As an absolutely paramount genre no longer in film history but directly in human creation, comedy has shaped some of the greatest hits and fads of 21st century cinema , and has helped define many of its greatest stars and creators.
So to pay homage to the genre, we have listed some of our favorites of recent times so that you remember the best ones and, of course, point out the ones that we have forgotten.
Zoolander (2001)
The century opened with this absolute marvel, already considered a modern classic of the genre, the work of a Ben Stiller who had already shown his talent in the sensational ‘Un loco a domicilio’ (‘The Cable Guy’), but without coming to fruition at the box office (rather the opposite). In ‘Zoolander’ he combined devastating satire of the world of fashion and celebrities with a parody of James Bond and the creation of an icon, Derek Zoolander , according to the lessons learned on ‘The Ben Stiller Show’. He caught on in pop culture almost immediately with magnificent gags like, for example, the staring catalogue. In ‘Tropic Thunder’ he would repeat his intentions and findings, but the result would not be so completely round.
My Sassy Girl (2001)
The idea we have in the West of Korean cinema is somewhat warped by the only thing that (to the despair of distributors) succeeds here: dark, violent thrillers and the occasional outlandish family fantasy. But there they have commercial cinema of all genres, sometimes as affordable as ‘My Sassy Girl’ , which abounds in the cliché of the manic pixie girl , but in a much more manic key than what we are used to in the West. The result is highly insane and became the highest-grossing comedy in South Korea history, led to sequels, a TV series, a bland American remake and a new golden age for the genre in his country.
Punch-Drunk Love (Drunk with love) (2002)
It is understandable, given his filmography, that Adam Sandler arouses a much more pronounced hatred than that aroused by any fellow generation. It is true that his films in this century are almost all truly demolishing (except for specific titles like ‘Zohan’) and his genuine moments of glory are in gems from the nineties like ‘Terminagolf’ (‘Happy Gilmore’), ‘The ideal boy ‘ (‘The Wedding Singer’) or ‘Billy Madison’. But the truth is that in ‘Punch-Drunk Love’ Sandler made it clear that his classic, intractable and irritating big boy character can exude emotional gold as soon as he can squeeze it.
Strange Coincidences (I Heart Huckabees, 2004)
An absolutely exceptional and toned cast (Jason Schwartzman, Lily Tomlin, Dustin Hoffman, Mark Wahlberg, Jude Law, Naomi Watts, Isabelle Huppert) is responsible for making this bizarre metaphysical comedy, starring a pair of existential detectives, work so well. ‘Strange Coincidences’ brims with very sharp but also very funny philosophical disquisitions, and it is a perfect film to start with David O. Russell : from here on, either you don’t separate from him again or you take a sharp dislike of him -and it will condition what that you think of ‘The good side of things’ (‘Silver Linings Playbook’), which also has to be taken with tweezers-.
Kung Fu Zion (Kung Fu Hustle, 2004)
It is a real dilemma to choose between ‘Kung Fu Sion’ (‘Kung Fu Hustle’) and ‘Shaolin Soccer’, two extraordinary examples of the perfection and precision reached by the comedy of Hong Kong’s Stephen Chow (much more if you look at it). has been going on since the eighties and nineties, where he signed great works such as ‘Love on Delivery’ or ‘From Beijing with Love’, among many others).
Mean Girls (2004)
A decade after ‘Clueless,’ the movie about wicked high school codes of behavior for this century came with a script by none other than Tina Fey. Much more venomous than it sounds, this story of a high school freshman (Lindsay Lohan before she became that Lindsay Lohan) who does everything she can to blend in, including getting close to the vipers downtown, is almost a rehearsal in depth on the social complications of adolescence. Of course, those were pre-social media days and she’s outdated in the details, but the fact that a musical inspired by her is hitting the US right now shows that her essence is rather timeless.
Team America (2004)
At the end of the nineties, with ‘South Park’ at the height of its success and with the incredible feature film of the series recently released, Trey Parker and Matt Stone were the great promises of American comedy . Not that they have disappeared, exactly: ‘South Park’ is still there, about to start its 22nd season, and the musical ‘The Book of Mormon’ has been a success. But the truth is that they have not directed a feature film again.
Borat (2006)
Although Sacha Baron Cohen is proving right now with ‘Who is America?’ (‘Who Is America?’) That he hasn’t lost a bit of his venom, Borat remains his most remembered character. A perfect symbol of culture shock and that if something that helps us understand multiculturalism is that there are imbeciles in all corners of the globe , it marked the grammar of comedy with its mockumentary texture, its relentless cruelty and Baron’s intelligent eye Cohen to smash social conventions.
Hitting the Note (Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, 2006)
The strength of the cinematographic adventure of Tenacius D (the mock rock or parodic rock duo formed by Jack Black and Kyle Gass) is not in the cameos, nor in the plot (a road movie with supernatural overtones in which the duo of hard acoustic rockers face Satan, in the style of the old bluesmen and their crossroads), but in the great songs.
Superbad (Superbad, 2007)
An almost foundational film, which with its success firmly placed inescapable names in the genre on the scene to this day , such as the actors Michael Cera and Jonah Hill, the scriptwriters and regular sidekicks Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and the producer Judd Apatow ( one of the big shadow names on this list), on a run of success after directing ‘Virgen a los 40’ (‘The 40 Year Old Virgin’) just two years earlier. The director, Greg Mottola, would not be so lucky, although he would go further in terms of quality with the superb cult teen drama ‘Adventureland’.
