If nothing else, this thread seem to be proving Mel Brooks is a national treasure.
Lots of films to choose from, but when High Anxiety came out on video (yeah, video…it was awhile back), my SO and I liked it so much we rented it a few times back then to show other friends in Berlin. Even in German it was very funny. Of course, it helped if you were a Hitchcock fan to fully understand the humor.
Speaking of Germans and Berlin - the film Harald and Maude was such a huge hit in Berlin, there was one movie theater that showed the film every single weekend for decades - as far as I know, they still show it there - and they even showed it in English to the packed houses. Such a huge hit that the author was flown to Berlin and they even did a stage version (that was not such a huge hit).
Another cult American film in Berlin was “Hellzapoppin’” which I don’t think has ever aired on TV here, but also ran for many, many years in a different Berlin movie theater to packed houses.
Then again, Berliners have an odd sense of humor - there was yet another small movie theater that would screen three or four John Waters films, back to back, on Saturday nights into the wee hours of the morning. It was also usually sold out - and yes, drugs were involved for most of the audience. Divine had a cult following there as well.
Actually, I think the last movie I saw that made me laugh until I couldn’t breathe was “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery”. So forget the other stuff I said before.
Coincidence, because my nominee was a sort of re-working of *Hellzapoppin’ *- the original Bedazzled, 1967, with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, and Raquel Welch as “Lillian Lust, the babe with the bust.” I mean, talk about inspired casting. “Would you like your breakfast … in bed? Hot toast? or buttered buns?” delivered in a luscious faux-southern accent.
It also featured horse-faced Eleanor Bron as Dudley Moore’s idealized love interest. I’m sure that casting choice was purposely ironic.
Anyway, this is one of those films with tons of not-so-obvious gags that you may not catch the first or even second or third time, making re-watching well worthwhile.
Roddy
Sordid Lives would also be on the list, the moreso for how funny it was in spite of having no budget and for how many of the characters I know in real life. I just wish they would have cut some of the melodrama of the gay grandson and his therapist.
Whoa wait a second. Grizzly Man. The documentary in which the guy and his girlfriend are hideously killed and eaten by bears?
I hope you made a mistake and meant Project Grizzly about the Canadian Guy who built a bear proof suit. Never saw it but the clips on YouTube crack me up every time.
Another vote for Animal House. I saw it for the first time at a drive-in from the back seat of a VW bug. Even under those conditions, I’ve never laughed so hard at a movie.
To be arbitrary, I will pick the movie that made me laugh the hardest the first time I saw it.
During The Pink Panther Strikes Again my girlfriend at the time had to poke me because I was nearly in tears. Especially the scenes where Inspector Clousseau is trying to break into the castle. It has the same classical elements of a Roadrunner-Wil E. Coyote cartoon - the tragic, doomed hero trying to retain his dignity in the face of an uncaring universe, the noble, tragic cause, and the catharsis the audience experiences as, time after time, their hopes that at last the hero will succeed are dashed.
Oh, good, somebody else laughed at it. The rest of the Pepperwinkles just look at me oddly when Clouseau’s on the screen, 'cause I’m doubled over and they’re just not amused at all.
Favorite quotes: TEASDALE: I have made one last effort to prevent this war. GROUCHO: It’s too late. I’ve already paid a month’s rent on the battlefield.
**GENERAL: **Sir, we’ve got a message from the front. GROUCHO: Oh, I’m sick of messages from the front. Can’t we ever get a message from the side?
CHICO *(to Edgar Kennedy): *He’s [Harpo] a spy an’ I’m-a spy. He’s-a gotta find out somethin’ but he no find out what I wanna find out. Now how I gonna find out what I wanna find out if he don’a find out what I wanna find out? KENNEDY(frustrated to the boiling point): Will you quit annoying me?! CHICO: Sure, I quit. All you gotta do is make-a him quit doing this. (Kicks Kennedy) KENNEDY *(furious) *I’l teach you to kick me!! CHICO: You don’a hafta teach me. I know how.
GROUCHO(to Harpo, sending him out on a mission on the battlefield): And remember–while you’re out there risking life and limb through shot and shell, we’ll be in here thinking what a sucker YOU are!!
What’s Up Doc and the French version of The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe. The first time I saw those, I was laughing so hard, tears were coming out of my eyes. My eyes were scrunched up so much I couldn’t even see the screen. I was sitting on the edge of my seat, doubled over and clutching my sides; I could barely breathe.
The next time I saw them: an occasional smile. So slapstick is a one-time thing with me.
Bridesmaids (“There’s a colonial woman on the wing”), Full Monty, and Shaun of the Dead and Kung Fu Hustle.
