My Top 10 Favourite Comedies- One Year Anniversary

So, this blog is one year old. A whole year ago, I started this blog. So how about we celebrate? Now I did think about doing a list of my favourite movies, but I think I'll save that for an even more special occasion. It wouldn't be right to not celebrate though, so what about the next best thing? My favourite movies in a particular genre? Now I know my last post was something similar, but that wasn't ranked, and this will be. And it's my favourite comedy movies. It seems I can't go a post without mentioning this, but comedy is still my favourite genre, so it just feels right to celebrate with a list of my favourite comedies. Some of these I will have talked about, hell,  some of you probably know my number one, but some are new, and there might even be a surprise or two in there.

And no, Rat Race will NOT be on this list. Yeah it's a great time, but these will be movies I love that aren't just really funny, but also favourites of mine too. And some of these are all time favourites of mine. Not just ones that make me laugh, but ones that I always come back to. Movies I could just talk about for hours on end. So this is, in a way, a list of my favourite movies. Because all of these are favourites. And if you haven't seen these movies, drop everything and do so now.

But before I start, here's an honorable mention. I don't really know if this counts as a movie, but Eddie Murphy: Delirious is one of my favourite stand up shows ever. It's not a film as such, but it did make me say "hang on, Eddie Murphy is actually freaking hilarious". Watching him lampoon racism, hauntings and ICE CREAM! is an absolute blast to witness. Raw is pretty great too, but Delirious for me is funnier, and I just prefer the routines from this show over Raw. What else can I say but "I GOT MY ICE CREAM, I GOT MY ICE CREAM!"

So let's proceed with my one year celebration!

10. Father of the Bride

Now, I'm talking about the Spencer Tracey film, not the Steve Martin remake. For me, this film is one of the funniest films from the golden age of Hollywood. It's all about Spencer Tracey, who plays a man whose beloved daughter is about to get married. There's not much of a plot, instead we just watch Tracey get himself into a variety of shenanigans. His character is so damn stubborn, and this is part of what makes him great. He refuses to stop arguing, without realising that he never had a say to begin with. He's a comedic force of nature, and the witty dialogue compliments his sharp delivery perfectly.

Because of this, most of the funniest moments of the film are just him being a general curmudgeon. One scene that always cracks me up is when he's trying to force a door open, only for his jacket to split up the back. His dream sequence at the end also kills me. It's all about him here, and he makes the film truly special. Even when he's just talking to other people, his general grouchy demeanour makes everything way more difficult than it should be.

The film really breaks down the whole process of organising the wedding, but because it's from the point of view of someone who REALLY doesn't want it to happen, and the natural comedy that stems from that is nothing short of wonderful. It actually feels like the wedding is getting closer, and it plays up the anticipation through Spencer Tracey's eyes. And Stan Banks himself is such a lovable asshole. He's nor even really happy for his daughter until near the end, and even then, I think that's more relief that everything's over. He's impossible to hate though. If you haven't seen this one, or you've only seen the Steve Martin film,  you have to see this. It's a real treat.

9. It Happened One Night

Here's one that's kind of special to me. Why? Because it was the first movie I ever talked about on this blog. I had wanted to talk about movies for awhile, and then decided to set this blog up. I just kind of wrote about the first movie that came into my head, which was It Happened One Night, which I saw just a little while before starting this. And then I just kind of kept blogging, and now I'm here. But it's not just here for sentimental value. It's one of the sharpest, funniest and most charming comedies ever. Now obviously I have talked about it before, so I kind of am going to repeat myself. But I will try to change up what I say about this film.

It's kind of the quintessential road trip movie. There are road trip comedies I like better, but this one for me is the classic. The classic tale of two opposites who find each other on a bus and fall for each other. While bickering constantly, of course. It's the generic romantic comedy before generic romantic comedies existed. It invented so many tropes that are still used to this day, and they hold up phenomenally. Okay one or two jokes have dated I'll admit, but the film is still so fresh and original. And it's damn funny too.

Gable and Colbert have great chemistry. He's a smart alec and she's the straight man. He'll always have a dozen quips and she'll always counter that with a wonderfully unimpressed reaction. It works so well, and it's even better when they flip it, and she's the one with the one liner, while he plays the straight man. It's simple but it's so effective, and unlike most romantic comedies, the humour never slows down because of the romance. In fact, they blend quite well, actually. It becomes apparent quick that the two of them are using sarcasm to deny their feelings for each other. That works well to develop the romance, but the humour is still so sharp on top of that. That's one thing from this film that I find is rarely copied, actually. It's funny but it's also genuine, and that balance is hard to do.

The pacing works well too. I love how you really feel them developing and changing over the journey, and kind of dealing with their pride and stubbornness when it comes to their feelings. The back and forth is something special here, and the more time these two spend together,  the better the movie gets, and it honestly feels like a road trip. It's a truly great film, and I'm happy it kickstarted most of tropes associated with comedy movies today. 

8. Groundhog Day

So I love Bill Murray. And I really could have picked most of his movies for this slot. I love Stripes, and always will, but Groundhog Day for me is slightly stronger. If you've never seen it, a weatherman is sent to cover the groundhog day festivities in Punxatawney, Pennsylvania. He wakes up to find himself stuck living groundhog day over and over again. Every day is the same, but it's how he develops over the course of the movie that makes it special. It's actually a little bleak at times, and it does show how nightmarish this scenario would be.

What I love is how he goes through every single arc possible before finding the right one. From taking advantage of the loop, to using it to seduce his producer over and over, to not giving a shit about anything, to killing himself over and over, to being a godlike being, to helping everyone possible, then finally learning every skill possible and improving himself in every way. It goes through everything here, until he finally develops. I think what stops the loop is him finally becoming a better person. I've heard people say that he's making the most out of a bad day, but that doesn't make as much sense to me. He's learning how to appreciate the things around him.

The film doesn't mess around though when highlighting how serious the loop is. The scene when he's powerless to prevent the old man's death is particularly strong. It's often a black comedy actually, but it's written in a way that's ultimately optimistic. Bill Murray is awesome here. He's constantly changing, yet somehow he's the same guy. He never loses that sarcastic spark that became his trademark. Watching him pretty much being so many alternate versions of the same guy is insanely fun, and when he finally wakes up on February 3rd, it's a genuinely cathartic moment.

It's a damn clever movie. The story is always moving forward, and it often moves in the last direction you'd expect it to. It's so fantastically written, and smart and incredibly creative. It's got this knack for laughing at the little details in life, and it uses its fantasy elements to do it. It's an awesome movie, and one that begs to be watched over and over. And over. And over. And over.

7. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

Oh boy. As I've established, I love Monty Python, and their movies. I've talked and Holy Grail before, which I adore for its simple silliness, and I stand by that. Life of Brian I love for it's sharp satire and no holds barred approach. But my favourite is the third and final Python movie, The Meaning of Life. It's weird because I rarely hear this one talked about beyond being the movie with the exploding fat man. The other two frequently get on lists of the greatest comedies, and while I agree, neither is is the one that I love the most. It's an anthology film, and comedy anthology films are usually.... not the best, and that's being kind.

I think two things keep this one funny. First, it's got a common theme running between the stories: the search for the meaning of life. Not the answers, the questions. It doesn't spoof the actual meaning of life, more the fuss people make about finding it. And it's freaking hilarious. Each segment poses the question, and then uses its punchline as the answer. It's crass, stupid and in bad taste, but it's always funny. In fact, it's in such bad taste, that, much like Life of Brian, it was actually banned in Ireland for many years, only being released when It came to VHS. There's a crass creativity to it, and because it's spoofing literally everything that ever happened, I feel like it has slightly less limitations the other two films. Not that that they were held back or anything,  but because the spoofs were more specific, there wasn't as much of a variety as there was with Meaning of Life. Everything, from religion to death, war to school, obesity to birth was relentlessly parodied. And it. Is. Glorious.

I suppose the other reason I love it is because it's like Flying Circus: the Movie. It's just a huge collection of sketches, and unlike something like And Now For Something Completely Different, which kind of was just the Flying Circus film, everything here was original, made from the ground up. And because it was made on a much larger budget, they can up the spectacle and lose none of the silliness. And that's what I love. It's sheer ridiculousness with no limits. It doesn't have to make sense, because it's spoofing a subject with no easy answers. It's easily the group's silliest film. Things happen here that come right out of nowhere, but if you just roll with it, it's awesome.

So no, Holy Grail and Life of Brian don't make this list, because Meaning of Life was ever so slightly funnier for me. There's just more here for me. More of what makes me love these guys. More of what made me a fan in the first place. Life of Brian may be a stronger satire, and Holy Grail may be more memorable, but Meaning of Life is just the one that makes me laugh the most. So look, if Mr. Creosote is the only thing you know of this film, or the only thing you can remember,  l highly recommend you watch it, or watch it again. I'll never understand why so many people dismiss this one. 

6. A Night at the Opera

Okay, list of favourite comedies. Bill Murray is a definite, so are Monty Python, and the Marx Brothers of course. The Marx Brothers. Okay, let's see. Animal Crackers,  Duck Soup,  Horse Feathers. Hmm. I love all of those movies. I guess I'll pick.... Monkey Business? No.... A Day at the Races.... or maybe The Coconauts? Damn it, I think this list was a mistake.

