Stories by @jamescoburn1997

Eight Crazy Nights

In the small town of Dukesberry, New Hampshire, Davey Stone is a 33-year-old alcoholic troublemaker with a long criminal record, whose antics have long earned him the animosity of the community. Davey is arrested for refusing to pay his bill at Mr. Chang's Chinese restaurant, attempting to evade arrest ("Davey's Song"), stealing a snowmobile and destroying festive ice sculptures in the process. At Davey's trial, Whitey Duvall, a 70-year-old volunteer referee from Davey's former basketball league, intervenes. At Whitey's suggestion, the judge sentences Davey to community service as a referee-in-training for Whitey's Youth Basketball League. Under the terms of the community service, if Davey commits a crime before his sentence is completed, he will serve ten years in prison. The next day, Davey's first game ends in disaster. After Davey causes disruptions, Whitey suffers a grand mal seizure, and the game is abruptly brought to an end. Attempting to calm Davey down, Whitey takes him to the mall, where they meet Jennifer Friedman, Davey's childhood friend, and her son Benjamin. Although Whitey reminds him that he lost his chance with Jennifer twenty years earlier, Davey still finds himself attracted to her. As time progresses, Davey and Whitey's relationship becomes more strained. Whitey's various attempts to encourage Davey are met with humiliation and assault - including but not limited to Davey knocking Whitey into an outhouse and then spraying him when he falls out with a hose, causing Whitey to be frozen in defecation for several hours, before a group of grazing reindeer lick him out. Upon arriving home ("Long Ago"), Davey finds his trailer being burned down by a man who lost a basketball match to him earlier. Davey runs into the burning trailer to rescue a Hanukkah card from his late parents, then watches the trailer burn down. Whitey opens his home to Davey, who reluctantly accepts the invitation; also living in the house is Whitey's diabetic fraternal twin sister Eleanore. The Duvall household has many complex rules, to which Whitey refers as technical fouls ("Technical Foul"). Despite this, Davey seemingly overcomes them, and begins to turn his life around. However, Davey's progress in reforming comes to a halt when Whitey recalls the events of what happened two decades ago: En route to one of Davey's basketball games, his parents were killed in a car accident when a truck skidded on black ice and swerved into them, and Davey learned of their deaths when the police showed up at the end of his game to inform him. Devastated by the loss of his loving parents and leaping from foster home to foster home, Davey spent the next 20 years numbing his pain with alcohol and petty crime. Uncomfortable with this reminder of his tragic and painful childhood, Davey loses his temper and insults both Whitey and Eleanore. As a result, Whitey revokes Davey's privilege to reside at his home, much to Davey's relief. Davey spends the rest of the day drinking, and later that night breaks into the mall, which is closed. In a drunken stupor, he imagines the logos of various stores coming to life and confronting him about his inability to grieve for his parents, which they identify as the source of his alcoholism ("Intervention Song"). He finally opens his parents' Hanukkah card, which contains a message praising him for being a good son. Coming to terms with his loss, Davey finally cries. Just then, the police arrive to arrest Davey, but he escapes and boards a bus to New York City, just as the police are searching for him across. En route, the bus is forced to stop when all eight tires are punctured by a single thumbtack in the road. Reminded of the Miracle of Hanukkah, Davey walks off the bus, intending to find Whitey and make amends with him. Davey finds Whitey at the All-Star Banquet, an annual town celebration in which one member of the community is recognized for positive contributions to Dukesberry with the "Dukesberry All-Star Patch". Despite having vied for the award for over 35 years, Whitey is once again passed over. Heartbroken, he leaves, intending to move to Florida, where he can live out the rest of his life in anonymity. Risking arrest, Davey enters the hall and informs everyone of the selfless contributions that Whitey has made to Dukesberry over the course of his life. Ashamed, the townspeople acknowledge the error of their decision ("Bum Biddy"). Davey leads the people to Whitey, who has gone to the mall with Eleanore to "speak to it" one more time. The townspeople thank Whitey for his service over the years and the Mayor officially grants him the Patch Award. All 34 previous recipients of the awards give theirs to Whitey. Davey and Jennifer reconcile, and Whitey goes into a seizure, which he calls "the happiest seizure of my life!".

