10 Best Comedies

Here I've compiled a list of what I feel are the ten best comedies of the past three years or so.In these tough times we all need to laugh more and lighten up, and I've got some recommendations that will hopefully do just that. To me, comedy is the genre that is doing the best right now on many levels. It is doing good in the box office, it has spawned some great original talent such as Seth Rogen, Judd Apatow, Steve Carrell, Jonah Hill,among others, and it is one genre that is not re-making itself like crazy! Cough,Horror,Cough! Excuse me.

So we'll start from 10 to 1. 1 being my favorite. 

10. Wedding Crashers

This movie made #10 party because I've seen it so much. But other than that I recommend this one. Vince Vaughn And Owen Wilson are very funny and Christopher Walkin has proved time and time again that he can be dramatic but he still has a funny bone. This is a good date comedy. It's not too heavy into the sexual or perverse like so many modern comedies are, but it's not for the kids either. 

9. Knocked Up

This was the first leading role for the now well known and prolific Seth Rogen. (The guy was involved with like 6 projects last year and even more this year) This movie is about a stoner-slacker who has a one night stand and gets the girl pregnant and is thrusted into adulthood and fatherhood pretty much overnight. While it is very funny, it also handles the situation very realistically and seriously. Like most movies that Seth Rogen has co-written, it is decorated with good dialogue and behind the pot, sex and poop jokes.... a message!

8. Burn After Reading

Some of you may feel this is the odd man out on my list. I very much see this movie as a comedy. I think you have too. Many people didn't like Burn After Reading and I think that's because they viewed it as a serious movie. It's not a balls out in your face slapstick comedy at all, but the characters and even the situation is comedic. I did feel that the Coen Brother's "The Big Lebowski" was a funnier movie but maybe that's because the comedy is dryer in "Burn After Reading". I guess it's one of those movie you either like or you don't. I liked this one.

7. Pineapple Express

I don't know about you but I love a good stoner comedy. Pineapple Express seems like if you took a 80's Chuck Norris or Arnold Schwarzenegger action film and Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke and made then have sex. Pineapple Express would be it's love child. Well written dialogue, stoner logic, and hilarious gangsters in this Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen Comedy. James Franco does a great job as a stoned drug dealer as Seth Rogen plays the straight man. This movie is in love with weed and being stoned but is clever enough to make it an important and integral part of the overall plot. 

6. Step Brothers

I know. You either love or hate Will Ferrel. I like him. I think he is what he is and he knows what he is. If you are looking for a message or something touching or logical even... look the other way. This movie is silly and over the top at times and just like Ferrel, it's well aware of that. With that said, I think this is Will Ferrel's best! He and John C. Reilly together are comedic gold. Just put a camera on those two and I promise you'll have something. If you are willing to throw everything else aside and just be up for a good laugh, I think you'll like this one.

5. Zack & Miri Make A Porno

This is not my favorite Kevin Smith movie, but it is one of my favorite this year. Kevin Smith has always been a brilliant writer and this movie is no exception. It is ruthlessly dirty and filthy but also tells a love story in a way no one but Smith could. There is no Jay and Silent Bob but Jason Mewes (Jay) is in this movie and he is as hilarious as ever. If you like Kevin Smith, don't miss this one!

4. Superbad

I LOVE this movie! This is my favorite teen, coming of age, film. The briliantlly written dialogue is filled with sex and the perverse, just like any teenager who just wants to score. Now don't lump this movie in a pile with the American Pie or John Hughes films. This movie is dirtier and more realistic than those films ever tried to be. Written by Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow based on real situations that happened to them when they were teenagers, it makes you miss the days when sex was the only concern we had and reminds us of the trouble we were willing to go through just to get a piece. I'll end this as I started it...I LOVE this Movie!

3. Role Models

We haven't seen Sean William Scott in a while. But he's back in Role Models and he reminds us why we liked him in the first place. Alongside Paul Rudd, whom I've always been a fan of. No one plays a sarcastic A-hole quite as good as Paul Rudd. After they break the law, these two are forced to participate in a big brother program or they go to jail. So they become Role Models. The kids they are matched up with are great as well! The whole cast is funny and this movie is fun all the way around. I didn't expect this movie to be as good and as funny as it was!

2. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

This is that classic and universal story of heartache and moving on. The title says it all! This movie was marketed and appears to be like one of those movies we've seen a million times. But when you see it you find that it is much more. Every character is great in this movie! Comedian Russel Brand shines as a arrogant rock star who just kind of lives around this whole situation that is taking place around him. This movie is simple. Girl dumps guy. Guy wants Girl back. Girl says no. Guy meets another girl. Old girl wants guy back. Girl too late and guy moves on. While the plot is simple, what's between the lines here is great. This movie is not trying to be complicated. It's meant to tell a simple story about being dumped and moving on. It makes us laugh at someone else's expense but then makes us root for that guy. Possibly because at one time or another, we have all been that guy.

1. Tropic Thunder

Here we are at #1! Tropic Thunder is the best comedy that I have seen in the past few years! Ben Stiller is not a new face on the scene, he has been around for a while. In Tropic Thunder, he lets us know that he is not going anywhere anytime soon! Written by Stiller, tropic Thunder is about actors who are shooting a war movie but through events, are placed in real enemy territory but they still think they are just shooting a movie. The most memorable performances in this movie may belong to Robert Downey Jr., who plays a black man. And Tom Cruise who gives a terrific performance with a character far different from anything he has ever done before. This movie is extremely well written with well rounded characters. Like it was written to bring the most out of every actor who was playing the character. It seems to me like the script was written with care and detail. Then once you add the improve talent of Stiller, Downey Jr., and Jack Black ; Then you have something special. It has Ben Stiller's style all over it and I feel he is evolving as a writer. I just hope he never goes soft on us and matures! But after Tropic Thunder, I don't think I have to worry about that!