Martin Scorsese

Based on a true story and told through the improbable romance of Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), 'Killers of the Flower Moon' is an epic western crime saga, where real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal.

Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio team up for the 4th time in an adaptation of the Novel `Mystic River`, set in 1954. `Shutter Island` is an exile for the criminally insane. U.S. Marshal, Teddy Daniels (Leonardo Dicaprio) along with new partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) visit the island to investigate the disappearance Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer), a patient charged with murdering her 3 children. As he digs deeper, Teddy begins to suspect that the authorities are hiding something, and there might be a secret plot threatening the most heinous inmates of the hospital. Turns out, Teddy is on the island for a secret motive of his own: to confront his wife`s killer. Stranded on the island due to a hurricane, cutting him from the mainland, he is stuck with insane criminals in a twisted game. As he tries unravel the secrets of the eerie island, Teddy begins to doubt everything, from his memory to his partner, and fights to hold on to his own sanity.

A biopic depicting the early years of legendary Director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.

The story begins with an underachieving blue streak cleaner wrasse named Oscar (Will Smith), who is fantasizing about being rich and famous while making his way to work by following in his father's footsteps as a tongue scrubber at the local Whale Wash. Soon after arriving he is called to the office of his boss, a puffer fish named Sykes (Martin Scorsese), to discuss the fact that he owes "five thousand clams" and has to pay it back by the next day. After explaining this to his best friend Angie who is an angelfish (Renée Zellweger), she offers him a chance to pay back the money by pawning a pink pearl that was a gift from her grandmother. Oscar brings the money to the racetrack to meet Sykes, but becomes distracted by his wishes of grandeur and, upon hearing that the race is rigged, places it all on a long shot bet by the name of "Lucky Day". Such a million-dollar bet is noticed nearby by a beautiful lion-fish named Lola (Angelina Jolie), who flagrantly seduces an excited Oscar, but Oscar is very disappointed when she leaves once Sykes tells her he is a whale washer. Sykes is furious that Oscar bet the money but nonetheless agrees to see how the race turns out. Moments before their "horse", "Lucky Day" crosses the finish line he trips and falls on the line. The race is lost, and Oscar is set to be punished in a secluded area for his impulsive behavior. Meanwhile, on another side of the ocean, in the wreck of the RMS Titanic, a family of criminally-inclined great white sharks has a problem with one of their sons, Lenny (Jack Black) (who is a Vegetarian). Lenny refuses to act the part of a killer and wishes to not have to live up to those expectations. Finally, his father, Don Lino (Robert De Niro) loses patience and orders Lenny's more savage older brother Frankie (Michael Imperioli) to show Lenny the ropes. As the two sharks set out to go in accordance with their father's wishes, Frankie spots the scene where Oscar is being electrocuted by Ernie and Bernie (Doug E. Doug and Ziggy Marley), Sykes' two Jamaican Physalia Physalis thugs, and sends Lenny off to attack. The jellyfish spot Lenny and swim off, leaving Oscar alone with him. Lenny frees Oscar but fails to trick Frankie, who becomes annoyed and charges at Oscar when an anchor falls and kills him. Lenny flees, overcome with grief and guilt. As no one saw the deed done and Oscar was seen near the body, everyone thinks he did it, and Oscar sees this as the chance to both redeem himself and receive his fame. Oscar comes back to the city with a new title of the Sharkslayer. Sykes becomes his manager, Lola becomes his girlfriend, and Oscar moves to the "top of the reef" to live in luxury. At the same time, Don Lino has everyone out looking for Lenny, and when several get close to Oscar's town the other fish expect him to drive them away. On the way he meets Lenny once more who forces Oscar to let him stay with him because he does not want to go home. Soon Angie finds out about the lie and threatens to tell everyone, but Oscar and Lenny convince her to keep quiet. Although Oscar desires to please everyone, he soon discovers that he pleases no one; his paramour Angie is heartbroken by the fact that Oscar is no longer honest, while her hedonistic rival Lola repeatedly reminds Oscar that he has her only as long as he is famous. With Don Lino planning revenge, Oscar and Lenny stage an event where Lenny pretends to terrorize the town and Oscar must defeat him, throwing him into the depths of the ocean. Though this further cements Oscar as the Sharkslayer, this greatly angers Don Lino. Oscar leaves Lola for Angie after Angie reveals that she had feelings for Oscar even before he became famous, but this leaves Lola determined to get revenge. Oscar buys some Valentine's Day gifts for Angie, but before he can present them to her, he finds that Don Lino has kidnapped Angie in order to force a sit-down. Lenny comes along, now disguised as a dolphin named Sebastian. They arrive at the meeting to find Lola next to Don Lino, while Angie is bound and gagged with duct tape and presented to Don Lino on a plate, who prepares to eat her once Oscar doesn't comply. Oscar just laughs and Lenny as "Sebastian" lunges forward to scoop Angie into his mouth, freeing her from Don Lino and giving Oscar dominance over the sharks. However, he spends too much time threatening the sharks and doesn't realize how much pain Lenny is in, and Angie is regurgitated onto the table. Don Lino suddenly realizes it's Lenny and proceeds to chase Oscar through the reef, but Oscar heads for the whale wash and ends up trapping both sharks. Given an ovation by the other fish, Oscar finally has enough and confesses that he is not a Sharkslayer and that it was the anchor that had killed Frankie. He then stated to Don Lino that everyone likes Lenny for the way he is, strongly urging him not to prejudge people before he knows them properly and to not make the mistake, he made in prejudging his wealth. Realizing that Oscar is right, Don Lino apologizes to Lenny and reconciles with him while making peace with Oscar, stating that he and his gang bear him no ill will. Oscar forsakes all the wealth he has acquired, makes peace with the sharks, becomes manager of the Whale Wash (now frequented by sharks), and starts dating Angie and starts to have a happy, honest life. In the post-credits scene, Lola comes to see Oscar in the top of the reef, wanting to make amends with him for what she did, but all she finds is a hermit named Crazy Joe waiting for her.