Okay, okay I'm just kidding,  but seriously, HOW DO YOU PICK JUST ONE MARX BROTHERS FILM. These guys are awesome, and all of their films are some of the greatest older comedies ever. Their writing was spot on, their silliness sharp, and their charm never matched. These guys are seriously some of the greatest comics ever. So this pick is kind of a representative pick. A movie that sums up everything great about the Marx Brothers. Because you can't say one is the best. So I'll just talk about A Night at the Opera.

Okay, so I don't really have a favourite. This is just one that showcases why the Brothers hold a special place in my.... funny bone?  I don't know. But it's them at their best anyway. There's not really a plot here. There's a widow, her accountant, an opera, and a boat. That's kind of it. But it's in the witty dialogue and silliness that this one succeeds. Every exchange packs some laughs. Every silly scenario cracks me up. The film runs off Marx Brothers logic, which is its own kind of logic where anything can happen. The things that make sense are the silliest, the things that should make sense don't, the things you think will happen never do. It's silly but it's smart.

And every brother is at his best here. Groucho is at his wittiest, Chico is at his sleaziest, Harpo is at his *honk*-iest. They all work fantastically here. They bounce of each other so damn well, and the film's best exchanges are just these guys trading excellent quips. They're the characters they always play, but at their best here. They're given the room to go nuts here, and I think that most of the stuff is improvised here. These guys were just so naturally funny, that even when it's just them talking about freaking legal contracts, they get a laugh. Because after all, there ain't no sanity clause.

And the cabin scene. One of the all time funniest movie moments ever. It's so simple, a cabin that gets progressively more crowded, but it's the dialogue and physical comedy, and the way it melds together that makes it work. Groucho kills me all the time, but especially here. It's just the way he invites everyone in, and the way he talks to the stewart, and the way he steals this scene. I come back to it quite often, because I just love it. So while there isn't a best Marx Brothers film, A Night at the Opera is a good place to start if you've never seen one of their films.

5. The Blues Brothers

Now we're talking. We're getting to the good stuff now. I was raised on this film. I watched it at a young age, so it's always been one I really, really love. John Landis is one of my favourite filmmakers, and between this, Animal House and Trading Places, the guy knows how to get a laugh. It's hard to put my finger on why The Blues Brothers works, because it just kind of does. Two brothers need to raise money for the orphanage they grew up in, so they get their band back together. That's it. But it's how needlessly complicated everything gets that makes it a favourite. These guys get chased by everybody. The police, the army, ex-lovers, Illinois nazis, everyone is after these two. And the sheer destruction that follows is nothing short of great.

It's so simple, but so crazy that I have to love it. Maybe it's the nostalgia talking, but then again the film itself is just so much fun, which is helped massively by the soundtrack. This has to be one of the greatest movie soundtracks ever. And what really gives the soundtrack a boost is that many of the characters in the film are actual musicians. The musical portions of the film are too much damn fun.

The deadpan delivery really balances out the fast pace and constant motion. That's not an easy balance to get right, but John Landis really excels at it, not just here but in all of his work. The Blues Brothers is especially good at this though because it never slows down. It's constantly throwing more destruction and craziness at you, and never once does it even start to slow down. It's infectious fun, and the over the top-ness of it all makes it impossible to not laugh. Carrie Fisher as Jake's scorned ex-lover is the highlight for me, and it showcases this film's insanity perfectly.

It's a really great film, and for me it's so funny not just because of how over the tip all the destruction is, but how deadpan and sarcastic the dialogue is. The characters are great, the music is great, the humour is spot on, and it's just awesome. It's one you could find me watching at any time. It's infinitely rewatchable, and every time I've seen it, I've seen something new in it. Something I didn't notice before that often makes me laugh even more. Always a classic.

4. The Muppet Movie

And now for a fact: I hated The Muppets growing up. Yeah, I don't know why, but I went out of my way to avoid anything Muppet related, for some reason. So I only became a fan of The Muppets recently. And thank God for that. I don't know why I avoided The Muppets for so long, they're freaking hilarious. And most of the Muppet movies could have made this list. Movies like Muppets Take Manhattan, The Great Muppet Caper or Muppets Most Wanted are arguably funnier than the original Muppet Movie, but for me, this one's hands down the best.

Bear in mind, I have zero nostalgia for this movie. It's one of my favourite comedies however, because it's surprisingly smart. There's a lot of surrealism, and meta humour, and fourth wall breaking. These gags really caught me off guard first time I saw them, and had me laughing long after. It may not have the fast pace of the three movies I mentioned above, but I think why I favour this one is because I think that, while it doesn't have as many gags, it knows how to tell it's jokes in a way that you won't even notice. It's so amazingly self aware, and that's what makes me love it. It knows it's a movie, and it embraces it.

It's fantastically clever, while also fully embracing it's own stupidity. It's the Muppets at their best. And the cameos man. Steve Martin, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Mel Brooks (more on him later), and ORSON FREAKING WELLS.  Yep. The guy who made Citizen Jane,  the greatest movie ever made, is in The Muppet Movie. This film is effortlessly charming, ridiculously clever, lovably stupid, and nothing short of one of my all time favourites. So if I love it that much, what does that day about these next three?

3. What We Do in the Shadows

Oh hey, another one I've already talked about. This is one I only saw this year, but it's grown on me quick. I've watched it four or so times since I wrote about it, and it just seems to get funnier and funnier. And yet it's such a simple premise. This is one that I think is really aided by the style. It's a mockumentray, and I think that sets it apart from other vampire comedies. I'm not going to go too in depth, since I think I summed it up pretty well in my review, but I'll still sum it up for those who haven't read that.

What We Do in the Shadows is a New Zealand made vampire mockumentray about four friends sharing a flat in Wellington, who are all vampires. The film centres around the four in the weeks leading up to the Unholy Masquerade, a huge party for vampires, witches, and demons. But what I think makes it so special is how it especially focuses on the mundane things these guys do. They're just kind of living normal-ish lives, and it's about these characters trying to function in modern society. And because their so likable,a just following them around is a great time. It's a really clever little movie that I stand by as being one of the best of the decade so far.

2. Arsenic and Old Lace

Finally I get to talk about the great, great Cary Grant. God I love this guy. And Arsenic and Old Lace is easily his best for me. It's one of the best black comedies I've seen. If you haven't seen it, a man gets married, and visits his two elderly aunts at the inn they run. He inadvertently discovers a dark family secret, which ends up spiralling out of control when his long lost brother turns up. I won't spoil it, even though it's 73 years old, but the twist is too good here. Watch it if you haven't.

But just because I won't spoil it doesn't mean I can't talk about it. See, for me it works because it's just like any other screwball comedy for the first twenty minutes, until the twist brings the first dark joke. It doesn't throw you straight into the dark humour, it drops it on you when you think you have the movie figured out. Cary Grant gives what I honestly believe to be one of the greatest performances I've seen. He's the master of the double take, and he can sell shock and disbelief like few can. It takes some serious acting chops to have this much onscreen presence, but Grant makes it look easy. Everyone's awesome though. Peter Lorre and Raymond Massey make great villains, while the aunts and uncle get many laughs too. Especially the uncle,  who's so mentally unstable that he thinks he's Theodore Roosevelt. That gets serious laughs as the film goes on, and it's just an excellent, excellent, film.

1. Young Frankenstein

Okay, okay, here's the thing. I poured my heart and soul out during June Jokefest about why I love Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks, Gene Wilder, and everything else. The funny thing is though,  if this was a list of my favourite movies, Arsenic and Old Lace would actually rate higher. Because as a movie, I prefer Arsenic and Old Lace. But as a comedy? Young Frankenstein is the shit. I saw it again in the cinema recently, and it's still hilarious. The entire audience was united in losing their shit laughing. Unlike It Happened One Night and What We Do in the Shadows, I think I'll let my post on this film speak for itself. It's more recent, and I think I summed everything up really well there. It's still a perfect spoof, and it's still my favourite comedy of all time.

My Top 10 Favourite Comedy Movies- One Year Anniversary

So, this blog is one year old. A whole year ago, I started this blog. So how about we celebrate? Now I did think about doing a list of my favourite movies, but I think I'll save that for an even more special occasion. It wouldn't be right to not celebrate though, so what about the next best thing? My favourite movies in a particular genre? Now I know my last post was something similar, but that wasn't ranked, and this will be. And it's my favourite comedy movies. It seems I can't go a post without mentioning this, but comedy is still my favourite genre, so it just feels right to celebrate with a list of my favourite comedies. Some of these I will have talked about, hell,  some of you probably know my number one, but some are new, and there might even be a surprise or two in there.

And no, Rat Race will NOT be on this list. Yeah it's a great time, but these will be movies I love that aren't just really funny, but also favourites of mine too. And some of these are all time favourites of mine. Not just ones that make me laugh, but ones that I always come back to. Movies I could just talk about for hours on end. So this is, in a way, a list of my favourite movies. Because all of these are favourites. And if you haven't seen these movies, drop everything and do so now.

But before I start, here's an honorable mention. I don't really know if this counts as a movie, but Eddie Murphy: Delirious is one of my favourite stand up shows ever. It's not a film as such, but it did make me say "hang on, Eddie Murphy is actually freaking hilarious". Watching him lampoon racism, hauntings and ICE CREAM! is an absolute blast to witness. Raw is pretty great too, but Delirious for me is funnier, and I just prefer the routines from this show over Raw. What else can I say but "I GOT MY ICE CREAM, I GOT MY ICE CREAM!"

So let's proceed with my one year celebration!