The Animal

Marvin Mange (Rob Schneider) is an awkward, clumsy nice-guy who dreams of being a police officer like his dad was. He continuously attempts to pass the physical test to become a full-fledged police officer, but despite his repeated attempts, he is unable to finish the obstacle course. Marvin gets constantly mistreated by heartless and sleazy Sgt. Sisk (John C. McGinley). He works in the police station as an evidence clerk. One day, while alone at the station, he receives a robbery call. With no other officers responding to the call, he attempts to take it himself but ends up driving off the road, tumbling down a mountain and seriously injuring himself. When the car finally comes to a stop, he passes out. Days later, Marvin returns to his normal life with no memory of what had happened. Suddenly, he's full of life. He can outrun horses, mean dogs are now scared of him, and he does not need his asthma medicine. He thinks it is due to his late-night TV purchase of "Badger Milk", which is guaranteed in the ads to make him stronger. One day at the park, Marvin meets Rianna (Colleen Haskell) while she's out walking her dogs. His animal-like tendencies are slowly taking him over. When a frisbee is thrown in his direction, he cannot control himself, and he jumps to catch it in his mouth. He goes to the airport to talk to his friend, Miles the security guard (Guy Torry) about his problem. While there, Marvin sniffs out a man trying to hide heroin in his rectum. For uncovering a drug smuggler, Marvin is declared a hero and is made a full-fledged police officer. As days go by, Marvin's animal instincts are becoming stronger. He often wakes up in strange places, and subsequently, hears about animal attacks that occurred in the middle of the night. Because of these attacks, Dr. Wilder believes that Marvin is out of control. The mad scientist confronts him, takes him to his laboratory, and explains about the grafts and transplants that saved Marvin's life and gave him remarkable animal powers with certain troublesome side effects. Later at a party thrown by the Mayor (Scott Wilson), Marvin chases after a cat and destroys everything around him and is fired on the spot. During his reprimand, he hears something, jumps into the nearby lake and rescues the mayor's son using powers derived from a sea lion and a dolphin. He is swiftly reinstated. Chief Wilson (Ed Asner) questions Marvin about the late-night attacks on farm animals because one of the witnesses made a police sketch, and it looks like Marvin. Rianna goes to Marvin's house, where he has barricaded himself inside. They spend the night together, but Marvin wants to be tied up so he cannot hurt anyone. In the morning, he finds himself untied, courtesy of Rianna. Suddenly, the police show up outside. Another attack had happened that night, and the police have come for Marvin. Rianna convinces him to run. Marvin escapes to the woods, where a huge chase ensues; the police have organized an angry mob as a search party to capture Marvin. While running through the woods, Marvin finds Dr. Wilder. The scientist tells him that there was another "patient" of his that is out of control, and he is in the woods looking for it. Sergeant Sisk confronts Marvin and is about to shoot him. Suddenly, the other "animal" jumps from a tree and attacks Sisk. The beast is Rianna. Now, the crowd finds them both together but Miles is there and takes the blame for everything. He has been claiming that there is reverse racism towards him since he's black (a concept he explained in the beginning of the movie while out to eat with Marvin) and no one wants to hold him accountable for anything. Sure enough, once the mob thinks a black man was responsible, they don't care anymore and leave. Marvin and Rianna get married and have a litter of children that each look like Marvin. While watching television, they see Dr. Wilder win the Nobel Prize. He says he owes it all to his fiancée, who is the same woman from the Badger Milk commercial. When she turns around to kiss him, there are large scars shown on her back, implying that Wilder performed the experiment on her as well.

Joe Dirt

Joe Dirt is the janitor at a Los Angeles radio station. A producer drags him into the studio to talk live on the air with famous disc jockey, shock jock Zander Kelly. Joe tells his life story. As a baby he had a mullet wig installed because the top of his skull had never formed. At age 8, he was left behind by his parents and sister at the Grand Canyon. He does not know his real surname. After growing up in a series of foster homes and travelling on the road as a kid while camping in the woods, Joe arrived in Silvertown, a small town in the Pacific Northwest, where he met the beautiful Brandy and her dog, Charlie, and became a target for jealousy from Robby, the town bully. After Brandy's alcoholic father shoots Charlie dead, Joe decides to try to find his parents. He strikes up a friendship with Kicking Wing, an unsuccessful Native American fireworks salesman. In Indiana, Joe has an encounter with a skin cannibal named Buffalo Bob. This brings him unwanted attention from the media, but helps his search. He travels to Louisiana and works as a high school janitor with "Clem Doore", a former NYC mobster in the Witness Protection Program, with whom he becomes good friends. Joe discovers the address of his old family home and travels to Baton Rouge. Listening to Joe's life story, both Zander and the radio audience initially find him an object of scorn, but Joe's kindness, his optimistic outlook on life, and his good-natured self deprecation win them over. Eventually, Joe lands the janitorial job at the Los Angeles radio station, where he recounts how, after discovering his old home vacant and his parents long gone, he gives up the search and returns to Silvertown to be with Brandy. However, Robby informs him that Brandy found Joe's parents, but instructed Robby not to tell Joe. Robby shows a note from Brandy to prove it. Hearing this, Zander calls Brandy on the phone on air, to find out why Brandy says she wanted to tell Joe in person, but never had the opportunity. Brandy tells Joe his parents were killed the day they were at the Grand Canyon; she pleads with Joe to return to Silvertown. Upset by the news, Joe stays in Los Angeles. Joe is unaware that he has become a media sensation but he quickly discovers his newfound fame. An appearance on TRL with Carson Daly results in a phone call from a woman claiming to be Joe's mother. Joe realizes that she is indeed his mother and finds his parents' current house, where he and the media discover that his parents intentionally abandoned him at the Grand Canyon, and that they reconnected with him in order to take advantage of his newfound publicity to boost their sales of clown figurines. Angry and sad, Joe storms out, cutting ties with his parents. Joe intends to commit suicide, but Brandy appears and says that she only told him his parents were dead to protect him from their greed. She invites Joe to come home with her, saying he "was home all along." Before Joe can come down from the ledge, he suffers a head injury in a freak accident when a policeman tries to prevent him from falling using a rope. Joe wakes up in Brandy's house, surrounded by his friends: Brandy, Kicking Wing (who now owns 30 successful firework stands), Clem (now renamed Gert B. Frobe), and Charlene (another friend who is engaged to Doore). Brandy got Joe a new rastafarian dreadlock wig following his head operation. Brandy has retrieved Joe's Hemi, and she has a new dog that Charlie fathered. Robby drives up and tells Joe that no one wants him in Silvertown, no matter how famous he is. Clem threatens Robby, and Charlene insults Robby's car. They all realize that they are like family to Joe. They ride off, leaving a frustrated Robby in the dust, his windshield broken by the stones thrown up by Joe's car. As they drive away, Zander plays a song for Joe on the radio, and fireworks go off in the sky (with special thanks to Kicking Wing).

