For this year's Movies Issue, The New York Times Magazine commissioned lines from an eclectic and talented group of screenwriters — writers responsible for some of the best scripts of 2013. We asked them each to write a single line for us — not a scene, a script or a scenario, but simply an intriguing, amusing or captivating line of dialogue. Then we gave these lines to one of the great movie artists of our time: the cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, a two-time Oscar winner. Kaminski used these lines as inspiration to create 11 original (very) short films. Each short evokes a style or genre of the cinematic past and stars an actor who gave an especially memorable performance in 2013.
As the evil sect known as the Black Section of Esoteric Buddhism wreaks havoc on Tibet, a young monk named Wong La (Biao Yuen) is sent to Hong Kong to recover a sacred urn that holds the power to defeat the enemies. Wong soon meets and safeguards a gorgeous woman (Michelle Reis) connected to the urn's protector, while the leader of the Black Section learns of Wong's plan and pursues the urn for himself in this martial arts thriller.
The film tells that in ancient times, the emperor Ming sent Dongchang Supervisor Gao Dehai to lead a fleet to the East China Sea to seek the fountain of youth. Unexpectedly, he was attacked by a dragon on the way, sunk the ship accidentally, and the fleet strayed into the deserted island to take an adventure. Jin Yiwei's guard Yan Lie came across "the last shark man in the world"—the beautiful and kind Xiyin, and the story of his love with Xiyin
Halim has seen through it all. He has seen through the Integration plan a secret conspiracy that tries to turn all immigrants into Swedes. Unfortunately he has also seen through his own father, who has fallen victim to the Integration plan. But Halim has his own plan; he is going to be Sweden’s mightiest revolution immigrant and take a stand to save his father from forgetting his Arabic roots.
In the kingdom of Letonia, the young prince Égon spends his nights playing the drums. During the day, he only has one thing on his mind: finding Sleeping Beauty in the kingdom of Kentz and breaking the spell over her. But his father, the king, doesn’t believe in fairy tales, and is completely opposed to Égon’s dream. It’s Maggie Jerkins, an archeologist from Unesco, who will provide Egon with the opportunity to follow his heart.
When a gun-toting rebel tries to rescue her kidnapped sister, she finds herself up against a widely feared desperado and a cursed guardian of treasure.
In this film, Méliès concocts a combination fairy- and morality tale about the foolishness of trying to look too deeply into the workings of an unstable and inscrutable universe. At a medieval school, an old astronomer begins to teach a class of young men, all armed with telescopes, about the art of scrutinising an imminent eclipse. When a mechanical clock strikes twelve, all the young men rush to the windows and fix their telescopes on the heavens.
The life of a priest seconded to a New Orleans police department begins to fall apart when he is wrongly implicated in the shooting of a suspect. However, it comes to light that the precinct is haunted by the spirit of a deceased policeman, who helps the beleaguered cleric to solve the case and clear his name.
In order to avoid the resurrection of the demon, the immortal Bai Zihua led the immortal world to try to seal the demon again. He and his disciple, the orphan Hua Qiangu, develop a relationship, but face an even greater world crisis.
On a desolate island, a suicidal sheep named Franck meets his fate…in the form of a quirky salesman named Victor, who offers him the gift of a lifetime. The gift is many lifetimes, actually, in many different worlds – each lasting just a few minutes. In the sequel to the pilot, Franck will find a new reason to live…in the form of a bewitching female adventurer named Tara, who awakens his long-lost lust for life. But can Franck keep up with her?
Michel has stolen from his employer, Mr Bellanger, for the love of Juliette. He is now in jail. One night, while sleeping in his cell, he wakes up all of a sudden, the gates open and he finds himself in a strange village where all the inhabitants have lost their memory. There, meets Juliette again who seems to agree to marry a powerful man, who might well be Bluebeard...
500 years into the future, the earth is a dry wasteland destroyed by humans. Doctor Alma, a fluffy, brilliant Vulkeet (a cross between a parakeet and vulture) who drives a Vespa, must cure the only creatures left who can save the world by bringing back the rain - the bizarre and loveable Homeys who have fallen ill with a mysterious sickness.
A young man discovers a mysterious mirror and begins to have disturbing visions of forbidden passion and brutal murder. But when he also finds a beautiful woman back from the dead and a detective with a thirst for revenge, the real terror has only just begun. The mirror sees all...but what shocking secrets will it reveal?
Tom Andrews, his wife Kathy, their two children & Tom's Father Henry are all driving to a town called Silversprings on Christmas Eve to visit relatives. On the way, they decide to stop at a ghost town called Sutterville which by a strange coincidence Tom has had nightmares about every year around Christmas for his whole life. Tom's father is wary & begs them not to go; however Tom's car develops a mind of it's own & takes them there only to break down so that they can't leave. Meanwhile a man arrested for vagrancy by local police is identified as Clarence McCoughlin who supposedly died in Sutterville 40 years ago, not to mention he seems to have some sort of demonic power. As the Andrews family explore the town a feeling of unease starts to takeover, Clarence escapes jail & heads back to Sutterville for a sinister family reunion...
The Master is the Knight of the Vampire that employs a Siren to find him victims. The Vigilante hunts down evil people. A beautiful young woman, Natalie, will cross paths with both of them. She needs money to pay for her grandmother's medicine and is unwittingly lured by Siren to be the Master's next victim.