51
votes
Accepted
How do actors control laughter in comedy scenes?
Practise and familiarity.
The actors will already know the lines by heart. The first couple of blocking run-throughs, even before camera is set up, will let them get over most remaining giggles. You'd ...
40
votes
Accepted
Looking for a movie of about futuristic city and alien society
I believe you're looking for the movie The Fifth Element 1997 starring Bruce Willis.
It features flying cars/ Aliens and lots of futuristic tech. It has a scene at the beginning where Aliens visit a ...
21
votes
Accepted
Teenage Boy gives Counselling Sessions in the Bathroom
This sounds like Charlie Bartlett.
Let's look at the trailer...
High school boy - Check
Rich - Check
Private to Public school - Check
Wears uniform and not well ...
17
votes
Why is Hollywood not casting Jim Carrey anymore?
There are plenty of reasons, as shown in this article on Looper:
He's too much of a risk
He's not as much of a box office draw as he used to be
He stopped promoting Kick-Ass 2
His method ...
15
votes
Accepted
What's the meaning behind this joke in George Carlin's 1977 HBO special?
You have to look at different versions/transcripts to get the full meaning of that passage. While I haven't seen that particular one, I have heard this skit in a different format:
Or sometimes if ...
13
votes
Accepted
Movie about a bridge accident, people dying horribly and premonition
This is Final Destination 5 (2011)
Sam Lawton is on his way to a company retreat with his colleagues. While their bus crosses the North Bay Bridge, Sam has a ...
11
votes
1980's/1990's French comedy with a person who can't be captured in a photograph
This is the plot of Zig Zag Story from 1983.
The lives of three Parisians - a color-blind painter, a radio show host and a perverted photographer - intertwine and go hilariously out of control. A ...
11
votes
Accepted
Old comedy/spy movie where the heroine is a much better fighter than the leading man
I can say with strong certainty that the film you are referring to is called 'Don't just stand there' (1968). The film stars Robert Wagner and the woman that performs the fighting is the busty, ...
10
votes
Accepted
Is Leslie Nielsen's distinction between a comedian and a comic actually insightful, or is he just telling a joke here?
Time magazine did a story about Michael J Fox appearing on the TV show Spin City. The essence of the article was that Fox understood what it meant to be a comedic actor, as opposed to the explosion ...
9
votes
Accepted
What is the name of this military coup comedy set in a Latin American country?
This is April Captains (AKA Capitães de Abril) (2000).
Story of the 1974 coup that overthrew the right-wing Portuguese dictatorship--which continued the fascist policies of long-time dictator Antonio ...
8
votes
Why do criminals whistle after doing something?
TVTropes defines this as the Not-So-Innocent Whistle
In media of all types, especially comics and cartoons, the "innocent" whistle is a main staple, often played for humor. Alice, feeling ...
8
votes
Why is Hollywood not casting Jim Carrey anymore?
In 2013 he ended his relationship with his agents/managers Eric Gold and Jimmy Miller - they had represented him for the prior 25 years of his career.
The following year he signed with Rick Yorn's ...
8
votes
Is Leslie Nielsen's distinction between a comedian and a comic actually insightful, or is he just telling a joke here?
Roger Ebert in a review of The Naked Gun 33 1/3:
It would be fatal to the movie if [Neilsen] ever betrayed the slightest suggestion that [he knew] funny things are going on.
He doesn't know that his ...
7
votes
Accepted
What is the connection between Key and Peele's 'Continental breakfast' and the movie 'The Shining'?
Here are the references that I found:
1. Room 237
When Jordan Peele's character walks into the hotel, the concierge tells him that he will be staying in room 237. This is a direct reference to the ...
7
votes
Accepted
What cancelled ABC (US) TV show is Seth Meyers talking about in this comedic monologue?
He is referencing the 2018 revival of the 1988 sitcom Roseanne, which was cancelled after its star, Roseanne Barr, made questionable comments on twitter.
