100 best comedy movies - contributors S

Linked title denotes top 100 placing

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‘There’s a lot to be said for making people laugh. Sometimes that’s all they’ve got.’ Almost everything written and directed by Preston Sturges could have made my list. He is far more accessible and enjoyable than his current pedestal suggests. In ‘Sullivan’s Travels’, a filmmaker wants to make a serious film instead of comedies and gets into all manner of scrapes trying to experience misery so he can write from a position of understanding. It’s a perfect blend of riotous set pieces, snappy dialogue and drama. It is cleverly liberal, subtle yet clear in its politics and, most importantly, incredibly funny.’

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There are plenty that could be number one but I chose a favourite movie – 'Dumb & Dumber' – based on how much I quote it. It changed the way American kids talked about Samsonite luggage (not that we ever did before) and ate ketchup. Also, now no one can see sea bass and not think ‘kick his ass’. This movie left an indelible mark on our comedy souls.

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This was super easy for me to do because these are all movies I've seen each a thousand times - like sacred texts.

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‘Dr Strangelove’ is the perfect political satire with astonishing performances from Sellers. A brave film for its time. A brave film for any time. And if anyone doesn't love ‘Annie Hall’ excise them immediately from your life. The romantic comedy that re-wrote the rules. And the second lobster scene is heartbreaking.

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‘The Castle’ is a beautiful, warm, innocent and incredibly funny Australian movie. It tells the story of a family, the Kerrigans, who are to be evicted from their home to make way for a new airport runway. By any standards, their home would be considered an awful place to live: it is cobbled together from bits of junk and tat and is situated directly under the flight path at the end of the existing runway. However, the Kerrigans are incredibly proud of their home – their castle – and so they take on the powers that be with a lawyer who is not remotely qualified to carry out the task. It really is such an uplifting film, devoid of any cynicism whatsoever.

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‘Bedazzled’ is definitely not the god-awful remake starring Liz Hurley. I watched the original when I was a kid and thought Peter Cook was the funniest person on earth. It’s wonderfully silly, surreal and poignant all in turn and I still watch it a couple of times a year.

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‘A Mighty Wind’ is, in my opinion, the greatest comedy film there is. Every single actor gives a blindingly funny performance, the songs are great, the jokes are hilarious and the story is also incredibly touching and sweet in parts. Totally up my street, and by far and away the best Christopher Guest film there is. Even better than ‘This Is Spinal Tap’. Yes, I know that was a controversial statement.

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‘This is Spinal Tap’ is the perfect spoof rock documentary. The fact that the three main British band members happen to be American actors just adds to my admiration for the whole film. However, having compiled this list, I could easily turn it upside down and still be content with my choices.

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‘Crimes and Misdemeanours’ has a lower laugh rate than some of Woody Allen’s others but I think it’s more disturbingly funny than most things I’ve seen. It’s genuinely dark yet never loses its tone.

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Like lots of Chaplin films, ‘M. Hulot’ is a great example of beauty and social commentary collaborating with an almost nihilistic silliness, and neither being depleted in the process. I’m not sure why I’ve picked it as my favourite other than that I stumbled across it at random with my dad (to be fair, we were in a cinema) and, because he’d seen it and loved it when he was a young buck, it feels like a kind of cultural inheritance. It’s essentially a silent film with hardly any story, so the fact that it won an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay must mean that it’s either totally amazing or the writing was pretty shitty in 1955.

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