Best Comedy Tournament: Round 1 - Group B

[mae]

For the Round 1 polls, please vote for up to six titles to move on to the next round. You can vote for less, but please make sure you are not voting for more before clicking that Vote button. The poll will be open for one week. The top six titles will be moving on to Round 2.

Stripes (1981)

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Bringing Up Baby (1938)

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Last Action Hero (1993)

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After Hours (1985)

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Knocked Up (2007)

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The Owl and the Pussycat (1970)

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Office Space (1999)

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Another Year (2010)

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Borat (2006)

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Scary Movie (2000)

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[mae]

My six here are Bringing Up Baby, After Hours, Knocked Up, Office Space, Another Year, and Borat (that trailer always kills me). And what the hell, only two votes so far for Bringing Up Baby, the funniest movie ever made? You guys must be kidding.

[Mattrick]

At least Another Year got in. Still, it's a movie I wish more people would watch. It's incredible.

After Hours/Knocked Up/Another Year/Office Space/Borat

[mae]

Painful seeing Scary Movie ahead of Bringing Up Baby.

[skyofcrack]

I didn't care for Office Space.

[Tommy]

Painful seeing Scary Movie ahead of Bringing Up Baby.

I agree and Scary Movie was my nomination! Whatever the outcome of this tournament, Bringing Up Baby will always be the best comedy for me

[Heather19]

I have Bringing Up Baby at home, so I'll wait to vote till I watch that one.

[mae]

I have Bringing Up Baby at home, so I'll wait to vote till I watch that one.

[fernandito]

Scary Movie 1 was the decent one of that franchise. The rest were crap.

[Iwritecode]

I didn't care for Office Space.

I think Office Space really appeals to people like me that actually work in IT. I can see some of my friends and former co-workers in the characters.

One time I actually got the “PC Load Letter” error when I tried to print something. When I quoted the line from the movie the guy sitting next to the printer started cracking up.

[skyofcrack]

If you have work in IT for this film to hit on all cylinders then it's not that great.

I also recently saw Napoleon Dynamite for the first time and hated it. Some comedy just works for some and not for others.

[Iwritecode]

If you have work in IT for this film to hit on all cylinders then it's not that great.

I also recently saw Napoleon Dynamite for the first time and hated it. Some comedy just works for some and not for others.

Napoleon Dynamite is one of those movies you have to watch a few times. I know a lot of people that hated it the first time they saw it (myself included).

[Theli]

Went for Office Space and last Action Hero, which isn't nearly as funny as Office Space, but is just as good of a film if not better.

[Girlystevedave]

If you have work in IT for this film to hit on all cylinders then it's not that great.

I also recently saw Napoleon Dynamite for the first time and hated it. Some comedy just works for some and not for others.

Napoleon Dynamite is one of those movies you have to watch a few times. I know a lot of people that hated it the first time they saw it (myself included).

I loved Napoleon Dynamite the first time I saw it. I remember just crying in the theater while a lot of people were just silent. But, I can really see why someone wouldn't like it. It takes a certain sense of humor, I think.

[mae]

Pretty surprising to see Stripes in second place. Didn't think it was very popular, at least as compared to some other Bill Murray comedies.

[RUBE]

If you have work in IT for this film to hit on all cylinders then it's not that great.

I also recently saw Napoleon Dynamite for the first time and hated it. Some comedy just works for some and not for others.

You do not have to work in IT to appreciate Office Space. I would think anyone with annoying jerks for bosses would appreciate it and doesn't that include most people.

As for Napoleon, it is definitely an acquired taste. I had to watch it twice before I really found it funny.

[mae]

Napoleon Dynamite is coming up for a vote in tomorrow's polls.

[pathoftheturtle]

I think Office Space really appeals to people like me that actually work in IT. I can see some of my friends and former co-workers in the characters.

I do, too. One character, anyway --

[pathoftheturtle]

I have Bringing Up Baby at home, so I'll wait to vote till I watch that one.

[divemaster]

I could only vote for three.

Office Space was the only "lock" for me in this round. I don't work in IT, but I thought it extremely funny. (Why would you have to work in IT to find this film funny?).

Borat is a strange case. Parts of the movie actively pissed me off. Some of his scenarios were mean-spritied and unfair to the butt of the jokes. However, there are parts of Borat that had me laughing so hard I could not breathe. Gut busting, tears running down my face, laughter. Very few films have done that for me. So, even given my stated reservations, it certainly gets my vote.

I gave Last Action Hero some love also. It was so maligned when it came out and when I eventually got around to watching it, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

I did not vote for Stripes. Stripes was THE MOVIE when it came out. The Bill Murray / SNL demographic was very strong. All my friends thought it was super-great. However, I didn't actually watch it until after I had joined the Army, and, well, it rubbed me completely the wrong way. I know I shouldn't take a stupid comedy so close to heart, but I felt like some of the "making fun" was mean-spirited or not respectful of the choice to serve. I probably just watched it at the wrong time in my life. Certainly I can appreciate military-based comedies (M*A*S*H is my favorite TV show of all time).

I've seen Bringing Up Baby and I recall it as being a bit too screwball for my tastes. I've seen a few of the 1930s - 1940s screwball comedies, and none really do it for me. Just not my genre. I watched it a long time ago and there is a possibility I would appreciate it more nowdays.

[pathoftheturtle]

I've seen a few of the 1930s - 1940s screwball comedies, and none really do it for me. Just not my genre.

That's fine, but for Last Action Hero to advance toward our comedy title instead is just mind boggling.

[needfulthings]

HOW CAN A SCREWBALL COMEDY BE TO SCREWBALL?

[divemaster]

Well, if you don't like screwball comedies much...

It's a genre thing. Even the later screwballs don't do it for me. Mad Mad World was barely passable and The Great Race was abysmal. Just my opinion.

I've seen a few of the 1930s - 1940s screwball comedies, and none really do it for me. Just not my genre.

That's fine, but for Last Action Hero to advance toward our comedy title instead is just mind boggling.

Or Scary Movie, or Knocked Up, or... (insert any film of your choice). Not all that mind-boggling that some movies or movie types click with some but not others. I love The Three Stooges but find most Laurel and Hardy tedious. Go figure.

[mae]

But there's still an overall feel for what constitutes a classic. BUB is definitely one while LAH is not so much.

[pathoftheturtle]

I mean, also, my point fwiw is just about what is distinctive comedy. Scary Movie and Knocked Up are not classic and never will be, plus I'd also say that neither has a great deal of either quality or quality of laughs, (although the latter is purely opinion; no one who doesn't get a joke can ever say with certainty that there is just no joke there to get) however, they each are comedies of different sub-genres, indisputably. (i.e. parody and postmodern romcom) The sub-genre of Last Action Hero is self-referential, self-deprecating action-genre metafiction. I'm not saying that's not comedy. It is. It's just not singularly within the bounds of the larger category as clearly as screwball is, another issue quite beside the questions of which examples in the different subgenres are funniest, best-made, most timeless, and so on.