| 24 June |
New Releases on DVD – Top 5 Romantic Comedy New Movies of 2008 |
Are you interested in romantic comedy movies? Some are good, some are too sappy, others, well… Romantic comedy, unlike comedy is not nearly all that subjective.
| 1 May |
Frighteningly Funny – Horror and Comedy Movies |
There are many horror fanatics that just love scary and frightening movies but there are also plenty of movie lovers that enjoy good laughs and funny humour. That’s when horror films and comedy movies collide with each other to create frighteningly funny movies. There are a lot of funny or comedy horror movies around whether they are spoofs or just witty characters that were created in the film.
The horror and comedy spoofs everyone knows are the Scary Movie series. They turn the horror movies from Saw, haunted houses, Exorcist, The Ring, Scream, and clips from many other horror films and turn them into a comedy spoof. Other spoofs or horror comedies that are popular include Young Frankenstein which starred Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle which was about a spoof on Frankenstein. It truly was the Scariest comedy of all time!
Now there are plenty of horror films that are still funny and do not have to be turned into a spoof just to get laughs. They are the horror movies with witty remarks and clever humour. This is evident in the Leprechaun and the Childs Play series. Both the Leprechaun and Chucky have witty humour and clever remarks. It’s even evident with Chucky and his bride, Jennifer as they both argue with each other in Bride of Chucky and Seed of Chucky. Freddy Krueger is another character that is highly popular, and even Freddy makes his clever comments now and then.
Other popular thrillers that have laughs are popular titles such as Shaun of the Dead which is still filled with horror and gore and still is able to get some good laughs as Shaun and his friends are up against the zombies. Army of Darkness is another great older horror film filled with great horror and clever humour as Ash gets the crew ready to fight against the evil dead. There are plenty of other horror films that involve humour if spoofs are not your type, don’t forget Creepshow and An American Werewolf in London also fall into this category.
By: Mike Romano
About the Author:
Visit our Horror website at Crypt of Gore
| 25 April |
50 Comedy Movies That Are Hilarious! |
Alright, I have to say that laughing makes the world go round. Me, myself I love to laugh and I love to make other people laugh. That is why I thought that today I would share with you some of my favorite movies. The movies that I am going to recommend to you here are ones that have made me seriously laugh, I mean can’t breathe laughing here people. I am sick of these movies that have been coming out lately that show every scene that will make you laugh in the movie and the rest of the film is filled with b line jokes that will barely make you smile. I have been too disappointed lately on the movies that I thought were going to be awesome that ended up completely disappointing me in the end. I have seen a lot of movies so I thought that I would try and save some of you out there who are looking for a laugh, some movies that will be guaranteed to crack your sh*t up! Alright, so here goes:
1. The Hangover
2. Tommy Boy
3. Billy Madison
4. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
5. The Goods “Live Free, Sell Hard”
6. Big Daddy
7. LIAR LIAR
8. Old School
9. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation & Vegas Vacation
10. Super Troopers 11. Robin Hood: Men in Tights
12. What About Bob
13. Taladega Nights
14. 40 Year Old Virgin
15. Office Space
16. The Heartbreak Kid (This one’s for the ladies)
17. House Bunny (another one’s for the ladies)
18. Superbad
19. Bad Santa
20. Napoleon Dynamite
21. The Sweetest Thing (Another for the Ladies)
22. Dodgeball
23. Happy Gilmore
24. The Hot Chick
25. Wedding Crashers
26. The New Guy
27. Meet the Parents
28. White Chicks
29. American Pie
30. Knocked Up
31. Finding Nemo
32. Saved
33. Shallow Hal
34. Zoolander
35. Nothing to Lose
36. Superstar
37. Van Wilder
38. Waiting
39. Jeff Dunham – Spark of Insanity DVD
40. Wet Hot American Summer
41. Wayne’s World
42. Dazed and Confused
43. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
44. The Big Lebowski
45. There’s Something About Mary
46. Anchorman
47. The Proposal (This movies is not hilarious as a whole, but there is one scene that is just HILARIOUS! All I will say is that Sandra bullock and Ryan Reynolds have accidental naked collision will CRACK YOU UP!)
