Memorable comedy movies should be movies that make you laugh from start to finish. They should be movies filled with memorable one-liners, funny stunts and mindless fun. When you have finished watching the great comedies of all time, you will know it by the pain in your sides from laughing so hard. That being said, here are my picks for the 10 funniest movie scenes ever.
10)Easy Money. What would a list of comedy movies be without the man who gets no respect, Rodney Dangerfield. Team him with a young Joe Pesci and you haven't seen this funny a duo since Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Monty (Rodney Dangerfield) and Nicky (Joe Pesci) are at the race track with their friends, betting on trotters. Their horse is in the lead and Monty is yelling, "I'm going to Hawaii!". The rider puts his feet down and drags them, pulling on the reins and making the horse slow down. "He's falling behind." Nicky points out with Monty responding, "I'm not going to Hawaii." When they realize the rider intentionally threw the race (I've always wondered about that in real life) Nicky starts yelling, "I'm gonna kill ya! I'm gonna kill ya!" The rider comes back around, Nicky jumps the fence, pulls the rider off and starts beating him up. Vintage Dangerfield and Pesci.
9). The Nutty Professor. As a huge fan of Eddie Murphy, I could not make out this list without mentioning one of his movies. The two funniest scenes had to be when Sherman first changed into "Buddy", running around buying new clothes and demanding "All Spandex. Nothing but Spandex!" and giving the mean comic, Reggie, played by Dave Chapelle a taste of his own medicine.
8). Trains, Planes and Automobiles. Another great comedy pairing of Steve Martin and John Candy. So many funny scenes to choose from as Neal (Martin) and Del (Candy) struggle to get Neal home in time for Thanksgiving despite multiple troubles. The best scene had to be when Del gets turned around and starts driving the wrong way down a four lane highway. A couple sees them and tries to get their attention by blowing the horn. Del dismisses them as wanting to race and then says they are drunk. Neal rolls down his window, seeing they want something. The couple yells, "You're going the wrong way!" Neal tells Del what the couple said and Del replies, "Oh, he's drunk. How would he know where we're going?" "Yeah, how would he know," Neal agrees before waving at the guy and saying thank you. Del adds a thank you of his own accompanied by horn honking and an imitation of someone driving and getting drunk which Candy does brilliantly. Neal finally understands what's going on when the couple yells, "You're going in the wrong direction!" But it's too late. Two semis barrel down on them and their car scrapes in between them while flashes of skulls and Del as the devil goes through Neal's mind. It's a priceless moment that makes you laugh every time you see it.
7). Blazing Saddles. A classic Mel Brooks movie filled with funny one-liners and ridiculous moments that keep you laughing from beginning to end. Sure, I remember the farting around the campfire while eating beans scene and the KKK scene, but the one I loved the most was when Cleavon Little took himself hostage right after he arrived in Rock Ridge. The townspeople, who were upset that their new sheriff was black, pulled out their guns and pointed them at Cleavon. Cleavon pulled his own gun out and aimed it as his head, taking himself hostage. The others were so dumb, they put their guns down, a woman even asking if someone was going to help the poor man as Cleavon backed himself into the jail and shut the door. "Oh, baby. You are so talented." Cleavon bragged once safely inside before adding, "And they are so dumb." Who else but Mel Brooks would think of a man holding his own self hostage?
6). Austin Powers. I loved all the scenes between Scott (Seth Greene) and his dad (Mike Myers) but my favorite one was when Mini-Me was introduced. Scott kept trying to talk to his dad, but Dr. Evil would shush him with "Zip it!" or "ladies and gentlemen of the jury, Exzipit A", or talking in Chinese before saying "Subtitle, zip it!" Hilarious material.
5). Billy Madison. Who couldn't love a movie about a lazy young man who had to go back to school from the very beginning and complete each grade within two weeks or he would have to forfeit his right to his father's company to the evil assistant. Take that premise and add Adam Sandler to it and you have a hit. The most memorable scene for me was when Billy found a young boy upset because he had peed his pants. So what does Billy do? He goes over to the water fountain, splashes water on his own pants and makes it look like he has peed his pants. When another kid points at him and starts laughing Billy says, "Of course I peed my pants. Everyone my age pees his pants, it's the coolest. You ain't cool unless you pee your pants." The kid notices that Ernie has actually peed his pants and gives him a high five right before the elderly lady who has been showing the class around on the field trip says, "If peeing your pants is cool, consider me Miles Davis." By the time they get to the bus, every kid has peed their pants and the crisis has been resolved in an unusual yet hilarious way.
4). Scary Movie. Who didn't love the killer, who was really inept yet managed to kill several people. You had to laugh at his bumbling, fumbling ways, the scratching of the head when the girl he is trying to kill is making fun of him, or yelling "Whaassup!" into the phone while talking to a drunk and stoned Shawn Wayans, telling him that he's just "chillin' and killin'". The funniest scene had to be when he was trying to hide from Cindy, who hesitantly told him that she could see his feet sticking out from behind the couch. He tells her to close her eyes and tries to hide under the rug, then behind the curtain before telling her to open her eyes again. She still sees his hook of a hand sticking out from behind the curtains but pretends she doesn't. Hilarious spoof on actual scary movies.
3). My Cousin Vinny. Okay, you caught me. I love Joe Pesci. The tough, Italian guy trying to prove to his just as tough girlfriend that he can be a lawyer by getting his cousin and his cousin's friend acquitted of murder. Of course, this is Vinny's first case. But through all the screw-ups, Vinny manages to get the two boys out of trouble. Put a nervous friend who is scared to death that he's gonna become someone's "butt monkey" while in jail into a cell with Pesci who doesn't know why the guy is so scared of him and you have the funniest scene in the movie. Vinny tells the boy, "If I were in your situation, I'd want to get through this as quickly and with as little pain as possible. So let's try to make it a simple in and out procedure." Can we say double entendre?
2). Porky's. A laugh a minute kind of movie. So many scenes to choose from but if I must, I would go with the scene in the principal's office after Mrs. Ballbricker discovered Tommy's, uhm, shall we say manly part sticking through a hole in the girl's locker room. She reports this to the principal and, amidst the snickering from the three male coaches, proposes a lineup so that she can point it out. "I will not let him slip through my fingers again." She vows, setting the coaches off in gales of laughter and us as well. If that weren't enough to have anyone watching this part over and over again, add in the coach who says, "I have an idea. We can call the police and have them send over a sketch artist. Mrs. Ballbrick can give them a description. We can hang wanted posters up all over the school. Have you seen this.....? Report immediately to Beulah Ballbricker. Do not try to apprehend as it is armed and dangerous. It was last seen hanging out in the girl's locker room at Angel Beach High School." The three men who laughed through the whole scene had it easy. It was poor Beulah and Principal Carter that I felt sorry for. How did they manage to keep a straight face?
1). Animal House. Another movie that makes you laugh and by the time you're through laughing at one thing, you've started laughing at another. So many wonderful scenes in this movie. Belushi and company stealing a horse, putting it in the dean's office, pointing a blank gun at it as a prank, only to have the horse keel over dead from a heart attack. Belushi's speech with, "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?". Tim Matheson's character, Otter, trying to console Flounder after they messed up Flounder's brother's car. Great, all of them. But the most memorable scene was a scene without any words. The late, great John Belushi was only one of a handful of comics that make you laugh with actions alone. No words needed to be spoken as Bluto made his way down the cafeteria line, raising eyebrows, sucking down jello, stuffing whole sandwiches into his mouth and pocketing food all over the place.