Bob Balaban

After getting laid off, a thirty-something paralegal in New York starts babysitting his psychiatrist's three granddaughters and falls for their mother, an actress in a rocky marriage.

Ace Chef Kate is very intense in and out of kitchen as well. Kate has this no nonsense persona that impresses and intimidates people around her. But her passion towards job is extra ordinary. She is a perfectionist and wants to give her best shot all the time. But all her skills are put to test by the arrival of new sous chef Nick Palmer. He is a free wheeling and high spirited. His persona is totally opposite of Kate's. He is everything what Kate is not. But just like two opposites attract, the chemistry between them is unmistakable. Amidst Kate's busy work schedule, she has to juggle between her job and her nine year old Zoe (Abigail Breslin) who has come to live with her. Zoe is a smart and thinking young girl. Don't know what infuriates Kate the most. Is it Nick's charming persona or his talent to back his charm? But he manages to strike a chord with Zoe. Even she finds it easier to talk to Nick than Kate. And if Kate wants to develop real lasting bond with Zoe, she must find the right balance between her professional and personal life. But most importantly, she must learn to express herself freely. So will she able to adjust to all of this?

Maintenance man Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) tries to keep up with the needs of his many tenants. He comes to realize someone is swimming in the pool after 7 p.m., which is not allowed. The pool cleaner also brings to his attention that there seem to be globs of some sort of hair in the pools filter that have accumulated in just one day. One night, when he is very tired, he hears splashing in the pool and thinks that at last he will catch the mystery swimmer. But when he goes to the pool, there is no one there, not even footprints. As he walks around the pool, he hears someone splashing in the water at that very moment. He thinks all he has to do is wait, and they will surface soon enough. He picks up a brush and walks around the pool, takes a bad step, falls, hits his head and rolls into the pool. In the next scene we find Heep laying on his own couch, and a nude young woman is sitting across from him. There is water on the floor. He asks if she brought him here, but she only nods that she did. He gives her a shirt to wear. She clings to him, saying that she is too scared to go outside. So there he sits, with a young woman in his lap clinging to him who then falls asleep. He is clearly uncomfortable and tries to wake her. He decides he should take her outside for some fresh air, and then he will walk her home. Once outside, however, he is confronted with a growling creature which sends them both screaming back into his house. Heep needs to know who she is and what the creature is. We learn that her name is Story and that there is a creature hunting her. She is somehow prohibited from telling him who she is or what is happening, but she does tell him that she is a Narf. Heep begins asking his tenants if they have ever heard of a character called a Narf. Upon asking a young Asian student named Young-Soon Choi (Cindy Cheung), she says she has heard of a Narf as part of a bedtime story that was told long ago to her mother, but she doesn't remember much about the story. Heep continues doing his repairs, and we are introduced to many of the tenants. Between tasks, Heep tries to catch Young-Soon when she is with her grandmother, so he can ask more questions about the story. Though she has no idea why he is asking all these questions, she is happy to do what she can for this oddly curious man. Her grandmother, however, is suspicious as to why a grown man is so interested in a bedtime story. Frustrated at only getting bits and pieces of the story here and there, he arranges to be invited into the apartment of Young-Soon and her grandmother. Young-Soon tells him to try and act more like a curious child than a man, and it will help to bring out the grandmother's softer side so she will tell him more about the story of Story. After wiggling, eating cookies and dribbling milk down his face, the grandmother is amused and tells him the story. Meanwhile, Story is walking through his apartment, marveling at various objects. She notices a different-looking book and takes it down and reads it. The book is actually a journal, one that Heep wrote following the tragic loss of his family. When Heep discovers her reading the book, he asks her not to tell anyone of his past; no one there knows the story or that he used to be a doctor. He also needs to check with Story that what he has learned so far is accurate. Though Story cannot actually say, she makes a sign when he makes a correct statement. It seems Story is a Narf, here to motivate a great writer to complete his work that will have a tremendous positive effect on the future, at which point a giant eagle will come and take her home. But there is a creature called a Scrunt who will try to kill her before she can complete her task. There are many people who live in the apartment comple, besides the writer, who will unknowingly play different parts in helping Story. Heep believes himself to be her "guardian", the one who can protect her from the Scrunt. In a scene that starts out suspenseful but becomes rather light, Heep tries to face down and battle the Scrunt, being coached by Story via walkie talkie, but it soon becomes apparent that he is not the guardian when the Scrunt attacks him. The attack is interrupted by an arrogant movie critic just in the nick of time. But now Heep has an idea of what he needs to help Story get home. He must cast the roles needed to complete the task from the diverse people that live in the apartment complex. It is such a complex undertaking that he decides to consult the latest addition to the complex, the arrogant movie critic, to help him root out some of the characters described to him. Heep finally concocts a plan, but it is misguided. When it fails, the Scrunt seizes hold of Story and tries to drag her away, but Heep manages to grab hold of her. It is now apparent they have the wrong people for the roles, and they need to rethink them fast. The pivotal character to find is the "symbolist", who can "read" the situation, giving a much better description of the characters needed and what they all must do. At last, most of the correct people are found, all but the guardian. They all encircle her hoping to protect her long enough for the eagle to arrive. But the Scrunt is patient and wily and finds a way to get close to her unseen. Finally, the guardian appears and stares the Scrunt down. We hear the eagle and Heep says goodbye to Story. He realizes she has saved him from hiding himself away, and then she is gone.

