was knocked out by a man with a gun.

 

He woke up in his car, which was in the middle of a lake, sinking. He was confused and started swearing. His hands were tired to the wheel while Lauren’s, who was there, too, unconscious, were tied against the door.

 

He managed to untie himself and then started kicking the shield until it broke and the car was filled with water. He swam out, never looking behind. We see him get to the shore, coughing heavily. He sits down and curses Charles Kramer, saying that revenge was in order.

 

-

 

We cut to Scott in a car, in front of Charles Kramer’s villa. He entered the villa, forcefully, shooting every guard, and went on a rampage through the entire house, killing everyone who came up in his way, until he ended up in Charles Kramer’s office.

 

Charles was in the corner of his office, pointing the gun at Scott and telling him not to come closer because he was going to shoot him. Scott approached him and knocked the gun out of his hand, then threw him to the ground, calling him a traitor and asking him why he had done that.

 

Charles started laughing saying that he knew he would eventually change his mind and come to him to do as a favor. Scott coming to ask him to kill Lauren for him gave him the perfect chance to finally stop Scott from what he was doing.

 

Scott, looking down at him, asked what that was.

 

Charles smiled and said he knew too well what that was. He said he knew he was the Origami Killer and he had to stop him because, if he continued, the entire fault would fall on his son, who was one of the main suspects of the police.

 

Scott asked him how he knew, to which Charles said it wasn’t that hard to realize it. He said one name: John Sheppard. He started explaining how the construction site he died on was his, and he knew how he died and checked carefully. He felt sorry and wanted to apologize to the family, but when he went there, he found out that their second son was taken away and given up for adoption. He got interested and found out that he was the second son. He was adopted by the Shelby family, and now he has become the Origami Killer in order to find a father that could do what his father couldn’t: Save his kid.

 

Scott then pointed the gun at Charles, smiling, and shot him.

 

As he made his way out of the building, bodies everywhere, we fade back to the young boys at the construction site.

 

We see the younger brother going to look for help. He went to his father, who threw a beer at him and told him to fuck off. He tried, but his father didn’t want to help him, saying that if he died, there was one less mouth to feed and he had nothing against it.

 

He ran back to his brother, the water rising very quickly, and said that their father didn’t want to help. He told him to not die, crying. John calmed him down and before he died, he said his last words: “Don’t forget me, Scottie.”

 

-

Friday
6:24 PM
5.115 inches

 

We cut to Ethan walking down a red lit corridor, at the end of which, there was a white room. He entered that room, which had camera all around it, a table in the middle, with a phial on it. A voice started saying that this was the last trial. It asked him if he was ready to give his life in order to save his son’s life.

 

It continued by saying that in the phial that was on the table, there was poison that would kill him in exactly sixty minutes. If he drinks it, he will get the last letters to the address where his son was kept. It said that he had enough time to find him and tell him that he loved him, but afterwards, he was going to die. The choice was his.

 

Ethan spent a few minutes, weighing his options, but in the end, he decided to do it because he didn’t want to lose Shaun, too. Even though he was going to die, he would save his son at least. He grabbed the phial and drank the poison. It burned his throat and he hardly abstained from throwing up. He spent a few seconds with his arms against the table, looking down at the ground. His phone rang and the last letters appeared on the screen.

 

Looking at the watch that was on the table, which had a countdown of sixty minutes on it, he said, in his mind, that he did what he had to and that now he was going to finally save his son.

 

He exits the building and Madison is waiting there with a car. He gets in it and she drives off.

 

We cut to them sitting in the car, trying to find that address. He keeps cursing and then Madison announces that a police car is approaching. He hides his face as good as he could, and after it was safe, he started looking again. They managed to find three addresses that matched the letters he had been given, and decided to head towards one. He knew too well that he had time only for one, so if Shaun wasn’t there, they would both die.

 

-

Friday
6:30 PM
5.272 inches

 

We see Norman waving his hands frantically in an empty room, wearing the ARI set, saying that they only have a few more hours to find and save Shaun Mars. He says that there has to be a god damn clue somewhere, while still waving his hands in all directions while looking for it. He said it was probably staring right into his face and that poor kid was probably dying right now and all he did was go around in circles.

 

He sat down, taking his glasses off, and rubbed his forehead, trying to deal with the head ache he was having from overusing the ARI. Just as he did that, Blake came into his office and asked him if he was all packed and ready to go.

 

Norman asked him what he was talking about, to which Blake said that the investigation was over now that they knew who the Origami Killer was, and that they no longer needed Norman’s services. Blake said he could leave now, thanking him for his ‘help’ on this case. As he headed towards the door, he said he’d be lying if he said he’d be missing him.

 

Norman said that the investigation was not over because they simply had nothing on Mars. Blake looked at him and said that Mars is guilty, and that the case was officially closed. He said it wasn’t any of his concerns since he wasn’t on the case anymore. He told him a last time to pack up, and fuck off. He headed towards the door again, but Norman got up and said that he was an unbalanced psychopathic asshole.

 

Blake looked at him, smiling, and said that he took as a compliment. He then said that he honestly didn’t give a shit about what he was thinking because he found the Origami Killer and everyone was happy and that it was the end of the story. He wished him a nice trip back and left.

 

 Norman, even angrier than before, put his ARI set back on, and, ignoring the massive headache, he continued looking for the clue. He decided to look again over the recording of the ARI of the fight between him and killer at the Blue Lagoon. When his ARI glasses fell on the ground, they kept recording.

 

He stopped the recording and noticed that the killer was wearing a golden watch, one that seemed very familiar to him. He then realized it was the gift the police section was giving to the officers that had been promoted to lieutenants. Norman realized that the killer is or was a cop.

 

He then checks the gas station receipts and, checking on the map, he notices that only one cop was around that area. He then says he’s got him and mentions that that cop owns a warehouse at the docks. He says that if he’s wrong, Shaun Mars is dead.

 

He leaves the section without telling anyone. Just as he passes Blake’s office, we can see him answering his phone and asking if they really found the car at the docks. He said to send the SWAT team there and that he needed a chopper. The last thing he said was: “Of course I need it today, you fucking imbecile”

 

-

Friday
7:22 PM
5.848 inches

 

We cut to Madison parking just outside an abandoned warehouse, where Ethan thought Shaun was. He entered the warehouse, Madison closely behind, and called out for his son.

 

Suddenly, Scott appeared from behind and said that he had been looking for a father that would be able to do what his father couldn’t do for a long, long time. That thing was to sacrifice himself in order to save his son. He said he searched and searched, and then he said he remembered him since he had been one of the eye witnesses from when Jason was killed.

 

Ethan asked if this everything was just to find a father. Scott asked him if he had any idea how it felt to be worthless in your father’s eyes. He said he suffered just as much as his victims did.

 

Ethan said that he had finished the damn trials and that he wanted his son back. Scott pointed at the greate, which was behind Ethan, and said that all he had to do it was to open it. Ethan turned around and tried to open it, but failed. Whilst he was with his back at Scott, he had taken out a gun, ready to kill Ethan, but Madison yelled ‘No’ and just then, Norman appeared from behind and knocked the gun out of Scott’s hand. Scott ran away with Norman following him from behind, while Ethan remained back to open the grate with the help of Madison.

 

He started looking for something to help him, and found a steel bar that he could use to jam the lock open. After a few attempts, he managed to do it. He got Shaun out of the water, but he wasn’t breathing.

 

We cut to Norman who followed Shelby until up on the conveyor belt, which was moving, and where they engaged into a fight. Norman was dominated by Scott, who grabbed a steel bar from the conveyor belt and attacked Norman with it.

 

Back to Ethan, we see him trying to resuscitate his son, yelling again and again that he needs to breathe. He tried mouth to mouth respiration. He continued, starting to cry, repeating that he shouldn’t leave him because he loved him more than anything in the world. He cried over his unmoving body, but then he suddenly started coughing all the water out. Ethan hugged him, relieved that he was alright and that he managed to save him.

 

Shaun looked at his father and said he knew he was going to come and save him.

Madison then heard someone talk from the outside and checked. She said it was the police and that they would kill him as soon as they saw him. He said he could talk to them, but Madison suggested that they should go out together. She said she had all the evidence that proves his innocence. Ethan apologized again for not trusting her, to which she said that it was all ok since everything that mattered to her, too, was for him to save his son.  

 

Meanwhile, the fight between Norman and Scott went on with Scott still having a slight advantage. The conveyor belt was reaching its top, and Norman managed to climb of off it and get up on his feet. He fought Scott there, too, since he managed to get up on his feet, too. They were at the edge and were trying to push each other of off it. Norman managed to push Scott, who managed to grab himself to something and not fall down. He begged that Norman should save him, which he does.

Scott thanks him and tries to push him down again, but Norman tricks him and in the end wins the fight. Scott fell down of off the conveyor belt, in the shredding machine underneath.

 

-

 

We cut to Madison, Ethan and Shaun, who was carried by Ethan, slowly exiting the building. They slowly make steps towards the police car when suddenly Ethan starts coughing blood and falls to the ground. We can hear Shaun and Madison asking what was wrong, and Ethan remembered that he had to drink that poison in order to save Shaun.

 

He started telling Shaun that he loved him and that he was the best thing that ever happened to him and that he hopes he will never forget him. He also tells Madison that she was a great person for helping him and that he loved her too. He apologized to both of them, before dying from the poison, under the eyes of Madison and Shaun.

 

-

 

We cut to a news broadcast where it is revealed that the Origami Killer had been found. It was also revealed what happened to Ethan. It is said that Madison Page decided to tell the whole story in order to let the whole humanity know what a real father will do for the son he loves.

