THE HAPPENING

Director : M. Night Shyamalan
Writer (WGA) : M. Night Shyamalan (written by)
Release Date : 11 June 2008 (Indonesia) more
Genre : Adventure | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi more
Tagline : We've Sensed It. We've Seen The Signs. Now... It's Happening.
Plot : A strange, horrible and unprecedented crisis begins in Central Park. A high school science teacher, his wife and a young girl do what they can to survive it.
Plot Keywords : Natural Disaster | Eco Horror | Framed Photograph | Long Take | Shot In The Chest

Synopsis :
The film opens in New York. People start to get confused in Central Park, repeating their words, standing still and sometimes walking backwards. We hear a few screams. A woman (Alison Folland) reading on a bench takes her silver chopstick-style hair pin out of her hair and stabs herself in the neck with it. Meanwhile on a building site, workers on the ground are chatting when all of a sudden a body falls. Panicked, thinking the worker just fell off the roof by mistake, they rush over to his broken body. While they looked over the body, another thud, another worker. They look at him confused; one is possible, two is unlikely, and when the third falls, it seems impossible. Then yet another and another, crashing to earth. When they look up they see many running off the edge, apparently by their own will, looking completely calm, and sure of their actions.

In the next shot, we see a science teacher named Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg), talking about the event science can not explain about thousands of disappearing bees, no bodies left, no trace. A student offers the opinion that this is a natural event that we will never fully understand. While speculating on the phenomenon that is the disappearing bees, Elliot is suddenly called out of class to a staff meeting warning about an apparent "terrorist attack" in New York in which terrorists have apparently released some kind of gas in Central Park, and advising that school is cancelled. As they leave, Elliot confesses to his friend Julian (John Leguizamo), a math teacher, that he and his wife are having some problems.

Elliot and his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) flee Philadelphia on a train, with Julian, and his daughter Jess. On the train people start to get reports by cellphone that the attacks have been reported at their destination, and in many other places. Alma is getting repeated and insistant calls on her phone from someone called Joey, and she lies to Elliot about it.

The movie moves on to show Rittenhouse Park in Philadelphia, where a woman walks her dog and a breeze begins to blow. A traffic cop (Don Castro) walking through a traffic jam stops and comments to a taxi driver about the chilly weather. Suddenly everyone stops in their tracks, and the dog runs across the road after his leash drops to the ground, leading us back to the cop who is now standing still in front of the cab. A gunshot rings out and he drops to the ground. As blood spurts from a bullet wound on his forehead, the taxi driver gets out, walks over to the dead cop, picks up the gun from beside the body and shoots himself in the forehead as well. A woman in high heels steps off the sidewalk, picks up the gun again and we hear another gunshot.

The train ends up leaving Elliott, Alma, Julian, Jess, and all the other passengers in a small rural town, as the conductors have lost radio contact with everyone else. At a diner they see a newscast that suggests the suicides are not caused by a terrorist attack, but by a natural phenomena. A reporter says that the toxin switches off the part of the brain that keeps us from harming ourselves.

Julian has by now lost phone contact with his wife (who was visiting Princeton) and starts to panic as some lady shows Elliot a youtube type video she was sent on her iphone, showing a man walk into a lion's den at a zoo, and taunting the lions with his hands to try to get them to attack him (there's a graphic shot of him staggering with both his arms eaten off). Julian finds a lift with some people heading to Princeton; he leaves Jess with Elliot and Alma. When he gets there Princeton is also infected, and there are dozens of people hanging from trees over the road. The driver of the car crashes deliberately into a tree at high speed and Julian slashes his wrists with broken windscreen glass and dies (this is the one time you don't see anything graphic - the camera cuts away and we see less than the scene in the red band trailer; where you can see Julian bleeding from the wrists).

Meanwhile Elliot and Alma decide, along with everybody else, to flee for the state line with Jess, as the attacks seem only to be affecting the northeast US. A nice couple who run a plant nursery offer to take them in their car. The man suggests to Elliot and Alma that the toxin is produced by plants. He explains the way plants can communicate with other plants, and the way they can release chemicals to get rid of specific pests.

While trying to reach the state line they see bodies ahead in the road. Turning back they meet many other cars, all converging on a country road junction; all report bodies back the way they have come. Organised by an army private they abandon the cars and strike out on foot, heading for a small remote housing development one man (a realtor) knows about. It's new and small and not on any maps except local ones, so they hope it will be safe from the terrorists since it appears they are focusing on large cities and roads.

From the junction one group leaves immediately, but most take a minute to get things from their cars, so walking across the fields they are in two groups. The smaller group (10-12 people), with Elliot, Alma and Jess, is in front. The larger (20-25 people), including the soldier and the plant couple, is behind them by 3 or 4 minutes. This larger group gets infected, and the soldier become delusional (shouting something about how he is a soldier and his gun is his friend, and he will not leave it). Then Elliot's group hears the gunshots as one by one they (presumably) use the soldier's gun to kill themselves. Elliot starts to believe that it is indeed the plants, and that the toxin is triggered by large groups of people. He yells at everyone to split up into smaller groups, and the group peels off into three smaller groups, all running away in different directions.

Alma tells Elliot that if they are going to die, she wants to tell him something. One night, when she had told Elliot she was working late, she actually went out for tiramisu with Joey from work; but that's all that happened.

After walking for a bit, Elliot counters with the fact that he finds the girl who works at the local pharmacy very attractive, and sometimes he buys cough syrup from her even when he doesn't have a cough: he later confesses he made this up.

Elliot, Alma, Jess, and two teenagers find a showhome for the new development. There is some comic relief as Elliot talks to a plant he sees blowing inside, and introduces himself, saying he is giving good vibes so it won't harm him. It turns out the plant is plastic, but he keeps talking for a little just in case - feeling like an idiot. As they leave they look back, and see two small groups of people arrive at the showhome, forming one larger group (12-15 people approx). That many people trigger the toxin, and they stand around confused, except for one man who starts up a large commercial lawnmower, then lies in the grass in front of it as it rips him apart. (We assumed the camera would cut away, but it doesn't! As previously stated, this movie is extremely graphic!)

Our five people all end up on the front porch of a boarded-up house, asking for food, while Jess plays on a rope swing suspended from a tree branch (the swing and the tree seemed very chilling and climactic, but nothing actually happened). The inhabitants of the house refuse to offer food or shelter, and the two teenagers start to get very aggressive, kicking at the door and shouting at the people inside. The inhabitants shoot the two teenagers dead: one through the chest and the second through the head. Elliot is horrified.

Elliot, Alma and Jess move on till they find an old house with no power, which they think is abandoned. A spooky old lady lives there, who chooses to remain out of contact with the whole world. She doesn't want to know about the event in the outside world; however, she gives them supper and a bed for the night.

We (the audience) see a newscast discussing the toxin (our protagonists don't, as the house has no TV). A scientist is suggesting that judging from the severity and number of the attacks, and assuming some similarities to other kinds of natural toxins like ocean algae, the attacks will peak at 9am the next day, and very quickly fall away to nothing following that (there's a graph that shows a drastic tail-off of toxin activity).

In the morning when Elliot wakes up the old lady tells him that he, Alma and Jess have to leave (she seems completely bonkers). She then goes outside into the garden, pauses, and starts walking backwards; the toxin has affected her. As Elliott cowers inside the house the old lady walks around the porch and headbutts the walls, and eventually the window, leaving glass splinters in her face and eye, and also letting in the wind (and the toxin).