48. Bruno (Warning, there is a lot of Gay humor in this one so if you can’t handle those kind of jokes, this one is not for you. If only my boyfriend had that warning before we watched the film.
49. The Ugly Truth (Another Chick Flick)
50. Stranger than Fiction
Now I know there are A LOT more funny movies floating around in the world today that aren’t on this list, but these are all the ones I could think of for the moment. Please feel free to add the movies I missed in the comments section if you would like. These are just some of my favorite funny movies. These are not in any kind of order, they are just listed in the order I remembered them in. I hope you enjoy them and they give you a really good hard laugh:).
By: Katy Anderson
About the Author:
Watch the Funniest Comedy Movies.
To find more online product reviews check out Digital Product Reviews at Shoppology.
| 4 March |
Comedy Meets Frankenstein |
Frankenstein has taken on many forms since the novel was written by Mary Shelley in the 1700s. He has been reproduced in many different movie adaptations, some serious and some not so serious. This semester we have studied a bunch of these adaptations and the most recent, and most interesting, was the comedic spin taken by Gene Wilder in his film version of the story, Young Frankenstein. This essay will outline the main concepts that Wilder kept and how he made the story go from a tragic drama to a comedy.
The opening credits rolled over a shot of the infamous castle of Frankenstein. The music and flashes of lightning resemble that of James Whale’s original Frankenstein film from 1931. The opening has an eerie “horror” film look and feel to it which makes the audience think it is going to be a frightening film. The original set from Whale’s film is used for Wilder’s movie and is easily recognized by anyone who has seen it.
The first time Young Frankenstein is seen he is teaching a science class, science of course is an important theme in all of the Frankenstein tales. We learn that the lead Frankenstein character is Victor’s grandson Frederick. Frederick is a science teacher and when a student questions his relation and connection to Victor and his mad workings the first comedic spin is shown as Frederick pronounces his name differently. Instead of Frankenstein, he pronounces it Fraunken-steen. This becomes a reoccurring, and thematically important, joke throughout the film. The movie has just about every element necessary to make a horror film, but it is the witty dialogue that turns it from a drama to a comedy. This new pronunciation of the name is the first example of this dialogue, but there is plenty more to come.
When Frederick is taken to his grandfather’s castle he is greeted by Igor, which gets pronounced differently after he learns how Frederick pronounces his name. There are many plays on words that occur throughout the film as well. When Frederick first meets his female assistant she is lying in a hay wagon and asks him if he wants to go for “a roll in the hay.” A sexual innuendo is assumed until she begins literally rolling around in the hay. Another example is when Igor walks down the steps with a cane he tells Frederick to “walk this way.” Frederick took the cane and walked hunched over and slowly the same way Igor had done. Other examples of sexual innuendos include “what knockers” when referring to the door knocker on the front of the castle, and “elevate me” which was said during the creation of the monster.
After Frederick finds the book, “How I Did It”, written by his grandfather he decides that maybe his granddad was not as crazy as he thought and decides to try the experiment himself. A sequence of similar shots from Whale’s film follows, as Frederick and Igor go to a graveyard to get a body. Some of the same dialogue was even used in the film. While the characters are hiding behind a fence in the graveyard Frankenstein tells his assistant to “Get down you fool!” in both versions. The scene was made silly though as they splashed dirt all around the area as they dug up their body. Igor went to get a brain and ended up dropping the good brain and bringing home an “abnormal” brain, just as it happened in Whale’s film.
As the monster was being created there was a quote that Frederick said that was similar, and possibly even exactly the same as, a speech that Victor gave in the novel. They ran the same exact experiment as in Whale’s film version and when the monsters hand moves and it groans Frederick yells the infamous “It’s Alive” quote. They made this part funny because when Frederick was excitedly yelling “It’s Alive” he looked at him with a confused face.
