Comedy Movies 2002 List

With Mike Nawrocki • Phil Vischer • Kristin Blegen • Lisa Vischer • Kristin Blegan

"Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie", stars a not-so-garden-variety cast led by the signature characters of the top selling VeggieTales series, Larry the Cucumber (as Pirate Larry, the undisputed laziest pirate in the world) and Bob the Tomato (as himself), as well as upper-crusty Archibald the Asparagus as the monocle sporting prophet, Jonah. Larry, Bob, Archibald and the rest of the Veggie gang set sail on a whale of an adventure in Jonah, the brand's first CGI theatrical feature film. Filled with music, laughs and the strangest adventurers ever to be swallowed whole, this is the story of Jonah and the whale as you've never seen it before - a story where everyone learns that one of the best gifts you can give - or get - is a second chance.

With Orny Adams • Kevin Nealon • Jerry Seinfeld • Colin Quinn • Christian Charles

Filmed with a digital camera over the course of 18 months, from 1999 to 2001, this documentary follows comedian Jerry Seinfeld as he heads out on the road, testing new material he wrote after his marriage, the end of his eponymous TV show, and the birth of his first child. It's not a traditional concert film; most of the footage is filmed behind the scenes and traces the creative process.

With Matt Stone • Michael Moore • Charlton Heston • George W. Bush • Marilyn Manson • Dick Clark • John Nichols

With his trademark charm and wit, Michael Moore sets off on a journey to the heart of the country hoping to discover why the American pursuit of happiness is so riddled with violence. From a look at the Columbine High School security camera tapes to the home of NRA President Charlton Heston, from a young man who makes homemade napalm with "The Anarchist's Cookbook" to the murder of a six-year-old girl by another six-year-old, this is an alternately humorous and horrifying look at firearms abuse, destined to leave audiences dreading - but expecting - the next breaking news report about a homegrown assassin with a constitutionally-protected Uzi.

With Adam Sandler • Paul Thomas Anderson • Luis Guzman • Philip Seymour Hoffman • Emily Watson

A story about the owner of a struggling phone-sex business with seven abusive sisters who soon finds that three thugs are chasing him. Meanwhile, one of his sisters tries to set him up on a blind date with a woman who plays the harmonium, but it doesn't quite work out. Eventually, his hobby of collecting pudding coupons pays off, and he's able to win enough frequent flyer miles to take a trip to Hawaii, in a quest to find the mysterious girl...

With George Clooney • Gabrielle Union • Sam Rockwell • William H. Macy • Anthony Russo • Isaiah Washington • Joe Russo • Michael Jeter

When petty thief Cosimo is given the plan for the perfect heist from a lifer in prison--the kind of job you dream about, the kind of job that the reprobates on the block refer to as a 'Bellini'--he has to get out of jail, fast. Opportunities like this don't come along every day for the hard-luck folks who hang around the streets of Collinwood, a working class neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. What Cosimo needs is a fall guy, a 'Mullinski,' somebody who needs the $15,000 Cosimo can offer more than they need one to three years of freedom. But with Cosimo stuck in the joint, it's up to his girl Rosalind to track down a patsy. But while no one wants to do the time for Cosimo's crime, everybody seems to know a guy who will--and for a share in the Bellini, they're willing to track him down. Before long, Rosalind has five guys trailing behind her, looking to get their bungling hands on a piece of the action. Led by Pero, a very amateur boxer who schemes to get the particulars of the job from Cosimo before leaving him in the joint to rot, the group assembles itself. The motley crew consists of: photographer and frustrated artist Riley, a single father with an infant on his hands who needs a thousand bucks to spring his wife from jail; Leon, who desperately wants to secure a better life for his sister, Michelle; Basil, a handsome Italian gigolo who's as broke as a one-wheeled wagon; and Toto, a thief way past his prime who's got nothing but time.

With America Ferrera • George Lopez • Lupe Ontiveros • Michelle Moretti • Ingrid Oliu • Brian Sites • Dale E. Turner • Patricia Cardoso

Ana, a first generation Mexican American teenager living in East Los Angeles, has just graduated from high school. Because she is a talented writer, a caring teacher urges her to apply to college. Ana secretly is excited about the possibility, but her overbearing and hypercritical mother Carmen insists that it is time for her to help provide for the family by working in her sister's sewing factory. When a crisis arises at the factory, it seems as if Ana's fate is unhappily sealed, but her indomitable will to reach beyond a sweatshop life eventually leads her to burst, defiant and resplendent, through every restriction on her life.

With Timothy Spall • James Corden • Lesley Manville • Kathryn Hunter • Sam Kelly • Mike Leigh • Ruth Sheen • Marion Bailey • Paul Jesson

Set in a London working-class housing estate over a long weekend, it tells the story of Penny's love for her partner, taxi-driver Phil, has run dry. He is a gentle, philosophical guy and she works on the checkout at a supermarket. Their daughter Rachel cleans a home for elderly people, and their son Rory is unemployed and aggressive. The joy has gone out of Phil and Penny's life, but when an unexpected tragedy occurs, they are brought together to rediscover their love.