Some Comedies to Consider

 I'm weird.

Stop laughing.

Of course it's true.

Stop LAUGHING, I gotta say something here.

When I was in the period of strange wonderment between my divorce and finding the true love my life, I went and saw a LOT of movies. 

But never the comedies. Never the ha-ha stuff.

I noticed this trend for years, before and since. I'd go to things like that with my friends or colleagues or to write a review for the papers.

It was, as if, like, I could never laugh in public. I hated laughing with just me and the screen. I had to really push myself to go. 

Of course, my ex loved Ace Ventura, which should tell you volumes about his grasp on this reality. But, no, I never really got into the comedy stuff. 

Weird, right? The other odd part was that I'd think horror movies were comedic. I mean, really, a slasher with a hockey mask and NO ONE DOES ANYTHING? Hilarious. 

As I complied this list of movies that I enjoyed that were comedic, I did notice a few trends in my tastes. These are not the best comedies, for sure. They are just titles that kept me interested for the two hour or so moments they flashed on the silver screen. 

*)  Obviously, there's a profound slant on the gay stuff or queer sensibilities. Either queer characters appear, it's written by a gay author, or, fudge, the entire movie comes out as a drag show.

*)  I noticed there's a darkness in the corners of many of these titles. Death is a reoccurring theme for many of these movies. It's not that I find death and such things something to laughed out. It's that I find them strong burdens on all of our psyches and a decent giggle at them reduces their power and holds over us.  And? Ghosts. Zombies. It's like I enjoy when the horror gets stuck in the creepy stuff.

*)  Criticism. Many of these titles are profound amount of criticism in their presentations. Many are a microcosm of society and make deep statements about their places in the universe. Some are upright sending of social mores and generalized stupidity in politics. 

*)  All of them are pretty rough cuts. Watch with caution.

Several of these titles I'll just name and such and move on, for their are discussed, ad nauseum, elsewhere. I am nothing, if not consistent in my feelings and preferences, so you have me there. Go back over throughout this blog and see if you can find their commentary. 

Some titles are newer. Enjoy.

The previous titles mentioned in this blog?

The Birdcage (queer representation and social criticism)

Addams Family Values (queer sensibilities and social criticisms)

Death Becomes Her (Dark, dark, dark comedy...and queer sensibilities)

Clerks (profound social criticisms)

Any and all Jackie Chan titles (okay, this doesn't work with the above information. This? Jackie's movies are movies for movies' sake. Like riding a roller coasters. Just joyful fun.)

And all of them? Hilarious. Clerks was the first time I laughed until tear ran down my face in a theater.

Onto the list:

Airplane!

During the height of the epidemic, husOtter and myself were dying from boredom. I've watched so many movies that streaming had become a slog and the novel stuff was not holding my interest. We had to get out and we noticed something that Florida had that Colorado didn't. 

Drive In Movies. 

We were off. Better? We could relax a bit, since we were allowed to take the corgis, too. 

And we had the best time.

However, Hollywood doesn't make money off of the drive in theaters. What do they make money on? People buying tickets. So, like the streaming? I had to watch titles I had already seen before. 

And Airplane! was playing. 

We both noticed new things. This film, a send up of the crappy 70s disasters movies from the decade prior to its 80s release, is so chock full of sight gags, toilet humor, sarcasm, wit, and overall attitude, the comedy cannot be avoided, even if you turned the sound off. 

It's hilarious. I mean, anyone would laugh. Like anyone. Dead people. 

It's incredible. 

GhostBusters

This is an odd one. Cause it's not truly a comedy, but more of a comedy/horror/adventure mix. 

But there it was, a mix of everything I hold dear as an 8th grader. Ghosts? Click. Light comedy? Click. And an actioner, to boot. Worked for me. In fact, I really enjoyed the reboot that came out in 2021. But, that? That wasn't a comedy, more of a mystery. But, yeah, there you go. Can't go into depth about something that doesn't have much.

A Fish Called Wanda

Generated by Mr. John Cleese to teach Americans how English comedy and American comedy are wholly different, yet very much linked, this title is an amazing piece of writing and wit. It take the stereotypes of two very different cultures and slams them against each other to terrific effect, getting awards for both Cleese and an incredible performance from Kevin Kline, playing the violence obsessed American. 

But it is also buried in a cute romantic tale that shows what each culture lacks is what we give to each other. And it ends up being a rollicking, if very R rated, tale. 

Some Like it Hot

How do you bring gay culture to American mainstream in the mid fifties? You have superstars Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, already matinee stars, being will to do drag. Further proof that drag has always been part of the landscape. I don't get why people don't think about it. Not only that, it's as if they understood such a large audience, trapped in a national closet, were watching, because these two straight dudes cut a swatch of queerness that's literally an entire comedy drag show. 

Heck, it even has queer icon Marilyn Monroe.

Better? Jack LOVES having the men pay attention to him. No irony. 

An amazing piece of comedy, too. It just builds and builds without a care and is as tight as a tightrope in pacing. 

Shaun of the Dead

Here's another trend I'm noticing. These comedies are all, like a mix of another genre and the jokes themselves. But the thing about this comedy? It's a delicious tale about how society resists change and refuses to adapt to new situations, dangerous situations, even if it means we'll all be dead.

Sound familiar? Here, we have everyone in the middle of a zombie attack, but, instead of solving the problem? They decide to quest for beer. Not the best choice. In fact, even when presented with new evidence that leaving is a bad idea or going outside is really a poor choice? They still go.

Yeah. Look at the ongoing pandemic. 

Hilarious. Art imitates life imitates art.

Blazing Saddles/The Producers

I'm not going to post a trailer.

Because it's offensive. Seriously. 

And that's a good thing. Steven Speilberg has stated, quite directly, he's done with making Nazis bad guys and that we can laugh of them. They are a serious, nightmarish, group that, somehow, thrives today. But he did add, "Let Mel Brooks do it."

Mel is the epitome of Jewish comedy. If you don't think you're laughing at Jewish humor, you've not been paying attention. Jewish culture has defined entertainment from the start, from the Marx brothers to the remake of West Side Story. It's intertwined, deliciously so, with our American way of understanding humor and what it does for us. 

And Mel Brooks is the perfect example. Comedy? Comedy is conflict. Comedy is social commentary. Sure, we're laughing so we can digest our thoughts better; maybe laughing because we're so uncomfortable with the topic, we have to laugh. Both of these titles play these out. Blazing Saddles hammers home the stupidity that is racism, hides it in a great Western tale, and slaps you silly with absurdism that is actually still around us. Understand, he is respectful to all the parties involved. No one is free from his critical eye. 

Stuff you see even in the Simpsons and Family Guy. It is all so appalling you can't even turn away.

He even examines how we're so racist that a Nazi musical becomes the toast of the town in the Producers. 

Borat

Again, here ya go. A ripsnorter on American stupidity and how it is rampant in our culture. Borat is an annoying little man, played by comedian Sasha Baron Cohen. But what he does? Just stands there, being stupid. One of two things happens. People are disarmed and show their true sides and how fracking stupid they are. 

Or how good they truly are.

The drawback? Sasha sometimes takes the joke a bit too far and people who are doing good are slightly abused by his character. But the insight that it provides overall? 

It borders on horrific. 

But it reminds us. As far as we have come, we SO have to get it together.