Stories by @sofly

Truss: 44 Days of Crisis

How did it all fall apart so fast. How did Liz Truss only manage to serve as prime minister for 44 days before resigning? A behind-the-scenes look at an administration in crisis shows how quickly it all devolved.

It Happened in Pyongyang

In 1994 Antonio Inoki, a Japanese politician and former wrestler, facing allegations of involvement in organized crime, came up with a shocking plan to boost his approval ratings. Host a major wrestling event with Japanese and American talent in the isolated hermit kingdom of North Korea. He contacted WCW head Eric Bischoff who immediately jumped at the opportunity and enlisted his top wrestler Ric Flair to headline the event along with Inoki. The North Korean regime also accepted the opportunity as after the death of the nation's founder Kim Il-Sung his son and new leader Kim Jong-Il wanted to make a big splash on the international stage. All involved immediately headed to North Korea along with legendary boxer Muhammad Ali who was the guest of honor and what followed was one of the craziest and greatest events in wrestling history? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_ZkqfSpbg4

Mame

A revival of the hit 1966 musical. Mame Dennis's eccentric, bohemian lifestyle is interrupted when her late brother's son is entrusted to her care. But rather than adopt to any societal standards about child rearing, money-making and romance - Mame does everything with her own dramatic flair.

Bad Blood

Currently in production now. The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of a multibillion-dollar startup, by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end in the face of pressure and threats from the CEO and her lawyers. In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup "unicorn" promised to revolutionize the medical industry with a machine that would make blood tests significantly faster and easier. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at $9 billion, putting Holmes's worth at an estimated $4.7 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn't work. For years, Holmes had been misleading investors, FDA officials, and her own employees. When Carreyrou, working at The Wall Street Journal, got a tip from a former Theranos employee and started asking questions, both Carreyrou and the Journal were threatened with lawsuits. Undaunted, the newspaper ran the first of dozens of Theranos articles in late 2015. By early 2017, the company's value was zero and Holmes faced potential legal action from the government and her investors. Here is the riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron, a disturbing cautionary tale set amid the bold promises and gold-rush frenzy of Silicon Valley.

Stanley Kubrick's Napoleon

Despite decades of work, Stanley Kubrick was never able to get his dream project, a film about the life of famous French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, off the ground. However Kubrick's good friend and fellow director Steven Spielberg has announced his intention to make Kubrick's dream a reality. If Spielberg is successful in this endeavor (which I think shouldn't be a problem for him with how successful his films are) who should directed and play the main roles in the film. Kubrick's screenplay is available online and you can read it here (http://www.raindance.co.uk/site/picture/upload/napoleon.pdf) if you want to get an idea of what the film will be like.

American Crime Story: The United States vs. Julius & Ethel Rosenberg

Season of American Crime Story following the trial and subsequent execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg two american citizens who were convicted of providing top secret information about America's nuclear program to the Soviet Union. The case sparked international outrage at the time as many accused the charges levied at the Rosenbergs as being anti-semitically motivated. Years after their execution in 1953 information has been declassified proving Julius's involvement in espionage but also clearing Ethel's involvement. During the trial, the prosecution said that Ethel had been directly involved but not only does recent evidence seems to suggest that at worst she was only an accesory, but the cheif witness against her at the trial David Greenglass (her own brother) admitted that he had lied under oath, after being pressured by prosecutors, to protect his wife. In recent numerous calls have been made to pardon Ethel Rosenberg.

Funny Face: Broadway Version

Dispatched on an assignment, New York City-based fashion photographer Dick Avery is struck by the beauty of Jo Stockton, a shy bookstore employee he's photographed by accident, who he believes has the potential to become a successful model. He gets Jo to go with him to France, where he snaps more pictures of her against iconic Parisian backdrops. In the process, they fall for one another, only to find hurdles in their way.

The Price of Salt (1957)

What if Patricia Highsmith's lesbian romance novel was made into a film only a few years after it came out. What if that film somehow wasn't censored by the Hays Code and followed the plot of the novel very closely? What would it be like?

A Chorus Line Live!

A Chorus Line examines one day in the lives of seventeen dancers, all vying for a spot in the “chorus line” of a Broadway musical. After the first round of cuts, Zach, the director and choreographer, asks each dancer to speak about themselves. Discomfort opens into revelation, confession leads to redemption, and within the bright, outwardly homogenous chorus, the audience begins to see each dancer’s individuality. From Cassie, the star who just needs the “music and the mirror and the chance to dance,” to Val, a small-town girl with a brand-new big-town body, to Mike, who took his sister’s place in dance class, saying “I can do that.” Based on real Broadway dancers’ stories, as told to fellow dancer and choreographer Michael Bennett, A Chorus Line is funny, heartbreaking, and refreshingly honest.

Gypsy

Speculated by many (including NY Times critic Ben Brantley) to be the greatest of all American musicals, Gypsy tells the story of the dreams and efforts of one hungry, powerhouse of a woman to get her two daughters into show business. Indomitable stage mother Rose chases vicarious success and stardom as she pushes her daughters through the vaudeville circuit. When Baby June flees the act to elope, Rose vows to make introverted Louise into a star. Loosely based on the 1957 memoir of famous striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee, entitled Gypsy: Memoirs of America’s Most Celebrated Stripper.

