The Sunday New York Times Magazine devoted itself to comedy this weekend -- and you know how funny the New York Times Magazine can be. Actually, there's a very good article by A.O. Scott on the art of the pratfall in which he explains why some of the greatest modern comedy (from "Little Miss Sunshine" to "Borat") is of the well-executed physical variety. (Not to be confused with what Chris Farley used to call, with an undertone of dismay, "Fat Guy Falls Down" -- a desperate stunt that may elicit knee-jerk laughs, even if it's not inherently funny.)
As part of its comedic survey, the Times Mag asked some 22 comedians, well-known and not-, to name five of their favorite "Desert Island Comedies" on DVD. I don't like any of the lists much (while agreeing wholeheartedly with a few individual choices) -- but I salute David Cross (somebody I've long thought is really funny) for the humor inherent in choosing "Homer and Eddie" and "Rent."
To paraphrase an old David Steinberg routine: There are those who say... (that's the end of my paraphrase) that to analyze comedy is anti-comedic. I could not disagree more strongly. I say if you don't understand why you're laughing, when you're laughing, then you don't appreciate the comedy and you may as well not be laughing at all, since any old reaction is probably comparably appropriate for you. You could be crying or sneezing and it's probably the same thing. But let's put that aside for the moment and concentrate on some lists of very personal, very funny movies.
I suppose I could choose the great movies that have made me laugh the most -- the first that come to mind, such as: a Keaton ("Sherlock, Jr." or "Steamboat Bill, Jr."), a Fields ("It's A Gift" or "The Bank Dick"), a Marx Bros. ("Animal Crackers" or "Duck Soup"), a Sturges ("The Lady Eve" or "Miracle of Morgan's Creek"), and, let's say, a classic comedy (preferably starring Cary Grant or Barbara Stanwyck or Jean Arthur, and written and/or directed by Ernst Lubitsch or Howard Hawks or Billy Wilder or Mitchell Leisen, like "Trouble in Paradise" or "Heaven Can Wait" (1943) or "Bringing Up Baby" or "His Girl Friday" or "The Major and the Minor" or "Some Like It Hot" or "Easy Living" or "Ball of Fire"...). But those are all 50-75 years old, and I haven't even mentioned my modern-era favorites, like Luis Bunuel ("The Exterrminating Angel," "Simon of the Desert," "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie," "The Phantom of Liberty"), Monty Python ("Life of Brian" -- greatest comedy of the last half-century), Christopher Guest & ensemble ("Spinal Tap," "Waiting for Guffman," "Best in Show") or the Coen Bros. ("Barton Fink," "The Big Lebowski"). So, I thought I'd just offer up a few relatively obscure, underappreciated or, at least, off-the-beaten-path comedies that I think are hysterically funny and invite you contribute some of your own:
"I Was Born, But..." (Yasujiro Ozu, 1932) I know it's an acknowledged masterpiece by one of the greatest directors in movie history, but how many of you have actually seen it? Two boys, big belly laughs. Some of this material was re-worked in "Ohayo" ("Good Morning") in 1959.
"The President's Analyst" (Theodore J. Flicker, 1967) I love this movie -- the perfect paranoid Cold War 1960s espionage satire companion to "Dr. Strangelove" and James Bond, with James Coburn in the title role. Who is writer/directorTheodore J. Ficker, anyway? Well, according to IMDb, he directed episodes of "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "The Man From U.N.C.L.E., "The Andy Griffith Show," "I Dream of Jeannie," "Night Gallery" and "Barney Miller."
"Taking Off" (Milos Forman, 1971) You couldn't find a better time capsule for 1971 -- which Forman has captured with his characteristically uncanny ease and naturalness. Buck Henry "stars" as a father whose daughter has run away to some sort of "hippie" musical audition -- probably in the Village. The whole thing feels spontaneous and improvised -- but it was written by Forman, Jean-Claude Carrierer ("The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie," "The Phantom of Liberty," "Birth"), John Guare ("Atlantic City," "Six Degrees of Separation") and Jon Klein. One of the late, great Vincent Schiavelli's finest moments: teaching a group of uptight, wealthy parents with missing kids how to smoke pot. Early cameos by Kathy Bates, Carly Simon and Jessica Harper, among others. (Long unavailable, this recently showed up on the Sundance Channel, which I hope means it will soon be released on DVD.)
"How to Get Ahead in Advertising"(Bruce Robinson, 1989) Robinson's equally brilliant and demented "Withnail & I" is the official masterpiece (and object of obsessive cult veneration in the UK), but this is Richard E. Grant's finest hour. He's a London advertising executive so sick with self-loathing that he grows a foul-mouthed boil on his neck. How's that for a premise?
Coldblooded" (Wallace Wolodarsky, 1995) In some ways, this is a precursor to "Dexter." Jason Priestly is magnificently deadpan as an empty young man who is recruited to become a hit man -- and turns out to be mighty good at it. Co-starring Peter Riegert, Robert Loggia (getting ready for "Lost Highway"), and Jay Kogen -- who, along with writer/director Wolodarsky, wrote some of the classic early episodes of "The Simpsons."
"Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy" (Kelly Makin, 1996) Critics were mostly bewildered or repulsed, but this movie gets funnier every time I see it (and I've seen it at least a dozen times). It plays GREAT on the video screen -- better, I think, than any of the TV shows. A drug company speeds a new anti-depressant to the market, only to find that the insanely popular Gleemonex has a troublesome side effect: It puts people into comas of happiness. Each of the "Kids" has at least a handful of indescribably (but not inexplicably) funny moments. Including: "Cat on my head! Cat on my head!"; "I'm an elephant rider!"; "Tasty"; "How pleasing!"; and "Just... a guy." Should be seen alongside the great documentary, "The Corporation."
I cheated. That's six. But, OK, I've left out hundreds of great titles. Your turn. And the more obscure/underappreciated the better, please.
P.S. Anybody else remember the rest of the sentence from that David Steinberg bit?
Thank you for listing "Life of Brian" - my personal favorite. Some others I grew up on...
"Airplane" and "The Naked Gun" are nice companion pieces.
I have a whole collection of Charlie Chaplin works, and I would rub my fingers raw to list all of them: "Payday" and "The Circus" are two of my favorite short works, but you can't forget "The Kid" and "Modern Times" where he sings a song completely in gibberish.
"The Jerk" makes me giggle to this day, and "Ghostbusters" and "Groundhog Day" are Murray classics.
Of the past couple years though the filmmaker/actor to make me shed tears of laughter the most would be Stephen Ciao, the Chinese Buster Keaton of our time, who crafted the slap-happy zany "Kung-Fu Hustle", "Shaolin Soccer", and "The Chinese Odyssey".
Every film I've named does manage to cleverly incorporate the slapstick more usefully than the verbal wit of say "Philadelphia Story" or "Bringing Up Baby", which are also favorites... oh, well.
It's been gone awhile now, but I still think that Mystery Science Theatre 3000 had me "tears in my eyes" laughing as much as any movie or show I can recall. There's a good selection of episodes out now and they are on Netflix. Three I'd start with: Pod People, Mitchell and The Sky Divers.
