The 10 Best Comedies Of 2012

2012 was a good year for the film industry. Not only at the box office, but also critically. For the past two weeks, critics have been publishing their Tops lists all over the web. I’ve gone through a bunch of them, and one thing I’ve noticed is that comedies are few and far between on these lists. There’s not a lot of comedies taking up those top spots, and that may be because critics see comedies the same way the Academy does – with hate. The top prize doesn’t always have to go to the most serious tearjerker people! But that has yet to change. So, in light of that, here’s my list of the 10 Best Comedies of the past year.

Honorable Mentions: Before we start the list, allow me to give a shout out to a few comedies that I personally have not seen yet, but have heard great things about: 21 Jump Street, Damsels In Distress, Jeff, Who Lives At Home, Klown, For a Good Time, Call…, and The Watch. Alright, now we can begin.

10. Turn Me On, Dammit!

The foreign film Turn Me On, Dammit! exposes the secret lives of teen girls the way American films never do. We know that boys aren’t the only ones who feel confused by their sexual feelings, but we never get to see the female perspective of this tumultuous time. It’s a rare film indeed, and also very clever.

9. Project X

Project X is a hardly a film. It’s one giant music video. The plot is simple: a group of loser teens set out to throw the biggest party ever during a home-alone weekend. The dialogue isn’t clever or witty. It’s raunchy, innapropriate and flat-out hilarious. Project X is equivalent to that night you got so thrashed you can’t remember what happened. I’ll admit that I hardly remember the movie. All I do remember is that I had a great time watching it, and that I was constantly LOL.

8. Bernie

Richard Linklater brings out the best in Jack Black. Nearly a decade ago, the two collaborated on School of Rock, the super fun movie where Black played a wanna-be rocker and substitute teacher. Since then, Black has been my sexy and chubby ido (and secret boyfriend)l. Bernie is a dark comedy that chronicles the relationship between a grumpy East Texas widow and her super-nice assistant who eventually kills her. Black hasn’t been all that popular in recent years, what with terrible comedies like Gulliver’s Travels and Year One. But Bernie just goes to show that with the right material, Black can still be funny. I’m one of the fans that appreciates that.

7. Robot & Frank

Robot & Frank is a quirky little indie movie that tells the story of an ex-jewel thief and his robot butler whose been assigned to look after him in his old age. The film is both heartwarming and hilarious. And Frank Langella manages to deliver a solid comedy despite his robot co-star, voiced by Peter Sarsgaard.

6. Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook is one of the best movies of the year, no doubt. The performances are tremendous. And David O. Russell’s script offers a fresh new spin on a tired old genre. But the film is more of a romantic drama than a comedy, so that’s why it’s way up here. It’s a remarkable film nonetheless.

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9 Comments

  1. I agree with most of this list, but I am shocked that 21 Jump Street didn’t make the cut. Goddamn funniest movie of the year. Once I saw Ted at #5 I thought for sure 21JS was soon to follow. Just surprised is all…

  2. Agree with others, 21 Jump Street was the biggest surprise of the year. It was a film that had no reason to be great, but was pleasantly hilarious. I enjoyed Moonrise Kingdom (even if it was Wes Anderson being Wes Anderson yet again). This is 40 was terrible and Apatow needs to find a new schtick. Overall a lousy year for comedies, then again it was a lousy year for movies in general.

  3. “Safety Not Guaranteed” wasn’t terribly funny and was a pretty poor indie film. The point where one of the characters plays a song that he wrote himself, which is not played for laughs and has lyrics that have nothing to do with the film, it was clear that the film was completely up its own arse.

    The premise of “Safety Not Guaranteed” had a massive scope, not least since the advert was really placed and all sorts of interesting responses were made to the real life advert. In the film the only responses we see are from a single team of journalists and in the end the film has barely any references to time travel even as a concept. The film was a huge disappointment.

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