The Comedy Film Nerds Guide to Movies: Featuring Dave Anthony, Lord Carrett, Dean Haglund, Allan Havey, Laura House, Jackie Kashian, Suzy Nakamura, ... Schmidt, Neil T. Weakley, and Matt Weinhold

by Graham Elwood, Chris Mancini

Tired of the usual boring, dry movie discussion?  "The Comedy Film Nerds Guide to Movies" is something new. Is it serious movie discussion? Is it funny? Do the writers know what the hell they are talking about? Yes, Yes, Yes, and Yes. OK, that’s too many Yes’s but you get the point.  Graham Elwood and Chris Mancini, both professional filmmakers and comedians, created Comedyfilmnerds.com to mind meld the idea of real movie talk and real funny. And they called in all of their professionally funny and filmy friends to help them. Comedians and writers who have been on everything from the Tonight Show to having their own comedy specials tell you what’s what on their favorite film genres.  While "The Comedy Film Nerds Guide to Movies" is funny and informative, each film genre is given a personal touch. All of the Comedy Film Nerds have a love of film and a personal connection to each genre.  Read about a love of film from an insider’s perspective.  "The Comedy Film Nerds Guide to Movies" is for the movie lover with a good sense of humor.

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Media Tie In, Film, Comedy, Essays

280 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2012

Reviews

[Eric Chappell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read. This book is like sitting down with friends and chatting about movies. You'll agree. You'll disagree, sometimes vociferously. You'll find out about some movies you need to see, and reminded of others you've forgotten about. I liked it.

[Rob Klettke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a fan of the podcast. I listen to it every week. No matter the guest, whether familiar or not, I always listen, I always laugh, and I always learn about film.

Perhaps, because I enjoy the podcast so much, this book was a bit of a letdown. I missed the laughter. Maybe that's because some of these comedians/writers are better conversationalists than writers. I don't know.

As with a book of this format, some chapters were better than others. The lists are a great addition, and, given time, I might get a chance to see a good number of the recommendations.

Love the podcast, though.

[Joey Lewandowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only bad thing I can say about this book is that it added hours and hours of time I'll need to sit in front of a TV and watch movies. Note: Keep a pad and pen near you when reading this book, to jot down movies you need to see. (There are a lot.)

My highlights: Dave Anthony's "Movies That Should be Yelled At," Greg Proops's chapter on Film Noir and Graham Elwood's chapter on Martial Arts films.

[Jason Bullett · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite podcasts, from comics and others who know their onions about movies. A hilarious book sure to spark debate when perusing the authors' lists on their best and worst of different genres.

[Killstorm · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good quick read. A collection of genre-based essays written by several film nerds who happen to be comedians. It is structured as a few page essay on the genre followed by an opinionated top and bottom ten of the genre.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some chapters are a little weak, but overall I enjoyed it. The Top and Bottom 10 lists strike a perfect nerd-tone, and make this a worthwhile read.

[Jimmie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The Comedy Film Nerds Guide to Movies is a great discussion of various movies placed into genres. A group of comedic writers take turns discussing each movie genre and listed the top ten and bottom ten of their respective genre. I found this book both enlightening and entertaining. As with most lists and movie discussions, I did not always wee eye to eye with the authors discussion. How can you have a book about a list of movies and rarely mention Dumb and Dumber? For that reason, I'm deducting one star. Seriously, this was a really enjoyable book to read!

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok.

Disagreed with half of the ideas and opinions about what's worth watching and what's not.

And there's no excuses or good enough reason for some of them other than "most people like this movie but I don't so fuck off".

Anyway, I DID though find some nice gems that I didn't even know about (the reason I read this kind of books) even in the "dishonored" category of films that I'm going to check out for sure.

[Timothy Cooper]

Very fun book written by comedians that does a great job of describing the different genres of film and then giving ten best and ten worst lists for each.

[Graham Elwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Han Shot First.

[Josh Gregovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the different viewpoints expressed in this book. My favorite chapters were those written by Graham and Chris along with my personal favorite Mike Schmidt. There were chapters that didn't grab my attention, but that had nothing to do with the writing, more about the categories. My personal favorites where Mike Schmidt's sports movie chapter, Graham Elwood's documentary chapter and martial arts category.

[m. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd never heard of the podcast when I downloaded this book, getting it solely because I love film & books on film.

It's basically a collection of genre essays by different comedy writers, each one ending with a Top Ten list of the writer's best & worst of the genre.

It was fine but don't expect anything new or super interesting - for a book written by comics it wasn't exactly filled with belly laughs or out-there insights.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great guide to all movie genres. Each chapter is written by a different staff member so you get several perspectives. A great addition to a terrific podcast.

[Anthony Alvarado · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read discussing different genres of film.