Ron tells me at breakfast that when his watch alarm went off on deck last night a lot of people woke up and started to pray. I had noticed yesterday that the deck passengers, who have very few belongings, do sport some impressive wristwatches. These are not only prestigious, but very practical for those who must remember to pray five times a day.
Apparently one is not advised to wear shorts. The sight of my knees would be frowned upon. I shall just have to get hot, secure in the knowledge that there is only cold water in the shower. And no towels.
There are four Arab women and a dozen men in the first-class lounge this morning. A video of expensive cars, prominently displaying 'Rothman's' signs, on some glamorous rally, plays in the corner. A group of children are chasing each other around the tables. The Arabs love children and when I show an interest in them there is a smile of contact from the parents. But that's about as far as it goes. Yesterday I had met some people on deck who were quite chatty. This morning with the camera about it is very different, and I sense a chill of hostility. A slim, intense young man with a beard and a brown third-world suit reads his Koran and very obviously avoids us. His attitude seems to affect a lot of the others.
The deck passengers all wear traditional clothes - tarbooshes or takaias (the white skull caps), jellabas and sandals and have no interest in the small duty-free shop below with its VHS cassettes, lingerie, Lacoste shirts and bottles of 'Poison' eau de toilette.


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The 25 Best Movies With A Twisted Plot
June 16, 2019 thought2go Leave a comment
The 25 Best Movies With A Twist
A good plot twist, the kind that leaves people's jaws on the floor for hours and has you talking about it for days to come, is a special kind of thrill. Many TV shows—Game of Thrones immediately comes to mind—have mastered the art of the sudden death or bombshell revelation that changes the entire structure of the plot. But the device has been a hallmark of movies present throughout pretty much all of cinematic history, and a truly good twist is the kind you never forget.
Plot twists tend to work best for the horror or thriller genres, not just because the plots, already full of deceit and disbelief, are naturally more inclined to include narrative shifts and dramatic turns. These can be especially great for these genres primarily because a good plot twist can be the ultimate shock, effectively creating an extra layer for an audience that already signed up to be surprised.
But any twist must be earned; the worst kiss of death for any screenplay is a predictable, cheap plot twist. Just think of the ridiculous, clearly manufactured storylines in a classic soap opera and you'll get an idea of what a bad ending looks like. It's infinitely more satisfying for the audience to watch every last one of their expectations crash against a brick wall, but that brick wall must have been meticulously constructed via great writing scene by scene. In reality, the task of naming the 25 best movie twists is an exercise in identifying some of the best screenplay writing: a writer who can set up the appropriate amount of tension and expectation and then finally shatter everything in a satisfying way is a writer who knows what they're doing.
So, with that said, enjoy this carefully curated list of 25 of the best movies with a twist. Please keep in mind that everything that follows involves MAJOR spoilers for the films involved, so keep scrolling at your own caution.
25. Skyfall (2012)
Director: Sam Mendes
Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw
The Twist: M dies.
M has been at the epicenter of every James Bond movie ever, and Judi Dench had been the franchise's M for six movies before Skyfall. She seemed as integral to a Bond movie as a Bond girl, like one of those characters that will always be there, no matter what. But Skyfall subverted all expectations and killed her off (just Dench, though, not the character—the role was taken up by Ralph Fienne's Mallory). It's a fitting twist for Skyfall, a movie that departs slightly from the traditional Bond formula by having Craig play a jaded version of the international spy who has to be coaxed out of a self-imposed retirement/fake death.
24. Shutter Island (2010)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer
The Twist: Teddy Daniels is Andrew Laeddis, and he killed his wife.
DiCaprio plays U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels, whose latest mission alongside his partner, Chuck Aule (Ruffalo), is to investigate a mental hospital on Shutter Island and find a missing patient, Rachel, who had been at the hospital for drowning her three children. Daniels has a secret ulterior motive: to find Andrew Laeddis, the man who set fire to his home and killed his wife Dolores, who he believes is also at the hospital. As Daniels and Aule deepen their investigation, they encounter a series of mysterious and conflicting events. Rachel suddenly reappears at the hospital; Daniels believes the patients are taken to the lighthouse to be lobotomized, and is determined to investigate. On his way there, Daniels finds Rachel—a second time—hiding in a cave near the lighthouse, claiming she is a doctor at the facility who was mistakenly admitted. It's all rather creepy. But when Daniels finally reaches the lighthouse, he is forced to face the truth: he is Andrew Laeddis, a dangerous patient at the mental facility who murdered his wife Rachel after she drowned their children. Laeddis was living out a hallucination and the entire hospital staff were in on it, in an attempt to help him reach a breakthrough. The next day, it appears Laeddis is still onboard with his new discoveries, and understands his situation. But in the final scene, and in what can be perhaps interpreted as yet another twist, Daniels asks, "Which would be worse: To live as a monster, or to die as a good man?" Does he accept that he is crazy and that what he believes is his life are only hallucinations, or does he continue to indulge in his own fantasies, ones that might make him a monster to the world but that give his own life a meaningful narrative?
23. Oldboy (2003)
Director: Park Chan-wook
Starring: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jung
The Twist: Mi-do is Dae-su's daughter.
Poor Dae-su (Min-sik Choi) can't catch a break in Oldboy, director Chan-wook Park's notorious adaptation of Tsuchiya Garon's popular Japanese Manga. First, he's unexpectedly sent to prison for 15 years, confined in a windowless cell, and forced to learn about how he's been framed for his wife's murder andhis three-year-old daughter has been sent to a foster home all on the television.
Naturally, once Dae-su's out of the clink, he immediately goes on a brutal rampage to find out who set him up and ice the fools, all while meeting and eventually sleeping with cute, young sushi chef, named Mi-do (Kang Hye-jeong).
His vengeance-seeking efforts lead him to an old grade school classmate named Woo-jin (Yu Ji-tae), who screwed Dae-su over as payback for decades-old grudge revolving around schoolyard rumors that Woo-jin was banging his sister, chatter that caused her to commit suicide. But the worst part of Woo-jin's evil scheme? He'd raised Mi-do, who's actually Dae-su's daughter, while pops was locked up and hypnotized her to fall in love with Dae-su once they met.
Dae-su, understandably horrified and ashamed, atones for his sins like any sane man would: He cuts off his tongue using rusty scissors. Which Park shows in all of its hideous, look-away-now horror.
22. Black Swan (2010)
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder
The Twist: Nina actually kills herself, and is psychotic.
Black Swan is a strange and complicated movie, exploring the often ignored fine line between talent and obsession. Portman plays Nina, a devoted yet troubled ballerina who finds herself slowly falling deeper into a psychotic break when she competes for the lead role in her company's production of Swan Lake against Lily (Kunis), a more carefree and sensual dancer. Nina goes to destructive means to land the role, but Lily is named her understudy, which doesn't sit well with Nina. Nina is troubled by strange hallucinations—she imagines going to a club, taking ecstasy and hooking up with Lily—and on the show's opening night, she sees Lily preparing to take over her role. Consumed with envy and rage, Nina stabs Lily. Nina then quickly goes out onstage and performs the most perfect performance of her life, but soon we realize Nina actually stabbed herself and had been performing through her injury. She dies as she realizes that her performance was perfect; Nina's obsession with achieving perfection is her eventual undoing.
21. Gone Girl (2014)
Director: David Fincher
Starring: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry
The Twist: Nick takes Amy back after she frames him for her murder.
Gone Girl is a *wild* ride. Gillian Flynn's story is as original as it is insane: Amy, a surprisingly self-aware woman, decides to take revenge on her cheating husband Nick by elaborately staging and framing him for her murder. And I do mean elaborate: she invents a twisted scavenger hunt designed just for Nick and kills an ex-boyfriend along the way all the while showing little to no remorse for all of it. Along the way we get some great feminist discussions of what a modern woman should be and how she should act—the infamous "cool girl" phenomenon—but the end is more twisted and cruel than anything Amy has done prior. She eventually returns home, and her strange victory lap includes telling Nick she used his semen to artificially inseminate herself and surprise—she's pregnant. Nick is almost ready to kill her. And then… he doesn't. He takes her back. It's both an infuriating and fascinating ending to this dark psychological thriller, and although it has divided book-reading and movie-going audiences alike, it's still a mighty effective gut punch.
20. Arrival (2016)
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Tzi Ma
The Twist: The flashbacks are actually the future.
When/if aliens to make contact or descend on Earth, chances are the major issue at hand won't immediately be an apocalyptic hostile takeover. Instead, the more logical, and infinitely interesting question is, how will we even communicate with them? Arrival gets at this issue by following top linguist Louise Banks' (Adams) attempt to communicate with the alien life forms that have landed on Earth. She's a quiet, lonely woman; we see in flashbacks that she lost her young daughter, and we know she is divorced, and these are explanations for her current state. The movie depicts this process with remarkable intelligence, and your mind is already doing laps around the mere concept of language and how intricate and fascinating it is before you see the plot twist coming. Basically, the alien language is unlike our own in that it evokes feelings rather than words; the way they communicate is not linked to time, and therefore their experience of life is non-linear. When Banks realizes she has become fluent in the language, she realizes that she can now see the past and future as well. We realize that what we thought were flashbacks that explained her loneliness and sadness are really premonitions of the futuret. Perhaps even more fascinating is her choice to continue with her own life path, even though she knows the despair it will bring. In essence, Arrival's true plot twist is lending a sense of meaning and hope to what initially looks like a bleak movie.
19. American Psycho (2000)
Director: Mary Harron
Starring: Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Chloë Sevigny
The Twist: Patrick Bateman didn't really kill all those people.
