Best Cinematography You've Seen In A Comedy?

[George Ebersole]

I wouldn't put too much stock in that. The sets were dimly lit, but the characters still had strong lighting. And that's in keeping with the "floodlight" theory of lighting of certain comedies. Usually those aimed at the teen demographic.

 

When the post-teen audience was the primary focus, pre 80s and pre 90s, you still threw a lot of light on the subjects but only because the film stock at the time had a lower ASA.

 

Maybe I'm showing my age, but I've not seen a good contemporary comedy in over two decades. "Our Idiot Brother" was fairly well shot and lit, and it looked like a good adult comedy, but even then it kind of fell flat in my opinion.

[Marcel Zyskind]

Manhattan and Sideways! Mostly because they are two of my favourite films.

Edited September 13, 2016 by Marcel Zyskind

[Michael LaVoie]

 

Maybe I'm showing my age, but I've not seen a good contemporary comedy in over two decades. "Our Idiot Brother" was fairly well shot and lit, and it looked like a good adult comedy, but even then it kind of fell flat in my opinion.

 

[George Ebersole]

Okay ..... okay ..... okay, I'll admit it. that trailer was funny.

 

BUT, I hope I won't see any groin kicking or fart jokes in this thing ... I mean it!

 

I'm kind of talking tongue in cheek here, but I'm also somewhat serious. I've not seen a good comedy that that had maybe one or two swear words and didn't rely on body function / groin kicking humor in ... what now, 20 years or more?

 

The 1970s was like the last gasp of clean humor that was actually funny, with maybe a swear word or two tossed in. In the 1980s and sorta kinda late 1970s, "things were bulging at the seams", so to speak for mainstream humor. Vegas / Nightshow "dirty" humor was creeping into movies until it just exploded in the 80s. Then in the 90s it's like funny movies weren't funny anymore, a few gems here and there ...

 

So, you've shown me this. And my hopes are stirred, though not rekindled. I'm going to watch this with an open mind.

 

Sorry for the rant. But I'm an old school clean humor for the masses kind of guy. It's not that I don't appreciate blue humor, but there was a time when you could take a kid to a film aimed at adults and not have to worry about him being exposed to stuff you didn't want him exposed to.

 

So, I'm going to stream this ... but first I need to head out to the coast and grab some footage :)

[John E Clark]

I have no problem with 'fart jokes' or other 'low grade humor'... heck "Blazing Saddles"(1974) blazed through a number of 'low' humor points.

 

I do think political humor or satire such as found in "The Groove Tube"(1974) (filled with any number of scatological or sexual based humor points...) is severely lacking in the modern times...

 

And yes I'd take my daughter to most R shows these days... ok... were she 12 again... but the way we did things when she was young was we would go to film A and she would go to film B if she didn't want to see A... this only happened with "Dracula"(1992)...

[George Ebersole]

Well, just to clarify, I hated the 70s. All kinds of reasons. But movies then were largely aimed at a post-college audience, and those films were smarter for it. "California Suite", "The Goodbye Girl", even films that had elements of humor in them like "Close Encounters" or "Death on the Nile" which were of other genres, were, in my not so humble opinion, better films.

 

Popular humor today is fairly. Things like "The Groove Tube" have been around forever. But gags like a guy getting "his junk" caught in his pants zipper in "Something About Mary", to me, is not only not funny, but it's obvious humor that isn't that humorous to begin with.

 

Compare that toi "9 to 5" with Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton, and you find tons of sexual humor, but it isn't crass like today's films. Just my personal gripe.

 

Another example, before "Scary Movie" and its sequels, and a few knockoffs, there was a little no-budget / lowbudget film called "Student Bodies". It's got a few crass bathroom humor jokes, but they don't call attention to themselves too much ... except for Malvert and the punch bowl gag ... no spoilers here :)

 

Just my opinion. I guess I'm just too old to appreciate modern humor ... but how is it I find older classic era comedies good and not newer films? Just me, I guess. Sorry for derailing the thread. Many apologies.

