My Top 25 Favorite Comedy Films of All Time, Part Two

The Top 10 Treasures of Laughter for This Particular Movie Nerd

Continued from Part One (#25 to #11), here are the Top 10 cinematic treasures that give me the most laughter and joy, especially when I want it or need it most.

10. THE JERK (1979) — Directed by Carl Reiner

Steve Martin at his best. An absolute comedy classic so full of laugh-out-loud moments… 

“He hates these cans!” 

“Damn these glasses, son!” “Yes sir! I damn thee!”

“Have you seen a 5-year-old kid with a t-shirt that says bullshit on it?” 

“Remember how I always wanted a bathtub shaped like a clam? And a billiard room with a stuffed camel?” 

“Ah, getting around the crap, that’s good.” 

“Father, you seem like a religious man.”

“Good lord, I’ve heard about this. Cat juggling!” 

And the thermos song, with the final line about the rear-end thermometer. It’s pure dumb childlike joy and I never get tired of it.

9. GHOSTBUSTERS (1984) — Directed by Ivan Reitman

I adore this movie like an old friend — I know every line, every frame, every ghost and every absurdity. It’s a joy and a comfort. Nothing about it makes sense, and that’s what’s so brilliant about it. It’s just an absurdist masterpiece about the battle between good and evil. Or something.

The latest re-boots have some good qualities but are bogged down by too much fan-service. As a fan this tickles a certain part of me, and I’m glad they’re out there for a new generation of kids. But the magic of the original film is that it takes place in a very adult world full of sleazy, intelligent characters with adult impulses. It’s paradoxically juvenile and sophisticated at the same time, combining academic jargon, big words, and a believable-if-ludicrous mythology within the silly concept of blasting ghosts with laser beams. It’s a kids’ movie that doesn’t talk down to kids. It talks up to them and empowers them by honestly presenting their looming adulthood as a pretentious facsimile and gives them permission to bust it open. It walks the fine line between stupid and clever, and does it brilliantly. 

It was also one of my most formative, transcendent movie theatre experiences. For its initial release in summer 1984, I was 9-years-old and I vividly remember the sold-out crowd going absolutely BONKERS when the Marshmallow Man showed up. The tiny glimpse of his face moving behind the buildings --- the delivery of Dan Aykroyd's line: “It’s the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.” --- and the ROAR as he turns the corner.

Cinematic Perfection.

8. THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHASEN (1988) — Directed by Terry Gilliam

“Have you any famous last words?”
“Not yet.”
“Not yet? Is that famous?” 

One of the last truly great comic fantasies of the 1980s.

I’ve written extensively about this film in another post about Gilliam’s Imagination Trilogy, which is linked below…

7. THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX (2009) — Directed by Wes Anderson

“Where’d you come from? How’d you get in the side car? I feel like I’m losing my mind.” 

Whenever I need 90 minutes of joy, I often turn to this miracle of animated wonder. I could watch it everyday and that would be a good life.

The pacing. The screen direction. The eye fix. The gags and plot points, how they repeat and come together with integrity full-circle from act to act. The composition of shots, and how they leave empty spaces in advance so other characters can enter the frame. It's pitch perfect. And a parable for our times. Here’s to our survival.

6. BETTER OFF DEAD (1985) — Directed by Savage Steve Holland

Everybody wants some.

This movie is basically a part of my DNA. I know every moment and every character like they’re old friends. They sure don’t make films like this anymore — such a great mix of dark humor, light and childish humor, animation and absurd moments & characters, the whole thing is like a live-action cartoon — and I mean that as a sincere compliment. The skiing sequences are remarkable also. To this day I have no idea how they managed to film that. Most definitely my #1 favorite romantic comedy, and it’s undoubtedly the strangest.

“Gee I’m real sorry your mom blew up, Ricky.”

5. TIME BANDITS (1981) — Directed by Terry Gilliam

The first great comic fantasy of the ‘80s, and one that I treasure with all my heart. Once again, you can read more of my in-depth thoughts about this movie in the same link I posted earlier, diving deep into this first chapter of Gilliam’s Imagination Trilogy.

It's become a tradition of mine the past few years to make this my New Years' Eve movie, starting each year off on the right foot to carry on the fight against evil.

4. PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE (1985) — Directed by Tim Burton

This movie is lightning in a bottle. Pee-Wee Herman is the kind of character who was created to be brilliant only for a finite amount of time, and most of that time is spent right here.

The absurdist humor in this film plays out in such a sweet & strange manner and nothing that happens can ever be replicated to the same degree of surrealist delight. So much is done with so little - especially in the night scenes and nightmare sequences where there is hardly anything there except a pitch black set. Tons of moments still make me laugh out loud no matter how many times I’ve seen them. It fulfills the three main things I ask of a movie: surprise me, take me on a journey, and make me feel better at the end than I did before it started. This is one of Elfman’s best scores too, where he uses a variety of different instruments to match the type of scene he’s scoring. Everyone involved is in a state of un-self-conscious play and joyful childlike wonder.

