The help

synopsis
A 1960s-era Mississippi debutante sends her community into an uproar by conducting a series of probing interviews with the black servants behind some of her community's most prominent families. Skeeter (Emma Stone) has just graduated from college, and she's eager to launch her career as a writer. In a moment of inspiration, Skeeter decides to focus her attention on the black female servants who work in her community. Her first subject is Aibileen (Viola Davis), the devoted housekeeper who has been employed by Skeeter's best friend's family for years. By speaking with Aibileen, Skeeter becomes an object of scorn to the wealthy locals, who view her actions as directly challenging to the established social order. Before long, even more servants are coming forward to tell their stories, and Skeeter discovers that friendship can blossom under the most unlikely of circumstances. Bryce Dallas Howard co-stars in a touching tale of race relations based on author Kathryn Stockett's best-selling novel of the same name. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

In Civil Rights-era Jackson, Mississippi, Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan (Emma Stone) returns home after graduating from Ole Miss and attends a bridge game at the home of her socialite friend Elizabeth Leefolt (Ahna O'Reilly). Elizabeth's maid, Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis), fields a call from "white trash" Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain), who wants to help with a benefit being organized by the Junior League. Elizabeth and fellow socialite Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard), head of the local Junior League chapter, laugh at Celia's efforts to be accepted, as they don't think she's up to their social standards. Celia mentions to Aibileen that she's looking for a maid. After refusing to use Elizabeth's toilet because Aibileen uses it ("they carry different diseases than we do!"), Hilly describes the Home Health Sanitation Initiative she hopes to get passed in the state legislature. The bill would require white-owned homes to have a separate toilet for the Negro "help." This conversation is conducted within earshot of Aibileen. Skeeter has been assigned to write the Miss Myrna housekeeping column for the local newspaper. Because she never had to do much housework herself, she asks Aibileen for assistance. In addition to doing all the cooking and cleaning for Elizabeth's family, Aibileen is the de facto mother of Elizabeth's toddler-aged daughter, Mae Mobley (Eleanor Henry and Emma Henry), for whom Elizabeth shows heart-rendingly little concern. Every day Aibileen tells Mae Mobley, "You is kind. You is smart. You is important." Skeeter goes home and sees her mother Charlotte (Allison Janney) trying on a dress. Charlotte gets Skeeter to try it on and bugs her about still being single. Skeeter mentions the job she landed, and her mother frets that she'll never get married. Charlotte asks whether Skeeter is attracted to women, as she's "heard of an herbal remedy than can cure such 'unnatural' urges." Skeeter is horrified. At dinner that night Skeeter makes a rude remark about liking girls and her mother excuses herself from the table because Skeeter has upset her cancerous ulcer. Skeeter runs to a favorite spot outdoors, a small bench under a tree, and remembers how Constantine (Cicely Tyson), the maid who raised her from a child, comforted her when she wasn't asked to a dance. Skeeter desperately misses Constantine, who according to Charlotte quit while Skeeter was away at college. Skeeter can tell there's more to the story, but no one will tell her what really happened. Disturbed by the sudden loss of Constantine and at how Elizabeth and Hilly treat their own maids with bigoted condescension, Skeeter conceives a writing project: a book about the lives of Jackson's maids. She describes the project to Elaine Stein (Mary Steenburgen), an editor in New York, and receives lukewarm encouragement; Elaine doubts that any maids will agree to participate. Skeeter approaches Aibeleen about the book, but Aibileen declines to be interviewed. Hilly's maid, Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer), disobeys Hilly's order not to use the family's bathroom during a violent thunderstorm that makes a trip to the outhouse dangerous. Hilly fires her over the objections of her own mother, Mrs. Walters (Sissy Spacek). In retaliation, Minny bakes a chocolate pie into which she has baked her own feces, and takes it to Hilly in a fake act of contrition. While Hilly

