Romantic Comedy

Pride & Prejudice

Literary adaptations just don't get any better than director Joe Wright's 2005 version of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. The key word here is adaptation, because Wright and gifted screenwriter Deborah Moggach have taken liberties with Austen's classic novel that purists may find objectionable, but in this exquisite film their artistic decisions are entirely justified and exceptionally well executed. It's a more rural England that we see here, circa 1790 (as opposed to Austen's early 19th century), in which Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) is one of several sisters primed for marriage, with an anxious mother (Brenda Blethyn) only too desperate to see her daughters paired off with the finest, richest husbands available. Elizabeth is strong-willed and opinionated, but her head (not to mention her pride and prejudice) lead her heart astray when she meets the wealthy Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen), whose own sense of decency and discretion (not to mention his pride and prejudice) prevent him from expressing his mutual affection. They're clearly meant for each other, and as Knightley's performance lights up the screen (still young enough to be girlishly impertinent, yet wise beyond her 20 years), Austen's timeless romance yields yet another timeless adaptation, easily on par with the beloved BBC miniseries that has been embraced by millions since originally broadcast in 1995. Individual tastes will vary as to which version should be considered "definitive," but with a stellar supporting cast including Judi Dench and Donald Sutherland, this impeccable production achieves its own kind of perfection. --Jeff Shannon

One of the greatest love stories of all time, Pride & Prejudice, comes to the screen in a glorious new adaptation starring Keira Knightley. When Elizabeth Bennett (Knightley) meets the handsome Mr. Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen), she believes he is the last man on earth she could ever marry. But as their lives become intertwined in an unexpected adventure, she finds herself captivated by the very person she swore to loathe for all eternity. Based on the beloved masterpiece by Jane Austen, it is the classic tale of love and misunderstanding that sparkles with romance, wit and emotional force. Critics are calling it "Exhilarating. A joy from start to finish" (Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times).

Shaun of the Dead

A thirty-something slacker named Shaun decides to turn his life around and win back the girlfriend who just dumped him by taking on the hoardes of flesh eating zombies that are beginning to take over the streets of London.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: PEGG,SIMON
Title: SHAUN OF THE DEAD
Street Release Date: 02/06/2007
Domestic
Genre: COMEDY VIDEO

British horror/comedy Shaun of the Dead is a scream in all senses of the word. Brain-hungry zombies shamble through the streets of London, but all unambitious electronics salesman Shaun (Simon Pegg) cares about is his girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield), who just dumped him. With the help of his slacker roommate Ed (Nick Frost), Shaun fights his way across town to rescue Liz, but the petty concerns of life keep getting in the way: When they're trying to use vinyl records to decapitate a pair of zombies, Shaun and Ed bicker about which bands deserve preservation--New Order they keep, but Sade becomes a lethal frisbee. Many zombie movies are comedies by accident, but Shaun of the Dead is deliberately and brilliantly funny, while still delivering a few delicious jolts of fear. Also featuring the stealthy comic presence of Bill Nighy (Love Actually) and some familar faces from The Office. --Bret Fetzer

Notting Hill (Collector's Edition)

They don't really make many romantic comedies like Notting Hill anymore--blissfully romantic, sincerely sweet, and not grounded in any reality whatsoever. Pure fairy tale, and with a huge debt to Roman Holiday, Notting Hill ponders what would happen if a beautiful, world-famous person were to suddenly drop into your life unannounced and promptly fall in love with you. That's the crux of the situation for William Thacker (Hugh Grant), who owns a travel bookshop in London's fashionable Notting Hill district. Hopelessly ordinary (well, as ordinary as you can be when you're Hugh Grant), William is going about his life when renowned movie star Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) walks into his bookstore and into his heart. After another contrived meet-cute involving spilled orange juice, William and Anna share a spontaneous kiss (big suspension of disbelief required here), and soon both are smitten. The question is, of course, can William and Anna reconcile his decidedly commonplace bookseller existence and her lifestyle as a jet-setting, paparazzi-stalked celebrity? (Take a wild guess at the answer.) Smartly scripted by Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral) and directed by Roger Michell (Persuasion), Notting Hill is hardly realistic, but as wish fulfillment and a romantic comedy, it's irresistible. True, Roberts doesn't really have to stretch very far to play a big-time actress who makes $15 million per movie, but she's more winning and relaxed than she's been in years, and Grant is sweetly understated as a man blindsided by love. Together, in moments of quiet, they're a charming couple, and you can feel her craving for real love and his awe and amazement at the wonderful person for whom he has fallen. The only blight on the film is its overbearing pop soundtrack, though Elvis Costello's heart-wrenching version of "She" gets poignant exposure. With Rhys Ifans as Grant's scene-stealing, slovenly housemate and Alec Baldwin in a sly, perfectly cast cameo. --Mark Englehart