Elliot runs through the house trying to find Alma and Jess. He can hear them, but can't locate them. He thinks he hears them in the cellar, but when he goes in he is alone. Alma and Jess are actually outside in an old stone spring house (a remnant from the pre-Civil War Underground Railway). A speaking tube between the spring house and the cellar has transmitted their voices as clearly as if they were right next to Elliott; and Elliott can talk to them through this. He explains that the toxin now seems to be set off by even one person alone.

Elliot decides that if he is going to die he doesn't want to die alone. They all leave their safe hiding places and walk into the middle of the garden and hold hands. The wind blows. Nothing happens. IT had ended.

Three months later and they are all living back in Philly (which looks business as usual; although the streets are fairly empty there are cars driving around, and people walking on the sidewalks). Jess is off to school by bus. Alma is doing a pregnancy test; it's positive, and Elliot hugs her and looks delighted. On the TV is a scientist warning that the event was like a red tide; the first sign that the planet is rejecting humans as pests. The host says that if that were true it would be happening in other places.

Cut to the gardens at the Palace of Versailles in France. Two guys are walking discussing plans for after work that evening. Cue distant scream; one guy starts to repeat his words about a bike, everyone stands still; other guy says (in French) "Oh my God".

THE DAVINCI CODE

Director : Ron Howard
Writers (WGA) : Akiva Goldsman (screenplay) & Dan Brown (novel)
Release Date : 19 May 2006
Genre : Drama | Mystery | Thriller more
Tagline : Seek The Truth more
Plot : A murder inside the Louvre and clues in Da Vinci paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years -- which could shake the foundations of Christianity.
Plot Keywords : Murdered Nun | Video Surveillance | Grandfather Granddaughter Relationship | Catholic Church | Ancient Tomb
Awards : Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 16 nominations more

Synopsis :
A murder in the Lourve prompts the Surete' to seek the help of codebreaker-symbologist Professor Robert Langdon. Detective Captain Fache has already decided that Langdon is guilty, but questions him anyway. Agent Sophie Neveu rescues Langdon from his clutches, and they follow a trail of clues across Europe, pursued by Interpol because they are suspected of murders committed in fact by an assassin of the Opus Dei sect. Clues support hypothesis that the Priory of Sion/Knights Templar have guarded a secret for centuries that would undermine the authority of the Catholic/Christian Church if known, and the Church's mysterious agents are fast suppressing this ancient knowledge by murdering the only survivors who have access to the knowledge. Sophie is finally revealed to be the last survivor of that knowledge, and is in fact the heir to the bloodline of Jesus Christ. The location of the body of Mary Magdalene is still a secret until the very last scene, where Langdon figures out she is buried under the newest additions to the Lourve.

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THE INVASION

Director : Oliver Hirschbiegel
Writers : Dave Kajganich (screenplay) & Jack Finney (novel)
Release Date : 29 August 2007 (Indonesia)
Genre : Sci-Fi | Thriller more
Tagline : Do not trust anyone. Do not show emotion. Do not fall asleep. more
Plot : As a Washington psychiatrist unearths the origin of an alien epidemic, she also discovers her son might be the only way it can be stopped.
Plot Keywords : Hit By Car | Car Chase | Dog Killed | Text Messaging | Vomit Scene
Awards : 1 nomination more

Synopsis :
An explosive sci-fi Adventure starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. A crashed space shuttle brings a form of bacteria to earth that becomes catalysed during r.e.m sleep, and turns the infected host into an emotionless human. A psychiatrist from New York becomes infected whilst trying to find her son, and therefore must not fall asleep lest she become like them. She and her current boyfriend discover that one of her patients and her son are immune to the virus, due to a severe strain of chicken pox they had in a previous year, and so they fight their way into a quarantined area where they are subjected to testing, and a year later almost all infectees are normal again.

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THE KINGDOM

Director : Peter Berg
Writer : Matthew Michael Carnahan (written by)
Release Date : 28 November 2007
Genre : Action | Drama | Thriller more
Tagline : Trust No One more
Plot : A team of U.S. government agents is sent to investigate the bombing of an American facility in the Middle East. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords : Hand Grenade | Exploding Building | Profanity | Explosive Vest | Arab
Awards : 2 nominations

Synopsis :
The opening scene of the movie explains how oil drilling has transformed the Middle East and Abroad in a timeline sequence. It portrays the conflicts that have risen since the late 1940's for the rightful ownership of the Oil Industry. This includes the United States' involvement in Iraq and al-Qaeda's growing network of terrorism. Eventually, it explains the 9/11 terrorism attacks and how 80% of the hijackers were Saudi's. This raises serious questions on the relationship between Saudi and the United States. The plot begins with the current struggle of Saudi Arabi and the Kingdom's efforts to stand control of their country against terrorist extremists.

During a game of softball played by American citizens in their oil company's housing compound, terrorists set off a bomb, killing many Americans, as well as Saudi State Police. The terrorists impersonated Saudi State Police members and while one team hijacked a car and started shooting residents of the area, another runs out onto the baseball diamond, pretending to aid the Americans, but then reveals that he is a suicide bomber and blows himself up, along with everyone near him. Sergeant Haytham of the Saudi State Police, disables the stolen SSP vehicle and kills the occupants. The FBI's Legal Attache in Saudi Arabia, Special Agent Francis Manner, calls up his colleague Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) to tell him about the attack. Shortly after this a second bomb explodes in the compound killing more people, including Manner.

Back in the U.S., Fleury briefs his FBI team on the happenings in the Kingdom, and Special Agent Janet Mayes (Jennifer Garner), a forensic examiner, breaks down in tears upon hearing of Francis' death. Fleury whispers something into her ear which causes her to control her emotions. While the higher-ups deny them permission to visit, Fleury blackmails the Saudi ambassador into letting them use a Saudi plane to get into the country in order to conduct an investigation. Fleury and his team of Mayes, Leavitt (Jason Bateman), an intelligence analyst and Special Agent Grant Sykes (Chris Cooper), a bomb technician, go to Saudi Arabia, where they are met by Colonel Faris al-Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom), the commander of the Saudi State Police force tasked with policing the compound. The Americans come to find that al-Ghazi is not in charge of the investigation, whose duties have been relegated to General Al Abdulmalik (Mahmoud Said) of the Saudi Arabian National Guard, who does not give them permission to investigate, rather they are to observe the investigation.

When the FBI team is invited to Prince Ahmed bin Khaled's (Omar Berdouni) palace for a dinner, Mayes is excluded because of her gender, Fleury takes the opportunity to convince the Prince that Colonel al-Ghazi is a natural detective, and should be allowed to lead the investigation. With this new change in leadership, the Americans are allowed a hands on approach to the crime scene and discover that the second bomb was set off in an Ambulance, and the bombs used marbles as projectiles. This revelation leads them to discover that the brother of one of the terrorists had access to ambulances and State Police uniforms, and the Police raid the house, managing to kill a few heavily armed men. The Americans are then told that they have to go home, by their Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission Damon Schmidt (Jeremy Piven). However Fleury and al-Ghazi both believed that the men, who were just teenagers that they had just killed were just amateur fighters, and were not the real planners behind the attacks.

On their way to the airport, Fleury notices a youth watching their convoy from an overpass, and then sees that the last SUV of their convoy has stopped far behind them, he then notices a speeding car coming towards them and grabs the wheel from Sergeant Haytham (Ali Suliman) which allows them to partially evade the collision that occurs when the speeding car runs into the first SUV of their convoy, setting off a trunk full of bombs. Their SUV, the third one in their convoy, hits the first SUV killing the men inside. The fourth SUV finally drives up and the men inside pull out Leavitt, throw him into the back and drive away while a second car drives by to shoot the surviving Americans. Fleury manages to wound one attacker, and al-Ghazi commandeers a civilian vehicle to chase the fourth SUV and the other car into the dangerous Suweidi neighborhood of Riyadh. As they pull up, a gunman launches a rocket at them and a fire fight starts. Inside the complex, Leavitt is tied up and gagged while his attackers prepare to tape a video of his beheading.

