Pi [1998]

Pi, also titled π, is a 1998 psychological thriller film written and directed by Darren Aronofsky. It is Aronofsky's directorial debut, and earned him the Directing Award at the 1998Sundance Film Festival, the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay and the Gotham Open Palm Award. The title refers to the mathematical constant pi (π)

Story

Maximillian "Max" Cohen (Sean Gullette), the story's protagonist and unreliable narrator, is an umber who believes that everything in nature can be understood through numbers. He is capable of doing simple arithmetic calculations involving large numbers in his head. Max also suffers from cluster headaches, as well as extreme paranoia, hallucinations, and social anxiety disorder. Other than a woman living next door who sometimes speaks to him, Max's only social interaction is with Sol Robeson (Mark Margolis), his old mathematics mentor.

Max begins making stock predictions based on the calculations of his computer, Euclid. In the middle of printing out his picks, Euclid suddenly crashes after spitting out a seemingly random216-digit number, as well as a single pick at one-tenth its current value. Disgusted, Max tosses out the printout of the number. The next morning, he checks the financial pages and sees that the pick Euclid made was accurate. He searches desperately for the printout but cannot find it. Sol becomes unnerved when Max mentions the string of numbers, asking if the string was 216 digits long. When Max questions him about the string, Sol indicates that he came across such a number many years ago. He urges Max to slow down and try taking a break.

At a coffee shop, Max meets Lenny Meyer (Ben Shenkman), a Hasidic Jew who coincidentally does mathematical research on the Torah. Lenny demonstrates some simple Gematria, the correspondence of the Hebrew alphabet to numbers, and explains how some people believe that the Torah is a string of numbers that form a code sent by God. Max takes an interest when he realizes that some of the number concepts Lenny discusses are similar to other mathematical concepts, such as the Fibonacci sequence. Max is also met by agents of a Wall Street firm that are interested in his work. One of the agents, Marcy Dawson, offers Max a powerful classified computer chip called "Ming Mecca" in exchange for the results of his work, which Max eventually accepts.

Using the chip, Max has Euclid analyze mathematical patterns in the Torah. Euclid spits out the 216-digit number before crashing again. When his computer refuses to print out the number, Max begins to write it down. Midway through the writing, Max realizes that he knows the pattern, undergoes a sudden epiphany, and passes out. Thereafter, Max appears to become clairvoyant and is able to visualize the stock market patterns he had been searching for. But his headaches also increase in intensity, and he discovers a strange vein-like bulge protruding from his right temple. Max has a falling out with Sol after the latter urges him to quit his work.

Dawson and her agents grab Max on the street, and try to force him to explain the 216-digit number. They had found the original printout and had been trying to use it to manipulate the stock market in their favor, but as a result, caused it to crash. Although Max is held at gunpoint, Lenny drives by and rescues him. However, Lenny and his companions make similar demands on Max to give them the number. They finally reveal their intentions: they believe the number was meant for them to bring about the messianic age, as the number represents the unspeakable name of God. Max refuses, insisting that whatever the source of the number is, it has been revealed to him alone.

Max flees and tries to visit Sol, only to find that he has died. Max searches his house and finds mathematical scribbling similar to his own. On a Go board, with its pieces arranged in an Archimedean spiral, Max finds a piece of paper with the 216-digit number. Driven to the brink of madness, Max experiences another headache and resists the urge to take his painkillers. Believing that the number and the headaches are linked, Max tries to concentrate on the number through the pain. After passing out, Max has a vision of himself standing in a white void and repeating the digits of the number. The vision ends with Max hugging his neighbor, who turns out to be an illusion. Max stands alone in his trashed apartment. Giving up, Max burns the paper with the number, and trepans himself in the right temple with a power drill.

Later, a little girl with a calculator approaches Max in a park asking math problems. Max smiles and reveals that he can no longer perform complex mental calculations. He observes the trees blowing in the breeze, at peace.

An Education[2009]

An Education is a 2009 British coming-of-age drama film, based on an autobiographical article in Granta by British journalist Lynn Barber. The film was directed by Lone Scherfig.

Story

In 1961 London, Jenny Mellor is a 16-year-old schoolgirl, on track to enter University when she meets a charming older man, David Goldman, who pursues her romantically. He takes her to concerts, clubs, and fine restaurants, and easily charms her parents into approving of the relationship. When Jenny recognizes that David is a con man who makes money through a variety of shady practices, she is initially shocked but silences her misgivings in the face of David's persuasive charm.