 

We cut to Norman, who is handing his FBI badge and identification, along with his ARI equipment as he decided to quit his job because the ARI overuse was having side effects, which caused him to hallucinate.

 

We know that Shaun moved back with his mother, who got remarried. Shaun still misses Ethan and thinks that he’s the greatest dad a kid could possibly have.

 

In the end, Madison moved to another city and is currently living alone. She doesn’t plan on settling down with anyone too soon. She visits Ethan’s grave quite often.

 

We see a shot of her talking to his grave, heavy rain clouds in the background. She finishes talking saying that she misses him. Then she says goodbye, and leaves, as in the background, through the clouds, the sun makes its way into the sky, the rain stopping and the clouds slowly disappearing.

 

THE END

DURING CREDITS, KENDRA MORRIS – IT’S ALL OVER, PLAYS. (ORIGINAL SONG)

Edited April 9, 2013 by ChFloppit

[4815162342]

cancelled

Edited April 17, 2013 by 4815162342

[4815162342]

postponed

Edited April 17, 2013 by 4815162342

[Blankments]

The Three-Month Funeral

 

Writer-Director: David O. Russell

Genre: Drama/Comedy

Date: December 8 (4 theaters); December 15 (16 theaters); December 22 (421 theaters); December 29 (1,042 theaters); January 5 (1,321 theaters); January 12 (3,149 theaters)

Studio: Blankments Productions
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Myers, Meryl Streep as Laura Myers, Bill Murray as Robert Myers, Jennifer Lawrence as Megan Myers, Anthony Mackie as Matt Tucker, Matt Smith as Alex Katzmarek, Dennis Quaid as Will Jones, Thomas Lennon as Jake Berry, and Augustus Prew as Tyler Myers.
Music by: Danny Elfman.
Runtime: 127 min
Tagline: Death takes a long time to get over; Winner of the First CAYOM Film Festival.

 

Plot Summary: An adopted son must resolve his father issues when his brother dies and stipulates in his will that they must wait three months to bury him. Meanwhile, a woman bonds with her mother-in-law in the last three months of her first pregnancy. At the same time, a gay roommate falls in love during the three months and tries to hide it from the homophobe father. It all culminates in David O. Russell’s first film in seven years, The Three-Month Funeral.

 

Plot: See next post.

 

MPAA Rating: R for thematic content, brief nudity, sexuality, and strong language.

Budget: $45 million

Edited March 25, 2013 by Blankments Into Darkness

[Blankments]

Plot:

The film opens with Tyler Myers typing furiously at his computer, with only shorts on. His roommate, Matt Tucker, walks in, asking him what’s wrong; he’s never up this late. Tyler says he’s adjusting his will for something hopes will never happen. Matt asks why, and Tyler responds that his family needs to get it together. He saves the file and goes to bed.

 

He wakes up with no clothes on. THREE YEARS LATER appears at the bottom of the screen. He gets dressed while the opening credits begin, set to “Just One Day,” an original song by fun. BLANKMENTS PRODUCTIONS PROUDLY PRESENTS. Tyler looks at his calendar, and sees it is two days before his parents’ thirty-second anniversary. A DAVID O. RUSSELL FILM. He says good-bye to Matt, who is still half-asleep. JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT. Tyler packs his things and gets in the car. DANIEL DAY-LEWIS. He begins driving from his home in Nashville and up to Fort Wayne, Indiana. MERYL STREEP. He passes the Kentucky-Indiana Border. JENNIFER LAWRENCE. He arrives in Fort Wayne. ANTHONY MACKIE. His GPS says the next is two blocks away from his destination. MATT SMITH. He sighs, happy to be done with the trip. He merges into the exit, but he hears a loud honk. A semi-truck didn’t see his merge, and crashes into the side of his small car. Tyler is sent off the side of the road, falling down a large crevice. We follow the car down, until it stops, and we see Tyler’s face, incredibly bloody. He is dead.

 

THE THREE-MONTH FUNERAL

 

We cut to John Myers pulling into his driveway. His wife, Megan, is in the car with him. John starts making small talk as he parks about how happy he is the check-up went fine. Megan tells him to stop worry; their kid will be fine. Megan teases that being adopted means no inheritance of his parents’ poor luck with miscarriages. John stiffens up, saying that’s nothing to joke about, Megan apologizes, seeing she has struck a nerve with John and his family issues. John and Megan go inside their house, and John, showing his acceptance of Megan’s apology, feels his wife’s belly. He remarks that it’s only three more months. They head to their bedroom, and the see the answering machine has a message. They listen to it, and hear the terrible news. The message is from a lawyer’s office in Nashville. The man on the other end introduces himself as Jake Berry, and says that John’s brother, Tyler, was in a terrible accident, and has passed away. Jake says that, as the executive of Tyler’s will and meager estate, he has been ordered to call John and have him go down to Fort Wayne for the reading of the will, which has been ordered directly from Tyler to be read before the funeral. The message ends.

 

Megan leans into John, who is visibly stuck by the news.. Megan says that they need to begin packing their bags, and John says no, they aren’t. Megan tells him that she thought he loved Tyler. John says he does love Tyler, and hell, he even loves his mother, but there’s no way in hell anyone could make him go back to the hell he lived has a child thanks to his dad. Megan says that John needs to respect Tyler’s last wish and go to Fort Wayne, but John just stands up, and tells Megan he’s going to take a shower. He walks into their master bathroom and slams the door shut. Megan stares at the door as we hear the shower turn on. Slowly, she opens the door, and sits on the toilet. Megan asks John what he really thinks. John doesn’t respond, and Megan says that she grew up as an only child; she doesn’t know what a sibling relationship is really like, but she’s pretty sure you can’t just ignore it when your brother dies. We cut to John in the shower; we see that he is in the shower just to hide his tears. Megan asks him if he feels like Tyler would appreciate John’s immediate response to ignore his death. John breaks down, and pulls open the shower curtain, telling Megan in sobs that they’ll be on the first plane out tomorrow. Megan smiles at him, and tries to comfort him by putting a bathrobe on him and kissing him.

 

Fort Wayne, earlier in the day, at the Myers household. It’s a small, house with one guest room and one master bedroom. Based off the lighting of the room. it is visible that it is late morning. The two residents are still asleep when the phone rings. The woman of two, Laura, wakes up and answers the phone groggily. It is a police officer, who tells her he has terrible news. Cut to Laura and her husband, Robert, sitting in a waiting room in silence. A doctor comes out and tells them he is so sorry. They walk back to their car, still in silence. Robert asks Laura if she could drive home. Laura hesitates, but then sees her husband’s eyes are watery. They begin driving home, but after a minute in silence, Robert breaks down, crying over the loss of his son. Laura begins crying as well, but whereas she has a few teardrops, Robert is outright sobbing. Laura pulls over the car, and they cry into each other’s arms.

 

That night, Laura and Robert are both getting ready for bed. Robert is in the shower when Laura pulls out a scrapbook. She goes through it, which starts with John’s adoption and infant months. Laura drops few tears over them, and she turns the pages, seeing that there are virtually no pictures of John with Robert, and a lot of pictures of Tyler with Robert. She then turns to a page which is supposed to have professional photographs of each of their children’s lives up to age eighteen. Whereas Tyler’s is completely full, and even go past age eighteen, John’s awkwardly doesn’t have pictures for year seventeen and age eighteen. Laura sighs to herself and puts away the scrapbook.

 

LAX. We see John and Megan board a plane, which quickly takes off. John begins dropping some ground rules for Megan. They’re staying for a week ant the longest, and there’s no way he is going to talk to his father. Megan asks why, but John won’t say.. Megan brings up how much she loves her own dad, but John points that’s different. Megan says she knows she has a single dad, but that doesn’t mean John’s father doesn’t love him. John leans on, and then looks out the window. They land in O’Hare International Airport, and Megan asks if they have a valet. John starts to say something, but someone runs toward and hugs him. It is Matt, whose excited to see John. He remarks that he hasn’t seen John for a couple of years. John smiles sheepishly, saying he and Tyler were free to visit Los Angeles whenever they liked. Matt frowns, saying John should know Tyler’s job didn't allow much travel. John scoffs, saying Tyler was a programmer; he didn’t need to stay in Nashville forever. Gritting his teeth, Matt says that John should know the other reason they couldn’t travel much, and John blushes, embarrassed. Megan is confused, but before she can asks anything, Matt smiles at her, saying the last time he or Tyler saw John was at John and Megan’s wedding. Matt they abruptly says that he guesses there’s going to be a new addition to the family soon. Megan deadpans that she’s not pregnant. There is an awkward silence until she bursts out laughing, saying she’s kidding; she’s due in three months. Matt laughs at the jest, but then checks his watch. He says they need to get going. Cut to Matt driving a car with John and Megan in the back seat. They drive on Lake Shore Drive and through a montage, we see the three travel to Fort Wayne.

 

Cut to Laura and Robert asleep in bed. The doorbell rings and Robert wakes up and answers the door in his robe. Jake has arrived. Jake lets himself in the house, telling them he’s sorry for their loss and he’s here for the reading of the will. Laura walks out in her nightgown, while Robert says they were planning on reading the will after the funeral. Jake says that Tyler insisted that the will was read before even making funeral arrangements. Robert begins to argue, but Laura says alright. Jake smiles and tells them to meet him at the Town Hall; he has rented out a room for the reading of the will. Laura asks if anyone else is coming to the reading, and Jake says that Tyler wished for his parents, his brother, his sister-in-law, and his roommate to be present. Robert’s eyes widen as Laura quickly shoos Jake out the door.

