Genre: Comedy (Page 17)

Browse 572 movies in the Comedy genre.

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The Paper Chase poster

The Paper Chase

1973 113 min
⭐ 7.2 (9,378 votes)

At Harvard Law School, James T. Hart attends his first day in a contract law course taught by Professor Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. When Kingsfield immediately delves into the material using the Socratic method, Hart is totally unprepared and is humiliated when Kingsfield asks him the first question. After class, Hart throws up in the bathroom. Hart is invited to join a study group with five others: Each member of the group agrees to focus on a specific course and write a synopsis of their notes to share with each other before the final exams. Hart chooses contract law. While out getting pizza, Hart is asked by a young woman, Susan Fields, to walk her home, as she says she feels uncomfortable about a man who has been following her. Hart returns to her house soon after and asks her on a date, after which they begin a complicated relationship: she resents the time he devotes to his studies and his fascination with Kingsfield, while he expects her to provide him with considerable attention and wants a firm commitment. When Hart and a select few of his classmates are invited to a cocktail party hosted by Kingsfield, he is stunned to discover that Susan is Kingsfield's married daughter. She is, however, separated from her husband and eventually gets a divorce. She and Hart break up and get back together several times. Hart categorizes his classmates into three groups: those who have given up; those who are trying but fear being called upon in class to respond to Kingsfield's questions; and the "upper echelon" who actively volunteer to answer. Hart strives to move from the second classification to the third, and succeeds as time goes on. Hart eventually learns of the existence of the "Red Set", the archived and sealed personal notes that Harvard professors wrote when they were students, which are stored in a locked room of the library. Late one night, Hart and Ford break into the library to read Kingsfield's notes. The mounting pressure gets to everyone as the course nears its end. Brooks attempts suicide and drops out of school. The study group is torn apart by personal bickering, with only three of the six members remaining. With final exams looming, Hart and Ford hole up in a hotel room for three days and study feverishly. On the last day of class, Hart and his classmates give Kingsfield a standing ovation. Later, when Susan brings Hart his mail at the beach, he climbs the highest rock, makes a paper airplane out of the unopened envelope containing his grades and sends it flying into the water. The film is a faithful adaptation of the novel, although it adds two elements not in the book: Hart's first name and middle initial (James T.), and his final grade in contract law (93, an A).

Vice poster

Vice

2018 132 min
⭐ 7.2 (175,536 votes)

Vice is narrated by Kurt, a fictitious veteran of the Afghan and Iraq wars. In 1963, Dick Cheney works as a lineman in Wyoming after dropping out of Yale University. After Cheney is caught driving while intoxicated, his wife Lynne threatens to leave him if he does not become sober. In 1969, Cheney becomes a White House intern during Richard Nixon 's presidency. Under Nixon's economic adviser, Donald Rumsfeld, Cheney becomes a savvy political operative while juggling commitments to his wife and their daughters, Liz and Mary. Cheney overhears Henry Kissinger discussing the secret bombing of Cambodia with Nixon, exposing the executive branch 's true power to Cheney. Rumsfeld's abrasive attitude leads to him and Cheney being distanced from Nixon, which works in both men's favor; after Nixon's resignation in 1974, Cheney rises to the position of White House Chief of Staff for President Gerald Ford, while Rumsfeld becomes Secretary of Defense. The media dubs the sudden shake-up in the cabinet as the Halloween Massacre. During his tenure, a young Antonin Scalia introduces Cheney to the unitary executive theory. After Ford loses the 1976 election to Jimmy Carter, Cheney runs for Congress in Wyoming. After an awkward and uncharismatic campaign speech, Cheney suffers a heart attack. While he recovers, Lynne campaigns on his behalf, earning him a seat in the House of Representatives. During the Reagan administration, Cheney supports many conservative, pro-business policies favoring the fossil fuel industries, as well as the abolition of the FCC fairness doctrine, which contributed to the rise of Fox News, conservative talk radio, and the rising party polarization in the United States. Cheney then serves as Secretary of Defense under President George H. W. Bush during the Gulf War. Outside of politics, Cheney and Lynne come to terms with their younger daughter, Mary, coming out as a lesbian. Though Cheney develops ambitions to run for president, he decides to retire due to lack of presidential polling enthusiasm for him and to spare Mary from media scrutiny. Cheney becomes the CEO of Halliburton while his wife breeds golden retrievers and writes books. A false epilogue claims that Cheney lived the rest of his life healthy and happy in the private sector, and credits begin rolling, only to end abruptly before the film continues. George W. Bush invites Cheney to become his running mate in the 2000 United States presidential election. Assuming Bush is more interested in impressing his father than attaining power for himself, Cheney agrees on the condition that Bush delegates executive responsibilities to him and does not force him to take a stance against gay rights. As vice president, Cheney works with Rumsfeld, legal counsel David Addington, Mary Matalin, and Chief of Staff Scooter Libby to exercise control of key foreign policy and defense decisions. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Cheney and Rumsfeld maneuver to initiate and preside over the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Various other events from his vice presidency are depicted, including his endorsement of the unitary executive theory, the Plame affair, and the accidental shooting of Harry Whittington. Cheney's actions lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths and the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq, and he receives record-low approval ratings by the end of the Bush administration. While narrating Cheney's deathbed goodbye to his family after another heart attack, Kurt dies in a traffic accident. His heart is transplanted into Cheney. Liz publicly states her opposition to same-sex marriage while running for a Senate seat a few months later, and Cheney does not object. A distraught Mary distances herself from her family. Liz wins election to her father's former position in the House two years later. An irate Cheney breaks the fourth wall and delivers a monologue to the audience at the end of the film, declaring he has no regrets about anything he has done in his career. In a mid-credits scene, some members of a focus group reviewing the film passionately debate the film's effectiveness and the Trump administration, while others are uninterested and would rather discuss the latest Fast & Furious movie.