After having killed their attackers, al-Ghazi decides that three of them must enter and find Leavitt and two must stay behind and cover the entrance. While Sykes and Haytham watch the entrance, al-Ghazi, Fleury and Mayes enter the building, following a blood trail and manage to finish off many other gunmen inside. Mayes, separate from the other two, scares a little girl in an apartment, and she enters to find a family with little children, their mother and grandfather. She yells at them to stay put and goes across the hall to another apartment to find Leavitt and his attackers. She kills the remaining insurgents, and al-Ghazi and the team start to leave. However, Mayes feels unsettled about the little girl, and walks in to give the girl a lollipop. In return the girl gives her a marble, matching the ones pieced together earlier from the bomb scene. Fleury then realises that there is a trail of blood leading to the back of the apartment, and al-Ghazi sees the grandfather, suspects something and asks to help him up in order to inspect his hand. When the old man gives him his hand, al-Ghazi sees that the man is missing the fingers that [3] is missing in the terrorist groups many videos and confirms his idea that the grandfather is the terrorist leader. Abu Hamza's teenage grandson walks out of the bedroom and manages to shoot al-Ghazi in the neck twice with a pistol before it jams, prompting Fleury to kill him. Abu Hamza then feebly pulls out an assault rifle and Haytham puts three shots in his chest. As Abu Hamza dies, his younger grandson hugs him and Abu Hamza whispers something into his ear to calm the child down. Al-Ghazi dies in Fleury's arms.

At Al-Ghazi's house, Fleury and Haytham meet his family. Fleury tells his son that al-Ghazi was his good friend, mirroring a similar scene earlier in the movie where he comforted Special Agent Manner's son. The Americans return home, and Leavitt has one final question for Fleury: what did he whisper to Mayes to calm her down? The scene cuts to Abu Hamza's daughter asking her son what his grandfather whispered to him as he was dying. Fleury recalls saying "We're gonna kill them all," while the grandson tells his mother, "Don't fear them, my child. We are going to kill them all."
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THE LAST KISS

Director : Tony Goldwyn
Writers : Paul Haggis & Gabriele Muccino
Release Date : 15 September 2006 (USA) more
Genre : Comedy | Drama | Romance more
Tagline : We all make choices. What's yours?
Plot : Michael and Jenna, having been a couple for three years, want to get married and start a family. These... more | full synopsis
Plot Keywords : Wet T Shirt|Fart Joke|Male Frontal Nudity| Pretty Girl | Male Nudity
Awards : 4 nominations

Synopsis
Michael and his live-in girlfriend Jenna appear to be enjoying the perfect relationship: Jenna is pregnant prior to the opening of the film and her parents are pressuring the pair to get married. Jenna claims that Michael's work pressures and her own dissertation rendered it an inopportune time for marriage. The real reason, unbeknownst to anyone, is that Michael feels trapped and scared. Although he considers Jenna an ideal companion, Michael is harboring second thoughts.

Upon a chance encounter at a wedding, Michael meets Kim, whom he confides in about his relationship. Kim guesses he is about to break up with Jenna and becomes flirtatious. While Michael becomes intrigued by Kim's youthfulness, openness, and spirit, he does not succumb to temptation. The two part ways with Kim telling Michael where she attends school and where she usually hangs out.

Michael eventually seeks her out at the Memorial Union but tells Kim he was in the area only because of a client meeting. Kim senses his interest and, while Michael drives her home, invites him to a party. Michael accepts. Back in the office, Michael constructs an excuse to be away from Jenna on the night of the party. He asks Chris, his friend and co-worker, to cover for him in case Jenna calls. Chris suspects Michael has met another woman and wishes to avoid becoming involved, as Chris himself has just left his wife; he knows first hand how painful a breakup can be. Michael denies the existence of another woman and merely says he will 'be with an old college friend.'

After the party with Kimwho Michael says makes him 'feel ten years younger'the two kiss several times, preceding Kim inviting Michael to her dorm for the night. Guilt over cheating on Jenna prevails over temptation, however, and he refuses. Unfortunately for Michael, Izzy's father (Izzy is a mutual friend to Michael and Jenna) dies that night. Several friends and acquaintances, including Jenna and Chris, go to Izzy's home with their condolences. There, Jenna realizes Michael had not been, as he claimed, with Chris. Jenna confronts Chris but Chris refuses to answer her questions, which only fuels Jenna's suspicions that Michael has indeed gone astray.

When Michael arrives home that night, Jenna becomes confrontational; Michael at first denies he was out with Kim, but eventually admits he had seen another woman. Although he points out he didn't sleep with her and that the outing meant nothing, Jenna yells at him and kicks him out of the house.

Alone, depressed, and desperate, Michael receives a call from Kim. Kim apologizes for being demanding earlier and asks him to come over for conversation only. Michael agrees. Upon arrival, the pair immediately engage in sexual intercourse. The next morning, Michael tries sneaking away without waking Kim but notices once he gets out the door that he left his keys behind. Upon his return, Kim demands to know why he hadn't said goodbye. Michael tells her simply that he did not want to wake her, as he had to be at work early. Kim takes the missing keys out of her pocket and returns them after Michael promises to call her.

At work, Michael plans on leaving early to seek out Jenna. On his way out, Kim visits his office unannounced, wanting to give him a mix CD. Michael confides he still loves Jenna who was, in fact, pregnant with his baby. He apologizes to Kim for not telling her about Jenna's pregnancy and leaves her in search of Jenna.

Michael pulls up to Jenna's parents' home, and Jenna's father gives a stern lecture about commitment and adulthood and offers advice on winning Jennas forgiveness. The father urges Michael to be completely honest and never stop trying. Equipped with his wisdom, Michael goes into Jenna's room. On the verge of reconciliation, Jenna asks if he was telling the truth about having sex with Kim. Michael says he was telling the truth (which he was, at the time), but as a result of her father's advice he confesses he went back later that night. Even though Michael claims he was only being honest, Jenna becomes inconsolable and storms out of the house and back to their apartment.

Michael follows her back and finds himself locked out. He stakes out on the front porch until Jenna agrees to talk. Both day and night, wet and dry, Michael remains at the front door with many neighbors taking notice and some even providing beverages to him. Jenna's father even proceeds to drive by in his car and notices Michael, who sees him. A proud smile develops on his face as he drives off, indicating that Michael has taken his advice seriously. Slowly but surely, she begins to relent, first tossing out a blanket during a cold evening, then dropping off a sandwich the next day. During the evening of what would have been his third night on the porch, Jenna breaks her silence and speaks to Michael through the closed door. She laments about mourning the loss of the relationship like the loss of someone's life. Later that evening, Jenna opens the door and Michael goes inside.

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THE GOLDEN COMPASS

Director : Chris Weitz
Writers : Chris Weitz & Philip Pullman
Release Date : 7 December 2007 (USA) more
Genre : Adventure | Family | Fantasy more
Tagline : "It is the Alethiometer. It tells the truth. As for how to read it, you'll have to learn by yourself." more
Plot : In a parallel universe, young Lyra Belacqua journeys to the far North to save her best friend and other kidnapped children from terrible experiments by a mysterious organization. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords : Armor | Villain Played By Lead Actor | Knife | Cult Favorite
Awards : Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 26 nominations more

Synopsis
Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) is (ostensibly) an orphan living at Jordan College in the Oxford of an alternate universe. In Lyra's world, every person is accompanied by a daemon, a physical representation of their soul in animal form. Because she is young, Lyra's daemon, Pantalaimon (voice: Freddie Highmore) -- Pan, for short -- can change his shape to appear as any animal he chooses. He most often appears as an ermine, or at need a moth or a cat. Adults' daemons settle in to one shape and don't change.

