If you don’t know what is being said in this scene you are sadly deficient when it comes to the greatest Comedy film ever made.

A Century of Film


Comedies


The Genre

“As America’s principal purveyor of entertainment, Hollywood packaged comedy in many forms.  In 1929, Variety surveyed the major studios and classified production trends into seven categories.  Comedy was divided into two – comedy drama and comedy.  The types subsumed under comedy drama consisted of society, rural, city, mystery, college, and domestic, and the types under comedy consisted of farce and action-adventure.  A quarter of all the films produced by the majors in 1929 could be classified as comedies of one sort or another.  Although comic types metamorphosed into the sophisticated, low-life, anarchistic, sentimental, folksy, screwball, populist, or romantic, the production trend remained a key component of every studio’s roster.”  (Grand Design: Hollywood as a Modern Business Enterprise, 1930-1939, Tino Balio, p 256)

If you want to count all kinds of comedies, than yes, it’s probably still true that a quarter of all films, if not more, are comedies.    As for films that I classify as Comedy, it’s more like a bit less than a fifth, roughly half the number of Dramas but still, by a long, long way, the second most plentiful genre.

The Comedies came to prominence quickly during the era of the short silent films.  Clowns like the Keystone Kops and Charlie Chaplin could easily entertain a crowd that wanted to escape from reality.  In the days before sound film began, Comedies tended to focus around situations or pratfalls because a line of dialogue just isn’t the same when you read it on a title card.  But once sound came in, that really opened things up.  Suddenly you could get more sophisticated banter (like the Marx Brothers) or interplay between a pair of comedians and it was the era of the comedy teams (see the sub-genre below).  But eventually more sophisticated humor came in with things like the Lubitsch touch of the Comedies of Preston Sturges and Billy Wilder.  But things hit a lull in quality in the late 40’s.  There is a stretch of three straight years where I have no Comedy over *** and after 1944 there isn’t a **** Comedy again until 1950 when the great Ealing Comedies from Britain started arriving in the States.

By the sixties, Comedies could take a darker turn like in the work of Stanley Kubrick and the creation of the rating system towards the end of the decade also meant the rise of nudity and the R rated comedy that could focus more on sex than ever before.  It also brought with it Woody Allen and a comedian who could suddenly call all the shots – writing, directing and even starring in his own films.

In the second half of the 80’s, Comedies would start to become important at the box office in a way they rarely had for the past decades with Three Men and a Baby becoming the first Comedy to top the box office since 1974 and Home Alone and Forrest Gump becoming the two highest grossing films in the genre (even now, decades later).  There would be big box office stars entirely subsisting on Comedies like Jim Carrey and Mike Myers.

Today, Comedies seem to exist mostly in two different ways: the lower budget (and grossing) critically acclaimed ones that win awards with directors like Wes Anderson or the Coen Brothers or comedies that rely more on an absence of taste that tend to gross highly but are not well esteemed (at least among critics).

Sub-Genres

There are a lot of different types of Comedies and that’s not even including the large number of films which are classifiable as Comedies but which I list primarily under a different genre.

Animated

  • Best Film:  Who Framed Roger Rabbit

These are the films that are Animated (mostly or in their entirety) that are really too adult-oriented to classify as Kids films.  It’s not as plentiful as you might think because most Animated films I still classify as Kids films (South Park is the next best film and it’s definitely not for kids).

Black Comedy

  • Best Film:  Dr. Strangelove

What’s considered a Black Comedy can depend on who you’re asking.  A good general rule is that if the film is making light of death (A Fish Called Wanda, Clerks, Harold and Maude, Gross Pointe Blank, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Trouble with Harry) it’s a Black Comedy.  This is a strong sub-genre with an average of 67 but you can still have really bad films here, films that try to tackle a dark subject but fail to actually be funny (Drowning Mona, Dead Man on Campus, Just a Kiss, Eating Raoul).  Some films here are so dark many won’t consider them Comedies (Todd Solondz films for example).

Christmas

  • Best Film:  The Bishop’s Wife

Love Actually would run away with this if I didn’t list it as a Romantic Comedy.  Most Christmas Comedies focus maybe a little bit on romance but much more on Christmas and there was a plethora of bad ones in the 00’s.

Comedy Team

  • Best Film:  Duck Soup

From the Silent Era all the way down to the late 50’s this was a pretty standard category.  I list a number of them I will present them in descending order of film average: Hope and Crosby (71.0), The Marx Brothers (68.3), Laurel & Hardy (63.8) Abbott & Costello (56.9), Martin & Lewis (50.3), Wheeler & Woolsey (48.7), The 3 Stooges (47.6) and Cheech and Chong (23.2).  I have seen all 31 Abbott & Costello films which are by far the most for a Comedy Team.  For ease of classifying them together, all the Comedy Team films are listed as Comedies even when they are also Musicals.  The averages are a little deceptive above – the Hope and Crosby Road films are all good but none are better than that while The Marx Brothers made two great films (Duck Soup, Horse Feathers) and one really good film (A Night at the Opera) but also several mediocre films.  The various teams were at different studios.  MGM had the Marx Brothers (after their early Paramount films) and most of Laurel & Hardy, Paramount had Hope and Crosby in the 40’s followed by Martin & Lewis in the 50’s, Columbia had the Stooges, Abbott & Costello were at Universal and RKO had Wheeler & Woolsey.

Cop

  • Best Film:  Kindergarten Cop

This is a genre that seemed to begin the early 80’s and still has films coming out.  Kindergarten Cop is not only the best of the films but also the most successful.

Lit Adaptation

  • Best Film:  Tom Jones

Most of these are uncategorized by author.  Of the authors that I list on their own (because of so many film adaptations) the only one with more than two Comedies is Jane Austen (with five, the best of which is the 2005 Pride & Prejudice).   The 34 films here do average a 68.4 but there are some real crap films (Satyricon, Portnoy’s Complaint).

Mockumentary

  • Best Film:  Zelig

Ironic that Christopher Guest doesn’t take the top spot since he’s the master of this sub-genre between Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman.  The films here average a strong 68.4 but would average 75.0 if I didn’t include Burn Hollywood Burn.

National Lampoon

  • Best Film:  Animal House

National Lampoon started putting their name on films in 1978 and they have continued to do so with mostly weak results

Parody

  • Best Film:  Monty Python and the Holy Grail

There is some real range here.  This includes some of the funniest films ever made (aside from Holy Grail there’s Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles and Airplane).  But the success of Scary Movie in 2000 really brought this genre some box office steam and for a decade, crappy filmmakers with no funny ideas threw parodies together and released them.  Of the 21 films in this sub-genre earning .5 or 0 stars, 13 of them were released this century.

Play Adaptation

  • Best Film:  Pygmalion

The most popular here is Neil Simon with 15 adaptations, the best of which by far is The Sunshine Boys.  But the Simon films average a 64.8 while the full list of 51 films averages a 70.2.

Romantic

  • Best Film:  Hannah and Her Sisters

The massive sub-genre with over 600 films (and a lot of films in other sub-genres could also go here).  There are 32 **** films just in this sub-genre.  But the average is still just 56.7 because of the large number of mediocre films though not many of them are really bad (82 of them are below **).

Satire

  • Best Film:  Modern Times

Another really good sub-genre with well over 100 films and 14 **** films that include work from Sturges (Sullivan’s Travels), Allen (Bullets over Broadway) and Lubitsch (To Be or Not To Be).

Screwball

  • Best Film:  The Philadelphia Story

With a few rare exceptions (Intolerable Cruelty, Leatherheads) this is a sub-genre that almost entirely exists in the late 30’s and early 40’s.  What’s more, the films are really good.  The only two films below **.5 are failed 90’s attempts at the sub-genre (The Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag, Radioland Murders) and there are only three **.5 films.  That gives the 45 films here an average of 75.1.

Series

  • Best Film:  A Shot in the Dark

There are a lot of series and a lot of them weren’t very good and a lot of them are from complete on my own lists.  Aside from the early Pink Panther films and the Andy Hardy films almost all series films are mediocre or worse.  I’ll include a brief list just of what I’ve seen and list here, alphabetically by series: Andy Hardy (12 films, 66.4), Blondie (10, 54.9), Bowery Boys (26, 42.9), Carry On (8, 49.5), Francis the Talking Mule (4, 60.75), Ma and Pa Kettle (7, 47.8), Madea (4, 36), Maisie (8, 53), Pink Panther (11, 51.3), Police Academy (7, 16.4) and Spitfire (8, 53.0).  The Bowery Boys is a particularly bad series and now account for the worst film 8 times in a 10 year stretch from 1948 to 1957 (TCM keeps showing them so I keep watching them).

Sex

  • Best Film:  Tie Me Up Tie Me Down

These really arose from the nudity that was allowed with the rating system and are generally rated R and have significant (female) nudity.  But most people don’t know how to be funny about sex so most of these are pretty bad.

Shakespeare

  • Best Film:  Shakespeare in Love

This includes films that use plots but not language (10 Things I Hate About You for example).  Only three of them are **** and two of those only deal tangentially with Shakespeare (the other two are Much Ado About Nothing and In the Bleak Midwinter).  But the only bad ones are the Mary Pickford Taming of the Shrew and the updated version of Twelfth Night, She’s the Man.

SNL

  • Best Film:  Wayne’s World

I feel I should point out that The Blues Brothers is a Musical and thus not considered here.  It would easily be the best of this group of 9 crappy films based on SNL skits which average a 20.1.

Sports

  • Best Film:  Bull Durham

Bull Durham is the only great film here though Bend It Like Beckham and Shaolin Soccer are both ***.5.  Most Sports Comedies are pretty bad which is why the 79 films average a 44.3.  It doesn’t matter what sport either because just the .5 films include golf, which isn’t really a sport but is for the purposes of this (Caddyshack II), baseball (Ed), football (Wildcats), wrestling (Ready to Rumble) and soccer (Ladybugs).

Surreal

  • Best Film:  The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

The default spot for any Luis Buñuel film (there are 11 of them here) but also films as different as The Purple Rose of Cairo, The Big Lebowski, Being John Malkovich, 8 1/2 and Stranger Than Fiction.

Teen

  • Best Film:  American Graffiti

There are two great ones (Juno is the other) and two really good ones (Breakfast Club, Fast Times at Ridgemont High) and then a whole lot of crap.

True Story

  • Best Film:  Ed Wood

Different than a Biopic because it only cover a particular story rather than being about someone’s whole life.  Other great examples include The Informant, Charlie Wilson’s War and My Week with Marilyn.  Patch Adams is the only complete and utter dud.

Assorted

  • Best Film:  Kung Fu Hustle  (Martial Arts)

There are a lot of different sub-genres that just have one or two films because they’re usually part of another genre like Biopic (Man on the Moon), Blaxploitation (Five on the Black Hand Side), Comic Book (Mystery Men), Detective (Fletch), Heist (Duplicity) or Wild Nature (Attack of the Killer Tomatoes).

The Directors

This is not a list of the most prolific directors but simply the most important.  There were a lot of directors in the Studio Era who made lots and lots of comedies that were average that I don’t bother to mention here.  A good example is Charles Lamont who I list with 13 Comedies, all of them either Abbott & Costello films or Ma and Pa Kettle films (he was a contract director for Universal) and the average is just 51.5.

Woody Allen

  • Films:  33
  • Years:  1969-present
  • Average Film:  78.6
  • Best Film:  Hannah and Her Sisters
  • Worst Film:  Manhattan Murder Mystery

The king of the awards when it comes to Comedy by a long way, the most nominated person in the history of the writing awards at the Academy and at the WGA and nominated five times for Best Director just for Comedies.

Pedro Almodovar

  • Films:  10
  • Years:  1980-present
  • Average Film:  72.5
  • Best Film:  Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
  • Worst Film:  Dark Habits

A wonderful director who began in Comedies and then started branching out to Dramas (and winning awards).  But some of his best work are from his Comedies and he continues to return to them from time to time.

Robert Altman

  • Films:  15
  • Years:  1970-2006
  • Average Film:  69.8
  • Best Film:  M*A*S*H
  • Worst Film:  Beyond Therapy

Nominated four times for Best Director at the Oscars for Comedies.  Altman’s work over the years has been quite uneven (three great films, three terrible films) but he was for a long time one of the most important Comedy directors around.

Mel Brooks

  • Films:  10
  • Years:  1968-1993
  • Average Film:  76.4
  • Best Film:  The Producers
  • Worst Film:  Robin Hood: Men in Tights

His average is saved because I list Dracula under Horror films.  But in the 70’s, Brooks was big box office (twice he directed the highest grossing Comedy of the year) and was solid with the critics as well.  His later parodies are very uneven but there are still great funny moments.

Luis Buñuel

  • Films:  15
  • Years:  1930-1977
  • Average Film:  81.1
  • Best Film:  The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
  • Worst Film:  The Grand Madcap

The master of surrealist humor, he would leave Comedy and come back to it, returning most notably for three of his best films in the genre to close out his career in the 70’s, earning a lot of awards on the way.

Frank Capra

  • Films:  13
  • Years:  1926-61
  • Average Film:  76.8
  • Best Film:  It Happened One Night
  • Worst Film:  Rain or Shine

Capra would make his name with Comedies, including winning the Oscar three times (the only director to win multiple Oscars in the genre) but then would move away to do his Capracorn.  He returned for a couple late in his career, including a remake of his own Lady for a Day.

Charlie Chaplin

  • Films:  10
  • Years:  1921-1967
  • Average Film:  82.7
  • Best Film:  Modern Times
  • Worst Film:  A King in New York

His last two films were mediocre but his early films were the best Comedies of their day.  He dominates the Best Comedy of the Year list below and there has never been a more talented person in the field as he wrote, directed, starred, composed the music, produced and even edited his films.  He is also the #1 Actor at the Nighthawk Awards for Comedy winning seven awards and losing only two (both of which he lost to himself in the pre-1926 combined year).

Ethan and Joel Coen

  • Films:  7
  • Years:  1987-present
  • Average Film:  88.1
  • Best Film:  A Serious Man
  • Worst Film:  The Hudsucker Proxy

They haven’t done enough in the field but when they make Comedies they really come through with not a dud in the bunch.  They’re only for a specific kind of taste but those who love the Coen Brothers (and I very much do) really love them.  What’s more, they continue to be active in making Comedies.

Federico Fellini

  • Films:  13
  • Years:  1952-1990
  • Average Film:  67.8
  • Best Film:  La Dolce Vita
  • Worst Film:  Fellini Satyricon

Another master of a surreal kind of humor, Fellini’s Comedies really run the gambit and I can understand both those who absolutely worship them and those who can’t stand them at all.

Buster Keaton

  • Films:  9
  • Years:  1923-1928
  • Average Film:  76.8
  • Best Film:  The General
  • Worst Film:  Battling Butler

I find it ridiculous when people try to say he is greater than Chaplin.  But he directed himself in three great Comedies (The General, Our Hospitality, Steamboat Bill Jr) and no bad ones and if his movies had just been more successful at the box office who knows what he could have done.

Ernst Lubitsch

  • Films:  71
  • Years:  1919-1948
  • Average Film:  71.0
  • Best Film:  The Shop Around the Corner
  • Worst Film:  The Doll

I personally think the Lubitsch Touch is over-rated but he was an important director for a long time (though he only earned one Oscar nomination for a Comedy) and he directed three great Comedies (The Shop Around the Corner, Design for Living, To Be or Not To Be).

Preston Sturges

  • Films:  9
  • Years:  1940-1948
  • Average Film:  86.1
  • Best Film:  Sullivan’s Travels
  • Worst Film:  Unfaithfully Yours

His work was brief but in the 40’s he shone really brightly with some of the best work in the genre during the decade.  He might have done more had he been given an earlier shot at directing.

Billy Wilder

  • Films:  14
  • Years:  1934-1981
  • Average Film:  79.4
  • Best Film:  Some Like It Hot
  • Worst Film:  Kiss Me Stupid

He was actually mostly a dramatic director until Sabrina.  But then he earned three Oscar nominations (including a win) in just seven years for Comedies and he took over as the most brilliant writer-director Comedy had had since Chaplin.

Best Comedy Director  (weighted points system)

  1. Woody Allen  (546)
  2. Charlie Chaplin  (392)
  3. Billy Wilder  (351)
  4. Preston Sturges  (341)
  5. Luis Buñuel  (293)
  6. Frank Capra  (263)
  7. Howard Hawks  (212)
  8. Federico Fellini  (206)
  9. The Coen Brothers  (202)
  10. Robert Altman  (199)

Analysis:  This adds up points on a weighted scale (90-1) for placing in the Top 20 at the Nighthawk Awards for Best Director in any given year.

The Stars

note:  I’ve not bothered to include those who are already listed above as directors (Allen, Chaplin, Keaton).

