Rate/Rank Extremely Silly 80s Comedies

[Mara]

I'm curious to see who has seen what (c'mon! fess up!) and am trying to ferret out any guilty pleasures. I'm really not sure comedies were ever sillier than in that wonderful, cheesy, neon-saturated decade.

Feel free to add to the list; this is just off the top of my head. (No, I haven't seen all of them. Just... most.)

Adventures in Babysitting
Back to the Beach
Better Off Dead
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Can't Buy Me Love
Caveman
Clue
Desperately Seeking Susan
Funny Farm
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Innerspace
Joe Versus the Volcano
Just One of the Guys
License to Drive
Loverboy
Mannequin
Mr. Mom
One Crazy Summer
Police Academy
Real Genius
Revenge of the Nerds
Splash
Strange Brew
Teen Witch
The 'Burbs
The Goonies
The Money Pit
Three Amigos
Three Men and a Baby
Top Secret!
Transylvania 6-5000
Troop Beverly Hills
UHF
Weird Science
Who's Harry Crumb?
Who's That Girl?

Etc, etc.

[Sven]

1) Teen Witch
...
...
...
..
.
.
..
...
...
...
2) Everything else

End of thread.

Just kidding. That movie is terrible. Though seeing Kenneth the Paige rap "Top That" on 30 Rock was a great, great moment.

[Mara]

I'm in the process of renting Teen Witch from Netflix for nostalgia reasons, which is one of the things that prompted this thread.

That, and finding Girls Just Want to Have Fun in a $1 DVD bin. Dude. The film ends in a dance off. In which our [male, and theoretically straight] hero wears a belly shirt and white blazer with rolled-up sleeves. You can't put a price on that.

EDIT: Dance Off. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TASGl0_jnjU)

[Russ]

Pass the Ammo:

1. Tim Curry and Annie Potts as Jim and Tammy Faye-esqe moneygrubbing televangelists.
2. Bill Paxton and Linda Kozlowski (!) as the local Arkansas yokels who aim to get their "donation" back.
3. Early making fun of then-governor Clinton.
4. The "Luke" guy from that soap opera with "Luke and Laura" playing a pot-smoking television studio engineer.
5. A treasure trove of quotable dialogue. "Bubba? Go in the house and get your mama that rocket launcher." (or something very similar...been awhile since I've seen it)

One of my favorites. Good luck finding it.

[Raiders]

I've seen others, but I'll select some to rate:

Adventures in Babysitting - Awesome and the best thing, by far, Chris Colombus has ever made. [***]

Better Off Dead - Good little Cusack film. He's all I really remember about it though. [***]

Joe Versus the Volcano - Truly great film. I had a review I was proud of over at the other site in my and Sven's thread on underappreciated classics. Too bad we never finished, or saved the thread for this site. [***½]

Just One of the Guys - This has some fans, but I hated it. Plain and simple. Somehow sort of managed to demean both sexes at the same time. [*½]

The 'Burbs - Funny, and I love me some Dante. [***]

The Goonies - Why is this popular again? Bizarrely uninteresting kiddie universe that does not hold up. [**]

The Money Pit - I like early Tom Hanks more than later Hanks, but I liked the Cary Grant original much, much more; and even then it was only passably entertaining. This is almost oppresively not funny.

[NickGlass]

Cheese, please (italics denote particular quality):
Adventures in Babysitting
Better Off Dead
Clue
Just One of the Guys
License to Drive
Mannequin
Mr. Mom
One Crazy Summer
The 'Burbs
The Goonies

I can't smell anything:
Police Academy
Splash
Strange Brew
Troop Beverly Hills
Funny Farm

That cheese smells bad:
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Loverboy
Real Genius
Three Amigos
Three Men and a Baby
Weird Science

[Dukefrukem]

What about the action comedies like;

Tango and Cash or Big Trouble in Little China... classics!

[Watashi]

This thread just screams for Yum-Yum.

[Sycophant]

I have seen so few of these! Those in italics are my additions to the original list.

