Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, and is generally extended to refer to the clock or the clock tower (officially known simply as Clock Tower) as well. The clock tower holds the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world and is the third-tallest free-standing clock tower. It celebrated its 150th anniversary on 31 May 2009, during which celebratory events took place. The tower was completed in 1858 and has become one of the most prominent symbols of both London and England, often in the establishing shot of films set in the city.
The present Clock Tower – metonymically referred to as Big Ben, and historically confused with St Stephen's Tower – was raised as a part of Charles Barry's design for a new palace, after the old Palace of Westminster was largely destroyed by fire on the night of 16 October 1834. The new Parliament was built in a Neo-gothic style. Although Barry was the chief architect of the Palace, he turned to Augustus Pugin for the design of the Clock Tower, which resembles earlier Pugin designs, including one for Scarisbrick Hall. The design for the Clock Tower was Pugin's last design before his final descent into madness and death, and Pugin himself wrote, at the time of Barry's last visit to him to collect the drawings: "I never worked so hard in my life for Mr Barry for tomorrow I render all the designs for finishing his bell tower & it is beautiful." The tower is designed in Pugin's celebrated Gothic Revival style, and is 316 feet (96.3 m) high (roughly 16 storeys).
Jay Chou; (born 18 January 1979) is a Taiwanese musician, singer-songwriter, music and film producer, actor and director. In 1998 he was discovered in a talent contest where he displayed his piano and song-writing skills. Over the next two years, he was hired to compose for popular Mandarin singers. Although he was trained in classical music, Chou combines Chinese and Western music styles to produce songs that fuse R&B, rock and pop genres. He composes all his own songs, as well as songs for other singers.
In 2000, Chou released his first album, titled Jay, under the record company Alfa Music. Since then he has released one album per year except in 2009, selling several million copies each. His music has gained recognition throughout Asia, most notably in regions such as Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and in overseas Asian communities. He has sold more than 28 million albums worldwide up to 2010. He debuted his acting career in Initial D (2005), for which he won Best Newcomer Actor in both the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Awards, and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor by Hong Kong Film Awards for his role in Curse of the Golden Flower (2006). He produced the theme song for the film Ocean Heaven starring Jet Li. His career now extends into directing and running his own record company JVR Music.
Plot
Sacrifice tells the story of a group of car thieves who steal a car with a boot full of cocaine. This leads to them unknowingly busting up a drug deal, between crime bosses, Frank Morgan and the Carbone Brothers. The Carbone brothers, itching to expand their influence into Frank's territory see this situation as a way to declare a war on Frank. During this Mayhem unravels a story of an American card player. Nick Hayden has sought refuge in the UK after a terrifying ordeal with a gangster in New York City. Compelled to leave card playing behind him, he seeks a way to leave calculating the odds and reading peoples reactions behind him. However through the influence of Claudia he soon finds himself ushered back into the world of underground poker. Linking these stories together is the sad tale of Charlene. A woman in her late twenties who desperately wishes to leave the sex industry behind her. She soon finds herself the victim of a witch hunt, led by a single mother in the tower block where she lives.
In this life... We all make sacrifices...
Plot
It's early July in Philadelphia. Childhood trauma has its hold on Harris Malden: he has no facial hair, so to compensate, he draws a mustache or beard on his face every morning, and he won't leave his neighborhood. His younger brother, Melvin, his best friend Paul, who lives next door, Paul's grandmother, and the entire neighborhood play along. But at the party for his 25th birthday, Paul's new girlfriend Susan points out to Harris that his mustache is a fake. This causes a crisis in Harris and threatens the friendship with Paul. Meanwhile, Melvin is trying to break into TV commercials. Hair, honesty, growing up, and moving on challenge each character and each relationship.
Keywords: birthday, character-name-in-title, fake-moustache, mustache, sweaty
Harris Malden has a secret. He fakes his facial hair.
Susan: Tickle monster!::Paul Levine: Tickle monster? What about blowjob monster?
