29th Street 1991   R, 101 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: George Gallo
Cast: Danny Aiello, Anthony LaPaglia, Lainie Kazan, Frank Pesce, Robert Forster, Donna Magnani, Ron Karabatsos, Rick Aiello, Vic Manni, Paul Lazar
On Christmas Eve, the local priest marches Frank Pesce Jr. (Anthony LaPaglia) to police headquarters. Frank had been throwing snowballs to break church windows. While in custody, Frank relates the story of how his life has been cursed with good luck while his father (Danny Aiello) has endured nothing but bad fortune. Now, NY officials have just announced the first State Lottery winner. Frank's father bought many tickets, but Frank bought only one. You guessed it, Frank won the prize and is having trouble dealing with the repercussions.
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 The Associate 1996  PG-13, 114 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Donald Petrie
Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Dianne Wiest, Eli Wallach, Tim Daly, Bebe Neuwirth, Austin Pendleton, Lainie Kazan, Donald Trump, Billy Jaye, Helen Hanft
Overtly based on the "Tootsie" premise, Whoopi Goldberg plays "Cutty"–a figment of Laurel's (also Goldberg) imagination. Disguised as a man, Laurel is able to gain respect as a financial analyst on Wall Street. Goldberg is funny, the cast is great, and while the story errs in the premise that women get no respect on Wall Street, it does provide good entertainment.
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 Beaches 1988 PG, 123 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Garry Marshall
Cast: Bette Midler, Barbara Hershey, John Heard, Spalding Gray, Lainie Kazan, Joe Grifasi, James Read, Grace Johnston, Bo Sabato, Marcie Leeds
Two lifelong friends (Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey) reunite when one of them is threatened with a fatal illness. Terrific music includes "Wind Beneath My Wings" and "Under the Boardwalk." 1 User Review
| User Review |
| | taco 10/19/2009 | | There isn't one bad thing i could say about this movie. Everytime i watch it, it not only makes me cry but it makes me work even harder in wanting to fulfill my dreams in the dancing and music industry. The only thing that is stopping me is where to get noticed. One thing is for sure my children will grow up loving BEtte Midler as much as I do. You are such an inspiration. Keep up the great work as you have done in the past. Your work will not got frogotten, espesially in my family. |
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 The Big Hit 1998 R, 93 min.
Genre: Action / Comedy / Drama / Thriller
Director: Kirk Wong
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christina Applegate, Avery Brooks, Bokeem Woodbine, China Chow, Elliott Gould, Lainie Kazan, Antonio Sabato Jr., Sab Shimono, Lela Rochon, Joshua Peace, Robin Dunne, David Usher, Danny Smith
Three hit men–Melvin (Mark Wahlberg), Cisco (Lou Diamond Phillips), and Crunch (Bokeem Woodbine)–hatch a scheme to kidnap the daughter of a wealthy businessman. Too late, they realize the daughter, Keiko (China Chow), is the goddaughter of their boss, and he is more than a little interested in obtaining Keiko's safe return.
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Bratz 2007  PG, 110 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Sean McNamara
Cast: Nathalia Ramos, Skyler Shaye, Logan Browning, Janel Parrish, Chelsea Staub, Anneliese van der Pol, Lainie Kazan, Jon Voight, Malese Jow, Ian Nelson, Stephen Lunsford, Emily Rose Everhard, Kim Morgan Greene, Sean McNamara
Those popular Bratz dolls come to the screen when BFF (Best Friends Forever)–Yasmin (Nathalia Ramos), Jade (Janel Parrish), Sasha (Logan Browning), and Chloe (Skyler Shaye)–enter high school and are confronted by Meredith (Chelsea Staub) who is the class president as well as the principal's (Jon Voight) daughter. Meredith manages to split the girls apart and into cliques that match with their different personalities. Will the girls remain apart, or will they be able to beat the system and remain BFF?
