Day 3 — 9 Comedies to Watch During Your New Year Break
We have a nine-day break at the end of this year, so my best gift for you is my nine favorite comedy movies. I tried to choose from a variety of styles and types, so if you find one that you really like, you might also want to check out my personal recommendations of “more like this.” I hope you all have a cheerful and warm holiday.
Note: the movies are NOT ordered by ranking.
1.Midnight in Paris (2011), directed by Woody Allen
A light comedy staged in the beautiful city of Paris in France explores themes of nostalgia and modernism. I really enjoyed the scenes of Paris and Woody Allen’s sense of humor. The takeaways are also refreshing and deep, especially to a 16-year-old, and they are different when I rewatched it again a few years later, so I’m sure most of you will like it too.
More like this: Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Match Point, Annie Hall, Manhattan
2. Burn After Reading (2008), directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
The Coen brothers are famous for their black comedies. This movie was my entry into this genre. The story centers around a disk that contains mysterious information from a CIA agent, and many unrelated people are trying to steal it, sell it or do something with it for whatever reason. To be honest, I decided to watch it mainly because of the cast: Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand and George Clooney. However, the movie turned out to be super hilarious… and very dark indeed. I was so into the Coen brothers’ other works because of this movie. I think this is the best film of theirs that can hook you into their works.
More like this: A Serious Man, In Bruges, Pulp Fiction
3. Singin’ in the Rain (1952), directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly
In IMDB’s top 100 list and ranked 5th in AFI’s top 100 list. I absolutely LOVE this movie. This movie just lifts you up! Are you a Gene Kelly person or Donald O’Conner person? I’m for sure the latter. He is so adorable. And did you know that Donald O’Conner stayed in the hospital for three days after he did his act in “Make ’Em Laugh?”
More like this: An American in Paris
4. Click (2006), directed by Frank Coraci
This is an absolute classic. So cliche, but classic. I’m not even going to pretend that it is a good movie or anything, but you should watch it if you want to learn more about the American culture. It is one of those movies like Forrest Gump, which every American has watched, whether they liked it or not. And I did like it. I remember my tears pouring like the water of the Niagara Falls. You are properly thinking, “Wait, isn’t this supposed to be a comedy?” Well, have you heard of the term “tears and laughter”?
More like this: Groundhog Day
5. Wreck-It Ralph (2012), directed by Rich Moore
This is probably one of the most overlooked Disney movies. Characters in arcade games coming alive after the arcade closes? Just the idea itself is already so attractive! It makes you laugh, a lot. The characters are so warm and sweet. Expect there to be tons of moments when you would be like “aw…”
More like this: Monster University, Ratatouille
6. Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), directed by Sharon Maguire
Rom-com alert! Normally, I’m not a fan of rom-coms because of cliches and no-brainer storylines. Yet this managed to be an exception. I’m not saying it’s not a cliche or that it has a deep plot. It still has the standard two perfect guys falling in love with the most ordinary girl plot, and some unnecessary physical chasing. However, if rom-coms are like baked potato chips in the snack domain, the Bridget Jones’ series are the barbecue flavor in the least (it’s not my favorite flavor but I assume it’s the most popular one.) Did I just say series? Yes, there are three movies in total. I personally would recommend the “more like this” below than the series though.
More like this: Love Actually, The Proposal, 500 Days of Summer
7. Meet the Parents (2000), directed by Jay Roach
This is no doubt my favorite American no-brainer comedy. I mean it to be a compliment to say it’s a ‘no-brainer’. The story goes that male nurse Greg Focker meets his future parent-in-law before proposing to his girlfriend, but her father (Robert De Niro) is just every date’s worst nightmare.
You can’t help it that Robert De Niro just shines, but all the actors are really talented comedians, so they put together a really really good show.
More like this: 21 Jump Street
8. Hot Fuzz (2007), directed by Edgar Wright
It is a must-watch Edgar Wright movie. Edgar Wright is known for his fast-paced shots, dramatic dolly zooms and unique editing style, which together forms a very unique comedic style. And of course, you have Simon Pegg, who had a long history of working together with Edgar Wright. He is great. A warning though, the movie does contain some gore. I don’t like blood, so I especially dislike movies that have gore that serves no purpose. But I’d say that the gore in the film adds to the comedy. Overall, an absolute 5-star comedy.
More like this: Rush Hour
9. Coming to America (1988), John Landis
Recently we’ve got a lot of movies that explore the theme of reconciliation between discordant groups, especially between racial groups such as Green Book, a very recent film, and Driving Miss Daisy. It is almost as if by putting a white person and a black person together in a film, then the film has to be about racism. Well, ironically, one of the reasons why I like Coming to America is that you can have a really funny story that have characters which makes sense for them to be coming from those racial backgrounds. An innocent and pampered prince from a fictional wealthy African nation wants to find his true love in the free land of the Americas. What an interesting story! Who doesn’t want to watch this movie just because of it?
More like this: Driving Miss Daisy
If you have exhausted the list above, here is a few other less christmasy but really well made comedies for you film buffs out there: Office space, the Apartment, the King of Comedy.
Now go out and prepare some popcorns. Enjoy :)
This article is part of the HENNGE Advent Calendar 2019. An Advent calendar is a special calendar used for counting down the days till Christmas. HENNGE Advent Calendar 2019 presents one article by one HENNGE member per day for 25 days until Christmas, 2019.
