Comedy

This Russian comedy is the sequel to The Twelve Chairs, which told of a madcap search by a con-man and a nobleman in post-communist Russia for a chair containing a king’s ransom in hidden diamonds. Presumably dead at the end of the first film, charming con-man Ostap Bender is alive and kicking and looking for another way to get rich. He discovers an underground Soviet millionaire, Alexander Koreiko, and begins blackmailing him in an attempt to accomplish his lifelong goal of having one million rubles. With that amount of money, he believes he could fulfill his dream of moving to Rio de Janeiro. In the pursuit of his many schemes, he uses an ill-assorted gang of fellow miscreants: Shura the simple-minded young ex-convict, Panikovsky an older con man, and the unusually unlucky driver Adam Kozlevich. He has many wild adventures in his quest. The witty and satirical novel on which this movie is based, written in 1930, was prohibited until the 1950s, when it became a cult novel in the USSR.Read More »

Two waitresses get sacked from a sex show nightclub when the police shuts the premises down. The girls steal a car from the Italian boyfriend of one of them and go out into the Alps. In the back of the car they discover little plastic bags with a white powder and think it’s heroin, but in reality it’s an imported sexual stimulating powder. The Italian boyfriend gets an order from his angry big boss to bring this expensive white powder immediately back.Read More »

A compulsive gambler must steal a suitcase full of money, which is also coveted by Melba, a cabaret singer. A getaway ensues.Read More »

Classic German erotica featuring various people in various situations played for comical effect.Read More »

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John Wayne is generally credited with having directed only one picture, the 1960 version of The Alamo, but according to several reports, Wayne also “lent a hand” in getting his other 1960 film, the raucous if unfocused and overlong North to Alaska, shot as well. North to Alaska had a rather troubled pre-production history, which in fact included Wayne’s involvement with The Alamo, which delayed production of this film for several months. Those delays may have at least contributed to a rather convoluted revolving door of producers, directors and co-stars, and by many accounts, there was no completed script ready when North to Alaska finally started shooting in mid 1960. The film has serious structure issues, and indeed often seems to have been cobbled together out of set pieces, with no real thought given to through line or that oft-lamented concept of character arc. Read More »

French helmer Christian Vincent’s quirky labyrinthine comedy Quatre étoiles (AKA 4 Stars, 2005) opens with a comely young girl named Franssou (nicknamed France) stumbling into a highly promising set of circumstances. Though France’s great-great aunt feels less than completely enchanted with her, she wills the young girl an inheritance of 52,000 Euros ($62,000.00) on her deathbed. Upon receiving the money, France promptly ditches her dishwater-dull beau and high-tails it to a posh hotel in Cannes, where she falls into the lap of Stephane – a pushy flim-flam artist eager to pass himself off as Elton John’s front man, then to hit France up for 30,000 of the Euros. Though France sees right through his ploy, she (surprisingly) agrees to the request – but nothing can compare Stephane for the conditions that France will impose – or for the genuine feelings that France begins to harbor for him. Or does she? Screen vet François Cluzet co-stars; Vincent co-authored the script with Olivier Dazat.Read More »

Young women make for the best hosts in this sexploitation film from Erwin Dietrich. A series of short stories (similar to the German “Report” films) that show young women in various sexual situations who enjoy playing host to their male and female visitors.Read More »

Free-thinking Johnny Case finds himself betrothed to a millionaire’s daughter. When her family, with the exception of black-sheep Linda and drunken Ned, want Johnny to settle a career in finance, he rebels, wishing instead to spend the early years of his life on “holiday.” With the help of his friends Nick and Susan Potter, he makes up his mind as to which is the better course, and who he’d rather take the leap with.Read More »

A truck driver in Yamagata prefecture finds himself stuck on the road due to a police speeding checkpoint. The trucker decides to use the road shoulder instead. Wen stopped they explain to the police that they have an emergency and are in a rush. Then a police cruiser with two policewomen again catches them. Apparently, this time it is for the crime of having been in a woman’s public bath.Read More »