The 50 Funniest Movies of All Time: A Critic's Ranking

Rating:
Summary: Good Selection
Review: (For your information: this is the second try. The first review obviously somehow get lost in cyberspace.) The best thing about the book is the selection. True, you can always argue wether it makes sense to include movies by Bergman or Scorcese in a COMEDY shortlist, but still if you watch all these fifty movies you'll get an idea what comedy in this century was (is) like. Also, the decisions -- why certain films were included and why certain others not -- are mainly sound. Sadly, the articles about the funnies are not as good as the selection. Mainly trivia and second hand stuff. Hardly something new. And some impressive bloopers. For Example. Mrs. Bernheimer states the last line of SOME LIKE IT HOT is the best in all comedies ever. And then she refers to it as: "No one is perfect." -- Well, NOBODY is perfect. Thus the bottom line: Take the book, read the list, skim the articles, go to your local video store and have a good time.

Rating:
Summary: Comedies for people who don't like comedy
Review: The selections for the 50 greatest comedies seems pretty week ("Soapdish," Jacques Tati, Ingmar Bergman?). But I guess one could argue with the selections on just about any list. The main flaw with the book is that the analysis of the films is not very insightful. It's usually merely a plot overview and some general details about the people involved with the films. There's really not much gained from reading the books.