Marie Dressler

The original great sound Comedic actress, one who proved that you could definitely succeed in Hollywood without looks needing to matter.  Her performance in Min and Bill was not only the first Comedy performance to win an Oscar but until 1934 was the only Oscar win by any Comedy in any category.  She also, of course, had the greatest reaction in film history in Dinner at Eight.
Essential Viewing:  Dinner at Eight, Min and Bill

Cary Grant

In all the insane nuttiness that was going on in Screwball Comedy, he brought an element of class that could never be ignored.  He was fast talking and witty and basically the male version of Katharine Hepburn but with an English accent.  In one four year stretch (1937-40) Grant won three Nighthawk Comedy Awards and earned five total nominations.
Essential Viewing:  The Philadelphia Story, His Girl Friday, Bringing Up Baby, The Awful Truth

Katharine Hepburn

The female version of Cary Grant and their two Screwball Comedies are among the greatest Comedies ever made.  But she continued to give really good performances in Comedies for a long time after that as well.  Through 2011, she’s still third all-time in points for Actress – Comedy at the Nighthawks.
Essential Viewing:  The Philadelphia Story, Bringing Up Baby, Woman of the Year, Adam’s Rib

Alec Guinness

Not just my favorite actor of all-time but a chameleon who could step into any role.  His performances in the Ealing Comedies are easily the primary reason why I love them so much.
Essential Viewing:  The Ladykillers, Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Lavender Hill Mob, The Man in the White Suit

Audrey Hepburn

The #2 Actress at the Nighthawks in Comedy, for a stretch of 15 years from 1953 to 1967 she dominated Comedy winning three Nighthawk – Comedy Awards (Roman Holiday, Love in the Afternoon, Breakfast at Tiffany’s) and earning another six nominations.
Essential Viewing:  Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Roman Holiday, Charade, Two for the Road

Jack Lemmon

He was still fairly new to film when he won his first Oscar for his brilliant supporting performance in Mr. Roberts and just a few years later he followed that up with back-to-back nominations for performances that were the best of the Oscar nominated performances each year (Some Like It Hot, The Apartment).  And then, to top it off, he did several films playing the straight man opposite Walter Matthau.
Essential Viewing:  Mister Roberts, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Irma La Douce

Shirley MacLaine

Her #1 placement at the Nighthawk Awards in Comedy is not just because of awards (she wins three: The Apartment, Irma La Douce, Being There) but also because she continued to be so good for so long with her nominations stretching from 1956 to 1994.
Essential Viewing:  The Apartment, Irma La Douce, Being There, The Trouble with Harry

Peter Sellers

Perhaps it would just be enough to watch him as Clouseau, especially the moment where he gets stuck in the globe or when he goes off the parallel bars and down the stairs.  But that would be overlooking his brilliant performances in Being There and Lolita, not to mention his multiple brilliant performances in Dr. Strangelove.
Essential Viewing:  Dr. Strangelove, Being There, The Pink Panther

Gene Wilder

Even putting aside his great performance in The Producers, Wilder would belong here just for 1974 when he wins both the lead and supporting awards in Comedy at the Nighthawks and earns a second nomination to go with it.  The single most enjoyable comic actor of the 1970’s.
Essential Viewing:  The Producers, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles

Bill Murray

His Comedy nominations at the Nighthawks began in 1982, run all the way up through 2010 and don’t look like they’re going to be slowing down any time soon.  He’s the only person who looks like he might have a chance to knock Charlie Chaplin off the top spot.  Plus, with Caddyshack he gave one of the great comedic monologues of all-time.
Essential Viewing:  Lost in Translation, Rushmore, Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters

Meryl Streep

Streep made this turn late, long after she was already one of the most acclaimed actresses of all-time.  At the Nighthawks she would only have 65 Comedy points before 200 but then would follow that up with the most points by any actress in Comedy in any decade in history (270) and she shows no signs of stopping.  The Globes mostly agree as she had 245 points in Drama before she earned any points in Comedy but she’s now at over 300 points just in Comedy.
Essential Viewing:  Adaptation, The Devil Wears Prada, Julie and Julia, Manhattan

The Studios

There was no one studio that dominated.  This was a genre that every studio indulged in quite a bit.  In 1940, for example, I’ve seen at least four Comedies from all eight of the major studios.  I’ve seen at least 100 Comedies by at least 11 different studios.

Countries

I’ve seen over 500 Foreign Comedies.  It should come to no surprise that nearly half of them come from either France (over 25%) or Italy (over 20%).  Several other countries have their totals boosted by specific directors like Spain (Almodovar), Mexico (Buñuel), Finland (Kaurismaki) and Czechoslovakia (Menzel).

Oscar Submissions

Comedies play a significant part in Oscar submissions.  In 2003 alone, of the 9 Foreign Comedies I’ve seen, one won the Oscar (Barbarian Invasions) and all but one of the others was submitted.  I count no less than 62 countries that I’ve seen Comedy Oscar submissions from.  France has managed 9 nominations while Italy (with 8 nominations) has won the Oscar for Comedies 5 times.  In the case of some countries (Egypt, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Switzerland), I’ve seen at least three Comedies and all of them were Oscar submitted.

ranked list explanation

note:  I went with a Top 400 because that was roughly where the ***.5 films ended.
note:  For the next few lists, any links are to reviews I have written.  Some of them go to the Adapted Screenplay posts that discuss the film and the literary source but don’t actually review the film (but link to places where I had already reviewed the film).  There are a few that are not linked now but will be in the coming months as I get to more of the Adapted Screenplay posts.  The middle list deliberately includes any Comedies I have already reviewed (including every Comedy from 1994) as well as any Comedies I saw in the theater (if it seems like a random film with no real significance and it’s from 1989 to 2005 and there’s no link, I probably saw it in the theater).  I try to include significant films in the middle list and I have included a number of high box office films as well as first films in a series.
note:  Please don’t try to make the following list match up with other lists I have made.  All my lists are fluid and they change.

The Top 400 Comedies

  1. Dr. Strangelove; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
  2. Modern Times
  3. Ed Wood
  4. Hannah and Her Sisters
  5. Annie Hall
  6. The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain
  7. Smiles of a Summer Night
  8. Some Like It Hot
  9. M*A*S*H
  10. City Lights
  11. Sullivan’s Travels
  12. The Apartment
  13. The Philadelphia Story
  14. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
  15. Lost in Translation
  16. When Harry Met Sally
  17. The Great Dictator
  18. Sideways
  19. The Big Chill
  20. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
  21. The Gold Rush
  22. The Artist
  23. Shakespeare in Love
  24. American Graffiti
  25. The Rules of the Game
  26. Gosford Park
  27. The Fisher King
  28. His Girl Friday
  29. Manhattan
  30. Broadcast News
  31. Much Ado About Nothing
  32. Four Weddings and a Funeral
  33. Bringing Up Baby
  34. The Lady Eve
  35. The Producers
  36. A Serious Man
  37. Say Anything
  38. A Fish Called Wanda
  39. The Player
  40. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
  41. Midnight in Paris
  42. The Big Lebowski
  43. Mr. Roberts
  44. Being There
  45. The Purple Rose of Cairo
  46. The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
  47. Tom Jones
  48. Wonder Boys
  49. The Graduate
  50. The Sting
  51. Adaptation
  52. Tootsie
  53. It Happened One Night
  54. Juno
  55. Zelig
  56. Sabrina
  57. Roman Holiday
  58. Duck Soup
  59. Hail the Conquering Hero
  60. Up in the Air
  61. Bullets over Broadway
  62. Pride and Prejudice  (2005)
  63. The Royal Tenenbaums
  64. La Dolce Vita
  65. Young Frankenstein
  66. The Truman Show
  67. One, Two, Three
  68. Bull Durham
  69. Stardust Memories
  70. Being John Malkovich
  71. High Fidelity
  72. Ghost World
  73. Breakfast at Tiffany’s
  74. Breaking Away
  75. That Obscure Object of Desire
  76. Amarcord
  77. In the Bleak Midwinter
  78. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
  79. Blazing Saddles
  80. Pygmalion
  81. Horse Feathers
  82. My Man Godfrey
  83. Clerks
  84. Jerry Maguire
  85. The Great McGinty
  86. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
  87. The General
  88. American Splendor
  89. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
  90. 8 1/2
  91. Kind Hearts and Coronets
  92. Harold and Maude
  93. Mr. Hulot’s Holiday
  94. Volver
  95. The Americanization of Emily
  96. Baby Doll
  97. The Awful Truth
  98. To Die For
  99. The Kids are All Right
  100. Singles
  101. The More the Merrier
  102. The Shop Around the Corner
  103. Stolen Kisses
  104. Hobson’s Choice
  105. The Full Monty
  106. Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
  107. The Station Agent
  108. Grosse Pointe Blank
  109. Arsenic and Old Lace
  110. My Week with Marilyn
  111. Stranger Than Fiction
  112. Best in Show
  113. Cold Comfort Farm
  114. Diner
  115. The Moon is Blue
  116. You Can’t Take It With You
  117. The Informant
  118. Closely Watched Trains
  119. Heaven Can Wait
  120. Heathers
  121. The Hospital
  122. Design for Living
  123. Harvey
  124. Barton Fink
  125. Love on the Run
  126. Airplane!
  127. The Darjeeling Limited
  128. Charlie Wilson’s War
  129. About Schmidt
  130. Emma
  131. Eat Drink Man Woman
  132. About a Boy
  133. Chasing Amy
  134. May Fools
  135. Shampoo
  136. To Be or Not To Be  (1942)
  137. The Circus
  138. Our Hospitality
  139. Broadway Danny Rose
  140. Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment
  141. Truly Madly Deeply
  142. Dinner at Eight
  143. Kung Fu Hustle
  144. Two for the Road
  145. The Quiet Man
  146. The Trouble with Harry
  147. Happy-Go-Lucky
  148. Beetlejuice
  149. The Two of Us
  150. Steamboat Bill, Jr.
  151. The Sunshine Boys
  152. The Accidental Tourist
  153. The Barbarian Invasions
  154. Elizabethtown
    ***.5
  155. Enemies, a Love Story
  156. Monty Python’s Life of Brian
  157. Nobody’s Fool
  158. L’Age D’Or
  159. Rushmore
  160. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
  161. Melvin and Howard
  162. Mon Oncle
  163. Primary Colors
  164. The Wedding Banquet
  165. Life is Sweet
  166. Decline of the American Empire
  167. Take the Money and Run
  168. Boudu Saved from Drowning
  169. The Twelve Chairs
  170. My Favorite Year
  171. Radio Days
  172. Short Cuts
  173. Roxanne
  174. The Man in the White Suit
  175. Los Olvidados
  176. Our Man in Havana
  177. A Private Function
  178. Burn After Reading
  179. Deconstructing Harry
  180. Groundhog Day
  181. Merrily We Live
  182. Ball of Fire
  183. Exterminating Angel
  184. Playtime
  185. After Hours
  186. Something Wild
  187. Le Havre
  188. Intolerable Cruelty
  189. Divine Intervention
  190. Man on the Moon
  191. My Life as a Dog
  192. The Stunt Man
  193. Educating Rita
  194. Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife
  195. Hyenas
  196. Bob Roberts
  197. As You Like It
  198. State and Main
  199. The Birdcage
  200. Married to the Mob
  201. (500) Days of Summer
  202. Love Actually
  203. Here Comes Mr. Jordan
  204. Lolita (1962)
  205. Phantom of Liberty
  206. Beautiful Girls
  207. Dogma
  208. Big Fish
  209. Vicky Cristina Barcelona
  210. The Matador
  211. The Man Without a Past
  212. Bulworth
  213. The Palm Beach Story
  214. The Breakfast Club
  215. Hot Fuzz
  216. Thank You for Smoking
  217. I ♥ Huckabees
  218. Nurse Betty
  219. Love and Death
  220. It’s Love I’m After
  221. Seven Chances
  222. Jacob the Liar
  223. Young Adult
  224. The Savages
  225. A Prairie Home Companion
  226. Safety Last
  227. Lovers and Other Strangers
  228. The Snapper
  229. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zisou
  230. Play It Again, Sam
  231. Local Hero
  232. An Awfully Big Adventure
  233. Down with Love
  234. The Upside of Anger
  235. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
  236. Big
  237. A Shot in the Dark
  238. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
  239. Viridiana
  240. Sleeper
  241. The Nasty Girl
  242. Raising Arizona
  243. Duplicity
  244. Breakfast on Pluto
  245. Garden State
  246. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
  247. Ma Vie en Rose
  248. Waiting for Guffman
  249. Cookie’s Fortune
  250. Three Ages
  251. Starting Over
  252. Peggy Sue Got Married
  253. Wag the Dog
  254. Belle Epoque
  255. Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life
  256. Enchanted April
  257. Husbands and Wives
  258. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
  259. The Hudsucker Proxy
  260. Micmacs
  261. Limelight
  262. The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming
  263. The Fortune Cookie
  264. Le Plaisir
  265. Simon of the Desert
  266. The Sure Thing
  267. Saved
  268. As Good as It Gets
  269. Texasville
  270. I Vitelloni
  271. The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz
  272. Yoyo
  273. The Butcher Boy
  274. Passport to Pimlico
  275. Whisky Galore
  276. Election
  277. Show People
  278. A Night at the Opera
  279. The Actress
  280. Antonia’s Line
  281. The Dish
  282. The Trip
  283. Nicholas Nickleby
  284. The Fireman’s Ball
  285. Zazie in the Subway
  286. Tillie’s Punctured Romance
  287. Hard to Handle
  288. Solo con tu pareja
  289. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (* but were afraid to ask)
  290. The History Boys
  291. The Squid and the Whale
  292. Happy TImes
  293. OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
  294. Twentieth Century
  295. Genevieve
  296. W
  297. Under the Roofs of Paris
  298. The Kid Brother
  299. The Goodbye Girl
  300. Parenthood
  301. Loves of a Blonde
  302. The Milky Way
  303. Death at a Funeral  (2007)
  304. Woman of the Year
  305. The Princess and the Pirate
  306. You’re a Big Boy Now
  307. Trading Places
  308. Divided We Fall
  309. The Match Factory Girl
  310. Bend It Like Beckham
  311. Tin Men
  312. My Sweet Little Village
  313. Get Out Your Handkerchiefs
  314. People on Sunday
  315. Barefoot in the Park
  316. Muriel’s Wedding
  317. Zero for Conduct
  318. Monsieur Verdoux
  319. Picnic on the Grass
  320. Jeffrey
  321. Bread and Chocolate
  322. The Policeman
  323. Carnal Knowledge
  324. Sitcom
  325. Citizen Ruth
  326. 12:08 East of Bucharest
  327. The Illusionist
  328. Bad Luck
  329. The Captain’s Paradise
  330. Cameraman
  331. The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Soviets
  332. Mauvaise Graine
  333. The Joke
  334. Storytelling
  335. Elling
  336. Paper Moon
  337. The Odd Couple
  338. OSS 117: Lost in Rio
  339. The Missionary
  340. Welcome to the Dollhouse
  341. Kissing Jessica Stein
  342. In and Out
  343. City of Lost Children
  344. The Front Page  (1974)
  345. Travels with My Aunt
  346. Divorce Italian Style
  347. Moonstruck
  348. The Weather Man
  349. Sixteen Candles
  350. Cousin Cousine
  351. Kontroll
  352. Shaolin Soccer
  353. The Opposite of Sex
  354. The Other Side of Sunday
  355. Flirting with Disaster
  356. Sirens
  357. Pushing Hands
  358. Good Morning Vietnam
  359. The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
  360. The Kid
  361. Il Diavolo
  362. Georgy Girl
  363. Big Dig
  364. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
  365. Quick Change
  366. Peter’s Friends
  367. Potiche
  368. Heaven Can Wait
  369. French Twist
  370. The Card
  371. La Cage Aux Folles
  372. Big Night
  373. Honeymoon in Vegas
  374. A Thousand Clowns
  375. A Man and a Woman
  376. Death in the Garden
  377. Lady for a Day
  378. Pride and Prejudice  (1940)
  379. The Baker’s Wife
  380. Pocketful of Miracles
  381. State of the Union
  382. L’Invitation
  383. Mon Once D’Amerique
  384. Mansfield Park
  385. Life is Beautiful
  386. Underground
  387. Trouble in Paradise
    ***
  388. Six Degrees of Separation
  389. Victor/Victoria
  390. Meet John Doe
  391. In the Loop
  392. Barney’s Version
  393. Easy A
  394. Bright Young Things
  395. The Wood
  396. Dave
  397. Hot Shots Part Deux
  398. L.A. Story
  399. Animal House
  400. The Heartbreak Kid

Notable Comedies Not in the Top 400

The Bottom 10 Comedies, #3903-3912
(worst being #10, which is #3912 overall)

  1. Leonard Part 6
    0 stars
  2. Myra Breckinridge
  3. The Hottie and the Nottie
  4. Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star
  5. Female Trouble
  6. Desperate Living
  7. A Dirty Shame
  8. Deuce Bigelow: European Gigolo
  9. Freddy Got Fingered
  10. An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn

The 20 Most Underrated Comedies

These are all films that I rate at **** that have never appeared in TSPDT’s Top 1000 (now 2000) or their Top 250 21st Century Films (now 1000).  Also, none of these films were nominated for Best Picture and for the most part were ignored by the Oscars.  They are listed in chronological order.

  1. Dinner at Eight
  2. Hail the Conquering Hero
  3. Hobson’s Choice
  4. The Trouble with Harry
  5. The Americanization of Emily
  6. Morgan!
  7. The Two of Us
  8. Love on the Run
  9. Beetlejuice
  10. May Fools
  11. Singles
  12. Much Ado About Nothing
  13. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
  14. To Die For
  15. Cold Comfort Farm
  16. In the Bleak Midwinter
  17. Emma
  18. Grosse Pointe Blank
  19. Chasing Amy
  20. Stranger than Fiction

Best Comedies By Decade

  • 1910’s:  Tillie’s Punctured Romance
  • 1920’s:  The Gold Rush
  • 1930’s:  Modern Times
  • 1940’s:  Sullivan’s Travels
  • 1950’s:  Some Like It Hot
  • 1960’s:  Dr. Strangelove
  • 1970’s:  Annie Hall
  • 1980’s:  Hannah and Her Sisters
  • 1990’s:  Ed Wood
  • 2000’s:  The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain
  • 2010’s:  The Artist

Worst Comedies By Decade

  • 1910’s:  The Doll
  • 1920’s:  The Taming of the Shrew
  • 1930’s:  Elmer the Great
  • 1940’s:  Riverboat Rhythm
  • 1950’s:  Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla
  • 1960’s:  13 Frightened Girls
  • 1970’s:  Desperate Living
  • 1980’s:  Leonard Part 6
  • 1990’s:  An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn
  • 2000’s:  Freddy Got Fingered
  • 2010’s:  Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star

Best Comedy by Year

note:  Comedy has so many films it deserves to have a per-year list.  Because of Oscar eligibility dates that have been confirmed since the Nighthawk Awards or just changes in my feelings, this list might not reflect what was listed in the individual Nighthawk Awards posts.
note:  If there is an n/a it means no Comedy in that year reached ***.5.

