Favourite Black Comedies?

[gorfias]

I'll go with Observe and Report as best of the last 10 years anyway.


Pitch black, yet side splitting funny for me. Great cast, amazing sound track and just very different than anything you might be expecting.

My point? Go see Lord of War.

You sold me! I got to see this ASAP!

 

[Calibanbutcher]

Can be films, books, TV shows, even videogames.

My favourite is In Bruges. It's about two Irish hitmen who are sent by their boss to hide in the Belgian town of Bruges after a job gone wrong. The film is mostly about them trying to get along and enjoy themselves while they're there, which is far harder for one than the other. The performances are amazing - I never knew how much depth Colin Farrell had before watching the film, and Ralph Fiennes as an unpredictable, violent, yet intensely-principled East End mob boss is hilariously sinister. Brendan Gleeson is also amazing, and he made one particular scene in the film possibly my favourite in any movie.
The film is insanely quotable, if hugely offensive. My favourite have to be:

"An Uzi? I'm not from South Central Los fucking Angeles. I didn't come here to shoot twenty black ten year olds in a drive-by. I want a normal gun for a normal person."

"We shall strike a balance between culture and fun."
"Somehow I believe, Ken, that the balance shall tip in the favour of culture, like a big fat fucking retarded fucking black girl on a see-saw opposite... a dwarf."

"They're filming something... They're filming midgets!"

So yeah, it strikes a balance between humour and pathos; there is genuine emotion and drama driving the plot - I absolutely cannot find anything at fault with the film.

Seven Psychopaths, also by Martin McDonagh, is brilliant too - if a very different kind of film. It's still a black comedy, but it is more reminiscent of a Tarantino film instead of the generally grounded-in-reality feel of In Bruges.

So what are your favourite black comedies?

I love you, will you marry me and have my children? Pretty please?

On topic:
Almost what theparsonski said, though I prefer 7 Psychopaths to In Bruges.
Both are brilliant movies though and I recommend them to anyone ever.

 

[Daveman]

I don't really know, arguably I think there's a case for Life of Brian being black comedy.

TV wise, Saxondale. Loved that, and sufficiently lacking in Partridge silliness to be considered a black comedy I think, plus lots of fairly serious dark moments.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Four Lions

Never has Terrorism been so funny, or stupid.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

It can be a bit hard to find these days, but Happiness is probably the best Black Comedy I've ever seen. Be warned though...it's heavy on the "black" part of that equation. Not for the faint of heart.

Opening scene for your perusal:


And another with the incomparable Philip Seymour Hoffman:


And from a different film, also a good black comedy...Your Friends and Neighbours:

 

[AlexanderPeregrine]

Some recommendations:

Some of his films have been mentioned, but everything written by Quentin Tarantino is worth watching. Even when they don't work as a whole (Jackie Brown is usually mentioned as his weakest film), they're still witty and funny.
Even though they're quoted way too much by uncreative people to the point of irritation, Monty Python is consistently great. My personal favorite is Life of Brian.
If you're fine with really sadistic, brutal violence taken to hilarious extremes, I recommend Magical Witch Punie-chan [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bludgeoning_Angel_Dokuro-Chan].

 

[Gitty101]

Does Evil Dead 2 count? Cause' that was pretty horrific and hilarious at the same time. Great popcorn movie.

 

[Loonyyy]

Trainspotting-Ewan McGregor, heroin, and absolutely no shame.
Black Books-Not quite so black as the title, but a brilliant series.
Catch-22-Again, not quite black, this is more absurdist, but it's absurdist tendencies go to dark places, and it's a great film.
And Ed130 beat me to it, but Four Lions. It's like if the three stooges were terrorists, but also likeable, and not crap. It's hilarious, heart-wrenching and horrifying. Be warned though, if you're not used to British accents, understanding British-Muslims becomes that much harder. Watching this while drunk is a bad idea.

 

[Henkie36]

snip

Let me know what you thought.

 

[Timothy Tucker]

Very Bad Things
Just a monumentally savage black comedy both in terms of escalation and humour.
Otherwise, no black comedy favourite list is complete without a mention of the Coen Brothers.

