North is an American 1994 comedy film directed by Rob Reiner, and starring Elijah Wood, Bruce Willis, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jon Lovitz, Dan Aykroyd, Reba McEntire, and Alan Arkin. The story is based on the novel North: The Tale of a 9-Year-Old Boy Who Becomes a Free Agent and Travels the World in Search of the Perfect Parents by Alan Zweibel, who also wrote the screenplay and has a minor role in the film. It is also Scarlett Johansson's debut film.
Despite an all-star cast and director Rob Reiner at the helm, North was both a critical and commercial failure, and was hated so heavily by notable critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert that they both named it the worst film of 1994. It is often regarded as one of the worst movies ever made.
It was shot in Hawaii, Alaska, California, Keystone, South Dakota, New Jersey, and New York.
The movie begins with North (Elijah Wood) listening to his parents (Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus) argue at the dinner table. North has a panic attack, and begins to lose consciousness. As he does, the narrator (Bruce Willis) explains that North is having difficulties with his parents, putting a damper on what is otherwise a successful life; North is a child prodigy who is admired by many, but constantly ignored by his own parents. One day, while finding solace in a living room display at a mall, he is visited by a man in a pink bunny suit who claims to be the Easter Bunny (also played by Bruce Willis), to whom North explains his problems. He realizes that his parents are unable to see his talents while all of the other parents in his neighborhood can. The Easter Bunny suggests that North make up with his parents.
Plot
When an evil spirit known as Pitch lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal Guardians must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs, and imaginations of children all over the world.
Keywords: boogeyman, bunny, easter-bunny, jack-frost, saint-petersburg, sandman, santa-claus, scene-during-end-credits, tooth-fairy
Naughty, nice. You better believe.
Legends unite.
Santa Claus Is More Than A Legend
The Sandman Is More Than A Dream
When darkness falls, the Guardians will rise.
The Easter Bunny is more than a fable.
Jack Frost is more than a myth.
The Tooth Fairy is more than a fairy tale.
[from trailer]::North: We go by many names, and take many forms. We bring wonder and hope, we bring joy and dreams. We are the Sandman and the Tooth Fairy, we are the Easter Bunny, and Santa. And our powers are greater than you ever imagine...
[from trailer]::North: It is our job to protect the children of the world. For as long as they believe in us, we will guard them with our lives...
[from trailer]::Pitch: That dream is over! It is time for fear to rule the world!
[from trailer]::North: We have never faced a greater threat. And so, we will fight.
[from trailer]::Tooth: Wings up, ladies, and take no prisoners!
[from trailer]::Bunnymund: You don't want to race a rabbit, mate...
[from trailer]::North: Everyone, to the sleigh! Buckle up!::Bunnymund: Where are the bloody seat belts?::North: [laughs] That was just expression!
[from trailer]::Pitch: My army is ready...
[from trailer]::North: Everyone loves the sleigh...
[from trailer]::Jack Frost: So, the Big Four all together: Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman and the Easter Kangaroo.::Bunnymund: Say WHAT? I'm a bunny!
Plot
A three-part short film about writing and literature. Together, the individual pieces make up a story greater than the sum of its parts. The first part, 'The Gamble' tells the story of a writer plagued with writer's block. When confronted by the mysterious Mr. Block himself with an offer to win the rest of his book in a game of 'simple blackjack,' the writer must choose carefully - for the more he loses, the more he begins to unwrite his story. The second part, 'The Executioner,' introduces Chairman Wales - a colorful CEO who has seen to it that art (unless it has been made solely for entertainment) has been made illegal. Muses are now criminals and forced to stand trial at the foot of Wales's lovely pet - a 19th century French guillotine. They only lack one piece of evidence to proceed - a witness testimony. The final part, 'The Celebration,' tells the story of two kingly brothers who jointly rule over their lands as ghostwriters, dictating the voice of their people. When a woman is discovered who has written her own book, the brothers engage in a rivalry to make her their queen.
Keywords: independent-film, wraparound-story
A story greater than the sum of its parts.
