Special: Top 10 British Comedies

I sit here watching Alan Partridge, newest comedy from British funny-man Steve Coogan on a lazy Wednesday morning, I have the day off and with another busy weekend ahead I thought I'd get a head start on my blogging and what better list to do than the Top 10 British Comedies

10. The Return Of The Pink Panther: Despite starring legendary comic actor Peter Sellers, the original Pink Panther and its sequel, A Shot in the Dark, were both American productions; however, the revival of the franchise, The Return of the Pink Panther, was an out-and-out British picture. Though it was the fourth movie in the series, and the third to star Sellers, Return proved to be a huge hit with audiences and quickly became the series’ highpoint.

9. Wallace & Gromit The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit: It’s hard to imagine that it took Nick Park's stop-motion characters Wallace and Gromit 16 years to make the jump from shorts to feature-length, but in the end it was all worth it. In 2005’s The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, the iconic clay duo’s signature dry eccentricities geared up for a 90-minute adventure, and the result isn’t just one of the great Wallace & Gromit stories ever, but one of the great British comedies in general.

8. Monty Python And The Holy Grail: Although I admit that I'm not as big of a fan of Monty Python as most are but I can't deny The Holy Grail's off the wall spin on King Arthur and his knights. Complete with incompetent knights, witches, and the most viscious rabbit you've ever seen, Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a lowbrow, high-concept comedy that takes pleasure in breaking all the rules of form, taste, whatever. Coconuts.

7. Hot Fuzz: Whereas Shaun put the zombie genre in its crosshairs, Hot Fuzz is a send-up of police/action dramas, like Lethal Weapon and Dirty Harry—with a dash of British horror, a la The Wicker Man, thrown in for good measure. The brilliance of the movie is that Wright and crew play the whole thing with a straight face. Wright shoots the film like a serious action movie, but what you're actually experiencing is an outlandish farce, as seen during an epic two-second-long police chase that is shot with the flair of a Michael Bay movie.

6. Snatch: Guy Ritchie’s kinetic ensemble piece also brought plenty of laughs by uniting a neurotic cast of colorful characters. No one is going to forget Brad Pitt's mealy-mouthed Roma, Vinnie Jones Bullet-Tooth Tony, or Benici Del Toro's arm. The genius of Snatch is that we shouldn’t be laughing at any of this. These are terrible people doing awful, violent things; however, it’s pulled off with such energy and sarcasm that you can’t help but chuckle at the misfortunes of others.

5. Trainspotting: The film doesn't do typical slapstick humor or wild physical comedy—unless getting smacked in the face with human shit, or climbing into a toilet qualify as regular for you. But don't mistake this for Grown Ups 3—driven by the frantic style of director Danny Boyle, combined with a star-making performance from Ewan McGregor, Trainspotting is a delirious piece of dark misery set to the tempo of an EDM music video. The movie explores the squalor and crime-ridden lifestyles of the drug addicts of Edinburgh, Scotland. Boyle's plastic style allows the film to regularly flips between socially conscious, slice of life humor and surreal visual gags, like in the aforementioned toilet bit.

4. In Bruges: In the film, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleason star as two Irish hitmen forced into hiding in the city of Bruges after Farrell’s character accidentally kills a young boy during a hit gone wrong. From there, the two hired guns ruminate on the nature of life and guilt as they plunge into the eccentric underbelly of the quirky city. This thoughtful morality tale offers darkly comedic flourishes, including a drug-addicted dwarf who gets into a brawl with Farrell and a rabid performance by Ralph Fiennes, who plays the boss of our two heroes. All of these elements coalesce by the end to form a wholly unique comedy and masterfully written piece of art.

3. Death At A Funeral: British humor is well known for blending the twisted dark elements of our own mortality with off-the-wall physical comedy, and one of the prime modern examples of this style is 2007’s Death at a Funeral. Boasting a cavalcade of talent including Matthew Macfayden, Rupert Grave, and Peter Dinklage, this movie is the quintessential English comedy and a great introduction for new fans. The story revels in the exploits of an unusual family at the funeral of the patriarch, where the safest place to be is inside the coffin.

2. Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels: Dripping with vulgarity and violence, Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels is a dark comedy masquerading as a crime drama. Directed by Guy Ritchie, this movie explores the seedy trappings of the London crime world, using a group of hapless friends who try and rob a local gang in order to pay off their debts as the entry point. The premise sounds as generic as can be, but Ritchie and his stacked cast bring a severe and cynical wit to every scene that brings energy and laughs to even the most brutal moments. Many of the movies discussed here exemplify the dry, oddball line of British humor, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is the perfect example of the dirty, punk rock style that defined the British underground. Jason Flemyng, Vinnie Jones, Jason Statham, and the rest of the cast are all at their crassest as they deliver memorable lines and nasty gags, including a beatdown with a black rubber phallus.

1. Shaun Of The Dead: Director Edgar Wright put a darkly funny spin on the world of the undead with Shaun of the Dead. Now a bona fide cult classic, Shaun deftly combines horror, gross-out humor, and desert-dry jokes for a wholly unique experience. Left in the hands of an American director, Shaun of the Dead probably would have had the subtlety of a chainsaw to the sternum, but under the guidance of Wright, the movie stuffs every frame with so many small, comedic touches, it's impossible to catch them all with just one viewing. This is one rare geek favorite that lives up to its billing.