Lets debate about comedies

[GorillaGuy]

It's not hard to make me laugh so I enjoy 99% of comedies that I see

[blonde_devil]

Originally Posted by doctor_who

Fallon is the most talented late night host in quite some time. I mean, my god, on a talent scale, Leno was like a 1 during his last run, and Fallon is a 10. I really like The Late Late Show with James Corden on CBS as well. It's much needed, as Seth Meyers' show is nearly unwatchable. Just switch stations real quick.

Have found Colbert's show to be a major disappointment.

Fallon was going to be successful no matter what - the network wasn't going to go through another latenight scandal so they were going to make sure he was successful. As for talent, I know everyone has different tastes but I think you have it backwards - Leno was a success before hosting the Tonight Show but Fallon can't get away from that SNL world - he was flop when he left SNL and only got successful when he went to Late Night which was produced by Lorne Michaels. His comedy is dumb which is why it is successful - it matches the comedy in movies today. Personally I watched Craig Ferguson - now he was funny.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by Talleyrand

Absolutely agree.

[Show spoiler]I am always amazed when people find that the silent comedies of Chaplin and Lloyd have aged well and are still accessible, but not the German expressionist classics and the Griffiths epics, for example. And I know that something like It Happened One Night must have truly captured the cultural zeitgeist, as you say, but I find it a tough sit now. Same with a lot of the Preston Sturges stuff (my uncle is really into golden age of Hollywood comedy now and lent me some Sturges DVDs.... I definitely would say his stuff has aged a lot worse than almost anything I've seen from that era; he always lent me the Rene Clair And Then There Were None (which I had never seen until that point for some reason) and it was way better). Even a lot of the 80s classics have not exactly aged like wine, Caddyshack being an exception, that films is great.

But for my money, it would be hard to top the 2009-2011 triple thread of The Hangover*, The Other Guys and Horrible Bosses, although I'm sure in 20 years, as you say, kids will find they have aged horribly.

*If you can watch this and put the sequels out of your mind, it's still very funny.

The funniest individual thing ever, I would say, for the record, would be The Gang Solves The Gas Crisis, an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. That one episode is just perfect.


The only comedies I own are Risky Business, The Sting and American Hustle.

Risky Business probably being the only straight comedy of the three.

....but I do own a few on DVD.

I thought Chevy Chase was the greatest movie comedian ever back in the 1980s. National Lampoon's Vacation was the greatest comedy of all time back then.

I watched a few minutes of it the other day on cable and I barely even chuckled.

Same thing with The Naked Gun. I probably never laughed so hard watching a movie in my entire life then the first time I saw that.

...now it just seems juvenile and silly over the top.

[tiger_qc]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

[/SPOILER]

I thought Chevy Chase was the greatest movie comedian ever back in the 1980s. National Lampoon's Vacation was the greatest comedy of all time back then.

I watched a few minutes of it the other day on cable and I barely even chuckled.

Same thing with The Naked Gun. I probably never laughed so hard watching a movie in my entire life then the first time I saw that.

...now it just seems juvenile and silly over the top.

Same here, none of the Vacations movies or Naked Gun make me laugh anymore. Same goes for Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Caddyshack, Fast Times at Ridgemont High or Swingers, I don't even smile. Comedies started to be REALLY funny in the mid 90s everything release before that was very different, I've got a list on the previous page with nearly 70 movies and beside Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II (probably the two least funny movies of the list) everything is from the very late 90s and up.

[octagon]

Maybe it's not the movies that haven't aged well

[tiger_qc]

Originally Posted by octagon

Maybe it's not the movies that haven't aged well

Well most actions & science fictions movies from the 70s and 80s are still very enjoyable, Star Wars, Back to the Future and Indiana Jones are still some of the best movies ever, the comedies on the other hand aren't that much funny anymore.

[blonde_devil]

Originally Posted by tiger_qc

Well most actions & science fictions movies from the 70s and 80s are still very enjoyable, Star Wars, Back to the Future and Indiana Jones are still some of the best movies ever, the comedies on the other hand aren't that much funny anymore.

I second what octagon said

I don't think the issue is so much they are not funny anymore, I think it is more that the concepts have been used and used and used in various forms over the years in other movies and shows that they don't work like they should. Take Naked Gun - bumbling cop, fairly oblivious. What's Paul Blart? Bumbling mall cop, fairly oblivious. Fast times - how many high school comedies have come out since then? For me, it is like watching Twilight Zone - so many of the things we have seen over the years are stolen from that show that you sometimes forget this was the originator and just how good the show is. I think it is the same here - because we have seen so many bad comedies rip them off, you forget how good they are. My nephew and I watched Raising Arizona back in the fall, he had never seen it yet he laughed just as hard as I did. I think the movies are aging fine for the most part although there are some that scream 80's which don't work so well anymore(most things Hughes directed).