I think I can come up with a few good ones.
Army of Darkness
Sam Raimi
Ash (Bruce Campbell) is a man from our time who is transported by an evil spell to 14th century England. He has a chainsaw hand and a shotgun. He's the kind of guy who doesn't take crap from anybody. Well let me tell you a bit about it. In the beginning, Ash is thrown into a pit to be ripped apart by evil zombies. The water is shin deep. Ash is terrified. A zombie appears and does what of all things? Starts tearing into Ash with his nails? Bites into him? No: grabs him and starts punching him in the face! (It's akin to the bit in The Wizard of Oz when the Cowardly Lion appears and, instead of attacking in any of the ways a real lion would, wants to box.) A wise magician (a Merlin-type guy) throws Ash his chainsaw, so he manages to defeat the zombie (and a second one) and get out of the pit. Then he starts to intimidate all the people gathered around. When the castle lord tries to pull a sword on Ash, he shoots half of it off with his shotgun and then delivers a speach to all the medeival people. "All right, you primitive screwheads, listen up! You see this? This... is my BOOMSTICK!" He starts pointing out the finer details of his gun; features, retail price, "You can find this in the sporting goods section." And he ends the pitch, "Shop smart. Shop S-Mart. YOU GOT THAT?" To which they all assent.
There's so much more. A group of miniature Ashes torment Ash with various slapstick attacks, even knocking him out and then tying him up like Gulliver. After he eats one of them, an eye appears on his shoulder and starts becoming a seperate person. "Oh, dear god, it's growing bigger!" (It's a parody of shlock horror movie The Manster, which curiously was double-billed with the dubbed and edited version of the French film Eye Without a Face.) When the second person splits off from Ash to become Ash's evil twin, there's a confrontation. "I'm Bad Ash, and you're Good Ash! You're goody little two shoes!" Bad Ash sings, dances, and punches Ash in the face until Ash, fed up, pulls out his shot gun and shoots him right through his nostrils. Then he says (only in the theatrical version, sadly,) "Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun."
Help
Richard Lester
People always like to talk about how great A Hard Day's Night was and how weak Help was by comparison. They're wrong. Help is the better film. That is was shot in color isn't the only reason. It also had a better set of Beatles songs (that album and the previous one were big steps forward) and an even funnier script. Think of the quotes! "They have to paint me red before they chop me. It's a different religion from ours, I think." "How do we know you're not just as filthy and sent by him to nick the ring by being filthy, when you've lulled us with your filthy eastern ways?" "Hey, it's a thingy! A fiendish thingy! Run, Ringo!" "'Ho ho!' 'Ho!' 'Ho ho!' 'Ho!'" "Doesn't the blood rush to your stomach?" Can you believe this film is out of print?
Stiff Upper Lips
Gary Sinyor
It's a British comedy that pokes fun at all those movies based on famous British literature, especially Merchant Ivory. The rich feel obligated to always comport themselves in a polite manner, largely ignorant of what a normal person would do in any given situation. When one character is drowning, two other discuss whose responsibility it should be to save her. Then one of them starts yelling for help in a calm and dignified manner (and in Latin to boot.) And there's a clergyman who a character will not marry because his eyebrows are over twice the socially acceptable level of bushiness.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
Terry Jones
The fans like The Holy Grail. Watch it with some of them and you'll be treated to several sets of voices reciting every single line of dialogue. (That oughta be a scene in a movie: a big group of people watching The Holy Grail and saying every line aloud. Maybe they could even pass out scripts for some of the people.) And the Pythons themselves have always been partial to Life of Brian. But my favorite has always been The Meaning of Life. Everything is as big and grand as it can possibly be: a birth performed by doctors who don't really care how the patient feels, a soldier who has lost his leg (but doesn't seem too concerned) and may have had it stolen by two men in a tiger costume, some fully-choreographed musical numbers (true highlights,) "Find the Fish,"the infamous Mr. Creosote sketch, a dinner party spoiled by Mr. Death's appearance, a live organ transplant, a sex education class, some protestants, and a supporting short film by Terry Gilliam in which old people in an office building mutiny against their young bosses, pull up an anchor from the sidewalk, and sail off with the canvas on the painters' scaffolding.
Kikujiro
Takeshi Kitano
Imagine Big Daddy was made by Takeshi Kitano instead of Adam Sandler. That's what this film is. Kitano plays a wildly irresponsible man who becomes a father figure for a young boy in search of his mother. This is a great film. How can I convey the spirit of it to you? Ok, here's a scene. The boy is in a swimming pool. The man (we don't learn his name until the end) is beside it. The kid asks him if he can swim. He says he can. This is a lie. Cut. We see the man with a silly-looking flotation tube around his waste. He makes a boast and then jumps right into the pool and starts trying to swim. He thrashes around and does more harm than good. Cut. Now the man is motionless in the water, head down, feet in the air. The boy wonders how this adult can be so silly. (The look on his face....) Another scene. The man and boy need a ride. They have a strategy; they'll pop somebody's tire without them knowing, then they'll offer to help replace the flat, then they'll ask the grateful motorist for a ride. The man picks a vehicle and sends the boy to go find a nail. The man tries to ruin the tire somehow with his bare hands. It's tough going. Then he stops and looks left. Pull back. The boy is just to the left, also looking left, standing, very surprised. Continue pulling back. The man who owns the car is standing there looking at the two sabateurs.
Add a beautiful score by Joe Hisashi and throw in a refernce to the famous match cut in 2001. Masterful.
I have seen "I Was Born, But..." Funny, but I laughed harder at Ohayo (not Ohayu). The scene with the door to door salesman and the old lady is an all time classic.
Since you started it, I'll try to out-Ozu you -- have you seen "Hitori Musuko" (Only Son)? Took me forever to find it.
JE: Ooops -- I mixed my Ozu titles ("Ohayo") with my Mizoguchi ("Life of Oharu") with a slip of the finger! Yes, I have seen "The Only Son" -- wrote program notes for it back in the early 1980s when we showed it at the Seattle Film Society. I think you can get it on Region 2 DVD in the UK...
Three of the funniest comedies of the past decade were overshadowed by the nosedive that their stars' reputations had previously taken. Among commercial Hollywood comedy fare, they were, nonetheless, giants among insects. My favourite comedies of all time (Some Like it Hot, The Apartment, Bringing Up Baby, This is Spinal Tap, Groundhog Day, His Girl Friday and, of course, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, There's Something About Mary) exhibit, apart from a clockwork efficiency, a wonderful heart to them, and these three films are also in a similar vein. They are "The Nutty Professor," "Galaxy Quest" and "Bowfinger."