  • 1912-26:  The Gold Rush
  • 1927-28:  The Circus
  • 1928-29:  Steamboat Bill, Jr.
  • 1929-30:  Under the Roofs of Paris
  • 1930-31:  City Lights
  • 1931-32:  n/a
  • 1932-33:  Duck Soup
  • 1934:  It Happened One Night
  • 1935:  A Night at the Opera
  • 1936:  Modern Times
  • 1937:  The Awful Truth
  • 1938:  Bringing Up Baby
  • 1939:  n/a
  • 1940:  The Philadelphia Story
  • 1941:  The Lady Eve
  • 1942:  Sullivan’s Travels
  • 1943:  The More the Merrier
  • 1944:  The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
  • 1945:  n/a
  • 1946:  n/a
  • 1947:  Monsieur Verdoux
  • 1948:  State of the Union
  • 1949:  Whisky Galore
  • 1950:  The Rules of the Game
  • 1951:  n/a
  • 1952:  The Quiet Man
  • 1953:  Roman Holiday
  • 1954:  Sabrina
  • 1955:  Mr. Roberts
  • 1956:  Baby Doll
  • 1957:  I Vitelloni
  • 1958:  Smiles of a Summer Night
  • 1959:  Some Like It Hot
  • 1960:  The Apartment
  • 1961:  One, Two, Three
  • 1962:  Lolita
  • 1963:  Tom Jones
  • 1964:  Dr. Strangelove
  • 1965:  A Thousand Clowns
  • 1966:  Morgan
  • 1967:  The Graduate
  • 1968:  The Producers
  • 1969:  Stolen Kisses
  • 1970:  M*A*S*H
  • 1971:  Harold and Maude
  • 1972:  The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
  • 1973:  American Graffiti
  • 1974:  Young Frankenstein
  • 1975:  Monty Python and the Holy Grail
  • 1976:  Cousin Cousine
  • 1977:  Annie Hall
  • 1978:  Heaven Can Wait
  • 1979:  Manhattan
  • 1980:  Stardust Memories
  • 1981:  n/a
  • 1982:  Tootsie
  • 1983:  The Big Chill
  • 1984:  Broadway Danny Rose
  • 1985:  The Purple Rose of Cairo
  • 1986:  Hannah and Her Sisters
  • 1987:  Broadcast News
  • 1988:  Who Framed Roger Rabbit
  • 1989:  When Harry Met Sally
  • 1990:  May Fools
  • 1991:  The Fisher King
  • 1992:  The Player
  • 1993:  Much Ado About Nothing
  • 1994:  Ed Wood
  • 1995:  To Die For
  • 1996:  In the Bleak Midwinter
  • 1997:  The Full Monty
  • 1998:  Shakespeare in Love
  • 1999:  Being John Malkovich
  • 2000:  Wonder Boys
  • 2001:  The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain
  • 2002:  Adaptation
  • 2003:  Lost in Translation
  • 2004:  Sideways
  • 2005:  Pride and Prejudice
  • 2006:  Volver
  • 2007:  Juno
  • 2008:  Happy-Go-Lucky
  • 2009:  A Serious Man
  • 2010:  The Kids are All Right
  • 2011:  The Artist

Worst Comedy by Year

note:  If there is a n/a it means no Comedy in that year was ** or lower.

  • 1912-26:  The Doll
  • 1927-28:  n/a
  • 1928-29:  n/a
  • 1929-30:  The Taming of the Shrew
  • 1930-31:  Min and Bill
  • 1931-32:  Caught Plastered
  • 1932-33:  Elmer the Great
  • 1934:  Bachelor Bait
  • 1935:  Baby Face Harrington
  • 1936:  General Spanky
  • 1937:  When’s Your Birthday
  • 1938:  The Beloved Brat
  • 1939:  Good Girls Go to Paris
  • 1940:  Millionaire Playboy
  • 1941:  Spooks Run Wild
  • 1942:  Sunday Punch
  • 1943:  Gildersleeve’s Bad Day
  • 1944:  The Canterville Ghost
  • 1945:  Zombies on Broadway
  • 1946:  Riverboat Rhythm
  • 1947:  The Farmer’s Daughter
  • 1948:  Jinx Money
  • 1949:  Angels in Disguise
  • 1950:  Blonde Dynamite
  • 1951:  Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm
  • 1952:  Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla
  • 1953:  Loose in London
  • 1954:  The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters
  • 1955:  Bowery to Bagdad
  • 1956:  High Society
  • 1957:  Looking for Danger
  • 1958:  Rock-a-Bye Baby
  • 1959:  Have Rocket, Will Travel
  • 1960:  Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow
  • 1961:  Come September
  • 1962:  Tonight for Sure
  • 1963:  Ensign Pulver
  • 1964:  Dr. Strangelove
  • 1965:  Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine
  • 1966:  Daisies
  • 1967:  The Trip
  • 1968:  Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?
  • 1969:  Staircase
  • 1970:  Myra Breckenridge
  • 1971:  Making It
  • 1972:  Hercules in New York
  • 1973:  40 Carats
  • 1974:  The Bed Sitting Room
  • 1975:  Female Trouble
  • 1976:  Sweet Movie
  • 1977:  Desperate Living
  • 1978:  The End
  • 1979:  Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
  • 1980:  The Gong Show Movie
  • 1981:  Caveman
  • 1982:  Jekyll and Hyde… Together Again
  • 1983:  Spring Break
  • 1984:  Hardbodies
  • 1985:  Porky’s Revenge!
  • 1986:  Howard the Duck
  • 1987:  Leonard Part 6
  • 1988:  Caddyshack II
  • 1989:  Police Academy 6: City Under Siege
  • 1990:  Loose Cannons
  • 1991:  Nothing But Trouble
  • 1992:  Straight Talk
  • 1993:  Weekend at Bernie’s II
  • 1994:  Exit to Eden
  • 1995:  National Lampoon’s Senior Trip
  • 1996:  The Stupids
  • 1997:  Beverly Hills Ninja
  • 1998:  An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn
  • 1999:  Deuce Bigelow: Male Gigolo
  • 2000:  Screwed
  • 2001:  Freddy Got Fingered
  • 2002:  Sorority Boys
  • 2003:  Boat Trip
  • 2004:  A Dirty Shame
  • 2005:  Deuce Bigelow: European Gigolo
  • 2006:  Big Momma’s House 2
  • 2007:  Epic Movie
  • 2008:  The Hottie and the Nottie
  • 2009:  Fired Up!
  • 2010:  Furry Vengeance
  • 2011:  Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star

The Most Over-Rated Comedies

  1. Daisies
    I think this is a really bad film (*) yet it continues to do well on the TSPDT list.
  2. Celine and Julie Go Boating
    A much better film but at low *** it really shouldn’t land among the Top 25 Comedies of all-time on the TSPDT list.
  3. Home Alone
    It’s the second highest grossing Comedy of all-time and even accounting for inflation is in the Top 5.  Yet, it’s not good and its humor is really kind of disturbing.
  4. Father of the Bride
    One of only two sub-*** Comedies to earn a Best Picture nomination, it’s, by eight points, the weakest Comedy to earn that distinction.
  5. Fellini Satyricon
    It’s consistently on the TSPDT list and it earned an Oscar nomination for Best Director yet this is the epitome of Fellini’s self-indulgence and by far the worst film he ever made.

The Statistics

note:  Because this genre is one in which see films just about every day, the numbers here don’t quite match the numbers for the all-time list up above.

Total Films 1912-2011:  3871  (2nd)

Total Percentage of All Films 1912-2011:  20.40%

  • 1912-1929:  66  (2nd)  –  14.51%
  • 1930-1939:  368  (2nd)  –  20.85%
  • 1940-1949:  333  (2nd)  –  19.30%
  • 1950-1959:  274  (2nd)  –  14.46%
  • 1960-1969:  329  (2nd)  –  17.08%
  • 1970-1979:  288  (2nd)  –  14.97%
  • 1980-1989:  548  (2nd)  –  23.77%
  • 1990-1999:  742  (2nd)  –  25.52%
  • 2000-2011:  923  (2nd)  –  22.64%

Stars (percentage of Comedy films by star rating):

note:  The second number is the percentage for that rating for all films.

  • ****:  3.98%  (4.47%)
  • ***.5:  6.02%  (5.85%)
  • ***:  34.90%  (40.59%)
  • **.5:  21.98%  (22.12%)
  • **:  16.66%  (14.58%)
  • *.5:  4.39%  (3.72%)
  • *:  6.35%  (5.55%)
  • .5:  5.48%  (2.88%)
  • 0:  0.23%  (0.23%)

Stars (by percentage of all films at that star rating):

  • ****:  17.87%
  • ***.5:  20.36%
  • ***:  16.51%
  • **.5:  20.39%
  • **:  24.59%
  • *.5:  24.60%
  • *:  24.79%
  • .5:  39.17%
  • 0:  20.41%

Biggest Years:

  • 1994:  90
  • 1999 / 2001:  88
  • 2008:  87
  • 1997:  84

Biggest Years by Percentage of All Films:

  • 1941:  30.00%
  • 1938:  28.92%
  • 1937:  28.34%
  • 1999:  27.59%
  • 1987:  27.37%

Best Years:

  • 1940:  5 Top 10, 8 Top 20
  • 1938 / 1966:  5 Top 10, 7 Top 20
  • 1936:  3 Top 10, 9 Top 20
  • 1975 / 1988 / 1998:  4 Top 10, 8 Top 20

The Top Films:

  • Nighthawk Winner:  1931, 1936, 1942, 1964, 1970, 1986, 1988, 1994
  • Top 10 Films:  166
  • Longest Streak with at least one Top 10 Film:  1982-2005
  • Longest Streak without a Top 10 Film:  1945-48  (only multi-year streak)
  • Best Decade for Top 10 Films:  1970’s  (27)
  • Worst Decade for Top 10 Films:  2000’s  (14)
  • Top 20 Films:  336
  • Longest Streak with at least one Top 20 Film:  1952-2011
  • Longest Streak without a Top 20 Film:  1945, 1951
  • Best Decade for Top 20 Films:  1970’s  (51)
  • Worst Decade for Top 20 Films:  1950’s / 2000’s  (30)

Nighthawk Awards

  • Number of Films That Have Earned Nominations:  370
  • Number of Films That Have Won Nighthawks:  90
  • Number of Films With Multiple Nominations:  213
  • Number of Films With Multiple Wins:  33
  • Best Picture Nominations:  69
  • Total Number of Nominations:  1072
  • Total Number of Wins:  171
  • Category With the Most Nominations:  Original Screenplay  (139)
  • Director with Most Nighthawk Nominated Films:  Woody Allen  (18)
  • Best Film with No Nighthawks:  Some Like It Hot
  • Best Film with No Nighthawk Nominations:  The General  (1926)
  • Number of Films That Have Earned Comedy Nominations:  595
  • Number of Films That Have Won Comedy Awards:  211
  • Comedy Picture Nominations:  242
  • Total Number of Comedy Nominations:  1802
  • Total Number of Comedy Wins:  456
  • Category With the Most Nominations:  Actor  (258)
  • Best Comedy Film With No Nominations:  Hot Fuzz
  • Most 2nd Place Finishes:  The Artist  (7)
  • Most 6th Place Finishes:  The Moon is Blue  /  Heaven Can Wait (1978)  (4)
  • Most Top 10 Finishes:  Tom Jones  /  Young Frankenstein  (15)
  • Most Top 20 Finishes:  Young Frankenstein  (17)
  • Best Film Without a Top 10 Finish:  I ♥ Huckabee’s
  • Best Film Without a Top 20 Finish:  n/a

Most Nighthawk Nominations:

  1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit  –  12
  2. My Man Godfrey  –  11
  3. The Great Dictator  –  11
  4. Tom Jones  –  11
  5. M*A*S*H  –  11
  6. City Lights  –  10
  7. Smiles of a Summer Night  –  10
  8. Much Ado About Nothing  –  10
  9. Ed Wood  –  10
  10. Shakespeare in Love  /  The Artist  –  10

Most Nighthawks:

  1. City Lights  –  9
  2. Modern Times  –  9
  3. Ed Wood  –  7
  4. Tom Jones  –  6
  5. M*A*S*H  –  6
  6. Smiles of a Summer Night  –  5
  7. Dr. Strangelove  –  5
  8. Hannah and Her Sisters  –  5
  9. Who Framed Roger Rabbit  –  5
  10. Mr. Roberts  /  Shakespeare in Love  –  4

Most Nighthawk Points:

  1. City Lights  –  630
  2. Modern Times  –  570
  3. Ed Wood  –  540
  4. M*A*S*H  –  510
  5. Who Framed Roger Rabbit  –  495
  6. Dr. Strangelove  –  480
  7. Tom Jones  –  460
  8. Smiles of a Summer Night  –  430
  9. Hannah and Her Sisters  –  430
  10. The Great Dictator  –  415

Most Comedy Nominations:

  1. Tom Jones  –  10
  2. My Man Godfrey  –  9
  3. Young Frankenstein  –  9
  4. ten films  –  8

Most Comedy Wins:

  1. Steamboat Bill Jr.  –  6
  2. City Lights  –  6
  3. The Awful Truth  –  6
  4. Smiles of a Summer Night  –  6
  5. Some Like it Hot  –  6
  6. The Apartment  –  6
  7. Tom Jones  –  6
  8. The Graduate  –  6
  9. Annie Hall  –  6
  10. 11 films  –  5

note:  All of these films won Picture, Director, Screenplay and three acting awards.  The only one nominated for the fourth acting award was Tom Jones.

Most Comedy Points:

  1. Tom Jones  –  585
  2. Some Like It Hot  –  505
  3. The Awful Truth  –  500
  4. Smiles of a Summer Night  –  500
  5. The Apartment  –  500
  6. Young Frankenstein  –  490
  7. Tootsie  –  490
  8. The Big Chill  –  485
  9. Hannah and Her Sisters  –  485
  10. The Graduate  /  Annie Hall  –  470

All-Time Nighthawk Awards

note:  These are my all-time Top 5 in each category.  But in the Analysis section, I discuss not only how Comedy films have done in the Nighthawks but also in-depth discussions of how they have done in all the awards groups.  Films in red won the Oscar.  Films in blue were Oscar nominated.  There are a few lists here that aren’t in my usual Nighthawk Awards.

  • Best Picture
  1. Dr. Strangelove
  2. Modern Times
  3. Ed Wood
  4. Hannah and Her Sisters
  5. Annie Hall

Analysis:  Only the first four win the Nighthawk (Annie Hall has to face off against Star Wars).  However, several other Comedies win the Nighthawk (City Lights, Sullivan’s Travels, M*A*S*H, Who Framed Roger Rabbit).  In all, 69 Comedies through 2011 earn Nighthawk noms for Best Picture.  Including those films, 162 films makes the Top 10 and 276 are Top 20 films.
Of the 84 Picture – Comedy / Musical winners at the Nighthawks (1946 has no film good enough to qualify), 50 of them are Comedies (that doesn’t mean the rest are Musicals because there are films I judge comedic that aren’t primarily Comedy as a genre like the stretch of 1996-99 where the four winners were, in order, Horror, Crime, Crime and War).  Including the winners there are 242 Comedies with a Picture – Comedy / Musical nom at the Nighthawks.  The weakest winner is Monsieur Verdoux (one of only three ***.5 winners along with Under the Roofs of Paris and Passport to Pimlico), the weakest nominee is State of the Union and the best film not to win the award is The Great Dictator (because of The Philadelphia Story).
There are 11 films I classify primarily as Comedy that won the Oscar: It Happened One Night, You Can’t Take It With You, Around the World in 80 Days, The Apartment, Tom Jones, The Sting, Annie Hall, Driving Miss Daisy, Forrest Gump, Shakespeare in Love and The Artist.  There are another 54 films that earned Oscar nominations.  The only year with three nominated Comedies, amazingly, was during the 5 BP Era (1973 when The Sting beat A Touch of Class and American Graffiti) while 5 BP Era years with two nominees are 1950 (Born Yesterday, Father of the Bride), 1977 (Annie Hall, Goodbye Girl), 1987 (Broadcast News, Moonstruck), 1988 (Accidental Tourist, Working Girl), 1994 (Forrest Gump, Four Weddings), 1997 (As Good as It Gets, Full Monty) and 1998 (Shakespeare in Love, Life is Beautiful).  Bizarrely, after Comedy’s best stretch (1987-89, five nominees, a winner), it would be another five years before a Comedy was even nominated and that was followed once again by a strong stretch (94-98, seven nominees, two winners).
You would think, given the Globe distinctions that all the winners would be Comedies but there are only 34 films that I classify as Comedies because many are Musicals and some are other categories (several are Kids).  The only films that I classify as Comedy that won the Globe – Drama are Around the World in 80 Days (which confused the Globes since it also won Actor – Comedy) and Forrest Gump.  There are also 159 films I classify as Comedy that were nominated for Picture though I won’t go through and see if any of them were nominated in Drama.  Also bear in mind that films eligible for Foreign Film (all films not in English and many British films up until the mid 80’s) were ineligible for Picture.  There are only three years in the 5 BP Era at the Oscars (1944-2008) in which multiple films that I classify as Comedy were nominated for both the Oscar and for the Globe – Comedy (1977, 1987, 1997).
Twelve Comedies have won the BAFTA: The Apartment, Tom Jones, Dr. Strangelove, The Graduate, Annie Hall, Manhattan, Educating Rita, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Full Monty, Shakespeare in Love and The Artist.  It’s a wide ebb and tide with four films in nine years followed by a nine year gap then four films in nine years then a nine year gap then three films in five years then a 13 year gap.  There are another 56 films that earn nominations though over half of those are from the first 20 years of the BAFTAs when there was no limit on the Picture category.  Oddly enough, while there were no winners from 1986 to 1993, that eight year stretch did have eight nominees.
Six films have won Best British Film – four in the old category up through 1967 (Genevieve, Hobson’s Choice, Tom Jones, Dr. Strangelove) and two since the category was revived in 1992 (East is East, Gosford Park).  Another 27 films have been nominated – 13 with the old award and 14 with the new.  Strangely enough, after never going multiple years in a row without a Comedy nominee and after having three nominees in 2005 (Pride & Prejudice, Tristram Shandy, Festival), there would then be no more Comedy nominees until 2009.
Two Comedies have won the BFCA (Sideways, The Artist) and another 20 have earned nominations.
Four films have won the PGA: Driving Miss Daisy, Forrest Gump, Little Miss Sunshine and The Artist.  Another 15 films have earned PGA nominations (with The Simpsons Movie earning one in the Animated Film category).
Sideways is the big winner at the critics awards with four Best Picture awards (the only Comedy to win more than two).  Seven films have won two awards: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (only the second film to win two), Around the World in 80 Days, Tom Jones, Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, American Splendor and The Artist.  Another 23 films have won one each beginning with It Happened One Night while the most recent is Up in the Air.  The only years where two different Comedies each won a critics award are 1979 (Manhattan, Breaking Away) and 1988 (Accidental Tourist, Bull Durham).  Tom Jones is the only film to ever win Picture and Director from two different critics groups (NYFC, NBR) and it did it at a time when there were only two critics groups.