The majority of the plot of American Psycho sees the charming, successful businessman Patrick Bateman killing his way through New York City. He's a homicidal psychopath—everything anyone does in his twisted eyes is reason enough to deserve death, and even though Bateman is cruel he's highly meticulous, careful, and, ultimately, completely lacking in remorse. However, his final murder goes wrong. There are many witnesses. He doesn't see a way out. He calls his lawyer and confesses. But Bateman is so admired and loved within his community of rich people that no one believes him. In the movie's final scene, we learn for the first time, alongside Bateman, that many of the people he confessed to killing are, apparently, very much alive. The movie doesn't exactly provide any concrete answers, but the Occam's razor solution is that Bateman was perhaps more insane than we thought all along: he only imagined his murders.
18. Soylent Green (1973)
Director: Richard Fleischer
Starring: Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, Edward G. Robinson
The Twist: "Soylent Green is people!"
Soylent Greengives the age-old police procedural template a very welcomed shot of science fiction austerity. Charlton Heston stars as a New York City detective who's investigating the murder of the Soylent Corporation's director while living in a futuristic and impoverished society in which the middle- and lower-class citizens have to live off of processed food.
The most talked-about items of edibility are known as "soylent green," little green wafers that are said to be made from "high-energy plankton." Oceanographic reports eventually divulge a cannibalistic secret, though: Barren oceans can't produce plankton anymore, meaning that soylent green wafers are made of something else. And just what else, exactly? Try dead human bodies. Or, we'll let the late Chuck Heston explain: "Soylent green is people!"
17. Memento (2000)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Ann Moss, Joe Pantoliano
The Twist: Sammy Jenkis' story is really Leonard Shelby's.
The popular reputation of Christopher Nolan's magnificent breakthrough film, Memento, is that it's the movie that's sequenced in reverse order—a hook that's worthy of attention and praise, no doubt. But the psychological thriller, about a man named Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce), whose post-attack mental disability (he suffers from repeated amnesiac attacks that render new memories impossible to obtain) makes the task of finding his wife's killer all the more difficult, is also home to a dynamite end-game reveal.
Throughout the film, the backwards story is repeatedly interrupted by paranoid black-and-white scenes set in Leonard's cluttered hotel room; little do we know, though, that the B&W moments are actually presented in chronologically accurate order, a fact that Nolan divulges just as he drops dime on Leonard's having indirectly killed his wife by forgetting to give her an insulin shot. And that his confidante/shady cop Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) knew the truth all along, though he was unable to prevent Leonard from making the whole find-her-killers bit up and make himself believe that the innocent Teddy, who Lenny eventually shoots in the head, murdered her.
Confused? Just be thankful that we didn't write all of that backwards.
16. The Wicker Man (1973)
Director: Robin Hardy
Starring: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Ingrid Pitt, Diane Cilento
The Twist: Sergeant Howie is the virginal sacrifice, not the "missing" girl.
For this entry's purpose, do yourself a favor and forget that Nicolas Cage's remake of The Wicker Man exists. It's out of your minds? Cool, now we can acknowledge director Robin Hardy's original 1973 horror classic without any distortion.
On its way to one of the best gut-punch endings of all time, The Wicker Man follows the never-been-laid, morally astute Scottish police officer Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) as he searches for a missing girl on the remote island known as Summerisle, where the inhabitants are always perky and the dread is palpable to everyone but poor Howie.
The lawman thinks that the missing schoolgirl is about to be offered up as a virginal sacrifice on May Day, when the residents of Summerisle participate in a pagan ritual that appeases "the gods" and brings on a fresh harvest. Little does he know, unfortunately, that he's the virgin sacrifice—the girl was just the bait to make him visit Summerisle.
By the time Howie wakes up and smells the burning wicker, it's far too late—the island's creepy citizens encircle the massive Wicker Man in which Howie is trapped as it burns him alive, with his killers holding his hands and chanting happy-go-lucky folks songs. And, no, Woodward doesn't yell out, "The bees! Aaaah!" That dishonor went to Cage, 33 years later.
15. Psycho (1960)
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, Janet Leigh
The Twist: Norman Bates killed his mother and pretends to be her whenever it's time to kill.
In the simplest terms, Psycho is just a story about a boy and his mother—that is, a completely insane boy and the skeleton of a mother who was murdered by said boy. Not exactly fodder for a Hallmark card.
Thankfully, cheesy greeting cards were of no use to author Robert Bloch and filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock when they both hatched their incarnations of the classic horror tale Psycho, about roadside motel proprietor Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins in the film) and the brutal, in-the-shower killing of a beautiful, criminally minded guest (Janet Leigh).
When the poor woman is knifed to death in the bathroom, all we see is a shadow of what appears to be an old lady—presumably Norman's said-to-be invalid mom. The same woman who the murder victim's sister and lover learn was killed by Norman ten years earlier, after he found her in bed in with a man and incestuously got to slaying.
That shadow of a womanly figure? Norman in a dress and wig, acting as his mother in a fit of fractured psychosis. The moral of the story: On long, by-yourself road trips, spend a few more bucks and opt for the nearest Hilton.
14. Fight Club (1999)
Starring: Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf, Jared Leto
The Twist: There is no Tyler Durden—he's simply a product of the narrator's split personality.
The "split personality" trick has been done to death in both movies and literary fiction, so it takes a really mad genius to make thatgambit a visceral knockout of a reveal. Chuck Palahniuk, fortunately, is just that, and Fight Club, the singularly electric author's cocktail of violence, machismo, and male insecurities, has one of the best multiple identity twists of them all.
One that filmmaker David Fincher, fortunately, did great justice to with his stellar 1999 adaptation. Throughout the story, our unnamed, depressed, and generally messed-up narrator (Edward Norton) slowly gains confidence via an underground fighting circuit, overseen by the super-cool Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt). The brawling ring escalates into a terrorist plot in which Durden threatens to blow up credit card companies' buildings, unless the narrator shoots himself in the face.
Yes, the narrator and Durden are one in the same, with Tyler representing the narrator's manning-up side, so to speak. Talk about beating yourself up over personal inadequacies.
13. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Director: George Lucas
Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, David Prowse, James Earl Jones
The Twist:
Back in 1980, nerds everywhere emitted gasps of disbelief. Darth Vader (David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones), the villainous mastermind behind George Lucas' landmark science fiction classic Star Wars, goes toe-to-toe against the heroic Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in an especially tense light saber battle; Vader, getting the upper hand (literally), slices off one of Skywalker's hands.
But that's not the crazy part: In what's become one of the most universally known and admired plot twists of all time, Vader then tells his opponent that, "Luke, I am your father." And just like that, an already epic tale of intergalactic drama evolved into a much more intimate, and ultimately tragic, story about a truly dysfunctional family.
12. The Sixth Sense (1999)
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Haley Joel Osment, Olivia Williams
The Twist: Cole really can "see dead people," primarily lead character Malcolm Crowe.
Putting the words "movie" and "twist" next to each other quickly brings to mind M. Night Shyamalan's polarizing The Sixth Sense, an effective supernatural thriller that's been debated and criticized for its twist ending. Some feel it's a masterful and impeccably executed gotcha moment; others, however, feel it's overrated or contradictory, or both.
We, for our part, can't help but remember our reaction the first time we saw The Sixth Sense, which was thankfully before anyone could spoil the story's true colors. The clue comes when little man Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) tells his child psychologist doc, Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), that he can "see dead people," a crazy skill that the soft-spoken and tormented doctor learns firsthand when he realizes that he is a ghost.
Which explains why no one ever looks at him in any of the previous scenes, and why Cole's the only character who talks with Crowe. Gradually, Shyamalan, who made his auspicious debut with The Sixth Sense, sullied his Mr. Twist reputation with the lame switcheroo dud The Lady In The Water, officially running his own trend into the narrative ground. But as far as The Sixth Sense, Shyamalan definitely got that one off.
11. The Handmaiden (2016)
Starring: Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, Ha Jung-woo, Cho Jin-woong
The Twist: Sook-hee and Izumi are actually plotting against Fujiwara and Uncle Kouzuki.
The Handmaiden is full of deceptions, so it's no wonder that the movie revels in its plot twists (yes, plural.) From the same director who gave us another excellent plot twist in Oldboy, comes The Handmaiden, a lush, beautiful erotic thriller and one of the best films to come out of 2016. The film is divided into three parts. First, we meet Tamako, a poor girl who gives up her family to work at a mansion as a handmaiden to Izumi, a Japanese heiress. Izumi's evil uncle, Kouzuki, plans to marry her to inherit his niece's wealth. But not really. In the second part, we learn Tamako is not her real name: she is is actually Sook-hee, an experienced con-artist hired by Count Fujiwara, a criminal seeking to marry into Izumi's family for the status and wealth, to befriend Izumi and feed him information and get her to fall in love with him. But… that's also not quite right. Finally, the film's grand deceitful conclusion: although Sook-hee and Izumi are initially two women pitted against each other, in the end, they are the ones who are conspiring against the two men, Fujiwara and Kouzuki.
10. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Director: Robert Hiltzik
Starring: Mike Kellin, Katherine Kamhi, Paul DeAngelo, Jonathan Tiersten
The Twist: Young, seemingly sweet Angela is both the killer, and, yes, a dude.
Sleepaway Camp is the kind of batshit horror flick that could only come from a year predating 1990. On the surface, it's your run-of-the-mill slasher movie, with a group of unlucky, and mostly horny, campers and counselors getting sliced and diced by a mysterious killer. The motive traces back to eight years prior, when protagonist Angela's (Felissa Rose) brother Peter, their father, and his gay lover were, apparently, murdered in a boating accident.
Or so you're supposed to believe. In the film's genuinely holy-shit finale, Angela's pants drop and all of her manhood is shown, because, get this, Angela is actually Peter, who, years before, underwent a transgender switch. And as if that reveal isn't bonkers enough, long-haired and trouser-less Peter lets out a strange, highly disturbing "hiss" sound while coldly staring and resembling a cardboard cutout of a pint-sized Cro-Magnon caveman.
