Am i getting too old for Comedy movies?

[Ryong]

The last films that made me laugh out loud were Top Secret and Kung Pow, both of which I saw for the first time this year.

[Osterbaum]

A lot less movies have ever made me laugh out loud than TV shows. Monty Python comes to mind as the obvious example sort of exception, because they started with TV. As I guess quite a few comedic actors did.

[Lumenskir]

The last films that made me laugh out loud were Top Secret and Kung Pow, both of which I saw for the first time this year.

So is this a function of you not watching any other comedy movies, or do you generally watch a lot of comedy movies and these are the only recent ones you've liked?

[TDK]

No, movies have just gotten dumber, probably because of the internet and its influence on pop-culture culture. See: The Genre Movie franchise. Epic movie, Meet the Spartans, etc.

[Lumenskir]

No, movies have just gotten dumber, probably because of the internet and its influence on pop-culture culture. See: The Genre Movie franchise. Epic movie, Meet the Spartans, etc.

Again, those are all the work of 1-2 sets of creators. I mean, those guys need to be burned to death genitals first, but their output is in the minority of all comedy.

I think what people forget is that Sturgeon's Law is in effect throughout all of history but the canon needs time to filter.

[Mr.Bookworm]

I was searching for a funny image to represent nostalgia, but instead have a picture of Walker, Texas Ranger.



It's because you're filtering out the past twenty/thirty/forty/whatever years of absolutely terrible and mediocre comedies. If you take Mel Brooks, Austin Powers, Airplane, and every other comedy of the past that people actually liked as your entire sample, of course the current crop is going to look incredibly shitty.

But no one's going to remember Meet the Spartans in twenty years, just like no one remembers Look Who's Talking Now (released the same year as Men in Tights), while people will still probably be watching Anchorman or Death at a Funeral or whatever.

[Bells]

What pokes my funny bones here is that i try to think what comedies on the last 15 years we have that are still worth remembering for the next 15, and although i'm sure i'm forgetting some... it draws a blank.

[Lumenskir]

Starting from 1997, excluding Pixar movies and movies that are great but only tangentially comedy, we have this list of movies I could watch at any time...

Austin Powers
Liar Liar
Men in Black
Big Lebowski
There's Something About Mary
Bowfinger
Galaxy Quest
Election
Office Space
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
Dude Where's My Car
Josie and the Pussycats
Wet Hot American Summer
Zoolander
Super Troopers
Elf
School of Rock
Anchorman
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
Mean Girls
Team America World Police
40 Year Old Virgin
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
Wedding Crashers
Beerfest
Borat
Talladega Nights
Shaun of the Dead
Hot Fuzz
Walk Hard
Superbad
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Tropic Thunder
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Black Dynamite

Plus a ton more, my research was basically looking at the list on Wikipedia for reference.

[Ryong]

Originally Posted by Lumenskir

So is this a function of you not watching any other comedy movies, or do you generally watch a lot of comedy movies and these are the only recent ones you've liked?

I haven't seen lots of comedy movies lately because it feels like looking for gold in the middle of crap.

It's not even nostalgia, just that it seemed easier to find good movies before.

[Lumenskir]

I haven't seen lots of comedy movies lately because it feels like looking for gold in the middle of crap.

It's not even nostalgia, just that it seemed easier to find good movies before.

Again, Sturgeon's Law. It's easier to 'find' good movies now because the crap has been forgotten leaving the things people actually want to treasure and preserve. When you're living in the middle of 90% of crap it seems like a hellhole, but that just means you have to actually make an effort to give the good 10% your money so that it can persevere.