For those who consider Bulworth to be a savage and unprecedented political send-up, it's worth revisiting Warren Beatty's first, and best, attempt at outrageous social criticism. Mercilessly exposing the essential vacuity of both the sexual revolution and conservative alarmism over cultural permissiveness, Shampoo remains the best movie ever made about Nixon's America, and one of the very best about the tragic and disappointing conclusion to the 1960s.
Coming from the creators of Dumb & Dumber and There's Something About Mary, the sensitivity of Shallow Hal seems like a minor miracle. The codirecting Farrelly brothers haven't forsaken their lowbrow inclinations, but this clever romantic fantasy offers unexpected substance with the same comedic effrontery that made the Farrellys famous.
Can a kid from Kansas come to New York to conquer the business world and maneuver his way from the mailroom to the boardroom in a matter of weeks? Michael J. Fox proves it can be done in this very funny lampoon of corporate business life. Fresh out of college, he's determined to climb New York's corporate ladder in record time by masquerading as an up-and-coming executive, even though he's really the new mail boy. However, Fox's plans begin to go awry when the boss's wife falls in love with him and he falls in love with a junior executive, who also happens to be the boss's mistress.
One of the all-time big box-office hits, Smokey and the Bandit stars Burt Reynolds and Jackie Gleason in an outrageous comedy that boasts full-throttle laughs and high-velocity thrills. Reynolds is the Bandit, a king-of-the-road trucker hero who accepts the ultimate challenge: pick up a truckload of Coors beer in Texarkana--the closest place it can be legally sold--and haul it cross-country to Atlanta in 28 hours. The reward? $80,000! The result? The wildest series of car chases and crashes ever filmed! The reason? A Texas "Smokey," Sheriff Buford T.
Turbo-charged comic Jack Black shakes School of Rock to its foundations, wailing with born-again metalhead passion as Dewey Finn, a guitarist who gets kicked out of a band because he grandstands too much--or, to put it another way, enjoys himself. Through an intercepted phone call, Finn gets a job as a substitute teacher for a fifth grade class at a private grade school.
It's Samantha Baker's Sweet Sixteen and no one in her family remembers the important occasion. John Hughes, the writer of "National Lampoon's Vacation" shows how coming-of-age can be full of surprises in this warm-hearted teenage comedy starring Molly Ringwald. She's your average teen, enduring creepy freshmen, spoiled siblings, confused parents and the Big Blonde on Campus who stands between her and the boy of her dreams. But wait...the day isn't over yet!
This irreverent and outrageously funny look at the world of professional ice hockey has Paul Newman as the coach of the Chiefs, a third-rate, minor league hockey team. To build up attendance at their games, management signs up three odd-looking players whose job it is to literally attack and demolish opposition - to the delight and cheers of a steadily increasing throng of fans. Slap Shot's hockey sequences, reminiscent of the football games in M*A*S*H and The Longest Yard, offer a freewheeling mixture of slapstick humor and grisly physical violence.
An original Neil Simon screenplay makes Seems Like Old Times rise above what would otherwise be a forgettable comedy love triangle. Goldie Hawn (Private Benjamin) plays a good-hearted defense lawyer married to Ira, a politically ambitious district attorney played by Charles Grodin (Midnight Run). The craziness of their everyday lives becomes even more ridiculous when ex-husband Chevy Chase is framed for a bank robbery and seeks refuge with the woman he could never get over. Hawn hides the love of her life under her husband's nose as Chase tries to clear his name.
The Snapper may be the funniest film ever made about an unexpected pregnancy. In adapting the second novel of his popular Barrytown Trilogy, Irish author Roddy Doyle brilliantly captures the hilarious dynamics of a working-class family, the virulent gossip of their nosy Dublin neighbors, and the mixed emotions of a young woman on the verge of single motherhood.
Zach is in love. It's the best thing ever to happen to him. It's the worst thing ever to happen to him. Because- for now at least- the person Zach loves the most is himself. Writer/Director Blake Edwards parlays slapstick with battle-of-the-sexes brio in this gag-infused tale of a womanizer who finally grows up. John Ritter plays mid-life-crazy Zach, ready to win back his ex-wife... if he can somehow give up his randy habits. Featuring wall-to-wall verbal and physical wit, Skin Deep tops itself with a scene that, even today, remains glowingly funny and original.