Brad Pitt has been working for a mobster who is in prison because Pitt accidentally ran a red light and hit the mobster's car. When the police arrived, they found a body in the mobster's trunk. The guy was alive but was obviously going to be murdered. The mobster was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Pitt has been forced to work for the mobster to pay for having caused him to go to prison. Julia Roberts is Pitt's girlfriend and they have been having difficulties with their relationship. Roberts now wants to go to Vegas but Pitt has to make one last trip for the mobster or he will be killed. Roberts throws Pitt out and heads to Vegas alone and Pitt heads to Mexico on his last mission. Pitt has been given orders by the 2nd in command (Bob Balaban) to pick up a gun called "The Mexican" and bring it back. Pitt gets to Mexico and picks up the gun but unfortunately, the man he gets it from is accidentally killed by a stray bullet fired during a Mexican celebration. Pitt calls Balaban and reports the problem and while he's on the phone, his car is stolen, gun and all. Pitt sets out after the car to try and retrieve the gun. Meanwhile, on the way to Vegas Roberts is in a restroom when a gunman grabs her and before anything happens, James Gandolfini saves her by shooting the man. Gandolfini claims that he is working for the mobster and that his name is Leroy. He is a very sensitive, gay psychotic killer who is there to protect Roberts. They get to Vegas and along the way Gandolfini picks up a gay postal worker who spends a romantic evening with Gandolfini. In the morning Roberts and Gandolfini go out for breakfast and while they're eating, the gunman goes to their hotel room and kills the postal worker by throwing him off the balcony. Roberts and Gandolfini get back and this time Gandolfini shoots the man in the head to kill him for good. Roberts and Gandolfini are told by Balaban to head to Mexico and meet Pitt because things have gone wrong. In Mexico, Pitt has recovered the gun and then lost it a second time. A man from the mob has come down to help him. Pitt knows the man had been sent to kill him so he tricks the man, gets the gun and drives to the airport to leave Mexico. Unfortunately, Pitt has the wrong passport and can't get on his flight. He goes back to the small town where he left the man handcuffed, but he's gone. Gandolfini and roberts meet up with Pitt and for some reason, Pitt does not tell him he has the gun but will take him to where it's hidden. Pitt has an argument with Roberts and nearly wrecks the car causing a blowout. While Pitt is changing the tire, Gandolfini pulls a gun on him. Roberts is furious with Pitt and has been walking away. Pitt hasn't seen Gandolfini's gun yet but Gandolfini sees Roberts walking away and puts his gun away. He knows that Roberts loves Pitt and he just can't kill him. Gandolfini helps Pitt change the tire and now Pitt pulls a gun on Gandolfini. Gandolfini sees the gun in the reflection on the hubcap and turns to fire but Pitt shoots first and kills Gandolfini. It seems that Pitt had once met Leroy and knew that Gandolfini was not who he claimed to be. He realized that he was there to kill him. Roberts is extremely upset but Pitt and her stay together trying to decide what to do now. In their hotel room, Pitt looks out the window and see someone trying to break into his car. the same person that stole it the first time. He goes down to stop him and is punched in the face (twice) and knocked out. He is driven to a very nice ranch house and there he meets the mob boss who has been let out of prison - Gene Hackman. In prison Hackman was befriended by the grandson of the ranchowner. the son was killed saving the life of Hackman in prison. The ranch owner is the grandson of the man who made "The Mexican." We are now told the true legend of The mexican. It was made by a gunsmith as a gift to a rich noble so the nobleman's son would marry his daughter. Unfortunately, the daughter was in love with the gunsmith's assistant. On the wedding day the nobleman's son is presented with the gun and it fails to work. He notices his future bride and the assistant staring at each other. He realizes they are in love and shoots and kills the assistant. The girl picks up the gun, puts it to her head and shoots herself. The gun contained two bullets, one of which has now been used. Hackman has been trying to get the gun to give it back to the rightful owner, the great grandson. Balaban has been trying to get it to sell for profit. Roberts is back in the hotel room and has the gun tied to her leg when Balaban appears on the balcony. Roberts hides between 2 mattresses. We next see Pitt and some Mexican employees of the ranchowner driving into town. Balaban is standing beside his car and asks Pitt where the gun is. Pitt says only Roberts knows and Balaban opens the trunk to reveal Roberts. Unfortunately for Balaban, when he opens the trunk, Roberts has the gun pointed right at him. She shoots the 2nd and last bullet, hitting him in the throat. We hardly know he's been shot until he opens his mouth and smoke comes out. The ranchhands take the gun back to the ranch and a brass ring that had fallen off the gun is picked up by Pitt. He uses it as a wedding band and places it on Roberts finger. The final scene shows the two of them driving off - arguing...

