An elderly man named Woody (Bruce Dern) with a drinking problem and what seems to be early-stage dementia receives a letter announcing he's won a sweepstakes prize. His adult son (Will Forte) tries to convince him that he's actually won nothing beyond the opportunity to buy magazines, but Woody will not be deterred, and soon, father and son are on a prize-related road trip from Montana to Nebraska. Alexander Payne's Nebraska is a VIP artwork packed with the type of tiny, messy interactions that flower into something almost mythic when writ large, in black and white. (DAVID SCHMADER)