Try movies from the 1930s and 1940s. The screwball comedies are witty and fluffy. Try things like "His Gal Friday", "It Happened One Night", "You Can't Take It With You", "Harvey"...I could compile a huge list and will do it happily if you find this stuff works for you. Also check out the Thin Man series, murder mysteries with class and witty repartee.

Have you had a chance to see Primer yet? Other suggestions: Ong-Bak (the Thai Warrior) for the most amazing fight/pursuit choreography ever; The Long Kiss Goodnight; Jackie Chan's Police Story (I-III) and Project A (parts I and II); The Transporter.

Hmmm, what's made me laugh in the past few years? Would something like "Goodbye, Lenin" count? Have you seen it? Two adult children in the year or so after the Berlin wall fell try to protect their devotedly communist and recently-awakened-from-a-coma mother from the shock of finding out that East Germany has ceased to exist. They tape fake news, rush around trying to find no-longer-existent products, get the neighbors involved, etc. It's got some serious concerns (or at least, the love among the family members, and their concern for and in some cases anger at one another is real), but it's mostly wacky and sweet — not words I often apply to stuff in German, come to think of it....

"Hot Fuzz" and "Sean of the Dead" are both good for this; I watched "Hot Fuzz" last night again, actually. They are both on the gory side, though, (especially "Sean"), which sometimes is a little much for me.

"Star Trek IV." Back when Shatner was James T. Kirk. Check out the views of Market Street in 1986! Also, Spock learns how to use profanity.

Complete seasons of your favorite TV shows. No specific recomendations here, though. I recently picked up "Dexter" but I didn't like it all that much.

There's also classic or recent classic action movies. Things like "Air Force One," "Commando," "The Terminator," (or any of the other early-Arnold films, especially considered as 80s time capsules), "The Fugitive," or "Sneakers."

Glancing at my small shelf of DVDs, I see some old comedies that I watched and re-watched when I was younger, and which therefore might be good comfort movies...there's the Pink Panther series (only 4 of them are funny, but those are hilarious; I would start with "A Shot in the Dark"). Another childhood favorite of mine is the Court Jester, a musical parody of Robin Hood with Danny Kaye. Singing, sword-fighting, hypnosis, and some Gilbert-and-Sullivanesque dialogue.

Have you seen Tampopo? It's sort of like a samurai movie but with ramen instead of fighting.

action movies:
* die hard 4 was fun(ny). my friend eric and i enjoyed the fake computer stuff. you may find it amusing for your intro to security class :)
* white men can't jump
* any batman movie
* the bourne identity/supremacy/ultimatum (haven't seen the last one yet)
* james bond movies
* thomas crown affair (you can watch the original too)
* ocean's 11/12/13 (haven't see the last one) (you can watch the original too)

comedies:
* beverly hills cop i/ii

other:
any pixar movie you haven't see would be good.

I loved Transformers. Never watched the cartoon, so I didn't have any notions about what the movie should be, and it was good silly fun.

My comfort movie is Raising Arizona. It's full of wackiness and funny, but what brings me back is that almost every character is a good, loving person. I'm due to watch it again very soon.

Another comfort movie is The Truth About Cats & Dogs, but it's pretty girly. If you ever find yourself becoming defined by your physical appearance, rent it immediately.

I second the Bourne series, and I still need to see Bourne Ultimatum, so ping me when you see it and I'll rent it too. Same goes for The Party starring Peter Sellers. I never got around to watching it and I want to.

Oh! Happy Feet! *tapdance*

Hmm, my taste usually is more on the "serious" side, but I enjoyed a movie called "A touch of pink" which was pretty fluffy, and I find that the Chinese arty action movies that make it here are usually fluffy fun (say "Hero", from 2004).

Oh, and "Ratatouille" was better than it had any right to be, and Casino Royale was not too bad.

All my thoughts are probably movies you've seen a dozen times already. Sean of the Dead is an insta-classic, as is Six-String Samurai. Garden State is a deceptively slick bit of fluff. Dave is my typical I'm-sick-of-politics flick that may already be warranted with the uber-early political season this year. Labyrinth is another classic I go back to occasionally.

We had lots of fun watching it :)

I agree with JillFlirt---His Gal Friday is amazing. If you want old and sweet, I'd go with "Shop Around the Corner"; the original, not the crap remake with Tom Hanks ("You've Got Mail").

"Follow the Fleet" can be fun for tapdancing action. Jackie Chan movies are basically Fred Astaire movies except with kung fu instead of tapdancing, but they have the same effortless joy.

Shaun of the Dead is pretty dark; you gotta go with "Hot Fuzz" by the same director.

"Bourne Ultimatum" was good, but at some point it loses track of what's going on and starts sort of circling around in jumpcuts while the audience scratches its head. First two movies are a lot better.

I've been watching "30 Rock" every night, and I love it. It's sort of middle-management humor; Liz (Tina Fey) is constantly being dumped on by everyone, but it's really funny. The first three episodes are fine, but then they hit their stride and it gets much better.

ROBOT CHICKEN. Totally daft, and you might lose some of the cultural references if you haven't watched a lot of Skeletor and He-Man, but...still, funny if juvenile. Netflix fodder.

the upcoming movie the golden compass had a good trailer, if you're in the mood for cg fantasy/action. i quite liked the novel and it's perfect for that sort of treatment.

one of my comfort movies is "ever after: a cinderella story". it's very good, especially angelica huston as the wicked step-mother

also- be careful of the bourne ultimatum. i saw it on the big screen (maybe small is better) and it made me motion sick. the first two on dvd were fun, though.

also- if you like to watch dancing (ballet and jazz), "center stage" is a lot of fun.