 

[Flatfrog]

It can be a bit hard to find these days, but Happiness is probably the best Black Comedy I've ever seen. Be warned though...it's heavy on the "black" part of that equation. Not for the faint of heart.

I found it a bit too much - Welcome to the Dollhouse was more accessible. Having said that, I did think it was great, and gave it to my Mum to watch - unfortunately she didn't realise it was quite as bleak as it was and sat down to watch it for a New Years Day bit of fun.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I found it a bit too much - Welcome to the Dollhouse was more accessible. Having said that, I did think it was great, and gave it to my Mum to watch - unfortunately she didn't realise it was quite as bleak as it was and sat down to watch it for a New Years Day bit of fun.

Yeah, as I said...pretty heavy on the "black" side of the equation. It's not every movie that tries to milk laughs out of pedophilia, for instance.

Still...I found it pretty hilarious in parts. Possibly catharsis from the all the horror and misery.

Solondz hasn't really done anything worth talking about since. It's like he fell right off the map.

 

[jdogtwodolla]

The only Black Comedy I've actually seen at this point would be Tucker and Dale vs Evil. That was a pretty enjoyable movie.

It's a good thing I read other posters before I finished my first thought because I actually thought you meant black culture comedy.

 

[SckizoBoy]

My point? Go see Lord of War.

See... I never really considered Lord of War to be a comedy of any sort. It was a true to life drama about the weapon smuggling trade, in which the only kind of humour you can have is caustic humour.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's a damned good film, probably Nick Cage's best, but not really a comedy... :/

My point? Go see Lord of War.

You sold me! I got to see this ASAP!

Before you watch it through though... just watch the opening sequence, come back to us... then watch the rest of it.

I contend that that film's opening sequence is one of the most evocative ever made. And the track that goes with it just takes the cake! -_-

OT: Not really that big a fan of black comedies... though Dr Strangelove... no surprise there.

 

[Zombie Sodomy]

Ok, I completely misinterpreted your question. I was going to say anything with Dave Chappelle, but since you're apparently talking about dark comedies I'd suggest Fargo. That's if you really want dark, in my opinion anyways. Loonyyy mentioned Trainspotting and while I've never really thought of it as that much of a comedy, I'd definitely suggest watching it.

 

[saintdane05]

Anything done by George Carlin.
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And I think that A Clockwork Orange is a black comedy
(May be NSFW)
<youtube=GnSx7q89y1g>

 

[gorfias]

My point? Go see Lord of War.

See... I never really considered Lord of War to be a comedy of any sort. It was a true to life drama about the weapon smuggling trade, in which the only kind of humour you can have is caustic humour.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's a damned good film, probably Nick Cage's best, but not really a comedy... :/

My point? Go see Lord of War.

You sold me! I got to see this ASAP!

Before you watch it through though... just watch the opening sequence, come back to us... then watch the rest of it.

I contend that that film's opening sequence is one of the most evocative ever made. And the track that goes with it just takes the cake! -_-

OT: Not really that big a fan of black comedies... though Dr Strangelove... no surprise there.

Thanks for the 2nd opinion! I'll likely have to get it on DVD from Netflix. Severance, recommended by another above is streaming on Netflix. So far (my boy was scared, I only saw 1/2 so far... I'll watch the rest later) it's pretty good. Worth a look. The absurdity of it and situation are interesting to me.

 

[Lt._nefarious]

A Serious Man is a pretty good dark comedy, definitely one of my favorites...

Spoiler

Matchstick Men is a great dark comedy and possibly the best Nic Cage film.

Spoiler

Wild at Heart is a pretty dark affair to, although it might be more surrealist comedy...

Spoiler

And no list would be complete without the single greatest dark comedy ever: Seven Psychopaths...

Spoiler

 

[gorfias]

My vote for best black comedy has to go to Severance

Good movie. It is on Netflix streaming. I liked Deadly Snow (2009) better. Very much the same kind of humor, but I'm glad you pointed me in the direction of Severance. It was easily worth a watch.

 

[bigwon]

I found the tv series Louie (Louis C.K's Show) to be a favorite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC4FnfNKwUo