Many cinephiles reject Tom Shadyac's remake of "The Nutty Professor" in an almost-perfunctory way, which is spectacularly unfair. People had given up on Eddie Murphy back in 1996, and I remember seeing the trailer at the Staines ABC in Surrey, when I, too, did not see any potential in the film. How wrong I was! I found the scenes with Sherman's family hilarious(and, in retrospect, they act as a timely reminder to the film's sequel that the old cliche "less is more" became one because it was so true - just ask my girlfriend), Sherman's struggle with Buddy, and the latter's subsequent wooing of Carla engaging, and the general tone of the film very touching. Not just that, the film feels like a confession by Eddie Murphy, whose two cinematic personas, one inspired, generally speaking, by Bill Cosby, and the by Richard Pryor, in constant conflict. And that is one hell of an achievement in a film that sports the line: "I thought a colonic was a massage?"
For a sci-fi nerd (though I've never been a true Trekkie - those freaks!), the actual concept behind "Galaxy Quest" was incredibly funny of itself. Not just that, but the fact that the whole thing was interlaced with well-researched and wonderfully-observed in-jokes elicited sincere belly laughs. Tim Allen channeled William Shatner and his aura of self-deprecating, slightly poignant, affability, and Alan Rickman's impossibly named stage-actor-turned-sci-fi-sidekick Alexander Dane is a not-so-subtle Leonard Nimoy/Spock parody that served as a reminder of the time when Nimoy did not want anything to do with Star Trek (or the people involved). However, for me, the chief element in the humour is the dichotomy of the actors with the real aliens, who were in as much awe of their life-long heroes as the geeks at the sci-fi convention. And no self-respecting geek (an oxymoron, I know) will deny that gulp in their throats the tears as well as the accompanying belly-laughs it deserves when Dr Lazarus takes the dying crewman Lahnk in his arms (Rainn Wilson aka Dwight from The Office), and says: "By Grabthar's hammer, by the sons of Worvan, you shall be avenged."
"Bowfinger" is just brilliant. The desperation of the characters, the sheer pathos of it all... The film takes an incisive, yet wispy, look at Hollywood, while ripping it out of anyone and everyone in its path: producers, actors, directors, writers, studios, agents, and, of course, Scientology. There are line deliveries or double takes by Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy in this film that are funnier than the entire back catalogues of other, inferior comedy actors: so good are they in their turns as Bowfinger and Kit and his kid brother, respectively. But it is not just the two leads: There are so many other fine details in the film's general tapestry, like, the illegal Mexican crew who grow into full on cineastes by the end, or Christine Baranski whose character is spurred on by the sheer made-up-on-the-spot concept of the film; "Cinema Nouveau," or the machinations of the Mindhead organisation, whose three "happy premises" to keep Kit Ramsey at bay are seven kinds of funny: "Happy premise number 1: There are no aliens. Happy Premise number two: There is no giant foot trying to squash me. Happy premise number three: Even though I feel like I might ignite... I probably won’t."
You mean I'm not the only person who's seen Coldblooded?
Even the way Jason Priestly sleeps in that movie is funny.
Having to pick 5 favorite comedies is like having to pick my 5 favorite hairs on my head... I'm actually a little surprised that you left out the canon of Mel Brooks' great early films (e.g., Silent Movie, Young Frankenstein, The Producers, etc.)
As for movies that I never get tired of laughing with, I have to include It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and the Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker classic Kentucky Fried Movie.
Tough list. Here's what my current stab at it looks like. And most of these films have at least one slapstick gag:
The Court Jester (Melvin Frank + Norman Panama, 1956)
The Life of Brian (Terry Jones, 1979)
Spaceballs (Mel Brooks, 1987)
A Fish Called Wanda (Charles Crichton, 1988)
Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)
Runners up would be Blazing Saddles, Trading Places.
"Sideways" is a beautifully poignant comedy. If we're going Chaplin, I prefer "The Gold Rush". "When Harry Met Sally..." is a personal favorite, but I don't know if it's a "great" film.
Young Frankenstein - "Do NOT open this door! Do you understand me?" That scene alone makes this quite possibly the funniest film I've ever seen.
Ghostbusters - It's one of the only movies I know that makes me laugh just by thinking about certain scenes/lines. It's brilliantly done.
The Big Lebowski - I laughed so hard at Walter destroying the car that my stomach hurt.
However, my favorite "modern and obscure" comedy is probably Coffee and Cigarettes. It's not on the scale of Young Frankenstein, and I'm sure one could argue its comedic value, but personally I find its meditation on the absurdity of simple moments and confrontations hilarious and touching at the same time. Its comedy is subtle at times, but some of those scenes really stuck with me.
"One, Two, Three" by Billy Wilder is sometimes overlooked but I think it's hilarious with a great performance by James Cagney. Also the Bugs Bunny short "The Rabbit of Seville" But I'll pretty much laugh at anything by The Marx Brothers. "Horse Feathers" to me is probably the funniest movie ever made.
I've always liked "Brain Candy" while not laughing all that much with it. It's such a bizarre movie that I don't have that big a physical reaction to it (maybe I laugh in my brain?).
My pic is "Soapdish." Its stellar cast has full confidence in the material and the viewer is rewarded by their commitment. Sally Field's fragile ego is hilarious, but everyone in the movie has their moments: Kevin Kline's way of dealing with a senior citizen dinner theatre crowd; Cathy Moriarty's choice of surgical tools during the emergency brain transplant in the restaurant; Whoopie Goldberg's apoplexic reaction to the show's insane plot twists ("He doesn't have a head!"); Elisabeth Shue's rise to fame ("This hat makes me look like the goddamn Tweetie Bird!"); Robert Downey Jr's sycophantic maneuverings; and the show itself combining American physicians with the Jamaican homeless. A Teleprompter gets a laugh. Even the scene transitions have humor, specifically after Field's self-serving trip to the suburban mall (listen to the autograph hound spell her last name as the screen dissolves).
Endlessly quotable ("Bitch..." "Hag..." "I. Hate. Her. So. Much."), Soapdish is an underrated comedy classic.
I, too, thank you for putting "Life of Brian" up there (The "You are all individuals!" speech, but let's not forget "The Meaning of Life."
As for my five desert islanders:
The Big Lebowski: Every word of dialogue is hilarious -- and quotable!. Probably my favorite screenplay perioud.
Borat: Yeah, it might be a little too new, but the first time I saw it, I almost vomited I laughed so hard. The second time, much the same, although I was able to pick up more of the sly humor, such as the villagers not holding "The Running of the Jews" because of its (animal) cruelty and replacing it with a Passion play, itself a form of "Running of the Jew," only with narrative.
Dr. Strangelove: "Welp, I think I'm gonna mosey on down to the war room."
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut: I don't know what I'm laughing at more: the raunchy songs themselves, or the fact that Matt and Trey have a stone-cold grasp of the showtune form.
Animal House: Thank God for John Belushi.
More famous comedies that are among my favorites: “A Hard Day’s Night� and “Help!� (I agree with Raymond on this!), “This is Spinal Tap,� “The Big Lebowski,� “Playtime� (and other Hulot films), “Stranger than Paradise.�
Less famous or underrated or less-recognized-as-comedy comedies among my favorites:
STROSZEK: What I love best about this Herzog/Bruno S. collaboration is that in a recent poll at my site, I couldn’t decide whether to vote this my favorite drama or my favorite comedy of all-time. Bruno delivers possibly my favorite performance in cinema, and I don’t care if he’s just “acting like himself.� Herzog isn’t famous for editing, but the film contains the funniest cut I have ever seen, from Bruno watching his trailer home driven off to a shot of him and Herr Scheitz holding a shotgun in the front of a pickup truck. “Can’t Stop the Dancing Chicken� is both the funniest and saddest ending sequence I can think of.
