Zombieland

Oh, the joys of indiscriminately blowing away flesh eating zombies!

2009 film from director Ruben Fleischer stars Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson.

Learn the rules of survival first then go on a road trip across country as Eisenberg seeks his parents, Stone looks for Playland amusement park, and Harrelson searches for a Twinkie...all trying to survive in a world gone crazy with zombies.

Great fun, funny...look for a great cameo by Bill Murray as...well, Bill Murray.

Pineapple Express

2008 film directed by David Gordon Green stars Seth Rogen, James Franco, Gary Cole.

Slacker process server witnesses a murder and has to go on the run accompanied by his weed dealer.

Very funny if you like stoner films...I do. Rogen and Franco are a 21st century Cheech and Chong.

Hysterical ending...all shot up and they go to the diner for breakfast before going to the hospital.

Nothing Sacred

William A. Wellman directed this deric March and Carole Lombard.

One of the original screwball comedies about a reporter who fakes a story and the hilarious complications that ensue.

Romance, comedy, and drama all belnd well. Lombarde was a masterful actress who excelled in comedic roles. Catch this one.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029322/

Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas

Whew...was it the acid? Or the ether?

Riotus Terry Gilliam film from 1998 follows Hunter S. Thompson's alter ego Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp) and his "attorney" and advisor Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro) as they travel from L.A. to Vegas to supposedly cover a motorcycle race.

Thompson was a unique individual, a proponent...hell the grandaddy of Gonzo journalism where the reporter's experience is part of the story. In Thompson's case his experience WAS the story, period.

This is an trippy, all out comedy romp that won't suit everyone's taste, but give it a try. Funny, absurd, dead on social commentary...and a look inside the world of a genius journalist who operated under his own rules (and paranoia).

Johhny Depp has him nailed. Brilliant portrayal. And look at the supporting cast: Del Toro (incredible), Tobey McGuire, Gary Busey, Ellen Barkin, Christina Ricci, Cameron Diaz...the list goes on and on.

A laugh fest. Love the first scene on the highway when the drugs kick in and the inventory of what illicit substances are in the trunk of the car.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120669/

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

Terry Gilliam comedy from 1988 starring John Neville, Robin Williams, Eric Idle.

Muchausen ( a teller of tale tales) relates his adventures that may be true, may be fantasies. Doesn't matter. Go along for the ride. Very imaginative and funny.

Look for Robin Williams as a manic King of the Moon...and a small bit part from a young Uma Thurman.

Gilliam's films are always a treat.

Enjoy.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096764/

First Men in the Moon

1964 sci-fi film directed by Nathan Juran and starring Edward Judd, Martha Hyer, and Lionel Jeffries.

H.G. Wells story about Victorian era scientists who devise a way to propel themselves to the moon is filled with comic relief thanks to Jeffries.

Fun and entertaining and suitable for the kids.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058100/

Kelly's Heroes

1970 Brian G. Hutton film stars Clint Eastwood, Donald Southerland, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, and Donald Southerland.

Group of soldiers during World War Two deceide to forego their R & R and go behind the lines on their own to pull off a heist...stealing gold the Germans are guarding in an occupied town.

Combination of a standard war action film and comedy gets absurd at times...but that's what I like about it.

Look for Sutherland as a hippyish tank commander in a comic turn that adds an element of craziness to the whole escapade.

Long, but fun.

Tin Cup

Ron Shelton directed this 1996 romantic comedy starring Kevin Costner, Rene Russo , Don Johnson, and Cheech Marin.

Under achieving golfer could have hit the big time but instead is content to run a Texas driving range. That is until he meets a therapist who, coincidentally, is the lover of his old friend and nemesis. So he sets out to win the U.S. Open.

You don't have to be a golfer to enjoy this movie. Not riotous, but amusing. And the cast is great.

Great "philosophy of golf" speech from Costner as he gives Russo her first lesson. And look for cameos by some golf greats.

Fun and engaging. Costner is a winner in this one and Cheech Marin is perfect as Costners caddy, friend, and confidente.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117918/

Reality Bites

Winona Ryder, Ben Stiller, Ethan Hawke, Janeane Garofalo star in this Ben Stiller directed look at a group of friends and how they cope with their lives after they graduate from school. Gen X saga with Ryder as a film maker, Stiller as a cable TV producer who is wooing her...complicated by Eathan Hawke, a cool guy who loves Winona also.

Garofalo is excellant as the best friend.

Check out the scene in the convenience store when My Sharona comes on the radio. (Could you turn it up? You won't regret it!")

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110950/

John Carpenter's Vampires

1998 John Carpenter film starring James Woods, Daniel Baldwin.

Church hired team battles vampires before the bloodsuckers achieve the ability to tolerate daylight.

Not a slasher/gore movie but more of an action film that I tend to view as a comedy. Somehow I get the suspicion Carpenter was trying to entertain us rather than scare us.