Ecstasy
Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

Hehcstasy
Three Amigos
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
UHF
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids

Mehcstasy
BIG
Three Men and a Baby

Suckstasy
The Money Pit
Troop Beverly Hills
Teen Witch

Also saw the first half of The 'Burbs and it was awesome.

Turns out a lot of what I thought would go on this list was actually in the nineties.

Eighties comedy figures (Murray, Moranis, Martin, &c.) > Aughts comedy figures (Rogen, Carrell, Ferrell, &c.) > Nineties comedy figures (Sandler, Schneider, Spade, &c.)

[Watashi]

Eighties comedy figures (Murray, Moranis, Martin, &c.) > Aughts comedy figures (Rogen, Carrell, Ferrell, &c.) > Nineties comedy figures (Sandler, Schneider, Spade, &c.)

I can agree with that.

You can also add Robin Williams and Jim Carrey to the 90's comedy figures.

[Mara]

Eighties comedy figures (Murray, Moranis, Martin, &c.) > Aughts comedy figures (Rogen, Carrell, Ferrell, &c.) > Nineties comedy figures (Sandler, Schneider, Spade, &c.)

I was watching my favorite scenes from Little Shop of Horrors recently (which I decided was too self-aware for inclusion in this thread), and I gotta say....

Bill Murray as the masochistic dental patient (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAKYQjpDtpA) is one of the funniest five minutes in the history of film.

[Spun Lepton]

Adventures in Babysitting -- 6/10
Back to the Beach -- 6/10
Better Off Dead -- 7/10
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure -- 8/10
Caveman -- 4/10
Clue -- 6/10
Funny Farm -- 3/10
Innerspace -- 7/10
Joe Versus the Volcano -- 7/10
License to Drive -- 4/10
Mannequin -- 5/10
Mr. Mom -- 7/10
One Crazy Summer -- 7/10
Police Academy -- 7/10
Real Genius -- 7/10
Revenge of the Nerds -- 7/10 (I LOVED this movie as a kid. Then I saw it as an adult, and there were a few things in it that bothered me a bit. Still, it's pretty funny.)
Splash -- 7/10
Strange Brew -- 8/10 (Another one that I adored as a kid, but it remains a favorite to this day.)
The 'Burbs -- 6/10
The Goonies -- 5/10 (I know, blasphemy...)
The Money Pit -- 3/10
Three Amigos -- 6/10
Three Men and a Baby -- 5/10
Top Secret! -- 7/10
Transylvania 6-5000 -- 3/10
UHF -- 7/10
Weird Science -- 7/10

Added:
Ghostbusters -- 10/10
Ghostbusters 2 -- 6/10

Edited to add:
Planes Trains and Automobiles -- 10/10 (I think this is Steve Martin and John Candy's best film. It's one of those that I will stop and admire if I catch it on cable or something. It never fails to make me laugh, even though I know the jokes inside and out.)

Big -- 7/10
Little Shop of Horrors -- 8/10

[Sycophant]

I was watching my favorite scenes from Little Shop of Horrors recently (which I decided was too self-aware for inclusion in this thread), and I gotta say....

Bill Murray as the masochistic dental patient (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAKYQjpDtpA) is one of the funniest five minutes in the history of film.

Not about to disagree with this.

[Mara]

Oh boy. Teen Witch has not aged well.

The good news is that Robyn Lively sure did. Look how pretty!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v254/maragirl/MV5BNDM4NzMxNTQyMV5BMl5BanBnXk FtZTc.jpg

Man, though, that film was much worse than I remembered. The hair... so big. The shoulder pads... so high. And the "dream guy" was just a gigantic douche. The whole thing played out like some sort of bubblegum pop tragedy.

[lovejuice]

i used to be quite a fan of genre. can't rate it though since haven't watched those since...well, the 80s. and joe dante is one of the most underrated directors.

stuffs i love.