MULTIPLE MANIACS: I could pick “Pink Flamingos� or “Desperate Living� but since this John Waters’ film is so hard to find, it gets the nod. Divine was great in every film, but here David Lochary also gets a chance to shine: “I love you so much I could shit!� It also contains the one film scene which made me laugh harder than any other, and I can only describe it as: “Divine gets raped by a papier-mâché lobster.� “Ah, Lobstora!!!�
DEAD ALIVE (aka BRAINDEAD): Am I a bad person for finding this exercise in wall-to-wall dismemberment so funny? I don’t care; it’s Peter Jackson’s best film by far, and I don’t mean that as a slight to the “Lord of the Rings� films. Some great lines too: “That’s my mother you’re pissing on.� And “I kick ass for the Lord!�
THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT: I just can’t understand why this film is so poorly received by critics, even the critics who I normally agree with. I think it is the greatest male buddy film ever made, and on the finest road movies too. I struggle to find just one moment that I find so damn funny. No, wait, that’s easy: the farmer who gets stoned on his own exhaust pipe and keeps rabbits in the trunk. I have watched this movie at least ten times, and I laugh harder at this scene ever single time.
Life of Brian is by far the funniest thing the Monty Python troup ever made. It's too bad that most people (let alone most people who call themselves Monty Python fans) haven't seen it. It is endlessly quoted by me and my firends and family to the point where we've lost sight of the fact that some of the things we say come from that film.
The Man With Two Brains is my second favorite comedy, after Life of Brian. Like LOB, it is sadly undervalued mainly due to the fact that fans of the more popular movie have never even seen it. I can't tell you how many people that I've met who LOVE The Jerk have never even seen MWTB. MWTB is so funny that I laugh out loud in anticipation of jokes that I know by heart. It is so ladden with jokes that there are some that wont even sink in until you've seen it several times.
"What are those assholes doing on the porch?"
"Those aren't assholes. It's pronounced azaleas."
The original batch of John K. Ren and Stinpy episdes are some of the funniest things I've ever seen and they hold up after dozens of viewings, much like the Looney Tunes shorts that they are insired by.
A Fish Called Wanda had me rolling into the isle when I saw it on it's original release. It doesn't play as funny now, or after repeated viewings (though it's still a great film, even if you're not laughing) but it'd be wrong of me to leave it off of my list.
I want to add two rather obscure slapstick movies that had me gagging for air:
* Brain Donors (1992, Dennis Dugan)
A kind of "remake" of The Marx brothers' "A night at the Opera", starring John Torturro & Mel Smith.
* Crime Wave (1985, Sam Raimi)
Sam Raimi's little known 2nd movie (he made it after "Evil Dead"), written by Raimi and his friends Ethan & Joel Coen). Great slapstick with Raimi's trademark insane camerawork
Well, I'm not so sure that comedy is subject to rational criticism. For one thing, I don't find myself thinking very much between the the time I see the putatively humorous event and the time that I laugh, which would suggest at least that the response of laughter is not a rationally willed one (and it would seem odd to claim that it is). On the other hand, when I try to be funny, I do tend to make some calculations and higher-order judgments. So, comedy (like aesthetics and other matters of taste) seems subject to rational criticism on one end of the artist-audience divide but not the other. As with cooking, I know how to make what I like, but I don't know why I like it really. I would say the same is true for comedy.
That said, here's my obligatory list of some films that produced very memorable laughter: Election; Dr. Strangelove; Raising Arizona; Best in Show; Me and You and Everyone We Know; All the Real Girls; and (drumroll) Brain Candy.
One thing I feel compelled to note is that I don't particularly find the so-called classics (comedies made before, say, 1955) to be very funny. Sure, there's some cute dialogue and slapstick, but none of it resonates with me quite as effectively as modern examples. This is partly because comedy depends on shared understanding of social conventions and the like; and, because I'm only 31, I can't appreciate the cultural set of older humor. But, I feel like there is more to it than that. First, I think many older films (20s - 50s) feature a more optimistic view of humanity (heroic, perfectible, and less flawed) whereas contemporary films seem much more inclined to highlight the flaws, weaknesses, and silly ways of their subjects. And because I think comedy functions best in the absence of too much sentamentality and pride (there are exceptions, of course, but I still think this pattern is roughly correct), the humility present in much modern cinema facilitates more effective humor. In a context where too much is sacred, laughter is scarce (unless the portrayal of the sacred is parody, I should add).
Think of Brain Candy, in particular. Almost nothing is sacred in that movie. That's not to say that it doesn't have values or a sense of importance. It very much does and is far from nihilistic. To be sure, that's one thing that makes it is such a special movie. But, its values are modest and aware of human fallibility. Its targets are immodest and unaware of their fallibility. Older comedies don't tend to take aim so much at these subjects, but maybe I'm just not seeing the right movies (although I've given many of them a shot).
In any case, thanks for giving Brain Candy some love. Like you, Jim, I have seen it more times than I'd like to admit (and I don't generally enjoy multiple viewings of films). That movie just has so much confidence in its humor (and its reality). Also, there are so many new sources of humor that surface only upon closer inspection. Anyway, I'm just gushing at this point.
"This urine is great"
i'm not the only one who appreciates "brain candy". thank you. =)
Duck Amuk. Directed by Chuck Jones. Just thinking of an upset Daffy opening his mouth to explode and vent his anger with the animator -- everything about him from the shape of his body to his eyes to how his beak is open to his finger pointing for that "lecture" gesture showcases the duck's rage -- only to have a rooster sound come out of his mouth ... er, beak. It makes me laugh just thinking about it.
Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble with Harry. I found this gem in a Hitchcock box set, knowing nothing about it since it's not one of the more talked about Hitchcock film. But make no mistake, it's a living breathing representation of Hitch's impishness. An artist draws a landscape, then looking over his work realizes he's drawn a foot. Investigating, he finds a body, then starts to rush to the police ... a lightbulb goes off, and the Artist whips over to a new peice of paper and begins drawing the corpse. The first time I watched it my jaw dropped at the audacity Hitchcock had to throw so many goofball reactions (the artist wasn't the first to run across the troubled Harry). I don't think I've ever seen a film where so many characters run around in circles essentially accomplishing the same thing over and over ... I have no idea how Hitchcock did it, but he made the repetition hilarious. Love the Benny Herrmann score too.
Evil Dead II by Sam Raimi. Every time I think of the film, I picture Bruce Campbell in a room full of animal trophies laughing maniacally. Having lost everything, and stressed out from a demonite invasion, he laughs with 'em ... and the dancing lamp.