greedily eats two slices, she asks why her mother can't have a slice, to which Minny explains that it's a "special pie, just for Miss Hilly." A moment later Minny tells Hilly, "Eat my shit!" Hilly asks if Minny's lost her mind, and Minny replies, "No, ma'am, but you is about to. 'Cause you just did." Hilly's mother laughs and laughs and Hilly retaliates by having her mother committed to a nursing home. Later that night, Minny's husband beats her while Aibileen listens on the phone. At church the next day, Aibileen hears the preacher deliver a sermon about courage and changing her mind, resolves to help Skeeter with her book. She tearfully recounts to Skeeter and Minny the story of her son's death years before: At age twenty-four, Aibileen's son was run over by a truck at his workplace. The white foreman drove him to a colored hospital, dumped him on the ground, honked the horn, and left. By that point it was too late to save him, so Aibileen brought him home, where he died on the sofa right before her eyes. She expresses her pain, saying "The anniversary of his death comes every year, and every year I can't breathe. But to you all, it's just another day of bridge." She becomes even more invested in the dangerous book project. Meanwhile Minny goes to work for Celia Foote, who is married to Hilly's former boyfriend. Celia is ill at ease with the social rules in Jackson and is having no luck breaking into the Junior League. Celia pays Minny under the table because she doesn't want her husband to know that she has no domestic skills. Although she is generally suspicious of white people, Minny finds herself becoming more comfortable around Celia, who is bubbly and treats Minny with respect, but is deeply insecure. Minny improves Celia's dismal cooking skills by teaching her how to make fried chicken on her first day. They bond further when Celia suffers her fourth miscarriage. While Minny helps her into bed and soothes her, Celia is overwrought. She reveals that she married her husband Johnny (Mike Vogel) because she was pregnant, but quickly lost the baby and hasn't told him about the three failed pregnancies that followed. She worries that she will never be able to have children. Hilly's new maid, Yule Mae (Aunjanue Ellis), explains to her employer that her twin sons have graduated high school and that she and her husband have been saving for years to send them to college. However, they are short $75 on one tuition, and are on the verge of having to choose which son can go. Yule Mae respectfully asks Hilly for a loan, saying that she will gladly work for free until the loan is paid off. Hilly refuses, explaining that it's "the Christian thing" to do because God does not give charity to those who are well and able. While vacuuming Hilly's living room later, Yule Mae finds a ring, which she pockets and later tries to pawn, hoping to get the tuition money. Hilly finds out and has Yule Mae arrested at the bus stop in front of the other maids, all of whom are deeply shaken by the event. Aibileen recruits a reluctant Minny into the book project, but Elaine Stein (who's warming to the project) insists the book will need at least a dozen voices -- including the story of Skeeter's own relationship with Constantine. After Yule Mae's arrest, nearly all the local maids volunteer to help with the book. Though she has changed the names of everyone involved, Skeeter remains concerned that people will recognize the maids and create more trouble for the Negro community in the wake of the recent murder of Medgar Evars. Minny insists that they include the story about Hilly and the chocolate pie -- which she refers to as her "terrible awful" -- as insurance against being identified; an embarrassed Hilly will not want anyone to know that she ingested her maid's feces and will do all she can to convince everyone that the book isn't about Jackson. Hilly has several times directed Skeeter, who writes the Junior League newsletter, to include an item about her proposed "sanitation initiative," but Skeeter keeps putting her off. Now Hilly adds an item about a charity coat drive -- the coats for which are to be dropped off at Hilly's house. Skeeter includes both items, but changes "coats" to something else. The next day Elizabeth gets a call and rushes herself, Mae Mobley, and Aibileen over to Hilly's, where

