Synopsis
A Sight for Sore Eyes tells three stories of very different people, whose lives converge with horrifying consequences.
Teddy is raised by a neglectful family with little concern for his welfare or emotional development, so that he grows into a reclusive young man without compassion or empathy. Fonder of objects than people, he becomes a talented carpenter who enjoys making beautiful things to contrast with the ugliness he sees around him.
Francine is a beautiful young woman who was traumatised in her childhood by the murder of her mother. After the incident, her father got remarried to a psychotherapist, who promises Francine that she will do anything to keep her out of harm's way. True to her word, she keeps such a close eye on Francine that it reaches overprotection to the point of obsession.
Teddy meets Francine by chance and falls for her flawless beauty and physical perfection. He presents to her, in her eyes, an opportunity for freedom at last.
Meanwhile, Harriet is a woman who has used her looks to get ahead and found herself in a loveless marriage to a rich older man. She assuages her loneliness by having affairs with handymen whom she brings to her house. She considers herself an extremely beautiful middle-aged woman and believes that she does not look a day over 25. She is portrayed as delusional, jealous and self-absorbed to the point of obsession.
Malèna is a 2000 erotic comedy-drama film written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore from a story by Luciano Vincenzoni. It stars Monica Bellucci and Giuseppe Sulfaro. The film won the Grand Prix at the 2001 Cabourg Film Festival. At the 73rd Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Original Score.
A Short Film About Love is a 1988 Polish romantic drama film directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski and starring Grażyna Szapołowska and Olaf Lubaszenko. Written by Krzysztof Kieślowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, the film is about a young post office worker deeply in love with a promiscuous older woman who lives in an adjacent apartment building.
The Sihuanaba, La Siguanaba, Cigua or Cegua is a supernatural character from Central American folklore though it can also be heard in Mexico. It is a shapeshifting spirit that typically takes the form of an attractive, long haired woman seen from behind. She lures men away into danger before revealing her face to be that of a horse or, alternatively, a skull.
Francine Lee Smith is a fictional character on the animated television series American Dad! She is the wife of the title character Stan Smith, the mother of Hayley and Steve, and also the daughter-in-law of Jack and Betty Smith. Francine is voiced by Wendy Schaal.
Magnificent Obsession is a 1935 drama film based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Lloyd C. Douglas. The film was adapted by Sarah Y. Mason, Victor Heerman, and George O'Neil, directed by John M. Stahl, and stars Irene Dunne, Robert Taylor, Charles Butterworth, and Betty Furness.
Esmeralda, born Agnès, is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. She is a French Roma girl. She constantly attracts men with her seductive dances, and is rarely seen without her clever goat Djali. She is around 16 years old and has a kind and generous heart.
Empire Falls is a 2001 novel written by Richard Russo. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2002, and follows the story of Miles Roby in a fictional, small blue-collar town in Maine and the people, places, and the past surrounding him, as manager of the Empire Grill diner.
Peppermint Frappé is a 1967 Spanish psychological thriller directed by Carlos Saura, starring Geraldine Chaplin and José Luis López Vázquez. The story centers on a man who becomes obsessed with the wife of an old friend, believing her to be a mysterious drummer that he once fell in love with at a festival. He pursues her only to be rebuffed multiple times.
Man Crazy is a novel by Joyce Carol Oates, published in 1997, that tells the story of a young girl's descent into self-harm, sexual abuse, cult brainwashing, and subsequent rescue.
The Luxe is a 2007 young adult novel by author Anna Godbersen. It follows the lives of two upper class sisters in Manhattan during 1899. There are four books in the Luxe series including Luxe, Rumors, Envy, and Splendor.
Beyond the Clouds is a 1995 Italian-French-German romance film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, with contributions by Wim Wenders, and starring John Malkovich, Sophie Marceau, Vincent Perez, Irène Jacob, and Jean Reno. The film consists of four stories of romantic love and illusion told from the perspective of a wandering film director. In the first story, two beautiful young lovers are unable to consummate their passion because the young man desires impossible perfection. In the second story, the director makes love to a young woman who reveals that she murdered her father. In the third story, a man makes an effort to appease both his wife and his mistress. In the fourth story, a young man is infatuated with a girl who is about to enter a convent. This was the final feature-length film by Antonioni before his death in 2007.
How He Lied to Her Husband is a one-act comedy play by George Bernard Shaw, who wrote it, at the request of actor Arnold Daly, over a period of four days while he was vacationing in Scotland in 1904. In its preface he described it as "a sample of what can be done with even the most hackneyed stage framework by filling it in with an observed touch of actual humanity instead of with doctrinaire romanticism." The play has often been interpreted as a kind of satirical commentary on Shaw's own highly successful earlier play Candida.
Helena Kurcewicz is a fictional character appearing in the novel With Fire and Sword by Henryk Sienkiewicz as the main female protagonist. She is also mentioned in The Deluge and in Colonel Wolodyjowski.
Yoruba Girl Dancing is the debut novel of Nigerian author Simi Bedford, which "tackles the weighty and painful issue of the extent to which Africans, even those who are members of the privileged classes, can gain social acceptance in 'the West.'" Yoruba Girl Dancing was first published in Great Britain in 1991 and then in the United States in 1992. It is extracted in the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa.
The Gaze is a novel written by Turkish writer Elif Şafak. It was first published in Turkey in 1999. The novel won the Turkish Authors' Association 2000 prize for "best novel". An English translation was published in 2006 by Marion Boyars Publishers.
"Mr. Sandman" is the 15th episode of season 2 and the 37th overall of the supernatural drama Grimm television series which premiered on March 22, 2013, on NBC. The episode was written by Alan DiFiore, and was directed by Norberto Barba.
The Guardians is a 2017 French drama film directed and written by Xavier Beauvois. It was screened in the Special Presentations section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.
"Champagne Papi" is the seventh episode of the second season of the American comedy-drama television series Atlanta. It is the 17th overall episode of the series and was written by Ibra Ake, and directed by Amy Seimetz. It was first broadcast on FX in the United States on April 12, 2018.
Alicia Clark is a fictional character in the AMC television series Fear the Walking Dead, created by Robert Kirkman and Dave Erickson. Portrayed by Alycia Debnam-Carey, Alicia is the daughter of Madison Clark, the former main protagonist. She begins the series as a teenager who struggles with her family situation and plans to leave the city for a new life, before facing civilization slowly crumbling due to a zombie outbreak. The character has received praise, with critics calling her an emotional anchor of the series, complimenting her evolution, and naming her one of the most memorable characters of the Walking Dead universe.
Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs, known in Korean as simply Red Shoes is a 2019 South Korean computer-animated fantasy film produced by Locus Corporation. It is based on the German language fairy tale "Snow White" by the Brothers Grimm, and its name is derived from the Danish fairy tale The Red Shoes by Hans Christian Andersen. The film features the voices of Chloë Grace Moretz, Sam Claflin, Gina Gershon, Patrick Warburton, and Jim Rash.