10. Father of the Bride

Now, I'm talking about the Spencer Tracey film, not the Steve Martin remake. For me, this film is one of the funniest films from the golden age of Hollywood. It's all about Spencer Tracey, who plays a man whose beloved daughter is about to get married. There's not much of a plot, instead we just watch Tracey get himself into a variety of shenanigans. His character is so damn stubborn, and this is part of what makes him great. He refuses to stop arguing, without realising that he never had a say to begin with. He's a comedic force of nature, and the witty dialogue compliments his sharp delivery perfectly.

Because of this, most of the funniest moments of the film are just him being a general curmudgeon. One scene that always cracks me up is when he's trying to force a door open, only for his jacket to split up the back. His dream sequence at the end also kills me. It's all about him here, and he makes the film truly special. Even when he's just talking to other people, his general grouchy demeanour makes everything way more difficult than it should be.

The film really breaks down the whole process of organising the wedding, but because it's from the point of view of someone who REALLY doesn't want it to happen, and the natural comedy that stems from that is nothing short of wonderful. It actually feels like the wedding is getting closer, and it plays up the anticipation through Spencer Tracey's eyes. And Stan Banks himself is such a lovable asshole. He's nor even really happy for his daughter until near the end, and even then, I think that's more relief that everything's over. He's impossible to hate though. If you haven't seen this one, or you've only seen the Steve Martin film,  you have to see this. It's a real treat.

9. It Happened One Night

Here's one that's kind of special to me. Why? Because it was the first movie I ever talked about on this blog. I had wanted to talk about movies for awhile, and then decided to set this blog up. I just kind of wrote about the first movie that came into my head, which was It Happened One Night, which I saw just a little while before starting this. And then I just kind of kept blogging, and now I'm here. But it's not just here for sentimental value. It's one of the sharpest, funniest and most charming comedies ever. Now obviously I have talked about it before, so I kind of am going to repeat myself. But I will try to change up what I say about this film.

It's kind of the quintessential road trip movie. There are road trip comedies I like better, but this one for me is the classic. The classic tale of two opposites who find each other on a bus and fall for each other. While bickering constantly, of course. It's the generic romantic comedy before generic romantic comedies existed. It invented so many tropes that are still used to this day, and they hold up phenomenally. Okay one or two jokes have dated I'll admit, but the film is still so fresh and original. And it's damn funny too.

Gable and Colbert have great chemistry. He's a smart alec and she's the straight man. He'll always have a dozen quips and she'll always counter that with a wonderfully unimpressed reaction. It works so well, and it's even better when they flip it, and she's the one with the one liner, while he plays the straight man. It's simple but it's so effective, and unlike most romantic comedies, the humour never slows down because of the romance. In fact, they blend quite well, actually. It becomes apparent quick that the two of them are using sarcasm to deny their feelings for each other. That works well to develop the romance, but the humour is still so sharp on top of that. That's one thing from this film that I find is rarely copied, actually. It's funny but it's also genuine, and that balance is hard to do.

The pacing works well too. I love how you really feel them developing and changing over the journey, and kind of dealing with their pride and stubbornness when it comes to their feelings. The back and forth is something special here, and the more time these two spend together,  the better the movie gets, and it honestly feels like a road trip. It's a truly great film, and I'm happy it kickstarted most of tropes associated with comedy movies today. 

8. Groundhog Day

So I love Bill Murray. And I really could have picked most of his movies for this slot. I love Stripes, and always will, but Groundhog Day for me is slightly stronger. If you've never seen it, a weatherman is sent to cover the groundhog day festivities in Punxatawney, Pennsylvania. He wakes up to find himself stuck living groundhog day over and over again. Every day is the same, but it's how he develops over the course of the movie that makes it special. It's actually a little bleak at times, and it does show how nightmarish this scenario would be.

What I love is how he goes through every single arc possible before finding the right one. From taking advantage of the loop, to using it to seduce his producer over and over, to not giving a shit about anything, to killing himself over and over, to being a godlike being, to helping everyone possible, then finally learning every skill possible and improving himself in every way. It goes through everything here, until he finally develops. I think what stops the loop is him finally becoming a better person. I've heard people say that he's making the most out of a bad day, but that doesn't make as much sense to me. He's learning how to appreciate the things around him.

The film doesn't mess around though when highlighting how serious the loop is. The scene when he's powerless to prevent the old man's death is particularly strong. It's often a black comedy actually, but it's written in a way that's ultimately optimistic. Bill Murray is awesome here. He's constantly changing, yet somehow he's the same guy. He never loses that sarcastic spark that became his trademark. Watching him pretty much being so many alternate versions of the same guy is insanely fun, and when he finally wakes up on February 3rd, it's a genuinely cathartic moment.

It's a damn clever movie. The story is always moving forward, and it often moves in the last direction you'd expect it to. It's so fantastically written, and smart and incredibly creative. It's got this knack for laughing at the little details in life, and it uses its fantasy elements to do it. It's an awesome movie, and one that begs to be watched over and over. And over. And over. And over.

7. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

Oh boy. As I've established, I love Monty Python, and their movies. I've talked and Holy Grail before, which I adore for its simple silliness, and I stand by that. Life of Brian I love for it's sharp satire and no holds barred approach. But my favourite is the third and final Python movie, The Meaning of Life. It's weird because I rarely hear this one talked about beyond being the movie with the exploding fat man. The other two frequently get on lists of the greatest comedies, and while I agree, neither is is the one that I love the most. It's an anthology film, and comedy anthology films are usually.... not the best, and that's being kind.

I think two things keep this one funny. First, it's got a common theme running between the stories: the search for the meaning of life. Not the answers, the questions. It doesn't spoof the actual meaning of life, more the fuss people make about finding it. And it's freaking hilarious. Each segment poses the question, and then uses its punchline as the answer. It's crass, stupid and in bad taste, but it's always funny. In fact, it's in such bad taste, that, much like Life of Brian, it was actually banned in Ireland for many years, only being released when It came to VHS. There's a crass creativity to it, and because it's spoofing literally everything that ever happened, I feel like it has slightly less limitations the other two films. Not that that they were held back or anything,  but because the spoofs were more specific, there wasn't as much of a variety as there was with Meaning of Life. Everything, from religion to death, war to school, obesity to birth was relentlessly parodied. And it. Is. Glorious.

I suppose the other reason I love it is because it's like Flying Circus: the Movie. It's just a huge collection of sketches, and unlike something like And Now For Something Completely Different, which kind of was just the Flying Circus film, everything here was original, made from the ground up. And because it was made on a much larger budget, they can up the spectacle and lose none of the silliness. And that's what I love. It's sheer ridiculousness with no limits. It doesn't have to make sense, because it's spoofing a subject with no easy answers. It's easily the group's silliest film. Things happen here that come right out of nowhere, but if you just roll with it, it's awesome.

So no, Holy Grail and Life of Brian don't make this list, because Meaning of Life was ever so slightly funnier for me. There's just more here for me. More of what makes me love these guys. More of what made me a fan in the first place. Life of Brian may be a stronger satire, and Holy Grail may be more memorable, but Meaning of Life is just the one that makes me laugh the most. So look, if Mr. Creosote is the only thing you know of this film, or the only thing you can remember,  l highly recommend you watch it, or watch it again. I'll never understand why so many people dismiss this one. 

6. A Night at the Opera

Okay, list of favourite comedies. Bill Murray is a definite, so are Monty Python, and the Marx Brothers of course. The Marx Brothers. Okay, let's see. Animal Crackers,  Duck Soup,  Horse Feathers. Hmm. I love all of those movies. I guess I'll pick.... Monkey Business? No.... A Day at the Races.... or maybe The Coconauts? Damn it, I think this list was a mistake.

Okay, okay I'm just kidding,  but seriously, HOW DO YOU PICK JUST ONE MARX BROTHERS FILM. These guys are awesome, and all of their films are some of the greatest older comedies ever. Their writing was spot on, their silliness sharp, and their charm never matched. These guys are seriously some of the greatest comics ever. So this pick is kind of a representative pick. A movie that sums up everything great about the Marx Brothers. Because you can't say one is the best. So I'll just talk about A Night at the Opera.

Okay, so I don't really have a favourite. This is just one that showcases why the Brothers hold a special place in my.... funny bone?  I don't know. But it's them at their best anyway. There's not really a plot here. There's a widow, her accountant, an opera, and a boat. That's kind of it. But it's in the witty dialogue and silliness that this one succeeds. Every exchange packs some laughs. Every silly scenario cracks me up. The film runs off Marx Brothers logic, which is its own kind of logic where anything can happen. The things that make sense are the silliest, the things that should make sense don't, the things you think will happen never do. It's silly but it's smart.

And every brother is at his best here. Groucho is at his wittiest, Chico is at his sleaziest, Harpo is at his *honk*-iest. They all work fantastically here. They bounce of each other so damn well, and the film's best exchanges are just these guys trading excellent quips. They're the characters they always play, but at their best here. They're given the room to go nuts here, and I think that most of the stuff is improvised here. These guys were just so naturally funny, that even when it's just them talking about freaking legal contracts, they get a laugh. Because after all, there ain't no sanity clause.

And the cabin scene. One of the all time funniest movie moments ever. It's so simple, a cabin that gets progressively more crowded, but it's the dialogue and physical comedy, and the way it melds together that makes it work. Groucho kills me all the time, but especially here. It's just the way he invites everyone in, and the way he talks to the stewart, and the way he steals this scene. I come back to it quite often, because I just love it. So while there isn't a best Marx Brothers film, A Night at the Opera is a good place to start if you've never seen one of their films.

