# Your Favourite Comedy Movie?



## Cynical Critic (Sep 2, 2002)

Winter dreariness is beginning to set in and we could all use some good humour to pick us up so. . .

What's your favourite comedy movie? Try to list one that's current (made in the last 5 years or so) and one that's older.






































This is the hardest genre for me to decide on. Nevertheless, my classic choice is *Monty Python & The Holy Grail*. The 2-DVD special edition set is a lot of fun with songs to sing along with as well as the Lego Knights of the Round Table. As for a modern comedy, nothing strikes me as side-splitting or memorable. *Scary Movie* gave me a few chuckles but the sequel was rancid.


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## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

Ah, after me own heart... a Monty Python fan in the house!

Classic: "Life of Brian" ('cause I just love anything that pokes fun at organized religion)

Current: gotta think about that...

M


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## Kirtland (Aug 18, 2002)

I think it is a big house when it comes to Monty Python fans  My classic choice is In Search of the Holy Grail. The modern movie that I split a side on was O Brother Where Art Thou, good sound track too.


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## coyote (Jul 7, 2002)

Army of Darkness. Big Trouble in Little China. Monthy Python's Life of Brian.


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## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

HOW could I have forgotten "O Brother, Where Art Thou?". Damn... that's probably the best comedy I've seen in years.

And to think I avoided it 'cause it looked like some silly hick flick. Wonderful adaptation of a classic. Nearly pi****d myself watching this one.

I gotta get out more...

M.


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## Peter Scharman (Jan 4, 2002)

The funniest movie I've seen recently was My Big Fat Greek Wedding. As for O Brother Where Art Thou, I rented it because a friend recommended it. The music was great, and it was a clever satire on The Illyad, but otherwise I thought it was a big yawn. My wife read a book through the whole thing and told me to let her know when it actually got funny. Go figure! Some older favorites are Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Dennis The Menace and Father Of The Bride


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## Cynical Critic (Sep 2, 2002)

I know what my problem was! I was thinking movies. Monty Python is incredible. Oddly enough I also love 2 other British comedy series:
1) _Red Dwarf_ - Sci-Fi and that smeghead Rimmer are great.
2) _Black Adder_ - Cunning plans are here again.

It's a British invasion! Oh wait it's already been done. . .


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## PosterBoy (Jan 22, 2002)

Comedy being my favorite genre of film, I dare say I don't have a favorite per se. However, There are a few movies that I just can;t get enough of.

Classic: So many to choose from. And what is calssic anyway? I could say Monty Python & the holy grail, but I could also say Bill Cosby: Himself if that counts as a film. Or Dirty Rotten Scoundrels if that can be considered classic.

Current: Without a doubt, my favorite movie, let alone comedy, from the last few years has to be the Coen Brothers masterpiece "The Big Lebowski". It is by far the funniest movie I have seen in a long time, and one of few that I can watch over and over and over and over and over and over and i think you get the point. 

--PB


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## Bilbo (Jul 12, 2001)

Greetings,

Life of Brian is indeed a classic and one of my all time favourites. "Line on left, one cross each"

"Office Space" is one I thoroughly enjoyed. It didn't do very well in the theatres but has become a cult favourite. Another vote goes to "King Pins" with Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid and Bill Murray it's hysterical!

I rented both of these flicks not knowing much about them or having any high expectations and was pleasantly surprised. That does not happen very often.

B


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## Clockwork (Feb 24, 2002)

Groudhog Day was very good, I am also a big fan of the Holy Grail and Top Secret was a classic. A current movie that was very funny was Austin Powers, Goldmember.


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## Mississauga (Oct 27, 2001)

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Cynical Critic:
*  I know what my problem was! I was thinking movies. Monty Python is incredible. Oddly enough I also love 2 other British comedy series:
1) Red Dwarf - Sci-Fi and that smeghead Rimmer are great.
2) Black Adder - Cunning plans are here again.

It's a British invasion! Oh wait it's already been done. . .







*<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Then you must like Fawlty Towers... one of my faves!


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## gordguide (Jan 13, 2001)

Gotta chime in on the side of Python, with The Meaning Of Life coming in a close second to The Holy Grail.

There are quite a few others, but I don't get nearly the mileage out of them as you can with Python.

