Comedy

Plot Synopsis:
A tobacco company cynically offers a 25 million dollar prize to an entire town that can quit smoking for thirty days. One small Iowa town is determined to make it; but will their community lose its soul in the process?Read More »

In this satiric road movie from Cuba, Yoyita (Conchita Brando), a well-known singer living in Havana, travels with her niece Georgina (Mirta Ibarra), a college professor, to the village of her birth, where Yoyita is reunited with Candido (Raul Eguren), whom she loved as a young woman. When Yoyita and Candido meet for the first time in 50 years, they’re thrilled to discover that the flame of passion still burns within them; unfortunately, Yoyita is so thrilled that it gives her a heart attack, and she dies on the spot. Yoyita’s body must be transported back to Havana for burial, but while logic would dictate that Georgina should simply hire a hearse to make the journey, her husband, Adolfo (Carlos Cruz), a bureaucrat with more enthusiasm than common sense, has another idea — by transferring the body from one vehicle to another at the border of each province, the cost of fuel will be distributed more evenly along the route. No one much cares for this idea except Adolfo, but he has the law on his side, so Georgina, Candido, and Adolfo begin a long, slow journey back to Havana accompanied by truck drivers Ramon (Pedro Fernandez) and Mariano (Jorge Perugorria), who was Georgina’s student years ago. At every stop, the group meets a few of the people in each town (especially Mariano, who seems to have a girlfriend in every village in Cuba) and they share their thoughts on faith, politics, and love. Guantanamera was the final work from veteran Cuban director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea; he died before the film could be completed, so co-screenwriter Juan Carlos Tabió finished the film in his stead.Read More »

Quote:
A young man and woman have a sensual, one-night stand in a motel room where they confide in each other about their troubled lives.Read More »

Quote:
Smoke and Blue in the Face director Wayne Wang has made his name by making features (Slam Dance excepted) looking at ordinary Americans and revealing their slightly less than ordinary lives. In Dim Sum, he studies the cultural differences between assorted generations of Chinese Americans, a theme picked up again in Eat A Bowl of Tea and The Joy Luck Club. Here, in his home environment, Wang feels comfortable with his subjects and some charming observations about their lives are revealed in an understated but nevertheless engrossing little picture.

Focusing primarily on the subject of family traditions amongst San Franciscan Chinese and the responsibilities of children in caring for their ageing parents, Dim Sum follows the relationship between a very traditional Chinese woman in her 60s and her thirty-something daughter, the mother trying to marry the daughter off. The difference in attitudes between the two provide much of the humour, but there is a greater depth to the emotions as Wang seeks to reconcile his slight tale to the greater picture of the wane of oldfashioned Chinese beliefs.Read More »

The Italian neo-realist influence that is so evident in René Clément’s Oscar-winning 1949 film Au-delà des grilles is also felt in this quirky romantic comedy, through its use of real locations (mostly in the bustling centre of London) and fluid, documentary-style photography. Along with some of his contemporaries (notably Georges Franju and Jean-Pierre Melville) René Clément had started to trail-blaze a new kind of cinema, departing from the conventions of the quality tradition that had grown stale and predictable by the early 1950s, and laying the groundwork for the French New Wave. If you did not know that Clément had directed Monsieur Ripois, you might easily mistake it for an early offering from one of the Nouvelle Vague filmmakers – Jean-Luc Godard, Eric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette, Louis Malle or François Truffaut.Read More »

IMDB:
User Reviews

Amsterdam: city of pigeons, karate and dirty movies
12 November 2004 | by Chip_douglas (Rijswijk, ZH, Netherlands)

This 1973 film is based on one of six ‘Srillers’ (short for sarcastic thriller) by Rinus Ferdinandusse, who also co-wrote the screenplay and appears in the film. It stars Rijk de Gooijer as Rutger Maria Lemming, or Rick for short. Lemming suffers from Angela Lansbury syndrome: murder mysteries regularly cross his part even though he is happy milking pigeons and running a pinball arcade. When his loyal but gullible friend and former karate champ Ed Swaan (John Blumming) finds himself involved with some pornographers, the two of them set about getting their hands on the embarrassing footage.Read More »

Plot:
A film of five separate comedy to drama segments–directed by Visconti, Bolognini, Pasolini, Franco Rossi and de Sica. The international cast includes Clint Eastwood, Annie Girardot and Alberto Sordi, and features Silvana Mangano. Important Note: This film has been manufactured from the best-quality video master currently available and has not been remastered or restored specifically for this DVD release. 16 x 9. Important Note: This film has been manufactured from the best-quality video master currently available and has not been remastered or restored specifically for this DVD release. From Warner Brothers Website!Read More »

Plot:
Julian Marsh, an sucessful Broadway director, produces a new show, inspite of his poor health. The money comes from a rich old man, who is in love with the star of the show, Dorothy Brock. But she doesn’t reply his love, because she is still in love with her old partner. At the night before the prmiere, Dorothy Brock breaks her ankle, and one of the chorus girls, Peggey Sawyer tries to take over her part. Read More »

Only Saps Work (a double entendre) is an early sound Paramount light romantic comedy with Leon Errol playing what seems at first an inept crook who tries to rob Richard Arlen. Arlen takes pity on Errol, which causes him major grief in being seen with Errol, but Errol also helps him in his romance with Mary Brian. Charley Grapewin is Brian’s father, and Anderson Lawler is her rather unpleasant sweetheart. Stu Erwin plays an ambitious, boneheaded bellboy. With Fred Kelsey and George Pat Collins playing…well, if you know them, you know what they play.Read More »