5. The Blues Brothers

Now we're talking. We're getting to the good stuff now. I was raised on this film. I watched it at a young age, so it's always been one I really, really love. John Landis is one of my favourite filmmakers, and between this, Animal House and Trading Places, the guy knows how to get a laugh. It's hard to put my finger on why The Blues Brothers works, because it just kind of does. Two brothers need to raise money for the orphanage they grew up in, so they get their band back together. That's it. But it's how needlessly complicated everything gets that makes it a favourite. These guys get chased by everybody. The police, the army, ex-lovers, Illinois nazis, everyone is after these two. And the sheer destruction that follows is nothing short of great.

It's so simple, but so crazy that I have to love it. Maybe it's the nostalgia talking, but then again the film itself is just so much fun, which is helped massively by the soundtrack. This has to be one of the greatest movie soundtracks ever. And what really gives the soundtrack a boost is that many of the characters in the film are actual musicians. The musical portions of the film are too much damn fun.

The deadpan delivery really balances out the fast pace and constant motion. That's not an easy balance to get right, but John Landis really excels at it, not just here but in all of his work. The Blues Brothers is especially good at this though because it never slows down. It's constantly throwing more destruction and craziness at you, and never once does it even start to slow down. It's infectious fun, and the over the top-ness of it all makes it impossible to not laugh. Carrie Fisher as Jake's scorned ex-lover is the highlight for me, and it showcases this film's insanity perfectly.

It's a really great film, and for me it's so funny not just because of how over the tip all the destruction is, but how deadpan and sarcastic the dialogue is. The characters are great, the music is great, the humour is spot on, and it's just awesome. It's one you could find me watching at any time. It's infinitely rewatchable, and every time I've seen it, I've seen something new in it. Something I didn't notice before that often makes me laugh even more. Always a classic.

4. The Muppet Movie

And now for a fact: I hated The Muppets growing up. Yeah, I don't know why, but I went out of my way to avoid anything Muppet related, for some reason. So I only became a fan of The Muppets recently. And thank God for that. I don't know why I avoided The Muppets for so long, they're freaking hilarious. And most of the Muppet movies could have made this list. Movies like Muppets Take Manhattan, The Great Muppet Caper or Muppets Most Wanted are arguably funnier than the original Muppet Movie, but for me, this one's hands down the best.

Bear in mind, I have zero nostalgia for this movie. It's one of my favourite comedies however, because it's surprisingly smart. There's a lot of surrealism, and meta humour, and fourth wall breaking. These gags really caught me off guard first time I saw them, and had me laughing long after. It may not have the fast pace of the three movies I mentioned above, but I think why I favour this one is because I think that, while it doesn't have as many gags, it knows how to tell it's jokes in a way that you won't even notice. It's so amazingly self aware, and that's what makes me love it. It knows it's a movie, and it embraces it.

It's fantastically clever, while also fully embracing it's own stupidity. It's the Muppets at their best. And the cameos man. Steve Martin, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Mel Brooks (more on him later), and ORSON FREAKING WELLS.  Yep. The guy who made Citizen Jane,  the greatest movie ever made, is in The Muppet Movie. This film is effortlessly charming, ridiculously clever, lovably stupid, and nothing short of one of my all time favourites. So if I love it that much, what does that day about these next three?

3. What We Do in the Shadows

Oh hey, another one I've already talked about. This is one I only saw this year, but it's grown on me quick. I've watched it four or so times since I wrote about it, and it just seems to get funnier and funnier. And yet it's such a simple premise. This is one that I think is really aided by the style. It's a mockumentray, and I think that sets it apart from other vampire comedies. I'm not going to go too in depth, since I think I summed it up pretty well in my review, but I'll still sum it up for those who haven't read that.

What We Do in the Shadows is a New Zealand made vampire mockumentray about four friends sharing a flat in Wellington, who are all vampires. The film centres around the four in the weeks leading up to the Unholy Masquerade, a huge party for vampires, witches, and demons. But what I think makes it so special is how it especially focuses on the mundane things these guys do. They're just kind of living normal-ish lives, and it's about these characters trying to function in modern society. And because their so likable,a just following them around is a great time. It's a really clever little movie that I stand by as being one of the best of the decade so far.

2. Arsenic and Old Lace

Finally I get to talk about the great, great Cary Grant. God I love this guy. And Arsenic and Old Lace is easily his best for me. It's one of the best black comedies I've seen. If you haven't seen it, a man gets married, and visits his two elderly aunts at the inn they run. He inadvertently discovers a dark family secret, which ends up spiralling out of control when his long lost brother turns up. I won't spoil it, even though it's 73 years old, but the twist is too good here. Watch it if you haven't.

But just because I won't spoil it doesn't mean I can't talk about it. See, for me it works because it's just like any other screwball comedy for the first twenty minutes, until the twist brings the first dark joke. It doesn't throw you straight into the dark humour, it drops it on you when you think you have the movie figured out. Cary Grant gives what I honestly believe to be one of the greatest performances I've seen. He's the master of the double take, and he can sell shock and disbelief like few can. It takes some serious acting chops to have this much onscreen presence, but Grant makes it look easy. Everyone's awesome though. Peter Lorre and Raymond Massey make great villains, while the aunts and uncle get many laughs too. Especially the uncle,  who's so mentally unstable that he thinks he's Theodore Roosevelt. That gets serious laughs as the film goes on, and it's just an excellent, excellent, film.

1. Young Frankenstein

Okay, okay, here's the thing. I poured my heart and soul out during June Jokefest about why I love Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks, Gene Wilder, and everything else. The funny thing is though,  if this was a list of my favourite movies, Arsenic and Old Lace would actually rate higher. Because as a movie, I prefer Arsenic and Old Lace. But as a comedy? Young Frankenstein is the shit. I saw it again in the cinema recently, and it's still hilarious. The entire audience was united in losing their shit laughing. Unlike It Happened One Night and What We Do in the Shadows, I think I'll let my post on this film speak for itself. It's more recent, and I think I summed everything up really well there. It's still a perfect spoof, and it's still my favourite comedy of all time.

My Favourite Horror Movies

Anyone that talks about movies has to talk horror in October at some point. And I'm no different. After all, Halloween is the movie buff's time of year, a time to pour over zombies, vampires and serial killers. And the cool thing about horror movies is that everyone had their favourites. Everyone's got a preference. Whether you prefer atmosphere or ultraviolence, everyone has a favourite horror film. Yeah, comedy is still my favourite movie genre, but there are so many awesome horror movies too. And so let's celebrate them, by discussing my favourites in no particular order.
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I've said many times before that comedy is my favourite genre, so naturally I gravitate towards horror with a funny streak. But if we're talking comedy (which we aren't, but bear with me), you don't get much better than John freaking Landis. I could gush about how much I love Animal House, the Blues Brothers and Trading Places, but it's not the time. But Landis didn't just make great comedies. He also delivered one of the greatest cult horror movies of all time. An American Werewolf in London. This movie man. This movie is so damn awesome. And today, we're gonna look into what makes it so. So, let's get going, and start my obligatory horror post with An American Werewolf in London!

For those who don't know, American Werewolf is about two college students on a trip across Europe,  who stumble upon a strange pub in the English countryside, the Slaughtered Lamb. The pub has some strange connection to the occult, and the patrons warn the two not to go onto the moors at night. Guess what they do next. They end up getting attacked by a werewolf, who is then killed. One of the students is "killed", and the other is transformed into a werewolf, and has to deal with all the struggles that go along with that. The plot, and the way it's told have this great cult-ish feel. The film I think is deliberately made to be a little bit shit, which gives it a boatload of charm in the process. It has this wonderful B-movie feel to it, and that combines with the campy humour to create a massively enjoyable experience. It's something about that combination of clichéd dialogue, hammy delivery and hilarious awkwardness that push this movie into the gloriousness of being a campy cult horror favourite, and it's one that I love watching with people who have never seen it before. Some of the reactions people have to this film are fantastic.

But it's not all shoddy in a fun way. Some aspects of this movie are legitimately fantastic. Take the special effects, which not only won an Oscar, they INVENTED A NEW CATEGORY ENTIRELY. Few movies have that honor, and the effects here, by Stan Winston are amazing. That transformation scene speaks for itself, but everything is great. The makeup is fantastic, and the other effects outside of the transformation are ace too. I don't usually praise this kind of stuff in movies (I'm more of a storytelling and writing kind of guy, if you haven't noticed), but American Werewolf's effects are too good to not mention. I'm a huge lover of practical effects when they're done right, and here is no exception. The soundtrack is also fantastic, with every song being moon themed. It's a little aspect of the production that proves that John Landis has this great sense of humour when it comes to the smallest of details. The production here is no joke, and that somehow accentuates the aspects that are kind of shitty in the film,  massively adding to the cult-y charm that was already all over the movie.

I find it hard to criticise the film and say "this doesn't work", because there's not really much to criticise here. I mean, I could say that the acting isn't great, but that's kind of the point. It's supposed to be kind of B-movie-ish. And it succeeds at that. I could criticise the slightly awkward romance plot, but it doesn't feel out of place or anything, only slightly stiff at times, and it's not that bad either. I suppose with a film that's as gloriously campy as this one, there isn't an awful lot to legitimately criticise here. John Landis made a film that is kind of silly, and knows it too, and constantly reminds you of how silly it is. Landis knocked it out of the park, making one of the strongest comedy horrors ever. It knows it's shit, and it wears it's shitness on its sleeve. It's so much damn fun. An American Werewolf in London is not only one of the best horror movies of the 80s, but also one of the greatest comedy horrors of all time.

