Joshua Daniel Movies
The "nature-nurture" theory that motivated so many Three Stooges comedies is the basis of John Landis's hit comedy. The fabulously wealthy but morally bankrupt Duke brothers (Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche) make a one-dollar bet over heredity vs. environment. Curious as to what might happen if different lifestyles were reversed, they arrange for impoverished street hustler Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) to be placed in the lap of luxury and trained for a cushy career in commodities brokerage. Simultaneously, they set about to reduce aristocratic yuppie Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd to poverty and disgrace, hiring a prostitute (Jamie Lee Curtis) to hasten his downfall. When Billy Ray figures out that the brothers intend to dump him back on the streets once their experiment is complete, he seeks out Winthorpe, and together the pauper-turned-prince and prince-turned-pauper plot an uproarious revenge. With the good-hearted prostitute and Winthorpe's faithful butler (Denholm Elliott) as their accomplices, they set about to hit the brothers where it really hurts: in the pocketbook. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, (more)
Carrie meets Porky's as Charles in Charge co-stars Scott Baio and Willie Aames re-team for this mischievous-minded teen comedy about a hormonal high school science student suddenly bestowed with telekinetic powers. Emerson High School genius Barney Springboro (Baio) has a keen understanding of the periodic table of the elements, and a curious knack for experimentation. One day, while Barney is conducting a particularly sensitive experiment in horticulture, the lab is suddenly set ablaze, and his dreams appear to go up in flames. But any scientist will tell you that some of the best discoveries appear from the ashes of failure, and when Barney realizes that he now possesses the power of telekinesis his high school life suddenly becomes a lot more interesting. Of course the jocks don't stand a chance against a geek who can knock out a home run with the power of his mind, and as Barney's hormones take hold the skirts begin to flip and the tops begin to pop. Now, as the senior prom draws near, Barney does his best to land a date for the dance as his horrified parents put in a call to the local exorcist, his best friend Peyton (Aames) joins in on the fun, and a local reporter attempts to break the biggest story this small town has ever known. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Baio, Willie Aames, (more)
Based on the writings and experiences of "gonzo" journalist Hunter S. Thompson, Where the Buffalo Roam details the adventures of Thompson (Bill Murray) and his attorney (Peter Boyle), whose character is rewritten as Mexican-American rather than Samoan, as they pillage and plunder their way across America on a drunken, drug-saturated mission to...well, their mission is as yet undetermined, but they set about it anyway. Highlights include a staged broadcast of the Super Bowl from Thompson's hotel room and a scene in which he escapes from the police with a little help from his trusty sidekick. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Boyle, Bill Murray, (more)
- 1980
- PG
Ever wonder what happens to your car when you give it to a parking lot attendant? Find out in this zany slapstick comedy set in an exclusive Beverly Hills Hotel. There the attendants gleefully smash and bash the expensive cars of patrons while trying to get them parked. The story really perks up when an enamored and fabulously wealthy sheik joins the attendants in hopes of attracting a certain beautiful woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1978
- Add National Lampoon's Animal House to QueueAdd National Lampoon's Animal House to top of Queue
Director John Landis put himself on the map with this low-budget, fabulously successful comedy, which made a then-astounding 62 million dollars and started a slew of careers for its cast in the process. National Lampoon's Animal House is set in 1962 on the campus of Faber College in Faber, PA. The first glimpse we get of the campus is the statue of its founder Emil Faber, on the base of which is inscribed the motto, "Knowledge Is Good." Incoming freshmen Larry "Pinto" Kroger (Tom Hulce) and Kent "Flounder" Dorfman (Stephen Furst) find themselves rejected by the pretentious Omega fraternity, and instead pledge to Delta House. The Deltas are a motley fraternity of rejects and maladjusted undergraduates (some approaching their late twenties) whose main goal -- seemingly accomplished in part by their mere presence on campus -- is disrupting the staid, peaceful, rigidly orthodox, and totally hypocritical social order of the school, as represented by the Omegas and the college's dean, Vernon Wormer (John Vernon). Dean Wormer decides that this is the year he's going to get the Deltas expelled and their chapter decertified; he places the fraternity on "double secret probation" and, with help from Omega president Greg Marmalard (James Daughton) and hard-nosed member Doug Neidermeyer (Mark Metcalf), starts looking for any pretext on which to bring the members of the Delta fraternity up on charges.
The Deltas, oblivious to the danger they're in, are having a great time, steeped in irreverence, mild debauchery, and occasional drunkenness, led by seniors Otter (Tim Matheson), Hoover (James Widdoes), D-Day (Bruce McGill), Boon (Peter Riegert), and pledge master John "Bluto" Blutarsky (John Belushi). They're given enough rope to hang themselves, but even then manage to get into comical misadventures on a road trip (where they arrange an assignation with a group of young ladies from Emily Dickinson University). Finally, they are thrown out of school, and, as a result, stripped of their student deferments (and, thus, eligible for the draft). They decide to commit one last, utterly senseless (and screamingly funny) slapstick act of rebellion, making a shambles of the university's annual homecoming parade, and, in the process, getting revenge on the dean, the Omegas, and everyone else who has ever gone against them. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
The Deltas, oblivious to the danger they're in, are having a great time, steeped in irreverence, mild debauchery, and occasional drunkenness, led by seniors Otter (Tim Matheson), Hoover (James Widdoes), D-Day (Bruce McGill), Boon (Peter Riegert), and pledge master John "Bluto" Blutarsky (John Belushi). They're given enough rope to hang themselves, but even then manage to get into comical misadventures on a road trip (where they arrange an assignation with a group of young ladies from Emily Dickinson University). Finally, they are thrown out of school, and, as a result, stripped of their student deferments (and, thus, eligible for the draft). They decide to commit one last, utterly senseless (and screamingly funny) slapstick act of rebellion, making a shambles of the university's annual homecoming parade, and, in the process, getting revenge on the dean, the Omegas, and everyone else who has ever gone against them. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Belushi, Tim Matheson, (more)
- 1978
A high-school boy's ho-hum summer at the beach turns into a dream-come-true when he is befriended by a beautiful but depressed singer whose career is on the wane. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Suzanne Somers, Steven Keats, (more)
