The Best Comedies on Netflix Right Now – Paste
Netflix’s focus on original content is really starting to impact its movie lineup. You’ll see plenty of Netflix Originals on the list below, but not enough to make up for all the classics that have fallen out of rotation in recent years. at one point this list had 50 movies each month; now it is usually less than 30 movies deep. At this point, we may have to watch every one of those Adam Sandler movies to see if any are really good enough to recommend. To Netflix’s credit, they’ve been slowly building a list of legitimately good Netflix exclusives like The Mitchells Vs. the machines and bad trip. It may not be as comprehensive a list as it was five years ago, but there’s still a wide variety of comedies to choose from.
anyway. Enough of nonsense. Let’s take a quick trip through the funniest movies on Netflix right now. again, for the purpose of these ratings, i’m looking at how funny a movie is along with how well made it is, which means you might see some absolutely hilarious comedies that aren’t as respected by critics that get better reviews than better, more technically competent films. you can call this the mindhorn / my father’s house rule (rip!)—yeah, they’re not better movies than, say, the artist, but they definitely make me laugh more.
here are the best comedies on netflix as of august 2022.
1. monty python and the holy grail
year: 1975 directors: terry gilliam, terry jones stars: graham chapman, john cleese, eric idle, terry jones, connie booth rotten tomatoes score: 97% rating: pg runtime: 92 minutes
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It’s a shame some of the shine has been taken away from the holy grail by its own overwhelming ubiquity. nowadays, when we hear a “flesh wound”, a “ni!” or “huge expanses of land,” our first thoughts are often of obsessive, disoriented nerds replaying entire scenes for us. Or, in my case, repeating entire scenes to people like an obsessive, clueless nerd. but, if you try to distance yourself from the clutter factor and revisit the movie after a few years, you’ll find new jokes that feel just as fresh and hysterical as the ones we all know. holy grail is, in fact, the densest comedy in the python canon. there are so many jokes in this movie, and it’s amazing how easy we forget that, considering its reputation. if you are truly irreversibly exhausted by this film, rewatch it with commentary and discover the second level of appreciation that comes from the inventiveness with which it was made. It certainly doesn’t sound like a $400,000 movie, and it’s delightful to discover which of the gags (like the coconut halves) were born out of a need for low-budget workarounds. Co-directing for the first time by on-screen actor Terry Jones (who only directed sporadically after Python split) and reclusive American Terry Gilliam (who prolifically transformed Python’s cinematic style into his own unique brand of nightmarish fantasy) Moves with surreal efficiency. —graham techler
2. the life of brian from monty python
year: 1979 director: terry jones stars: graham chapman, john cleese, terry gilliam, eric idle, terry jones, michael palin rotten tomatoes score: 95% rating: r duration: 92 minutes
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made virtually with george harrison’s money and hailed, albeit apocryphally, by the legendary comedy troupe as their best film (probably because it’s the closest they’ve come to a three-act narrative with obvious “thematic concerns”) , life of brian was banned by many countries in the late 1970s. as a christ story, the tale of how squeaky mama’s boy brian (graham chapman) is mistakenly found to be one of the many figures of the messiah rising in judea under the shadow of roman occupation (circa 33 a.d., on a saturday afternoon), monty python’s follow-up to holy grail may be the most class politics. As such, the British comedy troupe stripped the story of all romance and nobility, lampooning everything from radical revolutionaries to religious institutions and government bureaucracy, never stooping to criticize the figure of Jesus or his sympathetic teachings. of course, the life of brian is not the first movie about jesus (or: jesus adjacent) to focus on the human side of the so-called savior: martin scorsese’s popular version did so less than a decade. later, but he feels like the first to take advantage of human weakness against the absurdity of divine expectations. steeped in satire that fixates on everything from spartacus to franco zeffirelli’s jesus of nazareth, and backed by as many iconic lines as crucifixes hold up the film’s frames ( As Brian’s equally shrill mother yells to the swarming masses, “He’s not the messiah. He’s a very naughty boy!”), the film explores the life of Jesus by obsessing over the surrounding context. perhaps a “virgin birth” really was called that to cover up the sexual crimes of a Roman centurion. perhaps coincidence (and also class struggle) is the only guiding force in reality. perhaps the standard of what a miracle does should be a little higher. and perhaps the only truth through the story line is that stupid people will always follow stupid people, whistling our way to our useless and pointless deaths. —dom sinacola
3. mean girls
Year: 2004 Director: Mark Waters Stars: Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lizzy Caplan, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried, Daniel Franzese , tina fey, tim meadows, amy poehler, ana gasteyer, rotten tomatoes score: 84% rating: pg-13 running time: 97 minutes