Lyra overhears an interview between the Master of Jordan College (Jack Shepherd) and Fra Pavel (Simon McBurney), a representative of the powerful and sinister religious body called the Magisterium. They're discussing an expedition to the far north planned by Lyra's uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig); Asriel wants to study a mysterious substance called Dust that seems to enter Lyra's world from parallel universes. Fra Pavel pressures the Master to withhold his support from Lord Asriel's expedition. The Master refuses, so, when left alone in the room, Fra Pavel poisons a decanter of Tokay wine that has been decanted specially for Lord Asriel.

Lord Asriel soon arrives (accompanied by his daemon, a snow leopard), and pours himself a glass of the poisoned Tokay, but Lyra emerges from her hiding place to stop him from drinking it: she dashes the glass to the floor where it shatters. Lord Asriel sends her back to eavesdrop on the meeting that is about to begin. The Master and fellows of Jordan College, plus Fra Pavel, convene to hear about Lord Asriel's proposed expedition and research on Dust, which they agree to fund. Asriel is sure that Dust is connected with a means to get from one universe to other parallel universes. Pavel tells Asriel that talk of Dust is heresy.

Even before we meet Lyra, boys and girls have been disappearing, snatched off the streets. The children call the kidnappers Gobblers. Lyra and her friend Roger (Ben Walker) promise one another that if either is caught, the other will come to the rescue. That night, while Lyra is at dinner being introduced to Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman), Roger and another friend, Billy Costa (Charlie Rowe), are taken by the Gobblers.

At the dinner, Lyra is seated immediately across the table from the Master when Mrs. Coulter arrives, accompanied by her daemon, a golden monkey. The Master and all the scholars are evidently in awe of her. Mrs. Coulter takes a seat right next to Lyra, who is most impressed with her new acquaintance and agrees eagerly when Mrs. Coulter says she is also planning a trip to the far north, and proposes that Lyra come along as her assistant. The Master is evidently forced (by Mrs. Coulter's influence in high places) to agree.

In the morning, just before Lyra's departure, the Master comes to Lyra's little upper room in college and gives her a strange golden instrument called an alethiometer, or "golden compass". He tells her that it is capable of telling the truth, but he can't tell her much about how it works. He admonishes her to keep the alethiometer to herself and above all not to let Mrs. Coulter know that she has it.

Lyra spends some time in Mrs. Coulter's company, going to expensive shops to be bought new clothes and restaurants to dine with posh people. All the while, Lyra keeps the alethiometer with her in a shoulder bag. One day Mrs. Coulter orders her to stop wearing the shoulder bag, and when the girl shows reluctance Mrs. Coulter has her daemon, the golden monkey, half strangle Pantalaimon. Lyra runs to her room, now hating Mrs. Coulter, hides the alethiometer, then goes to explore Mrs. Coulter's private study. In a waste paper bin Pan finds papers which show that Mrs. Coulter is deeply involved with an arm of the Magisterium called the General Oblation Board (the Gobblers!); that the General Oblation Board is using children to investigate something called intercision; and that Billy Costa and Roger the kitchen boy are on a list of boys who have been taken. Immediately after discovering this, Lyra catches Mrs. Coulter's golden monkey daemon trying to steal the alethiometer. Pan changes into a bird, grabs it back, and they flee through the upstairs window. They're pursued and caught by Gobblers, then rescued by fierce but friendly Gyptians, who have been watching over Lyra at Lord Asriel's request. One of their rescuers is Ma Costa (Clare Higgins), Billy's mother.

Lyra travels with the Gyptians and becomes acquainted with John Faa (Jim Carter), lord of the Gyptians, and his advisor Farder Coram (Tom Courtenay). She learns how to ask the alethiometer questions and how to interpret its responses. She also meets Serafina Pekkala (Eva Green), queen of the witches, who tells Lyra that she is the subject of a prophecy concerning the fate of the world; that the missing children are being held at Bolvangar in Norroway; and that Lyra will find help in Trollesund, a town on the coast of Norroway. Meanwhile, Mrs. Coulter has dispatched a pair of mechanical spy flies to locate Lyra. When the spy flies find the Gyptian ship, Farder Coram captures one and seals it up in a tin, explaining that its sting contains a sleeping potion. The other escapes, though it's not clear that it does Mrs. Coulter any good.

When they arrive in Trollesund, Lyra meets the Texan aeronaut Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliot), who offers to help her -- but first he wants to get a friend out of a jam. The friend is Iorek Byrnison (voice: Ian McKellen), one of the great Panserbjørne -- armored ice bears -- of Svalbard. Iorek, exiled from his home after losing a fight, is a virtual prisoner in Trollesund; the townspeople got him drunk and stole his armor, which he cherishes the way humans cherish their daemons. Now, alcoholic and despairing, he works as a mechanic and metalsmith in exchange for whiskey. Consulting the alethiometer, Lyra learns that Iorek Byrnison was heir to the throne of Svalbard until he was betrayed and defeated by Ragnar (voice: Habib Nasib Nader), the current king. She also learns where the armor is hidden and tells Iorek, who promises in return to help her find the missing children. Lee Scoresby and the Gyptians dissuade the soldiers who try to stop the re-armored bear, and Lyra and her allies march into the interior toward Bolvangar.

When they camp for the night, Lyra puzzles over something the alethiometer is telling her and seeks out Iorek Byrnison. She asks him to take her to a valley nearby, where she finds Billy Costa, weak and anguished because he's been separated from his daemon. This, Lyra realizes, is what intercision means; it's a fate so horrible she and Pan can hardly bear to think about it.

Iorek Byrnison and Lyra take Billy back to the Gyptians' camp, which is immediately set upon by the ferocious Samoyed people who live in that area. They capture Lyra and carry her to Svalbard as an offering to the armored bears. Recalling that Mrs. Coulter told her King Ragnar longs to have a daemon of his own, Lyra asks Pan to hide and introduces herself to Ragnar as Iorek Byrnison's daemon. As she hoped, Ragnar becomes furiously jealous. Lyra tells him that if he can defeat Iorek in single combat, she will become Ragnar's daemon. Ragnar agrees to fight Iorek Byrnison, and Iorek gallops up on cue, intending to rescue Lyra. When Lyra explains what she's arranged, apologetic and frightened because after running all that way Iorek seems in no shape to fight, Iorek surprises her with his enthusiasm. He wants nothing more from life than a chance to fight Ragnar, and dubs her Lyra Silvertongue for her skillful manipulation of the usurper-king.

Iorek fights Ragnar and kills him by feigning an injury, then hitting Ragnar so hard his jaw flies off. This victory wins back Iorek Byrnison's rightful place as king of the ice bears, but he leaves his kingdom to complete his obligation to Lyra. He takes her most of the way to the experimental station at Bolvangar where the children are being held, but has to leave her and go for help when the bridge over a crevasse breaks, leaving Iorek on the wrong side.

Inside the experimental station, Lyra asks Roger to get the other children ready to escape. He shows her to a room where she can be alone with the alethiometer, but she has to hide under the table when the experimental station staff and Mrs. Coulter come in. After Mrs. Coulter leaves, Lyra's foot slips, giving her away. She's captured by the staff and she and Pan are put into the intercision device, the machine used to separate children from their daemons. The separation is almost complete when Mrs. Coulter, looking terrified, runs in and stops the procedure.

