1. Joel and Ethan Coen's Fargo
2. Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction
3. Neil LaBute's In the Company of Men
4. Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove
5. Alexander Payne's Election
6. Todd Solondz's Happiness
7. Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums
8. Robert Altman's The Player
9. Terry Zwigoff's Bad Santa
10. Jody Hill's Observe and Report
8 comments:
Damn......I don't know that I would touch this one. Might shuffle a title or two, but that's a damn fine list.
Fargo is not only the greatest "dark comedy" of all time, it may just be one of the greatest films of all time IMO.
Props for throwing Happiness in there. That's dark, dark, dark, dark. Not so sure anything could be darker. But it does have a sharp sense of humor as well.
Ok....now that I think about it....I would probably throw a John Waters title in there somewhere. Maybe Polyester, Serial Mom, or Female Trouble.
I loved Serial Mom; haven't seen much else from Waters.
I love Fargo; saw it 4 times in the theater and have seen it countless times on DVD. A perfect movie.
Happiness is a bleak movie, but yes, it's got a wickedly sharp sense of humor.
Did you see Observe and Report? It might seem to be a bit much for some people for me to include a film from this year on a list such as this one, but I thought Observe and Report was amazing and one of the blackest comedies ever made.
I saw Observe and Report....and I liked it. Quite a bit I think. Really want to see it a couple more times and get a better feel for it.
But it definately is at home on this list amongst those other titles.
Speaking of dark comedies, have you ever watched The Onion News Network, Nick? I seriously cannot imagine anything ever being any darker, more vicious, more un-P.C., or more appalling (and yet rip-roaring hysterical) than the stuff they cook up. Seriously. Not even what I've seen of Borat or Bruno's antics are more shocking. I would especially recommend the following five (5) videos: "Supreme Court: Death Penalty is 'Totally Badass,'" "Sony Releases Stupid Piece of Shit that Doesn't Fucking Work," "Human Head Found in Hamburger," "Sources Warn that Miley Cyrus will be depleted by 2013," and "Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film as 'Fun' and 'Watchable.'" All hysterical, but those are highlights.
As for the list, I would have Dr. Strangelove at the top (but I haven't seen any of the others, so I can't say). I need to watch some movies.
Oh, and also "Special Boy with Freakishly Large Brain Wins Spelling Bee." AWESOME.
Joel -- sounds like I have some homework! Not familiar with the videos you list, but I will definitely check 'em out soon...thanks for the tips!
Wait a minute...Joel...baby...my main-man...YOU HAVEN'T SEEN FARGO OR PULP FICTION?
Sadly, no on Pulp or Fargo. Seeing them this summer though. :)
And yes...check out the videos...hysterical...
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