  • Best Director
  1. Charlie Chaplin  (Modern Times)
  2. Tim Burton  (Ed Wood)
  3. Woody Allen  (Hannah and Her Sisters)
  4. Robert Altman  (M*A*S*H)
  5. Stanley Kubrick  (Dr. Strangelove)

Analysis:  Seven films win the Nighthawk (all the Picture winners except Sullivan’s Travels) with Chaplin the only director winning twice.  Lots of films ended up with Picture but not Director noms (18) but only seven end up with a Director nom without a Picture nom (Design for Living, Twentieth Century, Mauvaise Graine, The Palm Beach Story, You’re a Big Boy Now, The Truman Show, Up in the Air).  Woody Allen manages six noms (including a win) with Billy Wilder and Preston Sturges each earning five and Chaplin earning two wins and three more noms.  Comedies earn 231 Director noms at the Nighthawk Globes with 53 of those winning the award.  Woody Allen dominates with 720 points.
A dozen Comedies have won the Oscar with four of those failing to win Best Picture (Deeds, Awful Truth, Quiet Man, Graduate) while only two Comedy Best Picture winners have failed to win Best Director (Around the World, Shakespeare) though Driving Miss Daisy failed to even earn a nom.  In a weird stretch, Comedies won the award three straight years (36-38) and four out of five from 34-38 then not again until 1952 and Gump was the only Comedy to win between 1977 and 2011.  Five different directors have earned at least four Oscar nominations just for Comedies (Allen, Altman, Capra, Fellini, Wilder) with Capra winning three.
Only four Comedies have won the Globe; what’s more, one of those didn’t win Picture (Gosford Park), one of them wasn’t even nominated for Picture (Baby Doll) and one won Picture in Drama (Gump) leaving The Graduate as the big winner at the Globes in Comedy.  Another 35 Comedies have earned a Director nomination with Woody Allen and Robert Altman the only ones with more than two (Altman has a won while Allen does not – the opposite of the Oscars).
Eight films have won the BAFTA but only four of them (Graduate, Annie Hall, Four Weddings, Artist) won Picture as well (the other four are Local Hero, Hannah, Player, Truman Show).  Including the winners there are 25 nominees in all with four each for Allen and Altman (but Allen has two wins and Altman only one).  Altman is the only one to earn a Director nom at the BAFTAs for a Comedy that didn’t earn Picture or British Film noms (for A Wedding).
Director started later at the BFCA and has fewer nominations so there is only one Comedy winner (The Artist) and four other nominees (Big Fish, Lost in Translation, Sideways, Up in the Air).
There have been eight DGA winners, all of which went on to win the Oscar (Quiet Man, Apartment, Tom Jones, Graduate, Sting, Annie Hall, Gump, Artist).  There have also been 43 DGA nominees.  Woody Allen has four noms (including the win), the only director with more than two.
Eight Comedies have won at least two critics awards (Tom Jones, That Obscure Object of Desire, Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, Player, Gosford Park, Lost in Translation, Happy-Go-Lucky) though none have won more than two while another 15 have won one award each.  Allen leads (five awards for three films) followed by Altman (four for two) and Buñuel (three for two).  The only year in which multiple Comedies won an award is 1977 (That Obscure Object, Annie Hall).

  • Best Adapted Screenplay:
  1. Dr. Strangelove
  2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
  3. M*A*S*H
  4. Ed Wood
  5. The Philadelphia Story

Analysis:  The peak for the best of these was definitely the mid 50’s through the late 70’s.  Of the 13 films to win the Nighthawk there were two in the 30’s then one in 1994 and one in 2004 while the other 9 were from 1954 to 1979.  The 63 nominations, on the other hand, are much more spread out.  The Philadelphia Story doesn’t actually win the Nighthawk (because of Grapes of Wrath).  With better writing than Musicals, Comedies dominate the Comedy / Musical category with 62 wins and 121 nominations.
After four early wins (It Happened One Night, Pygmalion, Philadelphia Story, Here Comes Mr. Jordan), Comedies have won the Oscar once a decade (Around the World, Tom Jones, M*A*S*H, Driving Miss Daisy, Forrest Gump, Sideways).  There have also been 60 nominees, though rarely more than one in a single year.
Of the 10 Globe winners for Screenplay, only four were adapted (Sabrina, About Schmidt, Sideways, Up in the Air) and only one of those was before 2002.  Of the 46 nominees, 19 of them are adapted.
Four adapted films won the Screenplay category at the BAFTAs before it was split into two categories (Tom Jones, Morgan, Graduate, Being There) with five winning Adapted since (Player, Primary Colors, Adaptation, Sideways, Up in the Air).  There have also been 83 total nominations (not including winners) split between the two categories (and the original, unified category).
Wonder Boys, Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (joint win for Charlie Kaufmann for those two), Sideways and Up in the Air have won the BFCA while About Schmidt, Big Fish and Charlie Wilson’s War have earned noms.
Because Comedy had its own category from 1948 to 1967 before it had two categories mostly to itself from 1968 to 1983, there are a large number of WGA winners (73 in all) and hard to separate out all the originals from adapted.  There are a total of 294 nominees (including the winners).
Sideways is the only film (in any genre) to win six Screenplay critics awards.  Adaptation wins four awards while American Splendor and Up in the Air win three each.  The only other adapted films to win an award are The Player, Short Cuts, Election, Wonder Boys, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (shared with Adaptation), About Schmidt and In the Loop with one each.

  • Best Novel Adapted into a Comedy:
  1. Lolita
  2. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
  3. The World According to Garp
  4. Portnoy’s Complaint
  5. Wonder Boys

Analysis:  Lolita isn’t listed as being adapted twice because the second adaptation isn’t a Comedy.  The quality of these has quite a range; in order, those Top 5 were made into a ***.5 film, ***.5, ***, * and ****.  All five of those novels are in my Top 50 all-time.  Gulliver’s Travels is the only other novel in my Top 100 to be turned into a Comedy film.

  • Best Play Adapted into a Comedy:
  1. Much Ado About Nothing
  2. Twelfth Night
  3. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
  4. Pygmalion
  5. Cyrano de Bergerac (twice)

Analysis:  I’ve never done a ranking of plays like I have with novels but this was the best that I came up with, with, not surprisingly, two Shakespeare plays at the top (A Midsummer Night’s Dream would have been there too if I didn’t consider the film versions to be Fantasy films).

Best Original Screenplay:

  1. Annie Hall
  2. Modern Times
  3. Hannah and Her Sisters
  4. A Fish Called Wanda
  5. The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain

Analysis:  This is Comedy’s big award with 29 winners at the Nighthawks including four for Chaplin and six for Woody Allen.  There are also 111 nominations with Allen picking up seven more.  In both 1941 and 1983, while no Comedy won the award, it accounted for all four of the losing nominees.  It also dominates the Comedy / Musical awards with 66 winners and 167 additional nominees.
This has been the big award at the Oscars as well with 26 winners including six in the last 14 years and 10 from 1957-73.  There have also been 108 nominees.  Woody Allen dominates the list of course with 3 Oscars and 12 total nominations.
Of the 10 Globe winners for Screenplay, six are original (The Hospital, Goodbye Girl, Purple Rose of Cairo, Shakespeare in Love, Lost in Translation, Midnight in Paris).  Of the 46 nominees, 27 of them are original with two Allen films to go along with his two wins.
Six original films won the Screenplay category at the BAFTAs before it was split into two categories (I’m All Right Jack, Hospital, Discreet Charm, Annie Hall, Manhattan, Gregory’s Girl) with 14 winning Original since with Woody Allen winning three in a row from 84-86.  There have also been 83 total nominations (not including winners) split between the two categories (and the original, unified category).  Allen has six wins and 10 total nominations.
Shakespeare in Love, Little Miss Sunshine, Juno and Midnight in Paris have won the BFCA with 12 other nominees.  All five 2011 nominees were Comedies.
See Adapted for the WGA stats.  Woody Allen has 4 wins and 17 total nominations.
Bull Durham, Being John Malkovich and Squid and the Whale all win four critics awards.  Annie Hall, Melvin and Howard, Tootsie and A Serious Man all win three awards.  Twelve films win two awards (including two Allen films) and 17 films win one award.  Allen wins 7 awards for three films.

  • Best Actor:
  1. Jack Lemmon  (The Apartment)
  2. Peter Sellers  (Dr. Strangelove)
  3. Dustin Hoffman  (Tootsie)
  4. Peter Sellers  (Being There)
  5. Bill Murray  (Lost in Translation)

Analysis:  There are 10 performances that win the Nighthawk Award but, even though Lemmon is the only 9 point performance, he doesn’t win (because of Ikiru).  The winners are Chaplin twice (City Lights, Modern Times), Leslie Howard (Pygmalion), Sellers twice (Strangelove, Being There), Michael Caine (Educating Rita), William Hurt (Broadcast News), Johnny Depp (Ed Wood), Michael Douglas (Wonder Boys) and Murray.  There are another 59 nominees including a second for Strangelove (George C. Scott) and four more for Chaplin (Gold Rush, Circus, Great Dictator, Monsieur Verdoux).  At the Comedy awards, Comedies account for 59 winners and 204 additional nominations with five films both winning an having an additional nomination (Moon is Blue, Some Like It Hot, Strangelove, The Sting, Fisher King).
Nine performances have won the Oscar: Clark Gable (It Happened One Night), Jimmy Stewart (Philadelphia Story), Jose Ferrer (Cyrano de Bergerac), Art Carney (Harry and Tonto), Richard Dreyfuss (Goodbye Girl), Tom Hanks (Gump), Jack Nicholson (As Good as It Gets), Roberto Benigni (Life is Beautiful) and Jean Dujardin (The Artist).  As you can see, it’s not the best Comedy performances that manage to win the Oscar though all of my Top 5 are among the 45 other nominees.  The peak was the 70’s and 80’s; after no winners and just seven nominees from 1951 to 1969, the following two decades saw two winners and 19 additional nominees.  The best year is 1950 with the winner (Cyrano) and two other nominations (Harvey, Father of the Bride).
At the Globes there are 44 winners that I classify as Comedy with five of those (Cyrano de Bergerac, The Actress, Forrest Gump, The Truman Show, About Schmidt) winning the Drama award.  In total, including winners, 227 performances from 221 films that I classify as Comedy earn Globe noms with 22 of them (including the five winners) being classified as Drama by the Globes themselves.
There have been 22 BAFTA winners from Comedies including John Cleese over Kevin Kline for A Fish Called Wanda and a tie win between Michael Caine in Educating Rita and Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie.  There have also been 48 nominees with three of the four nominees being from Comedies in both 1994 (Four Weddings, Gump, Adventures of Priscilla) and 1998 (Life is Beautiful, Shakespeare in Love, Little Voice).
There have been two BFCA winners, both of them Jack Nicholson (As Good as It Gets, About Schmidt) and seven other nominees.
Three of the first five SAG winners were from Comedies (Gump, As Good as It Gets, Life is Beautiful) but there wouldn’t be another until 2011 (The Artist).  There have also been 13 other nominees.
Bill Murray is the big winner, taking home five critics awards for Lost in Translation.  No other actor in a Comedy has won more than two for a single performance though seven have done that including Steve Martin twice (All of Me, Roxanne) though he failed to earn an Oscar nomination either time.  In addition, 23 other Comedy performances have won one critics award each.

  • Best Actress
  1. Diane Keaton  (Annie Hall)
  2. Shirley MacLaine  (The Apartment)
  3. Audrey Hepburn  (Breakfast at Tiffany’s)
  4. Holly Hunter  (Broadcast News)
  5. Katharine Hepburn  (The Philadelphia Story)

Analysis:  Only 9 performances win the Nighthawk which seems a bit low until I realize that only two did it between 1961 and 2010 (Keaton and Hunter).  The others are Wendy Hiller (Pygmalion), Kate, Barbara Stanwyck (The Lady Eve), MacLaine, Audrey and Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn).  There are another 69 nominations including two from The Kids are Alright.  Comedies account for 59 of the Comedy / Musical wins and 230 of the nominees.
There have been 11 Oscar winners though none since 1998 and there was a 20 year gap between winners from 1953 to 1973.  The winners are Marie Dressler (Min and Bill), Claudette Colbert (It Happened One Night), Loretta Young (Farmer’s Daughter), Judy Holliday (Born Yesterday), Audrey Hepburn (Roman Holiday), Glenda Jackson (A Touch of Class), Keaton, Cher (Moonstruck), Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy), Helen Hunt (As Good as It Gets) and Gwyneth (Shakespeare in Love).  The Academy has not treated Comedy well, passing over the best performances and with some of the Oscar winners being among the worst ever in the category.  Another 57 performances have earned Oscar noms and interestingly enough the only two big gaps (1943-43, 1993-00) had Comedy winners during those gaps.  So, from 1943 to 1952 the only two Comedy nominees won the award and from 1994 to 1999 the only two Comedy nominees won the award but from 1954 to 1972 there were 14 nominees and no winners and since 1998 there have been 12 nominees with no winners.
At the Globes, 33 winners in the Comedy / Musical category are from Comedies include The Kids are Alright which had two nominations.  Also with two nominations (but not a winner) are Come Blow Your Horn, Shampoo, Freaky Friday and Carnage.  There are another 155 nominations from Comedies.  There are also three films I classify as Comedies but won Actress at the Globes in Drama (Roman Holiday, A Man and a Woman, Cinderella Liberty) and four other films in Drama with nominations (Baby Doll, Lolita, The Conjugal Bed, Volver).
Comedies have done better at the BAFTAs with 10 winners in spite of 20 fewer years than the Oscars: Audrey, Shirley (Ask Any Girl, The Apartment), Anouk Aimee (A Man and a Woman), Stephane Audran (Discreet Charm), Keaton, Julie Walters (Educating Rita), Maggie Smith (Private Function), Pauline Collins (Shirley Valentine), Tandy, Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation).  There have also been 62 nominees (including both performances in The Kids are Alright).
Nicole Kidman (To Die For) and Meryl (Julie and Julia) won the BFCA with 11 other nominees.  Hunt and Gwyenth won SAG with 12 other nominees.  The big critics winners are Holly Hunter for Broadcast News (four awards) and Sally Hawkins for Happy-Go-Lucky (four awards).  Keaton, Meryl and Michelle Williams each won two awards each.  There have also been 24 other performances that won one award each with two in 1953 (Audrey – Roman Holiday, Jean Simmons – The Actress), 1986 (Sissy Spacek – Crimes of the Heart, Kathleen Turner – Peggy Sue Got Married) and 1988 (Susan Sarandon – Bull Durham, Melanie Griffith – Working Girl) and three in 2003 (Scarlett, Hope Davis – American Splendor, Diane Keaton – Something’s Gotta Give).

  • Best Supporting Actor:
  1. Kevin Kline  (A Fish Called Wanda)
  2. Martin Landau  (Ed Wood)
  3. Jack Lemmon  (Mister Roberts)
  4. Michael Caine  (Hannah and Her Sisters)
  5. Sterling Hayden  (Dr. Strangelove)

Analysis:  All of those are perfect 9 performances as is Gene Wilder (The Producers), though Wilder, aside from missing out on the Top 5, doesn’t win the Nighthawk because of Anthony Hopkins in The Lion in Winter.  There are 12 performances that win the Nighthawk: Harry Myers (City Lights), Eric Blore (It’s Love I’m After), Cary Grant (The Philadelphia Story), Lemmon, Hugh Griffith (Tom Jones), Hayden, Jack Warden (Shampoo), Caine, Kline, Landau, Bill Murray (Rushmore) and Chris Cooper (Adaptation).  There are 64 other nominations including two each for Dinner at Eight, My Man Godfrey and The Producers.  Comedies account for 55 of the winners in Comedy / Musical with a whopping 8 films that earn two noms without a win, 9 films that win the award and earn a second nom and three films that manage three noms (Mr. Roberts, Barton Fink).
Fourteen performances have won the Oscar, including several times in close succession (back-to-back in 65 and 66, two in three years in 86-88 and 94-96) but only twice before 1965.  What’s more, of those 14 films, 10 of them won no other Oscars (the exceptions are Arthur, Hannah and Her Sisters, Ed Wood and Little Miss Sunshine).  Of the Oscar winners, none of them won Picture, only six of them were nominated for Picture and only two of those nominated for Director (More the Merrier, Hannah).  The winners are Charles Coburn (More the Merrier), Lemmon, Martin Balsam (Thousand Clowns), Walter Matthau (Fortune Cookie), George Burns (Sunshine Boys), Melvyn Douglas (Being There), John Gielgud (Arthur), Caine, Kline, Jack Palance (City Slickers), Landau, Cuba Gooding (Jerry Maguire), Cooper and Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine).  There have also been 44 nominees.  Of the nominees, five won Picture (Apartment, Tom Jones, Driving Miss Daisy, Gump, Chicago), another seven were nominated for Picture and Director.  Of the 12 films nominated for at least three acting Oscars (including Supporting Actor) only one managed to win Supporting Actor (Adaptation).
Seven performances have won the Globe: Richard Benjamin (Sunshine Boys), Douglas, Gielgud, Palance, Landau, Ed Harris (Truman Show) and Cooper.  Another 43 performances have earned noms including two for Tropic Thunder.
In just 16 years (1983-98), five Comedy performances won the BAFTA: Denholm Elliott twice in a row (Trading Places, A Private Function), Michael Palin (Fish Called Wanda), Tom Wilkinson (Full Monty), Geoffrey Rush (Shakespeare in Love) with second noms for Full Monty and Shakespeare.  Before that, no Comedy performance won and since then only two have won (Bill Nighy (Love Actually), Alan Arkin (Sunshine).  There have been an additional 20 noms including two for Four Weddings and a Funeral.
Four performances have won at the BFCA: Gooding, Billy Bob Thornton (Primary Colors), Cooper and Thomas Haden Church (Sideways) with just 7 other nominations, all from 2005 and forward.  Landau and Gooding won SAG with 13 other noms including two for The Birdcage.
Landau and Church both managed five critics wins with three each for Dean Stockwell (Married to the Mob), Murray (Rushmore) and Steve Buscemi (Ghost World).  Another four performances won two each with two of those being in 1982 (Mickey Rourke (Diner), John Lithgow (World According to Garp)) with another 20 winning one each.