I third "hot fuzz", it's hilarious.

also- I just started watching the tv show "heroes". it's very good.

other not-serious stuff: adam sandler.

especially: the wedding singer, and 50 first dates. both with drew barrymore; both funny.

This is off the top of my head, if you'd like i can put together a more detailed list.

In no particular order:

"Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" - completely stupid in every possible way, but awesome. The sequel is coming soon and has the best movie poster i've seen in a long time (it will make more sense if you've seen the first one)

"Stranger Than Fiction" - the best thing Will Ferrell has done since "Elf" (also very good), with the best baking pun ever.

"Lucky Number Slevin" - made by the same guy who did the much darker "Gangster No. 1", which is good but not suitable for this list, this movie has the distinction of being the first film that made Lucy Liu in any way appealing as a human being. Semi-intelligent but pointless action movie, with a few surprising scenes.

"Lars and the Real Girl" - in theaters now, it's a surprisingly effective film about a lonely man who orders a real doll and suffers from the delusion that she's a real human being. The setup sounds dubious, but Ryan Gosling really sells it. The writer worked on "Six Feet Under" which might be a selling point to some.

"Across the Universe" - also in theaters but on it's way home, a completely insane musical entirely comprised of Beetles songs. Very pretty but completely pointless.

"Kind Hearts and Coronets" - a classic, Alec Guinness' first big film, he plays almost every part except for the protagonist - a disgruntled distant family member who plots to kill everyone (played by Guinness) in order to inherit the family title. Totally awesome, and it leads into the very fruitful genre of Alec Guinness comedies (my favorites are this one, "The Lavender Hill Mob", "The Ladykillers" and "The Man in the White Suit", but i have yet to see a bad one.)

"Sullivan's Travels" - a 'wacky' comedy about a filmmaker who goes on the road to research a buddy/prison film called "O' Brother, Where Art Thou?" that he wants to make instead of a screwball comedy. Leads nicely into the work of Preston Sturges, much of which is now out on DVD. "The Lady Eve" is another excellent example where Barbara Stanwyck attempts to seduce Henry Fonda without violating the Hayes code. "The Sin of Harold Diddlebock" aka "Mad Wednesday" was his last film, and the only talky made by Harold Lloyd and has the most ridiculous marriage proposal i've ever seen.

"M. Hulot's Holiday", "Mon Uncle" and "Playtime" - a trilogy of comedic set pieces by Jacques Tati that range from broad slapstick to extremely subtle sight gags, often at the same time.

"Inside Man" - back to the modern, a heist movie that pits Clive Owen against Denzel Washington without glossing over the fact that they're both so very likable.

"Thomas In Love" - a Belgian comedy about an agoraphobic man who only interacts with people over the internets, set in a fairly plausible near future where video links still kindof suck. The film was shot with the actors in separate rooms talking directly into cameras, with the director able to see both ends and give instructions.

"The Big Sleep" - my favorite Humphrey Bogart movie, and the best literal adaptation of a Raymond Chandler novel. A throwback to the days when a screenplay could be adapted by William Faulkner.

"The Long Goodbye" - another Chandler adaptation, this time of my favorite novel; it kindof fails as a literal adaptation but thematically it's spot on. This of course leads to a whole bunch of not-so-serious Robert Altman films - "MASH", "A Prairie Home Companion", and the completely awesome country-house murder mystery "Gosford Park."

"Seconds" - a John Frankenheimer film during the dead period after he made "The Manchurian Candidate" but before it got a proper release. He was working with a very small budget but made a totally awesome sci-fi thriller about a man who fakes his own death in order to undergo plastic surgery and try to live a second life with less regrets and looking like Rock Hudson.

Lastly, "Two Hands" - an early Heath Ledger movie about criminals in Australia who are much like crime figures anywhere else but wearing shorts and sandles and flowery shirts. Very odd, but enjoyable.

"Bon cop, bad cop" - 100% fluff and thoroughly entertaining.

Also, "Nightwatch" and "Daywatch" - not exactly great cinema, but I enjoyed them.

action: anything Luc Besson, really... Wasabi is very short, but really great, and has the bonus of being "hurt your stomach" funny.


Wedding Crashers... usually I despise the genre, but I was stuck at home in bad weather and nothing left to read so I popped it in the dvd pleayer... surprisingly very funny... of course it's shallow, but in a pleasantly "not insipid all the time" way.

Le diner des cons (the dinner game) it's a howler. the director's got a new one out: "le Valet" I haven't seen it yet, but I've seen trailers and I'm looking for it.

A lot of the comedies recently are indeed pretty lame. When I want to watch something funny, I'm usually breaking out one of:

The Blues Brothers
Haiku Tunnel (like office space, but funny)
State and Main
Hackers (for the sheer goofyness)
Hudson Hawk
The Big Lebowski


all of the above make me laugh out loud every time I see them. If you haven't seen 'em, you should (especially Haiku Tunnel which not many people have seen).

Has there been a good action flic in recent years that didn't make me cringe with the dumb? The only one that comes to mind is the most recent bond flic, but I assume you've seen that. If you haven't seen District 13 (Banlieue 13 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414852/) the parkour action in that sucker was bags of awesome.