Tophat665

OK, Dr. Strangelove has got to be the best of all time. I mean, General Jack D. Ripper, and President Merkin Muffley? "Gentlemen! You Can't Fight in here! This is the War Room!" It just doesn't get any better than that.

Heathers was, perhaps the best dark comedy in color. It must suck for Christian Slater to know that he could live to be 1000 and never top that role.

Monty Python's Life of Brian. There is a relentlessly dour streak running through all of Python (British Culture in general) but Brian completely captures the absurdity of it all. "Anyone who doesn't want to be crucified here, raise your hand!" I think it's their best movie, mostly because, excepting the bit with the spaceships, it could have been a documentary. Holy Grail and Meaning of Life (in that order) are next. Either of them are more thoroughly death soaked even than Brian, and each is every bit as funny. The only thing that puts Brian ahead of them is that the story itself is better.

M*A*S*H. How much darker than the middle of a war can you get? Well, Kelly's Heroes didn't come across as dark because the violence was antiseptic and cartoon, but trading witticisms soaked to the elbows in blood has got to qualify as dark. The whole scene with Donald Sutherland baiting Robert Duvall over this "thing" with Sally Kellerman is comedic gold, particularly with Gary Burghoff reporting the play by play.

I personally think the Cohen Brothers are overrated, which I'm sure makes me no friends here, but credit where it's due; they come up with some great one liners. I think the lady cop and that goofy accent everyone in the movie has makes Fargo, but for sheer silliness Big Lebowski is funnier, and for pure novelty, Raising Arizona has got to be their best.

Anyone else remember "After Hours"? Griffin Dunn trapped in a New York where absolutely everything that can go wrong for him does in the silliest way possible. Last time I saw it must've been '86, so I don't remember it that clearly, but I remember thinking it was hysterical.

And a quick shout out to the Addams Family movies. They are too self-conciously dark to be truely great, but their fault is trying too hard, and that's worth something.

Edit:
I can't believe I couldn't come up with this before: Harold & Maude. Death Obsessed Teenager has torrid love affair with life obseessed 80 year old while his partents are desparately trying to match him up with a "nice girl". Cat Stevens did the soundtrack, so they don't get much darker /sarcasm. All in all, the movie is like a They Might Be Giants song: cheerfully grim.

And, as long as I'm back, let's not forget Arsenic and Old Lace.

OK, enough of that.

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