Comedy

  • Wayne Wang & Spencer Nakasako – Life Is Cheap… But Toilet Paper Is Expensive (1989)

    Wayne Wang1981-1990ComedyCrimeSpencer NakasakoUSA
    Life Is Cheap... But Toilet Paper Is Expensive (1989)
    Life Is Cheap… But Toilet Paper Is Expensive (1989)

    Quote:
    A man is hired by a group of people he believes to be gangsters to escort a briefcase from America to Hong Kong. When he arrives, however, his contact is nowhere to be found. With no further instructions, he decides to take in the sights of Hong Kong, which consist of him taking part in a great deal of blood, sex and general weirdness, all while wearing a briefcase handcuffed to his arm.Read More »

  • Robert Dornhelm – Echo Park (1985)

    Robert Dornhelm1981-1990ComedyDramaUSA
    Echo Park (1985)
    Echo Park (1985)

    In the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, everyone is more than they initially seem. May waits tables, raises a son, Henry, and is an aspiring actress. She needs a roommate and takes in a pizza deliverer named Jonathan, an aspiring songwriter. In the adjoining flat is August, an Austrian body sculptor who appears in a deodorant commercial and dreams big dreams. May takes a job delivering singing telegrams as a stripper, Jonathan invites Henry to tag along with him on deliveries, August gets into trouble with the police who call his father in Austria, and the friendships, frustrations, and love affairs of everyday life come to a head.Read More »

  • Christoph Schlingensief – United Trash AKA The Slit (1996)

    Christoph Schlingensief1991-2000ComedyCultGermany
    United Trash (1996)
    United Trash (1996)

    Africa, … Land of the infinite sun, of curly hair and the smell of diesel oil. German soldiers on a mission from the United Nations. For General Werner Brenner (Udo Kier), a dream comes true: the new crematorium, the multicultural children’s playground and, above all, the old V2-Rocket from the Führer! Here, where people are still “crude and simple”, every German can display his abilities! But after a couple of days, Brenner’s unbreakable optimism starts to crumble…Read More »

  • Martin Scorsese – The King of Comedy (1982)

    Martin Scorsese1981-1990ComedyDramaUSA
    The King of Comedy (1982)
    The King of Comedy (1982)

    Plot:
    Rupert Pupkin (De Niro), a stage-door autograph hound, is an aspiring stand-up comic with obsessive ambition far in excess of any actual talent. A chance meeting with Jerry Langford (Lewis), a famous comedian and talk show host, leads Rupert to believe that his “big break” has finally come. His attempts to get a place on the show are continually rebuffed by Langford’s staff and, finally, by Langford himself. Along the way, Rupert indulges in elaborate and obsessive fantasies where he and Langford are colleagues and friends.Read More »

  • John M. Stahl – Holy Matrimony (1943)

    John M. Stahl1941-1950ComedyRomanceUSA
    Holy Matrimony (1943)
    Holy Matrimony (1943)

    Summary by All Movie Guide:
    A man trying to leave his fame behind discovers the perils of choosing to be the wrong unknown person in this farcical British comedy. Priam Farli (Monty Woolley) is an eccentric but famous and well-respected artist who prefers to work in total seclusion — so much so that he’s spent the last 20 years creating his paintings while living on an isolated island in the Pacific, with only his valet, Henry Leek (Eric Blore), for company. When word reaches Farli that he is to be knighted by King Edward VII (Edwin Maxwell), the artist reluctantly sails back to Great Britain with Leek, but en route, his devoted servant dies. Seeing a perfect opportunity to once again escape the public eye, Farli poses as Leek and claims that the great painter was the one who passed away. Read More »

  • Whit Stillman – The Last Days of Disco (1998)

    1991-2000ComedyUSAWhit Stillman
    The Last Days of Disco (1998)
    The Last Days of Disco (1998)

    Roger Ebert wrote:
    “The Last Days of Disco” is about people who would like to belong to the kinds of clubs that would accept them as members. It takes place in “the very early 1980s” in Manhattan, where a group of young, good-looking Ivy League graduates dance the night away in discos. Unlike the characters in “Saturday Night Fever,” who were basically just looking for a good time, these upwardly mobile characters are alert to the markers of social status. New York magazine is their textbook, and being admitted to the right clubs is the passing grade.Read More »

  • David O. Russell – Spanking the Monkey (1994)

    David O. Russell1991-2000ComedyDramaUSA
    Spanking the Monkey (1994)
    Spanking the Monkey (1994)

    Synopsis
    The debut feature from writer-director David O. Russell tells the darkly comic story of a young pre-med student’s nearly unbearable summer vacation. When Ray Aibelli’s promiscuous father orders him to stay home for the summer and care for his mother, who recently broke her leg, he misses out on an incredibly important internship. As Ray struggles with the realization that he’s wasting his summer doing nothing at home, he must contend with an endless string of seemingly insurmountable circumstances, including a failed brief relationship with a young high school student. Things reach their boiling point when Ray and his mother get drunk one night, leading to an incestuous encounter that pushes him over the edge. Humiliated, depressed, and downtrodden, Ray decides to commit suicide to end his troubles forever. Russell’s racy story walks a tightrope between deep psychological drama and taboo comedy, resulting in a highly original tone that keeps SPANKING THE MONKEY from buckling under the pressure. Featuring a standout performance by Davies, as well as Watson, who recalls Anne Bancroft’s Mrs. Robinson in THE GRADUATE, this is one of the 1990’s most auspicious directorial debuts.Read More »

  • Antonio Albanese – Uomo d’acqua dolce (1997)

    1991-2000Antonio AlbaneseComedyCommedia all'ItalianaItaly
    Uomo d'acqua dolce (1997)
    Uomo d’acqua dolce (1997)

    Synopsis
    Antonio takes a hit on his head when he’s out to buy a jar of mushrooms for his wife, and loses his memory. He reappears five years later unaware that time has passed.Read More »

  • Fernando Fernán Gómez – Ninette y un señor de Murcia (1966)

    Fernando Fernán Gómez1961-1970ComedySpain
    Ninette y un señor de Murcia (1966)
    Ninette y un señor de Murcia (1966)

    Quote:
    Andrés Martínez Segura is a mature and single man who has never left Murcia. After inheriting a bookstore and three hundred thousand pesetas in cash from his aunt Eugenia, he decides to take a trip to Paris, where his friend Armando lives. The latter seeks him accommodation in the house of Mr. and Mrs. Sánchez, an old couple of republican exiles, where Andrés will have an affair with Ninette, the attractive daughter of both.
    —jsanchezRead More »

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