Top 10 Greatest Comedy Films
Top 10 Greatest Comedy Films; 1960-Present
(Click on movie icon links below for trailers!)
1. The Graduate*
2. Pulp Fiction
3. The Sting
4. Annie Hall
5. Almost Famous
6. Silver Linings Playbook
7. American Graffiti
8. Groundhog Day
9. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
10. Toy Story
********************************
You can read my IMDb “instant_palmer” movie reviews which are often rotated onto IMDb’s top 5 “most helpful reviews” section for the following films on this list:
• The Graduate
• Almost Famous
• Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
• Toy Story
• American Graffiti
• Annie Hall
One of the most challenging “Top 10 lists” one can assemble is for comedy films. Great comedies (that are also great films at large) are far and few between - one of the most difficult genres to pull off by even the best directors and actors.
A film must be at least 5 years old from its release date to be considered for this list.
This list is fluid, and films are periodically added to and removed from the list, and the list order subject to change in position ranking.
I purposely left out the “Golden Age” (pre-1960 by my definition) and “Silent Era” of film (eg. one would have to include the great early silent films which are pantomime and/or slap stick based - deserving of its own category, and an unfair comparison to today’s modern filmmaking considering that era’s primitive “film technology” and lack of verbal dialogue).
These 10 films represent with excellence in script (great story/witty dialogue), direction, cinematography, editing, overall film-making prowess, acting, and of course the all-important comedy-factor. They all received my 10/10 IMDb rating (I don’t give 10s easily).
Five of these films have legendary soundtrack syncs that are instrumental to the story-telling. I didn’t notice that fact until reviewing my list, but illustrates the impact that music often has in film.
The two latest additions to this list [December, 2022] are ‘The Sting’ (Seven Oscar Awards, including Best Picture of 1973), and ‘Silver Lining Playbook’ (2012).
‘Pulp Fiction’ is often cited at or near the top of Best Comedy Film lists, despite being categorized as a Crime Drama, and still stands as Tarantino’s greatest film, ranked on almost every Top 100 Greatest Films list published.
David O. Russell’s ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ is a brilliantly-written comedy-romance with a top-shelf ensemble cast that delivered inspired performances, including one of Robert De Niro’s best (this one in a supporting role).
‘Silver Linings Playbook’ earned 8 Oscar Award nominations in 2013, including for the first time in 31 years, Oscar nominations in ALL 4 major acting categories, with Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver each getting the nod for Best Actress, Actor, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress respectively, plus Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, and Editing).
Jennifer Lawrence’s impressive performance in the film resulted in her taking home her first Best Actress in a Leading Role Oscar award at just 22 years old, and propelled her onto Hollywood’s “A-List” of the most sought-after actresses for major film roles.
The immensely popular ‘American Graffiti’ is the “Godfather” of coming-of-age movies. It was Director George Lucas’ first full-length major film release, with production/financing money-raising support spearheaded by The Godfather’s Francis Ford Coppola and Universal Studios after every other major studio had turned it down. ‘Graffitti’ ended up being one of the biggest box office successes of the 1970s, and received a Best Picture Oscar nomination.
Lucas based the ‘American Gradfiti’ screenplay of one end-of-summer-night-to-remember for three 18 yo friends on his own teen years in Modesto, CA. However, Lucas believed Modesto had grown too large to represent his 1962 era. So instead of filming in Modesto, the film was shot entirely at night (in just 4 weeks) on location in San Rafael and Petaluma, CA.
Lucas was famously multi-tasking during ‘Graffiti’s’ production, working on completing production of his sci-fi film ‘THX 1138’, and writing his screenplay for the first ‘Star Wars’ film episode.
‘American Graffiti’ marks the beginning of Lucas’ long-time working relationship with actor Harrison Ford (this his biggest movie part at the time). Lucas made a point of telling the Graffiti cast he was not considering any of the actors for Star Wars as they inevitably wanted in on the film. This did not deter Harrison Ford who later found a way to get a casting referral for the film while working on a construction job at the home of one of the studio executives.
