SNUBS: The King of Comedy (1982)

“Better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime.”

It’s been a bit since we had an old-fashioned movie disagreement but this one was a bit polarizing. Likely because this was a real curveball from two of our faves, Scorsese and De Niro. The intensity and emotional weight is there, but it’s wrapped in a truly bizarre, sinister comedy that’s just as haunting as it is funny. This movie became much more important after its release, and it sticks with you over time, but you’ll have to see for yourself if you think it’s worth it or not. Just give us one shot on the air and then we’ll gladly go off to jail as we watch The King of Comedy on Have a Good Movie!

You can email us with feedback at haveagoodmovie@gmail.com, or you can connect with us on Bluesky!

If you like the podcast, make sure to subscribe and review on iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcatcher, and tell your friends.

Intro music taken from the Second Movement of Ludwig von Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Hong Kong (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 HK) license. To hear the full performance or get more information, visit the song page at the Internet Archive.

Excerpt taken from the song “The Finer Things,” written by Donald Fagen and performed by David Sanborn as part of the soundtrack to The King of Comedy.  Copyright 1983 Warner Bros. Records Inc.

Excerpt taken from the piece “Burlesque”, written and composed by Mike Figgis for his film Leaving Las Vegas. Copyright 1995 Initial Productions, S.A.