# Recommend some higher-brow comedy movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 11, 2008, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106 "2008-01-11T08:09:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/41 "2008-01-12T00:03:34Z")
I’d think the Christopher Guest mockumentaries might fit the bill. **Best in Show** is my favorite. **My Cousin Vinny** is hilarious and not too idiotic. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/42 "2008-01-12T00:15:53Z")
[QUOTE=DeadlyAccurate] Little Miss Sunshine \<– sweet and funny [/QUOTE] LOVED that movie! Also loved _The Wonder Boys_. _Bullets Over Broadway_ _Lost in America_ _Parenthood_ _My Cousin Vinny_ _Planes, Trains and Automobiles_ _This Is Spinal Tap_ _Being There_ _Harold and Maude_ ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/43 "2008-01-12T01:00:55Z")
[_Eating Raoul_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_Raoul) is kind of highbrow; excellent deadpan black-comedy parody of swinger culture and foodie culture. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/44 "2008-01-12T03:02:44Z")
Thirding **The Fifth Element**! It’s SF and it doesn’t take itself seriously at all, it’s all wide-eyed SRS BZNSS while they’re cracking up on the inside. **Hot Fuzz**. Again, steely-eyed serious business with hilarity on the inside. \*\*Enchanted \*\* if you’re up for a gentle sendup of classic Disney princess movies. May be rather a bit girly for you though. **Galaxy Quest**. Pure cheese comedy gold especially if you’re at all familiar with the ST franchise. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/45 "2008-01-12T20:32:52Z")
My netflix list is crying under the strain now. Thanks dopers! ---
**Author:** ![MonaLizaT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@MonaLizaT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonaLizaT)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/46 "2008-01-12T20:41:02Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] [_Eating Raoul_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_Raoul) is kind of highbrow; excellent deadpan black-comedy parody of swinger culture and foodie culture. [/QUOTE] This is the first time I’ve come across someone else that actually has seen and liked this movie! 🙂 I’ll second L.A. Story and add Death at a Funeral. A good British farce by director Frank Oz. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/47 "2008-01-12T21:03:32Z")
I think **Fargo** has enough comedic moments to classify itself as a comedy, just my own personal opinion. You can really plug it into a few genres, however. Also, Ghostbusters. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/48 "2008-01-12T21:12:15Z")
**Men in Black** Any of the **Monty Python** movies. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/49 "2008-01-12T21:55:37Z")
I would suggest Murder by Death. It works on both a low and high level. If you are familiar with the detectives and mystery writers of old, it is a very literate comedy. If on the other hand, you don’t know any of that, it works as a very funny physical comedy. The wife and I saw it for the first time when it came out at a multiplex with a theater full of teenagers. They did not laugh at all at the highbrow stuff that had my wife and I on the floor. We laughed at the lowbrow stuff also. IOW we laughed pretty much nonstop. Who wouldn’t love an exchange like this > [@](#): > > Sidney Wang: What meaning of this, Mr. Twain? > Lionel Twain: I will tell you, Mr. Wang, if YOU can tell ME why a man who possesses one of the most brilliant minds of this century can’t say his _prepositions_ or _articles!_ “What IS THE,” Mr. Wang! “What IS THE meaning of this?” > Sidney Wang: That what I said! “What meaning of this?” ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/50 "2008-01-12T23:37:45Z")
_Shaun of the Dead_ is by the same people who made \*Hot Fuzz[i/], and they’re both very funny movies. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/51 "2008-01-12T23:45:38Z")
_Withnail and I_, though that might be a little wordy and gloomy for GF. _The Forty Year Old Virgin_ is a movie your GF would probably like and has enough smart dialog to keep you from pulling out your hair. ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/52 "2008-01-12T23:57:03Z")
Australian Film “The Rage in Placid Lake”. Very funny, very smart and Rose Byrne is gorgeous. ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/53 "2008-01-13T00:02:32Z")
And has no one mentioned “Zoolander”? ---
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/54 "2008-01-13T01:56:14Z")
Woody Allen is an acquired taste, but he’s made some very highbrow comedies. Notably: \*\* Annie Hall\*\* _Play It Again Sam Sleeper Everything You’ve Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask_ **Love And Death** Also, Blake Edwards has a tendency to “go over the top” when he directs comedies, but I enjoyed **SOB** and **Victor/Victoria** ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/55 "2008-01-13T04:16:25Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] I would suggest Murder by Death. [/QUOTE] “That man is dead, and all the doors are locked from the inside. That can only mean one thing. And I don’t know what it is.” I assume you’ve also seen the follow-up (of a sort) **The Cheap Detective**. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/56 "2008-01-13T04:34:52Z")
Actually I don’t think I have, I will have to go find it. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/57 "2008-01-13T17:17:28Z")
Of the classics, **Harvey The Philadelphia Story The Thin Man** (and sequels) **Arsenic and Old Lace** are favorites, along with already mentioned **His Girl Friday** Ditto folks above who mentioned **Sideways** , **Little Miss Sunshine** , and **The Wonder Boys** (great satire on the academic world and on the writing world.) ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/58 "2008-01-13T21:10:24Z")
An oldie but a goodie **Kind hearts and coronets** - very good black humour. For the same reasons I would second/whatever **Clue**. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/59 "2008-01-13T21:53:11Z")
The President’s Analyst Adam’s Rib Monkey Business Desk Set Bedazzled (Cook and Moore version) The Producers The Taming of the Shrew (Taylor, Burton) Much Ado About Nothing (Branagh) ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/60 "2008-01-13T23:22:12Z")
Yes, I’m a broken record, but dammit it’s still grand fun: **Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes** Similar, thematically, is the Tony Curtis movie **The Great Race**. Both of which feature a scheming villain with wonderfully Rube Goldberg-ish plots. I tend to think that Cary Grant did a lot of wonderfully witty comedies that have stood very well with time. I have issues with **Bringing Up Baby** , but it’s already been mentioned once in this thread. Personally, I love his: **Father Goose** **People Will Talk** **Arsenic and Old Lace** **I Was a Male War Bride** **His Girl Friday** Unless you’re a huge Cary Grant or Myrna Loy fan, though, do yourself the favor of avoiding **The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer**. Trust me on this. There’s a reason it’s not available on DVD. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106.md?page=4)