‘Graffiti’ was instrumental in kick-starting the late 50’s/early 60’s nostalgia craze of the 1970’s, and led directly to the creation of the long-running TV show ‘Happy Days’ that recruited Graffiti’s lead star Ron Howard for a similar lead role in the TV series (the show’s story was also set in a similar California Valley town in the same early 1960’s era), and also casted ‘Graffiti’ co-star Cindy Williams in a role on the show (who later co-starred in her own ‘Happy Days’ spin-off TV series ‘Laverne & Shirley’). Even Graffiti’s “Mel’s Diner” set was migrated over to ‘Happy Days’, including its iconic neon sign and 1962-period interior set, in which many of the episodes were filmed.
‘American Graffiti’ was eventually inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Archives for its cultural significance. ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ also holds that honor.
There are MANY other films I considered for this list - At the end of the day, these are my [current] top 10 picks for the best best comedy movies since 1960.
* Headlining my Greatest Comedy Films list at #1 is ‘The Graduate’…
‘The Graduate’ thrives on the film industry’s greatest “soundtrack sync”, after Director Mike Nichols’ self-professed “epiphany” (while in pre-production planning) of utilizing the melancholy and introspective music of Simon and Garfunkel as an integral part of the film’s storytelling. Surely the best soundtrack decision ever made by a Director.
‘The Graduate’ stands alone at the very top of best movie comedies, and is a flawless example of film art in its finest form - the experience of watching it stays with you long after the credits roll.
7 Oscar, 7 BAFTA, and 7 Golden Globe nominations, taking home 10 of those awards.
Click on movie icon links* below for trailers of each film!
Note: Annie Hall’s “original trailer” is located in the “Videos” section found by clicking on the movie link provided below and scrolling down a bit, where you will see a link to the original release trailer.
Enjoy!
________________________________
* See my “instant_palmer” IMDb Review of ‘The Graduate’ entitled:
“Best-EVER Soundtrack Sync. #1 Greatest Comedy”
[The following is an excerpt from that review, currently ranked #3 out of 800+ User Review’s]:
“…For baby-boomers, this is an iconic film - a snap-shot of rapid cultural change that occurred in mid-1960s suburbia, complete with its post-college let-down, introspection, angst, and confusion. Baby boomers perceived things much differently than their Greatest Generation parents, and Nichols (along with screen-play writer Buck Henry) integrated the resulting "generation-gap" in a way no film had done before….”
(Click on movie icon links below for trailers!)
1. The Graduate*
2. Pulp Fiction
3. The Sting
4. Annie Hall
5. Almost Famous
6. Silver Linings Playbook
7. American Graffiti
8. Groundhog Day
9. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
10. Toy Story
********************************
You can read my IMDb “instant_palmer” movie reviews which are often rotated onto IMDb’s top 5 “most helpful reviews” section for the following films on this list:
• The Graduate
• Almost Famous
• Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
• Toy Story
• American Graffiti
• Annie Hall
One of the most challenging “Top 10 lists” one can assemble is for comedy films. Great comedies (that are also great films at large) are far and few between - one of the most difficult genres to pull off by even the best directors and actors.
A film must be at least 5 years old from its release date to be considered for this list.
This list is fluid, and films are periodically added to and removed from the list, and the list order subject to change in position ranking.
I purposely left out the “Golden Age” (pre-1960 by my definition) and “Silent Era” of film (eg. one would have to include the great early silent films which are pantomime and/or slap stick based - deserving of its own category, and an unfair comparison to today’s modern filmmaking considering that era’s primitive “film technology” and lack of verbal dialogue).
These 10 films represent with excellence in script (great story/witty dialogue), direction, cinematography, editing, overall film-making prowess, acting, and of course the all-important comedy-factor. They all received my 10/10 IMDb rating (I don’t give 10s easily).
Five of these films have legendary soundtrack syncs that are instrumental to the story-telling. I didn’t notice that fact until reviewing my list, but illustrates the impact that music often has in film.
The two latest additions to this list [December, 2022] are ‘The Sting’ (Seven Oscar Awards, including Best Picture of 1973), and ‘Silver Lining Playbook’ (2012).
‘Pulp Fiction’ is often cited at or near the top of Best Comedy Film lists, despite being categorized as a Crime Drama, and still stands as Tarantino’s greatest film, ranked on almost every Top 100 Greatest Films list published.
David O. Russell’s ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ is a brilliantly-written comedy-romance with a top-shelf ensemble cast that delivered inspired performances, including one of Robert De Niro’s best (this one in a supporting role).
