Posts Tagged ‘superstition’

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

Thursday, December 18th, 2008
Genres: Drama | Family | Musical
Countries: USA
Actors: Topol | Crane, Norma | Frey, Leonard | Picon, Molly | Mann, Paul | Harris, Rosalind | Marsh, Michele | Small, Neva | Glaser, Paul Michael | Lovelock, Ray | Edwards, Elaine | Bonstein, Candy | Ruskin, Shimen | Scooler, Zvee | Zorich, Louis
Directors: Jewison, Norman
Download: DivX iPod 

Film version of the stage musical, based on the stories of Sholom Aleichem. Tevye the Milkman is a Jewish peasant in pre-Revolutionary Russia, coping with the day-to-day problems of ’shtetl’ life, his Jewish traditions, his family (wife and daughters), and state-sanctioned pogroms.

Man Who Would Be King, The (1975)

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
Genres: Action | Adventure
Countries: UK | USA
Actors: Connery, Sean | Caine, Michael | Plummer, Christopher | Jaffrey, Saeed | Larbi, Doghmi | May, Jack | Bouih, Karroom Ben | Shamsi, Mohammad | Moses, Albert | Antrim, Paul | Acres, Graham | Blue Dancers of Goulamine, The | Caine, Shakira | Singh, Gurmuks | Singh, Kimat
Directors: Huston, John
Download: DivX iPod 

” The Man Who Would Be King” is about two ambitious ex-soldiers stationed in India who set out to become the rulers of an entire country. After finishing their tour of duty in India, Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnehan have decided that India is “too small for the likes of them,” so they decide to bribe a local ruler and extort money from him, in order to buy twenty Martini rifles, which they will use to take over villages in Kafristan. They face many challenges and perils along the way, including difficult terrain, hostile natives, freezing temperatures, and an avalanche high in the mountains. They eventually come to a small village, Urheb, where they meet Ootah and Billy Fish, an Indian who speaks English; he then becomes their translator. They then train the natives of this village to use the rifles, and soon conquer village after village. During a battle, Daniel is struck by an arrow that seemingly sticks out of his chest. The ignorant natives believe that he must be a God for not having died, and fall down and begin worshiping him. Daniel and Peachy decide that it would be easier for a “God ” to take over the country, so they pretend that Daniel is a god, the son of Alexander the Great who has returned after 2200 years to again rule Kafristan. The entire country celebrated the return of their new ruler, the Son of Segunda (”Alexander”). As a token of their admiration, the holiest of holy men gives Daniel all of the gold and riches left by Alexander in 328 B.C. It is enough to make them the richest men in the world . . . All goes well until Daniel’s ego and greed gets the best of him. He asks Peachy to bow when he walks in front of him. He later tells Peachy that he has decided to stay, and now believes that he is the son of Alexander ( ‘in spirit, anyways”), and that to fulfill his destiny, he will marry Roxanne, like his “father” Alexander did before him. The Kafiri’s believe that a mortal cannot marry a God, but Daniel goes ahead anyway. Peachy was set to leave with his share of the treasure, but Daniel convinced him to stay ” for old time’s sake” for the wedding. At the ceremony, Roxanne, believing that she would soon die, bites Daniel, drawing blood. The entire crowd realizes that since Danny is bleeding, that he is a man, not a God, and that he has been deceiving them the entire time. Peachy grabs Daniel and they run off with their twenty soldiers, shooting at the crowd of monks who set out to kill them. They are eventually captured, and Daniel is forced to walk out on a rope bridge. The monks cut the ropes, and Daniel bravely falls to his death. Peachy is later crucified; when they come to see him the next day, he is still alive, and they say that it is a miracle that he lived and they cut him down. He eventually climbs down into the valley and retrieves Danny’s head, still wearing the crown. He brings it back to Rudyard Kipling, a writer for the Northern Star, as proof that Daniel accomplished his goal, and became the King of Kafristan. Themes developed in the story: 1. ambition 2. friendship 3. taking risks 4. perseverance (not giving up) 5. power 6. honor and dignity

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
Genres: Action | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy
Countries: USA
Actors: Depp, Johnny | Bloom, Orlando | Knightley, Keira | Davenport, Jack | Nighy, Bill | Pryce, Jonathan | Arenberg, Lee | Crook, Mackenzie | McNally, Kevin | Bailie, David | Skarsgård, Stellan | Hollander, Tom | Harris, Naomie | Klebba, Martin | Schofield, David
Directors: Verbinski, Gore
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Just before their wedding, Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner are arrested by Lord Cutler Beckett for helping the pirate Captain Jack Sparrow, but Cutler proposes a deal to Will: their freedom per Jack’s compass. Meanwhile, Jack is afraid of the sea, because he owes his soul to the evil Davy Jones, the Captain of the Flying Dutchmen. When Will meets Jack, the pirate proposes to exchange his compass by a key owned by Davy Jones. Will goes to the Flying Dutchman without knowing how dangerous and diabolic Davy Jones and his crew are.

Others, The (2001)

Monday, March 17th, 2008
Genres: Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller
Countries: France | Spain | USA
Actors: Kidman, Nicole | Flanagan, Fionnula | Eccleston, Christopher | Alakina Mann | Bentley, James | Sykes, Eric | Elaine Cassidy | Asherson, Renée | Reid, Gordon | Allen, Keith | Fairley, Michelle | Vince, Alexander | López, Ricardo | Grilo, Aldo
Directors: Alejandro Amenábar
Download: DivX iPod 

A woman named Grace (Kidman) is living with her two children Anne and Nicholas (Mann and Bentley) on an almost empty island in their huge mansion. Grace’s husband is a soldier in WWII and Grace has given her husband up for dead. Everything seems peaceful for her, but when three mysterious servants are given jobs at the house, terrifying secrets are unlocked that even Grace cannot handle.