When David proposes marriage, Jenny accepts and leaves school. She then discovers David is already married. When she reveals her discovery to David, he drops out of sight. Jenny despairs, feeling she has thrown her life away, but with the help of her favorite teacher, resumes her studies and is accepted at Oxford the following year.

The Last King Of Scotland[2006]

The Last King of Scotland is a 2006 British drama film based on Giles Foden's novel of the same name. It was adapted by screenwriters Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock and directed by Kevin.

Story

The film opens in Scotland in 1970 as Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) graduates from medical school. Faced with the dull prospect of joining his father in the family's village practice, he decides instead to seek adventure abroad by taking up a position in a Ugandan missionary clinic run by Dr. David Merrit (Adam Kotz) and his wife, Sarah (Gillian Anderson). Garrigan quickly becomes attracted to Sarah, who enjoys his attention but refuses to engage in an extramarital with him.

Coinciding with Garrigan's arrival in Uganda, General Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker) is concluding a successful coup d’état to overthrow incumbent president Milton Obote. The two men meet at the scene of a minor car accident, where Garrigan treats Amin's injured hand. Amin, who admires Scotland for its long resilience under English rule, is delighted to discover the doctor's nationality. Garrigan is impressed by Amin's charisma and affability, and by his vision of an egalitarian golden age for Uganda. Their friendship is cemented when Amin exchanges his military shirt for Garrigan's "Scotland" T-shirt. Some days later, Amin invites Garrigan to become his personal physician and to take charge of modernising the country's health care system.

Garrigan soon becomes the president's trusted confidant. Amin comes to rely on him for much more than medical care, even consulting him on matters of state. Although Garrigan is aware of the shootings and executions going on around Kampala, he accepts Amin's explanation that cracking down on Obote's remaining supporters will bring a lasting peace to the country. However, Garrigan's privileged lifestyle, obviously funded through the economic exploitation of the impoverished Ugandan people, belies the rectitude of Amin's government.

Garrigan discovers that the polygamous leader has ostracised the youngest of his three wives, Kay (Kerry Washington), because she has given birth to an epileptic son, Mackenzie (Apollo Okwenje Omamo). In the course of treating Mackenzie's condition, Garrigan falls for Kay, and the two become lovers.

Garrigan increasingly loses faith in Amin as he witnesses the president's increasing paranoia, brutality and xenophobia. Amin, who trusts no one, replaces the doctor's British passport with a Ugandan one to prevent him from escaping. The discovery of the Ugandan passport leads Garrigan to a frantic visit for help to the local British Foreign Office representative; he is told that, due to his complicity with the regime's atrocities, the British will help him to leave Uganda only on one condition: Garrigan must use his role as Amin's personal physician to assassinate the dictator. Garrigan is unwilling.

His situation worsens when Kay informs him that she has become pregnant with his child. Naturally if her pregnancy becomes known to Amin, she will be murdered for her infidelity, so she begs Garrigan to carry out a secret abortion. Delayed by Amin's command that he attend a press conference for Western journalists, Garrigan fails to meet Kay at the appointed time; she concludes that she has been abandoned to her fate, and seeks out a primitive abortion in a nearby village, where she is apprehended by Amin's forces. When Garrigan searches for her, he finds only her savagely mutilated corpse. As he falls retching to his knees, Garrigan finally confronts the palpable inhumanity of Amin's regime, and decides that killing him is the only way to put a stop to it all.

Shortly thereafter, a hijacked aircraft is flown to Entebbe by pro-Palestinian hijackers seeking asylum from agents of international law. Amin, intending to help the "Palestinian brothers", rushes to the scene, taking Garrigan along. At the airport, one of Amin's bodyguards discovers Garrigan's plot to poison Amin, under the ruse of giving him pills for a headache. His treachery revealed, Garrigan is beaten by Amin's henchmen. Amin himself arrives and discloses that he is aware of the doctor's relationship with Kay. He has his henchmen pierce Garrigan's chest with meat hooks and thus hang him by the skin.

