Passage 1:
Royal Tramp II
Royal Tramp II is a 1992 Hong Kong film based on Louis Cha's novel The Deer and the Cauldron. The film is a sequel to Royal Tramp, which was released earlier in the same year.

Plot
Having been revealed as the false Empress Dowager, Lung-er returns to the Dragon Sect camp. There, the sect leader reminds her of their mission to support Ng Sam-kwai's, a military general, campaign for the throne before abdicating her title to Lung-er.
Siu-bo lounges at the brothel where he once worked but is then attacked by disciples of the One Arm Nun, an anti-Qing revolutionary figure, before being quickly subdued. When Siu-bo tries to take advantage of them, Ng Ying-hung, Ng Sam-kwai's son, exposes his lies. Scorned and unaware of the stranger's title, Siu-bo sends his men after Ying-Hung, but Lung-er, now disguised as Ying-hung's male bodyguard, easily fends them off.
At the palace, The Emperor, wary of Ng Sam-kwai's intentions, marries off the Princess to Ying-hung and assigns Siu-bo to be the Imperial Inspector General of the wedding march, so that he can keep his eyes on the general's activities. This complicates Siu-bo's relationship with Princess when she tells Siu-bo she's pregnant with his child.
The One Arm Nun and her disciple, Ah Ko, later ambushes the procession. Fighting to a standstill with Lung-er, the assailants escape with Ying-hung and Siu-bo. However, Siu-bo garners some respect from her when he reveals his dual identity as a Heaven and Earth Society commander. Lung-er finally catches up to them with reinforcements at an inn but only manages to rescue Siu-bo. Having been saved by Ying-hung before, Ah Ko elopes with him amid the confusion.
At the Dragon Sect camp, Ying-hung and Fung Sek-fan secretly poisons Lung-er and turn the followers against her. She escapes with Siu-bo but must have sex with a man before dawn, otherwise she will die. However, this will transfer 4/5th of her martial arts' power to whomever she sleeps with. Despite Siu-bo's lecherous personality, Lung-er accepts his blunt honesty as a sign of virtue and chooses to sacrifice her virginity to Siu-bo and becomes his third wife.
When Siu-bo gets back to the Princess, they execute a plan to castrate Ying-hung. With her betrothed no longer able to produce heirs, the Princess is taken by Siu-bo as his fourth wife. Enraged by the end of his family line, Ng Ying-hung prematurely gathers his troops and sets out to wage war with the Emperor. He tasks Fung Sek-fan with killing the Princess and Siu-bo. Though Chan Kan-nam manages to intervene and lets his disciple escape.
Later, the One Arm Nun captures the elopers, Ying-hung and Ah Ko, and offers them to Siu-bo. Siu-bo pardons them and even takes Ah Ko as his fifth wife. Afterward, Fung Sek-fan is promoted when he surrenders Ng Sam-kwai's battle plans and Chan Kan-nam to the Emperor. Given Siu-bo's muddied history with the Heaven and Earth Society, the Emperor tasks him with Chan's execution. Siu-bo's newfound power is difficult for him to control, and Chan helps him master it in time for him to use it against Fung. Siu-bo also uncovers the secret of the 42 Chapters books after burning them in frustration, revealing hidden stones that are left unburned, revealing map coordinates to the location of the treasure all major parties have been attempting to locate.
In order to save his master, Siu-bo defeats Fung with his newly acquired martial arts power after both falling into a hidden cave wherein the treasure is found, and swaps Feng's body with Chan's before the execution to save his master. And just as he was about to escape with his wives and Chan, the Emperor arrives with his troops, having been sold out by Siu-bo's opportunistic friend To-lung who is now involved romantically with Siu-bo's sister. But seeing that they are friends, his sister is in love with Siu-bo, and with Siu-bo bluffing that he's strong enough to demolish the Emperor and his entire army if he wanted, the Emperor lets them go, declaring that Siu-bo has died and no longer exists as far as he's concerned. Siu-bo laughs afterward that the Emperor fell for his bluff.

