*My* Masters of Comedy List
K: In a previous post, I complained about the Masters of Comedy series, which seemed more like the MASTER of Comedy (Woody Allen) and friends. So here's my list (I marked the ones that are retained from the Michigan's series with a star)...
--The Bird Cage (the original)
--Arsenic and Old Lace
--Adam's Rib
--Sleeper*
--Monty Python and the Holy Grail
--Blazing Saddles*
--Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
--Annie Hall*
--Being There*
--Brazil
--Overboard
--Art School Confidential
--The City of Lost Children
--The Big Lebowski
There are several things to note about the above list. First, no director is represented more than twice...and then only if there are two very different films. Secondly, my list is all over the map, comedy-wise. Admittedly, it's a little short on stupid comedy and a little long on the surreal, but I did say that it was my list, so there you go.
Any comments? Additions? Deletions?
posted by RossAndKate @ 7:11 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
I have to admit I'm not a big fan of the surreal stuff - The Big Lebowski is one of my LEAST favorite movies of all time, and I have yet to meet a Woody Allen movie I liked.
Some of my favorite comedies include:
Holiday (Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant at their finest)
Desk Set (Katherine Hepburn as my favorite librarian)
The Great Dictator (Charlie Chaplin)
Sherlock Jr. (Buster Keaton, THE Master of Comedy)
L.A. Story (Steve Martin at his wacky best)
Hmm... comedy.
In no particular order, and with no reference to any quality other than my level of happiness, I guess I'd:
swap Spaceballs for Blazing Saddles
defend the Williams/Lane Bird Cage
agree with
Arsenic and Old Lace
Holy Grail
Strangelove
Brazil
Big Lebowski
move
City of Lost Children (great, wonderful film: not comedy to me :))
add
Austin Powers 2 (yes, I said it)
Amelie
Snatch.
one of:
Shot in the Dark / Revenge of the / Pink Panther Strikes Again
one of:
Duck Soup / Night at the Opera / Animal Crackers (Marx Brothers)
one of:
The Great Dictator / Modern Times
maybe too soon for:
The Incredibles
The Ladykillers (Hanks/Coen)
in a grey area (action/comedy):
Grosse Pointe Blank
Fifth Element
and the finest cannibal humor:
Ravenous (do not take this movie seriously! You aren't supposed to!)
"Kind Hearts And Coronets". So many good lines in that one ("He was not one of those new-fangled parsons who carry their vocations uncomfortably into their private life" and of course Alec Guinness playing eight different people. And for the silent movie category, I'd nominate "Safety Last" - really, really fun to watch; it was weird to see that the dangling-from-the-clock moment actually passed pretty quickly and wasn't the centerpiece of the thing that you'd expect from seeing the still image in every book about film history, ever.
BTW, have you gotten a chance to see "Pan's Labyrinth"? A. and I saw it the other day, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
Ann--
I LOVE Desk Set. I was actually trying to think of the name, and had to settle for Adam's Rib.
I haven't seen the last three, so I will track them down.
Matt--
I also like the Williams/Lane version of the Bird Cage, but if I had to select just one of the two...
I'm surprised that you think of Amalie as a comedy, but not City of Lost Children.
I seriously considered adding Snatch (or Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels)
I honestly really dislike the pink panther series. There, I've said it. (Ross feels differently, though)
I also thought about adding a Marx Brother's film. I think that ultimately I didn't because I couldn't pick one. Lame, I know.
Sonetka--
I'm ashamed to say that I haven't seen either of them. I'll have to track them down.
I haven't gotten to see Pan's Labyrinth yet--it went to the State theater rather than the Michigan. Ross and I are debating whether to see it on the big screen. I think that it might be too much for me...and so it might be better to see it in a format that is easily paused. But then again, it does look like something to see on the big screen.
Oh...sorry, that last comment was Kate, not Ross.
It is very, very disturbing in places - I don't usually have dreams about characters in movies, but I had dreams about the faun in this one; no argument but that it's effectively. The little girl's mother is also having a problem pregnancy throughout much of the movie - there were one or two (brief) scenes which made me want to put my head between my knees; not conventionally explicit, but I'll just say that a pause might have been nice right about then. A. and I did both had some problems with how the stepfather was portrayed - but I shouldn't go on about it until you've actually seen it.
"Kind Hearts" especially is a LOT of fun - vicious British comedy at its finest. (Guinness's The Ladykillers is also fantastic - haven't seen the newer one, so can't comment on it). If you come out by Utah anytime soon, you can watch our copies :). (Or just see if your university library has them).
Argh! Effectively *made*. I keep leaving off words!
Well written article.
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