Great Comedies | The Boneyard

Great Comedies

Airplane!
Annie Hall
Down and Out in Beverly Hills
Young Frankenstein
Dr. Strangelove
This is Spinal Tap
Revenge of the Pink Panther
Spaceballs
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
The Blues Brothers
Christmas Vacation
 
I have never laughed harder in theaters than for The 40 Year-Old Virgin and Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. They've aged pretty well too albeit not nearly as LOL as the first couple times.

Some others, and I'll go more recent since I'm sure you oldheads will have the classics covered:

What We Do In the Shadows
Hot Fuzz
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
Super bad
In Bruges
 
Mano said:
I have never laughed harder in theaters than for The 40 Year-Old Virgin and Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. They've aged pretty well too albeit not nearly as LOL as the first couple times.

Some others, and I'll go more recent since I'm sure you oldheads will have the classics covered:

What We Do In the Shadows
Hot Fuzz
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
Super bad
In Bruges
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I love In Bruges. It is certainly funny, but I never thought as purely a comedy. A bunch of films would be like that. Whatever the case, it is a great movie.
 
Great ones mentioned already.

Sean of the Dead
There's Something About Mary
Death At A Funeral (British version)
Tootsie
Bowfinger
The Jerk
 
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My favorite comedy is Bringing Up Baby.

Other favorite comedies, by no means a comprehensive list and in no particular order. I'll admit upfront that I spend too much time checking out Turner Classic Movies.


My Man Godfrey - my closest rival to Bringing Up Baby
Duck Soup
Ruggles of Red Gap
The Court Jester
The Lady Eve
Ball of Fire
To Be or Not to Be (Ernst Lubitsch/Jack Benny version)
Some Like It Hot
Bedazzled (Dudley Moore and Peter Cook)
The Producers
Young Frankenstein
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Bull Durham
Groundhog Day

I saw The In-Laws for the first time late last year. Great stuff, my only question is would it hold up to repeated viewings. I suspect it would.

I'd also be inclined to throw in something by either WC Fields or Buster Keaton, but it's hard to narrow them down to one movie.

My wife's favorite is The Producers. She would also throw in Arsenic and Old Lace and Best In Show. Both are worthy.
 
dbmill said:
Heaven Can Wait, is that the Warren Beatty one or the Ernst Lubitsch film from the 1940's?
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Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Jack Warden, James Mason, Vincent Gardenia, Charles Grodin, Dyan Cannon. Great cast too. The one from the 1940's was not called Heaven Can Wait, I believe it was called "Here Comes Mr Jordan". This is a remake of that film.
 
dbmill said:
My favorite comedy is Bringing Up Baby.

Other favorite comedies, by no means a comprehensive list and in no particular order. I'll admit upfront that I spend too much time checking out Turner Classic Movies.


My Man Godfrey - my closest rival to Bringing Up Baby
Duck Soup
Ruggles of Red Gap
The Court Jester
The Lady Eve
Ball of Fire
To Be or Not to Be (Ernst Lubitsch/Jack Benny version)
Some Like It Hot
Bedazzled (Dudley Moore and Peter Cook)
The Producers
Young Frankenstein
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Bull Durham
Groundhog Day

I saw The In-Laws for the first time late last year. Great stuff, my only question is would it hold up to repeated viewings. I suspect it would.

I'd also be inclined to throw in something by either WC Fields or Buster Keaton, but it's hard to narrow them down to one movie.

My wife's favorite is The Producers. She would also throw in Arsenic and Old Lace and Best In Show. Both are worthy.
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A couple others I would add...

1) My Favorite Wife....Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Randolph Scott.
2) It's a Gift....WC Fields was never better

and a couple I purposely left out....

The Apartment...Jack Lemmon, Shirley McClaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen......

.....more drama than comedy, but some hilarious moments. It also deserves to be on it's own list. In it's own way it said so much about getting ahead in american business and the general view at that time in american history, and it's uncanny criticisms of the unwinding of american morals in view of the late 1960's sexual revolution which was still several years away. All the while telling one the best love stories ever put on film. In my view, one of the top three films ever made in any category. Some tough competition, but IMO, the great Wilders masterpiece.

Dr Strangelove....Peter Sellers....

....A dark comedy-satire, not something I would lump with laugh a minute comedies.

The Fortune Cookie...Jack Lemmon, Walter Mathhau.

A great film but another "dark" comedy-satire. That being said, Walter Mathhau is unforgettable in this film.
 
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huskyrob1 said:
Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Jack Warden, James Mason, Vincent Gardenia, Charles Grodin, Dyan Cannon. Great cast too. The one from the 1940's was not called Heaven Can Wait, I believe it was called "Here Comes Mr Jordan". This is a remake of that film.
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You are right that Warren Beatty's Heaven Can Wait is a remake of Here Comes Mr. Jordan. In fact, I almost threw Mr. Jordan on my list. But there is also a well regarded 1943 comedy by Ernst Lubitsch called Heaven Can Wait that has no relation to the Beatty movie except for the title.
 
