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Post by Mighty Jack on Jul 16, 2009 15:30:01 GMT -5
Mod - I love Planes, Trains.... thanks for reminding me of it.
And another I thought of... "A Mighty Wind".
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Post by solgroupie on Jul 16, 2009 15:59:40 GMT -5
1. the circus - unlike calli, i do consider this 1928 masterpiece a full length comedy. i know it only just over seventy minutes long, but i am blatantly disregarding AFI's rules. chaplin made so many amazing films - and though i agree the gold rush and city lights deserve recognition for their comedic achievements, the circus, to me, is his funniest feature film. the gold rush and city lights are more romantic comedies, whereas, the circus is just hilarious. you can't watch the tightrope/monkey scene and not crack up. 2. city lights - okay, i know what i just said. but city lights, aside from being a beautiful love story, is funny as hell in places. chaplin spent so much time on his films, and it shows, maybe more in city lights than anywhere else. a lot was riding on this movie, since talkies were basically over. and unlike his other films, he didn't have a torrid affair with the beautiful leading lady, virginia cherril. there are many scenes in city lights that still make me laugh. out loud and everything. 3. a night at the opera - i didn't see this movie for the first time until earlier this year. it felt like it only lasted fifteen minutes long - the comedy was so fast - so funny - all the one liners i hoped to remember, but there were simply too many. i loved it. 4. monty python and the holy grail - i have to be in the mood for it, because when i'm not, it isn't funny, but tedious. but when i am, god, i crack up at it. i still wait after it ends, thinking it will come back and end differently. 5. harold and maude - another film i didn't see until this year. i didn't think i'd enjoy it, but it was multi-layered in comedic timing, writing and acting. very dark, but i dig dark. 6. the miracle of morgan's creek - i thought this was a pretty brave story for a 1944 comedy, considering the leading lady finds herself knocked up after a drunken night of revelry. the best comedy came from any scene containing the father and the leading lady's younger sister. SPOTS! 7. clerks - some of the funniest writing in any movie i've ever seen. definitely kevin smith's best, in my opinion. 8. raising arizona - the big lebowski (tie) the best of old and new(er) coen brothers. don't make me choose. there's no way i could. 9. the ladykillers (coen brothers) tom hanks really proved himself to me in this role - though he didn't really have to. this was the weirdest thing i've ever seen him do, but it was damned impressive. buttsack! 10. a fish called wanda - easy one to pick. the pace never let up for a minute.
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Post by Mod City on Jul 16, 2009 16:01:54 GMT -5
Mod - I love Planes, Trains.... thanks for reminding me of it. And another I thought of... "A Mighty Wind". Yeah, it's amazing how many people are fond of this movie. I'll have to watch it again soon myself. It's hard to wait all the way to Thanksgiving
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Post by callipygias on Jul 17, 2009 10:42:20 GMT -5
I left off one extremely essential comedy: The Lady Eve (1941). It's one of the 4 or 5 near-perfect films Preston Sturges wrote and directed during his incredible run in the early '40s ( The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, Miracle of Morgan's Creek, and Hail the Conquering Hero). Jean Harrington (Stanwyck) is part of a father-daughter con team that sets its sights on a rich, idealistic, kind of clueless guy named Charles Pike (Henry Fonda). Fonda and Stanwyck are awesome together, and they share one of the sexiest scenes ever when Fonda gets all flustered by her legs. And then she's breathing all over him. Despite how tame it is by modern standards, this is a top ten "sexiest moments ever" moment for me. And the guy who plays Mr. Pike is great. The best ever at playing the harried head-of-household, which he also did in another great comedy, My Man Godfrey.
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Post by inlovewithcrow on Jul 17, 2009 11:18:55 GMT -5
In no order
Life of Brian Groundhog Day Silver Streak. This is my favorite comedy sub-genre, the romantic suspense comedy--I like a number of them but the Gene Wilder-as-black bits are classic. Roman Holiday The In-Laws, the original one. The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming. Political comedy--and we need a new version of this one, The Arabs Are Coming, The Arabs Are Coming. Tremors. A terrific blend of genres Weekend at Bernies. Owing much to the silent film stars, this is the best of physical comedy and one my favorite guilty pleasure films (like, when you're trying to impress people with your intellect, you just don't pick this movie!) Also, I think there's a Message to this film, though I may be the only person who sees it, about how poorly we relate to each other, so poorly so that if one of our intimates died and sat still on the sofa, we wouldn't notice for a week. Pick a Marx Brother's movie. Pick a Bob/Bing road movie. There are probably better/worse ones, but I'm not that good at them. I loved these as a kid. Chasing Amy A Hard Days Night
That's twelve...sue me! lol.
