Out of the all the genres, comedy seems to be the best candidate for the most subjective. Sure, everything about movies are subjective and everybody that watches a movie will different experiences but with comedy it comes at a fault line with people finding a joke humorous or not. There’s a certain threshold and it really depends which side of the line you fall on. In 2023 and even over the last number of years, we’ve been getting a good resurgence with the comedy genre with films such as The Lost City, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and this years No Hard Feelings and the recent release in Joy Ride. But instead of focusing on this current decade, we’re going to look back from 2010 and 2019 and list off what were the ten best comedies of that decade (per my opinion of course). Let’s begin!
#10 NEIGHBORS
Everything about Neighbors works in the best way possible. It’s a simply made comedy but at the root of it feels a bit old school with the focus of the movie being applied towards a father with a mother and new born baby versus a young college student who’s in charge of a fraternity. The notion of teaming Seth Rogen and Zac Efron as a potential comedy duo could work as long as it’s believable and is executed well and Neighbors does that remarkably well. One of the best things about the movie is every comedy should take advantage of and it’s the fact that it tells everything it needs to tell in a tight and crisp 90 minute runtime. It’s not a problem if a comedy wants to be a little longer but usually the best types of comedies, like a Neighbors, are the ones that make you laugh for a small runtime. Slick comedy, terrific chemistry with Seth Rogen and Zac Efron and really a movie that makes college life fun and being a dad exciting.
#9 THE CABIN IN THE WOODS
Not only is The Cabin in the Woods a great horror movie, it’s maybe one of the best comedies that effectively deconstructs horror movies to the bone marrow. It encapsulates all the horror cliches that have ever been done before and the conventional horror formula and flips it completely by having fun with it. But the real ingredient of this movie is how brilliantly funny it is. For a movie that sat on a shelf for sometime, The Cabin in the Woods are the types of horror movies we need more of. It can a self-referential experiment that can be both scary and funny simultaneously. Horror and comedy are two polar opposite genres that really shouldn’t go together at all but when people can envision a movie that can do both at the same time is a rather challenging accomplishment. If you’re a fan of horror, The Cabin in the Woods is for you. If you’re a fun a good comedy, then The Cabin in the Woods is also for you.
#8 SPY
There’s an argument to be made that Bridesmaids is Paul Feig’s best comedy and I, myself, don’t have a fundamental problem with that take. It did get two Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay for Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig and out of left field nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Melissa McCarthy. While I love Bridesmaids for the ensemble of females and how rewarding it is, Spy is still the best comedy from Paul Feig and the best Melissa McCarthy has ever been as a comedic performer. It’s operating on a bunch of cylinders. It’s paying homages to all the classic spy movies, particularly to the James Bond era with an erotic opening title sequence and its film score from Theodore Shapiro. The other aspect is that McCarthy works inherently better when she’s in the hands of Paul Feig. She can display stronger comedic chops and she can have more to do as an actress. But the real deal of Spy is the performance from Jason Statham by ripping on every character he’s every played before and you just gotta love it.
#7 TED
Ted is really a movie that really probably should have been a short film and not an extended motion picture with the $50 million budget it had. But when you get a comedic mind like Seth MacFarlane you’ve gotta at least think of the potential it could have. This is man responsible for several hit comedic shows with Family Guy and American Dad so it’s well known his comedy style is very popular with audiences. While he hasn’t made the biggest splash in the film world, films like Ted makes you wish he would direct more comedies. Ted might be one of the best forgotten comedies of the last 10 years which is odd because it was a smash hit grossing over $549 Million at the worldwide box-office. The CGI on Ted is still impressive, the jokes land, the chemistry with Mark Wahlberg and Seth McFarlane works and if you love Flash Gordon then you’re going to love Ted.
#6 GAME NIGHT
Rewatchability is always key with any movie especially a great comedy and Game Night is so insanely rewatchable it should be a crime. From directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, these two understand how to create a fun and slick comedy that has a variety of talent and twists. Beyond a movie that’s just about characters having a traditional game night, the movie is so beyond what you would expect it to be. Game Night has plenty of both, combining skilled filmmaking and ridiculous gags in equal measure, and letting the seriousness and silliness play off of each other for maximum effect. What makes the script so unique is that it cleverly juxtaposes real-life stakes and wacky situations. This is not a silly film, even though it’s a film in which silly things happen.
