There are few things more personal than comedy. If you think something is funny, if you genuinely laugh at something, then it’s funny. Full stop. Nobody can tell you otherwise. That being said, I had a bit of difficulty coming up with this list of my favourite comedies.

What’s more important when ranking a comedy? Is it my general opinion of a given movie or is it how funny I think it is? For example, I think Sideways is a better movie than South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, but, at the same time, I laughed way harder, and more frequently, while watching the latter, which I guess makes it the better comedy. … Right? In the end, I tried to find a balance between my overall assessment/enjoyment and the frequency/quality of laughs I experienced.

The other criterion I used was that a movie had to be more comedy than not to get on this list. As such, something like Big Trouble in Little China, which has a lot of funny stuff but that is, in my mind, foremost an action movie, did not qualify (though you will find it in the top spot on my favourite action comedy list), whereas The Nice Guys, which, while it has a lot of action bits, I primarily see as a comedy, did make the cut (paradoxically, it, too, is on my action comedy list, so go figure …).

50. MacGruber (Jorme Taccone, 2010)

49. Elf (Jon Favreau, 2003)

48. Get Shorty (Barry Sonnenfeld, 1995)

47. Swingers (Doug Liman, 1996)

46. The Big Sick (Michael Showalter, 2017)

45. The Nice Guys (Shane Black, 2016)

44. Long Shot (Jonathan Levine, 2019)

43. The Disaster Artist (James Franco, 2017)

42. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (Jake Kasdan, 2007)

41. Waiting for Guffman (Christopher Guest, 1996)

40. School of Rock (Richard Linklater, 2003)

39. Ping Pong Summer (Michael Tully, 2014)

38. Dick (Andrew Flemming, 1999)

37. Fubar 2 (Michael Dowse, 2002

36. L.A. Story (Mick Jackson, 1991)

35. Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion (David Mirkin, 1997)

34. Sideways (Alexander Payne, 2004)

33. Raising Arizona (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, 1987)

32. Role Models (David Wain, 2008)

31. Top Secret! (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, 1984)

30. Mother (Albert Brooks, 1996)

29. Bridesmaids (Paul Feig, 2011)

28. Stripes (Ivan Reitman, 1981)

27. Used Cars (Robert Zemeckis,

26. Flirting with Disaster (David O. Russell, 1996)

25. 40-Year-Old Virgin (Judd Apatow, 2005)

24. Living in Oblivion (Tom DeCillo, 1995)

23. Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff, 2001)

22. Spy (Paul Feig, 2015)

21. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Trey Parker, 1999)

20. Superbad (Greg Mottola, 2007)

19. Modern Romance (Albert Brooks, 1981)

18. Safety Not Guaranteed (Colin Treverrow, 2012)

17. Tootsie (Sydney Pollack, 1982)

16. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, 1975)

15. Midnight Run (Martin Brest, 1988)

14. Burn After Reading (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, 2008)

13. Slap Shot (George, Roy Hill, 1977)

12. Rushmore (Wes Anderson, 1998)

11. Better Off Dead (Savage Steve Holland (1985)

10. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (Adam McKay, 2004)

9. Airplane! (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, 1980)

8. Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (Tim Burton, 1985)

7. Napoleon Dynamite (Jared Hess, 2004)

6. Strange Brew (Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, 1983)

5. This is the End (Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, 2013)

4. This is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, 1984)

3. Stepbrothers (Adam McKay, 2008)

2. Wet Hot American Summer (David Wain, 2001)

1. Bottle Rocket (Wes Anderson, 1996)