Nina Siemaszko

Hollywood, 1927: As silent movie star George Valentin wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he sparks with Peppy Miller, a young dancer set for a big break.

Teenager Les Anderson thinks his life can't get any worse after he flunks his driver's exam, but he's wrong. Even though he didn't receive his license, Les refuses to break his date with the cool Mercedes Lane, and he decides to lift his family's prize luxury car for the occasion. Unfortunately, Mercedes sneaks some booze along and passes out drunk, and a confused Les makes the bad decision of enlisting his rebellious friend, Dean, to help.

Ypsilanti, Michigan, 1945. Engineer Preston Tucker dreams of designing the car of future, but his innovative envision will be repeatedly sabotaged by his own unrealistic expectations and the Detroit automobile industry tycoons.

Widowed U.S. president Andrew Shepherd, one of the world's most powerful men, can have anything he wants -- and what he covets most is Sydney Ellen Wade, a Washington lobbyist. But Shepherd's attempts at courting her spark wild rumors and decimate his approval ratings.

The Lone Rangers have heavy-metal dreams and a single demo tape they can't get anyone to play. The solution: Hijack an FM rock radio station and hold the deejays hostage until they agree to broadcast the band's tape.