IshtarMovies like Ishtar
- Key Features:
- Political satire, CIA, International intrigue, Fish out of water, Misadventure, Buddy comedy, Morocco, Rebellion, Cult film
- Tone:
- humorous, satirical
- Target Audience:
- Comedy fans, Satire enthusiasts, Cult film aficionados, Buddy comedies
- Emotional Arc:
- Amusement → Confusion
Ishtar

Two terrible lounge singers get booked to play a gig in a Moroccan hotel but somehow become pawns in an international power play between the CIA, the Emir of Ishtar, and the rebels trying to overthrow his regime.
Ishtar
A Washington waitress saves the Emir of Ohtar's life, launching her diplomatic career and a scandal.

An irreverent comedy about the misadventures of Moondog, a rebellious stoner and lovable rogue who lives large.

After learning that an old friend of theirs has been arrested in Morocco on drug charges, four former college buddies set out for Marrakech to bail him out.

Ernest Krakenkrick and Bachir Bouzouk are about to become pilots in the French army. But after the bad consequences of a test undertaken with the centrifuge, they are forced to give up their dream. They are eventually given the position of baggage handler at Orly-West Airport in Paris. But one night, there is a hostage-taking in the airport and the "Moustachious", a group of terrorists, take hold of the control tower.

When Spirou, supposedly a groom in a Palace, meets Fantasio, reporter scupper, everything starts very hard … and rather badly!

In Baghdad the Magnificent reigns Haroun al Plassid, who is the Caliph. There also dwells Iznogoud, who wants to be the Caliph. The irascible Grand Vizier hatches plot after plot to remove his ruler and take his place—melting Djinn, invisibility spell, cursed diamond, voodoo doll… But no amount of cunning or obstinacy can make up for sheer, hilariously bad luck.

A pair of adventurers try to track down an ancient Aztec/Mayan/Egyptian/Apache horde of gold.

A bounty hunter helps out the wife of a bail-jumper after her child is kidnapped by neo-Nazi types.

Tragedy strikes a married couple vacationing in the Moroccan desert, which jumpstarts an interlocking story involving four different families.

They used to run the country. Now they're running for their lives! Two on-the-lam former Presidents of the United States. Framed in a scandal by the current President and pursued by armed agents, the two squabbling political foes plunge into a desperately frantic search for the evidence that will establish their innocence.

Disenchanted with the movie industry, Chili Palmer tries the music industry, meeting and romancing a widow of a music executive along the way.

Joan Wilder is thrust back into a world of murder, chases, foreign intrigue... and love. This time out she's duped by a duplicitous Arab dignitary who brings her to the Middle East, ostensibly to write a book about his life. Of course, he's up to no good, and Joan is just another pawn in his wicked game. But Jack Colton and his sidekick Ralph show up to help our intrepid heroine save the day.

A young lunatic director and his devoted cult of cinema terrorists kidnap a Hollywood movie goddess and force her to star in their radical underground movie.

Two untalented singers are mistaken for a pair of major league safe crackers in Providence, Rhode Island. The two are pressed into service by the local hoodlums and quickly find themselves in conflict with their professional colleagues. Romantic interest is added by the daughter of the underworld leader who won't date the men she knows are gangsters.

Maurice and Dave sell high-end cuts of beef, but after hitting a patch of no sales, they're facing being fired. Maurice needs money to enroll in his final semester of acupuncture school, and the recently-separated Dave needs money for his daughter's birthday gift. Their final client card—a beautiful woman—is attracted to Maurice, but a desperate call from a suicidal friend interrupts her signing the contract. Still hoping to close the sale, they offer to drive her to the friend's house—where their troubles multiply.

An obscure Eastern cult that practices human sacrifice pursues Ringo after he unknowingly puts on a ceremonial ring (that, of course, won't come off). On top of that, a pair of mad scientists, members of Scotland Yard, and a beautiful but dead-eyed assassin all have their own plans for the Fab Four.

