Comedy

Bilike has never seen a ping-pong ball before. He and his family live without electricity and running water in a solitary tent home among the vast steppe grasslands. The magnificent landscape here has changed little since the days of Genghis Kahn. But life in the middle of nowhere can be exciting for a young boy. The smallest of details become big events for curious Bilike and his best friends Erguotou and Dawa. The mystery of the small white ball floating in the creek leads to questions about the world around them, as well as innocent mischief. Bilike’s grandmother says the ball is a glowing pearl from heaven. But the boys are sceptical after waiting all night outdoors for the ball to light up. Since nobody has an idea about the odd white object, they trek to the faraway monastery to consult the wise lamas. But even the grasslands’ most knowledgeable inhabitants are stumped. While watching the new TV-set Dawa’s father has won, the boys learn about pingpong.
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Thomas is a young agoraphobic man; he’s afraid of coming to any kind of contact with other people, so he lives totally isolated in his apartment. The story takes place in the near future where everything can be done through computers, so Thomas hasn’t left his apartment for eight straight years. However, although his life seems complete, he misses human contact, so his psychoanalyst consults him to meet a woman through some on-line service. Is it possible for Thomas to fall in love with a woman? And if so, is he going to get out of his apartment for that woman?
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In LA, Jason Lair is recently separated, living with his grandfather and his son; he’s a banker, tense, with a limp. Grandfather Henry, an archaeologist, wants to take the family van on a trip to Albuquerque. His plans are interrupted when Turner, Jason’s father and Henry’s son, appears after years of absence. Henry wants to celebrate family, as does Zach, Jason’s son; Jason is angry and distant, Turner seems detached and says he’s got a bus to catch in the morning. This prompts Henry to put in place an elaborate plan that will send his “tribe” on that VW bus trip to New Mexico sorting out relationships and digging up a crippled family history. Dust and dogs figure prominently.
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Two lazy screenwriters need a story for the studio’s cowboy star. A studio waitress turns out to be pregnant. This gives them the idea for a movie about a cowboy and a baby. The waitress’s baby becomes the star. The cowboy and his agent run off with the waitress and her valuable asset. The writers retaliate by hiring an unemployed extra to impersonate the baby’s father. But the extra already knows the waitress…
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The Louisiana wedding of debutante Phoebe Ann Naylor to Don Andrea de Baldasar, El Duce de la Casala is stopped by the Cavalry over a matter of honor. Don Andrea flees across the river to Texas, where he meets up with Sam Hollis and his Indian sidekick, Kronk, who are carrying rifles to the town of Moccasin Flats. Don Andrea rescues an Indian maiden, Lonetta, tames some longhorns, competes with Sam for Phoebe’s affections, eludes a Comanche war party and the cavalry (who have come to Moccasin Flats to celebrate Texas’ statehood) and ultimately saves the town and gets his girl.
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Circus tells the story of an American named Marion who is banished from the US because a black man impregnates her. Marion escapes to Russia to start a new life in the circus and joins up with lustful, anti-Russian ringmaster who happens to be in love with her. The ringmaster knows her secret about the black baby and threatens to reveal it unless she marries him. The problem is that Marion has fallen in love with a Russian acrobat and later out of sheer jealousy, the ringmaster reveals the identity of the woman’s child in front of the circus audience.
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Californian lawyer Bill McKay fights for the little man. His charisma and integrity get him noticed by the Democratic Party machine and he is persuaded to run for the Senate against an apparently unassailable incumbent. It’s agreed he can handle it his own way, on his own terms. But once he’s in the race and his prospects begin to improve, the deal starts to change.
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Dr. Amusa approaches Dortmunder about a valuable gem in a museum that is of great signifigance to his people in Africa, stolen during colonial times. Dortmunder assembles a crack team of cat burglars and hatches an elaborate plan for stealing the gem. Despite their care and experience, circumstances and plain bad luck keep the gem just out of their reach.
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Three college dropouts trying to make ends meet in Graz, Austria. One day they get the ultimate job offer: to shoot an amateur porn video. It sounds like good money, sexual adventure, and just plain fun. Despite a few initial difficulties, the three friends develop an almost fierce ambition to achieve their goal. But love, embarrassment, and technical difficulties get in the way.
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In this comedy, set during the Nazi occupation of France, Peter Sellers plays most major male parts, so he stars in nearly every scene, always bumbling in inspector Clouseau-style. As British Major Robinson he is hidden in Madame Grenier’s Parisian brothel, right under the nose of the Nazi clients, such as Gestapo agent Herr Schroeder (again him). As Général Latour he leads the French resistance, which includes the brothel madam -made a colonel in charge of her sexy ‘troops’- and a priest, and is joined by young US diplomat Alan Cassidy. As Japanese imperial Prince Kyoto he becomes a target for the resistance in a monastery on his way to Hitler (again him). At the end he decorates the heroes as French president.
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