If you had to open both of those catagories up though....
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There's kind of this stigma with sequels nine times out of ten. Don't get me wrong, there are good ones for sure. Aliens, Rocky II, The Empire Strikes Back, T2 Judgement Day, Captain America the Winter Soldier, and plenty of other legitimately  good movie sequels exist, but more often than not, THEY SUCK. It's hard to be orginal twice, and sequels mostly fall into two categories: ones that are too scared to do anything different, and are way too safe as a result, and those that deviate too far from the vision  of the first film and take way too many risks and fall flat because of it. I don't have anything against sequels. When they're good, they can add a lot to an already great idea, and take the series in an interesting direction. So yeah, good sequels are hard to do, especially for horror movies. Creating something legitimately shocking and scary once is hard. Doing it twice is insanely difficult, and as such, when a horror sequel is good, it's often downright amazing. I've talked about Aliens before, and how it succeeded as a follow up to the first in terms of both story and atmosphere. I did however say that Aliens didn't surpass Alien in my opinion. So, where does Sam Raimi come into this? Simple. He created not just the best horror sequel, but for my money the best sequel to any movie ever. Evil. Dead. 2.

Before we talk about chainsaw hands and fruit cellars, we need to talk about a little indie feature that came right the hell out of nowhere, and created a legend in the process. Evil Dead isn't the greatest horror film ever made, but it isn't really like anything else that came before it. It's visceral, and shocking,  and claustrophobic, and creative, and just so damn cool. It's rough around the edges and actually kind of shit, but that's all part of its charm. Everything about the first film works towards making it fresh, and original, and so incredibly badass. So a sequel may have been an odd choice. I mean, I find it's hard to imagine a world WITHOUT Evil Dead 2, but the first one was kind of standalone. It was open ended, but it didn't demand a sequel or anything. I suppose the idea of a second one might seem odd when you look at how new and frankly different the first Evil Dead was. It wasn't perfect, actually  it was as far from perfect as a good movie could get, but it was fresh. It offered viewers something so fantastically violent, and fun, and kind of grindhouse. It was low budget, and campy, and making a follow up to that was never going to be easy. It's lightning in a bottle for sure. So why am I talking so much praise about the Evil Dead? Because I legitimately believe the second Evil Dead is the greatest movie sequel of all time. I tend to stray from talking about my favourites of all time, because I have kind of been saving talking about my favourites for special occasions. But I love Evil Dead, and it's Halloween, so you know what? Screw it. Time to talk about how awesome Evil Dead 2 is.

So where does it improve over the first? Well, it doesn't improve, so much as refine. It takes everything that the original did well, and managed to do it better. The first ten minutes are actually a remake of the first movie. From then on, it's like the first one, with a group of characters trapped in a cabin being assaulted by demons, but it's more self aware, it's funnier, there's more crazy shit, it's awesome. In many ways it is just the first one again, but it adds this irresistible black humour that makes me love it so damn much. It takes the originals claustrophobic horror, inventive visuals and insane gore, and improves on it by adding comedy, throwing in more of what makes it great, and by developing the character of Ash, played by Bruce. Freakin. Campbell. In the first movie Ash was just kind of there. He wasn't a great character, or even particularly that interesting, but here he's funny, he's badass, he's so damn likable, he's awesome. And Bruce Campbell is awesome as him. Also fleshing out the necronomicon and explaining how that works is pretty great too.

But even as it's own film, Evil Dead 2 works 100%. Sam Raimi does a great job at building huge amounts of atmosphere in the cabin. The movie really works because it's set in such an enclosed space, and it makes the threat seem more dangerous as a result. There's nowhere to run, and each part of the cabin becomes this great set piece as a result. I'm personally quite fond of the fruit cellar containing the old woman, who's absolutely hilarious in my opinion. It shows Sam Raimi's knack for black comedy, as does all of other the crazy shit that happens in the movie. The balance of comedy and horror is perfect here. Evil Dead 2 man. Evil. Dead. 2. Damn.
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Moving away from comedy horror, but staying in the 80s, is John Carpenter's The Thing. This is a masterpiece in tension. The effects are obviously fantastic too, and I will talk about them, but what I love here is how unbearably intense the atmosphere is in this film. For those unaware, The Thing centres around a group of scientists in a facility in the Arctic, who are stalked and brutally murdered one by one by a vicious alien. If that sounds cliché, don't worry, Carpenter keeps it fresh by never actually revealing what the beast looks like, instead having it assume different forms based on the dna it absorbs from living creatures. This results in so many awesome visuals, such as dogs morphing into giant beasts, to heads opening up into huge mouths, and a freaking head walk around on spider-like legs. It EARNS that 18 rating for sure.

I'd also regret not talking about the effects, by Rob Bottin and the irreplaceable Stan Winston, who I've mentioned as making some of cinema's greatest effects. Yeah they're slightly dated, but they're so grotesque and creative with how many ways they portray murder and mutilation that it doesn't even matter. You don't want to watch it, but you just can't look away. They're stunningly frightening because they're straight out of a nightmare. They're things you'd never come up with in you're wildest dreams, which naturally makes them absolutely terrifying.

Kurt Russell is surprisingly great here too as the charasmatic and badass MacReady. I'm someone who doesn't hate Kurt Russell, but I'm also not his biggest fan. Here though he's awesome. He's a badass with a flamethrower, yeah, but what makes me love him is how smart and resourceful he is. He's able to survive not just because of his combat skill, but also with his quick wit and ability to keep a level head during the attacks. The other characters are great too. You get to know each of these men, and the more time you spend with them, the more you care about them when they inevitably get brutally killed. I'll admit, it would have been so easy to just have them be disposable horror victims, but instead you legitimately care about each of them.

The atmosphere is perfect too. Carpenter excels at generating huge amounts of doubt among these characters. They have to work together to survive,  but they can't afford to trust each other. This stress builds and builds, creating this atmosphere of pure dread. It's fantastically done here. I love how it's not just the alien threat that tests their relationships, but also the slowly building insanity that comes with the uncertainty of not knowing who's who. Then acting and writing is perfect, and contributes to the sense of fear and panic in the movie. If you haven't seen The Thing, do. It's one of Carpenter's best.
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But let's jump forward 20 years to 2002, and Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. It's easy to have zombie fatigue in this day and age, what with so many pieces of zombie media being made recently, but there are some legitimately fantastic zombie movies out there. 28 Days Later is  my favourite zombie movie, ironically made by a filmmaker I'm not even a huge fan of. Yeah, I'm not the biggest fan of Danny Boyle's work to be honest. I really enjoyed Millions, but apart from that and 28 Days Later, none of his other films really do much for me. Not bad, just not for me. 28 Days Later, however is absolutely incredible. The atmosphere here is stunning. Instead of being slow and forboding, all of the horror here is fast paced and in your face. Boyle barely gives you a second to think, shoving the threat of the infected in your face. This massively adds to the paranoia in the film. The characters never feel safe, and they're never well equipped to deal with the army of infected coming after them.

Boyle's direction here is masterful. The scary scenes aren't just scary, there's dread, and panic, and all kinds of fear. It's so damn wonderful. Instead of just having one kind of scare through the whole thing, Boyle creates this scale of fear, going from shock, uncertainty, discomfort, doubt, terror. He creates this wonderfully layered scary atmosphere, and combined with the in-your-face nature of the infected, it becomes incredibly thrilling and ensures that you stay on the edge of your seat throughout the film. So many single moments here are incredible. The scene in the tunnels where the infected are running at the group is so damn gripping. You can only see the shadows,  and hear the infected running, and the suspense it builds is insane. It's a kind of horror that really works, and even after having seen so many horror movies, 28 Days Later still managed to be legitimately frightening, and it kept me thrilled and invested.

Though maybe the characters had something to do with that too. Just like in The Thing, you actually really care about all of these people, and you seriously don't want anything bad to happen to them. I don't want to give too much away, but the scenes at the end with the military facility are terrifying, not just because they're horrible, but because you can empathise with the characters, and so you really want them to get out. Another thing that makes the climax work is how the trust of the characters is taken advantage of, and how that works to build up a huge amount of dread that explodes into that reveal. It's really wonderful stuff. 28 Days Later combines atmosphere and character to create an experience that's so sickeningly brilliant, and just has to be seen.
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One thing I love about the horror genre is it's ability to not only frighten, but also to move. Fear is a good way to develop a character. Facing them with terrifying situations often brings out their best attributes, and progresses their characters nicely. It also massively adds to the empathy we feel towards characters, which can lead to some honestly incredibly emotional moments. So yeah, great horror has the potential to be legitimately moving. And one of the best at this is Tomas Alfredson's 2008 magnum opus Let the Right One In. Almost more of a coming of age story than anything else, Let the Right One In is an absolutely spellbinding tale of isolation, friendship and young love in 1980s Sweden. For those unaware, Let the Right One In centres around a young boy named Oskar, who's constantly being bullied. He meets a young girl named Eli, who turns out to be a vampire. It's about the relationship that forms between the two outcasts. This relationship is surprisingly sweet, and for me is the best part of the movie. The bond between them really makes it for me. It's a natural feeling relationship that really accentuates the horror. It's a perfect compliment to the quietly eerie and disturbing horror. A strangely fantastic balance between utterly chilling and deeply sweet.

