This decade is a barren one for comedy!!!

[Engine]

I think filmmakers have forgotten how to make a good comedy movie these days. I like comedy, but like the horror genre, there are a lot of lemons out there. Filmmakers rely on sight gags, swearing or shock humor too often for laughs instead of creative thought.

There are VERY few movies that I would class as great. Some ok ones, but very few in the great category.

*Borat" relied on shock humor, but there were a whole lot more things that made "Borat" a memorable experience.
*"The 40yo Virgin" was a masterpiece. I expected nothing when I went to see it at the movies. When I came out, I thought it was one of the best comedies EVER made. The screenplay was so strong that it did not need any sight gags, swearing or shock humor to carry it through. There would not be a guy that could not relate to any of the characters in the movie in some way. Absolutely brilliant.

I cannot think of any other movie which is great. In past decades, I can rattle them off forever.

 

[Misanthrope]

It's not quite as hopeless as you say, although it is grim.

Super Bad, Anchorman, Super Troopers, Juno, Little Miss Sunsihine...

There's stuff out there, it's just generally not as mainstream as comedy once was.

 

[OVP]

I think filmmakers have forgotten how to make a good comedy movie these days. I like comedy, but like the horror genre, there are a lot of lemons out there. Filmmakers rely on sight gags, swearing or shock humor too often for laughs instead of creative thought.

There are VERY few movies that I would class as great. Some ok ones, but very few in the great category.

*Borat" relied on shock humor, but there were a whole lot more things that made "Borat" a memorable experience.
*"The 40yo Virgin" was a masterpiece. I expected nothing when I went to see it at the movies. When I came out, I thought it was one of the best comedies EVER made. The screenplay was so strong that it did not need any sight gags, swearing or shock humor to carry it through. There would not be a guy that could not relate to any of the characters in the movie in some way. Absolutely brilliant.

I cannot think of any other movie which is great. In past decades, I can rattle them off forever.

You're not wrong mate. Take a look at FTA TV these days as well. Wall to wall cop shows, doctor crap, and lawyer sh*t. It's almost as if we're forbidden to laugh anymore. Surely im not just being paranoid am i ?

 

[Alex28]

Two Words.

Arrested.

Development.

It has TV covered and hopefully will have a movie covered soon...

 

[Phillips]

The 40yo Virgin wasnt THAT good tbh.
Knocked Up was complete and utter sh*t..

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Yeah it has been a pretty lean decade for comedy. The problem as I see it is that comedy directors seem to have forgotten how to play things straight these days, too many of the comedies are lame spoof movies (usually with really obvious "**** Movie" titles). The only comedies I can thing of that really stand out from this decade are Anchorman and Borat. Clerks 2 was good too, but it's a sequel of a 90s film in the same style so hardly counts.

Luckily there's been some top drama released so the movie from is still entertaining (see this years Oscar winners)

 

[Godz Illa]

Wedding Crashers is imo the funniest of the decade by far.

Also not mentioned are films I love that might not be universal favourites... Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre, Kung Fu Hustle and Talladega Nights.

 

[Dean Moriarty]

Kenny
Shaun of the Dead
Hot Fuzz
Talladega Nights

 

[2 True Blues]

There are "some" good gut laugh scenes in Something about Mary. The dog on speed was good.

 

[Phillips]

i didnt laugh once in Wedding Crashers

 

[t-ba]

Kenny
Shaun of the Dead
Hot Fuzz
Talladega Nights

How's that for a slice of fried gold!

It's been barren, yes.

I think the best comedy of the decade is either Some Kind of Monster or 300 though.

 

[Red Bear]

shaun of the dead and hot fuzz were both awesome

lol t-ba

 

[2 True Blues]

Or the part with the hair gel was amusing. And when the dick got his dick caught in his fly. Classic.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Kenny
Shaun of the Dead
Hot Fuzz
Talladega Nights

Too right, how could I forget those two? Top movies both. Talladega Nights was decent too, although I didn't think it quite matched Anchorman.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

There are "some" good gut laugh scenes in Something about Mary. The dog on speed was good.

Doesn't count, that movie was released in 1998....

 

[2 True Blues]

Hot fuzz was a black comedy but watchable.

 

[2 True Blues]

Doesn't count, that movie was released in 1998....

Was waiting for that. Even checked my copy in the DVD case. But it's now 2008 last time I looked mate, Thus the last decade right. Technically. ;-)

 

[2 True Blues]

That being said my next thought at that time was that we have 2 years left in the decade for those such as you, so we have 2 years left to make up for the decade of no comedy still. keep the faith.

 

[perverse]

Talladega Nights was absolutely, positively dreadful.

sitting through the entire movie was like having my toenails extracted with a pair of childrens safety scissors. Anchorman was good. 40 year old virgin was a class above... i'll give it that.

Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz were both excellent.

if anyone actually saw it - Grandma's Boy was a bloody funny movie. probably in the same class as Anchorman in terms of quality.

 

[skeepe]

It hasn't been that bad.

Hot Fuzz
Shaun of the Dead
Anchorman
Old School
Wedding Crashers
Snatch
Idiocracy
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Meet the Parents
Zoolander
High Fidelity
Napoleon Dynamite
Superbad
Bruce Almighty
The 40 Year Old Virgin
Borat
Bad Santa
Team America: World Police
The American Pie trilogy
Roadtrip
Rat Race
Dodgeball
Freddy Got Fingered
School for Scoundrels
The Benchwarmers
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Dude Where's My Car?

It's been pretty good in my books.