 

After Jake has completely left, Robert turns to Laura in fury, asking why Tyler asked his brother to come. Laura says that John is their son too, but Robert scoffs at this. He says he was always against adopting John, and the idea that they’re to speak to him during the death of death of their actual son is utterly stupid. Laura quietly says that John is their son, and Tyler’s brother. She continues, saying that even if Robert refuses to accept John after his running-away, he needs to respect Tyler's wishes. Robert, begrudged, agrees to respect John at this meeting. He then asks Laura if she knew John had got married, and Laura says she did know John was married, but she’s never met the girl.

 

Cut to the car with John, Megan, and Matt. They pass by the “Welcome to Fort Wayne”sign. Matt asks what time it is, and, checking his watch, John says it’s 6:30 PM. Matt says they need to get to Town Hall as soon as possible; they shouldn’t be late. Megan asks what they’ll be late for. Matt says the will is being read there that night in a half hour. John is surprised, and asks why it’s so early, but Matt doesn’t know. Megan feels awkward and asks, if with their dress shirts and black pants, if they’re under-dressed. John shrugs.

 

The three arrive at the Town Hall, and run inside, worrying if they are late. John asks a receptionist where to go, and they follow her directions to the room. John takes a deep breath, and enters the room alone. Laura and Robert are sitting alone at a table, facing away from him. John quietly says, “Mom.” Laura and Robert turn around, and Laura stands up and hugs John. John awkwardly lets her hug him, while glaring at Robert. Robert looks away, and John notices he’s wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Laura asks John where his wife is, John goes to let Megan and Matt in. Robert goes to Laura, curious to see who John has married. Matt enters the room. Robert is in shock for a second, and asks if John is gay. Laura, John, and Matt look at him in utter shock, but then Megan enters, laughing and saying no, she’s John’s love.Robert blushes in embarrassment as Laura hugs Megan, and Matt explains he was Tyler’s roommate. Robert shakes Matt’s hand and apologizes for the insinuation. Matt looks at him oddly, but lets the bizarre comment go. Laura exclaims that John never told her they were expecting a child. Megan begins to says she’s not pregnant, but John interrupts, saying that she’s due in three months. Robert congratulates them, and the door opens, revealing Jake has arrived with an envelope in hand. He asks them all to sit down a row, which they do. From left to right, they sit in the order of Robert, Laura, Matt, Megan, and John.

 

Jake begins speaking about how they all miss Tyler, and this is indeed a time of tragedy. Robert is antsy, and asks Jake just to open the envelope. Jake says that there’s actually a funny story about that. The envelope he is holding is not the will; rather, it is something that Tyler demanded be read before his will. Jake opens the envelope and begins reading silently, as the five look in bewilderment. Jake clears his throat, and says that according to this official document, Tyler has quite an interesting stipulation to his will. Megan turns to John in confusion as Jake continues. Three years ago, Tyler gave Jake this envelope, which contains a legally binding document that refuses to let the will be read until certain requirements are made. Laura asks what kind of requirements, and Jake says the requirements are very interesting. If any of the five want to touch any of Tyler’s estate, they must live together in the same house for three months - along with Tyler’s corpse in the freezer. There is an awkward silence until John and Robert yell “What?” in confusion. Jake continues reading, saying that if these conditions are not met, then all of Tyler’s estate will go to himself (Jake.) John gets pissed, telling him that he must be bullshitting. Robert agrees, and grabs the letter from Jake. He reads it, and his face goes pale. Jake is telling the truth.

 

John tries to get out of this, saying that he has a life to get to back to and his wife is due in three months. Jake says that they could agree not to live together, but they wouldn’t get to touch anything Tyler owned. John and Robert are fine with this, but Jake then points out that he went to the liberty of looking up who Robert and Laura’s house is technically owned by. John is confused, and Robert’s face goes pale. Laura remembers, saying that Tyler bought them their house for their retirement two years ago, on their fortieth anniversary. Matt points out that if they don’t go through with living together for three months, Jake gets the house. Laura and Robert look at each other, realizing that they have to go through with it; otherwise, they will be homeless. John still doesn’t realize the gravity of the situation, and he tells Megan they’re leaving. Megan whispers to him, asking if they should stay. John says no way a little too loudly, and Robert is greatly offended. He yells at John that he’s too irresponsible and even if John doesn’t like Robert, John needs to do this for Laura and Tyler. Matt awkwardly excuses himself to use the bathroom as the room becomes deathly silent. Laura tells Robert to calm down, and Megan tells John that they do need to do this, for Tyler. Megan says she’s fine with having their child in Fort Wayne, and Laura walks over to John, saying that if they’re going to do this living together thing, just show up at Laura and Robert’s house in the morning. John sighs, and heads to Matt’s car.

 

Jump ahead to the next day. John, Matt, and Megan pull into the driveway of the house. Laura opens the door for them, and says that Tyler’s already in the fridge. DAY 1 appears at the bottom left of the screen. John and Megan get settled in the guest bedroom as Matt tries to work a fold-out couch. Robert comes out and helps him with it, and Matt asks him how he’s doing. Robert rolls his eyes and says that he’s just counting down these three months. Matt feels alienated and thus, excuses himself to use the bathroom. He discovers a terrible truth: the only bathroom in the house is the master bathroom... and there’s no lock on the door. Meanwhile, John is telling Megan that he feels like they’re going to regret this. Megan says they don’t really have a choice. John groans, but agrees with his wife. Matt finishes his bathroom when Laura walks in on him with his pants down. She screams, and Matt quickly excuses himself. He goes to get a drink in the kitchen and opens the fridge. He screams in shock at Tyler’s corpse, and everyone in the house runs to see him. Matt points at the corpse as Laura quickly shuts the door. Robert says that he’ll buy a new fridge just for these three months.

 

Laura, eager to try to resolve Robert and John’s differences, asks John to go with Robert shopping for a fridge. John and Robert both glare at Laura, but then Megan says that’s a great idea. The two of them are shooed out the door, and so Robert gets into his car with John awkwardly in the passenger seat. They drive to the local appliance store in absolute silence. Robert gets out of the car, and asks John if he’s going to come in. John thinks about it for a second, but finally just decides to go inside. They walk in, and Robert asks for a salesperson. John sees the same model as the freezer from the house right in front of him, and tells Robert that they don’t need a salesperson; they can just order that one. Robert glares at John, and tells him he knows how to shop. The salesperson arrives, and asks them what they’d like. Robert asks to show them some refrigerator models, but John is strongly against this. John says he’d like to purchase the fridge he saw when he walked in, but Robert tells the salesperson to ignore John; he’s not the one who will be buying the fridge. John tries to speak up, but Robert ignores him and the salesperson takes Robert around the store. Annoyed at being ignored, John leaves to walk back to the house.

 

Meanwhile, Laura helps Megan and Matt settle in. Matt excuses himself to take a shower, and Laura tells him she’ll make sure not to walk in on him this time. Megan begins talking to Laura about how she doesn’t understand why John hates his father so much. Thunder strikes and we see rain fall behind the window as Laura sighs, and says she doesn’t understand why Robert dislikes John as well. Megan asks if there’s any possible reason she knows of, and Laura sits down on the bed, saying that she has a tragic tale to tell her. Back when she first got married to Robert, they desperately wanted to have children. They tried to have a kid once, but Laura suffered a miscarriage. Laura and Robert tried again, but there was another miscarriage. After the second miscarriage, Laura wanted to give up, but Robert wanted to try one more time. They did, and there was a third miscarriage. Laura then convinced Robert that they would adopt a child, since she was too dejected to try a fourth time. Robert agreed, even though he seemed against it. They adopted John as an infant, who was abandoned by his birth mother. Laura loved him and Robert did too, just not as much, and not as a father should have. Two years later, Laura became pregnant again, but this time, she didn’t have a miscarriage. She gave birth to Tyler, and Robert loved Tyler as a father should. As the years went by, Laura was sure to give equal treatment to both of her children, but Robert clearly favorited Tyler. After all, Tyler was athletic, much like Robert was in his earlier years, whereas John was artistic. Robert thought it was a wimpy thing to do, and always ignored John’s accomplishments. Laura and Tyler tried to show John that they loved him regardless of Robert’s thoughts, but at age 16, John had had enough, and he ran away from home. He paid his own way through college and cut off all contact with his parents. The only news they received about John was though Tyler. Megan realizes how terrible a life her husband has had, and she says that John never told her any of that. Laura gives a pained smile, and says that her goal for these three months is to get Robert to finally love John like the son he is. Laura asks Megan to help her, and Megan agrees that she will when the doorbell rings.

 

Laura goes to answer it and sees John, drenched with water. Laura asks John what happened, but John just walks past her, saying that he knew this would happen. He yells that he’s going to take a shower, and goes into the master bathroom. He runs into Matt, who is wearing just a towel. John tells Matt to get out, and Matt complies, although he is annoyed that people keep on interrupting his bathroom usage. Laura looks at Megan sadly, and Megan says they have their work cut out for them. A montage follows of the first week, which shows just how awkward Robert and John sharing a house is. The fridge arrives and Robert enlists Matt exclusively to just pick it up. We see John spends this time mostly in the guest room where he does his job, an editor of a news site, strictly from his bed. Megan leaves the room to get him food the whole time, and Laura is concerned for Megan’s well-being. The montage ends, and we see in the corner of the screen that it is DAY 17. Laura goes into the bedroom to confront John. John is cheerful towards his mother, and asks her what she wants. Laura points out that his wife is pregnant, and John says it is kind of hard to forget that your wife is pregnant. Laura rolls her eyes at this, and tells him he needs to get out of this room, and get his own food instead of having his wife do it for him. John realizes he’s been acting like a child, and tells Laura that he’ll get his own food from now on. Laura smiles, and says they’re going to be having a family dinner tonight. John protests, but Laura won’t have it. She says she hasn’t had a family dinner since John left as a kid, and they’re going to have one if it kills her. John sighs, and says he’ll be there. Laura leaves satisfied.