The monster is immediately afraid of fire, which was a major theme in both the film adaptations and the novel. When the monster flipped out from the fire they gave him a sedative as they did in Whale’s version, only this time, it was made comedic as they played charades and ended up spelling out “sed a give.” A violin made an appearance in the film as it has in Branagh’s version and other adaptations that we viewed. In the novel a lonely old man plays the violin and helps the monster learn. In this version, the violin’s music puts the monster into a trance and he is drawn to it. The old man is featured, only he is absolutely crazy and they put a hilarious spin on his part of the story.
As the monster moves around outside of the castle it is obvious that his outfit and mannerisms were taken from Whale’s version. As he is out in the open he runs into a little girl, like in the novel and some of the adaptations, only this time she is throwing flowers into a well. The scene is made comedic as she asks the monster, “what else could we throw in” and he looks into the camera at the audience with a funny look on his face implying that he should throw her in.
The movie twists away from the classic Frankenstein story as Frederick tries to show the monster that he is loved. They form a bond and a freak show act that ends badly as a light blows which scares the monster. Fredericks fianc
| 27 February |
Favorite Comedy Films Worldwide |
It is difficult to choose which among all motion pictures may be categorized as the “Best Movies of All Time.” For one, there are really numerous movies made that may be described as the best. Two, there are several classifications or genres of motion pictures, and under each genre, there are already numerous movies that may be considered the best. There are several organizations or publications that have been determining which motion pictures may be considered the best ever. This is based on the results of various surveys or vote stacking conducted. While it is difficult to name the movies that are considered to be the greatest ever especially if such movies come from different genres or classification, let us focus on one genre only. Let’s take a look at three comedy films that have always been considered as the “Best Movies of All Time.”
“Monty Python and the Holy Grail” is one of the best movies of all time. It was released in 1975, directed by Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam, produced by Michael White and Mark Forstater, and written and performed by Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, and Graham Chapman. “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” was actually inspired by the television program “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.” The television series was such a hit which made its actors decide to come up with a movie. Such decision was made while they were resting after the series’ third season.
“Monty Python’s Life of Brian” is another film considered as one of the best movies of all time. This was, of course, the next project of Jones, Gilliam, Palin, Idle, Cleese and Chapman after the “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” Produced by John Goldstone and released in 1979, “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” is about a Jew named Brian Cohen who lived during Jesus Christ’s time. The funny thing is that Cohen was mistakenly recognized as the Messiah.
In 1978, the comedy film “National Lampoon’s Animal House” was released. Up until now, such comedy film is considered as one of the best movies of all time. Directed by John Landis, produced by Matty Simmons and Ivan Reitman, and written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller, the actors in the “National Lampoon’s Animal House” include Donald Sutherland, Cesare Danova, Thomas Hulce, Verna Bloom, John Vernon, Tim Matheson, and John Belushi. The gist of this comedy film evolves around a group of fraternity boys who always get into fights and become a challenge for their school administrators.
These are only three of the best comedy movies of all time. To add a couple of best films, “Some Like It Hot,” starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, and “City Lights,” starring Charlie Chaplin may also be considered as two of the best comedy movies of all time.
By: Kenny Leones
About the Author:
Visit these sites if you want more information about best movies or how to start movie theater in particular.
| 21 February |
Best Comedy Movies 2008! |
Let’s start by explaining the art of comedy and what what kind of comedy we refer to in this article. We all know the commercial type of comedy, amusing to almost everyone, often exercised with slipping behind sofas, overexplicit jokes and punch-lines based on a script that has been reviewed, edited and reviewed again. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it and with comedians like Jim Carrey and Jerry Seinfeld (after Seinfeld series) backing it up, what else can you do but laugh.
However what we are talking about when referring to Best Comedy Movies 2008, that we’ve had the delight of seeing a lot of in 2008, is the slightly more sophisticated comedy. Still goofy, by all means, but not limited to practical jokes or simplified by a too tight script. The comedy in it self is perhaps not always something that makes you laugh out loud or re-capping it to your friends, but rather makes you smile and remember the characters and story in it self. Less is about one funny actor, or theme and more is about the genius and flawfulness of the movie.