Yeah, Hollywood isn't about to do a shot-for-shot remake of Sleepaway Camp anytime soon.
9. Primal Fear (1996)
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Starring: Richard Gere, Laura Linney, John Mahoney, Alfre Woolward, Frances McDormand
The Twist: Aaron Stampler is actually Roy, who's guilty of murder and not crazy.
Defense lawyers, by nature, need to check their morality at the door before starting new cases—that's the way it goes for people whose career thrives upon clearing the names of potential criminals, murderers, and other baddies. But for Chicago defender Martin Vail (Richard Gere), no amount of prior soul-searching could've prepared him for the whopper of a realization that caps off 1996's slept-on Primal Fear.
The case that Vail is assigned to is a dark one: His client, stuttering altar server Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton), is behind bars for the killing of the local archbishop. Complicating matters is Aaron's multiple personality disorder, which pairs the "normal" Aaron with the more dangerous "Roy."
Well, it's actually the other way around: Roy is Norton's character's true identity, not "Aaron," and, even shitter for Vail, Roy isn't even crazy. The whole "Aaron" routine was just a clever ruse designed to mask the fact that he slaughtered the priest in cold blood, knowingly and happily. Norton's performance in Primal Fear is so damn excellent that we're right there with Gere's Vail in feeling duped.
8. Se7en (1995)
Starring: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, John C McGinley
The Twist: Mills kills John Doe, fulfilling the serial killer's plan.
Two detectives, Somerset (Freeman) and Mills (Pitt), are on a deadset mission to uncover the identity of a serial killer, John Doe, who is on a killing spree correlated to the seven deadly sins. In gruesomely symbolic ways, Doe forces his victims to succumb to their most vile vices: a 400 lb pound man is forced to continue eating until he dies (gluttony); a man rapes a prostitute with a knife (lust), and so forth. When there are only two more sins left, namely envy and wrath, the unexpected happens: John Doe turns himself in, with still some 30-odd minutes left to go in the movie, a sure sign if there ever was one of a gnarly plot twist to come. Doe's confession involves meeting the two detectives in the middle of the desert where they find a single cardboard box. While Somerset goes to open the box, Mills and Doe are left alone, giving Doe the opportunity to explain his final two crimes to Mills. Doe envies (a sin!) Mills's relatively normal life: his beautiful wife, his baby on the way. So, to complete his twisted mission, Doe tells Mills he has raped and decapitated Mills' pregnant wife out of envy. Although we never get proper confirmation of it, the cardboard box in the middle of the desert probably contains her head. Mills is beyond enraged, but even though Somerset tells him that if he does so, he is only fulfilling Doe's quest (to kill him is to fulfill wrath, the final sin on the list), Mills shoots Doe several times. He's arrested for the murder, and Doe's sick master plan is complete.
7. The Crying Game (1992)
Director: Neil Jordan
Starring: Stephen Rea, Miranda Richardson, Jaye Davidson, Forest Whitaker
The Twist: Dil has a dill, so to speak.
There's a certain level of comfort attached to watching The Crying Game—you know, that wall that keeps what's on the television, or big multiplex, screen separated from the viewer. So when it comes time for the film's potential love interest, Dil (Academy Award nominee Jaye Davidson), to disrobe in front of protagonist, Fergus (Stephen Rea), we only have to endure the romantically uncomfortable scenario indirectly.
Fergus is quite attracted to Dil, though he's yet to admit to such feelings, and they're complicated to the umpteenth degree once Dil drops the drawers and shows her/his masculine member (i.e., wiener)—a.k.a., every straight man's worst morning-after-a-drunken-evening nightmare.
6. The Others (2001)
Director: Alejandro Amenábar
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Fionnula Flanagan, Christopher Eccleston, Elaine Cassidy
The Twist: Grace and her two kids are ghosts.
Insane twist aside, The Others remains one of the most underrated films, genre or not, of the new millennium—frankly, any ghost story that's come after it has, unbeknownst to the respective filmmakers, attempting to reach its heights of quality. The acting is sharp, the costumes and set design are flawless, and the scares, which come at a steady clip, are maturely paced and patiently earned.
And then comes that aforementioned twist. The whole film, Nicole Kidman's stay-at-home mom, Grace Stewart, is doing her damndest to remain sane while investigating the spirits that continually scare her two children, neither of whom can be exposed to sunlight. Is the fancy mansion haunted? And are the three newly hired servants all malevolent specters?
Sadly for Grace, that's not the case: She and the kids are the ghosts, not the other way around. And those bumps in the night and creepy kids' voices have been caused by the still-living residents of the home. Even worse, Grace and the youngsters are dead by her own doing—after her hubby left for war, Grace smothered her kids with pillows before blowing her brains out with a shotgun.
Hopefully you're reading this after having seen The Others, because, frankly, the film's twist is devastating if unknown or undetected.
5. Saw (2004)
Director: James Wan (2004)
Starring: Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Ken Leung
The Twist: Jigsaw is the guy who's been lying "dead" in the middle of the room all along.
For about 97% of its running time, the genre-invigorating Sawplays like a straightforward piece of hardcore horror. There's a killer on the loose, and, in the midst of setting up elaborate death traps for his victims to escape from and make up for immoral transgressions, the villainous "Jigsaw" (only heard through voice and represented by a proxy creepy puppet) has kidnapped two unfamiliar guys (Cary Elwes and screenwriter Leigh Whannell), locked them in a dirty room, and only left them with a saw and cryptic clues.
As the plot unfolds, it's believed that Jigsaw is a weirdo hospital orderly (Michael Emerson), but then Jigsaw can still be heard after he's offed. So what gives? There's no way that the orchestrator of evil can be that bloody, lifeless corpse that's been lying in the middle of the two dudes' room the whole time, right? Yes, that's exactly the deal. The thought-to-be-deceased man (Tobin Bell) slowly gets up, walks toward the exit, and slams it shut, leaving Whannell's screwed character to sit there with his jaw scraping the floor. Can you blame him?
4. Les Diaboliques (1955)
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Starring: Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse, Charles Vanel
The Twist: Michael isn't dead.
Les Diaboliques, the classic shocker from acclaimed French director Henri-Georges Clouzot, was a real trailblazer for every cinematic twist that has proceeded it. Back when third-act narrative bents were mostly unheard of, Diabolique (the film's common stateside title) sent audiences into cold, shivery panic attacks with one simple, slowly developed shot: the supposed to be dead body of philandering and abusive schoolmaster Michel Delassale (Paul Meurisse) emerging from a water-filled bathtub like he's in Weekend At Bernies II and there's music playing, with rolled-up and vacant eyes.
His wife, Christine (Vera Clouzot, the director's beautiful wife) thought she'd killed him in a murder plot hatched along with Michel's mistress, Nicole (Simone Signoret), but, after a series of sightings and paranoid feelings, Christine finds herself face-to-face with Michel's "corpse," and the fright gives her a fatal heart attack. The truth is, Michel and his side piece teamed up against Christine, faked his death, and planned on murdering her, but the sudden stopping of her blood-pumper thwarted their mission in the best, most effortless way possible. Who says cheaters never prosper?
3. The Usual Suspects (1995)
Starring; Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palmintieri, Kevin Pollak, Pete Postlethwaite, Kevin Spacey
The Twist: "Verbal" Kint is Keyser Soze.
It's the cool, confident walk that continues to blow viewers' mind to this day. In the densely plotted and incredibly clever The Usual Suspects, crippled criminal "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey) recounts a complicated, botched, and tragic heist to an increasingly more agitated Customs Agent (Chazz Palminteri), alluding to a mysterious kingpin named Keyser Soze as the unknown, enigmatic man behind the whole ordeal.
Unable to convict Kent of anything, Agent Kujanlets the gimp go free, and Kint's stroll toward his new life starts off in a limp but, brilliantly, culminates in a straight leg—because, wouldn't you know it, he's in fact Keyser Soze. And poor Kujan is left to realize that nearly every detail in Kint's story was lifted, by name, from the various knick-knacks in the agent's office.
It all wraps up with the pitch-perfect closing line, voiced by Kint/Soze: "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist; and like that, he's gone." And we're floored.
2. Planet of the Apes (1963)
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Starring: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Maurice Evans, Kim Hunter, James Whitmore, James Daly
The Twist: The titular "planet" is Earth.
It should come as no surprise that the greatest twist ending of all time was written by Rod Serling—after all, he's the same mastermind who created The Twilight Zone, the venerable breeding ground for mind-blowing twists and unforeseen narrative turns.
The ending of the 1968 sci-fi classic Planet of the Apes is such common knowledge nowadays that it's difficult to process just how brain-melting it was for audiences back in '68, but let's try to put ourselves in their shoes: You're watching a movie about an American astronaut, George Taylor (Charlton Heston), who crash-lands on a distant planet that's inhabited by talking and civilized apes, and everything about it says that the setting is located somewhere else in our galaxy.
And when Taylor and gorgeous cave woman Nova (Linda Harrison) ride off into the sunset on horseback, having escaped the tyrannical primates' clutches, Taylor notices a large object sticking out of a beach's sand, and not just any old object—it's the top-half of the Statue of Liberty. He's been on a future, post-nuclear-war Earth all along. "Goddamn you all to hell," he shouts in a fit of fiery sadness. He's clearly unaware that, 33 years down the line, Tim Burton will direct a painfully bad Planet of the Apes remake. Had he known, there surely would have been more curse words in that statement.
1. Get Out (2017)
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Catherine Keener, LaKeith Stanfield
The Twist: They're all a bunch of homicidal racists.
Jordan Peele's debut film Get Out is a multi-layered triumph. On the most basic of levels, it's a horror movie about what happens when a young black guy meets his white girlfriend's parents for the first time. On a more political level, it's a quiet but searing criticism of the "casual liberal racists" of our time, the "I want to pick and choose the aspects of black culture that I experience but I would've voted for Obama a third time if I could," kind. And yet it is also a psychological thriller full of twists. Chris (Kaluuya) knows there is something off about his girlfriend Rose's (Williams) family from the very beginning, but he doesn't put his finger on it until it's much too late. When he finds hidden photos of Allison with other black boyfriends—even though she insisted he was the first black man she'd been with—and he recognizes some of the faces as current friends of her parents, he knows he has to leave, but that's also when he realizes he's trapped inside a homicidal scheme to lobotomize black people and replace their brains with those of rich white people. It's an effort to subscribe to the "cool" and "interesting" parts of black life without the hassle of examining and criticizing race or racism. After a bloody battle against his fate, Chris escapes, but it's a simultaneously electric and traumatic twist all the same.
