Top 10 comedies that have aged like fine wine, and are waiting for you to discover them.
Introduction
If you are bored with the same modern comedies, like me, then perhaps you should take a look at the distant past and find some gems that are waiting for you to pick them up. I can’t help myself but think that current comedies have become dull by recycling the same cheesy jokes and cliché scenes. There is no way a person hasn’t realized the subtle, but gradual, decline in quality over the years. Simply put, they are lacking in essence. It’s the core element of a movie that you cannot fully describe in words, but is the one thing that makes you laugh and remember the movie for life. Was it the actors? Was it the lines? The setting? The jokes? The combination of all the above?
I can’t say for sure, but what I’m certain about is recalling those oldies like it was yesterday. It was those old-but-gold titles that felt well-done and made me laugh like a dork. Watching movies is a hobby in itself and takes a significant amount of time. So, why would anybody like to waste his time watching mediocrities? If you are a person like me, who likes quirky and dorky comedies with a good level of sarcasm, you can check below my top 10 preferences that you are guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
Here is the top 10 old comedies list:
1. The Naked Gun
I feel this should be the No. 1 on my list, since Leslie Nielsen was one of my favorite actors when it came to comedy movies. Although Leslie passed away in 2010, this doesn’t mean that we cannot enjoy his movies and honor his memory. In The Naked Gun series, Leslie portrayed detective Frank Drebin. He was a person of pure heart and moral character, but, unknowingly, he always ended up messing everything up on his way.
The rest of the cast: Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, Ed Williams, and O. J. Simpson manages to do a great job as well by adding their own clumsiness in the movie, and they never felt that they were less of a protagonist. Put them together, and you are in for a good chuckle, whether alone or with company.
2. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
I do not think I would remember my childhood if it wasn’t for Jim Carrey. There are times when you feel that a movie was made just for the actor, but this guy manages to top even that. Honestly, Jim was so good that when I was a kid, I thought Ace Ventura was a real person that just filmed himself doing his thing.
Ace is a pet detective that specializes in solving cases related to animals only. He understands them, has compassion for them, and will do everything he can to save them and solve the mysterious case. His eccentric character and unorthodox way of doing things are set to keep you engaged and make you laugh in tears.
Simply put, with this title, you get much more than you bargained for. Every minute of it is going to be pure joy.
3. Scary Movie
Scary Movie has in total 5 (five) installments, but I would recommend up to the 4th one. The 5th part didn’t do justice to the series, mainly due to the original creators and cast moving away from it.
The genre of Scary Movie(s) revolves around parodies of other well-known movies at that time, while it maintains a general plot. Titles such as: Scream, The Matrix, The Exorcist, The Ring, Friday the 13th, and many others were spoofed in the series, so the possibility of not understanding any of the references is quite low. The main element that will keep you entertained will be the balanced mixture of comedy, satire, dark humor, hilarious sexy scenes, and of course the portraying of memorable elements from known movies.
4. Dumb and Dumber
This one falls under the screwball comedy category, and it really manages to accomplish its mission. Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) along with his best buddy Harry Dune (Jeff Daniels), begin their trip to Aspen, Colorado to return the lost briefcase to Lloyd’s love-at-the-first-sight Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly). The problem is that the briefcase was supposed to be handed to the kidnappers instead. Seems like a normal plot so far, but how about making those best buddies so dumb that it becomes un-ironically hard to distinguish who is dumber than whom? This is where the movie gets interesting, as the duo manages to make it through all the up and downs by showing superior intelligence and talent when it comes to being dumb.
The movie is delivered very well and the actors manage to fully portray their personas, thus making it a high-quality comedy.
5. Hot shots!
From the same production team as the Naked Gun series, this two-part movie is committed to offering a bang for your time and providing you with plenty of humor. Hot Shots is another spoof film that parodies: Top Gun, The Terminator, Rambo, Star Wars, and many others.
As with the previous ones, you should have no problem catching the references. Topper (Charlie Sheen) is a U.S. Navy pilot with a mission of defeating terrorists and saving people.
6. Austin Powers
Mike Meyers plays Austin Powers, a British spy from the ’60s who also happens to be an irresistible sex symbol due to his mojo (his “sex drive juice”). On the other hand, we have Dr. Evil (also portrayed by Mike Meyers) who is a world-class terrorist that has gone bald from being so… evil. Despite Austin’s attempts, Dr. Evil manages to escape and cryogenically freeze himself. Austin decides to do the same and deal with the evil doctor in the future. After awakening from cryonics, Austin realizes that Dr. Evil stole his “mojo”.
The movie promises to show a great deal of action and adventure by depicting all the spy skills of Austin that are used to defeat Dr. Evil, as well as his seductive powers and the recovery of his mojo.
7. Police Academy
A pretty straightforward movie about citizens wishing to join the police force. The catch here is that the police academy accepts just about anyone due to the severe shortage of police officers. As you can guess, many things can go wrong by recruiting literally random people from the street to take up law enforcement duties.
Multiple unique characters are set to combine their forces to defeat the evil criminals and offer you a pleasant time.
8. Borat
Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen), a journalist from Kazakhstan, has set his mind to outset his journey to the “US and A” to create a video documentary of his interaction with Americans in real life. The bonus part of his journey is to meet the love of his life: Pamela Anderson.
This unusual movie will provide you with a good amount of laughs, as most of the interactions between Borat and the Americans are actually real and unscripted. What’s better than having the honest expressions and frustration of the people that have to deal with Borat?
9. Superhero Movie
As the title suggests, this is a parody that spoofs a movie where you get superpowers by getting bitten by a bug. Yep, Spider-Man.
Rick Riker (Drake Bell) portrays a high-school teenager that gets bullied and humiliated on a daily basis. He lives with his uncle Albert (Leslie Nielsen) and his aunt Lucille (Marion Ross). However, everything seems trivial to him before his secret crush, Jill Johnson (Sara Paxton).
Rick is in for a trip to Superhero-Ville after being bitten by a radioactive dragonfly, and just as in the Spider-Man movie, great powers come with great responsibility. After a lot of determination, he decides to take on the evil Hourglass (Christopher McDonalds) with the support of his best buddy Trey (Kevin Hart).
The plot line indeed follows the original Spider-Man movie, but being a spoof, you can expect a lot of “what?” moments going on that will make you want more.
10. Mean Machine
This is a remake of The Longest Yard (1974) and deals with a former football (soccer) captain of England’s national team, Dany Meehan (Vinnie Jones), who sold out his team but later on was imprisoned for assaulting police officers after being intoxicated due to his expulsion from the team. In prison, nobody really likes him, and now he faces a new dilemma: train the prison guard’s football team or the inmates’ football team for the upcoming match?
This sports comedy maintains a balance between being adequately serious and funny at the same time. It was so good that I started in no time rooting for the inmates’ team without even realizing it.
Which old comedies should we add next?
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