Cast
Stephen Chow as Wai Siu-bo
Brigitte Lin as Lung-er
Chingmy Yau as Princess Kin-ning
Michelle Reis as Ah Ko/Li Ming-ko
Natalis Chan as To-lung
Damian Lau as Chan Kan-nam
Deric Wan as Hong-hei Emperor
Kent Tong as Ng Ying-hung, Sam-kwai's son
Paul Chun as Ng Sam-kwai
Sandra Ng as Wai Chun-fa
Fennie Yuen as Seung-yee twin
Vivian Chan as Seung-yee twin
Yen Shi-kwan as Fung Sek-fan
Helen Ma as Kau-nan/one-armed Divine nun
Sharla Cheung as Mo Tung-chu / Empress Dowager
Law Lan as founder of Divine Dragon Sect
Tam Suk-moi as Ah Nong
Hoh Choi-chow as Palace guard Wen Shan Lun
Yeung Jing-jing
Wan Seung-lam
Lee Fai
Cheng Ka-sang
Ho Wing-cheung
Kwan Yung
To Wai-wo
Passage 2:
Coney Island Baby (film)
Coney Island Baby is a 2003 comedy-drama in which film producer Amy Hobby made her directorial debut. Karl Geary wrote the film and Tanya Ryno was the film's producer. The music was composed by Ryan Shore. The film was shot in Sligo, Ireland, which is known locally as "Coney Island".
The film was screened at the Newport International Film Festival. Hobby won the Jury Award for "Best First Time Director".
The film made its premiere television broadcast on the Sundance Channel.

Plot
After spending time in New York City, Billy Hayes returns to his hometown. He wants to get back together with his ex-girlfriend and take her back to America in hopes of opening up a gas station. But everything isn't going Billy's way - the townspeople aren't happy to see him, and his ex-girlfriend is engaged and pregnant. Then, Billy runs into his old friends who are planning a scam.

Cast
Karl Geary - Billy Hayes
Laura Fraser - Bridget
Hugh O'Conor - Satchmo
Andy Nyman - Franko
Patrick Fitzgerald - The Duke
Tom Hickey - Mr. Hayes
Conor McDermottroe - Gerry
David McEvoy - Joe
Thor McVeigh - Magician
Sinead Dolan - Julia

Music
The film's original score was composed by Ryan Shore.

External links
Coney Island Baby (2006) at IMDb
MSN - Movies: Coney Island Baby
Passage 3:
The Wonderful World of Captain Kuhio
The Wonderful World of Captain Kuhio (クヒオ大佐, Kuhio Taisa, lit. "Captain Kuhio") is a 2009 Japanese comedy-crime film, directed by Daihachi Yoshida, based on Kazumasa Yoshida's 2006 biographical novel, Kekkon Sagishi Kuhio Taisa (lit. "Marriage swindler Captain Kuhio"), that focuses on a real-life marriage swindler, who conned over 100 million yen (US$1.2 million) from a number of women between the 1970s and the 1990s.The film was released in Japan on 10 October 2009.

Cast
Masato Sakai - Captain Kuhio
Yasuko Matsuyuki - Shinobu Nagano
Hikari Mitsushima - Haru Yasuoka
Yuko Nakamura - Michiko Sudo
Hirofumi Arai - Tatsuya Nagano
Kazuya Kojima - Koichi Takahashi
Sakura Ando - Rika Kinoshita
Masaaki Uchino - Chief Fujiwara
Kanji Furutachi - Shigeru Kuroda
Reila Aphrodite
Sei Ando

Awards
At the 31st Yokohama Film Festival
Best Actor – Masato Sakai
Best Supporting Actress – Sakura Ando
Passage 4:
Lloyd (film)
Lloyd is a 2001 American comedy film. The film was released on May 4, 2001.

