Welcome Back Riders (2007)
Actors:
William Knight (actor),
Kath Soucie (actress),
Brian McNamara (actor),
Justin T. Bowler (actor),
Mel Fair (actor),
Michael Saad (actor),
Neal Matarazzo (actor),
David Boat (actor),
Ben Bode (actor),
Nathan Cutietta (editor),
Nathan Cutietta (producer),
Nathan Cutietta (writer),
Nathan Cutietta (director),
John Philip Sousa (composer),
Garry Michael Kluger (writer),
Plot: Try and remember your favorite amusement park. It's easy. Have you ever wondered how these parks started? Welcome Back Riders breaks new ground, taking a collective look at the history of amusement parks. This film is not a superficial examination of 'who has the biggest roller coaster.' Instead, Welcome Back Riders explores the history of the amusement park as a part of Americana, and the larger-than-life visionaries who creations, from Coney Island to Disneyland, were, and are, a reflection of America's evolving culture. The ride begins with the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, continues through the Great Depression and straight into present day. We learn how some have survived, and with heartbreaking footage, we see what remains of once alive parks. Through Riders unique storytelling process, the essence of 10 parks are brought to life through character narrators with an intricate script that focuses on the story, with no interviews and few dates or statistics. Behind each park, a creative visionary poured his heart into crafting a park that reflected his personality, from Walt Disney to Milton Hershey. As the film unfolds, it becomes the first American Amusement Park biography. Using an antique 35mm camera, the film combines archival footage as early as 1901, home videos and colorful postcards of the parks, to both educate and entertain, cultivating a greater appreciation for a favorite American pastime. Welcome Back Riders combines history and personal journeys into one touching story, while evoking the nostalgia we all carry towards our favorite amusement park.
Genres:
Documentary,
Across the Universe (2007)
Actors:
Kevin Alexander Stea (actor),
James Urbaniak (actor),
Eddie Izzard (actor),
Joe Cocker (actor),
Jim Ford (actor),
Bill Richards (actor),
Joe Cocker (actor),
Bill Irwin (actor),
Robert Clohessy (actor),
Joe Cocker (actor),
Kevin Cannon (actor),
Bono (actor),
Dylan Baker (actor),
Lynn Cohen (actress),
Harry Lennix (actor),
Plot: Across The Universe is a fictional love story set in the 1960s amid the turbulent years of anti-war protest, the struggle for free speech and civil rights, mind exploration and rock and roll. At once gritty, whimsical and highly theatrical, the story moves from high schools and universities in Massachusetts, Princeton and Ohio to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the Detroit riots, Vietnam and the dockyards of Liverpool. A combination of live action and animation, the film is paired with many songs by 'The Beatles' (qv) that defined the time.
Keywords: 1960s, absent-father, abuse, acid, acoustic-guitar, african-american, afro, alcohol, alien, american-flag
Genres:
Drama,
Fantasy,
Musical,
Romance,
Taglines: All you need is love. Within the lyrics of the world's most famous songs, lives a story that has never been told. Until now. They lived without rules. They loved without fear. But as the world changed, so did they. From director Julie Taymor comes the most original, exhilarating, spectacular, groundbreaking motion picture of the year.
Quotes:
JoJo: Music's the only thing that makes sense anymore, man. Play it loud enough, it keeps the demons at bay.
Max: Jude, this is my sister, Lucy.::Jude: [later, to Lucy] My god, you... you have perfect teeth!
Lucy: We're in the middle of a revolution Jude. And what are you doing? Doodles and cartoons?::Jude: Well I'm sorry I'm not the man with the mega-phone, but this is what I do.
Army Sergeant: Is there any reason you shouldn't be in this man's Army?::Max: I'm a cross-dressing homosexual pacifist with a spot on my lung.::Army Sergeant: As long as you don't have flat feet.
Lucy: I would lay in front of a tank if it would bring Max back and end this war.::Jude: Yeah, it wouldn't.
Jude: [drawing picture of Lucy, looks at her] Come here.::Jude: [Lucy comes closer]::Jude: I just want to get your eyes right.
Sadie: [upon seeing Prudence for the first time] Where'd she come from?::Jude: She came in through the bathroom window.
Max: [they head for the basement of the campus, they come to a room. Jude closes the door] Shit, I'm outta shape! Woo! [he pants heavily trying to catch his breath before he recognizes Jude from earlier] You're the guy who was asking for the janitor, right?::Jude: [nods] Yeah.::Max: So what are you, uh, like the, uh, assistant janitor?::Jude: I'm just bunking down here, y'know. Temporarily.::Max: [as he observes his surroundings] Why?::Jude: Why do you need to know?::Max: You wanted by the cops? Huh? FBI?::Jude: You know it looks to me as though, uh... You're the one who's on the run.::Max: Uh... yeah. Thank you for that by the way.::Jude: What would that lot have done if they'd caught you?::Max: [he and Jude sit down] I don't know. Something, uh, involving genitalia and shoe polish.::Jude: Nasty.::Max: Yeah. Where's that accent from?::Jude: Same place as me. Liverpool.::Max: Do you have a name?::Jude: Yeah. [smiles] It's Jude.::Max: [smiles] Max. [he extends his hand, Jude shakes his hand]::Jude: [as he shakes Max's hand] I'm please to meet you.::Max: Well, uh, Jude, as a stranger to our shores, the least I can do is offer you some Ivy League hospitatilty. [he tosses Jude a flask]::Jude: [a beat] Cheers. [he takes a drink from the flask]
Hippie Guitarist: Learn French or die.
Max: And you know what really pisses me off is I swallowed all those cotton balls and they never even took a damn x-ray.::Hippy dude: You still have options man.::Max: Yeah, jail or Canada and they both suck. I mean I could never come home, so what is it, it's a choice of a 6x4 cell or an endless wasteland of frozen tundra.::Hippy dude: Montreal is cool.::Max: Man, they speak French.::Hippie Guitarist: So learn French. Learn French or die.