61* 2001  TV, 130 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Billy Crystal
Cast: Barry Pepper, Thomas Jane, Christopher McDonald, Bruce McGill, Seymour Cassel, Bob Gunton, Donald Moffat, Jennifer Crystal Foley, Joe Grifasi, Paul Borghese
This is the story of the "M & M Boys," Roger Maris (Barry Pepper) and Mickey Mantle (Thomas Jane), as each goes for the baseball home run record–61 homers–in 1961. Mantle, the flashy, outspoken heir to Joe DiMaggio and Maris, the quiet family man, hit it off as roommates while they vie for the record. Whether you're a Yankee fan or hater, you should enjoy this good made-for-HBO sports story, though there are a few slow moments.
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The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle 2000  PG, 90 min.
Genre: Animation / Family / Comedy / Adventure / Fantasy
Director: Des McAnuff
Cast: Rene Russo, Jason Alexander, Piper Perabo, Randy Quaid, Robert De Niro, June Foray, Keith Scott, Janeane Garofalo, Carl Reiner, Jonathan Winters, John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Kel Mitchell, James Rebhorn, Kenan Thompson
This film version of the TV show (canceled in 1964) mixes animation and live action. Rocky and Bullwinkle remain cartoon characters rescuing Earthlings from Natasha (Rene Russo) and Boris (Jason Alexander) who cross over into the human world where they join Fearless Leader (Robert De Niro) in an evil plot to take over the world. It seems like a good idea, but it goes nowhere.
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 America's Sweethearts 2001 PG-13, 100 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Joe Roth
Cast: Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Cusack, Hank Azaria, Stanley Tucci, Christopher Walken, Seth Green, Alan Arkin, Keri Lynn Pratt
America's favorite screen couple, Gwen Harrison (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Eddie Thomas (John Cusack), has finished their last movie together and, at the same time, has ended their marriage as well. Now, director Hal Weidmann (Christopher Walken) holds the film's print and refuses to release it until he is satisfied with his finished product. Meanwhile, publicity director Lee Phillips (Billy Crystal) gets help from Gwen's sister, Kiki (Julia Roberts), to fool the press into believing that the stars have made up and are headed for a reunion. A good satire on today's Hollywood.
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 Analyze That 2002  R, 95 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Harold Ramis
Cast: Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal, Lisa Kudrow, Joe Viterelli, Cathy Moriarty, John Finn, Kyle Sabihy, Callie Thorne, James Biberi, Pat Cooper
In this sequel to "Analyze This," Dr. Ben Sobol (Billy Crystal) agrees to take neurotic mobster Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro) into his home to counsel and help clean up his act before an impending parole hearing. More problems than anticipated ensue.
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 Analyze This 1999 R, 106 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Harold Ramis
Cast: Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal, Lisa Kudrow, Joe Viterelli, Chazz Palminteri, Bill Macy, Leo Rossi, Kyle Sabihy, Rebecca Schull, Molly Shannon
When a Mafia boss, Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro), suffers anxiety attacks, he calls on New York psychotherapist Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal) for help in this slick comedy about a serious subject.
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City Slickers 1991  PG-13, 90 min.
Genre: Comedy / Western
Director: Ron Underwood
Cast: Billy Crystal, Bruno Kirby, Jack Palance, Daniel Stern, Patricia Wettig, Helen Slater, Noble Willingham, Tracey Walter, Josh Mostel, David Paymer, Bill Henderson, Jeffrey Tambor, Phill Lewis, Kyle Secor
On the occasion of his 39th birthday, Mitch Robbins (Billy Crystal) is confronted with the fact that he is running out of time to accomplish many things he has thought about doing. He takes his two best friends Ed and Phil (Bruno Kirby and Daniel Stern) with him on a two-week cattle drive where they run into tough old drover Curly Washburn (Jack Palance) and come close to discovering the meaning of life. Jack Palance won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
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City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold 1994 PG-13, 120 min.
