There is a remarkable scene in Martin Scorsese’s
Goodfellas where Joe
Pesci, playing “made man ” Tommy DeVito turns from fun-loving
storyteller to absolute psychotic when Ray Liotta (as Henry Hill) tells him
he’s a funny guy. “Funny how? Funny like a clown? I amuse you?” It’s a
chilling scene, but also incredibly funny, proving that none of us has the
same sense of humor. So to recommend any comedy films seems a
daunting task since one man’s humor is another’s tragedy. Still, I’ve
managed (as always) to come up with four films that always make me
laugh. Granted, my sense of humor is skewed towards the dark side, and
there are films, such as Fererri’s
La Grande Bouffe – in which four
middle-aged men graphically eat themselves to death, that I find
hysterical. But I’m reluctant, for now, to recommend such films, though,
to reduce things to tautology, humor is humor, and to each his own.
Click on the title to read the full review
“Kubrick’s greatest, most perfect satire, and the finest
black comedy ever produced – Dr. Strangelove – has
become such a part of popular film culture that it’s difficult
to believe that anyone even half-way serious about film
doesn’t know the film inside and out….”
“Jacques Tati [was] a fierce original who
made brilliantly funny films in the style of silents, but with
a contemporary sensibility that showed a perceptive and
healthy disdain for progress….”
“DeNiro is the ultimate entertainment geek walking the thin
line between fantasy and reality [telling] us more
about our fascination with fame and celebrity than we
might want to see….”
“[A] genuinely funny satire that
has a wicked, subversive streak underneath its farcical
facade….”