“Research” has determined the ten funniest movies of all time. Meh. There are a few minor omissions, such as anything from the Marx Brothers, Laurel & Hardy, Ealing Studios, Mel Brooks or Woody Allen, or movies such as Local Hero or The Wrong Box. Most films on the list I have no desire whatsoever to see.
I’m not that much of a moviegoer, so I can’t authoritatively list the true ten funniest movies ever made. Instead, I present some of my favorite comic movie scenes, only one of which is from a listed movie.
The mirror scene (Duck Soup):
Groucho meets Alky Briggs (Monkey Business):
Raul’s Wild Kingdom (UHF):
Dr. Pratt (The Wrong Box):
The cello (Take the Money and Run):
Frog hunting (The Triplets of Belleville):
Bonus: Belleville Rendez-vous.
Latin lesson (Life of Brian):
… and any random scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and all of Laurel & Hardy’s Big Business.
That list is at least 60% crap. Blurgh. The kind of humor in “Borat,” “American Pie” and “The Hangover” is so far from amusing me that those movies might as well have been made for space aliens. And no “Spaceballs”? Seriously? “Life of Brian” instead of “Holy Grail”? (Okay, an argument can be made. BUT STILL.)
Marx Brothers forever, man.