# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**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 14, 2008, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/61 "2008-01-14T06:32:28Z")
Upon reading this list, I have just finished watching, for the first time mind you, **The Princess Bride** (which I always thought was a chick flick) and **Amelie** (which I always thought was a boring foreign film). Both of these were amazing films that I would have never seen if not for this thread. Thank you! Now, on to **Rushmore** and **Being John Malcovic**! ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/62 "2008-01-14T06:59:31Z")
[QUOTE=sciurophobic] Being John Malkovich. But there is a monkey, so it’s not too high-brow. [/QUOTE] “You don’t know how lucky you are being a monkey. Because consciousness is a terrible curse. I think. I feel. I suffer. And all I ask in return is the opportunity to do my work. And they won’t allow it… because I raise issues.” It’s one of my favorites, but definitely not for everyone. In fact, I think of all the people I’ve introduced it to, only one enjoyed it. But any comedy that presents _Eloisa to Abelard_ (in a marionette show, nonetheless) can’t be considered too low brow. Plus the marionette work is effing amazing, and Charlie Sheen as John Malkovich’s best friend and confident actually works. Plus, you can’t go wrong with Orson Bean saying lines like, “My spunk to you is like manna from heaven.” Then there’s the orientation video which explains the presence of the 7-1/2 floor: “I shall take yee as me wife, and I’ll build a floor in my building so that you and your cursed kind can have one place on God’s Green Earth.” Man, what a great film. If the girlfriend is into Will Ferrell comdies, though, then it’s probably not her bag of tea. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/63 "2008-01-14T09:07:19Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] Upon reading this list, I have just finished watching, for the first time mind you, **The Princess Bride** (which I always thought was a chick flick) and **Amelie** (which I always thought was a boring foreign film). Both of these were amazing films that I would have never seen if not for this thread. Thank you! Now, on to **Rushmore** and **Being John Malcovic**! [/QUOTE] If you like Rushmore, you should check out Anderson’s other movies: Bottlerocket, The Life Aquatic and the Royal Tenenbaums. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/64 "2008-01-14T09:17:21Z")
[Fido](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457572/) is the first and last word in contemporary high-brow comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/65 "2008-01-14T09:26:24Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] Trouble in Paradise - a couple of high-class thieves, once romantically involved, re-unite in Italy. Another perfectly glib pre-code ending. [/QUOTE] I was going to recommend this too. Despite being made in 1932, it is freakin’ hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/66 "2008-01-14T17:27:50Z")
Ruthless People. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/67 "2008-01-14T17:33:48Z")
[QUOTE=lieu] Just the one I came in to recommend. On the lighter side, **Fandango** is an awesome coming of age in the 70s, southwestern romp. [/QUOTE] I am not a weenie. Nice to see another Fandango fan out there. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/68 "2008-01-14T17:52:35Z")
I laughed more during **Snatch!** and **Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels** than 95% of “comedies” I’ve seen. I’m sort of a strange bloke, though. There’s something offputting about most programs that are intensely focused on trying to make you laugh, because the result usually seems desperate and clingy. I like the along-the-way absurdities and snark that happen in a movie like **Lock Stock**. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/69 "2008-01-14T17:57:09Z")
[QUOTE=MonaLizaT] 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. [/QUOTE] make that three of us. 😃 ‘fargo’ may be the best black comedy out there since ‘gross pointe blank,’ which one of my all time faves. also on the subject of black comedy: ‘drowning mona,’ ‘war of the roses,’ and the very entertaining and little seen, ‘the ladykillers,’ either the 1955 alec guinness version, or the tom hanks version. both are equally good in their way. ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/70 "2008-01-14T18:06:28Z")
If you liked **Amelie** , you might also like **Big Fish** , which has a similar magical fairytale feel to it. Not LOL funny… more of a smile-to-yourself type of comedy. The strangest part is that it’s a Tim Burton movie, because it’s not nearly as dark or morbid as his usual fare. Think of it as **Edward Scissorhands** , minus the suburban angst and hedge-shears for hands. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/71 "2008-01-14T19:10:56Z")
I was pleasantly surprised at how funny I found _It Happened One Night_ (1934). The rapport between Gable and Colbert was really fun to watch. I’ll second the aforementioned _The Thin Man_ (also 1934) – great dialogue. _The Commitments_ (1991) is really, really funny. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/72 "2008-01-14T19:23:01Z")
[QUOTE=Windwalker] I laughed more during **Snatch!** and **Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels** than 95% of “comedies” I’ve seen. I’m sort of a strange bloke, though. There’s something offputting about most programs that are intensely focused on trying to make you laugh, because the result usually seems desperate and clingy. I like the along-the-way absurdities and snark that happen in a movie like **Lock Stock**. [/QUOTE] I forgot about those two. I think _Lock, Stock…_ is the funnier of the two by far. (“You cheeky bastard!”) But Brad Pitt’s deliberately incomprehensible gypsy (Romani?) accent in \*Snatch \*is hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/73 "2008-01-14T23:27:06Z")
[QUOTE=DeadlyAccurate] I forgot about those two. I think _Lock, Stock…_ is the funnier of the two by far. (“You cheeky bastard!”) But Brad Pitt’s deliberately incomprehensible gypsy (Romani?) accent in \*Snatch \*is hilarious. [/QUOTE] Ohh yes! Both of those are awesome. As is Zoolander. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/74 "2008-01-15T00:37:06Z")
Happiness The Last Supper Dick (it’s about Nixon) Happy Endings Cashback Bye Bye Love 200 Cigarettes Go If Lucy Fell ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/75 "2008-01-15T05:32:09Z")
I’m very picky, but the SD’s have done a good job. Still, I’d add: Raising Arizona Fletch The Naked Gun This is Spinal Tap Roxanne Parenthood What About Bob? Seems Like Old Times Life of Brian Monty Python’s ISO The Holy Grail As for Marx Bros, “Animal Crackers” would be my first pick! It’s like a “best-of” of their numerous routines. ---
**Author:** ![petew83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@petew83](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/petew83)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/76 "2008-01-15T06:01:12Z")
In general: Wes Anderson, Christopher Guest, Bill Murray Specifically: Life Aquatic, A Mighty Wind, Shaun of the Dead ---
**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 15, 2008, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/77 "2008-01-15T10:09:02Z")
I forgot the last supper! Such an excellent movie (comedy and ethical quandry, what more could one ask for?). ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106/78 "2008-01-15T10:26:35Z")
Amazon Women on the Moon Kentucky Fried Movie [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-higher-brow-comedy-movies/433106.md?page=3)