#5 THE DISASTER ARTIST
There are good movies, there are bad movies, there are terrible movies, and then there’s The Room, a movie that is widely known as the “Citizen Kane of bad movies.” James Franco’s film The Disaster Artist depicts the uncanny but (evidently) true story of how the worst movie ever made in the art of cinema. But the interesting thing is that it’s an odd and unusual heartfelt comedy that really respects to Tommy Wiseau’s vision. The Disaster Artist is prime example of a comedy that still be an emotional tale but also be a commentary on how bad art should be celebrated because art is a subjective aspect of life that will resonate with someone. James Franco, as the director, primarily focuses on getting great performances from the entire cast and also reimagining the odd and specific details that went into the production of The Room. But at the end of the day, The Disaster Artist is one of the funniest and touching biographical stories ever conceived and it makes the experience even more enjoyable if you’ve seen The Room.
#4 22 JUMP STREET
Sequels are hard to make. Great sequels are even more difficult. Comedy sequels are rare for a reason because there’s not many of them out there. You had The Hangover but then you had The Hangover Part II. There’s Caddyshack but then it was followed up with Caddyshack II. The first 21 Jump Street turned out to be a solid and rocksteady comedy and as a reboot at the same time. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum were almost destined to be a comedy duo and that first movie proves that. 22 Jump Street is maybe The Godfather Part II of comedy sequels because it does exactly what any comedy sequel should strive to be. It’s funnier, it’s self-aware and it builds upon everything else that was established in the first film. Lord and Miller are two of the best collaborators working in the business today and if we had third chapter with these characters, you’re talking about the best comedy trilogy of all time. Nevertheless, 22 Jump Street is maybe the last time we’ll see Hill and Tatum team up in this world and boy does it delivers golden comedic goodness.
#3 DEADPOOL
The story about Deadpool fought to get made is one of the most inspiring stories in Hollywood history. After the debacle that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it almost seemed that the character was doomed and would never see the light of day ever again. However, in 2014 during San Diego Comic-Con, some leaked test footage broke the internet and because of everyone’s glowing reactions, 20th Century Fox finally announced that a Deadpool movie would be released with Ryan Reynolds coming back to play the merc with the mouth. It’s a great comic book movie and a superb origin story but it’s gotta be the funniest comic-book movie of all time and it’s all credited to Ryan Reynolds’ charm, brilliant comedic timing and really how much he was born to play this character. This was also a perfect movie to release around Valentine’s Day weekend back in 2016 cause fans of the comic book can see it but if you strip away the violence and gratuitous nature to it the romance in this is handled well.
#2 THE NICE GUYS
The biggest crime of all humanity is that we never got four or five more movies of this and you have no one to blame but the millions of people who didn’t rush out to see this when it came out. The Nice Guys is one of the best examples of Hollywood making an original, fun and exciting comedy, led by two huge big names that no one went to see. People are always begging for original ideas but the problem is that no one goes to see the original movies no matter who’s in it. It’s hilarious, stylish, refreshing and it had so much potential to be a franchise, but sadly that wasn’t the case. The chemistry between Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling is so perfect that it kills me that we won’t see this characters again on screen. Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling might be the funniest duo of the entire decade and while the is odd at first, it works so damn well. Working from a tight and sharp script that perfectly balances the characters like a yin and yang of screw ups ensures The Nice Guys is an absolute joy every step of the way. Black has a knack for turning action movie expectations on their head mixed with knowing and rich dialogue.
#1 THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
Martin Scorsese has made several masterpieces in his career and everyone is going to have a different movie as one of his all time best. Some might have Raging Bull, The Departed or Goodfellas. For the last 10 years, The Wolf of Wall Street has not only been my favorite Martin Scorsese movie but my absolute favorite comedy of the last decade. It blows my mind for a movie at 3 hours long, Scorsese found a way to take on maybe the best comedic ride I’ve ever had in a theater. The level of comedy adrenaline in this movie is so well done that I’d be town for a 12 hour movie of this. Each and every single character in this movie is so despicable and vile, yet there’s an odd likability towards each and every one of them. The real knight in shining armor is the unbelievable performance that Leonardo DiCaprio gives as Jordan Belfort. It’s easily the best performance that he’s ever given and it’s the one performance of his that should have won him an Academy Award.
Zane's take at the Cinema's 