3 comedy movies of 2008 that fit perfectly to this category are:
- Son of Rambow – a comedy adventure to be fare and a story of two very different boys in old England who come together in filming Rambo First Blood. Brilliant story, great characters and actors and a lot of laughs. A must-see!
- Be Kind Rewind – Jack Black and Mos Def in a brotherly and slightly awkward duo, trying to film their own versions of hit movies like Ghost Busters, Driving Miss Daisy and Lion King, after accidentally destroying all video tapes in their video store. Genius effects and meaningless plot, nonetheless a blast to watch.
- Semi Pro – Will Ferrell at his best. As the owner and coach of a basketball team, Will’s character JAckie Moon is a self-centered grown up baby who still lives on a one hit wonder called Love Me Sexy. It’s original and although it’s redundant at times, the story shows of uniqueness and superb dialogues.
For a top 10 listing of the best comedy movies 2008 visit TotallyTop10.com.
By: Sven Salmonsson
About the Author:
| 30 October |
Top 10 Comedy Films |
So what is it exactly that distinguishes the good comedy films from the great? Is it their ability to endure, the way their humor creeps up on you or takes you by surprise? Maybe it’s a great script, perfect timing or one-liners that hit the mark every time? Whatever it is, great comedy films leave a lasting impression and have an ability to engage us. They allow us to lower our defenses and share in the joy and the pain of the characters, as we identify with their situations. Ultimately, truly great comedy allows us to laugh at ourselves.
10. There’s Something About Mary
Arguably the best Farrelly brothers movie to date, they take a story about stalkers and turn it into a comedy. Ted Stroehmann (Ben Stiller) still longs for his prom date Mary Jensen (Cameron Diaz) years after losing track of her following an unfortunate accident on prom night. He eventually decides to hire a private detective to track her down, the only problem being, that the private detective falls in love with her too. Seems like Mary is every man’s dream girl. This movie produced many classic scenes, some you have to see to believe.
9. Airplane!
Considered by many to be the classic slapstick comedy. Airplane! tells the story of Ted Striker, who has never been able to fly a plane since an “incident” in the war. Striker is forced into action when a mysterious disease (don’t order the fish) knocks out the crew. Airplane! is so jam-packed with jokes you’ll need to see it a few times to catch them all.
8. Meet the Parents
This movie takes a potentially awkward situation that most people can relate to and takes it to the extreme. Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) tries to impress his girlfriends parents, but the father-in-law to be (played by Robert De Niro) is an ex CIA agent and is very mistrusting of Greg. Everything Greg tries to do ends up with disastrous consequences from losing the families cat, to giving his future sister-in-law a black eye. You can’t help but cringe and laugh at the same time at Greg’s misfortunes.
7. Blades of Glory
Following a fight at a medal awards ceremony, champion skaters Chazz Michael Michaels (Will Ferrell) and Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder) are banned from competitive skating for life. Years pass and circumstances bring them together for another chance at the podium, but this time in the “men’s doubles”. The story follows their hilarious preparations for the event; all-the-while dogged by attempts from the brother/sister pairs team of the Van Waldenbergs to sabotage their efforts.
6. Coming to America
One of the last great Eddie Murphy movies before his return in the late 90s. Coming to America tells the story of Prince Akeem (Murphy) coming to America to find himself a wife who will love him for who he is after rejecting the idea of an arranged marriage. A fish out of water story, Akeem can’t help but act with dignity even when working at the local fast food restaurant. He soon finds the women of his dreams but will she love him when she discovers he is a Prince from a far away land? A great story with very funny scenes and lots of cameos to look out for.
