THE 1990s: THE FINAL BREATH FOR GREAT COMEDY

I would probably agree with the argument that the 1990s were a bit weaker than the few previous decades as far as comedy goes. For the most part all the funniest ideas had already been used and all of the greatest comedy troupes, Monty Python, Saturday Night Live, SCTV, The Kids In The Hall, had first appeared on the scene prior to 1990. However that doesn't mean there weren't plenty of fine, innovative comedies on TV and in the cinemas. We were lucky enough to witness the creation of In Living Color and The State, both of which had actors and actresses that gave us some very funny films and some very original ideas back then and even into the 21st century. The Ben Stiller Show lasted only half of a season yet would introduce us to some comedians who are still relevant to this very day and some of the cast would later pivot to more R rated and risqué stuff like Mr. Show and The Sarah Silverman Program.
   The movie theaters and perhaps even more so late night cable television, was full of fantastic comedy films that people are still quoting to this very day whether they realize it or not. The early 90s had plenty of ballsy comedies that would eventually be realized as genius. Certainly titles like The Freshman, I Love You To Death and L.A. Story come to mind from the beginning of the decade. Albert Brooks was still doing excellent comedy (no surprise there), but he had to compete with sillier stuff from the Farrelly brothers and even rap artists Kid 'N' Play. Neither duo made movies as intellectual as Brooks or Woody Allen, but it was still hilarious and as far as the comedy genre goes that should be our main concern. Throughout the 1990s, SNL players who wanted to take their projects to the big screen would show us the good (Wayne's World), the bad (Coneheads) and the ugly (It's Pat). With the movie Clueless, Amy Heckerling would deliver her first masterpiece since 1982. Of course Kevin Smith would show us you don't need a big budget to make a great film. Smith would pretty much create a new genre of comedy with his intellectual under achievers who spend all day referencing nerdy pop culture. Many of my favorite comedies from this decade are actually plotted along these lines that Dante and Randal had perfected. Another commonality of a lot of my favorite comedy films from the era is also that they didn't get much attention and that disappoints me. I decided to make a list of these specific films and what surprised me was that out of the 10, I'd only seen one of the films in a theater. Clearly the VHS era would peak and then crash at the end of the decade. I don't think I rented many of these comedies though. Instead I would watch and rewatch 90% of these movies on HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and The Movie Channel. Of course any fan of fun cinema also remembers watching USA Up All Night which is probably where I caught a few of these movies as well. You just don't see this kind of quality or obscurity on cable/satellite anymore which is why many folks have moved onto other services like NetFlix or Amazon and I can't say that I blame them. I personally haven't had any kind of television or streaming service for 4 years now. Anything I watch is from a DVD I bought and every film on this list is worth getting on DVD. What's crazy is that some of these flicks have no official DVD release and they are never on NetFlix much less Showtime. I'm not sure why this is because in some cases we are talking about some big name comedy stars in them, but if you love to laugh and you've already seen Groundhog Day and Home Alone a million times why not look into these movies from that same great era of comedy films...perhaps the last great era.

Honorable Mentions That Almost Made The List:
Heavyweights (1995)
Canadian Bacon (1995)
Soapdish (1991)
Class Act (1992)
Free Enterprise (1998)


5. Pyrates (1991)

Fires start anytime our wacky couple has sex? A silly plot to be sure, but if you dig smart (some might say pretentious) romantic comedies this should be up your alley. Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick are of course perfect for each other and Bruce Payne is hilarious. All of these bar hopping, womanizing, buddy films appeal to me as I lived that life for probably two decades of my life and yes often times goofy things happened...but no fires.

4. Honeymoon In Vegas (1992) 

Nicolas Cage’s crazy reaction to just about everything makes this film worth seeing. Cage's style of acting may be called overacting by some, but for a film like this it's perfect. A fantastic soundtrack of various artists from many different music genres do takes on songs made popular by the King Of Rock 'N' Roll. Sarah Jessica Parker is a great comedic actress of course, but this movie in particular is for the idiots who say she’s unattractive (Matt and Trey I'm looking at you) because here she is absolutely stunning and like Cage I’d happily fight any obstacle for her!

3. At First Sight (1995) 

Probably the least well known on the list and that’s a crime because Jonathan Silverman and Dan Cortese surprisingly work really well together as a pair of horny bachelors. Because of the huge focus on sex, this film was mostly shown really late night on pay cable which may account for it’s obscurity. Of course there's also the fact that there are like 10 films with this title and it has now been relegated by IMDb to the pedestrian title ‘Two Guys Talkin’ About Girls’. If you enjoy your comedy somewhat raunchy this is the film for you.

2. Opportunity Knocks (1990)

If you put Dana Carvey in the right situation he can be on the same comedic level as a Richard Pryor or a Dudley Moore. As it turns out, making him an overconfident grifter is the most perfect role for him since the Church Lady. How this film wasn't a blockbuster I'll never know, but it has action, romance and a lovely Hollywood ending. Most importantly it has Carvey pretty much performing a one man show while the rest of the cast acts as his straight man. There are hints of the Marx Brothers, but what it really reminded me of was a new take on the George Burns and Gracie Allen Show and from me that's a high compliment indeed.

1. The Stöned Age (1994)

Between this movie and Dazed And Confused these two films are a surprisingly accurate recreation of my life. From age 16 up until my mid-20s my friend Ryan and I were the Joe Connolly and Michael Hubbs of the Denver suburbs. To further connect it to my life, the character of Joe is my buddy Ryan's doppelganger. Like Joe and Hubbs, Ryan and I drove around in my car, blasting hard rock and heavy metal music, searching for parties, drugs and women. The entire film encompasses less than a full day so you get more of a real time feel. I admit that if you didn't live like this, most of this film won't be very funny for you, but if you did The Stöned Age will be your Duck Soup. Overall, the sex and the drugs are minimal because they wanted to leave plenty of room for the comedy which never seems to stop. You just look at these guys or their group of friends and even in this day and age they will remind you of someone you knew from the 1970s or 80s and that in itself will bring a smile to your face.