Still Funny After All These Years - Comedies That Have Stuck With Me
A handful of comedies that I seem to come back to repeatedly. For me, the toughest category to define and/or rate, and the one that my ratings change the most as time passes.
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- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsWilliam H. MacyFrances McDormandSteve BuscemiMinnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.You betcha. I'm from MN and this is spot on, stereotypes or no. Love it - one of my favorite movies ever.
10/10 - DirectorEdgar WrightStarsSimon PeggNick FrostKate AshfieldThe uneventful, aimless lives of a London electronics salesman and his layabout roommate are disrupted by the zombie apocalypse.Is there anyone that doesn't like this flick?
9/10 - DirectorGuy RitchieStarsJason FlemyngDexter FletcherNick MoranEddy persuades his three pals to pool money for a vital poker game against a powerful local mobster, Hatchet Harry. Eddy loses, after which Harry gives him a week to pay back 500,000 pounds.This and Raising Arizona have some of the best disposable one-liners in the business.
10/10 - DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneMaureen O'HaraBarry FitzgeraldA retired American boxer returns to the village of his birth in 1920s Ireland, where he falls for a spirited redhead whose brother is contemptuous of their union.John Wayne does comedy with a great supporting cast of characters. "Bar towel!"
10/10 - DirectorRob ReinerStarsBilly CrystalMeg RyanCarrie FisherHarry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship."Mr. Zero knew". One of the few comedies that my wife & I both list as our one of our favorite movies, of any kind.
9/10 - DirectorCraig GillespieStarsMargot RobbieSebastian StanAllison JanneyCompetitive ice skater Tonya Harding rises amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the activity is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes.You had to be there. If you were, this is hysterical.
8/10 - DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsNicolas CageHolly HunterTrey WilsonWhen a childless couple--an ex-con and an ex-cop--decide to help themselves to one of another family's quintuplets, their lives become more complicated than they anticipated.If only the second half was as funny as the first and someone could have edited out 75% of John Goodman's screams. Still, some of the best one-liners out there.
8/10 - DirectorBarry SonnenfeldStarsTommy Lee JonesWill SmithLinda FiorentinoJames, an NYC cop, is hired by Agent K of a secret government agency that monitors extraterrestrial life on Earth. Together, they must recover an item that has been stolen by an intergalactic villain.So much fun it makes you want to hold an intergalactic kegger of your own.
9/10 - DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsSteve GuttenbergMickey RourkeKevin BaconA group of college-age buddies struggle with their imminent passage into adulthood in 1959 Baltimore."What's on the flip-side?"
9/10 - DirectorRon SheltonStarsKevin CostnerSusan SarandonTim RobbinsA fan who has an affair with one minor-league baseball player each season meets an up-and-coming pitcher and the experienced catcher assigned to him."He's breathing through his eyelids"
9/10 - DirectorPenny MarshallStarsTom HanksGeena DavisLori PettyTwo sisters join the first female professional baseball league and struggle to help it succeed amid their own growing rivalry."There's no crying in baseball". The Title IX companion piece to Bull Durham.
8/10 - DirectorMarc ForsterStarsWill FerrellEmma ThompsonDustin HoffmanI.R.S. auditor Harold Crick suddenly finds his mundane Chicago life to be the subject of narration only he can hear: narration that begins to affect his entire existence, from his work to his love life to his death.I guess you can only play the roles you're offered. How else to explain this part for a guy (Will Ferrell) who's only ever made movies aimed at teenage boys? Who knew he could actually act? The only movie he's ever made that can be watched sober.
8/10 - DirectorShane BlackStarsRobert Downey Jr.Val KilmerMichelle MonaghanAfter being mistaken for an actor, a New York thief is sent to Hollywood to train under a private eye for a potential movie role, but the duo are thrown together with a struggling actress into a murder mystery.Maybe the best critique of LA women in movie history.
8/10 - DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsJeff BridgesJohn GoodmanJulianne MooreJeff "The Dude" Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire of the same name, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it."That rug really tied the room together". Falls off as it goes along and, again, one of the Cohen's needs to put a prong collar on John Goodman and give a sharp snap every once in awhile, but still classic.
8/10 - DirectorMike JudgeStarsRon LivingstonJennifer AnistonDavid HermanThree company workers who hate their jobs decide to rebel against their greedy boss.Made me proud to own a Swingline stapler.
9/10 - DirectorSpike LeeStarsTracy Camilla JohnsTommy Redmond HicksJohn Canada TerrellStory of a woman and her three lovers.Spike Lee's first film, and definitely one of a kind. Context of the times is important though; 20-somethings won't get this at all.
8/10 - DirectorHal AshbyStarsRuth GordonBud CortVivian PicklesYoung, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral.So 1970s.