[Ravi Kiran]

"Keanu" had some pretty good cinematography.

 

If we're also including TV, "Man Seeking Woman" is well shot. It's not the usual brightly-lit comedy. It traverses a lot of cinematic styles (drama, horror, etc.) for comedic effect. Same for "Key and Peele" (directed by "Keanu" director Peter Atencio, though I don't think DP Jas Shelton worked on the show).

Edited September 14, 2016 by Ravi Kiran

[George Ebersole]

All right, tried watching it, and it's pretty disgusting stuff. My rant continues.

 

p.s. Michael, that's not clean comedy. Someone getting caught in a woodchipper and his guts being flayed at some blonde is the exact thing I was raging against. Pretty pornographic violence in my book. Addendum; it's down right sick and twisted. I can't imagine anyone in their right mind laughing at this crap. I'm sorry I praised the trailer. I feel like a real fool.

[JD Hartman]

 

Sorry for the rant. But I'm an old school clean humor for the masses kind of guy. It's not that I don't appreciate blue humor, but there was a time when you could take a kid to a film aimed at adults and not have to worry about him being exposed to stuff you didn't want him exposed to.

 

 

Better not watch Sausage Party then.......

[KH Martin]

Two extremes in terms of approach to come to mind, each appropriate to that film: LOCAL HERO and DR STRANGELOVE. I just wish there was a better version of the former available to view.

[Michael LaVoie]

Okay ..... okay ..... okay, I'll admit it. that trailer was funny.

 

BUT, I hope I won't see any groin kicking or fart jokes in this thing ... I mean it!

 

I'm kind of talking tongue in cheek here, but I'm also somewhat serious. I've not seen a good comedy that that had maybe one or two swear words and didn't rely on body function / groin kicking humor in ... what now, 20 years or more?

 

The 1970s was like the last gasp of clean humor that was actually funny, with maybe a swear word or two tossed in. In the 1980s and sorta kinda late 1970s, "things were bulging at the seams", so to speak for mainstream humor. Vegas / Nightshow "dirty" humor was creeping into movies until it just exploded in the 80s. Then in the 90s it's like funny movies weren't funny anymore, a few gems here and there ...

 

So, you've shown me this. And my hopes are stirred, though not rekindled. I'm going to watch this with an open mind.

 

Sorry for the rant. But I'm an old school clean humor for the masses kind of guy. It's not that I don't appreciate blue humor, but there was a time when you could take a kid to a film aimed at adults and not have to worry about him being exposed to stuff you didn't want him exposed to.

 

So, I'm going to stream this ... but first I need to head out to the coast and grab some footage :)

I saw it on Netflix's top ten funniest comedy's you've never heard of. Not everyone has the same taste in a sense of humor at all. Both Tucker and Dale and Cabin in the Woods are dark comedies making fun of horror movies. You can't take them seriously at all because they are parodies. But yeah, neither of these are family friendly comedies if that is what you're looking for.

[John E Clark]

I saw it on Netflix's top ten funniest comedy's you've never heard of. Not everyone has the same taste in a sense of humor at all. Both Tucker and Dale and Cabin in the Woods are dark comedies making fun of horror movies. You can't take them seriously at all because they are parodies. But yeah, neither of these are family friendly comedies if that is what you're looking for.

 

For some of us, the 60's and 70's barrier breaking films, despite their 'low humor', were liberating from straight laced prudery.

 

As for bodies in wood chippers as a comedic device... there is just such a scene in "Fargo"(1996). As for Jane Fonda and 'low humor', I believe the scene were she is seen sitting on the pot, presumably performing necessary body functions, was perhaps one of the first such shots in "Fun With Dick and Jane"(1977). Nearly 2 decades before Hitchcock showed a toilet being flushed in "Psycho"(1960), which some consider to be a first in at least showing a toilet in operation.

