The Adventures of Robin Hood (film)

The Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1938 American swashbuckler film directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley. Filmed in Technicolor, the picture stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains.

Plot

When Richard the Lionheart, the King of England, is taken captive by Leopold of Austria while returning from the Crusades, his brother John (Claude Rains) takes power and proceeds to oppress the Saxon commoners. Prince John raises their taxes, supposedly to raise Richard's ransom, but in reality to secure his own position on the throne.

One man stands in his way, the Saxon Robin, Earl of Locksley (Errol Flynn). He acquires a loyal follower when he saves Much (Herbert Mundin) from being arrested by Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone) for poaching one of the king's deer. Robin goes alone to see Prince John at Gisbourne's castle and announces to John's assembled supporters and a contemptuous Maid Marian (Olivia de Havilland) that he will do all in his power to oppose John and restore Richard to his rightful place. He then escapes, in spite of the efforts of John's men.

His lands and title now forfeit, Robin takes refuge in Sherwood Forest with his friend Will Scarlet (Patric Knowles). There they meet and recruit Little John (Alan Hale, Sr.). Other men join their growing band. Later, Robin provokes Friar Tuck (Eugene Pallette) into a swordfight, but then persuades the friar into joining him to provide spiritual guidance to the outlaws. Soon, Prince John and his Norman cronies find themselves harassed beyond all bearing with many of their troops receiving instant deadly retribution for their abuses courtesy of the Merry Men's arrows.

One day, Robin and his men capture a large party of Normans transporting taxes through Sherwood. Among Robin's "guests" are Gisbourne, the cowardly Sheriff of Nottingham (Melville Cooper), and Maid Marian. Robin and his men "liberate" the tax money, swearing to a man to contribute it towards King Richard's ransom. At first, Marian is disdainful of Robin and his "band of cut-throats", but becomes convinced of his good intentions. Eventually Robin lets the humiliated Gisbourne and sheriff go, telling them that they have Marian to thank for their lives.

The Sheriff then comes up with a cunning scheme to capture Robin. He suggests to Prince John that he announce an archery tournament, with the grand prize a golden arrow to be presented by Maid Marian, knowing that Robin will be unable to resist the challenge. All goes as planned; Robin identifies himself by winning the competition and is taken prisoner. Gisbourne sentences him to be hanged. However, Marian warns Robin's men, and they manage to rescue him on his way to the gallows. Later, in the dark of night, Robin sneaks into the castle to thank her. Marian and Robin declare their love for each other.

Meanwhile, King Richard (Ian Hunter) returns to England disguised as a monk, but is recognized at an inn by the Bishop of the Black Canons (Montagu Love) after he overhears one of Richard's men call him "sire". The traitorous bishop hurries to inform Prince John. Upon receiving the news, John and Gisbourne plot to dispose of Richard quietly before he can raise an army. Dickon Malbete (Harry Cording), a disgraced former knight, is sent to assassinate him in return for the restoration of his rank and Robin's estate. Marian overhears them and writes a note warning Robin, but Gisbourne finds it and has her arrested and condemned to death for treason. Marian's nurse Bess (Una O'Connor) informs her boyfriend Much, who intercepts and kills Dickon after a desperate struggle.

Richard and his escort travel to Sherwood Forest to find Robin. When Richard is certain of Robin's loyalty, he reveals his identity. Then they learn that John intends to have himself crowned king by the Bishop of the Black Canons in Nottingham the next day.

Knowing that the castle is too strong to take by force, Robin decides to use guile, visiting the bishop and "persuading" him to include Robin and his men, in disguise, in his entourage. Through this ruse, they gain entry to the castle and interrupt John's coronation. A melee breaks out, during which Robin and Gisbourne engage in a prolonged swordfight. Gisbourne is finally slain, and Robin rescues Marian from her cell.

Richard is restored to the throne; he exiles his brother, pardons the outlaws, returns Robin's earldom and orders him to marry Lady Marian. Robin exclaims, "May I obey all your commands with equal pleasure, sire!"