During World War II, an ordinary inhabitant of a ghetto fakes news about Allied offensives to inspire hope for other victims of the Nazi regime. In 1944 Poland, a Jewish shop keeper named Jakob is summoned to ghetto headquarters after being caught out near curfew. While waiting for the German Kommondant, Jakob overhears a German radio broadcast about Russian troop movements. Returned to the ghetto, the shopkeeper shares his information with a friend and then rumors fly that there is a secret radio within the ghetto. Jakob uses the chance to spread hope throughout the ghetto by continuing to tell favorable tales of information from "his secret radio." Jakob, however, has a real secret in that he is hiding a young Jewish girl who escaped from a camp transport train. A rather uplifting and slightly humorous film about World War II Jewish Ghetto life.

Joe MacTeague [Kirk Douglas] is a rich old man but he wants to know which of his relatives really cares about him.His nephews and niece Carl [Ed Begley jr],Frank [Phil Hartman],Glen [Jere Burns] and Patti [Colleen Camp] visit him time and again at his mansion to please,amuse and generally suck up to him,even trying to outdo each other to try and win favour with him for his fortune. One day,they discover Joe has hired a beautiful english woman called Molly [Olivia D,Abo] to serve him as a private nurse and after witnessing how close the two of them seem, the family start to worry about her intentions for their Uncle's money.They hire a private detective to find more out about her and soon realise that they can't possibly compete with what Molly can offer Joe.Desperate not to give up,they decide to track down Danny [Michael J.Fox] now a grown up bowler,who was forced to leave the family years earlier with his father,after an heated argument with Joe.But the family remember how fond of Danny jr,Joe was. Danny has had to give up his bowling career after injuring his wrist,but has decided to invest in a bowling centre with a couple of friends.He tells his girlfriend Robin [Nancy Travis] that it's going to cost $300,000 dollars,but he soon realises he could be in luck when the detective tracks him down, and tells him about his family's invitation to Joe's.Danny asks him for a loan,but Joe tells him he will only lend him the money if he chooses him over his dad.Danny refuses. Later,Joe apologizes for suggesting something like that,but tells him it was because he was testing him to see if he was like his relatives.Danny soon realises that Joe is becoming ill and starts to worry when Joe tells him he plans on giving his money to Molly.Danny moves in with him to try and prevent that from happening.And it works.But his relatives are angry that he doesn't plan on sharing any money with them after deciding that they're scumbags and Molly is angry that he's taking Joe's money while he's still alive. Desperate for none of the Macteague's to get their inheritance,Molly decides to finally do what she said she never would - have sex with the old man.But just as she is about to go through with it,they are interrupted by Danny's father,who is disgusted that nothing has changed in the household since he left.Danny gets into a huge argument with him and ends up choosing Uncle Joe over his dad.Molly decides to leave after she realises how low she nearly sunk,and that deep down she was only ever really there for the money.Robin tries to comfort Danny about the situation with his dad,but he tells her that it wasn't really his dad.It was in fact an actor that he'd hired,in order to make out to his uncle that he loved him more than his dad.Robin is disgusted and leaves. At Joe's attorney's office,Danny is waiting with Joe ready to gain all of his money and posessions,but they are interrupted by the rest of the family who have brought along Danny's real father.Feeling ashamed that his dad knows all about his schemes,Danny admits that he's become just as greedy as the rest of them.But he and the family soon find out that not only is Joe broke,he's also $93,000 dollars in debt.A fight breaks out between the family and everyone is told to leave,but not before Danny tells Joe how much he hates him.But when Danny goes back to Robin,she reminds him how much he does actually care about his uncle. The two of them let the ill and homeless Joe stay with them in their apartment,but Joe has a surprise for them when they look out the window and see his butler across the street with Molly.He's not really broke."I'm richer than shit".He tells them that they've proved their love for him and they can stay with him at his mansion and co - own everything of his.And his final surprise for them - he gets up out of his wheelchair and walks out.

