Why are boring comedies considered the best comedies?

I'm just wondering why older movies aimed at just simply being funny movies are comedies?

I guess mainly I'm wondering why movies like Modern Times and City Lights are among several considered to be the funniest movies of all time.

When I think of funny, I don't think of movies like those two.

This isn't meant or has nothing to do with Modern Times or City Lights being bad movies, it has more to do with them being considered better comedies than some better comedy movies.

I don't think they are considered among the funniest comedies of all time. They are considered to be among the best comedies of all time, which is different.

Movies that are comedies are not just about laughing out loud. Also comedies have different tones to them. Sarcasim, dry, wit, dark, psyhical, charming, you know putting a smile on one's face. Having a Constant grin.

Woody Allen has made some of the best comedies yet maybe only a handful have had me consistainly laughing out loud (Manhattan Murder Mystery and Broadway Danny Rose to name a few) this doesn't take away from the ones I didn't find myself cracking up out loud about nor make them less of a comedy from the ones I did.

Just a question but have you seen the aformentioned films and if so you didn't find them too be funny at all ?

Talk about a loaded question...

I don't know. I can't understand raul's original question, but I think that's because he's coming at things from a backwards perspective. Remember, this is Sam Spade talking here. My movie is "overrated" (boring). Read my signature below. It's funny. Your Fave list doesn't seem to have any funny movies on it, I notice. Now, whether any of them are good or not, I'll let that slide for the time being...

Wait a sec. Wedding Crashers and Gran Torino are pretty funny, but compared to Chaplin's best? Maybe you should ask Eastwood and the creators of Wedding Crashers what they think of Charlie Chaplin. You might be surprised.

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If it has a drag queen getting electrocuted by a washing machine, it's funny.

I haven't seen such a thing yet, but it'll happen. Trust.

What about if it just has a queen being electrocuted and dragged by a washing machine?

That's even better. Has that happened in a movie? It sounds like the washing machine itself is going through a personal conflict -- it's dragging the drag queen because the washing machine is expressing itself. It's angry that it can't be a drag queen washing machine. Yet, its buddy, the dryer, is one -- and is at the discotheque, happily drying all of the wet t-shirts and underwear.

I think this should be a movie called Drag Queen Washing Machine.

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You can`t hardly argue about humour. Chaplin Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Woody Allen or Stan and Laurel are not funny to me (not just a little bit). I don`t even like clowns, cause I can`t stand comedy with announcement. ("Hohoho! Watch out! This guys are looking weird! Now it`s getting really funny! Hohoho!") I think Will Ferrel, Steve Zahn, the Wilson Brothers, Ben Stiller, Will Arnett & wife, Tina Fey, Sarah Silverman, Vince Vaughn and Seth Rogen are funny as hell. But many would disagree. Modern Times, The Great Dictator and City Lights settled standards and were provocating at their time. It`s not pure lol-entertainment, it`s sophisticated entertainment, which means, that you can enjoy this movies better, when you are aware of the whole context.

But, Will Farrel uses the methods you claim you dislike. He definitely goes on too long with jokes, and telegraphs all his comedy. I think Farrel is absolutely terrible is just about everything he is in. I do like Rogen and some of the others you mentioned.

I also think you are right in that comedy is a subjective matter that is hard to argue abut properly.

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And I even miscorrected it, `cause I´m never sure about it.
I will call him Will Miller by now.

I'm not sure I get this question. Which comedies are 'considered the best'. By whom? And who considers them boring? Because if it's just you, maybe a better question would be 'why am I unable to appreciate the so-called greatest comedies' or even 'why do people have different tastes'. Because while there are marks of objective quality when considering films, comedies are particularly subjective.

It depends to a great extent, as others have said, in what you are looking for from a comedy film. The laughter count does not necessarily correlate to the quality of the film, or even your enjoyment of a film. You can laugh a lot of times but still feel empty at the end of a film, or laugh only a couple of times but leave feeling warm inside with a smile on your face and want to watch it again.

But it's the two terms 'considered the greatest' and 'boring' that I wanted to pick up on. Because I just don't know who considers these so-called boring comedies the greatest (and you've only given two examples). Take a look at the 100 years 100 laughs list in the mofo lists section. Are these the films you're talking about. I've only seen 30% of these but a quick scan of those throws up some I found hilarious, and others I felt were dated, painfully unfunny or, yes, boring. And if I was thinking of films I preferred to those I would mainly be coming up with British films. Not because I think British films are necessarily better, but because as well as being subjective, humour can be quite culturally specific. Which is not to say you can't enjoy films from other cultures, but it ties in to the question of taste.

Age is a factor - things that were funny thirty, fifty, seventy years ago might not be considered funny now by modern audiences, although does this necessarily mean they don't deserve their spot in the cinematic canon? Topical satire can lose its bite. Racist, sexist or homphobic jokes could be seen as unacceptable (although considering some modern films, I'm not sure about this). Equally, some films retain their charm and feel as fresh today as they did when they were released (I'm guessing a bit here when talking about films released before I was born, obviously...).

