Brooke Shields

How do we carry on living, afterwards. When we've grown up under a dictatorship, when we shaped our lives under a dictatorship. When it's part of us. Second part of a trilogy about Romania after Stella (2007).

The film opens as a well dressed, barrel chested man stalks the late-night passengers of a subway train. He assaults and kills several people with a meat hammer, and a butchers hook. He dispatches his prey wordlessly, and with an uncannily unnatural strength. He wears a ring on his finger, adorned with eight stars. We are then introduced to Leon, a vegan photographer who heads into the city's subway system at night to take photographs. He is criticized constantly by other photographers for fleeing danger before shooting a full reel. One night, in a decision to break this trend, he saves a woman from a gang that is abusing her. The next day, he discovers this girl has gone missing. Leon is intrigued by the mystery, and begins to investigate newsreels about similar disappearances. His investigation leads him to a butcher named Mahogany, who he suspects has been killing subway passengers for as long as a hundred years. Leon attempts to turn some of the photos he has taken of Mahogany in to the police, but they refuse to believe him, and instead cast suspicion on his own motives in photographing the victims. Leon's involvement quickly turns into a dark obsession, upsetting his waitress girlfriend Maya, who is as disbelieving of his story as the police chief. Leon takes matters into his own hands, entering the subway train at midnight, only to witness a shocking bloodbath, as the butcher kills several passengers, then hangs them on meat hooks. Passing out on the subway floor, he awakes the next morning in a slaughterhouse with strange markings carved into his chest. A concerned Maya and her friend Jurgis, a short-order cook, begin to examine the photos Leon has been taking of Mahogany, leading them to the killer's apartment. After breaking and entering the butcher's home, Jurgis is captured, and brutally killed. Maya goes to the police, But finds that they are as unwilling to consider her story, as they were of Leon's. It is at this point that we begin to discover that the police may be involved in the cover-up of Mahogany's crimes. A police official directs the misguided Maya to a trip on the midnight train. Leon, unaware of Maya's involvement, finally decides to put an end to the butcher's crimes, and heads to the hidden subway entrance in the slaughterhouse, arming himself with the a butcher's apron, and several slaughterhouse knives. Leon enters the train as Mahogany has completed his nightly massacre, and has cornered a helpless Maya. Leon attacks the murderer with a knife, beginning a climactic battle between the photographer and the superhuman butcher. They fight in between the swinging human meat, Leon's knives against Mahogany's meat hammer, and human body parts are ripped, thrown, and used as weapons in the shower of epic gore. Finally, Mahogany is thrown out of the train by Leon, but not long before it hits its final stop. The train has entered an underground cavern, filled with skulls and decomposing bodies. Mahogany, in a battered and bleeding state, returns, barely alive, from beneath the train, and engages in a death struggle with Leon, who finishes the job at last by impaling the psychotic butcher's skull on a blade. Mahogany grins in his dying throes, pronouncing the single word "Welcome!" With the butcher's death, the conductor of the train enters the car, advising Leon and Maya to "Please step away from the meat." With these words, the true purpose of the underground station is revealed, as horrible reptilian creatures enter the car, consuming the meat to which they have been delivered. The conductor explains to Leon that the creatures have always existed below the city, and that the butcher's job was to keep them satisfied by feeding them every night. The conductor then forces Leon to watch as he kills Maya with one of the butcher's knives. When he is done, he picks up Leon, and with the same supernatural strength as the deceased butcher, rips out Leon's tongue, throwing him to the ground. He tells Leon that, having killed the butcher, he must take his place. In the final scene, the police chief hands the train schedule to the new butcher, who wears a ring with eight stars. The killer walks onto the midnight train, and turns his head to reveal that he is Leon, ready to go on his nightly slaughter.