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Apart from the greatness of its one-liners, mean girls has endured because it’s a cinematic exaggerated version of the truth. teenage life really does feel like being on safari, with the same crazy hormones, territorial urges, and competitive advantage. and the girls really can have a hive mentality, clinging to any unseen alliance that allows them to curry favor with the most popular among them. In the guise of Regina George, Mean Girls shows how the prettiest girls are often elevated to the position of alpha, and boy does it go to their heads. —christina newland
4. day off bueller ferries
year: 1986 director: john hughes stars: matthew broderick, jeffrey jones, mia sara, alan ruck, jennifer gray, edie mcclurg rotten tomatoes score: 80% score: hp-13 duration: 103 minutes
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john hughes’s zeitgeist, fourth wall shattering ode to the rich, titled suburban youth vs. role. breakfast club aside, of all of hughes’s decade of teen-centric movies set in the chicago area, bueller has almost certainly endured the best, and without all that torturous claim. —scott wold
5. the mitchells against the machines
year: 2021 director: mike rianda stars: danny mcbride, abbi jacobson, maya rudolph, mike rianda, eric andre, olivia colman , fred armisen, beck bennettrotten tomatoes score: 98% rating: pg running time: 109 minutes
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Animated generation divides have never looked more like a sci-fi carnival than in mitchells vs. themachines. The feature film debut of writer-director Mike Rianda (he and co-writer-director Jeff Rowe trained on the excellently creepy and goofy series Gravity Falls) is equal parts absurd, endearing and terrifying. It’s easy to feel lost or overwhelmed by the flashing lights and exciting sights as the core family fights on one side of the title grudge match, but it’s just as easy to walk away with the exhausted glee of the aftermath of a long, weary jaunt. to the theme park. his genre-embedded family bursts through every cluttered, cluttered frame as if they’re trying to escape (often they are), and in the process they create the most energetic and endearing animated comedy so far this year. —jacob oller
6. national satire Christmas vacation
year: 1989 director: jeremiah s. chechik stars: chevy chase, beverly d’angelo, randy quaid, diane ladd, juliette lewis, johnny galecki, julia louis-dreyfus rotten tomatoes score: 68% rating: pg-13 duration: 97 minutes
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The National Satire Christmas Vacation isn’t the most kid-friendly movie, but then again, what do you really expect? Written by the king of ’80s movies himself, John Hughes, the Griswold family’s Christmas adventures are led by Clark (Chevy Chase) through one farce after another as the family goes to great lengths to have a traditional Christmas. Of course, tradition isn’t in the Griswold family repertoire, thanks to Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid), and the Griswold kids Audrey and Rusty (played, respectively, by Juliette Lewis and Johnny Galecki) aren’t much help either. Christmas Holidays gets more and more fun every time you watch, even if it’s just once a year. —annie black
7. sorry to bother you year: 2018 director: boots riley stars: lakeith stanfield, tessa thompson, armie hammer, stephen yeun , patton oswalt, david cross, terry crews, danny gloverrotten tomatoes score: 93% score: r runtime: 105 minutes
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sorry to bother you has so many ideas coming out of every seam, so much ambition, so much he wants to say with such urgency, that it feels almost rude to point out that the film ends up lurching gloriously out of control. this is rapper/producer boots riley’s first movie, and it shows, in every possible way—good, bad, awesome, ridiculous—as if he didn’t know if he’d ever be able to do another one, so he pitched every idea he could once had on this. there are moments in sorry to bother you that will make you want to jump giddily through the theater. there are also moments that will make you wonder who in the world gave this lunatic a camera. (some of those moments are also quite dizzying). the former far outweighs the latter. Lakeith Stanfield stars as Cassius, a kind-hearted guy who feels his life is slipping away from him and so tries his hand at telemarketing, and fails (in a series of fantastical scenes in which his desk literally falls off). in the houses of whoever is). he’s dialing) until a colleague (danny glover, interesting until the movie dismisses him entirely) recommends that she use his “white voice” on calls. Stanfield suddenly sounds exactly like David Cross in the most nasal way of him and has become a superstar in the company, which leads him “upstairs” where “supercallers” like him go after Glengarry’s leaders. that’s just the starting point: throughout, we meet a tony robbins-type businessman (armie hammer) who might as well be a slave trader, the radical artist girlfriend of cassius (tessa thompson), who wears earrings with so many slogans that it’s a wonder she can hold her head up, and a revolutionary co-worker (stephen yeun) who tries to rile up the workers into rebelling against their masters. there are many other people too, and only some of them are fully human. it’s quite a movie. —leitch
8. she has to have it
year: 1986 director: spike lee stars: tracy camila johns, spike lee, john canada terrell, tommy redmond hicks rotten tomatoes score: 91% rating: r duration: 85 minutes
