Top Ten Comedy Movies of All Time

The American Film Institute would have you believe that Some Like It Hot is the greatest comedy of all time, while I am in no position to question the merits of the Institute, I am going to anyway. I do, however, want to make it clear that I am in no way disparaging Some Like It Hot, it is a classic comedy that, in its day, pushed the comedy envelope, but I'm a movie person. Sometimes, the subtle nuance of comedy does not translate well throughout the generations, and considering the most recent movie on AFI's list was Fargo released in 1996, I think it's time for an update. I am just one person, not an institution, but what the hell, I'll take a stab at it.

Superbad is obviously the greatest teen comedy of all time. A super raunchy, epic tale of three high school nerds, we can all relate to, who are invited to their first party ever the last week of their senior year. They see it as opportunity to get some underage tail, not in a lame American Pie way, in a funny way, but getting there is more than half the battle, literally.

A gory good time, this dead-pan British romantic comedy with zombies made us pee our pants, both from terror and from laughter. Complete with hilarious laugh out loud moments (the internet has ruined that phrase, lol, ugh), as well as some more subtle digs at other classics of the zombie movie genre. We watch the loser/hero Shaun attempt to win back his girlfriend, reconcile his relationship with his mother, and turn his life around in a world overrun by the undead. And dogs can look up.

And by Death at a Funeral, I mean the british one. This is a great story about family and insanity and how the two go hand in hand. A family of nut jobs, is there any other kind, gather for the patriarch's funeral, and what commences is a laugh riot in which skeletons, dead bodies, and drug problems are all exposed before we even get to the eulogy.

Nerds of the world rejoice, for the only movie nerds love more than Star Wars has made my list. In this satirical british comedy a group of haphazards knights set out on a journey to find the holy grail and silliness ensues as they run across some obnoxious frenchman, the knights that say ni, and a very cranky incarnation of God who sets them out on their low-budget journey.

Before the obesity epidemic overtook the nation, and the news on slow days, Chris Farley made fat funny in this over-the-top, buddy comedy. When the family business is in trouble, it is up to the heir to the company, Tommy, a lovable, bumbling moron, who can only make a mess of things, with his polar opposite, played by David Spade, a caustic, humorless moron commissioned to look after him as they hit the open road to save the company. "Fat guy in a little coat."

The Farrelly brothers take toilet humor to a new level in this gross-out comedy as they stick it to everyone, man, woman, handicapped, gay, straight, animal, vegetable, or mineral, no one is spared. A movie that is sophomoric and immature in a way that is both brilliant and uncomfortable. While Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz are cute and quirky, it is Matt Dillon that delivers a stand-out performance as a character that epitomizes the sleazy douchebag.

A Christopher Guest mockumentary documenting the reunion of three 1960's folk music groups. The humor is subtle, the laughs may not be out loud, and the content may not be relatable to all, but this comedy still manages to be off-the-wall and genuine in it's hilarity, with the a cast of characters that bring more comedy experience to the table than any of the previously mentioned movies.

Quite possibly the greatest workplace comedy ever, about a every man sort of guy, Peter,  who is just going through the motions of his job and his life, when at a dinner party he is hypnotized into not caring about anything. When the hypnotists dies, Peter is stuck in a perpetual state of not caring. He loses his girlfriend and begins to slack off at work, which leads to the advancement of his career.

A dark comedy about a sad sack teenager who finds no reason to live after his girlfriend, Beth, breaks his heart to date the captain of the Ski team. Really the ski team? Hey it was the 80's what are you gonna do? We find humor in suicide as John Cusacks attempts, unsuccessfully, to off himself in various, ridiculous ways, until he meets the french chick of his dreams living across the street with an even weirder family than his own.

Scientifically proven to be the most hilarious and most quotable movie of all time. A crazy, ridiculous, non-sensical satire of the news teams in the 70's before cable, when news anchor were both celebrities and heroes. Will Ferrell is the well-quaffed, play boy, leader of the top news team. When the news is infiltrated by a pretty lady, the two quickly fall into a whirlwind romance and then fall out of it even more quickly. In a movie that is ridiculous and dumb that you can't not laugh.

Many people have made this list, and while it was easy to find potential flicks, it was very difficult narrowing the list to ten. Some of the movies that just missed appearing on my list are, The Hangover, Mean Girls, Shoot 'Em Up, National Lampoon's Animal House, Elf, and A Christmas Story.