Couch theater — DVD previews

A cold front is moving across my living room -- snow, ice and everything (sometimes not so) nice. Winter weather can be quite dramatic, but also playful, romantic, nostalgic and scary! Here are nine movies that bring winter into the story in very different ways, playing up the many facets of this seasonal gift.

Comedy: “Groundhog Day” -- A narcissistic weatherman, Phil (Bill Murray), goes on assignment in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and cannot escape. He’s forced to live the same day -- Feb. 2 -- over and over again until he gets it right.

Action: “The Day After Tomorrow” -- An instantaneous ice age cannot stop a geologist (Dennis Quaid) from rescuing his collegeage son (Jake Gyllenhaal) who’s stuck above the freeze line. To get there, he’ll cross a frozen landscape on foot, if necessary. (Spoiler alert: It’s necessary.)

Horror: “The Shining” -- Jack Nicholson is terrifying as a writer who takes his family to a remote Colorado resort to live as off-season caretakers. With winter closing in and a psychically sensitive son, it’s hard to tell who’s more haunted: the resort or the writer.

Western: “The Revenant” -Mauled by a bear, his son killed, then left for dead, Hugh Glass (Leonardo Dicaprio, in an Oscarwinning performance) claws his way back through a wild and unforgiving climate to seek vengeance on the man who did him wrong.

Romance: “The Holiday” -- Two women trade houses at Christmastime, each having sunk to the depths of heartbreak. One, a movie-trailer maven from LA (Cameron Diaz); the other, a writer from merry old England. You think they’ll find love and a healthier self-view? You betcha!