Top 10 Favorite Comedy Movies

Yeah, it's a knock off from the the other list. But that one was hard! How do you narrow down your Top 10 favorite movies?! I'm here to help. I'll narrow the focus down to your favorite comedies.

Here are mine, in no particular order:

Some Like It Hot - Everyone in this movie is bringing their A game. Timeless and nearly perfect.
Airplane! - The original(?) spoof movie is still the best. So many jokes per minute in this one.
This is Spinal Tap - The original mockumentary. Christopher Guest built a career on the style.
Raising Arizona - My first experience with the Cohen brothers. I wish they would make something this goofy again (although Burn After Reading came close).
Anchorman - A great vehicle for Will Farrell to be an arrogant ass.
Groundhog Day - A great vehicle for Bill Murray to be an arrogant ass, reformed.
The Muppet Movie - My sentimental pick.
Fletch, Animal House, Caddy Shack - I'm rolling these up into one just because they were huge for me in college, but I've not had any desire to revisit them since.
Zoolander - My guilty pleasure!

Honorable mentions: nearly everything by: Marx Brothers, Buster Keaton, Steve Martin

Anything that has Chevy Chase in it is disqualified, in spite of the efforts of his costars. He just looks like somebody that didn't prep for the job and is faking his way through it.

My personal favorite is It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World where not just everyone in the movie is bringing their A game, but everyone that was in the comedy world at the time is bringing their A game. I don't think the movie could be remade because you don't have the huge body of Vaudeville talent available now that was available when it was made. I think it was a product of its time.

Caddyshack for Ted Knight and Rodney Dangerfield...A powerhouse comedy where ted Knight really steals the show but despite Sags remarks Chase and the rest of the cast where great. This movie really captures a summer in the 70's and 80's growing up with only 3 channels on TV and no internet or cell phones....It really has that vibe that shows how fun those times were without the tech.

Austin Powers---A monster comedy that scores on all levels from in your face funny to subtle expressions. The first time I saw it I gave it a gamer "Meh" but multiple views really bring out just how funny it is! I have the Burt Bacharach Album that Powers has in the movie and it is often played on game night which might sound unusual but it works great for gaming not so much for romance though, hahahaha

Christmas Vacation---An absolute classic! Cousin Eddy could be an Uncle of mine at the Christmas table. I remember seeing this in the theater and what a joy! Hilarious reactions. But what I really like is its more subtle messages like the neighbors having margaritas on Christmas Eve and making fun of Chase for his Christmas traditions yet Chase handing their ass right back to them! CLASSIC and Watched every year!

Stripes---The movie that made Bill Murray...the whole cast was great

This is Spinal Tap---In total agreement with Gregarius. The real kick I got out of this movie was how it made some bands mad because they were making fun of Rock and Roll. The fact is this movie nailed them, they do act like that and that's what so funny about it! My personal favorite is the manager IAN...The whole Stonehenge part still brings tears to my eyes.

I must comment on It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, as much as I have tried to like this movie over the years, I just don't I have never found Phil Silvers funny. He was on the Beverly Hillbillies for several episodes and while I find the show funny , his episodes are painful to watch. This movie is a prime example of everything that is old is not a classic. The Three Stooges will always be funny but this movie is just not. It is only worth watching to see these stars together but it fails as a comedy.

This is tough because there are plenty of "dramas" that have very strong comedic aspects.

Examples:

Nobody's Fool (the Paul Newman one, not Eric Roberts!) - a top 10 movie for me, but not a comedy per se
Silver Linings Playbook
American Beauty
Etc.

Movies that sell themselves as "comedies" can grow tiresome because they try to be funny 90-100% of the time. There are tons of exceptions, of course.

There are also lots of movies that I found funny as a kid that I find horribly unfunny as an adult.

Anyway, I forgot to do the "Top 10 movies" list, but here's a stab at top 10 comedies:

This is Spinal Tap
Tootsie
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
One of the Coen Bros movies (Lebowski, Raising Arizona)
A Night at the Opera (?) - Marx Bros (if it holds up)
Groundhog Day (?)
Shaun of the Dead/Hot Fuzz
40-year-old virgin
One of the Disney films, not sure which (Robin Hood? Up?)
Some old-timey movie that I'm forgetting, no doubt

In alphabetical order (A to Z);

Airplane
Elf
Galaxy Quest
Ghostbusters
Office Space
Spaceballs
Super Troopers
Tropic Thunder
Young Frankenstein
Zombieland

Airplane!
The Naked Gun (holds up better than Airplane, IMO, and so much fun now to see O.J. getting injured)
This is Spinal Tap (honorable mentions to Waiting for Guffman and A Mighty Wind)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Life of Brian and Meaning of Life close behind)
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (the best of that series)
Elf
Young Frankenstein
Three Amigos
The Jerk (with a nod to The Man with Two Brains)
The Muppet Movie

Also: Raising Arizona, A Fish Called Wanda, Ted, Clerks, Dr. Strangelove, Office Space, Caddyshack, Inspector General.