It's still a horror film though. I'll admit, this one isn't scary as such, and more uses the vampire aspect to emphasise how different Eli is from the other characters. The atmosphere, however is eerie, and constantly gives off the feeling that something isn't quite right. It's not scary as much as quietly disturbing. The snowy scenery, the quiet sound design and the slow plot progression really add to the eerie dread of the atmosphere. And I know I'm using the word eerie a lot, but it is the best word for the movie. It's quiet, and slowly disturbing, and brilliantly done. The pool scene sends chills up my spine every single time I watch it. The atmosphere is truly masterful, and it makes for a chilling, dread filled watch.

I will admit though, this is one that I'm kind of reluctant to talk about. And it's not because it's not good, because it's excellent. It's because so much of what makes this movies great relies on the experience. The uncertainty, the atmosphere, the surprisingly sweet relationship between the two main characters, the quietly disturbing moments of horror, all of it practically begs to be viewed with little to no prior knowledge of what happens. If you haven't seen it, go in blind. You seriously won't regret it. It feels like you're discovering something really special. Even on repeat viewings though, it holds up. It's not just a one watch film. The first viewing is a powerful, disturbing and surprisingly moving experience, but each repeat viewing brings with it something new. For me, anyway. So yeah, I'll keep quiet about details for now. If you've seen it, you'll know why. If you haven't, do.
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Okay, okay so everyone loves Alien. It's not exactly an original pick for one of my favourites, but I don't really care. As far as I'm concerned, Alien EARNS it's place in horror legend. It's crazy how well this film hold up some 38 years later. It's still tense, shocking and absolutely terrifying all these years later. I will admit though, with how much everyone loves Alien and talks about Alien and puts Alien on all the lists, it's actually pretty difficult to know what to say about it. So I'm gonna try my best to sum up my thoughts on one of my favourite movies, Alien.

For the three people that haven't seen it, Alien is about the crew on the spaceship Nostromo, and how a brief trip to an alien planet proves deadly when a vicious alien gets on board the ship. From there, the crew has to survive as the creature picks them off one by one. This is a film all about the buildup, and the atmosphere. The first half is pure tension. It's a slow buildup, but it grows into something truly special. What I would say to someone who hadn't seen it is that it's very slow for the first half. The second half is all thrills and horror, but the first half is a slow creeping tension. There's not even any horror for about 25 minutes, it's all just atmosphere. And Ridley Scott does a fantastic job at creating this claustrophobic mood that chills throughout the whole thing.

The turning point of the film is when John Hurt encounters the facehugger for the first time. That of course leads to the chestburster scene, which is masterful. Even now, even having seen it more times than I care to mention, it's still a fantastically shocking scene that holds up even today. All of the effects are wonderful. H.R. Geiger's xenomorph is absolutely fantastic. This design is one of my favourite monster designs ever. It's so nightmarishly different from anything I've seen. The whole idea of using human hosts to produce more xenomorphs is creatively horrifying, and used really well here. Another thing I love is how unfamiliar the characters are with what's chasing them. This may sound small, but it definitely enhances the experience for me. They're so out of their depth, and it results in the xenomorph being that much scarier as a result. None of them really have any idea what exactly they're up against. This unfamiliarity becomes part of the beast's design, and makes it that much more frightening as a result.

The cast is stunning too. And I know I've been praising characters a lot in this post, but Alien's cast really deserves a mention. Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Yaphet Kotto, Harry Dean Stanton, Veronica Cartwright, Ian Holm, Sigourney Weaver. It's nothing short of one of the best casts in any movie ever. Every single one of them is great and memorable. As I've said several times now, it's easy to just have characters in horror movies be plot devices that are easily disposable. Alien completely forgoes this idea, instead having each character be so well written and memorable. You could name any character and I'd instantly know who you were talking about. It's not often that that happens with me in movies, especially not in horror movies. I'm especially fond of Ian Holm as the vile android Ash, and of course Sigourney Weaver as one of my all time favourite movie characters ever, Ellen Ripley. Ash is a great antagonist, and I consider him the true villain of the film. He's so cruel and uncompromising, and the reveal that he's an android is absolutely fantastically done.

And Ripley. God I love Ripley. Ripley is one of the greatest movie characters ever, and while I do think Aliens is a better movie for showcasing why Ripley's a great hero, Alien is a great almost origin story for her. She's not really the main focus, and Tom Skerritt's Dallas is kind of the main hero (until he's brutally murdered by the xenomorph). She's just an everywoman doing her job, until bit by bit the situation worsens,  leaving Ripley to step up to the plate and become a badass hero. But all of her character traits that would be developed in Aliens are introduced to us here. How she goes from a lowly warrant officer to the only person who can deal with the alien threat, and turns her fear and vulnerability into courage and strength, is awesome, and she's hands down my favourite part of the movie. She's one of my favourite characters ever, and this movie perfectly illustrates why.

So all in all, Alien is a classic that I don't think is going away any time soon. Even now, it holds up, and while I prefer Evil Dead 2 as a horror film, I think Alien is  better as a whole. They're my two favourite horror movies, and both up there as two of my very favourite films ever. Alien is near perfect, and while Aliens was a great sequel, the first movie holds up incredibly well today. It's still scary, it's still atmospheric, it's still excellently made. Not just for it's time, but in general. It's one of my all time favourites, with a great story, great writing, a great cast, a great threat and a great atmosphere. It's a masterpiece, not just in the horror genre but in all of cinema. It's very nearly perfect, and if you've missed it somehow, do yourself a favour and watch it. And if you have seen it, do yourself a favour and watch it again.

Ranking Every Episode of The I.T. Crowd- Part 5 (Final)

So, this is it. The I.T. Crowd is one of my all time favourite series, and I've had a blast revisiting it, and talking about every episode. But now, it's time to finish strong, with my top five favourite episodes (which you've probably figured out by process of elimination)  of one of my all time favourite shows. So, let's go!

5. Are We Not Men?

The idea for the plot here is beyond genius. There's kind of this wonderful subversion. Roy and Moss getting themselves in over their heads is nothing new, but here is not only done to such an extreme, but also with a kind of a fakeout. At first, you think that they're in too deep talking about football, only for the reveal that they're a little more out of their depths than they realise. That reveal by the way is perfect. It's perfect comedic escalation. Just when you think that the episode has played it's trump card in having Roy and Moss lie to become "proper men", it completely flips the script and goes  in a very odd, but still awesome direction.

Roy and Moss' quest to be viewed as "proper men" is really fun to watch. I love how quickly everything gets out of hand. It's maybe the best example of insane escalation in a show that excels in insane escalation. Because of course the men that Roy and Moss befriend turn out to be bank robbers, and of course Roy and Moss get involved in the heist. By that point in the episode, nothing from the start even matters anymore. It's not about these two trying to be seen as "proper men", it's about their shit luck, and about how they always get into the weirdest situations. And that's the cool thing about the reveal. It takes the episode in this insane direction, almost to prove that nothing these two ever do is simple. It's the ultimate example of Roy and Moss getting into increasingly awkward situations, and this is definitely the farthest I think they ever went with that idea, and one of the best because of it.

It's the logical extreme of the awkward situations these characters find themselves in, and it's done so well. Part of that comes from how unexpected a lot of the plot is. Every joke is delivered just at the right time. Pacing's a small thing but when done well it can make a serious difference, and here it's done superbly. The plot moves along at the right pace, which again, might not sound like much, but when you've got comedic reveals and unpredictable jokes, you need to know when to use them at the right time, which this episode does. Just when you think they might have run out of ways to escalate the situation, there's another reveal around the corner, and it always makes the episode that bit funnier.

And how did it take me this long to mention how funny this episode is? The football speak (with pronunciation guide), Moss' football commentary, Michael the magnificent, Cockney neck, any of the jokes about the heist, and of course, Chris O'Dowd's magnificent crying, which makes for one of the funniest tags of the series. This might be the best episode for Chris O'Dowd as Roy now that I think of it. His performance here is consistently hilarious throughout the whole thing, and he regularly has me in stitches. This also might be the most quotable episode too, with almost every line being solidly hilarious. And I think that there's only really one way to end this:

"Did you see that ludicrous display last night?"

4. Tramps Like Us

I've mentioned several episodes of the show that mock Jen for wanting to succeed, and this is probably the best one. Part of that actually comes from the fact that they actually give a reason as to why Jen stays at all. I mean, apart from the fact that she's too inept to succeed at doing anything else. The episode states that Jen is actually quite good at what she does, and is even needed to stop Roy and Moss from getting into too much trouble. It's rare that a Jen-centric plot actually focuses on the stuff she does well, as well as explaining why she stays at Renyholm at all. That's not something we see very often, and it's done really well here. Jen's interview where she realises that she belongs inI.T. not because she knows anything about computers (which they poke fun at just as much as in the pilot), but because she's only person who actually understands Moss and Roy . That's not something that's often brought up in the show, but makes a lot of sense. Don't get me wrong, they still make fun of Jen for wanting to be successful, but they balance it so well with explaining why she stays at all despite being so shit with technology. They also avoid so many of the cliches of the "this character doesn't feel needed and leaves" plot, doing it in a way that it feels fresh and original, which isn't easy to accomplish.

