Top Ten R-Rated Comedies… With a Twist
A little bit of life experience added to this list...
| Revenge of the Nerds |
| The tenth spot on this list could have gone to a myriad of films I mentioned in the opening. Nerds, like so many others on this list and those that just missed it, inspired films for the past 24 years since its release. Curiously enough 2007 was the first year I had seen this film and I had my fair share of chuckles, but the one thing that makes it just that notch better than the others and earn a spot on this list is the fact that so many films have tried to copy it, but none of them can do it as well.
This is a film that partially ruined the careers of such folks as Robert Carradine and Curtis Armstrong to the point that they weren't recognized as anything but Louis Skolnick and Booger. Carradine even appeared on "Robot Chicken" as Louis this year. Curtis has certainly done better, but he will never live down his Nerds nickname. That says something about this film, it's staying power and the characters created. |
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| National Lampoon's Vacation |
The quality behind this film lies firmly in the hands of Chevy Chase and the words he recites as penned by John Hughes who penned another film on this list ranking much higher. There are plenty of reasons to love and enjoy this film, even to this day, but this one monologue by Chevy as Clark is one of my all-time favs:
When he says, "I think you're all fucked in the head," it almost doesn't matter what he says afterwards you know it is going to be classic. |
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| Fast Times at Ridgemont High |
| "Make up your mind, dude, is he gonna shit or is he gonna kill us?"
Is it Sean Penn as Jeff Spicoli, a role he probably regrets now in his more pretentious years, or Phoebe Cates that makes Fast Times at Ridgemont High memorable? I would say it is a mixture, but Cates really made quite the impression on many a young man and apparently some older gentlemen as well as Kevin Kline, 16 years her senior, snatched her up, married her, gave her two kids and the two are still married. Atta boy Kev! |
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| The Jerk |
| Steve Martin's style of comedy isn't exactly my favorite, but the following scene is worth overlooking any kind of prejudice I may have toward any kind of comedy:
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| When Harry Met Sally |
| If this list wasn't a distinction primarily focused on comedy alone this film would be much higher, but considering When Harry Met Sally is as much a drama as it is a comedy (if not more) it falls a few notches on the comedic scale, but that doesn't take anything away from how good this film is. I saw this film for the first time as I was watching several films in an attempt to create this list and instantly fell in love with it. It felt like the bubble-gum version of Annie Hall, which is to say this is the Annie Hall for mainstream audiences to fall in love with. It's also a nice reminder of what Meg Ryan used to look like and Carrie Fisher is fantastic as Meg's friend Marie and has several great lines you may not even notice unless you pay really close attention, definitely worth a second watch just for those alone. | |