A Shot in the Dark. Oh, Clouseau releasing the suspected maid time and time again, positioning himself outside the prison as a sidewalk artist or balloon salesman to have an officer come up and ask, "Do you have a permit?" Cut to police van flying down the road, carrying Clouseau incognito to jail. (Honorable mention: Return of the Pink Panther.)
Although not a comedy, the Ninth Configuration by Bill Blatty has some very funny moments.
Dear David P.:
You should try to see a classic comedy sometime with an audience. I have never experienced the waves of uncontrollable, tear-inducing laughter at a contemporary comedy (OK, maybe parts of "Naked Gun" and "Borat") that I've been overwhelmed by while watching, say, "The Awful Truth" or "The Palm Beach Story" or "A Night at the Opera" (just to name three I haven't already mentioned) with a crowd.
And it has everything to do with pacing, rhythm, body language, timing, etc. -- stuff your brain notices, even if you don't notice it noticing. It's the difference between a pratfall (or a line) delivered so it falls flat, or sends you reeling with laughter. "Brain Candy" is full of stuff that wouldn't be funny if it hadn't been delivered just right -- like "Because you're gay" or "No media."
Been going over this with friends for days now, and I got a bit different take: there are some folks that have movies with multiple shots at this list, so if you could only pick one:
Woody Allen: Out of my many favs (Love and Death, Annie Hall, Radio Days), I go with Bananas. For pure comedy, it still cracks me up.
Mel Brooks: Blazing Saddles. followed closely by history of the world, the producers
Eddie Murphy: Trading Places. his best comedy, tho coming to america is close...love 48hours and Beverly hills cop, but those were more comedy-action flicks.
Monty Python: many to choose from, but I let my friend Blake convince me its And Now For Something Completely Different
Bill Murray: Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters, Where the Buffolo Roam, Meatballs, but I think its Stripes...
and from the conversations with friends, many on our lists had a running theme: John Landis: Blues Brothers, Trading Places, Coming to America, Animal House, Kentucky Fried Movie, Spies Like Us, Three Amigos (the last two, criminally underapreciated)
And finally, one of the most slept on comedies of the last few decades...?
POOTIE TANG!!
Okay, everyone is mentioning The Big Lebowski and it's too recent to be obscure even if it wasn't the megahit it should have been, but I have to chime in. I think I've seen it four times now and I'm not like that (so many movies, so little time) but it's gotten funnier every time. I might even say that Jeff Bridges gives the greatest comedic performance ever, making him the best and most vesatile actor working. As good as the dialogue and images are I most fondly remember the Dude getting just a little more comfortable every time he settles into a sofa or limo or whatever. More obscure, perhaps, and totally shameless are Used Cars and Better Off Dead which make me laugh at the most juvenile things no matter how groan-worthy. These are not Coen Bro clever and I don't know why they work for me but...
"Oh, I could get you a toe. You need a toe? I could have one by 3:00."
One of my most favourite comedies in recent years (in addition to "Borat") was this fall's "Trailer Park Boys: The Movie" (2006, Clattenburg).
Other notably funny films (at least in part) include: "The Bank" (1915, Chaplin); "City Of Women" (1980, Fellini); "Fishing With John" (1991, Lurie - technically a TV series); "High Fidelity" (2000, Frears); "Kandagawa Wars" (1983, Kurosawa); "Seduced & Abandoned" (1965, Germi); "Sweet And Lowdown" (1999; Allen); and, if I may, "Rejected" (2000, Hertzfeldt).
1. Modern Times
"The Billows Feeding Machine will eliminate the lunch hour, increase your production, and decrease your overhead."
2. Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the Bomb
"I can no longer tolerate communist infiltration, communist indoctrination, communist subversion, and the international communist plot to sap and impurify all our precious bodily fluids!"
3. The Producers
"Gregor Samsa awoke one morning to find himself transformed into a giant cocroach...It's too good."
4. Ghostbusters
"Gozer the Gozerian? Good evening. As a duly designated representative of the City, County, and State of New York, I order you to cease any and all supernatural activity and return forthwith to your place of origin or to the nearest convenient parallel dimension."
5. This Is Spinaltap
"I don't think the problem was the band. I think the problem was that there was a Stonehenge monument on stage that was in danger of being crushed...by a dwarf."
Honorable mentions:
Singin In The Rain, Wayne's World, Monty Python & The Holy Grail, Annie Hall, A Fish Called Wanda
Funniest of the year so far:
1. Tristram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story
2. The Science of Sleep
3. Little Miss Sunshine
4. (tie) Borat
4. (tie) Snakes on a Plane
5. Thank You For Smoking
Great choices here (especially the goreflicks "Evil Dead II" and "Dead Alive"). But I also want to give a shout-out to Bab's "What's Up Doc." The wonky chase scene, which exploits a Chinese Dragon, a pane of glass, and a three-wheeled delivery bike for slapstick comedy, culminating with a Beetle floating in the San Francisco Bay followed eventually by a judge's bench collapsing. It's the best, Jerry, the best!
I was so relieved to scroll down and see someone mention The MARX BROS. here. Their humor borders on the supernatural-- every time I watch a MB movie I catch some sort of jab or reference that can work in todays' context. A gem that people overlook on a Marx Bros. retrospective is THE BIG STORE and MONKEY BUSINESS.
It pains me to know that many people of the new generation don't know the genuine "psychic power" in their humor. Harpo has changed my life; he is the Saint of Dada.
I'll stop my list there!
Jim, I agree that pacing, rhythm, body language, and timing, etc. is critical, but the more interesting issue is what makes a particular pace, rhythm, mannerism, or whatever funny as opposed to unfunny. This seemed to be the issue raised by the Steinberg comment. I don't really think there is any principled answer that applies categorically to all comic art. Will Ferrell makes me laugh even without doing much of anything. I couldn't begin to tell you why. He just has a look about him--Bill Murray, too.
But, I don't want to overstate my point. Earlier I used a cooking analogy, stating that I know how to make food that I enjoy, but I can't rationally express why I like it. The analogy was meant to highlight the fact that matters of taste (at least the taste of food) are not subject to rational criticism. There are no higher-order judgments to make about whether vanilla ice cream is good or bad. If it pleases me to eat it, then that is the end of the story. No amount of reflection is going to provide me with further reasons to like or dislike vanilla ice cream. (I'm only considering taste-related reasons, not matters of health or other sources of concern).
However, I don't think the analogy holds perfectly with comedy (or narrative art in general). Whether food tastes good is simply a matter of desire satisfaction while the food is consumed. When we watch a comedic moment on screen, though, we are making judgments about a living, breathing, thinking, feeling subject and the circumstances in which he finds himself. As we watch people on the screen, we have an opportunity to identify with their perspectives or consider their lives first-personally. Significantly, the process of watching a film (comic or otherwise) is very similar to the kind of thinking that attends moral reflection (from my Kantian viewpoint, anyway)--the characters, though not real, are still vaguely objects of our moral concern. So, the way we respond to art has moral dimensions--reflects our attitudes toward others--and is, accordingly, more properly criticized than the enjoyment of vanilla ice cream.
