The Movie Forums Top 100 Comedies Countdown

Ok, as we enter our Top 10, here is our fifth pit stop...


Decade Breakdown

• 1900s = 0
• 1910s = 0
• 1920s = 3
• 1930s = 4
• 1940s = 5
• 1950s = 1
• 1960s = 5
• 1970s = 9
• 1980s = 27
• 1990s = 16
• 2000s = 17
• 2010s = 3
• 2020s = 0

Very even batch this last one, as far as decades go. 2 from the 1970s, 3 from the 1980s, 2 from the 1990s, 2 from the 2000s, and 1 from the 1930s. That means that the 1980s stay comfortably ahead of the rest. Nothing pre-1920s and nothing post 2020s, which I guess was expected.


Recurring Directors

• Charlie Chaplin = 5
• Tim Burton = 3
• Joel & Ethan Coen = 3
• John Landis = 3
• Rob Reiner = 3
• Amy Heckerling = 2
• Mel Brooks = 2
• Jonathan Lynn = 2
• Adam McKay = 2
• Frank Capra = 2
• John Hughes = 2
• Billy Wilder = 2
• Howard Hawks = 2
• Harold Ramis = 2
• Edgar Wright = 2

Two directors jump into the group with TWO films each in this last batch: Rob Reiner and Edgar Wright both had two films in the Top 20. Also, Chaplin gets what is probably his last one to stay at the top of the group.

Finally, one more foreign, if we want to count Hot Fuzz (UK), for a total of seven... and as @Holden Pike pointed out, no more animated films, so we stay at two at this point.

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Thanks to @Holden Pike and @cricket for the corrections!

Great info dump from Holden!

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Crazy that Coens will have four, and their two funniest missed the list

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101. Lady Eve (1941) 61p 5 ballots
102. MY Man Godfrey (1936) 61p 4 ballots
103. A Hard Days Night ( 1964) 61p 3 ballots
104. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) 60p 5 ballots
105. Beverly Hills Cop (1984) 60p 4 ballots
106. The Shop Around the Corner (1940) 59p 4 ballots
107. Austin Powers: The Spy Wjo Shagged Me (1999) 58p 6 ballots
108. Tootsie (1982) 58p 5 ballots 10th highest rank
109. The Odd Couple (1968) 58p 5 ballots 11th Highest rank.
110. Coming to America (1988) 58p 4 ballots
111. Arthur (1981) 58p 3 ballots
112. A Shot in the Dark (1964) 57p 4 ballots
113. Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979) 57p 3 ballots
114. Midnight in Paris (2011) 55p 3 ballots Highest ranking 2nd
115. The Palm Beach Story (1942) 55p 3 ballots Highest ranking 3rd
116. Safety last (1923) 53p 4 ballots
117. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) 52p 5 ballots

118. Liar, Liar (1997) 52p. 3 ballots highest ranking 2nd
119. The Favorite (2018) 52p 3 ballots Highest ranking 7th
120. Defending Your Life (1991) 51p 3 ballots

That... removed surprisingly very few of the possible expected remaining top 10.
The main ones I'm seeing were the Eddie Murphy movies I thought might be outside chances.


Unnamed Ballot Entry #2 is not on that list, so I guess I'm going to keep guessing it, even though, I suspect something around 50 pts is probably the reality of what it got (i.e. just short of the near misses). But who knows at this point.

The Philadelphia Story, Some Like it Hot, Blazing Saddles, The General, and Duck Soup don't seem like they all made it, but none of them are on the near misses either.

But maybe we're overestimating Ghostbusters.

A Shot in the Dark was #17 on my ballot. I figured it was a long shot, but it's nice to see it so close to the Top 100. Easily my favorite Inspector Clouseau film, and one of my favorite Peter Sellers films.

Re: Defending Your Life I had a different Albert Brooks film on my list, Broadcast News, but I am willing to bet it was only on my and maybe one other MoFo's ballot (Holden). Then again, it may just have been mine...

I had Broadcast News at #11.

Well there goes my #2 movie....My Man Godfrey, hard to believe it didn't make the countdown.