8/10 - DirectorGore VerbinskiStarsJohnny DeppGeoffrey RushOrlando BloomBlacksmith Will Turner teams up with eccentric pirate "Captain" Jack Sparrow to save his love, the governor's daughter, from Jack's former pirate allies, who are now undead."They're more like guidelines"
9/10 - DirectorRobert BentonStarsPaul NewmanBruce WillisJessica TandyA stubborn man past his prime reflects on his life of strict independence and seeks more from himself.This is how you turn a fantastic book into an equally great movie. Doesn't happen very often.
9/10 - DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMatthew ModineR. Lee ErmeyVincent D'OnofrioA pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.8/10
- DirectorGregori ViensStarsHenry PhillipsEllen RatnerWade KelleyWinner of the Audience Award at the Slamdance Film Festival, this realistic comedy tells the story of Henry Phillips, a hapless modern day troubadour who grinds his way through the heartland, living out of his car and singing his twisted satirical songs to anyone who will listen. After a booking mishap involving a Christian fund raiser, he decides he's hit rock bottom. Seeking to shake things up, he moves to L.A. where his luck changes overnight. Thanks less to his inept manager than to a wild case of mistaken identity, he falls backwards into a string of packed gigs, a record deal and even the promise of love. But he who lives by the whimsy of show business dies by it, and reality hits him like a fist in the face: an innocent miscommunication over a bagel brands him a neo-Nazi in the world of tabloid journalism. Luckily, somewhere between rock bottom and nowhere lies the perfect terrain for his dark and hilarious songs.Don't know if the will "stand the test of time" or not, but I've watched it a couple of times recently and it's just too funny.
8/10 - DirectorGuy RitchieStarsRobert Downey Jr.Jude LawRachel McAdamsDetective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England.Well done, Holmes. A great re-boot.
8/10 - DirectorHenry KosterStarsJames StewartWallace FordWilliam H. LynnDue to his insistence that he has an invisible six foot-tall rabbit for a best friend, a whimsical middle-aged man is thought by his family to be insane - but he may be wiser than anyone knows.Timelessly funny.
8/10 - DirectorTim BurtonStarsEwan McGregorAlbert FinneyBilly CrudupA frustrated son tries to determine the fact from fiction in his dying father's life.Lush & funny. Watch it with your kids.
8/10 - DirectorBob ClarkStarsPeter BillingsleyMelinda DillonDarren McGavinIn the 1940s, a young boy named Ralphie Parker attempts to convince his parents, teacher, and Santa Claus that a Red Ryder Range 200 Shot BB gun really is the perfect Christmas gift.Hard to believe this was done in the 1980s. It feels timeless.
10/10 - DirectorJohn PasquinStarsTim AllenJudge ReinholdWendy CrewsonWhen a man inadvertently makes Santa fall off his roof on Christmas Eve, he finds himself magically recruited to take his place.Answers for all your questions.
9/10 - DirectorJohn LasseterStarsTom HanksTim AllenDon RicklesA cowboy doll is profoundly threatened and jealous when a new spaceman action figure supplants him as top toy in a boy's bedroom.The start of the Pixair tsunami; and one of the best animated movies ever made.
10/10 - DirectorPete DocterBob PetersonStarsEdward AsnerJordan NagaiJohn Ratzenberger78-year-old Carl Fredricksen travels to Paradise Falls in his house equipped with balloons, inadvertently taking a young stowaway.Laughs and tears across generations. A masterpiece.
10/10 - DirectorPeter LordNick ParkStarsMel GibsonJulia SawalhaPhil DanielsWhen a cockerel apparently flies into a chicken farm, the chickens see him as an opportunity to escape their evil owners.The Lone Free-ranger
9/10 - DirectorPete DocterDavid SilvermanLee UnkrichStarsBilly CrystalJohn GoodmanMary GibbsIn order to power the city, monsters have to scare children so that they scream. However, the children are toxic to the monsters, and after a child gets through, two monsters realize things may not be what they think.9/10
- DirectorBrad BirdStarsCraig T. NelsonSamuel L. JacksonHolly HunterWhile trying to lead a quiet suburban life, a family of undercover superheroes are forced into action to save the world."When everyone's special, nobody is" How un-P.C.
9/10 - DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsBob HoskinsChristopher LloydJoanna CassidyWhen a cartoon rabbit is accused of murder, he enlists the help of a burnt out private investigator to prove his innocence.Mix of animation and real life was cutting edge at the time. But it's the movie itself that makes this hold up over time.
8/10 - DirectorAndrew AdamsonVicky JensonStarsMike MyersEddie MurphyCameron DiazA mean lord exiles fairytale creatures to the swamp of a grumpy ogre, who must go on a quest and rescue a princess for the lord in order to get his land back.9/10