 

Laura then goes to speak with Megan in the kitchen, and she begins complaining that John and Robert are keeping up their feud, despite having to spend the three months in the house together. Laura says she’s always wished they could spend time together, like an actual family. Megan agrees, saying it’s ridiculous. However, she comes up with a new idea: they need to start leaving John and Robert home alone so they can resolve their own problems. Laura agrees with this, and says she will take her shopping for maternity clothes later tonight. Matt walks into the kitchen, overhearing their plan. He points out that he will be home, and Megan asks Matt if he’d like to go shopping with them. Matt is hesitant for a second, but then decides to go ahead with it. Laura asks Matt if he knows how to cook, and Matt says that he loved cooking class when he was younger, and when he lived with Tyler, he cooked all the meals. Laura smiles at this, and the two get to cooking as Megan heads into the family room. Robert is sitting in an armchair, watching the pregame show for the second game of the World Series. Megan starts talking to him one-on-one for what is essentially the first time ever. She asks him what he likes to watch, and Robert answers that any sport is fine by him. Megan looks at the game, and asks Robert who he’s rooting for. Robert comments it’s not that he’s rooting for the Mets; he’s rooting against the Yankees. Besides, the Yankees won last night, he points out, and he prefers when the series takes the full seven games. Megan laughs at this, and comments how she remembers watching the Angels with her father when she was younger. Robert smiles at her, saying that one of his fondest memories of Tyler was his playing on the high school baseball team. Megan tells him that based off what John has told her, Tyler seemed like a great guy. Robert gives out a long sigh, and says that John was lucky to find such a considerate wife. Megan winks, and says she was lucky to marry a man with such a nice father-in-law. Robert sighs at this, and they watch the pregame together.

 

John is typing furiously on his laptop, editing a major story, when there is a knock at the door. It is Matt, who is here to report that dinner is served. John goes to the table, seeing it is Mexican night. Laura smiles, saying Matt makes an excellent enchilada. John smiles, saying he knows Matt is a good cook. John looks at the two fridges next to each other, and sighs in annoyance. He goes to grab a Coke from one, but he accidentally opens the one with Tyler’s corpse in it. He blinks in shock at it for a few seconds, and Laura rushes up to close it and grab John a Coke from the other, useful, fridge. John thanks his mother, and declares that he can eat dinner now. However, only Matt, John, and Laura are in the dining room, and Laura calls for Robert. Megan responds for the both of them, saying to wait after the ending of the first inning. John sighs, realizing his wife has warmed up to Robert. Laura says they’ll wait for them, and she brings out some bean dip and salsa. They shoot the breeze, and Laura asks Matt if he’s always been a good cook. Matt shrugs, and says that he didn’t really know he was that great a cook. John is begins to stay something when suddenly, Robert storms in, grabs a plate with an enchilada already on it, and then heads back out. Laura is confused, when Megan walks in and does the exact same thing. John asks Megan what’s going on, and Megan says this game is great; and is really exciting so they can’t miss a bit of it. Laura glares at Megan, and says that she was planning on taking Megan shopping tonight. Megan’s face goes pale, and she says that that sounds right. John asks if he can come along, but Megan says no, Matt’s driving them, and there’s not enough room for him. John finds this explanation sketchy, but he takes it anyway. Megan says they’ll leave after the second inning, leaving John enough time to eat his enchilada with Matt and Laura before heading back into his room.

 

John goes back to typing his story when Megan comes in, and tells him she is leaving, and that he should go watch the game with Robert. John snorts at this, but Megan closes his laptop on him, and asks him to please do it, for her. John sighs, and is about to argue when Matt yells for Megan. Megan gives him a glare, as she heads out. John continues working on his story for a minute, but then hears his dad scream at the TV. He sighs, and closes down the laptop. John goes outside of his room, and sits down on the couch next to Robert. Robert looks at him in surprise, and they sit together in silence. John asks who’s playing, and Robert answers that it’s the Yankees against the Mets. John smiles, saying he remembers when he played Mr. Applegate in Damn Yankees. Robert looks at him confused, and John says never mind. Robert asks how life’s been treating him, and John says that he runs a pretty big website. Robert says he never really learned how to use a computer, and John says he can teach him if he wants. Robert grunts, and says maybe after the game. John watches the game, trying hard to be interested in it but failing. Nevertheless, he watches the game with Robert, who doesn’t mind spending time with his son.

 

Meanwhile, Laura, Matt, and Megan arrive at a local department store. Laura takes Megan to the maternity section. Megan begins trying on a whole lot of clothes, as Laura finds it increasingly more enjoyable. Matt asks if he can leave the maternity section and get himself some new pants. Laura doesn’t mind that, and he heads off. However, this being an independent department store, he can’t find the men’s section. He finds a sales representative, and asks him to take him there. The sales representative introduces himself as Alex Katzmarek, and he takes Matt to the men’s department. Matt thanks Alex, but Alex won’t leave. Alex asks Matt if there’s anything else he would like, and Matt says he’d like some advice on the clothes. Alex says awkwardly that’s not really his area of expertise and Matt apologizes. Alex begins to walk away, but then stops, and tells Matt that he’ll give his advice. Matt is surprised by this, but says nothing about it. Matt tries on some pants, and then asks Alex how they look. Alex says they look really nice and fit Matt well. Alex looks around awkwardly, and excuse himself once again. Matt asks him what’s wrong, and Alex says it may be awkward, but he finds Matt to be really cute. Matt is struck by this comment, but not in a bad way. Matt asks Alex if he is gay. Alex says yes, although he is ashamed by this. Alex says he has been completely unprofessional, and he apologizes for this. Matt says it’s fine; he thinks Alex is kind of cute too. Matt asks Alex if he’d like his number. Alex says he’ll take it, and Matt writes out his number for Alex. Alex says he doesn’t have any plans for Friday, if Matt’s available, and Matt smiles, saying sure, it’ll be a good time. Alex leaves and Matt heads back to Megan and Laura. During this time, Megan and Laura have bonding together through all the trying on of clothes. Laura asks if this is what having a daughter feels like, and Megan says she doesn’t know what having a mother feels like either. They laugh, and Laura is momentarily saddened by the fact she hadn’t met Megan sooner. However, her sadness is removed once she finds a cute top for Megan to try on. Three outfits later, they are done shopping when Matt arrives. They go to check out the clothes, and head back home at around 11PM.

 

Matt knocks on the front door of the house, and there is no answer. Laura opens the door with her key, and finds that both Robert and John are fast asleep on the couch. The TV blares that the Yankees won again. Megan groans at this result, but John and Robert are fast asleep on the couch. Matt tries to wake them up, but they won’t move. Megan and Laura laugh at this, but Matt is annoyed, saying he has nowhere to sleep tonight. Laura says there’s an inflatable mattress in her closet, and Matt can use it for the night. He gets out, and he lays down to go to bed. We jump ahead a few days via montage, seeing that John gets more and more involved with watching the World Series every night, and everyone is watching it: John, Matt, Laura, Megan, and Robert. However, John still refuses to sit next to Robert. Meanwhile, Matt is getting ready for his big date. We arrive day of the Matt’s date, DAY 23. We see Matt getting ready for the date, as Laura and Megan making dishes in the kitchen. The record for the World Series is now Yankees three games and Mets two games. Robert is panicking over the fact that the Mets have to win, since he freaking hates the Yankees. John is finishing up his workday in preparation for the day when Matt walks in his room, being sure to close the door behind him. John asks Matt what’s up, and Matt says he has a date tonight with someone he met at the department store. John looks at him for a second in shock. Matt says that he knows it probably wasn’t the best choice, but John interrupts, saying that he warned Matt about this. Robert cannot find out Matt and Tyler were boyfriends, it would crush him utterly. Matt says it’s stupid that Robert is a homophobe, and John agrees with him. However, if Robert was to find out his beloved Tyler was gay, he would probably go insane and try to kill Matt. Matt laughs this off, saying that John is exaggerating. John says fine, he is, but still, Matt would probably get kicked out of the house for that. Matt says that can’t happen. Tyler was the one who owned their place back in Nashville, and Matt is effectively homeless now that Tyler passed on. Matt says he’s still going on his date, and John needs to cover for him. John sighs in frustration, but agrees to it.

 

Matt drives to his date’s house to pick him up. Alex gets in the car, and asks where they’re going. Matt says that Ben Affleck just came out with a new movie, and he asks Alex if he likes Affleck. Alex says he finds him a crappy actor, but likes him as a director. Matt says he doesn’t think Affleck acts in this movie, so they should be good. First though, they go to dinner at a Texas Roadhouse. Alex asks Matt what brought him to Fort Wayne, and Matt says it’s kind of weird. Alex demands to just be told, and Matt explains the ordeal he’s been going through. Matt says that his boyfriend died a month ago and his will had this stipulation that he has to live with his boyfriend’s family for three months or else nothing comes from the estate. Alex looks at him, and says that is the single most bizarre thing he’s ever heard. Matt says he won’t blame him if he doesn’t believe him, but Alex says it sounds legitimate. Matt smiles at this, and they continue talking to each other about how the day is and about each other’s lives. Matt says he likes to cook, and Alex says he likes to act in community theater. Matt looks at Alex, and then begins to feel guilty. He tells Alex this was a bad idea; it’s much too soon after Tyler dying to even consider finding someone else. Alex tries to reassure Matt, and he tells him that Tyler would’ve wanted him to move on, and that he should move on. Matt asks Tyler how he knows that, and Alex points out that Tyler wanted his family to live together in the same house so they could fix their problems and live a happy life, right? Matt doesn’t understand, but Alex continues, saying that if Tyler kept mourning after him, he wouldn't be happy, would he? Matt sees what he’s saying, and he smiles at Alex, thanking him for all the reassurance. Alex says it’s no problem. Eventually, the dinner ends, and they head off to see the Ben Affleck movie.

