Posts Tagged ‘speech’

Gandhi (1982)

Thursday, December 18th, 2008
Genres: Biography | Drama | History
Countries: India | UK
Actors: Kingsley, Ben | Bergen, Candice | Fox, Edward | Gielgud, John | Howard, Trevor | Mills, John | Sheen, Martin | Charleson, Ian | Fugard, Athol | Halmer, Günther Maria | Jaffrey, Saeed | James, Geraldine | Padamsee, Alyque | Puri, Amrish | Seth, Roshan
Directors: Attenborough, Richard
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When ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ (qv) first set foot in British India, he had already been to Britain and South Africa, and had created quite a stir for the betterment of the people. But in India, he realized that he had first to live the life of a peasant to understand what it is to be an Indian. This resolve will lead him to shed his westerners clothing, and don a simple loincloth, be subjected to racial slurs from none other than Winston Churchill (Half naked Indian Fakir); Mobilize awareness of local industry and less dependence on imported clothing and material; the historic dandee march for withdrawal of the salt tax; a fast unto death to stop the virtual slaughter of British troops by irate Indian mobs; and be imprisoned several times. His resolve was to work with stalwarts such as Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Sardar Valabhbhai Patel, Professor Gokhale, J.B. Kripalani, Maulana Azad, and Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru to ensure first of all to get the British to quit India, and then run an Indian Government under the Congress party. Gandhi will soon realize that it is not enough to be just an Indian, for India has many facets - Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, and Christian. The British relied on these many facets as an excuse for their continuance as they wanted to ensure that the minorities are not oppressed by the Hindu majority. Concerned over the inroads made by Gandhi to unite the Hindus, Muslims, and all others under a common umbrella, the British invited Jinnah for talks, and it is here that a seed was laid for a separate country called Pakistan. When Gandhi came to know about this, he pleaded with Jinnah to unite the Muslims, even take over as the first Prime Minister with his choice of Muslim candidates for Parliament, but separatist Jinnah had already made his mind. The World Wars of 1914 and 1944 having taken it’s toll on Europe and Britain in particular, the weary British finally decided to leave India in 1947 - not the India they had conquered - but an India that was ready to be divided in East Pakistan and West Pakistan. Now after the much awaited independence was the real test for Gandhi - a test that will make him or break him - as he started a fast unto death to try and stop the violence that was threatening to break out into a civil war, not realizing that he had indirectly fanned Hindu extremism, which would later be called the Shiv Sena, into taking the matter directly in their hands to ensure that Muslims are kept out of their Hindustan forever.

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Sunday, November 16th, 2008
Genres: Comedy | Drama
Countries: USA
Actors: Breslin, Abigail | Kinnear, Greg | Dano, Paul | Arkin, Alan | Collette, Toni | Carell, Steve | Turtletaub, Marc | Talley, Jill | Canela, Brenda | Mechoso, Julio Oscar | Loring, Chuck | Shilton, Justin | Thomson, Gordon | Parker, Steven Christopher | Cranston, Bryan
Directors: Dayton, Jonathan
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The Hoover family is the dictionary definition for the word “dysfunctional”. The dad Richard is a man who gives lectures on winners and losers, the wife is Sheryl, a chain-smoking, frazzled wife and working mother whose idea of a home cooked meal frequently consists of a bucket of chicken. Her gay brother Frank recently attempted suicide. The grandpa is Edwin, a drug addict. The son is Dwayne a rebel who has vowed not to talk until he gets into the Air Force. And then there is Olive, a seven-year old girl who dreams of going to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. So what happens when they do?

Speechless (1994)

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008
Genres: Comedy | Romance
Countries: USA
Actors: Keaton, Michael | Reeve, Christopher | Hudson, Ernie | Smith, Charles Martin | Sartain, Gailard | Baker, Ray | Ryan, Mitch | Garson, Willie | Lazar, Paul | Poe, Richard | Shearer, Harry | Wright, Steven | Gonzales, Steve | Cromwell, David | Johnson, Marques
Directors:
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Two political speechwriters fall in love before they find out they are working for candidates on opposite sides.

