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Category Archives: Comedy

The Blue Collar Worker and the Hairdresser in a Whirl of Sex and Politics (1996)

13 Jun

101m; Italy

Director: Lina Wertmüller

Cast: Tullio Solenghi, Gene Gnocchi and Veronica Pivetti

Synopsis (Amazon): It’s spontaneous combustion when Tunin meets Rossella at a victory rally the night of the hotly contested election. She’s a right wing pro-business zealot. He’s a leftist labor organizer whose libido shifts into overdrive the moment he sees the fiery Rossella. Tunin’s determined to seduce her, but Rossella conceives her own plan to deal with the self-centered Lothario. Only two obstacles stand in the way of a blissful union – their politics and his wife. Passion and politics run amok in this delightfully sexy farce, the latest from director Lina Wertmuller.

 
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Posted by on June 13, 2012 in Big Business/Corporations, Collective Bargaining, Comedy, Communism/Socialism, Organizing

 

Working Girl (1988)

13 Jun

113m; U.S.

Director: Mike Nichols

Cast: Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver

Synopsis (IMDB): Tess McGill is a frustrated secretary, struggling to forge ahead in the world of big business in New York. She gets her chance when her boss breaks her leg on a skiing holiday. McGill takes advantage of her absence to push ahead with her career. She teams up with investment broker Jack Trainer to work on a big deal. The situation is complicated after the return of her boss.

 
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Posted by on June 13, 2012 in Big Business/Corporations, Comedy, Drama, Finance, Romance, Women

 

Xala (1975)

13 Jun

123m; Senegal, Africa

Director: Ousmane Sembene

Cast: Thierno Leye, Myriam Niang and Seune Samb

Synopsis (IMDB): It is the dawn of Senegal’s independence from France, but as the citizens celebrate in the streets we soon become aware that only the faces have changed. White money still controls the government. One official, Aboucader Beye, known by the title “El Hadji,” takes advantage of some of that money to marry his third wife, to the sorrow and chagrin of his first two wives and the resentment of his nationalist daughter. But he discovers on his wedding night that he has been struck with a “xala,” a curse of impotence. El Hadji goes to comic lengths to find the cause and remove the xala, resulting in a scathing satirical ending.

 
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Posted by on June 13, 2012 in Comedy

 

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Zoolander (2001)

13 Jun

89m; U.S.

Director: Ben Stiller

Cast: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell

Synopsis (IMDB): Derek Zoolander is VH1’s three time male model of the year, but when Hansel wins the award instead, Zoolander’s world becomes upside down. His friends disappear, his father is disappointed in him, and he feels that he’s not good as a model anymore. But when evil fashion guru Mugato hires Zoolander, he thinks his life has turned back round again, that is until he finds out that Mugato has actually brainwashed him to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Can Zoolander and his new friends find out how to prevent the incident before it’s too late?

 
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Posted by on June 13, 2012 in Comedy

 

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What Have The Unions Ever Done For Us? (2009)

13 Jun

2m; Australia

Director: Manic Studios

Synopsis: Riffing on the “What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?” skit from Monty Python’s Life of Brian this is a very funny skit where a bunch of business executives list off all the benefits unions have provided over the decades.

Contact: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=184NTV2CE_c

 
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Posted by on June 13, 2012 in Available Online, Big Business/Corporations, Collective Bargaining, Comedy, Organizing, Streaming Online (Youtube, Vimeo)

 

The Trainee (2006)

13 Jun

9m; Singapore

Director: Craig Rosenthal

Synopsis: This amusing Asian short revolves around a loser whose efforts to rob a convenience store are foiled by his own repeated stupidity.

