Category: Comedy

Pleasantville

Pleasantville VHS cover art. Movie starring Tobey Maguire, Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen, William H. Macy, J.T. Walsh, Reese Witherspoon. With Don Knotts, Jane Kaczmarek, Jenny Lewis. Written and directed by Gary Ross. 1998.

Pleasantville on VHS. Starring Tobey Maguire, Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen, William H. Macy, J.T. Walsh, Reese Witherspoon. With Don Knotts, Jane Kaczmarek, Jenny Lewis. Written and directed by Gary Ross. 1998.

From the box:

Nothing Is As Simple As Black And White

When ’90’s teens David and Jennifer (Tobey Maguire, The Ice Storm, Reese Witherspoon, Freeway) get zapped into the perfect suburbia of the black & white ’50’s sitcom, Pleasantville, what results is a “visionary adventure” (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone) that Siskel and Ebert give “Two big thumbs up!”

Pleasantville’s perfect people include a mild-mannered soda jerk (Jeff Daniels, Dumb and Dumber), a socially repressed mom (Joan Allen, Face/Off) and a father who always knows best (William H. Macy, Fargo). But, when ’90’s pop culture clashes with ’50’s family values, chaos ensues, turning the town of Pleasantville upside down and black and white into color.

DVD Upgrade: Pleasantville

Slums Of Beverly Hills

Slums Of Beverly Hills VHS cover art. Movie starring Natasha Lyonne, Alan Arkin, Marisa Tomei. With Bryna Weiss, Charlotte Stewart, Mena Suvari, Carl Reiner, Rita Moreno, Jessica Walter. Directed by Tamara Jenkins. 1998.

Slums Of Beverly Hills on VHS. Starring Natasha Lyonne, Alan Arkin, Marisa Tomei. With Bryna Weiss, Charlotte Stewart, Mena Suvari, Carl Reiner, Rita Moreno, Jessica Walter. Directed by Tamara Jenkins. 1998.

From the box:

Growing Up Is Hard To Do.

On the road to womanhood in the ’70s, Vivian is encountering two big bumps; her strangely nomadic family — always on the move, yet desperate to stay in the Beverly Hills school district — and her blossoming sexuality. Add Viv’s vivacious visiting cousin to the mix, and you’ve got an explosive coming-of-age story that proves you don’t have to be rich to have first-class fun.

DVD Upgrade: Slums of Beverly Hills

Instant Rental: Slums Of Beverly Hills

L.A. Story

L.A. Story VHS cover art. Movie starring Steve Martin. With Victoria Tennant, Richard E. Grant, Marilu Henner, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patrick Stewart. Directed by Mick Jackson. 1991.

L.A. Story on VHS. Starring Steve Martin. With Victoria Tennant, Richard E. Grant, Marilu Henner, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patrick Stewart. Directed by Mick Jackson. 1991.

From the box:

Something Funny Is Happening in L.A.

Steve Martin is Harris Telemacher, a wacky television weatherman, who thinks his life is perfect, except for an erratic relationship with a style-conscious girlfriend (Marilu Henner). Then, one bright and smoggy L.A. day, an electronic freeway sign changes his life, when its advice leads him into a frivolous romance with a young and beautiful blonde (Sarah Jessica Parker) and ultimately, to true love with the woman of his dreams (Victoria Tennant).

DVD Upgrade: L.A. Story

Cool World

Cool World VHS cover art. Movie starring Gabriel Byrne, Kim Basinger, Brad Pitt. With Michele Abrams, Deirdre O'Connell. Directed by Ralph Bakshi. 1992.

Cool World on VHS. Starring Gabriel Byrne, Kim Basinger, Brad Pitt. With Michele Abrams, Deirdre O’Connell. Directed by Ralph Bakshi. 1992.

From the box:

When ex-con cartoonist Jack Deebs (Gabriel Byrne) was behind bars he found escape by creating Cool World, a cartoon series featuring a voluptuous vixen named Holli Would.

But the ‘toonsmith becomes a prisoner of his own fantasies when Holli pulls Jack into Cool World with a scheme to seduce him and bring herself to life. A hard-boiled detective (Brad Pitt)–the only other human in Cool World–cautions Jack with the law: ‘Noids (humans) don’t have sex with doodles (cartoons).

The flesh proves weaker than ink, however, as Holli takes human form (Kim Basinger) in Las Vegas, starting a trans-universal chase that threatens the destruction of both worlds.

DVD Upgrade: Cool World

Play The Game 90s Style: Cool World – Nintendo Super NES

Read About Bakshi: Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi (The Force Behind Fritz the Cat, Mighty Mouse, Cool World, and The Lord of the Rings)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Who Framed Roger Rabbit VHS cover art. Movie starring Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd. With Joanna Cassidy, Charles Fleischer, Kathleen Turner, Stubby Kaye. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Based on the story by Gary K. Wolf. 1988.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit on VHS. Starring Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd. With Joanna Cassidy, Charles Fleischer, Kathleen Turner, Stubby Kaye. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Based on the story by Gary K. Wolf. 1988.

From the box:

Touchstone Pictures and Steven Spielberg present A Robert Zemeckis Film

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a tale of a man, a woman and a rabbit in a triangle of trouble. It’s a world where laughing can be dangerous, romance can be hilarious, and Toons and people live side by side. It’s a wonderful place you’ll want to visit again and again.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The chemistry is magic. The effects are astonishing. And the film is unforgettable!

DVD/Blu-ray Upgrade: Who Framed Roger Rabbit: 25th Anniversary Edition (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo in Blu-ray Packaging)

Read The Original Book: Who Censored Roger Rabbit by Gary K. Wolf

Greased Lightning

Greased Lightning VHS cover art. Movie starring Richard Pryor, Beau Bridges, Pam Grier. With Richie Havens, Cleavon Little, Vincent Gardenia, Bill Cobbs. Directed by Michael Schultz. 1977.

