In Alexander Payne’s ABOUT SCHMIDT, Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) is retiring from a long, dedicated tenure at Woodmen of the World Insurance Company. Though he is proud of this achievement, he finds some difficulty adjusting to life without work; and to make matters worse, his loving wife Helen (June Squibb) passes away, leaving him all alone. Schmidt turns to his daughter Jeannie (Hope Davis) for support, but she is busy planning her marriage to Randall (Dermot Mulroney), who Warren just can’t stand. He decides to sponsor a Tanzanian child, Ndugu, through a program advertised on television, and sends elaborate letters to the 6-year-old boy along with his $22 monthly checks. Meanwhile, he sets off on a soul-searching voyage across the west in his new RV.
Nicholson’s deadpan voice-over narration, especially in his letters to Ndugu, give ABOUT SCHMIDT a solid balance between comedy and drama. The crux of the film is the daughter’s wedding in Denver, where Warren is the guest of Randall’s outrageous, new-agey mom (Kathy Bates). Though the funny moments make light of Warren’s state in life, the overall feel of the film is a bit sad, and its enigmatic ending will keep viewers guessing what will happen to this uniquely knowable character.

Romance author Paul Sheldon (James Caan) longs to be rid of Misery, his plucky heroine of seven novels. She has delivered him fame and fortune and recognition beyond the average writer’s dreams, but she is also interminably linked to him. Determined to escape an eternal role as pulp novelist, he kills her off in the eighth novel and heads to his New England cabin to work on his own Great American Novel. Upon completion, Sheldon excitedly sets out for his New York City publisher in the midst of a raging blizzard and within minutes veers into a desolate snowbank. From the brink of death, he is rescued from the snow by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), who just so happens to be Misery’s self-professed biggest fan. At first, she nurses him back to health in her remote cabin, telling him the roads and phones are damaged by the storm, fawning over his literary accomplishments. However, things change when she purchases his eighth Misery book and reaches the point of Misery’s death. Annie’s psychotic underbelly swiftly surfaces as the unfortunate author is held clandestinely captive in her home. Meanwhile, a wily small-town sheriff (Richard Farnsworth) circles in…
Director Rob Reiner’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novel is an eerie tale of obsessiveness and isolation. The film features an excellent turn by Caan and an Oscar-winning performance by Bates.

A remake of the 1951 classic sci-fi film about an alien visitor and his giant robot counterpart who visit Earth.