Adventures in Babysitting
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Caveman
Clue
Funny Farm
Innerspace
Mannequin
Real Genius
Revenge of the Nerds
The 'Burbs
The Goonies
The Money Pit
Three Men and a Baby
Top Secret!
UHF

[Russ]

Not mentioned yet:

D.C. Cab
Get Crazy
Hairspray
The Hollywood Nights
Hollywood Shuffle
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
Losin' It
Lust in the Dust
Moving Violations
Night Shift
Ruthless People
Voyage of the Rock Aliens (just kidding; this one really stinks. I just like the title. And, well, it does star Pia Zadora. So it's got that going for it.)

Finally, Eating Raoul, a genuinely terrific film and a great comedy.

[trotchky]

i haven't seen any of those recently enough to give an accurate rating, but i remember being a pretty big fan of The 'Burbs and hating Bill & Ted's.

I recently watched Dude, Where's My Car? again, and I feel it's a '00s revitalization of the '80s silly comedy with a '90s spirit. Not a bad movie.

[Yum-Yum]

Voyage of the Rock Aliens (just kidding; this one really stinks. I just like the title. And, well, it does star Pia Zadora. So it's got that going for it.)

One of the best musicals I have ever seen; I own it on VHS.


Finally, Eating Raoul, a genuinely terrific film and a great comedy.

You got that right. An excellent dark comedy.

[Yum-Yum]

This thread just screams for Yum-Yum.

My faves from that list...

Adventures in Babysitting - I liked the excessive shots of Miss Shue's pantyhose during the opening credits; they spoke to me on seventy-four distinct levels.

Better Off Dead - E.G. Daily is tiny, yet she has the voice of someone who is slightly larger.

Desperately Seeking Susan - The urbane charm of New York City lures yet another suburban dreamer into its concrete vagina in the cockamamie Desperately Seeking Susan, Susan Seidleman's tangled followup to the more straightforward Smithereens.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - A rich tapestry of vicious pinks and transsexual blues.

Just One of the Guys - Billy Jayne gives a wonderfully nuanced performance.

Mannequin - Reminiscent of the early films of Stan Brakhage, Mannequin is a movie that starts and finishes.

Revenge of the Nerds - Booger's liberal use of the terms "douche bag" and "hair pie" not only broke new ground, but managed to inspire countless others in the realm of filthiness.

Troop Beverly Hills - An unfairly maligned slice of cookie-accented enchantment.

Teen Witch - An accidental masterwork.

Weird Science - Visually devouring the sight of Ilan Mitchell-Smith bashfully frolicking in nothing but a skimpy pair of blue panties (with a white waistband) and a midriff exposing gray t-shirt is what I pretend to do for a living.

[Benny Profane]

In a way, each of us has an El Guapo to face. For some, shyness might be their El Guapo. For others, a lack of education might be their El Guapo. For us, El Guapo is a big, dangerous man who wants to kill us. But as sure as my name is Lucky Day, the people of Santa Poco can conquer their own personal El Guapo, who also happens to be *the actual* El Guapo.

[Mara]

I forgot Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. It's almost too good for this thread.

Hey, remember when Frank Oz used to make good films? What happened there?

[The Mike]

Adventures in Babysitting -10
Better Off Dead - 10
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure - 10
Caveman - 6
Clue - 9
Joe vs. The Volcano - Too long ago to rate
Just One of the Guys - 5
Mannequin - 6 now, 10 when I was 8
Mr. Mom - 7
One Crazy Summer - 8
Police Academy - Too long ago to rate
Real Genius - 9
Revenge of the Nerds - 10
Splash - Too long ago to rate
The 'Burbs - 10
The Goonies - 10
The Money Pit - 8
Three Amigos - 8
Three Men and a Baby - 4
Top Secret! - 10
UHF - 8
Weird Science - 7
Ghostbusters - 10
Ghostbusters 2 - 7
Planes Trains and Automobiles - 9
Big - 9
Little Shop of Horrors - 7


Adding:
Johnny Dangerously - 9
The Man With One Red Shoe - 8
Bachelor Party - 9
Spies Like Us - 8
The Naked Gun - 9
Fletch - 10
Fletch Lives - 8
The Dream Team -8
Dragnet - 10
Coming to America -10
Back to School - 8
Twins - 9

And I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting. There's not much better in life than a good '80s comedy. :pritch:

[Hugh_Grant]

There's not much better in life than a good '80s comedy. :pritch:
Yep.

