The film spans 30 years of Chicano gang life in Los Angeles. The story opens with the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943 and depicts a young Latino couple, Esperanza and Pedro Santana, being racially targeted by sailors. Pedro is beaten alongside other Latin-Americans, while Esperanza is gang-raped by the sailors. Years later, in 1959, the Santana family's teenaged son, Montoya, forms a street gang called La Primera along with his friends J.D. and Mundo. The three friends soon find themselves committing crimes and are therefore arrested. In juvenile hall, Santana murders a fellow inmate who raped him. As a result, his sentence is extended, and he is moved to Folsom State Prison after he turns 18. Years later, Santana has become the leader of a powerful prison gang, La Eme. Upon his release from prison in 1977, he tries to relate his life experiences to the society that has changed so much since he was incarcerated. La Eme has become a feared criminal organization beyond Folsom, selling drugs and committing murder. Santana begins a romantic relationship with a woman named Julie, but she becomes repulsed by his violent tendencies and by La Eme's negative influence on their community. After a drug lord refuses to give control of distribution to La Eme, La Eme retaliates by brutally raping and murdering the drug lord's son in prison. In response, the drug lord targets Santana's community by distributing pure heroin to local users. The pure heroin causes mass overdoses, and one of the overdose victims is Julie's brother. Santana visits his mother's grave, where his father reveals that he always resented Montoya because he might have been the son of his mother's rapist. Santana starts to see the error of his ways. Before he can take action, however, he is sent back to Folsom for drug possession. When J.D. visits, Santana tells him that he is no longer interested in leading La Eme. However, following a precedent set by Santana himself earlier in the film, his men—including Mundo—murder him to show the other prison gangs that La Eme is not weak and will not tolerate departures from its ranks. Santana is fatally stabbed and thrown off a balcony to his death. Julie receives a letter from Santana thanking her for opening his eyes. The letter contains his necklace of St. Dismas. Julie gives the necklace to Santana's teen brother Paulito, who then inducts a young boy into the street gang, La Primera by having him commit a drive-by shooting.

Comedian Alvy Singer is trying to understand why his relationship with Annie Hall ended a year earlier. Growing up in Brooklyn, he vexed his mother with impossible questions about the emptiness of existence, and was precocious about his innocent sexual curiosity, suddenly kissing a classmate at six years old and not understanding why she was not keen to reciprocate. Annie and Alvy, waiting in a movie theater line to see The Sorrow and the Pity, overhear another man deriding the work of Federico Fellini and referencing Marshall McLuhan. Alvy imagines McLuhan himself stepping in at his invitation to criticize the man's comprehension of his work. That night, Annie shows no interest in sex with Alvy. Instead, they discuss his first wife, whom he devalued because of her interest in him. His second marriage was to a New York writer who did not share his enthusiasm for sports and was unable to reach orgasm. With Annie, it is different. The two of them have fun cooking a meal of boiled lobster together. He teases her about the unusual men in her past. They had met playing tennis doubles with friends. Following the game, awkward small talk leads her to offer him a ride uptown, and then a glass of wine on her balcony. There, what seemed a mild exchange of trivial personal data is revealed in "mental subtitles" as an escalating flirtation. Their first date follows Annie's singing audition for a nightclub (" It Had to Be You "). After having sex that night, Alvy is "a wreck", while Annie relaxes with a joint. Soon, Annie admits she loves Alvy, while he buys her books on death and says that his feelings for her are more than just love. When Annie moves in with him, things become very tense. Eventually, Alvy finds Annie arm-in-arm with one of her adult-education professors, and the two begin arguing over whether this is the "flexibility" they had discussed. They eventually break up, and he searches for the truth of relationships, asking strangers on the street about the nature of love, questioning his formative years, and imagining a cartoon version of himself arguing with a cartoon Annie portrayed as the Evil Queen in Snow White. Alvy attempts a return to dating, but the effort is marred by neurosis and an underwhelming sexual encounter that is interrupted when Annie calls in the middle of the night, urging him to come over immediately to kill a spider in her bathroom. A reconciliation follows, coupled with a vow to stay together, come what may. However, their separate discussions with their therapists make it evident that there is an unspoken and unbridgeable divide. When Alvy accepts an offer to present an award on television, they travel to Los Angeles with Alvy's friend Rob. However, on the return trip, they agree that their relationship is not working. After losing Annie to her record producer, Tony Lacey, Alvy unsuccessfully tries to rekindle the flame with a marriage proposal. Back in New York, he stages a play of their relationship, but he changes the ending: now she accepts. The last meeting between Annie and Alvy takes place on Manhattan 's Upper West Side after they have both moved on to someone new. Alvy concludes that, although relationships are irrational, crazy, and absurd, people still need them.

