Catch-22 1970  R, 121 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Mike Nichols
Cast: Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel, Orson Welles, Martin Sheen, Jack Gilford, Buck Henry, Bob Newhart, Paula Prentiss, Anthony Perkins, Austin Pendleton, Jon Voight, Orson Welles
Based on Joseph Heller's novel, this is a good anti-war film. It is the story of a World War I bomber group whose fatalities are mounting. One member, Captain Yossarian (Alan Arkin), tries to be diagnosed as insane to escape further bombing missions.
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City Heat 1984  PG, 98 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Benjamin
Cast: Burt Reynolds, Clint Eastwood, Jane Alexander, Rip Torn, Madeline Kahn, Irene Cara, Tony Lo Bianco, Richard Roundtree, William Sanderson
A cop (Burt Reynolds) and a detective (Clint Eastwood) pursue gangsters in this mediocre movie. The two have a few disputes, yet respect each other's abilities. Only fans of Reynolds and Eastwood will enjoy seeing their heroes in these roles. Story and screenwriting by Blake Edwards.
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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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Downtown 1989 R, 96 min.
Genre: Action / Comedy
Director: Richard Benjamin
Cast: Anthony Edwards, Forest Whitaker, Penelope Ann Miller, Joe Pantoliano, David Clennon, Rick Aiello, Art Evans, Roger Aaron Brown, Ron Canada, Wanda De Jesus, Francis X. McCarthy, Kimberly Scott
After policeman Alex (Anthony Edwards) tickets a well-connected man in his up-scale suburb, he is reassigned to a dangerous, inner-city precinct. Disgruntled, Alex tries to adapt and is assigned to work with gruff Dennis (Forest Whitaker). As they get to know each other, they become involved in a major drug-ring case.
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First Family 1980 R, 104 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Buck Henry
Cast: Gilda Radner, Bob Newhart, Madeline Kahn, Richard Benjamin, Harvey Korman, Rip Torn, Buck Henry, Fred Willard, Bob Dishy, Austin Pendleton
This satire on the office of the President of the United States is a funny vehicle for Bob Newhart's talents when he plays the inept leader of the free world.
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The Goodbye Girl 2004  TV, 110 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Benjamin
Cast: Jeff Daniels, Patricia Heaton, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Lynda Boyd, Alan Cumming, Richard Benjamin, Sharon Wilkins, Zern Santiago, Marco Soriano, Woody Jeffreys, Emily Holmes, Marie Stillin
This made-for-TV version of the "Goodbye Girl" features Patricia Heaton in the role of divorced and aging Broadway dancer Paula McFadden who shares an apartment with her young daughter, Lucy (Hallie Kate Eisenberg). Paula agrees to let aspiring actor Elliot (Jeff Daniels) move into the apartment, and over a period of time love enters the relationship. But, their love is tested when Elliot fails in his acting role and considers moving on.
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House Calls 1978  PG, 98 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Howard Zieff
Cast: Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Art Carney, Richard Benjamin, Candice Azzara, Dick O'Neill, Thayer David, Anthony Holland, Brad Dexter, Lloyd Gough
A middle-aged surgeon (Walter Matthau), newly widowed, thinks of himself as a "great catch." Complications arise in the form of a divorcee (Glenda Jackson) who has her own ideas of what makes good relationships. Art Carney, as usual, is great.
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 House of Wax 1953 N/R, 88 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller / Drama / Mystery
Director: Andre De Toth
Cast: Vincent Price, Phyllis Kirk, Carolyn Jones, Charles Bronson, Frank Lovejoy, Roy Roberts, Paul Picerni, Angela Clarke, Paul Cavanagh, Richard Benjamin, Dabbs Greer, Reggie Rymal, Jack Mower, Paul Cavanagh, Roy Roberts
When first released into theaters, this movie caused quite a stir in its use of 3-D with all types of gimmicks to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. At home, viewing does not permit the 3-D effect, but this is still a good film about sculptor Professor Henry Jarrod (Vincent Price) who lost his hands in a fire and now has turned to the murder of pretty young women to complete his work.
