University of Laughs (2004)

Director
Mamoru Hoshi

Main cast
Kōji Yakusho; Gorô Inagaki

Genres
Comedy

Description
In pre-war Japan, a government censor tries to make the writer for a theater troupe alter his comedic script. As they work with and against each other, the script ends up developing in unexpected ways.


Similar movies

Impelled by a spirit which still preserves a patina of idealism, Alfredo arrives to Madrid with the intention to create "a performance that is free, straight from the heart, capable of making people feel alive". His concept of what acting should be begins beyond the stage, out in the streets face to face with the public. Outdoors, in any town square, in a park or in the city's most commercial street, Alfredo and his troupe November start the show; demons to provoke passers-by, displays of social conscience, actions taken to the extreme to put the forces of law and order on full alert. There are no limits, no censorship; only ideas which are always valid so long as the public ceases to be the public and becomes part of the show swept by surprise, fear, tears or laughter. Theater as life, life as theater… there is no longer any difference.
An action epic that explores the origins of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force (better known as Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad,) who somehow become pitted in a battle over an immortal piece of exercise equipment.
An army of passionate women launch a revolution to "Free the Nipple" and decriminalize the female body. Based on a true story, this mass movement of topless women, armed with First Amendment lawyers, graffiti installations and national publicity stunts, invade New York City to protest the backwards censorship laws in the USA.
They sing, Rise, all living corpses, forget the prolonged time of chaos, drag the long shadow of curse and haunt all boring souls. A concourse where three streets meet, where everyone wants to come at least once in their lives. These ghosts work as concourse staff of a theater, where three streets meet during the day and at night, and throw a fantastic feast of dance and songs as ghosts. Midnight Ballad for Ghost Theater starts somewhat like Jim Sharman’s Rocky Horror Picture Show. However, as it travels through the history, this cult-like movie reveals the changing theater culture and dark shadow the past casts over the present. At the same time, it ventures into an odd time and space that combines Jean Cocteau-style surrealism, nightmare of Dr. Caligari and images that are often found in documentaries. Our Alice, who journeys through this wonderland of Lewis Carroll, is a girl named Sodan.
Drama critic Larry McKay, his wife Kay, and their four sons move from their crowded Manhattan apartment to an old house in the country. While housewife Kay settles into suburban life, Larry continues to enjoy the theater and party scene of New York. Kay soon begins to question Larry's fidelity when he mentions a flirtatious encounter with Broadway star Deborah Vaughn
El Cochecito is a 1960 Spanish black comedy film directed by Marco Ferreri. The film is based on Rafael Azcona's novel who co-wrote the script with Ferreri. The film was a huge flop when it was released in Spain, but nowadays is a cult classic. The film had troubles with Spanish censorship, that forced to change and cut the original ending.
After accidentally witnessing a mafia hit in the Windy City, gal pals Connie and Carla skip town for L.A., where they go way undercover as singers working the city's dinner theater circuit ... as drag queens. Now, it's not enough that they become big hits on the scene; things get extra-weird when Connie meets Jeff -- a guy she'd like to be a woman with
On the sidewalks of the London theater district the buskers (street performers) earn enough coins for a cheap room. Charles, who recites dramatic monologues, sees that a young pickpocket, Libby, also has a talent for dancing and adds her to his act. Harley, the theater patron who never knew Libby took his gold cigarette case, is impressed by Libby's dancing and invites her to bring Charles and the other buskers in his group to an after-the-play party. Libby comes alone. A theatrical career is launched.
A pair of slackers get in way over their heads when they try to dump the body of a dead girlfriend in the basement of a drive-in movie theater where a satanic cult performs ritual sacrifices.
A dancer disappears from a theater and then William Powell and society beauty Ginger Rogers solve the murder.
