Nothing brings roommates together quite like movie nights. It’s a perfect night cap after a delicious dinner, (movies go great with dessert), or to come down after a hard study session. Comedies are an easy go-to, naturally, when considering options for mutual viewing. They’re easy to agree upon and light-hearted fun. There is a time and a place for heavy drama, dystopian romance, and period pieces, but winding down after a stressful week may not be the best. As a solution, we offer 6 hilarious movies currently streaming on Netflix.
Laughing with your roommates it’s important. It’s a mandatory stress-release, a relief valve from the high-stakes pressure cooker of life. Laughing with your roommates brings you closer together, which helps alleviate the inevitable tensions that arise.
While living together, your roommates are your temporary family. Families that play together, stay together.
1. Legally Blonde 1
If you’re returning to college in the fall, let Reese Witherspoon reassure you style and intelligence are not mutually exclusive.
Legally Blonde tells the story of Elle Woods, whose fiancee thinks she is too ditzy and shallow to be marriage-worthy, just because of her platinum mane. Afraid of losing him, Elle enrolls in Harvard Law School, to prove that she’s smart as well as pretty.
Legally Blonde shows that it takes all manner of skills to triumph in the business world, not just book smarts, and that sometimes success doesn’t look like you think it will.
2. High Fidelity
“Am I miserable because I listened to pop music, or did I listen to pop music because I was miserable?” – Rob
Here’s one for the music lovers. High Fidelity follows the exploits of a trio of overgrown adolescent record store clerks, who argue endlessly, discussing the finer points of music trivia while remaining clueless about how to actually live life.
High Fidelity features a young Jack Black at his most charming, and John Cusack at his most hysterically cynical. High Fidelity is based on the novel by Nick Hornby, who also brought us About A Boy. If you want the same deep love of pop culture and the way it relates to our lives, but with a lot less Hugh Grant, High Fidelity is a winner. Major bonus points for a killer soundtrack, as well.
3. Clueless
Clueless is also not as vapid as it sounds – it’s actually based on Jane Austen’s Emma
Clueless made Alicia Silverstone a superstar and it-girl for the mid-’90s, influencing a whole generation of girls about the perils of High School politics. Alicia Silverstone plays Cher, a fashion-conscious would-be guru, who takes Tai, played by Brittany Murphy, under her wing, only to lose her social standing.
This month marks Clueless’ 20th anniversary – the time is right for re-appreciating Cher and friends and the lessons they have to offer.
4.Hot Fuzz
Everybody needs a little Simon Pegg in their life. Sometimes A LOT of Simon Pegg. Hot Fuzz is the perfect balance of explosive, high-octane action and hilariously understated dry wit. Hot Fuzz follows hotshot London detective Nicholas Angel, played by Pegg, who gets transferred to a quiet English village, to be paired with the expected bumbling partner. Simon Pegg plays the character he kind of plays in ever movie – the somewhat meek but likable good guy. He seems like someone you’d want to hang out with. In the instance that you’ve seen Shawn Of The Dead too many times, or don’t like zombies, Hot Fuzz is your chance to do so.
5. Election
Much like Clueless, Election is not as saccharine as it sounds. Election is a thousand times darker, acerbic and biting, which is part of what makes it so funny.
Tracy Blick, (played by a young Reese Witherspoon), is a do gooder who will stop at nothing to assume her rightful place as class president. Mr. McAllister, (played by Matthew Broderick), doesn’t like Tracy, and decides to intervene in Tracy’s political machinations. Tracy Blick proceeds to systematically tear apart Mr. McAllister’s life, as a cycle of karmic retribution is unleashed.
There’s a few pretty raw moments in Election, featuring some sexual explicitness, so be advised.
6. Wet Hot American Summer
Speaking of explicit content, 2001’s summer camp sleeper hit Wet Hot American Summer frequently pushes the boundary of good taste. And then hopscotches over it.
Wet Hot American Summer takes place on the last day of camp at Camp Firewood, in the year of our lord 1981. It’s got everything you could hope for from an ’80s-inspired romp – big hair, hair metal, lots of legwarmers, lots of making out. It is the pursuit of this last activity that takes up most of the film, as campers try their mightiest to not go home without a summer romance.
Wet Hot American Summer has a weirdly impressive top shelf cast, from Janeane Garofalo as the camp director, to Frazier’s David Hyde Pearce, as the neighboring astrophysicist. There’s also Parks And Recreation albumni Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd and resident tough guy Christopher Meloni. Wet Hot American Summer is noteworthy for capturing a number of these actors right before their big break, which is reason enough to check it out. As major bonus points, it’s also totally hysterical.
And, of course, WHSA can prepare you for…
Wet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp
The newest Netflix original series returns to Camp Firewood, again in the summer of 1981. First Day Of Camp is a prequel to 2001’s cult classic, setting the stage for the craziness that happens in the movie.
Wet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp works best for admirers of the original. There’s skads of in-jokes, and, impressively, nearly every oddball eccentricity of the movie is given an origin story.
Nearly the entire original cast shows up for the 8 episode miniseries. Some have aged in the 14 years since the original, while some have remained almost unnaturally preserved. The original cast is fleshed out with guest stars and cameos galore, including Michael Cera, Jason Schwarzman, and Mad Men’s John Hamm as a government assassin.
If you care to find out how a can of mixed vegetables can talk, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp has answers for you!
Did you like the list? What movies do you and your roommates like to watch? Got any funny stories, or ideas for future activities posts? Let us know in the comments!
How about Fish Called Wanda, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, My Cousin Vinny and Shot in the Dark? Don’t know if they are all free on Netflix, but worth the $3.99 if you have to rent.