Subgenre Sampler
Rental > Drama > Comedy: 66 Films to Rent on VHS
- Guinevere (2001)
- Dir. Audrey Wells
Feat. Sarah Polley, Stephen Rea
- Sarah Polley (GO) headlines in this Sundance–winning indie, as a directionless Harvard graduate who falls under the spell of…
- My Mother Frank (2000)
- Dir. Mark Lamprell
Feat. Sinead Cusack, Sam Neill, Sacha Horler…
- Sober comedy with an 'it's never too late' theme, is nicely done despite some rather convenient plotting.
Mother and widow Sinead Cusack decides…
- Shower (Xizhao) (2000)
- Dir. Zhang Yang
Feat. Pu Cunxin, Zhu Xu
- A popular success with international audiences, this Chinese comedy is centred around a modern–day bathhouse in Beijing without a…
- Beautiful People (1999)
- Dir. Jasmin Dizdar
Feat. Rosalind Ayres, Julian Firth, Bobby Williams…
- Set in London 1993 when the Balkan Wars were in full flight, this lively, panoramic drama reaches its ambitions in witnessing turbulence of the…
- Elephant Juice (1999)
- Dir. Sam Miller
Feat. Emmanuelle Beart, Sean Gallagher, Daniel Lapaine
- The makers of the cult late–night TV–series ‘This Life’, extract a similar blend of drama, ennui and pathos from the lives of…
- I'm Losing You (1999)
- Dir. Bruce Wagner
Feat. Frank Langella, Andrew McCarthy, Elizabeth Perkins…
- Hollywood 'commentator' Bruce Wagner (WILD PALMS) directs his own novel inter–connecting the rather plaintive lives of well–heeled Los…
- L.A. Without a Map (1999)
- Dir. Mika Kaurismaki
Feat. David Tennant, Vincent Gallo, Julie Delpy…
- A young Scottish undertaker (Tennant) follows an aspiring American actress back to La–la land, where he competes with the shallow excesses and…
- Mifune (1999)
- Dir. Soren Kragh-Jacobson
Feat. Iben Hjejle, Anders W Berthelsen, Jesper Asholt…
- The third Dogma 95 film is in many ways as traditional a European romantic comedy as you could come across, a breezy and smart take on a yuppie…
- Playing by Heart (1999)
- Dir. Willard Carroll
Feat. Sean Connery, Gena Rowlands, Gillian Anderson…
- Ambitious multi–character film along the lines of SHORT CUTS, likewise set in the varying social strata of Los Angeles, but infused with…
- Siam Sunset (1999)
- Dir. John Polson
Feat. Linus Roache, Danielle Cormack
- Bright brain candy that puts a surreal, antipodean tilt on road–movie/black comedy familiarities, with dazed Brit Linus Roache suffering an…
- This Year's Love (1999)
- Dir. David Kane
Feat. Kathy Burke, Jennifer Ehle, Ian Hart…
- Set amongst the romantic roundelays of 6 thirty–somethings who reside in London's bohemian Camden Town, this comedy has a quirky streak, some…
- Venus Beauty Institute (Venus Beauty) (1999)
- Dir. Tonie Marshall
Feat. Nathalie Baye, Audrey Tautou
- A modest beauty salon is the setting for this wry ensemble piece about the vagaries of womanhood, with an engagingly eccentric collection of clients…
- Butcher Boy, The (1998)
- Dir. Neil Jordan
Feat. Eamonn Owens, Stephen Rea, Fiona Shaw
- Despairing yet distinctive black comedy depicts the insanity implicit in a boy's view of his small town in Ireland, circa 1962. Adopts a lurid…
- Girls' Night (1998)
- Dir. Nick Hurran
Feat. Julie Walters, Brenda Blethyn
- A windfall at the local bingo hall puts air in the wings of forty–something factory gals Julie Walters and Brenda Blethyn, but a wheel of…
- Living Out Loud (1998)
- Dir. Richard LaGravenese
Feat. Holly Hunter, Queen Latifah, Danny De Vito…
- Facing up to life without her philandering husband, a nurse (Holly Hunter) forges unlikely friendships with a jazz club chanteuse (Queen Latifah) and…
- Polish Wedding (1998)
- Dir. Theresa Connelly
Feat. Gabriel Byrne, Lena Olin, Rade Serbedzija…