https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/the-best-movies-with-a-twist/get-out
Posted in: Be Happy, Have Fun, Thought 2 Go Filed under: movie, plot, The 25 Best Movies With A Twisted Plot, twist
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The 46-year-old Frenchman was previously at the helm for Los Blancos between January 2016 and the summer of 2018.
Zidane returns in place of Santiago Solari, who took over at the end of October when former Spain boss Julen Lopetegui was shown the door a matter of months after being appointed by Real.
The World Cup winner has agreed a contract running until the summer of 2022, having previously led Real to three consecutive Champions League titles, as well as success in La Liga, the Spanish Super Cup, the Club World Cup and the European Super Cup.
His first task is to try and get Real back on track following recent exits from both the Champions League and the Copa del Rey, while Los Merengues currently lie down in third place in La Liga, some 12 points adrift of leaders Barcelona.
Zidane had earlier spent five seasons at the Bernabeu as a player, helping the club to win La Liga, the Spanish Super Cup, the European Super Cup, the Intercontinental Cup and the Champions League.
The playmaker netted the winning goal in the Champions League final of 2003, as Real defeated Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 at Hampden Park in Glasgow.
His first game back in charge of Real comes on Saturday, when Celta Vigo are the visitors to the Spanish capital.
Los Blancos are 2/9 to win the game and are 13/2 to do so by a 2-0 scoreline, with a 1-1 draw available at 11/1.
This was Au Revoir 2018 in La Liga and the year will end as it began – with Barcelona on top.
The reigning champions didn't have it all their own way against Celta Vigo in the Nou Camp but ultimately did enough and it means Ernesto Valverde's men head into the winter break with a three-point lead at the summit.
As if to outline his attacking intentions, Ousmane Dembele had been caught offside inside the first minute and had the ball in the net a mere eight minutes later.
Lionel Messi's shot was saved by Ruben Blanco but Dembele pounced and the hosts were ahead.
It was a blow to Vigo who had threatened early on themselves through Sofiane Boufal, whose shot was blocked, and Nestor Araujo.
This was considered by many as the battle of sharpshooters and us fans certainly expected goals with Messi, Luis Suarez, Dembele, Iago Aspas and Gomez et al all on the pitch.
Chances were few but both sides were certainly focused on the attack as Jordi Alba saw an effort blocked and Maxi Gomez tested Marc-Andre Ter Stegenwhose record in this fixture is one he'd rather forget.
Some of Barca's play was a joy to watch – a must for any La Liga 2018 highlights –yet Vigo continued to pose a danger and Hugo Mallo had time to fire a shot wide.
The second goal the home side needed arrived on the stroke of half-time and ended the match as a contest.
Alba's fine pass found Messi in space and the Argentine maestro continued his red-hot form by sublimely finishing from the edge of the box.
Into the second half and, while Vigo did little wrong, Barca had a clear edge.
The lively Boufal, on loan at the club from English Premier League side Southampton, saw another effort blocked as the visitors tried to gain a foothold back into the match but the loss of Aspas to injury moments later was a clear blow and, as the 10-goal danger man went off, so did their best chance of a goal.
Brais Mendez went close with a curling shot as the spirited Galicians continued to battle but there was a feeling their efforts were in vain.
Suarez's shot then went wide after another fine ball from Alba as Barca went in search of a third goal.
Nelson Semedo, returning to the team following an injury, called Ruben into action, while the sight of Phillipe Coutinho warming up would have done little to lift spirits in the away ranks.
Still, Vigo battled as Robert Mazanand then Fran Beltran saw shots blocked and Beltran kept Ter Stegen alert with another left-footed shot.
Coutinho, on for Dembele, and Messi both had shots as the home side finished strongly and, while a third goal would have been harsh on the visitors, the best team clearly won the day.
Celta Vigo remain relatively comfortable in mid-table, closer to sixth spot and a European place than they are to the drop zone, but will need an improved second half of the campaign if they are to return to the Europa League next season.
They reached the semi-finals of the competition in 2017.
The opener was Barcelona's 101st league goal of 2018 – more than any other team in Europe's big major leagues.
Messi, who added the 102nd, has now scored 15 goals in La Liga and is the division's top scorer.
Messi is the only player from the top five European leagues to score 15 league goals or more in each of the last 11 seasons.
It takes his tally of career goals for Barcelona to 572.
Barcelona have now scored 19 more league goals (48) than the side nearest to them Sevilla (29) and twice as many as arch-rivals Real Madrid (24) – albeit having played one league fixture more than the Madrid giants.
Barcelona have now four league clean sheets in a row. They last conceded a goal against Atletico Madrid on November 24.
La Liga 2018 betting odds may change little during the winter break.
Barcelona are next in action against Getafe on January 6 and then travel to Levante four days later in the first leg of their last 16 match in the Copa del Rey.
The reigning champions then entertain Eibar on January 13.
Celta Vigo host Athletic Bilbao when they return to action on January 7 followed by another league clash, at Rayo Vallecano, four days later.
La Liga: Can Celta Dampen Champions' Christmas?
The reigning champions sign off for Christmas at the Nou Camp with top spot in La Liga all but guaranteed.
However, us fans expect them to maintain their three point advantage at the summit with victory in this one.
Indeed, one suspects coach Ernesto Valverde would be disappointed himself if the club's lead over Sevilla and the Madrid clubs is any less going into the winter break.
Last time out the league leaders ran riot which simply cemented why they are title favourites with La Liga 2018 betting odds.
Unsurprisingly, the main man in their 5-0 victory over Levante was the diminutive Lionel Messi.
That game, in which he netted a hat-trick and set up two, took his tally for the season to 14 goals and 10 assists.
No wonder the Argentine magician is considered the man who produces the most La Liga 2018 highlights single-handedly.
At the other end, Barcelona have also been productive this week.
The signing, on loan, of Valencia centre back Jeison Murillo (announced now, although he is ineligible to play until January) will strengthen a squad weakened by an injury to Samuel Umtiti and which, uncharacteristically, has conceded 19 goals in its first 16 league games this season.
The rear guard will certainly have to be alert against opponents who have the third best attacking record this season in La Liga with 28 goals – albeit some 18 goals fewer than the Catalan club.
Although in ninth spot, Celta are only four points off sixth place which is a guaranteed European spot, while in 10-goal Iago Aspas they have a genuine danger man.
He and Maxi Gomez have scored 18 of Celta's 28 league goals this term and those two will be key to the away side's chances of success this weekend.
Their problem has been at the back though where they have conceded 24 – only Huesca, Rayo Vallecano and Levante have conceded more.
They struggled last time out too as they were held at home by Leganes which left the Galicians, who had dominated long spells of the game, particularly frustrated.
It extended Vigo's unbeaten run to three matches but, during the same period, Barcelona have won three in a row, scoring 11 goals without conceding any.
All in the all, the stats suggest we could be in for a pre-Christmas cracker with goals galore.
When you look at the recent history you can see why Barcelona are overwhelming favourites.
In 11 of the last 20 meetings, Barca have come out on top, drawing five and losing four.
From the last 10 matches played at the Nou Camp, Celta have managed to win only once while Barcelona have been successful on seven occasions.
More still, Barca have scored 18 times in their last five homes games against Celta, averaging more than three goals a game.
The last two La Liga matches between Barcelona and Celta have actually finished level, including a 2-2 draw at the Nou Camp last season.
On that occasion Messi and Luis Suarez were on target but their goals were cancelled out by Aspas and Gomez Gonzalez.
The rematch last April also finished 2-2 with Aspas rescuing a point for Vigo, albeit against a weakened Barcelona who rested players with the title all but won and the Copa del Rey Final just days later.
They twice fought back with Jonny Castro also scoring after Barca had twice been in front through Osumane Dembele and Paco Alcacer, now banging in the goals for Borussia Dortmund.
Celta have actually won three and drawn two of their last eight La Liga games with Barcelona.
But they were thumped two seasons ago, going down 5-0 in the Nou Camp.
Celta Vigo put up a spirited showing against Real Madrid last month but still lost and I expect them to lose this one too.
The odds naturally are weighted in the champion's favour.
So much so, in fact, that 1X2 odds offer Barca @ 1.12 with Celta Vigo a gulf apart, rather than distant, @ 18.50.
The draw @ 8.25 even seems unlikely with these odds.
Asian Handicap odds are equally adamant that a home victory is the most likely result.
You can get odds of Barcelona -2.50 @ 1.81 and -2.75 @ 2.01.
In contrast, how about Vigo + 2.50 @ 2.13?
Even over 4.25 goals will only pay out @ 1.89 and total goal 4-6 @ 1.71.
Is Solari Set for a Memorable La Liga Monday?
As interim periods in charge go, it could scarcely have been better.
Four wins from four, only two goals conceded and a confidence boost after the extremely brief Julen Lopetegui era ended in disaster.
Surely, Santiago Solari isn't about to be given a job which, in football terms, is as big as it gets?
Whether he is or not, he can barely have had a better audition.
Granted, aside from winning this tricky test, Solari's wins have come over third division Melilla in the Copa del Rey, Real Valladolid in La Liga and Czech side Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League.
But he could have done little more than he has in that time at the helm.
us and La Liga 2018 betting odds would have given him little chance of getting the position full-time, let alone part-time weeks ago, but wins change everything.
The side's biggest boost came before kick-off when one of the shock La Liga 2018 news stories emerged from the Nou Camp.
That would have lifted spirits before a ball was kicked, and shortly after the 20th-minute loss of Casemiro to injury, they survived when Facundo Roncaglia headed against the post.
Moments later, Madrid were up and running.
A perfectly weighted through ball from Luka Modric found Karim Benzema, and the French forward showed neat footwork before calmly slotting home the opener.
Toni Kroos missed a sitter to double the advantage and were nearly made to pay before the break. Brais Mendez tested Thibaut Courtois when Iago Aspas was crying out for the ball to be played to him in the centre.
It was Aspas again after halftime as his header bounced wide. After that, Benzema also curled an effort which bounced back off the top of the crossbar.
It was clear the next goal would be key, and it came Real's way as Benzema pounced on a home defensive error to double the lead. His effort crossed the line via a deflection off the luckless Gustavo Cabral's shoulder.