Plot
Kyle Hanson is a Vietnam veteran whose traumatic war-time experiences have left him unable to rejoin mainstream society. When Kyle, unkempt and in dirty fatigues, stops in a small town for some food, the local bullies can't wait for an opportunity to harass him. After Kyle uses his Special Forces training to escape the bullies, he becomes the subject of a community-wide manhunt. Only Jenny Bellows, a local girl whose husband was declared missing in action in Vietnam, is willing to give Kyle a chance.
Keywords: bully, bullying, car-chase, chase, diner, dirt-bike, drifter, father-in-law-daughter-in-law-relationship, hamburger, harassment
The chase was on! Him against them. Well, so much for them.
A comedy romp across country roads!
On the long lonely journey from a past he wanted to forget, to the uncertain future which awaited, he wanted to be left alone... but only she understood. So if they wanted trouble, there was bound to be a ruckus.
Jenny Bellows: You don't talk much, do you?::Kyle Hanson: I lived in the jungle 8 months, never talked to anybody. I'd like to.
Jenny Bellows: [Kyle rides back on her dirtbike] Having fun? [Kyle doesn't answer] Boy you're the most excitement to hit this county since the hurricane of '68.::Kyle Hanson: Good machine.::Jenny Bellows: Jack and I used to do a lot of riding. Then I had Bobby, I had to stop for a while, but I like to keep the bikes tuned, take them out and ride, gives me a sense of freedom. You feel that way when you ride?::Kyle Hanson: ...Yeah.
Kyle Hanson: Gimme a hamburger... raw.::Counter Girl: Excuse me, sir... did you say "Rare"?::Kyle Hanson: RAW!
Big Ben: Hey Sarge!::Sarge: Yo!::Big Ben: That dude sittin' on the curb over there, he out of your old outfit?::Sarge: Hell, that dude ain't never been in no outfit, probably bought that coat at the Army Surplus.::Big Ben: I thought maybe he mighta' been one of the guys you trained, Sarge.::Sarge: Well if you got down wind of him, he'd probably smell more like a cowboy. Whaddya think of that, pig farmer?
Sheriff Jethro Pough: All right, hold it men. I want to see you all up here.::Sam Bellows: Whadda ya got, Jethro?::Sheriff Jethro Pough: I found out who this fella is. His name's Kyle Hansen, just like it said on his jacket. He was in the psycho ward at the Army Hospital in Mobile. Looks like he had a pretty rough time in Vietnam. It appears that he was with a secret unit of the Special Forces. He was captured twice, and escaped twice. Last Fall he was given up for dead after no one had seen him for eight months. He finally walked out of the jungle right before the Americans withdrew. Listen to this, Sarge: They tried to talk to him, and he hasn't said a word to anybody in over fourteen months. The Army finally give him a discharge last April. He's well trained and knows how to take care of himself. They suggest we use a lot of caution with him.
Cecil 'Cece' Grant: I don't even know why I bother with you clowns. I could of taken this sucker an hour ago. By myself. Alone.
Bubba: Mr. Bellows, the only safe way we can get him off of that island is - go down and get us a pack of bloodhounds.::Sam Bellows: Nah, Bubba. Jenny here tells me he likes that old worthless piece of ground. As far as I'm concerned, he can have this island, for as long as he wants to stay. If I ever saw one man win a war by himself, he sure did.::Sheriff Jethro Pough: [Chuckles] [They all see the men swim to the river bank]::Sam Bellows: Well, let's help these 'heroes' out of the river. [laughs]
Jenny Bellows: [turns around and sees Kyle standing in her living room, gasps] Can I help you with something?::Kyle Hanson: [points up on the wall] I didn't know your husband.::Jenny Bellows: I told my father I didn't think you did.