An Italian woman flies across the Atlantic to New York City in search of her husband and finds him married to another woman. Now two wives, four children, and one husband must find a way to survive--together. An Italian female shoemaker follows her husband to America with their son and daughter. She can't find him at first, then finally she discovers that he is married to an American wife who is expecting. After some wrangling they manage to live under the same roof for some time. —Hesham Tito This hilarious romantic comedy stars the ever-popular Brooke Shields as Charlene, the American wife of Vincenzo, a struggling Italian artist who wants to make a name for himself in New York's cutting-edge art scene. Just one problem: He's already married. When Maria, Vincenzo's Italian wife, crosses the Atlantic with two her kids, she's less than thrilled to find her husband living with the very pregnant Charlene, whose fury matches anything Maria can dish out. The personal and cultural clashes between Vincenzo's two families make for an extremely tense environment, but they soon find themselves united against Paul Parmesan, a self-serving home-shopping magnate who tries to exploit both Maria and Charlene while lining his own pockets. Love takes a beating and comes back fighting in this unconventional comedy about a very unconventional family. —Anonymous

Petty criminal Dean struggles to raise his autistic son alone, and his life appears to be going off-track until psychologist Stevie arrives to help them both. Backstreet Dreams is the story of a man, who has a disturbed child. He and his wife take their son to a clinic, where he is diagnosed by a talented psychologist (Stevie), as being autistic. After catching his unfaithful wife with another man, Dean tells Lucy to leave, and is faced with the task of raising Shane on his own. Stevie believes that she can improve Shane's condition, going back to Dean's apartment and later convincing him that he can provide a better world for his son. Angelo, who lives in the same apartment building and is like a father to Dean, urges on the relationship, sensing that Stevie is luring Dean away from backstreet dealings, and giving him courage to face life in a positive way. Together, they build a foundation for a better life outside of the violence and danger of the backstreets where they live.

Intent on winning a competition in place of her distinguished late father, beautiful young heiress Dale takes on the guise of a man and competes in his spot, embarking on a car race that crosses the unforgiving Sahara desert. Young beauty Dale is determined to finish what her late father started; racing his custom built race car across the grueling deserts of Africa. In a quest to honor a love, she will find that the heat of the African desert comes from more than just its scorching sands. Will her passion flame the fatal desires of others! —DanzWMe After her father dies, young Dale takes his place in a trans-African auto race, but ends up being abducted by a desert sheik. —Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>

In suburban Chicago, 15-year-old Jade Butterfield (Brooke Shields) and 17-year-old David Axelrod (Martin Hewitt) fall in love after they are introduced by Jade's older brother, Keith (James Spader). Jade's liberal family is well known in their community for their bohemian lifestyle, allowing Jade and David to develop an all-consuming and passionate relationship; including allowing the two to make love in Jade's bedroom. In contrast to the openness of her family, David's home life is boring; his parents are wealthy right-wing political activists who are not actively involved in his life. One night, Jade's mother Ann (Shirley Knight) sneaks downstairs, and upon seeing Jade and David make love by the fireplace, starts living through them vicariously. However, Jade's father Hugh (Don Murray) watches the couple with increasing unease. Jade's nightly trysts with David begin negatively impacting her grades and her ability to sleep. One morning, she attempts to steal one of her father's prescription sleeping pills, but he catches her in the act. This is the last straw for Hugh and he demands that David stop seeing Jade until the end of the school year in 30 days. Although David is devastated, believing Hugh wants to destroy their relationship, Ann calmly assures him that the time apart is for the best and will go by quickly. Back at school, David's friend Billy (Tom Cruise) informs him that when he was eight years old, he tried to burn a pile of newspapers and after he became scared, put out the fire, only to find his parents think he was a hero for saving the house from burning. Inspired by this grim story, David starts a fire on the Butterfields' front porch after their late-night party and walks away briefly. Unfortunately, by the time he returns, the flame has spread too far under the high wind. He rushes to warn the family but he is too late, the entire house is burned to the ground. David immediately evacuates the Butterfields from the burning house before he is eventually apprehended. Following the trial, David is convicted of second-degree arson, sentenced to five years' probation, committed into a mental hospital for evaluation, and forbidden from ever going anywhere near Jade or her family again. Nevertheless, he continues to write daily, but his letters are not sent because of the court order to make no contact with Jade. David's wealthy parents arrange to have him released early from the mental hospital, much to Hugh's chagrin. Meanwhile, David receives his many letters upon his exit, and upon realizing why Jade never wrote back, he decides to pursue her even though he knows full well that this will violate his parole. After the loss of their home, the Butterfields has moved from Chicago to Manhattan, where Ann and Hugh file for divorce. At her apartment, Ann imitates she has an attraction to David, but he gently refuses her advances which leaves her rather nonplussed. When Ann isn't looking, David thumbs through her address book, learning where Jade is and discovers that she now attends the University of Vermont in Burlington. Intent on catching a bus to Vermont, David sees Hugh on the street and Hugh angrily chases him. But while running across the street to catch David, Hugh is run over by a car and killed. Hugh's fiancée, Ingrid Orchester (Penelope Milford), arrives on the scene just in time to witness David leaving. He comes close to board the bus to Vermont, but is overcome with grief and returns to Ann's apartment and consoles her. Keith orders David to leave and informs him that Jade hates him while Ingrid, catching a glimpse of David, recognizes him from the accident. Jade later goes to David's room and informs him that they have to leave their relationship in the past and move on with their lives separately. He pulls her back as she tries to leave, throwing her on the bed and holding her down until she admits she still loves him, which she eventually does, and they spend the night together. The next morning, Jade and David plan to return to Chicago and begin a new life together. Keith and Ingrid arrive at the hotel and Keith angrily informs Jade that David is blamed for their father's death. Jade initially refuses to believe this, but when David confirms that he was actually at the scene, she becomes horrified and hides behind Keith. David tries to explain that this was an accident and shoves Keith out of the way in a desperate attempt to come near her. Keith holds him off until the police arrive and arrest David for brawling, disturbing the peace and violating his parole. David is sentenced to five years in a state prison and despairs that he may never to see Jade again. Jade informs her mother at her father's lakeside funeral that no one will ever love her as David does, and Ann expresses her understanding and approval. The final scene shows David from behind bars watching Jade approach the prison through his barred cell window to comfort him.