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How to Beat the High Co$t of Living 1980 PG, 110 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Robert Scheerer
Cast: Susan Saint James, Jane Curtin, Jessica Lange, Richard Benjamin, Cathryn Damon, Fred Willard, Dabney Coleman, Eddie Albert, Art Metrano, Garrett Morris
Three housewives figure out how to beat the recession: they plan to rob the local shopping center.
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Keeping Up with the Steins 2006 PG-13, 85 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Scott Marshall
Cast: Jami Gertz, Daryl Hannah, Garry Marshall, Jeremy Piven, Doris Roberts, Daryl Sabara, Cheryl Hines, Richard Benjamin, Marc John Jefferies, Tom Hines, Carter Jenkins, Sandra Taylor, Miranda Cosgrove, Larry Miller
As his bar mitzvah nears, 13-year-old Benjamin Fiedler (Jami Gertz) is not thrilled that over-the-top party plans are the order of the day. Then Benjamin's ponytailed grandfather (Garry Marshall) shows up early with his air-head girlfriend (Daryl Hannah), and problems in the dysfunctional family rise to the fore as the difference in lifestyles between Benjamin's business-oriented father (Jeremy Piven) and his free-spirited grandfather cause a rift. Can Benjamin reunite his relatives in time for the bar mitzvah?
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The Last Married Couple in America 1980  R, 103 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Gilbert Cates
Cast: George Segal, Natalie Wood, Richard Benjamin, Valerie Harper, Bob Dishy, Dom DeLuise, Arlene Golonka, Sondra Currie, Colby Chester, Priscilla Barnes
This is an inane story about a not-so-stupid couple, Mari (Natalie Wood) and Jeff (George Segal) Thompson who fear their marriage will go the way of those of their friends: into the divorce court.
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The Last of Sheila 1973 PG, 120 min.
Genre: Mystery
Director: Herbert Ross
Cast: James Coburn, Dyan Cannon, Richard Benjamin, Joan Hackett, James Mason, Ian McShane, Raquel Welch, Yvonne Romain
Celebrities gather on "Sheila," the yacht of a Hollywood producer (James Coburn), where they participate in a game that will reveal the hit-and-run driver who killed the producer's wife, Sheila.
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Little Nikita 1988 PG, 98 min.
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Director: Richard Benjamin
Cast: River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier, Richard Bradford, Richard Jenkins, Caroline Kava, Richard Lynch, Loretta Devine, Lucy Deakins
Russia planted agents in San Diego 20 years ago; they are now "the family next door" and are very well accepted in the area. Then, when an FBI check is run on them, suspicion results. Sidney Poitier plays the agent who tracks down the real story.
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Love at First Bite 1979 PG, 96 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Stan Dragoti
Cast: George Hamilton, Susan Saint James, Richard Benjamin, Dick Shawn, Isabel Sanford, Arte Johnson, Sherman Hemsley, Barry Gordon, Ronnie Schell, Michael Pataki
This modern-day Count Dracula (George Hamilton) is deported from Transylvania and ends up in the blood bank of New York City trying to satisfy his vampire needs. He meets and falls in love with fashion model Cindy Soundheim (Susan Saint James) much to the dismay of her boyfriend, Dr. Jeff Rosenberg (Richard Benjamin).
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Made in America 1993 PG-13, 110 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Benjamin
Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Ted Danson, Nia Long, Will Smith, Paul Rodriguez, Jennifer Tilly, Peggy Rea, Clyde Kusatsu, Lu Leonard, Mel Stewart
This is the story of Zora (Nia Long) who is the result of an artificial insemination of her mother (Whoopi Goldberg). Later, finding out that her father is a car salesman (Ted Danson), Zora realizes that her Black mother was impregnated by the sperm of a White man (and a flashy TV salesman at that!). Nevertheless, Zora wants a relationship with him.
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 Marci X 2003 R, 85 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Benjamin
Cast: Lisa Kudrow, Damon Wayans, Richard Benjamin, Christine Baranski, Paula Garces, Jane Krakowski, Veanne Cox, Sherie Rene Scott, Billy Griffith, Andrew Keenan Bolger, Adele D'Man, Charles Kimbrough
After her father (Richard Benjamin) suffers a heart attack, Marci (Lisa Kudrow) sets out to rescue his hard-core rap label and tries to reform controversial rapper Dr. S (Damon Wayans).