Hilly is screaming, "I told her to write 'coats'! Not 'commodes'!" On Hilly's lawn there sit about 40 toilets. While Hilly continues her histrionics, Mae Mobley innocently sits on a toilet and Elizabeth slaps her till she sobs. Mae Mobley runs to Aibileen, who holds her and whispers, "You is kind. You is smart. You is important." Skeeter eventually pries the story of Constantine's departure out of her mother: Charlotte fired Constantine because Constantine's daughter Rachel (LaChanze) refused to use the back door and embarrassed Charlotte while she was hosting an important DAR luncheon. Charlotte regretted it and tried to get Constantine to come back, going so far as to send her son, Skeeter's brother, to Constantine's new home in Chicago, but by the time he got there, Constantine had died. Skeeter's book The Help is published anonymously, and soon everyone in Jackson is reading it. True to Minny's prediction, Hilly is horrified to find the chocolate pie story therein and goes out of her way to assure her friends that The Help isn't about Jackson. Skeeter splits the advance she receives evenly among all the maids, promising that more is on the way. She's offered a job at the publishing house in New York, which she is disinclined to take, but Aibileen and Minny insist that she must. Stuart Whitworth (Chris Lowell), whom Skeeter has been dating, breaks up with Skeeter when he finds out it was she who wrote the book. Hilly also figures out who wrote the book and storms over to Skeeter's house in a drunken fury. She threatens to tell Skeeter's mother, but Charlotte kicks Hilly off her property after insulting her and insinuating she knows about the pie. Charlotte tells Skeeter to take the job in New York, which Skeeter does, and Charlotte tells her she's proud of her for what she's done. Celia works hard to prepare a lavish meal for Minny in gratitude for all she has done. Celia's husband, who has known all along that Minny is working for Celia, tells Minny she will have a job with them for as long as she wants it. Inspired, Minny leaves her abusive husband, taking their children with her. One of the final scenes shows Hilly taking in her mail. One item is a check for $200, a donation from Celia to the Junior League benefit. When she sees that the check is made out to "Two-Slice Hilly," she throws a tantrum and tears it up. Hilly, falsely claiming that Aibileen has stolen some silverware, browbeats the weak-willed Elizabeth into firing Aibileen. When alone with Aibileen, Hilly cruelly tells her that while she cannot send Aibileen to jail for her involvement in the book, she can send her "for being a thief." Aibileen snaps and finally stands up to Hilly, calling her a "godless woman" for her conniving and backstabbing ways, at which Hilly bursts into tears of rage and leaves. Mae Mobley begs Aibileen not to leave her, and they share a tearful goodbye. Elizabeth shows a rare glimpse of emotion, tearing up as she watches Mae Mobley bang on the window, crying for Aibileen to return. As she walks away, Aibileen promises herself that she will become a writer, as her son had encouraged her to do.

Safe

synopsis
A suicidal New Jersey cage fighter protects a young Chinese math prodigy from Triads, Russian gangsters, and corrupt cops in this action thriller from producer Lawrence Bender (Pulp Fiction) and writer/director Boaz Yakin (Fresh, A Price Above Rubies). Ten-year-old Mei (Catherine Chan) is a genuine numbers wizard from Nanjing. Unfortunately, her unusual proficiency in mathematics has made her the target of Triad boss Han Jaio (James Hong), who abducts the young girl from her home and sends her to America to help keep his underhanded business dealings a well-guarded secret. Mei has the ability to store a virtual library of financial information in her head, and by having the young girl as his personal bookkeeper, Han is able to operate without fear of being implicated by a telling paper trail. Meanwhile, as Mei follows her new "father" Chang (Reggie Lee) on his many extortion outings, Luke Wright (Jason Statham) takes flight from the Russian mafia after botching a fixed fight and seeing his wife murdered in retribution. Mei's and Luke's fates collide, however, when, soon after Han Jiao makes the trip to America to give the young girl a secret number, the fallen fighter witnesses her fleeing from Russian gangsters just as he is about to take his own life. At that moment, Luke pulls himself back from the brink and decides to take action. But now Luke's death wish may come true sooner than he anticipated; not only are the Triads and the Russians determined to get that number by any means necessary, but corrupt NYPD captain Wolf (Robert John Burke) is hell-bent on beating them to it -- and has the power of the law on his side. As day turns to night, Luke realizes that his time is quickly running out. Perhaps if Luke can save Mei, he will have finally taken the first crucial steps down the road to redemption and toward a new life where he won't have to fight in order to survive. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

In mixed martial arts fights, Luke Wright through life by making changes to the fight against him until one day he was against cheating. As an example of him, the murder of his wife by a Russian Mafia who left of his life, leaving Luke is wandering aimlessly through the streets, haunted by guilt, and is always supervised, with whoever he related it will be killed. But when he saw a Chinese girl was eleven years in fear, named Mai, who was chased by the same gangsters killing his wife, Luke immediately to act and directly deal with them. Mai, is an unusual orphan girl, who has the expertise and good at math, he was forced to work for Triad. Mai hold the key and the code in his mind that the Triads, the Russian mafia and a corrupt faction of the NYPD work together to commit murder. May realizes that he is a trustworthy person, Luke guard and save her from the brutality of the city. Danger and possible death that will kill him just to save the life of an innocent girl

