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With Bridesmaids still finding audiences and The Hangover II coming to theaters this weekend, it seems the perfect time to talk about other raunchy comedies. Over the years we've laughed (and cried…and snorted) at these ribald flicks. I first fell in love with the genre as a teenager, and when I think about the reasons why, I compare it to my delight at the time with the AC/DC song “Big Balls.” I enjoyed these things then because I was immature and silly. Why do I enjoy them now? Well…because I’m still immature and silly. That little piece of me is never going away.

And so, to celebrate the return of the A-List, which had been on a brief sabbatical, I’m going to highlight some of my favorite vulgar, offensively hilarious comedies from the past few decades. There’s a good chance I’ve omitted your particular favorite, and chances are I agonized over including it. Chances are, you've skipped over this introduction anyway to get straight to the list. I know how you people are.

Animal House

I've always had a tremendous soft spot for this film, not the least because it's one of my father's favorite movies. You could say that John Belushi owns the film as Bluto, but that wouldn't be entirely accurate as he's more of a peripheral character than you might think. He is responsible for some of the film's funniest moments, from "I'm a zit" to "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?" to "TOGA!" But the movie endures because we root for the lovable losers of Delta Tau Chi - Otter (Tim Matheson, in a great cocky turn), Boon (Peter Riegert), Pinto (future Academy Award nominee Thomas Hulce), Flounder (Stephen Furst), and D-Day (who I just all of a sudden realized is Bruce McGill).

Of course, these guys couldn't have been our heroes without perfect foils such as Dean Wormer (John Vernon) and the men of Omega House, most particularly Douglas C. Niedermeyer (Mark Metcalf). "Is that a pledge pin? On your uniform?" sounds like the most mundane of lines, but when Metcalf delivers it, spittle and all, the material is elevated to another level.

The interconnected, episodic story allows time to focus on all of the different personalities, and by the time the film arrives at the big homecoming parade with the rogue "Eat Me" float that is used to hijack the proceedings, we are fully in the Deltas' corner. We have toga'd, we have Shouted, we have road tripped, and we have learned their future fates - one will become President of the United States, one will marry, then divorce, then re-marry, then re-divorce, then re-marry and one will become editor of National Lampoon Magazine. If you don't want to go out and pledge Delta Tau Chi after seeing it…well, you're probably a Niedermeyer.

Bachelor Party

Before Tom Hanks was *that* Tom Hanks - you know, the two-time Academy Award winner and big-time producer - he was making a name for himself in the world of comedy. And although he starred in more family-friendly stuff such as Splash and Big (and Family Ties!) early on, I've always found myself most drawn to his smarmy, sarcastic party animal character Rick Gassko in Bachelor Party more than almost any other one he's ever played.

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