Genre: Comedy / Adventure / Western
aka: City Slickers II
Director: Paul Weiland
Cast: Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Jack Palance, Jon Lovitz, Patricia Wettig, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Noble Willingham, David Paymer, Josh Mostel, Bill McKinney, Lindsay Crystal, Beth Grant, Jayne Meadows, Alan Charof
In this sequel, the story begins with Mitch Robbins (Billy Crystal) walking down the street telling his friend that he is getting too heavy. The camera pans to the "friend," who turns out to be Norman, the pet calf from the original "City Slickers." This time around, Mitch is lamenting the death of Curly, and, with his two friends Glen and Duke (Jon Lovitz and Daniel Stern) heads for the hills around Las Vegas and join Curly's twin brother Duke (Jack Palance) in search of a buried treasure.
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Deconstructing Harry 1997 R, 93 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Woody Allen
Cast: Woody Allen, Billy Crystal, Demi Moore, Robin Williams, Judy Davis, Elisabeth Shue, Kirstie Alley, Bob Balaban, Richard Benjamin, Eric Bogosian
Three-times-married Harry Block (Woody Allen) is a novelist, suffering from writer's block, who has no qualms about using his family and friends as material for his stories. Often represented in thin disguises, the subjects of his novels become quite upset.
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Father's Day 1997  PG-13, 102 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Ivan Reitman
Cast: Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Nastassja Kinski, Charlie Hofheimer, Bruce Greenwood, Dennis Burkley, Haylie Johnson, Charles Rocket, Patti D'Arbanville
In this remake of the 1984 French film, "Les Comperes," Robin Williams and Billy Crystal take on the roles of ex-boyfriends of a woman (Nastassja Kinski) who cons them into helping in her search for her runaway son by convincing each that he fathered the boy.
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 Forget Paris 1995 PG-13, 101 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Billy Crystal
Cast: Billy Crystal, Debra Winger, Julie Kavner, Joe Mantegna, Cynthia Stevenson, Richard Masur, Cathy Moriarty, William Hickey, Robert Costanzo, Tom Wright
NBA referee Mickey (Billy Crystal) heads for Paris to bury his father. Along the way the airline loses the casket, and Ellen (Debra Winger) is given the assignment of helping Mickey find his lost "luggage." Romance follows and comedy continues as the couple tries to live happily ever after.
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Get Bruce 1999 R, 82 min.
Genre: Documentary
Director: Andrew J. Kuehn
Cast: Bruce Vilanch, Bette Midler, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin, Nathan Lane, Carol Burnett, Shirley MacLaine, Elizabeth Taylor
Bruce Vilanch writes comedy material for stars and has provided material for the Oscar, Tony, and Emmy telecasts. In this documentary the stars pay tribute and roast this especially funny guru.
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 Hamlet 1996  PG-13, 238 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance / Thriller
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie, Kate Winslet, Charlton Heston, Robin Williams, Jack Lemmon, Billy Crystal, Gerard Depardieu, John Gielgud, Richard Briers, Nicholas Farrell, Michael Maloney, Brian Blessed, Judi Dench
"Hamlet," the melancholy Dane, is directed by and stars Kenneth Branagh in this–indeed unique–innovative presentation of Shakespeare's classic. Branagh uses Shakespeare's entire text to uncover the layers behind the Bard of Avon's words in his play about Hamlet (Branagh) seeking revenge for his father the king's murder. Julie Christie plays Gertrude, Hamlet's mother who marries her brother-in-law Claudius (Derek Jacobi) soon after her husband's murder. His father's ghost (Brian Blessed) appears and tells Hamlet to be kind to Gertrude but to kill Claudius who had murdered him. Now, insanity takes over resulting in homicide and suicide.
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Howl's Moving Castle 2004 PG, 119 min.