So what are the better comedies that City Lights and Modern Times are considered better than? You really need to come up with some examples if your complaint is going to make any sense.

The most boring comedy film I've ever seen, by the way, is 'The Break Up'. I don't think this is critically acclaimed anywhere.

Wow, I'm a tad bit annoyed that Modern Times and City Lights are even considered "boring" at all. I'd agree that just because you are not laughing out loud all the time, it doesn't mean the film is not comedic. There are quite a few scenes in City Lights -- the boxing fight, for one -- that are pretty darn funny and should make most people laugh out loud. But the point of these films was to look at technology and love through the eyes of the tramp. Chaplin's talent was to make us think, laugh, and cry at the same time. These are rich films.

As to the funny scenes, even my 8th graders who are frightened of silent/black and white films laughed out loud at the boxing scene.

I was thinking about this the other day: I'm showing Some Like it Hot to my students. This is a film where nearly every single line has a double meaning. It's simply brilliant. I wouldn't say there are a ton of laugh out loud moments, but if you listen carefully, the lines are incredibly funny. This was not an easy film to write. It took a great deal of thought to write all those lines.

On the same day I was showing Wilder's classic, I went and saw Hot Tub: Time Machine. Okay, I enjoyed it. It was funny in parts, but when I thought about the brilliance of SLIH and I reflect on Chaplin's theme heavy and character driven films, there is simply no comparison.

We've dumbed down our comedies today and somehow a few cuss words and bathroom humor is now honored as "great" comedies!

It's pretty sad, imo.

Agreed. Some Like it Hot is brilliant. It's a classic for a reason.

When I was trying to think recently of the top 10 comedies of the last 10 years I really struggled to find 10. In fact there were some pretty mediocre movies propping up the list. It's almost as if a film isn't gross-out, animated or about a female star trying to show how hilarious she is by getting drunk and falling over and then marrying a man she has no chemistry with whatsoever, it doesn't get released these days.

(Please feel free to prove me wrong about this, I'd love some decent comedy recs)

I agree.

Looking around at bloggers' lists of the top comedies of the last decade, we see films like Meet the Parents, Superbad, Anchorman, Tropic Thunder. I'm sorry, they may be a bit funny, but "great" or even "best?" No way.

The only ones I can think of that had some wit was The 40 Year Old Virgin and Juno.

Most go for dumb plots and crude slapstick, more silly than witty. I'd say you'd be challenged to find 3 or 4 witty moments in any of these. There's nothing to them.

I think comedies, more than any other type of film, are subject to time and context, and that this is one area where even fairly experienced and dedicated film lovers can find the classics leaving them surprisingly cold at times. If there's no accounting for taste (and there isn't), there's less than no accounting for humor.

Personally, I think both City Lights and Modern Times are both funny and brilliant, but I can definitely empathize with the attitude that wants to classify them as something a bit separate from modern comedies, because they seem to have completely different aims. Modern Times is meant to make you laugh, but it's also got a bit of social commentary in it. Anchorman is friggin' hysterical (if you ask me), but that's all it is.

Comedy definitely changes over time, and I think this actually should be used to glorify classic comedies more, rather than shortchange them. Because humor can be so amorphous and context-sensitive, it's all the more impressive when something written 70 or 80 years ago is still amusing today.

I think I "get" what's being said here: all else being equal, I'm more likely to laugh out loud at a newer comedy than an older one. But comedies aren't just about sheer laughter, and I have found that I appreciate certain types of humor far more now than I did when I was younger. As always, simply watching more and more films and spending more time thinking about them will probably cause these opinions to evolve somewhat.

Agree with those talking context, age, culture all of which have a bearing on what people find funny since film began. Most films that call themselves comedies these days just pass me by, and I've seen quite a few.

What would you consider to be your favourite funniest comedies Rauld?

I think you make a very fair point. But it seems to me that we're getting away from comedies that have social commentary or an edge. How many potty jokes have you seen in the last decade? Way too many to count. So, as you say below, "comedy changes over time," I wonder what that really means? Why has it changed into comedy with no real subtext?

I could be wrong, but it seems that comedies are made today for teenagers and not necessarily adults. Yet -- my 8th graders (teenagers) were flat-out silent during the showing of Some Like it Hot. And believe me, these kids can't usually shut their mouths for more than 20 seconds and have little to no attention span. They were mesmerized. One said, "That was so much better than I thought it would it be." They even got some of the jokes (which frightens me a bit actually). They laughed out loud at Chaplin and asked for more.

For myself, I enjoy a Jack Sparrow over most comedies today. Maybe it does have to do with age.

I've never seen Anchorman. If you laughed at it, Yoda, I should see it. Maybe I will too.

BTW -- a little tangent story: I have a student who is just, well, shall we say not too bright (I'm sorry, but hey!). He asks questions right after I've explained whatever he's asking. He copies work from other students because he never understands anything. He seems to have no ability to focus on anything other than tormenting other students. Anyway, we're 35 minutes into Some Like it Hot, and he says, "Wait, they're guys?!" The entire class looked at me and started laughing. I merely responded, "That's it, I've seen everything," which made them laugh even more. Unbelievable!