  • Best Supporting Actress:
  1. Dianne Wiest  (Bullets Over Broadway)
  2. Meryl Streep  (Adaptation)
  3. Harriet Andersson  (Smiles of a Summer Night)
  4. Dianne Wiest  (Hannah and her Sisters)
  5. Mercedes Ruehl  (The Fisher King)

Analysis:  Just an amazing category for the genre.  There are 16 performances that win the Nighthawk though Wiest’s second 9 point performance (all the ones above a 9 except Ruehl) doesn’t.  The winners, aside from the four above are Edith Evans for Tom Jones (plus two other nominees from the film), Billie Burke (Merrily We Live), Jessica Lange (Tootsie), Helen Mirren (Gosford Park) as well as a second nomination for all three of those films as well as Virginia Cherrill (City Lights), Marie Dressler (Dinner at Eight), Sally Kellerman (M*A*S*H), Jeannie Berlin (Heartbreak Kid), Lee Grant (Shampoo), Maggie Smith (California Suite), Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love) and Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona).  There are a total (including winners) of 93 nominees.  Those numbers almost double in the Comedy genre breakdown with 169 different films earning at least a nomination, one film with four noms (Tom Jones), three films with three (Big Chill, Hannah, Gosford Park) and too many to count with multiple noms.
A whopping 72 films have earned an Oscar nomination here.  Among those are one film with three noms (but no wins): Tom Jones.  There are also three films that won the Oscar and earned a second nomination (Paper Moon, Tootsie, Bullets) and two films that earned two noms but no win (Enemies a Love Story, Up in the Air).  But it actually took quite a while for this category to ramp up for Comedy.  Through 1968, there were only 16 nominations (with nine of them post 1955) and one winner (Josephine Hull for Harvey).  But then things changed.  From 1969 to 2011 there have been 18 winners (including three straight from 86-88 and five in seven years from 86-92) and another 45 nominees.  Including winners, the nominees, by decade break down like this: 3, 2, 5, 8, 18, 17, 14, 11, 2 (so far).
Like the Oscars, it took until 1950 for a Comedy performance to win the Globe (Hull) and until 1969 for a second to win (Goldie Hawn in Cactus Flower).  There have been 14 winners in total including five in six years from 91-96.  There have been 85 total nominees including the winners with two each from Being John Malkovich and Up in the Air.
Billie Whitelaw was the first ever BAFTA winner in this category for Charlie Bubbles but it wouldn’t be until 1983 before another performance won and only nine performances have done so with Four Weddings scoring a win (Kristin Scott Thomas) and a nomination. Manhattan, Chocolat, Gosford Park, Little Miss Sunshine and Up in the Air are the films that have earned multiple nominations without a win.
Even though it is relatively recent, Comedies already have a good record at the BFCA with five wins (Mira Sorvino – Mighty Aphrodite, Joan Cusack – In and Out, Kathy Bates – Primary Colors, Frances McDormand – Wonder Boys, Virginia Madsen – Sideways) and 11 other nominations including two for Up in the Air.
Wiest won the very first SAG award and four others have won since as well as 19 other nominations including two each for Forrest Gump, Malkovich and of course Up in the Air.
The biggest critics winners, with five each are Wiest (for Hannah) and Judy Davis for Husbands and Wives.  Four wins each went to Mary Steenburgen (Melvin and Howard), Wiest (Bullets), Patricia Clarkson (Pieces of April), Madsen and Cruz.  Another 41 other films combine for 59 total awards with Up in the Air winning one award each for both performances.

  • Best Ensemble
  1. Tom Jones
  2. Shakespeare in Love
  3. Tootsie
  4. Gosford Park
  5. The Philadelphia Story

Analysis:  This adds up all the acting points across the categories.  Tom Jones, Tootsie and Gosford land so high due to numerous supporting performances on my lists.  Shakespeare in Love and The Philadelphia Story are because of fantastic performances in all four categories.  Philadelphia Story does just about as well as can be done (7, 8, 8, 7) with only the four performances.  The only other movies to earn at least a 7 in all four acting categories are one Crime film (Bonnie and Clyde) and five Dramas (Sunset Blvd, Streetcar, Virginia Woolf, Reds, Closer).

  • Best Editing:
  1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
  2. Modern Times
  3. The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain
  4. M*A*S*H
  5. Dr. Strangelove

Analysis:  Seven films win the Nighthawk: City Lights, Modern Times, Sullivan’s Travels, Mister Roberts, M*A*S*H, Hannah and Her Sisters and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which, of course doesn’t line up with the Top 5 but that’s how it works.  Another 63 films earn nominations.
Roger Rabbit stands out at the Oscars as the only Comedy to win Editing that didn’t also win Picture (the four that win both are Around the World in 80 Days, The Apartment, The Sting and Forrest Gump).  Another 33 Comedies earn an Editing nom though The Artist is the only one since 2000.
Five films have won the BAFTA, three of them also winning Picture (The Graduate, Annie Hall, Shakespeare in Love) with the other two being Morgan and Lost in Translation.  There have also been 18 nominees though only Up in the Air and The Artist since 2001.  Up in the Air and The Artist are also the only BFCA noms.
Though ACE created a Comedy category in 1999 it hasn’t lead to an increase of Comedy films winning the award.  Before that only The Sting, The Longest Yard and Forrest Gump had won the award.  But since then only Being John Malkovich, The Hangover and The Artist have done so.  That’s because of an onslaught of Musicals, most of which have dominated the winners.  It has lead to a large increase in nominees as prior to 1999 there were only 17 films to earn a nomination across 38 years while from 1999 to 2011 in just 13 years there have been 37 nominees.  Also, 12 of those have come in the last three years since the addition of the Animated category.  No Comedy has won the few critics awards in this category.

  • Best Cinematography:
  1. Ed Wood
  2. 8 1/2
  3. Manhattan
  4. Modern Times
  5. The Artist

Analysis:  Only City Lights, Modern Times and Ed Wood manage to win the Nighthawk as this is not Comedy’s strongest category (there are no perfect 9 scores).  Just another 21 films earn nominations.
Likewise, The Quiet Man and Around the World in 80 Days are the only Oscar winners.  There have been 44 nominees and a lot of them came after the two category split was dropped (20) but they have slowed up recently with The Artist the only one since 2001.
The Artist is the only BAFTA winner but there have been 22 nominees with Amélie and Lost in Translation the only ones since 2000.  The Artist is the only film to even earn a BFCA nom.  Peggy Sue Got Married and Blaze won the ASC with noms for The War of the Roses, Forrest Gump, Shakespeare in Love, Amélie and The Artist.
Barton Fink and Ed Wood each dominated, winning four critics awards each (not the same – Barton Fink won Chicago while Ed Wood won Boston and they each won New York, LA and the NSFC).  There were also one win each for Being There, Zelig, Comfort and Joy, Where the Heart Is, The Player and Lost in Translation.

  • Best Original Score:
  1. Yann Tiersen  (The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain)
  2. Henry Mancini  (The Pink Panther)
  3. John Williams  (1941)
  4. Patrick Doyle  (Much Ado About Nothing)
  5. Stephen Warbeck  (Shakespeare in Love)

Analysis:  It’s very hard to not choose The Pink Panther‘s iconic as the #1 but it’s mostly all about that main theme whereas Tiersen’s Score for Amélie is brilliant all the way through.  It’s also hard not to have Chaplin in the Top 5 (he’s at #6 for City Lights) but the first four earn perfect 9’s and Shakespeare in Love’s Score really holds through from the first minute straight through to the brilliant ending.  It’s Chaplin who dominates at the Nighthawk as he is the first great composer for film and he wins five awards (kind of a cheat since I count the music he did later for The Gold Rush): The Gold Rush, The Circus, City Lights, Modern Times, The Great Dictator.  The only other Nighthawk winners from Comedy are Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Pink Panther and Shakespeare in Love (1941 loses to Star Trek and Much Ado loses to Schindler’s List).  There are also 24 nominees with three more for Chaplin.
It took until 1956 for a Comedy to win the Oscar (Around the World in 80 Days) and since then only nine more films have done it, three of them in the short-lived Comedy Score category (Emma, Full Monty, Shakespeare in Love).  The only other ones are Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Tom Jones, Limelight, A Little Romance, Life is Beautiful (in the Drama Score category) and The Artist.  There are another 63 nominees with only seven of those in the Comedy Score category though only one in the 80’s (The Accidental Tourist) and two since 2000 (Big Fish, Pride and Prejudice).  Another three films won the Adapted Score category (Irma La Douce, The Sting, Victor/Victoria) with seven more nominees.
Four films have won the Globe: The Inspector General, The Stunt Man, The Truman Show (whose score isn’t really original) and The Artist.  Another 22 films have earned noms.  Very similar to Cinematography, The Artist is the only BAFTA winner though 17 films have earned noms with only Amélie and Lost in Translation since 1998 this time.
The Artist wins the BFCA with noms for Big Fish, Sideways, Elizabethtown and The Informant.  South Park is the only film to win multiple critics awards (LA, Chicago).  One award each went to Ed Wood, The Truman Show, The Butcher Boy and The Artist.


<p><a href=”https://vimeo.com/94524835″>Amelie Soundtrack – Yann Tiersen (Original)</a> from <a href=”https://vimeo.com/user22811844″>nurg&uuml;l akkaya</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a&gt;.</p>

  • Best Sound:
  1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
  2. M*A*S*H
  3. The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain
  4. The Stunt Man
  5. Under the Roofs of Paris

Analysis:  Only four films win the Nighthawk (The Gold Rush, Modern Times, The Great Dictator, Mr. Roberts), all in weak years, and only 10 more even earn nominations in one of the weakest categories for the genre.
It’s been weak in this category with awards group as well with just two Oscar winners (Cowboy and the Lady, Bishop’s Wife).  There have been a surprising number of nominees (49) though only five since 1979 (Tootsie, Roger Rabbit, Gump, Shakespeare in Love, Amelie).  Almost half of the nominees came during the decade stretch in the late 30’s and early 40’s when there was no limit to the number of nominations.
No Comedy has won the BAFTA and only ten have even earned nominations with The Artist the only nomination since 1998.  Forrest Gump is the only CAS winner with The Birdcage the only other nominee.

  • Best Art Direction:
  1. Tom Jones
  2. Shakespeare in Love
  3. Smiles of a Summer Night
  4. The Birdcage
  5. Beetlejuice

Analysis:  Six films win the Nighthawk: Under the Roofs of Paris, Modern Times, Smiles of a Summer Night, Tom Jones, The Fisher King, Shakespeare in Love.  Another 56 films earn Nighthawk noms.
Surprisingly, only six films have won the Oscar in spite of years of two winners: Pride and Prejudice, The Apartment, The Sting, Heaven Can Wait, Restoration, Shakespeare in Love.  Another 64 films have earned nominations with over half of those coming in the era of two categories and a lot coming in the waning days of black and white (17 nominations and one winner from 58-64) and only three in the last decade (Pride and Prejudice, The Artist, Midnight in Paris).  The early 90’s was the real strength with one winner and nine nominees from 1991 to 1996.
There have been five BAFTA winners, one a decade (Dr Strangelove, Casanova, Radio Days, Truman Show, Amelie) and 14 other nominees, most in the 90’s and 00’s.  The Artist is the only BFCA nominee.
Chocolat, Amelie and The Terminal have all won the ADG with 17 other nominations, mostly in the contemporary category.  The Hudsucker Proxy won the LAFC, the only critics award winner.

  • Best Visual Effects
  1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
  2. Forrest Gump
  3. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
  4. Shaolin Soccer
  5. Kung Fu Hustle

Analysis:  A weak category for Comedies, especially since Sci-Fi Comedies like Ghostbusters and Back to the Future got moved to Sci-Fi.  Three films win the Nighthawk (Steamboat Bill Jr, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Fear and Loathing) and five others earn nominations.
One early film wins an Oscar (Blithe Spirit) then three in the space of less than a decade (Roger Rabbit, Death Becomes Her, Gump) with only five others earning noms and only two of those (1941, Mask) since 1941.  Those late three winners also win the BAFTA with seven other nominees with Big Fish the most recent.

  • Best Sound Editing
  1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
  2. The Stunt Man
  3. Kung Fu Hustle
  4. The Man in the White Suit
  5. Beetlejuice

Analysis:  An ever weaker category for Comedies with only 10 Nighthawk nominees and none since 1988.
Three films won the Oscar (It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Great Race, Roger Rabbit) with Gump also earning a nom.  Fourteen films have won the MPSE with 49 films in total (including winners) having earned noms.

  • Best Costume Design:
  1. Tom Jones
  2. Shakespeare in Love
  3. Much Ado About Nothing
  4. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
  5. Pride and Prejudice  (2005)

Analysis:  Smiles of a Summer Night and Tom Jones are the only Nighthawk winners though 43 films earn Nighthawk noms including three in 2011 (Artist, Midnight in Paris, My Week with Marilyn).  Comedies do come in second in this category a lot (11 times including four films that won the Oscar).
Fourteen films have won the Oscar, though, to be fair, half of those (Roman Holiday, Sabrina, Solid Gold Cadillac, Some Like It Hot, Facts of Life, La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2) were during the two category years (the others are Travels with My Aunt, The Sting, Fellini’s Casanova, Adventures of Priscilla, Restoration, Shakespeare in Love, The Artist) which gives Fellini three wins in this category.  In fact, in spite of 21 total nominations, the only category any Fellini film won an Oscar in outside of Foreign Film was Costume Design.  There are an additional 44 nominees with just over half of those coming from 1948-66 when there were two categories.  The Artist was not only the first win for a Comedy in this category in 13 years but the first nomination in five.  Even though 40 films have won both Art Direction and Costume Design and it happened a lot from 1948 to 1966 when both had two categories, it took until 1973 for a Comedy to do it (The Sting), over 20 years to happen again (Restoration) and Shakespeare in Love is the only one to do it aside from those two.
Seven Comedies have won the BAFTA (Those Magnificent Men, Wrong Box, Casanova, Radio Days, Adventures of Priscilla, Gosford Park, Artist) while another 17 have earned nominations.  Casanova and Radio Days are the only Comedies to also win Art Direction.
With the category only starting in 2009, the only BFCA noms are The Artist (which won) and My Week with Marilyn.  Five films have won the CDG (four of them in the Contemporary category): Grinch, Royal Tenenbaums, About Schmidt, Life Aquatic, Blades of Glory with 21 more nominations (mostly in Contemporary).

  • Best Makeup
  1. Beetlejuice
  2. Ed Wood
  3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
  4. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
  5. The Birdcage

Analysis:  Seven films win the Nighthawk although Birdcage isn’t one of them (Tom Jones, Young Frankenstein and An Awfully Big Adventure are).  Another 20 films manage a nomination.
Comedies used to do really well here at the Oscars.  In the first 20 years of the award, seven Comedies won the Oscar (Harry and the Hendersons, Beetlejuice, Driving Miss Daisy, Mrs. Doubtfire, Ed Wood, Nutty Professor, Grinch) with 8 more nominations.  However, since 2000 there have just been three nominations and two of them were appallingly bad in terms of quality of the film and the makeup (Click, Norbit, Barney’s Version).
Four Comedies have won the BAFTA: Tootsie, Priscilla, Nutty Professor and Grinch while a whopping 17 films have earned nominations and Comedies have never gone more than five years between noms.  With the category only being started at the BFCA’s in 2009 the only nominee so far is My Week with Marilyn.
Comedies dominated during the short-lived (1999 to 2003) MUAHSG Awards.  Tea with Mussolini and Grinch both did the best (two wins) while the second Austin Powers film earned four noms without a win.  In all, 16 Comedies earned nominations from the MUAHSG with seven of those winning at least one award and several earning multiple noms.

  • Best Technical Aspects
  1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
  2. Shakespeare in Love
  3. Ed Wood
  4. Beetlejuice
  5. The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain

Analysis:  Simply a tallying of all the points I award in the Tech categories and the top five aren’t particularly surprising.

  • Best Original Song:
  1. “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”  (Monty Python’s Life of Brian)
  2. “Don’t You Forget About Me”  (The Breakfast Club)
  3. “If You Leave”  (Pretty in Pink)
  4. “Moon River”  (Breakfast at Tiffany’s)
  5. “Suicide is Painless”  (M*A*S*H)

Analysis:  Three films manage to win the Nighthawk and earn two other Nighthawk nominations as well (Blazing Saddles wins for “Blazing Saddles”, Meaning of Life wins with “Every Sperm is Sacred” and Singles wins with “Breath”).  Horse Feathers and She’s the One win the award with another nomination (“Everyone Says I Love You” and “Walls”, respectively).  Eleven other films win the award.  Duck Soup and The Producers manage three nominations each without winning while Harold and Maude and South Park have two each.  Another 31 films manage a nomination.  Notably, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” doesn’t win the Nighthawk because of “Rainbow Connection”.
Nine songs have won the Oscar from Comedies: “Baby It’s Cold Outside” (Neptune’s Daughter), “High Hopes” (A Hole in the Head), “Never on Sunday”, “Moon River”, “Call Me Irresponsible” (Papa’s Delicate Condition), “For All We Know” (Lovers and Other Strangers), “Arthur’s Theme”,  “I Just Called to Say I Love You” (The Woman in Red), “Let the River Run” (Working Girl) and “Things Have Changed” (Wonder Boys).  There are huge gaps there with none until 1949, none since 2000 and three times with at least a decade gap in between, yet from 1959 to 1963, four Comedies won the award.  No Comedy has ever earned multiple nominations.  Another 62 films have earned nominations.  There had never been more than a four year gap between nominations but after 18 nominees (including two winners) from 1988 to 2001, there hasn’t been a Song nominated from a Comedy since 2001.
Nine Comedies have won the Globe though only three since 1988 (“Things Have Changed”, “Until” from Kate and Leopold, “Old Habits Die Hard” from Alfie).  In addition, another 42 songs have earned nominations from Comedies.  Oddly, from 1981 to 2000 all four songs from Comedies that won the Globe also won the Oscar but it never happened before that and hasn’t happened since.
Three Comedies managed BAFTA nominations during the short-live category: Tootsie (“It Might Be You”), Meaning of Life (“Every Sperm is Sacred”) and Woman in Red (“I Just Called…”).
Alfie won the BFCA while Kate and Leopold, Big Fish (“Man of the Hour”) and Elizabethtown earned noms.

  • Best Animated Film:
  1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
  2. South Park
  3. The Illusionist

Analysis:  Most Animated films are Comedies, but are Kids films primarily.  Roger Rabbit is the only Nighthawk winner though the other two both earn nominations.
Because the first two films predate the Oscar in this category, The Illusionist is the only nominee.
Both The Simpsons Movie and The Illusionist were nominated at the Globes.
No Comedy has won the Annie though, with a longer track record and more nominations, six films have earned noms (Bebe’s Kids, I Married a Strange Person, South Park, Osmosis Jones, The Simpsons Movie, Illusionist).  South Park and Illusionist also both won the NYFC.

