Comedy

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Acclaimed Finnish director Mika Kaurismaki helms this deadpan, oddball road movie. Jack Bogart (Kai Wiesinger) is a dodgy car mechanic living in the backwaters of Germany. His motto is “Live for the moment; that’s all that counts,” and, indeed, for a moment he hooked up with an older Korean woman (Francisca Tu), until a couple of thugs he had previously swindled, Bruno (Hannes Hellmann) and doltish Popo, pay him a visit. Jack promptly hits the road along with bitchy Verena (Michaela Rosen) and her saucy spoiled daughter Elisabeth (Marie Zielcke). The latter falls for Jack, much to his consternation, and soon she is tagging along all the way to Finland.Read More »

Synopsis:
After her father’s death, Mary Rainey takes over the Rainey Circus (which operates twice daily, rain or shine) but runs into financial troubles. In one bit reminiscent of the Marx Brothers, the circus performers are up to some ridiculous antics at a dinner party with the family of Bud Conway, Mary’s beau. As times become worse and the performers go on strike, Mary must try to save the circus from rioting patrons.Read More »

Summary from the Rotterdam Film Festival:
Ali is the image of modern Africa. He happily returns from a football match on his motorbike but a nasty surprise is waiting for him at his parents’ home: he finds Haoua, his bride-to-be, waiting for him. The wedding is celebrated shortly afterwards and the two begin living together under the same roof. They are strangers but cannot stand each other. Haoua is the classic traditional woman who has just arrived from the village, God-fearing and faithful to the laws of tradition. Ali’s friends advise him to look for a second wife. He meets Henriette, an uninhibited and provocative city girl, the woman of his dreams. To meet Henriette’s constant requests, Ali ‘borrows’ some money from the coffers of commander Soleymane, but he is discovered and ends up in prison. Henriette is furious and leaves him, whilst Haoua cries for him in despair.Read More »

Little Per has become a boy scout. As a boy scout he has to help other people in need, but things take a turn for the worse and Little Per goes missing. Now it is up to the family to find him…Read More »

Synopsis:
Fantasmagoria mingles seamlessly into reality in this comic film. Oleg is being two-timed by his wife. Fortunately he is advised by well-known poisoners from history, from Caligula to Lucretia Borgia.Read More »

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Wickedly funny and observant slice of life NYC gangster pic, that’s decidedly Jewish, quirky and anarchistic. The surprise cult comedy/drama hit was shot in 1969 and put on the shelf when no distributor was willing to take a chance on it when test audiences didn’t laugh, but it was released in 1989 to play in the NYC Film Festival. Rave reviews gave this pic a new lease on life, and it got its long awaited theatrical release–only twenty years too late to help the splendid aging unknown cast advance their careers.Read More »

Plot Synopsis by Mark Deming
Acclaimed playwright George S. Kaufman made his directorial debut with this broad political satire. Senator Melvin G. Ashton (William Powell) is a long-time congressman for whom the phrase “dumb as a log” would be fitting if one were not afraid of insulting the trees. After more than twenty years of representing his clueless constituents, Ashton decides to take a shot at the presidential race, and hires Lew Gibson (Peter Lind Hayes) is his press agent. Party topkick Dinty (Charles D. Brown) considers Ashton an utterly hopeless candidate, especially after he begins making fantastic campaign promises no one could possibly keep, but Ashton turns out to be a bit more shrewd than expected. Read More »

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Shinnosuke (Kiyohiko Shibukawa) and Misawa (Keishi Nagatsuka) are joint managers of a Bonsai shop. Suddenly Shinnosuke’s childhood friend Haruko (Mami Nakamura) turns up. She has split up with her boyfriend and finds herself out on the streets. Shinnosuke starts to like Haruko and really wants to cheer her up, but he can’t manage to express his real feelings or stop picking up other women. Misawa is dumbfounded by Shinnosuke’s behavior but also has complex feelings of love for his friend. Haruko realizes that Shinnosuke is falling in love with her but she pretends not to notice in order to keep the peace between the friends. Then one day Shinnosuke suddenly blurts out his feelings for Haruko, but she has just hooked up with another man. Haruko moves out of the shop and in with the man, but then his wife returns and Haruko finds herself out on the streets again. Shinnosuke has to start cheering her up all over again.Read More »

Achternbusch, poet, poacher, and Bavarian wants to leave his native land.
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In this somewhat experimental satirical black comedy, a renowned and sensitive poet and writer is fed up with the crudenesses of his native Bavaria and, in a well-publicized move, says he refuses even to die there. Instead, followed by reporters, he retires to Greenland. There, he has a reunion with his girlfriend, and gains some idea of the current situation of his wife before he dies.
~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie GuideRead More »