#3. The Executioner (1963)

Storyline: An old executioner in early-1960s Spain, who is a very gentle, nice, caring man proud of traditions, is approaching retirement age. As his profession isn't the most popular, he worries about who might take his place. He worries about his daughter too; she seems doomed to spinsterhood because as soon as any prospective groom learns what her father's trade is, he flees in terror. Enter the local undertaker, a handsome young man with exactly the same problem: no girl wants him given his profession. So, you have the woman whom almost nobody would marry and the man whom almost nobody would marry. Obviously, they are meant for each other. But here the old executioner has something to say: He does not object to his daughter marrying the young undertaker; he seems a decent man--but he will only agree to the marriage if the prospective groom agrees to take the executioner's job when he retires. Father tells the worried fellow: "Don't worry, they sentence people, but they pardon them at the last moment!"—Jose Beltran <pepe@prince.pe.u-tokyo.ac.jp>

Plot Keywords: executioner, undertaker, daughter, prisoner, love child, crafty, witty ...

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#5. Billy Budd (1962)

Storyline: H.M.S. Avenger is headed into battle against the French fleet during the Napoleonic Wars, and the dark shadow of two recent mutinies in the English fleet concern Captain Vere (Sir Peter Ustinov). He relies on his cruel and often sadistic Master-at-Arms John Claggert (Robert Ryan) to maintain what he believes to be tenuous order and discipline aboard the ship. When a new seaman, Billy Budd (Terence Stamp), is pressed into service from a passing merchantman, his innocent, happy-go-lucky attitude quickly endears him to his messmates as well as the ship's officers. However, his charismatic naivete seems to bother Claggert, whose perverse depravity makes him resent Billy's good-natured purity, especially after the teenager's promotion to fore-top Captain. The mean-spirited Claggert unfairly plots to put him on report and ultimately perjures himself when he accuses Billy of conspiring to mutiny.—Gabe Taverney (duke1029@aol.com)

Plot Keywords: captain, seaman, military officer, assistant, lieutenant, young man, tense ...

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#6. Pickpocket (1959)

Storyline: Michel takes up picking pockets as a hobby, and is arrested almost immediately, giving him the chance to reflect on the morality of crime. After his release, though, his mother dies, and he rejects the support of friends Jeanne and Jacques in favour of returning to pickpocketing (after taking lessons from an expert), because he realises that it's the only way he can express himself...

Plot Keywords: pickpocket, mother, police detective, neighbor, friend, striking, creative ...

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#7. Percy Vs Goliath (2020)

Storyline: Academy Award® Winner Christopher Walken*, Zach Braff and Christina Ricci star in the true story of a small-town farmer taking on one of the largest agricultural and food manufacturing corporations. Percy Schmeiser (Walken), a third-generation farmer, is sued by a corporate giant for allegedly using their patented seeds. With little resources to fight the giant legal battle, Percy joins forces with up-and-coming attorney Jackson Weaver (Braff) and environmental activist Rebecca Salcau (Ricci) to fight one of the most monumental cases all the way up to the Supreme Court.*1978 Actor in a Supporting Role, The Deer Hunter. "ACADEMY AWARD" is a registered trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Plot Keywords: family, environmentalist, farmer, attorney, emotional, inspiring, powerful ...

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#8. Training Day (2001)

Storyline: In Los Angeles, a city where streets are overrun by drug dealers, those who have sworn to uphold the law are breaking them to clean up the streets. Denzel Washington plays L.A.P.D. detective Alonzo Harris, a veteran narcotics officer whose methods of enforcing the law are questionable, if not corrupt. 'Training Day' follows Harris as he trains rookie Jake Hoyt over a 24-hour period. Ethical dilemmas arise for Hoyt as well as the audience as questions present themselves as to whether or not Harris' methodology for ridding the streets of South Central Los Angeles of drugs is right or wrong.

Plot Keywords: rookie, detective, drug lord, drug dealer, narcotics officer, gang member, gritty ...

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#9. Lord of War (2005)

Storyline: This movie charts the rise and fall of Yuri Orlov, from his early days in the early 1980s in Little Odessa, selling guns to mobsters in his local neighborhood, through to his ascension through the decade of excess and indulgence into the early 1990s, where he forms a business partnership with an African warlord and his psychotic son. This movie also charts his relationship through the years with his younger brother, his marriage to a famous model, his relentless pursuit by a determined INTERPOL Agent and his inner demons that sway between his drive for success and the immorality of what he does.

Plot Keywords: arms dealer, model, brother, federal agent, dictator, general, brash ...

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#10. Electra (1962)

Storyline: A powerful rendering of the tragedy of Elektra by Euripides, second in a trilogy. The film begins with a summary treatment without dialogue of the action of the preceding play, The Agamemnon, in which the wicked Queen Clytemnestra and her lover Aesgisthes murder her husband Agamemnon upon his return from the Trojan War.—Paul Brians <brians@wsu.edu>

Plot Keywords: daughter, husband, brother, mother, lover, king, brooding ...

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#11. Broken Lullaby (1932)

Storyline: A young French soldier in World War I is overcome with guilt when he kills a German soldier who, like himself, is a musically gifted conscript, each having attended the same musical conservatory in France. The fact that the incident occurred in war does not assuage his guilt. He travels to Germany to meet the man's family.—Steve Owen <owensmi@juno.com>

Plot Keywords: musician, priest, doctor, wife, daughter, crafty, touching ...

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#13. The Visit (1964)

Storyline: Karla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a millionairess for a visit. The town lays out the red carpet expecting big things from Karla, only to learn that her sole purpose is to see Serge Miller killed...—Dave Kocsis <david.kocsis@delta-air.com>

Plot Keywords: wealthy woman, man, doctor, painter, innkeeper, emotional, disturbing ...

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#14. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)

Storyline: Cosmo Vitelli owns the Crazy Horse West, a strip joint in Los Angeles. He's laconic, vet, and a gambler. When we meet him, he's making his last payment on a gambling debt, after which, he promptly loses $23,000 playing poker. The guys he owes this time aren't so friendly, pressuring him for immediate payment. When he's not able to do so, they suggest he kill a Chinese bookie to wipe away his debt. Vitelli and the film move back and forth between the double-crossing, murderous insincerity of the gamblers and the friendships, sweetness, and even love among Vitelli, the dancers, a dancer's mother, and the club's singer, Mr. Sophistication.—<jhailey@hotmail.com>

Plot Keywords: club owner, mobster, stripper, singer, bookie, thug, dark ...

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#15. The Proposition (2005)

Storyline: Rural Australia in the late nineteenth century: Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone) and his men capture two of the three Burns brothers, Charlie (Guy Pearce) and Mike (Richard Wilson). Their gang is held responsible for attacking the Hopkins farm, raping pregnant Mrs. Hopkins and murdering the whole family. Arthur Burns (Danny Huston), the eldest brother and the gang's mastermind, remains on the loose and has retreated to a mountain hideout. Captain Stanley's proposition to Charlie is to gain pardon and, more importantly, save his beloved younger brother Mike from the gallows by finding and killing Arthur within nine days.

Plot Keywords: outlaw, murderer, brother, dark, gritty, australia, outback ...

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