  • Best Foreign Film:
  1. The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain
  2. Smiles of a Summer Night
  3. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
  4. The Rules of the Game
  5. La Dolce Vita

note:  Comedies have decently well, winning 10 Nighthawk Awards though Discreet and Dolce aren’t among them.  In addition, another 46 films have earned nominations.  Though many notable directors (including Bergman, Fellini and Buñuel) have won the Nighthawk only Renoir and Truffaut have done it twice.  Several years have had two Comedies earn nominations but only 1967 has had three (Closely Watched Trains, The Two Of Us, Playtime).
Comedies have done much better at the Oscars, winning 15 awards, the last three all released by Miramax (Kolya, Life is Beautiful, Barbarian Invasions).  In one stretch of five years (63-67), four Comedies won the award (8 1/2, Yesterday Today and Tomorrow, A Man and a Woman, Closely Watched Trains) and the award has often gone in waves with 9 awards from 1958 to 1980, then none until 1991, then six from 1991 to 2003 and none since.  Italy has won five times with Comedies while France has won four times.  Czechoslovakia won once as has the Czech Republic.  Another 42 films earn nominations.  It’s interesting that the three years with three Comedies nominated (1968, 2000, 2001) are all in the winning stretches but didn’t have a Comedy win the award.  From 1981 to 1984 and again from 2004 to 2010 not a single Comedy earned a nomination in this category.
With the early Globe awards (multiple winners, English language category), the genre has done well but of the 14 awards that Comedies have won at the Globes only three have come since 1979 (My Life as a Dog, Kolya, Ma Vie en Rose).  There have also been 56 nominations with a lot more of those being more recent (9 each in the 90’s and 00’s).
Though 22 Comedies have earned BAFTA nominations only two have managed to actually win the award: Nasty Girl and Belle Epoque.  On the other hand, four Comedies have won at the BFCA (Life is Beautiful, Amelie, Barbarian Invasions, Kung Fu Hustle) with three other nominees (Monsoon Wedding, Volver, Le Havre).
While several Comedies have won two critics awards (Carnival in Flanders, Baker’s Wife, 8 1/2, Juliet of the Spirits, That Obscure Object of Desire, My Life as a Dog, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown), surprisingly, no Comedy has ever won more than two.  Some 24 Comedies in all have won a combined 31 awards.  The NYFC leads with 12 awards for Comedies followed by the NBR with 11.  That Obscure Object of Desire is the only Comedy to win the LAFC and Man Without a Past is the only one to win the NSFC.  Fellini dominates with six wins (four NYFC, two NBR) while Almodovar and Arcand are the only other directors to win an award with more than one film.

  • Best Film (by my points system):
  1. Shakespeare in Love
  2. Tom Jones
  3. Ed Wood
  4. Much Ado About Nothing
  5. Who Framed Roger Rabbit  /  Gosford Park

Analysis:  This just totals up all the points as I assign them.

  • Best Film  (weighted points system)
  1. Shakespeare in Love
  2. Tom Jones
  3. Ed Wood
  4. Hannah and Her Sisters
  5. Smiles of a Summer Night  /  Some Like It Hot

Analysis:  Better acting and writing pushes Hannah, Smiles and Hot into the Top 5.  It’s rare to have a full tie in these two categories but that does happen to be the case with each one.  Shakespeare in Love runs away with this.

Best Films With No Top 5 Finishes:

  • Some Like Hot
  • Sullivan’s Travels
  • City Lights
  • The Great Dictator
  • Sideways
  • The Big Chill
  • When Harry Met Sally

note:  These are all the high **** films that don’t earn a Top 5 which just shows how hard it is to make it into any of the lists.

Worst Film with a Top 5 Finish:

  • 1941

note:  The only bad film with a Top 5 finish with Grinch being the only other one below a high ***.

Nighthawk Notables

  • Best Film to Watch Over and Over / Funniest Film:  Monty Python and the Holy Grail
  • Best Line  (comedic):  “How do you know she’s made out of wood?”  “Build a bridge out of her!”  (Monty Python and the Holy Grail – Terry Jones and Eric Idle)
  • Best Line  (dramatic):  “Look up, Hannah! The soul of man has been given wings and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow! Into the light of hope, into the future! The glorious future, that belongs to you, to me and to all of us. Look up, Hannah. Look up!”  (The Great Dictator – Charlie Chaplin)
  • Best Speech:  Jamie Lee Curtis’ “To call you stupid” speech in A Fish Called Wanda
  • Best Opening:  The Big Chill
  • Best Ending:  Mister Roberts
  • Best Opening Credits:  Monty Python and the Holy Grail
  • Best End Credits:  High Fidelity
  • Best Scene:  the Black Knight scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail
  • Most Heart-Wrenching Scene:  when you think the blind girl won’t recognize the tramp in City Lights
  • Best Death Scene:  The Judean People’s Front Crack Suicide Squad in Monty Python’s Life of Brian
  • Best Kiss:  Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard  (Breakfast at Tiffany’s)
  • Best Use of a Song (dramatic):  “In Your Eyes”  (Say Anything)
  • Best Use of a Song (comedic):  “Bohemian Rhapsody”  (Wayne’s World)
  • Best Soundtrack:  Grosse Pointe Blank
  • Best Original Song from a Bad Film:  “Who’s That Girl”  (Who’s That Girl)
  • Funniest Original Song:  “Every Sperm is Sacred”  (Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life)
  • Best Guilty Pleasure:  Clue
  • Worst Film I Saw in the Theater:  Down Periscope
  • Worst Film by a Top 100 Director:  North (Rob Reiner)
  • Worst Sequel:  Deuce Bigelow: European Gigolo
  • Worst Film to Get a Sequel:  Deuce Bigelow: Male Gigolo
  • Worst Remake:  Mr. Deeds
  • Best Remake:  His Girl Friday
  • Best Sequel:  Stolen Kisses
  • Highest Difference Between an Original and the Sequel:  Caddyshack  /  Caddyshack II  (67 points)
  • Highest Difference Between an Original and the Remake:  Mr. Deeds Goes to Town  /  Mr. Deeds  (87 points)
  • Read the Book, SKIP the Film:  Portnoy’s Complaint
  • See the Film, SKIP the Book:  Sideways
  • Performance to Fall in Love With:  Audrey Tautou in The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain
  • Sexiest Performance:  Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve
  • Highest Attractiveness / Acting Ability Ratio:  Jennifer Love Hewitt in Can’t Hardly Wait
  • Coolest Performance:  Kevin Costner in Bull Durham
  • Best Performance in an Otherwise Terrible Film:  Lauren Bacall in The Mirror Has Two Faces
  • Best Tagline:  “To know Lloyd Dobler is to love him.  Diane Court is about to get to know Lloyd Dobler.”  (Say Anything)
  • Best Trailer:  Adaptation
  • Best Voice Performance:  Kathleen Turner in Who Framed Roger Rabbit
  • Best Cameo:  Donald and Daffy in Who Framed Roger Rabbit
  • Sexiest Cameo:  Christie Brinkley in National Lampoon’s Vacation
  • Funniest Cameo:  Bing Crosby in The Princess and the Pirate

note:  It doesn’t include categories that are covered in some of the lists above like Worst Film, Most Over-rated Film, Best Ensemble, etc.

Soundtracks I Own:  American Graffiti, Animal House, Life of Brian, The Big Chill, The Meaning of Life, Sixteen Candles, Good Morning Vietnam, Say Anything, Singles, Honeymoon in Vegas, Toys, Wayne’s World, Clerks, Forrest Gump, Jerry Maguire, Grosse Pointe Blank, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, South Park, High Fidelity, Wonder Boys, Amelie, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, The Life Aquatic, Juno, The Darjeeling Limited

At the Theater

By the end of 2011, I had probably seen over 1000 films in the theater at some point or another.  I had certainly been to the movies well over 1000 times.  But there’s no way I’m going to try to list every Comedy I’ve seen in the theater.  I will say that the first Comedy I saw in the theater was Roxanne.  Who Framed Roger Rabbit was notable because it was the only time I went to the movies in 1988.  Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is notable (sadly) because it was the first film I saw in the theater (not just a Comedy but first film at all) after starting to keep track of all the films I’ve seen (and thus the first Comedy I assigned a rating to).  Beyond that, I’ll list any Comedies I saw in the theaters more than once: Kindergarten Cop, Grosse Pointe Blank, The Full Monty, South Park, Juno.

Awards


Academy Awards

  • Number of Films That Have Earned Nominations:  514
  • Number of Films That Have Won Oscars:  127
  • Number of Films With Multiple Nominations:  215
  • Number of Films With Multiple Wins:  28
  • Best Picture Nominations:  65
  • Total Number of Nominations:  1100
  • Total Number of Wins:  192
  • Category With the Most Nominations:  Original Screenplay  (134)
  • Number of Films with Nominations I Haven’t Seen:  6
  • Directors with Most Oscar Nominated Films:  Woody Allen  (14)
  • Best Film with No Oscar Nominations:  Modern Times

Oscar Oddities:

  • The only films with more than one nomination to win all of their nominations are It Happened One Night (5 for 5), Ed Wood and Restoration (both 2 for 2).
  • The only films to win more than two Oscars and not win either Picture or Screenplay are Life is Beautiful and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
  • The only films to win multiple Oscars and not win a major award (Picture, Director, writing, acting) are Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Editing, Visual Effects, Sound Effects Editing), 8 1/2 (Costume Design, Foreign Film), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Score, Song) and Restoration (Art Direction, Costume Design).
  • Five films have won multiple acting awards: It Happened One Night and As Good as It Gets won both lead awards, Moonstruck and Shakespeare in Love won Actress and Supporting Actress while Hannah and Her Sisters won both supporting awards.
  • My Man Godfrey, which was not nominated for Picture, is the only Comedy nominated in all four acting categories.
  • The only three Comedies nominated in all five major Tech categories (Editing, Cinematography, Score, Sound, Art Direction) all won Picture: The Sting, Forrest Gump, Shakespeare in Love.
  • Only eight films have won multiple Tech awards.  Of those, six won Picture, including three that won two awards (The Apartment, Forrest Gump, The Artist) and three that won three (Around the World in 80 Days, The Sting, Shakespeare in Love).  Who Framed Roger Rabbit won three and Restoration won two.  No Comedy has ever won more than three of the nine Tech categories.
  • Only four Comedies have earned more than three Oscar nominations without a nomination in a major category: It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Who Framed Roger Rabbit (6 each), The Great Race (5) and Pal Joey (4).
  • Of the 39 nominations for the 14 Woody Allen films to earn Oscar nominations, 18 of them are for Allen himself, 12 as writer, 5 as director and one as actor.

Most Oscar Nominations

  1. Forrest Gump  –  13
  2. Shakespeare in Love  –  13
  3. Roman Holiday  –  10
  4. The Apartment  –  10
  5. Tom Jones  –  10
  6. The Sting  –  10
  7. Tootsie  –  10
  8. The Artist  –  10
  9. Heaven Can Wait  –  9
  10. Driving Miss Daisy  –  9

Most Oscar Wins:

  1. The Sting  –  7
  2. Shakespeare in Love  –  7
  3. Forrest Gump  –  6
  4. It Happened One Night  –  5
  5. Around the World in 80 Days  –  5
  6. The Apartment  –  5
  7. The Artist  –  5
  8. Tom Jones  –  4
  9. Annie Hall  –  4
  10. Driving Miss Daisy  –  4

note:  Every one of these films won Picture and except for The Artist they all also won a Screenplay award.

Most Oscar Points:

  1. Shakespeare in Love  –  585
  2. Forrest Gump  –  580
  3. The Apartment  –  505
  4. Tom Jones  –  495
  5. The Sting  –  490
  6. The Artist  –  480
  7. Roman Holiday  –  415
  8. It Happened One Night  –  410
  9. Around the World in 80 Days  –  410
  10. Driving Miss Daisy  –  395

note:  All of these films won Picture except Roman Holiday.

Most Films Nominated by Director:

  1. Woody Allen  –  14
  2. George Cukor  –  10
  3. Blake Edwards  –  10
  4. Federico Fellini  –  8
  5. Frank Capra  /  Mike Nichols  –  7

Most Nominations by Director:

  1. Woody Allen  –  39
  2. Billy Wilder  –  30
  3. Frank Capra  –  26
  4. Blake Edwards  –  25
  5. George Cukor  –  22

Most Oscars by Director:

  1. Woody Allen  –  10
  2. Robert Zemeckis  –  10
  3. Billy Wilder  –  9
  4. Frank Capra  –  8
  5. George Roy Hill  –  8

Critics Awards

  • Number of Films That Have Won Critics Awards:  181
  • Number of Films With Multiple Awards:  81
  • Best Picture Wins:  41
  • Total Number of Awards:  433
  • Category With the Most Awards:  Screenplay  (90)

Most Awards:

  1. Sideways  –  22
  2. Hannah and Her Sisters  –  11
  3. Melvin and Howard  –  10
  4. Tootsie  –  10
  5. Ed Wood  /  Lost in Translation  –  10

Most Points:

  1. Sideways  –  1541
  2. Hannah and Her Sisters  –  790
  3. Tootsie  –  706
  4. Annie Hall  –  693
  5. Melvin and Howard  –  686

Most Points by Critics Group:

  • NYFC:  Annie Hall  /  Broadcast News  –  340
  • LAFC:  Sideways  –  390
  • NSFC:  Tootsie  –  310
  • BSFC:  Bull Durham  –  250
  • CFC:  Sideways  –  370
  • NBR:  Up in the Air  –  310

notes:

  • Sideways is 3rd at the LAFC, 7th at the NSFC, 2nd at the BSFC and tied for 7th at the NBR.  It is the only Comedy to win awards from all six groups.
  • Screenplay with 90 awards barely beats out Supporting Actress with 89.  Both awards split those among 48 films.  Screenplay had one film with six awards (Sideways) none with five but several with four.  Supporting Actress had none with six, two with five (Hannah and Her Sisters, Husbands and Wives) and several with four.
  • Woody Allen massively dominates.  He has 11 different Comedies that win a total of 46 awards including 12 for Allen himself (5 for Director, 7 for Screenplay) and 25 for Supporting Actress with 9 of those for Dianne Wiest in two films (Hannah, Bullets).
  • The next highest directors are Robert Altman (five film) and Alexander Payne (27 awards but 22 of those for Sideways).

Golden Globes

  • Number of Films That Have Earned Nominations:  496
  • Number of Films That Have Won Globes:  121
  • Number of Films With Multiple Nominations:  246
  • Number of Films With Multiple Wins:  36
  • Best Picture Nominations:  193
  • Total Number of Nominations:  994
  • Total Number of Wins:  176
  • Category With the Most Nominations:  Actor  (221)
  • Best Film with No Globe Nominations:  Smiles of a Summer Night
  • Best English Language Film with No Globe Nominations:  Say Anything

Globe oddities:

  • Nine films have earned multiple nominations without getting nominated in one of the split categories (Picture, Actor, Actress), all of them nominated for just two awards: The Quiet Man, The Yellow Rolls-Royce, For Love of Ivy, A Little Romance, Moon Over Parador, Don Juan DeMarco, Malena and Tropic Thunder.
  • Of the 176 Globe wins for Comedies, 118 of them were for the split categories.
  • Adaptation is the only film to win multiple Globe awards without any of them being in the split categories (the two supporting awards).
  • Aside from Adaptation the only other Comedies to win multiple non-split category awards are Arthur (Supporting Actor, Song), Working Girl (Supporting Actress, Song) and The Truman Show (Supporting Actor, Score).
  • There have been 15 Comedies that earned just three noms – the three split categories: Love in the Afternoon, Indiscreet, Some Like It Hot, But Not for Me, The Facts of Life, The Pocketful of Miracles, Irma la Douce, A Thousand Clowns, A Fish Called Wanda, Driving Miss Daisy, The War of the Roses, Green Card, Sleepless in Seattle, Notting Hill and The Squid and the Whale.
  • Of those 15 films, only Driving Miss Daisy earned noms in all three categories at the Oscars.
  • Four films have won three Globes – the three split categories: Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Driving Miss Daisy and As Good as It Gets.
  • No Comedy has ever won Picture, Director and Screenplay at the Globes.  The only ones to even win Picture and Director are The Graduate and Forrest Gump.

Most Globe Nominations:

  1. Forrest Gump  –  7
  2. Sideways  –  7
  3. Tom Jones  –  6
  4. The Secret of Santa Vittoria  –  6
  5. M*A*S*H  –  6
  6. Avanti  –  6
  7. Being There  –  6
  8. Working Girl  –  6
  9. As Good as It Gets  /  The Truman Show  /  Shakespeare in Love  –  6
  10. Adaptation  /  Up in the Air  /  The Artist  –  6

Most Globes:

  1. The Goodbye Girl  –  4
  2. Arthur  –  4
  3. Working Girl  –  4
  4. 13 films  –  3

Most Globe Points:

  1. Forrest Gump  –  385
  2. As Good as It Gets  –  355
  3. Shakespeare in Love  –  355
  4. The Goodbye Girl  –  350
  5. Sideways  –  345
  6. The Graduate  –  335
  7. Working Girl  –  335
  8. The Artist  –  335
  9. Lost in Translation  –  330
  10. Tootsie  /  The Truman Show  –  315

Guild Awards

  • Number of Films That Have Earned Nominations:  388
  • Number of Films That Have Won Guild Awards:  108
  • Number of Films With Multiple Nominations:  117
  • Number of Films With Multiple Wins:  20
  • Best Picture Nominations:  21
  • Total Number of Nominations:  663
  • Total Number of Wins:  140
  • Category With the Most Nominations:  Screenplay  (295)
  • Best Film with No Guild Nominations:  Smiles of a Summer Night
  • Best English Language Film with No Guild Nominations:  Much Ado About Nothing

notes:

  • The WGA, which had a specific Comedy award until 1983 accounts for over 3/4 of all nominated films.
  • The WGA also accounts for 207 of the 271 films that earned just one guild nomination and no other nominations.
  • Of the 41 Comedies to win their only guild nom, 32 of them won the WGA.
  • Of the 7 Comedies to earn more than three nominations but not a WGA nom only two (How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me) were WGA eligible.
  • Given that ACE has a Comedy category, it’s interesting that only three films to win more than one guild award won at ACE and two of them (The Sting and Gump) predate the ACE split (the other is The Artist).

