John Rhys-Davies

Stooge is a feature documentary about Robert Pargiter, Iggy Pop's No1 fan. It covers the three years leading up to his 50th birthday when he tries to track his hero down in a final absolution. His journey has taken him all over the world in search of redemption after years of struggling with addiction, of coping with depression, and of celebrating the communal lust that is Rock 'n Roll. —Anon

Fresh off the bus from Kokomo, Indiana, a cat named Danny has one dream: to become a movie star in the glamorous world of Hollywood. However, unknown to Danny, is that animals have no leverage in show business, and fulfill minor and often thankless roles. Wandering into a talent agency, Danny is signed onto a role in child star Darla Dimple's next film, "Little Ark-Angel." At the filming, he meets a number of other animals, who try to temper his enthusiasm. One of them is Sawyer, a white cat whom Danny is paired with for the film's big production number. However, Danny is not content with his one-worded script ("Meow"), and tries to add some panache to his role. This ends up infuriating Darla Dimples, who calls on her Frankenstein-like butler named Max, who ends up frightening Danny into submission. After the filming has wrapped, a little penguin named Pudge, who was also in the big production number, tells Danny that he enjoyed his added song-and-dance. As the two head off the studio, the sound of a piano reaches their ears, and they follow it to a small trailer, where they are introduced to Woolie Mammoth. Woolie has a musical talent, but is only kept at Mammoth Studios for the purposes of appearing in their opening title sequence. While in the trailer, Danny notices a picture of Sawyer, whom Woolie explains also has musical talent, but hides it from most people behind a tough exterior. The next day, Danny and some other animals create a small song-and-dance routine while waiting for the film production to get underway. As Sawyer arrives, she begins to get with the beat, and the rhythm even reaches the ears of Darla, who is getting made-up nearby. Darla listens in, and hears Danny mention that he could maybe tell the studio head, L.B. Mammoth, about the talent they (as animals) have. Darla then decides to invite Danny to her mansion for tea. At her mansion, Darla 'tricks' Danny into believing that she wants to help him and the other animals. Promising use of the "Little Ark-Angel" movie set. The next day, as the animals are on the movie set, Darla and Max sabotage the stage, causing the water system to overflow, causing the animals to damage the set, just as L.B. Mammoth is holding a press conference for the new Darla Dimples picture. Infuriated by what has happened, the entire animal staff are kicked off the lot. With no jobs, many of the animal actors are now on the streets, and with his dream seemingly dashed, Danny gets on a bus to return to Kokomo, Indiana. However, several blocks into the trip, Danny has a second thought, and gets off. Finding Pudge the Penguin, they sneak into the studio's mailroom, and send invites to all the animal actors for the premiere of Darla's new film. During the production, Danny again plans to show the human public that animals are talented, and intends to take the stage once the film premiere is over. However, Darla's butler Max senses something, and finds Danny, chasing him to the roof of the theater. Things turn in Danny's favor, when Max gets entangled in a giant inflatable balloon resembling Darla, and is sent aloft. Danny races back to the theater, where several of the animals have appeared onstage. They then begin to sing and dance for the audience. During the production, Darla sneaks backstage, attempting to sabotage the performance, but in the end, all her tricks end up improving it, til' at the very end, the audience gives the animals a standing ovation! Once the musical number ends, Darla angrily rushes onto the stage, proclaiming that she is the star, and offhandedly admits that it was she who flooded the stage at the studios. Darla realizes she's in error, but it's too late. The film ends with L.B. Mammoth signing the animals back to the studio, and placing them in high-profile pictures as the lead actors.

