Comedy Movies 2003 List

With Will Ferrell • Jon Favreau • James Caan • Mary Steenburgen • Zooey Deschanel • Ed Asner • David Berenbaum • Jon Berg • Bob Newhart • Shauna Robertson • Todd Komarnicki

Many years ago, a playful toddler accidentally ended up in one of Santa's bags of presents, and got whisked away to the North Pole, where he would live out his entire childhood. One of Santa's elves adopted the child, named Buddy, and raised it among the tight-knit community of elves, who live up North with Santa, making toys year-round. Now a tall, fully grown man, Buddy and his distinctly non-elfishness, regularly causes havoc in Santa's workshop. He is unable to fully fit in with the other elves, and becomes forlorn. This inspires Buddy's adopted elf father to suggest to his human son that it's time for him to travel out into the world of men, and try to find his biological father and family back in New York City. However, it maybe just as hard for Buddy to fit into this new world, as he's only existed with other elves around him, and is not quite used to the ways of humans--especially urbanites.

With Liam Neeson • Keira Knightley • January Jones • Rowan Atkinson • Emma Thompson • Martin Freeman • Colin Firth • Hugh Grant • Alan Rickman • Laura Linney • Tim Bevan • Bill Nighy • Richard Curtis • Rodrigo Santoro • Andrew Lincoln • Martine McCutcheon • Chris Marshall • Eric Fellner • Duncan Kenworthy

Set in contemporary London in the weeks before Christmas, "Love Actually" tells one story which weaves together a spectacular number of love stories-sometimes romantic, sometimes sad, sometimes stupid-all funny in their own way. Everywhere you look, love is causing chaos. From the new bachelor Prime Minister who falls in love 30 seconds after entering Downing Street to a loser sandwich delivery guy who doesn't have a hope with the girls in the UK, so heads for Wisconsin; from a jilted writer who escapes to the south of France to nurse his broken heart to an aging rock star trying to make a comeback at any price; from a bride having problems with her husband's best man to a married woman having trouble with her husband; from a schoolboy with a crush on the prettiest girl in the school to his architect step-father with a crush on Claudia Schiffer. These London lives and loves collide, mingle and finally climax on Christmas Eve-again and again and again-with romantic, poignant and funny consequences for all.

With Eartha Kitt • Andrew McCarthy • Cameron Bancroft • Isabel Rose • Peter Appel • Robert Cary

This homage to the golden era of 1950s Technicolor musicals tells the story of a cabaret singer, Billie Golden (Isabel Rose), living with her mother in Queens who aspires to get out of the "airport circuit" (she sings at a dingy lounge at JFK Airport). Meanwhile, Billie is also trying to choose between two men who represent different paths her life could take next: a corporate attorney (Cameron Bancroft) she knew in high school, who could provide her with money and security; or her piano teacher (Andrew McCarthy) who doesn't have much money but understands her passion for music. In addition to the songs Billie performs on stage, there are also occasional musical numbers that represent Billie's daydream fantasies.

With William H. Macy • Alec Baldwin • Ron Livingston • Shawn Hatosy • M.C.Gainey • Arthur J. Nascarella • Paul Sorvino • Joey Fatone • Wayne Kramer • Maria Bello • Estella Warren • Ellen Greene • Richard Israel • Tony Longo

Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy) is the unluckiest man in Las Vegas... he's so unlucky, it's contagious. Looking to knock out their highest rollers, one of the last mob-run casinos in town, the Shangri-La Hotel and Casino downtown, decides to use Bernie as a "cooler" to defuse their lucky streaks. The scheme goes fine until Bernie falls in love with a cocktail waitress, Natalie (Maria Bello), who becomes his "lady luck", much to the chagrin of the casino's crooked director (Alec Baldwin) who aims to break up the romance, and Bernie's newfound luck...

With Sean Bean • Jon Favreau • Kelsey Grammer • Adam Beach • Rachael Leigh Cook • Daryl Hannah • Joey Lauren Adams • Steve Anderson

John Person (Jon Favreau), a struggling actor on the verge of eviction from his Hollywood studio apartment, goes against his better judgement -- and that of his pretty neighbor Grace (Joey Lauren Adams) -- and accepts an offer from his strange neighbor Neely (Bud Cort) to courier a blue suitcase up to the desert truck stop of Baker, California. His instructions are simple: deliver the suitcase to a trucker called Cowboy (Sean Bean) and collect $27 thousand. Oh yeah, and he has to defend the suitcase with his life. Naturally, nothing goes according to plan once John arrives. The Cowboy is nowhere to be found, John meets with some kooky alien-obsessed locals and Special Agent Banks (Kelsey Grammer) questions John about the mysterious decapitation of Neely and about other missing persons. When the final showdown approaches, John is faced with a choice that could change his life forever. Has the whole town gone mad? Or are the loony locals, who he dismissed as crazy, the only sane ones in this strange parallel universe called The Big Empty?

