The Movie Forums Top 100 Comedies Countdown

I have never seen Dumb and Dumber; but since it is getting so much love, I will rectify that. I am a fan of Jim Carrey. I liked The Mask and Ace Ventura, Pet Detective. I loved him on was it Mad TV or In Living Color? I can't remember which.
Borat is hilarious. I love it. Borat II got a little too gross for me. The fertility dance just turned me off.
I voted for neither.

Dumb and Dumber - I saw it back then in the theater. The Mask has just rocketed Jim Carrey high so we've bought tickets immediately when the Dumber came out.
Well, taking part in such a dumb movie was a risky move for the Carrey's career. He lost half of his reputation for couple of years period and urgently needed to be casted in higher level productions to recover his name. Happily, he did it in the second half of the 90's.
Yes, Dumb and Dumber contains some nice comic moments here and there but all is decorated with a lot of bad taste.

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Borat (2006) - I loathe even writing this title.
When the second one was to be released couple of years ago, I learned that there was a prequel released in the 2000's. Ugh! It was hard to see even half an hour of this movie. I've never seen so low mediocrity.

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"Population don't imitate art, population imitate bad television." W.A.
"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." M.T.

Probably the least surprising thing I've ever said, but that was easily my favorite part.

This has been the most unpredictable countdown I've participated in during my time on the forum. Normally by this point, minus a couple entries, we know which titles are left -- it's just a matter of ordering them -- but I'm surprised more days that not by films showing up that I never would've considered (like yesterday's Clue). This is my attempt to figure out the Top 40. Judging by their popularity and what I know of our collective taste, I'd wager the following films are probably locks:

Airplane!
American Graffiti
Animal House
Annie Hall
The Apartment
Back to the Future
The Big Lebowski
Blazing Saddles
The Breakfast Club
Bringing Up Baby
Caddyshack
City Lights
Dr. Strangelove (I think this will be #1)
Duck Soup
The General
Ghostbusters
The Graduate
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Groundhog Day
His Girl Friday
Hot Fuzz
It Happened One Night
The Jerk
Lost in Translation
Modern Times
Monty Python & the Holy Grail
Monty Python's Life of Brian
The Princess Bride
The Royal Tenenbaums
Shaun of the Dead
Some Like It Hot
This is Spinal Tap
Young Frankenstein

That's 33 films, leaving 7 spots up for grabs, yet I wouldn't rule out any of the following:

After Hours
An American Werewolf in London
Anchorman
Amélie
Arsenic & Old Lace
Barton Fink
Being There
Beverly Hills Cop
Big
The Blues Brothers
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
Forrest Gump
Frances Ha
Ghost World
Grease
Gremlins
A Hard Day's Night
Harvey
In Bruges
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Little Miss Sunshine
The Long Goodbye
Manhattan
Midnight Run
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
A Night at the Opera
The Odd Couple
Office Space
Paper Moon
The Player
Pulp Fiction
Punch-Drunk Love
Raising Arizona
Rocky Horror Picture Show
Roman Holiday
The Rules of the Game
Safety Last
Steamboat Bill Jr.
Superbad
The Philadelphia Story
There's Something About Mary
The Thin Man
Tootsie
Trading Places
The Truman Show
Trouble in Paradise
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

There are probably several obvious choices that I'm forgetting at the moment. It's also possible that I'm underestimating popular horror-comedies like Re-Animator, Cabin in the Woods and Zombieland, or foreign comedies in general (maybe Amarcord, or something from Luis Buñuel), or more recent fare like Deadpool or Jojo Rabbit, or animated films as a whole. Not to mention auteurs like Lanthimos and Solondz whose brand of humor I suspect is probably too dark and cynical to garner enough support to place this high (though I hope ya'll prove me wrong).

So which of those remaining options fill out the list? I feel that Kiss Kiss Bang Bang has a strong chance, considering it made the 2000's countdown and the arguably less popular The Nice Guys made it all the way to #69 on this one. I consider Superbad a modern comedy classic and gave it a lot of points, and clearly plenty others here share my sense of humor and are of a similar age, so it's difficult for me to imagine it missing the countdown. It's hard to imagine only one Woody Allen film making the countdown, unless his prolificacy kept members from reaching a consensus (or they ignored him altogether because of the allegations), but I figure Manhattan has the best chance of joining Annie Hall (which is surely a lock).

Comedies from esteemed directors probably stand a greater chance due to their adoring fanbases, so After Hours wouldn't surprise me or another Coen Brothers joint. Robert Altman has a devoted following on here, and I know The Long Goodbye and The Player are highly regarded; it's just a matter of whether their fans consider them strongly enough as comedies. I'll be a sad clown if Pulp Fiction misses. Nearly every scene and line of dialogue is meant to elicit laughs, but its delivery method is so unorthodox that a shocking number of people don't even seem to realize that they're watching a comedy. I could see it cracking the top ten or missing the countdown altogether. Beloved films like Amélie, Grease, Gremlins, Rocky Horror, Truman Show, Willy Wonka, etc., might miss out because they balance multiple genres, but I'm sure two or three will make it just due to their overwhelming popularity. I want to call Paper Moon a lock, and I've yet to come across anyone who doesn't find it immensely charming, but maybe that's the issue: people find it more charming than funny? Classics haven't fared as well as I would've expected so far, but I'm hoping that's because everyone's in agreement about which ones are best and they'll soon appear in abundance.