Academy Award winner Cary Grant (Honorary Award, 1970) is at his suave best as slick showman Jerry Flynn, a Broadway producer anxious to recapture the magic and reclaim the crowds after a set of costly flops. Outside his theater one night, Flynn meets a young boy who just might save the day. Inside a small box the boy shows Flynn his pride and joy: a caterpillar named Curly that dances to "Yes Sir, That's My Baby." Word quickly spreads about the amazingly talented hoofer, and the caterpillar becomes a symbol of hope for wartime America. Soon, offers are pouring in to capitalize on this sensational insect. Will Curly go Hollywood or will Flynn's get-rich-quicker quick scheme go to the bugs? Once Upon a Time is a furry fairy tale that's fun for the whole family.
Based on a true story, MRS RATCLIFFE'S REVOLUTION, is the tale of a family from Bingley in Yorkshire, who defect to East Germany. Here they find a nightmare of rationing, censorship and the most spied upon people in history rather than the Marxist utopia they were expecting. But if they thought getting in was difficult wait until they try to get out.
When the four boys see an R-rated movie featuring Canadians Terrance and Philip, they are pronounced "corrupted", and their parents pressure the United States to wage war against Canada.
Charlie Reader is a successful theater agent. He is also successful with young ladies. One day he is visited by his old friend Joe, married with three children. Joe falls in love with Charlie's girl Sylvia while Charlie spends his time with young actress Julie. Written by Mattias Thuresson
Agostino is de facto head of a censorship board whose double life as a nightclub owner might raise some questions as to his censorial judgment. The titular head of the organization is not that interested in running it himself, being more interested in women.
In the early Spanish Civil Post-war, in Madrid, during the most hard times of the Franco dictatorship, a group of second-rate players try to get out of their wretched lives taking advantage of the artistic caprices of the son of a rich man who supports the regime. They try to stage a Pre-war 'zarzuela' (a sort of Spanish operetta), 'La Corte Del Faraón', which ironically, thirty years later, is too obscene for the regime censorship. They finally manage to perform the 'zarzuela' but end up in the police station where they confirm that justice depends on which side are you on
A biographical documentary on the late great comedian Bill Hicks and his career; in particular the censorship by Letterman that scarred it.
A koala named Buster recruits his best friend to help him drum up business for his theater by hosting a singing competition.
For Ever Mozart is an episodic film that follows a theater troupe from France attempting to put on a play in Sarajevo. Along their journey they are captured and held in a POW camp, and they call for help from their friends and relations in France. Director Jean-Luc Godard presents stories about this troop to ask how one can make art while slaughters like the one in Bosnia are taking place, and he throws in a strong critique of the European Union. For Ever Mozart is one of Godard's most disjointed and difficult films. Its stories sometimes seem to form a whole and at other times the links among them are unclear. One gets the impression that in each episode Godard attempts to start a film only to come to the conclusion that it is impossible to continue. It features some of the most beautiful shots of tanks in the cinema.
A movie-theater employee adjusts to a new life after the cinema he worked at for over 25 years is forced to shut down.
Set 18 months after movie "Library Wars." After the government's enactment of the Media Betterment Act, battles wage between the Betterment Squads and the Library Defense. The Library Defense resists censorship and advocates freedom of expression. The biggest battle awaits for the Library Defense.
Me and Orson Welles is a period-drama film directed by Richard Linklater and starring Zac Efron, Christian McKay and Claire Danes. Based on Robert Kaplow's novel of the same name, the story, set in 1937 New York, tells of a teenager hired to star in Orson Welles' production of Julius Caesar, where he becomes attracted to a career-driven production assistant.
A queen has a stepdaughter named Baby Love, whom she wants to sell as a bride to the highest bidder. Four individuals present themselves to the castle to contribute to a kind of auction, but the girl, route to all sexual experiences while still a virgin, prefers to set out and lose virginity with a young knife thrower who is, incidentally, also the queen's lover. Kidnapped, finally, by an actor of avant-garde theater, Baby Love chooses to live with him in a hermitage, while mother and buyers remain with egg on the face?
