In honor of April Fool’s Day, we asked our readers, “What is the funniest movie ever made?”
From dry and cynical to slapstick and satire, not a comedy genre was ignored. Comedy is the toughest thing to gauge, after all. What makes one person laugh, makes another person wince. Who would have thought that a deranged film like “A Clockwork Orange,” would leave one reader in stitches?
By a sliver, the Monty Python troupe received the most votes for the absurdly funny, low-budget “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” Full of random scenes and musical skits, “Holy Grail” has one of the most memorable cast of characters – a killer rabbit, a wizard named Tim, a Trojan bunny and the Knights who say “Ni.”
Coming in second place was the Soviet cult comedy, “Brilliantovaya Ruka” (The Diamond Arm, 1969). The film is about a regular Soviet guy who gets to go on a cruise to Instanbul. But he is mistaken for a smuggler by a bunch of villians who plant some contraband jewels in a cast on his arm.
“Caddyshack” also received a respectable number of votes. This “snobs versus the slobs” classic has one of the most quotable dialogues in film. Plus, who can forget the wacky synchronized swimming scene? Shown on Ukrainian TV every now and then, “Caddyshack” has won the hearts of many Ukrainians. Unfortunately, the film isn’t available in video and instead we are all stuck watching the edited-for-television version.
Up their with Caddyshack was the plotless “Scary Movie,” which drew one reader to say, simply, “Whassuuuup?!”
Results
1. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
2. Brilliantovaya Ruka (The diamond Arm)
3. Caddyshack
(Tie) Scary Movie
5. Dumb and Dumber
6. The Party
(Tie) Za Dvoma Zaitsaymi (Chasing Two hares)
Others receiving votes:
Animal House; Back to School; Bolshaya Progulka (The Big Trip); Blues Brothers; Blazing Saddles; Something About Mary; Deja vu; It’s a Mad, Mad World; A Clockwork Orange; Coming of the Train; Operation “Y”; Fletch; Groundhog Day; Ivan Vasilyvich Meniyat Profesiyu; Liar Liar; Meet Wally Sparks; Me, Myself and Irene; Skin Deep; The Gods Must Be Crazy; When Harry Met Sally; Young Frankenstein; Taxi I; Taxi II. Ironiya Sudby ili s Lyogkim Parom (The Irony of Fate).
