Apocalypse Now

Plot summary

Based on Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness, this is a controversial addition to the multitude of Vietnam war movies in existence. Set in 1969 Vietnam, we follow U.S. Special Forces Captain Willard on his mission up a river into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade Green Beret who has set himself up as a God among a local tribe. Written by Colin Tinto {cst@imdb.com}

Vietnam, 1969. Burnt out Special Forces officer Captain Willard is sent into the jungle with top-secret orders to find and kill renegade Colonel Kurtz who has set up his own army within the jungle. As Willard descends into the jungle, he is slowly over taken by the jungle's mesmerizing powers and battles the insanity which surrounds him. His boat crew succumbs to drugs and is slowly killed off one by one. As Willard continues his journey he becomes more and more like the man he was sent to kill. Written by Michael Arndt

Captain Willard, whose mission is "Terminate with extreme prejudice", receives orders to seek out a renegade military outpost led by a mysterious Colonel Kurtz during the Vietnam war. Written by John Stacey

It is the height of the war in Vietnam, and U.S. Army Captain Willard is sent by Colonel Lucas and a General to carry out a mission that, officially, 'does not exist - nor will it ever exist'. The mission: To seek out a mysterious Green Beret Colonel, Walter Kurtz, whose army has crossed the border into Cambodia and is conducting hit-and-run missions against the Viet Cong and NVA. The army believes Kurtz has gone completely insane and Willard's job is to eliminate him! Willard, sent up the Nung River on a U.S. Navy patrol boat, discovers that his target is one of the most decorated officers in the U.S. Army. His crew meets up with surfer-type Lt-Colonel Kilgore, head of a U.S Army helicopter cavalry group which eliminates a Viet Cong outpost to provide an entry point into the Nung River. After some hair-raising encounters, in which some of his crew are killed, Willard, Lance and Chef reach Colonel Kurtz's outpost, beyond the Do Lung Bridge. Now, after becoming prisoners of Kurtz, will Willard & the others be able to fulfill their mission? Written by Derek O'Cain

Cast of Apocalypse Now

	Marlon Brando	...	Colonel Walter E. Kurtz
	Martin Sheen	...	Captain Benjamin L. Willard
	Robert Duvall	...	Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore
	Frederic Forrest	...	Jay 'Chef' Hicks
	Sam Bottoms	...	Lance B. Johnson
	Laurence Fishburne	...	Tyrone 'Clean' Miller (as Larry Fishburne)
	Albert Hall	...	Chief Phillips
	Harrison Ford	...	Colonel Lucas
	Dennis Hopper	...	Photojournalist
	G.D. Spradlin	...	General Corman
	Jerry Ziesmer	...	Jerry, Civilian
	Scott Glenn	...	Lieutenant Richard M. Colby
	Bo Byers	...	MP Sergeant #1
	James Keane	...	Kilgore's Gunner
	Kerry Rossall	...	Mike from San Diego

American Beauty

Plot summary

Lester and Carolyn Burnham are on the outside, a perfect husband and wife, in a perfect house, in a perfect neighborhood. But inside, Lester is slipping deeper and deeper into a hopeless depression. He finally snaps when he becomes infatuated with one of his daughters friends. Meanwhile, his daughter Jane is developing a happy friendship with a shy boy-next-door named Ricky who lives with a homophobic father. Written by Jessie Skinner {eietherbinge@hotmail.com}

Lester Burnham is suffering a mid-life crisis that affects the lives of his family which is made up of his super bitch of a wife Carolyn and rebelling daughter Jane who hates him. Carolyn is a real estate agent a little too wrapped up in her job who takes on an affair with business rival Buddy Kane. Meanwhile Jane seems to fall in love with Ricky Fitts, the strange boy next door who is a drug dealer/documentarian who lives under a roof governed by a very strict marine father and a speechless mother. Lester's mid-life crisis causes him to drastically change his life around when he quits his job and works at a fast food restaurant. He starts working out to gain the attention of Angela, a friend of Jane's who brags about her sexual exploits every weekend. Lives change and not for the best. Written by Mystic80

Lester Burnham is a loser suburbanite rebelling against his dead-end job, bitch-on-wheels wife, unloving daughter, and imminent middle-age. His subsequent actions unfold into a darkly comic drama laced with a stellar supporting cast and enough roses to fill a nursery. Written by lianna g. {buzzie@beer.com}

Lester Burnham is having his mid-life crisis. He is rebelling against his bitch-on-wheels wife Carolyn and his self-absorbed uncaring daughter Jane. After attending a cheerleader competition at Jane's high school, he meets Jane's friend Angela whom he develops an infatuation for and decides he is going to turn his life around. He quits his high paying job to work at a fast food restaurant and decides to re-live his 20's. The impact his behavior has on the others around him changes and not for the better. Written by Ryan Harder {hotshotharder@hotmail.com}