In 1863, Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points area of New York City seeking revenge against Bill the Butcher, his fathers killer.

Film legend Martin Scorsese presents a tale about the rise and fall of a Las Vegas gangster and his slowly unraveling wife, exposing a world never seen by the average person.

A tale of nineteenth-century New York high society in which a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin. Society scion Newland Archer is engaged to May Welland, but his well-ordered life is upset when he meets May's unconventional cousin, the Countess Olenska. At first, Newland becomes a defender of the Countess, whose separation from her abusive husband makes her a social outcast in the restrictive high society of late-19th Century New York, but he finds in her a kindred spirit and they fall in love. —Marg Baskin <marg@asd.raytheon.ca> Wealthy lawyer Newland Archer is engaged to sweet socialite May Welland in 1870s New York. On the surface, it is a perfect match. But when May's beautiful cousin Countess Ellen Olenska, who is estranged from her brutish husband, arrives in town, Newland begins to question the meaning of passion and love as he desperately pursues a relationship with Ellen, even though she has been made a social outcast by Archer's peers. —Jwelch5742 In the 1870s New York high society, lawyer Newland Archer has just gotten engaged to innocent society maiden May Welland. With May's appreciation, how Newland decides to handle the announcement is in large part to shield May's cousin, the Countess Olenska - Ellen - from gossip in the engagement overshadowing her issues, Ellen who has just returned to New York from having lived in Europe in her marriage and that gossip stemming not only from her estrangement from the Count and what looks to be their imminent divorce but her seeming unawareness of the scandal such would bring to the family. As such, Ellen is already largely dismissed by the New York society crowd, except by the most disreputable within it. With Ellen planning on moving back to New York permanently regardless of what happens to her marriage, Newland continues to shield Ellen from the scandal, both in an official and unofficial capacity, not only in loyalty to May and her family, but in his growing love for Ellen himself. While May can sense Newland being distracted and suspects he is in love with someone else which he denies, she is unaware of the true nature of Newland's distraction and feelings for Ellen. With Ellen ultimately returning his affections, Newland has to decide if his love for her is worth the risk to his own social standing, regardless of if she does divorce, each of divorce or staying married having its own issues. —Huggo