Cast Away

In December 1995, Chuck Noland is a time-obsessed systems engineer who travels worldwide resolving productivity problems at FedEx depots. He is in a long-term relationship with Kelly Frears, with whom he lives in Memphis, Tennessee. Although the couple wants to get married, Chuck's busy schedule interferes with their relationship. A Christmas gathering with relatives is interrupted when Chuck is summoned to resolve a problem in Malaysia. While flying through a violent storm, his plane crashes into the Pacific Ocean. Chuck escapes from the sinking plane and is saved by an inflatable life raft, but loses the emergency locator transmitter. He clings to the life raft, loses consciousness, and floats all night before washing up on an island. After he awakens, he explores the island and soon discovers that it is uninhabited. Several FedEx packages from the crashed plane also wash up on the shore, as well as the corpse of one of the pilots, which he buries. He initially tries to signal for rescue and makes an escape attempt with the remnants of his life raft, but cannot pass the powerful surf and the coral reefs surrounding the island. He searches for food, water, and shelter, and opens the packages, finding a number of useful items. He leaves one package, which has a pair of angel wings stenciled on it, unopened. During a first attempt to make fire, Chuck receives a deep wound to his hand. In anger and pain, he throws several objects, including a Wilson volleyball from one of the packages. A short time later, he draws a face in the bloody hand print on the ball, names it Wilson, and begins talking to it. One night, Chuck calculates that in order for the rescue workers to find the site of the plane crash, they will have to search an area twice the size of Texas, making him doubt he will ever be found. Four years later (early 2000), Chuck has adapted to the island’s meager living conditions, having become adept at spearing fish and making fires. He also has regular conversations and arguments with Wilson, his only means of socialization. A large section of a portable toilet washes up on the island; Chuck uses it as a sail in the construction of a raft. After spending some time building and stocking the raft and deciding when weather conditions will be optimal (using an analemma he has created in his cave to monitor the time of year), he launches, using the sail to overcome the powerful surf. After some time on the ocean, a storm nearly tears his raft apart. The following day, as Chuck sleeps, Wilson becomes untethered and floats away from the raft. Chuck is wakened by the spray of a sounding whale, sees Wilson, and swims after him, but Wilson has gone too far to safely retrieve. Chuck returns to the raft and collapses in tears. Later, a passing cargo ship finds him, drifting. Upon returning to civilization, Chuck learns that he has long been given up for dead; his family and acquaintances have held a funeral, and Kelly has since married Chuck's onetime dentist and has a daughter. After reuniting, the pair profess their love for each other but, realizing they could not be together because of her commitment to her new family, they sadly part. Kelly gives Chuck the car they once shared. Some time later, Chuck travels to Canadian, Texas, to return the unopened FedEx package with the angel wings to its sender, a woman named Bettina Peterson. No one is home, so he leaves the package at the door with a note saying that the package saved his life. He departs and stops at a remote crossroads. A friendly woman passing by in a pickup truck stops to explain where each road leads. As she drives away, Chuck notices the angel wings on the back of her truck are similar to those on the parcel. As Chuck is left standing at the crossroads he looks down each road, then smiles faintly as he looks in the direction of the woman's truck.

DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story

Peter LaFleur is the owner of Average Joe's Gymnasium, a small, dilapidated gym with only a few members. When he defaults on the gym's mortgage, it is purchased by his rival, the arrogant White Goodman, a fitness guru and owner of the Globo Gym across the street. Unless Peter can raise $50,000 in thirty days, White will foreclose on Average Joe's and demolish it to build a parking garage. Attorney Katherine "Kate" Veatch is working on the transaction for White. White unsuccessfully attempts to seduce her; she is repulsed and kindly refuses his advances, citing conflict of interest. Meanwhile, she develops a close friendship with Peter while reviewing his financial records. Average Joe's employees Dwight and Owen and members Steve "the Pirate" (who acts like and truly believes he is a pirate), Justin, and Gordon try to raise the money needed to save the gym. Gordon suggests that they enter a dodgeball tournament in Las Vegas with a $50,000 prize. They form a team with Peter and watch a 1950s-era training video narrated by dodgeball legend Patches O'Houlihan and a 12-year old boy named Timmy. They are soundly defeated by a Girl Scout troop in a local qualifying match but win by default when the Scouts are disqualified because of one member's steroid and beaver tranquilizer use. White spies on Average Joe's using a hidden camera in a cardboard cutout of himself, and forms his own dodgeball team to defeat them. Peter is approached by the aging Patches, who is a wheelchair user. Patches volunteers to coach the team. Patches's unusual training regimen includes throwing wrenches at the team, forcing them to dodge oncoming cars, and constantly berating them with insults. Kate demonstrates skill at the game but declines to join the team as it would be a conflict of interest. Meanwhile, White arranges for Kate to be fired from her law firm to free her from her conflict of interest and clear the way for him to date her. Enraged, but now free of conflict, she joins the Average Joe's team. At the tournament in Las Vegas, Average Joe's suffers early setbacks but manages to advance to the final round against Globo Gym. The night before the match, Patches is killed by a falling sign. Peter expresses his anxiety that the team will lose and angrily tells Steve that he is not a pirate, causing Steve to leave the team. Returning to his room, Peter encounters White, who offers him $100,000 for the deed to Average Joe's. The day of the final round, Justin leaves to help his classmate Amber with a cheerleading competition, leaving the team without enough members to compete. Peter has a chance encounter with Lance Armstrong, who talks him into rejoining his team. But he and Justin return too late; Average Joe's has already forfeited the match. Gordon finds a loophole in the rules: a majority of the judges can overturn the forfeiture. Chuck Norris casts the tie-breaking vote allowing the team to play. After an intense game, Peter and White face off in a sudden-death match to determine the winner. Inspired by a vision of Patches, Peter blindfolds himself and is able to dodge White's throw and strike him, winning the championship and the prize money. White declares the victory meaningless, revealing that Peter agreed to sell Average Joe's to him the previous night, but Peter reveals that he used White's $100,000 to bet on Average Joe's to win; with the odds against them at 50 to 1, he collects $5 million. Because Globo Gym is a public company, he purchases a controlling interest in it, thus regaining Average Joe's, and fires White. Steve, now with a more normal appearance, returns to the group and apologizes to Peter, but quickly returns to his pirate persona when Peter shows him his winnings. Peter is shocked when a girlfriend of Kate's kisses her passionately, but Kate then reveals that she is bisexual and kisses Peter as well. Justin and Amber get married with a baby on the way, while Owen begins dating Fran from the Globo Gym team. Peter opens youth dodgeball classes at a newly renovated Average Joe's, while White slumps to morbid obesity.

