Best in Show (2000)

Absolutely hilarious and finely drawn mockumentary about the Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show and the fairly extreme dog-owners who are drawn to enter their pets. It’s directed by Christopher Guest of Spinal Tap fame and it follows a similar format – interviews and clips of the characters as we get to know them and their predicaments.

The ensemble cast is absolutely pitch perfect, mining the seriousness of the dog show for all the possible comedic value. The vanity of these dog owners is exposed with continually funny consequences.

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

Rob Reiner’s masterpiece is one of the funniest films ever made. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer are hilarious as the British heavy metal band on tour in the USA. As ticket sales fall and their popularity wanes, tensions grow. 

The songs are extremely well observed – from “Big Bottom” to “Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight” – and the detailed observations of rock-star behaviour are absolutely spot on. Every lyric and posture is perfectly judged. The facial expressions alone are priceless, perfectly capturing the pomposity of selfish rock stars living in a bubble and expecting to be worshipped for whatever they do – see the scene in which Nigel Tufnel complains about the sandwiches, for example. 

It’s a mark of the film’s brilliance that so many lines of dialogue – from “turning it up to 11” to “documentary or, if you will, rockumentary” – have entered the language.