American Made poster

American Made

2017 115 min
⭐ 7.2 (233,610 votes)

In 1978, Baton Rouge pilot Barry Seal, who flies commercial jets for TWA, is recruited by CIA case officer Monty Schafer. He asks Seal, who has been smuggling Cuban cigars into the country to make a little money, to fly reconnaissance missions over Central America using an Aerostar 600, outfitted with aerial surveillance cameras. Seal accepts the job, but hides it from his wife, Lucy. In the 1980s, Schafer asks Seal to act as a courier between the CIA and General Noriega in Panama. During a mission, the Medell铆n Cartel picks Seal up and asks him to fly cocaine on his return flights to the US. Seal accepts and flies the cartel's cocaine to Louisiana, airdropping the drug in the countryside. The CIA turns a blind eye to the drug smuggling, but the DEA tracks Seal down. To avoid the authorities, Seal and his family relocate to Mena, Arkansas and his wife comes to accept the wealth generated by his side job. The small town becomes wealthy as the hub of US cocaine trafficking. Later, Schafer asks Seal to run guns to the Nicaraguan Contras in Honduras. Realizing the Contras are not serious about the war and just want to get rich, Seal starts trading the guns to the cartel. The CIA sets up a Contra training base in Mena and Seal flies the Contras in, but many of them escape as soon as they arrive. Seal makes so much money he buries it in suitcases in the backyard. Seal's freeloading, unemployed brother-in-law JB moves in. JB starts stealing money and is arrested with a briefcase full of cash. With JB out on bail, Seal gives him money and a plane ticket to Bora Bora for his safety. JB demands weekly cash and insults Lucy. As Seal chases after him, JB is killed by a car bomb placed by the Medell铆n Cartel, who had previously promised to "take care" of the JB problem. The FBI catches wind of the sudden exuberance on the streets of Mena, not helped by JB's reckless spending. Eventually, the CIA shuts down the program and abandons Seal, who is arrested by the FBI, DEA, ATF and Arkansas State Police simultaneously. Seal escapes prosecution by making a deal with the White House, which wants evidence of the Sandinistas being drug traffickers. They ask him to get photos that tie the Medell铆n Cartel to the Nicaraguan Sandinistas. Seal manages to get them, but the White House releases them as propaganda against the Sandinistas. Seal is prominently shown in the pictures, which leads to his indictment by the crusading state attorney general and the cartel plotting revenge. Seal is convicted but sentenced to only 1,000 hours of community service. Moving from motel to motel making video recordings detailing his experiences, Seal expects an explosion any time he starts his car. As his community service is performed at the same Salvation Army building every night, Seal cannot hide from the cartel and is shot dead by an assassin. The CIA destroys all evidence connecting them to Seal and continues smuggling, instead using Iran to get guns to the Contras, as proposed by Schafer. The film ends with Schafer getting promoted for his idea, though it is soon discovered by the public with reporters asking President Reagan and Vice President Bush about the scandal. Lucy and her kids move back to Baton Rouge, where she is seen contentedly working in fast food. One of her expensive pieces of jewelry is seen on her wrist.