Lyra and Pan wake up with their bond intact, and a distraught Mrs. Coulter assures Lyra that she's safe and she'll never be hurt. Lyra, shrinking from Mrs. Coulter, asks why they're separating children from their daemons. Mrs. Coulter explains that Dust (which she seems to equate with original sin) came into the world long ago when people first disobeyed the Authority (God). While children are immune from Dust, it contaminates adults through their daemons. The goal of the intercision research is to prevent people from ever being affected by Dust. (This explanation is a slightly more palatable version of the one given in an earlier scene, in which high officials of the Magisterium, disturbed about Jordan College's rebellious support of Lord Asriel, look forward to a future when intercision will mold a population that never questions the Magisterium's authority.) Mrs. Coulter says that intercision doesn't hurt -- "it's just a little cut."

If intercision is such a good thing, Lyra counters, why did Mrs. Coulter stop the lab staff from doing it to Lyra? Mrs. Coulter admits that the procedure isn't perfect yet. When she mentions taking Lyra home, Lyra says venomously that her home is Jordan College. Mrs. Coulter reveals that she is Lyra's mother -- a relationship Lyra rejects -- and that Lord Asriel is her father. Lyra pretends to cooperate when Mrs. Coulter asks for the alethiometer, but gives her instead the tin holding the spy fly. The fly's sting knocks out Mrs Coulter and her daemon. Lyra escapes and leads the children out into the snow, pausing only to sabotage the intercision device, which explodes in a very satisfying way.

Outside the experimental station the children confront the guards, who attack them. Iorek Byrnison intervenes, but is nearly overcome before the arrival, at dramatic intervals, of Lee Scoresby, the witches led by Serafina Pekkala, and the Gyptians. There's a ferocious melee; whenever someone is killed, their daemon disintegrates in a swirl of Dust. Lyra's friends win the battle.

Lyra sets off with Iorek Byrnison and Lee Scoresby to find Lord Asriel, who has been captured by the Samoyed people. Roger insists on coming along. Meanwhile Mrs. Coulter, having learned that Lord Asriel has bribed his captors and set up a laboratory to continue his research on Dust, sets off to stop him. In the final scene, Lyra and Roger curl up with Iorek Byrnison in the back of Mr. Scoresby's flying machine, heading north.
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THE PROMOTION

Diretor : Steve Conrad
Writer : Steve Conrad
Release Date : 28 August 2008
Genre : Comedy more
Plot : Two assistant managers of a corporate grocery store vie for a coveted promotion. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords : Board | Grocer | Gay Character | Tattoo | Husband Wife Relationship

Synopsis :
At 33, Doug Stauber is ready for a promotion. He's married, wants to buy a house, and is assistant manager at a Chicago supermarket that's building a new store in his neighborhood. His boss tells him he's a shoe in to manage the new store, then, a rival appears - Richard Wehlner, transferred from Canada. Richard has a deeper resume than Doug, is really nice, has a wife and daughter, and wants the promotion to manager, too. How should Doug behave toward Richard - as a friend, a colleague, a competitor, or an enemy? Richard, it seems, has demons and a past, but with the help of motivational tapes, he's resolved to succeed. Corporate and personal tests await the two men

THE TRANSFORMER

Director : Michael Bay
Writers : Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman (
Release Date : 28 June 2007
Genre : Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller more
Tagline : Their war
Plot : An ancient struggle re-erupts on Earth between two extraterrestrial clans, the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, with a clue to the ultimate power held by a young teenager.
Plot Keywords: Young Romance | Apple Macintosh Computer | Product Placement | Gmc Topkick | Crew
Awards :Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 28 nominations

Synopsis :
The movie opens with Optimus Prime narrating the history of the Cube, the Allspark, and how its origins were unknown, and where ever it traveled it created life, even on Cybertron.

Their society flourished, until they were betrayed by Megatron, and war erupted over the Allspark, which was eventually lost in space and ended up on an unknown planet, Earth.

Fast forward thousands of years to present day Earth, Qatar, to be exact, where American soldiers are stationed. They fly in to their base and go about the usual routine. Captain Lennox contacts his wife and gets to see his baby girl again, when a helicopter previously thought to have been shot down over Afghanistan comes up on the radar. It lands at the base and the military orders it to stand down, but instead it transforms into Blackout and proceeds to destroy the base. Blackout also lets out some kind of jamming field that blocks all communications channels. The Decepticon blasts his way through the base, only momentarily dazzled by flares shot at his face (which saves Tech Sergeant Epps, after Epps got scans of Blackout). Blackout tracks down the base's mainframe and proceeds to download info, until the humans cut the computer's hardline, terminating the network's connection. Blackout the destroys the base and everyone on it, save for a few who escape. Blackout then releases Scorponok into the sand to hunt down the survivors.

Back in America, we see Sam Witwicky supposedly doing a school report, but is instead hawking his grandfather's memorabilia for eBay sales. His grandfather, Archibald Witwicky was a famous 19th century explorer who tried to reach the Arctic circle, but later went crazy after he claimed to have found a giant man frozen in the Arctic ice. Sam's teacher is none too pleased at Sam's antics, but Sam manages to talk him into giving him an A, so that he can take his money and his A to his dad, Ron Witwicky, so he can buy a car. Initially Sam's dad teases him by driving into a Porche dealership, but when the joke's over he takes Sam to Bolivia's Used Car Sales, where Bobby Bolivia tries to sell Sam a car. As they drive up, though, and unmanned yellow Camaro drives up and parks itself in the lot.

Sam's not too pleased with his choices, until he sees the Camaro. It seems to be the best thing there. He and his dad just have $4000 dollars to spend, but Bobby asks for $5000 (even though he admits that he doesn't know what that car is doing on his lot). Ron tries to talk him down to 4 grand, but Bobby balks at that, and instead offers a Yellow VW Beetle for $4000. The Camaro's passenger door randomly swings open and crunches in the side of the beetle, so Bobby quickly tries to show them another car. A strange sonic pulse emanates from the Camaro, blowing out every windshield in the lot (save its own), and Bobby Bolivia quickly delivers up the Camaro for $4000.

In the Pentagon, Defense Secretary John Keller head up a team of computer analysts and scientists to try to determine who attacked them in Qatar. They've received no word from survivors and all they have to go on is the sound of the signal used to tap in and download sensitive information from the US Government's computer networks. Maggie Madsen heads one of their teams.

Sam takes his car out for a spin and they run across Mikaela Banes and the jock boys she hangs out with. First the jocks try to intimidate Sam, but Sam's witty comebacks regarding jock intelligence overcomes their male posturing. As Sam is ready to leave, Mikaela leaves the jocks angrily to walk home, so Sam kicks his friend out of the car and offers her a ride. She accepts, after Sam finishes his fumbling invitation. Everything seems cool until the car mysteriously stops working near a local make-out spot. The camaro also mysteriously cuts on the radio to play "Let's Get It On", much to Sam's shock. Mikaela, who is surprisingly mechanically inclined, takes a look under the hood and is impressed by the engine, but can't seem to see any problem past the distributor cap being loose. She decides to go ahead and finish the walk home. Sam begs for the car to start as she leaves and the car suddenly starts, and begins blasting the song "Baby Come Back". Sam spins the car around and gives Mikaela a ride home.

In Qatar, a local boy leads the surviving soldiers to his village, where they will be able to use a phone. The have no idea that they are being followed beneath the sand. Out of nowhere Scorponok attacks and begins killing the soldiers. Lennox manages to get a cellular phone, but needs a credit card to activate it, which he gets from Epps, as Epps tries to keep the Decepticon at bay. After dealing with an annoyingly humorous Arab operator, Lennox gets through to the military and gets an air strike ordered onto the village. They mark Scorponok with lasers and the A-10 Warthogs (reminiscent of Powerglide) bomb the hell out of the Decepticon. Scorponok flees beneath the sand after losing his tail. (They also later had helicopters that were the same model as Blades)

The Pentagon tries to alert the president, who is aboard Air Force One, but the aircraft has already been infiltrated. Frenzy hides beneath a passenger's seat, disguised as a boom box. He transforms and makes his way down to the plane's interior, where he finds the computer network. He accesses the mainframe and begins a massive download, focusing on facts about Archibald Witwicky, a secret government branch called "Sector 7" and their top secret "Project Iceman".

