Comedy

Ferris is a street-wise kid who knows all the tricks. Today he decides to take the day off school. When Ferris takes the day off, so must his best friends, Cameron and Sloane. Cameron is reluctantly persuaded to borrow his father's Ferrari (which is never used). And together they hatch a plan to get Sloane out of class. Suspicious principal Ed Rooney knows all about Ferris, but can never catch him. Ferris' sister Jeanie is also frustrated that Ferris always gets away with his tricks and she doesn't. Furthermore, Ferris is an 'angel' in his parents eyes.

Rodney Dangerfield gets a load of respect - and a chunk of change - in Easy Money! Joined by Joe Pesci and Jennifer Jason Leigh, Dangerfield is outrageous as a working-class buffoon who takes on the first-class tycoons in this million-dollar comedy! Monty Capuletti (Dangerfield) has everything money can't buy - a loving wife, two devoted daughters - and a few things it can: He drinks, smokes, gambles and eats way too much! But Monty couldn't be happier - especially when he learns that his mother-in-law has left him a hefty inheritance.

You'd think a black comedy about murder, tackiness, and sexual perversion would quickly become dated, but Eating Raoul (1982) feels surprisingly fresh and delightful. When Mary Bland (Mary Woronov) gets assaulted by one of the repulsive swingers from the neighboring apartment, her husband Paul (Paul Bartel) rescues her with a swift blow from a frying pan--only to discover a substantial wad of cash in the swinger's wallet.

It's Awesome! Totally Awesome! Fast times at Ridgemont High, directed by Amy Heckerling (Clueless), is simply a modern cult classic. First-time screenwriter Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire), went undercover as a high school student and came back with the straight dope on sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, while capturing some of the most memorable screen characters ever.

Kevin Kline took home an Oscar for his performance as a self-absorbed lothario who prepares for lovemaking by drinking in his own "manly" musk, but it would be hard to single him out as the best thing about the film. The fact is, the entire cast of this hilarious comedy is perfect: John Cleese as the conservative barrister defending a member of sexy Jamie Lee Curtis's gang, Ms. Curtis as the conniving crook out to grab the haul for herself, and Michael Palin as the stuttering, animal-loving hit man whose attempts to murder a little old lady only decrease the size of her poodle pack.

Alternative history and whimsical imagination make comfortable bedfellows in The Emperor's New Clothes. As happens in Simon Leys's novel The Death of Napoleon, the French emperor's demise is faked as part of a political comeback scheme, and Ian Holm--who had previously played Bonaparte in Time Bandits and a 1974 British miniseries--plays both Napoleon and the look-alike who "dies" on the island of St. Helena.

When a stressed out ad exec (Moore) proposes a "truth in advertising" scheme, he is promptly shipped off to a mental institution. There he teams up with a kooky blonde (Hannah) and a slew of nutty patients. What happens next is absolutely crazy because the public goes absolutely nuts for the new way of advertising. You'll chortle over the advertising slogans you've always wished Madison Avenue would use!

The bright, glossy world of Doris Day and Rock Hudson sex comedies gets a self-aware brush-up in Down with Love. Pillow-lipped Rene Zellweger (Chicago) plays Barbara Novak, the author of a bestselling book called Down with Love that advises women to focus on their careers and have sex a la carte--just like a man would. Determined to prove that Novak is just as vulnerable to love as any woman, dashingly chauvinist magazine writer Catcher Block (ever-charming Ewan McGregor, Moulin Rouge) pretends to be a courtly astronaut who wouldn't dream of putting his hand on a woman's knee.

If you know what to look for, you can find almost anything in the personal ads - including the love of your life! Bored New Jersey housewife, Roberta (Rosanna Arquette), fills her days by reading the personal ads and following an ongoing romance between Jim (Robert Joy) and Susan (Madonna), a mysterious drifter who appears to lead the kind of free-spirited life about which Roberta can only dream.

Arguably the greatest black comedy ever made, Stanley Kubrick's cold-war classic is the ultimate satire of the nuclear age. Dr. Strangelove is a perfect spoof of political and military insanity, beginning when General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden), a maniacal warrior obsessed with "the purity of precious bodily fluids," mounts his singular campaign against Communism by ordering a squadron of B-52 bombers to attack the Soviet Union. The Soviets counter the threat with a so- called "Doomsday Device," and the world hangs in the balance while the U.S.