In these five "modern narratives" of desire in contemporary consumer culture, Almy constructs an ironic social critique. Each segment focuses on a single concept that is visualized with a simple formal device. With an economy of visual and verbal means, Almy merges voiceovers and images to achieve abbreviated narratives of alienated modern lives. In the first segment, photographic slide projections of individuals and household objects are each labeled "nice." In another, a woman describes a man with an associative series of adjectives progressing from the positive to the pejorative, from "perfect, absolutely perfect," to "boring, absolutely boring." Throughout, Almy presents a picture of personal and social stasis, the commodification of everyday life.

In these five "modern narratives" of desire in contemporary consumer culture, Almy constructs an ironic social critique. Each segment focuses on a single concept that is visualized with a simple formal device. With an economy of visual and verbal means, Almy merges voiceovers and images to achieve abbreviated narratives of alienated modern lives. In the first segment, photographic slide projections of individuals and household objects are each labeled "nice." In another, a woman describes a man with an associative series of adjectives progressing from the positive to the pejorative, from "perfect, absolutely perfect," to "boring, absolutely boring." Throughout, Almy presents a picture of personal and social stasis, the commodification of everyday life.
1979-01-01
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8.4Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.
7.3Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.
6.2Larry Burrows is unhappy and feels powerless over his life. He believes his entire life could have turned out differently had he not missed that shot in a baseball game when was a kid. One night he meets this mysterious man, who could change his fate by offering him that alternative life he always dreamed of. But as Burrows embarks on this journey of self discovery he realises that even this new life has its problems and drawbacks..
7.2Three juvenile delinquents arrive at a correctional center and are put under the care of an experienced guard.
6.7Tony spends his Saturdays at a disco where his stylish moves raise his popularity among the patrons. But his life outside the disco is not easy and things change when he gets attracted to Stephanie.
6.4Fourteen-year-old Mo is a lonely, sensitive boy whose hunger for the rant and banter of buddies makes him prone to tread dangerous territories. He idolizes his handsome older brother, Rashid, a charismatic, well-respected member of a local gang, whose drug dealing enables “Rash” to provide for his family. Aching to be seen as a tough guy himself, Mo takes a job that unlocks a fateful turn of events and forces the brothers to confront their inner demons. It turns out that hate is easy. It is love and understanding that take real courage.
7.8In the not so distant future, Theodore, a lonely writer, purchases a newly developed operating system designed to meet the user's every need. To Theodore's surprise, a romantic relationship develops between him and his operating system. This unconventional love story blends science fiction and romance in a sweet tale that explores the nature of love and the ways that technology isolates and connects us all.
6.7The continuation of Joe's sexually dictated life delves into the darker aspects of her adult life and what led to her being in Seligman's care.
6.7When tech billionaire Slater King meets cocktail waitress Frida at his fundraising gala, he invites her to join him and his friends on a dream vacation on his private island. But despite the epic setting, beautiful people, ever-flowing champagne, and late-night dance parties, Frida can sense that there’s something sinister hiding beneath the island’s lush façade.
6.7Allied agents infiltrate the Nazi rocket complex at Peenemunde in order to obtain their secrets and sabotage the plant. The film alternates between German developments of the V-1 missile and V-2 rocket (with a German cast speaking their own language) and discovery by British Intelligence of the weapon.
6.1William Tell just wants to play cards. His spartan existence on the casino trail is shattered when he is approached by Cirk, a vulnerable and angry young man seeking help to execute his plan for revenge on a military colonel. Tell sees a chance at redemption through his relationship with Cirk. But keeping Cirk on the straight-and-narrow proves impossible, dragging Tell back into the darkness of his past.
7.3Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his drinking, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera.
6.5A white dropout struggles to become a cartoonist and filmmaker, drawing inspiration from the harsh, gritty world around him. Still sharing his rundown apartment with his middle-aged parents, an oafish slob of an Italian father and a ditzy nutcase of a Jewish mother, he's ridiculed and looked down upon by his friends, hypocrites who run with violent gangs and the Italian Mafia, and a shallow Black girl who makes her living downtown with the pimps and pushers. The cartoonist gets a chance to pitch a film idea to a movie mogul, but the story proves too outrageous: a far-future Earth, depleted by war and pollution, where a mutant antihero challenges and kills God.
6.2For a long time, Natalie, an Australian architect living in New York City, had always believed that what she had seen in rom-coms is all fantasy. But after thwarting a mugger at a subway station only to be knocked out while fleeing, Natalie wakes up and discovers that her life has suddenly become her worst nightmare—a romantic comedy—and she is the leading lady.
6.8A young single mother is held captive along with her two children by a violent ex and must plot their escape before it’s too late.
6.6In 1950s Mexico City, William Lee, an American ex-pat in his late forties, leads a solitary life amidst a small American community. However, the arrival in town of Eugene Allerton, a young student, stirs William into finally establishing a meaningful connection with someone.
7.3When churlish mobster Albert Spica acquires an upscale French restaurant in London, he dines there nightly, effectively scaring off the clientele with his bad manners. His wife, Georgina, is especially disgusted by him, and soon begins an affair with regular guest Michael. Despite their best efforts to keep it secret, Spica learns about their trysts, and he plots a terrible revenge.
7.3Aza confronts her potential for love, happiness, friendship, and hope while navigating an endless barrage of invasive, obsessive thoughts.