Comedy
Q: How many surrealists does it take to change a light bulb? A: The fish. Much like that joke, comedy comes down to personal taste and what one finds funny or not. Some like their humour light and frothy and very generalised, while others like it to have an edge and go for a more twisted, darker humour. The motherlode of this genre can be scrolled below. Either way, we're sure there will be something for everybody in the subsections on the left.
Right: There's Something About Mary's hairdo...
Full Moon High (1982)
4.8/10
Director: Larry Cohen
Starring: Adam Arkin, Elizabeth Hartman, Joanne Nail, Kenneth Mars, Ed McMahon, Roz Kelly
Details the comic misadventures of Tony Walker (Adam Arkin, son of Alan), a former high-school jock who is transformed into a werewolf during a family... Read more
P'tang Yang Kipperbang (1982)
7.2/10
Director: Michael Apted
Starring: John Albasiny, Abigail Cruttenden, Maurice Dee
Set in the early fifties and narrated by cricket commentator John Arlott, the simple plot has cricket-obsessed schoolboy Alan Duckworth (John Albasiny... Read more
The Return of Captain Invincible (1982)
5.7/10
Director: Philippe Mora
Starring: Alan Arkin, Arthur Dignam, Bill Hunter, Christopher Lee, David Argue, John Bluth...
During World War II, superhero Captain Invincible (Alan Arkin) helped us fight the cause and was called a hero. But soon after, he was labeled a commu... Read more
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
7.2/10
Director: Amy Heckerling
Starring: Anthony Edwards, Eric Stoltz, Forest Whitaker, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinh...
Students at a school in California try various ploys to loose their virginity in this engaging and funny comedy, helped along by some great performanc... Read more
They Call Me Bruce? (1982)
5.6/10
Director: Elliot Hong
Starring: Margaux Hemingway, Pam Huntington, Ralph Mauro, Johnny Yune
This crazy kung-fu parody stars Johnny Yune as a cook with an uncanny resemblance to a certain martial arts legend. When Yune unwittingly becomes a co... Read more
Ninja in the Dragon's Den (1982)
7.5/10
Director: Corey Yuen Kwai
Starring: Conan Lee, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tai Bo, Hwang Jang Lee
Conan Lee plays a smug martial artist who comes to the aid of his teacher when the old man is attacked by a ninja assassin (Hiroyuki Sanada). Turns o... Read more
Allo Allo!: Series 1 and 2 (1982)
8.6/10
Director: David Croft
Starring: Gorden Kaye, Carmen Silvera, Vicki Michelle, Richard Marner, Guy Siner, Kim Hart...
Rene (Gorden Kaye) is the long-suffering proprietor of a small cafe in occupied France. Juggling amorous waitresses, a jealous wife, the gestapo and... Read more
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982)
6.7/10
Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Jose Ferrer, Julie Hagerty, Mary Steenburgen, Mia Farrow, Tony Roberts, Woody Al...
A witty, affectionate film from Woody Allen, loosely based on Bergman's "Smiles of a Summer Night," that takes place on a weekend retreat at a turn-of... Read more
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
6.8/10
Director: Carl Reiner
Starring: Steve Martin, Rachel Ward, Reni Santoni, Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner's comic salute to the gumshoe noirs of the 1940s stars Steve Martin as Rigby Reardon, Private Eye and a scene-stealing Rachel Ward as a ha... Read more
Carry Me Back (1982)
6.1/10
Director: John Reid
Starring: Kelly Johnson, Dorothy McKegg, Grant Tilly, Derek Hardwick, Joanne Mildenhall, J...
An instant sucess when released in 1983. Like 'Goodbye Pork Pie' its bizarre but familiar and distinctly kiwi brand of comedy quickly struck a cord wi... Read more