Laughter is the BEST medicine. We could all use a healthy dose right now. Whether it’s to shed light and hope on current events, help you cope with a loss or, you just need to take a break from thinking too hard. We’ve found a list of the 150 Essential comedies you need to check off your movie list. We made it even easier by picking our top ten from the list to get you started.
“Crazy Rich Asians” follows native New Yorker Rachel Chu (Wu) as she accompanies her longtime boyfriend, Nick Young (Golding), to his best friend’s wedding in Singapore. Excited about visiting Asia for the first time but nervous about meeting Nick’s family, Rachel is unprepared to learn that Nick has neglected to mention a few key details about his life. It turns out that he is not only the scion of one of the country’s wealthiest families but also one of its most sought-after bachelors. Being on Nick’s arm puts a target on Rachel’s back, with jealous socialites and, worse, Nick’s own disapproving mother (Yeoh) taking aim. And it soon becomes clear that while money can’t buy love, it can definitely complicate things.
2.THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (2014)
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL recounts the adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune — all against the back-drop of a suddenly and dramatically changing Continent.
3. LEGALLY BLONDE (2001)
Elle Woods has it all. She’s the president of her sorority, a Hawaiian Tropic girl, Miss June in her campus calendar, and, above all, a natural blonde. She dates the cutest fraternity boy on campus and wants nothing more than to be Mrs. Warner Huntington III. But, there’s just one thing stopping Warner from popping the question: Elle is too blonde. Growing up across the street from Aaron Spelling might mean something in LA, but nothing to Warner’s East-Coast blue blood family. So, when Warner packs up for Harvard Law and reunites with an old sweetheart from prep school, Elle rallies all her resources and gets into Harvard, determined to win him back. But law school is a far cry from the comforts of her poolside and the mall. Elle must wage the battle of her life, for her guy, for herself and for all the blondes who suffer endless indignities everyday.
4.GALAXY QUEST (1999)
For four years, the courageous crew of the NSEA Protector donned their uniforms and set out on thrilling and often dangerous missions in space – then their series was cancelled. Twenty years later, the five stars of the classic ’70s series “Galaxy Quest” are still in costume, making appearances at sci-fi conventions for legions of die-hard fans – but some of those fans are a little more far out than the actors could have ever imagined. A group of aliens who have mistaken intercepted television transmissions for “historical documents” arrive at a convention and whisk “Commander Peter Quincy Taggart” and his crew into space to help them in their all-too-real war against a deadly adversary. With no script, no director and no clue about real space travel, the actors have to turn in the performances of their lives to become the heroes the aliens believe them to be.
5.A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (1992)
The All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball League was founded in 1943, when most of the men of baseball-playing age were far away in Europe and Asia fighting World War II. The league flourished until after World War II, when, with the men’s return, the league was consigned to oblivion. Director Penny Marshall and screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel re-create the wartime era when women’s baseball looked to stand a good chance of sweeping the country. The story begins as a candy-bar tycoon enlists agents to scour the country to find women who could play ball. In the backwoods of Oregon, two sisters — Dottie (Geena Davis) and Kit (Lori Petty) — are discovered. Dottie can hit and catch, while Kit can throw a mean fastball. The girls come to Chicago to try out for the team with other prospects that include their soon-to-be-teammates Mae Mordabito (Madonna), Doris Murphy (Rosie O’Donnell), and Marla Hooch (Megan Cavanagh). The team’s owner, Walter Harvey (Gary Marshall) needs someone to coach his team and he picks one-time home-run champion Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks), who is now a broken-down alcoholic.
6.DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS (1988)
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a remake of the 1964 film farce Bedtime Story. Steve Martin and Michael Caine take over the roles originally played by Marlon Brando and David Niven: two international con artists, plying their trade on gullible wealthy women up and down the Riviera. Martin and Caine vie over the honor of fleecing ingenuous heiress Glenne Headly (in a role originated by Shirley Jones).
7.COMING TO AMERICA (1988)
Coming to America casts comedian Eddie Murphy as pampered African prince Akeem, who rebels against an arranged marriage and heads to America to find a new bride. Murphy’s regal father (James Earl Jones) agrees to allow the prince 40 days to roam the U.S., sending the prince’s faithful retainer Semmi (Arsenio Hall) along to make sure nothing untoward happens. To avoid fortune hunters, Prince Akeem conceals his true identity and gets a “Joe job” at a fast-food restaurant. Murphy and Hall play multiple roles, and there are innumerable celebrity cameos peppered throughout the proceedings — including the Duke Brothers (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy) from Trading Places.
8.THE GREAT DICTATOR (1940)