Wayne 'Mad Dog' Dobie (Robert De Niro) is a shy Chicago Police Department crime scene photographer who has spent years on the job without ever drawing his gun; his colleagues jokingly call him "Mad Dog". Detective Pavletz (Anthony Cannata) is Wayne's colleague. Wayne and his partner Mike was called upon at 2 am to cover a car shooting. Wayne finds one dead body in the car and one in the trunk, and determines the shooter's hand to be covered in blood, due to blow backs. Wayne saves the life of mob boss Frank Milo (Bill Murray) during a hold-up in a convenience store (Wayne had gone there to get a Twinkie for Pavletz. it turns out the shooter from the car shooting was jacking the store and Mile happened to be in it and was taken hostage (while the owner of the store was shot), when Wayne walks in). Wayne calms the shooter down and allows him the escape through the back door, saving Milo's life. Wayne leads a lonely life and yearns for some meaningful relationship. Milo sends his guy Harold (Mike Starr) to invite Wayne to his party. Milo tells Wayne that his therapist made him realize that what Wayne did was very brave and compassionate. Milo does his own stand-up comedy act in his club and Wayne is very honest to him and says that maybe he can do a few jokes at his own expense. Milo likes his honesty and says that he always like people when they are upfront and straight with him. he doesn't like sneaky liars. Milo spends the whole night with Wayne, exchanging jokes and Milo learns that Wayne wishes that he was brave, and a real artist. He offers Wayne a gift in return: for one week, he will have the "personal services" of Glory (Uma Thurman), a young woman who works as a bartender at Milo's club. Wayne goes to work and finds that the shooter from the night before is found dead in a dumpster. Wayne sees Milo's hand in it. He comes back home and wants Glory to leave. But Glory tells him that her brother owes Milo and unless he pays up, she is the trade. So, if Wayne sends her back, Milo will add another few months to her trade with him. Wayne is next door neighbor to Lee (Kathy Baker), who is in an abusive relationship with Andrew (Tom Towles), but Wayne is too timid to help her. Mike stands up to Andrew and makes him walk away from Lee without a fight. Wayne learns that Glory is trying to pay off a personal debt (Glory's brother borrowed money from Milo and couldn't pay back. So, Milo took over the business and used it for his illegal ops, and her brother tried to commit suicide. That's when Glory went in, asked Milo to spare his life and offered to serve Milo in any way he wanted) and wants nothing to do with Milo after the debt is paid off. After an awkward start, where Wayne thinks Glory does sex jobs for Milo, but Glory says that she was sexually assaulted one time while doing a job for Milo, but otherwise she only delivers things and what happens is up to her. Wayne tries to have sex with Glory, but fails, as he hasn't had sex in many years. They get talking instead. Glory offers to pose nude for Wayne as his muse, and that's how Wayne is able to have sex with her. Wayne realizes that he is in love with Glory, but Milo comes by and reminds Frank that he has 3 days left with her. Milo also warns Glory not to take advantage of Milo's generosity. Wayne wants her to move into his apartment, but Milo has no intention of letting Glory go. Milo sends Harold to enforce the threat. Wayne's partner, Mike (David Caruso), saves Wayne from Harold and fights him off. Milo asks Wayne to serve him instead of Glory for 1 yr, and pick up his phone whenever he calls, but Wayne cannot give up his integrity either. Milo says that Wayne has to pay $40,000 (he reduces the price from $75,000 since Wayne saved his life) to give Glory her freedom. Wayne has 3 days to give the money or give up Glory. Wayne does not reveal the ask to Glory or to Mike and says that Milo backed off. Wayne empties his bank account and borrows money from his friends (telling them about an investment scheme). When Mike finds out he refuses to help out Wayne as he doesn't think buying Glory from Milo is the right approach. Glory catches Wayne counting cash in the bathroom and figures out the deal. She asks Wayne to save his money and goes back to her apartment as Milo will never let her go. Wayne does his best to get the money but falls short by $12,500. Milo had arrived with his troops to enforce the deal, but Mike shows up with a bunch of cops for the showdown. Knowing that Mike can't protect him, he courageously stands up to Milo himself (He asks Milo to fight him for Glory) and ends up brawling with Milo in the street. Glory intervenes suspecting that Milo might kill Wayne. Seeing that the two are in love with each other, Milo concedes and makes peace with Wayne and lets Glory go with no strings attached.