Rocket Science (2007)

Saturday, June 7th, 2008
Genres: Comedy | Drama
Countries: USA
Actors: Thompson, Reece | Audain, Dionne | Kendrick, Anna | D'Agosto, Nicholas | Piazza, Vincent | Martindale, Margo | Yoo, Aaron | Kay, Josh | Park, Steve | Ginsberg, Maury | Ambudkar, Utkarsh | O'Hare, Denis | Bartlett, Lisbeth | Scholz, Candace | Frank, Virginia
Directors: Blitz, Jeffrey
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Coming of age in Plainsboro, New Jersey. High school student Hal Hefner stutters. On the evening his parents stop arguing and separate, 43 miles away at the state tournament, his school’s legendary debater, Ben Wekselbaum, goes blank mid-sentence, Ben’s teammate Ginny Ryerson doesn’t get a first-place trophy, and the world changes. That fall, to Hal’s amazement, Ginny recruits him for the debate team, mentors him, and will be his partner. He still has his stutter, but he works hard and he falls in love with Ginny. On the day of the first debate of the season, the world changes again. From then until the day of the state tournament, Hal has a lot to sort out. Is love rocket science?

Seabiscuit (2003)

Sunday, May 4th, 2008
Genres: Drama | History | Sport
Countries: USA
Actors: McCullough, David | Bridges, Jeff | O'Connor, Paul Vincent | Cooper, Chris | Ensign, Michael | Keane, James | Mahaffey, Valerie | Doty, David | Craig, Carl M. | O'Neill, Michael | Corley, Annie | Angarano, Michael | Bowen, Cameron | Luke, Noah | Bess, Mariah
Directors: Ross, Gary
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In an era when Americans were in great need of heroic figures to help them forget their troubles, SEABISCUIT comes to the rescue. The picture relates a moving story of friendship and devotion in rehabilitating the main characters’fractured lives, as it interweaves the interactions between horse, jockey, trainer and owner and their adoring fans. The film accurately portrays the real people and events of those troubled times and how Seabiscuit “fixed us, every one of us.”

Intolerable Cruelty (2003)

Thursday, January 3rd, 2008
Genres: Comedy | Crime | Romance
Countries: USA
Actors: Clooney, George | Zeta-Jones, Catherine | Rush, Geoffrey | Cedric the Entertainer | Herrmann, Edward | Adelstein, Paul | Jenkins, Richard | Thornton, Billy Bob | Duffy, Julia | Hadary, Jonathan | Aldredge, Tom | Travis, Stacey | Kyle, Jack | Keyes, Irwin | Drake, Judith
Directors: Coen, Joel | Coen, Ethan
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Miles Massey, a prominent Los Angeles divorce attorney has everything—and in some cases, two of everything. Despite his impressive client list, a formidable win record, the respect of his peers and an ironclad contract (the Massey pre-nup) named after him, he’s reached a crossroads in his life. Sated on success, boredom has set in and he’s looking for new challenges. All that changes when Miles meets his match in the devastating Marylin Rexroth. Marylin is the soon-to-be ex-wife of his client Rex Rexroth, a wealthy real estate developer and habitual philanderer. With the help of hard charging private investigator Gus Petch, she has Rex nailed and is looking forward to the financial independence a successful divorce will bring. But thanks to Miles’ considerable skills, she ends up with nothing. Not to be outdone, Marylin schemes to get even and as part of her plan, quickly marries oil tycoon Howard Doyle. Miles and his unflappable associate, Wrigley, unwittingly dig themselves in deeper and deeper as they go head-to-head with Marylin. Underhanded tactics, deceptions and an undeniable attraction escalate as Marylin and Miles square off in this classic battle of the sexes.

Death of a President (2006)

Sunday, December 9th, 2007
Genres: Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller
Countries: UK
Actors: Ayoub, Hend | Boland, Brian | Baker, Becky Ann | Mangiardi, Robert | Patterson, Jay | Whittaker, Jay | Burke, Michael Reilly | Urbaniak, James | Parham, Neko | Jon, Seena | Stolte, Christian | Ravine, Chavez | Buckley, Patricia | Clear, Patrick | Bader, Malik
Directors: Range, Gabriel
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Years after the assassination of President George W. Bush in Chicago, an investigative documentary examines that as-yet-unsolved crime.