Metropolitan poster

Metropolitan

1990 98 min
⭐ 7.2 (13,774 votes)

During Manhattan debutante season, middle-class Princeton student Tom Townsend attends a deb ball on a whim. A mix-up over a taxi home introduces him to a small group of young Upper East Side socialites known as the Sally Fowler Rat Pack, after the girl whose fancy apartment they use for afterparties. The Rat Pack invites him to the night's afterparty to prevent ill feelings. At the afterparty, Tom befriends several Rat Pack members, including Nick, a cynic who takes Tom under his wing; Audrey, a shy girl who enjoys Regency-era literature and develops a crush on Tom; and Charlie, a philosophical friend with an unrequited crush on Audrey. Tom learns that he and the Rat Pack have some common friends, including his ex-girlfriend Serena, with whom he remains infatuated. Under Nick's tutelage, Tom ingratiates himself with the Rat Pack. Although he initially sticks out due to his left-wing, Fourierist views, he fits into the social crowd and becomes a full-fledged member. Much of the film is composed of dialogues in which the Rat Pack discuss their nebulous social scene and uncertain futures. They worry that they are coming of age just as the culture in which they were raised is ending. One reason Tom fits in is that his social cachet trumps his wealth. He attended the Pomfret boarding school at the same time that Serena went to Farmington with several Rat Pack girls. Nick explains that the Rat Pack needs Tom because there is a shortage of socially respectable young men to escort debutantes to formal events. Although the Rat Pack welcomes him, Tom harbors a love鈥揾ate relationship with wealth and the upper class. His wealthy father abandoned the family to marry another woman, forcing Tom and his mother to move into a middle-class apartment on the Upper West Side. Tom slowly realizes that he is in denial about his distant relationship with his father. Serena has been dating Rick Von Sloneker, a young, titled aristocrat notorious for his womanizing. Nick resents Rick and accuses him of getting a girl drunk and convincing her to " pull a train " several years ago, after which she committed suicide. When Rick confronts him, Nick admits that his story is a "composite" of incidents from Rick's life. He insists that it is based on real events, but the Rat Pack is scandalized. As debutante season ends, the Rat Pack unravels. Nick leaves Manhattan. During a parlor game, Tom admits he loves Serena and not Audrey. In response, Audrey leaves to spend the rest of the vacation with Rick and their mutual friend Cynthia in the Hamptons. Charlie, who tells himself that society is out to get the elite, is surprised to hear that other young elites have achieved success in life. Tom learns that Sally is surreptitiously dating Allen, an older record producer; it is implied that Allen promised to make her a star. Realizing that he has developed feelings for Audrey, Tom recruits Charlie to help him rescue her from Rick. The two travel to Southampton, bonding en route. They are surprised to find Audrey in no peril. Tom and Charlie instigate a fight with Rick, who asks them to leave. Audrey is delighted to see that Tom and Charlie have come for her, and leaves with them. Tom and Audrey talk on the beach. Audrey says she is planning to attend college in France, and Tom contemplates visiting her there. Tom, Audrey, and Charlie begin hitchhiking to Manhattan together.

Team America: World Police poster

Team America: World Police

2004 98 min
⭐ 7.2 (185,361 votes)

Team America, an international organization dedicated to counterterrorism, defeats a group of Islamic terrorists in Paris, but are very reckless and destroy the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and the Louvre in the process. The team includes Lisa, an idealistic psychologist; her love interest, Carson; Sarah, a psychic; Joe, a jock who is in love with Sarah; and Chris, a martial arts expert who harbours a grudge towards actors. Carson proposes to Lisa, but a terrorist kills him in the middle of the act. Team America leader Spottswoode brings Broadway actor Gary Johnston to Team America's base in Mount Rushmore and asks him to use his acting skills to infiltrate a terrorist cell. Unbeknownst to the team, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il is supplying terrorists across the globe with WMDs. Gary infiltrates a terrorist group in Cairo. The team is discovered and a chase ensues, ending with Team America killing the terrorists. However, Cairo is left in ruins, drawing criticism and outrage from the Film Actors Guild (F.A.G.), a union of progressive Hollywood actors led by Alec Baldwin. At Mount Rushmore, Gary tells Lisa that as a child, his acting talent caused his older brother, Tommy, to be brutally killed by gorillas. While the two grow close and have sex, terrorists blow up the Panama Canal in retaliation for the Team America operation in Cairo, killing thousands. The F.A.G. blame this on Team America, while Kim chastises the terrorists for detonating one bomb too early. Gary, feeling his acting talents have again resulted in innocent people dying, resigns from Team America. The remaining members depart for the Middle East and North Africa, but are defeated and captured by North Korean forces while Michael Moore blows up Team America's base in a suicide attack. In North Korea, Kim invites the F.A.G. and world leaders to a peace ceremony, planning to detonate several bombs around the world while they are distracted. Succumbing to depression, Gary is reminded of his responsibility by a rambling speech about "dicks, pussies and assholes" from a drunken tramp. Returning to the team's base, he finds Spottswoode has survived Moore's bombing. After regaining Spottswoode's trust by giving him a blowjob and undergoing one day of training, Gary goes to North Korea, where he uses his acting skills to infiltrate the base and free the team, although Lisa is held hostage by Kim. The team is confronted by the F.A.G. and kill most of their members in an ensuing fight. After Gary uses his acting skills to save Chris from Susan Sarandon, Chris confesses to Gary that the reason he dislikes actors is that he was raped by the cast of the musical Cats when he was 19 years old. The team crashes the peace ceremony, and Gary goes on stage to deliver a recontextualized version of the tramp's speech, arguing that " dicks ", though criticized by " pussies ", are necessary to stop " assholes ", which convinces the world's leaders to unite. Kim betrays and kills Baldwin for being unable to counter Gary's argument, but he is kicked over a balcony by Lisa and impaled on a German delegate's Pickelhaube. Kim reveals his true form as an extraterrestrial cockroach and flees in a spaceship, vowing to return. Gary and Lisa happily begin a relationship and, in the end, the team reunites, preparing to fight the world's terrorists once again.

