Comedy is Dead

[GhostPoet]

So, yesterday I got home from work and saw my wife on the treadmil watching Back To The Future part I. I only glanced at the movie...and somehow ended up watching a good half hour of it, enjoying every second.

Then it got me to thinking. What happened to great comedies? Nowadays, it's pretty much the same thing. Recycled sex jokes to appeal to the college crowd or movies which claim to be comedies are turn out to be nothing but stale rehashes or sad attempts at humor. Good ones are few and far between.

What happened to a GOOD comedy? Where are the Back to the Futures (while it is an adventure, it's also a comedy) or where are our Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, or where are our Monty Python and the Holy Grail? Or The Princess Brides or The Griswold Vacation films?

It made me wonder...maybe it's not merely the lack of good writing...but good comedian actors that can do even a medicore script justice. We are lacking the Chevy Chases, the Steve Martins (well, he IS trying to make a comeback), etc...

Now, to be fair...there are some great comedians out there. Some that is really on top of the rest would be Ben Stiller and Will Ferril, both of which have done some GREAT films (personally I love Elf and Meet The Parents)

It just seems like comedy for the MOST part is stale...relying on the same "shock" or jokes to appeal....Anyway, don't mean to go emo on you all. Just my thoughts.

 

[Speedball]

You're right.
The comedy genre is dead.

 

[L0ngsh0t]

as long as kevin smith is around

and as long as vince vaughn, will ferrell, stiller, the wilsons, and Wes Anderson are around I think we will be fine

 

[ampersand]

Go watch Little Miss Sunshine... comedy is not dead.

 

[GhostPoet]

Go watch Little Miss Sunshine... comedy is not dead.

Funny you mention that. I was debating Netflixing it.....still not sure.

Is it more of a dry comedy?

 

[ampersand]

Funny you mention that. I was debating Netflixing it.....still not sure.

Is it more of a dry comedy?

I don't really know how to describe it. I guess you could say it's dry.

It's really just a great movie, not just a great comedy.

 

[Reek]

Little Miss Sunshine is more of a 'darker' comedy...much like Garden State...if that movie didnt make you laugh, your crazy...good movie as well.

 

[Max J Power]

Funny you mention that. I was debating Netflixing it.....still not sure.

Is it more of a dry comedy?

Yeah, it's pretty dry, kind of dark, and very funny.

 

[WeaponZ2]

Go watch Little Miss Sunshine... comedy is not dead.

I second that!

 

[terry78]

People just aren't into dark comedy type stuff. They want the blatant pop culture jokes that fly fast and furious. Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder together, while some of their stuff was shock value and slapstick, could pull of clever dialogue like no other.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

What happened to a GOOD comedy? Where are the Back to the Futures (while it is an adventure, it's also a comedy) or where are our Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, or where are our Monty Python and the Holy Grail? Or The Princess Brides or The Griswold Vacation films?

Funny you mention that as Little Miss Sunshine is very similar to Vacation.

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

we need another blazing saddles

 

[L0ngsh0t]

Little Miss Sunshine is more of a 'darker' comedy...much like Garden State...if that movie didnt make you laugh, your crazy...good movie as well.

I'm not the biggest fan of ether flick LMS, or Garden State

I was a huge Thank You for Smoking Fan, and still feel that is the better of the low budget satires that came out in 06

But Clerks 2, best comedy of the year, fantastic stuff

and Talladega Nights was very solid, no Anchorman or Old School, but still I think Comedy is fine, Wes Anderson makes excellent comedic films, Royal Tennenbaums, and Life Aquatic

comedy is far from dead

 

[The Amazing Lee]

Comedy isn't dead...there just seem to be more movies about which are made easily and target audiences which are going to see it to make EASY money. They aren't bothered about making a good film. They just know it's easy to target people with comedy films because people say "Hey, this looks goofy and funny, let's go and see it because I want a laugh."

Well...they may get a few kicks but overall the comedy isn't funny, the story is s**t and predictable and it's just comedy for comedies sake.

The best comedy films are ones which do not focus on the comedy as much. They make a good story and let t he comedy flow out of that.

Most of the films that you are talking about make a film about one continueing joke and altohugh that has made some good films in the past, most of t he time, films which focus on laughs (like Epic movie) DO NOT MAKE GOOD FILMS.

That's me over and out with my little bit of knowledge for the day.

 

[DACrowe]

Since when has MOnty Python or the Vacation movies been high brow?

It all depends where you look. This year we had Thank You For Smoking, Little Miss Sunshine, The Devil Wears Prada, A Prarie Home Companion, Stranger than Fiction, arguably The Matador (depending where you lived when it was released) and at the same time I rather enjoyed Ricky Bobby.

Sometimes it is good to have your Animal Houses too though, y'know, right?

 

[Reek]

We had our 'Animal Houses', see Old School, American Pie, Van Wilder...

Thank you for Smoking is utterly hilarious. the matador is funny...talladega nights, Nacho Libre and Napoleon Dynamite were both funny to me...and dont forget the Blades of Fury movie coming out in march i think...looks hilarious...oh yea benchwarmers was funny....GRANDMAS BOY IS HILARIOUS.

'im thinking about getting metal legs, its a risky operation but its worth it'...

 

[Day in the Life]

Go watch Little Miss Sunshine... comedy is not dead.

That movie is so overrated. I consider that movie more of a tragedy than a comedy.

 

[Mike059jig]

Kind of........but they are still some funny movies out.....last movie that made me laugh so hard was Austin Powers 2...When Fat bastard was introduced....i must of watch that scene a million time

 

[BeserkerHilf]

We had our 'Animal Houses', see Old School, American Pie, Van Wilder...

Thank you for Smoking is utterly hilarious. the matador is funny...talladega nights, Nacho Libre and Napoleon Dynamite were both funny to me...and dont forget the Blades of Fury movie coming out in march i think...looks hilarious...oh yea benchwarmers was funny....GRANDMAS BOY IS HILARIOUS.

'im thinking about getting metal legs, its a risky operation but its worth it'...

Napoleon Dynamite? Nacho Libre? BENCHWARMERS?

you deserve to die.


Libre still infuriates me some seven months later. It had an amazing trailer, and I was the last to remain in the theater because I refuse to walk out of a movie.

 

[Day in the Life]

Comedy is dead. Just face it. Every single "comedy" release today turns out to be crap. "Epic Movie", "Beerfest", etc...wtf?

 

[BeserkerHilf]

beerfest, while not the greatest movie, was pretty damn funny.


epic movie however makes me want to kill someone

 

[L0ngsh0t]

beerfest, while not the greatest movie, was pretty damn funny.


epic movie however makes me want to kill someone

Beerfest rules, I am a big Broken Lizard fan

 

[Rez]

This past year had some of the best comedies in a long time. You are insane if you really think comedy is dead.

Here's a list off the top of my head of films that were hilarious in one way or another:

Thank You For Smoking
Borat
A Prairie Home Companion
Crank
Little Miss Sunshine
Slither
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Clerks II
Snakes On A Plane


And there are plenty of others.

Also, look at some of the talent and films we've had in the past few years... Wes Anderson and things like The Life Aquatic.. The Cohen Brothers... Anchorman.... Fight Club... comedy is not at all dead.

 

[BeserkerHilf]

i'm pretty sure crank is not comedy.

 

[Rez]

Then I'm pretty sure you haven't seen it.

I laughed in it more than almost any other movie on my list, save maybe for Borat.