- Laid on incredibly thick, Polish accents and all, this is 'ethnic shtick' writ large with Gabriel Byrne, Lena Olin and Rade Serbedzija heading a…
- Relax...It's Just Sex (1998)
- Dir. P.J. Castellaneta
Feat. Mitchell Anderson, T.C. Carson, Lori Petty…
- Centring around an eclectic group of friends – gay, straight and lesbian – in LA, a struggling gay playwright is desperately looking for…
- Young Person's Guide to Becoming a Rock Star, The (1998)
- Dir. Sheree Folkson, Kieron Walsh
Feat. Ciaran McMenamin, Simone Lahbib, Nicole Stapleton…
- Young persons are the target of the whimsical Scottish TV series following the fortunes of an eclectic rock group who go from garage nobodies to gain…
- Clockwatchers (1997)
- Dir. Jill Sprecher
Feat. Toni Collette, Parker Posey, Lisa Kudrow…
- Four office temps band together in an oppressive (and outdated?) corporate environment – too bad they're caricatures: Toni Collette is…
- On Connait la Chanson (Same Old Song) (1997)
- Dir. Alain Resnais
Feat. Pierre Arditi, Sabine Azema, Jean-Pierre Bacri…
- A winner of seven Cesar awards, this light–hearted homage to Dennis Potter applies his musical–cinematic ideas to the…
- Second Civil War, The (1997)
- Dir. Joe Dante
Feat. Denis Leary, James Earl Jones, James Coburn
- Fairly realistic speculation of an American Civil War, occurring when present–day Idaho cedes from the Union, painted over with the lighter…
- Someone Else's America (1997)
- Dir. Goran Paskaljevic
Feat. Tom Conti, Miki Manojlovic
- A quirky character–study drawn from the lives of illegal European immigrants living hand–to–mouth on the bottom–rung of New…
- Weapons of Mass Distraction (1997)
- Dir. Stephen Surjik
Feat. Gabriel Byrne, Ben Kingsley, Mimi Rogers…
- Media moguls Gabriel Byrne and Ben Kingsley vie for ownership of a pro football team, in an escalating war of one–upmanship, eventually raking…
- Citizen Ruth (1996)
- Dir. Alexander Payne
Feat. Laura Dern, Swoosie Kurtz
- When chronic solvent–abuser Laura Dern becomes pregnant, then gets arrested again, she strays into the idealogical thicket of the abortion…
- Dogs (Dogs: The Rise and Fall of an All-Girl Bookie Joint) (1996)
- Dir. Eve Annenburg
Feat. Pam Columbus, Pam Gray, Melody Beal…
- Four Brooklyn women opt for a life of running an illegal bookie joint, over the dead–end, unemployed lifestyle of the local area. In her debut,…
- Lust and Revenge (1996)
- Dir. Paul Cox
Feat. Nicholas Hope, Claudia Karvan
- An unlikely creative partnership between the solemn, prolific Dutch–Aussie director Paul Cox (MAN OF FLOWERS, A WOMAN'S TALE) and John Clarke…
- Summer in La Goulette (1996)
- Dir. Ferid Boughedir
Feat. Sonia Mankai, Ava Cohen-Jonathan, Sarah Pariente…
- Three families of disparate cultures enjoy harmony in Tunisian paradise, until three of their beautiful daughters flirt with losing their virginity,…
- Disappearance of Kevin Johnson, The (1995)
- Dir. Francis Megahy
Feat. Pierce Brosnan, James Coburn, Dudley Moore…
- Fact–based movie movie about the perils of the Hollywood machine, in which a would–be film producer apparently runs afoul of the…
- Edie and Pen (1995)
- Dir. Matthew Irmas
Feat. Stockard Channing, Jennifer Tilly, Scott Glenn…
- Unhappily–marrieds Stockard Channing and Jennifer Tilly cut out to Reno to dispense with husbands, bad luck and sobriety. Bittersweet comedy…
- Kicking and Screaming (1995)
- Dir. Noah Baumbach
Feat. Josh Hamilton, Eric Stoltz, Elliott Gould…
- Several college grads flounder in love and with prospects of the future. Dialogue–intensive comedy borrows its philosophical vantage and acting…
- Madagascar Skin (1995)
- Dir. Chris Newby
Feat. Bernard Hill, John Hannah
- Intimate drama that portrays the unlikely relationship between two outsiders in a remote seaside cottage in South Wales.
