Expert: Barbara L. Baker - 8/4/2006

Question
What are some of the funniest comedy movies in the 20th century? The movies from imdb.com all those movies are old.


What are some of the top urban black movies in our generation?  

Answer
Andrew, I'm discussing the 2nd question first.  It is not really in my area of expertise, but I could give it a shot, if I know what you meant by "our generation"--do you mean people in their teens and twenties (e.g. born after 1980)?  Or some other generation?  You should know that I am a baby boomer, so probably not of your generation.  That is why I ask for clarification.

As for the funniest movies of the 20th century, what's wrong with older movies?  Some of them are truly hilarious, which is why they are on imdb.com, and you shouldn't reject them out of hand (some of my students are really hesitant to watch older films, until they see them).

I could better answer your first question if I know how old you are willing to go in considering a film. Do you only want to know about movies made since 1980?  Or 1990?  Or since 2000?  That would help put some limits on the question.

Keep in mind, though, that comedy is really personal, and what I find funny, you might not.  However, if you don't want to provide me with more information, you might try the American Film Institute website (AFI.com) and check out their top 100 comedy films list (it has more current ones than imdb, I think, as well as older ones).  

Another suggestion is to type in comedy films in a search engine like google, and see what comes up (lots of lists out there for lots of different comedy genres).

Alternatively, if you do respond again with your age range and your comedy general preferences, I could make some suggestions (keeping in mind that I'm someone middle aged).  So, do you prefer what I call "stupid comedy" (lots of slapstick, bathroom or gross humor, sexual situations, etc.), or do you like "comedian comedy" (comedy with well known comics in it; some of those are also pretty stupid). Or maybe you like romantic comedies (some guys do), or perhaps you prefer what is known as dark comedy (comedy noir, or black comedy--I don't mean African-American comedy, but comedy dealing with taboo subjects like death, incest, etc.).  Maybe you are a fan of satirical comedy (although that is much more likely with people my age). Or maybe you like urban black (African-American) comedy, such as "Barbershop."

Let me know if you want me to continue to provide suggestions.