For TV shows, I have a special place in my heart for the C3P1 episodes of SCTV. "Here comes Yorgi, everybody's favorite cossack... "
"Uzbecks drink your battery acid"
or how about...
Austrailia, land of crooks and Kangaroos, dwarfed by the size of Mother Russia"

If these rather cryptic references don't ring a bell, you have to somehow see these later episodes of SCTV.


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## PosterBoy (Jan 22, 2002)

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Clockwork:
*.... Top Secret was a classic....*<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That is the Naked Gun style gag film with Val Kilmer right? Remember the Pinto?


 

--PB


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## Cynical Critic (Sep 2, 2002)

<HR>* <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Then you must like Fawlty Towers... one of my faves!*<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You got it! 

My name is Manuel. I'm from Barcelona. 
Que? Si.


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## icemakk (May 12, 2000)

My pics for comedy flicks?
I know we are only supposed to put 2 but rules are for sheep.  

Holy Grail and Life of Brian for sure.
Fargo. This one makes the list because of the way I saw it. In Saskatoon with 4 other comics!!
We didn't see the movie we were in it!!








American Pie (the first one gets the nod as the better of the 2) 
Airplane-a gag a minute.
Something about Mary
Snatch -laughs AND action
p.s.
If anyone lists anything by pauly shore I will hurl


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## Peter Scharman (Jan 4, 2002)

I won tickets to see a PREVIEW showing of Airplane, and as the lucky patrons entered the theatre, each was given a pair of 3-D glasses (cardboard ones). As the movie started playing, I kept moving the glasses up and down to see what the visual enhancement was. There was none!! After 10 minutes of no 3-D effect, I took the glasses off and made a scan of the audience. What a hoot....there was a theatre full of duped people happily watching the movie with these silly coloured cardboard glasses on their faces. It was like two hundred Elton Johns sitting in rows!! Some never took the things off during the whole show. That was almost as funny as the movie.


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## icemakk (May 12, 2000)

One more movie that has to make the list of favorite comedies:
Waking Ned Divine!!
The people were so real and hilarious


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## Cynical Critic (Sep 2, 2002)

Peter your _Airplane_ preview story is excellent. My girlfriend and I had a good chuckle over it.


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## PosterBoy (Jan 22, 2002)

Ahhhh..Gag flicks. Airplane, and the Hot Shots! movies too.

Waking Ned Devine is one of the better movies I have seen in a while too.

And then there are teh Kevin Smith movies. Mallrats is my personal favorite. Clerks, Chasing Amy and Dogma also yielded many laughs.

"I love f***ing with the clergy."

--PB


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

Does anyone else want to give the nod to "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"? Anybody? Bueller?...Bueller?...Bueller?...


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## icemakk (May 12, 2000)

I will give the nod to Ferris Buellers day off. I had forgotten that one.


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## Alesh (Dec 10, 2001)

Snatch was very, very funny. So was Boondock Saints which was by the same director I believe. I know there are others, but I can't think of any right now... 

Generally I am not much of a fan of comedy movies as most are really not that funny.


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## PosterBoy (Jan 22, 2002)

I don't know if Guy Ritchie (Mr. Madonna, the Director of Snatch) made The Boondock Saints, but he did make "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels", which I still havent seen the whole way through, and is great (from what I have seen).

--PB


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## PosterBoy (Jan 22, 2002)

Oh, and Shrek, Shrek is good. I have seen it upwards of 1000 times and I never get tired of it.

--PB


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## MacNutt (Jan 16, 2002)

One _thousand_ times PB? Are we talking actual numbers (as in one hundred times one hundred viewings?) Or is this just a rhetorical declaration?

If you are really serious, then I absoloutely HAVE to see Shrek. It's just gotta be good!

BTW-If you want to borrow a copy of "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" then just ask....I"ll send it to you. It is a complex and totally off the wall movie and it should be watched several times to get the full effect. It's an outstanding example of fine moviemaking and a real hoot! I'm not sure that I would actually watch it one thousand times, though....

