Comedies

Comedies are probably my least favorite type of movie. Oh, don't get me wrong, when a comedy is working the way it's supposed to work, I like it as much as the next person, but there is nothing worse, to me anyway, than a bad comedy. I mean, in a bad sci-fi flick or a bad western or a bad horror movie or even a bad drama, there might be some laughs. In a bad comedy, by definition, there are no laughs. One sits through them in stone silence, occasionally checking the time to make sure that it hasn't stopped somehow. Even mediochre comedies labor under this problem.

Ah, but when they work...there is nothing more cathartic than a good comedy. Good comedy is the cinematic equivalent of ambrosia, that food of the gods that lightens the soul and lifts the spirits. And great comedies, well, those hold a particularly lofty place in the pantheon of the arts. Are there cinematic experiences to compare with The Gold Rush, The General, Some Like It Hot, or Duck Soup? For me, I don't think so.

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