Fatal Weapon (Hot Fuzz, 2007)
Undoubtedly, our great drama when preparing this list has been to choose a single Edgar Wright film, because both his Cornetto Trilogy -‘Zombies Party’ (‘Shaun of the Dead’, this one and ‘Welcome to the End of the world” (‘The World’s End’)- like ‘Scott Pilgrim against the world’ would have appeared with all honors in a list of the best comedies of the century . As they all have similar values ​​and are highly recommended in their entirety, we choose one and we are left with ‘Fatal Weapon’
Dewey Cox: A Long Hard Life (2007)
Written by Judd Apatow (perhaps his finest screenplay) and starring an utterly polyhedral John C. Reilly, ‘Dewey Cox’ takes the best of new century wrong-but- drink comedy in its meticulous parody of the enlightened artist’s glorifying biopic , of the great moments of the classic Mel Brooks. An impeccable comedy at all levels (the setting, the soundtrack, all the secondary ones) that deserved much better luck.
Anyone Has A Good Day (2007)
Undoubtedly, one of the great losses of Spanish comedy in recent times has been that of Santiago Lorenzo, who after signing that absolute masterpiece that was ‘Mama es boba’, said goodbye to the cinema with this other gem, somewhat irregular because it transpires all the problems and frustrations that Lorenzo experienced during its production, and that motivated him to leave the cinema.
Hiding in Bruges (In Bruges, 2008)
‘Seven Psychopaths’ (‘Seven Psychopaths’) is more brutal and ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ (‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’) has earned it critical acclaim, but this black and unclassifiable comedy by Martin McDonagh is the real deal. hidden gem of his cinema . Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes star in a unique ‘Waiting for Godot’ with hitmen in a beautiful but insufferable city, where two thugs wait for a call from the boss, and wait, and wait. Very special and with extraordinary action sequences combined with acid and forceful satire.
Brothers for balls (Stepbrothers, 2008)
Adam McKay is one of the undisputed greats of current American comedy. A regular collaborator of Will Ferrell, with whom he co-founded ‘Funny or Die!’, he has a glorious filmography in which only milestones fit: ‘The reporter’ (‘Anchorman’) and its sequel or ‘Past of turns’ (‘Talladega Nights’ ), in addition to extensive experience as a screenwriter that ranges from mainstream productions such as ‘Ant-Man’ to a spectacular resume on television programs of the caliber of ‘Saturday Night Live’.
Shoddy People (2008)
After the nice but imperfect ‘The amazing world of Borjamari and Pocholo’, Juan Cavestany found a unique voice in ‘People of poor quality’, one of the most bastard comedies in recent Spanish cinema , and with which he began a streak of films of surreal and merciless humor that has lasted until his recent series ‘Shame’. In between, Cavestany has tasted the sweetness of low cost , flirting with the experimental in films like ‘El señor’, ‘Gente en sitios’ or ‘Esa sensación’ and shaking hands with titans of extremely rare comedy, such as Julián Génisson or Pablo Hernando.
Canine (Kynodontas, 2009)
Perhaps not as obviously installed in the codes of comedy as ‘Lobster’ (The Lobster), but still lighter than ‘Alps’ or ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’, ‘Canine’ is the debut, still elusive and fascinating today, of the Greek Yorgos Lanthimos.
Black Dynamite (2009)
While on paper (a spoof of the blaxploitation genre set in the ’70s) it might not draw much attention, this incredible comedy from Scott Sanders starring Michael Jai White is a wonder that went completely under the radar in its day. The trick is not only to accumulate the biggest nonsense with total seriousness (a lesson well learned from the ‘Grab it as you can’) but to invoice an adventure in which eroticism, kung fu and violence also work by themselves, as in a real blaxploitation . To the point that, in that sense, it works much better than revivalist experiments like the ‘Shaft’ reboot.
A serious guy (A serious man, 2009)
Once again it has been difficult to decide on a Coen comedy of this century: they started with ‘O Brother!, but from the once ousted but increasingly valuable ‘Intolerable Cruelty’ (‘Intolerable Cruelty’) to the recent and delicious ‘Hail, Caesar!’, through the absolutely hilarious ‘Burn after reading’ (‘Burn after reading’), the Coens still have the comedy muscle in shape. And we’re talking about the directors of ‘Arizona Baby’ and ‘The Big Lebowski’.
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Fantastic Mr. Fox, 2009)
Virtually all of Wes Anderson’s films have been released in this century, except for his 2009 debut ‘Rushmore Academy’ (perhaps the most openly consistent with classic comedy canons). In fact, Wes Anderson’s films are not strictly Comedies, but… Wes Anderson movies.
In the Loop (2009)
A hilarious political comedy born as a spin-off of one of the heights of British humor of this century, ‘The Thick of It’. ‘In the Loop’ features a diplomatic conflict between the United States and the United Kingdom, which is snowballing down the slope with some of the sharpest, fastest and most lacking dialogue in recent memory.
Super (2010)
Granted, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and its sequel are terrific, but James Gunn’s true superhero wit, without Disney interference, is in ‘Super’, the story of a mundane loser who decides to fight crime without powers of any kind. , only with a costume (and a wrench).