[tiger_qc]

Originally Posted by blonde_devil

I second what octagon said

I don't think the issue is so much they are not funny anymore, I think it is more that the concepts have been used and used and used in various forms over the years in other movies and shows that they don't work like they should. Take Naked Gun - bumbling cop, fairly oblivious. What's Paul Blart? Bumbling mall cop, fairly oblivious. Fast times - how many high school comedies have come out since then? For me, it is like watching Twilight Zone - so many of the things we have seen over the years are stolen from that show that you sometimes forget this was the originator and just how good the show is. I think it is the same here - because we have seen so many bad comedies rip them off, you forget how good they are. My nephew and I watched Raising Arizona back in the fall, he had never seen it yet he laughed just as hard as I did. I think the movies are aging fine for the most part although there are some that scream 80's which don't work so well anymore(most things Hughes directed).

I think it's more because comedies tried to stay politically correct in the past and now the rules have changed. Comedies are not trying to stay clean anymore, they're more and more vulgar and I like that. My favorites comedies I wouldn't let a kid watch them, maybe that's why I still think Porky's funny.

[warrian]

Laughter will remain the common man's recreation.

Laughter is a devilish wind which deforms the lineaments of the face and makes men look like monkeys.

Laughter kills fear, and without fear there can be no faith because without fear of the Devil, there is no more need of God.

[P-Rock]

I always liked Nothing But Trouble, Dan Akroyd's directorial debut. It was just so weird.

[Jacob Anderson]

1. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
2. The Hangover
3. Superbad
4. Soth Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
5. Happy Gilmore
6. Dumb and Dumber
7. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
8. BASEketball
9. Billy Madison
10. Step Brothers
11. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
12. Knocked Up
13. 40 Year-Old Virgin
14. Goon
15. 21 & 22 Jump Street
16. Talladega Nights
17. Role Models
18. This is the End
19. The Other Guys
20. Tropic Thunder
21. The Big Lebowski
22. The Cable Guy
23. Super Troopers
24. Borat
25. The Night Before

[doctor_who]

Originally Posted by blonde_devil

Fallon was going to be successful no matter what - the network wasn't going to go through another latenight scandal so they were going to make sure he was successful. As for talent, I know everyone has different tastes but I think you have it backwards - Leno was a success before hosting the Tonight Show but Fallon can't get away from that SNL world - he was flop when he left SNL and only got successful when he went to Late Night which was produced by Lorne Michaels. His comedy is dumb which is why it is successful - it matches the comedy in movies today. Personally I watched Craig Ferguson - now he was funny.

I also loved Craig. So I don't agree. I DVRd both often, found Leno and Letterman unwatchable eventually.

Fallon was initially pegged to be a disaster actually when he took over the Late Nite show from Conan. I watched him from the beginning and he grew into the role. If you think his musical impressions are "dumb" comedy, we will never agree. He is succeeding on The Tonight Show because he grew into it on The Late Show where he paid his dues, and because his chemistry with the roots is phenomenal. His incorporation of SNL styles is a good thing.

Like I said, loved Craig. Especially his recurring bits with certain actresses and actors. Kristen Bell comes to mind. At least James Corden is doing a good job in the role, I like the unique format.

[Flash3000]

Originally Posted by warrian

Laughter will remain the common man's recreation.

Laughter is a devilish wind which deforms the lineaments of the face and makes men look like monkeys.

Laughter kills fear, and without fear there can be no faith because without fear of the Devil, there is no more need of God.

OK..The Name Of The Rose

[MadManWithaBox]

I like Mark Kermode's rule, that a movie has to have 6 laughs in order to be considered a good comedy. In that vein, I would count....

21/22 Jump Street
Lady in the van
Some like it hot.
Ted
The Voices

Off the top of my head.

[warrian]

Originally Posted by Flash3000

OK..The Name Of The Rose

Yeah, Sorry Flash. It was the only 'debate' about comedy I could think of prior to this one.

[Flash3000]

Originally Posted by Coenskubrick

I'm not sure if this is supposed to explain how the movies in my post are not over-the-top comedies, or what relevance you were trying to convey to my post after the first 3 words.

It was your first 4 words I found funny. Take care mate.

[Flash3000]

Originally Posted by warrian

Yeah, Sorry Flash. It was the only 'debate' about comedy I could think of prior to this one.

All good mate loved your quotes anyways

[Rich65]

Some of my favorite comedies are:

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
The Great Race
Young Frankenstein
The Pink Panther Strikes Again
Bachelor Party