Plot
Lloyd is the "class clown." He often gets in trouble with teachers, one of whom is very strict. When he tries to rebel, he is put into a class for "less enthusiastic students." Once there, he joins the other students in the group: Troy, Carla, and Storm. He soon falls in love with the class's newest member, Tracy (Kristin Parker). However, she is taken by storm. When Lloyd talks to his mother, she tells him that he can still win her back by being himself.
The role of Lloyd is played by Todd Bosley. Tom Arnold, a friend of the producers, played a small role.

Cast
Todd Bosley - Lloyd
Brendon Ryan Barrett - Troy
Mary Mara - Joann
Chloe Peterson - Carla
Sammy Elliott - Nathan
Patrick Higgins - Storm
Kristin Parker - Tracy
Tom Arnold - Tom
Taylor Negron - Mr. Weid

Production
The film was shot in Sunnyvale, California, in 1997.

External links
Lloyd at IMDb
Passage 5:
La Princesse de Clèves (film)
La Princesse de Clèves (Italian: La principessa di Cleves) is a 1961 French-Italian drama film based on the 1678 novel of the same name.

Cast
Marina Vlady – La princesse de Clèves
Jean Marais – Le prince de Clèves
Jean-François Poron – Jacques, Duke of Nemours
Henri Piégay – Le vidame de Chartres
Annie Ducaux – Diane de Poitiers
Lea Padovani – Catherine de' Medici
Passage 6:
Nous, princesses de Clèves
Nous, princesses de Clèves is a French documentary film directed by Régis Sauder, filmed at the Lycée Diderot and released on 3 March 2011.

Synopsis
The movie follows the thoughts and emotions of various teenagers as they prepare to take their Baccalauréat by reading the classic 1678 French novel, La Princesse de Clèves. The film highlights the differences and connections between the lives of the students, many of which are from immigrant and working-class families, and the passions and plots of the 17th century French court.

Festivals and awards
The film was screened at different film festivals throughout the world, including: 2011 Doc à Tunis - Tunis; 2011 Docudays - Beirut International Documentary Festival - Beyrouth (Liban); 2011 RIDM - Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal - Montréal (Canada); 2011 SFFF - San Francisco International Film Festival - San Francisco (États-Unis); 2011 Visions du Réel - Nyon (Suisse), ... and received the 2011 Étoile de la Scam.

Selected cast
Sarah Yagoubi as herself
Abou Achoumi as himself
Laura Badrane as herself
Morgane Badrane as herself
Manel Boulaabi as herself
Virginie Da Vega as herself
Thérèse Demarque as herself
Passage 7:
Invasion of the Neptune Men
Invasion of the Neptune Men (宇宙快速船, Uchū Kaisokusen) is a 1961 superhero film produced by Toei Company Ltd. The film stars Sonny Chiba as Iron Sharp (called Space Chief in the U.S. version).The film was released in 1961 in Japan and was later released in 1964 direct to television in the United States. In 1998, the film was featured on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Plot
Astronomer Shinichi Tachibana has a secret identity as superhero "Iron Sharp" and has many children as friends. When they are attacked by a group of metallic aliens ("Neptune Men" in English), Iron Sharp drives the aliens away. The resourceful Tachibana helps develop an electric barrier to block the aliens from coming to the Earth.  After several losses by the aliens, they announce that they will invade the Earth, throwing the world into a state of panic. The aliens destroy entire cities with their mothership and smaller fighters. After Iron Sharp destroys multiple enemy ships, Japan fires nuclear missiles at the mothership, destroying it.

Cast
Sonny Chiba as scientist Shinichi Tachibana / Iron Sharp
Kappei Matsumoto as Dr. Tanigawa
Ryuko Minakami as Yōko (Tanigawa's daughter)
Shinjirō Ehara as scientist Yanagida
Mitsue Komiya as scientist Saitō

Style
Invasion of the Neptune Men is part of Japan's tokusatsu genre, which involves science fiction and/or superhero films that feature heavy use of special effects.