I've seen most of these, some too long ago to remember specific details. Some of them have heavy nostalgia value for me, good memories of cinematic familial bonding.

Adventures in Babysitting
Back to the Beach
Better Off Dead--I want my two dollars!!!
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Can't Buy Me Love--long before he was McDreamy
Desperately Seeking Susan
Funny Farm
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Innerspace
Just One of the Guys
Loverboy--Extra anchovies
Mannequin
Mr. Mom
One Crazy Summer
Police Academy
Real Genius--I love Real Genius!
Revenge of the Nerds--My father and I saw this movie when it was released.
Splash
Strange Brew--I've seen it more times than I can count.
The 'Burbs
The Goonies
The Money Pit--There seems to be a lot of hate for this film, but it's another family favorite.
Three Amigos--another favorite of my father's
Three Men and a Baby
Top Secret!--contains quite possibly my favorite line in cinema: "I know a little German. He's sitting right over there."
Transylvania 6-5000
Troop Beverly Hills
Weird Science
Who's Harry Crumb?

From Russ's list:
D.C. Cab
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka--hilarious!
Moving Violations--Quite possibly the most underrated silly comedy of the 1980s. Wendie Jo Sperber, RIP.
Night Shift
Ruthless People

And Mike's list:
Johnny Dangerously
The Man With One Red Shoe
Bachelor Party
Spies Like Us
The Naked Gun
The Dream Team -- Peter Boyle, RIP. He was great in this.
Dragnet
Back to School -- another favorite of mine.

I'm adding:
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure--a film my whole immediate family can quote
Three O'Clock High--not really a "silly comedy", but it has its funny moments and is criminally underseen.

[Mara]

Forgot Summer School!

We weren't allowed to rent movies at my mother's house, and weren't allowed to watch anything PG-13 when we were little. However, when we visited my dad during the summer, anything went. This was one of the films we rented there, and I think my brother and I watched it ten times in one week.

I tried to watch some of it when it reran on TNT a couple of years back, and it was unwatchable.

[Hugh_Grant]

Forgot Summer School!
Yes! Saw that at a drive-in with my older sister! Mark Harmon in his hunky days.

[Mara]

Mark Harmon in his hunky days.

Those haven't gone away. The man is still tasty, and still has terrible taste in projects.

(With the exception of his stint on West Wing. Dude.)

[monolith94]

Am I the only one who's seen Who's That Girl, then?

[Hugh_Grant]

Am I the only one who's seen Who's That Girl, then?
I seem to remember a cougar or some sort of feline? And Griffin Dunne?

Speaking of Griffin Dunne and cheesy 80's comedies, I just thought about that movie Me and Him, the guy-talking-to-his-penis movie, but I bet no one's seen it.

[jenniferofthejungle]

I can't rate these with numbers so I'll just say if I liked them or not.

Adventures in Babysitting - like it, but haven't seen it in ages. It has one of my favorite intros, and I wanted Shue's big, blonde curly hair.
Back to the Beach - could not pay me to watch that one ;)
Better Off Dead - eh, never liked it.
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure - never seen it
Can't Buy Me Love - love this one. :P
Caveman - so silly, but I like it a lot.
Clue - like it
Desperately Seeking Susan - love it in spite of the fact that Madonna cannot act, even when she is playing herself.
Funny Farm- dislike it. It's just not funny.
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun- family favorite, and even though it has cheese coming out of every pore I still like it.
Innerspace- LOVE it.
Joe Versus the Volcano- I think I liked it more with each viewing. It isn't great, but I find it likable. The scene where Hanks is at the end of his rope, yet thanks God/whatever for his life just moves me.
Just One of the Guys - one of the few high school comedies I liked, boobies and all.
License to Drive- it's dumb, but I still sat through it about 50 times.
Loverboy- dislike intensely.
Mannequin- I used to like it.
Mr. Mom- liked it a lot, but I haven't seen it in ages.
One Crazy Summer- missed that one
Police Academy- liked it and the first sequel. I think I own it.
Real Genius- liked it
Revenge of the Nerds- loved it.
Splash- LOVE
Strange Brew- like it
Teen Witch- detested it
The 'Burbs- ugh
The Goonies- like it
The Money Pit- missed that one
Three Amigos- I have a love/hate relationship with this one.
Three Men and a Baby- it's okay
Top Secret!- loved it
Transylvania 6-5000- dislike
Troop Beverly Hills- hate it
UHF- Braden has been trying to get me to watch this one for years.
Weird Science- could not sit through it
Who's Harry Crumb? really dislike this movie.
Who's That Girl? - awful