There are some things that I probably should not laugh at--for instance, very real tragedies. On the other hand, fictional tragedies are often funny, especially in animated worlds like the Simpsons. It's just not real enough to be morally problematic. Indeed, one reason that Borat has generated so much controversy is the fact that his comedy involves real people with real lives--and that fact that there is a certain amount of real fraud, real tragedy, and real obnoxiousness happening on the screen.
But, so far I've only managed to note the kinds of reasons that might lead one to resist laughter. It's much more difficult to provide reasons why I should laugh (other than recent studies that show laughing is healthy). And, this is why I originally invoked the food analogy. In most cases, there's not a reflective process generating my laughter.
In any case, this comment began in an effort to defend the position that comedy isn't a fruitful subject for criticism--like vanilla ice cream isn't. A better claim might just be that absent strong moral objections, one is free to laugh at whatever he wants without feeling like he has failed to appreciate some work as he should have. I suppose I want to resist being an elitist about comedy or art in general. I don't want to say that there is something wrong with Roger Ebert when he maintains that Raising Arizona isn't funny. And, I don't want to hear people tell me that I just don't get Benny Hill, Mr. Bean, or early SNL (yes, I don't exactly love the early SNL). That seems fair.
Although, everyone should agree that Christmas sweaters are funny.
Oh, and I do enjoy the Marx Brothers as well as some older material (Billy Wilder, for instance, is a treasure). I had in mind things like Philadelphia Story, It Happened One Night, and the like.
And, I agree that I would probably benefit from watching the films in the company of a receptive audience.
I know this isn't a movie but I think by far the funniest thing I've seen in years are all 3 seasons of "Arrested Development". If you watch the 3 seasons it's almost like watching an entire film on this bizarre family. Just thought it deserved a mention
I couldn't stop laughing through Guy Madden's The Saddest Music in the World. There's something so beautifully absurd about sports-style matches between Chinese flute players and flamenco dancers and bagpipe troops... I dunno, it defies explanation. And the cheeky, deadpan announcers? Especially when translating the lyrics to the Spanish song about a dead baby: "No, go away, my milk is meant for the living!" Perfect moment, and my all-time favorite role for Isabella Rosselini, who plays the most convincing double-amputee beer baroness ever.
I'd also give high marks to Winterbottom's 24 Hour Party People - even though it's not a comedy per se, the humor is so dry, so well-delivered, and sometimes so subtle that it immediately became on of my favorites. Steve Coogan may always play the same role, but he's always great in it (here, Coffee and Cigarettes, and Tristram Shandy).
And finally (at least of less commonly listed favorites), I'd have to include Waters' Polyester. It's poised right between his trashy stage and his campy stage, and even though it crashes at the end, it's got his best writing ("It's just those common Baltimore public schools. God, I wish I lived in Connecticut!") and Divine's best performance.
Personal favorites include...
Dr. Strangelove - any moment from the film, really, tops most other comedies. "The whole idea behind the Doomsday machine is lost... if you keep it a secret! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL THE WORLD, EH?!"
This is Spinal Tap - every time stonehenge lowers into the stage, the tears are pouring.
Life of Brian - "I was blind! I can see!" "...just before you draw your terminal breath..."
Groundhog Day - Enough said. God bless you, Bill.
Anchorman - As far as 'stupid' comedies go, this one is near the top in my book. Like a 90-minute long SNL skit that somehow sustains its energy, it is a brilliant exercise in actors giving Shakespeare-like conviction to the stupidest of characters imaginable. Case in point, it only took two words from Steve Carell's mouth to make me nearly soil myslef: "Loud noises!"
ANY episode of MST3K, my personal favorite television show.
1. Jason Reitman, "Thank You For Smoking": Saw it with a DC-area audience, and we were all paralyzed with laughter.
2. Chris Hansen, "Proper Care and Feeding of an American Messiah": Saw it recently at the Virginia Film Festival, and it's one of the funniest movies I've seen this year -- including "Borat."
I love Raising Arizona, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and others that have been mentioned.
However, I would like to mention Bubba Ho-Tep. Set in a nursing home, with Bruce Campbell as a faux-Elvis and Ossie Davis as a faux-JFK, the two join forces to fight a mummy who sucks the souls of its victims through an unmentionable orifice. Somewhat crude, but very funny.
Although hammered to the ground by critics, I still think that "Dumb & Dumber" is comedy gold.
My other favourites are Evil Dead II (just remember the room-gone-crazy part with the laughing reindeer) and all of the English version of the Office.
The award for best unintentional comedy goes to Commando. Brilliant to watch with friends over.
A Fish Called Wanda is my all-time favourite comedy, but if we're talking about under-rated, it has to be Undercover Brother. Its a film that I've struggled to get people to watch, even after recounting how un-enthused I was about seeing it at first. Apart from delivering a practically non-stop stream of laughs, its also a brilliantly executed parody of both white and Afro-American culture. Too many funny moments to mention, but my favourite is the main character's indoctrination into white culture to infiltrate an evil corporation, wherein he's forced to watch a rapid-fire montage of boyband videos and TV shows like Murder She Wrote and Major Dad.
Seriously guys, give it a go.
A few recent favorites:
Rushmore
Shaun of the Dead
Made
Big Lebowski
Tristram Shandy
Some big favorites listed already: Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona, Young Frankenstein.
Not mentioned: Broadcast News, Grosse Pointe Blank, Office Space, Princess Bride
My wife and I have always enjoyed Wonder Boys, though that's only partly comedy.
Home for the Holidays has some nice moments, and it's seasonal!
One comedy I have very fond memories of -- yet it rarely gets mentioned anymore -- is Elaine May's THE HEARTBREAK KID, with Charles Grodin, Cybill Shepherd and Eddie Albert. I had the hardest time finding this one on DVD!
Also, I'd like to second the MAN WITH TWO BRAINS mention. A hilarious movie that often gets lost in the shadow of THE JERK.
As for well-known comedies, my favorites include:
The Gold Rush
Trouble in Paradise
A Night at the Opera
The Awful Truth
The Thin Man
Adam's Rib
Singin' in the Rain (a REALLY funny musical)
Diner
Tootsie
Down and Out in Beverly Hills
Bull Durham
Groundhog Day
Flirting With Disaster
Swingers
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Jemerson!,
Thanks for including one of my favorites!: The President's Analyst!
So here are My 5 Plus and More!:
1. Alex Cox!:Straight to Hell!
2. Billy Wilder: Some Like it Hot!
3. Waris Hussein!: Melody!
4. Buster Keaton!: The General!
5. Peter Watkins!: Privilege!
Plus: Arrested Development! Yes I know that is a tv show but I don't care!Plus anything with Tex Avery, Looney Tunes, Peter Sellers and mexican wrestling movies from the sixties!
MyloJosh Plochmann!
Jim: I didn't think, by waiting till this afternoon, I'd be so late to the party, and after this longwinded bit of self-indugence this might be the last party I get invited to. But here goes anyway. (I do apologize for this being so long.)
