Funny Movies
Category: Movies...
Posted Sunday, May 28, 2006 at 03:29 PM [GMT-6]

Update: Gwynne's got Bravo's the entire list posted over at The Shallow End, along with her observations. I agree with her assessment...many of the selections are downright puzzling, as are the omissions.

The Bravo Channel has been running a countdown of its "100 Funniest Movies" list, presenting that list in a series of shows that spotlight 25 at a time. Or maybe fifty, although that makes for a very short series. Anyway, we caught last night's segment that covered numbers 25 through 1.

I considered live-blogging the show, but was too lazy to get out of the recliner and retrieve the laptop. My wife had her laptop going in the neighboring recliner but she was too busy studying the inside of her eyelids to fool with the show. I figured I could re-create the list via a website but Bravo is apparently going to milk this thing for as long as it can, because its list has defied my best googling efforts. (OK, I gave up after following two links. This isn't cancer research, you know.)

Their list does differ significantly from the AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs series, in that if Bravo tapped anything prior to 1960, I certainly didn't see it in whatever it was I was watching. Bravo's list was also more current, including such recent movies as The Wedding Crasher, The Incredibles, and Napoleon Dynamite. AFI's list was concocted in 2000.

The one thing I do remember is that Bravo picked Animal House as the #1 funniest movie (it made it only to #36 on AFI's list). I wouldn't disagree that that movie is one of the funniest of all time, but I don't know that I'd rank it at the very top of my personal list.

It's funny (ha!), but picking the funniest movies is harder than picking the best. I mean, almost everyone agrees that The Godfather is at least in the top three best movies ever made. Perhaps the quality of a story and the telling of it is easier to agree on than what's funny, the latter being somehow more subjective.

Fortunately for you, I happen to be the Ultimate Arbiter for What's Really REALLY Funny, and here's my top ten list (but in no particular order; I couldn't get my own self to agree with me about those details).

  • A Christmas Story

  • The Blues Brothers

  • The Princess Bride

  • Shaun of the Dead

  • Beetlejuice

  • Father of the Bride

  • Young Frankenstein

  • Soapdish

  • The Gods Must Be Crazy

  • A Fish Called Wanda

Honorable Mention (because "Top 14" just doesn't have the same cachet):

  • My Big Fat Greek Wedding

  • Groundhog Day

  • Caddyshack

  • 1941

Award for Special Merit (because "Top 15" just seems like overreaching):

  • Napoleon Dynamite

Feel free to try to argue with my selections, you Silly English Pig Dog™ but you better be funny...

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Comments

Raising Arizona. Funniest movie ever made in English. You get merit points for Caddyshack.

Posted by: Scott Chaffin at May 28, 2006 05:54 PM

Argh. I actually meant to list "Raising Arizona."

Although I'm not sure what I'd bump off.

Posted by: Eric at May 28, 2006 06:00 PM

Hmm, I took inventory of my personal collection and here's my top 10 funniest:

A Christmas Story
Blues Brothers
Caddyshack
The Gods Must Be Crazy (the sequel was disappointing, sadly)
Monty Python & The Holy Grail
The Princess Bride (and the sequel, both are great)
A Fish Called Wanda
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Beetlejuice
Anchorman

Given the number of common ones, I guess I need to check out the ones on your list that I've never seen (1941, Shaun of the Dead, and Soapdish)

Posted by: Gwynne at May 28, 2006 11:41 PM

Gwynne, that's kind of scary. ;-)

And, I didn't know there was a sequel to Princess Bride!

If you rent Shaun of the Dead, you might want to watch it with subtitles turned on, unless you have a really good ear for British slang (which I don't).

Posted by: Eric at May 29, 2006 06:19 PM

Ahhh... Shaun of the Dead. I really think we must be some sort of distant relation. :)

I can go with your list, actually, though I would include the Grail simply because you must. I'd put it in the stead of Napoleon Dynamite, actually...just didn't get that one. And while I'm all about movies about nothing...that one just, well, eh.

I might also add in Clerks, though I risk losing all credibility for suggesting it cause, well, it's got some questionable content. But it's funny. You feel a little ashamed of yourself for thinking it's funny. But you laugh anyway.

Posted by: beth at May 29, 2006 06:53 PM

Beth, what Napoleon was to you, Clerks is to me. In fact, we didn't make it past the first 20 minutes.

Grail got bumped by A Fish Called Wanda. Someday, however, we might just put together a Ten Best of John Cleese...although it might simply consist of any ten eps of Fawlty Towers.

Basil!!!

I laugh just thinking about it.

Posted by: Eric at May 29, 2006 07:10 PM

Oops, I was thinking of the Princess Diaries sequel. I liked both Princess Diaries movies a lot (in the Napoleon Dynamite sense of "liked"). I don't think there was a Princess Bride sequel. I watched the Bravo special today and posted the rest of their list. Maybe it's just hard to come up with 100 "good" funny movies, but I thought their list was weak.

Posted by: Gwynne at May 29, 2006 09:56 PM

Princess Diaries. Princess Bride. I can understand the confusion. ;-)

Posted by: Eric at May 29, 2006 10:57 PM

Did Fight Club make the list for Bravo? I ask because AFI conspicuously skipped it.

Posted by: Phelps at May 29, 2006 11:08 PM

Just saw the update. Never mind. Hell, I think the fact that most people don't even realize that it is a comedy makes it hilarious.

Posted by: Phelps at May 29, 2006 11:09 PM

Just saw your list. You seem to have left out The Ghost and Mr. Chicken!

Posted by: Cindy at May 30, 2006 04:02 PM

That was intentional. It goes on the horror movie list. ;-)

Posted by: Eric at May 30, 2006 04:05 PM

I'm a bit surprised that Anchorman made someone's list & not Old School.

Here is my list:

Rushmore
Ghostbusters
Old School
Animal House
The Ref
Raising Arizona
The Big Labowski
Tommy Boy
Bullets over Broadway
There's Something About Mary

Posted by: Marc at May 30, 2006 05:32 PM

Marc, that's an eclectic list, what with Rushmore and Bullets being more genteel and cerebral...as opposed to the, um, edgy humor of Old School and Mary.

The Ref is sort of a sleeper...very dark and funny.

Posted by: Eric at May 30, 2006 05:38 PM

Eric, you owe it to yourself to watch "Sullivan's Travels," directed by Preston Sturges. It will help you understand even more why comedy is important.

Posted by: Patti at May 30, 2006 09:41 PM

Patti, based solely on your recommendation, I'll look for it. Anything with Veronica Lake (hubba-hubba!) must have some redeeming value! ;-)

Posted by: Eric at May 30, 2006 09:47 PM
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