Sunday, February 22, 2009

Top grossing comedy movies

Some of the top grossing comedy movies that have came through in the last thirty years has some familiar names but also has some surprises that you may not have thought of. I only could find a list that includes from 1974 to 2004. It could be very different including the recent five years, but it is still nice to see what movies have been the most successful. The list incorporates the fact that ticket prices have changed in time and it takes the 2004 average price of $6.21.
Number one on the list is Eddie Murphy's Beverly Hills cop. The Detroit cop Eddie Murphy tracks down his friends killer that leads him to L.A. where he solves the mystery. The number one movie grossed nearly 434 million dollars. Coming in at number two is Home Alone. Macauly Caulkin stars as a young boy alone protecting his house against two bonehead thieves. The number two movie groused a little more than 413 million dollars. Rounding off the top three is the 80's comedy Tootsie. Dustin Hoffman plays a struggling actor who poses as a woman to earn a role in a soap opera. The number three movie grossed a cool 410 million dollars. Other notables on the list was Austin Powers 2 coming in at number eight and Big Daddy earning 243 million and ranking number 18.
Compared to the top ten grossing horror movies the comedy movies struggle to compete with the top 2. Jaws recorded nearly 800 million, in second the exorcist brought in 686 million, but after the top two it eases back down to only 357 million. So in comparsion the top two horror movies blowout the top two comedy but overall the comedies have a wider more successful range and comedies reign supreme!

Jake Olsen

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Animated Comedies

The new age animated comedy movies that are hitting the big screen have made a big splash for our youth and, really, can be enjoyed by people of all ages. I'm going to go through some of the more successful animated comedies that have appeared in the last decade.
In the 90's some of the most successful animated movies were made and the bests included Lion King, Toy Story, and A Bug's Life. The 2000's have came out with more of a realistic style and maybe a little more comedy than the movies of old.
A movie that has become one of the most popular is Shrek. Shrek leads you through the tale of an ogre and a donkey in the ogre's quest to regain his land for Lord Farquaad. During his journey he falls in love with Princess Fiona who also turns out to be an ogre. Shrek's actors or really the voices behinds the characters includes Mike Meyer as Shrek, Eddie Murphy as the donkey, and Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona.
Another of the top animated movies of the decade is Monster's Inc.. Monster's Inc. shows the life in the all-monster city of Monstropolis. Inside the scare factory works two monsters, one gigantic blue and a one eyed green monster, Sully and Mike. While Sully is trying to scare as many kids as possible a young girl named Boo escapes into the factory, and the monsters go crazy. Sully must go on a wild adventure as he takes her in as his own and has to protect her from the monster world.
In 2003 one of the best animated comedies came out in the movie Finding Nemo. Finding Nemo tells you the journey of a young fish named Nemo. On Nemo's first day of school he does not listen to his father Marlin and swims off to check on a boat. He is then captured by a diver and taken into a tank in a dentists office. Marlin and his friend Dory set out to fine him and Nemo tries to plan his escape from his office and reunite with his father.
These three animated movies have made nearly as much money as some of the normal comedy movies to come out in the last decade. They great family movies and people of all ages seem to enjoy the childish comedy.

Jake Olsen

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Actors from past and present

Hey everybody I'm going this week with some of the actors that have been a part of the comedy world. From past to present I'm gonna talk about some of the most important comedic actors and some of my favorites.
I'm starting in the past with the Marx Brothers. The five brothers, Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo, Zeppo, from oldest to youngest, respectively, headlined the beginning of comedy movement. The Marx Brothers crazy style was made up of an imporvised and insulting any thing the Marx Brothers thought of. There bigger movies included The Cocoanuts, Monkey Business, and Go West.
One of the next comedic actors to make a splash was Bing Cosby. Cosby was a very relaxed actor compared to the energized Marx Brothers. Cosby mainly played a "happy go-lucky fella" in his movies. He won an Oscar for the movie Going my Way and also starred in the movies The Country Girl and The bells of St. Marys.
The 1950's was highlighted by the female actress Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn performed in many types of movies and was a very successful actress. She earned many awards in the numerous movies she starred in, and one of those included the adult comedy movie Some Like It Hot, where she won a Golden Globe for best actress in a comedy.
If we fast forward to the 80's it include a jam packed decade of great comedic actors such as Steve Martin, Chevy chase and my favorite from this decade Bill Murray. He starred in many movies in the 80's including Meatballs, Stripes, and my favorite of his movies Caddyshack, where he played a golf course greenskeeper trying to kill a gopher.
The 2000's is the decade where i would know most about comedy and i would have to say that thee top actor has to be Will Ferrell. He has made some of the most successful comedy movies in the past 10 years. There could be a long list i could make of his movies but i will narrow it down to my favorite three which would be Old School, Step Brothers, and Talledaga Nights. He has won several awards and has set the bar for many comedy actos to come in this new comedy World.

Jake Olsen