Ten comedies worth watching, no matter what EW says

August 28th, 2008 at 02:02pm Will Pfeifer

Off the top of my head, here are some comedies of the last 25 years that Entertainment Weekly forgot:

RAISING ARIZONA — The Coen Brothers second feature is one of their funniest, with perfectly over-the-top performances by Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter (and the rest of the cast) and an endless series of classic lines, scenes and character moments.

BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN — I don’t think I’ve laughed as loud or long at a movie in the last quarter century. Maybe ever. I wasn’t always proud of myself for laughing, but I laughed anyway.

GROUNDHOG DAY — A truly great (and even profound) comedy starring Bill Murray as a nasty weatherman forced to live a single day over and over (and over and over) until he gets it right. Trivia note: I read somewhere that screenwriter Danny Rubin considered Murray to have spent the equivalent of 10,000 years living Feb. 2.

RUSHMORE – Bill Murray’s other great movie of the 1990s was this Wes Anderson comic-drama about a student (Jason Schwartzman) desperate for greatness. One of my all-time favorites. Two of Anderson’s other movies — ROYAL TENENBAUMS and THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU — are great too, but they’re more drama than comedy.

GROSSE POINTE BLANK — Forget HIGH FIDELITY or SAY ANYTHING, this is John Cusack’s best movie, a razor sharp action comedy about a hitman forced to grow up a bit when he attends his high school reunion. Bonus points for including Dan Aykroyd’s best work in years.

IDIOCRACY – It barely got released, even on DVD, but this dark satire from Mike Judge is smart and funny. In fact, it might be too smart to be too funny — parts of it seem to have already come true.

BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD DO AMERICA — Speaking of Mike Judge, where’s the love for his big screen take on his infamous teen twosome? It wasn’t SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER AND UNCUT (few movies are), but it was still funny.

ELECTION — Matthew Broderick plays a gone-to-seed version of Ferris Bueller battling teen-queen Reese Witherspoon (in one of her best performances). Very smart satire of politics, high school and otherwise.

SWINGERS — Let me get this straight: EW includes the lesser Vince Vaughn comedies OLD SCHOOL and WEDDING CRASHERS, but omits the slacker classic that made him a star. Idiots.

WAG THE DOG — One of the best political satires in decades, this look at a war sparked to distract from a scandal was smart, funny and featured one of Dustin Hoffman’s best performances (aping legendary producer Robert Evans). Too bad it bombed at the box office.

OK, now you tell me — what did I forget?

Entry Filed under: Lists, Comedy, Classic movies