[jenniferofthejungle]

I seem to remember a cougar or some sort of feline? And Griffin Dunne?

Speaking of Griffin Dunne and cheesy 80's comedies, I just thought about that movie Me and Him, the guy-talking-to-his-penis movie, but I bet no one's seen it.

I saw that one on cable a long time ago. I really disliked it.

[Mara]

Am I the only one who's seen Who's That Girl, then?

It's actually a remake (sort of) of Bringing Up Baby, which is a really fun film.

Except it was woefully unfun.

[Mara]

And I'd like to tell Hollywood whores to STOP READING MY THREADS, TAKING MY IDEAS OUT OF CONTEXT, AND RAPING MY NOSTALGIA.

Just because I'm delighted by a belly shirt and cropped white blazer doesn't mean you should remake Girls Just Want to Have Fun with freaking Miley Cyrus. (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118004292.html?categoryid=1 3&cs=1)

Hate. So much. :evil:

[jenniferofthejungle]

The Sure Thing is one I love, but i don't think I'd list it as a silly comedy.



Silly 80s I'll add:

The Last American Virgin
So Fine
Private School

[monolith94]

It's actually a remake (sort of) of Bringing Up Baby, which is a really fun film.

Except it was woefully unfun.
I... enjoyed it?

:cowers:

What can I say? I'm a huge Griffin Dunne fanboy, and I was probably drunk.

[monolith94]

hahaha... so camp and so eighties! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFgII3IUajw&feature=related)

[monolith94]

Oh man, I totally forgot the ultimate 80s comedy... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X0-e2YkJ8Q)

[Mara]

How-- HOW-- did I forget Earth Girls Are Easy?

Man alive. 'Cause I'm a blonde. B-L-O-N-D. 'Cause I'm a blonde. Doncha wish you were me?

[Spinal]

How-- HOW-- did I forget Earth Girls Are Easy?

Man alive. 'Cause I'm a blonde. B-L-O-N-D. 'Cause I'm a blonde. Doncha wish you were me?

I really want to be a veterinarian because I love children.

[Mara]

I really want to be a veterinarian because I love children.

I'd just like to say that being chosen as this month's Miss August is like a compliment I'll remember for as long as I can.

[Spinal]

I'd just like to say that being chosen as this month's Miss August is like a compliment I'll remember for as long as I can.

I saw the movie a long time ago, but I mostly remember that song because they played it on the Dr. Demento (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Demento) show, which I listened to in a particularly dorky phase of my youth.

[Mara]

I'm pretty sure there's also a musical scene in the nail salon, but I don't remember it exactly and YouTube is failing me.

[Mara]

Flash Gordon!


FLASH! WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FLASH!

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

[Derek]

Flash Gordon!


FLASH! WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FLASH!

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

I want the region 2 DVD of this for the Brian Blessed commentary alone.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nE13JIzQk9o/SXKEhbO5JOI/AAAAAAAABsU/UPLiQJzVePM/s320/brian+blessed.jpg

[The Mike]

I can surely tell you that no movie makes me happier than Flash Gordon.

(Except maybe The Rock).

[Mara]

I want the region 2 DVD of this for the Brian Blessed commentary alone.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nE13JIzQk9o/SXKEhbO5JOI/AAAAAAAABsU/UPLiQJzVePM/s320/brian+blessed.jpg

Shut. Up.

Want.