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Your forgot one movie that might make it, Easy A lol

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Moviefan1988's Favorite Movies
https://www.movieforums.com/communit...?t=67103<br />

Welcome to the Dance: My Favorite 20 High School Movies
https://www.movieforums.com/communit...02#post2413502

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Visual representation of my ratings for those I've seen, saying this list is doing well above average

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I present here the rank of the films by the arithmetic average rating according to 19 world wide movie communities + one group of critics. In a few words, That's what the World thinks!




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Rank List (scale made equal to 1-10)
▽
1. 56. Sherlock Jr. 8,45
2. 50. The Great Dictator 8,41
3. 88. The Kid 8,30
4. 86. To Be or Not To Be 8,25
5. 83. The Gold Rush 8,23
6. 49. Singin' in the Rain 8,19
7. 61. It's Such a Beautiful Day 8,11

8. 99. Fargo 7,96
9. 48. Playtime 7,87
10. 45. Harold and Maude 7,83
11. 47. Brazil 7,82
12. 73. Snatch 7,80
13. 100. Sullivan’s Travels 7,74
14. 85. One, Two, Three 7,73
15. 68. Ed Wood 7,63
16. 44. Being John Malkovich 7,57
17. 98. The Lady Eve 7,55
18. 53. Rushmore 7,51

19. 64. Clerks 7,49
20. 93. Evil Dead II 7,45
21. 84. When Harry Met Sally... 7,40
22. 94. Withnail and I 7,38
23. 77. O Brother, Where Art Thou? 7,38
24. 89. House 7,32
25. 55. Ferris Bueller's Day Off 7,32
26. 59. What's Up, Doc? 7,25
27. 97. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut 7,20
28. 78. Beetlejuice 7,19
29. 82. The Producers (1967) 7,18
30. 76. M*A*S*H 7,16
31. 66. Kung Fu Hustle 7,15
32. 75. Dazed and Confused 7,12
33. 51. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels 7,12
34. 70. The Hangover 7,09
35. 46. Heathers 7,01
36. 52. My Cousin Vinny 7,01

37. 65. Black Dynamite 6,98
38. 69. The Nice Guys 6,95
39. 43. Clue 6,93
40. 96. Home Alone 6,92
41. 72. Big Trouble in Little China 6,87
42. 62. The In-Laws 6,77
43. 74. Best in Show 6,62
44. 71. Napoleon Dynamite 6,61
45. 41. Borat (2006) 6,61
46. 54. National Lampoon's Vacation 6,60
47. 57. Spaceballs 6,51
48. 79. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 6,50

49. 42. Dumb and Dumber 6,46
50. 60. Fast Times at Ridgemont High 6,46
51. 81. Wayne's World 6,45
52. 67. Mean Girls 6,44
53. 87. Clueless 6,42
54. 91. Pee Wee's Big Adventure 6,36
55. 58. Tropic Thunder 6,35
56. 63. Happy Gilmore 6,25
57. 92. The 40 Year Old Virgin 6,19
58. 95. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery 6,18
59. 80. Step Brothers 6,06
60. 90. Stripes 6,04
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More stats:

Most known/unknown titles (Number of people in all film communities who have seen the film)

1. 96. Home Alone - 4,778,345
2. 70. The Hangover - 3,721,991
3. 73. Snatch - 2,714,137
4. 67. Mean Girls - 2,482,449
5. 99. Fargo - 2,042,891
...
...
46. 85. One, Two, Three - 88,652
47. 59. What's Up, Doc? - 84,649
48. 100. Sullivan’s Travels - 82,873
49. 98. The Lady Eve - 68,953
50. 62. The In-Laws - 22,179

I’m not reading these predictions for movies to appear because I love that it’s a little suprise each morning . I could’ve never predicted many of these films and especially how high some are appearing. I think this is one of the strongest lists in awhile

Yes, it's nice to have a list not simply reflect our own tastes back to us. These lists should be treated as more than a superficial way to self validate our own tastes, and be used as a way to broaden them.


Frankly, I wish there were more films I was unfamiliar with, or felt were due for a rewatch and reevaluation. I'd actually be happy with a list that only had movies I hadn't seen before or had glibly dismissed in the past.

Dumb and Dumber is a film I loved and saw at the cinema when it was released. I took my nephew and he became a huge Jim Carrey fan after this. I, too, think that Jeff Daniels did better in the movie, but both guys were a riot.

Borat is one I've seen once and it was okay. Sacha Baron Cohen is an acquired taste to me, and I haven't really acquired a taste for him. I actually prefer him in straight roles to his Borat or Ali G type of stuff.

Neither placed on my list, but it's really exciting to see what will show next. Have no idea!

My list:
#4.The In-Laws
#8.Stripes
#18.Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

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"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."