Hannah plays a disfigured…
- Perez Family, The (1995)
- Dir. Mira Nair
Feat. Alfred Molina, Anjelica Huston, Marisa Tomei…
- A gently humorous tale about Cuban refugees who pose as a family in order to gain entry into the U.S. The director of SALAAM BOMBAY well harnesses…
- Being Human (1994)
- Dir. Bill Forsyth
Feat. Robin Williams, Robert Carlyle, John Turturro…
- An episodic comic–drama in which Robin Williams plays five men named Hector, who each search for their place in their own historical period…
- Country Life (1994)
- Dir. Michael Blakemore
Feat. Sam Neill, Greta Scacchi, Kerry Fox
- Yet another version of Uncle Vanya, this time set 'out back' in WWI–era New South Wales, and providing some interesting comparisons between…
- Sex Is a Four Letter Word (1994)
- Dir. Murray Fahey
Feat. Joy Smithers, Mark Lee, Miranda Otto
- A love columnist holds a dinner party for six young Ozzies, ostensibly to source material for her spicy novel. Low budget comedy–drama.
- Spanking the Monkey (1994)
- Dir. David O. Russell
Feat. Jeremy Davies, Elizabeth Newett, Benjamin Hendrickson…
- The awkwardness of youth is brilliantly captured in this provocative tragi–comedy, another maverick success story from the US indie scene. A…
- Spider and Rose (1994)
- Dir. Bill Bennett
Feat. Ruth Cracknell, Max Cullen
- A light Ozzie road movie about a special friendship between her elderly widow and a rebellious young ambulance driver entrusted to escort her home.…
- Vanya On 42nd Street (1994)
- Dir. Louis Malle
Feat. Wallace Shawn, Julianne Moore, Andre Gregory
- The late director's final film recouples him with Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory from MY DINNER WITH ANDRE for another compulsive round of…
- Business Affair, A (1993)
- Dir. Charlotte Brandstom
Feat. Carole Bouquet, Christopher Walken, Jonathan Pryce…
- Would–be writer Carole Bouquet is caught between her husband (another struggling scribe) and publisher Christopher Walken. European…
- Dallas Doll (1993)
- Dir. Ann Turner
Feat. Sarah Bernhardt
- Sandra Bernhardt plays a free–spirited American who turns the lives of a middle–class Sydney family on its ear with her unbridled…
- Younger and Younger (1993)
- Dir. Percy Aldon
Feat. Donald Sutherland, Julie Delpy, Lolita Davidovich
- The director of BAGDAD CAFÉ fashions another quirky, character–driven comedy of self–discovery. Donald Sutherland must reconsider his…
- Broadway Bound (1992)
- Dir. Paul Bogart
Feat. Anne Bancroft, Hume Cronyn
- Third film in the trilogy based on the Neil Simon's memoirs remains faithful to its stage origins. His alter–ego aspires to write successful…
- Discrete, La (1992)
- Dir. Christian Vincent
Feat. Fabrice Luchini, Judith Henry, Maurice Garrel…
- Things don't go to plan for a philandering writer who refuses to commit emotionally. A literary yet accessible essay on sexual game–playing,…
- Used People (1992)
- Dir. Beeban Kidron
Feat. Shirley Maclaine, Marcello Mastroianni, Kathy Bates…
- Feathers fly in the hen–house of recently widowed Shirley Maclaine when courted by debonair Marcello Mastroianni.
- Breaking In (1991)
- Dir. Bill Forsyth
Feat. Burt Reynolds, Casey Siemaszko, Sheila Kelley
- A Stateside charmer from the director of LOCAL HERO about a veteran burglar who takes on a young petty criminal as an apprentice of his trade.
