The Northman — [2022]

CAST

Alexander Skarsgård as Amleth, a Viking warrior prince.

Oscar Novak as young Amleth[10]

Nicole Kidman as Queen Gudrún, Amleth's mother

Claes Bang as Fjölnir the Brotherless, Amleth's uncle and Aurvandill's brother.

Anya Taylor-Joy as Olga of the Birch For est, a Slavic sorceress

Ethan Hawke as King Aurvandill War-Raven, Amleth's father and Fjölnir's brother.

Gustav Lindh as Thorir the Proud, Fjölnir's elder son and Amleth's cousin

Elliott Rose as Gunnar, Fjölnir's younger son and Amleth's half brother

Willem Dafoe as Heimir the Fool

Björk as the Seeress

Eldar Skar as Finnr the Nose-Stub, Fjölnir's foreman

Olwen Fouéré as Ashildur Hofgythja, the priestess of Fjölnir's estate

Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson as He-witch

Ian Whyte as the Mound Dweller

Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson as Thorfinnr Tooth-Gnasher, Hákon's champion

Kate Dickie as Halldora the Pict, a slave on Fjölnir's farm

Tadhg Murphy as Eirikr Blaze-Eye, Amleth's fellow viking

Ralph Ineson as Captain Volodymyr, a Rus sea captain

Murray McArthur as Hákon Ironbeard, chieftain of the neighboring farm

Ineta Sliuzaite as the Valkyrja

STORYLINE

    In 895 AD, King Aurvandill coming back to the island of Hrafnsey after his foreign wars, reuniting with his wife, Queen Gudrún, and his successor, Prince Amleth. To make Amleth for his eventual rise, the two participate in a sacred ceremony managed by Aurvandill's jester, Heimir. The next morning, Aurvandill's bastard brother Fjölnir killings the king, attacks his hillfort, and carries away Gudrún. Amleth flees by boat, swearing vengeance.

    Years later, Amleth lives as a berserker with a group of Vikings. After an attack in Gardariki, Amleth encounters a Seeress in the temple of Svetovit; the Seeress prophesies that Amleth will soon take revenge on Fjölnir, and that his path is intertwined with a Maiden-King. Amleth learns that Fjölnir was defeated by Harald of Norway and lives in exile in Iceland. Posing as a slave, Amleth sneaks aboard a ship. He faces a Slavic woman named Olga, who claims to be a sorceress. They are taken to Fjölnir's farm, where he learns his mother has married Fjölnir and bore him a son named Gunnar.

    One night, Amleth meets a magician who facilitates a spiritual conversation between Amleth and the late Heimir, discovered to have been murdered by Fjölnir. He then tells Amleth about Draugr, a magical sword at the Gates of Hel. Amleth enters a mound and obtains the blade after fighting the undead Mound Dweller. He hides it upon return to the farm. The next day, Amleth is selected to challenge in a game of knattleikr against another farm. The game turns violent and Gunnar is almost killed, but Amleth saves him. As a souvenir, Fjölnir's adult son, Thorir, awards him overseer duties and grants him to choose a woman.

    During the evening celebrations, Amleth and Olga make love; they promise to killed Fjölnir together. Amleth kills several of Fjölnir's men, and Olga mingles their food with fly agaric, a potent hallucinogen. The ensuing chaos and the suspicion that the Christian slaves are behind the killings allow Amleth to enter Fjölnir's house. He sees his mother, who tells that she was originally taken into slavery and that Amleth's belief was the result of rape. She reveals that she wanted Aurvandill and Amleth dead; she tries but fails to seduce Amleth. Enraged, Amleth kills Thorir and steals his heart.

    Gudrún exposes Amleth's true identity to Fjölnir, and calls for him to kill him. Fjölnir menaces to kill Olga, but Amleth offers to trade Olga's life for Thorir's heart. After a severe fighting, Amleth is released from his restraints by a flock of ravens. Olga rescues Amleth and the two escapes by boat. Amleth has a vision and discovers that Olga is pregnant with twins, one of whom will become the Maiden-King prophesied by the Seeress. Fearing that his children will never be safe, Amleth decides to kill his uncle and jumps overboard, despite Olga's pleas.

    

    Back at the ranch, Amleth frees the slaves and kills most of Fjölnir's men. While searching for Fjölnir, Amleth is attacked by his mother and drives Draugr through her heart. Gunnar attacks Amleth, stabbing him repeatedly in the back before Amleth kills him. Fjölnir, discovering his wife and son dead, tells Amleth to meet him at the Gates of Hel—the crater of the volcano Hekla—to resolve the conflict via holmgang. At the volcano, Amleth and Fjölnir engage in a fierce swordfight; Fjölnir is decapitated, and Amleth is fatally wounded. As Amleth lies dying, he has a future vision of Olga embracing their twin children, before a valkyrie appears to carry him through the gates of Valhöll (Valhalla).

The Secret Life of Adolf Hitler - [1958]

    1950's television documentary special that includes interviews with Hitler's sister Paula Wolf and a fellow prisoner who was incarcerated with Hitler, actual footage shot by the Nazi's and Eva Braun's rare home movies.