Tommy Spinelli is a wiseguy hired by Benny and Rico, a pair of dimwitted hitmen, to transport a duffel bag full of severed heads across the United States to crime boss "Big Sep" (as proof of the deaths). While on a commercial flight, his bag is accidentally switched with that of Charlie Pritchett, a friendly, talkative, young American tourist who is going to Mexico to see his girlfriend Laurie and her parents, Dick and Annette. Spinelli harasses Charlie's friends Ernie and Steve for information, while Charlie and Laurie attempt to get rid of their rather unfortunate luggage. After Charlie meets with Laurie and her parents at the airport with the wrong bag, they go to their rooms at the resort in Acapulco, Mexico. Soon, Annette mistakenly thinks that Charlie might be a serial killer on the run once she sees a head in his bag while hiding a gift for him inside the bag. Her husband thinks it's all a delusion brought on by her alcoholism. At first, Charlie and Laurie try to bury the heads in the desert, but a group of thugs steals their car. Then Charlie comes up with an idea that he will give back the heads without anyone noticing, by pretending he forgot to turn in his report back at his college. In turn, everyone packs up for the airport.At the airport, Charlie accidentally puts a severed head in Dick's carry-on bag, causing him to get arrested. They never leave Acapulco since they have to come up with a new plan to save Dick. Meanwhile, Tommy, Ernie and Steve start to look for replacement heads, after Charlie tells Tommy he lost one. They start to look in a cryonics lab, where they store bodies and severed heads, much to Tommy's approval. After getting the replacement heads, Tommy and the others get on a plane and head to Mexico. Tommy threatens Charlie that if he loses more heads, he'll replace them with Charlie's friends and family. After hearing of the airport incident, Benny and Rico decide to collect the heads for themselves. When Fern, Dick's mother, arrives in Mexico, Tommy takes her and the others hostage as he helps Charlie find more heads. They find out that a coyote took one of the heads from the stolen car. Tommy also realizes that Benny and Rico are going to kill him if he doesn't get the heads across the border in time. Charlie comes up with a plan to save both their lives. Charlie and Laurie take a severed head to the airport to prove her father's innocence. Benny and Rico try to intervene, but end up getting arrested. It is revealed that Tommy and Charlie set them up. Charlie thanks him for his help, as Tommy departs to Hawaii. Steve goes insane and starts running around the airport with a severed head, telling security guards that it is his "best friend". Charlie and Laurie get married, with her mother and father present; Steve is in a straitjacket; Ernie is a brain surgeon; Fern is also present in a full body cast after being thrown out of a moving van when she started to bad-mouth Tommy; and Tommy is enjoying his retirement.

The film is shown through the eyes of Federico, a photographer from Italy. Tariq (a friend of Federico) is scheduled to marry Bilquis, the daughter of a rich judge. However, while out in the city one night, he catches sight of a woman he believes to be Bilquis, and falls in love with her. The woman turns out to be a nagsh (a black plant applied like henna) artist named Ines, and Tariq ends up having to choose between the two. The film ends with a shot of a jinn, played by Hirsi himself.

After the death of his father, twelve-year-old Josh Framm, his mother Jackie, and his two-year-old sister Andrea have relocated to Fernfield, Washington. One day after school, Josh practices basketball by himself in a makeshift court that he sets up behind an abandoned church, where he meets a runaway Golden Retriever who had recently escaped from his abusive owner: an alcoholic clown named Norman Snively. Discovering his uncanny ability to play basketball, Josh names him Buddy and takes him home. Jackie agrees to let Buddy stay until Christmas. Once the holidays arrive, Jackie allows Josh to keep Buddy as a Christmas present. At school, Josh earns the disdain of star basketball player and team rival Larry Willingham but befriends kindhearted maintenance engineer and retired pro player Arthur Chaney. With Chaney's encouragement, Josh earns a place on the Timberwolves, the school basketball team, despite the reservation of their competitive coach, Joe Barker. He befriends teammate Tom Stewart at his first game. Buddy escapes and shows up at school during the game. The audience loves him when he scores a basket. Barker is fired after being caught emotionally and physically abusing Tom for his poor performance. At Josh's suggestion, he is replaced by Chaney. When Larry is subbed out due to ball-hogging and unsportsmanlike conduct, his father forces him to leave the team and join their rival. Buddy becomes the mascot of the school's basketball team and appears in their halftime shows. The Timberwolves lose one game before qualifying for the State Finals. Just before the championship game, Snively appears after seeing Buddy on television. Hoping to profit from Buddy's newfound fame, he forces Jackie to hand over Buddy as he has papers proving he is the legal owner. Withdrawn and depressed, Josh discovers Snively living in a small, low-income house and sneaks into his backyard, freeing Buddy from his chain. Snively notices him and pursues them in his dilapidated pickup truck through a park before crashing into a lake. Josh protects Buddy by setting him free in the forest to find a new life. The Timberwolves struggle in the championship game, and an injury leaves them with four players. Buddy shows up to the crowd's cheers. After it is discovered that there is no rule preventing a dog from playing basketball, he is added to the roster and leads the team to victory. Despite his ownership papers being ruined in the truck wreck, Snively takes the Framm family to court for custody of Buddy. Chaney suggests that Buddy choose his owner. Judge Cranfield accepts his proposal and moves the court outside to the lawn, where Buddy attacks Snively and chooses Josh. Cranfield grants custody to Josh as a ranting Snively, who tries to get the dog back, is dragged away by the police when cranfield orders his arrest, Josh and the rest of the citizens gather around Buddy to welcome him home.