Genre: Animation / Family / Adventure / Fantasy
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Cast: Emily Mortimer, Jean Simmons, Christian Bale, Blythe Danner, Josh Hutcherson, Billy Crystal, Lauren Bacall, Jean Malone, Daijiro Harada, Crispin Freeman, Mark Silverman, Liliana Mumy
In this animated, English version of the story, after 18-year-old Sophie (voice of Emily Mortimer) is cursed by the Witch of the Waste (voice of Lauren Bacall) who turns her into an ugly old woman, Sophie (now, the voice of Jean Simmons) goes to a magician's castle where she meets Howl (Christian Bale) who sees beyond her ugliness and falls in love with her. The film received and Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature.
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Memories of Me 1988 PG-13, 103 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Henry Winkler
Cast: Billy Crystal, Alan King, JoBeth Williams, Janet Carroll, Sean Connery, David Ackroyd, Sidney Miller, Phil Fondacaro, Robert Pastorelli, Larry Cedar
Following a heart attack, a doctor (Billy Crystal) searches out his father (Alan King) in hopes of a second chance for rekindling their relationship.
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 Monsters, Inc. 2001 G, 87 min.
Genre: Animation / Family / Comedy / Fantasy
Director: Peter Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich
Cast: John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Mary Gibbs, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn, Jennifer Tilly, Bonnie Hunt, Bob Peterson, John Ratzenberger, Frank Oz, Kay Panabaker, Jack Angel, Patti Deutsch, Pat Fraley
Monsters, Inc. is a power company run by monsters in the city of Monstropolis. To generate electricity, the scare assistants enter children's closets, and the ensuing screams are turned into electrical energy. There is a crisis in the land: screams are becoming hard to find, and rolling blackouts are predicted. Mike (voice of Billy Crystal) and Sulley (voice of John Goodman) are the company's best scream producers, but when they allow a little girl (voice of Mary Gibbs) from Earth to enter their domain, chaos becomes the order of the day. Randy Newman's song "If I Didn't Have You" won an Oscar, and his musical score was nominated. The film was also nominated for Best Animated Feature, a new category.
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 Mr. Saturday Night 1992 R, 119 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Billy Crystal
Cast: Billy Crystal, David Paymer, Julie Warner, Helen Hunt, Jerry Lewis, Mary Mara, Jerry Orbach, Ron Silver, Conrad Janis, Sage Allen
This film chronicles 50 years in the life of Jewish comedian Buddy Young Jr. (Billy Crystal). Although he worked in every area from the Catskills to Las Vegas, he realizes that he never REALLY made it. David Paymer was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor.
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My Giant 1998 PG, 104 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Michael Lehmann
Cast: Billy Crystal, Kathleen Quinlan, Gheorghe Muresan, Joanna Pacula, Zane Carney, Rider Strong, Steven Seagal, Harold Gould, Doris Roberts, Philip Sterling
While traveling in Romania, a talent agent, Sammy (Zane Carney), finds a 7 1/2-foot tall giant, Max (Gheorghe Muresan), and brings him home to America for what Sammy is sure will be fame and fortune on the silver screen.
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 The Princess Bride 1987 PG, 100 min.
Genre: Family / Adventure / Comedy / Fantasy
Director: Rob Reiner
Cast: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Andre The Giant, Fred Savage, Wallace Shawn, Robin Wright Penn, Peter Falk, Billy Crystal, Peter Cook, Carol Kane, Mel Smith, Margery Mason, Anne Dyson
To cheer up his sick grandson (Fred Savage), Grandpa (Peter Falk) reads him a story, and, as he reads, the action comes to life. The tale is one of love and adventure in which the evil Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon) captures the fair damsel Buttercup (Robin Wright Penn). Now the gallant, but poor, stable boy Westley (Cary Elwes) rides to the rescue. Will Grandpa be able to finish the story without including all of the kissing scenes that his grandson does not want to hear?
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Running Scared 1986 R, 108 min.
