Comedy Movies

Gakked from Scalzi. I’ve bolded the ones I’ve seen.

(But first: ALL HAIL DEIDRE KNIGHT. She knows why.)

The 50 Most Significant Comedy Films of All Time, from The Rough Guide to Comedy Movies by Bob McCabe.

Airplane!
All About Eve
Amelie
Annie Hall
The Apartment
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Blazing Saddles
Bringing Up Baby
Broadcast News
Caddyshack
Le diner de con
Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
Duck Soup
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Four Weddings and a Funeral
The General
Ghostbusters
The Gold Rush
Good Morning Vietnam
The Graduate
Groundhog Day
A Hard Day’s Night
His Girl Friday
Kind Hearts and Coronets
The Lady Killers
Local Hero
Manhattan
M*A*S*H
Monty Python’s Life of Brian
National Lampoon’s Animal House
The Odd Couple
The Producers
Raising Arizona
Roxanne
Rushmore
Shaun of the Dead
A Shot in the Dark
Some Like it Hot
Strictly Ballroom
Sullivan’s Travels
There’s Something About Mary
This is Spinal Tap
To Be or Not to Be
Tootsie
Toy Story
Les vacances de M. Hulot
When Harry Met Sally…
Withnail and I

I’ve seen 32 of these, which is pretty good. Kind of skeptical about this list in general, though. The Ladykillers? Like, the one that was just out with Tom Hanks? I wasn’t aware that anyone found it particularly good. Or seminal. And I’ve already shared my opinions about Some Like it Hot and Tootsie.

Films Whose Presence in the Canon I’m Particularly Gratified to See (pick up to five): Groundhog Day (because I think this film is underappreciated), Strictly Ballroom (because a lot of people don’t find it as funny as I do), M*A*S*H (because too many are insulted by a comedy about war), Toy Story (yay, animation!). I’m glad to see a whole bunch of other faves in here, too, but really, who didn’t think Ferris Bueller or Dr. Strangelove or Animal House or Something about Mary were shoo-ins?

Films in the Canon Whose Presence Should Not Be: Austin Powers, Dodgeball, The Graduate. Ther are others, but I feel most strongly about these.

Films I’d Pick to Replace Them: I think I’d pick any other Mike Myers film over Austin Powers, which was cheap and derivative, as opposed to acerbic and witty. Plus I didn’t laugh, not even once. So I Married An Axe Murderer is a scream, though. Or Shrek. Shrek was hilarious. Dodgeball was funny and fine, but a dumb comedy. Not seminal in the slightest (plus we’ve covered Stiller, Ben with Something About Mary. If we’re doing the Gen X man-comedy thing, I’d vote Swingers (you’d get your Vince Vaughn in, then… ooh, or even Clerks. Or if you’ve simply got to go Frat Pack, take Old School which was much better. And the Graduate is a cool film, but not a comedy. Funny parts, but not outright. I’d go for The Princess Bride. You couldn’t have a Shrek without the Princess Bride. Without The Graduate, you wouldn’t have… wait, I’m thinking…

AND WHERE THE HELL IS HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE?!?!?!?!?!? THAT WAS THE FUNNIEST MOVIE I’VE SEEN IN YEARS! Actually, looking at the list, I’m noticing a decided lack of multicultural comedy here. Where is Chris Rock? Or Richard Prior? Or…anyone? Not even a lot of women, truth be told. Hmmmm…

That’s bullshit, man. Okay, forget whatever I said about Swingers. I want Auntie Mame and Harold and Kumar up there, stat.