5. Borat
The story centers on Borat, the Kazakhstani reporter sent to the US to prepare a report for the benefit of his countrymen back home. Things don’t quite go according to plan as Borat falls madly in love with Pamela Anderson after seeing her in Baywatch. Borat decides to go to California to meet and marry her and encountering all sorts of people and situations along the way. Told in classic road trip style, the many adventures of Borat are sometimes crude, but often hilarious at the same time. The most amazing thing is that Borat is taken at face value by virtually everyone he meets with hilarious and sometimes jaw-dropping results.
4. This is Spinal Tap
This is the classic “rockumentary” – a spoof of so many other on-the-road, rock ‘n roll documentaries. It tells the story of Spinal Tap, a washed up British rock band returning to the US for another tour. What we end up with is a hilarious send-up and sometimes a biting commentary on the rock ‘n roll world. The band goes through inevitable ups and downs through their tour after their latest album cover is deemed too racy and is completely blacked out. The band breaks up only to reform (in typical rock and roll fashion) and to make more money on yet another tour.
3. Groundhog Day
Phil Conners (Bill Murray) somehow gets stuck replaying the same day over and over again… Groundhog Day.
| 28 October |
Various Types of Comedy Films |
Humour plays an important role in a comedy films which usually has a happy ending with the exception of black comedy. Comedy is one of the oldest genres in film with the first silent movie being a comedy. Comedy lays emphasis on individual performers, with a number of stand-up comedians turning to films due to their popularity.
Comedy films have a very lighthearted script with the sole purpose of entertaining. However other comedy films carry a social or political message like wag the dog and man of the year.
William Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing is considered to be the first comedy of manners, however the genre actually became prominent during the Restoration period. The plot of the comedy consists of an illicit affair or some other controversy or gossip. The witty dialogues of the comedy is more important than the story.
In a particular kind of comedy the main character or characters find themselves confronting an unusual situation which causes humour. Such situations may arise for example with the exchange of gender roles as in Tootsie (1982); changing age role, as in Big (1988); an individual enjoying freedom placed in a structured atmosphere as in Police Academy (1984).
A parody or spoof is a comedy film that uses sarcasm, stereotype and jeering of scenes from other films. Blazing Saddles (1974), Airplane! (1980) and Young Frankenstein (1974) are examples in this genre.
The anarchic comedy film employs meaningless and ridiculous, stream-of-consciousness humor which often satirises some kind of authority. These types of films have originated from a theatrical history of anarchic staged comedy. Prominent films in this category includes Duck Soup (1933), National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975).
Black comedy films satirises death, murder, suicide and war which are usually considered to be the prohibited subjects. Examples include Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), Monsieur Verdoux (1947), Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Ladykillers (1955).
Gross-out films are of recent origin and deals with sex and toilet humour. There’s Something About Mary (1998), and American Pie (1999) are examples in this genre.
The romantic comedy revolves around the relationship between man and woman. The light-hearted romantic comedies usually shows social interactions and sexual tensions between the couple. Examples of this kind of film include It’s a Wonderful World (1939), The Shop Around the Corner (1940), Sabrina (1954), When Harry Met Sally… (1989), Pretty Woman (1990).
By: Trish Dsouza
About the Author:
Trish likes to write on comedy, humour and shayari. You can read romantic shayari and funny shayari at her website shayari.in.
| 18 June |
Watch Comedy TV Shows Online |
Comedy TV shows are among a few topics that people are addicted to whether the shows are watched on television or on videos. That is the reason why TV producers keep on coming up with new comedy shows just to satisfy the hungry needs of viewers.
I still remember watching comedy TV shows in front of my television set in the late nineties. TV shows such as Seinfeld and Friends were a few of my favorite shows.
When I got the TV guide that I subscribed monthly, I would go through and check the days and times the shows would be aired on TV. Then I would check again the repeats of the shows in case I missed the first times the shows were aired.
That was in the late nineties and it was hard to keep up with the schedules of these comedy TV shows, especially when I was also attending classes for my degree program.
I would have missed the programs a lot if I couldn’t watch them on TV, and yes, I was a TV addict – specifically comedy TV shows.