Oh, none of my ballot was in the 101-120 range. Nice to know I was likely the only person to have voted for them.

ETA: I wonder how many movies are in the 45-51 points range.

Ahhh, shoot! Liar Liar was my #2! I love that film and I think it's Carrey's best work in terms of balancing the family drama and the physical comedy. He nails every scene and never fails to make me laugh.

Here's something I wrote the last time I rewatched it...

So yeah, bummed that it didn't make it, but fist-bump to the 2 that also voted for it.

We have really over estimated one movie. Impossible for me to believe Safety Last best The General. I think Duck Soup has to be odd one out.

None of my ballot in the 101-120 range

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Letterboxd

Totally forgot about Bill And Ted not making the cut. Would have thought that was a 100 slam dunk.

My Man Godfrey and Safety Last! would have been the two from #101-120 most likely to make my ballot.

Two more of mine were in the 101-120 reveals.


Preston Sturges is one of the giants of cinematic comedy, a brilliant, groundbreaking writer/director who absolutely dominated the field for a decade or so. The Lady Eve scoring kerfuffle left the mighty Mr. Sturges with only one title on the list, and that clawing for dear life at #100. The one I voted for was The Palm Beach Story, which kind of deconstructs the Screwball Comedy while mining it for huge laughs. I hope more MoFos catch up with Preston's work, and maybe if this thing is rebooted down the line he'll have the kind of showing his genius dictates? Or maybe not. The Palm Beach Story was lucky number thirteen on my ballot.


Albert Brooks is another comedic genius, and he won't wind up appearing on the MoFo collective list in any form, not as an actor (Broadcast News, Private Benjamin, Finding Nemo) and not as the actor/writer/director where he shows his full genius. There is an entire thread devoted to him HERE. While my personal favorite of his films remains Modern Romance (1981), I knew that one had zero chance of making the collective cut. I love both Lost in America and Defending Your Life almost as much and I guessed Defending Your Life might have the most realistic shot of placing in the Top 100. Due to it playing more often on cable these days, and because of the Meryl Streep factor. Her presence likely gets it more eyeballs than the other two where the female leads are Kathryn Harrold and Julie Hagerty, both good actresses and perfect for their roles but neither the über-famous, most Oscar-nominated performer in movie history. Plus you add in Rip Torn and the very memorable high concept of trials in the afterlife, and yeah, maybe THAT is the one? Alas, we needed at least one more MoFo with it relatively high on their ballot. It was seventeenth on mine.

I still feel pretty confident that I have half of this Top Ten left on my ballot. But only pretty.

Holden’s Ballot
3. After Hours (#29)
4. His Girl Friday (#26)
5. Monty Python’s Life of Brian (#20)
6. Singin’ in the Rain (#50)
7. Rushmore (#54)
9. Bringing Up Baby (#22)
10. The Graduate (#27)
12. Raising Arizona (#23)
13. The Palm Beach Story (DNP)
15. One Two Three (#86)
16. The Blues Brothers (#21)
17. Defending Your Life (DNP)
22. This is Spın̈al Tap (#13)

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

1. Animal House (#31)
3. Trading Places (#33)
4. Caddyshack (#25)
5. Stripes (#90)
6. The Hangover (#70)
8. Vacation (#54)
9. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (#60)
15. Beverly Hills Cop (#105)
24. The Blues Brothers (#20)

None from my list, here are my ratings

Blimey, I have gone and done it again. I will never get it through my head that it was James L. Brooks, and not Albert, who wrote and directed Broadcast News. For actual Albert Brooks directed favorites, for me it would be Lost in America, which never had a shot at the list, and Defending Your Life, which apparently had a shot!

Beverly Hills Cop is #4 on my ballot list

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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

I've said this before, but I'll repeat it:

There is no movie I would use as a litmus test for whether I like someone. None at all...

...but if I had to pick one, it would be The Princess Bride. I think it's the single-best movie for determining how compatible I would be with someone in general interactions.

Only one or two votes from making the cut. If I had made room for it it was going to be toward the bottom of my ballot, so that alone would not have been enough.