They range from a love story starring a Hollywood actor, to a home grown tale of music triumphing over adversity, and from an IRA undercover agent intrigue to a Londonderry-based story of youthful angst.
Out of that grew a tale that plagued me for more than three decades.
Timothy L. Blixseth has lived the ultimate American rags-to-riches tale, growing up poor in Oregon and then, through clever dealmaking in timber and real estate, working his way onto FORBES' list of the richest 400 Americans in 2005.
Others include John Kobler's 1992 "Capone: The Life and World of Al Capone, Deirdre Marie Caponee's 2010 "Uncle Al Capone: The Untold Story from Inside His Family," Jack Mingo's 2002 "Al Capone was a Golfer: Hundred of Fascinating Facts From the World of Golf" and Cindy Carter's 2014 "Frogs and Snails and Mobster Tales: Growing Up in Al Capone's Shadow".
The film traces the lives and careers of the Brothers Grimm (played by Laurence Harvey and Karlheinz Böhm) as their interest in fairy tales grows, interspersing their story with animated versions of several of their tales, including "Rumpelstiltskin," "The Cobbler and the Elves," and "The Singing Bone" (featuring Buddy Hackett).
In "When Skateboards Will Be Free," Mr. Sayrafiezadeh recounts, as if he were telling a peculiar bedtime story, the tale of growing up with (and without) his parents, ardent members of the Socialist Workers Party.
Of course the war is very important to the story, but it is equally relevant today, a tale about growing out of childhood, and making discoveries, both good and bad, about the world around you.
In this gentle tale of growing up, 9-year-old Alice Rice learns that even though she's growing older, life is seldom about achieving perfection.
By transporting the story to a new era, I hope we can take a fresh look at this familiar tale about growing up or staying young forever.