The 00 section of MI6 is chosen for a test to penetrate the radar installation at Gibraltar, with British SAS at full alert to intercept them. Agent 004 is intercepted and killed by an unknown assailant, who leaves with a note "Smiert Spionam." Agent 007, James Bond (Timothy Dalton) pursues and after a lengthy fight inside a jeep, he manages to kill the assailant, when the jeep falls off a cliff and blows up. Bond is assigned to help KGB General Georgi Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé) defect, covering his escape from a concert hall in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. Saunders (Thomas Wheatley) is the section chief whom Koskov contacted for the defection and has planned his escape. During the mission, Bond notices that a KGB sniper is a female cellist from the orchestra. Disobeying his orders from Saunders, to kill the sniper, he shoots the rifle from her hands, then uses the Trans-Siberian Pipeline to smuggle Koskov across the border to the West. Bond knows that the girl was not a professional assassin (she didn't know how to hold a rifle) and also Q can't find any record of her among the KGB. Q (Desmond Llewelyn). M (Robert Brown), the head of MI6 and Bond's superior. Miss Moneypenny (Caroline Bliss), M's secretary. In his post-defection debriefing, Koskov informs MI6 that the KGB's old policy of 'Smiert Spionam," meaning 'Death to Spies," has been revived by General Leonid Pushkin (John Rhys-Davies), the new head of the KGB. Koskov is later abducted from the safe-house (via a KGB agent dressed like a milkman) and assumed to have been taken back to Moscow. Bond is directed to track down Pushkin in Tangier and kill him, to forestall further killings of agents and escalation of tensions between the Soviet Union and the West. Bond agrees to carry out the mission when he learns that the assassin who killed 004 (as depicted in the pre-title sequence) left a note bearing the same message, "Smiert Spionam." MoneyPenny tracks the cello girl in Bratislava and Bond decides to investigate her first. Bond returns to Bratislava to track down the cellist, Kara Milovy (Maryam d'Abo). Bond sees Kara being taken away by Pushkin from the tram. Inside her cello, Bond finds the rifle with two blank bullets. He also finds a note with Kara's address. Bond finds out that Koskov's entire defection was staged, and that Kara is actually Koskov's girlfriend. Bond convinces Kara that he is a friend of Koskov's (and knew about his fake defection) and persuades her to accompany him to Vienna, supposedly to be reunited with him. They escape Bratislava while being pursued by the KGB (Bond evades them in a well stocked car supplied by Q, and then using Kara's cello case as a sled to slide across into Austria), crossing over the border into Austria. Meanwhile, Pushkin meets with an arms dealer, Brad Whitaker (Joe Don Baker), in Tangier, informing him that the KGB is canceling an arms deal previously arranged between Koskov and Whitaker. Whitaker takes himself to be a great general, but Pushkin insults him saying that he was a West Point dropout (for cheating) and had criminal links who financed his first arm deals. Pushkin threatens Whitaker that he knows he and Koskov are working together on something. During his brief tryst with Milovy in Vienna, Bond visits the Prater to meet his MI6 ally, Saunders, who discovers a history of financial dealings between Koskov and Whitaker (It was Whitaker who bought an expensive Stradivarius for Kara from an auction in NYC). As he leaves their meeting, Saunders is killed by Koskov's henchman Necros (Andreas Wisniewski), who again leaves the message "Smiert Spionam." Bond and Kara promptly leave for Tangier, where Bond confronts Pushkin (in the hotel room of Pushkin's mistress, Rubavitch (Virginia Hey), who disavows any knowledge of "Smiert Spionam" and reveals that Koskov is evading arrest for embezzlement of government funds. Pushkin tells Bond to trust him and not Koskov. Bond and Pushkin then join forces, and Bond fakes Pushkin's assassination, inducing Whitaker and Koskov to progress with their scheme. Meanwhile, Kara contacts Koskov, who tells her that Bond is actually a KGB agent, and convinces her to drug him so that he can be captured. That night when Bond returns to Kara, she drugs him as per instructions. Before passing out Bond warns Kara that Koskov wanted her dead, as she knew too much (which is why she was told to hold a rifle during his escape, to ensure that Bond kills her to eliminate the threat to Koskov's defection) Koskov, Necros, Kara, and the captive Bond fly to a Soviet air base in Afghanistan, where Koskov betrays Kara and imprisons her, along with Bond. The pair escape from the Soviet makeshift prison by using Bond's gadgets, and in doing so, free a condemned prisoner, Kamran Shah (Art Malik), leader of the local Mujahideen. Bond and Milovy discover that Koskov is using Soviet funds (converted to diamonds) to buy a massive shipment of opium from the Mujahideen, intending to keep the profits (from sales in the US and Europe) with enough left over to supply the Soviets with their arms (for which Koskov has taken an advance) and buy Western arms from Whitaker. With the Mujahideen's help, Bond plants a bomb aboard the cargo plane carrying the opium, but is spotted and has no choice but to barricade himself in the plane. Meanwhile, the Mujahideen attack the air base on horseback and engage the Soviets in a gun battle. During the battle, Kara drives a jeep into the cargo hold of the plane as Bond takes off, and Necros also leaps aboard at the last second (Koskov is injured as he drives head on into a landing plane on the runway). After a struggle, Bond throws Necros to his death and deactivates the bomb. Bond then notices Shah and his men being pursued by Soviet forces. He re-activates the bomb and drops it out of the plane and onto a bridge, blowing it up and helping Shah and his men escape the Soviets. The plane subsequently crashes, destroying the drugs, while Bond and Kara escape. Bond returns to Tangier to kill Whitaker, infiltrating his estate with the help of his ally Felix Leiter (John Terry), and Pushkin arrests Koskov, ordering him to be executed before sending him back to Moscow. Some time later, Kara is the solo cellist in a Vienna performance. Kamran Shah and his men jostle in during the intermission and are introduced to now-diplomat General Gogol (Walter Gotell) and the Soviets. After her performance, Bond surprises Kara in her dressing room, and they embrace.

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>

Egyptologist Erica Baron finds more than she bargained for during her long-planned trip to The Land of the Pharoahs: murder, theft, betrayal, love, and a mummy's curse. Egyptologist Erica Baron (Lesley-Anne Down) is researching for a paper on Mernephtah, chief architect to Pharaoh Seti I. She meets with unscrupulous art dealer Abdu-Hamdi (John Gielgud) and witnesses him being threatened by black-market dealer Stephanos Markoulis (John Rhys-Davies). Abdu-Hamdi shows Erica a statue of Seti I that may prove there is a secret burial chamber filled with treasures within Seti's tomb. Erica witnesses Abdu-Hamdi being murdered by unidentified men and is rescued by French journalist Yvon Mageot (Maurice Ronet). He is interested in Erica's research, but his motives remain unclear. Erica then meets Dr. Akmed Khazzan (Frank Langella), who is head of the antiquities division for the government, and is also interested to know what Erica has learned about a secret chamber. He provides her a bodyguard who is promptly murdered, possibly by the same people who murdered Abdu-Hamdi. Despite continued threats from Markoulis and continued hindrance from Mageot, Erica is determined to learn all she can, no matter the risk. She also finds herself falling for Khazzan, which leads her further into ancient mysteries and intrigue.