Help me make an all time greatest comedy film list!

[Alex79]

I've been watching movies and TV of an evening since before Christmas now, and am currently on a mega Marvel marathon. But when that finishes, given the state of the world and the fact I'm, well, me, I thought as a bit of a mood lifter I'd check out some classic comedy films that I've not seen before.

There are a couple of notable films I'll be starting with:

The Big Lebowski
Withnail And I

Yeah, never seen them. So, I ask you all - what are some of your favourite comedy films? I'll likely have seen a lot of the suggestions I'm sure, but it'd be great to see what other people are recommending, and there might be other people here who've not seen them anyway.

Not limited by genre, other than it has to be funny. Subtitled films are also fine. Not so hot on musicals, but feel free to recommend and I may check out!

So, post away! And thanks

[Marlew]

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (Martin, Candy - exasperating comedy)

The Man With Two Brains (Martin, Peters - absurd romcom)

Caddyshack (Murray, Candy - golfing vehicle)

The Whole Town's Talking (John Ford directed screwball comedy with the uniquely charismatic and wonderful Jean Arthur)

Wheels on Meals (Chan, Hung, Biao - kung-fu comedy of the highest order)

[Alex79]

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (Martin, Candy - exasperating comedy)

My favorite comedy film!

Not seen the others though, thanks! Heard great things about Caddyshack over the years.

[Marlew]

Man With Two Brains and The Jerk are both excellent. If you love Planes Trains, I'm sure you'll enjoy them, too.

[ratsoalbion]

Duck Soup
Animal Crackers
Monkey Business
Horse Feathers

[KissMammal]

The one that immediately springs to mind is Hot Rod - an underrated gem that never even got a cinema release in the UK!

Another underrated recentish one to check out is Sightseers.

Cinematic comedies seem to be a bit of a moribund genre right now - the only notable ones that stand out in recent years are those by Taika Waititi, namely What We Do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople and JoJo Rabbit, though the latter two are more comedy/dramas.

[Angry_Kurt]

These are my favourites that spring to mind

Elf
Bridesmaids
Ted
Airplane
Step Brothers

Two more recent ones which are more comedy dramas which I think went under the radar were Instant Family and Fighting with my family. Both of which are based on true stories.

[Marlew]

Maybe the hardest I've ever laughed at a movie was Modern Times by Charlie Chaplin. I showed it to an absolute beginner English class in China for our last lesson before the end of the term. It had been quite difficult to really connect with the group because of the almost total language barrier and because there was a real age range, from primary school kids to surly teens to 50-somethings. I failed to inspire the confidence to really have a go and it was often quite stilted and a bit awkward, really.

When we got to the feeding machine demonstration, and specifically the sweetcorn, the whole room was howling with laughter. And it just goes up and up from there. Kids and grandmas were literally thumping their desks and I was laughing so hard I was crying, I think it was relief in a way but it is complete genius. We never got to finish it because it was only a 40 minute lesson or something but It was so great to see everyone 'let go' and be part of that. I can't claim that it revolutionised the learning but it did finally break the ice and give us that one afternoon together. One of my fondest comedy memories.

[Alex79]

Thanks all!

Just showed that Chaplin clip to the kids, and they were shouting 'GET OUT THE CHAIR! WHY DOESN'T HE GET OUT THE CHAIR!'

[Marlew]

Haha, love it!

[Jon Cheetham]

Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Excellent shout, one of my favourite films.

I'd add:

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (Leslie Nielsen literally vamping his way through this performance)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (absolute beaut of a film by Wes Anderson)
Mean Girls (genuinely well observed story of teenage spite and very funny)
Hot Fuzz (surprised if you haven't seen this though)

[KissMammal]

Do Coen Brothers films count as comedies?

I find Fargo hysterically funny, but maybe too dry for some? Burn After Reading is also great.

Likewise Tarantino and Scorcese - not generally thought of as a comedy filmmakers, but imo Django Unchained and The Wolf of Wall Street have far more genuinely funny moments in them than most out and out comedies.

Humour is very subjective - I've met people who take The Sopranos or Breaking Bad completely on face value and don't see the humour layered into them, which always surprises me as I think they are both frequently laugh out loud funny.

Other comedy classics in my book would be Uncle Buck, White Men Can't Jump, Trading Places, Wayne's World, Top Secret!, Office Space, Swingers*, Super, Ghost World**, When Harry Met Sally and The Princess Bride.