Most Guild Nominations:

  1. Shakespeare in Love  –  12
  2. Forrest Gump  –  11
  3. Little Miss Sunshine  –  9
  4. Up in the Air  –  9
  5. The Artist  –  9
  6. As Good as It Gets  –  8
  7. Adaptation  –  8
  8. Sideways  –  8
  9. Being John Malkovich  –  7
  10. Chocolat  /  The Kids are All Right  /  Bridesmaids  –  7

Most Guild Wins:

  1. Forrest Gump  –  7
  2. The Artist  –  4
  3. As Good as It Gets  –  3
  4. Shakespeare in Love  –  3
  5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas  /  Gosford Park  /  Little Miss Sunshine  –  3

Most Guild Points:

  1. Forrest Gump  –  585
  2. Shakespeare in Love  –  530
  3. The Artist  –  450
  4. Little Miss Sunshine  –  445
  5. Sideways  –  395
  6. As Good as It Gets  –  390
  7. Up in the Air  –  330
  8. Being John Malkovich  –  295
  9. Adaptation  –  270
  10. Chocolat  /  Gosford Park  –  265

Highest Guild Point Percentage:

  1. Forrest Gump  –  23.12%
  2. The Quiet Man  –  17.99%
  3. The Apartment  –  17.17%
  4. Annie Hall  –  14.05%
  5. The Sting  –  13.53%
  6. Shakespeare in Love  –  12.93%
  7. Tootsie  –  12.82%
  8. Bells are Ringing  –  12.63%
  9. The Graduate  –  12.45%
  10. Breaking Away  –  12.38%

The BAFTAs

  • Number of Films That Have Earned Nominations:  270
  • Number of Films That Have Won BAFTAs:  77
  • Number of Films With Multiple Nominations:  122
  • Number of Films With Multiple Wins:  29
  • Number of Nominated Films I Haven’s Seen:  1
  • Best Picture Nominations:  68
  • Total Number of Nominations:  642
  • Total Number of Wins:  127
  • Category With the Most Nominations:  Screenplay  (113)
  • Best Film with No BAFTA Nominations:  The Producers

notes:

  • The 15 nominations for Shakespeare in Love is tied for the most ever at the BAFTA’s, not just for the genre.
  • Only four Comedies have won multiple BAFTAs in Tech categories: Fellini’s Casanova, Radio Days (Art Direction, Costume Design for both), Adventures of Priscilla (Costume Design, Makeup) and The Artist (Cinematography, Score, Costume Design).
  • Only 8 Comedies have been nominated for the big 5 awards (Picture, Director, Screenplay, lead acting): Annie Hall, Manhattan, Tootsie, Hannah and Her Sisters, A Fish Called Wanda, Shakespeare in Love, Lost in Translation and The Artist.  Only Fish and Shakespeare also had noms in both supporting categories.
  • Shakespeare in Love and The Artist are the only Comedies to be nominated in the big 5 Tech categories (Editing, Cinematography, Score, Sound, Art Direction).

Most BAFTA Noms:

  1. Shakespeare in Love  –  15
  2. The Artist  –  12
  3. Four Weddings and a Funeral  –  11
  4. The Full Monty  –  11
  5. Manhattan  –  10
  6. Tootsie  –  9
  7. A Fish Called Wanda  –  9
  8. The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain  –  9
  9. Hannah and Her Sisters  /  Forrest Gump  –  8
  10. Chocolat  /  Gosford Park  /  Lost in Translation  –  8

Most BAFTA Wins:

  1. The Artist  –  7
  2. Annie Hall  –  5
  3. The Graduate  –  4
  4. Four Weddings and a Funeral  –  4
  5. 9 films  –  3

Most BAFTA Points:

  1. The Artist  –  580
  2. Shakespeare in Love  –  570
  3. Four Weddings and a Funeral  –  515
  4. The Full Monty  –  495
  5. Annie Hall  –  425
  6. Manhattan  –  425
  7. A Fish Called Wanda  –  390
  8. Tom Jones  –  385
  9. Hannah and Her Sisters  –  380
  10. Lost in Translation  –  375

Broadcast Film Critics Awards
(Critic’s Choice Awards)

  • Number of Films That Have Earned Nominations:  64
  • Number of Films That Have Won BFCA:  22
  • Number of Films With Multiple Nominations:  26
  • Number of Films With Multiple Wins:  5
  • Best Picture Nominations:  22
  • Total Number of Nominations:  125
  • Total Number of Wins:  31
  • Category With the Most Nominations:  Screenplay (combined)  (24)
  • Best Film with No BFCA Nominations:  Gosford Park

Most Nominations:

  1. The Artist  –  10
  2. Sideways  –  7
  3. Up in the Air  –  7
  4. Lost in Translation  –  5
  5. Big Fish  –  5

Most Points:

  1. Sideways  –  4
  2. The Artist  –  4
  3. Primary Colors  –  2
  4. Wonder Boys  –  2
  5. Adaptation  –  2

BFCA Points:

  1. The Artist  –  440
  2. Sideways  –  405
  3. Up in the Air  –  295
  4. Adaptation  –  220
  5. Lost in Translation  –  200
  6. Wonder Boys  –  190
  7. About Schmidt  –  190
  8. Big Fish  –  170
  9. Juno  –  165
  10. Little Miss Sunshine  –  160

All Awards

Most Nominations:

  1. The Artist  –  52
  2. Shakespeare in Love  –  51
  3. Sideways  –  47
  4. Forrest Gump  –  43
  5. Up in the Air  –  41
  6. Tootsie  –  37
  7. Lost in Translation  –  37
  8. Hannah and Her Sisters  –  33
  9. Adaptation  –  33
  10. Little Miss Sunshine  –  33

Most Awards:

  1. Sideways  –  42
  2. The Artist  –  28
  3. Annie Hall  –  21
  4. Forrest Gump  –  21
  5. Shakespeare in Love  –  20
  6. Hannah and Her Sisters  –  18
  7. Lost in Translation  –  18
  8. Tootsie  –  17
  9. The Apartment  –  16
  10. Tom Jones  –  15

note:  The increase in number of awards greatly affected the above list (only two films pre-1990, none pre-1980) but not this one (five films pre-1990, three pre-1980).
note:  As of the end of 2011, Sideways is the #1 film all-time in award wins.

Total Awards Points

  1. Sideways  –  2812
  2. The Artist  –  2486
  3. Shakespeare in Love  –  2196
  4. Forrest Gump  –  1952
  5. Lost in Translation  –  1874
  6. Annie Hall  –  1838
  7. Hannah and Her Sisters  –  1819
  8. Tootsie  –  1748
  9. Up in the Air  –  1699
  10. Tom Jones  –  1620

note:  As of the end of 2011, Sideways is #6 all-time in awards points.

Highest Awards Points Percentage:

  1. It Happened One Night  –  22.35%
  2. Tom Jones  –  17.72%
  3. Annie Hall  –  16.60%
  4. Hannah and Her Sisters  –  15.35%
  5. Tootsie  –  15.16%
  6. Sideways  –  14.82%
  7. The Apartment  –  13.91%
  8. Forrest Gump  –  13.82%
  9. Shakespeare in Love  –  12.60%
  10. The Graduate  –  12.44%

note:  This is why I do the percentage, because it gives a historical perspective.
note:  As of the end of 2011, It Happened One Night is still third all time in awards percentage.

Lists

I won’t do a lot of lists because that’s the whole point of TSPDT – they put a ridiculous amount of lists in the blender and come out with the “definitive” one.  Their lists includes lists by genre, so you can always go there and look at their source lists.

The TSPDT Top 25 Comedy Films:

  1. The Rules of the Game (#4)
  2. 8 1/2 (#6)
  3. City Lights (#26)
  4. Some Like It Hot (#28)
  5. La Dolce Vita (#29)
  6. The General  (#40)
  7. Modern Times (#45)
  8. Playtime (#46)
  9. Dr. Strangelove (#48)
  10. The Apartment (#54)
  11. Pierrot le fou (#63)
  12. Viridiana (#64)
  13. Amarcord (#70)
  14. The Gold Rush (#71)
  15. Annie Hall (#89)
  16. To Be or Not to Be (#102)
  17. Manhattan (#111)
  18. Sherlock Jr. (#118)
  19. Bringing Up Baby (#120)
  20. L’Age d’or (#126)
  21. Los Olvidados (#128)
  22. The Lady Eve (#143)
  23. The Exterminating Angel (#146)
  24. Duck Soup (#147)
  25. His Girl Friday (#148)

note:  These are the current (2019) rankings from TSPDT and they are the same as 2018 with one exception as Duck Soup leapfrogged into the list while Trouble in Paradise slipped to 26th.  I didn’t check the entire list for 2019 but in 2018 there were 165 Comedies in the Top 1000.  None of these films has changed a lot since the very first list back in 2006.

AFI’s Top 10 Funniest Movies:

  1. Some Like It Hot
  2. Tootsie
  3. Dr. Strangelove
  4. Annie Hall
  5. Duck Soup
  6. Blazing Saddles
  7. M*A*S*H
  8. It Happened One Night
  9. The Graduate
  10. Annie Hall

The IMDb Voters Top 10 Comedies:

  1. Forrest Gump
  2. Life is Beautiful
  3. Modern Times
  4. The Intouchables
  5. City Lights
  6. The Great Dictator
  7. Dr. Strangelove
  8. The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain
  9. The Sting
  10. The Apartment

Top 10 U.S. Domestic Box Office  (through December 31, 2011)

  1. Forrest Gump  –  $329.69 mil
  2. Home Alone  –  $285.76 mil
  3. Meet the Fockers  –  $279.76 mil
  4. The Hangover  –  $277.32 mil
  5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas  –  $260.04 mil
  6. The Hangover Part II  –  $254.46 mil
  7. Bruce Almighty  –  $242.82 mil
  8. My Big Fat Greek Wedding  –  $241.43 mil
  9. Mrs. Doubtfire  –  $219.19 mil
  10. Austin Powers in Goldmember  –  $213.30 mil

Top 10 U.S. Domestic Box Office (all-time, adjusted to December 2019)

  1. The Graduate –  $773.47 mil
  2. Forrest Gump –  $710.74 mil
  3. Home Alone –  $612.20 mil
  4. American Graffiti –  $593.94 mil
  5. Around the World in 80 Days –  $584.01 mil
  6. Blazing Saddles –  $571.58 mil
  7. Animal House –  $541.30 mil
  8. Tootsie –  $514.31 mil
  9. Smokey and the Bandit –  $513.67 mil
  10. It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World –  $486.94 mil

I will point out because it will be relevant to the lists at the very bottom of the post that the films on this list average a 78 while the films on the list just above average a 54.

Not Comedies

Comedy is an all-encompassing genre.  Lots and lots of films that are primarily part of another genre could easily be classified as a genre and in fact some of these I used to list as Comedies.  Indeed, Action, Crime, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi and Westerns all have sub-genres of Comedy that have significant numbers of films.  But the following dozen are all great films (****) that I don’t classify primarily as a Comedy so they aren’t in any of the lists above.  They are listed chronologically and with the genre I do identify them with.

  1. The Lavender Hill Mob  (Crime)
  2. The Ladykillers  (Crime)
  3. The Professionals  (Western)
  4. The Muppet Movie  (Kids)
  5. This is Spinal Tap  (Musical)
  6. Ghostbusters  (Sci-Fi)
  7. Back to the Future  (Sci-Fi)
  8. The Princess Bride  (Fantasy)
  9. Fargo  (Crime)
  10. Almost Famous  (Musical)
  11. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind  (Fantasy)
  12. Wall-E  (Kids)

Books

note:  As always, not a complete list but just the books I either own or was able to get from the library to write a piece on.  There are a lot more I could have gotten, in this genre particularly where I didn’t bother to look through a lot of books – in a sense the genre is too big and there is too much material to look at.

Screwball: Hollywood’s Madcap Romantic Comedies, Ed Sikov, 1989

Glossy pages, lots of stills, a nice coffee table book all around.

Hollywood Bedlam: Classic Screwball Comedies, William K. Everson, 1994

Everson has written a lot of books like this – a quasi-coffee table book that is a guide to a kind of film.  Solid book with a good guide to the major Screwball Comedies and plenty of stills (all in black-and-white, but hey, so were the films).

The Rough Guide to Comedy Movies, Bob McCabe, 2005

As with all Rough Guide books, a great place to start.  It does have a list of “The Canon: 50 Seriously Funny Movies” but the list is woefully inadequate as it includes All About Eve (a Drama) and Strictly Ballroom (a Musical and not really a Comedy) as well as Dodgeball (seriously? I might have expected Anchorman given the way people love it but Dodgeball?) but only one Chaplin film and only three Foreign films.

Reviews

The Best Comedy I Haven’t Yet Reviewed

Bullets Over Broadway  (1994, dir. Woody Allen)

Since he had moved into more “serious” filmmaking in 1977 with Annie Hall (and especially so the next year with Interiors) Woody Allen had made a lot of great films and a lot of funny films by 1994.  But he had not made one, even Purple Rose of Cairo or Hannah and Her Sisters, that did such a brilliant job of combining the quality (as noted in the fact that it earned 7 Oscar nominations, tied with Hannah for most among Allen’s films even though three of his films have been nominated for Picture and this isn’t one of them) and the laughs.

This was the first Woody Allen film I ever saw in the theater.  It had taken me several years to get into him (Crimes and Misdemeanors was the first film I saw and seeing that at 15 was not the right way to get into his work) and this happened to come out at just the right time.

It’s a brilliant Comedy about a young playwright who’s about to make it big except that he’s a slave to what he’s put down on the page and what he’s put down on the page doesn’t sound like how people actually talk (actually a common problem, not only then but now and my first attempts at writing plays often had the same problem).  He’s also being bankrolled by a gangster and that gangster wants his girlfriend in the play and he wants his key enforcer hanging around as her bodyguard as well.  The very premise itself is hilarious but it’s more than matched by many of the key lines in the film which are as funny as anything Allen has ever put in a film: “You’re a genius. And the proof is that both common people and intellectuals find your work completely incoherent. Means you’re a genius.”  “You stand on the brink of greatness. The world will open to you like an oyster. No… not like an oyster. The world will open to you like a magnificent vagina.”  “For me, love is very deep; sex only has to go a few inches.”  But it’s not just about the lines either.  Just look at the way that Jim Broadbent’s waist keeps expanding, so when we get to the final moment he’s simply enormous.  Or the fact that the funniest line in the film (“Don’t speak.”) isn’t funny in and of itself but because of the context in which it keeps reoccurring.

But it’s the acting that really makes the film come together so perfectly.  John Cusack is solid as the playwright in a role that almost certainly would have been played by Allen himself twenty years earlier.  Rob Reiner, Tracey Ullman, Jack Warden and Jim Broadbent all give strong small supporting performances.  Jennifer Tilly does such a good job as the ditzy mob moll that she somehow managed to actually land an Oscar nomination.  Chazz Palmentiri, who didn’t come out of nowhere, certainly seemed like it with the performance he gives here as Cheech, the over-watchful bodyguard who’s got a gift for language.  But it all comes down to Dianne Wiest giving the single greatest female supporting performance in film history (I actually considered her a lead until the awards started rolling in), dominating the film every second she’s on-screen and proving that there’s a lot of ways to say “Don’t speak” and make them funny and she uses them all.

The Worst Comedy I Haven’t Yet Reviewed

A Dirty Shame  (2004, dir. John Waters)

I gave some consideration to not reviewing this, but that would have meant I was re-watching The Hottie and the Nottie and the thought of that somehow appealed to me even less.  But this is John Waters directing and I have already reviewed two of his films as the worst films of 1975 and 1977 respectively.  I really don’t like Waters’ films, the crass tastelessness of his campy style just sitting wrong with me at every moment.  But, the irony is, that I actually like Waters himself, like that he was such an important part of underground film-making as it was rising in the 70s.  He’s an interesting and funny guy, even if is his films don’t live up to that.

All of that being said, it should be pretty obvious what is wrong with this film from the start just by looking at the poster.  I have a hard time even looking at it because Selma Blair, an actual appealing actress, looks so grotesque with those breasts that take the word enormous to a new level.  She’s known in the film as Ursula Udders and that kinds of sums up the film in general.  What Waters was trying to do was make a satire, not about sex itself, but about sexual mores and beliefs and the rigid uptight prudes who tend to dominate the society (and the government) in this country.  Unfortunately, satire, which generally requires some subtlety, is not really Waters’ forte.  Instead of a film that plays like a satire on sexual attitudes, this film plays the film of someone who thinks that anything mentioning sex is funny and everything taken to the extreme is the way to go.  Thus we get Blair with the ridiculous name (and yes, I realize that’s not the character’s real name, but it is what she is called) and her insane breasts.  We get a town split along sexual lines, between those prudish ones who believe everything should be kept out of sight and those people who believe that sex should dominate over everything.  Tracey Ullman (yes, I realize the considerable irony that the star of this film was also a supporting player in the best comedy I hadn’t yet reviewed) plays a woman who is one of the prudes who hits her head and becomes one of the “perverts”.

The problem is that this film seems like an extension of what the real prudes in this country believe about people who have any sort of sexual liberation.  There’s nothing even remotely funny in what Waters does with the film, Blair is burdened with the ridiculous makeup, Ullman has a terrible plotline to get through and then she meets up with Johnny Knoxville and there’s little more that needs to be said there.

I admire that Waters was willing to try to and make a film like this.  I admire especially that he finally said the hell with the MPAA and actually released the film in an NC-17 cut (which is actually hard to find on video).  As much as I think the 70s get over-hyped as the last great era for movies, it was a decade when actual filmmakers made actual films for adults that dealt with sexuality and didn’t shy away from it.  The problem is that films like this just make it all seem like no one is capable of doing it and that we will continue not to have a real vision of films that can deal with adult sexuality and still be good.