When Champion City's hero Captain Amazing is kidnapped by the recently paroled supervillain Casanova Frankenstein, a trio of average, everyday superheroes -- Mr. Furious, the Shoveler and the Blue Raja -- assemble a new super team to save him.

A celebrity model couple are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged, alcoholic captain. What first appears Instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island in a struggle of hierarchy.

A fashion designer and his CIA agent business partner must join forces to stop a group of terrorists from smuggling explosives in counterfeit jeans during the handover of Hong Kong.

A mouthy and feisty taxicab driver has hot tips for a green and inept cop set on solving a string of New York City bank robberies committed by a quartet of female Brazilian bank robbers.

A desk-bound CIA analyst volunteers to go undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and prevent diabolical global disaster.

The UK Prime Minister and US President have a public rivalry that risks their countries' alliance. But when they become targets of a powerful enemy, they're forced to rely on each other as they go on a wild, multinational run. Allied with Noel, a brilliant MI6 agent, they must find a way to thwart a conspiracy that threatens the free world.

Something has gone wrong with the landing gear of a plane en route from Madrid to Mexico City. The group of eccentric travelers on the flight, defenseless in the face of danger, indulge in colourful confessionals, while the outlandish crew attempts to find ways to entertain them.

Holidaymakers arriving in a Club Med camp on the Ivory Coast are determined to forget their everyday problems and emotional disappointments. Games, competitions, outings, bathing and sunburn accompany a continual succession of casual affairs.

Singer-songwriter Winslow Leach seeks revenge on the nefarious music producer Swan, who steals both Winslow's music and his favorite singer for the grand opening of Swan's new rock palace, the Paradise.

Miles Monroe, a clarinet-playing health food store proprietor, is revived out of cryostasis 200 years into a future world in order to help rebels fight an oppressive government regime.

A director struggles with a difficult sex scene between a young actor and actress who can't stand one another. Aided by her loyal assistant, she is hell-bent on getting the scene right without compromise.

The hunt for imperial gold continues. A priceless scepter, a treasure that could secure a worry-free life in sunny Rio de Janeiro for Ibrahim Bender and his young apprentice Ostap, has slipped from under their noses and ended up in possession of Nestor Makhno, an anarchist army commander. Makhno is convinced that the scepter is one of many imperial relics hidden in the area. With mafia, partisans, and officers of the Red and White armies all determined to get their hands on the fabled gold cache, Ostap and his mentor Ibrahim must surpass their own brilliance to outmaneuver their rivals and snatch the prize. And with Ostap’s beloved fair maiden losing her trust in him, he must do everything in his power to win her back and stop her from marrying another man.

A radio journalist and his technician get in over their heads when they hatch a scheme to fake their own kidnapping during a rebel uprising in South America and hide out in New York instead.

Marcia, a classy young Parisian singer, is recording an album with her idol Daredjane, a '70s rock icon. When Daredjane dies accidentally, Marcia needs to get approval from Daredjane's rights-holder, Anthony, a suburban market vendor in his thirties, to release their album. But Anthony never liked his distant relative, let alone her music. Their two worlds clash between good and bad taste, sophistication and rudeness, sincerity and lies. Unless love gets in the way...

When a bumbling New Yorker is dumped by his activist girlfriend, he travels to a tiny Latin American nation and becomes involved in its latest rebellion.

Franky and Krimo dream of leaving the grey grime of their neighborhood behind and of traveling to the famous and diabolical Thai beach resort of Pattaya. To get there cheaply, the two friends have the crazy idea of registering, unbeknownst to him, the local little person for the Thai Dwarf Boxing World Championship. But what was supposed to be a dream vacation will transform into the most insane and dangerous adventure of their lives.

A race car driver tries to transport an illegal beer shipment from Texas to Atlanta in under 28 hours, picking up a reluctant bride-to-be on the way.