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Mermaids 1990 PG-13, 111 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance
Director: Richard Benjamin
Cast: Cher, Bob Hoskins, Winona Ryder, Michael Schoeffling, Christina Ricci, Caroline McWilliams, Jan Miner, Betsy Townsend, Richard McElvain, Paula Plum, Dossy Peabody, Rex Trailer, Patricia Madden, Pete Kovner, William Paul Steele
Mrs. Flax (Cher) is a vagabond mother of two daughters, 15-year-old Charlotte (Winona Ryder) and nine-year-old Kate (Christina Ricci), who are obsessed with religion and swimming, respectively. When they land in the small town of East Port, Massachusetts, they find a home, and the girls hope that, at last, they will settle down after moving 18 times in Charlotte's lifetime. Kate shines as a swimmer on her school's swim team, while Charlotte plans to become a nun–despite the fact that they are Jewish. Meanwhile, Mrs. Flax begins a romance with Lou (Bob Hoskins). At the same time, Charlotte falls in love, from afar, with Joe (Michael Schoeffling) but finds confusion setting in and prays daily to keep her religious fervor.
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Milk Money 1994 PG-13, 107 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Benjamin
Cast: Melanie Griffith, Ed Harris, Michael Patrick Carter, Malcolm McDowell, Anne Heche, Casey Siemaszko, Philip Bosco, Brian Christopher, Adam LaVorgna, Kevin Scannell, Jessica Wesson, Amanda Sharkey
Frank (Michael Patrick Carter) and his two buddies pool their money and bike to town to find a prostitute who will strip for them. They are befriended by kind-hearted V (Melanie Griffith), who ends up taking them home after their bikes are stolen. Frank thinks she would be a perfect new wife for his dad, Tom (Ed Harris), who is too preoccupied trying to save the wetlands. She stays in Frank's tree house, unknown to Tom who thinks she is a tutor for Frank. But a crime boss is after V, believing she has run off with the gang's money. Near the bottom of the barrel, jokes and all.
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The Money Pit 1986 PG, 91 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Benjamin
Cast: Tom Hanks, Shelley Long, Alexander Godunov, Maureen Stapleton, Joe Mantegna, Philip Bosco, Josh Mostel, Yakov Smirnoff, Carmine Caridi, Brian Backer, John Van Dreelen, Billy Lomardo, Lucille Dobrin, Mia Dillon, Douglass Watson
Walter and Anna Fielding (Tom Hanks and Shelley Long) buy a beautiful old house in suburban New York. The cost of the home was next to nothing. But, as Walter and Anna discover, there is a reason for the low price: the house is badly in need of repair. Walter borrows money to fix the house, and then he and Anna attempt to repair it themselves. Anyone who ever went through house reconstruction, or even dreamed of it, will enjoy this funny movie about the pitfalls of home construction.
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Mrs. Winterbourne 1996 PG-13, 104 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Benjamin
Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Ricki Lake, Brendan Fraser, Miguel Sandoval, Loren Dean, Paula Prentiss, Susan Haskill, Peter Gerety, Jane Krakowski, Debra Monk
Connie Doyle (Ricki Lake) arrives in New York and is quickly seduced, made pregnant, and dumped by Steve DeCunzo (Loren Dean). She is rescued by Hugh Winterbourne (Brendan Fraser) and his wife, Patricia (Susan Haskell), whom Connie meets on a train. The train crashes, the couple is killed, and Connie is mistaken for Patricia. Hugh's mother, Grace (Shirley MacLaine), sends for the new "widow," and Connie heads to the family's Boston home where she meets Hugh's twin brother, Bill (Brendan Fraser). All goes well until sleazy Steve re-enters the scene.
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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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My Stepmother Is an Alien 1988 PG-13, 108 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Benjamin
Cast: Dan Aykroyd, Kim Basinger, Jon Lovitz, Alyson Hannigan, Joseph Maher, Seth Green, Harry Shearer, Ann Prentiss, Wesley Mann, Tony Jay
A spaceship from a doomed planet lands in Southern California carrying in it an alien (Kim Basinger) who just happens to have a snake that she carries in her purse. Her mission is to find an inept scientist (Dan Aykroyd) who might be able to re-create a ray that has affected the gravity on her planet.