A convicted rapist, released from prison after serving a fourteen-year sentence, stalks the family of the lawyer who originally defended him. Imprisoned for brutally assaulting a young girl, Max Cady spends his time in jail wisely - reading literature, sculpting his body to perfection and planning his violent revenge on the defence lawyer who put him behind bars. After serving his fourteen year sentence, Cady is released from prison and his rampage begins. —BecksyKane Fourteen long years of incarceration can change a person in more ways than one. And with the sweet taste of newly gained freedom in his mouth and all the time in the world, unrepentant, violent criminal Max Cady sets foot in the tranquil community of New Essex in North Carolina still bearing a grudge: one way or another, flawed defence attorney Sam Bowden is going to pay. Now, as the pitiless psychopath embarks on a relentless mission to test Bowden's limits to the breaking point, the lawyer's defenceless family is about to pay for Sam's sins. But not before the Bowdens learn a thing or two about pain and loss. Sinewy, iron-pumping Max has lived his life like an animal. Is Sam prepared to die like one? —Nick Riganas Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte)is a small-town corporate attorney/"Leave It to Beaver" type family-man. Max Cady (Robert De Niro) is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, bible-quoting, rapist. What do they have in common? Fourteen years, ago Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey, bibliophile Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss. —James Craver Max Cady (Robert De Niro) is a psychopath just released from prison for rape. He is out seeking revenge from his lawyer Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte) who he believes deliberately held back important information about his case during the trial, which could have kept him out of jail. He sets off to terrorize Bowden, his wife (Jessica Lange) and even goes after their 15 year old daughter (Juliette Lewis). —Sami Al-Taher <staher2000@yahoo.com>

Goodfellas is a biographical crime drama following the life of insider Henry Hill as he rises from small time thug to mobster under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.

