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Victim of The Night
Brief story on Airplane!, which was my No.2.

I had a bunch of people over for an October Double-Feature of Rosemary's Baby followed by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. My neighbor came over and brought her 17 year-old daughter who boldly proclaimed that she was going to watch both films with the heavy-hitters while my wife and her mother watched something cute downstairs.
As we got ready to put on TCM, she boldly proclaimed that she bet it wasn't even gonna be that scary and she didn't see what the big deal was. Literally halfway through the opening credits she said, "Maybe I was wrong?" And 5 minutes into the movie she stood up, said, "Nope", and walked out of the room.
When it was over we came downstairs to my wife, the mother, and the 17 year-old just finishing Airplane!.
She said, "I made a good choice. That is the funniest movie I've ever seen in my life."
A 17 year-old said that about a movie that was 30 years old at the time.
Not bad.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.


I like Airplane!, but I preferred my One Pointer. and my father-in-law said it was the worst film he ever saw in the theatre. He didn't go to the movies much though. Airplane! is technically a parody/remake of Zero Hour!



I love everything about The Incredibles, my #3. I realize that, first off, most people think of it as just a Pixar film or an animated film or a super hero film, but I think those tags for it miss the point of what I believe the film to be. It certainly tells a good story, not only in the context of a "family film" or the greatest James Bond film never made, but also in its overall creative presentation. The Incredibles displays sparkling wit and invention on almost every level: character animation, vocal expression, art direction/set design, the yummy musical score which sounds like it's from a '60s spy movie, only much cooler, and the use of both old-style "newsreels" and modern technology to make the plot more-complex and put the entire thing into larger satirical focus. This doesn't even mention the incredibly fast pace of both the editing and the verbal/visual humor.

A normal movie about super heroes wouldn't dig this deep into all the hassles inherent in being a super hero inside when the world won't allow you to express it on the outside. It also presents a family dynamic which is realistic in that it is so full of contradictions. The males in the Incredible family really want to express their super powers, while mom (Holly Hunter) knows it's better for the family (in more ways than one) to stifle them, just as the legal system and government have deemed necessary. The daughter is at the age where she's getting interested in boys but is very shy about this normal process and is able to use her power to help her get through it. The son just wants to be able to show off in sports once in awhile. The baby, well, we don't know about the baby...

Before I start sounding too serious and pompous about what I consider one of the most exhilaratingly FUN movies ever made, let me mention the "Incredible" supporting characters. Mr. Incredible's (Craig T. Nelson's) best friend Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) is one bad mutha, Jason Lee is a riot as a science/tech geek who wants to be Mr. Incredible's sidekick, and perhaps best of all, director/screenwriter Brad Bird plays Edna E. Mode, the costime designer to the super heroes, as a sort of cross between Edith Head and Linda Hunt.

All the gibberish above can just be ignored if you like, while I cut to the heart and soul of how I feel when watching The Incredibles. I feel like the giddy kid I was in the 1960s who fell in love with movies and cartoons. The main difference today is that I can love this film because it reminds me of so many other terrific films which are a part of me, yet it feels newer and more intense than almost all of them. Another thing I think about when I'm watching this movie is that it's a great FILM. I certainly don't think I'm watching a cartoon because these characters are real to me. I'm just glad that the technology is available so that a film classicist of the stature of Brad Bird can share this story with all of us.

My List

1. Richard Pryor Live in Concert [#113]
3. The Incredibles [DNP]
4. Gremlins [DNP]
5. Back to the Future [#35]
6. The Graduate [#27]
7. Alice in Wonderland [DNP]
8. The Quiet Man [DNP]
9. American Graffiti [DNP]
10. Pygmalion [DNP]
11. Harold and Maude [#46]
12. Play It Again, Sam [DNP]
13. One, Two, Three [#86]
14. Some Like It Hot [#9]
15. An American Werewolf in London [DNP]
16. It's Such A Beautiful Day [#62]
17. A Fish Called Wanda [#38]
18. Young Frankenstein [#4]
19. Monty Python and the Holy Grail [#5]
20. City Lights [#11]
21. Tootsie [#108]
22. Toy Story [DNP]
23. Who Framed Roger Rabbit [DNP]
24. The Trouble with Harry [DNP]
25. Ruthless People [My One Pointer]
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One from my ballot that did not place -
What I consider the greatest zombie horror-comedy ever (which as I've stated is not Shaun of the Dead).
What? No... though Zombieland was a lot of fun.
Okay, not Cabin the Woods either, though that was in contention for my ballot with Evil Dead II.
Dead Alive? Okay, I didn't think of that one either, but probably wouldn't have gone that route.
No, no, no...
Not Night of the Creeps, not Slither...