While Amin arranges the release of all hostages except Israelis, Garrigan's torturers temporarily leave him broken and bleeding on the floor while they relax and drink in another room. Garrigan's medical colleague, Dr. Junju (David Yellow), takes advantage of the opportunity to rescue him, at the same time urging him to tell the world the truth about Amin's brutal regime, wryly asserting that as Garrigan is a white man, the world nations will believe him and investigate Amin's rule. Junju gives Garrigan his own jacket and wipes the blood from his face, enabling him to mingle unnoticed with the crowd of freed hostages and board the plane that will carry them out of Uganda. When the torturers return and discover Garrigan's absence, Junju is summarily executed by one of them. The plane departs with Garrigan on board; Amin is informed too late to prevent it. The film closes by showing actual footage of the real Idi Amin, whilst a caption reveals that over 300,000 Ugandan citizens were killed under Amin's dictatorship.

Sherlock Holmes[2009]

Sherlock Holmes is a 2009 action/mystery film based on the name created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The film was directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey and Dan Lin.

Story

In 1892 London, famous consulting detective Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) and his partner Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) race to prevent the ritual murder of a woman by Lord Henry Blackwood (Mark Strong), who has killed five other young women similarly. They stop the murder before Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan) and the police arrive to arrest Blackwood.

Three months later, a bored Holmes' eccentric behavior again annoys Watson, his roommate. While he enjoys their adventures together, Watson looks forward to marrying Mary Morstan (Kelly Reilly) and leaving 221B Baker Street. Blackwood is sentenced to death and requests to see Holmes in prison, where he warns of three more impending deaths that will cause great changes to the world. Blackwood is subsequently hanged and pronounced dead by Watson. Three days later, Holmes is visited by Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), a professional thief and his former adversary, who asks him to find a missing man named Luke Reordan. After her departure, Holmes follows her as she meets with her secret employer, hidden in the shadows of a carriage. The concealed man states that Reordan is the key to Blackwood's plans. Holmes only learns that the man is a professor and that he intimidates Adler.

Blackwood's tomb is destroyed from the inside out, Reordan is found dead inside the coffin and sightings of a living Blackwood cause public panic. Following a series of clues from the body, Holmes and Watson find Reordan's home and discover experiments attempting to merge science with magic. After they survive a battle with Blackwood's men, Holmes is taken to the Temple of the Four Orders, a secret magical organization. The leaders — Lord Chief Justice Sir Thomas Rotheram (James Fox), Ambassador Standish (William Hope), and Secretary Lord Coward (Hans Matheson) — ask Holmes to stop Blackwood, a former member of the society and, as Holmes deduces from physical similarities, Sir Thomas' son. Sir Thomas and Standish are later killed through apparently supernatural means by Blackwood, allowing him to control the Order. He plans to overthrow the British, and then conquer the United States and the world. Lord Coward, secretly working with Blackwood, issues an warrant for Holmes.

Holmes goes into hiding and studies Blackwood's rituals, concluding that the next target is Parliament. Holmes tricks Coward into revealing that the plan is to kill its members. He, Adler and Watson discover a machine below the Palace of Westminster, based on Reordan's experiments, designed to release cyanide gas into the Parliament chambers, killing everyone but Blackwood and his supporters. As Holmes and Watson battle Blackwood's men, Adler removes the cyanide containers from the machine and flees, pursued by Holmes. Blackwood and Coward realize their plan has failed; Coward is captured but Blackwood escapes. Holmes confronts Adler on top of the incomplete Tower Bridge, but is interrupted by Blackwood. Holmes tricks him into becoming entangled in the ropes and chains hanging over the Thames, while Holmes explains the technical trickery behind Blackwood's supposed magic. As they battle, Blackwood, with a noose of chains around his neck, falls from the bridge and is hanged.

Adler explains that her employer is Professor Moriarty, warning that Moriarty is as intelligent as Holmes but far more devious. As Watson moves out of 221B, the police report to him and Holmes that a dead officer was found near Blackwood's device. Professor Moriarty used the confrontations with Adler and Blackwood as a diversion while he took a key component, based on the new science of radio, from the machine. Holmes looks forward to the new case and new adversary.

Paul 2011

Paul is a 2011 science fiction comedy film directed by Greg Mottola, written by Simon Peggand Nick Frost, and starring Pegg, Frost, and the voice of Seth Rogen as the title character. The film contains numerous references to other science fiction films, especially those of Steven Spielberg, as well as to general science fiction fandom.