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

For the stage musical of the same name, see Priscilla Queen of the Desert - the Musical.The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Stephan Elliott
Produced by Al Clark
Michael Hamlyn
Written by Stephan Elliott
Starring Terence Stamp
Hugo Weaving
Guy Pearce
Bill Hunter
Music by Guy Gross (score)
Various artists
Cinematography Brian J. Breheny
Editing by Sue Blainey
Studio Gramercy Pictures
Distributed by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Release date(s) August 10, 1994
Running time 103 minutes
Country Australia
Language English
Filipino
Budget $2,000,000
Gross revenue $11,220,670


The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a 1994 Australian comedy-drama film based around the journey of three drag queens travelling across the Australian Outback from Sydney to Alice Springs in a tour bus that they have named "Priscilla". The film was written and directed by Stephan Elliott and starred Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce and Terence Stamp as the three drag queens, one of whom is a transsexual and the other two are homosexuals. Containing elements of comedy, the film's title is a pun on the fact that in English speaking cultures, a "queen" is a euphemism for a homosexual.[1]

The film received predominantly positive reviews and won an Oscar for Best Costume Design. It was also screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.[2] The film has provided the basis for a musical, Priscilla Queen of the Desert - the Musical, which opened in 2006 in Sydney, before subsequently also travelling to New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Plot

Anthony "Tick" Belrose, who uses the drag pseudonym of Mitzi Del Bra (Hugo Weaving), is a Sydney-based drag queen who accepts an offer to perform his drag act at a hotel resort in Alice Springs, a remote town in central Australia. After persuading his friends and fellow performers, Ralph Waite, who prefers to call herself Bernadette Bassenger (Terence Stamp), a recently bereaved transsexual woman, and Adam Whitely, who uses the drag pseudonym of Felicia Jollygoodfellow (Guy Pearce), an irritating, flamboyant and obnoxious drag queen, to join him, the three set out for Alice Springs in a large tour bus which Adam/Felicia christens "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert".

Whilst on the long journey through the Australian Outback, they meet a variety of characters, including a group of friendly Australian Aborigines whom they perform for, but also encounter the less accepting attitudes of rural Australia in such towns as Coober Pedy, and are subjected to homophobic abuse and even violence, including having their tour bus vandalised with the words "AIDS fuckers go home."

When the tour bus breaks down in the middle of the desert, this results in the trio meeting Bob (Bill Hunter), a middle-aged mechanic from a small outback town who joins them on their journey. Before they arrive at Alice Springs, Tick reveals that Marion (Sarah Chadwick), the woman who runs the resort where they will be performing, is actually his estranged wife and that they are in fact going there as a favor to her. Upon arrival, it is revealed that Tick and Marion also have an 8-year-old son, Benjamin, whom Tick has not seen for many years. It is also mentioned that Marion is a lesbian.

By the time their four-week stint at the resort is over, Tick and Adam head back to Sydney, taking Benjamin back with them so that Tick can get to know his son and Marion can have a long-earned break. However, Bernadette decides to remain at the resort for a while with Bob after the two of them become close.

Adventures of Don Juan

Adventures of Don Juan, known in the United Kingdom as The New Adventures of Don Juan, is a 1948 adventure Technicolor romance film made by Warner Bros. It was directed by Vincent Sherman and produced by Jerry Wald from a screenplay by George Oppenheimer and Harry Kurnitz based on a story by Herbert Dalmas, with uncredited contributions by William Faulkner and Robert Florey.

The film stars Errol Flynn and Viveca Lindfors with Robert Douglas, Alan Hale, Ann Rutherford and Robert Warwick. Also in the cast are Barbara Bates, Raymond Burr and Mary Stuart.

The music score was by Max Steiner, the cinematography by Elwood Bredell and the costume design by Leah Rhodes, Marjorie Best and Travilla.

PLOT

In the years before the Spanish Armada of the sixteenth Century, Spanish noble Don Juan de Maraña (Errol Flynn) is repatriated from London to Madrid after a serious diplomatic scandal caused by his affair with a British fiancée on the eve of her marriage to a Spanish noble. The Spanish ambassador in London, Count de Polan (Robert Warwick), sends a letter of recommendation to his friend, Queen Margaret (Viveca Lindfors) asking her to provide an opportunity at the court to rehabilitate Don Juan after the gossiping and rumors about his multiple illicit love affairs. He is thus hired as instructor in the art of fencing at the Spanish Academy.

