To make it simpler, I’m going to mention only 1 film per director, and group series together.
I’m also not going to mention comedies I saw only once and it was more than a year ago, even if I remember laughing a lot, such as The Big Lebowski or The Nice Guys.
Here’s my list of 10 favourite comedies:
Modern Times (1936, dir. Charlie Chaplin)
Bringing Up Baby (1938, dir. Howard Hawks)
Some Like It Hot (1959, dir. Billy Wilder)
The Phantom of Liberty (1974, dir. Luis Bunuel)
Love and Death (1975, dir. Woody Allen)
The Gods Must Be Crazy 1 and 2 (1980 and 1989, dir. Jamie Uys)
The Naked Gun (all 3: 1988 and 1991, dir. David Zucker, and 1994, dir. Peter Segal)
A Fish Called Wanda (1988, dir. Charles Crichton)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014, dir. Wes Anderson)
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I’ve just got back from a short trip to Edinburgh, but I’ve been thinking about this: do comedies get worse over time? I hate most of today’s comedies (based on trailers and clips mostly but sometimes a whole film)—they’re just crude and painfully unfunny. Rom-com stuff is even worse.
Meanwhile I’m reading P. G. Wodehouse’s Carry On, Jeeves. He’s probably the best of humourists.
Mine would be:
ReplyDeleteDuck Soup (Marx Brothers, 1933), Sons of the Desert (Laurel & Hardy, 1933), Modern Times (Chaplin, 1936), Bringing Up Baby (dir. Howard Hawks, 1938), Midnight (dir. Mitchell Leisen, scripted by Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder, 1939), The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941), Singin’ in the Rain(die. Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1952), I’m All Right Jack (dir. Boulting Brothers, 1959), Carry On Cleo (dir. Gerald Thomas, scripted by the great TalbotRothwell, 1964), Life of Brian (Monty Python, dir,. Terry Jones & Terry Gilliam, 1979)
I've not seen most of them.
DeleteI will suggest some films - I don't know if you already know them:
ReplyDeleteTwo films by Mario Monicelli:
I soliti ignoti (1958)
L'armata Brancaleone (1966)
And one based on a Neil Simon play:
The Odd Couple (1968)
Idk them, but I've heard of "The Odd Couple".
DeleteThank you.