Plot
In the remote west coast of Scotland, a drug dealer double-crosses and kills a drug trafficker who imports drugs for him. The dealer is arrested and learns that the murder was witnessed by a couple of anonymous locals. Facing life imprisonment, the dealer decides to hire a hitman to eliminate all the potential witnesses. Outside a rural police station, the hired hitman starts a stopwatch, runs across a road, jumps into his car, and takes off with a screech. He drives full speed through the barren country until he reaches the remote, one street hamlet of Bartoun. He checks his stopwatch. It reads 28 minutes, 36 seconds. He sees a poster advertising a fair in the next village. The residents of Bartoun are advised to meet on main street at noon to get a ride. As the people begin to congregate the next day, the hitman walks toward them and begins shooting. He knows that he has 28 minutes and 36 seconds before the police arrive. Pandemonium ensues as he methodically hunts down his targets and people frantically try to stay alive.
One hitman has ten targets to kill in 28 minutes 36 seconds
Plot
The Queen's youngest son is off to university, mainly because "I'm hopeless at anything else". Barry, his new bodyguard, has no time for the royal family and left school at fifteen. He certainly didn't volunteer for this job, and is damned if he's going to enjoy it. Yet he can't help liking the hopelessly unworldly young prince, at least, until they both set their eyes on the new American student!
Keywords: college, coming-of-age, royalty
Chief Superintendent: Congratulations. You've got yourself a place at Cambridge University.::Barry Grimes: Sir?::Chief Superintendent: A promotion. Royal Protection Squad.::Barry Grimes: You call that a promotion?::Chief Superintendent: His Royal Highness starts at All Saints' College and we thought you'd be the ideal companion.::Barry Grimes: Do I have a choice?::Chief Superintendent: [sneers] What do you think this is - a free country?
Mr. Garter: Mr Grimes, can I have a word? This fax came for you. [gleefully] Looks like you're being demoted. Reserve officer accompanying the young princesses on a tour of New Zealand.::Barry Grimes: I *hate* children.::Mr. Garter: [drily] I expect that's why they chose you.
Plot
The lovely Daisy is the daughter of a Russian prince and an American movie star. After her parents are killed, she flees from her half-brother Ram. She fights her way to the top of the modeling profession and falls in love with a company president. But then, her half-brother arrives on the scene, ready to blackmail and destroy her.
Keywords: 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, aristocrat, based-on-novel, haute-monde, incest, madison-avenue-manhattan-new-york-city, manhattan-new-york-city, melodrama
Plot
Jamie Shannon is a soldier of fortune -- a mercenary who will stage a coup or a revolution for the right price. He is hired by British mining interests to scout out Zangaro, a small African nation with rich mineral deposits but a brutal and xenophobic dictatorship. Arrested soon after his arrival, Shannon is imprisoned as a spy, badly beaten, and tortured. While in prison he meets one of the country's leading intellectuals, Dr. Okoye, also imprisoned by the regime. Eventually released, he returns to London and is subsequently offered to opportunity to secretly invade Zangaro's capital and lead a military coup. Shannon accepts, but quietly has his own agenda to pursue.
Keywords: africa, african, airplane, airport, animal-in-title, anti-hero, apartment, arms-dealer, army, army-base
Cry 'Havoc!' And Let Slip The Dogs Of War
Michel: [raising his glass in a toast] Vive la mort ! Vive la guerre ! Vive le sacré mercenaire !
Shannon: [to the other mercenaries] Remember; you have to make it home to get paid.
Shannon: In my jungle, you'd be just another asshole.
Shannon: Shannon says something doubting the effectiveness of Col Bobi's troops::Col. Bobi: If there is one who does not fight, Ill take his head and mount it on the palace gates::Shannon: You and your brother in law have the same easygoing way of doing buisness::Col. Bobi: Olou Kimba does not do buisness. So Sec Bobi will be president. He wants to be God... I want to be RICH!
Drew: [the mercenaries are caught in the middle of a fire fight] What happened to us just providing tactical and logistical support?
Drew: [Shannon is recruiting men] Count me in; I'll go.::Shannon: Don't you want to know where and what?::Drew: Doesn't matter. My wife's six months pregnant. Wherever we're going, it's gotta be better than sittin' around watchin' her get fat.
Shannon: [about his mercenaries] Everybody comes with me, goes home.