In antique Rome, a simple pepboy for chars becomes involved in a coup against Cesar. Rahatlocum is a North African Roman colony where Julius Caesar came to spend an expensive holiday. The revolt rumbles among the small people who find a leader in the person of Ben-Hur Marcel.

A suicidally disillusioned liberal politician puts a contract out on himself and takes the opportunity to be bluntly honest with his voters by affecting the rhythms and speech of hip-hop music and culture.

A bounty hunter pursues a former Mafia accountant who is also being chased by a rival bounty hunter, the F.B.I., and his old mob boss after jumping bail.

Strangers trapped at an eerie travel oasis in the desert must unravel the mystery behind their visions of dying people while they are preyed upon by a decaying creature.

Ex-special operative MacGruber is called back into action to take down his archenemy, Dieter Von Cunth, who's in possession of a nuclear warhead and bent on destroying Washington, DC.

Ben and Bill are the two worst, completely useless agents - real losers. But who else would you send on a super-difficult top-secret mission? The French have just sold a new high-power M51 rocket to the Russians for crazy money. Unfortunately for them, the rocket was hijacked before they could get it of their hands. However, not just any fool is up to neutralizing this threat, but only the craziest and most stupid of them can cope with such a task.

After accidentally witnessing a mafia hit in the Windy City, gal pals Connie and Carla skip town for L.A., where they go way undercover as singers working the city's dinner theater circuit ... disguised as drag queens. Now, it's not enough that they become big hits on the scene; things get extra-weird when Connie meets Jeff -- a guy she'd like to be a woman with.

Tarek is a young man who is working at a telecommunications company,and he fell in love with a girl when he heard her voice in a radio talk show. A customer of the company he works at asks him to spy on a girl which stole a valuable thing from him. When Tarek does his searches, he discovers that she is the girl he have dreamed about.

A shady businessman ,about to be arrested after ruining his country (and more) ,has to get away from his native France ;he meets a dry cleaner,William ,who's got a private plane and they crash on an island.

Under the pressure of his boss, a music producer decides to set up a group consisting of a rabbi, a priest and an imam to make them sing the living together. But the religious he recruits are far from being saints ...

When a straight-laced couple that has fun with a rowdy couple on vacation in Mexico return to the States, they discover that the crazy couple they met in Mexico followed them back home and decide to play tricks on them.

When lawyer Charlie is sent to a small Nevada town to file a continuance request for a client, his actor friend Richard turns up to throw a surprise bachelor party celebrating his upcoming marriage to the boss's daughter. When Charlie is too hung-over to make it to court for the hearing, Richard fills in, inadvertently committing felony fraud, and Charlie is left with no choice but to coach the clueless Richard through the whole trial.

A spoof of buddy cop movies where two very different cops are forced to team up on a new reality based T.V. cop show.

R2I, a famous news radio station, sends its best reporting duo to Iraq: Frank, journalist, and Poussin, sound engineer. Very quickly, millions of listeners follow their highly documented stories, reflecting the hot intensity of the fighting and the difficult survival of the population.

A serpentine day in the life of ten seemingly disparate women: a porn star, a flight attendant, a psychiatrist, a masseuse, a bartender, a pair of call girls, etc. All of them with one crucial thing in common. Trouble.

Wally Sparks is a tabloid TV show reporter who's trying to boost ratings on his show. He goes to the governor's mansion to uncover a sex scandal.

During an emergency landing on a deserted island suddenly traumatized by antiauthoritarian education Lena Schneider together with the Turkish Super Macho Cem Öztürk must fight for survival. After initially Cem macho repulsive acts on Lena, a jellyfish in the water and sand in a bikini, she recognizes the time the romantic core behind his cool facade. Meanwhile, meet also their parents, who obdurate psychologist Doris and Metin Öztürk to work together to find their missing children. So both generations take an involuntary Turkish Basic Course for beginners.

Two wannabe Black American princesses aim to marry rich men, who will pay for their world's first combination hair salon and soul food restaurant.