Two children are shipwrecked on an island paradise. Alone and unadvised, they must cope with the bewildering variety of physical and emotional changes attendant to growing up.

Bill (George Burns) is an elderly ex-vaudevillian performer who lives alone in a large, comfortable home. He awakens to a special alarm clock that activates his home stereo system, waking him to his favorite music. Along the way, Bill looks at photographs of his deceased wife, who apparently used to be part of his act. After breakfast, Bill goes to the supermarket, driving his unique classic automobile, a meticulously preserved 1930s model Pierce-Arrow; he compulsively takes two orange parking cones out of the trunk and places them in the two parking spaces next to his, to block anybody from parking near his car. Inside the market, Bill interacts in a friendly way with two employees, charming them with a magic trick. Kate (Brooke Shields) is a young teenage girl who is in a domestic squabble with an intimidating man named Demesta (William Russ). Kate, who is apparently nude and is wrapped in a towel, has locked herself in a bathroom to hide from Demesta, who pounds angrily on the door and demands to know the details of a drug deal that Kate has fouled up. He screams at her to give him either his money or his drugs. Frightened, Kate escapes through the bathroom window, still wrapped only in a towel, while a policeman suddenly knocks on the front door of the apartment and grapples with Demesta. The policeman chases Demesta down the street while Kate goes in a different direction, slipping down over a hillside staircase and losing her towel in the process. She runs away totally nude. Bill comes out of the grocery store talking to the bag boy about magic tricks, but when he opens his trunk to replace his orange parking cones, they both see Kate lying naked in his trunk, covered only in a deflated tire tube. Stunned and suddenly in a very compromising position (with a naked teenage girl in his trunk), Bill convinces the bag boy that it was just an illusion and he drives away. He stops on a secluded side street to question Kate, who asks Bill to take her to his house. He reluctantly agrees. Bill tries to get Kate to tell him what's going on, but she avoids all his questions, telling him crazy things like that her parents died on the Titanic and that she has no last name. Bill responds sarcastically to her jibes, but he also does his best to help Kate with whatever trouble she may be in. Instead of going to the police, he allows her to take shelter in his home, allowing her to choose some of his clothes to wear and even altering them so they fit her better. Kate refuses to answer any of his questions, and she attempts to escape Bill's house by dropping out of an upstairs window, spraining her ankle in the process. This attracts the attention of Bill's neighbors, Stan (John Schuck) and Sue (Andrea Howard), a nosy couple who try and figure out who the strange girl is at Bill's house. Bill goes to visit his friend Max (Burl Ives), who is a resident of a nursing home. Max apparently lived with Bill before being confined to the facility due to his despondent condition; Max has retreated into his mind and hasn't spoken a word in years, refusing to react to external stimulus. Bill still makes a habit of visiting him daily, cheerfully telling him about everything that's going on. He tells Max about Kate, saying that he feels as if he has to help her, although he doesn't know how. Later, Bill also receives a visit from his daughter, Shirl (Lorraine Gary) and her husband, Harris (Nicolas Coster). Shirl feels Bill is becoming senile and she tries to get him to sign a document that will give Shirl control over his bank account; when Bill refuses, Shirl becomes furious, complaining that Bill is giving away all of his money, but Bill angrily rebuffs her. Meanwhile, Demesta is in a rage about Kate's betrayal. He questions Roy (Christopher Knight), a teenage friend of Kate's, in an intimidating way and tells him that he'll find Kate wherever she is. When Bill goes to get a prescription for painkillers refilled, Demesta sees him in the