‘Silver Linings Playbook’ earned 8 Oscar Award nominations in 2013, including for the first time in 31 years, Oscar nominations in ALL 4 major acting categories, with Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver each getting the nod for Best Actress, Actor, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress respectively, plus Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, and Editing).
Jennifer Lawrence’s impressive performance in the film resulted in her taking home her first Best Actress in a Leading Role Oscar award at just 22 years old, and propelled her onto Hollywood’s “A-List” of the most sought-after actresses for major film roles.
The immensely popular ‘American Graffiti’ is the “Godfather” of coming-of-age movies. It was Director George Lucas’ first full-length major film release, with production/financing money-raising support spearheaded by The Godfather’s Francis Ford Coppola and Universal Studios after every other major studio had turned it down. ‘Graffitti’ ended up being one of the biggest box office successes of the 1970s, and received a Best Picture Oscar nomination.
Lucas based the ‘American Gradfiti’ screenplay of one end-of-summer-night-to-remember for three 18 yo friends on his own teen years in Modesto, CA. However, Lucas believed Modesto had grown too large to represent his 1962 era. So instead of filming in Modesto, the film was shot entirely at night (in just 4 weeks) on location in San Rafael and Petaluma, CA.
Lucas was famously multi-tasking during ‘Graffiti’s’ production, working on completing production of his sci-fi film ‘THX 1138’, and writing his screenplay for the first ‘Star Wars’ film episode.
‘American Graffiti’ marks the beginning of Lucas’ long-time working relationship with actor Harrison Ford (this his biggest movie part at the time). Lucas made a point of telling the Graffiti cast he was not considering any of the actors for Star Wars as they inevitably wanted in on the film. This did not deter Harrison Ford who later found a way to get a casting referral for the film while working on a construction job at the home of one of the studio executives.
‘Graffiti’ was instrumental in kick-starting the late 50’s/early 60’s nostalgia craze of the 1970’s, and led directly to the creation of the long-running TV show ‘Happy Days’ that recruited Graffiti’s lead star Ron Howard for a similar lead role in the TV series (the show’s story was also set in a similar California Valley town in the same early 1960’s era), and also casted ‘Graffiti’ co-star Cindy Williams in a role on the show (who later co-starred in her own ‘Happy Days’ spin-off TV series ‘Laverne & Shirley’). Even Graffiti’s “Mel’s Diner” set was migrated over to ‘Happy Days’, including its iconic neon sign and 1962-period interior set, in which many of the episodes were filmed.
‘American Graffiti’ was eventually inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Archives for its cultural significance. ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ also holds that honor.
There are MANY other films I considered for this list - At the end of the day, these are my [current] top 10 picks for the best best comedy movies since 1960.
* Headlining my Greatest Comedy Films list at #1 is ‘The Graduate’…
‘The Graduate’ thrives on the film industry’s greatest “soundtrack sync”, after Director Mike Nichols’ self-professed “epiphany” (while in pre-production planning) of utilizing the melancholy and introspective music of Simon and Garfunkel as an integral part of the film’s storytelling. Surely the best soundtrack decision ever made by a Director.
‘The Graduate’ stands alone at the very top of best movie comedies, and is a flawless example of film art in its finest form - the experience of watching it stays with you long after the credits roll.
7 Oscar, 7 BAFTA, and 7 Golden Globe nominations, taking home 10 of those awards.
Click on movie icon links* below for trailers of each film!
Note: Annie Hall’s “original trailer” is located in the “Videos” section found by clicking on the movie link provided below and scrolling down a bit, where you will see a link to the original release trailer.
Enjoy!
________________________________
* See my “instant_palmer” IMDb Review of ‘The Graduate’ entitled:
“Best-EVER Soundtrack Sync. #1 Greatest Comedy”
[The following is an excerpt from that review, currently ranked #3 out of 800+ User Review’s]:
“…For baby-boomers, this is an iconic film - a snap-shot of rapid cultural change that occurred in mid-1960s suburbia, complete with its post-college let-down, introspection, angst, and confusion. Baby boomers perceived things much differently than their Greatest Generation parents, and Nichols (along with screen-play writer Buck Henry) integrated the resulting "generation-gap" in a way no film had done before….”
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