Bravo drops the ball with comedy list

Bravo unveiled its list of the 100 funniest movies in a four-part series over the weekend. It was certainly not the first attempt at compiling such a list – the American Film Institute did an excellent job of piecing one together back in 2000. But Bravo’s certainly was one of the most poorly-assembled such lists to be constructed of late.

The television special did get a few things right. Naming “Animal House” the top comedy was a perfectly reasonable move, and kudos are deserved for thinking to include “South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut” and “Team America” on the list – both are deeply political cult-style flicks that, frankly, almost never get the credit for the profound statements they make.

But that is about all of what Bravo got right. Consider some of the horrific flaws:

The Wedding Singer (#8), Meet the Fockers (#25) and The Incredibles (#46) all ranked well above Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (#53). Yep, a forgettable Adam Sandler vehicle, failed remake and piece of animated puffery all managed to place in front of the legendary Stanley Kubrick laugh-fest.

And, within the context of the list, this doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Bravo applied a terrible modern bias, favoring studio work from the past ten years with a wanton bias. The “Frat Pack” ruled the list, with Anchorman coming in at #100, Dodgeball taking #37, Wedding Crashers placing at #19 and Old School claiming #16. Stoner flicks were also heavy on the tally, with Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle at #95 and Half Baked at #81.

So what worthy films did these modern attempts take the places of? Missing from the list were The Graduate, It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Duck Soup and Arsenic and Old Lace, among other legendary titles.

Even when attempting to be inclusive, the Bravo tally failed. The Coen brothers’ were represented with Raising Arizona (#45) and The Big Lebowski (#31) – both worthy picks. But they apparently came at the expense of Fargo, the Coens’ one truly monumental cinematic contribution.

Other misplaced judgments:

-Ranking Meet the Fockers (#25) so far above Meet the Parents (#52)
-Placing Fast Times at Ridgemont High (#15), American Pie (#49) and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (#54) – movies that all helped define a generation of teenagers – behind trash like The Naked Gun Series (#13) and Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (#11).
-Including the very un-funny School of Rock (#98)