The Day After Tomorrow

Jack Hall, an American paleoclimatologist, and his colleagues Frank and Jason, drill for ice-core samples in the Larsen Ice Shelf for the NOAA, when the shelf breaks apart. Jack warns of impending global warming at a UN conference in New Delhi, but US Vice President Raymond Becker dismisses his concerns. Professor Terry Rapson of the Hedland Centre in Scotland befriends Jack over his views of an inevitable climate shift. When several buoys in the Atlantic Ocean show a severe ocean temperature drop, Rapson concludes Jack's theories are correct. Jack's and Rapson's teams, along with NASA meteorologist Janet Tokada, build a forecast model based on Jack's research. A massive storm system develops in the northern hemisphere, splitting into three gigantic hurricane-like superstorms above Canada, Scotland, and Siberia. The storms pull frozen air from the upper troposphere into their center, flash-freezing anything caught in their eyes with temperatures below −150 degrees Fahrenheit (-101 degrees Celsius). Meanwhile, the weather worsens across the world; Tokyo is struck by a giant hail storm, sea levels in Nova Scotia rise 25 feet (7 meters) in seconds, and Los Angeles is devastated by a tornado outbreak. Following this, President Blake issues an executive order for the FAA to ground all air traffic across the country. In New York, Jack's son Sam, and his friends Brian Parks and Laura Chapman participate in an academic decathlon, where they meet new friend JD. New York is soon caught in the North American storm and the weather becomes progressively more violent; resulting in a massive wave flooding Manhattan. This forces Sam's group to seek shelter at the New York Public Library, but not before Laura accidentally cuts her leg. While cellphone communications are down, Sam is able to contact Jack and his mother Lucy, a doctor; Jack advises him to stay inside and promises to rescue him. Rapson and his team perish in the European storm, while Lucy remains in a hospital caring for bed-ridden children, waiting for the authorities. Upon Jack's suggestion, Blake orders the southern states to be evacuated into Mexico, the northern half doomed to be hit by the superstorm. With the storm having now reached Washington, Blake perishes after his motorcade is caught in it, making Becker the new President. Jack, Jason, and Frank make their way to New York against all odds. In Pennsylvania, Frank falls through the skylight of a mall, cutting his rope to prevent his friends from falling in after him. In the library, most survivors decide to head south once the floodwater outside freezes in spite of Sam's warnings, and are later found frozen solid by Jack and Jason; only a few survivors end up taking heed of Sam's advice and burn books to stay warm as the temperatures plunge. Laura develops blood poisoning from her injury, whereupon Sam, Brian, and JD scour a Russian cargo vessel that had drifted into the city for penicillin, fending off a pack of wolves which escaped from Central Park Zoo. The eye of the North American storm arrives, freezing Manhattan solid, but Sam's group make it inside just in time. Likewise, Jack and Jason take shelter in an abandoned fast food restaurant. Days later, the superstorms dissipate. Jack and Jason successfully reach the library, finding Sam's group alive. Becker, in his first address as President, apologises on television for his ignorance, vowing to send helicopters to rescue survivors in the northern states. Jack and Sam's group are picked up in Manhattan, where many people have survived. On the International Space Station, astronauts look down in awe at the frozen Earth, now free of pollution.

Blazing Samurai

Hank (Michael Cera), a scrappy dreamer of a dog, wanting to become a samurai, arrives in a strange land entirely inhabited by cats. Hank, who is a good dog, meets a very bad cat, the nefarious warlord Ika Chu (Ricky Gervais). Ika hustles an unwitting Hank into becoming the samurai for the town of Kakamucho where Hank meets Jimbo (Samuel L. Jackson), a once great samurai who reluctantly takes Hank under his wing and teaches him what being a samurai really means. Forging the first real friendship between a cat and a dog, the two set off on a wild and hilarious journey to save the town of Kakamucho from the evil Ika Chu…and ultimately Hank learns what it means to become a true samurai.

Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over

Juni Cortez, after stopping Donnagon from activating the EMP device, has retired from the OSS, no longer wanting to work for them. He now lives a quiet life and works as a private detective, although his salary is very little. One day, he is contacted by President Devlin, former head of OSS, who informs him that his sister, Carmen Cortez, is missing after a mission gone wrong. Upset about this, Juni returns to the OSS to learn more about his sister. Arriving at the technological and computer part of the OSS, he is reunited with a now reformed Donnagon Giggles and his wife Francesca, who explain that Carmen was captured by the Toymaker, a former OSS informant. The Toymaker was imprisoned in cyberspace by the OSS, but he has since created Game Over, a virtual reality-based video game which he intends on using to escape cyberspace via players that reach Level 5, which is unwinnable. Juni agrees to venture into the game, save Carmen, and shut down the game, given only twelve hours to win. He is also informed that his sister was last seen on Level 4. In the game, which takes place in a full 3D environment, Juni finds the challenges difficult, having only nine lives within the game and already losing one at the start. While roaming a cartoon-like medieval village, he finds three beta-testers, Francis, Arnold, and Rez, who provide him with a passage to the Moon and launch him into space, but mostly to get rid of the competition. Juni lands on the Moon, losing another life at the process, and receives an opportunity to bring in a fellow ally to assist him, selecting his grandfather Valentin, who uses a wheelchair and has a personal history with the Toymaker. He receives a power-up which gives him a robotic bodysuit, allowing him to walk and possess superhuman strength and durability, and abandons Juni, telling him that they will regroup later. Searching for the entrance to Level 2, Juni ventures into a robot battle arena where he fights a girl named Demetra in order to return to Earth and Level 2. In the fight, he receives a robotic, more powerful suit, and he is placed on a huge mecha to combat Demetra. In the 3-round fight, in which he loses another life, he defeats Demetra and returns to Earth. He meets the beta-testers again who believe he is a player named "The Guy", who can supposedly beat Level 5. Rez is unconvinced and challenges Juni to a "Mega-race" involving a multitude of different vehicles, which will allow them on Level 3. The only apparent rule of this game is "Win, at all costs". Juni wins the race with help from Valentin, and Demetra joins the group; she and Juni display romantic feelings for each other, with him giving her a med-pack with extra lives and she provides him with an illegal map of the game. Upon entering level 3, Arnold and Juni are forced to battle each other, the loser getting an immediate game over. During the fight, Juni loses almost all of his lives, but Demetra swaps places with Juni and is defeated, seemingly getting a game over, much to Juni's sadness. The group arrives at Level 4 where Juni finds Carmen, released by the Toymaker, who leads the group on. Carmen notices their grandfather is with them and tells Juni that the Toymaker is the reason their grandfather uses a wheelchair. Juni follows a map to a lava-filled gorge. The group surfs their way through the lava. The OSS finds out about the history between the Toymaker and Valentin. Fearing that Valentin might seek revenge, Donnagon attempts to prevent them from reaching Level 5, but fails, as they fall into the lava and discover that lava does not mean the game over, but that it is actually possible to swim, and they reach a cavern where they find the door to Level 5. Outside the door to Level 5, Carmen informs them that they only have 5 minutes left. After the other gamers start to think that Carmen and Juni are deceivers and Rez threatens to give Juni a game over, the real "Guy" appears and opens the door. However, he is struck by lightning as part of a booby trap set by the Toymaker when the door to Level 5 is breached, which makes him lose all of his hundred lives and get a game over, forcing the group to move on without him. In the Level 5 zone, which is a purple-ish cyberspace, Demetra then appears, claiming to have gotten back into the game via a glitch but Carmen identifies her as "The Deceiver", a program used to fool players. Demetra confirms this and apologizes to a stunned Juni before the Toymaker attacks the group with a giant robot. Valentin then appears, holding the entrance back to the real world open so the group can escape. However, he cannot come with them since someone needs to hold the door open. Demetra, shedding a tear, quickly holds the door open so he can go with them. After their return though, it is revealed that Valentin released the Toymaker, with the villain's army of robots now attacking a nearby city. Juni and Carmen summon their family members: Parents Gregorio and Ingrid, Gregorio's brother Machete, their Grandma, and Uncle Felix. With too many robots to handle, Juni calls out to their "extended" family (or "everyone", as Juni puts it), summoning characters from the first two films (including Fegan Floop and Alexander Minion with the robot children, Dinky Winks and his son, scientist Romero (plus a Spork), and Gary and Gerti Giggles). All the robots are destroyed except for the Toymaker's. Valentin confronts The Toymaker, and forgives the Toymaker for what he did to him, which Valentin had been trying to find the Toymaker to do for 30 years. The Toymaker shuts down his robot and joins the rest of the Cortez family and their friends in celebrating their families.

Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams

The OSS now has a full child spy section, of which 13-year-old Carmen Cortez and 10-year-old Juni Cortez have become agents. Even though they were the first of the new Spy Kids Division, they were not considered the top spy kids, and soon they face particularly difficult competition from Gary and Gerti Giggles, the children of double-dealing agent Donnagon Giggles, whom Carmen and Juni helped to rescue in the previous film. It is shown that Carmen defends Gary, and has a crush on him, which strains her relationship with Juni. At a gala event, Donnagon somehow hacks into the teleprompter which the President was reading from, and is named director of the OSS. A fight ensues when a group of Magna Men arrive and render all adults unconscious. They are after the "Transmooker", a highly coveted device which can shut off all electronic devices. Juni recovers it, but drops it when Gary tries to take it from him. Gary then frames Juni for the loss, resulting in Juni being fired. In his new position as director, Donnagon can carry on with his plan to steal the Transmooker, so he can rule the world. The next morning Carmen hacks into the database and reinstates Juni as an agent. They take a mission meant for Gary and Gerti to recover the Transmooker. She and Juni use some hints from Alexander Minion, and follow the trail to a mysterious island where all electronics refuse to work. Shortly after arriving they meet Romero, a lunatic scientist. Romero has been attempting to create genetically-miniaturized animals, so he can make a profit by selling the animals to kids in "miniature zoos." He had an experiment go wrong after accidentally pouring growth concoction onto the mutated set of animals. As a result, he is unwilling to leave his lab, out of fear of being eaten. When Carmen is captured by a Spork, a breed of flying pig, she is dropped into its nest with Gerti, who reveals to her that Gary is genuinely evil. Carmen changes her feelings for Gary after he tries to kill Juni, and she sides with her brother. Romero, having been encouraged by Juni, finds out that his creatures are much friendlier than he thought. Carmen and Juni eventually find and recover the Transmooker, and are surprised when they are joined by their family, who were informed of their disappearance. The group is then confronted by Donnagon, who takes the Transmooker and attempts to use it to destroy the Cortez family, but it malfunctions. Gerti reveals she sabotaged it and threatens Donnagon with telling everything to her mother. The President and his staff arrive on the island. Donnagon is fired by the President and his daughter, Alexandra; Gary is temporarily disavowed, and Gregorio is appointed director of the OSS by Alexandra on her father's behalf. Even though he is offered a promotion, Juni resigns due to the impersonal treatment he had received by the OSS after being framed. As the Cortez family leaves the island, Romero gives Juni a miniature spider-monkey as a gift, and all the island's inhabitants bid farewell to the Cortez family. During the credits, Machete has Carmen sing as an undercover pop star in a concert. Carmen says she cannot sing so Machete gives her a microphone which auto-tunes her voice, and a belt that helps her dance. He also gives Juni a guitar that plays itself. After a successful performance, Carmen and Juni return to a shocked Machete, who discovered that he never put batteries on the device. Carmen is shocked to find out she can, in fact, sing without auto-tune. As the credits come to a close, Dinky Winks paddles to Romero's island to strike up a business deal.

Spy Kids

Gregorio and Ingrid Cortez are rival spies who fall in love. They retire and have two children, 12-year-old Carmen and 9-year-old Juni. They work for the Organization of Super Spies (OSS) doing desk work. The children have no idea of their parents' previous career. Gregorio and Ingrid are called back into the field when agents go missing. The children are left in the care of their uncle Felix. Gregorio suspects that children's television host Fegan Floop has kidnapped the agents and mutated them into his "Fooglies," creatures on his show. They are captured by Floop's "Thumb-Thumbs", robots whose arms, legs, and head resemble oversized thumbs, and taken to Floop's castle. Felix is alerted to the parents’ capture, activates the fail-safe, tells the children the truth, and that he is not their uncle but an agent. The house is assaulted by Thumb-Thumbs, and the children escape alone on a submarine set to auto-pilot to a safe house. At the safe house, Carmen unlocks the door using her full name, and the children learn of their parents' past as they decide to rescue them. Inside of Floop's castle, he introduces his latest creation to Mr. Lisp, small robots in the shape of children. He wishes to replace the world leaders' children with these super-strong robots to control the world. The androids are "dumb", and cannot function outside of their inherent programming. Lisp is furious, demanding usable androids. Floop, along with his second-in-command Minion, interrogates Gregorio and Ingrid about 'The Third Brain'. Ingrid knows nothing of the subject, while Gregorio claims that he destroyed the brain years ago. After Floop leaves, Gregorio reveals to Ingrid that the Third Brain was a secret OSS project he once worked on: an AI brain with all the skills of the entire OSS. The project was scrapped as being too dangerous, but Gregorio couldn't bring himself to destroy the final prototype. Back at the safe house, the kids are visited by Ms. Gradenko, who claims she works for the OSS and gives Carmen a bracelet as a sign of trust. Gradenko says she wants the Third Brain, but Carmen does not know anything about it. Gradenko orders the house to be dismantled, and Juni sees Thumb-Thumbs outside destroying the submarine. Gradenko's intentions revealed, Juni accidentally exposes the Third Brain, and a chase ensues with Carmen and some henchmen with jetpacks. Carmen eventually gets the brain, and she and Juni escape. Carmen realizes too late that the bracelet Gradenko gave her was a tracking device, and she and Juni are attacked by their robot counterparts. Though Juni tries to destroy it, he is unable and the androids fly off with the Third Brain. With it, Floop can achieve his goal, but he wishes to continue his children's show. Minion has different plans and takes over, locking Floop into his "virtual room," the chamber where he films his television series. The kids receive reluctant help from Gregorio's estranged brother Isador "Machete" Cortez when they come to his spy shop. When Machete refuses to accompany them, they steal some of his gear and take his spy plane to fly to Floop's castle. While their children storm the castle, Gregorio reveals to Ingrid that Minion used to work for the OSS but was fired after Gregorio reported him tampering with the Third Brain project. Juni rescues Floop who helps him and Carmen release their parents. Together they trap Minion and, confronting Lisp and Gradenko, the family is beset by all 500 robot children. Isador busts through the window, and joins the family to fight. However, at the last moment, Floop is able to reprogram the robots to change sides. The 500 super-strong robots quickly overpower Lisp and Gradenko. With advice from Juni, Floop introduces the robot versions of Carmen and Juni on his show. The family's breakfast is interrupted by Devlin, the director of the OSS, who has a mission for Carmen and Juni. Carmen accepts on one condition: that the Cortezes work as a family.

