There was a recent thread about comedies that haven’t aged well, and I’ve recently run out of material to watch at home.
I was hoping that maybe people could recommend to me some comedies that they think have aged well. As a starting point, two comedies I still love to watch today are Young Frankenstein and Duck Soup.
Annie Hall makes me laugh every time I see it. 100% holds up, dated references and all.
The original Harvey (1950) with Jimmy Stewart still makes me laugh.
My Cousin Vinny is 23 years old and set in a weird world without cell phones or the Internet and yet still works great.
The Party, with Peter Sellers.
And of course Dr.Strangelove.
I’ll mention one in this thread that I mentioned in the other: Arthur. The drunk driving jokes aren’t funny anymore, but the Hopson:Arthur interplay and the Moore:Minelli chemistry is still dynamite.
I remember having actual belly laughs when watching A Fish Called Wanda in the theater. Have any other fans watched it in recent years? I’m wondering how it held up.
Most of the Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton (silents only), and W.C. Fields are still very funny and only marred by the fact that the jokes have shown up so often most people have seen them before.
The Court Jester since you have to remember that the pellet with the poison’s in the flagon with the dragon; the vessel with the pestle holds the brew that is true.
Bringing Up Baby holds up brilliantly, as does His Girl Friday
Some of the jokes in Road to Morocco are dated, but the film is still fun.
Some Like It Hot
M. Hulot’s Holiday
Groundhog Day
It looks a bit dated, but holds up very well otherwise. I had the same worry you did when I watched it a few weeks ago.
My Favorite Year is still funny. Maybe it helps that it wasn’t set in the time in filmed in.
Monty Python and The Holy Grail is still funny. And the John Hughes comedies from the 80s like The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles are still very watchable
Mentioned just because some people don’t know and I think it adds: the movie wasn’t written by Mel Brooks, but it is inspired by the true story of the week he had to babysit Errol Flynn. Mel was actually asked to write it by “the money” but he wanted it to be sweeter than it was slapstick, which is why he farmed it out.
I think that was a great call on his part. For every still funny-memorable comedy he’s made he’s made at least one that’s unwatchable (e.g. Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Robin Hood: Men in Tights), but this one, which he produced but didn’t write or star in, holds up great.
But getting less so, I think. The stereotyping and classism of his teen movies sticks out more and more like a sore thumb. I think they’re still funny and watchable, but I’m not sure I’d say they’ve “aged well” – I think a teenager watching them today would see the some of the viewpoints as wincingly outdated, like I felt watching most movies from, say, the 60s or 70s growing up.
I do think Planes, Trains, and Automobiles and Ferris Bueller’s Day Offhold up pretty well, though.
It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World is howling hilarity every time.
I just watched that about two days ago. Mona Lisa’s clothes look a bit dated, but it’s still a great movie. It is odd to see some of those scenes and think how different they would be with cell phones though.
Then, as soon as it was over Look Who’s Talking was on. That movie held up perfectly as well.
Some of the Marx Brothers canon has aged very well, especially the three Paramount movies: Monkey Business, Horsefeathers, and Duck Soup. The others, IMHO, have good moments in varying quality and abundance, but I wouldn’t say they’ve all held up well taken as a whole. Particularly, their later work (At the Circus, Go West, The Big Store, Room Service, etc.) is pretty weak.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is still the funniest movie ever made. Hard to believe we’re coming up on its 40th anniversary.
Groundhog Day. Blazing Saddles.
Raising Arizona is around 28 years old and still holds up although I don’t hold it in the same high regard as some people.
I thought The Big Lebowski was “older” than it is (maybe because it is set in '91) and was surprised to see it came out in 1998. But then 1998 was nearly 17 years ago so it ain’t a young movie either. Either way, it’s still great and holds up just fine.
Clue is impervious to the passage of time.
I don’t think these have been named yet:
A Night at the Opera
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
And Now for Something Completely Different
What’s Up, Doc
Arsenic And Old Lace
I’m not sure if a 12 year old movie is old enough to be counted for the thread, but I’ll mention it anyway:
About a Boy- one of my favorite movies, and hasn’t aged a day.