One sentence summaries that miss the point.

Cafe Society
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My family and I were playing last night, and we came up with some good ones.

High school literature:

Ethan Frome- A man crashes his sled.

The Scarlet Letter- After a disasterous relationship, a woman finds meaning in embroidery.

The Crucible- A young girl acts out in a desperate ploy for attention.

Fairy tales:

Sleeping Beauty- Girl falls into a coma after unfortuante accident.

Goldilocks- Juvenile delinquent trashes neighbors’ house.

Three Little Pigs- A cautionary tale of lazy construction workers.

There were others, but that’s all I can remember for now.

222

Zombie thread! Ayiieeeeeeeeeeee!

I’ll keep it political…

Dave - Man makes unexpected visit to White House
Advise and Consent - Cabinet nominee gets mixed reaction on Capitol Hill
Seven Days in May - Top general considers career change
All the President’s Men - Reporters dig a little deeper than anyone expected
The American President - Lonely exec finds true love

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Here’s my take:

Love Story: College-based romance doesn’t always last very long, sometimes not even when you quickly marry the gal and get busy trying to produce a child.

Sniff! Choke!

Or, how about:

Funny thing, you can endlessly worry about getting your gal pregnant during a premarital relationship, and then, after wedding her, find out that one or both of you cannot produce your much wanted child.

Or even:

Guys, sometimes a college co-ed will frequently take verbal jabs at you, but soon turn out to be as crazy in love with you as you are with her.

  • “Jack”
224

Cool Hand Luke- Prisoner gets in a fight and eats lots of eggs.

225

Ira Levin:

A Kiss Before Dying–Man dates three rich sisters at different times.
Rosemary’s Baby–Even planned pregnancies can turn out bad.
Boys from Brazil–The evils of cloning.
Sliver–Apartment building owner uses modern technology
The Stepford Wives–NYC metrosexual finds happiness in small Connecticut suburb.
Son of Rosemary–It’s all a dream, folks.

226

Watchmen - Superheroes save the Earth from nuclear war

227

Well, kinda… but isn’t that too accurate for this thread? I’d say:

*Watchmen: *Boy meets girl; she goes to Mars, he takes trip to Antarctica.

228

Rashomon: Decent murder mystery movie hurt by glaring continuity errors.

229

Black Hawk Down - American soldiers capture Somali warlords in daring raid.

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Tron - Man searches for missing files.
Monster’s Ball - Man decides to start dating again.
Mad Max - Man’s family trouble prompts changes to his work routine.

As a bonus, guess which film this is from the departed actor’s clues; Toys do horrible things to each other, this guest star plays a planet, he menaces somebody called Something-or-other, then he’s destroyed.

231

One Hundred and One Dalmatians — Societal consequences of lack of spay/neuter policy explored.

Rear Window — Shut-in occupies time between girlfriend’s visits.

The Da Vinci Code — Man offers surprising interpretation of Biblical events.

232

I love this thread.

An American Werewolf in London — Injured during a trip abroad, a college student finds romance with nurse.

Back to the Future — Son seeks origin of parents’ romance.

Boogie Nights — Aspiring actor makes logical career choice.

Catch Me If You Can — Ambitious student explores several career options.

Coal Miner’s Daughter — Mountain lass marries young, moves far from home.

Escape from New York — Experimental penal colony established despite risk.

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events — Orphans persevere despite custody issues.

Saturday Night Fever — Free-time pursuits of paint-store employee documented.

233

How about opera?

Medea: A working mother struggles with ambivalent feelings about her children.

234

Splash — Woman from overseas adjusts to American life.

A Few Good Men — Naval official surprised by consequences of his actions.

Alien — Space voyage diverted by unexpected event.

Apollo 13 — Astronauts struggle with home, work issues.

Beetlejuice — Young couple surprised by accident’s outcome.

Total Recall — Man struggles with realization of marital betrayal.

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I have to include my friend’s take on Greek mythology: “Narcissus was the guy whom looked into the water and became gay, right?”

Has this thread been Threadspotted yet?

236

Gone With the Wind–Mother and daughter both make mistake of falling for the wrong guy and marrying for reasons other than true love.

Dr. Zhivago–Man passes himself off as respected doctor and poet, while deserting pregnant wife and later pregnant lover.

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Rosemary’s Baby: A young woman has nosy neighbors.
40-Year Old Virgin: An introvert makes friends.
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: A man and woman catch a thief.
Amelie: A bored woman interferes in others’ lives.
Frida: An artist gets in a bus accident.
The Godfather movies: A son takes over the family business.

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Moby Dick: A young man goes on a sea voyage.
The Grapes of Wrath: A family heads west.
Der Ring des Nibelungen: People obsess over a piece of jewelry.
Amadeus: A man drinks too much and dies young.

239

Pirates of the Caribbean: Blacksmith and pirate rescue damsel.

Flowers in the Attic: Children have adventures at their grandmother’s house.

Heavenly Creatures: Two girls have active imaginations.

I remember this one from my local TV Guide:

The Piano: Woman and daughter move to New Zealand.

240

Space Cowboys: Retired astronauts are called back as consultants.

Johnny Mnemonic: Computer hacker has memory problems.

12 Angry Men: Jurors have trouble deciding a case.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre: Bogart goes to the country with friends.

Some Like It Hot: Musicians take a quick trip to Florida.

Metropolis: Life in the big city!

High Noon: Retiree meets an old acquaintance on his wedding day.