Maggie detects the intrusion and alerts the Pentagon, and convinces them to take the whole network offline to stop the download. The Pentagon is frantic to discover who is behind all of this, as the suspect that it could be Russia, North Korea or China. Maggie is warned to keep her imaginative ideas as to who is behind it to herself, so she make a copy of the strange signal and leaves for a friend's house. Air Force One lands and Frenzy escapes after killing several secret service agents, and hops into a waiting police car (which has a Decepticon sigil on its fender). Frenzy remarks to the car "The stupid insects tried to shoot me".

Later, Sam awakes to the sound of his car starting up. Fearing that it is being stolen he pursues the car to a local junkyard, and after dodging the guard dogs, see his Camaro transform into a giant robot. The robot, Bumblebee, sends a signal (in the shape of an Autobot sigil, into space. The cops arrive and arrest Sam, not believing him at all, thinking that he's probably on drugs.

Maggie takes the top secret file to her friend, Glen, who is "the only hacker in the world" that could break the code. He cracks the signal just before federal agents bust in and arrest them both.

Later after Sam is bailed out of jail, he sees that his car has returned. Terrified he flees on his mom's bicycle and is pursued by Bumblebee. He rides fast until he wrecks in front of Mikaela. He quickly takes off again, and Mikaela follows after him. Sam tries to hide from Bumblebee, and is relived when a police car rolls up. The Cop doesn't seem too responsive to Sam's pleas, and even threatens him with his car, which suddenly spouts several bladed weapons from the headlights and grill. Then the car transforms into Barricade. Barricade asks Sam if he is "Ladiesman217" (Sam's eBay ID) and Sam tries to escape. Sam runs into Mikaela and tells her that she needs to run, because a monster is after him, then she sees Barricade, too. Bumblebee drives up and the two reluctantly hop in and the car chase begins.

Bumblebee leads Barricade on a wild chase and gets the teens away from the Decepticon so that he can face off with Barricade. Barricade battles Bumblebee, but not before releasing Frenzy, who pursues the humans. Bumblebee and Barricade duke it out while Mikaela and Sam try to fend off the resourceful Frenzy. Eventually Mikaela uses a saws-all to cut off Frenzy's head, which flees in Waspinator fashion, just as Bumblebee leaves Barricade in a broken heap. Bumblebee beckons for the humans to come with him, and reveals through radio transmissions and songs that he's an alien and that he has sent a signal to his comrades for help. Unknownst to them all, Frenzy's head has scanned Mikaela's cell phone, and has transformed into it, hiding in her purse.

As they drive down the street, Mikaela asks "So, if he's supposed to be like this super-advanced robot, why does he transform back into this piece of crap Camaro". Bumblebee slams on his brakes and pushes the kids out. Sam remarks, "See, now you've upset him" as Bumblebee speeds away. Suddenly Bumblebee spins around and gets up on two wheels, and his undercarriage scans a passing car. Bumblebee shifts and changes into a new model Camaro, to Sam and Mikaela's amazement. They hop into Bumblebee and race away.

The feds interrogate Maggie and Glen, and they reveal that the signal pointed Project Iceman and the Witwicky's. Soon afterward Defense Secretary Keller calls them in for continued help. Elsewhere Epps and Lennox study Scorponok's tail and discover that high temperature rounds can hurt the robots.

Afterward several "meteors" fall from the sky. Autobots come out of the stasis pods and scan for vehicular forms. Most notably Ironhide lands in a swimming pool, and the little girl who sees him asks if he's the tooth fairy. Bumblebee leads the two humans to their meeting place, where they are introduced to Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Jazz and Ironhide. Optimus Prime tells them about the Allspark and how Megatron searched the Galaxy for it and was lost. He explained how Sam's grandfather discovered Megatron frozen in the ice and accidentally activated Megatron's navigational system, which imprinted Cybertronian script onto his eyeglasses. That script revealed the secret location of the Allspark and its recovery was of the gravest importance, because the Decepticons could use it to give life to Earth's machines, creating a new army of Decepticons, and causing humanity to go extinct.

Sam leads them back to his home where the Autobots accidentally trample his yard and demolish the lawn decorations. Sam finally finds the glasses with his mother's help (after his mother has an embarrassing discussion in front of Mikaela concerning Sam's masturbation habits). Sam gets the glasses to Optimus Prime, just before Sector 7 swoops in and arrests Sam and Mikaela. The Sector 7 operatives try to coerce info about the aliens from Sam and Mikaela, until Optimus Prime opens the agents' car like a tuna can and forces them to release the kids. The Autobots surround them and allow the kids to handcuff the agents all together, after Bumblebee pops off what looks like his oil filter and essentially urinates lubricant on Agent Simmons. Optimus notes that Simmons is neither afraid nor surprised to see the Autobots.

The agents secretly alert the military who try to track down Optimus Prime and the kids, while the other Autobots split up. Bumblebee is discovered trying to save the kids after they fall off of the hidden Optimus, and is captured by the government, along with Sam and Mikaela. Sam, Mikaela, Maggie, Glen and the captive Bumblebee are all taken by Sector 7 and Keller to Sector 7's secret base, deep within Hoover Dam, where they are shown "Project Iceman", the frozen form of Megatron. Sam tries to warn them about Megatron, and catches their attention when he mentions the cube-shaped Allspark.

It turns out that all modern tech was reverse engineered from Megatron's body, and that the Allpsark could give that technology life, though it usually proved to be violent and destructive to organics when life was given to it. They demonstrate by infusing Glenn's cell phone with the Allspark's energy, and the phone transforms into a tiny robot who viciously tries to attack the humans. Frenzy sneaks out of Mikaela's purse and touches the Allspark, regenerating his body, and he sends out a signal, telling the other Decepticons that the Allspark has been found. Around the world different Decepticons respond: Starscream, Barricade, Bonecrusher, Blackout and Devastator all converge on Hoover Dam. Elsewhere the Autobots decipher the Allpark's location and also head to the Dam. Optimus states that if they cannot win that he will sacrifice himself by absorbing the Allspark into his own spark, destroying the artifact and himself as well.

Frenzy sabotages the cryo controls that keep Megatron frozen, and the Decepticon leader begins to wake up. Sam convinces Keller, with some help from Lennox, that Bumblebee is no threat and will in fact help them against Megatron. Bumblebee is reactivated and he transforms the Allspark into a more portable form. They then proceed to escape from the Dam and make their stand in a nearby town. Megatron breaks free and is greeted by Starscream, who reports that the Autobots have fled with the Allspark. Megatron remarks, "You have failed me, yet again, Starscream".

The Autobots encounter Bonecrusher on the highway, flanked by Barricade, and Optimus takes Bonecrusher on. The two are carried over a high overpass and battle ensues below. Bonecrusher seems to be a powerful warrior, but Optimus proves to be his better and kills the Decepticon with a long sword blade from his arm.

The Military and the Autobots try to set up defenses in the town, but that is soon disrupted by Megatron's arrival. Devastator and Blackout lay waste to different parts of the town, as they battle Ironhide and Ratchet. Bumblebee is wounded, having both his legs destroyed, as well.