 

Meanwhile, back at the house, Laura asks John where Matt is. John says that Matt was off seeing a movie with someone he met from the department store. Megan finds this weird, but Robert says that he is hungry, interrupting her suspicions. Laura and Megan bring out chips, dip, and some pizza. All four of them watch the game excitedly, even though Laura couldn’t care less. It’s a very close game, with the Mets leading in the sixth inning. However, Megan’s phone rings. She sees that is her father, Will, and she excuses herself to have the conversation in her room. Will asks Megan how the corpse in the fridge experience has been. Megan says there’s been a few hiccups as it’s gone along, but it seems like John is finally starting to love his father. Will says that’s good and then asks how the baby seems to be doing. Megan says it feels fine to her, and she and John have been getting really excited for the birth. Will says that’s wonderful, and he has a surprise for her: he will be flying into O’Hare to stay with her for the rest of her pregnancy. Megan looks around at the already sparse lodging, and tells her father that’s unnecessary, as much as she loves him. Will is dejected by this, telling Megan that he loves her, and he needs to be there for the birth of his first grandchild. Megan is torn, and asks him to hold on for a second. She puts Will on hold as she goes out to ask John, Robert, and Laura about it. Robert nods his head yes, although he isn’t paying attention. John says he’s fine with that, but Laura asks where he will stay. Megan says that’s what she was thinking. However, Robert points out the inflatable mattress Matt did not put away from a few nights ago. Laura says that would be fine for Megan’s father to sleep in. Megan goes back into her room to relay this news to Will, who overjoyed that he can be with his daughter during this important time in her life. The call wraps out, and Megan goes out to watch the rest of the game.

 

Cut to outside of the movie theater. Matt and Alex are leaving the theater, talking about the movie. Alex says the movie was intense, and Matt says he thought Naomi Watts was phenomenal in the film. Alex agrees, and he says that Anton Yelchin jumped to the top of his favorite actor list after that movie. Matt drives Alex back home, and Alex asks if they can do this again sometime. They set up another date for the next week. Matt smiles, truly happy for the first time since Tyler’s death. He pulls into the Myers household, and knocks on the door. Laura answers it, but screams of agony from John, Megan, and most notably, Robert can be heard. Matt asks what happened, and Robert screams that the damned Yankees won the World Series. Matt sighs in relief, worried something bad had happened. Laura says that Robert should just sleep it off. Robert agrees, and says good night to Megan and Matt. Then, he turns to John and gives him a nod. John smiles at this acknowledgement. However, Megan gives Laura a look, and she gives her a nod in response. Megan and John go off to bed as Matt gets the couch ready for his falling asleep.

 

However, Laura isn’t willing to let Robert fall asleep. She says they need to talk. Now. Robert says he needs to sleep off the Yankees winning, but Laura won’t take this. She tells him that John has actively been trying to work on their relationship, and a simple nod won’t do for the last four games of bonding they spent together. Robert shrugs and says he hasn’t been ignoring John. Laura says that’s not tolerable; John hates sports, and he spent approximately twelve hours this week watching them just to be with Robert. Robert says he’ll start trying to be treating John with more respect. Laura says that’s not enough; he needs to begin treating John like a son. Robert won’t take that, and he insists that his only son died a month ago. Laura begins crying, and Robert is hurt by his wife’s display of emotion. Robert tells her he’ll begin doing things John likes to do, although he still won’t treat him like a son. Laura stops crying and says that will be fine... for now, but she hopes he realizes John is his son soon. Robert looks away from Laura to roll his eyes at this. They then both go to bed.

 

The days pass by quickly in yet another montage. We see Megan go to a check-up where we see that the baby is fine. John and Robert are growing closer, but still aren’t in a good father-son relationship. We see the growing closer when Robert goes to a movie with John and John watches a football game with his dad on TV. Laura smiles at all of this progress. Matt and Alex’s relationship through more dates, and Matt tries to hide it from Robert nonstop. We go through about two dates with them, and we see on the third one, they go to the movies... the same time as John and Robert. Matt changes the movie at the last second just so they don’t have an accidental encounter with the two of them. Alex thinks this is weird, but he shrugs it off. We see that date wrap up, and we see the day after the movie, John gets into an argument with Robert over how to prepare the perfect omelet. Robert refuses to say that a cheese omelet is worth it, whereas John says cheese omelets are the only omelets that are good. Laura comes in, and facilitates the argument, telling Robert and John she’ll just make two omelets. John looks away from Robert, but Robert apologizes for making such a big deal out of it. John smiles at his father, seeing the relationship is clearly becoming better. A few days later, on their next date, Alex kisses Matt. Finally, the montage ends at the breakfast table on DAY 42. Laura smiles, saying that this will make up for what happened a while ago. John asks what she means, and she explains that they were never able to go on the anniversary dinner thanks to Tyler’s passing. Robert says that’s too bad, but Megan says they have a surprise. Laura says they’ll be going out to a fancy restaurant tonight called Stablearrow’s. Robert says that he doesn’t feel like they should be going, but Laura says they haven’t eaten out in over a month, and it’s high time they take out John and Megan. Robert says fine, but Matt asks about what he’ll have for dinner. Laura awkwardly says she only reserved a table for four, but Matt says it’s fine; he’ll just make his own dinner at home. The day passes as John, Megan, Robert, and Laura get ready for their first fancy dinner in quite sometime. Meanwhile, Matt calls up Alex and tells him that he wants to spend the evening with him, and cook him a meal. Alex says he’s free and will be over at 6.

 

At 5:30, John begins driving Megan, Laura, and Robert to Stablearrow’s. They arrive, and awkwardly wait for a bit. Robert, being ever so impatient, asks for a menu to read so they can order as soon as they’re seated. Meanwhile, Alex arrives early at the house, and Matt is excited to show off his cooking skills. However, thanks to Alex arriving early, the food is not ready. Matt shows Alex to the main room, and Alex turns on the TV and watches some of the news while Matt continues cooking. Alex gets up to grab a Coke, but accidentally opens the freezer with Tyler’s corpse. He screams in terror, and Matt runs to slam the door. Alex says that he didn’t really believe the story until he saw the corpse. Matt says that he knows seeing a dead body in the freezer can be a surprise. Back at the restaurant, the four Myers are seated. However, no one shows up to take their order. Robert gets annoyed, and starts eating all the rolls. Laura tells him to be patient, but Robert replies that this is why he never goes to fancy restaurants. Megan smiles, saying John is the same way. John just says it’s different in California where there are In-and-Out Burgers compared to Indiana, where there’s just McDonald’s. Megan shrugs.

 

Back at home, Matt finishes making his taco pie. Alex asks Matt if he specializes in any type of food. Matt says without hesitation that he knows how to make Mexican food. They eat together with candles lit around them, a special touch Matt added. Afterwards, Alex says he’s ready to do what he came to do. Matt smiles, grabs some ice cream, and drops in a DVD of Empty Hearth. Alex dims the lights. Cut away to the restaurant, where the waiter finally shows up to take their order. Laura starts to complain that she reserved a 6:00 table, but it is 7:00 and they finally are getting their orders taken. The waiter apologizes and takes their orders. Thankfully, the wait for the food isn’t nearly as long as the wait for the service, but there is a catch to the food. When serving the food, the waiter says to John, “And for the cutest I’ve seen all day, his cheese manicotti.” Megan laughs at this, and John blushes. However, Robert won’t take it. “Excuse me?” he asks the waiter. Laura tells him to calm down, but Robert asks if the waiter is hitting on John. John tells Robert to let it go, but Robert repeats the question to the waiter. The waiter asks what’s so bad about it. John tells Robert to stop it, he’s embarrassing him. Robert points out, that for one, John is married, but more importantly, John is a guy. Robert tells the waiter to go hit on some girls, and Laura looks away in embarrassment. The entire restaurant is looking at them. The waiter tells Robert if he has a problem, to go report it to management. Robert loses his temper and he stands up and grabs the waiter by the shirt in the face, telling the waiter not to treat “his son” that way. John says coldy, “Oh, now, I’m your son?” Robert, struck by this utterance, sits down quietly, and looks down at the floor. Despite the terrible happenings, Laura smiles at Robert calling John his son.

