#16. The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (1996)

Storyline: Based on the classic novel by Daniel Defoe, this film adaptation relates the trouble-filled tale of Moll Flanders (Alex Kingston), a young British woman who goes from housemaid to mistress to wife to widow in relatively quick succession. Using deception to her advantage, Moll subsequently becomes involved with a number of men, including the shifty Jemmy Seagrave (Daniel Craig), always seeking financial wealth. Eventually, Moll's scheming ways lead her into some very uncomfortable situations.

Plot Keywords: young woman, widow, mother, lover, husband, brother, melodramatic ...

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#17. 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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#18. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)

Storyline: King Louis XI is a wise and old king and Frollo is the Chief Justice. Frollo gazes on the gypsy girl, Esmeralda, in the church during Fool's Day and sends Quasimodo to catch her. Quasimodo, with the girl, is captured by Phoebus, Captain of the Guards, who frees the girl. The courts sentence Quasimodo to be flogged, and the only one who will give him water while he is tied in the square is Esmeralda. Later, at a party of nobles, Esmeralda again meets both Frollo, who is bewitched by her, and Phoebus. When Phoebus is stabbed to death, Esmeralda is accused of the murder, convicted by the court and sentenced to hang. Clopin, King of the Beggars; Gringoire, Esmeralda's husband; and Quasimodo, the bellringer, all try different ways to save her from the gallows.—Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>

Plot Keywords: gypsy, bishop, beautiful woman, monster, hunchback, suspenseful, passionate ...

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#19. Lucky Number Slevin (2006)

Storyline: In an airport waiting room, a man in a wheelchair tells a stranger a story about a fixed horse race in 1979 that resulted in a family's deaths. In Manhattan, two bookies and the son of a Mob boss die. A young man just out of the shower answers the door to a neighbor woman and explains that he's visiting, has had a bad week, including being mugged, and doesn't know where his pal, who lives there, is. The neighbor is chatty; she's a coroner. Two thugs arrive and, believing the visitor to be the guy who lives there, take him to see the boss with the dead son, who tells him to kill the son of his Mob rival. Mistaken identity? What connects the threads? Cops are watching.

Plot Keywords: crime boss, man, detective, assassin, coroner, suspenseful, crafty ...

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#20. Argo (2012)

Storyline: In 1979, the American embassy in Iran was invaded by Iranian revolutionaries and several Americans were taken hostage. However, six managed to escape to the official residence of the Canadian Ambassador and the CIA was ordered to get them out of the country. With few options, exfiltration expert Tony Mendez devised a daring plan: create a phony Canadian film project looking to shoot in Iran and smuggle the Americans out as its production crew. With the help of some trusted Hollywood contacts, Mendez created the ruse and proceeded to Iran as its associate producer. However, time was running out with the Iranian security forces closing in on the truth while both his charges and the White House had grave doubts about the operation themselves.

Plot Keywords: cia agent, specialist, hostage, revolutionary, ambassador, wife, brutal ...

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#21. Aamir (2008)

Storyline: Aamir Ali lives a middle-classed lifestyle in Mumbai along with his dad, Rashid; mom, Taranum; three sisters: Nargis, Shabana, and Falak; and a brother, Jameel. After his dad passes away, Aamir re-locates to Britain, studies, obtains a medical degree, and returns home. Upon arrival at Mumbai Airport, he is hassled by the Customs Officer and his baggage is searched several times. Finally, he is permitted to leave. Outside the airport he is approached by two men on a motorbike, and one of them hands him a cellphone. Aamir accepts the cellphone and thus begins his nightmare that will propel him all the way to Dongri, then to Bhendi Bazar, where he will be given a red suitcase containing cash. He will be told that he must deliver this suitcase at another location within a specified time or else his family will all be killed. Aamir agrees to do so but before he could even arrive at the location, the suitcase gets stolen. The question remains: will Aamir be able to locate it and deliver it within the stipulated time?—rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Plot Keywords: terrorist, medical student, father, mother, brother, sister, brutal ...

