Everyone needs a laugh, especially during these tense times and during a presidential election year. If you are a fan of Mel Brooks’ iconic movies or love the off-beat vibe of the Coen Brothers, or maybe prefer the outright zaniness and anarchy of the Marx Brothers, then you will want to participate in this class.

Each week we will screen one of our selections from some of the craziest, thought-provoking, hilarious, and just plain funny movies of the past 50 years. These are some of our favorite films that poke fun at the normal conventions of society and stop and make you look through a slightly bent prism at our world. Movies include Groundhog Day, The Big Lebowski, Doctor Strangelove, Duck Soup, The Producers, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Format: Each week we will watch the scheduled film at home and discuss it in class. Two class members will collaborate on presenting one movie, each leading the discussion for one segment. Shortly after registration, class members will request their desired film. Questions may be sent out ahead of time to help the class focus on particular aspects of the movie or an alternate class exercise may be offered. A formal slide presentation is not required. This is a Zoom video conferencing class (see box on page 2 for more information).

Resources/Expenses: Films are available on Amazon Prime, Netflix, Kanopy and other streaming services. A small fee may be charged by these platforms. The local libraries also carry some of our films.