Lester Burnham is in a mid-life crisis, caused by his stressed wife Carolyn and rebelling teenage daughter Jane. When Lester and Carolyn go watch Jane cheerleading, they meet Angela Hayes, and Lester, caught in sudden lust for Angela, decides to change his life. Angela and Jane's friendship is not all it seems, too, because Angela only brags about how many times she's done it with guys and stuff. That doesn't help an already insecure Jane very much but she finds solace in the arms of the next-door-neighbors' son, Ricky Fitts. Ricky, himself from a broken home as well, and Jane find they have a lot in common and eventually turn out to be soulmates. Written by Angélique Middendorp {G.J.M.Middendorp@caiw.nl}

Cast of American Beauty

	Kevin Spacey	...	Lester Burnham
	Annette Bening	...	Carolyn Burnham
	Thora Birch	...	Jane Burnham
	Wes Bentley	...	Ricky Fitts
	Mena Suvari	...	Angela Hayes
	Chris Cooper	...	Col. Frank Fitts, USMC
	Peter Gallagher	...	Buddy Kane
	Allison Janney	...	Barbara Fitts
	Scott Bakula	...	Jim Olmeyer
	Sam Robards	...	Jim Berkley
	Barry Del Sherman	...	Brad Dupree
	Ara Celi	...	Sale House Woman #1
	John Cho	...	Sale House Man #1
	Fort Atkinson	...	Sale House Man #2
	Sue Casey	...	Sale House Woman #2

Taxi Driver

Plot summary

Vietnam vet Travis Bickle is 26, a loner in the mean streets of New York City, slipping slowly into isolation and violent misanthropy. In solving his insomnia by driving a yellow cab on the night shift, he grows increasingly disgusted by the low-lifes that hang out at night: "Someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets." His touching attempts to woo Betsy, a Senator's campaign worker, turn sour when he takes her to a porn movie on their first date. He even fails in his attempt to persuade child prostitute Iris to desert her pimp and return to her parents and school. Driven to the edge by powerlessness, he buys four handguns and sets out to assassinate the Senator, heading for the infamy of a 'lone crazed gunman'... Written by Tim Jones {jonestd@vax.sbu.ac.uk}

New York City cab driver Travis Bickle constantly, almost obsessively, reflects on the ugly corruption of life around him, and becomes increasingly disturbed over his own loneliness and alienation. In nearly every phase of his life, Bickle remains a complete outsider, failing to make emotional contact with anyone. Unable to sleep night after night, Travis haunts the local pornography emporiums to find diversion, and begins desperately thinking about an escape from his depressing existence. Written by filmfactsman

Cast of Taxi Driver

	Robert De Niro	...	Travis Bickle (as Robert DeNiro)
	Cybill Shepherd	...	Betsy
	Peter Boyle	...	Wizard
	Jodie Foster	...	Iris Steensma
	Harvey Keitel	...	'Sport' Matthew
	Leonard Harris	...	Senator Charles Palantine
	Albert Brooks	...	Tom
	Diahnne Abbott	...	Concession Girl
	Frank Adu	...	Angry Black Man
	Gino Ardito	...	Policeman at Rally
	Victor Argo	...	Melio (as Vic Argo)
	Garth Avery	...	Iris' Friend
	Harry Cohn	...	Cabbie in Bellmore
	Copper Cunningham	...	Hooker in Cab
	Brenda Dickson-Weinberg	...	Soap Opera Woman (as Brenda Dickson)

Paths of Glory

Plot

The futility and irony of the war in the trenches in WWI is shown as a unit commander in the French army must deal with the mutiny of his men and a glory-seeking general after part of his force falls back under fire in an impossible attack. Written by Keith Loh {loh@sfu.ca}

In Stanley Kubrick's "Paths of Glory" war is viewed in terms of power. This mesmerizing, urgent film about a true episode in World War I combines the idea that class differences are more important than national differences with the cannon-fodder theory of war, the theory that soldiers are merely pawns in the hands of generals who play at war is if it were a game of chess. The result of this amazing film has been the emergence of one of the great talents in contemporary cinema, the master whose greatest work was yet to come. Written by alfiehitchie

Cast of Paths of Glory

	Kirk Douglas	...	Col. Dax
	Ralph Meeker	...	Cpl. Philippe Paris
	Adolphe Menjou	...	Gen. George Broulard
	George Macready	...	Gen. Paul Mireau
	Wayne Morris	...	Lt. Roget/Singing man
	Richard Anderson	...	Maj. Saint-Auban
	Joe Turkel	...	Pvt. Pierre Arnaud (as Joseph Turkel)
	Christiane Kubrick	...	German singer (as Susanne Christian)
	Jerry Hausner	...	Proprietor of cafe
	Peter Capell	...	Narrator of opening sequence/Judge (colonel) of court-martial
	Emile Meyer	...	Father Dupree
	Bert Freed	...	Sgt. Boulanger
	Kem Dibbs	...	Pvt. Lejeune
	Timothy Carey	...	Pvt. Maurice Ferol
	Fred Bell	...	Shell-shock victim