Now, things have changed and it becomes easier for comedy TV addicts like me to keep track with favorite comedy shows.
With the existence of high speed internet connection and lots of video streaming services on the web, you don’t have to struggle to keep track of all the comedy tv series such as Chuck, Weeds and Hannah Montana, like I was in the late nineties.
There are many websites accepting videos that you can upload on servers and there are many more websites that embed these videos on their websites. What you’ll have to do next is identify a few good website that list these videos that you can stream and watch online. Then, enjoy the TV shows.
It is like TV programs on demand and you can watch practically any TV shows that you like, at any time anywhere in the world. It is all available at your fingertips.
Just for a small tip, here is how you can search for your favorite comedy TV shows.
If you would like to search for TV series “Weeds”, you just have to type “watch weeds online” on any search engines and you’ll get a list of video streaming websites that offer the service of watching TV series “Weeds” on the internet.
Do this search for any comedy TV shows that you would like to watch and you’ll soon become more addictive to comedy TV shows than ever.
By: Shirley Scott
About the Author:
Shirley Scott has a website at http://www.TopComedyShows.com that allows you to watch comedy TV shows online. Here on her website, you can also watch Chuck, Weeds and Hannah Montana online for FREE!
| 1 April |
My Favorite Top 10 Comedy Movies |
I have always been a movie fanatic for as far back as I can remember and although I have enjoyed all genres, I especially gravitated to comedy movies for the most part. My father and I would sit watching comedy movies and laugh until it hurt and on Fridays in the summer, it was always a given that my parents would take my sister and I to the Drive-In Theater. (Does anyone remember them?) If it was a comedy, that was a double plus for us. So, for me to say that I love comedy movies would be a vast understatement and for me to make a Favorite Top 10 list is literally next to impossible. In fact, making a Top 20 would be hard enough as it is, but I am going to try anyway. I will cover groups of movies and some solo movies and then try to accomplish my feat for the evening. And although this will be my most difficult task to date, I will most definitely enjoy the memories that these movies provide to me and hopefully for you also.
The In-Laws with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin is so funny and enjoyable. The way that Falk’s character slowly gets Arkin’s character, Sheldon, involved with all of his CIA shenanigans is priceless. A definite must see for those who have never heard of this gem. “Serpentine Sheldon, serpentine!”
Let It Ride is one of the most unique comedies I have ever seen, in that, every character is nuts. I mean, in every comedy you have some normal people and then the funny ones. But this movie has no normal people. It takes place at the race track and everyone is a funny character. Richard Dreyfuss is great as Trotter, as he is with every character he portrays. What About Bob?, Moon Over Parador & The Goodbye Girl, to name a few, are terrific Dreyfuss movies.
Since I already mentioned it, What About Bob? is a classic with Dreyfuss and one of my favorites, Bill Murray. I love watching Murray drive Dreyfuss crazy ever so slowly during the course of the movie. ‘Baby Steps’. And when you speak of Bill Murray, you have to acknowledge Stripes, Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters, Scrooged and of course, Caddyshack. What a terrific cast Caddyshack had. It was Harold Ramis’ first attempt at directing and he did a fantastic job in making what is now a Golf Country Club classic that had so many memorable lines delivered by the irrepressible Rodney Dangerfield. The war between him and Ted Knight was hysterical. “Hey, who stepped on a duck?”
The Producers is a Mel Brooks masterpiece and a screenplay Oscar winner. Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder are so superb in those roles. The idea was to sell much more than 100% of a Broadway play to investors and make sure it is a flop by acquiring the worst script, ‘Springtime For Hitler’, the worst actors, director, music and anything else to assure a quick closing. This way they could keep the money without paying the investors back. But of course the play is a hit and there is no possible way they can pay everyone back, since they sold about 5000%. So they end up in jail and do they learn their lesson? Nope! They produce ‘Prisoners In Love’ and sell the warden 200%. While on the subject of Mel Brooks, how can I not list Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, History Of The World Part 1 and another favorite, Blazing Saddles. The absolute Best Comedy Western of all time, period. Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Mel Brooks, Slim Pickens and of course, Mongo (Alex Karas). What a blast!