They don't really make many romantic comedies like Notting Hill anymore--blissfully romantic, sincerely sweet, and not grounded in any reality whatsoever. Pure fairy tale, and with a huge debt to Roman Holiday, Notting Hill ponders what would happen if a beautiful, world-famous person were to suddenly drop into your life unannounced and promptly fall in love with you. That's the crux of the situation for William Thacker (Hugh Grant), who owns a travel bookshop in London's fashionable Notting Hill district. Hopelessly ordinary (well, as ordinary as you can be when you're Hugh Grant), William is going about his life when renowned movie star Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) walks into his bookstore and into his heart. After another contrived meet-cute involving spilled orange juice, William and Anna share a spontaneous kiss (big suspension of disbelief required here), and soon both are smitten. The question is, of course, can William and Anna reconcile his decidedly commonplace bookseller existence and her lifestyle as a jet-setting, paparazzi-stalked celebrity? (Take a wild guess at the answer.) Smartly scripted by Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral) and directed by Roger Michell (Persuasion), Notting Hill is hardly realistic, but as wish fulfillment and a romantic comedy, it's irresistible. True, Roberts doesn't really have to stretch very far to play a big-time actress who makes $15 million per movie, but she's more winning and relaxed than she's been in years, and Grant is sweetly understated as a man blindsided by love. Together, in moments of quiet, they're a charming couple, and you can feel her craving for real love and his awe and amazement at the wonderful person for whom he has fallen. The only blight on the film is its overbearing pop soundtrack, though Elvis Costello's heart-wrenching version of "She" gets poignant exposure. With Rhys Ifans as Grant's scene-stealing, slovenly housemate and Alec Baldwin in a sly, perfectly cast cameo. --Mark Englehart

Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) is the world's most famous movie star. William Thacker (Hugh grant) owns a travel bookstore in the quaint neighborhood of Notting Hill. When their paths cross, the couple comes to face the ultimate question: can two people fall in love with the whole world watching?

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (Widescreen Edition)

Joel Barish goes through a procedure to remove memories of his girlfriend Clementine from his mind, only to realize the value of what they had as each memory is erased.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: R
Release Date: 4-SEP-2007
Media Type: DVD

Screenwriters rarely develop a distinctive voice that can be recognized from movie to movie, but the ornate imagination of Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation) has made him a unique and much-needed cinematic presence. In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a guy decides to have the memories of his ex-girlfriend erased after she's had him erased from her own memory--but midway through the procedure, he changes his mind and struggles to hang on to their experiences together. In other hands, the premise of memory-erasing would become a trashy science-fiction thriller; Kaufman, along with director Michel Gondry, spins this idea into a funny, sad, structurally complex, and simply enthralling love story that juggles morality, identity, and heartbreak with confident skill. The entire cast--Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson, and more--give superb performances, carefully pitched so that cleverness never trumps feeling. A great movie. --Bret Fetzer

The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Unrated Widescreen Edition)

Andy Stitzer's friends make it their mission to help him finally lose his virginity at forty.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: UN
Release Date: 23-MAY-2006
Media Type: DVD

Cult comic actor Steve Carell--long adored for his supporting work on The Daily Show and in movies like Bruce Almighty and Anchorman--leaps into leading man status with The 40 Year-Old Virgin. There's no point describing the plot; it's about how a 40 year-old virgin named Andy (Carell) finally finds true love and gets laid. Along the way, there are very funny scenes involving being coached by his friends, speed dating, being propositioned by his female manager, and getting his chest waxed. Carell finds both humor and humanity in Andy, and the supporting cast includes some standout comic work from Paul Rudd (Clueless, The Shape of Things) and Jane Lynch (Best in Show, A Mighty Wind), as well as an unusually straight performance from Catherine Keener (Lovely & Amazing, Being John Malkovich). And yet... something about the movie misses the mark. It skirts around the topic of male sexual anxiety, mining it for easy jokes, but never really digs into anything that would make the men in the audience actually squirm--and it's a lot less funny as a result. Nonetheless, there are many great bits, and Carell deserves the chance to shine. --Bret Fetzer

Cowboys and Angels

Mallrats (Collector's Edition)

Sophomore jinx hit hard in this second film by Kevin Smith, whose debut Clerks transcended the limits of its setting and budget to become something memorably funny. (Smith followed Mallrats with the wonderful Chasing Amy, so Mallrats definitely had the old curse.) A ramshackle comedy set in a mall, the film follows several story lines involving lovers, enemies, friends, goofballs, and Smith's own "silent" character, who also appeared in Clerks and Chasing Amy. A heavy self-consciousness weighs on everything, as if Smith forgot how to make obscenity funny instead of tedious. Still, it's nice to see some of the director's film family on screen, among them Jason Lee and Joey Lauren Adams. --Tom Keogh

Sydney White (Widescreen Edition)

America's sweetheart Amanda Bynes stars in the fun comedy Sydney White! When tomboy Sydney (Bynes) is banished from the most popular sorority on campus she is taken in by seven socially challenged but endearing guys. With the help of her new friends Sydney stands up for outcasts everywhere and takes on the reigning campus queen in a popularity showdown! But can she succeed and also win the heart of gorgeous frat guy Tyler Prince? You'll love this hilarious and sweet age-old story with a charming modern-day twist!System Requirements:Running Time: 108 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/TEEN Rating: PG-13 UPC: 025195021807 Manufacturer No: 61102740

