Top Ten Movies that Get Better the More You Watch Them

1. Tommy Boy (seriously!)
2. The Big Lebowski (at first, I wasn't convinced this movie was any good at all, until I watched it several times)
3. Napoleon Dynamite
4. Bladerunner (I always see or understand something new I didn't before)
5. Miller's Crossing (another Coen Brothers film, but not a comedy; the storyline is so intricate, you have to watch it more than once just to understand what's going on)
6. Casablanca (timeless dialogue means it never gets old)
7. Grosse Pointe Blank (it works on so many levels)
8. Good Will Hunting (how you like them apples?)
9. Blues Brothers (also never gets old)
10. Raising Arizona (another Coen Brothers film - trend item!)

Honorable Mention: The Jerk, Blazing Saddles, Caddyshack, What About Bob?, Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Matrix (the first one only, which completely stands on its own), The Breakfast Club, and potentially Burn After Reading (another Coen Brothers comedy).

OK, so I'm biased in favor of older movies I've been able to watch many, many times before. With kids, it gets harder and harder to justify watching new movies multiple times. "Knocked Up" might be hilarious the more times you see it, but I've only seen it once.

I also acknowledge that my sense of humor tends to align more with older movies, before we really moved into this post-joke awkward humor world we now live in. The Rolling Stone recently did a review of modern-day humor in their "What's Funny Now" issue, which can be found here. These days, comedians use pregnant pauses and the absence of a laugh track (think of either the BBC or American versions of The Office) to generate laughs. While that follows the standard of humor throughout the ages (it's always some version of "I can't believe he/she just said/did that!" -- think about it! Whether it's slapstick physical humor, WC Fields delivering one-line asides, Abbott & Costello's "Who's on First?" routine, Bill Cosby's routines, Bob Newhart's deadpan phone call bits, or the blue humor of Richard Pryor, the basic premise is the same), it does take some getting used to. I did love the BBC version of The Office, even when the story became more about the office romance between Tim and Dawn and less about Ricky Gervais' David Brent character.

At any rate, that's my top ten listed above. I reserve the right to add, delete or modify this list at any time.