An anthology of 5 different cab drivers in 5 American and European cities and their remarkable fares on the same eventful night.
In Memphis, Tennessee, over the course of a single night, the Arcade Hotel, run by an eccentric night clerk and a clueless bellboy, is visited by a young Japanese couple traveling in search of the roots of rock; an Italian woman in mourning who stumbles upon a fleeing charlatan girl; and a comical trio of accidental thieves looking for a place to hide.
In a vignette called "Strange to meet you," Roberto sits at a small table in a coffee bar. Five cups of coffee and two ashtrays are in front of him; he drinks and smokes. Steven joins him. They start a conversation about cigarettes and coffee. Steven likes to drink coffee before he sleeps, so he can dream faster. The conversation jumps around. "You know my mother?" asks Roberto. Steven describes coffee Popsicles. They switch seats; then switch back. Steven has to leave for a dental appointment he's not looking forward to. Roberto makes a startling offer, inspired no doubt by the coffee and cigarettes.
A disc jockey, a pimp and an Italian tourist escape from jail in New Orleans.
William Blake, an accountant turned fugitive, is on the run. During his travels, he meets a Native American man called Nobody, who guides him on a journey to the spiritual world.
A Hungarian immigrant, his friend, and his cousin go on an unpredictable adventure across America.
A vicious serial sex killer is on the loose, and landscape gardener and shop-window outfitter Loris is the prime suspect, thanks to his unfortunate habit of getting caught in compromising situations (for which there is always a totally innocent explanation that the police fail to spot). Undercover policewoman Jessica is assigned by eccentric police psychologist Taccone to follow Loris.
Four school buddies — a director, a temp worker, an insurance salesman and a paper craftsman — grapple with unfulfilled dreams amid middle age ennui.
Zenia is an industrious Ukrainian migrant worker in Poland who makes house calls as a masseur to the needy and aspirational residents of a middle-class gated community near Warsaw. He is privy to all of their problems, anxieties and secrets – and something of an unwitting guru figure. Zenia’s grounded spirituality, apparent healing powers and broad shoulders make him an object of lust for many of the lost souls in the community.
Wojnar is a wealthy man who is marrying off his beautiful daughter Kasia, in a small town in present day Poland. Wojnar had to bribe the groom with a fancy car, since Kasia was pregnant by another man. At the end of the ceremony, the car is delivered by a gangster, who immediately demands the promised money and the deed to land from Kasia's grandfather. Unfortunately grandpa is unwilling to let go of the land. Meanwhile each of the workers at the reception demand to be paid, so Wojnar, who is very reluctant to part with his money, tries to haggle and bribe his way out of all the situations.
Two hoodlums terrorize the passengers of a late-night New York City subway train.
Alone in her empty flat, from her window Anne observes the people passing by who nervously snatch up the personal belongings and pieces of furniture she has put out on the pavement. Her final gesture of taking a ring off her finger signals she is leaving her previous life in Holland behind. She goes to Ireland, where she chooses to lead a solitary, wandering existence, striding through the austere landscapes of Connemara. During her travels, she discovers a house that is home to a hermit, Martin.
A loathsome man ends up dead, but it's not clear who's to blame. If ever a person got what he deserved, it's James Urbanksi, an abusive drunk who steals from his wife, Joyce, and promises her close friend Cynthia Kellogg that she'll be the next target of his rage. At a group outing, James bleeds to death after someone cuts his throat. But because he's such a terrible human being, police aren't sure which of his acquaintances decided to kill him.
When America's last standing roller rinks are threatened with closure, a community of thousands battle in a racially charged environment to save an underground subculture.
30-minute short subject film that would become Stranger Than Paradise. This short was released as a standalone film in 1982, and shown as "Stranger Than Paradise" at the 1983 International Film Festival Rotterdam. When it was later expanded into a three-act feature, that name was appropriated for the feature itself, and the initial segment was renamed "The New World".
After accidentally knocking her best friend off a roof, Alyce is haunted by guilt and delves into a brutal nightmare wonderland of sex, drugs and violence, her mind tearing itself apart… along with anyone else who gets in her way.
The film tells a story of Mariana, a nurse who leaves Lisbon to accompany an immigrant worker in a comatose sleep on his trip home to Cape Verde. The devoted Portuguese nurse took a journey only to find herself lost in abstract drama.
After a chaotic heist, Lupin and Jigen find themselves becoming caretakers of a baby boy, while a young sky pirate called Yutika is after their loot. Yutika is an inhabitant of the city-state of Shahalta, which has recently fallen to a shady minister. Soon, Lupin's gang and Yutika join forces to uncover one of Shahalta's greatest treasures, facing off against both Shahaltan authorities and Zenigata.
In 1993, youngster Loris Riccardi is the art director of a night club destined to become the most transgressive in Italy: Cocoricò. He conceives the concept of night-club-theatre transforming the dance floor into a place of provocation.