Contact: Youtube link to the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYTWpbanE2M Found on 2007 Palm Springs Shorts Film Fest: http://www.psfilmfest.org/festival/film/detail.aspx?id=19323&FID=31 hellocraigrosenthal@gmail.com

 
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Posted by on June 13, 2012 in Available Online, Comedy, Crime-Action, Streaming Online (Youtube, Vimeo)

 

The Trotsky (2009)

04 Jun

120m; Canada

Director: Jacob Tierney

Cast: Liane Balaban, Jay Baruchel and Taylor Baruchel

Synopsis: Leon Bronstein is a high school student in Montreal West who is absolutely convinced he is the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky.  After leading a hunger strike with some of his fellow private school peers against his father, the owner of a textile factory who will not allow the workers to unionize, Leon is sent to public school.  There he finds apathy, but also potential and begins to organize a student union, while also pursuing an older woman he is convinced he must marry.  A very funny and smart film that includes a lot of genuine moments about the power of organizing, and a lot of jokes about labor and left-wing history.

Trailer

 
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Posted by on June 4, 2012 in Collective Bargaining, Comedy, Communism/Socialism, Education, Labor History, Netflix Watch Instantly, Organizing, Romance, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts

 

The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

07 May

99m; U.S.

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Cast: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart and Frank Morgan

Synopsis (IMDB): In Budapest, Hungary, the Matuschek and Company store is owned by Mr. Hugo Matuschek and the bachelor Alfred Kralik is his best and most experienced salesman. When Klara Novak seeks a job position of saleswoman in the store, Matuschek hires her but Kralik and she do not tolerate each other. Meanwhile the lonely and dedicated Kralik has an unknown pen pal that he intends to propose very soon; however, he is fired without explanation by Matuschek in the night that he is going to meet his secret love. He goes to the bar where they have scheduled their meeting with his colleague Pirovitch and he surprisingly finds that Klara is his correspondent; however, ashamed with the unemployment, he does not disclose his identity to her. When Matuschek discovers that he had misjudged Kralik and committed a mistake, he hires him again for the position of manager. But Klara is still fascinated with her future fiancé and does not pay much attention to Kralik.

 
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Posted by on May 7, 2012 in Comedy, Drama, Romance, Unemployment-Wages, Working Class

 

We Can Do That (Si Puo Fare) [2008]

07 May

111m; Italy

Director: Giulio Manfredonia

Cast: Claudio Bisio, Anita Caprioli and Giuseppe Battiston

Synopsis: Soulful and funny, We Can Do That is a kind of modern fairytale with dramas, downfall, and unexpected success, which helped it become a huge box-office success in Italy. In Milan in 1983, trade unionist Nello is too leftist for his publisher and too right-wing for his girlfriend. Sent to run a cooperative of mental patients, Nello decides to organize them into a practical workforce. The group decides that installing mosaic parquet floors is the best option. It’s Nello’s exceptional patience that allows him to deal with the multitude of idiosyncrasies, turning each patient’s particular eccentricity into a valuable skill. Soon, the workers become sought-after specialists and are making real money—and then making demands! The co-op starts this adventure of normality with touching naivety, but not everyone is ready to confront reality. This moving, inspiring story is balanced with good humor and understanding so that we may all laugh with, and not at, common human foibles.

Contact: Rizzoli Audiovisivi Rizzoliaudiovisivi.it

 
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Posted by on May 7, 2012 in Collective Bargaining, Comedy, Communism/Socialism, Drama, Organizing, Romance

 

Sicko (2007)

07 May

123m; U.S.

Director: Michael Moore

Cast: Michael Moore, Tucker Albrizzi and Tony Benn

Synopsis (IMDB): Documentary look at health care in the United States as provided by profit-oriented health maintenance organizations (HMOs) compared to free, universal care in Canada, the U.K., and France. Moore contrasts U.S. media reports on Canadian care with the experiences of Canadians in hospitals and clinics there. He interviews patients and doctors in the U.K. about cost, quality, and salaries. He examines why Nixon promoted HMOs in 1971, and why the Clintons’ reform effort failed in the 1990s. He talks to U.S. ex-pats in Paris about French services, and he takes three 9/11 clean-up volunteers, who developed respiratory problems, to Cuba for care. He asks of Americans, “Who are we?”

 
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Posted by on May 7, 2012 in Comedy, Documentary, Politics, Safety & Health

 

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