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spike lee arrived as a fully formed talent with this low-budget black-and-white debut, which ended up being one of the most important films in the rise of independent films in the 1980s. lee brought a voice and verisimilitude to the screen that hasn’t been seen before, with a film that’s smart, funny and bold. the central theme, that women can sleep as much as men and should not be judged or scorned for it, is still relevant 30 years later. So relevant, in fact, that Lee adapted the film into a Netflix series that premiered last year.—garrett martin
9. when harry met sally
Year: 1989 Director: rob reiner Stars: billy crystal, meg ryan, carrie fisher, bruno kirby tomato score rotten : 90% rating: r runtime: 96 minutes
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Easily the most beloved rom-com of its decade, the story of Harry (Billy Crystal), Sally (Meg Ryan) and their 12-year journey toward the pair features a solid script from Nora Ephron that feeds and feeds. of the unexpected chemistry between its protagonists. (and with each new generation of lovers seeing the restaurant scene for the first time, another woman laughs and another man sits quietly, wondering what he’s so funny about). —michael burgin
10. dumb and dumber
year: 1994 director: peter and bobby farrelly stars: jim carrey, jeff daniels, lauren holly, teri garr, karen duffy, mike starrrotten tomatoes score: 68% rating: pg-13 runtime: 106 minutes
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there’s a special kind of nihilism at play in the farrelly brothers’ debut, one that brags about stupidity above all else, not because the farrellys want to celebrate being stupid for being smart, but because they seem to find no real consequences in the kind of ignorance inhabited by lloyd (jim carrey, beloved) and harry (jeff daniels, best role of his career) to the point where the morality of these characters is debatable. Deprived of the brainpower to fully comprehend the vast world around them, operating on little more than teenage excitement and the threat of unemployment (plus the image of a headless parakeet), Harry and Lloyd find themselves blissfully involved in a Kidnapping related to the husband of wealthy heiress Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly). it works as one might expect, in the sense that it doesn’t, and that doesn’t matter, but not without developing a lot to love in these two assholes, making their sequel feel unrelentingly petty by comparison. So it should come as no surprise that nearly every other Farrelly movie (without there’s something about Mary) has aged poorly: America doesn’t need more movies that seem to actually honor our dumbest assholes. —dom sinacola
11. hunt the wildlings
year: 2016 director: taika waititi stars: sam neill, julian dennison, rima te wiata, rachel house, oscar kightley, tioreore ngatai-melbourne, rhys darbyrotten tomatoes score: 96% rating: nr duration: 101 minutes
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bella’s (rima te wiata) first meeting with ricky (julian dennison), the new foster child she’s agreed to take in, doesn’t inspire confidence, especially with his goofy jokes at the expense of her weight. In turn, with child services representative Paula (Rachel House) painting Ricky as a wild, rebellious child, one dreads the prospect of seeing the boy run over by this possibly insane mother. but bella wears it down with kindness. and ricky ends up being less tough than he is, with his penchant for gangsta rap and all that that implies, he initially tried to project. An adaptation of Barry Crump’s novel Wild Pork and Watercress, Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wild People feeds on preconceived notions. The director shows sympathy for Ricky’s innocence, which is reflected in the film’s grand adventure style. cinematographer lachlan milne’s wide, colorful panoramas and a chapter-based narrative structure give hunt for the wilderpeople the feel of a storybook fable, but thanks to the warm dynamic between ricky and hec (sam neill), even the film’s more whimsical moments convey an underlying sense of real pain: these two characters are outsiders ultimately looking for a home to call their own. —kenji fujishima
12. bad trip
year: 2021 director: kitao sakurai stars: eric andre, tiffany haddish, lil rel howery, michaela conlin rotten tomatoes score: 73% rating: r duration: 84 minutes
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The most remarkable thing about bad trip is the way it represents the public with which it interacts. the film never aims to humiliate or dehumanize its subjects: instead of being belittled or mocked in the name of comedy, viewers are portrayed more as a righteous court than mere crabs in a barrel. the reprehensible behavior displayed always comes from andre, haddish, or howery, and viewers take it upon themselves to moralize and attempt to salvage any remaining shreds of the undercover actors’ perceived dignity, perhaps most perfectly exemplified in a scene with a recruiter from the army in a parking lot. who civilly rejects Andre’s offer of a blowjob in exchange for execution during a deep period of hopelessness. This ability to invoke audience reaction, without a rubric for the hard-line emotions the actors must elicit, is what allows the fabric of the bad trip humor to shine through. With the professional actors shouldering the burden of both maintaining character for the benefit of the film’s overall narrative and ensuring that the orchestrated gags work flawlessly, the audience’s only obligation is to genuinely react, whether it be expressing anger, frustration, disdain, etc. or bewilderment. it is this spectrum of varied emotions that is woven into the very fabric of the film, giving it an overtly genuine tone. it’s even surprisingly moving at times, with Good Samaritans stepping in to knock characters off ledges and break up public fights.