Production
Invasion of the Neptune Men was an early film for Sonny Chiba. Chiba started working in Japanese television where he starred in superhero television series in 1960. Chiba continued working back and forth between television and film until the late 1960s when he became a more popular star.

Release
Uchū Kaisokusen was released in Japan on 19 July 1961. The film was not released theatrically in the United States, but it was released directly to American television by Walter Manley on March 20, 1964, dubbed in English and retitled Invasion of the Neptune Men.The film was also released as Space Chief, Space Greyhound and Invasion from a Planet.

Reception and legacy
In later reviews of the film, Bruce Eder gave the film a one-star rating out of five, stating that the film was "the kind of movie that gave Japanese science fiction films a bad name. The low-quality special effects, the non-existent acting, the bad dubbing, and the chaotic plotting and pacing were all of a piece with what critics had been saying, erroneously, about the Godzilla movies for years." The review referred to the film's "cheesy special effects and ridiculous dialogue taking on a sort of so-bad-they're-good charm", and described the film as a "thoroughly memorable (if not necessarily enjoyable, outside of the MST3K continuum) specimen of bad cinema."On October 11, 1997 the film was shown on the movie-mocking television show Mystery Science Theater 3000. In his review of the film, Bruce Eder of AllMovie described the episode as a memorable one, specifically the cast watching the repetitive aerial dogfights between spaceships, and one of the hosts remarking that "Independence Day seems a richly nuanced movie". Criticism of the film included excessive use of WWII stock footage in the action scenes (especially the obviously noticeable shot featuring a picture of Adolf Hitler in one building).In his book Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, Stuart Galbraith IV stated that the film "had a few surprises" despite a "woefully familiar script". Galbraith noted that the film was not as over-the-top as Prince of Space and that the opticals in the film were as strong as anything Toho had produced at the time. Galbraith suggested the effects may have been lifted from Toei's The Final War (aka World War III Breaks Out) from 1961.

See also
List of Japanese films of 1961
List of Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes
List of science fiction films of the 1960s

Notes
Passage 8:
It's a King
It's a King is a 1933 British comedy film directed by Jack Raymond and starring Sydney Howard, Joan Maude and Cecil Humphreys. It was made at Elstree Studios by the producer Herbert Wilcox's British and Dominions company.

Plot
Farce in which insurance agent Albert King is discovered to be the exact double of the king of Helgia, and even has his name in reverse (King Albert). Insurance man Albert enjoys a romance with a princess, before finally saving the King from assassination by anarchists.

Cast
Sydney Howard as Albert King / King Albert
Joan Maude as Princess Yasma
Cecil Humphreys as Count Yendoff
George De Warfaz as Colonel Brandt
Arthur Goullet as Leader
Franklyn Bellamy as Salvatore
Bela Berkes as himself
Lew Stone as himself
Passage 9:
Vai Raja Vai
Vai Raja Vai (transl. Place It King, Place It) is a 2015 Indian Tamil language black comedy crime thriller film written and directed by Aishwarya Dhanush, and produced by AGS Entertainment featuring an ensemble cast starring Gautham Karthik, Priya Anand, Vivek, Gayathri Raguram and Daniel Balaji with S. J. Suryah, Taapsee Pannu and Dhanush playing guest appearances. The film was announced on 12 September 2013, along with the commencement of principal photography.Yuvan Shankar Raja composed the film's soundtrack and score. The film's plot summary is a mix of Hollywood movies Next and 21.
The film was released on 1 May 2015 to mixed reviews from critics and was declared successful at the box office.

