I'm going to be lazy today. It's the day before Thanksgiving, and you probably don't want to do a lot of reading anyway. What you want to do is curl up on the couch and watch movies. So here, for your consideration, are 10 comedies that I don't think have been given their rightful due, either by critics or by audiences, and in some cases, both.
50 First Dates - Sweet, very funny romantic comedy. And I'm not big on romantic comedies, so trust me. A moderate commercial and critical success, but I think it's one of Sandler's funniest.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Sort of a post-modern film noir. Not really a comedy, but brilliantly written and quite funny. Robert Downey Jr.'s narration is to die for.
About a Boy - Sweet and funny without being schmaltzy. Hugh Grant at his snarky best.
Army of Darkness - Virtually impossible to describe. Science fiction horror fantasy action comedy? A sequel to the Evil Dead movies, but it stands on its own. Directed by Sam Raimi before he got all mainstream on us (Spider-Man). It even has an inexplicable shout-out to my hometown, Grand Rapids, Michigan. What more could you want?
Waking Ned Devine - Just an all around wonderful movie. Great characters, great writing, great settings, great acting. Pretty much perfect.
Punch-Drunk Love - An oddly charming and touching movie with Adam Sandler and Emily Watson. More quirky and amusing than laugh-out-loud funny.
Nothing to Lose - A funny movie starring Martin Lawrence and Tim Robbins? Yes. Very.
Best in Show - Christopher Guest and the usual cast of suspects. My favorite of these movies.
Mother - Woody Allen-esque is the best way to describe this movie. Albert Brooks at his neurotically hilarious best.
Bottle Rocket - One of my absolute favorites, probably because I relate so much to the reality-challenged main characters. Wes Anderson's first movie, and I believe the first for Owen and Luke Wilson as well.
What about you? What funny movies do you think not enough people know about?
Labels: Movies, Reviews, Serious Stuff
| posted by Diesel at Wednesday, November 22, 2006 |
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Kung Fu Hustle, definitely. I couldn't agree more about Army of Darkness, by the way.
Not to mention MST3K
that's a good list ya got there, Diesel. excellent choices, top notch. (tho', do you really think "Best in Show" is underrated? because i don't know anyone who doesn't adore watching it... including *me*)
what other favorites do i have that you didn't list? hmmmm. i'd have to say Zoolander gets a strong nod. The Three Amigos does, as well. and let's not forget The Man With Two Brains -- although i actually adore all of Steve Martin's early films. finally, there's the sublimely hysterical Little Shop of Horrors. the original, i mean, with Jack Nicholson. (not sure it was intened to be funny that time around, but it was. it truly was.) xox
Office Space. and Team America.
(almost forgot)
Team America is the only movie I've ever walked out of.
I said, "Sex scene? It's puppets! How offensive can it be?"
But they managed to make it fairly offensive, even for me, a fairly liberal Christian.
Besides that, all the funny parts were in the previews.
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Everyone watch it this week, as it is a Thanksgiving movie. Very under rated.
I agree with most of the mentions, also. Bottle Rocket being the big winner.
Oh yeah, Bubba Ho Tep also.
Gregory makes a good point with Kung Fu Hustle.
I will throw a couple of 80's comedies into the mix that not many people are familiar with: Jake Speed and Real Men.
Gregory - I've heard Kung Fu Hustle is very funny. I need to add that to my Netflix q....
Neva - It's true that all the cool people have seen Best in Show, but it's still a bit of a cult favorite. Zoolander is wacky. Never was a big fan of the 3 Amigos, but all of Steve Martin's early stuff is good. I almost put The Jerk on the list. Office Space...man, my life in a nutshell.
Joel - Planes, Trains and Automobiles is a great movie and about the only Thanksgiving move I can think of, but I kind of thought everybody had seen it.
Fab - Isn't Real Men the one with John Ritter and Jim Belushi?!?! How can that possibly be good? Or am I thinking of something else?
Fab - Also, if you haven't seen Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, you need to see it, like yesterday. I'm pretty sure you're the target audience. (Which is probably why it was a box office flop, as I think there's only one of you.)
Local Hero. A real sleeper.
Which reminds me: Sleeper, too.
And, Gregory, I sure hope you didn't walk out of "Team America" before catching Kim Jong Il singing "I'm so Wonewy". In case you did:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsa_EKfFlm4
(I agree, it could have been much better, but I thought parts of it were very friggin;' funny.)
Reach back into the dark recesses of your memory....there yet? Uncle Buck. One of the funniest teen movies ever. I was never a John Candy or John Hughes fan, but I love this movie.
Oh, and Zoolander rules.
OOh, Uncle Buck! I liked 50 1st Dates, about a Boy and Waking Ned Divine, too. How about Rat Race? I love it but don't know if it was popular or not. Does that qualify as underrated?
Boondock Saints cracks me up a lot even though it's not a comedy. There are a lot of funny bits IMO and I'd say it's vastly underrated as a movie, period.
Al - I watched Local Hero when it first came out on video. I must have been about 12. I don't think I got it.
Sleeper is great, although I think Bananas and Love and Death are funnier. I almost put one of those on the list, but I figure people who like Woody Allen already know, and those who don't... well, who cares about them?
Robin - Don't think I ever actually saw Uncle Buck. Somehow I missed almost all of those 80s John Hughes comedies.
Candace - Don't know anything about Rat Race. I tried to watch Boondock Saints the other day (we had Tivo'd it a while back), but they had done such a horrible job editing out the profanity that I couldn't make sense of it. I'll Netflix it.
Robin Hood: Men In Tights
So I Married An Axe Murder
Princess Bride
They are underrated to me because I didn't know about them until my husband told me about them (I don't get out much.)