After playing their part in an even contest, Vigo seemed beaten. However, a moment of magic five minutes later brought them back into the hunt.
From Mendez's through ball, captain Hugo Mallo watched the ball float over his shoulder and connected perfectly to rifle it into the bottom left-hand corner.
After losing both Casemiro and young defender Sergio Reguilon to injury in the first half, Madrid suffered a further blow when Nacho had to leave the fray for Los Blancos.
Courtois then denied Aspas an equaliser and it briefly looked like the visitors may struggle to hang on.
Yet, a wild challenge by David Junca on Alvaro Odriozola with eight minutes remaining saw a spot-kick awarded. Madrid skipper Sergio Ramos produced a cheeky 'Panenka' style penalty to restore their two-goal lead.
Home frustrations were evident when Cabral was shown a second yellow card in the closing stages. Dani Ceballos, who replaced Casemiro early on, then summed up that the fortune was with Real—they would argue it wasn't earlier in the campaign.
Ceballos smashed a powerful fourth into the top right-hand corner from outside the box.
Spirited Vigo didn't deserve to be so far behind and Mendez added a consolation in the third minute of stoppage time.
Yet, Real had the win, had plundered four goals away from home and are now in the top six, only four points off the pace.
This result will have done him a power of good.
Is Solari set for a magnificent Monday? We shall soon find out.
It's over to Madrid's hierarchy.
Three Celta Vigo players were booked in four minutes towards the end of the first half.
That angered Solari who said the forcefulness of their challenges often went unpunished, with Gareth Bale and Odriozola also carrying knocks late on.
It's back-to-back away games for Real after the international break.
They travel to Eibar in La Liga and then meet AS Roma in Rome in the Champions League.
Two home matches follow in early December as Valencia visit the Bernabeu. and minnows Melilla are in town for the second leg of their Copa del Rey meeting.
It's the second and third meetings in a month for Vigo against Real Sociedad.
They meet in La Liga in San Sebastian next before playing their second leg in the Copa del Rey (the score is poised 1-1 after the first leg), also in San Sebastian.
Celta entertain Huesca in a league fixture in between.
"Every game has lots of complications and for us it has not been an easy pre-season with players returning – we are not yet at our top level.
Los Rojiblancos are 3/4 to secure victory at the Balaidos and are 6/1 to claim a 2-0 victory, with Atletico 8/1 to be crowned champions of Spain this season.
As weekends go, it was fairly tame.
With the exception of one result, football games in La Liga all went the way the pre-match betting odds suggested.
After a sixth straight home win, the unlikely Euro dream for Girona continues.
The unlikely relegation nightmare for Deportivo looms that little bit larger.
Girona are up to seventh after goals from Cristhian Stuani and Juanpe consigned Clarence Seedorf's side to another defeat, and the Galician's lacklustre response to going behind was telling.
No surprise in a scoreline in which bottom hosted top.
Even before Samu Garcia's 30th-minute dismissal, the result was never in doubt as Barca were 2-0 up by the time the Malaga man saw red.
Malaga are now 11 points from safety with 10 matches remaining.
Undoubtedly the result of the weekend.
What a time for the relegation strugglers to secure their first win in 16 and give themselves a little bit of wriggle room in the bid to beat the drop.
Coke's goal 11 minutes from time haunted Getafe who had wasted chance after chance.
It would be easy to say Sevilla had one eye on their Champions League clash with Manchester United.
Whether true or not, this result means Valencia are 11 points clear of their rivals and in a commanding position to claim a Champions League spot.
A double from Rodrigo Moreno sealed Los Che all three points in the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
It is no coincidence that Real Madrid have run into form when their talisman has run into form.
World top player Cristiano Ronaldo was the hero with a double, either side of an Ivan Ramis equaliser, for his 32nd and 33rd goals of what his critics say has been an average season.
No wonder boss Zinedine Zidane described the No. 7 as a player 'from another planet'.
A double from Raul Garcia was enough for Bilbao to see off Leganes.
The damage was done inside the opening 17 minutes and was the perfect way for the Basque club to bounce back from their Europa League defeat to Marseille.
Now they need to bounce back from that 3-1 reverse in the second leg.
Both clubs had suffered early weekend blows with their nearest rivals winning.
This score was a while coming before Carlos Bacca broke the deadlock midway through the second half and Sansone sealed the victory with a late penalty.
Villareal are back up to sixth, while Las Palmas are now four points from safety after Levante's surprise victory.
Diego Simeone's Atletico aren't going to give up the second spot without a fight.
City rivals Real had briefly closed the gap to four points but an Antoine Griezmann super show restored that advantage.
The Frenchman scored the opener, set up Vitolo for the second and saw substitute Angel Correa round off the scoring against a Vigo side which had earlier hit the post.
When Espanyol were one down to Willian Jose's fifth goal in six games, they were in danger of dropping four points behind Sociedad.
Yet, the hosts were not prepared to end their six-match unbeaten run.
Second-half goals from Leo Baptistao and Gerard Moreno extended that sequence to seven.
A good win at a tricky venue for Betis as they moved up to eighth.
Loren Moron's double and a Javi Garcia goal, after Alaves had come back into the contest via Ruben Sobrino, sealed the points.
After a weekend in which they have gone up two places, they can be forgiven for thinking a late Euro push is a possibility.
Marcelo accepts that the current situation at Real Madrid is the worst he has known since he joined the club more than a decade ago.
Real are 16 points behind leaders Barcelona after being held to a 2-2 draw by Celta Vigo on Sunday.
Zinedine Zidane's team were leading with eight minutes to go thanks to Gareth Bale's brace after Daniel Wass had given Celta the lead.
However, Maxi Gomez's late header ensured the match finished as a draw and 29-year-old Brazilian Marcelo admitted afterwards: "It is how it looks from the outside – we are sad, angry and we feel like we are sinking.
"It is one of the worst situations I've experienced here. We'll try to work hard and fight so we can win our next game but we don't like this situation at all. It's difficult because the more games you draw or lose the more pressure you are under."
Marcelo has won four La Liga and three Champions League titles since joining Real in 2007.
Real Madrid can be backed at 8/1 to win the Champions League again this season while they are available at 1/12 to win their next match against Numancia on 10th January.
Zidane's side have failed to win any of their last four away matches and are fourth in the table while Atletico Madrid are second and Valencia third.
Barcelona face being without central defender Samuel Umtiti for around two months after he suffered a hamstring injury in the 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo.
The France international had to replaced 20 minutes from time in the Camp Nou, with subsequent test revealing that he will be out of action until around the end of January next year.
An official statement from Barca confirmed: "Tests carried out have confirmed that Samuel Umtiti has a hamstring injury in his right leg and he is expected to be out for around eight weeks.
"He will now miss the rest of 2017 and January of next year."
Head coach Ernesto Valverde, who is now likely to have to field Thomas Vermaelen alongside Gerard Pique in central defence, was downbeat about the news, adding: "Losing Samuel right now is a big loss, he was in excellent form."
Meanwhile, veteran midfielder Andres Iniesta will miss the midweek Champions League clash with Sporting Lisbon due to an injury to his left calf, also sustained in the draw with Celta.
However, the injury is not thought to be too serious and Iniesta is likely to be back in the fold for the La Liga trip to Villarreal next weekend.
Barcelona can be backed at 1/3 to win La Liga this season, while they are 6/1 to triumph in the Champions League.
Meanwhile, Egypt head coach Hector Cuper says he has received word that in-form Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah is a potential transfer target for Real Madrid.
Cuper told ON Sport TV: "I've received confirmed news revealing Real Madrid's interest in Salah, but let's not rush things. To me, he is in an amazing position right now."
Salah has scored 17 goals in 22 appearances for the Reds since his £34million summer arrival from Roma.
Top Seven Wins are Great for Football Bets!
The pace is picking up at the top of La Liga with the leading pack, all in red-hot form, winning each of their football games on a weekend of few surprises.
It makes for a competitive race for the title, with at least four teams in the hunt, and for Asian Handicap Betting players there are plenty of ways to win.
Barcelona needed a huge slice of luck to stay four points clear at the top amidst plenty of controversies as the ball was clearly out of play before Lucas Digne crossed for Gerard Deulofeu to score the opener. Andres Iniesta's second-half strike took a deflection, but hey; a win is a win!
Marcelino's Valencia continued its excellent run of form with a 4-0 thrashing of Champions League hopefuls Sevilla. Goncalo Guedes scored his second in injury time to add to goals from Simone Zaza and Santi Mina. Valencia stays second.
A comfortable home win keeps Zinedine Zidane's team in the chase, still five points from the top, and they got on the way thanks to a Paulo Oliveira own goal. Marco Asensio's and Marcelo's strike were much more pleasing to the eye as Los Blancos strolled to victory.
Atletico shrugged off a disappointing run of draws with a hard-fought win against in-form Celta. The hosts were unbeaten in four after thumping Las Palmas last week, but Kevin Gameiro's first goal of the season was the difference, though Iago Aspas came close for Celta.
Eleven points in five haves lifted Leganes up to fifth place in the Primera Liga after a single goal triumph, which extended Athletic Club's winless run on the road to six games. Claudio Beauvue's individual effort, beating two defenders before smashing home his winner, was worthy of three points.
Las Palmas' miserable run of form continued, but it was good news for the Yellow Submarine which has risen to sixth. After a goalless first half, Cedric Bakambu opened the scoring and Mario Gaspar made it two. Nicole Sansone rounded things off after an own goal had ended the contest.
Real Betis are now five unbeaten after an Antonio Sanabria header and an own goal by the hapless Alexis Ruano wrapped up the points. It's looking grim for Alaves, entrenched in the drop zone.
A draw always looked a likely result in this mid-table clash, and so when Faycal Fajr opened the scoring for the visitors with a fine strike from outside the box, it was no surprise when Jose Luis Morales drew the hosts level four minutes later.
In a game of two halves, Sociedad played the second with much more purpose after going behind to an early Leo Baptistao goal. Asier Illarramendi equalised on 69 minutes but was sent off in a bad-tempered finish as Real pushed for the winner in vain.
Girona grabbed a valuable away win to pull away from the bottom three after Aday Benitez gave the visitors a great start from the spot when Raul Albentosa had conceded a first-half penalty. Early in the second period, Lucas Perez equalised with a penalty for Depor but then up popped Portu to slot home the winner.