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The Cemetery Club 1993 PG-13, 106 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Bill Duke
Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Olympia Dukakis, Diane Ladd, Danny Aiello, Lainie Kazan, Jeff Howell, Christina Ricci, Bernie Casey, Alan Manson, Robert Costanzo
Ellen Burstyn, Olympia Dukakis, and Diane Ladd play widows who are facing old age together. Problems develop when Esther (Ellen Burstyn) is courted by a widower (Danny Aiello); however, they learn the importance of their friendship and face the future resolutely.
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The Crew 2000 PG-13, 88 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Michael Dinner
Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Burt Reynolds, Dan Hedaya, Seymour Cassel, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jennifer Tilly, Lainie Kazan, Miguel Sandoval, Jeremy Piven, Casey Siemaszko
Four retired mobsters–Joey "Bats" Pistella (Burt Reynolds), Bobby Bartellemeo (Richard Dreyfuss), Mike the Brick (Dan Hedaya), and Tony "The Mouth" Donato (Seymour Cassel)–are living out their days at a Miami hotel. But the hotel is rapidly becoming home to the Yuppie crowd. When the four senior citizens face eviction, they stage a mock murder hoping to scare the up-scale clientele. A problem surfaces: their "corpse" turns out to be the father of a drug lord!
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The Delta Force 1986 PG-13, 125 min.
Genre: Action
Director: Menahem Golan
Cast: Lee Marvin, Chuck Norris, Lainie Kazan, Shelley Winters, Martin Balsam, Joey Bishop, Robert Forester, George Kennedy, Susan Strasberg, Hanna Schygulla
Loosely based on the TWA hijacking in 1985, Delta Force–led by Major McCoy and Colonel Alexander (Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin)–is sent to save the day by rescuing the airline passengers.
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Eternity 1989  R, 125 min.
Genre: Sci-Fi
Director: Steven Paul
Cast: Jon Voight, Armand Assante, Wilford Brimley, Eileen Davidson, Kaye Ballard, Lainie Kazan, Steven Keats, Eugene Roche, John P. Ryan, Steven Paul
Reincarnation is the theme of this film dealing with a man (Jon Voight) who awakens from a dream and finds himself confronted with an allegorical world in the present in which he runs into modern-day characters from his dream.
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 Gigli 2003 R, 124 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Martin Brest
Cast: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bartha, Lenny Venito, Christopher Walken, Al Pacino, Lainie Kazan, Missy Crider, Alex Fatovich, Peter Van Norden, Terry Camilleri, Robert Silver
Everything does not go as planned when mob-enforcer Larry Gigli (Ben Affleck) is ordered to kidnap a mentally challenged man, Brian (Justin Bartha), and another enforcer, Ricki (Jennifer Lopez), is sent along to aid and abet.
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A Good Night to Die 2003 R, 100 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Craig Singer
Cast: Michael Rapaport, Gary Stretch, Robin Givens, Ally Sheedy, Deborah Harry, Frank Whaley, Ralph Macchio, Lainie Kazan, Seymour Cassel, James Russo
This crime/comedy follows hit man Ronnie (Gary Stretch) as he tries to clean up the problems of fellow hit man August (Michael Rapaport), whom Ronnie got into the business three years before. Ronnie has just one day to take care of August's messes that the bosses are not happy about.
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Harry and the Hendersons 1987 PG, 111 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: William Dear
Cast: John Lithgow, Melinda Dillon, Don Ameche, Margaret Langrick, Joshua Rudoy, David Suchet, Lainie Kazan, M. Emmet Walsh, Bill Ontiveros, Kevin Peter Hall
This film gives us a look at what happens to a family when they first encounter, take home, and care for a bigfoot-like creature. Sound silly? It is. However, the film is watchable, and kids will love it.
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If You Only Knew 2000 PG-13, 109 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: David Snedeker
Cast: Johnathon Schaech, Alison Eastwood, James LeGros, Gabrielle Anwar, Lainie Kazan, Frank Vincent, Paul Sampson, Dayna Danika, Annie Corley, Miguel A. Nunez Jr.