After a long and boring day at work, Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne), a computer word processor, meets Marcy Franklin (Rosanna Arquette) in a local cafe in New York City. Paul wants more in his life than just going to work and going home every boring day of his life. Paul is a well-dressed man in a suit and a tie. Paul leaves the office building when it closes at the end of the day and goes to his Upper East Side apartment on East 91st Street where he wastes the evening away watching TV and reading Arthur Miller books. Paul went to the coffee shop as he had nothing else to do at his apartment. Marcy was having her own dinner across the table from Paul. Paul and Marcy discuss their common interest in Henry Miller. Gradually, Marcy comes over to Paul's table as they strike a conversation. Marcy leaves Paul her number and informs him that she lives in SoHo with a sculptor named Kiki Bridges (Linda Fiorentino), who makes and sells plaster of Paris paperweights resembling cream cheese bagels. Later in the night, Paul calls the number from his apartment under the pretense of buying a paperweight. She invites him to come down to SoHo where she is staying with Kiki. The time is 11:32 p.m. Paul visits Marcy, taking a cab to her apartment. On his way to visit Marcy, Paul keeps a $20 bill into the payment slot of the cab. But the driver was driving very fast and recklessly and the $20 bill is blown out the window of the cab, leaving Paul with only some spare pocket change. The cab driver is furious that he cannot pay. This is the first in a long series of misadventures for Paul that turn hostile through no fault of his own. At the apartment Paul meets the sculptor Kiki, who's wearing nothing but a black bra and leather miniskirt. He comes across a collection of photographs and medications which imply that Marcy is severely disfigured from burns on her legs and torso. Kiki is working on a sculpture of a screaming man which he compares to Edvard Munch's The Scream. Marcy had gone to the drug store. Kiki invites Paul to work on her sculpture and he spills plaster of Paris on his shirt. Kiki takes the shirt away for laundry and asks Paul to give her a shoulder massage. Kiki falls asleep just as Marcy returns from the drug store. They go out to a nearby diner where they talk about their favorite movie, which is The Wizard of Oz, among other things. When offered to pay the bill, the strange diner waiter (Dick Miller) tells Paul that it's on the house. At 1:40 a.m., Marcy and Paul return to the loft, where she ushers Paul to her bedroom. In conversation Marcy reveals that she was sexually assaulted by her boyfriend. And that she is married to a guy named Franklin, who owns the place where she lives, but Franklin doesn't stay there anymore. Franklin was obsessed with the movie "the Wizard of Oz" and would scream "Dorothy", after he came during sex. After smoking a joint of Marcy's which she claims it's from Columbia, Paul, for some reason, begins acting like a jerk and leaves. Paul then attempts to go home by subway, but the fare has increased at the stroke of midnight, and he finds that his pocket change is no longer sufficient to purchase a token. Paul had 97 cents in his pocket. The attendant tells Paul that the subway fare for a token has just gone up to $1.50 that very midnight, and the time is now 2:15 am. He goes to a bar where Julie (Teri Garr), a waitress, becomes enamored with him. After Paul uses the men's room, he returns to his table and finds a note slipped by the waitress in which she asks for Paul's help as she hates her job. At the bar, Paul learns that there has been a string of burglaries in the neighborhood. The bar's owner, Tom Schorr (John Heard), offers to give Paul money to cover the subway fare, but cannot open the cash register. As a sign of trust, Paul leaves his apartment keys with Tom and rushes off with Tom's apartment keys to earn his $1.50. Paul lets himself into Tom's apartment, checks the alarm which is on (Tom had asked Paul to check the alarm due to robberies in the neighborhood). On the way back from Tom's apartment, Paul is questioned by suspicious neighbors. Afterwards, Paul spots two actual burglars, Neil (Cheech Marin) and Pepe (Tommy Chong), with one of Kiki's sculptures. After he attempts to confront them, they flee, dropping the sculpture in the process. Paul brings the statue back to Kiki's loft nearby and finds her gagged and tied to a pillar. He unties Kiki thinking that they robbed her, but she tells them that the men are Pepe and Neil, friends of hers who just bought the stature and that she's tied up because she and her boyfriend Horst (Will Patton) are playing a sex game. Kiki and Horst tell Paul that he should apologize to Marcy who has been in her bedroom crying since Paul left. Paul finds Marcy has committed suicide by overdosing on Seconal. Paul reports Marcy's death before noticing a roving neighborhood watch on the street below. On the way out, he grabs a note from Kiki inviting him and Marcy to Club Berlin. Kiki and a stout man named Horst had already left to go to Club Berlin, a nightclub. Paul looks and finds no burn marks on Marcy. Paul sees a $20 bill left behind by them and instinctively takes it. Paul calls the police to report the body. Paul attempts to return to Tom's bar, but it is locked up, with a sign indicating that Tom will be back in half an hour. Paul meets Julie, the waitress, in the street, who invites him up to her apartment to wait for Tom to reopen the bar. Julie's apartment looks like a shrine to the mid-1960s replete with the music of the Monkees playing in the background. Julie asks Paul to let her draw a picture of him which he agrees. Julie is enamored with Paul, but Paul goes back to Tom's bar. Tom tells Paul that he just left to check his apartment because it took so long for Paul to come back. Paul apologizes and gives Tom back his apartment keys. Just as Tom is about to hand over the $1.50, the phone rings and someone on the other line informs Tom that his girlfriend has just committed suicide. To his horror, Paul immediately learns that Marcy was Tom's girlfriend. Paul returns to Julie's apartment where she begins to sketch his portrait while they talk. Ultimately, Paul rejects Julie's advances and leaves. But when Paul returns to the bar to get his apartment keys back from Tom, he finds the place closed again. Paul goes over to Tom's apartment, but he is not there either. Then the gay couple and another of Tom's neighbors see him and chase him away again. By this time, however, Tom's neighbors have become convinced that Paul is responsible for the rash of burglaries in SoHo and form together a vigilante group to hunt him down. Paul goes to find Kiki and inform her of Marcy's suicide. The bouncer at Club Berlin refuses him entry because his hairstyle does not fit the Mohawk dress code, and Paul narrowly escapes several punks who attempt to forcibly give him a haircut. Paul sees Kiki and Horst at a table and calls out to them, but they don't see or hear him through the loud music and crowd. Paul runs out of the club barely able to compose himself with only a line or two of his hair shaved off. On the street, Paul is mistaken for a burglar and is relentlessly pursued by a mob of local residents. Back on the street, Paul suddenly meets the same cab driver whom he was forced to stiff earlier for the ride. Paul gives the driver the $20 bill he took from Kiki's loft, but the driver just grabs the bill and drives off as payback for stiffing him. Paul by then has just run into another strange woman, coming out of the cab, named Gail (Catherine O'Hara) a Mister Softee ice cream truck driver, whom she feels sorry for and takes him back to her apartment. Gail then blurts out that she drives a Mister Softee ice-cream truck nearby and will be glad to give him a ride home. But when they arrive at the truck parked in an alley, Gail spots a wanted poster of Paul. Gail mistakes him for the burglar based on Julie's posters. Back on the street, Paul runs into a shy homosexual man, named Alex, (Robert Plunket) and allows himself to be "picked-up" to let himself into the man's apartment. Paul asks to use Alex's phone to call the police and then tries to tell the desk sergeant about wanting to report the vigilante mob that's been endangering his life. Unbelievably, the police officer on the other end of the line thinks that it's a prank call and hangs up on him. Then Paul sees Julie on the street putting up wanted posters of him on a lamp post. Paul runs back out onto the street and calls out to her, but she just scornfully glances at him and rides off on a bicycle. At 4:10 a.m., Paul goes back to the diner where he sees Tom sitting at a table. Tom tells Paul that he just got back from the local morgue where he was forced to identify Marcy's body. Paul demands that Tom give him back his apartment keys, but Tom says that he left them back at the bar. Frantic, Paul asks Tom to hide him for there is a vigilante mob looking for him. Tom goes outside to check if the coast is clear, but Paul sees Tom running right to up Gail and the vigilante mob passing by and he tells them where Paul is. Angered at Tom's betrayal, Paul runs out of the diner just in time. As a last resort, Paul dashes back to Club Berlin hoping to find Kiki and Horst there to ask them for help, but now finds the place deserted for it is closing since the time now is almost 5 a.m. Sleep-deprived, bedraggled, and ranting, Paul uses his last quarter to play "Is That All There Is?" by Peggy Lee on the club's jukebox and asks an older woman named June (Verna Bloom) to dance. After he explains his situation, June offers to hide him in her apartment underneath the club, where she uses Papier-Mache to disguise him as a sculpture while the mob raids the club. After the mob leaves, June is worried they will come back, and doesn't take off the plaster, which hardens, trapping Paul in a position that resembles Kiki's sculpture. Neil and Pepe break into June apartment and steal Paul, thinking him to be the sculpture they had dropped in the street earlier. They load Paul in the back of their van now spilling over with dozens of stolen appliances from the SoHo apartments including June's. The van speeds uptown and takes a sharp turn which swings open the van's back door. Paul falls to the pavement, with the force of the impact breaking the plaster open, directly outside the front gate of his office building. With no way to go home, he simply brushes himself off and goes to his desk. Paul goes to the floor where he works, sits at his desk, and goes to work at his computer while the rest of the office workers arrive. It's the beginning of just another boring weekday for him.