 

Then there's the avoidance of even showing an unoccupied double bed in a married couple's bedroom... Especially in 50s/60s TV shows...

 

The 80s also saw a rise in the Trauma Team's productions such as "Toxic Waste Avenger"(1984) and "Surf Nazis Must Die"(1987).

 

Here's an article on research into the relationship between 'watch camp movies' and 'intelligence'...

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/enjoyment-of-trash-films-linked-to-high-intelligence-study-finds-a7171436.html

[George Ebersole]

Well, it's just my opinion. Sorry for the rant, but I do stand by it.

[George Ebersole]

To get this thread back on track; "Ghost Town" is exceptionally well lit, and has some intimate cinematography.

[Max Field]

 

Better not watch Sausage Party then.......

I have no idea how someone can go from writing the near-perfect Superbad to haha food funnies.

[Alexandros Angelopoulos Apostolos]

How about some Dean Cundey? I’m embarrassed to admit, but I only learnt through Home Again who he is. I liked how this candy of a film looked, so I googled him.

 

The whole film has this glorious warm, sunlit look, with touches of pinkiness:

 

http://elizabethstreetpost.com/set-designs-of-the-new-nancy-meyers-movie-home-again/

http://insidehouses.net/2017/08/30/inside-nancy-meyers-home-again-house/

https://lindamerrill.com/2017/06/16/nancy_meyers_home_again/

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/nancy-meyers-and-hallie-meyers-shyer-tell-ad-the-secrets-behind-the-set-of-home-again

 

Check this brief clip

 

 

here.

 

Or this clip

 

 

here

 

Trailer 1:

 

 

Trailer 2:

 

 

Blu-ray out December 12th:

 

http://www.blu-ray.com/Home-Again/734947/

 

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Home-Again-Blu-ray/188671/

 

One lighting setup:

 

Edited December 4, 2017 by Alexandros Angelopoulos Apostolos

[Mark Kenfield]

I always thought the Monty Python lads did a marvellous job on their films, The Holy Grail and Life of Brian in particular were fantastic because they felt exactly like a period film should. You never felt like you were in a quote/unquote "comedy", and it made them so much more engrossing.

For a more modern example, I thought Michael Grady's work on "Easy A" was just jaw-droppingly gorgeous. I'm not sure I've ever seen a comedy look so pretty (aside from, perhaps, "Manhattan").

[George Ebersole]

"Stardust Memories"

"It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World"

 

to name a couple

[Don J Wong]

I liked Gerald Hirschfeld's work on "Young Frankenstein" and "My Favorite Year", Charles Lang's work on "Some Like It Hot", and Dean Cundey's work on the "Back to the Future" movies. One that I thought was surprisingly good/beautiful was "The Front Page", cinematography by Jordan S. Cronenweth.

[Tom Visser]

"Stardust Memories"

"It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World"

 

to name a couple

 

The PMP work on IaMMMMW gives me the giggles every single time.

[Phil Connolly]

The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona and Terry Gilliam's Brazil is pretty funny in places (and looks great)

 

Scott Pilgrim vs the world

[Gregory Irwin]

I always admired Fred Schulers work on ARTHUR in 1981.

 

G

[Mark Dunn]

Surprised I didn't put this one up originally.

Gil Taylor, "Dr. Strangelove".

[George Ebersole]

 

The PMP work on IaMMMMW gives me the giggles every single time.

 

 

What specifically makes you laugh?

[Tom Visser]

 

 

What specifically makes you laugh?

 

It's mostly this scene...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HjTon8emoI

with the campy over acting, and can just imagining the 2 PMP cars on flat dollies being slid around by crew and actor's liberal use of the cabins to play out the scene. Also one of my favorite moments is the British chap and captain's cap dude in the green wagon with the actors bouncing up and down on their seats and crew jiggling the rig just so...

 

 

an then after the service station scene where I think the