Greased Lightning on VHS. Starring Richard Pryor, Beau Bridges, Pam Grier. With Richie Havens, Cleavon Little, Vincent Gardenia, Bill Cobbs. Directed by Michael Schultz. 1977.

From the box:

Richard Pryor Drives ‘Em Wild

In his first lead role, Richard Pryor plays Wendell Scott, the first black to crack the all-white world of stock car racing, who went on to win the NASCAR and Grand National Crowns. This decades-spanning story shows Scott enduring racial slurs, matching heavily sponsored rivals with cars built from junkyard parts, and surviving crashes engineered by redneck competitors to triumph at the finish.

DVD Upgrade: Moving / Greased Lightning

Read More: Hard Driving: The Wendell Scott Story

Time Bandits

Time Bandits VHS cover art. Movie starring John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Sean Connery, Michael Palin, David Warner, Craig Warnock, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Ralph Richardson, Peter Vaughan, Jack Purvis, David Rappaport, Kenny Baker, Mike Edmonds, Malcolm Dixon, Tiny Ross. Directed by Terry Gilliam. 1981.

Time Bandits on VHS. Starring John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Sean Connery, Michael Palin, David Warner, Craig Warnock, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Ralph Richardson, Peter Vaughan, Jack Purvis, David Rappaport, Kenny Baker, Mike Edmonds, Malcolm Dixon, Tiny Ross. Directed by Terry Gilliam. 1981.

From the box:

…they didn’t make history, they stole it!

This adventure-fantasy-comedy is a wildly imaginative trip to a new dimension in time and space crammed with humor, action and spectacular special effects. A young time traveler (Craig Warnock) encounters Napoleon, Robin Hood and King Agamemnon, as well as the sinking of the Titanic, in this spaced-out romp through the heavens and history, produced and directed by Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam. The musical score by ex-Beatle George Harrison adds to the excitement of castles, legends, battles between good and evil and the capricious rewriting of history.

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Follow the Time Bandits Map?: Time Bandits Map 22×14 Wall Peel 20×12 Wall Decal by CafePress

48 HRS.

48 HRS. VHS cover art. Movie starring Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy. With Annette O'Toole, Frank McRae, James Remar, David Patrick Kelly, Sonny Landham, Brion James, Denise Crosby. Directed by Walter Hill. 1982.

48 HRS. on VHS. Starring Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy. With Annette O’Toole, Frank McRae, James Remar, David Patrick Kelly, Sonny Landham, Brion James, Denise Crosby. Directed by Walter Hill. 1982.

From the box:

Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy make one of the most unusual and entertaining teams ever in Walter Hill’s roller-coaster thriller, 48 HRS. Nolte is a rough-edged cop after two vicious cop-killers. He can’t do it without the help of a smooth and dapper Murphy, who is serving time for a half-million dollar robbery. This unlikely partnership trades laughs as often as punches as both pursue their separate goals: Nolte wants the villains; Murphy wants his money and some much-needed female companionship. Watch for Murphy’s hilarious scene in a redneck country-western bar–you’ll want to see it again and again.

DVD Upgrade: 48 HRS. / Another 48 HRS.

CD Soundtrack: 48 Hrs. [Soundtrack]

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

O Brother, Where Art Thou? VHS cover art. Movie starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter. Inspired by Homer ("The Odyssey") and written by the Coen Brothers, Ethan and Joel. Directed by the Coen Brothers. 2000.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? on VHS. Starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter. Inspired by Homer (“The Odyssey”) and written by the Coen Brothers, Ethan and Joel. Directed by the Coen Brothers. 2000.

From the box:

A Film By The Coen Brothers
The Academy-Award Winning Creators Of Fargo

Disenchanted with the daily drudge of crushing rocks on a prison farm in Mississippi, the dapper, silver-tongued Ulysses Everett McGill busts loose. Except that he’s still shackled to his two chain-mates from the chain gang — bad-tempered Pete and sweet, dim-witted Delmar. With nothing to lose and buried loot to regain — before it’s lost forever in a flood — the three embark on an adventure of a lifetime in this hilarious offbeat road picture. Populated with strange characters, including a blind prophet, sexy sirens and a one-eyed Bible salesman, it’s an odyssey filled with chases close calls, near misses and betrayal that will leave you laughing at every outrageous and surprising twist and turn.

DVD Upgrade: O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Get The CD Soundtrack (Includes The Soggy Bottom Boys): O Brother, Where Art Thou? [Soundtrack]

Watch The Concert: Down from the Mountain (The “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” Concert)

Men in Black

Men in Black VHS cover art. Movie starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D'Onofrio, Rip Torn, Tony Shalhoub, David Cross. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. 1997.

Men in Black on VHS. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D’Onofrio, Rip Torn, Tony Shalhoub, David Cross. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. 1997.

From the box:

Protecting The Earth From The Scum Of The Universe.

MEMO TO: Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) and Agent J (Will Smith)

FROM: Agent Zed (Rip Torn)

WARNING: New York City is being threatened by a villainous bug who has inhabited the body of a farmer (Vincent D’Onofrio, The Player). Your mission is to locate and exterminate this bug before it destroys our planet. We have a cache of weapons for you to arm yourselves with, including the Carbonizer, Series 4 De-Atomizer and the Noisy Cricket. Make sure you also bring your Neuralyzers. You may find Dr. Laurel Weaver (Linda Fiorentino, The Last Seduction) and an alien arms dealer (Tony Shalhoub, TV’s “Wings”) useful in carrying out your task. Good Luck!

DVD Upgrade: Men in Black

Listen To The Soundtrack: Men In Black: The Album