Simon (1980)
Jul 5, 2001Fake Alien Comedy
A directorial debut from Woody Allen co-writer Marshall Brickman, an offbeat comedy where scientists hypnotise Alan Arkin into believing he is an alien
Wallace Shawn
Lovesick (1983)
May 9, 2001Psychotherapy Romantic Comedy/Freud's Ghost
Comedy in which Freud's ghost pops up to offer advice to psychologist Dudley Moore after he falls in love with a patient
Deal of the Century (1983)
Nov 7, 2000Arms Trading Black Comedy
William Friedkin, the director of The Exorcist, had a flop with this unfunny Chevy Chase and Sigourney Weaver starring comedy about arms dealing
Nice Girls Don’t Explode (1987)
Apr 21, 2021Pyrokinesis Comedy
Charmingly nonsensical comedy variant on Firestarter where a girl’s dating life is a nightmare due to her causing things to spontaneously combust when she becomes emotionally aroused
The Princess Bride (1987)
Dec 6, 2002Fairytale Romance/Swashbuckler
Swashbuckling fairytale that treads a fine line between deconstruction and parody, while reveling in a script where the dialogue positively dances. Perfectly cast - a film that few do not come out enjoying its ebullient fantasy
Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989)
Oct 17, 1999Sexual Rondeau Comedy/Ghost
Director Paul Bartel and a reasonable name cast make a comedy about the sex lives of the Beverly Hills elites
Mom and Dad Save the World (1992)
Aug 24, 2010Adventures on a Planet of Stupid People Comedy
Films about stupid people are rarely funny - this concerns a whole planet of stupid people. Despite reasonable production values, there is little that raises even a mild smile in this comedic take on Flash Gordon
The Meteor Man (1993)
Nov 1, 2000Black Superhero
Robert Townsend directs and stars as the screen's first Black superhero in this comedy take on the superhero film
Toy Story (1995)
Dec 16, 2001Pixar Animation/The Secret Life of Toys
The first film from Pixar and a breakthrough in being the first computer-animated film. Even aside from its technical innovations, this is enormously good fun with extremely well-constructed character arcs
Toy Story 2 (1999)
Dec 2, 1999Pixar Animation/The Secret Life of Toys
Pixar's sequel to their first film and arguably an even better work where they get the plaintive emotion, character arcs and witty humour down perfect
My Favorite Martian (1999)
Sep 5, 2004Alien Visitor Comedy/TV Series Remake
Big screen remake of the 1960s sitcom about a wacky alien visitor that promptly gets buried under frenetic slapstick and cheap CGI gags
The Haunted Mansion (2003)
Apr 6, 2004Haunted House Comedy
Lightweight film based around the Disney theme park attraction that becomes a Eddie Murphy comedy where he and his family enter into a big old mansion that proves to be haunted
The Incredibles (2004)
Dec 28, 2004Pixar Animation/Superhero Spoof
Big hit for Pixar and director Brad Bird, a witty spoof of the superhero film that shows a superhero family trying to deal with everyday life. Enormously good-natured fun all around
Happily N’Ever After (2006)
Mar 7, 2009Animation/Fairytale Deconstruction
Another in the spate of animated fairytale parodies that came out in the wake of Shrek, this subjects Cinderella to an excruciating barrage of pop-culture jokes and one-liners
Southland Tales (2006)
May 4, 2008Near-Future L.A.
Richard Kelly of Donnie Darko fame makes a work set in a near-future L.A., a sprawling film bursting at the edges with too many characters and subplots but not uninteresting
Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010)
Jul 31, 2010Talking Animal Spy Capers
Cats & Dogs was amiable but this sequel struggles against the irritatingly cutsie elements that have come to dominate this mini-genre of live-action talking animals films
Furry Vengeance (2010)
May 22, 2010Animals Amok Comedy
Excruciating CGI cute animals film where animals gang up to stop Brendan Fraser redeveloping their forest. Essentially a 1970s Nature's Revenge film by way of the slapstick family-friendly violence of Home Alone
Toy Story 3 (2010)
Jun 19, 2010Pixar Animation/The Secret Life of Toys
After such high standards with the previous two films, there is considerable onus on Pixar when it comes to this third entry nevertheless they manage to wring some strong and effective new twists on the familiar
The Double (2013)
Jun 27, 2014Doppelganger
Socially inept Jesse Eisenberg encounters a charming doppelganger that takes over his life. Richard Ayoade adapts a Dostoevsky novella but for some reason transplants it into a blackly comic dystopia akin to Terry Gilliam's Brazil
Toy Story 4 (2019)
Oct 12, 2019Pixar Animation/The Secret Life of Toys
Pixar's diversion off into sequel-making has weakened the unbroken string of hits the studio had throughout the 2000s. Here they sequelise their very first film for a third time but the surprise is a film that creates a range of eccentric characters and finds the wit and warmth that has been missing through the last few entries
Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made (2020)
Jan 16, 2022Kid Detective and His Imaginary Polar Bear Companion
This must have been a marketing nightmare for Disney – a film about a kid who operates as a private detective along with his polar bear imaginary companion. The result has an oddball charm
Addams Family 2 (2021)
Oct 15, 2021Kinky Perverse Family/Animation
The animated revival of the Addams Family was a mixed affair. All of the same creative personnel and voice talents return here for a sequel, which takes the Addams Family on a road trip