Where Have All the Comedies Gone? I Need a Dose of the Brit Wit

While working from home today I turned to "Soul Men" on Showtime. Like so many other "comedies" I've seen in the last two to three years, this had the setup and the actors (Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson) for a decent movie. The plot was very similar to "The Blues Brothers"—two men try to revive their motown band "Real Deal" from the 70s. However, it blew chunks.

But "Soul Men" accounts for just one horrible film in a long line of horrible films trying way, way too hard to be humorous. Every single spoof movie since "Scary Movie 2" (i.e., "Epic Movie," "Not Another Teen Movie 1, 2," and God knows how many more) has been more painful to watch than the one before. I'll admit, I haven't seen all of these movies—I'd like to think I have more of a life than that. But the days of Mel Brooks are long gone, and I'm not a huge Brooks fan; but when I watch the shit directors and writers today call "funny," I have to revel in the man's genius.

To give my readers some perspective on what I deem funny, I've compiled my top 10 favorite comedies (for this second), in no particular order and not including stand-up recordings:

• "Half Baked" (Duh.)


• "Life" (Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy make the best duo since Cheech and Chong.)


• "Young Frankenstein" (The horses nay every time Frau Brucher's name is said—come on! And Gene Wilder rocks at any time.)


• "Kingpin" (I still use "Munson" as a verb.)


• "Dumb and Dumber" ("Tell her I'm charming, with a rapist wit.")


• "Clue" (Madeline Kahn as crazy, full-of-unmitigated-rage Mrs. White. Enough said.)


• "Death at a Funeral" (British version. I love Uncle Alfie demanding where his tea is when he never asked for it to begin with.)


• Three Stooges (Obviously not a movie, but I have to include their stuff!)


• "Old School" (It's all-out debauchery and dirty, good times. You can't beat Vince Vaughn as a fast-talking electronics salesman, either.)


• "Drop Dead Gorgeous" (Adam West stars in the opening scene. Seriously.)

The next few movies in my Netflix queue include "Hot Tub Time Machine," which I've heard great things about from several people, the remake of "Get Smart," and then a whole big bunch of British bits—I'm going U.K., and I'm going back in time. The whole series of "Are You Being Served?" "Black Adder," "Keeping Up Appearances," and "Faulty Towers" wait in my queue. I hope the English bloody come through for me, because I am truly jaded on American comedy. ("Step Brothers" had me laughing hysterically, but that sentiment was shared by few.)

One day soon I hope I can write that I laughed consistently throughout two movies within a two-month span. One day...

Until then, I hope "Hot Tub Time Machine" lives up to the hype, and maybe my wish will come true sooner than I thought.