Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Top 20 Comedies of the Aughts (Part 2)

I started the week with Part 1 of my Top 20 Comedies of the Aughts. You saw 11-20 but you were really waiting for the Top 10. Hear it comes.

Tor's Top Ten Comedies of the 2000s

10. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
- Lion face! Lemon face! The return of Suzanne! Some Star Wars people! Kevin Smith gave us what was supposed to be the end of Jay and Silent Bob (it's cool, Clerks 2). If I can have the life of Kevin Smith, minus the comic books and graphic public speaking about sex with my wife, I will be a very happy man.

9. Wedding Crashers - Christopher Walken notices the ropes on a tethered Vince Vaughn and makes a face that put this movie in this position on the list. Sure, Rachel McAdams became one of my favorite famous people and Isla Fisher bought her forgiveness for "Confessions of a Shopaholic." Oh, and Vince Vaughn is fantastic in the football game. Did you know he can make it rain? But it will always be Walken.

8. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Everyone remembers the Dracula musical but what about the killing the pig part? Or Jack McBrayer punishing himself for sex? Or Paul Rudd being Paul Rudd? Or the fake cop show scenes? Veronica Mars needs to make more movies.

7. Step Brothers - "Your voice is like a combination of Fergie and Jesus." And Richard Jenkins wanting to grow up to be a dinosaur. All that needs to be said.

6. Superbad - Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg essentially wrote this when they were 13. When I was 13, I would have written a script that could be described using the title. I could also watch Michael Cera sing "These Eyes" all the way through instead of just a snippet. Make that happen. Why isn't Michael Cera on Glee? Oh right, because he's super famous.

5. Knocked Up - As much as I dislike the Heigl, this movie is beautiful. Charlyne Yi wondering if the pregnant lady gets mad at the baby for taking her food is brilliant. Also, if it weren't for this movie, we wouldn't have Jenna Elfman's new CBS comedy and where would we be then? Same place? Probably.

4. Elf - Did the fact that it's the holidays put this higher on the list? No. This movie is impossible to watch without smiling. It's joy in a DVD. Now, if only Jon Favreau would take his major successes and write a movie about a human-sized elf that wears a suit of armor and flies from Vegas hotel room to Vegas hotel room making it with any woman he finds, I'd be satisfied.

3. 40 Year Old Virgin - Could there be a tie for second? Every time I say something stupid in an improv scene, I think to myself, "bag of sand! c'mon, man." Then I smile and get ready to make another stupid move. I feel like this list needs more Paul Rudd. One more thing - platform gogo boots with dead fish floating in the heels.

2. Old School - Earmuffs! Going streaking! Ribbon gymnastics! This movie gets lost in the Apatow/McKay comedies that followed. People remember Old School but they don't remember how great it is. And if I told you one of the three main guys would be making AT&T commercials instead of movies in 5 years, would you have chosen Luke Wilson? Of course you would have.

1. Anchorman - Personally, there should be no other movies on this list. There should only be one comedy movie that comes out of the 2000s and all others should be destroyed and forgotten. Anchorman is the perfect comedy. It has a perfect script. There is not a wasted line. Everything is funny and continues to be funny on every watch. I could never make something like Anchorman but I will strive to do so for the rest of my comedy days. I even love the oddly thrown together second Anchorman movie comprised of footage that didn't make it into the final cut. (There was another plot with robbers!) Don't get me started on the dinosaur PSA. I've seen this movie more than any movie ever made and it's still not enough. I'm going to watch it right now and you should, too. Stop reading.

1 comment:

Ash Louis said...

I have to agree with Anchorman. That really is the only movie that matters, I'd have put superbad up much closer to it though.