pharmacy, but is unaware that he is connected to Kate. Stan and Sue step up their interfering and call Shirl to tell her they saw a young girl in Bill's house. When Shirl returns, she demands to see Kate but Bill refuses to let her in the house. He also refuses to acknowledge that he's harboring a juvenile, denying anything is wrong, much to Shirl's dismay and fury. Shirl suggests to Harris in a private moment that her father has been unstable ever since his vaudeville career went bad, identifying a disatrous show in Pittsburgh as the turning point. Harris thinks Shirl just misunderstands Bill, and encourages her to accept Bill's eccentric ways. Bill and Kate have a conversation where she reveals to him that she's on the run from a drug dealer. She claims Demesta gave her money to make a connection and pay for a cache of product, which she then threw into a sewer in a moment of panic. Bill tells her to go to the police, but Kate is afraid to do this because of the consequences for herself. Bill is happy that Kate has opened up to him finally; he genuinely likes her and feels that she has never had a nurturing home, being shuttled between foster homes. He invites her to come live with him, but Kate tells him that one has to be a certain age to be a foster parent. "I'm not old enough?" he jokes. Bill's poker buddies, whom he calls the "No Shirt Gang", all arrive to play cards at Bill's house, and he introduces Kate to them. They promise to be discreet about her presence, and the evening is interrupted when Shirl makes good on her promise to return with the police. The No Shirt gang hides Kate with a magic trick, levitating her up to the ceiling. When the girl can't be found, Shirl is even more furious. The next day, Bill leaves for his daily visit to Max, and he has a conversation with Kate, explaining Max's situation to her. Kate feels as if Max may need some tough love, recalling a young boy she once knew who also refused to talk. Kate tells Bill that the boy started talking once all the other kids ignored him. When Bill visits Max, he tells Max that he will never come to see him again; unless Max talks, it's goodbye forever. As a result, Max breaks down and begs Bill not to leave, and they embrace. Bill returns to the house excitedly to tell Kate the good news, but he finds that Kate is gone and the house is empty. Bill is despondent. Meanwhile, Kate returns to her foster home and gets a few of her belongings. She meets up with Roy at school, and Roy warns her that Demesta is looking for her. Then Kate reveals what really has her scared: she never made the connection in the first place, and still has the $20,000 cash that Demesta gave her to pay for the drugs. Roy is shocked and tells Kate that Demesta will kill her if he finds her, but Kate plans to leave town with the money. When Roy tells Kate that Demesta has been questioning everybody about Bill, Kate is horrified that Demesta knows where she was hiding, and that any moment now he will track down Bill's house and confront him. She returns to Bill's house, unable to leave town without making sure her new friend is aware of the danger he's in. While she is there, Demesta forces his way into the house; Kate has the $20,000 in her teddy bear, but she and Bill manage to subdue Demesta. After a chase through Bill's house, Bill holds Demesta at bay with a sword, forcing him into a large bag covered in padlocks. When they have him incapacitated, Bill reveals that the sword is a fake, one of Max's props from his magic act. With the police summoned and Demesta arrested, Bill and Kate celebrate by drinking tomato juice. Shirl arrives and is terrified when she sees the police at Bill's house, but Bill talks to her about the strange events that have been going on. Then he asks Shirl a favor. We then see Bill back at the rest home; Max is packing his belongings, preparing to go back home with Bill. Bill explains that Shirl and Harris have agreed to act as foster parents for Kate, and that Kate will stay with Bill and Max on the weekends. The film ends as Bill and Max walk out to greet Kate, who is guarding Bill's car by making sure nobody parks near it.

