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The Trouble with Tolstoy (2011) #701
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BBC 2 x 1 hour episodes: 1 At War with Himself, 2 In Search of Happiness. Alan Yentob takes an epic train ride through Tolstoy's Russia, examining how Russia's great novelist became her great troublemaker. In this first of two programmes, he reveals a difficult and troubled youth, obsessed with sex and gambling, who turned writer while serving as a soldier in Chechnya and the Crimea. His experiences on the frontline eventually fed into War and Peace, a book now recognised as, 'the gold standard by which all other novels are judged'. They also triggered his conversion to outspoken pacifist. Alan's expedition takes him to the Tatar city of Kazan, where Tolstoy was a teenager, the siege of Sevastopol on the Black Sea and Imperial St Petersburg, as well as the idyllic Tolstoy country estate, the writer's cradle and grave, and home throughout his passionate but brutal 48-year marriage to Sofya - a marriage that began with rape, produced 13 children and ended with desertion and denial. In the second episode... The success of War and Peace brought Tolstoy fame, wealth and a massive mid-life crisis. Alan follows the writer through the tortured second half of his life as he transformed himself from aristocrat to anarchist and turned his back on his novels, his possessions and finally his wife of 48 years. Alan travels east into the remote emptiness of the Russian steppe, through the dark pages of Tolstoy's great romantic novel Anna Karenina, on to the small town where Anna takes her life, and then on the pilgrimage to the spectacular monastery where Tolstoy's spiritual quest began. Using extraordinary early film of Tolstoy, we witness the tumultuous events of Tolstoy's final years and his passionate relationship with his disciple Chertkov, the man his wife called 'the devil incarnate'. Finally, Alan retraces Tolstoy's flight from home at the age of 82, a journey that ended in a remote railway station. Heartbreaking archive footage shows his wife Sofya being turned away from the deathbed of her husband. So great was Tolstoy's influence at the time of his death that the government feared the news would spark revolution. Contributors include Tolstoy's great great grandson Vladimir Tolstoy, AN Wilson and author of a Tolstoy biography, Rosamund Bartlett. |
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Cop Out (2010) #24
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Directed by Kevin Smith. With Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Juan Carlos Hernández, Cory Fernandez. Jimmy's rare baseball card is robbed. Since it's his only hope to pay for his daughter's upcoming wedding, he recruits his cop partner Paul to track down the robber, a memorabilia-obsessed gangster. |
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In Our Name (2010) #363
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Directed by Brian Welsh. With Joanne Froggatt, Mel Raido, Chloe Jayne Wilkinson, Andrew Knott. Suzy's a British soldier, born and bred, but fitting back into civilian life after fighting in Iraq isn't easy. Haunted by the responsibility she feels for the death of an Iraqi child, she becomes obsessed with the safety of her own daughter, feeling the need to protect her against a threat that doesn't seem to exist. As Suzy's paranoia builds, her behaviour becomes more and more erratic, until ... |
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Obsessed (2009) #141
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Directed by Steve Shill. With Beyoncé Knowles, Idris Elba, Ali Larter, Jerry O'Connell. A successful asset manager, who has just received a huge promotion, is blissfully happy in his career and in his marriage. But when a temp worker starts stalking him, all the things he's worked so hard for are placed in jeopardy. |
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Zodiac (2007) #23
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Directed by David Fincher. With Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards. A San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac killer. |
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The Number 23 (2007) #66
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Directed by Joel Schumacher. With Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Logan Lerman, Danny Huston. Walter Sparrow becomes obsessed with a novel that he believes was written about him. As his obsession increases, more and more similarities seem to arise. |
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Harold and Maude (1971) #17
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Directed by Hal Ashby. With Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Vivian Pickles, Cyril Cusack. Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral. |
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Harold and Maude (1971) #26
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Directed by Hal Ashby. With Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Vivian Pickles, Cyril Cusack. Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral. From TCM |
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Harold and Maude (1971) #523
FILM
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Directed by Hal Ashby. With Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Vivian Pickles, Cyril Cusack. Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral. |
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Frankenstein (1931) #1245
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Directed by James Whale. With Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, Boris Karloff, John Boles. An obsessed scientist assembles a living being from parts of exhumed corpses. |