Parker Concorde (Johnathon Schaech) pretends to be gay so that beautiful artist Samantha (Alison Eastwood) will share her apartment with him. Parker has fallen for Samantha and wants the chance to be near her, but he has problems impressing her because she keeps setting him up with her gay male friends.
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Kimberly 1999  R, 110 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: Frederic Golchan
Cast: Gabrielle Anwar, Sean Astin, Jason Lewis, Robert Mailhouse, Christopher Rydell, Patty Duke, Molly Ringwald, Lainie Kazan, Edward R. Pressman, Gary Swanson
Kimberly (Gabrielle Anwar), the daughter of an Olympic rowing champion, coaches a four-man crew–and sleeps with each one as well. Soon, she is pregnant and does not know who the father is, but the men help her through her pregnancy as she continues to coach them.
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Love Is All There Is 1996 R, 104 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Joseph Bologna, Renee Taylor
Cast: Lainie Kazan, Joseph Bologna, Barbara Carrera, Renee Taylor, Paul Sorvino, Angelina Jolie, Nathaniel Marston, William Hickey, Dick Van Patten, Abe Vigoda, Connie Stevens, Joy Behar
The relationships of feuding families–rival caterers: Sadie and Mike Capomezzo (Lanie Kazan and Joseph Bologna) and Maria and Piero Malacici (Barbara Carrera and Paul Sorvino)–are thrown into a tailspin when their children (Angelina Jolie and Nathaniel Marston) fall in love while starring in their school production of "Romeo and Juliet."
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 My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2002  PG, 95 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Joel Zwick
Cast: Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine, Gia Carides, Andrea Martin, Louis Mandylor, Joey Fatone, Bruce Gray, Frank Falcone
Thirty-year-old Toula (Nia Vardalos) is a Greek-Canadian, single woman whose father, Gus (Michael Constantine), wants her to marry. Even more important, he wants her to marry a Greek. But when Toula falls in love with non-Greek Ian (John Corbett), wedding plans are made, and the fun begins.
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My Favorite Year 1982   PG, 92 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Benjamin
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Jessica Harper, Lainie Kazan, Mark Linn-Baker, Joseph Bologna, Bill Macy, Anne DeSalvo, Basil Hoffman, Lou Jacobi, Cameron Mitchell
The year is 1952, and the TV show "The Comedy Cavalcade" is about to debut starring an aging film star. One of the show's young writers is given the job of watching over the film star and ensuring that he does not come into contact with any alcohol before showtime. This film gives an inside look at the pressures of those days when TV was "live" and anything could happen. Peter O'Toole was nominated for an Oscar. 1 User Review
| User Review |
| | A fine comedy. 6 or 7 scenes are worth their weight in gold. | 1fatts 03/12/2007 | Richard Benjamin's first directing job is surprisingly assured and successful. The apocryphal story is that when Mel Brooks was the junior writer on Sid Ceaser's Your Show of Shows, the reknowned actor, womanizer and drunk, Errol Flynn, was scheduled to be the week's guest, and Mel Brooks was assigned to babysit Flynn and make sure he showed up sober. Brooks claims it never happened and, in fact, that Flynn was never on the show. Who cares! It's a great premise anyway. Peter O'toole turns in another over-the-top performance as the Flynn character, here named "Allan Swan". Those of us old enough to remember Caeser in his hayday really appreciate the take that Joseph Bologna does on the character. The scene where the young writer, Stone nee Steinberg, takes the matinee idol home to Brookyn for dinner (His aunt shows up in her wedding gown; "I only wore it once" she says in a New York Yiddish accent.) is hard to over-appreciate.
The movie lags here and there and ten or twelve minutes of tightening would have been to the good, but I'm quibbling. The cast shines; the writing is sharp; and the nod to "Your Show of Shows" brings warmth to those of us who remember when. |
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 One from the Heart 1982 R, 101 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Nastassja Kinski, Raul Julia, Lainie Kazan, Harry Dean Stanton, Allen Garfield, Luana Anders
After a serious dispute, a couple–Hank (Frederic Forrest) and Frannie (Teri Garr)–split up; head for Las Vegas; and meet new, if not lasting, love interests (Nastassja Kinski and Raul Julia).