The Village (2004) More at IMDbPro

In a quiet, isolated village in olde Pennsylvania, there lies a pact between the people of the village and the creatures who reside in the surrounding woods: the townspeople do not enter the woods, and the creatures do not enter the village. The pact stays true for many years, but when Lucius Hunt seeks medical supplies from the towns beyond the wood, the pact is challenged. Animal carcasses, devoid of fur, begin to appear around the village, causing the council of elders to fear for the safety of the village, the pact, and so much more. Written by simsman24000 'The Village' depicts the tale of an isolated town confronting the astonishing truth that lies just outside its borders. At first glance, this village seems picture perfect, but this close-knit community lives with the frightening knowledge that creatures reside in the surrounding woods. The evil and foreboding force is so unnerving that none dare venture beyond the borders of the village and into the woods. But when curious, headstrong Lucius Hunt plans to step beyond the boundaries of the town and into the unknown, his bold move threatens to forever change the future of the village. Written by sam The village Covington is a 19th-century Pennsylvania village that is isolated from the rest of the world. The woods that surround the village are off limits to all the villagers because mysterious creatures live there. Many years earlier, the town elders and the creatures reached an understanding that the villagers would not go into the woods, and the creatures would not enter the village. A boundary was set up around the village, along with warnings on etiquette and colors to wear regarding keeping the creatures at bay. After one of the elders named August Nicholson (Brendan Gleeson) loses his son to an untreatable disease, one of the town's young people named Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix) goes to the village elders, and requests to leave the village and travel to "the towns," in hopes of finding medicines and other remedies that may prevent further losses, or possibly cure the mental ailments of one of the town's other young persons, named Noah Percy (Arien Brody). His request is quickly denied by the village elders. Lucius himself is considered a rather strange young man by the village. He keeps to himself, rarely speaking to most people. When Kitty Walker (Judy Greer) comes to Lucius in hopes he will marry her, he refuses her request. Lucius has been childhood friends with Kitty's youngest sister, named Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard). Blind since she was very young, Ivy claims that Lucius has a 'color' around him, that she can sense. One day, while in a small area near the border to the woods, Noah presents Ivy with some red berries. They do not grow in the village, and Lucius believes that Noah has travelled into the woods, and has not been harmed by the creatures in it. This causes Lucius to grow more determined, and he again goes to the elders to request again to travel to "the towns." Lucius believes that if the creatures allowed Noah into the woods without causing him harm, they will do the same to him. Lucius's second request is denied, and his mother Alice Hunt (Sigourney Weaver) advises him to stay home and forget about the outside world, claiming it to be a dangerous place that took the life of his father. Upset by these proclamations, Lucius explains that he sees that his mother eyes Ivy Walker's father Edward (William Hurt) in a 'certain way' even though he is married. Lucius also makes note of a black wood box that his Mother has, which is locked. Each of the elders has a box, that contains remnants of the elder's pasts before they established Covington. Lucius wants his mother to open the box and reveal her past secrets, but she refuses this as well. The next day, Lucius has patrol duty along the borders of the village. Unseen by the others, he steps over the boundaries, and wanders a ways into the woods. The sound of something nearby catches his

attention, but all that is there when he looks are some wavering branches. Later that evening, Lucius visits the Walker's house, where he has a conversation with Ivy. Ivy explains that in the time that has passed, her sister has decided to marry another young man in the town. Ivy says that Lucius is brave for wanting to go beyond the village, but she feels his actions are unwise. Before Lucius leaves, Ivy informs him that now that her sister is to be married, she is free to have suitors court her. Shortly thereafter, the alarm is sounded, and the creatures in the woods are said to have entered the village. Lucius returns to the Walker's residence, where he manages to get Ivy into the house before she is attacked by one of the creatures. The next morning, red marks are found slashed across many of the doors in town. A town meeting is held, to which Edward Walker explains that he feels the creatures feel threatened. Lucius comes forward, claiming that his trespass into the woods beyond the borders was most likely what brought the creatures into the village. Lucius is ashamed at what has happened, but even so, Edward praises that he is a very brave young man. Sometime afterward, a celebration is held for the marriage of Kitty Walker and Christop Crane (Fran Kranz). During a lively dance, children's screams are heard, and several report that some of the creatures have returned to the village. The party is called off, as the villagers find skinned animals hung above the porches of several houses. This action on the part of the creatures causes the elders to grow concerned, and extra watch groups are put out. Lucius visits the Walker's residence in the evening, finding Ivy sitting on the porch. While talking, they finally admit their fondness for each other, and tell the elders the next day of their plans to be wed. The news travel fast through the small village, and Lucius is soon visited upon by Noah. Noah seems distraught at this news, and shocks Lucius when he stabs the young man repeatedly. Noah shortly thereafter leaves Lucius, and is found with blood on his hands. When a search is made to figure what has happened, Ivy goes to tell Lucius, only to find him on the floor of his small blacksmith's shop, not moving. Ivy is further worried when she cannot see his 'color.' For his actions, Noah is locked in a small house. Lucius's wounds are too severe to be treated by the methods known in the village, and it is very possible he will soon die. Ivy goes to her father, requesting to go to "the towns" to retrieve medicines to save the man she loves. Edward is at first unsure about this, but soon after takes Ivy aside, and takes her to an old shed. Edward explains that the towns are a wicked place, and that Ivy's Grandfather was a wealthy man who was killed by a person in "the towns." Edward opens the old shed, and Ivy is frightened when she senses the creatures inside. However, Edward explains that the creatures are not real they are merely suits created by the elders to keep the other villagers from not straying beyond the borders of the town. Edward then gives Ivy instructions on how to reach "The Towns," giving her his own permission to leave Covington to save Lucius, per her request. After Ivy has left, Edward goes to Alice, and explains that Ivy's quest to save Lucius is 'all he can give her,' in the wake of his secret feelings towards her. Edward then goes to the other elders and explains what he has done. While many are distraught, Edward claims that what he has done is meant to protect Covington's way of life. As the elders will not live forever, it is through the young people such as Ivy and Lucius that their way of life will be preserved. Ivy packs supplies, including a gold pocketwatch given to her by her father as payment for medicines. Ivy is accompanied into the woods by Kitty's husband Christop, and another young man named Finton Coin (Michael Pitt). Christop has taken no more than a couple steps outside the village's borders, when he grows frightened. Even though they are wearing yellow colored clothing (considered a 'good'