Actress Samantha Taylor throws a surprise 42nd birthday party for her boyfriend, the wealthy and famous composer George Webber. During it, George finds that he is coping badly with his age. From his car, George glimpses a bride on her way to be married and is instantly obsessed with her beauty. Following her to the church, he crashes into a police cruiser, is stung by a bee and nearly disrupts the wedding ceremony. Later that night, Sam and George argue over his treatment of women and his habit of spying on the intimate acts of a neighbor with his consent. George later visits the minister who performed the wedding and learns that the woman is Jenny Miles, daughter of a prominent Beverly Hills dentist. The following day, while spying on his neighbor, George hits himself with the telescope and falls down an embankment, causing him to miss Sam's phone call. Still obsessed with Jenny, he schedules a dental appointment with her father and learns that Jenny and her husband David have gone to Mexico for their honeymoon. The effects of a large amount of treatment accompanied by a heavy dose of novocaine, aggravated by immediate heavy drinking, leave George completely incoherent. Sam finally reaches him on the phone, but mistakes him for an intruder and calls the police, who hold George at gunpoint while trying to understand his gibberish. George visits his neighbor's house to take part in an ongoing orgy, but Sam spots him through his telescope, widening the rift between them. George impulsively boards a plane to follow the newlyweds to their exclusive resort in Mexico. In the bar, George encounters old acquaintance Mary Lewis, who lacks self-confidence. When they attempt a fling, Mary interprets George's inadequacy in bed as confirmation of her own insecurities. At the beach, George sees Jenny in a swimsuit and is awestruck again by her beauty. Noticing that her husband has fallen asleep on a surfboard, George rents a catamaran and rescues David, making him a hero. Sam sees George on a TV newscast and tries to contact him unsuccessfully. David is hospitalized with sunburn, allowing Jenny and George to spend time alone together. Jenny smokes marijuana and seduces George while playing Ravel 's " Boléro," but he is horrified when Jenny takes a call from David and casually informs him of George's presence. George is even more confused with David's complete lack of concern. Jenny explains that she is in an open marriage and married David only because of pressure from her conservative father. George leaves after realizing that Jenny sees their tryst as nothing more than a casual fling. After flying home, George reconciles with Sam by performing an apologetic new song and demonstrating greater maturity. He suggests getting married, but they agree that they should first work on arguing less and having sex more. George takes an idea from Jenny when he starts "Boléro" on his phonograph and has sex with Sam in full view of the neighbor's telescope. However, the neighbor has already stopped watching out of frustration that he provides erotic entertainment for George and gets nothing in return.