I also have a soft spot for Knocked Up, Superbad, The Forty Year Old Virgin, Dumb and Dumber, The Cable Guy and Kingpin, though I accept that Jim Carrey/Farrelly Brothers and Apatow/Apatow-adjacent movies aren't everyone's cup of tea.

I'm not really a fan of the TV show but I still have a lot of time for South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, which on top of being very funny is also a legitimately great musical, and probably the most I ever laughed in a cinema when it came out back in 1999. Parker & Stone's Team America: World Police is also similarly great if very much a product of its time.

*Swingers is a weird one. Very popular when it came out, but a lot of people seem to have turned against it nowadays. I still think it's wonderful though - and to accuse it of being in any way of being a misogynist work is really going out of your way to miss the point of the film imo.

**Easily in my top ten favourite films of all time - a truly underrated gem of a film. Hopefully it'll get some recognition this year as it celebrates its 20th anniversary.

[Jon Cheetham]

I think Burn After Reading is essential. So funny, including some of the most entertaining performances by George Clooney and Brad Pitt ever although I think both are blown out of the water by Frances McDormand.

Edit: Another comedy film everyone should watch is Kung Fu Hustle.

[KissMammal]

Second the people mentioning Withnail & I, The Big Lebowski, Elf and Planes, Trains..., Hot Fuzz.

Also adding In Bruges, The Guard, An American Werewolf in London, Bad Santa, World’s Greatest Dad, Harold & Maude and Shaun of the Dead.

I think Sexy Beast would probably stretch the definition of comedy, but I've always found Ben Kingsley's performance in that as hilarious as it is terrifying.

I'd also say that Robocop and Starship Troopers are two first rate comedic satires disguised as serious sci fi/action movies.

[Marlew]

Another comedy film everyone should watch is Kung Fu Hustle.

Great choice, and Shaolin Soccer also deserves a mention. I think Stephen Chow can be pretty broad and not to everyone's taste but if you get into the rhythm and tone, it can land so well.

Enjoyed your posts, as well, KissMammal. You touched indirectly on something I was going to raise but didn't want to derail, but I'll bring it up, acknowledging the cliché:

It's very difficult to make an enduring comedy film.

I love comedy, I (used to) watch a hell of a lot of comedy and I (used to) discuss and think about a hell of a lot of comedy, but if you asked for my top fifty comedy things, there would probably only be a couple of movies in there. If you asked for my top fifty movies, it's possible that there wouldn't be any comedy in there, at all.

One of my favourite 'comedy movies' is Home Alone and my wife and I watch it every year and laugh our heads off, but I can't really imagine suggesting it for this thread. Likewise, Ghostbusters is a magnificently funny movie with an incredible cast of comic performers, but it seems reductive to describe it as a comedy. It's not just semantics, though, it's that the funny stuff has to be offset against much more in a successful comedy film.

I've got to get to work so will have to leave this half-expressed but I'm sure the point I'm making is very familiar, anyway.

[KissMammal]

One of my favourite 'comedy movies' is Home Alone and my wife and I watch it every year and laugh our heads off, but I can't really imagine suggesting it for this thread. Likewise, Ghostbusters is a magnificently funny movie with an incredible cast of comic performers, but it seems reductive to describe it as a comedy. It's not just semantics, though, it's that the funny stuff has to be offset against much more in a successful comedy film.

Yeah, it's an interesting point. The most uproarious laughter I've heard in a packed cinema in the last ten years was during The Avengers in 2012 ("Puny God!"). I wouldn't really class that as a comedy...

Which kinda begs the question; is cinematic comedy even a thing any more? As far as I can remember, the last truly big comedy blockbuster was Bridesmaids, released almost a decade ago.

It feels like people get their comedy from the internet nowadays - short form videos, memes, podcasts, Tik Toks etc and the idea of a feature length comedy seems like a bit of a relic, which honestly is a bit of a shame.

[KissMammal]

Ooh, also, forget to include The Birdcage in my list. Pretty much a perfect film imo.

[ratsoalbion]

Ghostbusters came out of Saturday Night Live, I think it's fair to call it a comedy even if it has action and horror elements.

[Marlew]

I totally agree, and it's pure SNL, but I don't classify it primarily as a comedy. Same as, say, Blues Brothers.

Edit: I mean 'in my head', not 'this is the objective classification'.

[Jon Cheetham]

Also going to add High Anxiety, a Mel Brooks spoof of Hitchcock with some barmy performances from Brooks and the supporting actors.