Ten Great Comedy Movies
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Some Of My Favourite Comedy Movies
I enjoy movies of all types but I particularly like comedy movies. Some of the best comedy movies make me laugh over and over again, particularly those that have lots of little things happening in the background that might be missed first time around. I appreciate comedy movies that use sophisticated humour but also like slapstick and the just plain weird.
Here are some video clips from ten of my favourite comedy movies, I hope you enjoy at least some of them.
Comedy Movie Guide
The Rough Guide to Comedy Movies 1 (Rough Guide Reference)
Amazon Price: $1.78 (as of 02/16/2012)![]()
For those of you who, like me, are fans of comedy movies, this guidebook to the genre will be of interest. It is nice to see that one of my favourites is on the front cover.
This is Spinal Tap
I just love This Is Spinal Tap - I have watched it countless times and always seem to find something different to laugh at. For those that haven't seen it, this is a spoof documentary about a stereotypical rock group on a disasterous tour.
Some of the most famous and amusing scenes include the song "Big Bottom", the amplifier that goes to eleven and a piano solo called "Lick my love pump". I love the ending of the movie in which the lead singer explains that his namesake, St Hubbins, is the patron saint of quality footwear and the lead guitarist contemplates life working in a shoe shop.
This video clip shows the "Stonehenge" Spinal Tap set where they end up with a piece of stage scenery that is way too small and gets crushed by midgets. A classic clip.
This Is Spinal Tap DVD
This is Spinal Tap (Special Edition)
Amazon Price: $6.92 (as of 02/16/2012)![]()
Watch David St Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel and Derek Smalls perform the "Stonehenge" set, "Big Bottom" and their jazz improvisation in support of the puppet show; see them talk about their dead drummers, amplifiers that go up to eleven and their plans for a musical based on the life of Jack The Ripper again and again in your own home.
Bowfinger
Bowfinger is a very amusing fim about a director (Steve Martin) making a movie whilst his starring actor (Eddie Murphy) is unaware of featuring in it. The rest of the cast do not know that the star is participating without realising it and chaos ensues.
One of the most amusing scenes is when Steve Martin's character is obtaining a film crew and goes to the Mexican border where illegal immigrants are running away from border control and are ushered into the back of the director's van. I also love the scene where Eddie Murphy attempts to cross a busy road having been told that the "stunt drivers" will miss him. of course there are no stunt drivers, just a very busy road full of speeding traffic.
Although much of the humour here is unsophisticated, Bowfinger is a very funny movie, with a suitably silly ending.
Bowfinger DVD
Bowfinger
Amazon Price: $1.63 (as of 02/16/2012)![]()
Get your own copy of Bowfinger to watch the catalogue of silly scenes that make this a very funny movie. Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy and Heather Graham elicit many laughs as they make a movie on a tiny budget whilst the starring actor is unaware of his participation. Bowfinger is a movie that you will laugh at over and over again.
Buy Life of Brian
Borat - Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Borat is a spoof reporter from Kazakhstan making a documentary about American culture and the comedy works at two levels: viewers can enjoy the ridiculous antics and cultural faux pas of Borat and also be amazed at the reactions he gets from the people he meets unaware that he is a comedy character.
From start to finish this film is full of ludicrous acts and statements from Borat who is from a culture completely at odds with the western world. Some may find him offensive, but only the most sensitive, for the jokes are supposed to be on the cultural expectations of the viewer and on the foolish people he meets.
My favourite moments from the movie include when Borat turns up at a children's park in an ice cream van, with music playing. A crowd of kids run cheering towards the van only to run away screaming when a bear pokes its head out of the window. Another highlight is when Borat enters a new age church where people are speaking in tongues and leaping around in suits while the preacher spouts cliched dogma. Borat needs to do very little by the way of comedy as the antics of the churchgoers are funny enough on their own.
Another strange moment is this deleted scene below where Borat visits the cheese counter of an American supermarket.
For Borat Fans there is also a guidebook to Kazakhstan: Borat - Touristic Guidings to Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
Buy Borat - Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
The Time Bandits
The Time Bandits has been one of my favourite movies since I was about 7 years old and I still love it. The movie follows a group of midgets who are on the run from the supreme being, having stolen his map of time holes: holes which are the result of the shoddy workmanship of creating the world in just seven days. This map of time holes is misused by the group of midgets -used to go back in time to rob rich historical figures, hence "Time Bandits".