Plot
Karthik is a middle-class boy gifted with extrasensory perception who works at an IT company. He has a girlfriend Priya. During school days, he scores good in the exams using his power, so his father asks him to suppress this power to avoid suspicion due to prior incidents. Then Karthik meets Pandian aka Panda at his office and befriends him. Panda, a gambler, learns of Karthik's power and asks him to play cricket gambling by using his power. Rangarajan aka Rande is in charge of cricket gambling under an unknown man known as Kumar. Karthik wins a crore in gambling and uses 10 lakhs for his elder sister Gayathri's marriage. Panda, Karthik and Sathish vacation in Goa to spend the gambling money. There, Rande threatens Karthik to play roulette in the Casino Royale ship. Initially Karthik hesitates, but Rande threatens him by kidnapping Priya. Karthik accepts to play. By this incident, Priya realises Karthik's power. To train Karthik, Shreya comes to help. Karthik plays the game and tricks Rande to take his place in gambling. The casino officials arrest Rande. Karthik, with his money won in the gambling with Panda, Sathish and Priya, escapes and goes back home. Shreya helps Rande escape from guards by the saying of Kumar. Rande traces Karthik and takes him to his place. There, Karthik uses his power to fight Rande's sidekicks and threatens Rande. At that time, a Rolls-Royce Phantom arrives and is revealed that the unknown man Kumar is Kokki Kumar, and he asks Karthik to play for him in politics.

Cast
Production
Casting
Initially, director Aishwarya's choice for the lead actor was Atharvaa, but due to schedule conflicts he was unable to work on the project, therefore, Gautham Karthik was signed to play the male lead. It was later announced that Priya Anand was going to be the female lead opposite Gautham in the film. Velraj was confirmed as cinematographer for the film.Director Vasanth was cast as Gautham's father to make his acting debut, while choreographer Gayathri Raguram was signed to play Gautham's sister, making her return as an actress after a ten-year hiatus. Taapsee Pannu and Daniel Balaji were chosen to perform guest appearances in the film. Taapsee's role would be a surprise element in the film as for the first time she plays a character with a negative shade. She later stated that she was not playing the villain in the film but "an aloof girl who is a regular at casinos". In November 2014, Dhanush also shot for a cameo role, reprising the role he played in the film Pudhupettai, Kokki Kumar.

Filming
The film was mostly shot in Chennai, with major portions being shot at Pacifica Tech Park, OMR. The climax scenes were filmed in a cruise liner as the ship sailed a seven-night itinerary across Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. In December 2013, the crew filmed a song in Osaka, Japan. Gayathri Raguram, besides acting in the film, choreographed the love duet. A few scenes and songs were also canned in Goa.

Soundtrack
Yuvan Shankar Raja was chosen to compose the film's soundtrack and score, making his first collaboration with Aishwarya R. Dhanush. The soundtrack album featuring five tracks was released on 10 December 2014 in Chennai. Four months earlier, a single from the album, "Move Your Body", a song in the trap-and-bass genre, which was written by Aishwarya's husband, actor Dhanush and sung by Maestro Ilaiyaraaja, was released on YouTube on 18 August 2014. Besides Dhanush, Madhan Karky wrote two songs, while Gana Bala and Hiphop Tamizha wrote and performed each a song.

Release
A first-look teaser of 70 seconds was released on 18 April 2014 which received a good response. The trailer was released alongside the soundtrack on 10 December 2014. The satellite rights of the film were sold to STAR Vijay.

Critical reception
The New Indian Express stated the film was "compact, breezy, stylish and a pleasant watch". Sify called the film "a perfect recipe of a full-on entertainer without even a dash of obscenity or violence...the film is smartly packaged as an exciting and stylish entertainer". The Times of India gave 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "The film isn't perfect, far from it, it has a few weak spots that could have been disastrous but the confidence with which Aishwaryaa manages to narrate this story helps us tide over its issues".The Hindu wrote that "her second film too suffers from bipolar disorder". Indo-Asian News Service gave 2 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Vai Raja Vai is a good effort gone completely awry", noting that "the first half is incredible fun" but that the film "goes haywire post interval". Rediff gave the same rating and wrote, "Despite a good storyline, young enthusiastic cast and an impressive technical crew, the film barely manages to hold your attention", calling the film a "let down".