Endean: Shannon, get him out of here! This whole country's bought and paid for!::Shannon: You're gonna have to buy it all over again. [shoots Col. Bobi]
Shannon: [to Endean and Bobi, who have arrived after the fighting is over] You're late!
[Instrumental]
The East has that Englishmen
And the rising sun
The West has the open plains
And how they were won
On Independence Day
For all it's worth
You can ring those southern belles
I'm going
North
Up were the rushing rivers run and salmon leap
I could even get there in my sleep
Give me the ice and snow
Time to go...
North
So run up a banner and we'll stand underneath
You gave me a starry flag
For one with a leaf
I'm on the borderline
I jump back and forth
There's nothing to stop me now
I'm heading...
North
Up where the polar bears and moose and geese will play
And some of them address you en francais
Give me the ice and snow
Time to go...
North
And so I must leave you all
Alas and alack
And though we are parting now
I'll always come back
So as the compass points
That's where I'll be
But if you could only see
The perfection of...
North
It's something I will always carry in my heart
A place when dreams begin and life can start
Who cares what people know?
Let me go...
(Music by Joan Baez, Lyrics by Nina Duscheck)
Where icicles hung the blossoms swing,
but in my heart there is no spring.
You were my spring, my summer too,
it's always winter without you.
The flocks head north and the lilacs bloom,
at night they scent my moonlit room.
You were my spring, my summer too,
I'm going north to look for you.
Like a windblown bird my heart goes forth,
sent by the spring to the shining north.
You are my spring, my summer too,
and I won't rest till I find you.
© 1967 Robbins Music Corporation and Chandos Music (ASCAP)
Rights throughout the world controlled by Robbins Music Corporation
Some folks look for trouble,
Some look for belief
Baby, you look for Jesus
I look for relief
Used to talk about the weather,
Used to say it all looks fine
Now we never hang together,
Now you're never on my mind
Spinning around in circles,
Cut it up in squares
Ask me if I love you baby,
Ask me if I care
You think it's a joke or something
I think that it's all a drag
You say it's in the pocket
Can't be let out of the bag
I go north, the sun it hurts my eyes
But I don't really care, they're all drowning down here
So I will disappear
Trials and tribulations
Face us every day
Baby, you used to talk too much,
Now you don't have much to say
Throw it out and say it's fortune
Throw it out and say it's luck
Tell me that it's all intention,
Ask me if I give a fuck
I don't
You think that I'm stupid,
I think that I'm cool
Haul you back to Texas baby,
Send you back to school
Last thing that I need is a mustang,
Last thing that I need is a tan
I'm gonna get myself up north,
Find out who the hell I am
I go north, the sun it hurts my eyes
But I don't really care, they're all drowning down here
So I will disappear, I will disappear
Find my way up north, find out what I'm worth
Try and understand, just how big I am
Some say I am stupid baby,
I think that I'm cool
Haul you back to Guadalajara,
You can send me back to school
Last thing that I need is a mustang,
Last thing that I need is a tan
I'm gonna get myself up north,
Find out who the hell I am
I go north, the sun it hurts my eyes
But I don't really care, they're all drowning down here
From the north
I call thee forth
O might Odin
Lord of the spear
Fettered by fear
Curse all those
Who do oppose our fight
Victory is near
I cut myself and still hurt
Grey pain still reminds
There is no Kingdom, Power, Glory
For those who freeze their lives behind
Following the wrong god I have been
Lusting for knowledge of the cold
North is closing down on me
At high noon and here
Fever, the northern lights of soul
Keeps driving thoughts to the pole
The fields of silence from my soul
Chilled neon blood in my mouth
The black clock makes tours of time
As I spend my days between the stations
North is closing down on me
At high noon and here
North is of heart and mind
Sun beats hard
On Sunset Boulevard
Much harder still
In Notting Hill
A northwind blows
And carries me home
Carries my heart, carries my soul
When cool silks they turn to suede
When young dreams are torn and frayed
The South feels so cold and grey
Today! Today the North's too many miles away
Today! Today I got to get away
I'm driving north
I'm heading home
I'm driving back
To the place I once belonged
It's all gone silent
The light begins to fade
One man unplugs
The penny arcade
And carries me home
Carries my heart, carries my soul
I'm driving north
I'm heading home
I'm driving back
To the place I once belonged
One sweet bouquet
