Looking for laughs? Look no further. These are ScreenHub’s ten top picks in the genre of comedy.
ScreenHub’s ten top comedy films (and where to stream them in Australia):
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save what’s important to her by connecting with the lives she could have led in other universes.
Laugh-out-loud moment: Hot Dog Fingers.
Director: Daniels
Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis, Stephanie Hsu
Rating: MA
Runtime: 140m
Streaming on: Netflix
The Favourite (2018)
England, early 18th century. The close relationship between Queen Anne and Sarah Churchill is threatened by the arrival of Sarah’s cousin, Abigail Hill, resulting in a bitter rivalry between the two cousins to be the Queen’s favourite.
Laugh-out-loud moment: ‘Did you just look at me?’
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Olivia Coleman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz
Rating: MA
Runtime: 120m
Streaming on: Netflix, Disney+
What We Do In The Shadows (2014)
Vampire housemates try to cope with the complexities of modern life and show a newly turned hipster some of the perks of being undead.
Laugh-out-loud moment: ‘With humans, there is a tendency to die’
Director: Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement
Cast: Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement
Rating: M
Runtime: 86m
Streaming on: Shudder
Hot Fuzz (2007)
As a former London constable, Nicholas Angel finds it difficult to adapt to his new assignment in the sleepy British village of Sandford. Not only does he miss the excitement of the big city, but he also has a well-meaning oaf for a partner. However, when a series of grisly accidents rocks Sandford, Angel smells something rotten in the idyllic village.
Laugh-out-loud moment: ‘Have you ever shot your gun up in the air and gone “argh”?’
Director: Edgar Wright
Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent
Rating: MA
Runtime: 121m
Streaming on: Netflix, Binge
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
In the deep south during the 1930s, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them. On their journey they come across many comical characters and incredible situations. Based upon Homer’s ‘Odyssey’.
Laugh-out-loud moment: ‘What’s going on, Big Dan?’
Director: Joel Coen
Cast: George Clooney, John Goodman, Jon Turturro
Rating: M
Runtime: 107m
Streaming on: Prime Video, Binge
Best in Show (2000) -or- This is Spinal Tap (1984)
Best in Show: The tension is palpable, the excitement is mounting and the heady scent of competition is in the air as hundreds of eager contestants from across America prepare to take part in what is undoubtedly one of the greatest events of their lives – the Mayflower Dog Show. The canine contestants and their owners are as wondrously diverse as the great country that has bred them.
Laugh-out-loud moment: ‘We both love soup’
Director: Christopher Guest
Cast: Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Jennifer Coolidge
Rating: PG
Runtime: 90m
Streaming on: Binge
This is Spinal Tap: This mockumentary shines a light on the self-contained universe of a metal band struggling to get back on the charts, including everything from its complicated history of ups and downs, gold albums, name changes and undersold concert dates, along with the full host of requisite groupies, promoters, hangers-on and historians, sessions, release events and those special behind-the-scenes moments that keep it all real.
Laugh-out-loud moment: ‘These go to eleven’
Director: Rob Reiner
Cast: Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer
Rating: M
Runtime: 82m
Streaming on: SBS On Demand, Google Play
Airplane! (1980)
Alcoholic pilot, Ted Striker has developed a fear of flying due to wartime trauma, but nevertheless boards a passenger jet in an attempt to woo back his stewardess girlfriend. Food poisoning decimates the passengers and crew, leaving it up to Striker to land the plane with the help of a glue-sniffing air traffic controller and Striker’s vengeful former Air Force captain, who must both talk him down.
Laugh-out-loud moment: ‘You can’t take a guess for another two hours?’
Director: Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker
Cast: Leslie Nielsen, Robert Hays
Rating: M
Runtime: 88m
Streaming on: Paramount+
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Jake Blues is just out of jail, and teams up with his brother, Elwood on a ‘mission from God’ to raise funds for the orphanage in which they grew up. The only thing they can do is do what they do best: play music. So they get their old band together, and set out on their way – while getting in a bit of trouble here and there.
Laugh-out-loud moment: ‘This place has everything’
Director: John Landis
Cast: Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi
Rating: M
Runtime: 133m
Streaming on: Binge, Paramount+ (and The Astor theatre in St Kilda, Melbourne, often have screenings, too).
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
King Arthur, accompanied by his squire, recruits his Knights of the Round Table, including Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot and Sir Galahad the Pure. On the way, Arthur battles the Black Knight who, despite having had all his limbs chopped off, insists he can still fight. They reach Camelot, but Arthur decides not to enter, as ‘it is a silly place’.
Laugh-out-loud moment: ‘Tis but a flesh wound!’
Director: Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones
Cast: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones
Rating: PG
Runtime: 91m
Streaming on: Netflix
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
After the insane General Jack D. Ripper initiates a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, a war room full of politicians, generals and a Russian diplomat all frantically try to stop the nuclear strike.
Laugh-out-loud moment: ‘Have you ever seen a commie drink a glass of water?’
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Cast: Peter Sellers, George C Scott
Rating: PG
Runtime: 95m
Streaming on: Foxtel, SBS On Demand
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Two musicians witness a mob hit and struggle to find a way out of the city before they are found by the gangsters. Their only opportunity is to join an all-girl band as they leave on a tour. To make their getaway they must first disguise themselves as women, then keep their identities secret and deal with the problems this brings – such as an attractive bandmate and a very determined suitor.
Laugh-out-loud moment: ‘Nobody’s perfect!’
Director: Billy Wilder
Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis
Rating: PG
Runtime: 122m
Streaming on: Foxtel
Modern Times (1936)
Charlie Chaplin’s classic character ‘The Tramp’ struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman. This silent comedy (with occasional recorded sound moments) is a comment on both the struggles to survive in a modern, industrialised world and the financial hardship of the Great Depression.
Laugh-out-loud moment: The tramp tries out a newly invented feeding machine.
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard
Rating: G
Runtime: 87m
Streaming on: SBS On Demand
Honourable mention: Barbie (2023)
Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.
Laugh-out-loud moment: The Beach Off
Director: Greta Gerwig
Cast: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling
Rating: PG
Runtime: 114m
Streaming on: Apple TV, Prime