An emotionally self-destructive boxer's journey through life, as the violence and temper that leads him to the top in the ring, destroys his life outside it.

A film account and presentation of the final concert of The Band. Thanksgiving, 1976, San Francisco's Winterland: the Band performs its last concert after 16 years on the road. Some numbers they do alone, some songs include guest artists from Ronnie Hawkins (their first boss, when they were the Hawks) to Bob Dylan (their last, when as his backup and as a solo group, they came into their own). Scorsese's camera explores the interactions onstage in the making of music. Offstage, he interviews the Band's five members, focusing on the nature of life on the road. The friendships, the harmonies, the hijinks, and the wear and tear add up to a last waltz. —<jhailey@hotmail.com> Concert film of The Band's last concert, with a "few friends" and a full brass band showing up to help them out. Concert footage is interspersed with a few studio sessions (Emmylou Harris, The Staples) and candid interviews of Band members by a series of hopelessly-inarticulate reporters. Muddy Waters plays a full-grown, natural-born lover's man, Neil Young plays a helpless (and legless) dope fiend, Robbie Robertson plays a cocky upstart who challenges Eric Clapton for guitar bragging rights (no spoilers here - you'll have to watch to see who won). —Stephen Foster <StevenAlly@aol.com>

Emotionally scarred from Vietnam, taxi driver Travis is increasingly disturbed by the underbelly of nighttime Manhattan and soon finds his thoughts turning towards violence.

