Hot Fuzz
It’s not exactly a secret how great Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are together, but the unrelated trilogy of films starring the two actors weren’t box office blowouts, either. The two put out some of the finest comedies of recent memory and did so under the radar of the mainstream. Even so, they found a loyal following of fans who happily showed up to see what the duo had in store time and time again.
While Shaun of the Dead may be the film with the biggest cult following and The World’s End the biggest critical success, Hot Fuzz might be the crown jewel of the Pegg and Frost collection. Pegg plays a highly successful police sergeant who gets transferred to a quiet, near crime-free town because he was making his colleagues look bad. There he meets Frost’s character, an underachieving drunk of a cop. Once a string of murders starts to strike the town, Pegg and Frost finally have a chance to get into the action, and a brilliant bit of action movie parody begins to unfold.
They Came Together
The cast of They Came Together should be enough to sell just about any comedy fan on giving it a watch. Starring Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd — with Bill Hader, Ed Helms, Ellie Kemper, and tons of others playing supporting roles — the film lampoons every trope of your standard romantic comedy. Thanks to the biting script provided by David Wain and Michael Showalter, the film finds the deep end of absurdity and happily plays around in it.
Ping Pong Summer
Speaking of comedies with great casts, Ping Pong Summer puts together another all-star lineup of actors for a 1980’s style coming of age comedy that follows 13-year-old Rad as he takes on many new experiences and meets a mentor for his ping pong obsession. With Susan Sarandon starring and supporting roles filled by Amy Sedaris and Judah Freidlander, the film has plenty of comedic power behind it, but it also captures the endearing earnestness of 80s movies.
Goodbye to Language
Films don’t get much more experimental than Goodbye to Language. Luckily, they don’t get much better than it either. The French-Swiss film is a 3D narrative essay from director Jean-Luc Godard. The film is something to be seen rather than describe, but to give you an idea of what to expect, it attempts to tell two similar versions of a story of a couple who are having an affair. Obviously, the film is not in English, so subtitles are required if you don’t speak the language, but what happens on screen displays some universally understood imagery.
Chris D’Elia: Incorrigible
You may recognize Chris D’Elia from his roles on sitcoms like Whitney and Undateable, but he got his start on the stand-up circuit. He’s taking a break from his starring roles to return to his roots. His new Netflix special Incorrigible puts him back where he feels most comfortable: talking to an audience about the absurdities of everyday life, while putting to use his trademark physical comedy stylings.