This film is partly based on an interview with an actual child prostitute that worked in New Orleans during the early 20th century as found in the book "Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic, Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red-Light District" by Al Rose. The movie opens with eleven-year-old Violet (played by a 12-year-old Brooke Shields) watching the birth of her baby brother. This echoes her own beginnings as the daughter of prostitute Hattie (Susan Sarandon) and an unknown client. Violet is one of several children living at Madam Nell's (Frances Faye) swanky New Orleans brothel in the year 1917. Early one morning photographer Bellocq (Keith Carradine) comes calling looking for a model. Hattie poses for him while Violet watches. At first Bellocq finds Violets inquisitive nature a bother, but after a while he starts to like her. Violet seems fascinated by Bellocq as he never seems to want to have sex with the girls, but just photograph them. Even given her tender years Violet has been become part of the brothel business. She is playing in one of the upstairs bedrooms when her mother brings a client in telling him that Violet is a virgin and only for "French." Hattie indicates Violet is to follow them back to her room where Hattie climbs on the bed and starts to undress and the client drops his pants and sits down. It is clear that Violet is expected to stimulate him orally. With the resigned sigh of someone who has already done this too many times Violet enters the room, closes the door and the scene ends. When Violet turns 12 arrangements are made to auction off her virginity. Nell gives a dinner party for her best clients during which Violet, dressed only in a sheer, see-though gown is paraded around the table on a platter as the madam announces the auction. A few minutes later, redressed in a white party dress, Violet stands in the parlor while the men of the house bid on her. The winner (Don Lutenbacher), then carries Violet up to a bedroom. A short scream announces the loss of her virginity and we see her client hurriedly depart from the house. When the other girls check on Violet they find her motionless lying across the bed and fear the worst. She breaks out laughing and we realize she is only joking with them, though she winces when she sits up, telling us that her initiation into womanhood has not been completely painless. Violet now becomes a regular part of the brothel lineup, though not always at her convenience. She is interrupted mid-bath by Madam Nell who wants to show her to a rough-looking farmer customer (Hobe May). (This scene involved nudity for Shields and is one of the more controversial in the film). One day Hattie's client/ boyfriend, Alfred Fuller (Don Hood) announces he is moving Hattie and her baby son to St. Louis where he will marry her. His plans don't include Violet as Hattie in her vanity has told him Violet is her younger sister. Hattie promises Violet at the right time she will break the news to him and send for her. Hattie leaves and Bellocq complains to Nell about Violet being left alone. Nell's response is that Violet is now making plenty of money on her own and the only reason Bellocq is concerned is that he has fallen in love with her, something he vehemently denies. Violet misbehaves and Nell orders the bartender (Henry Braden) to take her to woodshed and discipline her. We hear the beating after which a defiant Violet emerges and declares to Nell, "It didn't hurt!" When she turns away though we see the whipping was violent enough to shred her nightgown and we can see her bare bottom. This incident causes Violet to leave the brothel and move in with Bellocq. He is opposed to the idea at first but Violet uses her feminine charms to convince him to let her stay. However, she soon becomes bored of just being his photography model and he is not yet prepared to deal with her childishness. After one long nude photography session (This scene involved frontal nudity for Shields and is also highly controversial) they fight and in revenge Violet scratches some of the Belloca's valuable negatives and he throws her out of the house. Violet returns to the brothel, but it is clear that things are not going well there. The Navy has pressured the city into closing the district. At Nell's house items are being sold off one-by-one and the girls are making arrangements to find other places to live. Violet packs her things too, but before she can get far Bellocq arrives, tells Violet he is going to marry her and she agrees. Though a girl as young as Violet usually needs her parents permission to marry it is allowed because she has been abandoned. Violet, the girls and Bellocq celebrate with a picnic along the river. One morning at Bellocq's house after about two weeks of marriage it is clear that Violet has not quite adapted perfectly to the role of a wife as all she seems to do is have sex and sleep, but it is clear that Bellocq still loves her. Violet and Bellocq's breakfast is interrupted when Hattie and her new husband arrive. They demand that Violet come with them and join them in St. Louis as part of a "proper" family. Violet is torn between Bellocq and her mother, but as her mother has the firmer legal claim, Violet has little choice but to go with her. At the train station Violet's new step-father attempts to take a family portrait of his wife and her son and daughter with his Brownie camera, but it is clear from Violet's expression that Violet wonders if she can ever go back to being just a child after having lived as an adult.