The Pink Panther movies are some of the best works of the great Peter Sellers. Inspector Clouseau had to be one of the funniest bumbling fools to ever grace the silver screen. A Shot In The Dark, The Pink Panther Strikes Again and Revenge Of The Pink Panther were such great vehicles for Sellers. And on the topic of Peter Sellers, how about Being There, The Mouse That Roared and Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb. Peter Sellers plays 3 roles in this movie and makes them all so funny and memorable, a tribute to his comedic acting genius.
A Day At The Races with the Marx Brothers would make my Top 5 of all time no matter how long a list I had. I loved the Marx Brothers and this movie is one of my absolute favorites. They were so off the wall and this movie had so many incredible funny scenes. Then you have A Night At The Opera, Monkey Business, Duck Soup and Horse Feathers.
Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein was so great to watch as a kid. Here were the monsters of the times that used to scare us, Frankenstein, Dracula and The Wolfman, and now here they were in a comedy with one of the best Comedy Teams of all time. What a treat! That whole scene with Costello in the hotel room and Lon Chaney,Jr has already changed into the Wolfman. Lou didn’t know it and is so close to getting killed. A great comedy effect of anticipation.
Sleeper is a great Woody Allen movie. The premise was he was revived 200 years after being frozen cryogenically. The results were as funny as you would expect from an early Woody Allen movie. Let me also give tribute to Bananas, Annie Hall, What’s New Pussycat?, Play It Again Sam, Take The Money And Run and Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask).
Monty Python And The Holy Grail is a true classic with so many funny and out of the ordinary scenes. I especially loved the scene with the sword fight at the bridge and the loser has his limbs sliced off one by one and yet keeps insisting that he is winning the battle. Even when he is just a torso on the ground he states, “So we’ll call it draw then?” Let’s also throw in Monty Python’s Life Of Brian and Monty Python’s Meaning Of Life. On the side, I must mention that if you ever have the time to see a play on Broadway, then by all means go see Spamalot. I laughed the whole entire play and you don’t even have to be a Monty Python fan to laugh your fool head off, as I did.
It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was the first comedy movie of it’s kind. It was the first movie with an all star cast like that. Anyone who was anybody in comedy at that time wanted to be in that movie, even if it was just a small cameo appearance. If you weren’t in that movie, you weren’t on the comedy map, so to speak. One of the great comedy premises for a movie and an absolute amazing cast of actors, headed by Spencer Tracy. A must see for any generation.
The Nutty Professor and The Errand Boy are terrific comedy performances by Jerry Lewis. I know the word genius is used a lot but Mr. Lewis certainly proves that he is in those two classics. The Nutty Professor remake with Eddie Murphy was fantastic too. A virtual tour de force comedy performance by him with all of his family characters. Plus, I must mention two movies with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis together to complete his work: The Stooge and The Caddy. “Whose you’re little whosie? Whose you’re turtle dove?”
Now I would like to write about some comedy movies of more recent times. There’s Something About Mary is hysterical with so many unique scenes that have never been done before, and in comedy that is extremely hard to do. The scene with Matt Dillon and the dog is one of my most favorite scenes of all time. I literally fell out of my chair laughing at that one. He accidentally kills the dog and tries to resuscitate him by giving him an electric jolt with the live wire from a nearby table lamp. Ben Stiller has really made a name for himself in the business, which makes sense knowing that his parents are Jerry Stiller and Ann Meara. And when talking about Ben you must mention Meet The Parents, Meet The Fockers and Night At The Museum.
Analyze That with Billy Crystal and Robert DeNiro was great and though it was a sequel to Analyze This, I loved it even more. The scene when DeNiro comes down to the Shiva with his robe open and nothing on underneath was hysterical. “Hey, who do you have to f*#k around here to get some bacon? Not you I hope.” Mr. DeNiro, as everyone knows, is a tremendous serious actor, but he delivers comedy equally as well, as he did in Midnight Run with Charles Grodin. They were supposed to make a sequel for that but never did. I wish they had. Other Billy Crystal movies I have loved are City Slickers 1 & 2, Mr. Saturday Night and When Harry Met Sally.
