Friday, April 25, 2008

The 100 comedies revisited

I will start this post with a couple of caveats...I will acknowledge that I have not seen every comedy out there, that this list is subject to changes based on viewing things like Kind Hearts and Coronets which I have not yet viewed, or re-viewings of films like The Russians Are Coming, or It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

You will notice that there are a number of films with a second number by them such as "46. 30 The 40-Year Old Virgin." That second number is the ranking the "experts" at Bravo gave the film. Any without that second number did not make Bravo's list. All told, I eliminated 51 of Bravo's films. After all, their list was the "greatest comedies," which I interpreted as two possible things - great films that are comedies, or extraordinarily funny films which are good films (which is why you don't see Police Academy on the list - while funny, at times, it's just not a good film).

Some of the criteria I considered in ranking was how much I enjoyed the film as a whole, how much it made me laugh, and, at times, how much it made me think.

Once again, keep in mind, this is my opinion, and based on what I could recall. I am certainly open to suggestions and being reminded of films that are out there that I may have seen and long since forgotten about. I am always open to suggestions...particularly if it directs me to a film I haven't seen before.


So...here's my reworking...





100. 15 Fast Times at Ridgemont High
99. The Bad News Bears (1976)
98. High Fidelity
97. Ed and his Dead Mother
96. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead
95. Funny Bones
94. L.A. Story
93. Chasing Amy
92. Mighty Aphrodite
91. 67 King Pin
90. 64 Spinal Tap
89. The Freshman
88. 96 Four Weddings and A Funeral
87. 91 Revenge of the Nerds
86. 33 Clerks
85. 16 Old School
84. 37 Dodgeball
83. 32 Groundhog Day
82. 13 Naked Gun Series
81. 10 Arthur
80. 4 There’s Something About Mary
79. 95 Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
78. The Ref
77. 76 Ghostbusters
76. Real Genius
75. Fletch
74. My Favorite Year
73. Diner
72. Hot Fuzz
71. PCU
70. 22 Beverly Hills Cop
69. 72 Moonstruck
68. Twins
67. Love Actually
66. 8 The Wedding Singer
65. Saving Grace
64. Super Troopers
63. Bachelor Party
62. Monsters, Inc.
61. O' Brother Where Art Thou
60. What's New Pussycat?
59. Grosse Pointe Blank
58. A Night at the Opera
57. Men In Black
56. Army of Darkness
55. Love and Death
54. 89 Slapshot
53. 97 Happy Gilmore
52. Barbershop
51. Bowfinger
50. The Commitments
49. The Hollywood Shuffle
48. Saved!
47. 78 Bananas
46. 30 The 40-Year Old Virgin
45. 24 Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
44. 55 Bull Durham
43. 54 Ferris Beuller’s Day Off
42. 71 Roxanne
41. 48 American Grafitti
40. 49 American Pie
39. 26 Wayne’s World
38. National Lampoon's Van Wilder
37. Harvey
36. The Odd Couple
35. 74 Trading Places
34. 31 Big Liebowski
33. Galaxy Quest
32. 65 Office Space
31. 28 Annie Hall
30. The Full Monty
29. 69 Blues Brothers
28. 53 Dr. Strangelove
27. 50 The Princess Bride
26. Arsenic and Old Lace
25. A Christmas Story
24. Shaun of the Dead
23. My Cousin Vinny
22. Death at a Funeral
21. The In-Laws (1979)
20. Hear My Song
19. Monty Python: The Life of Brian
18. 62 The Pink Panther
17. Breaking Away
16. The Philadelphia Story
15. 82 Tootsie
14. 27 A Fish Called Wanda
13. 2 Caddyshack
12. 17 M*A*S*H
11. 18 Stripes
10. 56 Young Frankenstein
9. Sleeper
8. 45 Raising Arizona
7. 42 Harold & Maude
6. 40 Monty Python and the Holy Grail
5. 6 Airplane
4. 1 Animal House
3. 9 Blazing Saddles
2. 12 The Producers
1. Some Like it Hot

3 comments:

Dave said...

I'd say that list is a lot more defensible than Bravo's list by a mile.

But Dodgeball ahead of Spinal Tap? Dodgeball had it's moments but nothing close to what Spinal Tap had.

I love your pick of Bowfinger, though. That is a criminally ignored movie.

Kevin Smith said...

Danke.

I figure there are plenty of places for debate. My choice to put Spinal Tap behind Dodgeball had to do with what I feel are lulls here and there in ST. I love ST, and I truly admire the improv nature of the movie - but there are places that I always felt the film dragged.

Bowfinger I think might be one of the funnier films of the last decade, and probably the funniest thing that Eddie Murphy has done in a long time. There are other films that I am sure I missed - I at least considered The Sure Thing. I still can't believe that, in the end, I eliminated over 50 of Bravo's choices from my list.

Dave said...

I can believe it. Those lists are skewed towards newer films and I doubt they take the time to seriously consider them.