Los Angeles SWAT cop Jack Traven is up against bomb expert Howard Payne, who’s after major ransom money. First it’s a rigged elevator in a very tall building. Then it’s a rigged bus–if it slows, it will blow, bad enough any day, but a nightmare in LA traffic. And that’s still not the end.

A large spider from the jungles of South America is accidentally transported in a crate with a dead body to America where it mates with a local spider. Soon after, the residents of a small California town disappear as the result of spider bites from the deadly spider offspring. It’s up to a couple of doctors with the help of an insect exterminator to annihilate these eight legged freaks.

Rachel is a food writer at a New York magazine who meets Washington columnist Mark at a wedding and ends up falling in love with him despite her reservations about marriage. They buy a house, have a daughter, and Rachel thinks they are living happily ever after until she discovers that Mark is having an affair while she is waddling around with a second pregnancy.

Aurora and Emma are mother and daughter who march to different drummers. Beginning with Emma’s marriage, Aurora shows how difficult and loving she can be. The movie covers several years of their lives as each finds different reasons to go on living and find joy. Aurora’s interludes with Garrett Breedlove, retired astronaut and next door neighbor are quite striking.

Cecilia is a waitress in New Jersey, living a dreary life during the Great Depression. Her only escape from her mudane reality is the movie theatre. After losing her job, Cecilia goes to see ‘The Purple Rose of Cairo’ in hopes of raising her spirits, where she watches dashing archaeologist Tom Baxter time and again.