Story

In 2009, Graeme Willy and Clive Gollings (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) are two English comic book nerds and best friends who have travelled to America to attend the annual Comic-Con convention. Afterwards, the two take a road trip in their RV to visit all the sites of major extraterrestrial importance. At one stop, Graeme and Clive visit the Little A'Le'Inn where two hunters confront them, assuming they might be homosexual. In a hurried leave, Clive accidentally reverses the RV into the hunters' truck, leaving a dent. Later, they see headlights racing up behind them and, believing it to be the hunters, they speed off in their RV. Eventually, the vehicle catches up and they realize it's just a car. However, the car suddenly wrecks up right in front of them, and rolls off the highway. When Graeme and Clive investigate the crash, they meet and discover an alien named Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) who is in desperate need of their help.

Although shocked by the appearance of Paul, Graeme agrees to give Paul a ride, but Clive is not happy about the idea. Later, Lorenzo Zoil (Jason Bateman), a shady government agent, arrives at the site of the crashed car and informs his mysterious female superior over the radio that he's closing in on Paul, and she recommends using local law enforcement as back-up. Zoil then recruits two inept FBI agents, Haggard (Bill Hader) and O'Reilly (Joe Lo Truglio), to aid in his mission, without telling them the nature of their target.

Graeme, Clive and Paul pull into a motor park run by Ruth Buggs (Kristen Wiig), a creationistChristian, and her controlling father, Moses (John Carroll Lynch). The trio bond around their campgrill, and Paul reveals that, ever since he was captured by the government, he had been advising them in all manner of scientific and sociological achievements, including giving Steven Spielberg the idea for E.T. and inventing the character of Fox Mulder. However, he discovered that he had outlived his usefulness as a receptacle of knowledge, and the government was now intending to surgically remove Paul's brain in an attempt to harness his abilities. With help from a friend inside Area 51, Paul sent an S.O.S. to his home planet, and his people were now en route to pick him up. The government pushed up the schedule for Paul's surgery, however, prompting his rapid escape. The next morning, Paul inadvertently reveals himself to Ruth, and the trio are forced to kidnap her and make a hasty escape. Paul then shatters Ruth's faith by sharing his knowledge of the universe via telepathic link; at first horrified, Ruth suddenly becomes eager to sin, which her father had raised her to fear doing. She initially doesn't trust Paul, but he heals her eye, as she has been blind in it since the age of four.

Meanwhile, Zoil, Haggard, and O'Reilly talk to Ruth's father, who claims she was abducted by a 'demon'. Haggard finds a drawing of Paul that Graeme did, and becomes suspicious of Zoil's motives, especially after he accidentally overhears Zoil reporting to his mysterious supervisor over the radio. When Graeme, Clive and Ruth encounter the hunters from earlier, and are saved by Paul, Haggard later has his suspicions confirmed by showing the hunters Graeme's drawing, which elicits a fearful response. Whilst stopping in a small town, O'Reilly accidentally encounters Paul in a comic book shop, prompting the foursome to flee. When Haggard and O'Reilly tell Zoil what they saw, he pulls a gun on them, and orders them to return to headquarters, before going after the RV on his own. Contrary to his orders, however, the two FBI agents follow Zoil in the same direction.

Eventually, Paul reveals his intention to return to the girl whose dog he crashed his ship on in 1947 and who subsequently saved his life, who is now an old woman, Tara Walton (Blythe Danner). After spending her life being ridiculed for what she said she saw, Tara seems grateful to see that Paul simply exists. She turns her gas cooker on to make tea, but is interrupted by Haggard and O'Reilly on one side of the house, and Zoil on the other. As the motley crew escapes and drives off with Paul, O'Reilly shoots at them, and the gas ignites, destroying the house. A winded Zoil tries to follow, but Haggard takes off first, running Moses (who'd also been tracking the RV) off the road, and catching up to the RV. However, thanks to an error of judgment, Haggard accidentally drives off a cliff, and is killed, leaving Zoil in hot pursuit. He reassures his superior that he'll have Paul within an hour, but she declares herself tired of waiting, and informs Zoil that she's ordered a military response, prompting Zoil to shoot his radio.

When Paul, Graeme, Clive, Ruth and Tara arrive at the rendezvous, they set off a signal and wait. Eventually, eerie orange lights show up over the surrounding trees, and everyone believes that it is Paul’s race. However, it is an army helicopter, with 'the Big Guy' (Sigourney Weaver) on board, Zoil's shadowy superior. As she and three troops move to shoot Paul, Zoil arrives, and it's revealed that he was Paul's inside contact that had helped him to escape. Zoil disarms the men, but is shot in the shoulder. Tara punches out 'the Big Guy', but Moses appears with a shotgun and shoots Graeme dead. Paul heals him, but inflicts the damage to himself (a possible side effect of his healing powers mentioned earlier in the film). Paul then collapses, exhausted. For a while, the other characters stand around his apparently lifeless body sprawled on the grass. Then, coughing, Paul props himself up, having healed himself. 'The Big Guy' regains consciousness, but is immediately crushed by the arriving alien ship. Paul begins to depart and informs Tara that she is going with him to live a better life and bids farewell to his friends hoping to meet them again one day.

