Browse Movies : 2004 : Comedy

The natural order of fairy tales is interrupted in the sequel to the Academy Award-winning blockbuster "Shrek". "Shrek 2" sends Shrek, Donkey and Princess Fiona on a whirlwind of new adventures with more fairy-tale favorites to lampoon along the way. After battling a fire-breathing dragon and the evil Lord Farquaad to win the hand of Princess Fiona, Shrek now faces his greatest challenge: the in-laws. Shrek and Princess Fiona return from their honeymoon to find an invitation to visit Fiona's parents, the King and Queen of the Kingdom of Far, Far Away. With Donkey along for the ride, the newlyweds set off. All of the citizens of Far, Far Away turn out to greet their returning Princess, and her parents happily anticipate the homecoming of their daughter and her new Prince. But no one could have prepared them for the sight of their new son-in-law, not to mention how much their little girl had...well...changed. Little did Shrek and Fiona know that their marriage had foiled all of her father's plans for her future...and his own. Now the King must enlist the help of a powerful Fairy Godmother, the handsome Prince Charming and that famed ogre killer Puss In Boots to put right his version of "happily ever after."

In "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed", Scooby and the gang confront an anonymous masked villain who is plotting to take over the city of Coolsville by wreaking mayhem with a monster machine that creates Mystery Inc.'s classic foes like The Pterodactyl Ghost, The Black Knight Ghost and The 10,000 Volt Ghost. Meanwhile, the gang's detecting abilities are scrutinized by relentless reporter Heather Jasper-Howe (Alicia Silverstone), aided by museum curator Patrick Wisely (Seth Green) and thwarted by nasty Jeremiah Wickles (Peter Boyle).

In the summer before their freshman year in high school, Julie (Alexa Vega) has a slumber party with her best friends, Hannah, Yancy, and Farrah - and they end up having the adventure of their lives. In attempt to cast off their less-than-cool reputations once and for all, Julie and her friends enter into an all-night scavenger hunt against their "popular girl" rivals. Hijacking dad's car, sneaking into clubs, evading Julie's mother, and even a first kiss - anything is possible at Julie's "Sleepover".

Ella (Anne Hathaway of "The Princess Diariess" fame) lives in a fanciful and magical world where all children are given a "gift" from a fairy Godmother at the moment of their birth. Little Ella's birthright is the gift - and curse - of obedience. As a result of this unfortunate circumstance, Ella cannot refuse any command, and is often left at the mercy of unscrupulous personalities. In a bid to regain control of her life, Ella goes on a quest to free herself from this mysterious curse. Ella must outwit a kingdom filled with ogres, giants, wicked stepsisters, talking books and evil plots. And, if she's lucky, she may find love along the way.

Eighteen-year-old Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch) is a straight-arrow over-achiever who has never really lived life, until he falls for his new neighbor, the beautiful and seemingly innocent Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert). When Matthew discovers this perfect "girl next door" is a one-time porn star, his sheltered existence begins to spin out of control. Ultimately, Danielle helps Matthew emerge from his shell and discover that sometimes you have to risk everything for the person you love - as he helps her rediscover her innocence.

In this highly inventive take on Verne's classic, Passepartout (Jackie Chan) must make it to China in order to return a valuable jade Buddha that was stolen from his family's village. He seeks refuge with an eccentric London inventor, Phineas Fogg (Steve Coogan), who puts his reputation, fortune, and career on the line in a daring bet to make it around the world in eighty days. Joining them is Monique (Cecille De France), a young French artist who decides that a trip around the world would provide new inspiration. Opposing the group is Lord Kelvin (Jim Broadbent), who's wagered his position as head of the Royal Academy of Science against their journey's success. Their incredible adventure spans many colorful and exotic lands from historic London to Paris, Turkey, India, China, across the Great Seas, to a burgeoning United States, and more. Along the way, the group encounters an eclectic assortment of characters including Queen Victoria (Kathy Bates), a Scotland Yard Sergeant (John Cleese), a hot air balloon engineer (Richard Branson), a Turkish Prince (Arnold Schwarzenegger), an eccentric inventor (Rob Schneider), the Wright Brothers (Owen and Luke Wilson), and many other international star cameos.