7
votes
Accepted
Origin and purpose of Gandolfini's "Life is short" apparent life insurance ad that recently emerged?
This is a commercial for the HBO-owned TV station yes Oh.
The TV Advert titled James Gandolfini was done by McCann advertising agency for YES in Israel. It was released on July 2012.
https://www....
6
votes
Accepted
Old black-and-white political comedy about a young idealist running for Mayor
This seems to be the American B&W comedy The Reformer and the Redhead from 1950.
Hot-tempered Kathleen Maguire enlists the services of a young attorney to help her zookeeper father get his job ...
6
votes
What makes a comedy series a sitcom?
Situational Comedy
A sitcom, short for "situation comedy", is a genre of comedy centered
on a fixed set of characters who carry over from episode to episode.
Sitcoms can be contrasted with ...
6
votes
Accepted
Looking for a funny and inspirational hindi movie
The movie is Shivaji The boss(2007) with Rajnikanth as the lead role. It was a Tamil movie dubbed into Telugu, Hindi. You might have watched the Hindi dubbed version of the movie.
In the movie, the ...
5
votes
Accepted
How do companies like Netflix find sufficiently skilled comedy translators to translate comedians like Ricky Gervais into 160 different languages?
According to Netflix they use third parties to locate and hire translaters.
In the absence of a common registration scheme and standardized test, how do you find the best resources to do quality ...
4
votes
Accepted
Teen comedy movie from the 80's or 90's with a piano teacher
This must be a raunchy Israeli comedy called Hot Bubblegum from 1981.
Three high school seniors preparing for final exams in the early 1960s have the normal teenage concerns about girls, sex and ...
4
votes
Accepted
Chained up in the basement movie, comedy (maybe)?
This is the plot of TV movie Hitched from 2001 that starred Anthony Michael Hall and Sheryl Lee. From TCM's synposis:
Ted and Eve are newlyweds who have recently purchased a new home, complete with a ...
4
votes
Accepted
"My little Trump" - Is Frank referring to Donald Trump during Nazi report?
Is Frank referring to Donald Trump?
Yes.
I would just like to say I am not all for Trump, I am simply expressing my opinion on this.
In the ending credits of the episode, Chuckie Slott got himself in ...
4
votes
Accepted
Can you identify an Indian comedy about a shy man disguised as an extrovert dancer?
Rab ne Bana di jodi
A middle-aged man who lost his love for life rediscovers it by assuming a new identity in order to rekindle the romantic spark in his marriage.
4
votes
Accepted
Looking for an old comedy film set in the American Civil War -- a bunch of oddball soldiers being gathered for a special unit
I think this is Advance to the Rear (1964) also known as Company of Cowards with Glenn Ford and Stella Stevens
Wikipedia
Union Colonel Claude Brackenbury has a cozy arrangement with his Confederate ...
4
votes
How do actors control laughter in comedy scenes?
Having a prop to cover your face or give you an excuse to turn away could be useful.
Dudley Moore was famous for corpsing when doing scenes with Peter Cook:
Having a ...
4
votes
Accepted
Did Louis Gossett Jr. and Eddie Murphy break the fourth wall in this Season 8 SNL skit?
Assuming you mean the elevated position of the audience, then yes.
A quick google search shows images of the Saturday Night Live studio with the elevated section.
4
votes
Taking Dante to the submarine
After some extensive searching I cannot find any reference to this which matches all of the details you mention.
However, have you considered that your details may be fuzzy, and you're actually ...
3
votes
Movie with college/high school guys, strippers and the strip club owner
Adding sources to the OP's comment and expanding answer.
The movie you are looking for is Porky's. This is a 1981 Canadian-American sex comedy film.
From IMDb,
In 1954, a group of Florida high ...
3
votes
Old comedy/spy movie where the heroine is a much better fighter than the leading man
This reminds me of Carry On Spying.
This was a parody of the spy movie genre, James Bond in particular. It was made in 1964 in Black & White, like all Carry On films up to that point. Carry Ons ...
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