The Movie Forums Top 100 Comedies Countdown

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In "Seven Samurai", there's this hilarious scene. Takashi Shimura is the ronin - the elder samurai, wise, and leader of the clan. He tells the other younger guys how to test a samurai. The ronin stands to the side of the door, and says you can tell a true samurai when he enters. If he's aware, he won't just walk into danger and get clobbered during his entrance, since they have been hired to take on a hard mission, with most unwilling to help.
Yes, many films have funny moments in them. Doesn't make them comedies by any reasonable definition. Schindler's List has one genuine, intentional laugh in it, but unless you are the most virulent anti-Semite nobody could call Schindler's List a comedy.

If one wishes to waste their points on things they know darn well nobody else was going to reasonably consider, that's on them.
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Yes, many films have funny moments in them. Doesn't make them comedies by any reasonable definition. Schindler's List has one genuine, intentional laugh in it, but unless you are the most virulent anti-Semite nobody could call Schindler's List a comedy.

If one wishes to waste their points on things they know darn well nobody else was going to reasonably consider, that's on them.

I made my list by going to IMDB, clicking on COMEDIES, and then by ratings, and picked my favorite.


"Seven Samurai" is funnier than the previous two movies.. My list wasn't to include movies YOU think are funny. Congratulate yourself when your movies make the Top 5.



As implied before, I've seen The Lady Eve. I was more charmed by Sullivan's Travels in my memory. Admittedly, I'm not a big screwball rom-com from the 50 (and before) type of person. So I think the ones I like the most are the ones I have the lowest expectations for, and possibly if they star Veronica Lake (last condition hasn't been vetted through more movies).


South Park. I have not seen the movie. I saw the video Christmas Card the preceded the series shortly before the series premiered (apparently the Christmas card video had been around for quite a while). And then watched parts of the first season as it premiered during my freshman year of college (both a very freshman year of college type of series but also one where I didn't have cable). It seemed good, but I never felt the need to go back watch more let alone the movie.


It wouldn't have crossed my mind as something that stuck out in people's memories.


Seen: 3/4



A system of cells interlinked
Seen 2/4

None from my list so far! I briefly considered South Park, but I have always felt it was front loaded, with most of the best laughs coming in the opening third. That stuff is pretty hilarious, especially the Terrance and Phillip scenes, but I do find my mind wandering as the film progresses, and so I don't really find myself returning to it often.
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I forgot the opening line.
I remember going to the cinema to see South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut and feeling like it was weird watching this new very low-tech cut-out type of animation on the big screen. I remember also wondering why The Simpsons hadn't done this yet. I'm not sure if I ever saw the film again, but I remember parts of it really clearly - especially the song 'Blame Canada'. I suppose it was pretty good - I wasn't disappointed by it. I've kind of fallen by the wayside in watching the actual show, but I keep seeing bits of episodes, thinking it looks awesome, then trying to get back into it and just getting bored - hitting all the bad episodes and missing all the good ones. I guess I just have bad luck every time I try to get back on that bandwagon.

Damn Preston Sturges and his prolific 1941 output wrecked my 100% 'seen it' record again. So it's 3/4 for me now. But it's been a wild and wacky ride and we're only 4 reveals in...
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I've never seen an episode of South Park, but I have seen the South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut movie and liked it more than I expected to. I have The Lady Eve on Criterion blu ray and enjoyed it, although it didn't make my ballot.





South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut was #25 on the MoFo Top 100 Animated Films List. This is the first appearance of The Lady Eve on any of the MoFo-generated lists.



Wow Preston Sturges at 99 and 100. The Lady Eve is great, I think I like it better than Sullivan's Travels, but as for comedy ranking I don't know it's been too long

I had South Park at #13. The show may not be what it once was but I was 20 when this came out, still smoked weed, and man did it make me laugh. It's also a well-crafted film that deserves praise. I wanted to get at least one animated film in there so I threw it in. Also, I just remembered Wallace and Gromit The Wrong Trousers...oh well.

13. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
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Haven't seen The Lady Eve.

South Park, I haven't seen in decades, but I remember not being overly crazy about the whole execution of the story, but absolutely loooooooving the soundtrack. Still listen to it often. To be fair, I really got into South Park later, so I'm not sure if the whole film would fare better now.

Bottom line, none of them were on my list.
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I haven't watched even a piece of South Park: BL&U in quite a while. Not sure how it would hold up today, I suspect I would favor Team America: World Police and definitely the stage hit The Book of Mormon. But I certainly liked it when it was released and the songs are pretty good. "South Park" the series stopped being remotely funny for me long ago and I'm not sure how hip or relevant it seems now compared to say "Rick & Morty" or even "Adventure Time with Finn & Jake", but clearly shows like that might not have had a path to creation in the marketplace were it not for "South Park".

