Audrey HepburnMarilyn MonroeNicole KidmanEartha Kitt
A) Angel's in AmericaSet in New York City in the mid-1980s, Act One of Millennium Approaches introduces us to the central characters. As the play opens, Louis Ironson, a neurotic, gay Jew learns his lover, Prior Walter, has AIDS. As the play and Prior's illness progress, Louis becomes unable to cope and moves out. Meanwhile, closeted homosexual Mormon and Republican law clerk Joe Pitt is offered a major promotion by his mentor, the McCarthyist lawyer Roy Cohn. Joe doesn't immediately take the job because he feels he has to check with his Valium-addicted, agoraphobic wife, Harper, who is unwilling to move. Unbeknownst to Joe, Roy is himself deeply closeted and, as Roy himself discovers later, has AIDS.As the seven-hour play progresses, Prior is visited by ghosts and an angel who proclaim him to be a prophet; Joe finds himself struggling to reconcile his religion with his sexuality; Louis struggles with his guilt about leaving Prior and begins a relationship with Joe; Harper's mental health deteriorates as she realizes that Joe is gay; Joe's mother, Hannah, moves to New York to attempt to look after Harper and meets Prior after a failed attempt by Prior to confront Hannah's son; Harper begins to separate from Joe whom she has depended upon and find strength she was unaware of; and Roy finds himself in the hospital, reduced to the companionship of the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg and his nurse, Belize, a former drag queen and Prior's best friend, who meanwhile has to deal with Louis's constant demands for updates on Prior's health.The play is deliberately performed so that the moments requiring special effects often show their theatricality. Most of the actors play multiple characters (e.g., the actress playing Prior's nurse also appears as the Angel). There are heavy Biblical references and references to American society, as well as some fantastical scenes including voyages to Antarctica and Heaven, as well as key events happening in San Francisco and at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park.B) Bicentennial ManIn the twenty-first century the creation of the positronic brain leads to the development of robot laborers and revolutionizes life on Earth. But to the Martin family, their household robot NDR-113 is more than a mechanical servant. "Andrew" has become a trusted friend, a confidant, and a member of the Martin family.The story is told from the perspective of Andrew (later known as Andrew Martin), an NDR-series robot owned by the Martin family, a departure from the usual practice by U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men of leasing robots.Andrew's initial experiences with the Martin family are replete with awkward moments which demonstrate his lack of socialization. However, he is much better with inanimate objects and animals and begins to display sapient characteristics (such as creativity; emotion; self-awareness) traditionally the province of humans. He is taken off his mundane household duties, for which he was intended, and allowed to pursue his creativity, making a fortune by selling his creations.Andrew seeks legal protection stemming from his initial creative output and eventual full recognition as a human, by gradually replacing his robotic components with organic ones, and citing the process as a transformation from robot to human. Succeeding generations of the Martin family assist him in his quest for humanity, but each is limited to what degree they are prepared to acknowledge. Only when Andrew allows his positronic brain to "decay", thereby willfully abandoning his immortality, is he finally accepted as a human being. This event takes place on the two-hundredth anniversary of his activation, hence the title.C) Monty Python and the search for the Holy GrailKing Arthur is recruiting his Knights of the Round Table throughout England. He is frustrated at every turn by anarcho-syndicalist peasants, a Black Knight that refuses to give up despite losing both his arms and legs, and guards that are more concerned with the flight patterns of swallows than their lord and master. Finally he meets up with Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Galahad the Pure (also called "the Chaste"), Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot, and "the aptly named Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film", who appears to be Palin's son (a baby those days) suited up in chain mail, and declares them the Knights of the Round Table. When 'riding' to Camelot, they are given a quest by God to find the Holy Grail.They encounter a castle with a French Taunter who says random names like 'Daffy English knnnnnnigghits'. Arthur decides that he and his knights should search for the Grail individually. After they split up, Sir Robin travels through a forest with his favourite minstrels, and encounters a Three-Headed Giant, Galahad follows a Grail-shaped light to the perils of Castle Anthrax (the girls of which are very interested in having sex with him), Sir Lancelot massacres a wedding at Swamp Castle, and Arthur and Bedevere encounter the dreaded Knights who say Ni, who want a shrubbery (they beat the knights by saying "it" though they never figure that is the knights who say ni's one weakness). They each overcome their individual perils and reunite to face a bleak and terrible winter. Surviving the winter by eating Sir Robin's minstrels, they venture further to a pyromaniac enchanter named "Tim", who takes them to a cave guarded by a killer rabbit. The Killer Rabbit attacks The Killer Rabbit attacksAfter killing the vicious Rabbit of Caerbannog with the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, the knights face the Legendary Black Beast of Aaargh in an