13. dolemite is my name
2019 director: craig brewer stars: eddie murphy, keegan-michael key, mike epps, craig robinson, tituss burgess, da’vine joy randolph, kodi smit- mcphee, snoop dogg, ron cephas jones, barry shabaka henley, tip “ti” harris, luenell, tasha smith, wesley snipesrotten tomatoes score: 97% rating: r duration: 118 minutes
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“I want the world to know that I exist,” declares Rudy Ray Moore (Eddie Murphy) in Dolemite Is My Name. Large-scale awareness is an ambitious goal, but it didn’t stop Moore from trying. Rudy Ray Moore is a multi-scripted actor looking to further his career in comedy. After seeing Rico (Ron Cephas Jones), the local drifter who visits where Rudy works, Moore decides to steal and refine Rico’s material. he takes on the character of dolemite, a sharp and vulgar pimp who oozes confidence, and the “new” material kills in the local clubs. Eventually, Moore signs a comedy record deal and hits the charts. emboldened, he sets himself a new goal: to make a dolemite movie, depleting all of his personal expenses to do so. At the heart of dolemite is my name is the same soft-spoken man, played by eddie murphy. the actor, since 2012, has been quiet in the public eye, taking years-long breaks between movies. In 2016, he reappeared in the drama mr. church , his performance was praised, but the film was panned by critics. Hailed as his “comeback” role, Dolemite finds Murphy in comedic form, tackling this lead role with relish. He accepts Moore’s slightly goofy enthusiasm and positive attitude without a hint of derision. For a character like Dolemite, so deeply rooted in the ’70s blaxploitation era and frankly plagued with so many stereotypical elements, Murphy succeeds in being serious, even when he delivers Dolemite’s raunchiest lines. he reminds us that he is one of the best at balancing drama and comedy. A figure that could have been an offensive caricature in the wrong hands, Dolemite, in the Craig Brewer movie, is so much more; We go below the surface of the character, exploring one man’s quest for stardom and the business risks he took to be the talk of the town. We get a movie befitting Moore’s legacy while also reminding audiences of the star power of Eddie Murphy. —joi childs