Anywho.

The Lady Eve is also not the Preston Sturges flick I had on my list. Though I like it a lot. It would probably be third or fourth for me most days if forced to rank his filmography. Both of those titles being early stalwarts of The Criterion Collection - The Lady Eve was spine number 103 and Sullivan's Travels spine number 118 - almost certainly helped the pre-streaming DVD generation of budding American film buffs discover them. Criterion later added both Unfaithfully Yours and The Palm Beach Story, so we'll see if we get even more Sturges deeper on our list?

For those who don't know Sturges, this episode of the PBS series "American Masters" is a great primer...




sullivan's travels is my sturges of choice, but i do like the lady eve quite a bit. barbara stanwyck is the best.

for whatever reason i've never felt remotely compelled to watch the south park movie, even though i'm sure i'd enjoy it because i generally like the show and team america: world police.
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I've seen each of the first four--all good films, none on my list. Personally I do think of Fargo as a black comedy (and it was my wife's very straight-laced Catholic grandmother's favorite movie), but I'm not the boss of genre categories. Of these four I would rate Fargo as the best film but I would more likely have considered South Park for this list.



I don’t remember much from The Lady Eve, but I have it
when I saw it

I haven’t seen the South Park movie, but I like the show enough where I’d probably enjoy it. I guess The Simpsons Movie will likely show up pretty soon. Somewhat forgotten now but it was a massive release at the time
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I haven’t seen The Lady Eve.

I’m a big South Park fan and I’m glad BLU made the countdown. I cut it from my list because it feels a little dated now but it’s a hysterical movie. Anytime I’m watching something where a character makes googly eyes at their crush I instinctively sing in my head “There’s the girl that I like...”



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Preston Sturges was a shining light in Hollywood movies as a writer-director from 1940 through 1944. He made good movies after 1944, and he wrote several good movies before 1940, but the period where Paramount Studios allowed him to direct his own scripts is a real watershed for screwball comedies in particular and film in general. It's difficult to actually categorize or put in some order the first seven films which Sturges made, but I can, at least, mention and recommend them all here and now (in chronological order). Sturges' first feature films as writer/director are The Great McGinty, Christmas in July, The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek and Hail the Conquering Hero.

The Lady Eve does follow a certain Preston Sturges formula, although none of his films could ever be considered formulaic. Sturges is a master of blending what appears to be romantic drama with slapstick farce. The thing which really sets Sturges apart from many others working in screwball comedy is that all of his films are firmly rooted in reality, and if you pay attention, sometimes it seems that you should be crying just as much as you are laughing. Sturges has a wonderful way with words, but something which he deserves more credit for is his use of camerawork, sound, music, and editing. The superb thing about The Lady Eve is the incredible sexual chemistry between Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda. She's playing a con artist, and he's a rich heir to an ale king who defines himself by saying things like "Snakes are my life!" Although the film is full of laugh-out-loud moments and allows the usually-serious Henry Fonda to be involved in as many slapstick scenes as an Abbott & Costello flick, what really carries this film is just how damn romantic it is.

I don't really want to get too far into the actual plot because it's really full of as many twists and turns as Fonda's snake Emma, which he brings with him from South America when he boards the passing ocean liner which also carries Stanwyck and her card sharp dad (Charles Coburn) in transit to New York City. Basically, the pair want to fleece the naive rich guy for all he's worth, but sex gets in the way. There are many discoveries, revelations, and changes of heart, so the further the film goes along, the zanier it gets. All of Sturges' acting company are on board for this classic, but, as usual, kudos to William Demarest as Fonda's "bodyguard" who gets to say tons of funny lines, including the closer.

I like South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut, but I never considered it for my list.
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I've never seen The Lady Eve but I think it might worth trying it.

I vaguely know there is some series or something called South Park. Never heard there is a theater movie South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

Seeing 61 pts and 5 ballots for the bottom of the Top 100, I become more and more pessimistic about the prospects to see more than 5-6 of my films making the list.
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sullivan's travels is my sturges of choice, but i do like the lady eve quite a bit. barbara stanwyck is the best...
I concur! I'm a big fan of hers.

I had a number of Miss Stanwyck's films considered for my ballot including The Lady Eve. I just about included The Lady Eve but it's been such a long time since I last watched it that it didn't make my final 25. Still very HAPPY that it made the Countdown