There is a remarkable scene in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas where Joe Pesci, playing "made man " Tommy DeVito turns from fun-loving storyteller to absolute psychotic when Ray Liotta (as Henry Hill) tells him he’s a funny guy. "Funny how? Funny like a clown? I amuse you?" It’s a chilling scene, but also incredibly funny, proving that none of us has the same sense of humor. So to recommend any comedy films seems a daunting task since one man’s humor is another’s tragedy. Still, I’ve managed (as always) to come up with four films that always make me laugh. Granted, my sense of humor is skewed towards the dark side, and there are films, such as Fererri’s La Grande Bouffe – in which four middle-aged men graphically eat themselves to death, that I find hysterical. But I’m reluctant, for now, to recommend such films, though, to reduce things to tautology, humor is humor, and to each his own.

Click on the title to read the full review

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

"Kubrick's greatest, most perfect satire, and the finest black comedy ever produced - Dr. Strangelove - has become such a part of popular film culture that it's difficult to believe that anyone even half-way serious about film doesn't know the film inside and out...."

Mon Oncle (1958)

Directed by Jacques Tati

"Jacques Tati [was] a fierce original who made brilliantly funny films in the style of silents, but with a contemporary sensibility that showed a perceptive and healthy disdain for progress...."

The King of Comedy (1983)

Directed by Martin Scorsese

"DeNiro is the ultimate entertainment geek walking the thin line between fantasy and reality [telling] us more about our fascination with fame and celebrity than we might want to see...."

The Producers (1968)

Directed by Mel Brooks

"[A] genuinely funny satire that has a wicked, subversive streak underneath its farcical facade...."