Best Comedy Movies of All Time

No list of the best comedy movies is ever complete-or completely correct. Watching a comedy is among the most personal movie experiences in cinema. Everyone has a different opinion about what is funny and this translates into controversy when the term "best" is trotted out. Not that that will stop us.

Eight Great Comedies-In No Particular Order

• The Thin Man (1934) - William Powell and Myrna Loy starring as Nick and Nora Charles create on-screen chemistry that is like a tall, cool glass of champagne. The husband and wife detective team in this movie share dialogue so sharp and funny that it rivals many current comedies. One viewing of this movie, and you'll have no trouble believing that it spawned five equally enjoyable sequels.
• Caddyshack (1980) - Director Harold Ramis' quintessential golf comedy tells the tale of the trials and tribulations of a young caddy as he faces life after high school. With an incredibly deep cast of characters and a script that was made for quoting, Caddyshack is a comedy you'll watch-and enjoy-repeatedly.
• Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) - Directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Peter Sellers in three (!) roles, Dr. Strangelove sets the gold standard for anti-war satire. Combining cold war paranoia with clever, biting dialog, Kubrick turns a serious subject on its head while getting in jabs at all the right places.
• Shaun of the Dead (2004) - Simon Pegg stars as British slacker Shaun who is so oblivious to the world around him it takes him almost a third of the movie to realize the it has been taken over by flesh eating zombies. This near-perfect parody of zombie movies quickly became a dark comedy cult classic.
• Raising Arizona (1987) - Although humor features prominently in many of Joel and Ethan Coen's movies, Raising Arizona is easily their funniest work. Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter star as a childless couple that steals a baby to start their own family. When the real father of the child hires a bounty hunter to find the baby, things come undone with hilarious results.
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) - In this movie, the famous British comedy troupe manages to take shots at religion, feudalism, those who would romanticize history-and Swedish films. One mark of a classic film is the number of quotes and recited scenes it produces: Holy Grail delivers on both counts, creating a raft of memorable moments in just about every sequence.
• Duck Soup (1933) - The Marx brothers were among the earliest stars of talking pictures, and Duck Soup shows why: the rapid fire dialog full of puns and one liners is perfectly balanced with a bucketful of slapstick and visual humor. Groucho Marx's character, Rufus T. Firefly is the ultimate fast-talking con man that worms his way into a position of authority, only to regret his success completely.
• Blazing Saddles (1974) - Perhaps Mel Brooks's most famous parody, Blazing Saddles uses classic western clichés to create a crude movie that lampoons racism, sexism and the traditional morals of the time. An equal opportunity offender, this movie launches comedic broadsides at nearly every social group you can think of-and a few you hadn't.