As the wise guy once said, dying is easy, comedy is hard… and whittling down a list of comedy favorites to five choices may be even harder. So the first thing I’m going to do is eliminate anything that might have made my list which has already been mentioned here, so despite the almost nonstop, life-threatening laughter generated by The Big Lebowski, Horsefeathers, Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy, Kung Fu Hustle, The Lady Eve, The Man with Two Brains, National Lampoon’s Animal House, One Two Three and South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut every time I see them, bye-bye. There! My unwieldy, off-the-top-of-my-head list just got cut by just over half with one swing of the scythe. But as I am notorious for not being able to hew to numerical restrictions (my math teachers in school really didn’t appreciate this little quirk of mine), I’m going to get while the getting is good and just cite the seven choices that remain.
(By the way, I agree with you 100% about the communal experience of watching older comedies with a loud and appreciate audience. Bu the last time I saw The Lady Eve alone in my living room, I laughed so hard I thought I was going to pass out. So I was still helpless against the movie’s spirit even by myself, but I sure would’ve been happier to go unconscious surrounded by other people who, presumably, could have called an ambulance.)
Buffet Froid (1979; Bertrand Blier) Blier’s surreal urban landscape of alienation, in which Gerard Depardieu finds himself involved in an escalating series of senseless murders, just gets odder and odder as it goes along. But each gasp of horror expelled by Depardieu’s Alphonse Tram finds its opposite in my equally perplexed fits of giggles, until the film finally sucks both Tram and the audience down the rabbit hole altogether.
Cold Turkey (1970; Bud Yorkin) Speaking of escalating madness, how about the poor, nicotine-addicted citizens of Eagle Rock, Iowa, who become the focus of a Big Tobacco publicity stunt—if they can quit smoking for one month, they’ll win a million dollars. The comedy is rooted in sharp, mean character observation, and it’s packed with hilarious moments courtesy of a who’s-who-in-comedy cast that includes Dick Van Dyke, Bob Newhart, Bob and Ray, Jean Stapleton, Sudie Bond, Graham Jarvis and a host of others.
Local Hero (1983; Bill Forsyth) As has been asked more than once on my blog, what ever happened to Bill Forsyth? The man has virtually dropped off the map, and yet he practically redefined “whimsical� and made the whole idea of whimsy palatable again in a very non-whimsical time (the ‘80s) through a series of delightful, off-kilter, minor-key comedies. And Local Hero is the best of them. No other movie I can think of has made me laugh so hard, made a remote place on Earth (the Scottish coast) seem more beautiful than is possible, and then broken my heart with wistful longing so thoroughly. (See also Comfort and Joy.)
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949; Robert Hamer) The term “black comedy� gets tossed around a lot to describe various gross-outs and over-the-top assault exercises these days. But this Ealing Studios effort, as purposefully genteel in appearance as the smooth surfaces of British codes of behavior that often serve to hide the most ghastly attitudes, is as pitch-black as any ever made. We’re seduced into sympathizing with the film’s narrator (Dennis Price), a murderer who commits his crimes out of a sense of thwarted entitlement, and when the movie delivers its final twist, it’s bone-chilling and hilarious.
A New Leaf (1971; Elaine May) Cut from the same cloth as Kind Hearts and Coronets (but, unlike that film, not quite able to see the grimmest strand of its storyline through to the bitter end) this nearly forgotten comedy is an oddball treasure. A spoiled trust-fund ne’er-do-well (Walter Matthau) is staring down the possibility of his money teat drying up, so he convinces a clumsy, ugly-duckling botanist (May), who happens to be super-wealthy, that he loves her, all the while planning to kill her and steal her fortune. The movie is anything but smooth sailing, narratively speaking (It was taken away from May and recut before release), but it’s still a marvel to behold these two great comedic performances wringing laughs out of humiliation, horror and maybe even true love. (I doubt we’ll ever see the movie May wanted to show us, but I still hope there’s a future on DVD for this one, even just the theatrical version.)
1941 (1979; Steven Spielberg) One of the great symbols of wretched excess in film history is actually a gargantuan comedy that still has room for the occasional light touch-- John Williams’ orchestral pixie dust that accompanies the puffs of smoke emanating from John Belushi’s stogie, for example. 1941 is the most unruly movie Spielberg, who directed from a script by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, has ever made, and given that unruliness, it has some of the most amazing comic set pieces ever staged—the U.S.O. dance, the attack on Hollywood Boulevard, the systematic destruction of Ned Beatty’s impossibly located seaside home. And it’s so crammed with terrific actors doing hilarious things—Belushi, Slim Pickens, Warren Oates, Robert Stack, John Candy, et al, that I can barely think of it without at least smiling. The big laughs come when I watch it, as I anticipate doing again and again. (For another great Zemeckis/Gale contribution to pitch-black comedy, see Used Cars.)
Richard Pryor Live In Concert (1979; Jeff Margolis) I’m not sure what I was expecting when I wandered into this movie during my sophomore year in college, but what I nearly got was cardiac arrest from laughing, the real fear of which was intensified by Pryor’s agonizingly funny re-creation of his own heart attack (His pained whimpering gets this response from his angry organ as it applies yet another horrendous squeeze: “Shoulda thought about that when you was eatin’ all that pork!�) A brilliant performance. I honestly fear for my own life whenever I watch this movie.
Tanner ‘88 (1988; Robert Altman) Altman fans and political junkies know how hilarious this movie is, and there’s hardly a “joke� in it. But this is a hilarious movie. What seemed daring and mind-boggling in 1988 still seems daring and mind-boggling, but looking at the movie from the perspective of six years of the Bush administration, and a through-the-wrong-end-of-the looking-glass view of America before 9/11, the laughs tend to stick in the throat a little more than they did before. Even so, this is perhaps the greatest instance of Altman’s wizardly ability (helped along considerably by Garry Trudeau’s writing) to tease consistent laughter not out of situations, but out of the simple (and incredibly complex) way humans—politicos or no—communicate and interact and bludgeon each other with propaganda and disinformation. And have Pamela Reed or Michael Murphy ever been this good?
And Bozy, Undercover Brother is an OUTSTANDING pick! I can't believe I didn't think of it myself, for as many people as I've hounded and cajoled and (all right) forced into watching it! Thank you for remembering this one!
In trying to keep within the request of obscure/underappreciated, here are five comedies that I love:
Love Crazy (Jack Conway, 1941) - This was a non-Nick & Nora teaming of William Powell and Myrna Loy. There is very little funnier than William Powell in drag. In my opinion, this is the funniest couple's funniest movie.
Kiss Me, Stupid (Billy Wilder, 1964) - It was impossible for Wilder to top Some Like It Hot, but this is much better than the cold reception it received upon release.
The Tall Guy (Mel Smith, 1989) - Okay, it's fairly uneven, but a musical of The Elephant Man is comic genius.
Bitter Moon (Roman Polanski, 1992) - I have always thought most of Polanski's movies were pitch black comedies masquerading as dramas or thrillers, e.g. Rosemary's Baby, Frantic, and The Ninth Gate. But Bitter Moon is the most bitter but also the most funny. When Peter Coyote and Emmanuelle Seigner are wearing pig masks ... priceless.