When Kermit the Frog and the Muppets learn that their beloved theater is slated for demolition, a sympathetic human, Gary, and his puppet roommate, Walter, swoop in to help the gang put on a show and raise the $10 million they need to save the day.
Corky St. Clair is a director, actor and dancer in Blaine, Missouri. When it comes time to celebrate Blaine's 150th anniversary, Corky resolves to bring down the house in Broadway style in this hilarious mockumentary from the people who brought you "This is Spinal Tap!"
The Brothers Bloom are the best con men in the world, swindling millionaires with complex scenarios of lust and intrigue. Now they've decided to take on one last job - showing a beautiful and eccentric heiress the time of her life with a romantic adventure that takes them around the world.
An American reporter smuggling news out of Soviet Moscow is blackmailed into helping a beautiful Communist leave the country.
In search of an emissary to represent the American theater at an arts expo in Paris, a State Department bureaucrat (Ray Bolger) invites Ethel Barrymore to appear -- too bad her invitation is sent to chorus girl Ethel "Dynamite" Jackson (Doris Day) instead! Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Miss Jackson hightails it to Paris -- with the bureaucrat in pursuit. A plethora of song-and-dance numbers ensues in this Sammy Cahn-scored musical.
For the first time in history a woman is appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where she becomes a friendly rival to a liberal associate.
Goodbye, Dragon Inn is set in the approximately ninety minutes of the last feature at an old Taipei cinema that is closing down, showing King Hu's 1967 sword-fighting classic Dragon Inn. Only a few people are present in the cinema, and a variety of subplots are developed around them. Throughout the film, the ticket woman tries to find the projectionist, searching for him in order to present him with a steamed bun. A young Japanese tourist wanders around the cinema in search of a homosexual encounter. An older man tells him that the cinema is haunted. An old man, who was one of the actors who appeared in the original Dragon Inn, watches the film with tears in his eyes. Outside the theater, he encounters an older man who had been watching the film with his grandson; this man also starred in the original film. The film is shot with almost no camera movement, most shots lasting well over thirty seconds. There are only about a dozen of lines of dialogue.
During the seventies, the massive arrival of television in the Brazilian countryside puts in jeopardy the business of running small movie theaters. Francisgleydisson is the owner of Cine Holliudy, and he must be extremely creative to keep his passion for cinema alive.
A Jewish-American Princess is forced to take control of a hard-core hip-hop record label and tries to rein the one of the label's most controversial rappers.
George's partner in vaudeville quits their act, claiming that Betty has broken his heart. George then teams up with Charlie, a stranded trouper, and Irving becomes their manager. Later, in New York, the "Two Black Crows" star in their own revue and save money to build their own theater on Broadway. Betty comes to the theater with her lover, who poses as a cousin and induces George to hire her. He showers her with jewels and money. She tries to persuade George to invest in oil stock her lover is selling, and though their act is a success, Charlie fires Betty. When Charlie and Betty's lover quarrel, Charlie is injured.
A theater company rehearses Aristophanes play "Lysistrata" in which the Athenian women revolt to force the men to suspend the war and make peace. The three leading female actresses, Liz, Marianne and Gunilla, all live in humiliating circumstances to their men.
A 50 year-old woman who analyses her past. She pictures herself when she was 20 years old and she re-creates the story of her life through a game of innumerous possibilities... What if she wouldn't have gone to that ball? What if... instead of meeting the man of her life, with whom she married and had kids, she would have called a girlfriend and they went to the theater? What would be her destiny? What would have happened? In the plot the present talks to the past. A young woman projects her future in a fascinating game between memories and desires.
It's the closing night at the last drive-in theater in America and Cecil B. Kaufman has planned the ultimate marathon of lost film prints to unleash upon his faithful cinephile patrons. Four films so rare that they have never been exhibited publicly on American soil until this very night! With titles like Wadzilla, Deathecation, The Diary of Anne Frankenstein, and Zom-B-Movie, Chillerama not only celebrates the golden age of drive-in B horror shlock but also spans over four decades of cinema with something for every bad taste.