 

Cut back to the house. The doorbell rings. Matt gets off of Alex, and tells Alex to get his pants on. As Alex gets his pants on, the doorbell rings again and Matt begins panicking since he lost track of time. He takes Alex into the guest bedroom, and hides him in John and Megan’s closet. He then goes to get the door, finding a police officer standing there with Laura, Robert, John, and Megan. The police officer explains that these people were in an issue at a local restaurant, and he was just making sure they got home safely. Matt asks what happened, and Robert mutters that the stupid waiter called the cops on them for “disturbing the peace, what a bullshit charge.” Laura hushes Robert and thanks the officer for not involving the courts, and to come in for some ice cream, her treat. The officer says he doesn’t take bribes, but Laura insists it’s fine. Megan goes to get the ice cream with Laura and the police officer, and Robert sneaks off to bed, embarrassed. John heads into his bedroom as Matt goes to keep John away from Alex. However, John wants to put away his coat, but Matt blocks him from the closet. John rolls his eyes, and asks Matt what he is hiding. In the kitchen, the officer is enjoying his ice cream, and Megan goes to put it away. Unfortunately, she is distracted and accidentally opens Tyler’s freezer. She screams in shock, and the officer sees Tyler’s corpse. The officer promptly leaves, saying he’s going to investigate this. Laura tells him not to bother; the body permit is on file at Town Hall. The officer leaves as Alex gets out of the closet, and John looks at him in shock. Matt introduces Alex, and then Alex jumps out the window. John tells Matt that his father just beat up a waiter for hitting on him; Matt can’t keep up this relationship if he wants to survive this house. Matt tells John just to trust him; he knows what he is doing. John frowns, and tells Matt to leave; he and Megan are going to bed. In the master bedroom, Robert is already half-asleep, but Laura tells him that she is proud of him calling John his son. Robert mutters that it was instinctive, and Laura kisses him.

 

A week passes as the Myers and Matt get ready for the arrival of Will. Matt stacks up on food, while Robert and John put up a Christmas tree, although it hasn’t even been Thanksgiving yet. Robert demands it up though, so up goes the tree. Laura gets Megan ready for the arrival of her father, and Megan says not to worry, she has a great relationship with her father. Laura smiles at this, and we arrive on DAY 49. Matt and John drive out to O’Hare to pick up Will, who has flown in from Seattle. Will gives John a big hug while Matt awkwardly stares on. Seeing Matt is left out, Will gives Matt a hug too, much to Matt’s chagrin. They drive back to Fort Wayne, with John driving. Matt receives a call from Alex on the ride back to Fort Wayne, who invites him to opening night of a show he’s been working on for the Fort Wayne community theater. Matt accepts Alex’s free ticket over the phone. When they arrive at the house, there is a nice dinner that, of course, Matt made. It’s a huge Mexican style meal, with steak fajitas. Laura asks Will what he does for a living. Will replies that he’s retired, much like Laura and Robert. Laura apologizes for the question, but Will says there’s no problem. Robert asks Will what he likes to do. Will says he’s a huge fan of baseball, which Robert smiles at. Robert asks Will what he thought of the World Series, and Will grimaces, still pissed off over the Yankees winning. Robert turns to Megan, and tells her her dad is awesome. Megan smiles at this, and Laura does too, realizing she’s finally getting her family dinner. Laura has a surprise for Robert and John later, and she’s pleased that everything is going her way for once.

 

The night passes, and the family plus Matt watch Field of Dreams on TV for a nice family night. When the movie finishes, Will comments that he always thought the ending of the movie was cheesy. John asks why, but Matt agrees with Will, saying the ending is stupid. Robert turns to Laura, and asks her not to say what Matt and Will are idiotically saying, and John repeats the sentiment to Megan. Megan and Laura look at each other, and Laura tries to gently say she doesn’t like the ending either, but Megan bluntly says the ending is one of the worst movie endings ever. John and Robert are outraged, and begin arguing, for different reasons why the ending is great. John says that the ending perfectly resolves Ray’s arc, while Robert says that the ending perfectly follows the spirit of baseball. Megan puts her hands up, and Laura says it’s stupid to argue over. John and Robert begin to speak again, but Matt says he’s tired, and he wants to go to bed. John and Robert give up, and then they place the inflatable mattress in front of the TV and the couch for Will to sleep on. Will apologizes to Matt, saying that he snores. Matt says he can sleep through anything, and Will smiles at that. Later, in bed, Laura tells Robert her surprise. She bought two tickets for the opening night of a local community theater’s production of Damn Yankees next week. Robert groans at this, and he calls theater a “place for gay people.” Laura groans, telling him that his attitude towards gay people is the one thing she doesn’t love about him. Robert tells her that it’s unnatural, but Laura says she doesn’t want to have this argument now. She does point out that John, who did theater in high school, is married to a woman who is a month and a half away from childbirth, so clearly his stereotype is incorrect. Robert mutters, annoyed at this, and Laura brings up that the show is about hating the Yankees. Robert is amused by this, and says maybe it won’t be terrible. Laura kisses Robert, thanking him for giving the play a chance. Robert says it’s no problem.

 

Another week passes with Will never leaving the house. John is told about the night out with Robert, and he is excited for it, much to his own surprise. Matt is also excited for seeing Alex perform for the first time. Will bonds with Laura and Robert, who both find Will delightful. However, the beginning of the end is about to arrive as the dawn of DAY 56 arrives. Matt texts Alex, realizing something really stupid: he never asked what play Alex is in. Alex texts back, saying he is playing Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees. Matt realizes in shock this means he’s going to be with Alex in a place where Robert could see him. Matt tries to ask if he can go tomorrow night instead, but Alex says that his other free seats are taken, and he really wanted someone there on the opening night. Matt apologizes, and says him staying for the show should be fine. However, when John wakes up, Matt pulls him into the master bathroom to talk him in private. John asks what’s up, and Matt says he’s seeing Damn Yankees tonight as well. John asks why, and Matt answers that his boyfriend - the one that jumped out the window - is the lead, and he needs to be there for opening night. John says he can’t go, but Matt promises he’ll avoid John and Robert. John shakes his head at Matt, saying he hopes nothing goes wrong. Matt asks John if John would stick up for Matt, and John says of course he would. Matt is relieved at this.

 

The day goes by slowly, and Will says he wants to get out of the house for once. Laura and Megan then plan a night out with Will, planning on seeing a movie after a dinner at a steakhouse. They ask Matt if he’d like to tag along, but Matt says he made plans with a friend. Megan looks at him weirdly but says nothing. Matt leaves the house early, to hang out with Alex backstage before the show. Robert and John plan the day, excitedly. Robert still is slightly apprehensive of going to his first ever theatrical production, but John says that he’ll love it. John reminds Robert that he was actually in Damn Yankees in high school, and Robert apologizes for being unable to make it. John smiles, realizing this is the first time his father has ever apologized to him. Night arrives, and John drives Robert to the show. Will, Megan, and Laura get ready to leave, but find that there is no car available. Will frowns, but Megan says they can still have fun here. Laura orders in some Chinese food, while Megan looks for a DVD they can watch. Will finds Matt’s copy of Empty Hearth, and he comments that he’s never seen this movie. Megan hasn’t either, along with Laura, so they decide to watch with their food.

 

At the theater after being seated, John tries to look for Matt without Robert seeing it. He sees that Matt is up in the very front row of the small theater. The production begins and Alex owns the role, completely convincing as Joe Hardy. John finds the production boring though, and he quietly sings along to a few of the songs. Matt is overwhelmed with emotions throughout the show, loving Alex and his performance. Robert is the most enraptured though, completely becoming involved with the story and loving the entire production. At the end, he jumps up to begin the standing ovation, and everyone agrees with him. As Matt goes to meet Alex at the front of the stage, John is eager to get out of the theater to avoid Robert from seeing Matt, but Robert says he wants to compliment the leads. As Robert goes to get in a line, John, panicking, calls Matt’s cell phone. Matt answers, and John says he needs to leave now. Matt understands, seeing Robert enter the line to speak to Alex. Matt tells Alex he’ll be right back; he needs to use the restroom. Robert reaches the front of the line within five minutes, and he compliments Alex, saying he always thought theater was a gay place, but this show convinced otherwise. Alex is offended, but remembers reading something in the paper a while ago about a crazy old man who attacked a homosexual waiter at a fancy restaurant in the area. Alex decides not to take any chances, and smiles at Robert, who leaves promptly after another compliment towards Alex. Matt walks up to Alex, and apologizes, saying that Robert is the man he has to live with for a long time. Alex rolls his eyes, apologizing for Matt having to live with that crazy man. Matt says he’s thinking of coming out to his family, but he’d be homeless otherwise. Alex says Matt can live with him if he wants to, and Matt says he’ll think about it.

 

Empty Hearth ends and Laura, Megan, and Will stare at the TV in shock. They cannot believe what they just watched. Conveniently though, the doorbell rings in the middle of the credits. John and Robert have returned from the play. Laura asks them how it was as Megan and Will are still in shock from the film. John says it was okay, but Robert starts going on about how great it was. Megan says that that’s great to hear, and Laura agrees with her. Will asks if they’ve seen this movie, and John says that it must be Matt’s copy. Will says he didn’t like it, but Megan thought it was interesting. As Will goes off to get some Coke from the fridge, Laura says that she’s happy the two of them had a fun time, and it’s great that the last month and a half of this experience will be smooth sailing from now. Robert puts his hand on John’s shoulder and tells him that he hasn’t always been there for him, but from now, he isn’t missing a thing John does. The moment is ruined by Will screaming in terror, having accidentally opened Tyler’s fridge. Laura goes to help, as John smiles and quietly thanks Tyler. Everyone heads off to bed, and Matt arrives late, conflicted over what he should do with Alex and Robert’s homophobia.

