Clue Is Easily The Best Film Adaptation of a Toy (Exempting The LEGO Movie)

Movies based on toys haven't taken off to the same extreme as comic books or TV shows since, like video games, artistic properties that place most control over to the audiences tend to be difficult to translate into a more strictly molded medium of storytelling like film. Still, we have seen our fair share of movies based on toys, especially in the last twelve years since Transformers became a box office juggernaut. Before most of those motion pictures came Clue, one of the very first movies to be based on a toy. A 1985 directorial effort from Johnathan Lynn, Clue took the characters and murder mystery set-up of the original 1949 board game of the same name and in the process took what could have been a cashgrab for Hasbro into something mighty hysterical.

The Death of Stalin Finds Humor In Real-Life Horrors

"How can you run and plot at the same time?"

After eight years, writer/director Armando Iannucci has returned to the world of feature films (he's been busy the last few years working on the highly acclaimed HBO TV show Veep) with The Death of Stalin. Like his 2009 film In The Loop, The Death of Stalin is a dark farce comedy depicting people in positions of noteworthy political power acting scummy in the name of personal gain. Instead of coming off as merely reheated leftovers of In The Loop though, The Death of Stalin takes this basic concept and clearly charts its own terrain. This is a film with its own distinct personality to its name, one that aids greatly in making The Death of Stalin as highly humorous as it is.

The Marx Brothers Are Delivering Constant Quack-Up's In The Excellent Comedy Duck Soup

One interesting thing about watching all of these classic movies for the first time is getting to go do research and see how these films were received in their original release compared to their modern-day reputation. Duck Soup, like fellow 1930's comedy classic Bringing Up Baby, is one of those motion pictures that received mixed reception in its initial release before later gaining higher marks. But back when it came out in 1933, Duck Soup was seen as a lesser effort from the Marx brothers and also failed to make all that much money at the box office. Of course, today Duck Soup is regarded as one of the best pieces of cinematic comedy ever made and for good reason, the film is absolutely hysterical.