Film Viewers Guide

love with Romeo, then learns he’s a Montague: “My only love sprung from my only hate.” Loss and temporality are romanticized: Juliette, “Parting is such sweet sorrow.” Romeo’s friend Mercutio points out that “Dreams are the children of an idle brain, begot of nothing but vain fantasy.” Mercutio foolishly provokes Tybalt Capulet, who kills him. Romeo jumps in for revenge and kills Tybalt.

To complete the ego rampage Romeo and Juliette each commit suicide.

Scarlet Letter (1995) Mrs. Hester Prynne (Demi Moore) arrives in strictly Puritan Mass Bay colony ahead of her husband. She and the Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale (Gary Oldman) fall in love, but resist each other at first. Then, after hearing a report that her husband was killed by Indians, they have sex. Hester becomes pregnant and is charged with fornication and adultery, but she will not reveal the name of the adulterer nor admit to sin. She is imprisoned, then forced to wear the scarlet letter A and to be followed by a drummer in public. Arthur sees it as God’s punishment. Hester’s husband makes it to the colony and secretly searches for the adulterer; he stirs up fears of witchcraft by murdering Hester’s slave.

And by murdering a colonist, he provokes an Indian war. Arthur, Hester and the baby escape. “Who is to say what is a sin in God’s eyes?”

Serendipity (2001) Sarah (Kate Beckinsale) believes in destiny. She meets Jonathan, they go skating and experience mutual attraction, then separate. A few years later each is engaged but thinking of the other. She relies on fate to bump into him; he tries to track her down by credit card number. Her friend tells her: If the script is written, why fight it; give up. But fate delivers: he gets the book with her phone number; she gets the $5 bill with his. His friend tells him: “Don’t be afraid of looking like a jackass. Life is not merely a tapestry of accidents; it’s a tapestry of events that culminate in an exquisite, divine plan. If we are to live life in harmony with the universe, we must all possess a powerful faith in destiny.” They meet at the ice skating rink. ♥ Shall We Dance (2004) Estate Attorney John Clark (Richard Gere) leads dull life with wife Beverly (Susan Sarandon). He is attracted to Miss Mitzi’s Dance School by seeing Paulina (Jennifer Lopez) in window. Bobbie needs a partner for the competition. Paulina coaches them and they inspire her to compete again. Finally Clark decides to dance with his wife—all happy.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is wrongly sent to brutal Shawshank Prison for the murder of his wife and her lover. He joins up with longtime convict "Red" (Morgan Freeman); they make money and eventually escape.

Shutter Island (2010) Directed by Martin Scorcese. US Marshall Ted Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio), is investigating an island prison for the criminally insane. He believes he is on to a plot by the doctors to turn people into monsters, but the plot winds back to him.

S1m0ne (2002) Written and Directed by Andrew Niccol, who also wrote 'The Truman Show' script. Disillusioned director Viktor Taransky (Al Pacino) tries a computer program he inherited from a computer graphics fanatic. The program allows him to use a computer-generated woman to play the movie's central character. Viktor names her "Simone", derived from Simulation One. Seamlessly incorporated into the movie, Simone (Rachel Roberts) gives a fantastic performance. The studio, and soon the world, starts to ask "who is Simone?"

Taransky: “I just brought someone’s dream to life.” Simone: “Are you ever going to tell the truth about me?”

Taransky: “What’s real these days anyway? People need to believe you’re real.” “You have to understand none of this is real.” People, like his ex-wife, project their thoughts onto her. He gives phone and camera interviews, but it becomes difficult to maintain. Two people doggedly pursue him and force him to showcase Simone "live." He presents her as a hologram in a stadium singing “Natural Woman.” Simone ascends to even greater heights, winning the Academy Award for Best Actress. When he says, “Simone isn’t a real person, I invented her,” his ex doesn’t believe him. Hoping to disgust audiences, Viktor shows Simone eating with pigs. But they continue to love her. He says to her, “I know what you’re thinking. This is a phony baloney world so why shouldn’t you live too?” He then uses a computer virus to erase the program, dumps all of the information into a trunk and throws it out to sea. He is arrested for her murder. In his defense he admits that Simone was just a computer program. The police don’t believe that all of this information and photos is fake.

They question him, “So you couldn’t kill Simone because she doesn’t exist?” He says, “There’s no one to kill. His daughter revives Simone from a virus floppy disk in the computer and he is freed from custody. Hi wife and daughter join in continuing the hoax. His daughter says, “We’re fine with fake, Dad, as long as you don’t lie about it.”

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