 

Yet another week and a few days go by, and Matt begins hanging more and more often with Alex. He ultimately decides to reveal to the family what is going on. DAY 66. It is a family dinner that Matt cooked. Matt has an announcement to make: he will be having a good friend over that night, Alex. John nearly does a spit take at this and asks Matt to speak to him in private. Matt follows John into his room as John locks the door behind him. Matt starts to speak, but John interrupts, saying he knows Matt is in love with Alex, but he can’t tell Robert that. Matt says that it’s ridiculous that he has to hide himself in this house, and Alex offered him lodging for the remaining twenty-four days. John says he needs Matt to stick around, since Megan is due in three weeks, and Matt has become John’s best friend in the past two months. Matt apologizes, saying that the truth about him, Tyler, and Alex is coming out tonight. John points out that they need Matt to continue living with them to finish up the last month, and Matt says he went to Town Hall to take another look at the will, and he discovered a loophole. All that matters is that Matt stays the night at the house. During the day, he can go live with Alex. John sighs, and says he hopes Matt knows what he is doing. The doorbell rings, and Will gets it.

 

Alex is at the door. Will is confused, and he tells Alex he’s never seen him. Alex says he’s aware; he’s Matt’s friend. Will accepts this and lets Alex in. Matt leaves the room with John following him, and Matt hugs Alex. Megan shoots another suspicious look at John, and John sheepishly looks away. Robert walks in, and sees Alex, recognizing him from the play. Robert asks if this is Alex’s friend, and why didn’t he tell them. Laura, holding a plate with chips on it, looks concerned and asks Matt who this is. Matt begins to explain that Alex is his... boyfriend. Laura drops the plate in shock, but John grabs it. Robert, in shock, asks if this is true. Alex says yes, and he kisses Matt. Megan mutters that she knew it, as Robert begins become enraged. Will excuses himself, saying he needs to use the restroom. Robert asks Matt if it’s always been this way. Matt says yes, and he and Tyler were more than just roommates. Megan gasps as Laura goes to Robert to try to calm him down, but Robert won’t have it. “You’re telling me my son was a f*cking gay?” he asks Matt. Matt doesn’t answer. Robert begins screaming at Matt, telling him to leave his house, and he’s lying about Tyler. Alex steps up and ensures Robert that Tyler and Matt did have a thing. Robert won’t take this, and he leaves the room in disgust. Laura follows after Robert as Matt turns to John, saying that went over surprisingly well. John attempts to laugh at this, while Megan looks them disgusted, saying that this changes everything. John asks his wife if she’s saying what he thinks she’s saying. Megan says that she’s not a homophobe, but there’s no way Robert is going to let Matt stay for the next twenty-four days. Alex says not to worry, they have it worked out. He then shakes Megan’s hand, and Megan, though still concerned, buys it.

 

In the room, Laura is dealing with Robert’s near mental breakdown. Robert says that he wants Matt out of the house. Laura says he knows they can’t do that, for Tyler. Robert turns to her in anger, saying who gives a f*ck about Tyler. He was gay, which means he’s as good as never being their son. Laura says that two months ago, he was saying John wasn’t their son; now, he’s saying that Tyler wasn’t their son. Robert says that it’s different; John ended up married with a kid on the way in two weeks. Laura tells him he needs to calm down. Robert says Matt can go f*ck himself and leave Fort Wayne and his house. Will comes out of the bathroom, cutting the tension and running out of the room, seeing it’s an awkward moment. Laura tells him Matt needs to stay for twenty-four days at least. They’ve made it this far; there’s no way they’re stopping now. Robert growls, saying they can, and will. Laura stands up to him, saying Matt will continue staying at their house, and Robert’s going to have to deal with it. Robert says he will not leave his room as long as Matt is here. Laura says she guesses that’s the way it’s going to have to be.

 

Alex and Matt move the inflatable mattress to Megan and John’s room, and says he hopes they don’t mind it. Megan says it’s fine, as long as he doesn’t snore. Matt says that’s Will, not him. Alex gives Matt a goodbye kiss, and he leaves. The next day arrives, and Matt leaves to spend the day with Alex. John goes to tell Robert this, and Robert leaves his room. Robert puts his hand on John’s shoulder, and tells him he appreciates John is sane. John smiles at this compliment, but then realizes the somewhat sinister underlines. John goes to bed; however, while Megan falls asleep quickly, John tosses and turns for hours on end. Finally, he gets up, and goes to the kitchen. He pulls up a chair to the fridges, and then On purpose, he opens Tyler’s fridge. John, although feeling awkward, begins speaking to Tyler, saying that this whole three-month funeral thing saved his relationship with Robert, but it retroactively ruined Tyler’s relationship with Robert. John apologizes to Tyler, saying he saved his family relationships, but he feels terrible for ruining Robert’s image of Tyler. Not only that, John says that he knows Matt is a great guy, and John feels awful that both of their images are ruined for Robert, who ended up being a nice guy. John says he’s going to fix this before their time together is up, and he will get Robert to forgive Matt.

 

As John closes the fridge, we go into the final montage of the film, one that elapses two weeks. John begins planning with Megan, Laura, and Will about how they’re going to get rid of Robert’s homophobia. Laura says that it will be hard, maybe even impossible. Megan says nothing is impossible, and Will says that’s how he raised his daughter: to believe everything is possible. John smiles, and lays out his plan, which we do not hear. We see Robert drowning his silent sorrows on ESPN, but also spending quite a bit of time with John, to make up for him “choosing the wrong son.” Thanksgiving goes by, with the five eating together, and we also see Alex and Matt have a much smaller Thanksgiving. Matt arrives and leaves the house several times, showing the passage of time. Matt begins fixing up Alex’s place, making it look quite fancy. Finally, the montage ends as DAY 80 arrives.

 

Laura tells Robert that they’re going out for dinner. Robert doesn’t want to go, but Laura insists, since he hasn’t left the house in the past two weeks. Robert agrees, although he is very begrudged towards it. As Laura drives off with Robert alone, we see that Matt has already picked up Will, Megan, and John and taken them to Alex’s house, which has a small sign in front of now saying “Menudo Deliciosa.” Alex and Matt have remade Alex’s front room to be a dining room for a Mexican restaurant. Matt drives off to pick up people who they’ve hired to be other people in the restaurant. He picks up Jake, some of Alex’s friends from Damn Yankees, the waiter from Stablearrow’s, the town hall secretary, the fridge salesman, and the police officer. After John pays them money, they all begin eating enchiladas at separate tables. There is still one table available with two seats.

 

Laura arrives with Robert, saying that she wanted to try this new Mexican place. Robert refuses to go in, and Laura asks why. Robert says he’s not an idiot, and he knows this isn’t an actual restaurant. Laura says that she doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and Robert says he knows this is Alex’s place and they’re going to try to convince him that homosexuals aren’t evil, but he knows that they’re wrong. Laura drives away from Alex’s house and begins talking to Robert. Laura says that she knows Robert hates gays, but why. Robert says they aren’t natural, but Laura once again asks why. Robert doesn’t have an answer. Laura pulls over the car and begins speaking to Robert, and tells him not to interrupt:

 

“Look, I know you don’t like gay people. It’s painfully obvious. I’m not asking you to love gay people; I am asking you to love our family. You loved Tyler his entire life, and now you’re going to stop just because he doesn’t agree with your viewpoint on the world? News flash, Robert, I don’t agree with you on everything; no one agrees with anyone on everything. Look at John. You refused to consider him your son for so long, but once you gave him a chance, you realized you loved him. You may hate to say it, but Matt has become our family in these last few months too. Look at the trouble he’s going through to get you to accept him again. Sorry, honey, but if you don’t think that Tyler loved you just because he was gay, you’re sorely mistaken. You loved Tyler before you knew he was gay; I remember you saying multiple times that Tyler was a great boy and that you loved him more than you loved anyone else in the world besides me. Remember that? Now, you may think you were the only one to gain a son in the last few months, but Matt’s become our son too. Now, we are going to the restaurant so our ‘son’ has a chance to win you back over, just like John.”

 

Laura waits for a response from Robert, and Robert turns to her, saying he understands finally, at least he think he does. He’s ready to go to the restaurant. Laura smiles in relief, as a single teardrop falls from her eyes. They drive back to Alex’s house and enter it, and Robert looks in awe at all the people Matt and John recruited just to convince him that Matt is an all right guy. They are served dinner by Alex, who smiles at Robert. Robert smiles back, still shocked at what’s going on. They eat dinner, which is some nice tamales. At the end of the meal, Matt comes out of the kitchen, who Robert gives a hug, telling him he accepts him and Tyler for who they are and were. John and Megan smile at this, and Will walks out, saying that the food is delicious; Matt should seriously consider opening his own restaurant. A few of the “patrons” agree, saying that if this restaurant was an actual restaurant, they’d go to it once a week. Matt smiles at the compliments, and then drives home with John, Megan, and Will. Robert smiles, saying that Matt and Alex are always welcome in his house now. Matt smiles at this.

 

DAY 88. It’s just a typical day, and Alex is hanging out with Matt, Will, and the Myer family when suddenly, Megan’s water breaks. The next few hours are a blur as we see her rushed to the hospital, and John waits around nervously with the rest of the family, occasionally being called in to help Megan with the pain. Finally, on DAY 88... DAY 2, John is invited in to see his new daughter in Megan’s arms. Megan says she’s already decided a first name and John can come with the middle name. John does another idea, and they name her Willow Tilda Myers. A week passes with Megan still in the hospital for recovery, keeping the last days of the commitment on hold. On DAY 88... DAY 8, Megan returns to spend the last three nights in the house with Willow, John, Robert, Laura, Will, Matt, and even Alex.