He secretly falls in love with Queen Margaret but remains a loyal subject to her and her irresponsible and weak husband, King Phillip III (Romney Brent). Don Juan discovers the treacherous plan of the Machiavellian Duke de Lorca (Robert Douglas), who is plotting to depose the monarch, usurp power in Spain and declare war on England. With the support of his friends, Don Juan defends the Queen, the King and the loyal Count de Polan against Duke de Lorca and his henchmen.[1]

Adaptation (film)

Adaptation (rendered as Adaptation.) is a 2002 American comedy-drama film directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman. The film is based on Susan Orlean's non-fiction book The Orchid Thief through self-referential events. The film stars Nicolas Cage as Charlie and Donald Kaufman, Meryl Streep as Susan, with Chris Cooper, Cara Seymour, Brian Cox, Tilda Swinton, Ron Livingston and Maggie Gyllenhaal. The film tells the story of Charlie Kaufman's difficult struggle to adapt The Orchid Thief into a film. In addition, Orlean romances with John Laroche while Charlie enlists the help of his twin brother Donald.

The film had been in development as far back as 1994. Jonathan Demme brought the project to Columbia Pictures with Kaufman writing the script. Kaufman went through writer's block and did not know what to think of The Orchid Thief. In turn Kaufman wrote a script about his experience adapting The Orchid Thief into a screenplay. Tom Hanks was at one point set for the role of Charlie Kaufman while John Turturro was approached to portray Laroche. Jonze signed to direct and filming finished in June 2001. Adaptation. received positive reviews and critical acclaim, as well as outstanding success at the 75th Academy Awards, 60th Golden Globe Awards and 56th British Academy Film Awards. It has since developed a strong cult following, which almost all of Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman's works have developed.

Plot

In 1992, John Laroche and his wife run a successful Florida nursery, but tragedy strikes and Laroche's wife, mother and uncle are involved in a car accident. Laroche's mother and uncle are killed immediately, but his wife goes into a coma, divorcing Laroche and suing him once she regains consciousness. One month later, Laroche's home and everything he owns is destroyed by Hurricane Andrew. Meanwhile, local Seminoles hire Laroche due to his vast knowledge of flowers and orchid poaching. However, the Seminoles are using the extract of the Ghost Orchid as an illicit drug, and not for tribal ceremonials as Laroche thought.

Two years later, Laroche is caught at the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park and the ensuing trial captures the attention of New Yorker journalist Susan Orlean. Laroche and Susan become great friends, with Susan writing The Orchid Thief. Laroche and Susan then become romantically involved, while Susan is still married, albeit unhappily, in New York. The Orchid Thief is then optioned by Columbia Pictures.

During the filming of Being John Malkovich, the self-loathing and agoraphobic Charlie Kaufman is hired to write the screenplay. At the same time Charlie is going through melancholic depression and his twin brother Donald moves into his house in Los Angeles, mooching off Charlie. Donald decides to become a screenwriter like Charlie, and visits the seminars of Robert McKee. Charlie wants to adapt the script into a faithful adaptation of The Orchid Thief, hoping to impress Susan. However, he realizes that there is no narrative involved and finds it impossible to turn the book into a film, going through a serious case of writer's block.

Meanwhile, Donald's spec script for a clichéd psychological thriller sells for over one million dollars, while Charlie accidentally starts writing his script with self-reference. Already well over his deadline with Columbia Pictures, Charlie visits Susan in New York for advice on the screenplay. In New York Charlie finds that he is not courageous enough to meet Susan, leaving without consulting with her. Charlie visits a McKee seminar in New York, gaining advice from McKee, and bringing Donald to assist with the story structure. Donald even agrees to go on an interview with Susan, posing as Charlie and remains wary of Susan's answers. With Donald convinced that Susan is lying, he and Charlie follow Susan to Florida where she meets Laroche. Charlie finds Susan and Laroche taking the Ghost Orchid drug and having sex.

This is followed by a sequence of events which include a car chase, Donald being shot and then killed in a car crash, Laroche being killed by an alligator and Susan being arrested by the police. His writer's block broken, Charlie finally summons up the courage to tell his former girlfriend, Amelia, that he is in love with her. He finishes his script, with Gérard Depardieu in mind to portray him in the film.

