Actor Patrick Swayze (1952)

King Solomon’s Mines (2004) became the fifth film adaptation of Henry Rider Haggard’s 1885 novel. The story follows a wealthy businessman, Mr. Bitter, on a safari in Africa with his guides Allan Quatermain and Bruce McNabb. Despite Mr. Bitter’s desire to kill a family of elephants, Quatermain objects but is betrayed and overpowered by McNabb when they open fire. The mother elephant later wreaks havoc on their camp, ultimately leading to Bitter’s demise and her own death as Quatermain prepares to put her out of her misery. Meanwhile, Samuel Maitland, an affluent British explorer, sends a letter ...

Jordan Brady’s film, Waking Up in Reno (2002), follows the journey of two couples, Lonnie Earl Dodd and his wife Darlene, and Roy and Candy Kirkendall. Lonnie is a car dealer from Little Rock who stars in his own humorous TV commercials. The four of them embark on a trip across the country to attend a monster truck rally. In preparation for the trip, Lonnie pulls out a new SUV from his car lot. Along the way, they make a stop at an Amarillo restaurant where Lonnie attempts to win a free dinner by consuming an enormous steak within an hour. While Darlene has always dreamt of seeing the Grand Canyon, her ...

Director Martha Coolidge brought us the enchanting American fantasy drama film, Three Wishes (1995). Tom Holman, a devoted family man, is struggling with financial difficulties that have caused him to become emotionally distant from his loved ones. During a car ride with his wife and daughters, they almost hit a man walking into a cemetery. This triggers a flashback of a similar encounter from Tom’s past. Flashing back to 1955, we meet Jean Holman, a single mother raising her sons Tom and Gunny on her own. After their father went missing in action during the Korean War, Jean has been tasked with providing for her ...

Point Break (1991) is an American action film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by W. Peter Iliff. Johnny Utah, a former Ohio State quarterback and rookie FBI agent, joins forces with Agent Angelo Pappas to investigate a series of bank robberies carried out by the ‘Ex-Presidents’ – thieves who don rubber masks of past Presidents such as Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, and Lyndon B. Johnson. These cunning robbers have a unique MO: instead of robbing the entire vault, they only take the cash from the tellers’ drawers before quickly ...

Ghost (1990) is a supernatural romance film directed by Jerry Zucker and written by Bruce Joel Rubin. Banker Sam Wheat and his girlfriend Molly Jensen move into a Manhattan loft with the help of Sam’s colleague Carl Bruner. One night, they are attacked by a mugger on the street. Despite Sam’s attempt to protect her, he returns to find himself dead and unable to communicate with Molly or anyone else in the living world. While stuck as a ghost, Sam is constantly frustrated by his inability to interact with his surroundings and other spirits he encounters. One ...

In the American sports drama film Youngblood (1986), directed, co-produced, and co-written by Peter Markle, a 17-year-old farmhand from rural New York named Dean Youngblood has aspirations of playing in the National Hockey League. His father initially disapproves when Dean shares his dreams, but Dean’s brother Kelly convinces their father to change his mind. Dean travels to Canada to try out for the Hamilton Mustangs, showcasing his offensive skills but showing a lack of physical toughness. As he competes for a spot on the team, he becomes known as ‘Pretty Boy’ due to his rivalry with another hockey ...

The Outsiders (1983), an American coming-of-age crime drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is based on S. E. Hinton’s 1967 novel of the same name. In 1965 Tulsa, the Curtis brothers’ parents are deceased, leaving eldest brother Darrel to raise and support his two younger brothers, Sodapop and Ponyboy. The ‘Socs’ continually harass and attack Ponyboy until some of his fellow greasers intervene. Later at the drive-in theater, Dallas attempts to flirt with ‘Soc’ Cherry Valance but instead becomes angry and leaves abruptly. Cherry ...