A sweet-natured Temp Agency operator and amateur Presidential look-alike is recruited by the Secret Service to become a temporary stand-in for the President of the United States.

An ex-fighter pilot forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.

A cabdriver and a cop race to Paris to rescue a love interest and the Japanese minister of defense from kidnappers.

An alienated and misanthropic teenager gains sudden and unwanted celebrity status after he's taken hostage by terrorists where his indifference to their threats to kill him makes news headlines.

Ray Tango and Gabriel Cash are two successful narcotics detectives who can't stand each other. Crime lord Yves Perret, furious at the loss of income they have caused him, plots an elaborate revenge against them.

An eccentric, if not charming Southern professor and his crew pose as a band in order to rob a casino, all under the nose of his unsuspecting landlord – a sharp old woman.

At Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, a beautician on her way to a new job in Mexico accidentally meets a cook who is on his way back from America. Labor strikes, bad weather, and pure luck cause the two of them to share a room overnight at the airport Hilton hotel. Will their initial mutual indifference and downright hostility turn into a one night stand or perhaps something more?

Chasing women for the weekend at a luxurious Miami resort, teen buddies Ben and Jack get more than they bargained for after crossing paths with a crafty criminal.

Two scientists are chosen as guinea pigs for a time experiment: they are placed in hibernation and should be brought back to life after three years. In the meantime, however, World War III breaks out and life has been wiped off the surface of Earth. When they wake up, it turns out that not only 50 years have passed but also that they are the only living specimens of the male sex in a new, underground society composed exclusively of women.

Having satisfied their urge for White Castle, Harold and Kumar jump on a plane to catch up with Harold's love interest, who's headed for the Netherlands. But the pair must change their plans when Kumar is accused of being a terrorist. Rob Corddry also stars in this wild comedy sequel that follows the hapless stoners' misadventures as they try to avoid being captured by the Department of Homeland Security.

During a high profile Mafia testimony case, a contract killer checks-in a hotel room near the courthouse while his next door depressed neighbor wants to commit suicide due to marital problems.

Two FBI agent brothers, Marcus and Kevin Copeland, accidentally foil a drug bust. To avoid being fired they accept a mission escorting a pair of socialites to the Hamptons--but when the girls are disfigured in a car accident, they refuse to go. Left without options, Marcus and Kevin decide to pose as the sisters, transforming themselves from black men into rich white women.

Stranded on an isolated desert road, two life-long friends fight for survival as their already strained relationship spirals into knife-wielding madness.

He's a low level criminal with no future and just out of prison. She's a low level lawyer never noticed by others, a lost soul without a life. Their anger and hostility makes them serious criminals. Love happens in the strangest of places.

Selma, a psychoanalyst, deals with a cast of colorful new patients after returning home to Tunisia to open a practice.

A group of friends are planning how to spend their summer vacation. One plans to go to the Seychelles with his American girlfriend. At the airport she dumps him for another guy. He has no money so he steals a backpack and goes camping. Somehow he meets a pretty girl and convinces her to share his tent. But a famous singer sees the girl and wants her too. He convinces the luckless guy to act like a fool and the girl leaves him and goes with the singer to the French Rivera.

In Africa, Slim and Tom don't like it when a German tyrant starts selling all of the African wildlife to Canadian zoos. Slim and Tom must teach this guy a lesson by beating the hell out of him and his gang.

Two high school girls wander off during a class trip to the White House and meet President Richard Nixon. They become the official dog walkers for Nixon's dog Checkers, and become his secret advisors during the Watergate scandal.

Two desperate men turn in an uncomfortable business partners to find a secret gold looking for change their bad star.

Seasoned adventurer and treasure hunter Dirk Pitt, a former Navy SEAL, sets out for the African desert with his wisecracking buddy Al in search of a confederate ironclad battleship rumored to have vanished long ago, the main draw being the treasure supposedly hidden within the lost vessel. When the daring duo come across Dr. Eva Rojas, a beautiful scientist who is juggling an escape from a warlord and a mission to stop the spread of a powerful plague, their desert expedition begins to heat up.

