The Queen's Gambit

The Queen's Gambit is an American drama streaming television miniseries starring Anya Taylor-Joy based on Walter Tevis's 1983 novel of the same name. It was created by Scott Frank and Allan Scott and released on Netflix on October 23, 2020.

The Queen's Gambit is a fictional story that follows the life of an orphan chess prodigy, Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy), during her quest to become the world's greatest chess player while struggling with emotional issues and drug and alcohol dependency. The story begins in the mid-1950s and proceeds into the 1960s.

The series starts in a girls' orphanage where a nine-year old Beth, having lost her mother in a car accident, meets Jolene (Moses Ingram), a vibrant and friendly girl a few years older than her; Helen Deardorff (Christiane Seidel), the woman running the orphanage; and Mr. Shaibel (Bill Camp), the custodian of the orphanage, who teaches Beth her first chess lessons. As was common during the 1950s, the orphanage dispenses daily tranquilizer pills to the girls, which turns into an addiction for Beth. A few years later, Beth is adopted by Alma Wheatley (Marielle Heller) and her husband from Lexington, Kentucky. After being adopted and adjusting to her new home, Beth enrolls herself in chess tournaments even though she has no prior experience. She wins many games and finally gets noticed by others and develops friendships with several people, including former Kentucky state champion Harry Beltik (Harry Melling), chess savant Benny Watts (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), and Townes (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd). As Beth continues to win games and reaps the financial benefits of her success, she becomes more dependent on drugs and alcohol, and starts to lose control of her life.

SPOILER ALERTS!

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Apple ][

Apple ][ in common 1977 configuration with 9'' monochrome monitor, game paddles, and Red Book recommended Panasonic RQ-309DS cassette deck

History

By 1976, Steve Jobs had convinced the product designer Jerry Manock (who had formerly worked at Hewlett Packard designing calculators) to create the "shell" for the Apple II—a smooth case inspired by kitchen appliances that concealed the internal mechanics.^[5] The earliest Apple II's were assembled in Silicon Valley, and later in Texas;^[8] printed circuit boards were manufactured in Ireland and Singapore. The first computers went on sale on June 10, 1977^[9][10] with a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor running at 1.022,727 MHz (​²⁄₇ of the NTSC color carrier), two game paddles^[11] (bundled until 1980, when they were found to violate FCC regulations),^[12] 4 KiB of RAM, an audio cassette interface for loading programs and storing data, and the Integer BASIC programming language built into the ROMs.

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Orphan (2009)

Orphan is a 2009 American psychological horror film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and starring Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, and Isabelle Fuhrman. The film centers on a couple who, after the death of their unborn child, adopt a mysterious nine-year old girl.

Orphan was produced by Joel Silver and Susan Downey of Dark Castle Entertainment and Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran of Appian Way Productions and was released theatrically in the United States on July 24, 2009.

The film received mixed critical reviews although Fuhrman's performance as Esther was acclaimed.

Storyline

Kate and John Coleman are rebuilding their troubled marriage. Kate had a drinking problem, but is in therapy and is doing well. She has been sober for one year. The couple decide to adopt a child. When they meet the nine-year-old Russian girl, Esther, at the St. Marina Orphanage, they immediately fall in love with the well-educated orphan. Their young son, Daniel, is hostile to his new sister; but their deaf daughter, little Max, is enchanted with her - at first. Eventually, Kate begins to feel that Esther is manipulative and possibly even psychologically disturbed. John refuses to listen to his wife's misgivings, and the wounds in their marriage reopen. Kate calls Sister Abigail at the orphanage, and the nun informs her that Esther has a troubled and mysterious history. Kate delves further into Esther's past and discovers she is not all she pretends to be.

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Moonstruck (1987)

Moonstruck is a 1987 romantic comedy film directed by Norman Jewison. The movie was released on December 18, 1987, and earned largely positive reviews from critics. The film went on to gross $80,640,528 at the US box-office alone, making it the 5th highest grossing movie of 1987 at the box office.

Plot

The story takes place within the Italian-American neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights in the borough of Brooklyn, New York , to which nearly all characters belong, and in many scenes the dialogue includes a few words in Italian before going back to English.

The main protagonist is a 37-year-old woman named Loretta Castorini (Cher). The first scene - in a funeral parlor where she prepares an income tax report and sharply reproves the owner for the mess in his receipts and documents - instantly defines her character: a cool and rational woman, dressed in neat, sober clothing, who makes and executes carefully detailed plans in both her personal and professional life, and who habitually manages the lives of men.

Loretta and Ronny Especially, she manages the life of the 42-year-old Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello) who rather clumsily proposes to her in the early part of the film (with her immediately taking charge of the process and instructing him in the details of how to carry on).

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