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 Pinocchio 1984 TV, 85 min.
Genre: Family / Comedy / Adventure / Fantasy
Director: Peter Medak
Cast: Carl Reiner, Paul Reubens, James Belushi, Lainie Kazan, Vincent Schiavelli, James Coburn, Don Novello, Vito Scotti, Michael Richards, Helena Kallianiotes, Avery Schreiber
The Carlo Collodi story comes to the screen again via TV as part of "Faerie Tale Theater" series. Carl Reiner takes the role of woodcarver Geppetto who dreams of having a son when he creates a wooden puppet, Pinocchio (Paul Reubens). The Blue Fairy (Lainie Kazan) appears on the scene and grants Geppetto's wish by turning Pinocchio into a living marionette. But, Pinocchio must prove himself to be a good boy and must never lie or his nose will grow. Problems lie ahead, but, by story's end, Pinocchio proves that he has a good soul.
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Sunset Limousine 1983 TV, 92 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Terry Hughes
Cast: John Ritter, Susan Dey, Paul Reiser, Audrie J. Neenan, Martin Short, George(2) Kirby, James Luisi, Louise Sorel, Lainie Kazan, Michael Ensign, Charles(2) Lane, Stacy Nelkin
This made-for-TV comedy follows out-of-work comedian Alan (John Ritter) as he takes a job driving a limo. He loses his girlfriend but is determined to win her back–after dealing with two hit men he becomes involved with through a client.
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What's Cooking? 2000 PG-13, 106 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Cast: Alfre Woodard, Joan Chen, Dennis Haysbert, Mercedes Ruehl, Maria Carmen, Victor Rivers, Douglas Spain, A Martinez, Lainie Kazan, Maury Chaykin, Isidra Vega, Elena Lopez, Adrian Armas
Thanksgiving celebrations in four different families–Jewish, Latino, Vietnamese, and African-American–are featured showing humor and drama that appear to be inherent in family gatherings, no matter what the cultural heritage.
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You Don't Mess with the Zohan 2008 PG-13, 113 min.
Genre: Comedy / Action
Director: Dennis Dugan
Cast: Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Nick Swardson, Lainie Kazan, Ido Mosseri, Rob Schneider, Dave Matthews, Michael Buffer, Charlotte Rae, Sayed Badreya, Daoud Heidami, Kevin Nealon, Robert Smigel, Dina Doron
Top Israeli counterspy Zohan (Adam Sandler) is a hero at taking out Arab terrorists, but he dreams of leaving the Middle East and settling down in New York as a hairdresser. So, he fakes his own death during a fight with his nemesis, Phantom (John Turturro) and then boards a jet plane and heads across the Atlantic. He finds a job at a Brooklyn hair salon owned by Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui) and starts to make the world "silky smooth." But, Palestinian cab driver Salim (Rob Schneider) recognizes Zohan, tries unsuccessfully to bomb the salon with Neosporin, and tips off Phantom. Now Zohan must quit romancing Dalia and look for a place of safety.
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| 1. 29th Street (1991)
2. The Associate (1996)
3. Beaches (1988)
4. The Big Hit (1998)
5. Bratz (2007)
6. The Cemetery Club (1993)
7. The Crew (2000)
8. Dayton's Devils (1968)
9. The Delta Force (1986)
10. Eternity (1989)
11. Gigli (2003)
12. A Good Night to Die (2003)
13. Harry and the Hendersons (1987)
14. If You Only Knew (2000)
15. The Journey of Natty Gann (1985)
16. Kimberly (1999)
17. Lady in Cement (1968)
18. Love Is All There Is (1996)
19. Lust in the Dust (1985)
20. My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
21. My Favorite Year (1982)
22. One from the Heart (1982)
23. Pinocchio (1984)
24. Romance of a Horsethief (1971)
25. Sunset Limousine (1983)
26. What's Cooking? (2000)
27. You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008)
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