No, this isn’t about movies with hip-hop, it is about comedies with very dark themes that are also meant to be hilarious. I don’t watch that many movies but I found out a long time ago that good black comedies are my favorite type of movie.
My nominations for best (that I have seen) are:
Heathers - clicky high school girl decides to kill her friends with the help of her psycho new boyfriend and make them look like suicides. Brilliant movie.
Rushmore - deranged over-achieving kid loves his teacher and finds a dark mentor in Bill Murray.
Election - Overachieving student wrecks plenty of lives including those of teachers.
These are all set in a younger school setting but others don’t have to be. I think Pulp Fiction worked as a great black comedy in some places although I seemed to be the only one cracking up in the theater.
What are some others of this genre that are truly great?
I’d definitely label Fight Club as a dark comedy. Very dark, but definitely a comedy. I laugh all the way through it. Plus, by classical definitions, it is a comedy in that…
…the hero triumphs in the end.
Harold and Maude is right up there as one of the best black comedies ever. It centers around a teenager with a death fixation who goes to strangers’ funerals in his spare time. At one, he meets an elderly woman and … hilarity ensues. Absolutely a classic.
Oh, “The Ladykillers” - that’s a good one. We laughed out loud, long and hard when one of the guys died. I think that definitely qualifies it for “black comedy.”
Some of our favourites are “Grosse Pointe Blank” and “Snatch.” How about “Team America: World Police?” I don’t know if it’s a black comedy, but we were certainly laughing inappropriately.
Oops, forgot one in the Anti-Black comedy category - “Vampire’s Kiss” with Nic Cage. This movie blew huge chunks - black, yes, comedy, not at all. Disturbing, yes.
For inappropriate laughter, nothing beats Marvin getting blown away in Pulp Fiction.
*Vincent: Whoa!
Jules: What the fuck’s happening, man? Ah, shit man!
Vincent: Oh man, I shot Marvin in the face.
Jules: Why the fuck did you do that!
Vincent: Well, I didn’t mean to do it, it was an accident!
Jules: Oh man I’ve seen some crazy ass shit in my time…
Vincent: Chill out, man. I told you it was an accident. You probably went over a bump or something.
Jules: Hey, the car didn’t hit no motherfucking bump.
Vincent: Hey, look man, I didn’t mean to shoot the son of a bitch. The gun went off. I don’t know why.
Jules: Well look at this fucking mess, man. We’re on a city street in broad daylight here!
Vincent: I don’t believe it.
Jules: Well believe it now, motherfucker! We gotta get this car off the road! You know cops tend to notice shit like you’re driving a car drenched in fucking blood. *
Bringing Out the Dead. Black, funnny, and that’s how it feels to pull a bunch of double night shifts during a crunch (At least I thought so when I woke up to it playing on TV after working a week of twelve hour nights and no sleep.)