Bad Black poster

Bad Black

2016 68 min
⭐ 7.2 (1,325 votes)

A man named Swaaz, short for Schwarzenegger, robs a bank and gets chased by police. He orders his child assistant, Buddy Spencer, to jump from the car with the money as he leads police elsewhere. After being chased for some time, Swaaz is eventually trapped and is killed when he accidentally shoots his car, causing it to explode. In the slums of Kampala, Uganda, a young girl runs away from home and ends up in a child trafficking ring led by a former Uganda People's Defence Force commando in the ghetto. One day, while collecting metal scraps, she is viciously assaulted by multi-millionaire Hirigi when she mistakenly takes the tire iron from his van. After enduring weeks of abuse and witnessing the death of a friend, the girl takes matters into her own hands and kills the ringleader. Ten years later, the girl has grown up to become "Bad Black", leading the same group of ghetto children to become the biggest crime syndicate in Kampala. She seduces Hirigi in a bar to exact her revenge on him. Meanwhile, Alan Ssali, an American doctor whose whole family were allegedly U.S. Army commandos, is in Kampala giving aid to the people of the slums. He encounters Bad Black, who mistakes him for a commando due to his designer dog tags. After receiving Alan's business card, Bad Black sneaks into his hotel and steals his money and passport. When the police refuse to help him, Alan receives " kung fu commando training" from his young assistant, known by his pseudonym " Wesley Snipes ", before storming through the slums to look for Bad Black. Hirigi's teenage son, Kenny, is banished by his father and goes to Black's gang in search for drugs. Hirigi tells Black about his plans to buy the ghetto and throw the gang out. Bad Black brings Hirigi to her grandmother, where it is revealed that Hirigi is her grandfather and that he has been dating a ghetto woman. Hirigi threatens Bad Black by throwing her out and runs away disgusted. One day, a drug deal between Bad Black and a rival syndicate is disrupted by police. The gangsters frantically run away only to be gunned down by Alan, who corners Bad Black and recovers his dog tags and hands her to the police. At the prison, she's intimidated by the prison gang leader Supazilla, but eventually befriends her. Bad Black then meets a fellow female inmate named Flavia who claims that her rich father banished her and that she never got to see her own child after birth before being taken to prison. Later that night, Kenny and the syndicate attempt to break Bad Black out. The following riot allows two other women to escape, but Bad Black stays with Flavia to comfort her as she is set to be released in two days; Bad Black is caught offscreen, and Kenny is subdued and captured alive. Days later, Flavia is released and is present at Bad Black's trial. Bad Black explains that her father was Swaaz and that he robbed the bank to pay for the expenses of her birth but also claims that her mother was killed during the birth. It is then revealed that Flavia is Bad Black's mother and the two hug as the court is adjourned. Three months later, Alan resumes his medical mission in Wakaliga, but with Bad Black as his nurse. Hirigi's wife suddenly appears and opens fire at the medical camp, killing Alan in the process.