The Accused (1988 film)

The Accused is a 1988 Canadian drama film starring Jodie Foster and Kelly McGillis, directed by Jonathan Kaplan and written by Tom Topor. Foster was awarded the 1988 Academy Award for Best Actress and Golden Globe Award for her performance.

Based on the real-life gang rape of Cheryl Araujo that occurred at Big Dan's Bar in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on March 6, 1983, this film was one of the first Hollywood films to deal with rape in a direct manner.

Plot

The story is about a working-class woman, Sarah Tobias (Foster), labeled as promiscuous. One night in a bar, she is gang raped by several drunk bar patrons, while drunken onlookers cheer them on. A district attorney, Kathryn Murphy (McGillis), is assigned to the rape case, but she is persuaded by her superiors to let the rapists plead guilty to reckless endangerment and get a sentence that allows parole in less than a year. Sarah is angered by the deal because she considers it a light punishment and because she did not get to tell her story in court.

When Sarah is hospitalized after ramming her car into a pickup truck, whose driver (one of the witnesses who had encouraged the rapists) crudely propositions her, Kathryn decides to prosecute the men who cheered the rape for criminal solicitation. Sarah's friend Sally, a waitress at the bar where the rape took place, picks three men out of a line-up, and they get three different attorneys for the ensuing trial. Sarah testifies that she was raped, while college student Kenneth Joyce, whose friend was one of the rapists, testifies to watching the rape prior to making a 911 call. After Kathryn's closing statement and a single summation from the three defense lawyers, the jury deliberates for a long time, asking several times for Ken's testimony to be reread to them. At the end, they find the three men guilty.

The Accountant (2001 film)

"The Accountant" is a 2001 short comedy film directed by Ray McKinnon. It won an Academy Award in 2002 for Best Short Subject.[1]

The film tells the story of an accountant whose mathematical skills just might save the O'Dell family farm. The accountant takes the O'Dell brothers on a journey that explores the plight of America’s family farms and hidden corporate conspiracies.

The film was released on video and DVD on November 3, 2009.[2]

The Accidental Tourist (film)

The Accidental Tourist is a 1988 American drama film. It was directed by Lawrence Kasdan and scored by John Williams. The film's screenplay was adapted by Kasdan and Frank Galati from the novel of the same name by Anne Tyler. One of the most acclaimed films of 1988, it was nominated for several awards including four Academy Awards. The cast includes William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis and Bill Pullman.

Plot

Macon Leary is a Baltimore, Maryland writer of travel guides for reluctant business travelers. After the killing of his 12 year old son, Ethan, during a shooting at a fast-food restaurant, he and his wife Sarah find their marriage disintegrating. Eventually she moves out of the house and into an apartment. When Macon becomes incapacitated due to a fall down his basement stairs, he returns to the family home to stay with his eccentric siblings—sister Rose and brothers Porter and Charles—whose odd habits include alphabetizing the groceries in the kitchen cabinets, ignoring the ringing telephone, and playing an invented card game called "Vaccination." Macon's publisher, Julian, comes to visit and finds himself attracted to Rose despite their obvious differences.

Macon hires Muriel Pritchett, a quirky young woman with a sickly son, to train his unruly dog Edward, a Cardigan Welsh Corgi, whom he cannot bear to give away because he once belonged to Ethan. Although Muriel at first seems brash and unsophisticated, Macon soon finds himself drifting into a relationship with her, spending most of his nights in her small, shabby apartment and even taking her son shopping for clothes. When Sarah becomes aware of the situation, she decides they should reconcile, even suggesting that they move back into their old home. Macon leaves Muriel and soon Sarah and he have set up house once more.

While visiting Paris for research on a travel guide, it turns out that Muriel is not only in the same flight, but is also staying in the same hotel—she had found the info in Macon's travel guide. She suggests that they enjoy themselves as if they are on a vacation, but Macon insists that he is there for strictly business. After Macon becomes bedridden in his hotel room with back pain, Sarah comes to Paris to care for him as well as make his trips in order to complete his travel research. Despite Sarah's renewed interest in their relationship, Macon decides to return to Muriel. During his cab ride to the airport, Macon spies Muriel attempting to hail a cab with numerous suitcases and shopping bags at her feet. He tells the cab driver to pull over, and Macon and Muriel smile at each other.