Let's hope that Guy Ritchie manages to return to great movie craft despite his recent marriage to Madonna. His most recent movie, which "starred" his new wifey, has turned out to be the biggest bomb of this new millennia so far. It lost so much money, and was so roundly panned by all the critics, that it is now listed as Madonna's biggest stinker so far. In Europe, it's going "direct to video" because they're pretty sure it would also bomb in general movie release,

I recently talked to a buddy of mine who runs a Video rental store, and he said that "Evita" (Madonna's last big movie) was the only one in recent memory that people returned the same night, and asked for their money back. In DROVES!

Madonna's latest movie looks to be cast in the same mold. Interesting how such a "popular" celebrity can't seem to carry a movie. Seven times out of seven tries.

I recall the last time she lip-synched a concert in Vancouver. They could barely sell twelve-thousand seats here (The Rolling Stones sold 80,000). Brittney Spears struggled to pull the same low numbers, and there were still tickets on sale just before the concert started. The local news showed a total of FIVE really serious fans who were waiting outside the dressing rooms at GM place to try and get a glimpse of Brittney between shows.

Hot DAMN! A whole FIVE fans! Now THIS is a Superstar!! At least, according to the record companies and their hype-machine, it is. 

And yet... we are told that Brittney and Madonna are the spokespeople for a new generation.

Yeah....._RIGHT_!

The record companies are trying to force-feed us crap again. Just like they were during the "Disco"era. People back then rebelled against the big machine and refused to buy dreck during that awful period. It looks like, from today's severely reduced record sales, that the people are rebelling again.( the record companies are scrambling to institute new copyright protection measures because they claim that sales are down by a full forty per cent. Some insiders say it is closer to sixty per cent!)

What do YOU think? Rampant piracy of extremely popular artists or a general dissatisfaction with the current crop of "artists" that are featured by the big record companies? Is it a giant ripoff by consumers, using the latest technology...or are the people staying away from the CD's and concerts in droves?

You tell ME. And eveyone else. Somebody, somewhere, will be listening.

What's more....If you don't like the current crop of "stars" then you can do this......

Make your point by not purchasing drivel....audio or video. Let them know what you REALLY think! Even the big record and movie company execs will figure it out, eventually. They are already scratching their heads and asking, WHY?

Then we might just get to see the Next Big Thing! Maybe something really cool!

Instead of the same old sh*t.

Just my thoughts on this.


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## PosterBoy (Jan 22, 2002)

well, maybe not 1000 times. But lets calculate it shall we?

I have rented it once. 

The day it came out on DVD we wrote one off for use in our demo PowerMac and Cinema Display. Its about an hour and a half long, and I am in the store for seven and a half hours, five days a week. I can;t remember when it came out on DVD, but as I recall it was just before christmas last year. lets say December 1st? so that is a year, for arguments sake.

52 weeks, by an average of probably 4.5 shifts a week, by 5 times each shift. That makes 1170 times. Less the time taken to talk to customers, less the time to do stock, probably I guess I have seen it around 800 times, and heard it 1170 times. 

Oh, and I bought the DVD and have watched it twice.

802 times by my estimation.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

--PB


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## Mississauga (Oct 27, 2001)

Almost forgot... The Party... 'nuff said!


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## coyote (Jul 7, 2002)

Hey macnutt, I've been staying away from concerts because I refuse to pay 50 bucks for a ticket to see a band with only one or two albums. I'm also sick of Ticketmaster gouging another $8-$20 per ticket in "convience" and "service" charges. About two years ago they "lost" my tickets (about $600 worth) and after several messages and a week passed, they phoned and argued with me about replacing them. It took me having to fax VISA and phone records before they reluctantly agreed.


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## PosterBoy (Jan 22, 2002)

In response to the other points made by Macnutt, the reason that Madonna keeps trying to be an actress is because of a movie in the 80s in which she had a supporting role called Desperatly Seeking Susan (I think). In this role, it is widely agreed that she absolutely _stole the show_.

Ever since then she has been trying to recapture that brief glimmer of inspiration and promise, and sadly thus far has not been able to. I don't think I have seen anyone of her movies since "Seeking", and I dont ever intend to.
As to Evita, one big point against the movie was that it was a Musical, and almost no one that I know kknew that going in. Musicals are a fairly aquired taste, and most people prefer to see them performed live, on stage.

