I decided to make a shelf on our Wall O’ Cool of some of my favorite musical comedies. These are movies that feature lots of laughs and tons of tunes to lift your spirits.

First up is The Blues Brothers , a classic starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as Jake and Elwood Blues. After Jake is released from prison, he and brother, Elwood pay a visit to the orphanage where they were raised by nuns. They learn that the place is gonna close unless they come up with $5000. The brothers decide to get their band together to play a concert and save the place. Hi-jinks ensue!

The movie that created all the best quotes of the 90’s for me, Wayne’s World. Full of musical references, babelicious Tia Carrere as Wayne’s rock goddess,  Rob Lowe as a douchy bad guy, and two basement dwellers with their own public access cable show. Excellent!

A major guilty pleasure for me, but I adore it anyway, Camp. The story of a bunch of kids at a musical theater summer camp. There is a strange love quadrangle, drunk teachers, treachery, poison, cross dressing and Broadway hits in between. If you like watching Glee, you’ll love this movie.

Airheads was a movie I had forgotten about until I caught some on TV one day. I had to rent it and watch the whole thing again. It stars Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi and Adam Sandler as three wannabe rock stars who decide to hold a radio station hostage with fake guns in order to get their demo tape some air play. Good jokes and fun for the head bangers of the early 90’s.

Another good one is Detroit Rock City. In 1978 a high school band who adores Kiss tries to scam their way into a concert while battling their way through numerous obstacles. Hilarious coming of age movie with a killer Kiss soundtrack.

Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist is a great “night in the life” flick that has Michael Cera doing his schtick as the sweet, but shy, guy alongside gorgeous Kat Dennings. The two meet clandestinely and spend the night trying to find out where their favorite indie band, “Where’s Fluffy”,  is playing their mystery show. There are sweet moments, funny moments and some really gross ones too. Great date movie.

One of Jeremy’s favorites, Empire Records, a film that takes place during a 24 hour period in an independent record store. The staff is crazy (Liv Tyler, Rory Cochrane, Anthony LaPaglia, and Renee Zellweger) and the clientele is not much better. Before the day is over they will have to find a way to keep Empire from being taken over by the chain store, Music Town.  Good music all the way through and an adorable Maxwell Caulfield (Grease 2) as Rex Manning, the fading pop star who is signing autographs for his aging fans that day.

Lastly we have The Commitments. This cool film is about a guy who wants to put together a soul band in Dublin, Ireland. The climb to the top is humorous and heartfelt. Real musicians throughout the film and awesome covers of songs like “Mustang Sally”, “Try a Little Tenderness”, and “In the Midnight Hour.”

Come on down, grab a laugh, sing a song, buy some movies!!!!

I mean, it really is super funny to lie.  Have you ever faked sick to skip school? Hilarious. Or told your husband that the coffee stain on his shirt is hardly noticeable? Too funny.

Oh wait, neither of those are funny scenarios. Well, what if I told you about a movie that made Rob Lowe, yes, Rob Lowe, funny (or at least okay)? You’d tell me, “That movie has already been made, Movie Guy, and it’s Wayne’s World”. Well think again, smarty pants. There’s a new kid in town making movies, and he hasn’t hit the comedy bottom, relying solely on animated family movies with ogres with to stay relevant (not yet, at least).  But this new dude did cast Rob Lowe in almost exactly the same roll he played in Wayne’s World. And this new dude isn’t exactly new either. And I’m kind of rambling because I spent all morning writing an essay because I was irresponsible and saw the Magnetic Fields last night and now my brain is too tired to write anything that isn’t gibberish. What a concert… Oh wait, MOVIEcycle. Sorry, I told you I’m in a rambling mood tonight.

Ricky Gervais. I love him. Jeremy loves him*. Geoff and Jessica have yet to express their opinion. The Invention of  Lying is the latest comedy for Ricky Gervais, who seems to be enjoying his recent successes on the big screen (his previous film, Ghost Town is another should-see if you liked his work on The Office, Extras, the Emmys, or Spongebob Squarepants).

The film takes place in an alternate reality where no one is able to tell a lie. They simply don’t know how to. But Ricky here figures it out. And he’s good, man. He starts lying like a 16 year old and ends up becoming a super famous for it. He does all sorts of silly stuff, from telling out-of-his-league women that they need to get with him, lying to a bank teller about how much money he is supposed to have in his account, inventing a God, and even writing the first fictional movie. It all totally works because no one else knows how to lie, therefore they can’t distinguish what he says as not being the truth! Dude gets rich!

In conclusion, see this movie. Ricky Gervais is hilarious and there are some wonderful bits from stand up comedians like Louis C.K. and Jennifer Garner. Yep, I learned how to lie thanks to this wonderful movie. That last sentence was a lie too! But honestly, check this movie out. It’s a laugh riot. No lie. Honest.

*I am not in a position of knowledge or right to express any true emotional feelings Jeremy may or may not have towards Ricky Gervais. My statement was merely speculation.