Two likeable underdogs, Harold and Kumar, set out on a Friday night quest to satisfy their craving for White Castle hamburgers and end up on an epic journey of deep thoughts, deeper inhaling and a wild road trip as un-PC as it gets.

There's trouble in Bikini Bottom: someone has stolen King Neptune's crown and it appears as though Mr. Krabs is the culprit! Despite being passed over for a promotion by Mr. Krabs, SpongeBob and his faithful, albeit somewhat dimwitted friend Patrick volunteer to make the dangerous journey to ShellCity to retrieve the crown and save Mr. Krabs' life.

In "Mean Girls", Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) is raised in the African wilderness by her zoologist parents but finds life gets a lot rougher when she moves to the city and begins high school. After dating the ex-boyfriend of the school's most popular girl, forces align against her.

Hollywood comedian/actor Pauly Shore loses everything: his house, nobody in Hollywood wants to represent him, he moves back home with his mom and is now parking cars at the Comedy Store. Then one night when he's up in his mom's loft, a dead famous comedian appears who tells Pauly to kill himself cause he'll go down as a comedic genius who died before his time. Pauly then fakes his own death, and the media goes crazy. Celebrities are talking about him on MTV and girls are fighting over him on Jerry Springer. It's everything that he wanted...his plan worked. A week or so later the LAPD is tipped off about his whereabouts and they break down the door of the seedy motel room that he's hiding out in and throw him in LA County's celebrity wing.

Belle Williams is a speed demon. Flying through the streets of New York in her tricked-out taxi, she's earned a rep as New York's fastest cabbie. But driving a hack is only a pit stop for her real dream: Belle wants to be a race car champion. And she's well on her way—until she's derailed by overeager cop Andy Washburn, whose undercover skills are matched only by his total ineptitude behind the wheel. Washburn, whose lack of vehicular skills has landed him in the precinct doghouse, is hot on the heels of a gang of beautiful Brazilian bank robbers, led by Vanessa, their cold, calculating—and leggy—leader. To nab the evasive crooks, drivers license-less Washburn convinces Belle to team up with him to pursue Vanessa and crew. Belle has carte blanche to drive at any speed and break any law. The car-less cop and speed-demon cabbie—New York's unlikeliest partners— begin a high-speed game of cat and mouse with the robbers. That is, if Belle and Washburn don't end up killing each other first.

As an homage to the ultra-low-budget, drive-in-friendly, science fiction movies of the 1950s and early 1960s, this is the unlikely story of a meteor shower that deposits an ore called "atmosphereum" in the hills outside Los Angeles in 1961, attracting the scientific interest of a heroic scientist who hopes to use the scientific value of the ore for his science project, and whose wife joins him on the expedition. What he soon finds out is that a pair of aliens are also after the atmosphereum as fuel for their space ship. Also in the area is an evil scientist exploring the mysterious Cadavra Cave, reportedly home to the legendary Lost Skeleton, who discovers he also needs the atmosphereum to revive the Lost Skeleton of Cadavra; and along the way, he uses the Marvan's transmutatron ray to meld four local animals into a beautiful mate for himself...

Even the onboard navigation system has a meltdown on Nate Johnson (Cedric The Entertainer) and his family's cross-country trek to their annual family reunion/grudge match. Reluctantly along for the ride are Nate's wife (Vanessa Williams), who's only in it for the kids; their rapper-wannabe son (Bow Wow); their teenage daughter (Solange Knowles) who's fashioned herself as the next Lolita; and their youngest (Gabby Soleil), whose imaginary dog Nate just can't seem to keep track of. Can the Johnsons survive each other and all the obstacles the road throws at them to make it to Caruthersville, Missouri? Can they find Missouri?

In "Starsky & Hutch", the origins of the charismatic crime-fighting duo David Starsky and Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson are explored when these undercover Bay City detectives are partnered for their very first assignment. Ben Stiller plays the tightly wound Detective David Starsky who is thrown together with Owen Wilson's easygoing Detective Ken Hutchinson on a high-stakes case. Platinum-selling rapper and actor Snoop Dogg plays their savvy street informant Huggy Bear. Vince Vaughn also joins the cast as Reese Feldman, a smooth-talking entrepreneur with an eye towards the future.

