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All in Comedy
This week, we watch the Australian stop-motion film that is a follow up to the Oscar winning animated short, Harvey Krumpet. Mary is a young girl from Melbourne who is lonely and unloved. Max is a middle-aged man from New York who is overweight and has Aspergers. The two write to each other and become friends, in what is one of the most unique movies on this list. Mary and Max (2009), directed by Adam Elliot.
This week, we watch the classic romantic comedy that walked away with the top 5 Oscars for 1934, one of only three films in history to do the same. The oldest movie we've watched so far on our mission, this film has aged beautifully, as the comedy remains laugh out loud funny for the entire runtime, and the acting between the two leads is very believable and fun to watch. It Happened One Night (1934), directed by Frank Capra.
This week, we watch the classic Monty Python comedy that has been banned in multiple countries and denounced by religious groups all over the world. The film itself doesn't do very much to insult religion, but it does a lot to get you rolling on the floor, as the comedy group showcases their trademark silliness in some of the funniest scenes ever put to film. Life of Brian (1979), directed by Terry Jones.
This week, we watch the amazingly prophetic film that, while being created over 40 years ago, depicts the current day network news situation almost exactly. This movie predicted reality television shows over a decade before they aired, and also satirized news stations selling credibility for ratings before that reality has come to pass. Network, directed by Sidney Lumet.
This week, we watch the animated comedy that tells the tale of a small town bunny moving to Zootopia, a city where all animals can live together without stepping on each other. Also following in Disney tradition, this film introduces a great pop song that you will grow to hate as it plays over and over again in your head. Zootopia, directed by Bryon Howard and Rich Moore.
This week, we watch the block-busting film that paved the way for all buddy movies that came after it. Paul Newman and Robert Redford are a perfect team, as they rob and steal their way across the mid-west. Once a super-posse is assembled to take them down, they attempt an escape to South America. Comedy ensues. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), directed by George Roy Hill.
This week, we watch the rare Stephen King adaptation that omits anything supernatural and simply focuses on the characters. Rare also in that it's a film adaptation of one of his books and it isn't terrible. Four kids take a two day trip down the railroad track in search of the body of a dead classmate, and stellar child acting ensues.Stand By Me (1986), directed by Rob Reiner.
This week, we watch the best picture winner that also saw Hilary Swank in win the first Oscar for an actor portraying a boxer. This film follows a determined boxer's rise to the top, as a grizzled old boxing coach learns to respect female boxers, and Morgan Freeman hangs out and does a nice voiceover. This is one to watch before listening. Million Dollar Baby (2004), directed by Clint Eastwood.
This week, we watch the film that took the country of Argentina by storm, smashing all of the box-office records, and earning a Best Foreign Picture nomination in the 2015 Oscars. Comprised of six stories that, according to the director, are "linked by violence, and nothing else", this film lets its characters go far beyond typical socially accepted behavior, and explore what might result if people acted solely on their instincts. Wild Tales (2014), directed by Damian Szifron.
This week, we watch the classic fairy tale where Wesley and Buttercup set out on adventure against two warring kingdoms for true love. Pirates, death machines, murder, revenge, monsters...all in a light hearted tone, and surrounded with universal comedy. The Princess Bride (1987), directed by Rob Reiner.
This week, we watch the film that brings back dinosaurs in the groundbreaking blockbuster that combines horror, drama, comedy, action, adventure, sci-fi...really, this movie does it all. Now with four films in the franchise (Jurassic World is currently the 4th highest grossing movie of all time), the original still towers over the sequels, with special effects that somehow didn't age a day. Jurassic Park, directed by Steven Spielberg.
This week, we watch the best picture winner that is one of the few "romantic comedies" on the top 250. We have a little trouble separating the man from the movie. Annie Hall (1977), directed by Woody Allen.
This week, we watch Ethan Hawk and Julie Delpy fall in love in Vienna. What could be seen as a two hour long conversation, is really a film that sets out to achieve the focused goal of capturing a moment between two people falling in love. Before Sunrise (1995), directed by Richard Linklater.
This week, we watch the the movie that captured a slot in Quentin Tarantino's list of the 20 best films since 1992 - a murder mystery that combines horror and comedy in a way that that leaves you not only guessing at who the killer is, but what tone the movie will take with the next scene. Also, the best jump-kicks in movie history. Memories of Murder (2003), directed by Bong Joon Ho.
This week, we watch Jim Carrey play Truman Burbank, a normal every-day kinda guy that just happens to be the focal point of the worlds biggest reality TV show. In the 90's the story seemed absurd, but nowadays, reality TV is everywhere and this movie almost feels normal. The Truman Show (1998), directed by Peter Weir.
This week, we watch the comic book movie that blew up the box office. The Hard-R, ultra-violent comedy was a passion project that almost didn't get made, which not only restarted Ryan Reynolds career, but also is bound to start an R-rated comic book movie surge. Deadpool (2016), directed by Tim Miller.
This week, we watch the mind-bending, genre-defying film that is at once about a time traveling super-hero who receives his directives from a imaginary man in a scary bunny outfit, while also being a coming of age drama/comedy with one of the best sound tracks in movie history. Donnie Darko (2001), directed by Richard Kelly.
This week, we watch the Best Picture winning character drama - disguised as a sports movie - which not only brought writer/director/star Sylvester Stallone from being homeless and hungry to one of the biggest movie stars in the world to this day, but also invented the sports training montage. Is there a better motivational song than "Gonna Fly Now"? Rocky (1976), directed by John G. Avildsen.