Jenny Bellows: There're some men coming for you. They say you're dangerous, are you dangerous? [Kyle gets up holding a knife, walks past her] Wait, my dad, Mr. Bellows is with them, I can talk to him.::Kyle Hanson: They tried to lock me up. I can't handle that.::Jenny Bellows: Well don't run! Those men out there are all hunters! They're just looking to shoot at something.::Kyle Hanson: I can handle that.
Sam Bellows: Which way did he go?::Jenny Bellows: All he said was he didn't like being locked up.
Plot
Chronicles the rise and fall of legendary blues singer Billie Holiday. Her late childhood, stint as a prostitute, early tours, marriages and drug addiction are featured.
Keywords: 1930s, african-american, alcohol, arrest, baltimore-maryland, bandleader, based-on-book, blaxploitation, brothel, carnegie-hall-manhattan-new-york-city
Diana Ross IS Billie Holiday
Diana Ross is Billie Holiday. Diana Ross sings Billie Holiday and a superstar is born.
Louis McKay: [offering Billie a $20 bill] You want my arm to fall off.
Jerry: I'll be a bum if you don't pull in fifteen bucks in tips tonight. Fifteen bucks. Now that's my definition of a good singer.
Mrs. Edson: Ain't it a shame how some of God's children have it so easy, while others have it so hard?
Piano Man: What she don't pick up from the top, she can pick up from the bottom.::Billie Holiday: I hope that works both ways!
The Rapist: I see what I want. [motioning to Billie] And this is it.::First Madame: Well, you can't always get what you see. [Pulling him to the door] And since you don't want what you CAN get, you know where you can go. And this is it!
Louis McKay: Pardon me, lady. I must have got you mixed up with someone who used to reside as Missus, um... what's her name?::Billie Holiday: If that's what you thought, nigger, why'd you give me them damn flowers? Why didn't you just give me some money?::Louis McKay: I did.
Louis McKay: I'm going out for a while. And when I come back, I don't want to find you here.
Billie Holiday: How do you like your eggs?
Billie Holiday: [after Louis discovers that Billie shoots up] Sure I've taken a few shots, but only when I needed it,::[Louis sighs]::Billie Holiday: but i'm not hooked, Louis. I'm not.::Louis McKay: Only when you needed it. What do you think hooked is? All I had to do is listen to your voice on the telephone and I knew. Who the hell do you think you're talking to? One of those ofay cats you be running around with? I've been on those streets all of my life. I know what that shit is!::Billie Holiday: It's good, ain't it?::[Louis then gets up and takes her suitcase and starts packing her stuff]::Billie Holiday: Wait, Wait, Baby! Oh, no.::Louis McKay: We're going home. Now!::Billie Holiday: [Stopping him] Wait, hey, baby, wait. See, you don't understand. Now, you don't know how it is when people are looking down at you and laughing at you and think that I'm a loser. And if I go home now, I'll think that I'm one, too. I gotta prove it to them. I gotta prove it to myself.::Louis McKay: What're you proving with that needle? That you're not woman enough to make it without a crutch? A magic way out when the going gets a little too rough? I want you to make it, too, baby. But not this way. Not this way.
Plot
A treasury agent traveling aboard a ocean liner confides to fellow passenger Charlie Chan that he's on the trail of a counterfeiting ring operating from the South Pacific and has survived two recent attempts on his life. Chan helps him avoid a third but is helpless to prevent a knife thrown in his back in the ship's club room. Although the ship will be docking shortly in Samoa, Charlie is confident that he will unmask the killer before then. Among the suspects are an elitist reverend and his wife, a beautiful young woman traveling with forged papers, a shady loudmouth of a salesman, a larcenous ship's steward, and a professional knife-thrower.
Keywords: absent-without-leave, african-american, african-american-comedian, african-american-hero, archive-footage, asian-comedian, asian-detective, asian-hero, attempted-murder, bankroll
THE RIDDLE OF THE "KNIVES OF DEATH!" (original print ad - all caps)
One of Chan's Most Terrifying Cases!
