The first is Life Lessons, directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Richard Price and starring Nick Nolte.

In foreign theatrical releases, the order of the three films was altered, Coppola's being first, followed by Allen's, and finishing with Scorsese's.

[1] Lionel Dobie is an acclaimed abstract artist who finds himself unable to paint during the days before a scheduled gallery exhibition of his new work.

Paintings around the studio show visual metaphors from relations past: stormy skies, burning bridges, and tormented clowns.

New York lawyer Sheldon Mills has problems with his overly critical mother Sadie Millstein.

She begins to annoy Sheldon and Lisa (with the whole city now watching) by constantly talking to strangers about his most embarrassing moments.

[4] Hal Hinson, writing in The Washington Post, felt that Coppola's segment was "by far the director's worst work yet".

He further explained, "Of the three films, the only really successful one is Life Lessons, the Scorsese story of a middle-age painter and his young, discontented girlfriend.

The Coppola, an updated version of the story of Eloise, the little girl who lived in the Plaza Hotel, is surprisingly thin and unfocused.