Comedy

[10] Holly Hunter and Nicolas Cage star as Ed and Hi, a police woman and a supposedly reformed felon who try to start a family in Joel and Ethan Coen’s Raising Arizona. But when they can’t conceive a child of their own, they decide to kidnap a tot from a wealthy couple who just had septuplets. The demands of new parenthood take their toll on …

[10] High schooler Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is accidentally sent thirty years into the past where he unwittingly threatens his own existence by interfering with his parents’ introduction to one another. With the help of crack-pot scientist Doc Brown, (Christopher Lloyd), Marty must introduce his parents and make sure they fall in love before attempting a daring return trip to the future. Back to …

[10] Writer/director John Hughes had more box office hits than you can shake a stick at, and while many of them were fun and irreverent fare (like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or Weird Science), one sticks out above the crowd — his crowning achievement: The Breakfast Club.  It’s a low-concept, small-scale production — practically a filmed stage play — about five disparate teenagers who suffer …

[9] Six guests are summoned to a mansion on a stormy night where they discover each is being blackmailed by their mysterious host. Not even before dinner is over, the host is murdered and mystery is afoot. But who did (done?) it, and why? Clue is one of those films that was disregarded upon its initial release, but has since become a cult sensation. The …

[10] Does it mean anything that Gremlins is my favorite Christmas movie?  Am I bad person because I eschew the sentimentality of It’s A Wonderful Life for the malevolent rampage of little green monsters? Actually, sentimentality plays a big part in my love for the film. With its corny premise and comic book violence, Joe Dante’s film is an unabashed homage to the low-budget horror …

[9] With double entendre’s out the wazoo and sight gags out the yin-yang, not to mention a shiny young Val Kilmer dancing and singing his heart out, Top Secret! wins me over. The film is from the makers of Airplane!, and as well-loved as that film is, I personally enjoy this one a lot more. The jokes come rapid-fire, ranging from low-key (“In women’s tennis, …

[9] When New York City becomes increasingly afflicted with ghost-sightings and demonic possessions, it’s up to a rag-tag team of self-proclaimed ‘Ghostbusters’ to save the world from the imminent arrival of a destructive, ancient god. Ghostbusters succeeds as both a comedy and a horror fantasy, thanks largely to Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis’ jaunty writing and Ivan Reitman’s sure-handed direction. Bill Murray steals the show …

[9] Jim Henson’s Muppets make the leap from television to the silver screen in this comedy-musical road trip across America that shows us how the foam and felt vaudeville troupe found each other and entered show business. We meet Kermit playing banjo in a swamp, inspired by a passing agent to go to Hollywood. Driven by the desire to entertain and make people happy, Kermit …

[8] Ellen Burstyn stars as a widowed mother who suddenly finds herself having to start a new life in this engaging comedy/drama from Martin Scorsese. Burstyn plays Alice Hyatt, and if that name sounds familiar it’s because the TV show “Alice” was based on this film (though only Vic Tayback reprises his role in the series). The feature film begins inside Alice’s troubled home life, married …

[10] In the Depression-era Dust Bowl, a traveling con man strikes up an unlikely relationship with an orphan girl who may or may not be his daughter. Director Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show) coaxes magnificent performances from real-life father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O’Neal, working from a beautiful screenplay adaptation by two-time Oscar winner Alvin Sargent (Julia, Ordinary People). The magic of Paper …

1 45 46 47 48 49