animated scene, ending because the animator suffered a "fatal heart attack," and cross the Bridge of Death that is guarded by "the old man from Scene 24". Arthur and Bedevere survive to arrive at Castle Aaargh, and face the French Taunter once more. The film ends abruptly when a group of police from the 1970s interrupt the climactic battle scene to arrest Bedevere and King Arthur for the murder of Frank, the "famous historian", who was cut down by a knight while he was narrating a scene from the film.D) What Dreams May Comeobject width="425" height="355" ..The prologue is narrated by a man telling of his visit by a psychic woman, who gives him a manuscript she claims was dictated to her by his deceased brother Chris. Most of the novel consists of this manuscript.Chris, a middle-aged man, is injured in a car accident and dies in the hospital. But he remains as a ghost, at first thinking he's having a bad dream. Amid a failed séance that helps further convince his wife Ann that he didn't survive death, an unidentified man keeps approaching Chris and telling him to concentrate on what's beyond. But Chris disregards this advice for a long time, unable to leave his wife. After finally following the man's advice, focusing his mind on pleasant memories, he feels himself being elevated.He wakes up in a beautiful glade which he recognizes as a place where he and Ann used to travel. Understanding by now that he is dead, he is surprised that he looks and feels alive, with apparently a complete physical body and sensation. After exploring the place for a while, he finds Albert, his cousin, who reveals himself as the unidentified man.Albert explains that the place they occupy is called Summerland. Being a state of mind rather than a physical location, Summerland is practically endless and takes the form of the inhabitants' wishes and desires. There is no pain or death, but people still maintain occupations of sorts and perform leisure activities. The book spends several chapters depicting Summerland in great detail, through Chris's eyes. But Chris feels somehow uneasy, being haunted by nightmares ending in Ann's death. Soon he learns that Ann has killed herself.Albert, who is as shocked as Chris, explains that by committing suicide, Ann has placed her spirit in the "lower realm" from Summerland, and that she will stay there for twenty-four years--her intended life span. Albert insists that Ann's condition is not "punishment" but "law"--a natural consequence of committing suicide.Since Albert's job is to visit the lower realm, Chris wants to be taken there so he can help Ann. Albert first refuses, warning Chris that he might inadvertently find himself stuck in the lower realm, thus delaying his eventual, inevitable reunion with Ann. Chris finally convinces Albert to attempt the rescue, even though Albert insists that they will almost certainly fail.The lower realm (which the book only later refers to as "Hell") is cold, dark, and barren. Albert and Chris are able to use their minds to make their surroundings slightly more bearable, but Albert warns Chris that this will become harder to do the further they travel. They eventually reach a place occupied by people who were violent criminals while they were alive. Chris is forced to witness a series of dreadful sights and gets gruesomely attacked by a mob, though he soon discovers that the attack occurred only in his mind.They finally depart from that particularly violent section of Hell, arriving at last at Ann's place. It looks like a dark, depressing version of the neighborhood where he and Ann used to live. Albert explains that she will not immediately recognize Chris, and that he can only gradually convince her who he is and what has happened to her. Ann believes that she is living alone in her house where nothing seems to work, grieving her husband's death. This is her private "Hell"--an exaggerated version of what she had been experiencing prior to her suicide.Identifying himself as a new neighbor, Chris makes numerous unsuccessful attempts to make her realize the true situation. He describes details of his own life so that she will be reminded of her husband. He calls her attention to the improbably negative conditions of the house. He drops in clues, gradually leading her to the truth, but she seems to block out anything that will cause recognition. He finally tells her the truth straight out. She gets angry and calls him a liar. Because she does not believe in afterlife, she finds it impossible that he could be her dead husband.After a moment of disorientation where he starts to forget his own identity, the atmosphere of Hell gradually drawing him in and threatening to trap him there, he delivers a long monologue of appreciation for her, detailing all the ways in which she enriched his life. He finally makes the most dreaded decision of all: he decides to stay with her and not return to Summerland. As he begins losing consciousness, Ann finally recognizes him and realizes what has happened.Chris awakens in Summerland once again. Albert, who is amazed that Chris was able to rescue Ann, informs him that she has been reborn on Earth, because she is not ready for Summerland. Chris wants to be reborn too, despite Albert's protests. Chris learns that he and Ann had several previous lives, and in all of them they had a special connection with each other.As the manuscript comes to a close, Chris explains that he is soon going to be reborn and will forget all that has happened. He ends with a message of hope, telling his readers that death is not to be feared, and that he knows in the future he and Ann will ultimately be reunited in Heaven, even if in different form.
Law and Order, House, Dr. Who, Stargate SG-1, Outer Limits, Tales from the Darkside, and The Twilight Zone.