Malcolm X

Malcolm X follows the life of African-American activist Malcolm X. Rising from a troubled childhood, in which his father, a preacher, is murdered by the Black Legion and his mother is institutionalized for insanity, Malcolm gets a job as a Pullman porter, calling himself Detroit Red. After getting involved with a Harlem gangster named West Indian Archie with whom he has a falling out, Malcolm flees to Boston and decides to become a burglar. He and his best friend, Shorty (played by Spike Lee) are arrested by the police and Malcolm is sentenced to a ten-year prison term. In prison, a fellow inmate, Baines, introduces him to the teachings of the Nation of Islam. Malcolm begins religious conversion as a disciple of Elijah Muhammad. During this fervent immersion into the Nation of Islam, he becomes an incendiary speaker for the movement changing his name to Malcolm X and marries Betty Shabazz. Malcolm X preaches a doctrine of separation from white society. However, a pilgrimage to Mecca softens his beliefs, teaching him that Muslims come from all races, even whites, and he endeavors to break free of the strict dogma of the Nation of Islam, with tragic results. He is assassinated on February 21, 1965, in New York City. In the present day, numerous children of African descent, both in the United States and Africa, declare "I am Malcolm X." Among them is anti-apartheid activist and future South African President Nelson Mandela who begins quoting one of Malcolm X's speeches.

THX 1138

In the 25th century, sexual intercourse and reproduction are prohibited, whereas use of mind-altering drugs is mandatory to enforce compliance among the citizens and to ensure their ability to conduct dangerous and demanding tasks. Emotions, coitus, and the concept of family are taboo. Everyone is clad in identical uniforms and has shaven heads to emphasize equality, except the police androids (who wear black) and robed monks. Instead of names, people have designations with three arbitrary letters (referred to as the "prefix") and four digits, shown on an identity badge worn at all times. At their jobs in central video control centers, SEN 5241 and LUH 3417 keep surveillance on the city. LUH has a male roommate, THX 1138, who works in a factory producing android police officers. At the beginning of the story, THX finishes his shift while the loudspeakers urge the workers to "increase safety"—and congratulate them for only losing 195 workers in the last period—to the competing factory's 242. On the way home, he stops at a confession booth in a row of many, and relates his concerns and mumbles prayers about "party" and "masses", under the portrait of "OMM 0000". A soothing voice greets THX, and OMM ends every confession with a parting salutation: "You are a true believer, blessings of the State, blessings of the masses. Work hard, increase production, prevent accidents and be happy". At home, THX takes his drugs and watches holobroadcasts while engaging with a masturbatory device. LUH secretly substitutes pills in her possession for THX's medications, causing him to develop nausea, anxiety and sexual desires. LUH and THX become involved romantically and have sex. THX later is confronted by SEN, who arranges THX as his new roommate, but THX files a complaint against SEN for the illegal housing mate change. Without drugs in his system, THX falters during a critical and hazardous phase of his job, and a control center engages a "mind lock" on THX which raises the level of danger. After the release of the mind lock, THX makes the necessary correction to that work phase. THX and LUH are arrested and THX undergoes drug therapy. He enjoys a brief reunion with LUH, disrupted shortly after she reveals her pregnancy. At THX's trial, THX is sentenced to prison, alongside SEN. Most of the prisoners seem uninterested in escape, but eventually THX and SEN find an exit and they are later joined by hologram SRT 5752, who starred in the holobroadcasts. During the escape, THX and SRT are separated from SEN. Chased by the police robots, THX and SRT are trapped in a control center, from which THX learns that LUH has been "consumed", and her name has been reassigned to fetus 66691 in a growth chamber. SEN eventually escapes to an area reserved for the monks of OMM, where a lone monk notices that SEN has no identification badge. SEN attacks him and later wanders into a child-rearing area, strikes up a conversation with children, and sits aimlessly until police androids apprehend him. THX and SRT steal two cars, but SRT crashes his into a concrete pillar. Pursued by two police androids on motorcycles, THX flees to the limits of the city and escapes into a ventilation shaft. The police androids pursue him on motorcycles along the shaft to an escape ladder, but are ordered by Central Command to cease pursuit, on the grounds that the expense of his capture exceeds their budget by 6%. The city is then revealed to be entirely underground, and THX has escaped onto the surface, where he then witnesses the Sun setting.