Cast

Westbrook Van Voorhis (voice), Paula Wolf, Julius Schaub

 

 Director:    Walter D. Engels

Writer:     Eldorous Dayton

Diana: Conspiracy Theories [Documentary]

The Murder of Princess Diana: The Truth Behind the Assassination of the People's Princess [Documentary]

     The world stood paralyzed at the news of Princess Diana’s tragic death after a car crash in Paris in August 1997. However heartbroken about the accident that took the life of the People’s Princess, many people were skeptical about the government’s official statements.

    After in-depth research of the circumstances of that fateful night, investigative writer and former journalist Noel Botham finally reveals what he alleges to be the truth—Princess Diana fell victim to a ruthlessly executed assassination. The tragedy still shapes Britain, 20 years later.

    How could the Establishment betray the trust of a whole nation? How was the killing executed? Was there really another car in the tunnel at the time of the crash? Reporting from the innermost sanctums of British intelligence and royalty, Botham reveals shocking answers. 

Churchill (2017)

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    During WWII, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill struggles with his decisions. As he second-guesses his decision on Operation Overlord, his wife, Clementine, inspires him to forge ahead.

Cast

Brian Cox, Miranda Richardson, John Slattery

Release date: June 16, 2017 (United Kingdom)

Director: Jonathan Teplitzky

Music by: Lorne Balfe

Distributed by: Embankment Films

Executive producers: Zygi Kamasa, Phil Hunt, Nick Manzi, MORE

Producers: Paul Van Carter, Nick Taussig, Piers Tempest, Claudia Bluemhuber

Mandela; Long Walk to Freedom (2013)

    Nelson Mandela, a South African lawyer, joins the fight against Apartheid. He is later sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in the armed resistance after the Sharpeville Massacre.

Cast

Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, Terry Pheto

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Release date: November 28, 2013 (South Africa)

Director: Justin Chadwick

Adapted from: Long Walk to Freedom

Music by: Alex Heffes; U2

Box office: $28 million

Distributed by: 20th Century Studios, Pathé, United International Pictures

The Bunker [TV Movie] - 1981

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    In the final days of World War II, Adolf Hitler (Anthony Hopkins) and his closest advisers are sequestered in an underground bunker in Berlin. As the Battle of Berlin rages above ground and Nazi forces are nearing certain defeat, Hitler nervously awaits his fate with his girlfriend, Eva Braun (Susan Blakely) ; his right-hand man, Joseph Goebbels (Cliff Gorman) ; and his chief architect, Albert Speer (Richard Jordan). In the final hours of his life, Hitler marries Braun, his longtime companion.

Cast

Anthony Hopkins, Richard Jordan, Cliff Gorman

Initial release: January 27, 1981

Director: George Schaefer

Adapted from: The Bunker

Music by: Brad Fiedel

Production company: Time-Life Productions

Original network: CBS

Samson and Delilah (1949)

 

CAST

Victor Mature, Hedy Lamarr, George Sanders, Angela Lansbury,

Julia Faye, Henry Wilcoxon, Olive Deering

PLOT

    Samson, a Danite Hebrew placed under Nazirite vows from birth by his mother Hazelelponit, is engaged to a Philistine woman named Semadar. At their wedding feast, Samson loses a bet with his wedding guests because of Semadar and attacks 30 Philistines to strip them of their cloaks to pay his betting debt. After paying his debt, Samson searches for Semadar, only to learn that her father Tubal married her to a Philistine once Samson left the wedding to pay his debt. A fight breaks out between Samson and the Philistines, which results in the death of Semadar and Tubal. Samson becomes a hunted man, and in his fury he begins fighting the Philistines. The Saran of Gaza imposes heavy taxes on the Danites, with the purpose of having Samson betrayed by his own people. The Saran's plan works, and frustrated Danites hand over Samson to the Philistines, much to the joy of Delilah, Semadar's younger sister. Samson is taken by Prince Ahtur, the military governor of the land of Dan, and a regiment of Philistine troops. En route back to Gaza, Ahtur decides to taunt Samson. Samson rips apart his chains and ropes and begins to combat the Philistines, toppling Ahtur's war chariot and using the jawbone of an ass to club the Philistine soldiers to death.

    News of the defeat of Ahtur at the hands of Samson reaches the Saran. The Saran ponders how to defeat Samson. Delilah comes up with the idea of seducing Samson, thus having him reveal the secret of his strength and then deliver him for punishment. Her plan works; she cuts his hair, which he feels gives him his strength. To fully neutralize him, Samson is blinded by his captors and put to slave work, and is eventually brought to the temple of Dagon for the entertainment of the Philistines and the Saran. However, Delilah has been in love with Samson ever since his engagement with Semadar, and his blindness and torture make her feel deep remorse over her betrayal. She initially had betrayed him because she wanted to avenge the deaths of her father and sister, which she thought were caused "because of Samson."