So many moments will make me crack up out loud even if I'm watching it all by myself:

-”ANDY?!?!?”
-the "Deep in the Heart of Texas" song.
-when Mickey puts Pee-Wee's hand on the steering wheel and he starts squealing.
-"I'm all alone. I'm rolling a big donut and this snake wearing a vest."
-"Is there something you can share with the rest of us, Amazing Larry?"
-"Why??? What's the significance??? I DON'T KNOW!!!"
-"Me again!"
-"Merci Beaucoup Pee-Wee!" "Merceh-bah-blehh"
-jumping off the train to escape the singing bum.
-the headlight glasses.
-the entire Large Marge sequence.
-the entire Alamo tour.

....and the most poignant moment in the film is the look of delight on Pee-Wee's face when the truck leaves the frame and he looks up and sees the dinosaurs. The whole movie is summed up in that face.

...and there's something about the silhouettes of Pee-Wee and Dottie riding their bikes in front of the screen at the end, with the final notes of the music, that makes me cry. I don't know what it is....it's just beautiful.

3. MOONRISE KINGDOM (2012) — Directed by Wes Anderson

There are many movies I can watch over and over again and not get tired of them...but furthermore, I see more in them each time and they somehow become part of my being. Moonrise Kingdom is one of those. It’s not only one of my favorite comedies and overall favorite movies, it’s one of my favorite works of art.

One of the things that grabbed me unexpectedly on my first viewing was the triggering of a forgotten childhood memory. Sam bursts into the girls' dressing room during the local church production of Noye’s Fludde, and a row of young actors spins around, costumed with giant bird heads (see above). This scene reminded me that when I was a young boy with an interest in birds, I wrote a play about them and my mom made bird costumes. We performed it in my backyard with the neighbor kids. I had forgotten all about this, until that scene reminded me.

(and then last year my friend and childhood neighbor Lydia sent me these photos she found in her house, proving that it actually happened!)

Some of my favorite Moonrise Kingdom lines: 

“Fish on hook! Reel him in…slowly.” 

“The report mentions an attack with scissors.” “That was the girl!” 

“I’ll be out back, I’m gonna find a tree to chop down.” 

“3 yards of chicken-wire, some ripped up newspapers and a bucket of wheat paste.” 

“Take the carbon. Leave the Bible. Let’s go.” 

“I think they’re coming back.” 

“On this spot, I’ll fight no more forever.” 

When life gets hard and weighs on my spirit, I often come back to this movie to bring me some light and a new kingdom to build, far away from everything that’s let me down. I need stolen library books, a record player, an orchestra, and a campfire.  I need a reminder that all of this is still “not enough.” I need something familiar, a cue from a play I already know, a simple refuge while the floodwaters rise. A reminder that the crops may someday be extraordinary.

2. MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (1975) — Directed by Terry Gilliam & Terry Jones

What can I say about this movie? I first watched it around age 13 or 14 in the company of my best friends. Funnily enough, my friend Lydia (the same as mentioned above from my backyard bird play) had casually told me, “You should check out Monty Python. They’re funny.” So I went out and blindly bought a Python record (their first BBC-produced record album), set the needle down, and my life changed forever. I played the record for my best friends and we were soon renting every Python VHS we could find at the video store.

I can quote entire scenes of Holy Grail by heart. It has fueled and ignited my love for medieval tales, epic quests, and absurdist humor. I’m still captivated by the style of the filmmaking itself, with its sweeping music tracks, muddy squalor and fog-infested swamps, forests & fields. I love its comic violence, its dry wit, and smart satire all wrapped up in a nerdy package that only the Pythons could have pulled off.

I made this movie a rite-of-passage for each of my kids when they turned 13, forcing them to indulge me and watch a boring “dad movie.” My daughter in particular said, “That’s the dumbest movie I’ve ever seen in my life.” (Although I still reminded her she laughed out loud several times.)

So there you have it, #25 to #2 of my Top 25 Favorite Comedy Films of All Time…and now…

1. AIRPLANE! (1980) — Directed by Jim Abrahams and David & Jerry Zucker

Surely what makes this movie work is the human element of a real believable love story at the core of all the gags. And surely because it has Leslie Nielsen’s deadpan delivery as the glue that holds it all together. And surely there’s a sale at Penny’s!

All things considered, this is my #1 favorite comedy film of all time -- if you define "all-time" as the one that's stuck with me the longest and lingered in my family & childhood memories going back the farthest. But it's also resonated with the same warmth upon re-visits and has meant something to me through every continuous stage of my existence — from teen years to adulthood.

Outside of these nostalgic elements for me personally, there is also a perfect cast, a tender & sincere romance, a sense of community, and a classic thread of integrity behind the whole thing. Even the gags which seem dated by today's standards are done with a dumb male adolescent mindset to be sure, but one that is innocent and juvenile rather than mean-spirited. It still endures and endears with its own childlike beating heart.

It’s this comedy — more than any other — which has led to my drinking problem.

Thanks for reading along with me, friends!

Please be kind to yourself and let yourself laugh.