Acting
Dan Evans, a small time farmer, is hired to escort Ben Wade, a dangerous outlaw, to Yuma. As Evans and Wade wait for the 3:10 train to Yuma, Wade's gang is racing to free him.
During the War of 1812 against Britain: General Andrew Jackson has only 1,200 men left to defend New Orleans when he learns that a British fleet will arrive with 60 ships and 16,000 men to take the city. In this situation an island near the city becomes strategically important to both parties, but it's inhabited by the last big buccaneer: Jean Lafitte. Although Lafitte never attacks American ships, the governor hates him for selling merchandise without taxes - and is loved by the citizens for the same reason. When the big fight gets nearer, Lafitte is drawn between the fronts. His heart belongs to America, but his people urge him to join the party that's more likely to win.
When a crooked sheriff murders his employer, William "Billy the Kid" Bonney decides to avenge the death by killing the man responsible, throwing the lives of everyone around him into turmoil, and endangering the General Amnesty set up by Governor Wallace to bring peace to the New Mexico Territory.
Wilder and Wallace are brothers and pyrokinetics. Ever since childhood they've been able to start fires with their minds but following a tragedy in which they accidentally killed a man, the brothers have grown up very differently. Wilder has become a regular 9-5 workaday joe but Wallace performs his feats with a traveling circus. When the circus comes to Wilder's home town Wallace starts coming on strong to Wilder's wife, Vida who, ironically, is a slight pyromaniac.
A wild stallion provides unexpected help to a widow and her young son in their efforts to keep their ranch.
The story involves newscaster Rodney Pointsetter who is so depressed between his job and his family that he tries to make a film about his life, which he intends to culminate with his own suicide. It is often interrupted with irrelevant comic sketches that an emcee claims that the audience prefers to see.
Junior and his kid brother Highpockets, who is always causing trouble, enter their dog Daisy (the Bumsteads dog moonlighting) in a pet contest, and Daisy wins doing a latin dance. But Highpockets has brought a cat to the dog show (not unlike bringing a knife to a gunfight) and causes more than a little havoc.
Where does creativity come from? Zen calligraphic painter Alok Hsu Kwang-han proposes that it arises from emptiness, from that silent space where the intelligence prior to thought resides. Armed with rice paper, ink, brush and a collection of Zen koans and teachings, Alok opens the door to a world of magical brush strokes and enchanted students. On the verge of his 75th birthday and with a new love in his life, Alok employs his teachings to confront his own personal history. Through his workshops and his art we share a journey of transformation that becomes possible when we are simply 'present, available, playful, and not knowing.' Through Alok we discover that 'in a clear heart, no mountain hides the moon.'