color), and even though Ivy claims she has a bag of magic rocks to protect them, Christop turns back. Finton accompanies Ivy for another day, before he too is overcome with fear. Ivy allows him to go back, and continues on her own. Ivy soon comes across a large pit that almost claims her life. After making her way around it, she hears a strange sound, and senses what she believes to be one of the creatures, even though her father told her they were not real. The creature charges her several times. Using her memory and remaining senses, Ivy manages to lead the creature back to the pit, where she tricks it into falling in. It turns out (unknown to Ivy) that the creature was actually Noah in one of the costumes. He had found the costume beneath the floorboards in the house where he was being kept, then put it on and escaped into the woods. Noah's fall badly injures him, and soon, he ceases to move. Ivy continues on her way, soon finds herself come to a large wall. Carefully, she begins to climb over. As she does, several of the village elders open their locked black boxes. Contained within are mementos of their past life. It is soon apparent that Covington only has the appearance of being in the 19th century. The actual time is the present day. The village of Covington came about as an idea by Edward Walker. After his father was murdered by a business partner, Walker joined a support group for others who had lost their loved ones to violence. Walker was a history professor at a local University, and had the idea to start a small isolated village, to insulate the members of the group from further harm or loss. Walker's father was very wealthy, and Edward had the village built deep in the interior of the Walker Wildlife Preserve. A large wall surrounds the preserve, and precautions are made to keep airplanes from flying overhead as well, to keep up the illusion of the village being a rural and rustic place. Back at the wall, Ivy has made her way over, when she is startled by a strange sound, and the voice of a young man. The sound is actually the siren on the young man's vehicle. He is part of the patrol unit making sure people do not attempt to get into the preserve. Ivy is at first frightened by the young man, given what she has heard about people in "the towns." However, she soon senses kindness in the young man's voice, and he offers to help her get the medicines she needs. Ivy is told to stay by the wall, while the young man leaves and returns with the supplies, along with a ladder. Ivy gives the young man the pocketwatch she has as payment, and makes her way back over the wall, and back into the woods, completely unaware of the modern-day world she has set foot into. Ivy soon returns to the village. Word spreads of her encounter with a creature that she killed in the woods. Noah's parents are distraught over the news of their son's death, but Edward Walker sees a silver lining in this altercation. Edward had convinced Ivy that the creatures were fabrications by the elders. But having encountered what she thought was a real creature, she most likely now will be deterred from considering returning into the woods or telling Lucius about what Edward told her. She may even now think that her father told her these things to build her up to be brave for the journey. Edward Walker also proclaims that they will go out later on and recover Noah's body, bury him, and claim the creatures killed him. In silence, the elders vow to keep going on with their charade, as Ivy returns to the Hunt's residence with the medicines, and sits down next to Lucius, as the elders watch her take his hand.