Two years later, Graeme, Clive, and Ruth are shown again at a comic convention, promoting their new mega-successful comic book, "Paul". O'Reilly is also shown to have survived the house explosion

Where the Wild Things Are

Where the Wild Things Are is a 2009 American fantasy drama film directed by Spike Jonzeand adapted from Maurice Sendak's 1963 children's book Where the Wild Things Are.  The film centers around a lonely eight-year-old boy named Max who sails away to an island inhabited by creatures known as the "Wild Things", who declare Max their king.

Story

The film begins with Max (Max Records), a lonely eight-year-old boy^[4] with an active imagination whose parents are divorced, wearing a wolf costume and chasing his dog. His older sister, Claire (Pepita Emmerichs), does nothing when her friends crush Max's snow fort (with him inside) during a snowball fight. Out of frustration Max messes up her bedroom and destroys a frame that he had made for her. Max's teacher Mr. Elliot (Steve Mouzakis) teaches him and his classmates about the eventual death of the sun. His mother, Connie (Catherine Keener) invites her boyfriend (Mark Ruffalo) to dinner. Max becomes upset with his mother for not coming to the fort he made in his room. He wears his wolf costume, acts like an animal, and demands to be fed. When his mother gets upset, he throws a tantrum and bites her on the shoulder. She yells at him and he runs away, scared by what transpired. At the edge of a pond Max finds a small boat that he boards.

The pond becomes an ocean. Max reaches an island. Still in his wolf costume, he stumbles upon a group of six large, monstrous creatures. One of them, Carol, is in the middle of a destructive tantrum caused by his girlfriend, a female wild thing called "KW", leaving while the others attempt to stop him. As Carol wreaks havoc Max tries to join the mayhem, but soon finds himself facing the suspicious anger of the Wild Things. When they contemplate eating him, Max convinces them that he is a "great king with magical powers" capable of bringing harmony to the group. They crown him as their king. Another Wild Thing named K.W. arrives and Max declares a "wild rumpus", in which the Wild Things smash trees and tackle each other.

The Wild Things introduce themselves as Carol, Ira, Judith, Alexander, Douglas, Bernard and K.W., piling on one another before going to sleep, with Max at the center. Carol takes Max on a tour of the island, showing him a model Carol built depicting what he wishes the island looked like. Inspired by this, Max orders the construction of an enormous fort, with Carol in charge of construction. As Max bonds with Carol, K.W. brings her two friends Bob and Terry - owls - to the fort. Disagreement ensues as Carol feels the togetherness of their group is threatened. To release their frustrations Max divides the tribe into "good guys" and "bad guys" for a dirt-clod fight, but Alexander is hurt during the game. Tension mounts between the Wild Things as it becomes obvious Max favors some of the Wild Things over others. After an argument between K.W. and Carol, K.W. leaves.

Max finds Alexander alone in the fort and has a conversation with him. Alexander reveals that he always suspected that Max is not a king with magical powers, but warns him to never let Carol know. Max's secret is exposed when Carol throws another tantrum and Douglas tries to make him accept the fact that Max was never a king. Carol becomes enraged and rips Douglas' arm off, though only sand pours out of the wound. Carol then chases Max into the forest and threatens to eat him. Max is saved by K.W., who hides him in her stomach. Carol and K.W. have an argument over Carol's behavior. After Carol leaves, K.W. explains that their lives are difficult, with Carol's tantrums making things worse. Max realizes what his mother is going through, and decides to leave the island.

Max finds the crushed remains of Carol's model island, and leaves a token of affection for him to find. He finds Carol and tells him he is going home because he is not a king. The other Wild Things escort Max to his boat. Carol runs to join them after finding Max's token, and arrives in time to see him off. He starts to howl and Max howls back, and then all the other Wild Things join in. Carol looks at K.W. and she smiles kindly at him, as a sign of rekindled love between her and Carol. Returning home, Max is embraced by his distraught mother, who gives him a bowl of hot soup and a piece of cake and sits with him as he eats. He watches as she falls asleep.