"I run a $33 million stockroom and having tattoos has never affected the skills that I have," says Tomas Ledesma.
"At first, I always got small tattoos in covert places with the intentions of being able to cover them up for any jobs I would apply for. I've always wanted tattoos because my older sister had tattoos. It wasn't until my first one when I realized how these tattoos should really be [about] myself," said Danielle Ranoa.


text:
Castle Recap: "An Embarrassment of Bitches"
Mandy Treccia @SourceMandy January 25, 2012 / 2:20 AM 1
The best episodes of Castle are the ones where the show doesn't take itself too seriously. This is something the writers had forgotten earlier this season when each episode was bogged down by boring cases, too much angst and not enough humor.
But lately the show has started to return to classic form with lots of snarky one-liners, silly, easy to solve from the comfort of your couch mysteries and the slow buildup to Castle and Beckett's next epic romantic moment. The proven formula has made show much more enjoyable and this week's installment, "An Embarrassment of Bitches" was no exception.
The case centered on the murder of well-known show dog judge, Francisco Pillar, who was also secretly working with a drug task force to train dogs to sniff out drugs. Francisco was found in his dressing room after awarding Best in Show with a dog leash wrapped around his neck. Ouch. His dog, Royal, was by his side and he kept digging his paws into the floor and whimpering which led Castle to believe that perhaps the dog had information on the case. Beckett was quick to ask if he wanted to bring the dog in for questioning (ha!) but Castle had a valid point, maybe the dog tried to defend his owner and might have traces of the killer's DNA in his mouth. He didn't, but Royal would turn out to play a pivotal role in the case and even more importantly, a pivotal role in a Caskett shipper moment (more on that later).
A (human) witness's cell phone video led Castle and Beckett to Kay Cappuccio, a Kim Kardashian-type reality star who is famous simply for being famous, played by Hilarie Burton. I was never really a fan of Burton's work on One Tree Hill nor did I understand people's obsession with her and her character. But after seeing her in this role, I'm starting to get it. Burton flawlessly hit all the right notes as Kay from the squeaky, breathy voice and wide eyes to the almost childlike innocence when she basically incriminated herself after Royal responded to her perfume (it was made from poppies, like drugs). Beckett told her that someone wearing her new signature perfume was the murderer and she said she was the only one who it could be since it wasn't available in stores yet. The detectives practically slapped their heads wondering how she could be so stupid, but Burton sold me on her vulnerability and I wanted to hug her and tell her it would be all right.
Detective Esposito was on Kay's side from the beginning and volunteered to basically babysit her while they tried to figure out which paparazzo was responsible for the creepy spy camera the police had discovered in Kay's dog's collar. Burton's best moment came in this scene. Without dropping the persona completely, she admitted that pictures didn't always tell the truth about her life and she asked Esposito if he really thought someone had murdered Francisco just to be able to keep taking pictures of her. While I didn't love the subplot of him flirting with her (I'm an Esposito/Lanie fan), it was a poignant moment and Burton nailed it.
Since anyone who has ever watched TV before knew from the moment Kay topped the suspect list that she wasn't the killer, it wasn't too hard to figure out that Kay's boyfriend, Reggie, played by Justin Hartley, was the guilty party. I may be (totally) biased when it comes to him, but I felt like Hartley should have had more to do in this episode other than more or less stand in the background until he was revealed as the killer. Bias aside, Hartley did a great job with the material he was given in his final scene. As Reggie sipped his drink, realization set in that the cops were watching him and he was busted. He tried to make a run for it and even threw a punch at Esposito, but the detective was not having that. Reggie ended up flat on the floor in handcuffs and his face visibly deflated, knowing it was all over. (Yes, I wanted to hug him too).
I'm still not really clear on Reggie's motives for murder. There was something about ties to a drug cartel and he thought Francisco had found the cameras in Kay's dog's collar so he wanted to shut him up before he told Kay? It's possible I stopped paying attention after Reggie was taken down but that's the beauty of Castle. With the exception of the ongoing mystery of Beckett's mom's killer, the cases can be forgotten before the end of the episode and it's still a fantastic episode because the characters are what matter.
On that note, I have to go back to Royal, and the moment that made all Caskett shippers squee with delight. Since they didn't want to send Royal to a shelter, Castle and Beckett took shared custody of him. After his turn was up, Castle brought Royal to Beckett's place where they playfully argued about how Castle was the fun one and Beckett was the mean one who wouldn't let the dog play on the furniture. Castle mentioned the dog liked having his head rubbed and then took Beckett's hand and started rubbing circles there to demonstrate as they stared at each other, not saying anything. That sound you hear is the fandom exploding with happiness.
But my absolute favorite tongue-in-cheek moment of the episode came early on when the paparazzi outside of Kay's place took pictures of Castle. He was smiling and getting into it, right up until one of the photographers shouted, "You're not Jason Bateman!" Beckett was cracking up as Castle's smile disappeared and he muttered, "That's really getting old."
Well played, show.
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View Comment (1)
Cori says:
This review was awesome and it actually made me want to start watching the show. I'm amused by the way you describe the relationship between Castle and Beckett. I will be Marathoning this soon. Thanks! :)
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There are many ways you can support and express solidarity with Israel and take action.
Stay informed. Educate yourself on the issues. Read the news. Local news sources include the Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post, and the Baltimore Jewish Times. But also go beyond local news coverage. Learn directly from Israel. Visit Haaretz, The Jerusalem Post, YNet News or Globes. For more news links, click here.
Communicate the key messages to others. Send a letter to the editor. Call in to a local radio show. Click here for talking points and updated information to be used in conversation, or even radio call-ins.
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Behula is the protagonist in the Shiva Purana and the Manasamangal genre of Assamese and Bengali medieval epics. A number of works belonging to this genre were written between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries. Though the religious purpose of these works is to eulogise the Hindu goddess Manasa, these works are more well known for depicting the love story of Behula and her husband Lakhindar (or Lakshindar or Lakshmindara).