I've seen snippets of Sasha's schtick through the years and never made a connection. With that being said, I just watched "Borat" for my first deep dive, per se.


It's as if Christopher Guest tried to collaborate with the Farrelly Bros. and thought, lets give this to that Cohen character. Seems like I've seen many of the gags before. A hardy "meh" from myself.


"Dumb and Dumber" was just dumb fun. It would definitely be in my top fifty.

The hotel wrestling scene in Borat had me laughing so hard it hurt. It was on my ballot.

Bruno has it's moments too

Bruno definitely has its share of laughs.

Didn't like the movie much at all, but The Ali G show had some of his best work

I didn’t like Dumb and Dumber at all. I’ve never bothered with Borat but I did attempt the second one and couldn’t get through it.

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Just to check up on my director predictions, with ones I predicted multiples from probably only getting one or even none, and some I predicted one from getting multiples. I wish I'd spent a bit more time on this, because the unpredictability of this countdown has made it fun.

Multiple entries predictions :

Mel Brooks - 2 - The Producers, Spaceballs
Monty Python (Gilliam/Jones) - 0
The Zuckers and Jim Abrahams - 0 -
Edgar Wright - 0 -
Taika Waititi - 0 -
The Coen bros - 2 - Fargo, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
Robert Zemeckis - 0
Harold Ramis - 1 - National Lampoon's Vacation
Charles Chaplin - 3 - The Kid, The Gold Rush, The Great Dictator
Buster Keaton - 1 - Sherlock Jnr
Carl Reiner - 0
Robert Altman - 1 - M*A*S*H

At least one :

Ivan Reitman - 1 - Stripes
Rob Reiner - 1 - When Harry Met Sally
Arthur Hiller - 1 - The In-Laws
Frank Oz - 1 - Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Larry Charles - 1 - Borat

The one I was hoping for, but which I knew had little chance (he's only ever directed two good ones) :

Bobcat Goldthwait - 0

I was way off with Taika Waititi. In fact, it appears that nothing recent is going to make our top 100, which is in itself surprising. Obviously it's been a while since we've been blown away by a recently released comedy. The rest of the list is still in with a shot, but I'm thinking some of my multiples will get only one, and some of my singles will get more. I never would have predicted Tim Burton, but he's had 3 so far, and I should have guessed John Hughes for at least one. It's been a wildly unpredictable countdown, which is the most fun for sure.

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I've seen several Charlie Chaplin films, but I don't think I've seen The Great Dictator. I'm not a big fan of silent movies, but I've enjoyed the Chaplin movies that I've seen, so I'll have to watch this one when I get a chance.

I love Singin' in the Rain, but while I can see why so many people voted for it as a comedy, I considered it to be mainly a musical, so it didn't make my list. I'm very happy to see that it made the countdown anyway.

I watched Playtime for the Foreign Movies Countdown, and I liked it, but I didn't love it. I think I might like it more if I give it another chance.

I've watched Brazil a couple of times, but I just don't get it. It just seems a bit too weird for me.

I like Heathers, and I'm not surprised to see it make the countdown, but I didn't vote for it. But it's one of my favorite Christian Slater performances.

I always found Harold And Maude to be a bit more strange than funny, so I rewatched it for this countdown, but I still don't think it's very funny.

Being John Malkovich is another movie that's just too weird for my taste. I watched it for a HoF a while back, but if I remember correctly, I think I found it more confusing than funny. Maybe that will change if I ever get around to rewatching it.

I had seen clips of Clue over the years, but I had never seen the whole movie until I watched it for this countdown. It kind of felt like Murder By Death at 2x speed. I liked the movie a lot, and I considered it for my list, but ultimately I just couldn't find room for it.

I'm kind of hit or miss with Jim Carrey's comedy movies, and from the trailer, Dumb and Dumber looked like it was going to be a miss, so I've avoided it for years. I decided to give it a chance for this countdown, and it was better than I expected, but it still had a lot of humor that missed for me, so I never considered it for my list.

Borat is another movie that I've been avoiding for years because it didn't look like my kind of humor. I had seen a few clips of it, but I never saw the whole movie, so I watched it for this countdown, but I found that I was right to avoid it all these years. It was definitely not my kind of comedy. I don't know how I made it through the movie without turning it off.

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OPEN FLOOR.

Never been a fan of Dumb and Dumber. It’s purposely dumb, immature and childish, which I guess is the appeal and sometimes it’s nice to just admit to silly jokes and wacky humor. But this movie just never did much for me. It deserves to be here though.

As for Borat, I had it on my ballot at #21.

When it came out, many people simply hadn’t seen anything quite like it. And understandably so. It might be a mix of a few tricks seen before, yet still, the candid camera style full-movie satire sketch show with a plot was quite a refreshing take.

And while I don’t find it as hilariously great as I once did, it’s still a very impressive piece of comedy. It has many jokes per minute, the cultural and social jokes are very sharp and funny,l and the boundary-pushing*elements really takes it up a level.

Overall it’s just a super fun time and I’m glad to see it semi-high on the list because it certainly should be here.