The commercial space tug Nostromo is returning to Earth with a seven-member crew in "stasis": captain Dallas, executive officer Kane, warrant officer Ripley, navigator Lambert, science officer Ash, and engineers Parker and Brett, along with the ship's cat, Jones. The ship's computer, "Mother", detects a transmission from a nearby planet and wakes the crew. Following company policy to investigate transmissions indicating intelligent life, they leave their payload in orbit and land on the surface, but the ship is damaged. Dallas, Kane, and Lambert discover that the transmission comes from a derelict alien vessel. Inside is a giant, fossilized alien corpse with a hole in its torso. Meanwhile, Mother partially deciphers the transmission, which Ripley determines is a warning beacon and not an SOS as first thought. Kane enters a chamber containing hundreds of large eggs. When he touches one, an arthropod -like lifeform springs out, penetrates his helmet, and attaches to his face. Back at the Nostromo, Ripley refuses to allow them aboard, citing quarantine regulations, but Ash disobeys her. While the engineers work on ship repairs, Ash attempts to extricate the creature from Kane's face; he stops when he discovers that its highly corrosive acidic blood could harm Kane and damage the ship's hull. The creature eventually detaches itself and dies. After the crew returns to space, Kane awakens and seems well. During a final crew meal before returning to stasis, he suddenly chokes and convulses as a small alien creature bursts from his chest and escapes into the ship. After ejecting Kane's body into space, the crew uses tracking devices to try to locate and kill the creature. Encountering Jones, Brett follows him into a landing leg compartment, where the now fully-grown alien kills him. The crew determines that the alien is moving around the ship within the air ducts, and Dallas devises a plan to force the creature off the ship with an airlock. Dallas asks Mother about alternative methods of killing the alien and their chances of succeeding, but the computer ominously refuses to answer his questions. Dallas then enters the ducts with a flamethrower but is ambushed and killed by the alien. A hysterical Lambert believes that they will all die and suggests abandoning the Nostromo and leaving in the ship's escape shuttle. Ripley, now in command, rejects the plan because the shuttle can not support the remaining four crew members. Ripley decides they will try Dallas's plan again. She accesses Mother herself and discovers a secret company directive: Ash must return with the alien for study, regardless of risk to the crew. Ash attempts to kill her when confronted, and Parker attacks and incapacitates Ash, who is now revealed to be an android. Ash states that the alien can not be killed and expresses admiration for it. Parker incinerates Ash's remains. With no hope of defeating the alien, Ripley decides to initiate the Nostromo ' s self-destruct sequence and go ahead with Lambert's plan to abandon the ship. While they are gathering supplies, the alien kills both Parker and Lambert. Now alone, Ripley starts the self-destruct process, but the alien blocks her route to the escape shuttle. Ripley narrowly escapes and turns back to abort the sequence but fails to return before the override option expires. With only a few minutes left to evacuate, Ripley frantically returns to the shuttle and finds that the alien is gone. She takes Jones, boards the shuttle and launches it seconds before the Nostromo explodes. As Ripley prepares for stasis, she discovers that the alien has stowed itself in a narrow compartment aboard the shuttle. She dons a spacesuit and helmet, loads a grappling hook gun, and straps herself to a chair before she begins discharging gases to drive the alien from its hiding place. It tries to attack her, but she opens the shuttle door. The resulting depressurization blast leaves the alien clinging to the door frame. Ripley shoots it with the gun, knocking it out, but the door closes on the grapple line, leaving the alien tethered to the ship. As it swings behind an engine nacelle, Ripley fires the engines to sever the line and blast the alien into space. After recording her log entry, she places Jones and herself into stasis to start their return journey to Earth.

Near the completion of his sentence in Sing Sing, Paul Vitti's life is threatened by assassins and corrupt guards while incarcerated. He starts singing showtunes from West Side Story to get the attention of Ben Sobel, who previously hung up on him while attending his father's funeral. The FBI assigns Ben to perform psychiatric tests on Paul to determine if he is feigning insanity. After the tests, it appears that Paul's mental state is deteriorating, and the FBI approves Paul's release into Ben's custody for one month of further therapy. As Ben drives Paul from prison, Paul immediately reveals that he was faking. Ben persuades Paul to find a regular job, as requested by the FBI. Paul attempts to find a legitimate job—in a car dealer, a restaurant and a jewelry store—but his rude manners and paranoia complicate things, ending in his getting fired from each job. At the same time, Paul is told by de facto boss Patti LoPresti that the Rigazzi family wants him dead. He responds by telling the Rigazzis that he is "out" and is seeking a new line of employment. He eventually finds employment working as a technical advisor on the set of a TV series based on the Mafia. Meanwhile, FBI agents inform Ben that Paul has gathered right hand man Jelly and his old crew, and may be planning something major. This rouses Ben's suspicion, and he visits Paul. They both become involved in a car chase with Rigazzi hitmen, which ends with Paul escaping. The FBI blames Ben and gives him 24 hours to locate Paul. After tracking down Paul through Ben's son Michael, who is now working as Paul's chauffeur, Ben discovers that Paul is planning a big, armored car heist, with LoPresti as a partner. He attempts to intervene and talk Paul out of it, but Paul proceeds, and Ben is forced to go along. The crew ambushes the armored car with smoke grenades and lifts it over a fence in the midst of the confusion. They extract more than $22 million of gold bullion, but LoPresti's thugs take over, revealing themselves to have been working for Rigazzi. Ben, in a fit of anger, beats their leader Eddie, and Paul's men restrain the others. Paul's crew uses the gold bullion to frame the Rigazzi family, leaving Eddie and the Rigazzi goons locked in the armored truck, which is suspended from the crane. This leads to the arrest of the entire Rigazzi family, preventing a mob war. Paul, Ben, Jelly, and the others escape, having created a distraction by using Paul's film crew connections to confuse the federal agents. Ben meets with Paul and Jelly near bridges on the New York waterfront, and they part ways as friends, singing another West Side Story showtune.