Eugene is an extraordinary talent in classic guitar, but he dreams of being a famous Blues guitarist. So he investigates to find a storied lost song. He asks the legendary Blues musician Willie Brown to help him, but Willie demands to free him from the old-people’s prison first and to really learn the blues on the way to it’s origin: Mississippi Delta. Eugene doesn’t know yet about Willie’s deal with the devil, that he now wants to revoke. Written by Tom Zoerner {Tom.Zoerner@informatik.uni-erlangen.de}

Bill Gambini and Stanley Rothenstein are 2 friends from New York University that just received scholarships to UCLA. They decide to drive through the south. Once they arrive in Alabama, they stopped at a local convenience store to pick up a few snacks. But, no sooner that they left the store, they were arrested. They had thought that they were arrested for shoplifting, but they were arrested for murder and robbery. Plus, they are facing execution for this crime. Bill and Stan do not have enough money for a lawyer, good news, that Bill has a lawyer in his family, his cousin, Vincent Laguardia Gambini. Bad news, is that Vinny is an inexperienced lawyer who has not been in a trial. So, Vinny has to defend his clients and battle an uncompromising judge, some tough locals, and even his fiancée, Mona Lisa Vito who just does not know when to shut up, to prove his clients’ innocence. But he will soon realize that he is going to need help. Written by John Wiggins

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Borat Sagdiyev is a TV reporter of a popular show in Kazakhstan as Kazakhstan’s sixth most famous man and a leading journalist. He is sent from his home to America by his government to make a documentary about American society and culture. Borat takes a course in New York City to understand American humor. While watching Baywatch on TV, Borat discovers how beautiful their women are in the form of C. J. Parker who was played by actress Pamela Anderson who hails from California, Malibu. He decides to go on a cross-country road trip to California in a quest to make her his wife and take her back to his country. Borat begins his journey and encounters a country full of strange and wonderful Americans. While on his cross-country road-trip, Borat meets real people in real chaotic situations with hysterical consequences. Written by Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

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A dark tale based on the true story of Aileen Wuornos, one of America’s first female serial killers. Wuornos had a difficult and cruel childhood plagued by abuse and drug use in Michigan. She became a prostitute by the age of thirteen, the same year she became pregnant. She eventually moved to Florida where she began earning a living as a highway prostitute–servicing the desires of semi-truck drivers. The tale focuses on the nine month period between 1989 and 1990, during which Wuornos had a lesbian relationship with a woman named Selby. And during that very same time, she also began murdering her clientele in order to get money without using sex. This turned the tables on a rather common phenomena of female highway prostitutes being the victims of serial killers–instead Wuornos, herself, carried out the deeds of a cold-blooded killer. Written by Sujit R. Varma

Professional daredevil and white-suited hero, The Great Leslie, convinces turn-of-the-century auto makers that a race from New York to Paris (westward across America, the Bering Straight and Russia) will help to promote automobile sales. Leslie’s arch-rival, the mustached and black-attired Professor Fate vows to beat Leslie to the finish line in a car of Fate’s own invention. The Blake Edwards style of slapstick and song originated with this movie. A dedication to Laurel and Hardy appears at the beginning of the film. Edwards’ tribute to Stan and Ollie can be seen most clearly in the interaction between Professor Fate and his cohort Max, as well as in the operatic Pottsdorf pie fight. Written by Jeanne Baker {jbaker@erim.org}

Director Peter Jackson had big shoes to fill in creating “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” - his own (albeit in reality said shoes were most often missing, exposing feet that have been described as ‘hobbit-like’). With the first film garnering 13 Academy Award nominations, picking up American Film Institute and Screen Actors Guild Awards, doing boffo business at the box office, and accomplishing the near impossible - exceeding many Tolkien fanatics’ fantasies of a live action trilogy - Jackson set the bar incredibly high. Fortunately, this short, stout, visionary director turns out to be quite a high jumper.

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Lula’s psychopathic mother goes crazy at the thought of Lula being with Sailor, who just got free from jail. Ignoring Sailor’s probation, they set out for California. However their mother hires a killer to hunt down Sailor. Unaware of this, the two enjoy their journey and themselves being together… until they witness a young woman dying after a car accident - a bad omen. Written by Tom Zoerner {Tom.Zoerner@informatik.uni-erlangen.de}

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