A Little Night Music

Set at the turn of the last century, A Little Night Music interweaves a tangled web of former and current lovers among the upper crust elite of Sweden. Esteemed lawyer Fredrik Egerman has recently married a young virgin, Anne, whom his son, Henrik, has also fallen madly in love. Fredrik’s dedication to his blushing bride is tested when he reunites with a former flame, the famed (and fading) actress Desiree Armfeldt. Things grow more complicated when her jealous (and married) lover Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm gets wind of the reunion. The coupling and uncoupling comes to a head when Desirée convinces her mother to host Fredrik and his family for a weekend on her lavish country estate—and the Count, with wife in tow, crashes the party.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

After being tracked down by Harry Flynn, Nathan Drake goes on a quest for Marco Polo' lost fleet. However when things take an unexpected turn for the worst, Drake must rely on those closest to him in order to find the Cintomani Stone.

Here Lies Love

A film adaption of the award winning innovative off-Broadway rock musical by Talking Heads's David Byrne and Fatboy Slim. This "booty shaking blast of pure joy" traces the non-violent restoration of democracy in the Philippines in 1986 and follows the meteoric rise and dramatic fall of the controversial First Lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYm5Gs3TCtY

Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's Maude

A sequel to Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons. In this live television special, actors will recreate episodes of the 1970s sitcom Maude created by Norman Lear and starring Bea Arthur. This "All In The Family" spin-off centers around Edith's cousin, Maude Findlay. She's a liberal, independent woman living in Tuckahoe, NY with her fourth husband Walter, owner of Findlay's Friendly Appliances; Carol Trainor, Maude's divorced daughter from her 2nd marriage; and Philip, Carol's son. Other characters included: Dr. Arthur Harmon, Walter's conservative best friend from their Army days. He and Maude were always at odds when it came to politics and just about everything. Vivian Cavender-Harmon, Maude's naive best friend from their college days who married Harmon in season three. During the show's run, Maude had gone through three maids during the series run: Florida Evans, Nell Naugutuck and Victoria Butterfield. Mrs. Naugutuck and Florida, however, were the most memorable. Although it was a situation comedy, it dealt with serious and often controversial issues, much like Norman Lear's other shows "All In The Family" "One Day At a Time" and "Good Times."

A Fish Called Wanda

In London, four very different people team up to commit armed robbery, then try to doublecross each other for the loot. Wanda brings her new secret lover, Otto to England to help her and her lover George and stuttering animal lover Ken steal $20 million in diamonds. Wanda and Otto then turn in George to the police so they can have the loot for themselves, but George has already moved the diamonds and only he knows where they are. All four of the criminals start double-crossing each other to try to get to the diamonds before anyone else. Wanda tries to find them by "getting close" to George's barrister, Archie Leach, because if George pleads guilty he will tell Archie where the diamonds are to cut his sentence. Absolute hilarity ensues.

Annie

In the depths of the 1930's, Annie is a fiery young orphan girl who must live in a miserable orphanage run by the tyrannical Miss Hannigan. Her seemingly hopeless situation changes dramatically when she is selected to spend a short time at the residence of the wealthy munitions industrialist, Oliver Warbucks. Quickly, she charms the hearts of the household staff and even the seemingly cold-hearted Warbucks cannot help but learn to love this wonderful girl. He decides to help Annie find her long lost parents by offering a reward if they would come to him and prove their identity. However, Miss Hannigan, her evil brother, Rooster, and a female accomplice, plan to impersonate those people to get the reward for themselves which put Annie in great danger.

Flower Drum Song

Chinese immigrant Mei Li is betrothed to nightclub boss Sammy Fong, but he wants to marry showgirl Linda Low. To get out of the arrangement, Sammy pawns her off to wealthy Master Wang as a fiancée for his son, Wang Ta. Mei Li falls in love with Wang, but he wants to pursue Linda, who takes advantage of his affections to test Sammy's love.

Truman

A biopic of Judge, Senator, Vice President, and eventually the 33rd president of the United States Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman was born in Missouri on May 8, 1884. He was Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s vice president for just 82 days before Roosevelt died and Truman became the 33rd president. In his first months in office he dropped the atomic bomb on Japan, ending World War II. His policy of communist containment started the Cold War, and he initiated U.S. involvement in the Korean War. Truman left office in 1953 and died in 1972.

American Born Chinese

All Jin Wang wants is to fit in. When his family moves to a new neighborhood, he suddenly finds that he's the only Chinese American student at his school. Jocks and bullies pick on him constantly, and he has hardly any friends. Then, to make matters worse, he falls in love with an all-American girl... Born to rule over all the monkeys in the world, the story of the Monkey King is one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables. Adored by his subjects, master of the arts of kung-fu, he is the most powerful monkey on earth. But the Monkey King doesn't want to be a monkey. He wants to be hailed as a god... Chin-Kee is the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, and he's ruining his cousin Danny's life. Danny's a popular kid at school, but every year Chin-Kee comes to visit, and every year Danny has to transfer to a new school to escape the shame. This year, though, things quickly go from bad to worse... These three apparently unrelated tales come together with an unexpected twist, in a modern fable that is hilarious, poignant and action-packed. American Born Chinese is an amazing rise, all the way up to the astonishing climax--and confirms what a growing number of readers already know: Gene Yang is a major talent.

My Cousin Vinny

While heading for college, Bill and Stan are arrested in Alabama when circumstances point to them as having murdered a convenience store clerk. Unable to afford an attorney, they turn to Bill's cousin Vinny, a brash New Yorker who took six tries to pass his bar exam. Worse, until now he's only taken personal injury cases, none of which have gone to trial. Dragging along his even more abrasive fiancee Mona Lisa Vito, Vinny will have to straighten up fast, and keep out of jail himself, if he's going to win the case.