And, for the record, I'm a Preston Sturges fan, too, but none of his movies I've seen thus far seem top-10 to me. As a comedy auteur, he's top 10, for sure.
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Post by Captain Hygiene on Jul 17, 2009 11:32:14 GMT -5
No particular order, these are the ones that come to mind:
1. Office Space - one of the few modern comedies that I like enough to rewatch. 2. Airplane! - in many ways, I think it's the funniest movie I've seen. 3. Naked Gun 1 - really, the only thing holding this back is that Leslie Nielsen's character is played more broadly as a goofy bumbler than the completely straight-faced guy from the TV show. I think that takes the humor down just a bit, but in just about every other respect, it's a scream. 4. Hard Day's Night - hilarious, and a very well-made movie to boot. I kind of prefer the lunacy of Help! on a personal level (it feels very much like a precursor to the Monty Python skits and films to me), but I think this is the better of the two, judged as objectively as possible. 5. Monty Python and the Holy Grail - by far the funniest of the group's films to me. 6. Modern Times - I haven't seen all of Chaplin's films, but this is my favorite as of right now. 7. Duck Soup - although several Marx Bros. films could probably fit here just as well. 8. Son of Paleface - Bob Hope's funniest movie (that I can think of), although I could give a nod to the Road to Morocco as well. 9. The Big Lebowski - another modern movie, although it's not a completely straight comedy, I think it falls enough into the humor category to count here. One of those movies that essentially fails to do anything wrong at all. 10. Groundhog Day - it's about a weatherman, how could I not like it?
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Post by solgroupie on Jul 17, 2009 22:23:13 GMT -5
i, too, left out not one, but two comedies in my list. the first being monsieur verdoux, another chaplin film made in 1947. it was so ahead of its time, most audiences just didn't get it. it was the first film where chaplin doesn't play the beloved little tramp - but quite the opposite -a man who seduces, marries and then murders wealthy women in order to support his family during the depression. a very dark comedy, and very funny. martha raye stole every scene she was in, too.
and shop around the corner, 1940. how could i forget that one? i loved every minute of that film, except the very ending, unfortunately. but right up to it was funny, fast paced and well written. and it had jimmy stewart at his most attractive (in my opinion - before he started doing all those leathery cowboy movies).
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Post by stevehadcrackers on Jul 18, 2009 14:31:30 GMT -5
Oh man, I forgot The Lady Eve. That movie is hysterical-- the pairing of Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck is one of the best. I'd actually never seen Fonda in a comedic role before this movie-- I had no idea he could be so funny.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jul 18, 2009 22:34:22 GMT -5
* Sol you should do a Chaplin filmography thread, I think you could write some real interesting reviews.
* Good call on "A Hard Days Night" folks, "Office Space" is another goodie. "Lady Eve" was a lot of fun, I've always liked Henry Fonda.
* Confession time, the Marx Brother never made a film I fully enjoyed. They are real hit and miss - there'd be something brilliant and clever, side by side with Harpo chasing a bunch of women, honking that annoying horn (just don't find that funny). And the musical numbers were often a momentum killer. While there some great material, I've never laughed begining to end with them. I know I'm gonna be pelted with tomatoes for that statement. ;D
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Post by Bix Dugan on Jul 18, 2009 22:50:37 GMT -5
Lots of good, solid entries.
I would add:
Up in Smoke (I think we're PARKED, Man...and...Beaners- They'll hit you in the face!) My Favorite Year (Did you see it?) Just about any of Carlin's stand-up movies Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back - I laughed, HARD. So sue me.
And not only is the South Park Movie a great comedy, its one of the better musicals, to boot!
"I want to live, up THERE!"
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Post by The Mad Plumber on Jul 18, 2009 23:32:40 GMT -5
...and...Beaners- They'll hit you in the face! That's Cheech & Chong's Next Movie.
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Post by Bix Dugan on Jul 19, 2009 11:27:20 GMT -5
I stand corrected...
It's been awhile.
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Post by inlovewithcrow on Jul 31, 2009 7:17:52 GMT -5
Oh dear, I remembered two others I really like:
Some Like It Hot. Indeed, I may have laughed more at this movie over the years than at any other.
Galaxy Quest.
Truly, I'd be hardpressed to limit it to ten.
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Post by GProopdog on Sept 5, 2009 15:53:10 GMT -5
My (late) contribution to this thread:
1. Clue 2. Young Frankenstein 3. Clerks 4. Buck Privates 5. Duck Soup 6. Block Heads 7. Office Space 8. Monty Python's The Life of Brian 9. Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy 10. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
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Post by crowschmo on Sept 5, 2009 16:08:24 GMT -5
In addition to my earlier ten, I also liked Thank You for Smoking.
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