The flowers strewn
The petals scattered
Here in the North
No dreams are shattered
I'm driving north
I'm heading home
I'm driving back
To the place I once belonged
No we don't feel angry
No we don't feel betrayed
Unlike our fathers
We don't remember better days
No we don't feel angry
No we don't feel betrayed
We just live
Feeling my hands start shaking
Hearing your voice I'm overjoyed
I'm sorry but I have no choice
You're only getting better
Maybe you have your reasons
Maybe you're scared you'll be let down
Are you crying when there's no one around
Then maybe,
Maybe if you hold me Baby, let me come over
I will tell you secrets nobody knows
I cannot over state it,
I will be overjoyed
That smile on your face like summer
The way that your hand keeps touching mine
Let me be the one to make it alright
And maybe,
Maybe let me hold you Baby, let me come over
I would tell you secrets nobody knows
I cannot over state it,
I will be overjoyed
And if you want we'll share this life
Anytime you need a friend I'm gonna' be by your side
Nobody understands you well, I do
So maybe let me hold you baby, let me come over
I will tell you secrets God only knows
I cannot over state it,
I will be overjoyed
Baby let me come over
I would tell you secrets nobody knows
I cannot over state it
I will be overjoyed
I will be overjoyed
I will be overjoyed
This is the only lonely picture
Waiting on my floor, littering my shore
This is the last true burning letter
Given to a girl, written by a boy
Living in a world created to destroy
But if I built you a city
Would you let me?
Would you tear it down?
But there you go for the last time
I finally know now what I should've known then
That I could still be ruthless if you'll let me
But there you go and I'm not done
You're waving goodbye but at least you're having fun
The rising tide will not let you forget me, don't forget me
This is a ghost that kneels before me
Raises on her tongue, a body full of oxygen
It won't be the last time she'll ignore me
The thinning of my skin, without the strength to go
The winter's setting in, to cover you in snow
But if I built you a city
Would you let me?
Would you tear it down?
But there you go for the last time
I finally know now what I should've known then
That I could still be ruthless if you'll let me
But there you go and I'm not done
You're waving goodbye but at least you're having fun
The rising tide will not let you forget me, forget me
Forget me, forget me, yeah
An' I'll raise towers and cloud them
Rivers and walk them
Oceans to drown in
You won't make a sound in
But there you go for the last time
I finally know now what I should've known then
That I could still be ruthless if you'll let me
But there you go and I'm not done
You're waving goodbye but at least you're having fun
The rising tide will not let you forget me, forget me
it's one am and time to leave
we're back on empty streets
there's so much time but nowhere to go
but anyway, we can't go home
i'm up for treason anytime, i can cheat and i can lie
the only danger here is being safe so there's no more
time to waste
no time for being bored, no fear and no resort
the party's over, the lights are out
but hey, we can't stop now
let's find some place off the map
a place where it's not so safe
a place where it's not too late
let's go party somewhere else
hey, so how does it go?
your face doesn't show
me whether or not you know.
stop and back up again
this mess that youÿre in...
is it over?
i heard all about everything
i felt in the way.
i heard all about everything
will you be ok?
so, you're spinning your wheels,
go dig in your heels,
don't mind the burning rubber.
no use losing your tread
while losing your head,
shift to neutral.
sooner or later you'll be fine
as long as you stop now to question why
now what to do only you decide
will you try?
now that you're here
And I like to tell you why
Why I like it so
'Cause it starts between my ears
Like music I don't know
It's a crispy sound of ice
When I walk the north
And it's hard not to smile
And it's hard not to yell...
I need you
I need you here
To feel this
This atmosphere
Through a thin piece of ice
I watch another world
So Slow, sharp and white
So calm and cool and bright
The north is so cold
Even time
Time freezes up
And if you're here too long
You'll freeze beside me now
I need you
I need you here
To feel this
This atmosphere
Now I want you
I need you
I need you
I need you here
To feel this
This atmosphere
I need you
I need you here
To feel this
This atmosphere
How we made it so far
We must've slept through half the ride
The other half had -- --
The view is beautiful outside (?)
Oh oh, what have we done today?
And will it help all of the other days?
