Took a break from my big project and got into a discussion with Mike from A Video Store Named Desire and his crowd of followers on Facebook. Here’s a slightly modified version of it. Check out My Facebook Page to find Mike and join the discussion!
The question posed: “Can you name ten movies of the last decade funnier than Anchorman?”
My answer: In brief, yes.
First, I’ve never seen so many people laugh as when I saw Borat on opening night. I think people forget about that phenomenon.
Yet comedy is one of the most subjective genres out there. I remember reading a review of Ace Ventury: Pet Detective in Entertainment Weekly when it first came out. They gave the movie an F.
That seems a little harsh.
So, I’m sure we’ll disagree, but to me, there are many, many movies funnier than Anchorman released from 2001-2010. Here are ten, in no particular order:
Hot Fuzz
Super Troopers
Team America: World Police
Napoleon Dynamite
Shrek
Wedding Crashers
Monster’s, Inc.
Old School
In the Loop
Borat
And of course, Bad Boys II… (just kidding)
More? What about Idiocracy? Yep.
Mean Girls? Indeed.
The TV Set? Uh-huh.
Never heard of The TV Set? It’s funny, trust me.
Or check it out for yourself…because we just might disagree. 🙂
Onward!
You are insane.
Of that list only Borat is funnier than Anchorman, although Hot Fuzz and Team America might be better movies.
Anchorman is one of the funniest movies of the aughts.
However, as you say, comedy is subjective. You can’t force someone to laugh. And Anchorman is very absurdist. If you’re not into absurdist stuff, it’s not going to work for you.
Ha. Thanks, Matt.
I thought Talladega Nights was funnier than Anchorman as well…
Anchorman just seems like it has too many easy jokes – 70’s style, mustaches, sexual harassment. And the absurdist stuff seems very hit-or-miss.
I can see if you love absurdist why you’d love it, though.
In other words, YOU are insane.
j/k.
I personally find Dumb and Dumber funnier than Anchorman.
There may be more.
Let me admit I’m not a huge comedy fan. Half of the films you mention I don’t know. I haven’t even seen ‘Anchorman’, so I can’t say if I think it’s funnier than the rest of the list.
‘Borat’ still is the funniest comedy I’ve ever seen, and ‘Team America’ was great as well.
In the line of CGI cartoons like ‘Shrek’ and ‘Monsters, Inc’, what do you think of ‘The Incredibles’? I thought it was funnier than the former two.
A while ago I saw ‘Be Kind Rewind’ and I thought it was good for a comedy. It had a nice story to it too. Maybe a little silly and cheesy, but that’s what made it funny. The whole idea of remaking films with no budget was quite original.
Generally I prefer humour in films that are very story driven, that don’t try too hard to be funny and aren’t necessarily comedies. ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ is one of those films I thought was funnier than most comedies.
Also I like horror with a wink. You know, when the creators understand what can be funny about horror. Like ‘Planet Terror’, ‘Drag me to Hell’ and ‘Shaun of the Dead’. Although ‘Shaun of the Dead’ is more comedy than horror and ‘Drag me to Hell’ is in between.
Anyway I have some new films to watch because of you. Thanks.