- Object of Beauty (1991)
- Dir. Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Feat. Andie MacDowell, John Malkovich, Joss Ackland…
- An amusing black comedy set around a pair of passionate high–flying art lovers, who contrive the theft of a prized sculpture while in London,…
- Woman, Her Men and Her Futon, A (1991)
- Dir. Mussef Sibay
Feat. Jennifer Rubin, Grant Show
- A woman juggles her career in the film industry with her love life as she tries to find the perfect lover and partner. The star presence of Jennifer…
- Antonia and Jane (1990)
- Dir. Beeban Kidron
Feat. Saskia Reeves, Imelda Staunton
- Whimsical portrait of friendship will tickle the fancy of women in particular. Insecurities abound for long–time chums – attractive…
- Dancin' Thru the Dark (Dancing Through the Dark) (1990)
- Dir. Mike Ockrent
Feat. Peter Beckett, Angela Clarke, Julia Deakin…
- An engaged couple's stag and hen parties wind up at the same nightclub, with a mixed reception! Writer Willy (SHIRLEY VALENTINE) Russell again forges…
- Time of the Gypsies (1990)
- Dir. Emir Kusturica
Feat. Davor Dujmovic, Bora Todorovic, Ljubica Adzovic
- A fascinating and unconventional glimpse at gypsy life in pre–revolution Yugoslavia. It follows the fortunes of a supernaturally–gifted…
- A World Without Pity (Un Monde Sans Pitie) (1989)
- Dir. Eric Rochant
Feat. Hippolyte Girardot, Mireille Perrier, Yvan Attal
- A young Parisian slacker falls in love with an ambitious, bright student but finds the tables turning on his egocentric existence. Rochant's debut…
- Kiwi Shorts Volume 2 (1989-1993)
- Dir. William Toepfer, Anthony McCarten, Jessica Hobbs
- Another good sampling of eight short films funded by the NZ Arts Council and Film Commission – also compiled by the good folk at…
- She's Been Away (1989)
- Dir. Peter Hall
Feat. Peggy Ashcroft, James Fox
- After a lifetime in mental institutions, an elderly Peggy Ashcroft is released into the care of her liberal nephew James Fox. A disarming and…
- Kiwi Shorts Volume 1 (1988-1992)
- Dir. Grant Lahood, Scott Reynolds, Nicky Marshall
- A good sampling of eight short films funded by the NZ Arts Council and Film Commission, including the classic "The Lounge Bar". Compiled by the good…
- Someone to Love (1987)
- Dir. Henry Jaglom
Feat. Orson Welles
- Typically loose and naturalistic drama from independent stalwart Henry Jaglom, who pretty much plays himself – a jaded divorcee filmmaker in search…
- Mr. and Mrs. Edgehill (1985)
- Dir. Gavin Millar
Feat. Ian Holm, Judi Dench
- Based on Noel Coward's play about an English couple who lived on the South Pacific island of Cowrie, this telemovie is graced with top cast and…
- Comfort and Joy (1984)
- Dir. Bill Forsyth
Feat. Bill Paterson, Eleanor David
- Another likeable and quirky comedy from Bill Forsyth, about a disc–jockey who becomes involved in a mob feud over a mobile ice–cream…
- Dim Sum (A Little Bit of Heart) (1984)
- Dir. Wayne Wang
Feat. Laureen Chew, Kim Chew, Victor Wong
- Endearing, warm–hearted tale of Chinese–Americans living in San Fransisco. Distinctly Chinese but the themes and the humour are universal.
- Experience Preferred, but Not Essential (1983)
- Dir. Peter Duffell
Feat. Elizabeth Edmonds, Sue Wallace
- Amusing, low–key drama about a young woman waitressing at a seaside resort.
- Measure for Measure (1979)
- Dir. Desmond Davis
Feat. Kate Nelligan, Tim Pigott-Smith
- Part of the BBC's excellent series of Shakespeare productions, filmed in a 'theatrical' TV environment utilising the best of English acting talent.
- That Sinking Feeling (1979)
- Dir. Bill Forsyth
Feat. John Hughes
- The Bill Forsyth (LOCAL HERO) ‘touch’ for gentle, ironic comedy, is fully evident in this first feature. Chronicling a small–scale…
- Despair (1977)
- Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Feat. Dirk Bogarde
- Fassbinder's blackly comic adaptation of Nabakov's novel about delusion, depression and decline of the human spirit. Dirk Bogarde plays a Russian…
- Kotch (1971)
- Dir. Jack Lemmon
Feat. Walter Matthau
- Heart–warming fare with irascible senior citizen Walter Matthau resisting all attempts to 'retire' him. Matthau's regular screen buddy directs.
- Virgin Soldiers, The (1969)
- Dir. Norman Cohen
Feat. Lynn Redgrave, Hywel Bennett, Nigel Davenport…
- Comdey–drama following a squad of naive young British soldiers in 1950's Singapore who fall for the daughter of the Regimental Sergeant Major.
- Quartet (1949)
- Dir. Ken Annakin, Arthur Crabtree, Harold French
Feat. Dirk Bogarde, Basil Radford, Honor Blackman
- Four W Somerset Maugham stories are given exemplary treatment by the best of British, incl. Dirk Bogarde, Basil Radford and Honor Blackman. Unlike…
- Le Crime De Monsieur Lange (1935)
- Dir. Jean Renoir
Feat. Rene Lefevre, Florelle , Jules Berry
- One of the dir.’s early classics. Rene Leferve rises to newsprint fame as the author of the serial “Arizona Jim” after his boss, a…