The Seven Best Comedies: #1

1. Annie Hall (1977)
Directed by Woody Allen
Starring Woody Allen and Diane Keaton
Winner of 4 Academy Awards, Including Best Picture. Nominated for 5.

Sorry, but I just love this movie. Love, love, love, love, love, love this movie. You can laugh at just about every frame of it. I can't quite describe what I like about it, but I guess one of the things is that it's almost like a serial. Every scene there's a new situation, and the viewer is eagerly awaiting to see what will happen next. They are and aren't connected. If only movies today were daring enough to do things like that. Well, la dee da.

The Seven Best Comedies: #2

2. Some Like it Hot (1959)
Directed by Billy Wilder
Starring Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe
Winner of the Best Costume Design Academy Award. Nominated for 6, Including Best Director.

Unless you are both blind and deaf, this film alone should prove that Billy Wilder is the greatest director of all time. And screenwriter. The writing in this is so sharp. It is complex, yet it is simple. It is funny, yet it is affectionate. I've seen this movie about ten times, methinks. And there's still more to go...

The Seven Best Comedies: #3

3. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly
Starring Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds
Nominated for 2 Oscars, Including Best Supporting Actress-Jean Hagen

I have a lifetime worth of studying to do tonight, so I'll keep it brief. Jean Hagen made this hysterical. It works on so many levels, it's impossible to count.

The Seven Best Comedies: #4

4. Tootsie (1981)
Directed by Syndey Pollack
Starring Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange
Winner of the Best Supporting Actress (Lange) Oscar. Nominated for 10, Including Best Picture.

Ahh, yes. Tootsie. The comedy of a thousand rip-offs. This is one of the few drag movies that is actually smart, story-oriented and, above all, funny. Dustin Hoffman, Teri Garr and Jessica Lange are all so lovable in this film. In fact, the movie itself is lovable. And the songs...classic.