 

DAY 90. It is 11:59PM. We see it slowly change to 12:00AM, and we see that everyone has stayed up, excited to see the end of the three months. It is December 23. As Robert makes the call to finally arrange the funeral, he finds that they can have the service on December 26. Some arrive, and they move out Tyler’s body to stay at the funeral home. The entire family sticks around the house, and DAY 91 appears on the screen. The Christmas Eve dinner occurs, with Matt’s fantastic cooking making it one of the best Christmas dinner ever. John raises a toast to Tyler, saying that without him, he would be a lost man without a family still, but the last three months allowed him to realize how great his family truly is. Matt adds onto the toast, saying that Tyler is the best friend he’s ever had, and without this whole three-month funeral thing, he would’ve never met Alex, and never realized just how much he truly loved Tyler. Robert finishes off the toast, saying that three months ago, he refused to acknowledge John as his son. Tyler was his only offspring three months ago, but now, now John is his son and Megan is his daughter-in-law. Even Matt has become family, despite some major differences. Over the past three months, Robert has learned a lot of things, including finally learning how to love. Laura begins silently crying at this; her dreams of having a loving family have finally been realized.

 

The next day is Christmas, and it’s honestly the best Christmas any of them have ever had. The wake and funeral soon follow, and we hear John speak at the funeral about how before the last three months, he utterly hated his family, but now, he loves them all, even those who he didn’t know were in his family. After Tyler is finally laid to rest, we see the aftermath the entire experience. Alex and Matt moved into together full-time, and Matt is using the money he received from Tyler’s estate to open up an actual Mexican restaurant. Robert and Laura are still deeply in love, and have no plan of leaving Fort Wayne. John and Megan moved back to Los Angeles with Willow, but after half a year, Megan quit her job to become a homemaker and they, along with Megan’s dad, moved back to Fort Wayne so that way Willow could see her grandparents growing up. The film ends on a shot of Willow’s eight-month celebration, with Robert, Laura, John, Megan, Alex, Matt, and Will smiling around her. THE END.

[Blankments]

The Fall of Boss Tweed

 

Director: Ridley Scott

Writer: William Monahan

Genre: Period Crime Drama

Date: September 22

Studio: Blankments Productions

Cast: Hugh Jackman as William “Boss” Tweed, Jennifer Garner as Mary Jane Tweed, Chris Pine as Thomas Nast, and Jack Nicholson as the Editor-in-Chief. Unknowns as everyone else.

Music by: Howard Shore

Runtime: 159 min

Tagline: The end of a good man.

 

Plot Summary: A film following the rise and fall of Boss Tweed.

 

Plot:

NOVEMBER 1851. William Tweed waiting for results of an election via telegram. His wife, Mary Jane, tells him not to worry, but he is eagerly anticipating these results. Finally, the results are in. He has been elected to the House of Representatives. Mary Jane congratulates him while Tweed is pleased. However, he begins to plan his future, his future where he can be in complete control.

 

A year passes through the opening credits, which makes everyone in the audience aware that Tweed will not have a happy ending. We jump ahead to 1858 which is when Tweed, after his term in the House of Representatives, is approached by a Republican reformer. The reformer explains that the Republicans from Albany wish to control the Democratic-dominated New York City government. They are loading up the New York County Board of supervisors. Tweed accepts being appointed to the board, and starts grafting.

 

Tweed forces all vendors in New York City to pay 15% overcharge in order to do business with the city. Tweed then decides to become a lawyer. He has a friend certify him although he has no professional training at all, and it works. Years pass and he goes up and up the governmental ladder of New York City. In APRIL 1863, he becomes the “Grand Sachem” of New York City, and begins being referred to as Boss Tweed. He enjoys the limelight, and he starts tightening powers on clubs in the city.

 

Tweed then starts using his law firm to extort money, which he disguises as extra legal services. He then appoints himself deputy street commissioner, allowing him access to city contractors and fundings. Tweed, wanting more power, purchases the New-York Printing Company and the Manufacturing Stationers’ Company, and begins overcharging for their goods and services. Finally, he begins to form the “Tweed Ring,” putting his friends in high positions of power.

 

Tweed enjoys his newfound wealth, and he begins wearing a large diamond in his shirt front. He buys a brownstone to live in with his wife, and he becomes the largest landowner in real estate via several investments. He then works his way up to the very top of New York City’s government. Tweed begins defrauding millions of people of their well-earned money. This continues for quite sometime, until 1871.

 

Thomas Nast arrives on the scene. He is possibly the nation’s most famous cartoonist. He sees right through Tweed’s lies and begins taking him down via cartoons. New York begins fearing Boss Tweed and realizing their deception. Tweed sends a bribe of $100,000 to Nast, but the editor-in-chief of Nast’s workplace refuses the offer. Tweed ups the bribe to $500,000, but Nast himself refuses. The Tweed Ring is removed from power on re-election and two years later, Tweed is arrested for fraud.

 

Convicted and unable to pay the $3 million bail, Tweed is locked up in the Ludlow Street Jail. On a visit to his house, Tweed escapes and flees to Spain. However, someone recognizes him from Nast’s political cartoons. Thrown back into jail, Tweed is left to wonder where he went wrong, as he slowly falls into illness and dies.

 

Theaters: 3,539

Rating: R for intense sequences of action and violence, drug use, strong language, nudity and sexuality.

Budget: $75 million

 

[Blankments]

Innocense

 

Director: Majid Majidi

Genre: Foreign Drama

Date: August 4 (4 theaters,) August 11 (16 theaters,) August 18 (230 theaters,) August 25 (743 theaters)

Studio: Blankments Productions

Cast: Reza Naji as Asghar. Unknowns

Format: Black and white

Music by: Hossein Alizadeh

Runtime: 83 min

Tagline: A Tragedy

 

Plot Summary: Simply put, an examination of an ongoing problem in Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern countries.

 

Plot:

The film opens with a poor man in Afghanistan going dumpster diving, hoping to find some food. He does this to multiple dumpsters, but then in one dumpster, he finds the head of an eight-year-old girl. He freaks out, and runs away from the dumpster. The title appears on screen.

INNOCENSE.

 

We jump back a year. Asghar has arrived at the house of his brother. His brother, Peyman and wife, Leila, welcome him with open arms, and Asghar apologizes for any shame he may bring onto his family by living with them. Peyman tells him it is no trouble, and he trusts that Asghar will be able to get himself back on his feet. Asghar smiles at him, and thanks him for his love. Leila goes to get their daughter, Sarina, to meet her Uncle Asghar. When Sarina walks in, the audience should recognize her as the eight-year-old head. Peyman picks up his daughter and kisses her on the cheek, letting her know he loves her. However, Asghar looks at her with deep interest.

 

Peyman takes Asghar to his room, and Asghar once again thanks him. Everyone goes to bed, but in the middle of the night, Asghar gets up and goes into Sarina’s room, where she is peacefully sleeping. Asghar strokes her hair, and wonders why he had never visited his brother before. Asghar leaves the room, and begins plotting a disastrous plot.

 

Months go by, with Asghar continuing this nightly habit until one time, Sarina wakes up in fear. Sarina asks Asghar what he is doing, and Asghar says that he finds Sarina beautiful. Sarina asks if him if that is the truth, and Asghar says he would never lie to such an adorable little girl. Sarina buys this, and tells Asghar that she’d like to sleep alone, and Asghar smiles, leaving the room.

 

Asghar then tries to get a job. Looking around the town of Marja shows small job opportunities. However, he finds a place where he can work in the poppy fields as a laborer. After a long day of work, he goes back to the house and he has a nice dinner with Peyman, Leila, and Sarina. This continues for a few weeks, and we see Asghar become more and more tired and desperate. One day, he snaps.

 

Asghar goes into Sarina’s room that night, and wakes her. He tells her about how he deeply think she is a beautiful girl. Sarina is scared, but Asghar tells her not to scream. The camera looks away as we hear the disturbing sounds of Sarina being raped. Asghar tells her not to worry, this is normal. Sarina begins crying, but Asghar slaps her, telling her to stop, and then he rapes her again.

 

This continues for three months, with every night Asghar coming into rape poor Sarina. Sarina tries to stop him, but she fears what will happen if she does. Alas, she eventually finds out. One night, Peyman wakes up in the middle of the night and is thirsty. However, Sarina is crying louder than usual. Peyman wakes up Sareh and they both go into Sarina’s room and walk in on Asghar raping her. Peyman is outraged at the sight as Sareh faints. Peyman yells at Asghar for bringing shame onto the family.

 

Asghar becomes fearful, but then becomes conniving. He convinces Peyman that Sarina has been seducing him every night. Sarina tells her father that Asghar is scary and he wants him to leave. Peyman cannot decide who is telling the truth, when Asghar points out who is he going to trust; his brother who has always been there for him, or a stupid young woman who doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Peyman sees what his brother is saying, and he goes to get his sword.

 

Sarina wakes up her mother, and tells Sareh what is going on. Sareh is disgusted, and tries to hit Asghar. Peyman walks in with the sword, and breaks up the fight. Asghar tells Peyman that Sarina is wicked and used her tongue to try to turn Sareh against her. Asghar tells Sareh that Sarina has been seducing him. Sareh is aghast, and asks Sarina if this is true. Sarina doesn’t know what to say except that it is a lie. Peyman is not convinced, and he tells Sarina she has brought shame to their family and he will not take this. He then beheads Sarina, which obviously kills her. Asghar then thanks Peyman and Sareh for saving him from the wicked temptress. They throw Sarina’s head into the trash, and life goes on. The film ends with the man going back to the dumpster, and taking out the head. He then gives it a proper burial, and places innocense flowers around the makeshift grave.

 

MPAA Rating: R for thematic content, violence, nudity, graphic sexual content, and disturbing images..

Budget: $1 million

Edited October 10, 2014 by Blankments