I've seen four of the movies Diesel listed, and enjoyed all of them. Maybe I wouldn't put them on my favorites list, but I'd recommend them if asked (no need to ID which ones, I hope). I'd have to "third" Kung Fu Hustle. It's cartoonishly funny, and crazy imaginative.
I'd also recommend Amalie. Quirky, imaginative, and sweet. (My wife liked it when the cat smiled at the end.)
Word verification: oreoue - the French Oreo.
Forgot to mention:
Revenge/Return of the Pink Panther.
Hasn't just about everyone seen these? Nevertheless, if you haven't seen them for a while, they're still good for a laugh. You might remember what happens next, but nobody does it like Peter Sellers.
I liked Team America - a lot. Of course, I also like Heathers a lot.
Punch Drunk Love is one movie I wish I had walked out of. Oh, that and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Yawn, or whatever it's called.
thank you, Al, for redeeming me. because i'm here to tell you kids that Team America had some brilliant moments. of course, i absolutely adored South Park, Bigger, Longer, Uncut, so it's fair to say my judgement is questionable, at best.
i know you're a fan of the Marx Brothers, so i won't insult you by suggesting one or two of their movies might belong on your list, instead, i'll offer up a couple of other classic and classically comic films for your consideration:
The Great Race
Some Like It Hot
both starred Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon... and both have managed to withstand the test of time.
also:
The Women. (the one with Rosalind Russell/Joan Crawford.) that's just plain hilarious
and with that, i'm spent. Happy Thanksgiving, Diesel! xox
You have a great list. Some of my favorites. We love Bruce Campbell around here.
And Shaun of the Dead. That is goooood.
We curled up and watched two sucky movies on On Demand...but, no one feels well, and Tom coughed through them both so it doesn't matter.
Happy Thanksgiving. Come see my attack hand turkey, Charlie.
Good list, althoug I'm a die-hard Guffmanite.
Happy Thanksgiving, Diesel and to the whole hydrocarbon family.
Diesel, seriously, check out "Local Hero" when you get the chance. You're old enough for it now, I think, and you'll thank me.
Speaking of which, Happy Thanksgiving, brother! Have a great one.
(And, Neva: the projectile vomiting puppet nearly knocked me off my chair.)
Ooooh, I LOVE Heathers. My friends are always in shock when they return it to me. "What's this on your movie shelf? 'Heathers'? Never heard of it, can I borrow it?"
Hee.
P.S. - Happy Thanksgiving!
Office Space underrated? I would have thought it was overrated ... that's all anyone at work ever talks about (but then again, we have a bunch of techies there, so it not be a representative sample).
My favorite underrated movies:
- Elf - half the theater seemed ready to walk out after the first 10 minute claymation part, I was practically on the floor laughing though. I love silly humor.
- The Last Dragon - AWESOME. Bruce Leroy and Sho Nuff face off at the end is a classic. Don't remember this movie? "Who's the master", "I am" says Bruce Leroy as he then proceeds to catch a bullet in his teeth. Probably the best cheesy kung fu fight seen in any movie. This was one of my first VHS's (taped from HBO) growing up
- A Christmas Story - this is probably only underrated now because everyone and their Grandmother have watched it 3,000 times ... we still turn on TBS at 6:00am and let it play all day long on Christmas, it drives my parents nuts ... but for some reason I still love it.
- National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation ... everyone seemed to hate this, but I liked it second only to the Christmas vacation. Cleaner humor than the first 2 as well.
- Mannequin - This was the movie where Andrew McCarthy had some Mannequin who would turn into a real woman when nobody else was around, kind of like an adult Calvin and Hobbes. My brother and I watched this on almost a weekly basis when we were growing up.
As you can tell, I don't watch a lot of movies now, so many of my favorites are from 'growing up'.
Gobble Gobble, Happy Thanksgiving!
Dirty Work - Norm Macdonald at his best. Very cheesy but super funny if you're in the mood.
Also, Kung Fu Hustle rocks socks right off your feet, that's how good it is.
Goldennib - Good picks, although Robin Hood - Men in Tights is probably the only one that could be called underrated.
Glacial Spain - Amelie was good, but I was a little disappointed after all the buildup. But then you're one of those people who LOVES Crouching Tiger, Hidden Gerbil or whatever it was. The old Pink Panther movies are hilarious. They were pretty big back in the day, but there are probably plenty of young folks who only know the Steve Martin version. Sad.
Kate - Welcome! Our tastes differ. :)
Neva - The Marx brothers are freaking hilarious. Definitely shamefully unknown/unappreciated by today's youth. Some Like it Hot was good. I'll have to check out the others you suggested.
Cindra - Shawn of the Dead is one of my favorites. I didn't include it because I don't think it quite qualifies as underrated. Hope you're all feeling better for Thanksgiving.
Goldennib - Will do.
Doug - Thanks! Kerosene and Petrol will be touched. :)
Al - I will check it out. Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.
Robin - I don't think I quite got Heathers. Everybody seems to love it though, so there must be something wrong with me.
Crack - I agree with most of your picks, but also wonder if there's something a little wrong with you.
Alastair - I think I actually did see Dirty Work, come to think of it. It was kind of a horrible little movie, and yet ridiculously funny at the same time. I think I blocked it out.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
Way ahead of you, my brother. I saw Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in the theater and got it on DVD the first day it came out, You're right--it speaks to me!
And yes, that's Real Men. I know, the odds would seem to be against it, but I urge you to give it try!
I just have to say it: Yes, Kraft counts.
There is a strange little seen comedy that I recommend... Dog Park f/ Luke Wilson, Natasha Henstridge, Janeane Garofalo, Harland Williams and Mark McKinney.
Fab - Ok, I'll check it out. I'm trusting you on this one.
MC - Never heard of it. Good cast though. I will look for it.