A) Mrs Dalloway (published on 14 May 1925) is a novel by Virginia Woolf that details a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway in post-World War I England. Mrs Dalloway continues to be one of Woolf's best-known novels, owing in part to the popularity of Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Hours, and Stephen Daldry's movie adaptation of the same name.Created from two short stories, "Mrs Dalloway in Bond Street" and the unfinished "The Prime Minister", the novel's story is of Clarissa's preparations for a party of which she is to be hostess. With the interior perspective of the novel, the story travels forwards and back in time, and in and out of the characters' minds, to construct a complete image of Clarissa's life and of the inter-war social structure.B) Orlando is an influential novel by Virginia Woolf, first published on 11 October 1928. A semi-biographical novel based in part on the life of Woolf's intimate friend Vita Sackville-West, it is generally considered one of Woolf's most accessible novels. The novel has been influential stylistically, and is considered important in literature generally, and particularly in the history of women's writing and gender studies. A notable film adaptation was released in 1992, starring Tilda Swinton as Orlando and Quentin Crisp as Queen Elizabeth I: see Orlando (film).C) Les Misérables (translated variously from French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, The Victims) (1862) is a novel by French author Victor Hugo, and among the best-known novels of the 19th century. It follows the lives and interactions of several French characters over a twenty year period in the early 19th century that includes the Napoleonic wars and subsequent decades. Principally focusing on the struggles of the protagonist—ex-convict Jean Valjean—who seeks to redeem himself, the novel also examines the impact of Valjean's actions for the sake of social commentary. It examines the nature of good, evil, and the law, in a sweeping story that expounds upon the history of France, architecture of Paris, politics, moral philosophy, law, justice, religion, and the types and nature of romantic and familial love. Hugo was inspired by the real-life criminal/policeman François Eugène Vidocq, and split his personalities into the two main characters in his novel. Les Misérables is known to many through its numerous stage and screen adaptations, of which the most famous is the stage musical of the same name, sometimes abbreivated "Les Mis" or "Les Miz" (pronounced /le? 'm?z/).D) Candide, ou l'Optimisme (1759) is a French satire by the Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire, the title of which has been translated into English as Candide: Or, All for the Best (1759); Candide: Or, The Optimist (1762); and Candide: Or, Optimism (1947).[4] This novella tells the tale of a young man, Candide (meaning "ingenuous"[5]), who has been indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism but becomes disillusioned after witnessing and experiencing many great hardships. With a plot similar to that of a more serious picaresque novel or bildungsroman, Candide parodies many adventure and romance clichés, and the plights of the characters are described in a tone which is mordantly matter-of-fact. Through the allegory of Candide, Voltaire pokes fun at religion and theologians, governments and armies, philosophies and philosophers; most visibly, Voltaire rails against Leibniz and his Optimism.[6]Candide, Voltaire's magnum opus,[6] is a literary work which, for its biting wit and insightful portrayal of the human condition, has often been mimicked by later authors and adapted for the stage (the most notable of which is Leonard Bernstein's 1956 comic operetta).[7] For these qualities, Candide is often listed as part of the Western canon and is taught perhaps more than any other work of French literature.[8] As expected by Voltaire, Candide has enjoyed both great success and great scandal. Immediately after its secretive publication, the book was condemned by authorities and banned numerous times because of its religious blasphemy, political treason and academic hostility hidden under a thin veil of naïveté.[6]E) Siddhartha is an allegorical novel by Hermann Hesse which deals with the spiritual journey of an Indian man called Siddhartha during the time of the Buddha.The book, Hesse's ninth novel, was written in German, in a simple, yet powerful and lyrical style. It was first published in 1922, after Hesse had spent some time in India in the 1910s. It was published in the U.S. in 1951 and became influential during the 1960s."Siddhartha" means "he who has realized his goals." The Buddha's name, before his renunciation, was Prince Siddhartha Gautama, later the Buddha. The main character of Siddhartha in the book is not the same person as the Buddha, who in the book goes by the name "Gotama".Experience is the aggregate of conscious events experienced by a human in life – it connotes participation, learning and perhaps knowledge. Understanding is comprehension and internalization. In Hesse’s novel Siddhartha, experience is shown as the best way to approach understanding of reality and attain enlightenment – Hesse’s crafting of Siddhartha’s journey shows that understanding is attained not through scholastic, mind-dependent methods, nor through immersing oneself in the carnal pleasures of the world and the accompanying pain of samsara; however, it is the totality of these experiences that allow Siddhartha to attain understanding.Thus, the individual events are meaningless when considered by themselves – Siddhartha’s stay with the samanas and Siddartha’s immersion in the world of love and business do not lead to nirvana, but yet they cannot be considered detractions, for every action and event that is undertaken and happens to Siddhartha helps him to achieve understanding. The sum of these events is thus experience.For example, Siddhartha’s passionate and pained love for his son is an experience that teaches him empathy; he is able to understand the child people after this experience. Previously, though he was immersed in samsara, he could not comprehend the child people’s motivations and lives. And while samsara clung to him and made him ill and sick of it, he was unable to understand the nature of samsara. Experience of samsara at this point did not lead to understanding: perhaps it even hindered him. In contrast to this, Siddhartha’s experience with his son allows him to love, something he has not managed to do before; once again, the love itself does not lead to understanding.The novel takes place in ancient India around the time of the Buddha (6th century BC). It starts as Siddhartha, a Brahmin's son, leaves his home to join the ascetics with his companion Govinda. The two set out in the search of enlightenment. Siddhartha goes through a series of changes and realizations as he attempts to achieve this goal.