Ruby Sparks poster

Ruby Sparks

2012 104 min
⭐ 7.2 (109,350 votes)

Calvin Weir-Fields is a novelist who found incredible success at an early age, but struggles to form relationships and to write his next book. His therapist tasks him to write about someone who likes his dog, Scotty. After a dream in which he meets a woman, Calvin is inspired to write about her, admitting that he is falling in love with his character, "Ruby Sparks". Calvin discovers a woman's belongings throughout his house, to the surprise of his brother Harry and sister-in-law Susie. Harry criticizes Calvin's writing about Ruby as overly idealized and unrealistic, but Calvin writes a passage about Ruby falling in love with him before falling asleep at his typewriter. The next day, Calvin is stunned to find Ruby in his kitchen, a living person, who believes they are dating. He calls Harry, who does not believe him and advises him to find someone to confirm she is not real. Ruby insists on coming along as Calvin meets with Mabel, a fan of his book who gave him her number. Believing Calvin is cheating on her, Ruby confronts them, proving she is not a figment of his imagination. Calvin throws himself into their relationship, with Ruby unaware that he wrote her into existence. He introduces her to an incredulous Harry, demonstrating that his writing directly affects her, and asks Harry not to tell anyone of Ruby's origins, declaring that he will never write about her again. Months later, Calvin reluctantly takes Ruby to meet his free-spirited mother Gertrude and her boyfriend Mort. While the outgoing Ruby enjoys herself, the introverted Calvin grows jealous of her time with other people, and her happiness fades with his increased gloominess. Returning home, their relationship becomes tense and a depressed Ruby explains how lonely she is, suggesting they spend less time together. Fearful of Ruby's desertion, Calvin writes that she is miserable without him and she returns, now incredibly clingy. Tiring of this, he writes that she is constantly happy, but he becomes morose, knowing her happiness is artificial. Confiding in Harry, Calvin tries to write Ruby back to her original self, but his wording leaves her confused. They argue once more, and he attempts to cheer her up by taking her to a party hosted by his mentor, author Langdon Tharp. Leaving Ruby on her own, Calvin runs into his ex-girlfriend Lila, also a novelist, who accuses him of being uninterested in anyone outside of himself; Calvin deflects the blame and they part ways bitterly. Meanwhile, Langdon flirts with Ruby, eventually convincing her to join him in the pool in her underwear. A furious Calvin catches them in the act. A fight ensues upon arriving home, with Ruby declaring that Calvin cannot control her. As she prepares to leave him, Calvin reveals that she is a product of his imagination and that he can make her do anything he writes. Ruby dismisses this until Calvin forces her to perform increasingly frenzied and humiliating acts as he writes on his typewriter. Afterward, Ruby locks herself away from Calvin. Ashamed of his actions, Calvin writes a final page stating that as soon as Ruby leaves the house, she is free and no longer his creation and subject to his will. He leaves the manuscript for her to read, including a note that says he loves her. The next morning, Calvin finds the note and Ruby gone. Time passes and Calvin, miserable without Ruby, is unable to find the drive to write again. Harry suggests he write a new book about his experiences with Ruby. The novel, The Girlfriend, is a success, with the story moving several readers, including his family and therapist. While walking Scotty in the park, Calvin encounters a woman who resembles Ruby, reading his new book. When she notes that Calvin seems familiar, he responds by showing her his author's photo. The woman suggests that they start over, urging him not to tell her how the book ends. Calvin promises not to, and smiles.

Grease poster

Grease

1978 110 min
⭐ 7.2 (327,104 votes)

During the summer of 1958, greaser Danny Zuko and straight-laced Australian girl Sandy Olsson fall in love at the beach. As Sandy prepares to return home, she worries that she will never see Danny again, but he comforts her by saying that the summer is "only the beginning" for them. On the first day of his senior year at Rydell High School, Danny reconnects with the members of his greaser gang the T-Birds: Sonny, Putzie, Doody, and his best friend Kenickie. Sandy arrives at Rydell and is introduced to girls' gang The Pink Ladies鈥擬arty, Jan and leader Betty Rizzo鈥攂y mutual friend Frenchy. At lunch, Danny and Sandy each separately describe their summer, unaware of the other's presence until Sandy mentions Danny's name, which the Pink Ladies recognize. At a pep rally, Sandy, now a cheerleader, flirts with Tom, a football player. Kenickie arrives in "Greased Lightnin ' ", a heavily used car he plans on restoring in order to drag race it at Thunder Road. Rizzo and the Pink Ladies surprise Sandy by reuniting her with a shocked Danny. Sandy is thrilled, but Danny makes fun of her to maintain his tough image. Frenchy invites her to a sleepover with the other Pink Ladies that night to make her feel better. At the sleepover, Rizzo makes fun of Sandy's good-girl image, and Frenchy announces she is dropping out of Rydell to go to beauty school. The T-Birds crash the party, and Rizzo leaves with Kenickie to have sex in Greased Lightnin' at a nearby make-out spot. While the couple is there, rival greasers Leo and Cha-Cha interrupt them. Danny motivates the T-Birds to work on the car by saying it will win them both girls and races. Later, he sees Sandy on a date with Tom and tries to apologize for his attitude at the pep rally, but she is unconvinced. Danny tries several sports in order to impress Sandy, eventually succeeding at track and field. Sandy, bored with Tom, agrees to be Danny's date to an upcoming dance at which the television show National Bandstand will do a live broadcast from the Rydell gym. Rizzo and Kenickie break up after a fight. After a disastrous beauty class, Frenchy reluctantly decides to return to Rydell to complete her high school education. At the dance, Rizzo and Kenickie bring Leo and Cha-Cha as their respective dates out of spite. In a ribald dance contest that ends with the T-Birds mooning the cameras, Danny begins the contest with Sandy before Sonny pushes Sandy off the floor and Cha-Cha cuts in. Danny and Cha-Cha win as Sandy storms off. To make it up to her, Danny takes Sandy to a drive-in movie and asks her to wear his ring. She accepts, but when he tries to make out with her, she flees the drive-in, leaving Danny hurt. Meanwhile, Rizzo fears that she may be pregnant, and tells Marty. When word reaches Kenickie, he offers to help, but she denies that he is the father. At Thunder Road, Kenickie's head collides with his own car door, leaving him concussed. Danny takes his place behind the wheel and beats Leo in the race. Sandy decides to change her image and asks Frenchy for help. At Rydell's graduation carnival, Rizzo discovers that she is not pregnant, and she and Kenickie get back together. Danny shocks the T-Birds by becoming a letterman, and Sandy shocks everyone with a new leather, "greaser"-style outfit. She and Danny reconcile and the whole gang vows to "always be together". Danny and Sandy drive off into the sky while their friends wave goodbye.