Box office
The film collected ₹3.35 crore (US$420,000) in Tamil Nadu in first day.
Passage 10:
Rakka (film)
Rakka is a 2017 American-Canadian military science fiction short film made by Oats Studios and  directed by Neill Blomkamp. It was released on YouTube and Steam on 14 June 2017.

Plot
Chapter 1: World
In the near future, Earth will be attacked by technologically superior and highly aggressive reptilian aliens called the Klum (pronounced "klume"). Humanity is nearing extinction with millions dead or enslaved. The Klum transform the Earth in favor of their own ideal living conditions. They do this at first by burning forests and destroying cities. Then they build megastructures that alter the atmosphere by pumping out methane. The gas makes it progressively harder for terrestrial life to breathe. And it warms the climate, which leads to flooding of coastal cities.
The story begins in 2020, from the viewpoint of resistance fighters in Texas, a group of US Army soldiers and many others who have banded together. Most human survivors live underground or among ruins. They have barely enough provisions, weapons, and ammunition. The humans fight by using whatever they can against the primary Klum weapon: an omnipresent nanite in their weaponry, and telepathic control over any human that makes direct eye contact with them.
The resistance makes "brain-barriers" that block this
mind control. The Klum know, however, that a scarcity of materials means a scarcity of brain barriers. They hope, therefore, to win a war of attrition against the human survivors.
Some prisoners are living incubators for the Klum's young, which inevitably kills the victims. Others are dissected. Still other humans are converted into human loudspeakers that urge humans to surrender into "conservatories". Very few humans ever escape.
After the Klum destroy a militia convoy with an airstrike, one of the surviving soldiers witnesses an angel-like being materialize from thin air. The narration describes ″them″ as mankind's saviours.

Chapter 2: Amir & Nosh
Nosh is a tech-savvy pyromaniac and bomb-maker, eking out a living in a scrapyard far from the resistance. The resistance despises Nosh for his murderous glee and demands - giving the sick or suicidal over as bait during his many IED ambushes. They must, however, give in to Nosh's demands to
secure the IEDs and the brain-barriers he makes.
The resistance stumble across Amir, a mute who has escaped from the Klum. He has extensive cybernetics across his head and shoulders. Amid opposition from her lieutenants, the resistance leader, Jasper, releases Amir from her custody into the care of a resistance fighter named Sarah.
Sarah, having lost her daughter to the Klum's experiments, takes a liking to him. She gives Amir food and drink while trying to persuade him to help the resistance fight the Klum by using the precognitive abilities he acquired via the aliens' experiments.

Chapter 3: Siege
Amir recovers physically and mentally. Then, because of his implant, he has a premonition involving a wounded Klum on the run from militia forces.
Sarah pleads with Amir to help the militia officers to stop the genocide. The more she talks to him, the more his eyes change, seeing the premonition of the impending attack more clearly. Amir, still mute, foresees the militia successfully shooting down an alien aircraft, and the pilot is the alien on the run.
Sarah asks Amir if they will be able to learn how to hunt the Klum and teach them how to fear. Unable to answer, he foresees the Klum telekinetically bashing one of the militia soldiers, disconnecting his brain barrier and causing him to be mind-controlled, turning on his comrades, who are forced to kill him.
Sarah tells Amir that he now has the abilities the aliens have and that he is to use them for humanity. Back in the vision, the militia surround the Klum; Jasper orders the militia to cut off its head. The film ends with Sarah urging Amir to use his abilities because he is humanity's last hope.

Cast
Sigourney Weaver as Jasper
Eugene Khumbanyiwa as Amir
Robert Hobbs as Carl
Carly Pope as Sarah
Brandon Auret as Nosh
Mike Huff as Policeman
Owen McCrae as Klum
Connor Page as Child
Jay Anstey as A suicide bomber
Justin Shaw as Man in medical device
Carla Marais as eight-year-old girl
Ryan Angilley as Martinez
Alec Gillis as Militia officer 1
Ruan Coetzee as Militia officer 2
Paul Davies as Militia officer 3
Pieter Jacobz as Militia officer 4