The Impostors (Stanley Tucci, 1998) - Tucci's first solo effort (after co-directing Big Night with Campbell Scott) didn't receive nearly the respect of the previous film, but it's a gem. It's a throwback to the classic screwball comedies with a healthy dose of Fellini's And the Ship Sailed On thrown in for good measure. Oliver Platt, who is always the funniest part of any movie he's in, has never been funnier, but the entire cast of indie all-stars is terrific.
MyloJosh Plochmann
I loved Melody! I haven't seen it in years, though.
Do you know if it is back in circulation?
I can't believe I forgot the original "In-Laws"--and how about a category for comedy musicals? Like "Little Shop of Horrors" and "How to Succeed in Business..." and maybe the underappreciated "Three Amigos" which is almost a musical in its best moments (best singing bush ever!)
The only modern favorite of mine not mentioned thus far is Wet Hot American Summer. Dear god I love that movie and its sister TV series, Stella.
Okay, a new list, since the 2 titles I mentioned earlier where not my absolute favourites, but more a response to Jim's question "the more obscure/underappreciated the better, please"
So here are the films that had me crying with laughter.
In no particular order:
* Evil Dead II
* Monty Python ("And now for something completely different", "the Holy Grail", "Life of Brian", "The meaning of life")
* Top Secret
* The Party (great! strange no one mentioned it yet)
* Gremlins 2
* Team America
* The big Lebowksi
* Crimen ferpecto
* 1941
* The man without a past
* Carl Reiner/Steve Martin ("the Jerk", "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid", "The Man with Two Brains")
* Planes, trains & automobiles
* de Jurk / de Noorderlingen (2 Dutch films by Alex van Warmerdam)
*
Oh, the Tall Man definitely had its moments. I loved the many auditions Goldblum went on, and some of the dialogue he was required to say. Too bad it was, as you say, uneven.
Robert Daniel!,
I am not so sure!: If "Melody"
is in circulation! I have seen it around on VHS but I DON'T KNOW ABOUT IF YOU CAN FIND IT ON DVD! DO A SEARCH ONLINE!
MyloJosh Plochmann!
Dennis mentioned Buffet Froid, which I haven't seen but want to. However, it reminded me of another Bertrand Blier film that is outrageous and hysterical, Going Places (Les Valseuses). Gerard Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere are terrific together. It's definitely worth seeking out.
It's funny that you mention going to a theater to watch classic older comedies, because I think that when you're watching a new comedy in a theater, the audience serves as a kind of laughtrack, inspiring you to laugh at scenes you might not have laughed at on your own. When you're watching an older comedy at home, alone, chances are you're going to laugh a lot less than if you were in a crowded theater -- especially if that theater is filled with fans of the movie (as was my first experience with SOME LIKE IT HOT some 25 years back).
This is why I think so many of the new laughtrack-free sitcoms -- even hilarious ones like ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT -- don't make it. Audiences just aren't used to figuring out when to laugh on their own. (And no, I'm not talking about the intelligent people who frequent this blog.)
Sometimes watching a comedy with a crowd only makes it worse, at least when you don't find the movie funny. I can recall watching Team America and not only NOT finding it funny, but getting irritated at the audience for laughing at it. This happens from time to time, especially with "dumb" comedies (though I should add I love "South Park" and the "South Park" movie so I'm not lumping Parker and Stone in the "dumb" category). Instead of the crowd experiencing helping me to "get" the joke, I just find myself getting more annoyed with everyone else until I start feeling so misanthropic I have to rush home and pop in a Fassbinder DVD.
Here are a few from all the spectrum:
PEKING OPERA BLUES (Tsui Hark): Terrence Rafferty wrote it made him feel like he was 8 years old again-- delightful feminist wingding of a movie.
HALF-NAKED TRUTH (La Cava, 1932): Lee Tracy talking a mile a minute, as kinetic as Cagney. Like Shakespeare's Autolycus-- who would object to having his pocket picked by such an artist?
IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU (1994, Andrew Bergman): a throwback-- a sentimental urban romantic comedy with a huge ensemble and a heart-on-sleeve jones for NYC itself.... not unlike Spike Jones' terrific INSIDE MAN this spring
And any comedy with Carole Lombard.
-- JOHN WARTHEN (Amherst MA)
Great list, Jim. Here's my take:
1) Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the Bomb
"Mine Furher, I can VALK!"
2) Thank You For Smoking
"After watching the footage of the Kent State shootings, Bobby Jay, then seventeen, signed up for the National Guard so that he, too, could shoot college students."
3) Fight Club.
"I am Jack's smirking revenge."
Not ha-ha, not a light comedy, but some fantastic, cutting dark humor.
4) This is one for the 'comedy is indefensible' crowd, of which Roger is the patron member... Bill Murray in "The Man Who Knew Too Little". 1997, did poorly in the theatres and critics didn't like it, either... but for whatever reason, it just makes me laugh. I know its a one-note idea, but I think its a great note.
5)O Brother Where Art Thou
"I was not hit by a train. Damnit, I am the paterfamilias!"
I also howled at A Fish Called Wanda at the time... one of the few that did laugh in the theatre in the small town we lived in, it was not a British humor loving crowd... but like the poster above I don't find it holding up that well.
Shaun Of The Dead was fun, same with Galaxy Quest, or 40 Year Old Virgin: all worth seeing, but I'm not sure of their longevity.
Not actually a movie, but out on DVD from Britain is the sitcom "The IT Crowd". If you're a computer geek in any way, this is a hysterical little mini-series with a million geek in-jokes. Highly recommended!
Two that no one has mentioned:
The original "Bedazzled" with Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, and Eleanor Bron, directed by Stanley ("Seven Brides for Seven Brothers") Donen is the most extended opportunity to see what made Cook and Moore such a spectacular team. "Bedazzled" has the same kind of combination of the literate and the silly that Monty Python did later. And "You fill me with inertia" (in context, of course) is still the funniest line I've ever heard in a film.
"The Ruling Class" gives us Peter O'Toole as the young Earl of Gurney who thinks he is Jesus until he is cured and becomes . . . someone else. The first 2/3 of the movie is some of the funniest comedy ever put on screen ("How do you know you're God?" "Simple: When I pray to Him, I find I am talking to myself") combined with some real moments of discomfort; the last third is more like a horror film with some real moments of hilarity. Altogether, this is one of the best satires ever put on film, with a great supporting cast (Coral Browne, Arthur Lowe, and Alistair Sim). Criterion came out with an almost-fully-restored DVD a few years ago.
Hey, Jim--
Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski are on my heavy rotation list, as far as tear-inducers go. And Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Duck Soup, and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.
I did a list somewhat like this in February, but it was specifically about moments rather than entire movies. Click here for the details.
And as far as underappreciated, you must see Jane Austen's Mafia. No, really. It kind of came and went -- I think there was a perception that it was just the latest lackluster product from the Zucker-Abrams-Zucker-Proft comedy factor, but I think it's the equal of Airplane! and Top Secret! in terms of belly laughs -- and visually it might be the best of any of them. Every gag is through through in cinematic terms, and there are usually two or three jokes going on in any given shot.