A man kills a storekeeper and a cop. LASD homicide detective Jerry Beck gets the case. His murder suspect is connected to a heavily armed white supremacy group. A cop is gunned down on Xmas eve. Jerry Beck, the homicide cop given the job of hunting the killer, investigates some leads which bring him into contact with a group of white supremacy extremists. In addition to the racists, Beck also has to contend with an unhelpful FBI agent. —Rob Hartill

A young boy living in 1950s suburbia suspects that his parents are cannibalistic murderers. Michael Laemie (Brian Madorsky) is a young boy living in a typical 1950s suburban home... except for his bizarre and horrific nightmares, and his continued unease around his parents. Especially his father, Nick Laemie (Randy Quaid). Young Michael begins to suspect that his parents are cooking more than just hamburgers on the grill outside, but has trouble explaining his fears to his new-found friend Sheila, or to the school's social worker. —Jeff Mercer <riffer@afn.org>

When the closure of a railway is announced, employees commandeer a locomotive to get to corporate headquarters and confront the president. 2 workers from a railway company realize that the company want to close the railroad track where they work. They steal an engine and travel through America to the company's headquarters to protest the closing. While traveling they have a lot of adventurous moments. —Kornel Osvart <kornelo@alphanet.hu>

Nine years ago, the American Discovery One's mission to Jupiter mysteriously failed. As depicted in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Discovery's HAL 9000 computer "Hal" (Douglas Rain)malfunctioned, killing four astronauts. The fifth, David Bowman, disappeared into a large, alien Monolith orbiting the planet. Heywood Floyd (Roy Scheider), head of the National Council on Astronautics, received the blame for the failure and left NCA. Although tension is growing between the United States and the Soviet Union, both nations prepare missions to determine what happened to Discovery. Although the Soviet Alexei Leonov will be ready before the American spaceship, the Soviets need American astronauts to help investigate Hal's malfunction and to board an American spacecraft. The US government agrees to a joint mission since Discovery's orbit is deteriorating and it will crash into Jovian moon Io before the US ship is ready. Floyd, Discovery designer Walter Curnow (John Lithgow), and HAL 9000 creator Chandra (Bob Balaban) join the Russian mission. Upon Leonov's arrival in the Jovian system, captain Tanya Kirbuk (Helen Mirren) and the other Soviets wake Floyd early from his hibernation because they have detected chlorophyll and other chemical signatures of life on the frozen moon Europa. A burst of electromagnetic radiation destroys an unmanned probe from Leonov and all telemetry records before the probe takes close-up pictures. Floyd suspects that it is a warning to keep away from Europa. After surviving a dangerous aerobraking through Jupiter's atmosphere Leonov finds Discovery abandoned but undamaged, orbiting the planet close to Io, rotating on an axis at the center of it's spine. Curnow travels with Cosmonaut Max Brailovsky, and the two, in a risky EVA, enter the spinning ship. Curnow reactivates the ship and Chandra restarts Hal, which Bowman had deactivated before Discovery arrived at Jupiter. Brailovsky (Elya Baskin) travels to the Monolith in an EVA pod, but a burst of energy that emerges from the Monolith and heads to Earth consumes him. Bowman, now an incorporeal being, appears on his widow's television and wishes her farewell. He visits his terminally ill mother in a nursing home and combs her hair before she dies. Chandra discovers the reason for Hal's malfunction: The NSC ordered the computer to conceal from Discovery's crew the fact that the mission was about the Monolith. This conflicted with Hal's basic function of open, accurate processing of information, causing him to suffer a mental breakdown. The tensions between the United States and Soviet Union escalate to what is "technically a state of war", and the US government orders Floyd, Curnow, and Chandra to move into Discovery. Both crews plan to leave Jupiter when a launch window opens in several weeks. Bowman appears to Floyd, warning him that they must leave Jupiter within two days because "something