Over July 4th we were trying to figure out if there have been any 5 star comedies in the last few years. By that I mean really great pure comedy stories, not stand-up. Here are some examples from the 70s:
MASH (1970)
Sleeper (1973)
The Front Page (1974)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
The Front (1976)
Annie Hall (1977)
Animal House (1978)
The In-Laws (1979)
The Jerk (1979)
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Maybe not every one is to your taste, but these are all clearly classic comedies deserving to be on any list (ok, maybe The In-Laws is only 4.5 stars but I loved it, and the Front Page is a remake but was great). Examples from the 80s:
Airplane! (1980)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
Stripes (1981)
A Christmas Story (1983)
Trading Places (1983)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
Ghost Busters (1984)
This is Spinal Tap (1984)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
The Princess Bride (1987)
Raising Arizona (1987)
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Again this list is pure gold. Maybe The Princess Bride isn't a pure comedy but it still counts. And I think Planes, Trains and Automobiles is a bit under-appreciated. The 90s gets a lot harder, here's the best I came up with
L.A. Story (1991)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Dumb and Dumber (1994)
Mars Attacks! (1996)
The Birdcage (1996)
There's Something About Mary (1998)
Being John Malkovich (1999)
Galaxy Quest (1999)
Office Space (1999)
American Pie (1999)
I'm not sure that any of these, except for Office Space and the Birdcage, are really 5 stars. We're almost 2/3 of the way through the 2000s and this is the best I've got:
Best in Show (2000)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Meet the Parents (2000)
Old School (2003)
The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)
Wedding Crashers (2005)
I don't think these are 5 stars, maybe the 40 Year Old Virgin. There are others like the Scary Movie series and Not Another Teen Movie and that kind of stuff, but go back and look at that list from the 70s and 80s, they don't compare at all. And it's not because the more recent ones are low brow, Stripes and Airplane are not sophisticated.
I did leave out one class of movies from all of this, animated. It's not because I don't like them, I love them. The Pixar and Dreamworks films have been very funny, and 5 star worthy, the Wallace and Gromit films too. But that's perhaps my question, has comedy been relinquished to animation? Even on TV the best comedies are South Park, Family Guy, and The Simpsons with just a few sitcoms even on the air. Why can't Hollywood create great live action comedies anymore?
Please add to this list. What films am I missing? Help me out with foreign comedies, I'm not sure I've seen any to make the list (ok, maybe Amelie).
6 comments:
I think you have to add Napoleon Dynamite (2003) to the list.
Here are some other considerations:
The Graduate (1967)
Harold and Maude (1971)
Wayne's World (1992)
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
Elf (2003)
If I'm going into the 60s I can much better than The Graduate. I'm not sure Harold and Maude is really 5 stars (certainly 4), but maybe. I'll give you Wayne's World and perhaps the first Austin Powers. I enjoyed Elf, but it's not a 5. Though bringing up Xmas comedies makes me remember Home Alone, the Santa Clause and Bad Santa. See not 5s either.
Oh and I think I liked Napoleon Dynamite less than everyone else. It had some moments but it didn't sustain itself.
Yep, this all comes down to personal tastes (drama too), hence the call for discussion :) I tried to comment on those I listed that I thought might be 5s only to me. Still I'd say the list is weak compared to previous decades. I should take it back further, maybe we've been getting slowly less funny since movies began.
Hot Fuzz is another contender.
Wet Hot American Summer.
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