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Film Reviews

Cyrano de Bergerac

José Ferrer won the Oscar for Best Actor for his portayal of the swordsman-poet using his silver tongue to woo the woman he loves for another man. Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. Although there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, the play is a fictionalization of his life that follows the broad outlines of it. The entire play is written in verse, in rhyming couplets of twelve syllables per line, very close to the Alexandrine format, but the verses sometimes lack a caesura. It is also meticulously researched, down to the names of the members of the Académie française and the dames précieuses glimpsed before the performance in the first scene. The play has been translated and performed many times, and is responsible for introducing the word "panache" into the English language.

The Village Had No Walls

A young man from the city journeys to his first teaching post, the small hamlet of Bangarwadi, deep in the jungle, inhabited by a few shepherds and farmers as well as a criminal tribe known as the Ramoshis. After the initial shock of his strange new world wears off he learns to appreciate life in the village and stops longing for home.

Predator 2

Ten years after a band of mercenaries first battled a vicious alien, the invisible creature from another world has returned to Earth -- and this time, it's drawn to the gang-ruled and ravaged city of Los Angeles. When it starts murdering drug dealers, detective-lieutenant Mike Harrigan and his police force set out to capture the creature, ignoring warnings from a mysterious government agent to stay away.

Cry, the Beloved Country

In the back country of South Africa, black minister Stephen Kumalo (Canada Lee) journeys to the city to search for his missing son, only to find his people living in squalor and his son a criminal. Reverend Misimangu (Sidney Poitier) is a young South African clergyman who helps find his missing son-turned-thief and sister-turned-prostitute in the slums of Johannesburg.

Anna Christie

Old sailor Chris Christofferson eagerly awaits the arrival of his grown daughter Anna, whom he sent at five years old to live with relatives in Minnesota. He has not seen her since, but believes her to be a decent and respectably employed young woman. When Anna arrives, however, it is clear that she has lived a hard life in the dregs of society, and that much of spirit has been extinguished. She falls in love with a young sailor rescued at sea by her father, but dreads to reveal to him the truth of her past. Both father and young man are deluded about her background, yet Anna cannot quite bring herself to allow them to remain deluded.

Hilton!

A roughly beautiful Hilton! gives the viewer a glimpse of life in a modern society, a life that young persons lead.

Young Tom Edison

Inventor Thomas Edison's boyhood is chronicled and shows him as a lad whose early inventions and scientific experiments usually end up causing disastrous results. As a result, the towns folk all think Tom is crazy, and creating a strained relationship between Tom and his father. Toms only solace is his understanding mother who believes he's headed to do great things.

The Last Winter

In the Arctic region of Northern Alaska, an oil company's advance team struggles to establish a drilling base that will forever alter the pristine land. After one team member is found dead, a disorientation slowly claims the sanity of the others as each of them succumbs to a mysterious fear.

Thief

Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score.

To the Fore

A young man chases his dream of becoming a pro cyclist and is met with challenges.

The Survivor

When a 747 crashes shortly after take-off, the sole survivor is the pilot. Virtually unhurt, he and the investigators look for the answers to the disaster. Meanwhile mysterious deaths occur in the community and only a psychic, in touch with the supernatural, can help the pilot unravel the mystery surrounding the doomed plane.

Sense and Sensibility

Adaptation of the Jane Austen novel.

Army of One

Gary Faulkner is an ex-con, unemployed handyman, and modern day Don Quixote who receives a vision from God telling him to capture Osama Bin Laden. Armed with only a single sword purchased from a home-shopping network, Gary travels to Pakistan to complete his mission. While on his quest, Gary encounters old friends back home in Colorado, the new friends he makes in Pakistan, the enemies he makes at the CIA - and even God and Osama themselves.

Ruby Gentry

A sexy but poor young girl marries a rich man she doesn't love, but carries a torch for another man.

A Canterbury Tale

Three people arrive in a village in Southern England in the early years of World War 2. Alison Smith is a London girl who is due to start working on a farm as a 'Land Girl'. Peter Gibbs is an Englishman conscripted into the army, taking a few days leave before going abroad. Bob Johnson is a U.S. Army sergeant who wanted to go to Canterbury, but got off here by mistake. As they walk into the village, Alison is attacked by 'The Glue Man', a prankster who pours glue in women's hair. The three of them start to explore the area to discover and expose 'The Glue Man' but then get engrossed in the history of the area and the tales of The Pilgrim's Way. The local magistrate, Thomas Colpeper, JP is a local historian and a very mysterious character who leads them further into the mystery.

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