Works for me. I think it's a riot.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120877/

The Fifth Element

1997 Luc Besson film starring Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Chris Tucker.

This one has it all: sci-fi, adventure, action, comedy.

Cab driver (in the future, when cabs fly) has a woman "drop" in on him and both set out to save the universe. With Oldman over the top as the bad guy and Chris Tucker as a media "mouthpiece" who can't shut up (how unusual!) this one is fun and visually amazing.

Willis is great. So is Jovovich ("It's a multi-pass"). A fun ride.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119116/

Oscar

Who would have thought a comedy with Sylvester Stallone would be funny?

Broad farce 1991 Jon Landis comedy stars Stallone, Marisa Tomei, Peter Riegert, Tim Curry, Chazz Palminteri.

30s gangster Snaps Provolone (Stallone) promises his dying father he will give up his life of crime and go straight. It doesn't work out so well. Mistaken identities, crooked bankers, a crafty future son-in-law, and more complications all conspire to keep Da Boss in Da Biz. Much to our delight.

Very funny, surprisingly so. Hey, is Peter Riegert doing a Bugs Bunny impersonation?

Great cast (Tomei, Curry et al) make this fun. Enjoy.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102603/

Swingers

1996 comedy written by co-star Jon Favreau and directed by Doug Liman.

Vince Vaughn's break out role.

Swingers follows a group of out of work actors in L.A. who try to cheer up a friend who misses the girlfriend he left behind in New York.

Original and hip (You're so money and you don't even know it!") Swingers has its own lingo, features a lifestyle that keeps these guys busy but unfullfilled, and is a riot.

Probably seen this a half dozen times ("Vegas Baby!") and loved it every time. Great banter, funny scenes with a lot of stuff that's sort of just cast away but funny.

And Vaughn shines.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117802/

Buffalo Bill and the Indians

1976 Robert Altman film stars Paul Newman, Joel Grey, Burt Lancaster.

Interesting, as all Altman films are. Revisionist western comedy takes the Buffalo Bill character and turns him into an eccentric showman who may or may not be the great Western legend he's made out to be.

Who cares? Paul Newman has a field day overplaying Buffalo Bill and the other characters are full of quirks.

Fun and irreverent.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074254/

Father Goose

1964 light-hearted film from Ralph Nelson and starring Cary Grant and Leslie Caron.

Grant plays a boozy islander who is basically blackmailed into getting involved in World War Two as a plane spotter. He's somewhat content until his life is complicated by a school teacher and her female students who make his lkife miserable.

Fun for the family, but sways from comedy to war-time suspense on occaission.

Both stars are very good and the chemistry works. Grant as a boozy n'eer do well is a hoot.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058092/

Charade

Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, and Walter Matthau star in this 1963 Stanley Donan comedy/romance/mystery that is fun and a delight.

Hepburn, finding out she is a widow, is stalked by nefarious strangers who are looking for wartime booty that her late husband stashed away. She turns to Cary Grant for help...but is he to be trusted?

The plot twists, Grant and Hepburn are great together, and the movie charms and delights.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056923/

Night Shift

1982 Ron Howard film stars Henry Winkler, Michael Keaton, and Shelley Long.

Keaton's first film, he is hysterical as an "idea man" who takes over the morgue where Winkler works and turns them both into "Love Brokers", pimping out local prostitutes and providing them with job security, investments, tax shelters, and more.

Loony film gets silly and sentimental every so often but Winkler's shy guy and Keaton's over the top character gel and make this fun.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084412/

The Freshman

1990 Andrew Bergman comedy. It is said that Marlon Brando liked Bergman's "The In-Laws" so much that he called Bergman and volunteered to be in his next movie. This is it.

The Freshman stars Matthew Broderick, Marlon Brando, Bruno Kirby, Maximilion Schell, and Penelope Ann Miller.

Vermont student heads for NYU as a freshman and immediately falls in with a mob family. Brando's satire of his Godfather role and chemistry with Broderick make this fun. Bruno Kirby's no slouch either when it comes to comedy.

Not great, but fun and keeps moving through surprise after surprise.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099615/

Grosse Pointe Blank

1997 film by George Armitage stars John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Dan Ackroyd, Jeremy Piven, Hank Azaria, and Joan Cusack.

Comedy that takes a look at what happens when a professional hit man decides to attend his ten year high school reunion and once again see the girl he left behind. Of course, business gets in the way.

They say you can never go home again...but in this case Cusack doe...with hilarious results.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078975/

High Fidelity

Stepen Frears film made in 2000 adapted brom Nick Hornby's book stars John Cusack, Tim Robbins, Jack Black.

Record store owner Cusack is a compulsive list maker and record snob who looks back over his romantic break-ups. Film is tender and sad in parts but overall very funny. Cusack is great as always, Tim Robbins makes the most out of a very small role...but Jack Black steals a number of scenes. Watch for his new band's debut...surprisingly good and a riot in context of the film.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0146882/