Monday, November 07, 2005

John Scalzi brings us another movie meme today, this one based on The Rough Guide to Comedy Movies by Bob McCabe.

How to play:
- Bold the ones you've seen
- Pick the five that you consider most worthy, five you'd kick off the list, and suggest five that you feel deserve inclusion.

The 50 Most Significant Comedy Films of All Time

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

Cream of the Crop: Bringing Up Baby, Groundhog Day, His Girl Friday, Local Hero, Monty Python's Life of Brian

Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday are pure brilliance from the golden age of Hollywood.

Life of Brian is a no-brainer. The best Python film hands down, and that is saying something.

If you don't appreciate the genius of Groundhog Day, you don't know funny.

Local Hero is, as I've mentioned before, in my top three overall favorite films. Its presence legitimizes the list.

Films I'd Boot: Austin Powers, Dodgeball, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Good Morning Vietnam, Roxanne

Roxanne was my hardest call here. It's a great movie, but I just don't think it passes muster. I can think of at least three other Steve Martin films that are more worthy, and if one of his should make the list, I'd go with L.A. Story.

Good Morning Vietnam doesn't really qualify as a comedy in my book; it's more of a drama/war flick, with moments where Robin Williams makes with the funny.

The first Austin Powers isn't even the best Austin Powers movie, and none of them belongs within six city blocks of this list.

Dodgeball is the only one I'd kick off that I haven't seen, but I'm sticking to my guns on the choice. Seems far too deriviative of a couple dozen movies that have come out over the last decade or so, which is the main reason I have yet to see it.

Four Weddings and a Funeral would be a first ballot Hall of Famer but for its one fatal flaw: Andie MacDowell. She completely butchers her role and anytime she's onscreen, the movie just falls apart. (Oddly, I think she's perfect in Groundhog Day. Go figure)

Grievous Ommissions: The Blues Brothers, A Christmas Story, My Favorite Year, The Philadelphia Story, Waiting for Guffman

A Christmas Story and My Favorite Year deserve the nod for the same reasons: each tells a very personal story in a highly intelligent and humorous way. Plus, both celebrate the past without wallowing in nostalgia, which is a very tricky thing to do.

I'm convinced the only reason Phildelphia Story and Guffman didn't make the list is because Bringing Up Baby and Spinal Tap did. Both are too intrisically great and significant to be overlooked.

Blues Brothers is an unmitigated masterpiece, and is the absolute best SNL derived movie. Easily a top five comedy.


Once again, I'm shocked at how few of these I've seen. 28 out of 50 is much lower than I would have expected. Looks like I've got some more catch-up learning to do.

Posted @ 12:59 PM

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