wonderful" will happen. Although Kirbuk is skeptical of Floyd's report, the Monolith suddenly disappears and a growing black spot appears on the Jovian surface. The spot is a vast grouping of Monoliths that is rapidly increasing in number, shrinking Jupiter's volume, increasing the planet's density, and modifying the chemical properties of its atmosphere. The Monolith's disappearance convinces the two crews that they must leave soon. Since neither ship can reach Earth with an early departure, they work together to use Discovery as a booster rocket for Leonov. Tension arises when Hal is not told that the Discovery will be left stranded in space, and possibly destroyed; Chandra fears that another deception may cause Hal to again malfunction. During the launch countdown Chandra tells the computer the truth. Hal agrees that it must sacrifice itself for the human beings on board Leonov to complete Discovery's mission. Leonov leaves Jupiter just before the Monoliths engulf Jupiter and increase its density to the point that nuclear fusion occurs, transforming the planet into a small star. Bowman commands Hal to repeatedly broadcast a final message to Earth: ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE USE THEM TOGETHER USE THEM IN PEACE A wave of hot plasma erupts from the forming star, incinerating Discovery. The new star's miraculous appearance inspires the American and Soviet leaders to seek peace. Europa gradually transforms from an icy wasteland to a humid jungle covered with plant life. A Monolith stands in a swamp, waiting for intelligent life forms to evolve.

Michael learns he is the subject of a criminal investigation in a newspaper`s front-page story. He confronts the writer and together they find that everything is not as it seems.

Power repairman Roy Neary has an extraordinary encounter with a strange spacecraft while out on a call. His life changes when he decides to search for an explanation.

Patty Butler (Susan Blakely), is a very comely young police officer who is pretending to be a runaway girl with the nickname of "Chicklet," and has been given permission by the department to be the live-in girlfriend of Thomas 'Stick' Henderson (Tony King), a suspected drug dealer, so that the police can gather evidence against him. To back up her cover story, Detective Bo Lockley (Michael Moriarty) has been given what should be an almost impossible assignment: without being told she is actually an undercover police officer, he is instructed to spend a few weeks trying to find Chicklet. Bo openly looking for and trying to find her will convince Stick that his girlfriend really is a runaway. Amazingly, Bo is actually an excellent detective and finds her in the sleazy underbelly of the city. Bo is then thanked by his supervisor, Richard 'Crunch' Blackstone (Yaphet Kotto) and told to go back to his previous assignment. Either infatuated with Chicklet or not able to just allow her to be abandoned by the system, he goes to Stick's loft to try and rescue her. In the process, Bo and Stick become engaged in a firefight, whereupon Stick is able to escape the apartment, and Bo ends up chasing Stick, running across town barefoot, carrying a handgun and dressed only in boxer shorts, into a department store, and are trapped in a Mexican standoff in one of the department store elevators. Eventually the police barricade the elevator, and Crunch grabs him when Bo and Stick leave through the elevator's emergency exit ceiling panel. Bo having been pulled to safety, the police then open fire on Stick, killing him. In the aftermath of the firefight and the subsequent killing of Stick, it is discovered that Officer Butler was killed in Stick's loft by Bo, and an investigation has to be made as to whether he was negligent. As a result of the investigation, it's determined that she was killed as a result of Bo trying to defend himself from Stick shooting at him, and thus the shooting was accidental. Bo, however, was so depressed by what he had done that he hung himself in his jail cell before he finds out that it was an accident. The movie is, in effect, a police report of an incident where a police officer was shot by another officer who later committed suicide in jail, and a suspected perpetrator being killed in a public place (the department store), being made to the Police Commissioner, which is where the title of the film came from.