The US President and the UK Prime Minister are planning on launching a war in the Middle East, but—behind the scenes—government officials and advisers are either promoting the war or are trying to prevent it.

A hippie radical, Huey Walker has been a fugitive for decades, accused of a crime that he may not have committed. Finally apprehended, Walker is escorted to trial by uptight 20-something FBI agent John Buckner. While the two seem to be polar opposites, it turns out that Buckner may have more in common with Walker than is initially apparent, a point that is driven home when the pair faces off against a sinister small-town sheriff.

The story of best friends Barb and Star, who leave their small midwestern town for the first time to go on vacation in Vista Del Mar, Florida, where they soon find themselves tangled up in adventure, love, and a villain’s evil plot to kill everyone in town.

A pair of Tactical Units Police Officers from different walks of life come together to rescue an ambassador's daughter.

Hayri and Orhan are two music producers head over heels in debt. In an attempt to find the next big thing to turn the business around, they contact Ferhat, a gastarbeiter in Germany, and desperately bring him to Istanbul to sign him. As they are struggling to find the necessary funds to promote Ferhat's debut album, a mysterious rich woman named Firuze shows up and starts supporting them. The future now seems bright, but things are not always what they seem...

Set in the Arabian Desert of 1916, the film follows Theeb, a young Bedouin boy, and his brother Hussein as they leave the safety of their tribe to venture on a treacherous journey at the dawn of the Great Revolt. If Theeb is to survive he must quickly learn about adulthood, trust and betrayal.

A smooth-talking ad executive attributes his remarkable success with women to his ability to manipulate their emotions from the moment he first meets them. When his teenage nephew drops in for a visit, he soon learns that his approach isn't as foolproof as he thought when he attempts to teach the boy how to pick up women.

The story of how a mysterious suitcase brings together, and changes, the lives of a divorced dad, an unhappy housewife, two hitmen, a pair of street thugs, two love struck teens, two FBI men and a psychedelic toad. Based on Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist Dave Barry's best-selling first novel, "Big Trouble."

When a ruthless robber baron takes away everything they cherish, a rough-and-tumble, idealistic peasant and a sophisticated heiress embark on a quest for justice, vengeance…and a few good heists.

Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr. Gonzo drive a red convertible across the Mojave desert to Las Vegas with a suitcase full of drugs to cover a motorcycle race. As their consumption of drugs increases at an alarming rate, the stoned duo trash their hotel room and fear legal repercussions. Duke begins to drive back to L.A., but after an odd run-in with a cop, he returns to Sin City and continues his wild drug binge.

Richard Dacier owns a tour agency specialized on organizing safaris for European tourists eager to confront the African wild life. Actually, he took the job after his father and never went into the savanna by himself. As he owes big money to some mobster, he is compelled to convey a fake tourist, with a suspicious suitcase, toward Mozambic. To avoid suspicion from the authorities, he is supposed to tour a group of tourists as usual. The only problem - he is completely unexperienced as a guide!

In the rebellious northern frontier province of colonial India, British Army Captain Scott, a young prince and the boy's governess escape by an obsolete train as they are relentlessly pursued by Muslim rebels intent on assassinating the prince.

1907 Central America: Maria II is the daughter of an Irish terrorist. After her father's death, she meets Maria I, a performer, and decides to stay with the circus, and on her debut as a singer, unintentionally invents the striptease and makes the circus famous. Their inadvertent encounter with a socialist revolutionary lands them leading a revolution against the dictator, the capitalists, and the Church.