Scott Pearson: [talking confidentially] I'm under strict orders to remain undercover, but ever since I came aboard this ship...::[He stops when he hears a young couple walking by]::Charlie Chan: [after they are out of earshot] Yes...::Scott Pearson: Since I've been aboard, two attempts have been made to kill me.::Charlie Chan: You work for government?
Jimmy Chan: Say, I got the doctor's fingerprints from the doorknob, but I couldn't find anything on the murder weapon.::Charlie Chan: Many persons have handled that knife since killer.::Jimmy Chan: But, Pop, all modern detectives take fingerprints.::Charlie Chan: No. Only old-fashioned criminals leave such evidence behind.
Chattanooga Brown: I'm tellin' yuh, he's as guilty as a weasel in a hen house.::Jimmy Chan: Well, Pop'll grab him if he is.::Chattanooga Brown: Well, he's gotta bankroll that'd choke a water buffalo.::Jimmy Chan: [Chuckles] Why not a mule?::Chattanooga Brown: Ain't no mules where he come from. He come from, uh... He one of them shoemaker men.::Jimmy Chan: A what?::Chattanooga Brown: Shoemaker on... on the islands, you know!::Jimmy Chan: Oh, you mean Jamaica.
Charlie Chan: Kangaroo reaches destination also by leaps and bounds.
Charlie Chan: [to Captain Black] Good hunter never break twig underfoot.
Scott Pearson: I'm sorry to bring you out on such a beastly night.::Charlie Chan: Problems rarely wait for clearing weather.
P.T. Burke: I always say "Watch these quiet ones." By jiminy, you never know who'll toss a knife into you these days, but leave it to a big detective to figure fast. Like I always say, "You pick the most innocent looking one, you got the killer." And, believe me, a dame can hide a knife like nobody's business.
Charlie Chan: Tiger going away from village is never feared. Unfortunate agent's murder is proof he was approaching prey.
P.T. Burke: Yeah, an alibi's always a perfect front - a perfect front for them that need it.
Charlie Chan: Hasty man could also drink tea with fork.
IT'S THAT "Salome" GAL AGAIN...Lovin' Like A Desperado!
That "Salome" Gal...TORRID...TANTALIZING...TERRIFIC! (original poster)
'What's your pleasure, Stranger?" (original poster)
That LOVIN' Woman! (original poster)
That Ever-LOVIN' Lady of "Salome"!
THIS 'Salome" GAL CAN TAME 'EM ALL...In Pink Tights...or bar room fights!
A Guy who fights like he loves it...and a dame who loves like a desperado!
Plot
Adam Larey becomes a fugitive from justice when he escapes after being blamed for a crime he did not commit. He wanders into the desert wastelands and joins an outlaw gang who prey on gold prospectors. Years later, he meets his wife and her gold-prospecting father as they have come there seeking their fortune, and not knowing the danger of the treacherous desert wastes, the poisoned-water holes and the outlaw bands of marauders who roam the desert in search of the gold found by others. He comes to their aid and, eventually, manges to clear his name of the false charge against him.
Keywords: 1880s, bartender, based-on-novel, california, chinese, cigarette-smoking, croupier, damsel-in-distress, dancehall-girl, dancer
A Rip-Roaring Romance of the Old West...a Yarn With the Punch of a Six-Gun Bullet!
Plot
Big Ben has the largest store in the town of New Ralgia. His chief clerk is in love with the post mistress. The three of them get involved in a series of mishaps with their customers and with the town ladies' man, whose advances conceal a more sinister purpose.
Keywords: two-reeler
Centuries long,day after day
A tune kept tolling over London
Big Ben's bells got very famous
So all the others were redundant
Since the 80's it slightly changed
But no one paid any attention
'Cause the tune it plays is very simple
But the words must come straight from your heart
We like heavy,heavy metal
We like heavy,heavy metal
I don't know who made that tune
But that really doesn't matter,does it ?
