The Monday Question: Laughter!

This is probably my all time favorite as I still laugh out loud at a lot of the scenes. The chemistry between Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey is amazing.

Having seen several Charlie Chaplin movie, this is my favorite. It has so many perfectly timed sequences (like the barber bit) that it is worth watching it for these alone. The fact that it also has an important message only adds to the power of this movie.

I’m quite a big fan of the Apatow movies, but if I could only choose one this would be it. Jason Segel plays his role in such a way that you really care for this poor guy. My favorite has got to be the one on the beach where Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) is bleeding and asks for a bandage to which Chuck (Paul Rudd) starts to wonder about his accent and asks him if he is from London.

A comedy with quite a dark and deep story behind it, which makes you wonder what would you do if you were reliving the same day for eternity. The comedic talent of Bill Murray in this is excellent and Andie MacDowell looks as stunning as ever. Favorite part is probably when he tries to make the night perfect and just rushes through the part of throwing the snowballs to the children.

This movie was an unexpected hit and I actually hadn’t heard of it until a friend told me it was one of the funniest things he had seen in years. I absolutely agree, this was so different and out there with the characters ending up in such weird situations that it was shocking AND funny. Let’s forget about part 2…

Among my friends this is probably their favorite and after all these years we still quote it (“That’s a lot of nuts”, “And then….he killed the dog”, “Weeeeeooooooo”. Yeah it’s all very silly but the idea of taking an old Chinese movie and have one guy dub it in all these voices and paste him into the scenes has been executed brilliantly. With this movie there is no middle ground, you either love it or hate it with a passion.

Can a movie with puppets be funny? It can be if it’s made by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the guys behind South Park. It made fun of the American foreign policy very successfully. The Eiffel Tower is demolished and everything seems to be done with lots of force and power. Of course it has that hilarious sex scene between the puppets, but my favorite has got to be the one in the alley where the puppet just keeps throwing up. This movie is also responsible for me still pronouncing Matt Damon’s name in the way the puppet says it. The story behind the joke is that once Parker and Stone saw the puppet they thought it looked retarded and they made a joke out of it.

An office environment can be a very boring environment. Office Space makes fun of all the daily routines that go on in such an environment and so much of it was recognisable. Some people still refer to TPS reports and ask if you got the memo.

You wouldn’t think that terrorism and terrorists could be great material for a comedy, but Four Lions proved it can. Showing how a couple of UK based terrorists argue about their strategies, go to a training camp and basically make one mistake after the other earned it a spot in my best of list last year. Have rewatched it several times and it remains funny. Rubber dinghy rapids bro!

Out of all the comedies in this list, this is the one that I’ve probably watched most times. Every time I see it on TV I can’t help watching it. Eddie Murphy was still funny here and the situations he gets into as Prince Akeem will put a smile on your face. You can’t forget Soul Glow and Sexual Chocolate….

Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis star in this comedy about a couple of musicians who have to flee from the mob and end up playing in an all-girls orchestra. The scene where they return from their dates and Lemmon tells that he’s getting married is comedy gold.

The first of the Apatow directed comedies, this one showed that you can make some pretty gross jokes and be very succesful. Both Steve Carell and Apatwo made a name for themselves with this.

Just like Dumb and Dumber, this movie shows that characters who don’t seem to have the average amount of brain cells a normal human has are hilarious and don’t give me that blue steel look!

What is this? A center for ants? How can we be expected to teach children to learn how to read… if they can’t even fit inside the building?

This Korean movie shows that you can have a romantic comedy that is completely different from the stuff you see in Hollywood and create priceless comedy.

Although this is not strictly a comedy it has some very funny dialogue. It also plays with you as a viewer, for example in a scene where the label of a shirt is sticking out. As a viewer you notice it and wonder how they could have missed it, but then the other character fixes it.

An example of the dialogue:

B-Movie Actress: So what do you do for a living?
Harry: Uh, I’m retired. I invented dice when I was a kid. How about you do?

Harry: Still gay?
Perry: Me? No. I’m knee-deep in pussy. I just like the name so much, I can’t get rid of it.