Black Comedies

After watching Igby Goes Down, a movie about an assholish teenager feuding with his domineering mother and stuffy older brother while trying to find a life more suited to his personality than the priveleged one he was born into, I came to realize how much I loved the subgenre of black comedies – otherwise serious dramas that is interspersed with sardonic humor.

Even though there are only four movies I can think of off the top of my head that I might include as a dark comedy (this; Death to Smoochy; The Good Girl; and maybe Donnie Darko), I feel a special kinship with these kinds of films and want to find more to watch them as well.

Does anyone have any particular gems that they would like to share? It would be much appreciated.

The 1955 version of The Ladykillers is a superb black comedy, wotth tracking down.

Hmm… would the Thin Man movies be considered black comedies? I enjoyed those quite a bit.

Could also try here.

A UK TV series rather than a movie but you should also check out The League of Gentlemen - available on DVD import I am sure.

Films - well what about **Dr Strangelove ** - contains one of my very favourite lines when I scuffle breaks out in the nuclear shelter war room, “Stop! Stop it! You can’t fight in the War Room…”

Ah the irony…

I came in here expecting a thread about Soul Plane and White Chicks.

The off-beat film “Heathers” is one dark comedy you should check out.

Two Danny DeVito movies come to mind: The War of the Roses and Throw Momma from the Train.

Shakes the Clown.

Bobcat Goldthwait plays an alcoholic party clown. Robin Williams is the leader of the questionalby sexual orientationed mimes. Great flick.

No, those are “urban” comedies (even the ones set in the suburbs).

Kind Hearts and Coronets, yes; Bedknobs and Broomsticks, no. The Loved One, yes; The Love God?, no.

Fargo, Female Trouble and much of Quentin Tarantino’s output both as director and writer.

The Bed Sitting Room is finally being released to the public. This 1969 post-apocalypse film - directed by Richard Lester, based on a play by Spike Milligan, starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore - is so black that it makes Dr. Strangelove seem like a Adam Sandler comedy.

You can also check out Cook and Moore’s earlier Bedazzled.

Other good oldies include The Wrong Box, Harold and Maude, Catch-22, Eating Raoul, MASH*, The Ruling Class.

There are hundreds of them. Let’s see if I can find a good listing.

The Black Comedy category at FYE has hundreds listed and it’s a very good listing, sortable by title, director and release date.

Eating Raoul
"It’s amazing what you can do with a cheap piece of meat if you know how to treat it. "

The Ruling Class:
“How do you know you’re God?”
“Simple. When I pray to Him, I find I am talking to myself.”

The Wrong Box
“My father was a missionary. He was eaten by his Bible class.”

Bedazzled (The Peter Cook/Dudley Moore version, not the awful remake)
“Everything I’ve ever told you has been a lie. Including that.”

Really? That’s one film I’ve always wanted to see.

I second the vote for Heathers; perfect black comedy.
My favorite is still The Last Supper going by the criteria you set. If you like vignettes, Four Rooms is fun.

Great suggestions here. Also try:

Harold and Maude Arsenic and Old Lace

A couple of directors who seem to specialize in black comedy: Neil LaBute (In the Company of Men, Your Friends and Neighbors) and Todd Solondz (Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness). Each has made other movies, but those listed here are the ones I’ve seen. I find them dark.

I especially liked The Election with Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick.
Every character had their dark side.

Seek out Drop Dead Gorgeous, a mockumentary about a beauty pageant in a small Minnesota town. It makes fun of everything from Christian gun-enthusiasts to anorexia to mental retardation to … well, you should just see it; it’s like watching Fargo’s deranged stepchild. Oh yeah, and that Kirsten Dunst is pretty easy on the eyes.

I’d also recommend an overlooked HBO gem called The Second Civil War. It’s exactly what it sounds like, a sort of Dr. Strangelove for the late 90s. Very funny, very sharp, very much off the radar.

Thanks, everyone. This will be bookmarked for later use when I finally get around to subscribing to Netflix.