Rickjay and his daughter watch the classic comedies

Cafe Society
1

I have decided my fifteen-year-old, Madz, needs to see many funny movies made before she was born. We try to watch one a week.

So far:

Airplane!
The Naked Gun
South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
Airplane 2
Hot Shots!
Dumb and Dumber
Top Secret
Borat (actually, made the year after she was born)
Galaxy Quest
UHF
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America

Her favorite so far was Airplane!, though Galaxy Quest and Beavis and Butthead was also particular favorites. Dumb and Dumber is also oft-quoted.

I hadn’t watched any of these in awhile, myself. The one that held up the worst was UHF; it’s funny and very sweet, but it’s not the gut-buster I recalled, has some narrative problems, and while I’m a huge fan of Weird Al he’s not a good enough actor to carry a feature film. The one that was actually better than I’d recalled was Beavis and Butt-Head, which I recalled fondly but honestly it was funnier than I remembered; the joke timing was absolutely flawless.

Coming up:

Johnny Dangerously
The Producers
Blazing Saddles
A Fish Called Wanda
Happy Gilmore
Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle
Wayne’s World
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
The Blues Brothers
Hot Fuzz
The Big Lebowski
I guess some Monty Python movies
Vacation
My Cousin Vinny

She’s seen Ghostbusters, and I believe she’s seen Austin Powers; I only want to run her through ones she HASN’T seen. Also, I despise Will Ferrell movies.

It’s been fun. Damn, these movies - the ones watched so far - held up.

2

I’m glad to hear that she’s enjoying at least some of those – I know that the style of movie comedies is very different now, and I’ve wondered to what extent younger people would find the comedies from my youth funny anymore.

Another one to add to the list, if you’re interested: Real Genius. I’ve watched it again several times over the past year or two, and I think it’s held up pretty well.

3

So far she’s liked ALL of them. Real Genius is a good addition.

4

Good work.

Personally, Monty Python would be way, waaaay higher up the list.

5

My suggestions:

Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
The Three Amigos
Coming To America
Bill & Ted’s ouevre

6

This Is Spinal Tap
The Jerk
The Tall Guy
Night Shift
Love and Death

7

One of my favorite time-wasters is watching YouTube reaction videos of young people watching classic movies for the first time.

8

Unless I’m missing something, this seems like the right time to mention Young Frankenstein.

9

Fletch
All of Me
Liar Liar
Mrs. Doubtfire

maybe Bowfinger

10

For something perhaps a bit more cerebral(?) maybe “Best In Show” and “Waiting For Guffman”?

11

Trading Places
Gremlins
Meatballs
Grosse Point Blank
A League of Their Own
Bull Durham
Used Cars
Mr. Mom

12

“Stripes” and “Caddyshack” ought to be included, as several comedic legends do some of their best business in those two.

RIP, Harold Ramis, John Candy, Ted Knight, Rodney Dangerfield, Chevy Chase.

13

You can go old school with:
The Thin Man
To Be or Not To Be (the original, not the Brooks remake)

14

It’s a Mad,Mad, Mad, Mad, World. You’ll get to explain who all of the actors are.

Marx Brothers!

Laurel and Hardy - Compilations are best, but you can try The Music Box or Way Out West.

A few silent films have held up well.

The Gold Rush with Charlie Chaplin (you may prefer the later one, narrated by Chaplin)
The General - or Steamboat Bill Jr. with Buster Keaton

15

This was more along the lines of what I expected from the thread title. But from my experience w/ my kids in the 90s, most of those had NOT held up well. I rememebr them asking during “A Funny Thing Happened…” “Tell us when the funny parts come.”

Not only did my kids not appreciate them, but I did not appreciate them as much as I remembered. :frowning:

16

Spaceballs

17

My kids had seen Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure several times because I think its hilarious. When my youngest took AP World History as a Sophomore, the test was in May and school didn’t let out until mid June - so the teacher had them do pretty stupid things - and one of the things was watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail. He hadn’t seen Bill and Ted, so they bought it in and the class watched it. Its now part of the AP World post test syllabus. Its the PERFECT World History movie for high school students.

My add: Buckaroo Banzai.

18

After Hours (Scorsese)

19

Speaking of Austin Powers: a few years ago I rewatched the first sequel (The Spy Who Shagged Me). It didn’t hold up at all: so many jokes were based off of '90s pop culture and are no longer relevant. :frowning:

20

She’s seen the Bill and Ted movies. They’re an interesting case study because while they’re quite funny I hadn’t thought of them as pure comedies; they’re more adventure movies, like “Back to the Future,” or “Gremlins.”

A lot of good suggestions so far. I definitely forgot Spinal Tap, Used Cars and Young Frankenstein.

I did consider and reject some of the ideas put forth. Some 80s comedies have not aged well.