Agree with most listed above.

Would add:

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
The Hangover
Fletch
The Daytrippers
Take the Money and Run
 
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I think the 70s were the zenith for great comedy movies - In-Laws, Blazing Saddles, Animal House, Heaven Can Wait, Holy Grail, The Jerk, Bad News Bears, Being There...

I'm not the target demographic for 21st century comedies and I don't find many all that humorous with few exceptions. I did enjoy the Simon Pegg trilogy, and both Shaun and Hot Fuzz stand up to repeated viewings. Best of Show is a classic. Also enjoyed The Interview, Tropic Thunder, Team America and Idiocracy, but those all wane after several viewings. Never "got" the love for the Hangover series or Zoolander, or many of the Seth Rogan/Zach Galifanakis flicks, and really don't care much for Will Ferrell.
 
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"Top Secret" is another classic in the vein of "Airplane," before the spoof genre was beaten to death and left stale and uninspired.
 
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"Kung Fu Hustle" and "Shaolin Soccer." Like live action Bugs Bunny or Road Runner cartoons, and some of the most inventive visuals you'll ever see.
"Zoolander" Right up there w/ best dumb comedies.
 
One more to add. Over the weekend for the first time I saw Libeled Lady (1936) starring William Powell, Spencer Tracy, Myrna Loy, and Jean Harlow. It's a bit slow to get started, but in the end it rates as one of the best screwball comedies from the 1930's that I have seen. I'd put it at just below the level of Bringing Up Baby and My Man Godfrey (which was also made in 1936 and starred William Powell).
 
storrsroars said:
I think the 70s were the zenith for great comedy movies - In-Laws, Blazing Saddles, Animal House, Heaven Can Wait, Holy Grail, The Jerk, Bad News Bears, Being There...

I'm not the target demographic for 21st century comedies and I don't find many all that humorous with few exceptions. I did enjoy the Simon Pegg trilogy, and both Shaun and Hot Fuzz stand up to repeated viewings. Best of Show is a classic. Also enjoyed The Interview, Tropic Thunder, Team America and Idiocracy, but those all wane after several viewings. Never "got" the love for the Hangover series or Zoolander, or many of the Seth Rogan/Zach Galifanakis flicks, and really don't care much for Will Ferrell.
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Nailed it. I don't much care for the "gross out" comedies that are so over the top. I did like the Ted movies however.

In addition to the old classics, and the Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, "Paul" was hilarious. Not a fan of Hangover. I did like most of the Ben Stiller movies. Zoolander, Starsky and Hutch, Dodgeball, Tropic Thunder.

Some I didn't see listed:
Grosse Point Blank
Paul
Office Space
A Fish Called Wanda
Coming to America
Young Frankenstein
Trading Places
Airplane
 
8893 said:
Agree with most listed above.

Would add:

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
The Hangover
Fletch
The Daytrippers
Take the Money and Run
Expand ...

These are underrated. Fletch is getting dated however.
 
8893 said:
Agree with most listed above.

Would add:

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
The Hangover
Fletch
The Daytrippers
Take the Money and Run
Expand ...

HuskyHawk said:
These are underrated. Fletch is getting dated however.
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I find It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World to be watchable, but generally overrated. It's good for having all these comedy stars in one movie and getting to pick them out of the crowd as they make their appearances. Best part for me is watching Jimmy Durante literally kick the bucket. But the movie makes the mistake of thinking bigger and louder, and bigger and louder after that, makes for great comedy. For me, 2.5 hours of grandiose accidents, big chases, and everybody yelling at each other as if they want to be the next Ethel Merman to be a bit much.
 
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HuskyHawk said:
Nailed it. I don't much care for the "gross out" comedies that are so over the top. I did like the Ted movies however.

In addition to the old classics, and the Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, "Paul" was hilarious. Not a fan of Hangover. I did like most of the Ben Stiller movies. Zoolander, Starsky and Hutch, Dodgeball, Tropic Thunder.

Some I didn't see listed:
Grosse Point Blank
Paul
Office Space
A Fish Called Wanda
Coming to America
Young Frankenstein
Trading Places
Airplane
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Grosse Pointe Blank is one that should be on best comedy lists but usually isn't. My understanding was it was a tough sell due to the body count (14) and audiences couldn't reconcile the "seriousness" of the violence with the comedic theme. Too bad. Might be Cusack's best film.

Paul was funny, but for some reason, like Ted, I'm not compelled to watch it again.

The others are all classics on pretty much every best comedy list.
 
storrsroars said:
Grosse Pointe Blank is one that should be on best comedy lists but usually isn't. My understanding was it was a tough sell due to the body count (14) and audiences couldn't reconcile the "seriousness" of the violence with the comedic theme. Too bad. Might be Cusack's best film.

Paul was funny, but for some reason, like Ted, I'm not compelled to watch it again.

The others are all classics on pretty much every best comedy list.
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I liked Grosse Pointe Blank alot (would put it on underrated good movies list) but never thought of it as a comedy, even though there are some funny parts.
 
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