With Brendan Fraser • Matthew Lillard • Joan Cusack • Chris deFaria • Heather Locklear • Jenna Elfman • Bill Goldberg • Timothy Dalton • Roger Corman • Glenn Ficarra • Joe Dante • Joel Simon • Larry Doyle

Set in a live-action world in which Warner Bros.' beloved assortment of irreverent animated entertainers interact with human characters for maximum comic effect, the story unfolds on the Studio backlot and careens all over the map in time-honored Looney Tunes style. Our celluloid heroes embark on a hilarious adventure that takes them from Hollywood to Las Vegas, Paris and the jungles of Africa in search of Fraser's character's missing father and the mythical Blue Monkey Diamond.

With Dakota Fanning • Alec Baldwin • Paris Hilton • Mike Myers • Jeff Schaffer • Alec Berg • Kelly Preston • Sean Hayes • Spencer Breslin • Lawrence Quinn • Paige Hurd • Brian Grazer • Bo Welch

Mike Myers stars in the title role of Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, the film adaptation of the beloved literary classic. The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss was first published in 1957, and remains one of the top ten best-selling hardcover children's books of all time. The mischievous feline visitor in the striped stove-pipe hat makes his big screen debut with this live-action production, which will bring the off-kilter Dr. Seuss characters - as well as some new ones created especially for the film - to life on the big screen.

With Markita Boies • Toni Checchinato • Marie-Josee Croze • Sophie Lorain • Remy Girard • Dominique Michel • Louise Portal • Yves Jacques • Pierre Curzi • Dorothee Berryman • Isabelle Blais • Denis Bouchard • Yves Desgagnes • Sylvie Drapeau • Roy Dupuis • Mitsou Gelinas • Micheline Lanctot

A revisiting, some 15 years later, of the principal characters of Denys Arcand's 1986 comedy drama film, "The Decline of the American Empire". Rémy, now divorced and in his early fifties, is hospitalized. His ex-wife, Louise, asks their son Sébastien to come home from London where he now lives. Sébastien hesitates; he and his father haven't had much to say to one another for years now. He relents, however, and flies to Montreal to help his mother and support his father. As soon as he arrives, Sébastien moves heaven and earth, brings his contacts into play and disrupts the system in every way possible to ease the ordeal that awaits Rémy. Around his father's bedside, Sébastien also reunites the merry band of folk who were all players in Rémy's complicated past: relatives, friends and former mistresses.

With Michele Caucheteux • Jean-Claude Donda • Michel Robin • Sylvain Chomet • Paul Cadieux • Didier Brunner

Adopted by his grandmother, Madame Souza, Champion is a lonely little boy. Noticing that this lad is never happier than on a bicycle, Madame Souza puts him through a rigorous training process. Years go by and Champion becomes worthy of his name. Now his ready to enter the world-famous cycling race, the Tour de France. However during this cycling contest two mysterious men in black kidnap Champion. Madame Souza and her faithful dog Bruno set out to rescue him. Their quest takes them across the ocean to a giant Megalopolis called Belleville where they encounter the renowned "Triplets of Belleville", three eccentric female music-hall stars from the 30's who decide to take Madame Souza and Bruno under their wing. Thanks to Bruno's brilliant sense of smell, the brave duo are soon on to Champion's trail. But will they succeed in beating the devilish plans of the evil French mafia?

With Lauren Graham • Tony Cox • John Requa • Bernie Mac • Brett Kelly • Sarah Aubrey • Bob Weinstein • John Cameron • Billy Bob Thornton • Cloris Leachman • John Ritter • Lauren Tom • Terry Zwigoff • Glenn Ficarra

This is the story of two criminals who disguise themselves as Santa Claus (Billy Bob Thornton) and his elf, traveling across the country to major malls, using the good will people have towards Santa to rob the stores blind. The plan is going great until the two baddies meet an introverted 8-year-old boy who reminds them of the true meaning of Christmas.

With Eddie Murphy • Jennifer Tilly • Rob Minkoff • Terence Stamp • Marsha Thomason • Nathaniel Parker

When a man (Eddie Murphy) and his family encounter a ghost while visiting a haunted house during a job interview, he learns the value of family, and the lesson that he should make sure he never neglects them. Based upon the popular Disney theme park attraction.