The Madness of King George poster

The Madness of King George

1994 110 min
⭐ 7.2 (20,106 votes)

King George III's bout of madness in 1788 touched off the Regency Crisis of 1788 and triggered a power struggle between factions of Parliament under the Tory Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger and the reform-minded Leader of the Opposition Charles James Fox. At first, the King's behaviour appears mildly eccentric. He is deeply concerned with the wellbeing and productivity of Great Britain and exhibits an encyclopaedic knowledge of the families of even the most obscure royal appointments. He is devoted to his loving wife, Queen Charlotte, and their large brood of 15 children. However, he is growing more unsettled, partly over the loss of America. His memory fails, his behaviour becomes erratic and hypersexual, he talks and talks, and his urine turns blue. George, Prince of Wales, aggravates the situation, knowing that he will be named regent if the King becomes incapacitated. George chafes under his father's relentless criticism, and yearns for greater freedom, particularly when it comes to choosing a wife. He married the woman everyone believes to be his mistress, Mrs. Fitzherbert, in a secret ceremony in 1785. Without his father's consent, the marriage is illegal. Even with consent, it would remove him from the succession, because Fitzherbert is a Catholic. He knows that he has the moral support of Fox, whose agenda includes abolition of the slave trade and friendlier relations with America. Knowing how to exacerbate the King's behaviour, the Prince arranges a concert of music by Handel. The King reacts as expected, interrupting the musicians, speaking lasciviously to Lady Pembroke, and finally assaulting his son. In a private moment, the King tells Charlotte that he knows something is wrong. They are brutally interrupted when the Prince has them separated, supposedly on the advice of physicians. Led by the Prince of Wales' personal physician, Dr. Warren, the King is treated using the medical practices of the time, which focus on the state of his urine and bowel movements and include painful cupping and purgatives. Lady Pembroke recommends Dr. Francis Willis, who cured her mother-in-law. Willis uses novel procedures. At his farm in Lincolnshire, patients work to gain "a better opinion of themselves." He observes to an equerry "To be curbed, thwarted, stood up to, exercises the character." When the King insults him, foully, he is strapped into a chair and gagged. He will be restrained whenever he "swears and indulges in meaningless discourse" and "does not strive every day and always towards his own recovery". When the Prince has the King transferred to Kew, Charlotte watches as her beloved, bearded and wearing a soiled diaper and a straitjacket, struggles against being put in the coach. "Until you can govern yourself, you're not fit to govern others. And until you do so, I shall govern you," Willis says. At Kew, the King spits soup at Willis, but gains control under the physician's intractable gaze. Later, the King, properly dressed, feeds himself to a round of applause from staff鈥攂ut the delusions persist. The Whig opposition confronts Pitt's increasingly unpopular Tory government with a proposal that would give the Prince powers of regency. Baron Thurlow, the Lord Chancellor, obtains and suppresses proof of the marriage. Fox wins, and the Regency Bill is printed. Thurlow comes to see the King and joins in a moving reading of King Lear. "I have remembered how to seem..." the King muses. "What, what!" an expression he has not used in six months. His urine is yellow. Thurlow and the King arrive at Parliament in time to thwart the bill. The King forces the Prince to admit his marriage and to put away Fitzherbert. With the crisis averted, all those who have witnessed his suffering are summarily dismissed, including Captain Greville, the King's equerry. Fitzroy, another equerry, observes to the sacked Greville: "To be kind does not commend you to kings." Cheering crowds welcome the royal family to St. Paul's Cathedral. Willis stands by, but the King dismisses him. "We must be a model family," he declares; George wants "something to do." "Smile at the people, wave at them. Let them see that we're happy. That's why we're here." Saluting, Willis disappears into the crowd, where Mrs. Fitzherbert also smiles, wistfully.

