baumer Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 (edited) As most of you know, the academy has a very specific kind of film that not only wins but gets nominated for best picture. Sure there is the occasional comedy that get's nominated, and in a very rare case wins, like Annie Hall (which ironically is one the most ridiculous wins ever in film history as it won in 1977...imo of course) but for the most part, they get ignored. Apparently in order to qualify for a win, in the eyes of the academy, you need to be about war, have historical relevance, be about a plight or underdogs or a combination of all of these. I'm not sure where it is written that the best film of the year has to be a drama and even more so, a film that few have seen. Take a look at this years true contenders. Now I like most of the best picture nominees, but let's face it, films like Whiplash, Selma, Birdman and Boyhood aren't exactly box office titans. And all but forgotten in today's landscape is the comedy. That's about to change. I'll countdown the top 40 films that could have won best picture. I'm not saying all of these films are more deserving than the films that won in the corresponding years, but then again I'm not saying they shouldn't have. I'm just simply stating that they are good enough to be considered worthy best picture winners. One caveat to this is that my true knowledge of film starts in 1970. Therefore I will not be going back before the 70's on this list. I am not trying to take the spotlight off anyone else's list right now. But there is room for more than one list at a time. Between kalo, Ethan spaghetti, and Blank there are plenty of great countdowns going on. I just want to add another. Will start later today. Edited January 19, 2015 by baumer 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolioD1 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Join Baumer next week for "the top 63 movie hairstyles of 1986". 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dementeleus Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Join Baumer next week for "the top 63 movie hairstyles of 1986". If the mullet isn't #1, then I'm rioting. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndustriousAngel Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 ..., like Annie Hall (which ironically is one the most ridiculous wins ever in film history as it won in 1977...imo of course) You know, it really is a wonderful film - not only as a comedy. Though I understand the bitterness it creates, and I have to agree SW is one for the ages, but the decision was far from ridiculous. In fact, I recently watched it with my son (born 91) and he also found it terrific. And he's a biiig SW fan ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkelf Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Groundhog Day That is all. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blankments Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 If it counts as a comedy, Truman Show is certainly better than Shakespeare in Love 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claire of Themyscira Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 I'm assuming Transformers will be on this list. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dementeleus Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 TOOTSIE better be on it! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumer Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 Now keep in mind, I'm not saying these films follow the conventional Oscar formula. I'm just saying that they are well made, funny and imo terrific films. And not necessarily that they are better than what won in that year, For example, I think that films like Titanic and American Beauty were deserving winners in 97 and 99 but there could still be films on here from those years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Being John Malkovich? Even though it wasn't nominated for BP, it was still a great comedy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessie Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 I class finding nemo as a comedy, and Shrek. Planes trains and automobiles 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessie Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Wedding crashers, gotta have a bit of wedding crashers Hangover? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avatree Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 As long as the blues brothers take #1 then I'm fine 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Films Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Clueless Mean girls Hopefully these 2 will be here 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumer Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 Looking over the list, it's hard to rank them. So the bottom 25 might have a kind of random ranking. The top 15 looks like it could be in order. The top 5 is locked in order although on another day, I might have a different film in the top 5 as number one. For the record, animation does not make an appearance here. Not quite my tempo. I'll get started now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumer Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 40) American Pie (1999): And this one time at band camp, I stuck a flute in my pussy. MILF! MILF! Oh Finch! Oh Stifler's mom! In 1999, the high school teen comedy was on life support. There really hadn't been much in the way of quality since Clueless in 1995. But even moreso, the R rated high school comedy was gone. Everything was pg-13. Studios wanted that teenage money so they sanitized everything. Gone were films in the vein of some of the higher ranked films on this list. What made high school films fun in the 70's and 80's was the straight talk, the abrasive language and even nudity. American Pie brought that all back and it was because writer Adam Herz grew up loving some of the icons of the genre. And he took a chance and not only wrote a funny script, but he filled it with talk about sex, drinking semen in beer, female orgasms, nerds and foreign exchange students, nerds and jocks and the funniest reference to the Graduate I've ever seen. Not only were the major characters well written, but you even had smaller characters like the MILF boys to add some laughs. American Pie re-invigorated an all but dead genre and even though it has been imitated over the last 15 years, it stands tall as one of the best comedies to come out in the last 25 years. Trivia: It took three submissions to get the film from an NC-17 to an R 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumer Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 (edited) 39) Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit For Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006): I was apparently the only man on the planet who hadn't hear of Borat when it was about to come out. All of my male colleagues told me how funny a show it was, I initially had no interest in seeing this but because of the constant badgering from my friends, I finally acquiesced. What happened during that initial viewing was me almost dying from laughter. There were times my stomach hurt so much from the audacious absurdity on screen. If you find lines like "sometimes my sister she show her vazhin to our brother Bilo and she say you never going to get this la la la la la and he behind his cage and he cries and everybody laughs. But one time he break cage and he get it and we all laugh. High Five!" funny then you will understand why this film is on this list. Comedy is very subjective, obviously. But this one took a lot of chances and it's unlike any other comedy out there. It's offensive, rude, crude, obnoxious and brilliant on every level. Trivia: The police were called 92 times on Sasha Baron Cohen during production. Warning....this video is not safe for work, it may be offensive to some, contains nudity and might cause a lot of laughter: Edited January 19, 2015 by baumer 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumer Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 (edited) 38) Wedding Crashers: (2005) "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night" "Soft mattress?" "That could be it or it could be the midnight rape or the nude art show that took place in my room. All of those contributed to no sleep." Writer's Steve Faber and Bob Fisher don't write a lot of films but when they do, they are smash hits. They did Wedding Crashers and then followed it up 8 years later with We Are the Millers. They have a good grasp of comedy. But beyond their brilliant and very funny script, credit has to be given to the cast, the main players and the supporting. Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson might have made the best movie of their career here and then you add support from the talented and beautiful duo of Rachael McAdams and Isla Fisher and funny turns from a young Bradley Cooper and veteran Christopher Walken and you have a terrific cast that adds to the fantastic script. Oh yea, Will Ferrel makes an appearance as well. Beyond being funny, it's a sweet and tender film about finding true love. There are some nice twists in the film and if Rachael McAdams doesn't melt your heart, no one will. Wedding Crashers might have been the apex of Vaughn's career and that's a shame, but it's a hell of a film to say you were a part of. Trivia: When Christopher Walken and Rachel McAdams are dancing at the engagement party, Walken kept saying "fart" to keep McAdams smiling after dancing had become quite repetitive. Edited January 20, 2015 by baumer 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MovieMan89 Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Dr. Strangelove is the biggest that comes to mind for me. Especially since it should have been more up the Academy's alley than most comedies. Although I could see Baumer hating that one. Philadelphia Story for sure would have won with me too over Rebecca. I adore old rom-coms though (i.e. a lot of the ones with Grant, K.Hep, A.Hep, Stewart, or Lemmon), and I don't understand why they weren't more recognized in their day since many had some of the best scripts and acting of any movies in their time as far as I've seen. I think The Apartment is probably the only time a comedy I really liked actually won BP. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumer Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 Those were before my time. This list will only include films from the 70's on. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