It is 1947. An 8-year-old girl named Alice is growing up on a farm near Monterey, California, and has dreams of being a singer. The background is all ruby red, a deliberately theatrical and artificial feel of classic cinema, indicating satire of "Gone With the Wind" and "The Wizard of Oz." Flash forward to the summer of 1974, present-day when this was filmed. A view of the town of Soccoro, New Mexico with Mott the Hoople's All the Way From Memphis blasting on the soundtrack. Inside a tacky, blue-collar home is Alice trying to sew and she turns down her son's record player. Alice is clearly a bright and witty woman that clowns around with her son, but stuck with a bored, uncommunicative husband that works as a Coca Cola truck driver. He berates and threatens her for her son's bratty antics and behavior. One day while Alice and her friend Bea are hanging out together, she receives a phone call that her husband died in a vehicle accident while at work. Soon afterwards, she practices her piano and singing and has a sale of her household belongings and sells the house Alice and Tommy leave Soccoro for Monterey. They first stop in Phoenix, where she is trying to get a job singing in a bar, but the first time she's checked out by the owner and offended, but soon finds work in another bar. Soon afterwards, she meets the younger and charming Ben. Alice's son is forced to fend for himself and constantly complaining about them being stuck where they are, but she insists on staying. One morning, a woman Alice doesn't recognize comes to Alice's motel and reveals herself to be Ben's wife. Alice assures her she knew nothing about Ben being married. Ben comes to the door screaming for his wife to get out, breaks in, and beats her to get out. He threatens Alice for telling him to calm down. Alice and her son leave immediately. Alice and Tommy are in the car and Tommy seems indifferent to Alice's situation and trying to tell her a "Shoot the Dog" joke, despite her breakdown. They settle into a motel room in Tucson. Alice gets a job as a waitress at Mel and Ruby's Cafe, which is walking distance from them Alice is at work for the first day at the cafe, for which she and the staff were the basis for the hit TV series "Alice", in the late 1970's and early 1980's. It is a backbreaking job for her at the extremely busy and chaotic greasy spoon diner. There's the owner and short order cook Mel, the sassy and foul-mouthed Flo, and the strange and neurotic Vera. Flo introduces Alice to the customers as the new girl and makes references to her body and Alice is offended and does not want anything to do with her personally. She also meets David, a divorced, soft-spoken rancher who is a regular customer. He takes an instant liking to her. Alice reluctantly takes up a relationship with David and her son Tommy takes a liking to him as well. Meanwhile, Tommy forms a friendship with the tomboyish Audrey, whom he takes guitar lessons with. One day at the diner, Flo has an outburst with Mel when he's trying to find Vera spilling ketchup all over several customers. Alice is believed to have been hurt at the outburst, but it turns out she's laughing uncontrollably and begins a friendship with Flo. They hang out together in between shifts and Flo tells her how she can make more money at the job Alice's son celebrates his 12th birthday at David's ranch and has an outburst over his music choices and David spanks him for it and corrects Alice for having such a bratty son. They both leave the house. Alice and Tommy have a fight and she drops him off the side of the road. Alice receives a call that Tommy is at a juvenile detention center drunk and that he and Audrey were getting drunk on ripple. She oversleeps the next day Alice is unable to function at work and Flo takes her to the ladies room for a chat. Alice tells her about how she's depended on men her whole life, her late husband, and broken relationship with David. Flo also tells her of her single parenting and about dental work her daughter needs that will cost hundreds. Vera is in the diner alone trying to break up a fight going on. Alice and Flo return to work and publicly, she and David work out their differences and reconcile. Afterward, Tommy tells her it's okay if they don't go to Monterey. At the same time, a Monterey Hotel is in front of them while they're walking.