Many of the Monty Python team were involved in this movie and consequently the humour bears a close resemblance to other Monty Python movies, but the sheer weirdness of this movie is impressive moving from Napoleonic France to Sherwood Forest, to ancient Greece but it is not until the bandits approach the fortress of ultimate darkness that things get to their most bizarre.
My favourite moments from this movie include when the bandits walk into an invisible barrier and one of the group says, "so that's what an invisible barrier looks like" and the ending when two characters touch a piece of concentrated evil and are instantly vapourised. This is a silly movie full of comic asides and works well for kids and adults alike.
The following video clip shows The Evil Being bemoaning God's lack of interest in technology.
Time Bandits DVD
Time Bandits
Amazon Price: $4.95 (as of 02/16/2012)![]()
Journey with the tiny Time Bandits as they rob Napoleon, are forced to give away their loot by Robin Hood and his not so merry men and travel to the fortress of ultimate darkness as they confront evil and are rescued by the Supreme Being. An hilarious movie filled with surreal episodes and weird stuff.
Buy Austin Powers DVDs
Get all three Austin Powers movies.
Buy Napoleon Dynamite
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is full of laughs from beginning to end. The quest of King Arthur and his knights for the Holy Grail becomes quite ridiculous as they go from one comic obstacle to another.
This movie also makes use of the famous Monty Python style animation which adds to the surrealism of the story which is full of jokes and incidents that one may not notice on the first view.
The most famous scenes in this movie are the Knights who say "Ni" who send King Arthur on a quest for a shrubbery, the dark knight who continues to fight after losing all his limbs and French soldiers abusing King Arthur's band by saying that their fathers smelt of elderberries. However, my favourite moment is in this video clip where Robin the not-so-brave is followed by his singing minstrels into an encounter with a three-headed knight, but he ends up "chickening out and buggering off".
Monty Python and the Holy Grail has one of the daftest endings of any film when a hoard of knights charge at a castle but are prevented from storming it when they are arrested by the police who stop the movie by turning off the camera.
Monty Python And The Holy Grail DVD
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Special Edition)
Amazon Price: $5.89 (as of 02/16/2012)![]()
See the Monty Python team play a host of silly characters and follow the adventure of their Grail quest. You will laugh again and again at scenes such as the quest of Sir Robin, The Knights who say Ni, The Black Knight, The Killer Rabbit and the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch. Such silliness, such fun!
Holy Grail Lenses
Stir Crazy
Stir Crazy stars Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor as two guys wrongly convicted of a bank robbery. Sentenced to hundreds of years of hard labour they decide to escape whilst riding at the prison rodeo.
There are a number of truly hilarious moments in this film including the clip below where the two stars are thrown into a jail cell full of hardened criminals. Some of the funniest moments come when Gene Wilder is abused in order to persuade him to ride in the rodeo - on one occasion he is locked in a hot, dark box for three days with no food or water and pleads for just one more day on his release.
A great film with two great comedy actors.
Stir Crazy
The Meaning of Life
Comedy Movie Poll
Vote for your favourite.
Some More Great Comedy Movies
My Other Movie Lenses
I can't stop watching movies and I can't stop writing about movies either.
Comment On The Comedy Movies
Are these comedy movies great?
Your comments on this lens and the ten comedy movies are welcome here.
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Dawnella66
Jan 11, 2012 @ 1:25 pm | delete
- Loved this article.
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calistoeloi
Oct 27, 2011 @ 1:34 pm | delete
- Great lens. Follow the shoe!
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punkgrinder
Sep 16, 2011 @ 11:50 am | delete
- "He's not The Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!". Great choices, i agree wholeheartedly with all of them.
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Duane_Jackson
Jul 7, 2011 @ 5:17 pm | delete
- nice selection!
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garyr_h
Mar 25, 2011 @ 8:02 pm | delete
- Life of Brian is my favorite Monty Python. I think it's incredibly underrated by comedy lovers.
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About The Lens Author
by nickupton
Watching Comedy Movies is one of my favourite way of relaxing when I am home, so I thought, "why not make a lens about them?" - and here it is, Ten Gr... more »
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