Genre: Action / Comedy / Drama
Director: Peter Hyams
Cast: Gregory Hines, Billy Crystal, Steven Bauer, Darlanne Fluegel, Joe Pantoliano, Jimmy Smits, Dan Hedaya, Jon Gries, Tracy Reed, Larry Hankin, John DiSanti, Don Calfa, Betty Carvalho, Robert Lesser, Louis Perez
In this comedy/action film, cool undercover policemen Ray Hughes and Danny Costanzo (Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal) set out to stop Julio Gonazales' (Jimmy Smits) drug trafficking in Chicago. But, after their boss Captain Logan (Dan Hedaya) chews them out for blowing the cover on the operation, they leave Chicago and take a forced vacation in Key West where they enjoy the sunshine. They have so much fun in Key West that they decide to retire–after they return to Chicago and put an end to Julio and his drug ring. Hines and Crystal play well off each other and make this an enjoyable movie.
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This Is Spinal Tap 1984 R, 82 min.
Genre: Comedy / Musical
Director: Rob Reiner
Cast: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Rob Reiner, Harry Shearer, Anjelica Huston, Bruno Kirby, Ed Begley Jr., Fran Drescher, Patrick Macnee, Billy Crystal, Tony Hendra, David Kaff, Jean Cromie, Patrick Maher, Danny Kortchmar
This film is a satire on the rock scene, and "Spinal Tap" is a British rock group that has definitely seen better days. Members of the band include David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer). Director Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner) is intent on making a documentary about the band when they visit America. All sorts of things go wrong, and comedy reigns in behind-the-scenes footage. A Reiner riot filled with guest stars.
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Throw Momma from the Train 1987 PG-13, 88 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: Danny DeVito
Cast: Danny DeVito, Billy Crystal, Kim Greist, Anne Ramsey, Rob Reiner, Kate Mulgrew, Bruce Kirby, Oprah Winfrey, Annie Ross, Branford Marsalis, Joey DePinto, Raye Birk, Stu Silver, Olivia Brown, Philip Perlman
A college professor, Larry (Billy Crystal), and his student Owen(Danny DeVito) get mixed up in a scheme to rid each other of one ex-wife and one mother, respectively. Larry thinks the whole thing is a joke–until Owen tells Larry that he has killed Larry's ex-wife Margaret (Kate Mulgrew) and expects Larry to kill his Momma (Anne Ramsey). Now, the questions are: Did Owen really kill Margaret, and will Larry kill Momma? Anne Ramsey received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
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When Harry Met Sally... 1989 R, 95 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance
Director: Rob Reiner
Cast: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby, Steven Ford, Lisa Jane Persky, Harley Jane Kozak, Robert Alan Beuth, Michelle Nicastro, Gretchen Palmer, Kyle T. Heffner, David Burdick, Joe Viviani, Joseph Hunt, Kevin Rooney
After graduating from the University of Chicago, Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) drive together to New York and then go their separate ways. They meet briefly on a few occasions over the next 10 years, and their platonic friendship continues. They introduce their best friends Marie and Jess (Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby) to each other, and love blooms for Marie and Jess. Finally, at a New Year's Eve party, Harry and Sally discover that they are falling in love and, to their utter surprise, their "mere friendship" becomes a meaningful romance. Harry Connick Jr.'s music is great. Nora Ephron received an Oscar nomination for Best Screenwriting.
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| 1. 61* (2001)
2. The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000)
3. An All-Star Toast to the Improv (1988)
4. America's Sweethearts (2001)
5. Analyze That (2002)
6. Analyze This (1999)
7. City Slickers (1991)
8. City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold (1994)
aka: City Slickers II
9. Deconstructing Harry (1997)
10. Father's Day (1997)
11. Forget Paris (1995)
12. Get Bruce (1999)
13. Hamlet (1996)
14. Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
15. Memories of Me (1988)
16. Monsters, Inc. (2001)
17. Mr. Saturday Night (1992)
18. My Giant (1998)
19. The Princess Bride (1987)
20. Running Scared (1986)
21. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
22. Throw Momma from the Train (1987)
23. When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
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