Liar, Liar with Jim Carrey is terrific. But of course, I love Carrey in everything. He is so animated, rubbery faced and one of my favorite comedic actors. I love the outtakes at the end of the movie also. They really show his improvisational abilities well. Then there is Bruce Almighty, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Me, Myself & Irene.
My Cousin Vinny is a well written and wonderfully acted comedy movie with Joe Pesci, Fred Gwynne and Marisa Tomei. In fact, Miss Tomei won an Oscar for her role. The chemistry between the three of them on screen was terrific, as were all of the courtroom scenes. In the words of the judge, “What’s a yute?”
Something’s Gotta Give was very funny with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton. What a great script. I think it should have won an Oscar for Best Screenplay. Of course, you can never go wrong with Jack in the movie. He has such a great face. Even in the horror flick, The Shining, he makes me laugh. The Witches Of Eastwick, Terms Of Endearment, As Good As It Gets, Batman and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and so many more are such an amazing body of work.
Stir Crazy with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor is absolutely hysterical and their chemistry together was wonderful to watch. They did a few more movies together and they delivered some belly laughs also. Another You, Silver Streak and See No Evil, Hear No Evil.
My honorable mentions, which would definitely make it to my list if I did a Top 100, are Used Cars, Tommy Boy, Lady In Red, Airplane, Weekend At Bernies, Hooper, Smokey and The Bandit, Animal House, Home Alone 1 & 2, Evil Roy Slade, The Naked Gun Movies, Repossessed, Fire Sale, The Road Movies with Bob Hope & Bing Crosby, Carry On Teacher, Arthur, 10, Cheech & Chong’s Up In Smoke, Clifford, Meatballs, The Jerk, The Court Jester, The Inspector General, The Birdcage, Neighbors, Porky’s, My Favorite Year, Night Shift, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Seems Like Old Times, Easy Money, Back To School, Kentucky Fried Movie, Bachelor Party, Forrest Gump, Toy Story, Chums At Oxford, Police Academy, Trading Places, 48 Hours, Cheech & Chong’s Nice Dreams, Start The Revolution Without Me, Gremlins, Lost In America, Defending Your Life, Modern Romance, The Scout, Cat Ballou, Back To The Future, Clue, Beverly Hills Cop, Weird Science, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Fletch, The Golden Child, Crocodile Dundee, Tootsie, Soapdish, A Fish Called Wanda, Good Morning Viet Nam, Coming To America, Mrs. Doubtfire, Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Edward Scissorhands & Buck Privates.
Whew! As you can see, I pretty much named almost every darn comedy movie ever made but there are so many that I love and I could write about them for a year and not make a dent. And yet, I know that somehow I still may have forgotten some. Anyway, here it finally is:
My Favorite Top 10 Comedy Movies
1. The Producers
2. It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
3. A Day At The Races
4. Blazing Saddles
5. Monty Python’s The Holy Grail
6. Liar, Liar
7. The Return Of The Pink Panther
8. There’s Something About Mary
9. Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein
10. The In-Laws
Here is my next 10 if I would have made the list a Top 20:
11. The Errand Boy
12. What About Bob?
13. Analyze That
14. Dr. Strangelove
15. Stir Crazy
16. The Nutty Professor (Both Versions)
17. Sleeper
18. Caddyshack
19. Let It Ride
20. My Cousin Vinny
Well, if I left off something that you would have liked to see on this list…tough. You try to narrow down your favorite genre to a Top 10 and see how far you get. This was definitely the hardest list I ever had to write and the only good thing about it is this: any other Top 10 list I ever write will seem so easy by comparison! Once again, thanks for reading from THE COMEDY TORNADO!!
By: Paul Venier
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