Moss and Roy are great here too. Roy gradually becoming a tramp is great, and features one of the greatest strings of comedic coincidences I think I've ever seen. Like in all great Roy plots, if something can go wrong, it probably will, resulting in hilarious results. Roy's over confidence and arrogance is turned against him here, and it results in an over the top dramatic downfall that gets major laughs. The idea that Roy is so inept that he can become completely down and out in the space of an afternoon is hilarious. It plays up the logical extreme of Roy being the ultimate loser, and it results in an incredibly funny plot.

Moss is even better. The dynamic between Moss and Douglas isn't one that the show utilized as much as it maybe should have. Don't get me wrong, episodes like From Hell and The Internet is Coming do interesting things with their relationship, but generally I found it pretty underused. Their screentime together may be brief here, but it results in some of the best moments of the episode. Both of them are great individually here (Moss with a concussion and Douglas with his electric sex pants could only ever be fantastic), but get them together and something truly special happens. ("You there! Computer man! Fix my pants!" "I beg your pardon?" "PULL DOWN MY TROUSERS AND DO YOUR JOB!") . It's not a dynamic that was explored enough in the show if you ask me. The scene they share together is easily the best moment in the entire episode.

Tramps Like Us is a strong contender for the show's funniest. Obviously there are three that I think do their job a little better, but it gets this position for three reasons. One: It's deeper exploration of Jen's character than usual while still mocking here for having any kind of ambition. Two: It pushes Roy's naturally shit luck to it's logical extreme, resulting in some of his best moments in the whole show. And finally: It displays the fantastic dynamic between Moss and Douglas, something that the show definitely should have done more of.

3. The Speech

To talk about how brilliant this episode is, I'm going to split it into two, talking about Jen's plot and Douglas' plot separately. These two plots work equally well for two completely different reasons, and so to talk about them properly I have to divide the episode in two.

Let's start with Jen's plot. The whole thing is basically buildup to one joke, but the joke itself is so incredible that it's worth being worked up to. The reveal of The Internet is one of the most iconic moments in the show, and the way it's built up to make the joke hit that much harder. The first time I saw this episode I was laughing for a long time afterwards. I honestly couldn't get over how good that punchline was. This is how you do a setup to a joke. The writers tease you with something brilliant over and over in this one, and the result does not disappoint. Jen's plot is just one huge joke, built on Roy and Moss taking advantage of Jen's arrogance. And honestly, this is the kind of thing that Jen would probably fall for. The Internet is something that would go on to become absolutely legendary among fans of The I.T. Crowd, and it's inception is nothing short of joyous to watch. Especially when the crowd starts freaking out, proving that, well, people are idiots. That's a nice touch though, and it adds another little unexpected twist , which definitely furthers the joke that much more. This plot is sheer genius. And it's so simple. Sometimes you don't need a ton of variety to be funny. You just need to know what you're doing enough to be able to do one thing well.

And then there's Douglas' plot. If Jen's plot was just one big joke, Douglas' is a never ending stream of them. It's the perfect Douglas plot no doubt, and probably my favourite Douglas episode. It's the perfect showcase of how much of a misogynistic, emotionally unstable scumbag Douglas is. Yes, Men Without Women did an excellent job of showing that too, but here it's just done perfectly. Douglas is generally shit person, which flawlessly displayed here. Every moment in his plot is stuffed with laughs, from his montage of happiness to his surprisingly epic fight with April. That moment adds to the already over the top crazy finale, and is packed with so many jokes that it's kind of ridiculous.

Truth be told, because the episode relies mainly on joke delivery in both plots, there's not an awful lot more to talk about. I've pretty much covered everything. Like Smoke and Mirrors, The Speech is a simple, comedy driven episode, one that is pretty much a legend among the fanbase at this point.

2. The Dinner Party

When I first got the idea to do this list, this was going to be my number one. In fact, for a good while, this WAS my favourite episode. This was the one that I'd always laugh the most at when I watched it, the one I'd always quote, the one I'd always go to when I though of the best parts of the show. It was only upon rewatching another episode that this one got knocked down a spot, But it still holds up. I haven't actually lost any love for this episode over time, in fact the opposite is true, I've only fallen in love with it more. I firmly believe that a lot of comedy can be gained from a group of characters in one place for extended periods of time. It's been done a lot (especially in Britcoms), but I think that this is one of the best examples I've seen, if not the best (though Bottom comes so close with the episode Hole). The best parts of this episode are the parts in which the characters are just talking over dinner. They all play off each other so damn well. So much of the show's charm is built off of the character's chemistry anyway, but The Dinner Party takes that and just runs with it. The conversation itself is jam packed with quotable moments. I take back what I said about Are We Not Men? being the most quotable episode, it's this one for sure.

It's a reminder of why this show worked in the first place: it's characters. This is the perfect episode to showcase why these characters are all so great. It's the perfect display of who they all are; Roy's a shallow lowlife, Moss is a neurotic oddball, Jen is an uptight wreck who thinks she's above it all, and Richmond, well he's just Richmond. He's poetic, creepy, and suave as all hell. They bounce off each other so well here, because they all have this wonderful natural chemistry. This was the moment I realised that this is one of the strongest comedic casts ever. When without any setpieces or big punchlines, that just by sitting at a table and talking, these people could have me in stitches with almost every single sentence

 A lot of the gags are simple I'll admit, but that's why they work. A lot of it is just funny dialogue, but I find it impossible to watch without bursting into laughter. And I've watched this episode a lot. And never once does it get old. I know what every gag is and when it's coming, but I just don't care. That doesn't matter to me. I'll always watch Roy get progressively more shallow and desperate talking to the model, or Moss bickering with the newly divorced woman like an old married couple, or Richmond being just being an absolute savage of a flirt. I especially love how Jen becomes progressively more mortified as the party goes on, which is perfectly acted by the absolutely wonderful Katherine Parkinson.

The dialogue itself is so wonderfully written, and delivered with this natural flow. The delivery is beyond fantastic here. It's a perfect balance of the charm and humour that this show just absolutely excels at, that it's beyond impressive at doing. To make pure dialogue funny is one thing. To make dialogue that's consistently funny is something else. But to make dialogue that never loses it's comedic value no matter how many times it's returned to? That's almost unheard of. This episode is one of the few things that I can return to and always laugh at, no matter how many times I've seen it (the others being Young Frankenstein, Arsenic and Old Lace, Community's Paradigms of Human Memory, What We do in the Shadows, the Bottom episode Gas and Duck Dodgers in the 24th 1/2 Century. And the next entry on this list, obviously).

I know I'm speaking high praise of this episode despite it only being my number two, but it really is that good. but not as good as...

1. Bad Boys

It was a tough call, I'll admit. The Dinner Party is incredible. It's the best showcase of each of the characters and was my favourite episode for so long. So, what changed? That's a bloody good question, and I think the answer is that while The Dinner Party is a flawless showcase of the cast as a whole, this is the strongest showcase of one character, and why that character worked in the first place. Moss is my favourite character in the show. I mean, that's not an uncommon opinion or anything, I mean he inspired like a thousand memes, but I'm getting off topic here. Bad Boys shows why I and so many people fell in love with Richard Aoyade's bespectacled manchild. Moss is a great character. He's neurotic, social inept, and just so lovably awkward. So take a character like that, and give him a rebellious streak, and you've got pure gold.

Bad Boys shows what happens when the by the book Moss decides to go a little bad. Like bunking off work, glaring at people and stealing boxsets of Grand Designs bad. Yeah, Moss is shit at misbehaving in any way, and, as you can imagine, this is hilarious, but it shows why Moss is a great character. This is a man who lives his life by a strict set of rules, and is happy to be that way. He never rebels, he never causes trouble, and when the time comes for him to break some rules, he embraces the chaos and causes mild panic like you've never seen. The opening of this episode is sheer brilliance, setting up a scenario that makes you think "how the hell did Moss get arrested?". The answer is beyond perfect. Richard Aoyade never misses a mother flippin' beat here.  It's Moss at his absolute best.

Having this kind of character embrace being bad isn't just hilarious. It's endearing, and it makes you remember everything you loved about him in the first place. You're watching someone who's never done anything wrong in his life go mad, without actually doing anything that bad, because he has no idea how. This is his idea of mischief. And it's hilarious. Just like The Dinner Party, this episode has so many ingeniously funny moments that I can keep coming back to. The dialogue isn't as well written as it was in The Dinner Party, but the jokes are all better constructed. The funny moments here are usually so out thee and even unpredictable at times. And even when you've seen it many times, like I have, Bad Boys still has more to come back to. I still find myself in stitches at Moss' idea of anarchy.

And that's not even mentioning everyone else. Roy becomes aware that he has a catchphrase, and makes a bet with Jen that he can go the whole day without saying it. I love it when any show acknowledges it's own formula, and pokes fun at itself, and that's absolutely what Roy's plot is here. Roy is also the perfect foil for Moss here. Roy is rarely the voice of reason in this show, but in a situation as strange as this, I guess anything is possible. They do get some good jokes out of Roy of all people being the responsible one here. Chris O'Dowd and Richard Aoyade have this incredible chemistry, which yeah, makes every episode great, but the way that they bounce of each other here leads to some of the show's absolute best interactions.