There are a lot of films that are considered "comedies" that I don't really think of so much as comedies, though they are funny, such as Groundhog Day, Princess Bride, Blues Brothers. Blues Brothers is also about the music, Princess Bride is also a romantic adventure story, etc. I tried to stick with movies that are pretty much just about comedy and making you laugh. There are a lot of great older ones, too, like Marx Brothers and Abbott & Costello and the 70's screwball comedies like It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, but it's been way too long since I've seen them to know how well they really hold up.

Jeez, this is tough because so many things count as comedy.

1. Finding Nemo
2. The LEGO Movie
3. Manhattan
4. Big
5. Ghostbusters
6. Monsters Inc.
7. Moonrise Kingdom
8. Groundhog Day
9. Juno
10. Silver Linings Playbook

I feel dumb for not putting Superbad or Wedding Crashers in there…

The Lone Voice wrote: This is Spinal Tap---In total agreement with Gregarius. The real kick I got out of this movie was how it made some bands mad because they were making fun of Rock and Roll. The fact is this movie nailed them, they do act like that and that's what so funny about it! My personal favorite is the manager IAN...The whole Stonehenge part still brings tears to my eyes.

I've heard interviews with Christopher Guest and Michael McKean and Harry Shearer and they've all said essentially the same thing, that the reason Spinal Tap works so well is because they're not just making fun of the whole genre of heavy metal, but they also have some affection and affinity for it. The songs are actually decent and memorable, and there's a genuine sense of craft there, while at the same time poking fun at the trappings of that whole lifestyle. Same with the theater of Waiting for Guffman and folk singers of A Mighty Wind.

I must comment on It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, as much as I have tried to like this movie over the years, I just don't I have never found Phil Silvers funny. He was on the Beverly Hillbillies for several episodes and while I find the show funny , his episodes are painful to watch. This movie is a prime example of everything that is old is not a classic.

I mentioned that as an example of screwball 70's comedies that I'm not sure hold up, and you're probably right about that one. I remember enjoying it in general probably 30 years ago, and it seeming to be nostalgic even then, but it's probably pretty weak now. The Cannonball Run is another example of that.

Wayne's World probably would have been on my list 20 years ago, but I watched it again recently and it just wasn't that funny anymore, and mostly got by on cheap pop culture references that at this point are like, okay, so what. A few clever jokes that still work, but mostly not. The best film comedies are ones that are just pure *comedy,* transcending the time and place they're in, so the jokes don't age so much.

Darnit, want to change my list now. I'll bump Groundhog's Day and replace with Office Space or Juno.

Picking stand up specials would be easier for me, buy film is an interesting one as the best comedies are often not that great at being films in the traditional sense.

Strange Brew - A feminist send up of Hamlet with Bob and Doug McKenzie in the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern roles.... seriously. I've watched this more times than I've been able to keep track of. Easily my favourite comedy.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - I don't know if it qualifies but it's fucking hilarious and very re-watchable.

The Prince's Bride - pretty much perfect and against most odds too.

The Big Lebowski.. this is how you film a book, change it so much that it becomes it's own thing.

Planes Trains and Automobiles - other than the soundtrack this thing is flawless.

Dirty Work - Norm MacDonald's only movie and he's awful in it, but he and the damn film are a lot of fun anyway.

The Meaning of Life - the best of Monty Python's movies.. although Life of Brian is close.

Drunken Master 2 - Both Jackie and Anita are incredible in this... so hilarious.

The Royal Tenenbaums - Gene Hackman raises Wes Anderson above what he was capable of on his own at that time.

The Incredibles - this and drunken master 2 show up on more of my lists than any other films... comedy, action, just regular great film, comic book and martial arts flicks respectively...

Return of the Living Dead - the only horror comedy that I actually enjoy... it works as a straight zombie film pretty well too.

The Big Lebowski
Ghostbusters
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Airplane
Kingpin
Royal Tenenbaums
Blues Brothers
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Trading Places
The Jerk
Duck Soup

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Blues Brothers
Men at Work
Naked Gun
The Hangover
Bridesmaids
Raising Arizona
Mallrats (If only for the Stinkpalm)
Spaceballs
Blazing Saddles
Young Frankenstein
3 Amigos
Dr. Strangelove
Princess Bride
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
The Jerk

And #1: Dr. Detroit

I don't have 10 favorite comedy movies, or 25 or even 1. Favorite movies are movies that I can enjoy watching again, and comedy has low replay value because I don't find the jokes as funny the second time around. When I think back on movies that did make me laugh, the thinking back doesn't amuse me, because the jokes have gone stale.

Raising Arizona
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (despite every nerd's, including my own, attempt at ruining it)
Rushmore
The Sure Thing
Bull Durham (I give nary a fuck about baseball, but a great and hilarious movie)
This is Spinal Tap
Airplane
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
O Brother, Where Are Thou?
A Fish Called Wanda

Shell, you should think about which comedies you enjoyed the most the first time around. Not all movies are meant to be watched more than once (Sixth Sense)