    Delilah later attends the public torture of Samson wielding a whip, which she uses to guide him to the temple's main support pillars. Once he stands between them, he tells Delilah to flee, but she remains, unseen by him, as he pushes the pillars apart. The pillars give way and the temple collapses, burying Samson, Delilah, and all the Philistines, including the court. In the end, the temple lies in rubble, and Saul and Miriam, his two closest Danite Hebrew friends, are left to mourn Samson's passing.

Release date: December 21, 1949 (USA)

Director: Cecil B. DeMille

Music by: Victor Young

Box office: $25.6 million

Distributed by: Paramount Pictures Studios

Adapted from: The Bible, Book of Judges, Samson

Cleopatra [1963 film]

Gone with the Wind [2 Parts]

     American classic in which a manipulative woman and a roguish man carry on a turbulent love affair in the American south during the Civil War and Reconstruction.

PART 1

PART 2

CAST

Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell,

Olivia de Havilland, Hattie McDaniel, Leslie Howard, Butterfly McQueen

PLOT

    In 1861, on the eve of the American Civil War, Scarlett O'Hara lives at Tara, her family's cotton plantation in Georgia, with her parents and two sisters and their many slaves. Scarlett learns that her secret crush Ashley Wilkes is to be married to his cousin, Melanie Hamilton. At an engagement party the next day at Ashley's home, the nearby plantation Twelve Oaks, Scarlett makes an advance on Ashley but is rebuffed; instead, she catches the attention of another guest, Rhett Butler. The barbecue is disrupted by news of President Lincoln's call for volunteers to fight the South, and the Southern men rush to enlist in defense of the South. In a bid to arouse jealousy in Ashley, Scarlett marries Melanie's younger brother Charles before he leaves to fight. Following Charles's death while serving in the Confederate States Army, Scarlett's mother sends her to the Hamilton home in Atlanta, where she creates a scene by attending a charity bazaar in her mourning attire and waltzing with Rhett, now a blockade runner for the Confederacy.

    The tide of war turns against the Confederacy after the Battle of Gettysburg, in which many of the men of Scarlett's town are killed. Eight months later, as the city is besieged by the Union Army in the Atlanta Campaign, Melanie gives birth with Scarlett's aid, and Rhett helps them flee the city. Once out of the city, Rhett chooses to go off to fight, leaving Scarlett to make her own way back to Tara. Upon her return home, Scarlett finds Tara deserted, except for her father, her sisters, and former slaves Mammy and Pork. Scarlett learns that her mother has just died of typhoid fever and her father has lost his mind. With Tara pillaged by Union troops and the fields untended, Scarlett vows to ensure the survival of herself and her family.

    As the O'Haras toil in the cotton fields, Scarlett's father attempts to chase away a carpetbagger from his land but is thrown from his horse and killed. With the defeat of the Confederacy, Ashley also returns but finds he is of little help at Tara. When Scarlett begs him to run away with her, he confesses his desire for her and kisses her passionately, but says he cannot leave Melanie. Unable to pay the Reconstructionist taxes imposed on Tara, Scarlett dupes her younger sister Suellen's fiancé, the middle-aged and wealthy general store owner Frank Kennedy, into marrying her, by saying Suellen got tired of waiting and married another suitor. Frank, Ashley, Rhett, and several other accomplices make a night raid on a shanty town after Scarlett is attacked while driving through it alone, resulting in Frank's death. Shortly after Frank's funeral, Rhett proposes to Scarlett and she accepts.

    Rhett and Scarlett have a daughter whom Rhett names Bonnie Blue, but Scarlett still pines for Ashley and, chagrined at the perceived ruin of her figure, refuses to have any more children or share a bed with Rhett. One day at Frank's mill, Scarlett and Ashley are seen embracing by Ashley's sister, India. Harboring an intense dislike of Scarlett, India eagerly spreads rumors. Later that evening, Rhett, having heard the rumors, forces Scarlett to attend a birthday party for Ashley. Melanie, however, stands by Scarlett. After returning home from the party, Scarlett finds Rhett downstairs drunk, and they argue about Ashley. Rhett kisses Scarlett against her will, stating his intent to have sex with her that night, and carries the struggling Scarlett to the bedroom.

    The next day, Rhett apologizes for his behavior and offers Scarlett a divorce, which she rejects, saying that it would be a disgrace. When Rhett returns from an extended trip to London, Scarlett informs him that she is pregnant, but an argument ensues which results in her falling down a flight of stairs and suffering a miscarriage. As she is recovering, tragedy strikes again; Bonnie dies while attempting to jump a fence with her pony. Scarlett and Rhett visit Melanie, who has suffered complications arising from a new pregnancy, on her deathbed. As Scarlett consoles Ashley, Rhett prepares to leave Atlanta. Having realized that it was him, and not Ashley, she truly loved all along, Scarlett pleads with Rhett to stay, but he rebuffs her and walks away into the morning fog. A distraught Scarlett resolves to return home to Tara, vowing to one day win Rhett back.

Release date: January 17, 1940 (USA)

Director: Victor Fleming

Adapted from: Gone with the Wind

Awards: Academy Award for Best Picture, MORE

Budget: 3.9 million USD, 3.85 million USD

Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, Loews Cineplex Entertainment