When two Italian-American boys from New York are falsely accused of murder in a small Alabama town, they call for a lawyer--but the only lawyer they know is their cousin Vinny (Joe Pesci), who made six attempts before he passed his bar exam. My Cousin Vinny is a classic fish-out-of-water comedy; the flimsy plot about clearing the two boys and solving the murder is just a hook to support a lot of culture-clash humor.
Indonesia 1965. Revolution is in the air. Foreign journalists covering the feverish unrest are kept at arm’s length by the wary Sukarno government. But with the right contacts, you can get a real story. Australian reporter Guy Hamilton is after that kind of story, but he knows the moere telling of it will betray his source. Mel Gibson is Hamilton and Sigourney Weaver is an enigmatic embassy aide in this taut drama directed by Peter Weir (The Truman Show).
One of the touchstone movies of the 1980s, Tootsie stars Dustin Hoffman as an out-of-work actor who disguises himself as a dowdy, middle-aged woman to get a part on a hit soap opera. The scheme works, but while he/she keeps up the charade, Hoffman's character comes to see life through the eyes of the opposite sex. The script by Larry Gelbart (with Murray Schisgal) is a winner, and director Sydney Pollack brings taut proficiency to the comedy and sensitivity to the relationship nuances that emerge from Hoffman's drag act.
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.
One of the most endearing and intelligent romantic comedies of the '90s, the Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love is filled with such good will, sunny romance, snappy one-liners, and devilish cleverness that it's absolutely irresistible. With tongue placed firmly in cheek, at its outset the film tracks young Will Shakespeare's overwrought battle with writer's block and the efforts of theater owner Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush, in rare form) to stage Will's latest comedy, Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter.
Ryan O'Neal teams up with his daughter Tatum in this very bright, very warm and very funny period film for which Tatum won an Oscar in her first film role. Ryan O'Neal plays the smooth-talking con man Moses Pray, driving through depression-era Kansas with a carload of deluxe bibles, a gold tooth behind a convincing smile, and a list of newly widowed prospects for his line. Addie (Tatum O'Neal) is a cigarette-smoking, nine-year-old orphan who hooks up with Moses and manages to show the master con man a trick or two.
Sportswriter Lenny (Allen) has grown obsessed with learning what his adopted son's genetic mother, Linda (Mira Sorvino) is like. He undertakes a lengthy quest to find her but is completely unprepared to discover that Linda is very different than he had imagined. Mighty Aphrodite is a sexy comedy of opposites as Lenny and Linda become entangled in each others' lives with hilarious consequences. As they grow closer to each other, both have untold secrets which, if revealed, could be scandalous. Also starring Olympia Dukakis, David Ogden Stiers, Jack Warden and Peter Weller.
Like Easy Rider, Bonnie and Clyde, The Wild Bunch, and The Graduate, The Last Picture Show is one of the signature films of the "New Hollywood" that emerged in the late 1960s and early '70s. Based on the novel by Larry McMurtry and lovingly directed by Peter Bogdanovich (who cowrote the script with McMurtry), this 1971 drama has been interpreted as an affectionate tribute to classic Hollywood filmmaking and the great directors (such as John Ford) that Bogdanovich so deeply admired.
Heaven Can Wait is a romantic fantasy about Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty), a Los Angeles Rams quarterback who is accidentally summoned to heaven by an overly zealous celestial escort. Pendleton is returned to earth in the body of another man, who is a corporate giant. While practicing to once again play for the Rams, Pendleton must escape attempts on his life while romantically pursuing a beautiful Englishwoman (Julie Christie) who protests the destruction caused to her village by one of his many corporations.
Considered by many to be Woody Allen's best film, even over Annie Hall. Hannah and Her Sisters follows a multitude of characters: Hannah (Mia Farrow), who plays den mother to her extended family; her sister Lee (Barbara Hershey), emotional and a bit of a flake, who's involved with a much older artist (Max Von Sydow), who treats her like a child; and Hannah's other sister, Holly (Dianne Wiest), a neurotic who feels incapable of managing her life. Hannah's husband Elliot (Michael Caine) falls in love with Lee, which sets off a series of upheavals.
