I love a good comedy--and not necessarily a romantic one, just a funny one. They are pretty rare lately--unless you're a teenage boy.I am going with GROUNDHOG DAY, which is a romantic one. But I think it is profound as well as funny, romantic and sweet.
Being profound is not required here though. What is your favorite comedy?
56 comments:
Diane's favorite comedy is WHEN HARRY MET SALLY. My is A FISH CALLED WANDA.
Both great movies.
Probably Animal House or Trading Places- Dan Aykoryd and Eddie Murphy are too much in that one.
"It ain't cool being a jive turkey so close to Thanksgiving."
Too much.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Wait, you said comedy? I thought you said favorite documentary.
Not sure if it will qualify as 'comedy' but I have great memories of The Barbarian Invasions (French: Les Invasions barbares). It will qualify as comedy-drama though.
Bringing Up Baby or Monty Pythons Life of Brian.
All these years later, Young Frankenstein still makes me laugh, along with a French comedy, La Chèvre
Bringing Up Baby would be #2 for me. What happened to Eddie Murphy--what a shame. Aykroyd was always more of a skit comic, but Eddie was great.
All of the Python movies are great.
Barbarian Invasions--I will have to look that one up. Was it Canadian?
I don't think I've ever seen Barbarian Invasions.
Depardieu was something special for a long time.
A FISH CALLED WANDA is good, but FIERCE CREATURES is funnier for me.
The Barbarian Invasions is a Canadian-French comedy-drama that won the Academy Award for best foreign language film in 2004.
Thanks for reminding me. I meant to see that one.
Bedazzled or maybe Life of Brian or Young Frankenstein with bonus points for Holiday as dramedy.
HIS GIRL FRIDAY...
Love that movie. Could people talk any faster?
I've always had a weakness for the Blues Brothers and the wife absolutely loves The 'Burbs.
I'll go with Young Frankenstien or School for Scoundrels
I may have never laughed more than I did at Bedazzled.
The reason I chose Groundhog Day was for the lesson learned on top of the comic moments. I am not always in favor of didacticism, but I thought it worked there.
Blues Brother was such a novel idea. What a loss.
I've seen the play School for Scoundrels but never the movie.
Patti - My favourite comedy is Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Such a wonderful blend of word play, physical comedy and spoof. I adore that film!!
I'd have to go with THE PRODUCERS (the original).
GROUNDHOG DAY is way down on my list because I have always felt it was an uncredited rip-off of Richard Lupoff's 12:01.
Diificult to choose just one but I'd have to say The Apartment.
THE APARTMENT-love it but it is more sad than funny for me. Did any movie capture that time better? I really miss that kind of a movie.
12:01-never heard about it. have to check it out.
School for Scoundrels! I love that movie: the tennis match is priceless! And that reminded me, too of Tony Hancock in The Rebel, 3/4 of which is one of the funniest films ever, which reminds me of I'm All Right, Jack and the wealth of Peter Sellers films that are so funny, Strangelove, The Mouse that Roared, A Shot in the Dark.
The Wrong Box has many wonderful moments.
And don't forget THE LADYKILLERS, Sellers version.
"Who's Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?"
A great Peter Stone adaptation of Nat & Ivan Lyons' book, "Someone is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe". The comedy never got in the way of the mystery, though the killer's ID was not all that important. Reportedly test audiences hated the idea of who the killer was so they added a scene and changed the killer to someone else. I enjoyed the jokes featuring stereotypes such as the best chef in England not being English and how the French chefs wondered why a French chef was not killed first. My favorite genre to read and watch is the comedy mystery and this is the best film of that genre.
Was that Jacqueline Bisset?
Team America is number 1. Young Frankenstein is number 2
DUCK SOUP from the Marx Bros.
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is a better film in a lot of ways, but I love BLAZING SADDLES.
Even though they aren't very well known, my two favorite movies are "The Life of the Party" (from 1930) and "The Fatal Glass of Beer" (with W.C. Fields). They never fail to cheer me up.
Bringing Up Baby is also up there.
And maybe it is just because of when I grew up, but I still find myself making Wayne's World references a lot.
The Barbarian Invasions is the sequel to The Decline of the American Empire which is also very good. Remy Girard, the star, is in many great Quebecois films, including all three Les Boys and La Florida.
I bought a copy of the screenplay for His Girl Friday and it's about two hundred pages. Many times in the script itsays things like, "Hildy says..." and then there are three or four choices of lines.
What I realy like about His Girl Friday is that in addition to the great comedy there's a real social story - how many comedies these days are about a guy on death row?
But the movie that may make me laugh more than any other is The Odd Couple.
The already mentioned "Groundhog Day" and "Bringing Up Baby". Add "The Lady Eve".
Oh, THE ODD COUPLE, yes. What good casting as well as writing. Will never forget the Pigeon sisters.
My favorite WC Fields is It's A Gift.
Blazing Saddles-whatever happened to Cleavon Little. The Lady Eve is terrific. Anything she's in is terrific. And Fonda isn't bad either. Duck Soup is the best.