Combine that with Douglas being the textbook definition of an absolute madman in the party scenes and you're ready to go. The party for Ben Jenderson, and then not for Ben Jenderson, and the for Ben Jenderson again, is just so nuts, and completely representative of Douglas as a character. Unpredictable, and ready to change in an instant, but always a good time, and so damn funny. And Jen. Jen's conversation with the tech support is just fantastic. That last scene with the bomb disposal is something really special.

Overall, Bad Boys is one fantastic gag after the next. It's the best Moss episode hands down, and maybe some of the best work Richard Aoyade has ever done. It's so much fun, and it's the perfect showcase of why everyone loves Moss. It's not just my favourite episode of The I.T. Crowd, it's also possibly my favourite sitcom episode in general. It's something else again, trust me.

Ranking Every Episode of The I.T. Crowd- Part 4

This should go without saying, but before you read this, go back and read the previous three posts if you haven't. Anyway, let's crack on with the top ten episodes of The I.T. Crowd!

10. Yesterday's Jam

I still remember the first time I saw this episode. There was this amazing feeling of stumbling onto something really special the first time I watched it. I knew that this show would be one I'd have to watch .Because this is one of the rare few pilots that holds up when compared to the rest of the show. The thing about pilots is that they're made to be built upon. The show should develop the ideas introduced in the pilot, and should get better as it goes on. This however, means that the pilot seldom stands as one of the shows highpoints. Which is defintely a double edged sword. Because as much as you want to be able to say "this is a great episode", you also wouldn't want the show to peak too early. If a show's highpoint is at the very start, well it can only go downhill.

But sometimes that doesn't happen. Sometimes you get a pilot that stands on it's own merits, as well as perfectly setting up the show. One that works as both a great start to the series and a great episode in it's own right. Great pilots are pure lighting in a bottle kind of stuff, but when they do happen, it's pretty damn great. Which is where Yesterday's Jam comes in. This is as perfect as an introduction as I think you can get. And watching it again, it holds up as one of the show's best. Which is no small feat.

It's a perfect taster of what the show is, first of all. The story structure, writing style and sense of humour are all fantastically displayed here. I know that this is a sitcom, and doesn't have any real overarching plot or anything like that, but this is the perfect episode to start with if you're going to watch this show. It's surprisingly representative of the kind of stuff you'll be seeing. And the character introductions are strong too. The introductions of Denyholm, Jen and Roy are fantastic, and pretty much tell you everything you need to know about these characters. You know exactly what they're like even from the first time you see them, and the introductory scenes themselves work as really great jokes, too.

And it's hilarious as well. The jokes here had me cracking up regularly. Denyholm's speech about teamwork, Jen's desperate technobabble, the first time we see Roy, the entire party scene, Denyholm's line about the kind of company Renyholm is. Hell, the first shot (above) is one of the episodes strongest jokes. THE. FIRST. SHOT. That's beyond impressive. As I said, not many pilots can stand as one of the best episodes of their respective show, but Yesterday's Jam certainly does. It's a great start, and the show just kept impressing me from there.

9. Friendface

I think it was inevitable that the show would have an episode that satirizes social media. It's not the only one, of course, but I think that it's the one that goes the furthest with the parody, and it's better for that. I think that this episode gets right what the finale gets wrong in terms of it's parody. I think a big part of that was timing. This episode aired just as social media, particularly Facebook, really began to take off, and so a lot of the satire in this episode really hits home that much more. I also love the approach it takes with the parody. It shows why people get consumed by social media, and then  dedicates the entire episode to mocking them relentlessly. The scene in the office where the I.T. department are talking on FriendFace is probably the best part of the episode ("That was a classic Moss line").

This episode also has a really nice contained arc for Jen. She starts off thinking she's ten steps ahead thanks to FriendFace, but slowly starts to realise that she hasn't really done anything with her life, leading to Moss pretending to be Jen's tennis player husband, which gets out of hand, naturally. This whole plot is a perfect lampooning of Jen's need to impress other people, something often brought up in the show, but rarely done better than it is here. I also love Moss and how bizarre his lies are, which is something of a running gag now that I think of it.

The scene in the bar are just so wonderful too. Any scenes that show how dreadful the main characters are when it comes to social situations are just wonderful, and here it's no exception.  All of the characters are just so fantastically awkward that you have to laugh. Roy meeting his ex girlfriend is just so hilariously uncomfortable, and leads to a fantastical literal punchline with Douglas.

Overall, this is one of the strongest parodies in the show. It's a spot on lampooning of social media, but it's never cynical or nasty. All of the jokes are in good fun here, leading to a delightfully wacky parody, and one of the show's funniest episodes. The satire here is something that the finale would try to replicate, but didn't really capture for me. It was too over the top to be relatable, something that this episode never struggles with. So yeah, easily one of the show's funniest. Though I must say, there's another episode that pulls this kind of satire off slightly better.


8. Return of the Golden Child

Death in media is a pretty big thing. Especially in TV. When a character leaves a narrative permanently, it almost always has a huge effect on the show going forward. It could be character development, or building to a large emotional moment, or even a reveal, but it's rarely none. The death of Denyholm in The I.T. Crowd breaks all the rules, and that's completely okay. It's so casual and nonchalant, and only really effects the events of this episode alone, and even then, it's only really to introduce Douglas. Why it works though is because it's played mainly for laughs. Any other show would have played Denyholm's death as a more serious moment, and maybe gotten some black comedy in here or there, and then introduce Douglas, but instead we get this, and it's brilliant. It's not even a special episode or anything, it's just the second episode of the second season.

There are some great jokes about Denyholm in this episode, from the pensions fund, to the video played at his funeral, and especially Douglas' introduction. When I saw that Matt Berry was going to be in this show, I instantly got excited. Especially because of the way he's introduced. His epic shout of "FAAAAAATTTTTTHHHHEEEEEERRRRR!", and everything he says after ("SPEAK PRIEST!") are so over the top and just so damn funny to me. This was the best way to introduce a character like Douglas, who is so unstable and out of touch. In other shows, something like this would be a total shark jump, but here I think it works because it's so nonchalant in making huge changes, which not only works in creating some great jokes, but is actually really good writing; making a huge change by not making a big deal of it.

Roy thinking he's going to die is great too. Especially in the church, when he's waiting for the clock to strike three, Chris O'Dowd plays that exaggerated fear so well, and gets so many laughs out of it. Moss' death calculator is hilarious, and Roy's desperation to literally avoid death is great too. This whole episode is pure black comedy, and it's probably the best episode in the show for darker humour, which it does so well, and is so clever in the way it does it. It completely subverts expectations, and it introduced Matt freakin' Berry into the show, which has to count for something.

7. Aunt Irma Visits

I find it odd that the finale failed to do what had actually already been done in this episode, and done so well. I had been watching the show up to that point, and really been loving it, but when this episode came along the show really became a favourite of mine. The idea itself was so absurd, but the show pulled it off splendidly. I remember finishing it and thinking "yeah, this is the best episode". Obviously, it got topped as the show went on, but it's still my favourite from the first season, which was already damn strong up to this point.

The jokes here are really something great. Aunt Irma visiting Jen, the string of analogies, the meeting at the beginning, Moss in therapy, the big girl's night out ("How big are the girls?"),the newscasts of geeks running wild, Richmond "not being his usual cheery self at all", everything here was just hilarious.  The show up to that point had me cracking up regularly anyway, but this episode raised the bar like nobody's business.

As I said, this episode also might have been one of the reasons the finale disappointed me as much as it did. The idea of two of the characters being harassed online was done so much better here. I think it's because the finale went a little too over the top, and then just abruptly ended without resolving anything, where as this episode has things inflate, and then the characters deciding that they don't care. The show isn't one for realism anyway, but I felt that that was a much better conclusion to the one in the finale.

The very end of it deserves mention too. First time I watched it, I actually kind of worried that the ending of this episode was going to become a huge thing, and would add unnecessary drama into what was, at that point, a  light silly fun comedy. They did the smart thing though, and made it a noodle incident. Thank god they did, because things really only went uphill from here.

Though I do find it odd that they put "To Be Continued" at the end. Maybe there were plans to make that a plotline in season two?

6. The Work Outing

I've often seen this listed as the show's best episode, and that's a hard claim to disagree with. Aunt Irma Visits was such a good way to end season one, so I have to admit that I didn't know if season two could follow it up well. Lo and behold, it surpassed it entirely.

This episode spawned so many moments that would become downright legendary. Especially the scene in the disabled bathroom. Hot damn, that scene. As I said before, Roy's plots generally involve him getting into impossibly awkward scenarios, and while this episode wasn't the first to put Roy into an uncomfortable situation, it's safe to say that none of the ones before went this far. And it works. Both scenes with the lift going into the van are just hilariously hard to watch. Actually, all of Roy's stuff is wonderfully awkward. I can't really explain it any better than that. It's cringe comedy at it's very best, in my opinion.

And then there's the magical spectacle that is "Gay! A Gay Musical". Every single song from this episode is pure gold. Not only do they provide some fantastically quotable lines, but they're all wonderfully catchy. This entire sequence is one of the funniest parts of the episode. Moss in audience participation is the cherry on the cake. Speaking of Moss, Moss as a bartender is so fantastically random, that you have to love it. It's one of the best episodes that addresses the relationship between Roy and Moss, and Jen. They aren't like anyone she's known before, and so a night out with them turns into something completely unexpected and really weird.

If I was a tad worried about The I.T. losing some of it's mojo in the second season, The Work Outing put those fears to rest and provided one of the series' best episodes in the process.

And tomorrow, the grand finale! See you then!