Story from Shiva puran
Usha, the daughter of Banasura, fell in love with Aniruddha the son of Pradyumna. Aniruddha was a grandson of lord Krishna. After their marriage they were reborn again as Behula and Lakshindar in next life and married each other again.

Behula was the daughter-in law of Chand Sadagar of Champaknagar. According to myth, two beautiful apsara's of the kingdom of heaven, Usha and Aniruddha were cursed by Gods as per the plan of Goddess Manasa and sent to earth as Behula and Lakshinder - Behula as the only daughter of Say bene (or Sayven of Ujaninagar) and Lakshinder as the seventh son of Chand Sadagar.

Chand sadagar was a great devotee of Shiva and for certain reasons he hated Manasa. But Manasa had to get "Anjali" by Chand sadagar's right hand- the Bhaktasreshto to get position of Goddess in the heaven. However, Chand sadagar promised to himself that he will never give Anjali to Manasa by the hand he uses to give anjali to Shiva. To get an anjali from Chand, Manasa took away his six sons. They died from poisonous snake bites and Manasa had absolute power over all snakes. These deaths infuriated Chand Sadagar even more and he vowed to save his last son, Lakhinder, in any way possible. Chand found a girl, Behula, whose destiny spoke that she will never be a widow. Chand got his seventh son, Lakshinder married with Behula. Chand also had an iron palace built without any hole so that not a single snake could enter the house.

Bishyakarma made it for the wedding night of Behula and Lakshinder. But due to the request of Manasa, Bishyakarma kept a hole in the palace. The night came and Manasa sent her Kalnagini, the most poisonous snake, to the iron palace and it crept into the room. Behula fell asleep due to a spell Manasa cast on her. When Kalnagini was going to bite Lakshinder, she saw that Behula had committed no sin for which she might be given such a harsh punishment. So kalnagini, with the help of the lower end of her body smeared the parting of Behula's hair with the oil of the lamp, which was a sin according to the Hindu mythology. After she bit Lakshinder, Lakshinder shouted aloud. Behula woke up and saw kalnagini slithering out of the room. In anger, she threw the jaanti towards kalnagini and the lower part of the snake's body was cut off. Kalnagini was not eager to bite Lakshinder; Manasa forced her to do so.

To get back her husband's life from the Gods in the heavens, Behula sailed with her dead husband in a raft towards Heaven. She faced many dangers during her incredibly long and difficult journey in the rivers. After reaching Heaven, she pleased all the Gods with her beautiful and enchanting dancing and got the Gods to promise to give back her husband's life on the condition that Chand would give anjali to Manasa. Desperate to save his son's life, finally Chand gave in and gave the anjali by the left hand. Consequentlty Manasa got the position of Goddess in heaven and gave back the life of all the six sons of Chand.

Another version
Having returned to Champak Nagar, Chand Sadagar managed to rebuild his life. A son was born to him. They named the boy Lakshmindara. At around the same time Saha's wife gave birth to a daughter, whom they named Behula. Both the children grew up together and were a perfect made-for-each-other, but when their horoscopes were tallied, it was predicted that Lakshmindara would die of snake-bite on the wedding night. However, as both the children were already devotees of Manasa and were so well matched that the marriage went through. Chand Sadagar took extra precaution in building a new bridal chamber that snakes could not penetrate.

In spite of all the precautions, Manasa had her way. One of the snakes, sent by her, killed Lakshmindara. It was the custom that anyone who died of snake-bite was not cremated in the usual way but was allowed to float on a raft down the river, with the hope that the person could miraculously come back to life. Behula insisted on accompanying her dead husband on the raft ignoring all the pleas of others not to do so. They sailed for six months, passing village after village, the corpse began to decompose, the villagers thought of her as a mad person. She kept on praying to Manasa. All that the latter did was to protect the raft from sinking.

The raft arrived at the place where Neta, Manasa's foster mother stayed. She worked as a washer woman and was on the river bank when the raft touched land. Hearing Behula's perpetual prayers to Manasa, she decided to take her to Manasa. Using her supernatural powers, Neta whisked Behula and the dead Lakshmindara to heaven. Manasa said, "You deserve to have him back, but this can only be done if you promise to convert your father-in-law to my worship."

"I will," said Behula, and immediately life started to stir the corpse of her dead husband. His decayed flesh healed, he opened his eyes. He smiled at Behula.

With Neta as their guide they returned to earth. Behula met her mother-in-law and narrated all that happened. She went and told Chand Sadagar about it. He could not say no to worshipping Manasa, but he did not worship her with his right hand, as he was devoted already to Shiva. So instead he gave "Anjali" to the goddess by his left hand.

Legacy
Behula continues to fascinate the peoples minds in Assam, Bengal, Bangladesh and West Bengal. She is often seen as the archetypal wife, full of love and courage. This image of Behula is reflected in one of the poems of Jibanananda Das. Behula is regarded as the epitome of a loving and loyal wife in the Bengali and the Kamarupi culture.

In 2021, the Bangladeshi rock band Shunno released a folk-rock ballad called 'Behula' that was inspired by this story. The lyric was penned by Tanvir Chowdhury.

