100 Funniest Movies (Part 1 ~ # 100-96)

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!

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!

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...

1. Shampoo ~ 1975
2. Seems Like Old Times ~ 1980
3. Protocol ~ 1984
4. Overboard ~ 1987
5. Death Becomes Her ~ 1992
6. 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.

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...

1. Thora Birch in Ghost World w/ Steve Buscemi and Scarlett Johansson

2. 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.

3. Mena Suvari in American Pie I & II

4. Chris Cooper in Me, Myself & Irene, Interstate 60, & unfortunately for him, his Oscar winning role in Adaptation.

5. Kevin Spacey was also in Working Girl.

6. 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?

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...

1. Stir Crazy
2. The Toy
3. Which Way Is Up?
4. Silver Streak
5. Car Wash

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?

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and our countdown is under way...

• If you think that Real Genius should replace Weird Science....Press One.

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