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Red Corner (1997)
IMDB rating: 5.90
Plot: Jack Moore, a high-profile international lawyer, is in China for business. Moore sleeps with a young woman, and wakes up to find her dead in his bed. Falsely accused of murder, Moore’s only chance is his Chinese advocate Yuelin. The rules and laws are different, and Moore must convince Yuelin of his innocence and unravel the chain of events that has entrapped him.
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i download here this movie Red Corner iPod/iPhone version
Directors: Avnet Jon
Actors: Gere Richard,Whitford Bradley,Mann Byron,Donat Peter,Stanton Robert,Hong James,Ma Tzi,Matschoss Ulrich,Venture Richard,Yuan Roger,Li Chi Yu,O Henry,Crime,Drama,Thriller,
What do you think of this short story ?
My last coin. I hadn’t been lucky tonight- usually I got maybe one or two small victories, but today I’d got none. The coin seemed dull in comparison to when I’d first exchanged my thirty-dollar bill for a handful of shining coins. It could be that it was because it was the only one left or maybe because all of my fingering jhad rubbed away the shine, or maybe the sparkle left alongside the hope that came with them.
I rolled the coin between my hands and blew on my closed fist, as I did with each one before slipping them into the slotmachine. Counting to four- my lucky number - I yanked the lever and crossed both hands. And my legs, too, for good measure. And maybe even my arms.
I suppose gambling away like this wasn’t a very good habit. More like a bad hobby, actually. Some people said winning big was as unlikely as winning the lottery, which is ironic considering how I’d once won a thousand dollar scratch-card. Of course, that money didn’t last long. I’d enjoyed food that wasn’t canned and payed back a small amount off my loans just to feel good for a few days.
Days, unfortunately, were the one thing that I didn’t have much of. In a week I’d be kicked out of my apartment. I’d begged for them to let me stay even though I hadn’t payed rent in months, layering false promises so skillfully I’d nearly believed them myself. Living on the streets wouldn’t be much worse than living in that apartment, though. I didn’t have electricity, running water, a heater, or anything much but a concrete cloor beneath my feet and a flickering light over my head. Some furniture, too; a creaky bed with stained sheets, a shaggy rug and a few pieces of rotting wood pinned together to make a bedstand. And a photo of me and Sean by that lake, with the water lillies he loved so much in the background. A picture frame holding what I believed to be a snapshot of my last and only happy moments, with Sean or without.
Not that I’d ever really been happy without him. Living with abusive, alchoholic single mother, I had a horrible childhood that actually physically hurts to look back on; thinking about those times makes the bruises and broken bones flare up in phantom pain. When Sean came along, I’d had nobody. I was a girl hardened by misuse and he taught me how to love. And when he’d gone, he’d taken it along with him to the grave. I’d turned to gambling; the clinking of coins together sounded hopefull to me, so much like the sound his change made in his pocket when he laughed.
Laughing was far off my mind as the slot machine pinged and lit up suddenly, clicking fruits around and around like some sort of deranged cartoon.
I can’t say I was surprised to find an apple, a lemon and an orange, and even more surprised not to feel the sinking feeling I had anticipated when this moment came. I’d gambled all my money away and I was feeling better than I had in weeks.
"’Scuse me, Miss? Are you a.. ah, Ms. Ellen James?"
I felt a shiver in the back of my neck, a sort of tingling you get when someone’s watching you from behind. For some reason, I had a feeling that this man had been doing it for quite a while.
I turned away from the corner I’d been sulking in, only to leap back suddenly and crack my head against the wall I’d just been facing. I cluctched my throbbing head and looked back.
The man looked like a vampire straight out of a horror movie; black pants, long black trenchcoat and greasy, badly cut hair dangling over his ears and framing a pale face with dark eyes and nearly transparent skin. He was tall, too, and from where I was he looked as if he was close to touching his head on the red-velvet ceiling of the casino.
I glared at him suspiciousley for a few moments, wondering what he wanted from me. He had potential to be a serial murder or an assassin, though I would doubt anyone had reason enough to send someone out to kill me.
We stood and stared at eachother liek that for a few moments until I noticed the badge on his shirt. The same one Sean once had from his old job.
"What do you want?" I said.
The man flicked his eyes back to me from the glowing neon of an outside motel, then blew a stray lock of oily hair away from his face.
"Just a note." He said, and reached into his pocket to take it out.
Imagine my surprise when instead of a folded paper in his hand he came out with a butterfly. And not a plastic toy, either; this one was real. Real twitching anntenne, real moving wings and a real note attached around its body.
The strange man held out his hand into my extended one and let the butterfly crawl onto my palm. Its little legs tickled my skin and mesmirized me all the same.
"Th-thank you," I muttered, shocked at this eccentric notion from a complete stranger.
But he had already left. I gazed around to see where’d he’d gone, but all that was left was me, the empty casino room and the butterfly. And, of course, the note.
That’s all I have so far. Any suggestions for improvements?
And I know it’s really bad tenses. I wasn’t really working on that and kind of let myself wander on alot of things. D:
The ending was beautiful. I love butterflies!!
I liked it.
Cam | Feb 02, 2010
you’re kidding right?
blackoutparty111 | Feb 02, 2010
I feel like you are spouting too much information all at once. It’s a story, not a commercial. Also, you need to check tenses and subject-verb agreements. Good luck
A Bit Bohemian | Feb 02, 2010
It’s good. I like the narration. Maybe u could add some detail(s) that give the butterfly some more sense (It’s already good, but can be even better) u have some great material.
Lady Blackhole | Feb 02, 2010
You do too much telling, honestly. I would suggest opening up with meeting this stranger. All that other information isn’t important at the moment. It can become more relevant later, and you should only put it in when the reader should know.
And in the first paragraph, there is an annoying repetition of "coin." Try to find other words.
I’m not sure how a butterfly would survive in a guy’s pocket, either. That part was a bit odd for me.
Overall, it’s not bad. It’s interesting. I don’t know if it draws the reader in (I was totally indifferent to the beginning), but it has an interesting premise. Lots of typos, though. Were you in a hurry to post this?
Mizzuz Spock | Feb 02, 2010
Your writing has such passion. And there is such intricate detail. I felt like I was actually there at the slot machine and I almost felt those phantom pains, myself. I wish I could write like that. I don’t know what these other people are thinking. You have the potential to be a phenomenal writer. I say you should definitely keep writing
David | Feb 02, 2010
Joshua Campbell