Idiocracy (2006)

Friday, October 19th, 2007
Genres: Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi
Countries: USA
Actors: Wilson, Luke | Rudolph, Maya | Shepard, Dax | Campos, Anthony 'Citric' | Herman, David | Castillo, Sonny | McAfee, Kevin | Musgrave, Robert | Melton, Ryan | Long, Justin | Jones, Heath | Muñoz, Eli | Fischler, Patrick | Hunt, Darlene | Ransdell, Ryan
Directors: Judge, Mike
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The purpose of the program set up by the Pentagon, called the “Human Hibernation Project,” is designed so that the military can save their best men for when they’re needed most. According to the officers heading the project, too many times the talents and expensive training of the best pilots and soldiers go to waste during times of peace. So they enlist Bauers (Wilson), the most under-achieving average guy they’ve got, to be the test subject for the initial hibernation experiment. Also participating in the top-secret program is Rita (Rudolph), a prostitute who agreed to take part in exchange for dropping some criminal charges against her, among other things. Of course, the experiment, which was to last only a year, goes under due to the arrest of Officer Collins, who is busted for heading a prostitution ring. Seeing as though he was in charge of the experiment, one of the only ones who knew of its existence, and “due to a lot of top-secret red tape… and the massive scandals and base closure that followed, Joe and Rita were forgotten about.

300 (2006)

Thursday, October 18th, 2007
Genres: Action | Drama | History | War
Countries: USA
Actors: Butler, Gerard | Headey, Lena | West, Dominic | Wenham, David | Regan, Vincent | Fassbender, Michael | Wisdom, Tom | Pleavin, Andrew | Tiernan, Andrew | Santoro, Rodrigo | Cimmino, Giovani | McHattie, Stephen | Kramer, Greg | Ivanovici, Alex | Kelly, Craig
Directors: Snyder, Zack
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It is spring 480 BC, Persian King Xerxes, continuing his father Darius’ master plan to conquer the Hellenic city-states, arrives in Hellas. The previous Persian invasion and diplomatic attempts have already turned most northern Hellas tribes and states to the Persian side. But the people of Athens and Sparta, the largest Hellenic powers at the time, feel quite insulted by the Persian emissaries’ request to surrender to Xerxes, and so slay them. In Sparta, King Leonidas consults the local oracle, who gives two options: Either a spartan king will have to be sacrificed, or Sparta will be burned to the ground. A year earlier (481, BC) a Panhellenic consortium of all southern city-states had already recognized the superiority of the Spartan army (the best organized and trained army at the time) and had declared King Leonidas as supreme commander of the combined Hellenic army. It is then decided that a small force should block Xerxes’ way to southern Hellas in the Thermopylae passage. This passage was, at that time, 12 meters wide. The great historian Herodotus, possibly exaggerating, states that there were 1,700,000 Persians (their true number could have been anywhere from 100,000 to 1,000,000) against 7,000 Hellenic hoplites and slaves, including the 300 men of the Spartan King elite guard. King Xerxes waited four days for the Hellenes to be frightened and eventually surrender and was quite astonished by his opponents’ complete apathy. Xerxes tried to convince Leonidas to drop weapons, give up his position, kneel before him and live on as a local governor under Xerxes. King Leonidas replied “molon lave,” which means “Come and get them.” The three-day battle began, with the 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians (the other Hellenes where sent by Leonidas to protect passages to their flanks) slaying thousands of Persians with minimal losses. The whole Persian campaign would have failed if it hadn’t been for Efialtes, who showed Xerxes a secret passage to the Hellenic flanks. After a final battle led by King Xerxes himself, the Hellenic force was slain and their heroism and glory was written forever in history. From the beginning of the battle, the Hellenes buried their dead in the spot where they fell. Then battle signs where made for the dead of each Hellenic faction. For the Pelloponisians, (including the 300 Spartans) the sign generally read (free translation) “In this place 4,000 Pelloponisians fought 30 millions).” For the 300 Spartans (Lakaedaemonians), the sign reads (free translation) “Oh foreigner, tell the Lakaedaemonians that we are buried here obeying their laws,” meaning that they never hesitated and never retreated from the enemy. The impact of the battle was enormous for both sides. The Persians’ morale dropped to zero, and the Hellenes lost their fear for the Persian conqueror and organized their defense. After several successful battles, the Hellenes ultimately defeated the Persian army and repelled their invasion in the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC.

Queen, The (2006)

Thursday, October 4th, 2007
Genres: Biography | Drama
Countries: France | Italy | UK
Actors: Mirren, Helen | Cromwell, James | Jennings, Alex | Allam, Roger | Syms, Sylvia | McMullan, Tim | Soans, Robin | Peploe, Lola | Reith, Douglas | Henderson, Joyce | Laffan, Pat | Hadingue, Amanda | McGlynn, John | O'Brien, Gray | MacLennan, Dolina
Directors: Frears, Stephen
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The Queen is an intimate behind the scenes glimpse at the interaction between HM Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle, following the death of Diana, to reach a compromise between what was a private tragedy for the Royal family and the public’s demand for an overt display of mourning.