Unemployed and recently dumped, Mitch and his buddy Sam start a revenge-for-hire business to raise the $50,000 that Sam's father needs to get a heart transplant. The dirty duo brings down a movie theater manager and hires hookers to pose as dead bodies during a live TV ad. When a wealthy developer hires the guys to trash a building (so that he can have it condemned), problems arise and a feud ensues.
A philandering cab driver decides to help his girlfriend's attractive sister, who is in trouble with drug dealers.
Kaan and Mete, co-hosts of a mid 1990s radio show called Kaybedenler Kulübü (Losers' Club), struggle to deal with their daily lives after their show becomes an instant hit. Kaan meets Zeynep, the girl of his dreams, but their relationship comes under pressure as the show continues to stir controversy and attract fans from every segment of Istanbul society.
A fantastical re-imagining of the events of 1979, when Monty Python made Life of Brian and the debate about what is an acceptable subject for comedy was blown wide open.
With only 12 percent of its pupils obtaining their baccalaureate, Jules Ferry High School is the worst school in France. The Inspector of Schools has already exhausted all the conventional means to raise standards at the school and he has no choice but to take the advice of his deputy. It is a case of having to fight fire with fire: the worst pupils must be taught by the worst teachers...
Constance Shaw, a Broadway dance star, and Joseph Rivington Reynolds, a keen fan of hers, marry after she breaks up with her fiancé. Connie thinks Joseph owns a gold mine, but he actually works as a presser at a hotel valet shop. When everyone learns what he really is, Joseph is banned from the theater. When he sneaks in again, he learns of a plot to set off a bomb in the adjoining munitions warehouse.
A small town of Central America in the eighteenth century. Camilla, the star of a theater company, hesitates between three men. The Vice King gives her his magnificent golden coach. A young Spanish officer suggests the two of them settle down together among Indians. Ramon, a torero, offers her a share of his glory.
This live taping of Nick Offerman's hilarious one-man show at New York's historic Town Hall theater features a collection of anecdotes, songs, and woodworking/oral sex techniques.
Sam Persson is released from a mental hospital. He goes to Stockholm to meet a man he hates, theater manager Stig Brender. In Brender's office they get into a fight and Persson falls down dead. Brender uses his car to get rid of the body in a park. However, the following day he is visited by police inspector Envall, who wants to talk to him. Brender's lies and strange behavior is no match for some thorough police work. Plot summary by Mattias Thuresson.
SABATO (first episode): A company receives the visit of a very very important person. This person works for a biggest Japanese society, and this encounter is decisive for the small Italian company. DOMENICA (second episode): After a hard day of job, a man returns in it's house for sleep. But a series of facts hinder this, and the poor man does not succeed to sleep. VENERDI (third episode): A famous and rich creator of sexy ballets have various problems with a dancer. She want to leave the theater and marry a Mafia man.
Buddy Buddy is a 1981 American comedy film directed by Billy Wilder that stars Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Paula Prentiss and Klaus Kinski. The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is based on the 1973 French language film L'Emmerdeur, which screenwriter Francis Veber had adapted from his play Le contrat. The film proved to be the last directed by Wilder.
Kiss Me, Petruchio follows actress Meryl Streep and actor Raul Julia as they prepare to perform Shakespeare's comedy "The Taming of the Shrew" for the "Shakespeare in the Park" theater festival.
Ivy League Freshman, Aaron Milton (17) gets a different kind of education when he falls for Linda (34) a vivacious former wild-child who has returned to college to straighten out her life. The curriculum gets more challenging when Aaron meets Linda's sarcastic 14 year-old daughter, Beth - who quickly develops a crush on him. The math doesn't work in either direction but the dysfunctional triangle becomes a learning experience for all involved.