The first Russian emo-movie, Closed Spaces is a story about the newest generation of Russians. Having grown up in Russia's crazy 1990s, an era filled with constant and drastic change, these teenagers have no solid ground beneath their feet. They are trapped in a strange world in which their money-obsessed parents lead senseless lives and even kill each other. Vika is twenty years old. She has black fingernail polish, wears pink dresses, and is constantly depressed. While working at a pizza place, she gets an order for a pizza delivery from Venya, a strange twenty year old boy who lives all alone in a deserted apartment in the middle of Moscow. Venya suffers from agarophobia, the fear of open space. When Vika arrives Venya lets her in and locks the door behind her.
Sheila Levine – an innovative, bright, but painfully introverted individual – arrives in New York City to take an apartment with a partygoing roommate. There, she experiences love and heartache in equal measure.
In a post-war Rome (1946) a cat burglar inadvertently saves the life of a would-be suicide man who returns from the war to find that he has been betrayed by his fiancée while fighting in the war. From that moment the thief takes the ex-soldier under his wing. They leave house together for a night full of misadventures. In a streets of Rome they meet the struggling typist who can’t pay her rent and opts to street life; a wandering amnesiac who lost his memory and keeps asking everyone “Do you recognize me?”. Thieves, gamblers, hookers, policemen, soldiers and endless chain of cigarette-smoking and alcohol/espresso-drinking.
In 1895, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was the most famous writer in London, and Bosie Douglas, son of the notorious Marquess of Queensberry, was his lover. Accused and convicted of gross indecency, he was imprisoned for two years and subjected to hard labor. Once free, he abandons England to live in France, where he will spend his last years, haunted by memories of the past, poverty and immense sadness.
What does it mean to be awake in a world that seems satisfied to be asleep? Kris and Michal push their experiences of life and love to a breaking point as they restlessly roam the city streets in search of answers, adrift in the euphoria and uncertainty of youth.
Four strangers meet through an app to share a car ride that turns into an adventure destined to change the lives of those involved.
Packed off to a foster home after her father is institutionalized, a rebellious young Irish girl resolves to bust her dad out of the hospital where he's been confined.
24 hours in the life of three Swedish girls in Paris. Seduced by the excitement but short of money they earn a few francs as nude models in an art school.
A bachelor who decides to propose to his girlfriend with his mother's ring only to have the ring accidentally knocked into the gutter by a boy. He experiences the crazy nightlife in Taipei and meets many interesting individuals throughout his mission to get the ring back.
For our fifteenth year of RiffTrax Live, we've selected the 1990's cult classic about bank robbing, presidential masks, and surfing: Point Break! It was directed by Academy Award Winner Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty) and stars Keanu Reeves (The Matrix, John Wick, Keanu), Patrick Swayze (Road House), and one of our all-time favorite character actors, Gary Busey (A Star Is Born, Predator 2). Mike, Kevin, and Bill will riff Point Break LIVE at the State Theatre in Minneapolis on July 27th, and the resulting hilarity will be broadcast to over 700 movie theaters across America on Thursday, August 8th with an encore on Tuesday, August 13th thanks to our partners at Fathom Events.
Close friends Edwin and Steven advise each other on dating and drama — based on zero experience — while seeking a space to hang after school.
Veronica experiences seven years of her future over the course of one week.
Tomas and Martin are a gay couple living in Paris whose marriage is thrown into crisis when Tomas impulsively begins a passionate affair with young schoolteacher Agathe. But when Martin begins an affair of his own, Tomas must confront life decisions he may be unprepared—or unwilling—to deal with.
Rebekka and Aatos, stuck in the past, meet for the first time since their painful breakup at their treasured poetry slam. It’s easier to sing about longing than to talk about it.
The members of the Ameya family are all scammers. After their election scheme goes bust in their hometown, they move from Shikoku to Tokyo and resume their fraudulent activities. Everything carries on smoothly until the eldest and the fourth sons' modus operandi go awry, the mother's lover runs off with another woman, and disasters strike one after another. This film is a collaboration between Yoichi Sai and Goro Kishitani following "All Under the Moon." The family business of the Ameya family is defrauding people. The matriarch, who keeps getting married and divorced, has five children with different fathers. The Ameya family chases after fortune and leaves a trail of trouble on their path.
Theda Bara does her usual vamp turn in this picture, but this time she's a vamp who turns out to have a heart of gold. Her character, Blanchette DuMonde, is known as "the wickedest woman in Paris," and because of this sordid reputation, she is not allowed to serve as a nurse during World War I. So she becomes an Apache dancer instead.
An omnibus movie that shows the difference in perspective, conflict, and pain of parting between men and women through the images of couples breaking up.
When the bodies of two young boys are discovered in the Harlem River, their mother is the obvious suspect, particularly with her scandalous past. But what appears to be an open-and-shut case soon becomes something much more sinister.
Axel and Bertha are a married couple who are both artists in 1880s Paris, the film addresses the topic of gender equality in marriage and society, for example the property rights of married women.
Sam, a freelance journalist, decides to investigate the growing phenomenon of disaffected youth joining extremist groups. He infiltrates a group of four young people who have been tasked with the creation of a jihadist cell and whose mission is to destabilise the city centre of Paris.