Why don't comedy films get any respect from the Academy or from audiences on IMDb?

F

filmmakerguy

Member
I never understand why they never get a nomination or any respect. People laugh their asses off and the the movies rake in over $100 million showing people like them but when it comes time to vote or rank them, they get trashed. Don't understand it.


15 of my favorite comedies, only Groundhog Day is on the IMDb Top 250...

Meet The Parents
IMDb: 7

Superbad
IMDb: 7.7

Grandma's Boy
IMDb: 6.9

Tropic Thunder
IMDb: 7.1

Wedding Crashers
IMDb: 7.1

Groundhog Day
IMDb: 8.2

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
IMDb: 6.7

Coming to America
IMDb: 6.8

The Wedding Singer
IMDb: 6.8

Austin Powers
IMDb: 7.1

Happy Gilmore
IMDb: 6.9

Money Talks
IMDb: 5.8

Saving Silverman
IMDb: 5.7

Rush Hour
IMDb: 6.8

Tommy Boy
IMDb: 6.8
 
Because most comedies suck. Tropic Thunder had at least one Academy Award nom, but I don't think most people here would agree that Tommy Boy, Rush Hour, or Saving Silverman deserve one.
 
vcassel said:
Because most comedies suck. Tropic Thunder had at least one Academy Award nom, but I don't think most people here would agree that Tommy Boy, Rush Hour, or Saving Silverman deserve one.
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No I agree, they maybe don't deserve an Oscar, but come on, look at their ratings! Those are all entertaining movies. Tropic Thunder rates a 7.1????
 
It Happened One Night (1934) won Best Picture. On the subject of underdog cinema, the second film to win Best Picture was a musical. The Broadway Melody (1929).

It has happened. Perhaps it was the time period they were released, and film was still an infant compared to film today, but they did win during a crucial time.
 
vcassel said:
Because most comedies suck. Tropic Thunder had at least one Academy Award nom, but I don't think most people here would agree that Tommy Boy, Rush Hour, or Saving Silverman deserve one.
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add Happy Gilmore and every other Adam Sandler flick....my brain hurts !
 
People laugh their asses off and the the movies rake in over $100 million showing people like them
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Using this standard is why the question is kind of meaningless.

The Academy does not exist to confirm audience tastes or award statues for box-office take. Sure, big-budget general-release films that do great business are frequent Academy Award contenders and winners but there is no category or peer group for "hey the audience really liked it so let's give it an award." That's what the People's Choice/Teen Choice/etc awards are for - to give audience members a way to reward whoever they want to reward (well, actually they exist to sell ad time but accomplish that by making the audience feel like they're having some sort of involvement beyond purchasing tickets and sitting through advertising). The Academy is a peer organization wherein the members (ideally) vote for Best Picture and again in their specific professional peer groups for the films they find demonstrated the greatest degree of accomplishment in their profession. Audience popularity does not count.

Are there influences upon the voting membership outside of their own individual ideas concerning which nominees are best in whatever category? Yes. But general-audience response is not one of them.
 
Sad Max said:
Using this standard is why the question is kind of meaningless.

That's what the People's Choice/Teen Choice/etc awards are for - to give audience members a way to reward whoever they want to reward
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Ahh, there sir, you are incorrect. Those award shows are to give Twilight, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson awards.
 
i think it is a variety of factors.

comedy can be highly subjective. i may think something is hilarious, but others may think it's dumb or stupid.

the more sophisticated jokes are, the fewer people will get it. everyone understands if someone farts at an inappropriate time. but more complex jokes that require a person to pull from multiple spheres of knowledge will go over a person's head if they don't know what you're referencing.

some people are naturally funnier and have a better sense of humor than others. the less developed your sense of humor is, the less likely you are to enjoy comedy. that limits the audience pool.

great directors usually take on more serious films. with less talented directors, the movies are less likely to be great.

as far as why some comedies are rated low on imdb, i'm convinced it's because there are a high number of idiots or teens voting. i see no other explanation as to why these two comedies have the same score. :cheesy:
juno - 7.8
airplane! - 7.8
 
I feel like the Academy Awards are rating movies based on art, not necessarily entertainment. Comedy can be art, yes... but it usually isn't.
 
ugafan said:
i think it is a variety of factors.

comedy can be highly subjective. i may think something is hilarious, but others may think it's dumb or stupid.

the more sophisticated jokes are, the fewer people will get it. everyone understands if someone farts at an inappropriate time. but more complex jokes that require a person to pull from multiple spheres of knowledge will go over a person's head if they don't know what you're referencing.

some people are naturally funnier and have a better sense of humor than others. the less developed your sense of humor is, the less likely you are to enjoy comedy. that limits the audience pool.

great directors usually take on more serious films. with less talented directors, the movies are less likely to be great.

as far as why some comedies are rated low on imdb, i'm convinced it's because there are a high number of idiots or teens voting. i see no other explanation as to why these two comedies have the same score. :cheesy:
juno - 7.8
airplane! - 7.8
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Exactly- well put!
 
i have always wondered why this is. My top 5 movies are all comedies and noone really takes it serious. then they all say what about "insert generic film fan movie here" your a film person right???
 
Well, honestly, a lot of comedies are poorly made in cinematic terms. Most great directors don't do comedies, and when they do, they're not always of a stellar breed. And only in the last decade or so did you start to see really strong actors take on strictly comedic roles (sometimes unfortunately).

The one real exception in all this would be Woody Allen.

Just because something is entertaining doesn't mean it deserves to be included with the greatest films of all time. I know we all kind of shrug at the academy (and over the years they've probably deserved some of it), but in the end when you're talking about the academy awards you're talking about what are *supposed* to be the greatest *films* of the year. I would not put Rush Hour in the same category as Silence of the Lambs. Doesn't matter that it was entertaining, what matters is what it achieves on every level of filmmaking.

I think where comedies are ripe to shine on the academy stage is in the animation category. But beyond that, I think Meet the Parents would have a tough go of it against the likes of The Kings Speech. Just sayin...

That's what the MTV movie awards are for! :D
 
Its simple, these are not serious movies, you can shoot comedy on your cellphone and people will see it, its not serious art of filmmaking, you *watch , laugh you forget.
 
What total nonsense. We're shooting an Adam Sandler comedy around Boston right now and it is as serious a production project, on which people take their work as seriously as any I have been on. The studio is every bit as serious about getting a comedy produced and distributed so as to make their $$$ off it, as they are about the heaviest dramatic production you care to name.
 
Behind the scenes work is serious work and we all know that, no disrespect here, script matters the most, if its not serious script then what people expect, just a buncj of jokes but shot on expensive cams with crew of 500 people !
*What i mean is comedies can be shot on very bad cameras and people wont care ! Its the truth, ive seen many youtube shorts, they were great and i did not care about cameras, comedies dont have to be cinematic, they dont pretend to be some serious stories.
I cant think of any comedy that changed industry or genre
*In some movies you appreciate work of people who made the movie but in comedies... i dont know, i never think about them like that, its a bunch of gags one after another.
 
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