Use your delicious, juicy, moist.... brain.

#9. Return of the Living Dead (1985)
What do you get when the writer of Alien direct a cast full of character actors, but doesn't tell them that it's a comedy? A movie that somehow manages to make you laugh but actually delivers on the sense of an emerging zombie apocalypse.
I just find this movie lots of fun, quick paced, and the characters that feel like they mostly behave in a believable fashion rather than a by the numbers behavioral roles.
Yeah, I had this on my list. I'm surprised it didn't at least make the backend of the list cause I think it's hilarious.

"We need more paramedics" That line always gets me
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OK - 7-3. Amazingly, only 2 of 4 on my list. First the not.

Ghostbusters (1984) - funny movie. great movie. Deserves to be on this list. But #6? Didn't even make my alternates.

Airplane! (1980) - same comments. I don't look down on these types of movies - some are among my favorites - though this did inspire some pretty bad ones. It's a pure comedy, so I'm glad it's high on the list, but #3 seems crazy to me. Different strokes.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) - legit thought this would be #1. It was my #10 - a hysterical movie - the peak of Python, probably, and that's saying something. Deserves its reputation and more.

Young Frankenstein (1974) - glad this made it. I always rated Blazing Saddles higher but this is my wife's favorite Brooks and maybe her favorite movie after Princess Bride. It's tremendous and it belongs. My #11.

So now we get to it. I've got two higher than these two that won't make the list at all. One, I'm not surprised at all about. The other, I am - it's an absolute abomination that a list like this was made without these guys, who in my opinion anyway, are the funniest comedians in history by a massive longshot. I'll wait to reveal those till after, but ouch. I think the top 2 will be 2 of my other films - at least I hope so, as either missing would be an insane oversight. Don't let me down MovieForums!

Seen: 96/98

My list:

1. The In-Laws (1979) (#63)
2. Step Brothers (2008) (#81)
3. Blazing Saddles (1974) (#10)
4. The Jerk (1979) (#24)
5. (No chance. Understandable. But watch this. It's as funny as anything on this list, promise - saw the Spinal Tap guys intro it)
6. (No chance. An absolute travesty they are not represented, the worst part of the list by far).
7. Duck Soup (1933) (#8)
8. Office Space (1999) (#18)
9. This Is Spinal Tap (1984) (13)
10. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) (#5)
11.Young Frankenstein (1974) (#3)
12. Best in Show (2000) (#75)
13. (#1 or #2. Probably #2 if I had to guess.)
14. Some Like It Hot (1959) (#9)
15. Superbad (2007) (#39)
16. (Not happening. A surprise. One of the funniest films I've ever seen in a theater. Amazing stuff).
17. Raising Arizona (1987) (#23)
18. His Girl Friday (1940) (#26)
19. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) (#28)
20. The Lady Eve (1941) (#101)
21. The Apartment (1960) (#30)
22. Annie Hall (1977) (#19)
23. (#1 or #2. Probably #1 if I had to guess.)
24. My Man Godfrey (1936) (#102)
25. It Happened One Night (1934) (#36)



I forgot the opening line.
Airplane! seemed absolutely revolutionary when it came out - there simply weren't any comedies that were as off the wall crazy - ones where anything (absolutely anything) could happen. It was my #3. It's actually called Flying High! here in Australia, and for years as a kid I couldn't understand why Flying High never appeared in any movie books when I tried to look it up - I had no idea it's proper title was Airplane! - or why it was changed. Anyway, it was extraordinarily popular, and stayed popular throughout the years. It's that so many of the jokes (which come at you one per second) actually hit - and that when jokes don't hit there's going to be another dozen coming at you right away. I'd never seen Zero Hour (I still haven't) but I'd seen enough air disaster movies to recognize where some of the stuff was coming from. The sequel, Airplane II (or, Flying High II) completely missed the whole spirit of the original and isn't worth watching.

My #3 was #3 and my #4 was #4 - but that's as far as that will go.

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Films I've seen : 79½
Films that have been on my radar : 16½
Films I've never even heard of : 2

