whats a dark comedy?
04-10-03, 01:00 PM
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Have you ever laughed at something and thought to yourself, "Should I realy be laughing at this?" If so, you were probably watching a dark comedy. It's basically dark subject matter presented in a humorous way. The example I always use is Fargo. Should a man being murdered with a wood chipper be funny? 'Cuz it sure is!
04-10-03, 01:02 PM
#3
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Dark comedy is just another way to say "Black Comedy" (black as in dark, not African-American).
Here is a definition from allmovie.com for black comedy. My personal favorites include Catch-22, Heathers, and Dr. Strangelove. The link below also gives many other examples of black comedies.
http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=M2D|||528
Here is a definition from allmovie.com for black comedy. My personal favorites include Catch-22, Heathers, and Dr. Strangelove. The link below also gives many other examples of black comedies.
http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=M2D|||528
A comedy with a wicked sense of humor -- often dark, cynical and edgy -- that makes fun of such supposedly serious subjects as death, illness, murder, or war. Nothing is sacred from attack in black comedy, and all taboos are welcome. Black comedy first found popularity in the 1940s and 1950s, in a world that was struggling to understand the global evil of Nazism and its second World War in less than three decades. In America, Arsenic and Old Lace was among the first examples, while the British perfected the form with films like The Ladykillers and Kind Hearts and Coronets. Since the '40s, the British have taken the form to new, darker levels, with films like The Wrong Box, If..., The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, A Zed and Two Noughts, Brazil and the work of Monty Python. In America, black comedies have increased in number with the rise of independent filmmaking (though M*A*S*H, Harold and Maude, and the films of Tim Burton are fine studio examples). Directors like John Waters, the Coen Brothers, Paul Bartel, and early Brian De Palma blended black comedy with social issues and/or absurdism. Abroad, directors like Luis Buñuel, Roman Polanski, Juzo Itami, Pedro Almodovar and Paul Verhoeven are just a handful of filmmakers who have kept the style alive and vital.
04-10-03, 03:38 PM
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When you watch comedy with your light off?
Well, I think caiman and Heat has pretty much explain it all. And yeah, Pulp Fiction is great.
"Say something if you're OK"
"Something"
Well, I think caiman and Heat has pretty much explain it all. And yeah, Pulp Fiction is great.
"Say something if you're OK"
"Something"
04-10-03, 03:56 PM
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Harold & Maude - suicide funnies
Where's Poppa?
The Loved One - satire on funerals and cemetaries
Weekend at Bernie's - lugging around the dead guy
The Producers - a musical about Hitler
Cul de Sac & even The Tenant - Polanski in drag "I think I am pregnant"
Parents - cannibals in the white bread 50's
Black comedies had their heyday in the early 70's but they occasionally come up with a good one these days.
Where's Poppa?
The Loved One - satire on funerals and cemetaries
Weekend at Bernie's - lugging around the dead guy
The Producers - a musical about Hitler
Cul de Sac & even The Tenant - Polanski in drag "I think I am pregnant"
Parents - cannibals in the white bread 50's
Black comedies had their heyday in the early 70's but they occasionally come up with a good one these days.
Last edited by devilpants; 04-10-03 at 05:46 PM.
04-10-03, 08:56 PM
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Originally posted by marty888
A perfect film to demonstrate what a "black comedy" is:
DR STRANGELOVE, or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
A perfect film to demonstrate what a "black comedy" is:
DR STRANGELOVE, or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
04-10-03, 11:00 PM
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- After Hours
- Cable Guy
I dont know...I think Fawlty Towers is darker comedy as well. maybe Return of the Living Dead? Citizen Toxie and other Troma.
04-10-03, 11:19 PM
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Originally posted by caiman
Have you ever laughed at something and thought to yourself, "Should I realy be laughing at this?" If so, you were probably watching a dark comedy. It's basically dark subject matter presented in a humorous way. The example I always use is Fargo. Should a man being murdered with a wood chipper be funny? 'Cuz it sure is!
Have you ever laughed at something and thought to yourself, "Should I realy be laughing at this?" If so, you were probably watching a dark comedy. It's basically dark subject matter presented in a humorous way. The example I always use is Fargo. Should a man being murdered with a wood chipper be funny? 'Cuz it sure is!
And few things bother me more than people who say the Friday is their favorite black comedy.
04-11-03, 06:06 AM
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Yea somebody basically told me what caiman said. Stuff you shouldn't be laughing at, yet you are laughing. Fargo is an excellent example.
04-12-03, 10:28 AM
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Grosse Point Blank
Weekend at Bernie's
Weekend at Bernie's
04-13-03, 05:21 PM
#25
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Repo Man & Re-animator are terrific dark comedies.
The recent Final Destination 2 is a hilarious dark comedy making fun of death. You would have to be a complete moron to find this film serious or scary at all!
American Psycho,no not the G rated film..but original doesn't hold back NC-17 novel is a really brutally funny satire as well as deeply disturbing. Great stuff.
Heathers....teen sucide/murder & peer pressure is funny though in this PC age it should'nt be. Yet i laugh anyway. A true teen comedy classic.
A Clockwork Orange is definately a dark comedy.
Fight Club is awsome as well,though some may not get the humor or get scared because of it
Dr Strangelove...if you don't find it funny,well i don't know what to say. I guess the humor is more subtle,you have to pay close attention to the absurdity going on. It's awsome & pretty dam funny. From the military base opening fire on it's own troops trying to get back on base(which is locked down)..to many other jabs at the absurdity of it all.
There are plenty more out there. Though many people in the mainstream seem to be scared by them. Heck i remember i was the only laughing durring Species 2 which was hilariously bad & exploitive just to be exploitive. Everyone else was offended & disgusted by the film..go figure.
The recent Final Destination 2 is a hilarious dark comedy making fun of death. You would have to be a complete moron to find this film serious or scary at all!
American Psycho,no not the G rated film..but original doesn't hold back NC-17 novel is a really brutally funny satire as well as deeply disturbing. Great stuff.
Heathers....teen sucide/murder & peer pressure is funny though in this PC age it should'nt be. Yet i laugh anyway. A true teen comedy classic.
A Clockwork Orange is definately a dark comedy.
Fight Club is awsome as well,though some may not get the humor or get scared because of it
Dr Strangelove...if you don't find it funny,well i don't know what to say. I guess the humor is more subtle,you have to pay close attention to the absurdity going on. It's awsome & pretty dam funny. From the military base opening fire on it's own troops trying to get back on base(which is locked down)..to many other jabs at the absurdity of it all.
There are plenty more out there. Though many people in the mainstream seem to be scared by them. Heck i remember i was the only laughing durring Species 2 which was hilariously bad & exploitive just to be exploitive. Everyone else was offended & disgusted by the film..go figure.