All I know is that it should be known
By every fucking metal maniac
There are lots of us,let's unite & rejoice
If you don't know how just use your voice
It's a simple tune so it won't take long
Take a breath & sing this song
We like heavy,heavy metal
We like heavy,heavy metal
Centuries long,day after day
A tune kept tolling over London
Big Ben's bells got very famous
So all the others were redundant
Since the 80's it slightly changed
But no one paid any attention
'Cause the tune it plays is very simple
But the words must come straight from the heart
We like heavy,heavy metal
Songstress, huh, aah
I'm gonna take you on a ride to a lyrical expedition
In vision, imagine this, I be wishin' everybody would listen
Kissing ass until I was able to step into the arena
Make an impression and lesson to our discovery
I out-smarted mathematicians, blazed through expeditions
Through conditions not envisioned by those who pass predictions
In addition got a mission, a vision, if you would listen
Produce collaboration increasing complications
You understand how my floetry got you bubblin'
I see you wonderin' why you hear my name again
Never the same again, yes we came to win again
And if we fail again will love will conquer pain again
Just take a breath and continue the explanation
Turn off the Playstation, still to my detention
Did I mention poetic extension, my redemption
Soul is in suspension at the realization
With poor libation for ethnic formation
Empower this position, more come to listen
Floetry is like a master of chemistry
Turn your negativity into kinetic energy
You can't test we, no, no, you can't test we, see?
Subtractin' abstract messages from within
That's what I'm givin', that's what I'm givin', that's what I'm givin'
Subtractin' abstract messages from within
That's what I'm givin', that's what I'm givin', that's what I'm givin'
Givin', givin'
The stripes you wore
The lines you get
The holes in your sleeve
You told me to leave them alone
Does "House of Leaves"
Still lie on your bed?
You told me to read
But I still never read
Your mind
When I look at my city
Something's not right
No doubt it's so pretty
But they turned out the light
And instead of good morning
They tell you goodnight
You hung yourself
On the wall up above
The bed you made love
The girls you don't love
To touch
And they never guessed
The girl you loved best
To draw, always drew
Pictures of you
Undressed
When I look at my city
Something's not right
No doubt it's so pretty
But they turned out the light
On Sunday nothing opens late, the clock across the river chimes
It towers above the, we cross, we're bound for better times
We join the flow that's headed west and start
Letting go of what's kept us apart
Arriving at forgiveness, free to face the wintertime
Where memories rise out of the dark and play and shadows climb
While we decide what still applies and what can go
Clouds curl across the sky and the wind moans low
And I'm free to find some understanding
What used to be my world's expanding
I see the city in her eyes, the river's rushing and the lights have changed
And I suppose it's just my jealous streak
Draws out a word and makes it last all week
And turns and shapes it all into a noose
'Cos I can't bear to have the ends left loose
But at my best, I do believe in love
I can't conceive of only sky above
Seems to me we get to choose this stuff
Let's pick the path that's true, though the road is rough
And we'll be up where the stars are streaming
Glittering trails across the sky, still gleaming
The city shivering below, all lit up,
Dreaming of the Spring's soothing hand
Don't scratch the surface for the sake of it
Just because you know the ache will fit
The hole inside this soft and soothing thing
Where the soul is worn away and love still stings
Like the wind that leaves the trees all standing
Shy and naked as their leaves are landing
Who knows where, carried on the air
Don't you get too close
Make a mental note
That something's gonna give
If you wait this time out
A penny strikes the well
And sinks down to the bottom
With so much weight to bear
It's a quick fix so don't you dare back down
Someone please explain
How days so plain
Became so fickle and dangerous
Have gathered an unsettling dust
Have beaten up the both of us
Think Big Ben, Big Ben
Don't go down that easy
A knock at your front door
You answer from the bed
Nobody comes in
Nobody goes out
Mistakes you can't take back
The unforgiven move
If this can't be erased
You're left wondering about what might have been
Chorus
She wants to know the truth
You want to hurt her less
And one day this will pass