In New York City's Little Italy, a devoutly Catholic mobster must reconcile his desire for power, his feelings for his epileptic girlfriend, and his devotion to his troublesome friend. The future is set for Tony and Michael -- owning a neighborhood bar and making deals in the mean streets of New York City's Little Italy. For Charlie, the future is less clearly defined. A small-time hood, he works for his uncle, making collections and reclaiming bad debts. In love with a woman of whom his uncle disapproves (due to her epilepsy) and a friend of her disturbed cousin, Johnny Boy, a near psychotic whose trouble-making threatens them all -- Charlie just cannot reconcile opposing values. A failed attempt to escape (to Brooklyn) moves them all a step closer to a bitter, almost preordained future. —Dave Cook <cookd@mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca> In a series of character-led incidents set against the background of New York City's Little Italy, we follow the life of Charlie, a small-time member of the wiseguy community who collects protection money. His friends Tony and Michael are part of the community, but his other friend Johnny Boy is unreliable and therefore must be shunned. Charlie's secret girlfriend Teresa has epilepsy, and so must also be shunned. When Charlie's uncle Giovanni offers him a restaurant - the first step up the ladder - Charlie is forced to choose between his desire for power, his love for Teresa and his duty to protect his friend Johnny Boy. —alfiehitchie Italian-American Charlie, who lives in the Little Italy neighborhood of New York City, leads a conflicted life. He identifies as Catholic, but feels he has to deal with sins in his own way for absolution than say Hail Marys. He works as a collector for his gangster uncle, Giovanni, but has empathy for those who cannot pay. Another who cannot pay is his best friend, Johnny Boy, a self-destructive and disturbed individual who owes money to their loan shark friend, Michael, but makes no effort either to repay that loan or to stay clear of Michael while he still lavishly spends whatever money he has on having a good time. Charlie tries to keep the peace between Johnny and Michael, while realizing Johnny is shirking his responsibilities. Meanwhile, Charlie has been in a clandestine relationship with Johnny's cousin, Teresa, an epileptic who is in love with him. Charlie, on the other hand, doesn't want to encourage Teresa largely because the tribalistic and intolerant Giovanni doesn't approve of her as he sees her epilepsy as a major character flaw. Charlie tries to reconcile all these disparate aspects of his life. —Huggo (updated by R.M. Sieger) A look at a group of small-time hoods and hustlers trying to make a living on the streets of New York. The story centers around Charlie, a loan collector for a mobster named Giovanni. He can be pretty tough when he needs to but gets into trouble for cutting his friend Johnny Boy - also his girlfriend's cousin - a bit too much slack. His girlfriend is also a problem as she is epileptic and Giovanni, who genuinely cares about Charlie, wants him to dump her. As pressures mount, Charlie faces some difficult decisions with none of the possible outcomes to his liking. —garykmcd

During the Great Depression, a union leader and a young woman become criminals to exact revenge on the management of a railroad. Based on "Sister of the Road," the fictionalized autobiography of radical and transient Bertha Thompson as written by physician Dr. Ben L. Reitman, 'Boxcar' Bertha Thompson, a woman labor organizer in Arkansas during the violence-filled Depression of the early '30's meets up with rabble-rousing union man 'Big' Bill Shelly and they team up to fight the corrupt railroad establishment and she is eventually sucked into a life of crime with him. —alfiehitchie In the 1930's American south, Bertha Thompson decides to live the life of a transient after her crop duster father dies in a crash leaving her alone in the world. She grows up quickly from the experiences she has with various people she meets while riding the rails. Ultimately, she ends up traveling with three others: "Big" Bill Shelly, a laborer who now speaks on behalf of workers' rights and unions; Rake Brown, a gambler not averse to cheating and who carries a gun but is too scared to ever use it; and Von Morton, a harmonica playing black man who worked as her father's mechanic. Despite their different motivations in life, the four become fiercely loyal to each other, especially Bertha and Bill, both who consider the other to be the love of their life. Besides Rake's need to cheat to make a living, none of the four is predisposed to criminal behavior, but they end up living a life of crime out of circumstance, which included a card game gone wrong. Bill in particular feels uncomfortable with the criminal behavior in and of itself, except for the good he can do for the working class in the crimes. Even before their overtly criminal activities, they riled the police, who harassed them for riding the rails and for Bill's "Bolshevik" talk. But they also rile a railway owner named Sartoris and the sadistic McIver brothers, who work as henchmen for both the authorities and Sartoris, as Bill's pro-union/pro-striking diatribes are generally against the railroad. Hence, the battle between Sartoris/the McIvers and the foursome becomes a personal one on both sides. —Huggo During the Great Depression, Bertha Thompson begins riding the rails and has a series of adventures, some lighthearted and others deadly serious. She gets involved with a less than honest gambler, Rake Brown, having to shoot her way out of a game when Rake is caught cheating. She also has a stint working in a bordello. She regularly crosses paths with union organizer Big Bill Shelley who is out to get a fair shake, by legal means or otherwise, for railway workers. They become lovers and take to robbing the payroll and when necessary, Bertha even breaks him out of jail. The railroad has its own enforcers however and Bill doesn't meet a just end however. —garykmcd