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The Pentagon Wars 1998 R, 103 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Benjamin
Cast: Kelsey Grammer, Cary Elwes, Viola Davis, John C. McGinley, Tom Wright, Clifton Powell, Dewey Weber, Richard Schiff, J.C. MacKenzie, Richard Benjamin, Olympia Dukakis, Dwayne Macopson
Produced by HBO-TV and based on a true story, this satire on excessive military spending involves the efforts of Air Force Lt. Col. James Burton (Cary Elwes) to test the vulnerability of the $14 billion Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle that took 14 years in research and development.
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Racing with the Moon 1984 PG, 108 min.
Genre: Drama / Comedy / Romance
Director: Richard Benjamin
Cast: Sean Penn, Elizabeth McGovern, Nicolas Cage, John Karlen, Rutanya Alda, Kate Williamson, Max Showalter, Crispin Glover, Arnold Johnson, Dana Carvey, Barbara Howard, Bob Maroff, Dominic Nardini, John Brandon, Eve Brent
It is Christmas 1942, and two friends, Hopper and Nickey (Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage) are due to report to the Marine Corps in just a few weeks. During the holiday season, Hopper falls in love with a rich girl, Caddie Winger (Elizabeth McGovern), who comes from a world far removed from his drab surroundings. A good, often humorous, view of the 1940s during World War II.
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Scavenger Hunt 1979  PG, 116 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Michael Schultz
Cast: Richard Benjamin, James Coco, Scatman Crothers, Cloris Leachman, Roddy McDowall, Robert Morley, Ruth Gordon, Tony Randall, Vincent Price, Arnold Schwarzenegger
The winner of a scavenger hunt will win the inheritance of a game manufacturer (Vincent Price)–and the search is on! Pretty poor stuff, especially considering the good cast. 1 User Review
| User Review |
| | Wantmymovieback 05/30/2007 | | I want this movie to make a comeback. I love this movie!!! |
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The Sunshine Boys 1975 PG, 111 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Herbert Ross
Cast: Walter Matthau, George Burns, Richard Benjamin, Lee Meredith, Howard Hesseman, F. Murray Abraham, James Cranna, Ron Rifkin, Jennifer Lee, Fritz Feld
In this is a fine film adaptation of the Neil Simon Broadway hit, the story revolves around two feuding ex-vaudeville stars who try for a comeback through a television special. George Burns was awarded an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, and Walter Matthau was nominated for Best Actor.
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Westworld 1973 PG, 90 min.
Genre: Action / Sci-Fi / Western
Director: Michael Crichton
Cast: Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, James Brolin, Victoria Shaw, Norman Bartold, Alan Oppenheimer, Dick Van Patten, Steve Franken, Linda Gaye Scott, Terry Wilson, Majel Barrett, Ann Bellamy, Wade Crosby, Chris Holter, Jared Martin
Gunslinger (Yul Brynner) works at a fantasy resort filled with robots, Westworld, where dreams can come true. Enter two 21st-century men–Martin and Blane (Richard Benjamin and James Brolin)–who dream of living back in the Wild West. Their fantasies reach the realm of reality when the robot Gunslinger stalks them.
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| 1. Catch-22 (1970)
2. City Heat (1984)
3. Deconstructing Harry (1997)
4. Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970)
5. Downtown (1989)
6. First Family (1980)
7. The Goodbye Girl (2004)
8. Goodbye, Columbus (1969)
9. House Calls (1978)
10. House of Wax (1953)
11. How to Beat the High Co$t of Living (1980)
12. Keeping Up with the Steins (2006)
13. The Last Married Couple in America (1980)
14. The Last of Sheila (1973)
15. Little Nikita (1988)
16. Love at First Bite (1979)
17. Made in America (1993)
18. Marci X (2003)
19. Mermaids (1990)
20. Milk Money (1994)
21. The Money Pit (1986)
22. Mrs. Winterbourne (1996)
23. My Favorite Year (1982)
24. My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988)
25. The Pentagon Wars (1998)
26. Portnoy's Complaint (1972)
27. Racing with the Moon (1984)
28. Scavenger Hunt (1979)
29. The Sunshine Boys (1975)
30. Westworld (1973)
31. Witches' Brew (1980)
In The News
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