The Dish poster

The Dish

2000 101 min
⭐ 7.2 (17,843 votes)

An old man drives up to the Parkes Radio Telescope to admire the dish. A technician gently cautions him that he has driven in through "the old entrance" and is therefore trespassing. Requesting that the man leave immediately, the technician encourages him to visit the observatory's nearby visitor centre and take the tour, as the dish has seen some amazing times. The old man thoughtfully agrees. The movie flashes back to July 1969, days before the launch of Apollo 11. NASA anticipates using the dish as a primary receiving antenna for the video transmission of Neil Armstrong 's historic first steps on the Moon. The dish's staff, Mitch, Glenn, and their boss, Cliff (the old man from the prologue) have been assigned a liaison by NASA, Al Burnett. Mitch resents Al, as he feels that Al is condescending; and that his presence likewise reflects a wider perception among NASA that the Australians are incompetent and unreliable. Cliff chastises Mitch for his hostility, explaining that Al's presence is justified, and that he and NASA merely want to ensure that the Moon landing proceeds as smoothly as possible. The major role that the dish is set to play in the Moon landing draws great interest upon the sleepy town of Parkes from major dignitaries, including the U.S. Ambassador and the Prime Minister. Parkes mayor, Bob, is delighted, as he played a key role in securing the dish's construction at Parkes, and thus the dish's prominent role in the Moon landing will be a boon to his political career. A power cut strikes Parkes. The dish's backup generator fails, as Mitch had previously conducted a maintenance procedure on it incorrectly. When the mains power returns, the station's tracking computers have been wiped of all their programming, and the dish can no longer locate Command Module Columbia ' s signal in space. Houston notices that they are no longer receiving any information from the Parkes station and queries them about the problem. Fearing that NASA may demote the team's role in the Moon landing if it learns of the mistake, Cliff falsely responds that the dish is receiving a clear signal from the spacecraft. Al reluctantly corroborates the lie. Mitch confesses his own culpability to Al, who immediately forgives him, mending their strained relationship. The four men work together to try to relocate Apollo 11's signal. After several hours and mishaps, they are able to lock on to the spacecraft's signal with minutes to spare before their scheduled shift as Apollo 11's main receiver begins, thus ensuring their mistake has gone undiscovered. After the Lunar Module Eagle makes a successful landing upon the Moon, Cliff notes with concern that the wind seems unusually strong. Regulations state that if the wind reaches 30 knots, the dish must be "stowed", meaning it can not be pointed at the Moon, and thus will not be able to receive Eagle ' s video broadcasts. Events conspire such that the Parkes dish becomes the only antenna on Earth capable of receiving the historic video footage of Armstrong's first steps upon the Moon. The wind reaches and exceeds 30 knots. Despite risking the total collapse of the dish, and therefore, their own lives, all four members of the dish team opt to keep the dish pointed at the Moon, adamant that allowing the world to witness and record the first moonwalk is worth the risk. The world watches in silent awe as man sets foot upon the Moon. As the Prime Minister, the ambassador, and Parkes dignitaries watch the moonwalk together, Bob is informed that the video feed is coming from the dish. Everybody is delighted, and the Prime Minister toasts Parkes. As the moonwalk concludes, the dish staff congratulate one another. Back in the present day, the technician once again insists that Cliff must leave. Cliff solemnly takes one last look at the dish before returning to his car. Before he leaves, the technician remarks that Cliff seems familiar, suggesting that Cliff's legacy is immortalized within the observatory's visitor centre. A title card explains that the dish withstood winds of over 60 mph (52 knots) to deliver the video footage of man walking on the Moon.