Entering College is a time of great transition, but Sydney White (Amanda Bynes) is secure in her plan to follow in her late-mother's footsteps and pledge Kappa Phi Nu sorority when she arrives at Southern Atlantic University. Raised by a plumber father and a host of other construction workers, the comic book collection toting Sydney is definitely her own unique person and has some decidedly tomboy tendencies that contrast starkly with the ditzy, superficial girls she meets at her first sorority function. Sorority leader and student council president Rachel (Sara Paxton) takes an instant dislike to Sydney and vows to make her rushing experience intolerable. Only Tyler (Mat Long), a member of one of the campus fraternities, seems to see and appreciate the real Sydney. After weeks of hazing abuse, Rachel declares Sydney unfit to join the sorority and a despondent Sydney joins seven misfit boys in a soon-to-be-condemned house on Greek Row known as the Vortex. Fueled by the desire for revenge and a newly discovered sense of respect and belonging thanks to her new roommates, Sydney decides to fight back against the snobbery of the Greek elite and champion the rights of all misfits on campus by running against Rachel for Student Council President. By rallying the support of interest groups and misfits campus-wide, it appears that Sydney might just have a chance of winning. This film begins with an almost gag-inducing portrayal of sorority snobbery at its worst and soon gives way to a hysterically comic look at the under-representation of the masses in collegiate society. The satirical parallel to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is heavy (this is the story of "Sydney White and the Seven Dorks" complete with Sneezy, Sleepy, and Doc) and the portrayal of interest groups on college campuses is farcical to the extreme. All in all, Sydney White is hysterically funny and surprisingly appealing to audiences of both genders and a wide age range. Rated PG-13 for some language, sexual humor, and partying. --Tami Horiuchi

Beyond Sydney White on DVD

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Stills from Sydney White (Click for larger image)

The Major and the Minor (Universal Cinema Classics)

Academy Award® winners* Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland sparkle in this debut comedy from Academy Award®-winning** writer-director Billy Wilder. A frustrated city girl (Rogers) decides to disguise herself as a youngster in order to get a cheaper train ticket home. But little "Sue Sue" finds herself in a whole heap of grown-up trouble when she hides out in a compartment with handsome Major Kirby (Milland) and he insists on taking her to his military academy after the train is stalled. This "memorable comedy" (Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide) is a laugh-out-loud classic for all ages!System Requirements:Running Time: 101 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/SCREWBALL COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 025195004046 Manufacturer No: 61100481

On her first day of work, Sue Applegate (Ginger Rogers) has to escape the clutches of a lecherous client (Robert Benchley, whose favorite line is "Why don't you slip out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?"). Fed up with the big city, Sue decides to head home to Iowa with the precious $27.50 train fare she's kept in a sealed envelope since her arrival. The fare has gone up, however, and she is forced to pose as a 12-year-old to buy a half-price ticket. On the train, she has to dodge the suspicious conductors and bursts into the compartment of Major Phillip Kirby (Ray Milland), who falls for Sue's masquerade and harbors her for the night. The situation is further complicated by the major's fiancée (Rita Johnson) and her savvy 12-year-old sister (Diana Lynn), the only one who sees through the ruse. Add a stay at the major's academy and some escapades with young, hormone-driven cadets, and you have an enjoyable, if not quite classic, silly comedy, well paced by Billy Wilder in his first directorial effort. Rogers's real-life mother appears in a small role as Sue's mother. Rogers is only occasionally convincing as a 12-year-old, but after all she was 30 at the time. --David Horiuchi

The Wedding Date (Widescreen Edition)

If you're a fan of the frazzled comic rhythms Debra Messing plies on Will & Grace, or if you're pre-sold on the concept of Dermot Mulroney as the world's most dashing heartthrob--an idea given ample evidence here--this escapist romance may provide just enough distraction. The Wedding Date's Pretty Woman-in-reverse plot finds Kat Kat Ellis (Messing) hiring expensive male escort Nick Mercer (Mulroney) to fly to London and pose as her dashing new boyfriend at her sister's wedding so she can face the best man, an ex-fiancé who broke her heart. Non-fans of the stars or romantic comedies in general beware: there's no real chemistry or conflict, and you should alert the media if you can determine exactly when and why Kat and Nick fall in love. Mulroney has nothing to do but be sensitively suave--the film's entire running time is spent waiting for Kat to realize that Nick, hooker or no, is the best thing that ever happened to her (her father may be cinema's first dad to ever encourage his daughter to snare a gigolo while she still can). This is a relatively painless but forgettable first Date; you probably won't need a second assignation. --Steve Wiecking

Debra Messing (TV's Will & Grace) shines in this hilarious romantic comedy about the surprising road to finding true love. Kat Ellis (Messing) is determined to attend her younger sister's wedding with a date. Rather than face the ridicule of her family and in order to show up her ex-fiance, she resorts to the Yellow Pages to find a last-minute escort, Nick (Dermot Mulroney, My Best Friend's Wedding). His dashing good looks and quick-witted charm may win over her family. But will they win over Kat? Filled with unexpected twists and endless laughs, The Wedding Date is the one date that you'll want to keep!