1: Boys will be boys. 2: Space will never be the same
Plot Summary:
In 1958, four hot shot test pilots seem certain to be the first men to go into outer space. However, the back-stabbing leader of their organization disbands them to prevent their involvement in the then forming NASA and labels them as non-team players. Flash forward to the present, the foursome are now living a docile life. The electrical engineer (Clint Eastwood has a pleasant retired life in a desert home with his wife (Barbara Babcock). The pilot (Tommy Lee Jones), who had a penchant for pushing the test planes to their limits, is now a daredevil crop-duster. The navigator (James Garner) is a Baptist minister. The designer (Donald Sutherland) is a womanizing roller coaster designer. Their former boss (James Cromwell) is now a mission leader in Nasa and still as despicable as in his younger days. It is here that the main story begins. It seems that an old Russian “communications” satellite is about to crash back into the Earth’s atmosphere and somehow American technology designed by Eastwood’s character has ended up as the guiding system. Of course, because of the old technology, only the original team can save the day. As Cromwell’s character makes many learing statements about the satellite to the Russian general who is working with the Americans to save the day, you know there is something much more nefarious about the satellite. After some struggles to get the four to pass their physicals in less than 30 days, the four with two young counterparts (Loren Dean, Courtney B. Vance) are launched on the space shuttle to fix the satellite. Dean’s character has somehow been coerced to be in on the subterfuge involving Cromwell and in an unexplained action, he tries to make connections on the satellite that causes the whole mission to become a disaster and creates the greatest action sequences in the film…
1: Things fall down. People look up. And when it rains, it pours.
Plot Summary:
Magnolia is the study of nine lives in one day in San Fernando Valley, California. These nine lives all connect and revolve around the game show “What Do Kids Know?”(WDKK), where a team of three kids play against adults and everytime the show is on, there is a new team of adults and the kids remain; if they won the previous game. Earl Partridge (the late Jason Robards) produced “WDKK” when it was first on in the late 60s. He is dying of brain and lung cancer and is being taken care of by Phil Parma (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a male nurse. Linda, Earl’s trophy wife (Julianne Moore) starts to fall in love with Earl for real, despite her cheating. Earl, rapidly dying on his bed, asks Phil to find his estranged son, Frank T.J. Mackey (Tom Cruise), who grew up hating Earl and now runs a seminar for single men, which teaches them how to seduce a woman and leave her… The host of “WDKK”, Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall), is also dying, but not as rapidly as Earl. He has a very rocky relationship with his daughter Claudia (Melora Waters), who sniffs crack 24/7 and accuses her father of sexually molesting her. Police Officer Jim (John C. Reilly) goes to Claudia’s house after getting called about a disturbance. He falls in love with her right away… Stanley Specter (Jeremy Blackman) is a contestant on “WDKK”, who is a genius and is being used by his father to make money. If Stanley and his team keep winning, they will set a record on the show and get tons of money. The record Stanley is trying to beat is the 1968 record set by Donnie Smith (William H. Macy), who had the exact same childhood when he was on the show and has now grown up to be a pathetic loser. He’s been recently fired from his job, and is trying to find his way into happiness…
Susan Morton (Nancy Travis) is an attorney and a single mother to her 12-year old daughter, Carson (Jamie Renee Smith). When Susan (Nancy Travis) is diagnosed with cancer, she moves from Chicago to California, where she grew up, and she brings Carson along with her. On the west coast, she meets Michael Blake (Scott Bairstow), who is currently a low-paid waiter, and falls in love with him. Michael make friends with Susans daughter, Carson, but he leaves Susan, when she tells him that she has cancer. Carson convinces him to come back though. Meanwhile, Susan is concidering to have Carson stay with Susans parents, Phil (James Karen) and Marnie (Holland Taylor), when she dies, after Susans ex-husband, Peter, turns down the offer of letting Carson stay with him. Michael then offers to take care of Carson, since they get along so well, making Susans parents upset. Susan dies two weeks later, and Carson decides to stay with Michael instead of her grandparents.
After his daughter died of cancer, former French foreign legionnaire “Straight Shooter” alias Volker Bretz threatens those who financed, built, favoured and now work the nuclear power plant Atar II to kill one of them each day until the plant is shut down. His former drill sergeant, Frank Hector, who now owns several night clubs and brothels, is the only one who might be able to stop the maniac killing specialist. Frank is flown in instantly, but soon has to find out that his former comrade’s actions might be a result from an event long ago.
1: Life is like a box of chocolates…you never know what you’re gonna get. 2: The world will never be the same once you’ve seen it through the eyes of Forrest Gump.
Plot Summary:
The story follows the life of low I.Q. Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) and his meeting with the love of his life Jenny. The film chronicles his accidental experiences with some of the most important people and events in America from the late 1950’s through the 1970’s including a meeting with Elvis Presley, JFK, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, fighting in Vietnam, etc. The problem is, he’s too stupid to realize the significance of his actions. Forrest becomes representative of the baby boomer generation having walked through life blindly.