Difficult to pick one. Here are some I'd be delighted to watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon: Some Like it Hot. Something about Mary. Home Alone. This is Spinal Tap. Time Bandits. Blazing Saddles. Roxanne. The Odd Couple. M*A*S*H. Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
WHEN HARRY MET SALLY and FORGET PARIS were pretty good--I like Billy Chrystal (sp?).
I had to think really hard for a recent comedy--they're usually those infantile bro-movies or chickflicks anymore these days. I liked THE BROTHERS BLOOM, though I'm not sure it counts as comedy.
I lover GROUNDHOG DAY, too, Patti. I'd also go with BLAZING SADDLES
AIRPLANE
ANNIE HALL
THE JERK
THE PLAYER
I didn't include any that have a "larger message", i.e., comedies that are really serious. I just went after the ones that only wanted to make us laugh. I also like films like CLUELESS, THIS IS SPINAL TAP, and LA STORY which poke holes in sacred cows that need holes poked in them.
Due Date made me remember how good Planes, Trains and Automobiles was.
SOME LIKE IT HOT-adore it. All dead now. Yes, Rob, the bromedies are getting worse and worse. Love Annie Hall and Manhattan and Hannah especially.
I do miss Billy.
Team America is completely new to me.
I loved BEDAZZLED when I saw it in 1967 but it's dated badly. Never liked THE BLUES BROTHERS that much - parts were good but it was bloated. The ones I rewatch are ones already mentioned: GROUNDHOG DAY, ANIMAL HOUSE (at one point I had the entire script memorized), IT'S A GIFT, WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.
Other stuff that makes me laugh: BLAZING SADDLES (though the end fizzles out), any scene with Rodney Dangerfield (as in CADDYSHACK, for example), AIRPLANE, ANNIE HALL.
Cleavon Little died way too young, Patti.
Jeff M.
Caddyshack #1 for me. Also near top - Wedding Crashers, Blazing Saddles and Austin Powers 2. These are the 4 that made me laugh the hardest. I agree with everything Patti has to say about Groundhog Day, it is very funny but also has lasting substance.
Toss-up: "Animal House" or "Moonstruck."
I'm with Naomi with regard to YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. But for a romantic comedy, I'd pick the one I took my future wife to: MOONSTRUCK.
How could I forget Raising Arizona?! I laughed so hard the first time I saw it, I thought I'd hurt myself. The rest of the audience seemed nonplussed. Hudsucker Proxy, too, although few enough people have seen it. Love the Coens: I find all their films fun. Well, I haven't see the remake of The Ladykillers: the old Ealing comedies were very fine.
MOONSTRUCK quite a romantic movie-we don't get ones like that anymore.
All the Cohns except THE LADYKILLES and perhaps Hudsucker Proxy are great.
Any Three Stooges short with Curley. Feature length: Night at the Opera, Some Like It Hot, The Bank Dick.
I'm with Naomi. Young Frankie ... Jesus, that scene when Gene Hackman plays the blind man ... I smile thinking about it and laugh like a fool every time I see it. And Peter Boyle singing ... great stuff. Certainly top 5. Popeye rates up there for me, too.
Rasing Arizona, The Big Lebowski, The Impostors, Duck Soup, Caddyshack...Forgetting Sarah Marshall...man...Ferris Bueller's Day Off...this could take a while.
hardly a movie here that wouldn't make my overall list. It seems we all know what a good comedy is--why does Hollywood find it hard to make one lately. So few from the last ten years on here.
I'm late to the party, as usual. But I too loved GROUNDHOG DAY.
Other favorites:
COLD COMFORT FARM (Kate Beckinsale)
A NEW LEAF (Walter Matthau and Elaine May)
A SHOT IN THE DARK
The original PRODUCERS
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA
WITHOUT A CLUE (Michael Caine and Ben Kinglsey)
But my number one is TWENTIETH CENTURY with John Barrymore at his hammy best and Carole Lombard at her hammiest and most glamorous.
Actually, Patti, you have read about 12:01, from both Jerry and me, but you've forgotten.
My dark comic choices would also include, as noted recently, DR. STRANGELOVE and HIS GIRL FRIDAY, but also ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND and PATHS OF GLORY. For more utterly lighthearted fare...hm...well, MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL is right up there, indeed...
See what you have to look forward to in twenty years!
I'm looking forward to being able to look clearly forward, myself...
I think you can be forgiven this slip, though...
http://socialistjazz.blogspot.com/2009/08/10-forgotten-films.html
or hit my name-link
Best wishes with that, Todd.
All Marx Bros -- even the bad ones. This is why I hate lists. Weird blind spots and memory bubbles: of course.
[I typed this last night and never remembered to post it...]
Well, when one is nudged, the pleasant memories come back. I'm definitely a Good Marx Bros. fan. No THE BIG STORE, or, even worse, THE STORY OF MANKIND (though that one is so horrible it's a bad laugh or three).
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