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100 Funniest Movies (Part 1 ~ # 100-96)
# 100 - Being John Malkovich
The Countdown and What Exactly Is It For?
Director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman are responsible for the most original film on our list but that is why it is at #100. This list is NOT designed to tell you the Best Films that are also technically comedies like 'Forrest Gump' or 'The Fisher King'. It is supposed to be celebrating the funniest (READ: Laugh Out Loud) movies of our time. You'll find that the First 50 on our list are funny but NOT 'Non-stop oh my God, I can't breathe' funny. Those are reserved for the TOP 50 which are gonna be stupid good fun for you guys.
New Release Disclaimer: I can't put really new films like JUNO or KING OF CALIFORNIA on this list just yet because they need time to settle in my brain.
Being John Malkovich - 1999
Ever wanted to be someone else? Now you can. And not just anybody, either. A street puppeteer played by John Cusack takes a filing clerk job in an office where he and his hot-bitch co-worker (Catherine Keener) find a portal into the brain of actor John Malkovich. We don't laugh as much as we 'smile very hard' for 2 hours. It only gets funnier from here!
- Best Independent Films - Comedy (Part 1)
If you like films like this, go here. - 100 Funniest People on Earth
#1 George Carlin - Undiputed Champion of Honesty
# 99 - Weird Science
Soundtrack Bliss!
This Spot almost went to REAL GENIUS and maybe it should've
John Hughes directed seven Comedies in the 1980s and 5 of the 7 have made this list. Uncle Buck (1989) & She's Having a Baby (1988) did not make the list but don't worry, the Hughes legacy doesn't end there. He also either wrote or produced a few more films on our list. The ones he wrote that didn't make it are Pretty In Pink, Home Alone and The Great Outdoors. Aww, I know your very upset. The similarities to REAL GENIUS starring Val Kilmer right down to the miscast co-lead is eerie.
Weird Science - 1985
Is the song Weird Science by Oingo Boingo funnier than the film? Maybe. Is the movie Weird Science really funnier than Home Alone? No. Home Alone has more gags mind you, but we laugh much louder here. The reason: Bill Paxton as Wyatt's brother Chet. Anthony Michael Hall's drunk scene in the car is also hilarious. What the hell happened with the casting though? Robert Downey Jr. is wasted as one of the jerk guys when he would have been perfect for Wyatt. The actor playing Wyatt is so awful it is cringeworthy. Kelly LeBrock hasn't been heard from since either although I can't seem to imagine anyone else playing her part. Glorious 80s Cheez!
Related Links Picked Out Just For You, Right Now. Enjoy!
- 100 Greatest Movies - 1980s
Comedy - Drama - Documentary - 100 Greatest Movie Soundtrack Songs
~Stuck In The Middle With You~
# 98 - Private Benjamin
Trailer!
Goldie Hawn was the funniest woman in movies in my opinion. I wish her daughter Kate Hudson was half as talented. From Laugh-In on, we knew she had that comic spark that would never die. The classic Goldie Movies that did not make this list but are certainly worth mentioning are...
- Shampoo ~ 1975
- Seems Like Old Times ~ 1980
- Protocol ~ 1984
- Overboard ~ 1987
- Death Becomes Her ~ 1992
- The First Wives Club ~ 1996
Private Benjamin - 1980
A high-society princess joins the Army on a whim thinking it'll help her out of a crisis (her husband died during the honeymoon sex). What she finds waiting for her is one the greatest comedy villians ever put to screen by the amazing Eileen Brennan. Her Captain Lewis is the character we love to hate over and over again. Especially with blue hair.
# 97 - American Beauty
That Classic Scene
Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening lead the emsemble cast of suburban misfits in this Black Comedy from Sam Mendes. Chris Cooper, Peter Gallagher, Alison Janney and Scott Bakula lend a veteran presence while newcomers Wes Bentley, Thora Birch and Mena Suvari bring the new flesh. This is the rare exception of a movie that makes you laugh throughout even though major destruction is going on in every character's life.
Annette Bening hadn't really been given the chance to be as funny she can be in awhile. The Grifters had been almost ten years prior, but that film was too dark to make our list. Films by the other cast members that are worth knowing but did not make this list are...
Thora Birch in Ghost World w/ Steve Buscemi and Scarlett Johansson
Peter Gallagher in Tim Robbins' Bob Roberts, Robert Altman's The Player and he was the 'YOU' in the Sandra Bullock vehicle While You Were Sleeping.
Mena Suvari in American Pie I & II
Chris Cooper in Me, Myself & Irene, Interstate 60, & unfortunately for him, his Oscar winning role in Adaptation.
Kevin Spacey was also in Working Girl.
Alison Janney was in Juno & Big Night.
American Beauty - 1999
Sexual awakenings are happening to seemingly every character in this tragicomic film. Most people remember the plastic bag floating around but they forget all the hilarious banter. Lester Burnham is a one of the all-time greatest heroes of suburbia. His wife smacks herself in the face for not selling a home, his daughter strips in her bedroom window for strangers with video cameras and he's just rediscovered the wonders of Marijuana. Ahhh. Why can't we have a hundred more movies just like this?
- 100 Greatest Movies of the 90s
1-- The Shawshank Redemption (Morgan Freeman, Tim Robbins) 2 -- Pulp Fiction (John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Harvey Keitel) 3 -- Goodfellas (Robert Deniro, Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta, Paul Sorvino) - 100 Greatest Films of the 2000s so far..
The Pianist, Walk The Line, Cinderella Man, Kill Bill Vol. 1, Donnie Darko, Stranger Than Fiction, Finding Nemo, Hotel Rwanda, Elf...
# 96 - Brewster's Millions
Vote NONE OF THE ABOVE!
