It’s been over a month since I started the funnies thread of the geeky list thing, and it’s time I move forward with some of the classic movie funny men. For me, I looked back at those characters which have stayed with me all these years and made a lasting impression in my mind.

Some of them may not give the hardest laughs, some of them might not come from the best actors in the world, but they’ve all stuck with me for more than a few seconds of giggling. So to start of, I have to go back to 1955…

Dr Emmet ‘Doc’ Brown
Christopher Lloyd, Back to the Future Trilogy
He’s an mad professor with a really cool car. Which is why we just ignore any undertones to him luring a young boy to his shed with a really big amp. Doc Brown is a failure, a guy throwing ideas at the wall and none of them stick. Until he falls over and hits his head on the toilet in 1955 and imagined the Flux Capacitor. Three decades later his masterpiece is complete and he now holds the power of time travel which leads to three movies based around his lovely pimped out Delorean.

Doc Brown wouldn’t have worked if anyone else was playing the part. Sometimes it’s odd to think of Lloyd as a shy man when performances like there are wonderfully over the top. He could make one single facial expression funny, and he did many times in the movies. Despite Michael J Fox getting a lot of comedy moments, for some reason Christopher Lloyd always steals the show for me.

Ron Burgundy
Will Ferrel, Anchorman
There’s something about Will Ferrel I find brilliant and the cast of Anchorman was absolutely wonderful for a modern day comedy. Unfortunately, the film is written in such a way that it seems like they didn’t think of a decent way to end the movie and after all the gags the climax just falls flat.

Anchorman is like a bad wank. You start off well, it’s really good, but when that moment comes it’s so good that you want to keep going, so you slow down, push on… and when it’s finished you realised you went on ten minutes too long and feel ashamed.

But! The comedy moments were worth it. In the movie, I don’t tell jokes while I masturbate, not after that incident in the park. Brick’s one liners are worth the movie alone, but the arrogance and stupidity brought to life by Will Ferrel’s usual tone makes you love the over the top character.

Otto West
Kevin Kline, A Fish Called Wanda
A British crime caper which follows a conning couple try to steal some stolen goods. I know a lot of people who hate this movie, but I don’t care a some of the lines and moments are wonderful. A lot of them are made wonderful by Kline’s portrayal of Otto West. Otto is energetic, funny, insane and thinks he’s far more clever than he is.

He’s an idiot, but he’s a competent one who gets the job done despite only worrying about the major problems too late in the game. Hes also a wonderful sadist who doesn’t think twice about his actions and just seems to run on instinct. The performance is so… weird as well as wonderful that Otto is the sole reason I watch this movie.

And so should you.

Dr Evil
Mike Myers, Austin Powers Trilogy
A lot of people will hate me for this, but I care not. Austin Powers is a guilty pleasure that reminds me of all the old Carry On movies tied in with a Bond parody that I just can’t help but like. But while a lot of people would likely pick the secret agent as the funniest character in these movies, my vote goes to Dr Evil.

A graduate of Evil Medical School and hailing from the mean streets of Bruges, Dr. Evil traveled from the 60′s to the nineties as part of an evil plan to overtake the world. And then hilarity ensues. He’s the guy that doesn’t quite get things right, has to struggle with his rebellious son and is just not connected to the world at all. He’s the worst villian ever created. And it’s fun.

Dr. Peter Venkman
Bill Murray, Ghostbusters
Insert mandatory ‘Who ya gonna call?’ here. Peter Venkman is the boy who never grew up and once he and his friends were fired from their university, cutting them off from financial aid in their paranormal research (or chatting up young students in Venkmans case) he encourages the team to go into business for themselves as Ghost hunters.

Murray wasn’t the initial choice for the movie, but in all honesty I don’t think it would have worked well without him. Venkman is a bit of an oddball sleaze and had the potential to fall into the goofy or cringe worthy categories, but Murray seemed to bring a charm that made Venkman a character to connect with in the land of geeks. even though Winston was the teams every man, Murray was far easier to relate to and took the lead in a way that made the movies classics.

His quirky personality covers the hints of arrogance and greed. In the first movie he’s got a few great moments, but in the second his character grows more than the others when the sleaze is put to rest somewhat with his re-taking of Ellen Ripleys heart.

Unfortunately Bill Murray seems to be taking himself too seriously to reprise the role and quite frankly, he’s too old to do the same gimmick in the never-to-happen-but-rumored-lots Ghostbusters 3. But this was Murray in his prime and without him… I doubt this would have ever got to the level of success and cult love it has.

There are hundreds of great comedy characters in movies, not all from the comedy genre either. But out of all the movies I’ve seen – which sadly, is a ridiculous high number – it’s the above characters which have the full package. Whether that be something to relate to or something that’ll make you laugh out loud. These actors and characters are irreplaceable.

But then, everyone’s got a different opinion and a different taste. So, who’s in your list?

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Tags: amusement, fandom, fives, geek, movies, sci fi