On this day in movie history - About Schmidt (2002):

About Schmidt

directed by Alexander Payne,

written by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor,

based on the novel by Louis Begley,

was released in the United States on December 13, 2002.
Music by Rolfe Kent.

Cast:

Jack Nicholson, Kathy Bates, Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney, June Squibb, Howard Hesseman, Harry Groener, Connie Ray, Len Cariou, Matt Winston, Phil Reeves, Mark Venhuizen, Cheryl Hamada, James M. Connor, Jill Anderson, Vaughan Wenzel, Judith Kathryn Hart, Marilyn Tipp, Robert Kem, Melissa Hanna, Tung Ha, James J. Crawley, Mary Beth Nelson, Steve Heller, Lester Kills Crow, Thomas Michael Belford, McKenna Gibson, Emily McNaughton, Beth Heimann, Linda Wilmot, Chris Huse, Joe Kunze, Angela Lansbury, Mark J. O'Leary, Robert Kingston Phillips Green, Lonnie Ray Senstock, Michael Tolochko.

On this day in movie history - Mars Attacks! (1996):

Mars Attacks!

directed by Tim Burton,

written by Jonathan Gems,

based on the 1962 Topps Mars Attacks trading card series,

was released in the United States on December 12, 1996.
Music by Danny Elfman.

Cast:

Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox, Rod Steiger, Tom Jones, Lukas Haas, Natalie Portman, Jim Brown, Lisa Marie, Sylvia Sidney, Paul Winfield, Pam Grier, Jack Black, Janice Rivera, Ray J, Brandon Hammond, Joe Don Baker, O-Lan Jones, Christina Applegate, Brian Haley, Jerzy Skolimowski, Timi Prulhiere, Barbet Schroeder, Chi Hoang Cai, Tommy Bush, Joseph Maher, Gloria M. Malgarini, Betty Bunch, Gloria Hoffmann, Willie Garson, John Roselius, Michael Reilly Burke, Valerie Wildman, Richard Irving, Jonathan Emerson, Tamara 'Gingir' Curry, Rebecca Broussard, Steve Valentine, Coco Leigh, Jeffrey King, Enrique Castillo, Don Lamoth, C. Wayne Owens, Joseph Patrick Moynihan, Roger Peterson, John Finnegan, Ed Lambert, John Gray, Gregg Daniel, J. Kenneth Campbell, Rance Howard, Jeanne Mori, Richard Assad, Velletta Carlson, Kevin Mangan, Rebeca Silva, Josh Philip Weinstein, Julian Barnes, Ken Thomas, Darelle Porter Holden, Christi Black, Sharon Hendrix, Frank Welker, Jim Beatty, John Bradley, Colleen Ann Brah, Greg Bronson, JoAnn Bush, Mac Canepi, George Cheung, Maria Celeste Genitempo, Geri Gilmore, Matt Gulbranson, Roger Jackson, Anthony Kopczynski, Walter Ludwig, Johnny Mansbach, Stephanie Masoner, Scott McKinley, Bob Pepper, Kelly Lynn Richards, David Sherrill, William Victor Skrabanek, Alexandra Smothers, Jay So, Edward Tubbs, Carl Washington, Don Winsor.

On this day in movie history - The Last Detail (1973 movie & novel):

The Last Detail

directed by Hal Ashby,

written by Robert Towne,

based on the novel by Darryl Ponicsan,

was released in the United States on December 12, 1973.
Music by Johnny Mandel.

Cast:

Jack Nicholson, Otis Young, Randy Quaid, Clifton James, Carol Kane, Michael Moriarty, Nancy Allen, Gilda Radner, Jim Hohn, Luana Anders.

The Last Detail

By Darryl Ponicsan.

First published 1970.

Published by Skyhorse.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1510727752

ISBN-13: 978-1510727755

Description:

The Acclaimed Novel That Was the Basis for the Classic Movie Starring Jack Nicholson.

Unlike the other branches of the armed services, the navy draws its police force from the ranks, as temporary duty. The risk is that men on Shore Patrol might bring their humanity to the task. This accounts for the underlying tension in "The Last Detail", which takes place during the height of the Vietnam War. Billy Bad-Ass and Mule Mulhall, two career sailors in transit in Norfolk, awaiting permanent orders, are given a "chaser" duty. Their assignment is to escort and deliver Larry Meadows, an 18-year-old sailor, from Norfolk to Portsmouth, N.H., where he is to serve an eight-year sentence in the brig. It's good duty, on the face of it, until the two old salts realize the injustice of the sentence and are oddly affected by the true innocence of their prisoner, even though he is guilty as charged. Failure, or refusal, to carry out their duty is never a question, no matter how much they hate the detail or how wrong it seems, and yet something must be done, some gesture made in order to help their hapless prisoner survive the long ordeal he faces, and to purge their own sense of shame. "The Last Detail" was Darryl Ponicsan's first book and it catapulted him into the front rank of American novelists. It was made into the 1973 film starring Jack Nicholson, and has become a classic of the Golden Age of American cinema. This new edition of "The Last Detail" coincides with the publication of its long-awaited sequel, "Last Flag Flying", also available from The Wright Press.