Films from my list : 18

#3 - My #3 - Airplane! (1980)
#4 - My #4 - Young Frankenstein (1974)
#5 - My #1 - Monty Python and the Holy Grail - (1975)
#7 - My #14 - Groundhog Day - (1993)
#10 - My #17 - Blazing Saddles - (1974)
#12 - My #19 - Hot Fuzz - (2007)
#13 - My #2 - This is Spinal Tap - (1984)
#14 - My #5 - Galaxy Quest - (1999)
#15 - My #6 - Shaun of the Dead - (2004)
#17 - My #24 - The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! - (1988)
#20 - My #12 - Life of Brian - (1979)
#24 - My #18 - The Jerk - (1979)
#30 - My #10 - What We Do in the Shadows - (2014)
#34 - My #9 - Back to the Future - (1985)
#62 - My #13 - The In-Laws - (1979)
#65 - My #21 - Black Dynamite - (2009)
#82 - My #8 - The Producers - (1967)
One pointer - Brewster McCloud (1970)
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Airplane! is pretty good. I remember seeing it often when I was a kid/teen and laughing pretty hard at everything. The scene where the flight attendant played the song to the sick girl always made me ROTFL. However, I rewatched it several years ago, maybe 10 years ago or so, and for some reason, it didn't hit me as hard. Not sure why. I haven't got back to it since and that's why I didn't include it, but I still reference bits and pieces of it all the time.


Seen: 74/98

My ballot:  



According to my Facebook timehop thingie, six years ago I was at a screening of Shaun of the Dead....


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Victim of The Night
Yeah, I had this on my list. I'm surprised it didn't at least make the backend of the list cause I think it's hilarious.

"We need more paramedics" That line always gets me
I could have easily put it on my list, it's one of my favorite movies and yes, it is funny as hell.

Send more cops.



Victim of The Night
Whoa!
I just realized, if I'm not mistaken, that this means that either The General, The Big Lebowski, or Dr. Strangelove is going to miss the list completely. Not even in the 100-120 group.
Unless there's a tie?



Airplane! was on my ballot at #16. It's one of the rare examples of a comedy which attempts to get by on being stupid from start to finish yet nails virtually every single one of its jokes. I watched it earlier this year at college with one of my roommates and he loved the film as well. With loads of clever punch lines, quotable bits of dialogue, and some memorable performances, this film is a real blast to watch and never gets tiring. If I had to criticize one thing, it would be Julie Hagerty's performance as, even though I generally don't care much about acting, it felt like she was phoning it in for most of the film. I get the film is a stupid comedy, but her performance still seemed kinda bad, even for the kind of film this is. That's a minor flaw though. It's still a great film and I'm glad to see it this high.
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1. It Happened One Night (#35)
2. City Lights (#11)
3. The Graduate (#27)
4. To Be or Not To Be (#86)
5.
6. Harold and Maude (#45)
7.
8.
9. Duck Soup (#8)
10. Being John Malkovich (#44)
11. Young Frankenstein (#11)
12.Sherlock, Jr. (#56)
13.
14. Shaun of the Dead (#15)
15.
16. Airplane (#3)
17.
18.
19. Some Like it Hot (#9)
20.
21.
22. The Apartment (#29)
23.
24.
25. The Great Dictator (#50)



Whoa!
I just realized, if I'm not mistaken, that this means that either The General, The Big Lebowski, or Dr. Strangelove is going to miss the list completely. Not even in the 100-120 group.
Unless there's a tie?

I'm pretty sure The General is the one not making it.



Whoa!
I just realized, if I'm not mistaken, that this means that either The General, The Big Lebowski, or Dr. Strangelove is going to miss the list completely. Not even in the 100-120 group.
Unless there's a tie?
The General will miss this list, I would imagine. Both The Big Lebowski and Dr. Strangelove made it really high on the top 100 on this forum a few years back.

For what it's worth though, I voted for The General.



Surely, with everything from its grammar-based comedy ("it's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now"), blink-and-you'll miss it sight gags like the "Mayo Clinic," its perversions (Otto, anyone?) and that it's played completely straight...oh, and Johnny, this is the best spoof of all time. It's at the top of my list, for what it's worth.



Whoa!
I just realized, if I'm not mistaken, that this means that either The General, The Big Lebowski, or Dr. Strangelove is going to miss the list completely. Not even in the 100-120 group.
Unless there's a tie?
You JUST realized this?



Airplane was my 15. I rewatched for the list expecting to leave it off mine. To my surprise it holds up extremely well, and was hilarious throughout. Even more to my surprise, my 13 year old also loved it. I also watched Too Secret for the list because I had never seen it. I thought that was pretty great as well. Zucker Abrams Zucker are clearly in my wheelhouse and I’m glad they are well represented on the list.

I watched Galaxy Quest a couple nights ago to get myself to 100%. I thought it had some moments and a great cast but where it placed on this list remains my biggest shock.
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Whoa!
I just realized, if I'm not mistaken, that this means that either The General, The Big Lebowski, or Dr. Strangelove is going to miss the list completely. Not even in the 100-120 group.
Unless there's a tie?

I guess you've been missed it at around the top 10 when we were all trying to do predictions and we were counting 11 locks lefts.

And the discussion continued in 10-6 because we figured were most likely to miss were going to be in that range.