Richard Pryor had one of the most impressive stand-up careers ever, but when it comes to his movies....uh. Even those team-ups he did with Gene Wilder. They were funny at the time but wow are they dated. Ditto Cheech & Chong movies. They just didn't age well at all. The Richard Pryor movies that did not make this include...
Brewster's Millions - 1985
An aging minor-league ballplayer inherits $30 Million dollars and is told that he must spend it all in 30 days without telling anyone what he is doing. If he is successful, he would inherit a whopping $300 Million. What's the best way to waste money? Free subway rides to the public, run in an election or hire the New York Yankees to play you in an exhibition game? Can't we do them all?
Thank You for calling MovieFone!
and our countdown is under way...
If you think that Real Genius should replace Weird Science....Press One.
If you think that Stir Crazy should replace Monte Brewster...Press Two.
Comments
dear really very good choice i ll give 9 out of 10
- Author
Cool, enjoy the journey and leave comments along the way, I love when ppl do that!
Haven't seen Private Benjamin in years definitely will be watching it again soon. Will be following your hub to see what other gems turn op your list.
American Beauty has got to be higher than 97, despite the depressing stuff, and Being John Malkovic at 100 is almost unforgivable (forgiveness withheld until the remainder of the list is published).
However, I encourage your efforts, it is quite a tall mountain you have chosen to climb.
True. True. :)
Tayler!
- Author
No. I think we stated our respective beliefs on the matter. We are seeing the same movie but taking different things from it.
It was practically the UNANIMOUS decision for Best Picture that year. Maybe that's because it touches us all in a strange (and for me) pleasant way.
I think it shows us in a very fair light with regards to true-life suburbia. I don't know about all these freaks living on the same block...but I'm thankful they do.
Are you gonna reply to my last comment DJ?
Tayler!
- Author
But I couldn't leave it alone so I wrote..
I do agree that the scene between Kevin Spacey & Mena is too much but that is why it is shown, I think. We think wanna see it all but when we got what we wanted it was a turn-off. The filmmakers knowing this stopped the scene long before anything really bad happened.
They did much the same thing with Chris Cooper character trying to kiss Spacey's character later. It was technically a homo-sexual thing going on but it wasn't that at all. We find this moment heartbreaking because now we understand where all the pent up rage in the Nazi dad. He simply has feelings that he doesn't understand and just when he reaches out to (who he thinks is another homo-sexual) he is not only rejected but wrong about Lester. So he goes home and gets a gun because he knows he is incapable of processing this rejection on top of his own truth. Add army mentality and mix well.
IDEA: Would you mind at all if we took each line from this thread of ours in order and placed them ON THE HUB with American Beauty a/k/a Volume 1. I think you're points are not only valid but commonplace and I'd like to see how this would strenthen the thread. Let me know what you think. DJF
and then Tayler said...
I think that when Chris Cooper tryed to kiss Kevin Spacey's character, it was right. What I mean is the director was trying to justify his actions (being so rough with his son) by giving him problems of his own. And making him gay was the only reason why he would not want his son to be gay also. He started out as a good father when he was trying to make sure that his son was clean for drugs so they had to twist that back and make him more liked (by the audience) at the end.
Okay. That sounds good DJF. Fine with me
and now you know why I'm posting comments from another hub in this series.
- Author
Okay, fair enough. But what man, of any age wouldn't lust after some hot vixen like the one played by Mena Suvari? She was a total bitch but she loved to pull guys strings and that's what you get. Lust. When I first got out of HS, I had sex with someone 20 years my senior and it didn't hurt me at all. if anything it gave me much insight into what women really want (Orgasms) and de-mystified a lot of silly fears in my head about age at the time.
and Tayler replied...
Haha. LOL.
A father shouldn't lust over a woman her age, even if she is a "hot vixen". It is true she pulled his strings and lured him into his fantasies about her, but being the authority figure and the adult, he should have known better and not acted on his fantasies. It's a twisted movie.
so i wrote...
Okay, now we've got it.
Twistfully yours,
Jamie
and she smiled and wrote back..
Haha. okay. Fair enough.
Tayler!
- Author
Tater2tot says:15 hours ago
American Beauty is a wrong movie. I hated the idea.
I haven't seen any of these movies except Finding Nemo. I love that movie. It is so cute.
to which I replied..
Tater, if you only saw Nemo and didn't like American Beauty then you prob'ly aren't a very good judge regarding movies.
Regarding American Beauty as an idea. What idea did you hate?
Self Examination? Self-Mockery?
No offense but you sound like Annette Bening's character who is afraid of what the neighbors think and cares more about a couch stain than spontaneous love-making. In other words, people who are ripe for parody.
and then TATER said..
DJ, if that is what you think of me, you have me all wrong. I am probably not that great of a movie judge. But I don't like the idea of American Beauty because it is about a 40 year old man that wants to have sex with a teenager. In fact a teenager that is his daughters age. That is wrong in my eyes.
Tayler!
- Author
lady luck says:26 hours ago
You thought American Beauty was funny?!
and I replied..
lady luck, it won the Academy Award for BEST PICTURE despite this being the country that is being parodied. I call that sure fire proof.
Appartently quite a few people thought Annette Bening smacking herself for not selling a house was funny too.
I wish they made more funny films. Lately it is murder, rape, killing, violence or the reality shows on TV.
Bring on more laughs it is the best medicine for everyone. Great hub. I enjoyed this
- Author
Oh it's gonna take a while but we'll get there eventually.
Keep going! I'd love to see what your final picks are! :)
- Author
Thanks MyAdvice!
Hahaha, what a creative and interesting hub! I'm sure you'll get a lot of traffic. I can only agree with 3 out of the 5 because I haven't seen Brewster's Millions or Private Benjamin, but now I want to!
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