Convinced that reuniting with his old girlfriend will bring his dreams to fruition, Gabriel risks it all in a desperate and increasingly obsessive pursuit.
Al Klein and his longtime friend, Ash Martini, own a used car lot and these two know every trick in the book when it comes to selling cars. Klein still pines for his ex-wife Barbara who left him years ago for a more successful man. After their son Freddy graduates from high school, he decides to forego college in favor of selling cars with his old man. But what’s good for Klein might not be the best thing for Freddy, as he quickly transforms from an innocent young man into a jaded car salesman, leaving Al with a tough decision to make.
After the death of his girlfriend, Travis, a thirty-something psychiatrist, struggles to keep it together. On the brink of a nervous breakdown he stumbles across a strange church run by a charismatic leader, Pastor Jay. In search of answers Travis is led deeper and deeper into the underworld of religious fanaticism, home to a Doomsday cult and a teenage girl named Grace.
An exuberant and evocative family drama, that primarily revolves around the close bond between two brothers with radically different personalities, highlighting the complex process of choosing an ideal life partner for each of them.
Greed, corruption, ignorance, and disease. Midsummer, 1349: the Black Death reaches northern Germany. Minstrels go to Hamelin for the Mayor's daughter's wedding to the Baron's son. He wants her dowry to pay his army while his father taxes the people to build a cathedral he thinks will save his soul. A local apothecary who's a Jew seeks a treatment for the plague; the priests charge him with witchcraft. One of the minstrels, who has soothed the Mayor's daughter with his music, promises to rid the town of rats for the fee. The Mayor agrees, then renigs. In the morning, the plague, the Jew's trial, and the Piper's revenge come at once.
Korean War--era veterans and ex-classmates "Gunner" Casselman and "Sonny" Burns reunite upon their return home. Gunner, who spent the war years abroad, is trying to convince his mother that his gal Marty is good enough for him, while Sonny, who was stationed stateside, is torn between loyal Buddy and tempting Gale Ann. As they commiserate, the men realize that they're outgrowing the lives they lived before the war.
A white lawyer finds his values shaken when he is paired with an angry Indigenous activist who insists on kidnapping the head of a logging company to teach him the price of his destruction.
Martha Horgan is a withdrawn, mentally disabled woman who lives with her aunt, Frances. One of Martha's unusual traits is that she doesn't lie, a quality that leads to her getting fired from a dry-cleaning shop thanks to the actions of the shifty Getso. Conflict seems to follow Martha, since she also becomes romantically involved with local fix-it man, Mackey, who is sleeping with Frances as well.
The owner of an impoverished circus in Communist-ruled Czechoslovokia plots to flee across the border to freedom, taking his entire troupe of performers and wild animals with him.
Monique is dying of cancer, lying in bed in the apartment above the store her family owns. Her philandering husband carries on with life, her son remains aloof, and her daughter-in-law wonders if she is witnessing her own decline. They all struggle to express, or feel, their love for one another.
Sam Gifford remembers : In prewar years he was an arrogant southern cotton plantation owner, married to the daughter of a colonel. At the beginning of the war he was mobilized with his National Guard unit as a sergeant. Came the day when, revolted by the cowardice of his lieutenant, who had fired at his own men, he hit him. Downgraded, he was sent to a disciplinary battalion. Sam now discovers his new detachment, his new commanding officer, just another cowardly brute, Captain Waco Grimes. While in combat, Sam will gradually become closer to the privates, working-class people he used to despise. He will become another man, a better man.
Edna marries Texan Sam Gladney, operator of a wheat mill. They have a son, who is killed when very young. Edna discovers by chance how the law treats children who are without parents and decides to do something about it. She opens a home for foundlings and orphans and begins to place children in good homes, despite the opposition of "conservative" citizens, who would condemn illegitimate children for being born out of wedlock. Eventually Edna leads a fight in the Texas legislature to remove the stigma of illegitimacy from birth records in that state, while continuing to be an advocate for homeless children.
After 20 years on the road with Blue Oyster Cult, Jimmy Testagros returns to his hometown to life with his ailing mother. Complications arise when he falls for an old friend, who is now married to his longtime nemesis.