References

External links

Bengali folklore
Characters in Hindu mythology

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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New releases of Bollywood 2014
Patcy N in Mumbai
The year ahead will see quite a few interesting movie releases.
How well do you know Bollywood's forthcoming fare?
Take this fun quiz!
1. We all know Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra star in Gunday. But there is another talented actor, who is part of the film. Name the actor.
a. Naseeruddin Shah
b. Nawazuddin Siddiqui
c. Irrfan Khan
Wrong! Try again..
The correct answer is c. Gunday's story is set in the 1970s. Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor play small-time thieves, who get involved with the coal mafia. Irrfan Khan plays an Intelligence agent, who tries to catch them.
Correct! Gunday's story is set in the 1970s. Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor play small-time thieves, who get involved with the coal mafia. Irrfan Khan plays an Intelligence agent, who tries to catch them.
Image: Arjun Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Ranveer Singh in Gunday.
Image: Farhan Akhtar and Vidya Balan.
Image: Rajkumar Hirani, Sanjay Dutt and Aamir Khan shoot for P.K.
Image: Salman Khan.
Photographs: Pradeep Bandekar
Image: Saif Ali Khan and Katrina Kaif in Phantom.
Image: Ajay Devgn in Singham.
Image: Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobaara. They will now be seen in Bang Bang.
Source: www.rediff.com
Happy New Year Official Trailer#1 2014 Bollywood Movie HD
New releases: March 2014 Bollywood movies
Sandeep Chowta is an Indian Bollywood and Tollywood music director and head of Columbia Records in India. He has also sung some of his songs.
In 2003, he produced an anti substance abuse documentary, titled Dead End, that was entered into numerous film festivals and...
Poorna Jagannathan (born 22 December 1972) is an American actress who plays Saya Katdare on USA's Royal Pains. She came to prominence after starring in the Bollywood film Delhi Belly opposite Imran Khan.
Jagannathan was born in Tunis,Tunisia but grew up in...
Top 10 Movies of Bollywood 2014
New film releases Bollywood
New released Bollywood film
New releases in Bollywood
New Release of Bollywood
Aishwarya Rai Bollywood Songs
Bollywood Box Office Report
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Latest Box Office Report of Bollywood
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2, 1:58.2s; 3, 1:53.1s; 1:50 ($1,141,831)
Sold at Harrisburg as a yearling for $120,000
Dam is Michelle's Angel, 3, 1:54 ($449,445)
2nd dam is Almost An Angel, 3, 1:56 ($959,695 int.)
At 2, Winner of 2 New York Sire Stakes divisions & New York State Fair
At 3, Winner of Empire Breeders Classic elimination & Final, Kentucky Futurity heat, New York State Fair, 5 New York Sire Stakes divisions, Yonkers Trot & Tompkins Memorial Stakes
Set World Record of 1:54.1 winning the Yonkers Trot. World Record for 3-year-olds on a half-mile track, a track record for the same division, the fastest Yonkers Trot ever raced & a tie for the all-age trotting track record
Set all-age track record of 1:54.3 winning New York Sire Stakes division at Batavia Downs, the previous record had been 1:56 & had stood since 1993
At 4, bred a select group of mares
At 5, returned to the races & set World Record of 1:50 at The Meadowlands in John Cashman Memorial elimination
During his career, was able to win on a 1/2-mile track, 5/8-mile track, 7/8-mile track & mile track
Competed and won against the best trotters in North America including Googoo Gaagaa, Market Share & Sebastian K
Sire of Fast Canadian Record Holders
• Guardian Angel AS, All-Aged & Aged Trotting Horse on a Mile (1:50.4)
• Dream Nation, 2-year-old gelding on a 5/8ths (1:56.3)
• All Wrapped Up, 3-year-old gelding on a 5/8ths (1:54.1)
• Twin B Archie, 2-year-old horse on a half-mile (1:57.1)
Sire of 3 who have earned $900,000+ including:
Guardian Angel AS, 1:50.1 ($1,632,640)
Top Flight Angel, 1:52.3f ($996,244)
Fashion Frenzie, 1:51.2s -'22 ($955,931)
Sire of 2021 O'Brien Award Winner, Twin B Archie, 2, 1:54.3s; 3, 1:53.1s -'22 ($775,518)
2022 Simcoe Stakes Winner & ON SBOA Final Winner
Sire of 2022 ONSS Super Final Winner, Safe Conduct, 3, 1:53.2s -'22 ($300,200)
Loyalty and multiple mare discounts are available. Call 905.838.2145 for more information.
All earnings & records as of 12/14/22
STUD FEE: $7,500 CAD
Ontario Stallion - Archangel
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Almost An Angel
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"Archangel is one of the classiest horses I have been around, it was a pleasure to have been a part of his fabulous career. He always gave his best and then some, I have such fond memories of him."
-Peter Arrigenna, Archangel's trainer
Icanflylikeanangel digs in 5/26/22
Twin B Archie In SBOA Final 5/23/22
Wings Of Speed Wins Open 3/24/22
Dream Nation Nabs Preferred 3/7/22
2021 O'Brien Award Winners 2/6/22
OBrien Nominees Announced 12/22/21
Fashion Frenzie - Super Final 10/16/21
Twin B Archie - Super Final 10/16/21
2021 Grassroots Finals 10/9/21
Fashion Frenzie - Goodtimes 9/12/21
Fashion Frenzie - ONSS Gold 8/24/21
Beads best in Hamb Maturity 7/17/21
Logan Park in Rideau Record 7/12/21
'Mowgli' Sets Hiawatha History 7/3/21
Trotters Tussle For Gold 7/2/21
Angel Nation Wins 7/1/21
Frosh Fillies Featured 6/24/21
Frosh Fillies at Mohawk 6/18/21
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What a difference a few months made to my sanity.
It was almost three months ago that my wife and I took the monumental decision for me to accept a voluntary retrenchment package from my employer, this decision wasn't taken lightly and came about after many weeks of hum'ing and ha'ing over whether now is the right time to take such a leap of faith.
Anyone who knows the South African job market is aware that in this uncertain political and economic climate, employment is something you hold onto for dear life, particularly if you are a white, middle aged man. Now don't get me wrong, this isn't having a go at the current regime for trying to right the injustices of the past, this is simply a reality we face here at the Southern end of Africa. And even if I wasn't the incorrect demographic, the fact remains that with an unemployment rate of nearly 50%, and new entrants to the workplace not abating, this is not an easy market to be job hunting in.
Never-the-less, we took the decision to go ahead and with a heavy heart I departed my place of employment for the last eighteen years. Fortunately I hadn't spend all of that time in one place, my job roles in those eighteen years have been varied and I have had the good fortune to work with some of the best brands in the motor industry; Mercedes-Benz, smart, Maybach, AMG, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, RAM, Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Fiat to name a few… I was also fortunate enough to travel extensively, even to the point where I spent three years working for the Chrysler brands in Stuttgart Germany.
The first few weeks of my "sabbatical" – wasn't really sure what to call it, I am too young to retire – were spent simply clearing my head and reaching out to various connections that I had the good fortune to have met over the years. CV's and cover letters were updated, contact information with banks, insurance companies, municipal offices, social media sites and online shopping portals were updated to ensure my all-important footprint in the ether was maintained.
My natural instinct was to start trolling the extensive array of employment websites and literally applying for every job that I thought was suitable for my skills and abilities. Some of my job applications were responded to, some by automated messages, some by real live humans, but for the most part, more than 98% of all applications elicited absolutely no response whatsoever. Being the ever-optomist I am, I figured this was because the shear number of applications cannot all be attended to so I didn't let this get me down. Even today I send off three or four applications a day, its a numbers game and eventually the right job will come along.
Aside from the lack of interest on the part of employers out there, one of the first things that we were able to do now that I had this dearth of new found time on my hands, was to focus on my home life. Those who know us, know that our "furmaly" consists of three of the most loving Pitbulls you could ever wish to meet.
I have the most wonderful and loving wife who has been a huge part of past six years of my journey, and has shared in many of the trials and tribulations as we worked together. She has been hugely supportive of this time off, even though she has had to continue working – she parted ways with the company three months before I did – and has been nothing but a solid supporter in my life no matter how tough these past few months has been, she is a big picture person, doesn't believe in short term fixes.
I do have two daughters but as they are grown up and highly independent, we see less and less of them other than important milestones during the year.
The dogs rule our lives, and over the past few years our ever-increasing workload had prevented us from affording them the proper attention they deserve, their daily walks were reduced to weekends and the occasional morning when we could drag ourselves out of bed before the sun comes up, this became an unacceptable, not to mention selfish act on our part.
The time at home has allowed us to now get out and exercise not only our dogs, but we are also getting to work-out muscles we had almost forgotten about and importantly out into the fresh air (relatively fresh given our city location!).
We are also able to take time to go for breakfasts, lunches and even the odd mid-afternoon cocktail or two, all things we had put on hold for many years owing to our "dedication" to the job. Movies and shopping during the middle of the day can now be done without having to worry that your time-sheet may be docked, or the ever present eye of the HR department is clock-watching to make sure you don't take more of the company time than you are entitled to.
At the age of fifty-one I thought the need to treat me like a child was something of the past, unfortunately I was wrong, and that added to the need to move on.
So the time spent over the past three months hasn't been a waste in my eyes, far from it. I have had ample time to get my personal affairs in order, get my family life in order, and it has cleared my head and allowed me to focus on what it is I need to do to get the next phase launched. I am not going to let a small thing like unemployment dampen my entrepreneurial spirit, after all one of the reasons I left my job was to concentrate on a business venture of my own, something we had been talking about for years, but had never done anything concrete about.
One of the things I have done during my sabbatical is get my photography portfolio in order. I have a collection of many thousands of images, and from this I have created my portfolio of the best, printed many of these photos on canvas, some framed, some simply printed, and have been marketing my photographic services to various sources.
I have also set up my own website, and because I have PR skills too, I set up my own media company, and little-by-little I am making strides towards my own independence and importantly, owning my own business, something I can shape in spite of the current economic environment.
Of course your own financial situation will have a huge bearing on whether or not this is the sort of gamble anyone can take, because it is a gamble. We do not have infinite funds that allow us to retire and never do another day's work, nor do we honestly want to sit around doing as little as possible until our time here on earth is complete, but I can say that this has been some of the most valuable time I have afforded myself in years, and would recommend it to anyone, if the circumstances in your life permits.
Combining what I have learnt over the last three decades in the corporate environment, my skills as PR practitioner for thirteen of these years and my love for photography, the time has come to combine these skills and venture forth into the wide blue yonder.
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