And even though I never asked for something better
Than you ever could give to me
Couldn't help but feel there might be something more
You got a way that I could never get from no one
'Cuz you're someone that gets to me
And with or without cash (?) you keep me high
Careful what you say now
I just might be listening
Even when you're playing
Your words are so much to me
Oh oh, what have we done today?
And will it hurt all of the other days?
And even though I never asked for something better
Than you ever could give to me
Couldn't help but feel there might be something more
I say I'm leaving but I got nowhere to go
So in your arms I'll stay, 'til it's okay
Oh this story is so old
Oh oh, what have we done today?
Let me stay in the darkness
Where I can breathe freely
They offened me light
Suffocated me with sun
Don't give me crosses
You've bought the sun
You've bought the land
But you can't buy me
I don't want your land
I don't want your land
I don't want your land
I don't want your land
I run to North beneath the stars
Those forests, wide sky
I run to North beneath the stars
Those forests, wide sky
Let me be alone I am the cold
So I can be as the unborn
I've found peace and my spirit is strong
Let me stay in the darkness
Where I can breathe freely
They offened me light
Suffocated me with sun
Don't give me crosses
You've bought the sun
You've bought the land
But you can't buy me
Let me be alone I am the cold
So I can be as the unborn
Wheels turning, the sun is high and dries the soil. Now
hopes are rising in the clan. Hard hunger, their number's
smaller than before. The search is coming to an end. Long
winters make them strong in will and flesh. But welcome
is the smell of spring. Wind whispers to the women and
the men. And tells them where to lay their hearts. Gods
gather, and bring fortune to us all. North rising, hear
the ravens and their call. Brave thunder, draw your
wealth down on this earth. Let the sun then guild the
seas. Great hunter, offer guidance, give us strength.
Under runes we all will dream. Seek answers, those of
faith will understand. Tree of life will still grow tall.
Move onward, when the time comes we will go. Rest with
all those gone before. Gods gather, and bring fortune to
You travel north with electric heating
I travel south, back home again
The Coke in the fridge is blood for your veins
The coke in your nose
Food for your brain
You don't read books
You read notes winter's your favorite season
Numbers are your friends you know how to please them
Start with zero and just infinity will cease them
You're pale like ice
I'm the Titanic
You're too big to be recognized and I can't stand it
Your words are snowflakes
Meaningless and melting
Late at night we grab our things
Take the car and hit the road
Follow the old familiar trace
Laid in our secret code
The same old village by the sea
Once a second home for you and me
As we drive all through the night
We both don't dare to speak
So afraid we won't succeed
In finding what we seek
The same old village by the sea
Home of all our memories
That will hurt, rather than do us good
Life taught us many lessons
I thought we learned those lessons well
We should be old enough to face it
But we both don't say a word
Just speechlessly drive South
While emotionally, it feels
We're heading North
There are things that fall to dust
As soon as touched for real
They're meant to be kept safe deep inside
And not to be revealed
The same old village by the sea
Covered by the dust of centuries
That wiped out all the traces we had left
Life taught us many lessons
I thought we learned those lessons well
We should be old enough to face it
But we both don't say a word
Just speechlessly drive South
While emotionally, it feels
There's a painting of my grandfather, on my mothers side
In the hallway of our homestaed, in a special place of pride
With his bulldogs and kanakas, back in eighteen nighty three
In a linen suit and a panama, they say he looked like me.
And the story goes he came out, to make a brand new start
In an effort to forget, a sad affair of the heart
So with these romantic notions, to the colonies he came
Where he settled in the tropics and made his fortune growing cane.
Chorus:
Well let the canefields burn, let the flames rise
Let the politicians and the bankers in the city look up
In wonder at the glow at in the sky.
Let the canefield burn, let me feel no pain
When I drown my soul in whisky, and dance in the flames.
There's a photo of my parents, taken in between the wars
In London, Rome or Paris, I don't know for sure
But it hangs there in the hallway and there's one for every year
Fortunes made, and fortunes paid, for champagne souveniers.
Chorus:... let the canefields burn...
And they say they're gonna take this all away from me
The cars the cane the homestead, all my family history
Let the auctioneer open... with a price for charred remains!
Chorus:... let the canefields burn...