My Top 10 Funniest Comedies

   We all love a good chuckle, don't we? Well, I'm no different. So, especially after I said before that Anchorman wasn't what I call funny, you're probably wondering just what does make me laugh. Well, that's what I'll be revealing today! :)
   Simply making a top ten list of my favourite comedies, I feel would be kind of cheating. Comedy, just like horror, works in different ways: some just straight-up make you laugh, but others are more intellectually/emotionally profound. So I've decided to compile two separate lists of comedies with those differences in mind.
   For this first one, I'll only be focusing on which ones make me laugh the most, or which ones make me laugh the hardest. So these are the ones that I can watch over and over again; they always cheer me up, always make me laugh.
   I should also point out that I'm not including comedy adventures, like Back to the Future or The Incredibles. Any movie can run its course and tell a good deal of jokes along the way. This list will only include movies that I think of as comedies first and foremost.
   So, without further ado, these are my top ten funniest comedies.

#10 = Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

This might surprise you, but I'm one of the few people who didn't like the first Austin Powers movie, mostly because I found the title character irritatingly crude. Austin Powers 2, on the other hand, is funny as hell. There's not nearly as much annoying low-brow humour, and it builds on the recycled jokes from the original so cleverly that, if anything, they're even funnier this time around. The characters are great, particularly Mini-Me, who steals every single scene he's in. :) It was a toss-up between this and Ghostbusters for the number ten spot, but I'd say this one makes me laugh harder.

#9 = Shaun of the Dead (2004)

This is probably my favourite horror comedy ever. Thanks to Edgar Wright's direction, as well as his co-writing with star Simon Pegg, when it's funny, it's really funny. I mean, how could you go wrong with beating up the zombie bartender with pool cues to Don't Stop Me Now? :D But there are also some genuinely horrific moments, especially one involving Shaun's mother. But, most remarkably of all, I can think of at least three moments that are both humorous and horrific at the same time, and it's blended just perfectly. The balance between horror and laugh-out-loud humour in this movie is pure genius.

#8 = Block-Heads (1938)

I'm a big fan of the early silent comedians, especially Laurel and Hardy. Way Out West is probably my favourite of their feature films, but this one makes me laugh the most – if that makes any sense. Block-Heads is basically an extended version of their earlier short Unaccustomed as We Are, in which disaster ensues when the boys are left to prepare dinner on their own and their neighbour offers to help. But I especially love the extended stairway scene before we even get to the apartment, and how far that scene goes to prevent them reaching the top of the stairs. :D



#7 = Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

Even though I love this movie, the reason why it isn't higher on this list is because its unique visual style does overshadow its humour quite a bit. When it is funny, though, it's very funny. And I think a lot of that has to do with the film's fast but calculated pace: the jokes are thrown at you a mile a minute, but they're still paced in a way that allows them to settle in. Director Edgar Wright is brilliant at that, and here he allows that humour to blend right into the whole movie's exaggerated video game feel.



#6 = Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)

Buster Keaton is another pinnacle of silent comedy. His most famous film is probably The General, and, to be fair, that is probably a much better movie. But again, this one just makes me laugh more. Particularly the big storm sequence by way of the climax, where some of the physical stunts have me close to rolling on the floor! :) There's also a great in-joke early on where Buster's trying on hats, and quickly rejects and throws away his trademark porkpie cap. :) And of course, it has all the Buster Keaton straight-faced clumsiness shtick you'd expect. Every stumble gets a big laugh.

#5 = Blazing Saddles (1974)

Arguably Mel Brooks' masterpiece. One of my favourite scenes is when the sheriff, Bart, first arrives in town and everyone turns on him, but he escapes by pulling his gun on himself and playing both the gunman and the victim. :D That scene really sums up the whole film's pitch-perfect satire of racism. But by far my favourite aspect of the movie is the villain, Hedley Lamarr, played brilliantly by Harvey Korman. This movie didn't leave much of an impression on me at first, but now I find it really is laugh-out-loud hilarious – even if the ending is too random to be funny anymore.


#4 = Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

The Monty Python movies are my example of extreme silliness done right. I haven't yet seen the Flying Circus TV series, but I'd imagine it's much the same. It's hard to put my finger on exactly what makes the humour work so well, but I think a lot of it comes from just how unexpected it is. I don't know if "random" is the right word; it's more that the movie screws with your expectations but still finds a way to have it make sense. A good example is when the Knights escape the Black Beast because the animator suffers a fatal heart attack! :D


#3 = Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)

Everyone always mistakenly thinks this is a satire on the life of Jesus, when really it's anything but. Brian constantly makes it clear that he's not Jesus, he's not the Messiah. That's a topic that usually overshadows the movie itself, but I just had to get it out of the way. This is one of very few times where comedy based on misunderstandings actually works for me! It's just hilarious how Brian's misinformed following just keeps growing and growing from what starts as one simple act of self-preservation. :) There are also tonnes of smaller jokes along the way, and almost all of them hit bullseye.

#2 = The Blues Brothers (1980)

This is another case where the humour comes from just how much things escalate. All that Jake and Elwood are trying to do is raise money to save their old orphanage, yet somehow, along the way, all this shit happens! It all builds up to one of the biggest car chases ever put on film, and it's so funny knowing that all this chaos has been caused by just these two people! :) I also love Carrie Fisher's character and how straight-faced she is while using weapons like bombs and bazookas! :D Plus Jake and Elwood themselves have one of the coolest outfits I've ever seen.


And my #1 funniest comedy is… Hot Fuzz (2007)

Yep, of the so-called Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy (starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and directed by Edgar Wright), Hot Fuzz is by far my favourite because, every time I see it, there's always like a dozen jokes that I missed! I've seen this movie about five or six times now, and I still don't think I've seen all the jokes! They're so fast and so clever that you're always spotting more every time. The story itself is really clever too, especially in how flawlessly it builds up to a big action climax reminiscent of the over-the-top police flicks the movie was spoofing previously – and yet, ironically, the characters are so lovable that that sequence kicks those scenes' asses at the same time that it spoofs them! :) In short, Hot Fuzz is the ultimate action comedy, and the all-time funniest movie I've ever seen.

   And those are the ten movies that make me laugh the most. Coming next week, the top ten comedies that I love for other reasons.