Lennox calls in air support, but most of the jets are shot down by Starscream. Lennox then orders Sam to take the Allspark and take it to the highest building and use a signal flare to attract and escape upon evac helicopters. The Autobots try to run defense to protect Sam. Jazz takes on Megatron and is quickly killed by easily being ripped in two. Along the way Sam accidentally releases a burst to the Allspark's energy, which gives life to many nearby machines, (including a car and a Mountain Dew machine) who then attack any humans within reach.

Finally Optimus Prime shows up declaring to Megatron that "one shall stand, one shall fall", and the two behemoths battle. Megatron overcomes Optimus and continues pursuing Sam. Atop the building Sam almost makes it to the helicopter, but it is destroyed before he can give them the cube. Megatron offers Sam the opportunity to survive as his pet if he would hand over the Allspark. Sam refuses and Megatron attacks, causing Sam to fall off of the building. Optimus catches Sam, saving the boy and the Allspark.

On the ground he and Megatron square off again. Elsewhere Mikaela chains the legless Bumblebee to a tow truck and pulls him through the battle field, allowing the Autobot for shoot while she drives. They, with the help of Ratchet, Ironhide, Lennox and Epps take out Devastator and Blackout.

The battle reaches its climax, and Optimus asks Sam to release the Allspark into his chest, , but Sam turns and releases it into Megatron's chest, killing the Decepticon leader. Optimus stands over Megatron, and looks into his fading optics and laments for his "brother".

In the aftermath Bumblebee regains his ability to speak and asks that he might remain with Sam. Sector 7 is dismantled, and all of the Decepticon bodies are dumped into the sea, where the cold and pressure should keep them from ever being retrieved.

Optimus Prime laments that the Allspark was destroyed, dashing any hopes of revitalizing Cybertron, so he instead broadcasts an invitation to any Autobots left to come make Earth their new home.

Then the credits roll.During the credits it flashes back to a scene of Starscream flying up and out of Earth's atmosphere and rocketing into space...

THE DEVIL WEAR PRADA

Director :David Frankel
Writers : Aline Brosh McKenna & Lauren Weisberger
Release Date :30 June 2006
Genre :Comedy | Drama
Tagline :Hell On Heels
Plot :A naive young woman comes to New York and scores a job as the assistant to one of the city's biggest magazine editors, the ruthless and cynical Miranda Priestly
Plot Keywords :Apartment | Book | Urban | Cheating On Boyfriend | Assistant
Awards :Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 25 nominations more

Synopsis :Andrea "Andy" Sachs, an aspiring journalist fresh out of Northwestern University, lands the magazine job "a million girls would kill for": junior personal assistant to icy editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly, who dominates the fashion world from her perch atop Runway magazine. She puts up with the eccentric and humiliating requests of her boss because, she is told, if she lasts a year in the position she will get her pick of other jobs, perhaps even the journalistic position she truly craves.

At first, she fits in poorly among the gossipy fashionistas who make up the magazine staff. Her lack of style or fashion knowledge and fumbling with her job make her an object of scorn around the office. Senior assistant Emily Charlton, her coworker, is condescending to her. Gradually, though, with the help of art director Nigel, Andrea adjusts to the position and its many perks, including free designer clothing and other choice accessories. She begins to dress more stylishly and do her job competently, fulfilling a seemingly impossible request of Miranda's to get two copies of an unpublished Harry Potter manuscript to her daughters.

She also comes to prize chance encounters with attractive young writer Christian Thompson, who helped her obtain the Potter manuscript and suggests he could help her with her career. At the same time, however, her relationship with her boyfriend Nate, a chef working his way up the career ladder, and other college friends suffers due to the increasing time she spends at Miranda's beck and call.

Shortly afterwards, Andrea saves Miranda from social embarrassment at a charity benefit when the cold-stricken Emily falters in reminding Miranda who an approaching guest is. As a result, Miranda tells Andrea that she will accompany her to the fall fashion shows in Paris, rather than Emily who had been looking forward to the trip for months. Miranda warns Andrea that if she declines, it could adversely affect her future job prospects. Emily is hit by a car before Andrea can tell Emily the next morning, making her choice moot.

During a gallery exhibit of her friend Lilly's photography, Andy again encounters Christian, who openly flirts with her, much to the shock and disgust of Lilly, who witnesses it all. After Lilly calls her out and walks away, Andy bumps into Nate, who, when she tells him she will be going to Paris, is angered that she refuses to admit that she's become the girls she's made fun of and that their relationship has taken a back seat. As a result, they break up in the middle of the street the night before she leaves for Paris.

In Paris, Nigel tells Andrea that he has gotten a job as creative director with rising fashion star James Holt, at Miranda's recommendation, and will finally be in charge of his own life. She also finally succumbs to Christian's charms, and sees her boss let down her guard for the first time as she worries about the effect an impending divorce will have on her twin daughters.

But in the morning, Andrea finds out about a plan to replace Miranda as Runway editor with Jacqueline Follet, editor of the magazine's French edition, later that day. Despite the suffering she has endured at her boss's behest, she attempts to warn Miranda but is seemingly rebuffed each time.

At a luncheon later that day, however, Miranda announces that it is Jacqueline instead of Nigel who will leave Runway for Holt. Later, when the two are being driven to a show, she explains to a still-stunned Andrea that she was grateful for the warning but already knew of the plot to replace her and sacrificed Nigel to keep her own job. Pleased by this display of loyalty, she tells Andrea she sees some of herself in her. Andrea, repulsed, said she could never do to anyone what Miranda did to Nigel, primarily as Nigel mentored Andrea. Miranda replies that she already did, stepping over Emily when she agreed to go to Paris. If she wants to get ahead in her career, that's what she'll have to be willing to do.

Andrea gets out of the limo at the next stop, going not into the show with Miranda but out into the street, where instead of answering yet another call from her boss she throws her cell phone into a nearby fountain, leaving Miranda, Runway and fashion behind.

Later, back in New York, she meets Nate for breakfast. He has accepted an offer to work as a sous-chef in a popular Boston restaurant, and will be moving there shortly. Andrea is disappointed but her hope is rejuvenated when he says they could work something out, implying they will have a long-distance relationship in the future. At the film's conclusion, she has finally been offered a job as a newspaper reporter, greatly helped by a fax from Miranda herself who told the editor that Andrea was her "biggest disappointment ever", and if they didn't hire her they would be idiots. Andrea calls Emily and offers her all of the clothes that she got in Paris, which Andrea insists that she doesn't need anymore. Emily accepts and tells Andrea's replacement she has some big shoes to fill. In the last shot, Andrea, dressed as she was at the beginning of the film but with a bit more style, sees Miranda get into her car across the street. They exchange looks and Miranda gives no indication of a greeting, but gives a soft smile once inside the car, before sternly telling her chauffeur to "go!".

TAKEN

Director :Pierre Morel
Writers : Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen
Release Date : 30 January 2009
Genre :Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller more
Tagline :Die Zeit für Rache ist gekommen. (The time for revenge has come.)
Plot : A former spy relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who has been forced into the slave trade
Plot Keywords:Human Trafficking |Translation | Shot In The Stomach |Extortion |Tattoo

Synopsis :


The film follows an ex-CIA "Preventer", who is faced with recovering his daughter after she is kidnapped by human trafficking|sex-traffickers in Paris, France.

Bryan (Liam Neeson), a former secret agent living in the US. He is skilled in hand to hand combat, divorced; and loves his 17-year-old daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) who lives with his ex-wife and her new husband Stuart (Xander Berkeley). Kim wants to take a vacation in Europe with her friend Amanda (Katie Cassidy), and together follow U2's European tour. Kim's mother allows this, but Kim also needs permission from her father. Since Kim fears that Bryan will not consent, she pretends that they will only stay in Paris. Reluctantly, Bryan agrees.