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#22. Three Colors: White (1994)

Storyline: Karol (Polish) marries Dominique (French) and moves to Paris. The marriage breaks down and Dominique divorces Karol, forcing him into the life of a metro beggar and eventually back to Poland. However, he never forgets Dominique and while building a new life for himself in Warsaw he begins to plot.

Plot Keywords: immigrant, wife, boss, hairdresser, brother, dark, amusing ...

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#23. End of Watch (2012)

Storyline: In South Central Los Angeles, street cops Brian and Mike are partners - balls-out cowboys patrolling the streets as Latino gangs are in a power struggle with Blacks. Brian and Mike get lucky a couple of times, making big drug and human-trafficking busts, so a Mexican cartel orders their deaths. We meet Mike's pregnant wife (whom he married out of high school) and watch Brian's search for a soul mate. There are internal squabbles within the ranks of the LAPD and lots of squad-car conversation. Can the lads escape the cartel's murderous reach?

Plot Keywords: police officer, partner, police captain, criminal, wife, drug dealer, gritty ...

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#24. Despicable Me (2010)

Storyline: In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbors, hidden beneath this home is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by a small army of minions, we discover Gru, planning the biggest heist in the history of the world. He is going to steal the moon. (Yes, the moon!) Gru delights in all things wicked. Armed with his arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays, and battle-ready vehicles for land and air, he vanquishes all who stand in his way. Until the day he encounters the immense will of three little orphaned girls who look at him and see something that no one else has ever seen: a potential Dad. The world's greatest villain has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo, Edith and Agnes.

Plot Keywords: villain, henchman, orphan, young girl, rival, banker, heartwarming ...

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#25. How to Steal a Million (1966)

Storyline: In Paris, wealthy Charles Bonnet is well known in the art world as a collector of rare pieces, mostly of the impressionist masters. He will on occasion sell paintings from his collection at auction. In reality, he is an art forger, he only reproducing those pieces known to have gone missing. His daughter, Nicole Bonnet, wants him to stop this business fearing that some day soon he will get caught. She is most concerned about he loaning out his Cellini Venus statue to the Kléber-Lafayette Museum, as she knows that technology can now test for things such as material age which would prove that the statue and by association he is a fraud. He ends up causing a problem for himself when he signs a $1 million insurance policy for the statue for the museum, which unwittingly allows them to test the piece for its authenticity. To save her father from jail, Nicole feels the only thing she can do is try to steal the statue from the gallery which may not be the easiest thing to do especially as ...

Plot Keywords: forger, art thief, burglar, daughter, father, private detective, amusing ...

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#27. August Rush (2007)

Storyline: Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell) is a cellist studying at the Juilliard School and living under strict rule of her father (William Sadler). Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is the lead singer of "The Connelly Brothers", an Irish rock band. Lyla and Louis meet at a party after their respective concerts, and have a sexual encounter on the rooftop. The day after, they separate in a hurry, and are unable to maintain contact as Lyla is ushered away by her father to Chicago. Lyla is also aware that she is pregnant. Later, when in New York City, after an argument with her father over her unborn child, she is struck by a car. Due to the accident trauma, she gives birth prematurely, and her father secretly puts the baby boy up for adoption under her name, allowing Lyla to believe that her son died. Eleven years later, Evan Taylor (Freddie Highmore) is living in a boys' orphanage outside New York City, where he meets Richard Jeffries (Terrence Howard), a social worker with Child and Family ...

Plot Keywords: orphan, homeless person, boy, cellist, mother, father, touching ...

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#29. The Silent Partner (1978)

Storyline: A bank teller is held up at gun point in his bank. Luckily for him he receives a clue that this is going to occur and diverts most of the cash into his own safety deposit box, leaving only a nominal amount for the crook. The ruse works well, but for the fact that the crook resents the fact that he has been outsmarted. There ensues a terrific battle of wits involving the clever but basically "moral" teller, and the cunning and totally uninhibited bank robber, which involves several other people in ways which cannot be revealed here.—Geoff Jamieson <GJamieso@vitgnos1.telecom.com.au>

Plot Keywords: bank teller, bank robber, love interest, brooding, confident, tense, thrilling ...

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