As to Britney, all I can say is that I don't care. she is a walking conradiction in terms. She claims in interviews and such that she is saving herself for marrige, and that she is a good girl at heart, but according to the reviews that I read, during her last concert here, near the end she told the audience that she was quote "too hot", and then proceeded to stip down to a mini-mini skirt and bra and do a pole dance. During the pole dance, four 10 or 12 foot tall and rather phallic tubes inflated at either side of the stage, and at the end, four canons shot a bloody _money shot_ onto the first ten rows of people. It was only white paper, but it was as about as subtle as a sledgehammer. Saving herself for marrige indeed, she practically had sex with everyone in the Pacific Colliseum that night.
But Also saying that she "Only" sold 12000 tickets or whatever. The Coliseum only holds a maximum of 17150 for concerts, they almost always have it set up with a huge section of seats unavailable, usually bringing the max capacity down as to as little as 13000 seats.

Where exactly did the Rolling Stones sell 80000 seats? At last check, BC Place was the largest venue in town, and the max capacity was 60000 and that is standing room only.

But what of the artists that are supposedly not "dreck"? Lenny Kravitz was just in town a while back, an artist whose music I enjoy on the radio and on MuchMusic. He is renound as a great guitar player and as a brilliant singer. According to the people I talked to, he lip synced the entire concert, and badly at that. Guns and Roses were supposed to play the other night, but Axel had "Airplane problems" and didn;t show up. The people rioted. There were some pretty angry people. Sure their tickets are going to be refunded, but what about the people who had come from all across western canada and had spent perhaps hundreds of dollars on airfare, accomodation, etc? Sad really. Maybe if they had come up with a better excuse. if memory serves, this is the second riot situation in this country that Axel Rose has been responsible for directly or indirectly.

Another problem with the pop artists of today is that their albums are produced up the yin yang, to the point that the songs are not easily re-created live. Some artists like Britney only sound good on their albums, and that is downright annoying.

The problem is sifting through all the hype. Which is hype for real talent, and which is hype just to sell records? Sometimes it's easy, and sometimes it is really hard.

--PB


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

One point overlooked in the drop in music sales aside from the good ones made here.
There are 17 million FEWER teenagers in the North American demographic than during the baby boom peak and even the echo is fading. 
That's a huge hit to the demographic that buys much of the music.
Adding to this is the turning away from "megahits" and "megatours". The music business is fragmenting just way the dominance of the BIG Three TV networks has gone.
Early on one "Fire and Ice" cosmetic campaign on TV claimed 63% of the women in North America bought one of the related products due ot the highly successful TV ad campaign..now that's penetration  pardon the pun. That kind of monolithic dominance of media channels is long gone.
There has always been a successful if sometimes tough to survive in "understory" of very good musicians, groups and individuals touring North America. I remember when what were to be major artists would do coffee houses and small clubs. Toronto was and is famous for that.
Supporting this level of artist and variety both by seeing them in a musically inviting setting and buying their music, often direct from them on CD makes for a better experience and a closer relaionship with the artist.
One of our clients was at some sort of get together of folk artists and most were selling their own CDs and there was a guy their with a big duplicator churning extra copies out, with the printed labels for those that ran out.
Can we say disintermediation....big time.  
What I'm hearing here is, love the music, hate guys in the middle and skeptical of the reaaaallly BIG SHUWWWW....and if you get that reference you're my age.


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## PosterBoy (Jan 22, 2002)

I always thought it was a "Really big shoe", but of course, I never got to see it live anyway.










--PB


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## Alesh (Dec 10, 2001)

Macdoc, I get that reference... its Ed Sullivan! But I am not your age. Sometimes I feel like it though


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## PosterBoy (Jan 22, 2002)

One last recommendation:

The Imposters, starring Stanley Tucci and [insert guys who's name i can't remember here]. 

It is really low budget (as in when they are standing on the side of the boat you can see their shadows on the painted sky backdrop), but it is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. The supporting cast includes among others Tony Shaloub, Billy Conolly and Campbell Scott, as well as many other recognisable faces.

Check it out, you wont be disappointed.

--PB

PS: Has anyone here seen Roger Dodger yet? Campbell Scott is the lead actor, and I am very interested to see it.


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