Academy Award winner Tom Hanks teams up for the first time with Academy Award–winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen ("O Brother, Where Art Thou?") for this retelling of the critically acclaimed 1955 comedy, "The Ladykillers". Hanks stars as Goldthwait Higginson Dorr III, Ph.D., a charlatan professor who's assembled a gang of "experts" for the heist of the century. The thieves: experts in explosions, tunneling, and muscle, and the critical "inside man." The base of operations: the root cellar of an unsuspecting, church-going little old lady named Mrs. Munson (Irma P. Hall). The ruse: the five need a place to practice their church music. The problem: it quickly becomes evident that Dorr's thieves lack the mental capacity to do the job. The bigger problem: they all have seriously underestimated their upstairs host.

Budding teenage beauty Anna Foster (Mandy Moore) wants the American dream: life and liberty to pursue happiness. But as the only child of the President of the United States, every detail of Anna's life is constantly monitored by the media, the public and her very protective parents — who are backed up by a battalion of Secret Service agents that safeguard Anna from any danger, including the perils of first dates. Charming and irreverent, Anna just wants the freedom to live life like any other teenager — which means ditching the agents who are seriously curbing her good times. While on a diplomatic trip to Europe with her parents, Anna extracts a promise from her father, the President, which allows her a night alone, unescorted. But when her dad has a change of heart, Anna decides to take things into her own hands. In a wild escape, incognito Anna meets mysterious stranger Ben Calder (Matthew Goode), who reluctantly aids her European getaway. Reveling in her newfound independence, Anna decides to take Europe by storm, accompanied by dashing Ben. As Anna's madcap European adventure takes her farther from her family and brings her closer to Ben, she's dreading the day her holiday will come to an end. Because the most powerful man in the free world is her father, Anna knows that she has a lot more to worry about than getting grounded. But before she can face the President, she has to find a way tell Ben the truth about her identity and risk getting her heart broken — the one thing her father can't fix.

Now that Greg Focker is in with his soon-to-be in-laws, Jack and Dina Byrnes, it looks like smooth sailing for him and his fiancée, Pam. But that's before Pam's parents meet Greg's parents, Bernie and Roz Focker. The hyper-relaxed Fockers and the tightly-wound Byrneses are woefully mismatched from the start, and no matter how hard Greg and Pam try, there is just no bringing their families together.

Peter Colt (Paul Bettany) is an unlucky guy, scoring "love" both professionally and personally. Seeded near the bottom of the world tennis ranks, he manages to score a wild card, allowing him to play in the prestigious Wimbledon tournament. There, he meets and falls in love with American tennis star Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst). Fueled by a mixture of his newfound luck, love and on-court prowess, Peter works his way up the ranks of the tournament players and actually stands a chance of fulfilling his lifelong dream of winning the men's singles title—if his luck can just hold out.

Will Ferrell stars as Ron Burgandy, the top-rated anchorman in San Diego in the '70s. When feminism marches into the newsroom in the form of ambitious newswoman Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), Ron is willing to play along at first-as long as Veronica stays in her place, covering cat fashion shows, cooking, and other "female" interests. But when Veronica refuses to settle for being eye candy and steps behind the news desk, it's more than a battle between two perfectly coiffed anchor-persons...it's war.

Scotty Thomas (Scott Mechlowicz) and his Berlin-based computer pen pal Mieke (Jessica Boehrs) have been writing each other for years, sharing every detail of their lives. When Mieke makes a cyber pass at Scotty, he completely freaks out, thinking that this guy he's known for years is coming on to him…in German no less. Too bad the the one detail Scotty doesn't seem to know is that, in Germany, Mieke is a girl's name.By the time Scotty figures out that Mieke is a girl, and a hot one at that, Mieke has cut off her email account and all contact with him. Thinking that this might be his one chance at true love—even though he's never actually met the girl—Scotty and his best friends, Cooper (Jacob Pitts) and the twins Jenny (Michelle Trachtenberg) and Jamie (Travis Wester), embark on a raucous trip across Europe headed for Berlin.Their trek takes them from London to Paris to Amsterdam and Eastern Europe, exposing them—literally—to every lascivious, larcenous and lecherous indulgence Europe has to offer, in a comedy that gives new meaning to the phrase "foreign relations."