Skeleton Key, The (2005)

Sunday, October 21st, 2007
Genres: Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller
Countries: USA
Actors: Hudson, Kate | Rowlands, Gena | Hurt, John | Sarsgaard, Peter | Bryant, Joy | Barnett, Maxine | Harris, Fahnlohnee R. | Zinser, Marion | Tyler, Deneen | Dalrymple, Ann | Marcus, Trula M. | Staten, Tonya | Uskali, Thomas | Apgar, Jen | Landis, Forrest
Directors: Softley, Iain
Download: DivX iPod 

A young woman helping care for an invalid in New Orleans finds herself caught in the middle of morbid going-ons centered around a group of Hoodoo (Not Voodoo, it’s different. Hoodoo is an old African American magic that only works if you believe in it.) practitioners.

Just My Luck (2006)

Monday, October 1st, 2007
Genres: Comedy | Fantasy | Romance
Countries: USA
Actors: Lohan, Lindsay | Pine, Chris | Armstrong, Samaire | Turner, Bree | Love, Faizon | Pyle, Missi | Ponce, Carlos | Fletcher, Tom | Jones, Danny | Judd, Harry | Vega, Makenzie | Poynter, Dougie | Fleming, Jaqueline | Rhodes, Dane | Hawkins, Ira
Directors: Petrie, Donald
Download: DivX iPod 

Manhattan socialite, Ashley is the luckiest person in New York. Untill, one night she goes to a masquerade ball and meets, Jake. Jake on the other hand has the worst luck. After kissing Jake, Ashley is horrified to find out that she and Jake swapped luck.

Dr. No (1962)

Sunday, May 6th, 2007
Genres: Action | Adventure | Thriller
Countries: UK
Actors: Connery, Sean | Lee, Bernard | Ursula Andress | Joseph Wiseman | Jack Lord | Gayson, Eunice | John Kitzmiller | Margaret Le Wars | Marshall, Zena
Directors: Young, Terence
Download: DVD DivX PDA 

An agent of the British Secret Service, James Bond (007), is sent out to the West Indies in order to find out why another of his number was killed. His arrival is not welcomed by everyone, but it is not long before he is on the trail of the killer. The trail leads to a secretive scientist, Dr. No, but the discovery has wider implications…

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

Saturday, May 5th, 2007
Genres: Action | Adventure | Drama | History | War
Countries: USA
Actors: Crowe, Russell | Bettany, Paul | D'Arcy, James | Woodall, Edward | Larkin, Chris | Pirkis, Max | Randall, Jack | Benitz, Max | Ingleby, Lee | Pates, Richard | Pugh, Robert | McCabe, Richard | Mercer, Ian | Dolan, Tony | Threlfall, David
Directors: Weir, Peter
Download: DVD DivX PDA 

During the Napoleonic Wars, a British frigate, HMS Surprise, and a much larger French warship, the Acheron, with greater fire power, stalk each other off of the coast of South America. Russell Crowe brings great intensity to the role of Captain Jack Aubrey. Lucky Jack, as he is referred to by his crew, is well regarded by his men, who trust him implicitly, even after the first devastating battle and an apparent personal vendetta against the French captain. While the naval battle sequences are quite fantastic, the film is successful because director Weir chose to build the story to get to know the men who are locked aboard the tight quarters of a small ship and how they interact everyday. The officers and the mates are well-known by the time the final battle comes. Paul Bettany offers a strong performance as the surgeon and naturalist who balances the violence of his chosen life with the quiet demeanor of the scientist. He is the captain’s friend and confidant, the two frequently playing violin and cello duets together. The horrors of the injuries from the war are frequently implied, but vividly depicted in the reactions of the characters.

Angel Heart (1987)

Wednesday, March 21st, 2007
Genres: Horror | Mystery | Thriller
Countries: Canada | UK | USA
Actors: Rourke, Mickey | De Niro, Robert | Bonet, Lisa | Rampling, Charlotte | McGhee, Brownie | Fontelieu, Stocker | Higgins, John Michael | Whitcraft, Elizabeth | Keener, Eliott | Gordone, Charles | Florek, Dann | Wilhoite, Kathleen | Buck, George | Drake, Judith | Orange, Gerald
Directors: Parker, Alan
Download: DVD DivX PDA 

Harry Angel is a private investigator. He is hired by a man who calls himself Louis Cyphre to track down a singer called Johnny Favorite. As he begins to investigate, all the people he contacts concerning Johnny are killed in mysterious ways. As he finds out more about himself and his client he discovers that he is fighting for his very existence and is forced to deal with the devil himself.

007 Live and Let Die (1973)

Sunday, February 4th, 2007
Genres: Action | Adventure | Crime | Thriller
Countries: UK | USA
Actors: Lee, Bernard | Moore, Roger | Kotto, Yaphet | Seymour, Jane | James, Clifton | Harris, Julius | Holder, Geoffrey | Hedison, David | Hendry, Gloria | Maxwell, Lois | Lane, Tommy | Brown, Earl Jolly | Stewart, Roy | Satton, Lon | Williams, Arnold
Directors: Hamilton, Guy
Download: DVD DivX PDA 

When Bond investigates the murders of three fellow agents, he soon finds himself a target, evading the vicious assassins as he closes in on the powerful Kananga (Yaphet Kotto). Known as “Mr. Big,” Kananga is coordinating a globally threatening scheme using tons of self-produced heroin. As Bond tries to unravel the mastermind’s plan, he meet Solitaire (Jane Seymour), the beautiful Tarot card reader whose magical gifts are crucial to the crime lord. Bond, of course, works his own magic on her, and the stage is set for pulse-pounding action sequences involving voodoo, hungry crocodiles and turbo-charged speedboats.