Tai Chi Master poster

Tai Chi Master

1993 96 min
⭐ 7.2 (11,714 votes)

Junbao and Tienbo grow up together in a Shaolin Temple as monks, studying the Shaolin kung fu and generally getting into trouble. They are both expelled from the temple after Tienbo impulsively almost kills a fellow student who cheats in a fight against him. Aided in their escape by their sympathetic teacher, they receive final instructions regarding the potential paths of their different personalities, with a specific warning given to Tienbo. Junbao and Tienbo then go into the outside world to find their way in life. Meanwhile, a gang of henchmen are forcibly taking money from a local shop owner. A girl nicknamed Miss Li steals the money and returns it. Having noticed the money gone, the henchmen start to chase down Miss Li, who holds her own during the fight but soon gets outnumbered and into trouble. Junbao comes to her aid and defeats the gang, before Army reinforcements arrive to break up the fight and so the trio flee to escape capture. At this moment the eunuch governor Liu Jin travels through the town, roughing up the locals as he does so. Tienbo realizes that he wants to be as rich and powerful as the governor, but Miss Li warns him that the governor has "the heart of a viper". Miss Li then shows the two sworn brothers to a pub for food. Inside the pub, they find a young woman named Siu-lin, who is searching for her lost husband, during which she supports herself by playing on a sanxian that said husband gave to her as a wedding gift. She finds him inside the pub as the new husband of the governor's sister, who picks a fight with Siu-lin. Siu-lin gets the upper hand in the duel, but the husband, eager to please his wealthy new wife, hits and injures Siu-lin on the head with a stool. Junbao comes to Siu-lin's rescue by fighting off the governor's sister's bodyguards before fleeing. The next day, while Junbao and Tienbo are making money with their amazing kung fu skills, the governor's second-in-command spots them and is impressed with Tienbo's abilities (and his eagerness to kow-tow to authority). He offers him a position in the army, which Tienbo readily accepts. However, Junbao is more reluctant to do so and declines going with Tienbo, and so the two brothers part ways. Later, some soldiers come to the pub to collect taxes (which have increased due to the governor's greedy nature), but Junbao and the rebels (who have stolen great valuables from the governor to give back to the poor) fight and kill them one by one. One soldier escapes alive and starts off towards the army's camp to warn them about the rebels with Junbao in pursuit. Just in front of the army encampment, Tienbo kills the soldier before he warns the rest of the army about the rebels whereabouts. Tienbo warns Junbao to stay clear of the rebels as they'll get him into trouble. Now knowing where the rebels are hiding however, Tienbo takes this unique opportunity to gain a promotion. He sets a trap for Junbao and the rebels by telling them that the army is on patrol and when would be the best time to attack them. Junbao and Siu-lin collect all the rebels from the region and go to the army camp (thus, falling for Tienbo's trap). A big battle occurs where most of the rebels die. Tienbo captures Miss Li and Siu-lin. In the end, the only escaped survivors are Junbao and a few rebels. Because of the trap, the governor promotes Tienbo to Embroidered Uniform Guard lieutenant. Tienbo kills Miss Li to prove his devotion to the governor, and with his new authority (and some poignant advice from the governor) holds Siu-lin as bait so that he can lure Junbao to defect. Junbao shows up to confront Tienbo and rejects his offer, and after a fierce fight manages to rescue Siu-lin. However, due to the injury he receives and the fact that his best friend betrayed him, Junbao's mind snaps and he goes crazy. While recuperating in the countryside safehouse with the help of Siu-lin, he has a sudden epiphany that regains his mental health, and begins using natural phenomenon as inspiration to create a new style of martial arts which uses "soft" movements to offset power, speed and strength. While the governor is traveling to Beijing to see the emperor, Junbao and Siu-lin intercept the convoy, defeat his sister and guards and captures the governor as a hostage, before going to the army camp to confront Tienbo. Due to his arrogance, Tienbo declines and starts to fight Junbao, thinking the latter is still the inferior fighter. To Tienbo's surprise, however, Junbao is now fighting using the heretofore unseen style, which he calls tai chi, and is able to fend off Tienbo's superior strength with ease. Out of frustration, Tienbo kills the governor in order to gain complete control over the troops surrounding them. Siu-lin intervenes and convinces them not to listen to Tienbo, as he just betrayed their leader. Seeing this (and also the brutal way Tienbo utilizes his troops as battle fodder), the troops back off and leave Tienbo's fate to Junbao. After a stunning series of parries and blows by Junbao, Tienbo is defeated and eventually killed when he falls upon a bundle of spears. After the fight, Junbao parts way with Siu-lin, and returns Tienbo's ashes to the Shaolin Temple, before establishing his own school at Wudang Mountains.

Made in Dagenham poster

Made in Dagenham

2010 113 min
⭐ 7.1 (16,650 votes)

Based on a true story, Made in Dagenham explores the movement that caused a significant law reform. Rita O'Grady (a fictional character) leads the 1968 Ford sewing machinists strike at the Ford Dagenham plant, where female workers walk out to protest against sexual discrimination, demanding equal pay. The strike drew major attention around the world because it was considered contrary to women's traditional family roles. The successful strike led to the Equal Pay Act 1970.