I love Superbad and Some Like It Hot but otherwise I’ve never been much for “hah-hah” comedies. I like “off” humor, dry comedies, sly comedies, tongue-in-cheek, no-laugh funny, etc. Or, failing all that, truly moronic humor. But let’s examine a “50 greatest comedies of the 21st Century” piece by Rolling Stone staffers, and consider which of these films are actually funny.

Genuinely, Humanly Funny (and Occasionally Even Wise) / 7

Alexander Payne‘s Sideways
Stephen Frears and Nick Hornby‘s High Fidelity
Spike Jonze‘s Adaptation
Greg Mottola and Judd Apatow‘s Superbad
Ben Stiller‘s Tropic Thunder
Joel and Ethan Coen‘s A Serious Man
Armando Iannucci‘s In The Loop

Mescaline Attitude, Brilliantly Funny In Spurts / 12

Paul Feig‘s Bridesmaids
Mike Judge‘s Idiocracy
David Mamet‘s State and Main
Larry Charles and Sacha Baron Cohen‘s Borat
Terry Zwigoff‘s Ghost World
Terry Zwigoff‘s Bad Santa
David O. Russell‘s I Heart Huckabees
Joel and Ethan Coen‘s Hail Caesar
Wes Anderson‘s The Royal Tenenbaums
Michael Winterbottom‘s The Trip
Amando Iannucci‘s The Death of Stalin
Christopher Guest‘s Best in Show

No-Laugh Funny (Conceptually Amusing But Not Actually “Funny”) / 5

Richard Linklater‘s School of Rock
Yorgos Lanthimos‘ The Lobster (but only during the first half)
Adam McKay‘s Anchorman
Adam McKay‘s Step Brothers
Edgar Wright‘s Shaun of the Dead

Mild Chuckles, Guffaws, Smirks / 9

Judd Apatow‘s 40 Year-Old Virgin
Greta Gerwig‘s Lady Bird (but a very good film)
Edgar Wright‘s Hot Fuzz
Judd Apatow‘s Knocked Up
Nicole Holofcener‘s Enough Said
Trey Parker‘s Team America: World Police
Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig‘s Frances Ha
Wes Anderson‘s Grand Budapest Hotel
Paul Thomas Anderson‘s Punch Drunk Love

Anemically Funny, If That / 4

David Wain‘s Wet Hot American Summer
Wes Anderson‘s Fantastic Mr. Fox
Edgar Wright‘s The World’s End
Richard Linklater‘s Everybody Wants Some!!

Not Funny / 7

Maren Ade‘s Toni Erdmann
Whit Stillman‘s Love and Friendship
Micheal Winterbottom‘s 24 Hour Party People
Danny Leiner‘s Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
Jeff Tremaine‘s Jackass The Movie
Mark Waters‘ Mean Girls
Martin McDonagh‘s In Bruges

Not A Comedy / 3

Mary Harron‘s American Psycho.
Stephen Chow‘s Kung Fu Hustle
Ruben Ostlund‘s Force Majeure

Agony To Sit Through / 2

Phil Lord & Christopher Miller‘s The LEGO Movie
Robert Luketic‘s Legally Bonde.

Never Saw It / 1

Taika Watiti and Jemaine Clement‘s What We Do In The Shadows