A group of thieves and outcasts are living in a big abandoned movie theater where they have created a very friendly and very particular universe. The police will use all its resources to violate their space, but again and again fail in their attempts.
Simon Phoenix, a violent criminal cryogenically frozen in 1996, has escaped during a parole hearing in 2032 in the utopia of San Angeles. Police are incapable of dealing with his violent ways and turn to his captor, John Spartan, who had also been cryogenically frozen when wrongfully accused of killing 30 innocent people while apprehending Phoenix.
This ensemble comedy follows the Pullham University Bluecocks, a small liberal arts college with a Division III football program (the lowest division in the NCAA). When the head coach unexpectedly dies, the future of the flailing football program is in jeopardy, as they have not had a winning season in decades. In a desperate attempt to create some media attention for the athletic program and the university, President Georgia Anne Whistler hires known lunatic and felon, Coach Rick Vice, for what could be the football programs final season.
College coeds in New York City, Al, the son of a celebrity chef, and Imogen, a talented artist, become smitten the second they lay eyes on one another at a bar. However, the road to happiness is not a smooth one. Outside forces, including a predatory porn star who wants to lure Al into her bed, threaten to pull apart the young lovers before their romance has a chance to really flourish.
A team of exorcists are sent into an old theater that is rumored to have been the site of a great tragedy during its construction.
Through the conversation with Yugoslav film authors and excepts from their films, this documentary tells a story of a film phenomenon and censorship, and its focus is, in fact, a painful epoch of Yugoslav film called "Black Wave". The film tells a great «thriller» story of the ideological madness which characterized the totalitarian psychology.
She searched for a home, she searched for love. Confronted by Apartheid and a father who was Minister of censorship. With men like Jack Cope and Andre Brink she found much love, but no home. In his first speech to the South African Parliament Nelson Mandela read her poem "The Dead Child of Nyanga" and addresses her as one of the finest poets of South Africa.
A troupe of struggling stage actors is rehearsing for a small-town production of a play. Everything seems to be as it should until one of the cast members turns up dead. In a panic, the others try to get out, only to find they are now locked in the theater with the killer! Which one of them committed the murder, and who will get out alive?
This is a bizarre film, almost completely melodramatic. The screenplay by Howard Koch is based on the 1941 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same title by Ellen Glasgow.Completed in 1942 after the US had joined the war, the film was disapproved in 1943 for foreign release by the wartime Office of Censorship, because it dealt truthfully with racial discrimination as part of its plot. It was Huston's second movie and as he put it: “It was the first time [in an American film], I believe, that a black character was presented as anything other than a good and faithful servant or comic relief.”.
A man's story parallels Hitler's rise. Austrian Klaus Schneider, wounded in World War I, recovers in the care of Dr. Emil Bettleheim. Bettleheim discovers that Schneider possesses powers of empathy and of clairvoyance, such that could aid suicidal patients. After the war, with one friend as his manager and another as his lover, Schneider changes his name to Eric Jan Hanussen and goes to Berlin, as a hypnotist and clairvoyant performing in halls and theaters. He always speaks the truth, which brings him to the attention of powerful Nazis. He predicts their rise (good propaganda for them) and their violence (not so good). He's in pain and at risk. What is Hanussen's future?
The Falklands Play is a dramatic account of the political events leading up to, and including, the 1982 Falklands War. The play was written by Ian Curteis, an experienced writer who had started his television career in drama, but had increasingly come to specialise in dramatic reconstructions of history. It was originally commissioned by the BBC in 1983, for production and broadcast in 1986, but was subsequently shelved by Controller of BBC One Michael Grade due to its alleged pro-Margaret Thatcher stance and jingoistic tone. This prompted a press furore over media bias and censorship.The play was not staged until 2002, when it was broadcast in separate adaptations on BBC Television and Radio.

© Valossa 2015–2024