In Paris a seemingly friendly young man named Peter (Nicolas Giraud) proposes to share a taxi with them to the house where Kim and her friend are staying, and so they do. However, the man works for an Albanian Mafia|Albanian criminal organization, to which he reports the address.


In the house, after a few minutes Kim receives a phone call from her father, where she then goes to the bathroom. She then sees from the bathroom window, men entering the room and abducting Amanda. Bryan is able to gain critical information about the kidnappers in the final moments after Kim is kidnapped by telling her to shout out everything about them that she notices. Briefly Bryan talks to one of the kidnappers, telling him that if they let his daughter go he will not pursue them, before the man smashes his daughters phone.

Using his contacts in the CIA and the business connections of his ex-wifes husband, Bryan travels to Paris to find her, informed that the kidnappers are sex-slavers and that he has only 96 hours to recover his daughter before she will disappear forever. The particular kidnapper he talked is revealed to be an Albanian named Marco.

Under the eye of Jean-Claude, himself a former operative and now deputy director of Internal Security, Bryan locates the kidnappers, first by using the digitial photos off the smashed remains of Kims phone to locate Peter who is later killed while Bryan pursues him. By hassling prostitutes Bryan is threatened by an Albanian mobster and is able to plant a covert listening device on him. Using a translator he finds that the kidnappers have a brothel in a nearby construction site.

Once arriving, Bryan acts like a customer, and after making his way inside begins to search for Kim. Unfortunately, he only finds her jacket, on another woman. He then is discovered and has to escape with the girl.

Nursing the girl back to health from an involuntary drug addiction, Bryan finds out where the kidnappers took her after she was abducted. Bryan heads to the address, and though he doesn't find Kim, he does find Marco, subduing him and killing most of the kidnappers. He searches for Kim, but instead finds Amanda, handcuffed to a bed and dead due to a heroin overdose. Torturing Marco, Bryan is able to ascertain that Kim was sold to a man named Saint Clair.

Bryan visits Jean-Claude's home and its dinner time there. However Jean, failing to have Bryan arrested for the mess he has caused at Paris, carries his gun to the dinner table. Jean angrily points the gun at Bryan when accused of complicity in his daughters abduction. Bryan has already unloaded the gun and shoots Jean's wife on her arm and, holding Jean, discovers the location of Saint Clair from him.

Acting as a police officer he gains entry to the building where new girls are being sold. When he sees his daughter being sold, he forces one of the buyers to purchase her, but is captured and knocked unconscious moments later. Suspended from the ceiling, Saint Clair questions his identity before leaving his security guards to execute him. Bryan escapes and kills them before finding Saint Clair, murdering him after learning that his daughter is being taken by Arab clients. Bryan manages to track down the car his daughter is being taken in and finds out that she is taken away on a large motorboat. He jumps on to the ship from a bridge and eliminates all the people inside, finally freeing his daughter.

Back in the US, Kim is reunited with her mother. Bryan introduces her to a pop Diva (Holly Valance) whom he saved at the beginning of the film from a knife attack while working security, Kim having an audition with the Divas vocal coach.

THANK YOU FOR SMOKING

Director : Jason Reitman
Writers : Jason Reitman (screenplay) & Christopher Buckley (novel)
Release Date : 14 April 2006 (USA)
Genre : Comedy | Drama more
Tagline : America is living in spin more
Plot : Satirical comedy follows the machinations of Big Tobacco's chief spokesman, Nick Naylor, who spins on behalf of cigarettes while trying to remain a role model for his twelve-year-old son. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords : Japanese Architecture | Theatrical Agent | Hotel | Title Written In Movie | Washington D.C.
Awards : Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 8 wins & 16 nominations

Synopsis:
Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is the Vice President of and the chief spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies, a tobacco lobby whose stated purpose is to research the links between smoking cigarettes and lung cancer. Unsurprisingly, the group, funded by cigarette companies, does not find any link between the two. Nick's job requires him to inform the public of these results, as well as defend the rights of smokers. The film follows his career as a talking head for Big Tobacco, appearing in both public speaking engagements and on television programs. Each week, Nick meets with Polly Bailey (Maria Bello) and Bobby Jay Bliss (David Koechner), lobbyists for the alcohol and firearms industries respectively, for lunch and mutual support. The three jokingly refer to themselves as "the M.O.D. Squad" (alluding to both the phrase "Merchants Of Death" and the television show The Mod Squad). Faced with a bill to add a skull and crossbones to all cigarette packaging, Nick proposes an idea to his boss, BR (J.K. Simmons) to get actors in films to start smoking on screen again as in the 1920s and 1930s, and thus "put the sex back in cigarettes". B.R sends him to Hollywood to meet with superagent Jeff Megall (Rob Lowe) and arrange product placement. Nick elects to bring his son, Joey (Cameron Bright), on the sudden conviction that they do not spend enough time together since Joey's mother gained custody. As Joey asks about the details of Nick's job during the trip, they bond as Nick teaches him the art of spin.

Nick also plans to appear before the U.S. Senate to fight the packaging bill, as well as Senator Finisterre (William H. Macy), the primary supporter of the bill as well as a long time critic of cigarettes. During an appearance on Dennis Miller's talk show to debate the issue with Finisterre, a caller threatens to kill Nick. After refusing BR's suggestion for him to hire bodyguards, Nick is soon kidnapped, and transdermal nicotine patches are placed all over his skin, sending high doses of nicotine into his blood stream, triggering a toxic response (nicotine poisoning) and nearly killing him. Luckily, he is found alive, and in a twist of irony, it was his smoking habit and resulting tolerance of nicotine which (as his doctor put it) "saved his life"; however, he can never smoke again because of resultant hypersensitivity to the drug.

In the midst of all of this, Nick has secretly begun having sex with an attractive reporter named Heather Holloway (Katie Holmes), revealing many secrets to her during their love making, assuming it was off-the-record. She was preparing a piece about him, promising to be fair to both sides of the issue. She then publishes an article that paints Nick as a heartless monster, including Nick's dealings with the M.O.D. Squad, bribery of cancer-stricken Marlboro Man Lorne Lutch (Sam Elliott),(which is a probable nod to Wayne McLaren), supposed training of Joey to follow in his footsteps, and the behind-the-scenes plan to increase cigarettes in film. When Nick confronts Heather over the phone, she condescendingly states that she's like him by just working a job to pay the mortgage. Deciding that the article has either removed or completely reversed any sympathy of the public towards Nick after his kidnapping, BR decides that the Academy should distance itself from Nick and fires him. After Nick initially becomes depressed, Joey reminds him of why he does his job: to defend "defenseless" corporations such as seal clubbers and land mine makers.

Speaking to the press, Nick promises to clear the names of those linked to him by the article, and reveals his affair with Holloway, effectively ruining her career, as she watches him live on TV at work with her surprised coworkers. He also reveals his intention to still testify before the Senate in hopes of stopping the bill from passing. Nick ends up performing so well at the Senate hearing that B.R asks him to return to the Academy. As a reporter asks Nick if he will continue to work with the Academy, however, he fully realizes BR's motives for firing and rehiring him and decides not to return as an example to his son, completely catching BR off guard before the press. The film ends with a review of the lives of those affected by the entire situation: BR is out of work for the first time in years after the Academy is dismantled, Heather is reduced to working as a weather reporter for a small TV station, Senator Finisterre is still working on his anti-cigarette campaign by digitally removing cigarettes from classic films, and the M.O.D. Squad is still meeting weekly with new lobbyists from the oil, fast food and hazardous waste industries being invited to the luncheon. Joey wins a school debate, and Nick begins a public relations training firm (which is seen taking on the public image of cell phones).