Midnight Express

On October 6, 1970, on holiday in Istanbul, Turkey, American college student Billy Hayes straps 2 kg of hashish blocks to his chest. While attempting to board a plane back to the United States with his girlfriend, Billy is arrested by Turkish police on high alert for fear of terrorist attacks. He is strip-searched, photographed, and questioned. After a while, a shadowy American, who is never named but is nicknamed "Tex" by Billy for his thick Texan accent, arrives, takes Billy to a police station, and translates Billy's English for one of the detectives. Billy says that he bought the hashish from a taxicab driver and offers to help the police track him down in exchange for his release. Billy goes with the police to a nearby market and points out the cab driver, but when they go to arrest the cabbie, it becomes apparent that the police have no intention of keeping their end of the deal with Billy. He sees an opportunity and makes a run for it, only to get cornered and recaptured by the mysterious American. During his first night in holding at a local jail, a freezing-cold Billy sneaks out of his cell and steals a blanket. Later that night, he is rousted from his cell and brutally beaten by chief guard Hamidou for the theft. He wakes a few days later in Sağmalcılar Prison, surrounded by fellow Western prisoners Jimmy (an American who is in for stealing two candlesticks from a mosque), Max (an English heroin addict), and Erich (a Swede, also in for drug smuggling), who help him to his feet. Jimmy tells Billy that the prison is a dangerous place for foreigners like them and that no one can be trusted, even young children. Billy meets his father along with a US representative and a Turkish lawyer to discuss what will happen to him. Billy is sent to trial for his case during which the angry prosecutor makes a case against him for drug smuggling. The lead judge is sympathetic to Billy and gives him only a four-year sentence for drug possession. Billy and his father are horrified at the outcome, but their Turkish lawyer insists that it is a very good result. Jimmy tries to encourage Billy to become part of an escape attempt through the prison's tunnels. Believing that he is to be released soon, Billy rebuffs Jimmy, who goes on to attempt an escape himself. Caught, he is brutally beaten. Then Billy finds out one day in 1974 that his sentence is overturned by the Turkish High Court in Ankara after an appeal by the prosecution. The prosecutor originally wished to have him found guilty of smuggling and not the lesser charge of possession. He is shocked to find out that he now has to serve 30 years for his crime. Billy goes along with a prison break that Jimmy has masterminded. Billy, Jimmy, and Max try to escape through the catacombs below the prison, but their plans are revealed to the prison authorities by fellow-prisoner Rifki. His stay becomes harsh and brutal: terrifying scenes of physical and mental torture follow one another, and Billy has a breakdown. He beats up and bites out Rifki's tongue and is sent to the prison's ward for the insane, where he wanders in a daze among the other disturbed and catatonic prisoners. These scenes are moving and show Billy's profound pain. In 1975, Billy's girlfriend, Susan, comes to see him. Devastated at what has happened to Billy, she tells him that he has to escape or he will die in there. She leaves him a scrapbook with money hidden inside as "a picture of your good friend Mr. Franklin from the bank" in the hope that Billy can use it to help him escape. Her visit moves Billy strongly, and he regains his senses. During their visit, in which they were separated by a glass window, Susan undresses her top and presses her breasts against the window (an iconic scene in the movie). He says goodbye to Max, telling him not to die and promising to come back for him. He then tries to bribe Hamidou into taking him where there are no guards, but Hamidou takes Billy to another room and prepares to rape him. Billy is clearly afraid and powerless, but he is still fighting back. He suddenly and inadvertently kills Hamidou by pushing his head/skull onto a coat hook that sticks out of the wall. That is clearly the miracle he has been waiting for four years. He seizes the opportunity to escape by putting on a guard's uniform and walking out of the front door. In the epilogue, it is explained that on the night of October 4, 1975, he successfully crossed the border to Greece and arrived home three weeks later.

Tootsie

Michael Dorsey is a respected actor, but nobody in New York wants to hire him because he is a perfectionist and difficult to work with. After many months without a job, Michael hears of an opening on the popular daytime soap opera Southwest General from his friend and acting student Sandy Lester, who tries out for the role of hospital administrator Emily Kimberly. In desperation, he impersonates a woman, auditioning as "Dorothy Michaels", and gets the part. Michael takes the job as a way to raise $8,000 to produce a play, written by his roommate Jeff Slater, and to star himself and Sandy. Michael plays his character as a feisty feminist, which surprises the other actors and the crew, who expected Emily to be (as written) another swooning female. His character quickly becomes a national sensation. When Sandy catches Michael in her bedroom half undressed because he wants to try on her clothes in order to get more ideas for Dorothy's wardrobe, he covers up by claiming he wants to have sex with her. Exacerbating matters further, he is attracted to one of his co-stars, Julie Nichols, a single mother in an unhealthy relationship with the show's amoral, sexist director, Ron Carlisle. At a party, when Michael (as himself) approaches Julie with a pick-up line that she had previously told Dorothy she would be receptive to, she throws a drink in his face. Later, as Dorothy, when he makes tentative advances, Julie—having just ended her relationship with Ron per Dorothy's advice—makes it known that she is not a lesbian. Meanwhile, Dorothy has her own admirers to contend with: older cast member John Van Horn and Julie's widowed father Les. Les proposes marriage, insisting Michael/Dorothy "think about it" before answering. When Michael returns home, he finds John, who almost forces himself on Dorothy until Jeff walks in on them. The tipping point comes when, due to Dorothy's popularity, the show's producers want to extend her contract for another year. Michael finds a clever way to extricate himself. When the cast is forced by a technical problem to perform an episode live, he improvises a grand speech on camera, pulls off his wig and reveals that he is actually Edward, the character's twin brother who took her place to avenge her. The revelation allows everybody a more-or-less graceful way out. Julie, however, is so outraged that she slugs him in the stomach once the cameras have stopped rolling, before storming off. Some weeks later, Michael is moving forward with producing Jeff's play. He waits for Julie outside the studio. She is reluctant to talk to him, but finally admits she misses Dorothy. Michael tells her, "I was a better man with you as a woman than I ever was with a woman as a man." She forgives him.