In the working-class Paris suburb of Montreuil, Jimmy's restaurant, the Bombay Bar, is on the verge of being closed down by creditors. Jimmy is despondent -- the fact that his wife is about to have a baby isn't helping matters -- when he and his business partner Fifi find unlikely inspiration in the form of "Riches et Sympas," a TV show dedicated to the lives of the rich and famous. Figuring that getting the "right" people to frequent their business will ensure its reputation, Jimmy and Fifi persuade Jimmy's friend, the laid-back, unemployed Mike, to pose as a nobleman and lure his moneyed associates to the Bombay Bar. Mike agrees, and after crashing a posh charity ball, he finds himself being taken in by the likes of society fixture Arthus de Poulignac and Evrard, the latter of whom ensconces Mike in his private mansion. Unfortunately, Mike soon becomes a little too fond of his newly-acquired lifestyle, leaving Jimmy to wonder what to do with the monster he unwittingly created.

Moronic best friends get themselves locked inside the Bio-Dome, a science experiment, along with a group of environmental scientists for one year.

Heading through Colorado Territory in search of gold and women, Alferd Packer and his group of bemused companions find themselves lost, starving and musically inspired by the obstacles they confront along the way, including a die-hard Confederate cyclops, a trio of surly trappers, a tribe of Japanese-speaking "Indians," and ultimately, each other.

An array of outrageous people, including a desperate nymphomaniac and a terrorist with an acute sense of smell, seek love and happiness in Madrid.

In the South Pacific island of Makatea, career-driven magazine editor Robin Monroe is on a week-long vacation getaway with her boyfriend, Frank Martin. An emergency work assignment in neighboring Tahiti requires Robin to hire the cantankerous pilot Quinn Harris who had flown them to Makatea on a small transport plane. While flying, a powerful storm forces Quinn to make an emergency landing on a nearby deserted island. The dissimilar pair avoid each other at first, until they're forced to team up to escape from the island -- and some pirates who want their heads.

Set in 1955, French secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath/OSS 117 is sent to Cairo to investigate the disappearance of his best friend and fellow spy Jack Jefferson, only to stumble into a web of international intrigue.

Calvin Joyner, a mild-mannered accountant whose high school glory days are long behind him, reconnects with an awkward pal from high school through Facebook. After meeting up, Calvin’s mundane life takes an unexpectedly thrilling turn when he's thrust into the world of international espionage.

Spenser, a former Boston patrolman who just got out from prison, teams up with Hawk, an aspiring fighter, to unravel the truth behind the death of two police officers.

After his rich father refuses to pay his debt, compulsive gambler Lawrence Bourne III joins the Peace Corps to evade angry creditors. In Thailand, he is assigned to build a bridge for the local villagers with the help of American-As-Apple-Pie WSU Grad Tom Tuttle and the beautiful and down-to earth Beth Wexler. What they don't realize is that the bridge is coveted by the U.S. Army, a local Communist force, and a powerful drug lord. Together with the help of At Toon, the only English speaking native, they must fight off the three opposing forces and find out what is right for the villagers, as well as themselves.

Expert conman Joe Thanks teams up with half-breed Bill and naive Lucy to steal $300,000 from the Indian-hating Major Cabot. Their elaborate plan is full of disguises, double-crosses, and chases, but Joe always seems to know what he's doing.

When an Egyptian terrorism suspect "disappears" on a flight from Africa to Washington DC, his American wife and a CIA analyst find themselves caught up in a struggle to secure his release from a secret detention facility somewhere outside the US.

A fisheries expert is approached by a consultant to help realize a sheik's vision of bringing the sport of fly-fishing to the desert and embarks on an upstream journey of faith and fish to prove the impossible possible.

In the sleepy suburbs of Miami, seemingly normal Egyptian immigrant Fuad Ramses runs a successful catering business. He also murders young women and plans to use their body parts to revive the goddess Ishtar. The insane Ramses hypnotizes a socialite in order to land a job catering a party for her debutante daughter, Suzette Fremont, and turns the event into an evening of gruesome deaths, bloody dismemberment and ritual sacrifice.