Bonus Review

The First Wives Club  (1996, dir. Hugh Wilson)

Hollywood has long been terrible at knowing what to do with actresses as they age.  They often just pushed aside into mother and grandmother roles and left in supporting categories (or, as one character in the film put it: “There are only three ages for women in Hollywood – Babe, District Attorney, and Driving Miss Daisy.”).  For instance, in the current Oscar season (early 2020 for the 2019 films), the average Best Actor nominee is 51 1/2 years old and the oldest Best Actress nominee is only 50.  But, every now and then someone will put together a film that will take several aging actresses (read: anyone over 40) and do something with them as a group.  I presume part of that is so that they don’t have to rely on just one actress to market the film around but certainly part of it is to provide multiple roles in the same film for good actresses who are no longer young.  Sometimes that idea is just dumb and it’s also badly done (I just finished watching Poms, for instance).  But sometimes, like with this film, it can take a very talented actress I like (Diane Keaton – also in Poms, coincidentally), a very talented actress I occasionally like (Bette Midler) and a mostly talented actress who I can’t stand (Goldie Hawn) and bring out something that’s better than the sum of its parts.

The film opened to somewhat mixed reviews (Ebert certainly didn’t like it) but it was actually one of the surprise hits of the year, a $100 million domestic grosser that was good enough for 11th on the year.  I went to see it in spite of disliking Hawn and being lukewarm on Midler because the script had been written by Paul Rudnick whose Jeffrey I had loved the previous year (that tidbit and more are in my bit about it in the Nighthawk Awards under films I saw in the theater).  I thought the script, based on Olivia Goldsmith’s novel, was good enough and funny enough that it actually earned points from me (which is more than you can say about the actual Oscar winner of the year, Sling Blade).  But what I enjoyed more than anything (well, not more than anything – there’s the end but I’ll get to that) was the camaraderie between the actresses.  These aren’t actresses who had made a bunch of films together, but they felt like old friends (which is what they are supposed to be) and they even fought like old friends.  Perhaps my favorite line in the film is when Goldie Hawn, who plays a vain actress who can’t cope with aging says “I drink because I am a sensitive and highly strung person.” and Bette Midler has the absolute perfect reply: “No, that’s why your co-stars drink.”

If you are unfamiliar with the story, it’s about three friends who had a fourth friend who killed herself after being left by her husband.  All three are in the process of being left by their husbands and they decide they’re going to do something about it.  What’s nice is the different way that they handle it and how things work out for their ex-husbands.  It’s not a film that thinks all men are evil or dumb which is why we get those varying reactions.  It also fills things out with good character actors and actresses, like Maggie Smith or Dan Hedaya or Victor Garber.

But most of all what I happen to really love about this film is the end.  Maybe I am ingrained with Musicals or maybe I just love it when someone feels the need to break into song.  At the end of this film the three stars (lead by Keaton, which isn’t surprising because we knew from Annie Hall that she could sing but is surprising because one of the others is Bette Midler after all) break into a song that I don’t even like.  But I love that they do it (it’s hinted earlier in the film and it’s clearly a routine they did together in college) and I love how they do it.  I actually have their version of this song and it somehow brings a magical moment of closure to a film that it really entertaining and quite good.  What’s more, it gave three acting actresses good solid roles and also got to be an impressive hit to boot.

Post-2011

All-Time List:  At this point there are now 4358 Comedies that I have seen which means the worst (which is still Burn Hollywood Burn) is #4358.  But the numbers below don’t reflect the whole list – the number used for this list is the number the film would land in compared to the list above.  That’s why the first two are both #13 – both of them land between #12 and #13 from the original list with the first film listed being the higher ranked film.  But a film like Movie 43, which is listed at #3910 (landing below film #3909 above) is really #4355 but I don’t want to have to figure out the math for every film.  Aside from listing every post-2011 film that lands in the Top 400, I am also listing films I’ve seen in the theater, one prominent box office film and any film I’ve already reviewed (Best Picture) or will review in the future (Adapted Screenplay, Worst Film).  No film lands in the Top 5 for any year that isn’t a Best Picture nominee at the Oscars, so kudos to the Academy in regards to Comedies in this stretch.

  • Lady Bird  (#13)
  • Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood  (#13)
  • The Grand Budapest Hotel  (#15)
  • The Favourite  (#17)
  • Wolf of Wall Street  (#18)
  • Jojo Rabbit  (#41)
  • Parasite  (#49)
  • Nebraska  (#52)
  • Moonrise Kingdom  (#59)
  • I, Tonya  (#69)
  • Her  (#80)
  • The Farewell  (#84)
  • The Big Short  (#114)
  • 20th Century Women  (#119)
  • Living is Easy with Eyes Closed  (#125)
  • Dolemite is My Name  (#129)
  • Anomalisa  (#131)
  • Stan & Ollie  (#135)
  • Silver Linings Playbook  (#144)
    ***.5
  • The Other Side of the Wind  (#162)
  • Booksmart  (#170)
  • Hunt for the Wilderpeople  (#173)
  • Hail, Caesar!  (#184)
  • The Big Sick  (#196)
  • August: Osage County  (#200)
  • Okja  (#202)
  • The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel  (#206)
  • Footnote  (#213)
  • Tully  (#225)
  • The World’s End  (#237)
  • Go Away Mr. Tumor  (#243)
  • Their Finest  (#248)
  • Wild Tales  (#251)
  • I’m So Excited  (#261)
  • In a World…  (#264)
  • Tag  (#286)
  • Sorry to Bother You  (#290)
  • Don Jon  (#300)
  • Eighth Grade  (#326)
  • What If  (#348)
  • The Square  (#350)
  • The Trip to Italy  (#363)
  • Woman at War  (#375)
  • Joy  (#384)
    ***
  • The Monuments Men  (#491)
  • The Death of Stalin  (#540)
  • The Disaster Artist  (#615)
  • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri  (#684)
  • Green Book  (#687)
  • Ted  (#690)
    **.5
  • Vice  (#1798)
    .5
  • Yoga Hosers  (#3902)
    0
  • Movie 43  (#3910)

Best Comedy by Year:

  • 2012:  Moonrise Kingdom
  • 2013:  Wolf of Wall Street
  • 2014:  The Grand Budapest Hotel
  • 2015:  The Big Short
  • 2016:  20th Century Woman
  • 2017:  Lady Bird
  • 2018:  The Favourite
  • 2019:  Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Worst Comedy by Year:

  • 2012:  That’s My Boy
  • 2013:  Movie 43
  • 2014:  The Interview
  • 2015:  Pixels
  • 2016:  Yoga Hosers
  • 2017:  Daddy’s Home 2
  • 2018:  Overboard
  • 2019:  The Hustle

Sub-Genres:  I will just note that I, Tonya rivals Bull Durham for best Comedy Sports film and that the Madea films and the Parodies of other films need to stop.

Nighthawks:  Okja makes the Top 5 for Visual Effects, I Tonya for Sound Editing, The Favourite for Costume Design and Parasite for Foreign Film.

Academy Awards:  Green Book would be just the second Comedy to win Best Picture this century though Parasite would do it again the following year.  The change to more than 5 nominees at the Oscars has definitely increased Comedies in the Best Picture race – there were 11 nominees in the first 12 years of the century and there have been 12 in just the last seven.  But Director noms have also increased – there were 7 from 2000-11 and there have been nine since 2011 and Parasite added the first winner since 2011.  The Big Short continued the trend of Comedies winning Adapted Screenplay once a decade but Jojo added to that.  Three Comedies have won Best Actress since 2011 (Silver Linings, Three Billboards, Favourite) after having no winner since 1998 before that.  Three Billboards and Green Book gave Comedies back-to-back Supporting Actor wins for the first time since 1965-66 and Hollywood made it three in a row for the first ume ever.  The Sound drought continues with no nominees still since 2001.  Grand Budapest was the first Comedy to win Art Direction since 1998 and to first to win Makeup since 2000.  Anomalisa became just the second Comedy to earn an Animated Film nomination.  The Favourite (10), Hollywood (10) and Grand Budapest Hotel (9) land on the list of most nominations.  Grand Budapest (4) becomes the win leader for a film that didn’t win Picture.  Three Billboards becomes the sixth film to win multiple acting awards and the first to do it by winning Actress and Supporting Actor.  Silver Linings Playbook became just the second Comedy nominated in all four acting categories.  Parasite is the first Foreign Film winner since 2003.

Critics:  Lady Bird, with 14 critics wins, would have the second most ever for a Comedy as would its 980 points and it would be just the second Comedy to win awards from all six groups.  Parasite is just behind those marks with 13 wins, 880 points and again, an award from all six groups.  The high marks per category would be Lady Bird for Picture (three wins) and Supporting Actress (five wins) and Grand Budapest for Screenplay (four wins).

Golden Globes:  Three Billboards tied the Comedy record with 4 wins.  Three Billboards and Vice both earned 6 noms.  The 380 points for Three Billboards are the second most in history for a Comedy.  Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is added to the list of films with the three split category nominations and no others.  Of the 23 wins since 2011, 14 of them were in the split categories (though only 1 of 4 in 2019).  Three Billboards, Green Book and Hollywood became the latest films to win multiple awards outside the split categories (all three won Screenplay and Supporting Actor).

BAFTA:  The Favourite lands in the top two all-time with 12 noms, 7 wins and 575 points.  The Grand Budapest Hotel is also impressive with 11 noms and 5 wins and Three Billboards scores 5 wins and 535 points.  The Favourite would win three Tech awards (Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup) but Grand Budapest would be the first Comedy to win four (Score, Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup making it just the second Comedy to win Score at the BAFTAs) and would be just the third Comedy to earn all 5 major Tech noms.

BFCA:  The Favourite would set a new record for BFCA noms for a Comedy (11) but wouldn’t win any.  Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has tied the old record of 10 noms.

Awards:  As of 2019, Sideways is 7th all-time in points and is tied for 1st in awards (with La La Land) while It Happened One Night is still 3rd in awards percentage.  Films that have landed in the Top 10 in nominations are Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (58) The Favourite (52), Grand Budapest (50) and Lady Bird (38) with Parasite (27) and Grand Budapest (25) landing high on the wins list and points Top 10 films including Hollywood (2185), Parasite (2127), Grand Budapest (1963), Lady Bird (1916), The Favourite (1881) and Three Billboards (1752).

Soundtracks:  Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Theater:  This is bigger than most genres because the genre itself is so much bigger and many of them were awards contenders but I will go ahead and list the Comedies I’ve seen in the theater since 2011: Silver Linings Playbook, Wolf of Wall Street, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Monuments Men, The Big Short, Anomalisa, Joy, Lady Bird, I Tonya, Three Billboards, The Favourite, Vice, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Jojo Rabbit.

Box Office

Rather than do a post-2011 Top 10 list (which was mostly pointless – Ted is the only Comedy to make the list since 2011 and it barely made the list at #10), instead, I created the list below – a spreadsheet of the top grossing Comedy from each year going forward from 1970.  It was an interesting list to do.  The Rk is the rank at the box office for the year and the Rt is my own personal rating.  The first average line at the bottom is the whole thing and the rest are by decade.  It’s interesting to see how Comedies used to be a big part of the box office but that is no longer the case.  That can be a bit misleading at times.  For instance, in 1984, the #1 film easily could have been Gremlins (Horror), Back to the Future (Sci-Fi) or Beverly Hills Cop (Action) and any of those would have greatly increased the gross.  Either way, the fact that Ted is the last film to have grossed $200 million or to make the Top 10 (different levels of box office success) says something about the way people choose to make Comedies today and what people go to see.

Then we get into my own personal rating.  As we hit the 90’s and the rating of the top film started to significantly decline, I was curious as to what point my taste and the taste of the average moviegoer parted ways.  So that explains the second list below.  Now, sometimes you recognize things after the fact or your tastes change later.  I will mention that 1990 is the only year where I saw the #1 grossing Comedy in the theater but not my own personal #1.  The films I saw in the theater are in bold.

YR RK FILM STUDIO GROSS Rt
1970 3 M.A.S.H. Fox $81,600,000 97
1971 6 Carnal Knowledge Avco $28,623,000 78
1972 3 What’s Up, Doc? WB $66,000,000 72
1973 3 American Graffiti Uni. $115,000,000 95
1974 1 Blazing Saddles WB $119,500,000 91
1975 5 Shampoo Col. $49,407,734 89
1976 7 Silent Movie Fox $36,145,695 73
1977 2 Smokey and the Bandit Uni. $126,737,428 69
1978 3 National Lampoon’s Animal House Uni. $120,091,123 75
1979 7 10 WB $74,865,517 60
1980 2 9 to 5 Fox $103,290,500 48
1981 4 Arthur WB $95,461,682 71
1982 2 Tootsie Col. $177,200,000 93
1983 4 Trading Places Par. $90,404,800 79
1984 6 Police Academy WB $81,198,894 51
1985 9 The Goonies WB $61,389,680 52
1986 2 Crocodile Dundee Par. $174,803,506 71
1987 1 Three Men and a Baby BV $167,780,960 62
1988 2 Who Framed Roger Rabbit BV $156,452,370 96
1989 4 Look Who’s Talking TriS $140,088,813 60
1990 1 Home Alone Fox $285,761,243 50
1991 5 City Slickers Col. $124,033,791 70
1992 2 Home Alone 2: Lost in New York Fox $173,585,516 34
1993 2 Mrs. Doubtfire Fox $219,195,243 53
1994 1 Forrest Gump Par. $329,694,499 73
1995 5 Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls WB $108,385,533 3
1996 4 Jerry Maguire Sony $153,952,592 91
1997 4 Liar Liar Uni. $181,410,615 69
1998 3 There’s Something About Mary Fox $176,484,651 71
1999 4 Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me NL $206,040,086 69
2000 1 How the Grinch Stole Christmas Uni. $260,044,825 54
2001 13 American Pie 2 Uni. $145,103,595 52
2002 5 My Big Fat Greek Wedding IFC $241,438,208 61
2003 5 Bruce Almighty Uni. $242,829,261 56
2004 4 Meet the Fockers Uni. $279,261,160 34
2005 6 Wedding Crashers NL $209,255,921 41
2006 12 Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby Sony $148,213,377 47
2007 12 The Simpsons Movie Fox $183,135,014 70
2008 11 Sex and the City WB (NL) $152,647,258 46
2009 6 The Hangover WB $277,322,503 74
2010 15 Grown Ups Sony $162,001,186 6
2011 4 The Hangover Part II WB $254,464,305 44
2012 9 Ted Uni. $218,815,487 71
2013 15 The Heat Fox $159,582,188 41
2014 14 22 Jump Street Sony $191,719,337 43
2015 22 Daddy’s Home Par. $150,357,137 23
2016 25 Bad Moms STX $113,257,297 52
2017 26 Girls Trip Uni. $115,171,585 65
2018 17 Crazy Rich Asians WB $174,532,921 71
2019 20 Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood Col. $142,502,728 96
AVG 7 $156,895,503 62
70’s 4 $81,797,050 80
80’s 4 $124,807,121 68
90’s 3 $195,854,377 58
00’s 8 $213,925,112 54
10’s 16 $168,093,857 51

This is my own #1 list for the genre.  The few films in the 70’s with no studio listed and listed with $3 million in gross and #25 at the box office are films that I don’t have box office results for, so I threw those in for a normalization and to keep the list working correctly.

As you can see, in the 70’s and somewhat into the 80’s (except for Woody Allen), my tastes aren’t that far off from the average moviegoer.  But after 1990, I think, for the most part, the better films don’t do well and the films that do well aren’t very good.  One skewed result – if Jerry Maguire were bumped up one spot on my 1996 list it would have drastically altered the 1990s results (making the average higher than the 00’s).

YR RK FILM STUDIO GROSS Rt
1970 3 M.A.S.H. Fox $81,600,000 97
1971 25 Harold and Maude $3,000,000 90
1972 25 Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The $3,000,000 95
1973 3 American Graffiti Uni. $115,000,000 95
1974 3 Young Frankenstein Fox $86,273,333 92
1975 25 Monty Python and the Holy Grail $3,000,000 94
1976 25 Cousin Cousine $3,000,000 77
1977 9 Annie Hall UA $38,251,425 98
1978 5 Heaven Can Wait Par. $81,640,278 89
1979 16 Manhattan UA $39,946,780 95
1980 60 Stardust Memories UA $10,389,003 92
1981 9 The Four Seasons Uni. $50,427,646 74
1982 2 Tootsie Col. $177,200,000 93
1983 13 The Big Chill Col. $56,342,711 96
1984 77 Broadway Danny Rose Orion $10,600,497 89
1985 78 The Purple Rose of Cairo Orion $10,631,333 94
1986 30 Hannah and Her Sisters Orion $35,392,203 98
1987 18 Broadcast News Fox $51,249,404 95
1988 2 Who Framed Roger Rabbit BV $156,452,370 96
1989 11 When Harry Met Sally… Col. $92,823,546 96
1990 165 May Fools OrionC $1,576,702 89
1991 31 The Fisher King TriS $41,895,491 95
1992 57 The Player NL $21,706,101 94
1993 70 Much Ado About Nothing Gold. $22,549,338 95
1994 136 Ed Wood BV $5,887,457 98
1995 78 To Die For Sony $21,284,514 90
1996 232 In the Bleak Midwinter SPC $469,571 91
1997 44 The Full Monty FoxS $45,950,122 90
1998 18 Shakespeare in Love Mira. $100,317,794 95
1999 79 Being John Malkovich USA $22,863,596 92
2000 99 Wonder Boys Par. $19,393,557 94
2001 71 Amelie Mira. $33,225,499 97
2002 102 Adaptation. Sony $22,498,520 94
2003 67 Lost in Translation Focus $44,585,453 96
2004 40 Sideways FoxS $71,503,593 96
2005 72 Pride and Prejudice Focus $38,405,088 93
2006 143 Volver SPC $12,899,867 90
2007 15 Juno FoxS $143,495,265 93
2008 183 Happy-Go-Lucky Mira. $3,512,016 88
2009 145 A Serious Man Focus $9,228,768 95
2010 114 The Kids Are All Right Focus $20,811,365 90
2011 71 The Artist Wein. $44,671,682 95
2012 74 Moonrise Kingdom Focus $45,512,466 93
2013 28 The Wolf of Wall Street Par. $116,900,694 96
2014 54 The Grand Budapest Hotel FoxS $59,301,324 96
2015 44 The Big Short Par. $70,259,870 90
2016 153 20th Century Women A24 $5,664,764 89
2017 56 Lady Bird A24 $48,958,273 97
2018 81 The Favourite FoxS $34,366,783 96
2019 20 Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood Col. $142,502,728 96
AVG 60 $47,539,064 93
70’s 14 $45,471,182 92
80’s 30 $65,150,871 92
90’s 91 $28,450,069 93
00’s 94 $39,874,763 94
10’s 69 $58,748,435 94