14. Hail Caesar!
year: 2016 directors: ethan coen, joel coen stars: george clooney, tilda swinton, josh brolin, ralph fiennes, jonah hill , alden ehrenreich, christopher lambert, channing tatum, scarlett johanssonrotten tomatoes score: 86% rating: pg-13 duration: 106 minutes
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joel and ethan coen’s hail, caesar! period madness is an ode to old hollywood, and more, as only they can do, tracing the efforts of the studio’s scandal-fixer from james brolin through a parade of 1950s sets, sets, and actors. his latest potential headline concerns the kidnapping of a biblically epic movie star—george clooney having a blast doing his best chuck heston/kirk douglas amalgamation — by what turns out to be a group of communist pundits serving tea sandwiches. Other subplots have Scarlett Johansson’s young star plotting her own single motherhood in the public eye and an on-screen makeover of an unsophisticated cowboy by Ralph Fiennes’s elegantly enunciative director Laurence Laurentz. There are gossip columnist twin duels (tilda swinton pulling double duty), a hapless film editor (frances mcdormand), and movies scattered within the movie, which even stops midway for a thoroughly charming and sassy song in the style of Gene Kelly. -and- dance number starring channing tatum as a heavily made-up morning star with controversial extracurricular activities. most of the main characters/performances are unashamedly inspired by hollywood legends of yesteryear, and the cast seem to have as much fun as they coen. hail, caesar! is by no means his best work, but it is characteristically beautiful, energetically acted, and full of political, religious, and creative (sub)text for moviegoers as thoughtful and goofy as they are. joel and ethan —Amanda Schurr
15. mental horn
year: 2016 director: sean foley stars: julian barratt, essie davis, richard mccabe, alex wyndham, steve coogan rotten tomatoes score: 92% rating: nr duration: 89 minutes
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Julian Barratt delivers a charismatic lead performance, using those chiseled cheekbones and glorious mustache in concert with unusually sad eyes to make his failed actor, Richard Thorncroft, recognizable and empathetic despite his arrogance and stupidity. The rest of the cast is also strong, though largely overshadowed by Barratt’s magnetism. if steve coogan, who also produced, wants to continue spending much of his time in very small, brutally funny roles in comedy movies (see: the other guys, in the loop, and technically hot fuzz), that’s fine by me. Kenneth Branagh surprisingly makes a cameo appearance as himself in one of the first scenes where he auditions Richard for an adaptation of Hamlet; it’s good to see that he has a sense of humor about still being the shakespeare type. it’s clear, however, that mindhorn is a labor of love for cast and crew.—deborah krieger
16. the lovebirds
year: 2020 director: michael showalter stars: issa rae, kumail nanjiani, paul sparks, anna camp, kyle bornheimer rotten tomatoes score: 65% rating: r duration: 87 minutes
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michael showalter updates the after hours template with this hilarious game, in which a modern worldly couple who just broke up find themselves embroiled in unexpected crime and danger. Rae and Nanjiani are a great comedic duo who achieve the combination of meanness, cuteness and comfort from a couple who have already been making the moves longer than it took to establish them; their light-hearted bickering and chatter, insistent whether they’re infiltrating a secret society orgy or about to be tortured, are consistently funny without feeling too gag or sitcom. there are many movies like this: date night, game night, probably others that have the word “night” in the title, but the lovebirds could to be the sharpest since scorsese panicked griffin dunne in mid-80s manhattan.—garrett martin
17. always be my maybe
year: 2019 director: nahnatchka khan stars: ali wong, randall park, keanu reeves, michelle buteau, vivian bang, karan soni rotten tomatoes score: 89% rating: pg-13 runtime: 102 minutes
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A movie written by and starring Ali Wong and Randall Park was always guaranteed to be a home run, but the endlessly funny and charming Always Be My Maybe truly exceeds all romantic comedy expectations. The duo (who wrote the script with Michael Golamco) play childhood friends who lose touch after an impulsive teen romance goes awry. From there, Sasha de Wong becomes a celebrity chef while Marcus de Park continues to live at home and work for her father’s blue-collar business after her mother’s tragic passing. we each have things to learn from each other, sure, but always be my maybe doesn’t just end when romance blossoms; rests on the complications of two adults with independent lives who choose to be together and figure out how to make it all work. Part of that, crucially, includes Marcus and Sasha playing supporting roles in each other’s careers instead of compromising and giving up their passions to be together. Director Nahnatchka Khan keeps the stylish film moving at a pleasing comedic pace throughout, and there’s a killer cameo you won’t want to spoil before you see the film. seriously, you should watch it right now. —allison keene
18. between two ferns: the movie
year: 2019 director: scott aukerman stars: zach galifianakis, lauren lapkus, ryan gaul, matthew mcconaughey score by tomatoes rotten : 74% rating: nr runtime: 82 minutes
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netflix originals are routinely criticized for their overall low stakes vibe, like they’re the modern day equivalent of the old made-for-tv primetime movies of the 70’s and 80’s. you can’t really say that about Between Two Ferns: The Movie, because “low stakes” has been the main goal of Zach Galifianakis’ web series all along. This funny or dying production sends Galifianakis and his public access crew (including Lauren Lapkus) on a cross-country jaunt to save their show and help Zach realize his dreams of being a legit late-night talk show host. . Along the way, they interview the likes of David Letterman, John Legend, Chance the Rapper, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brie Larson and more. (and for some reason, phoebe bridgers and that guy from the national show show up for a musical number). Scott Aukerman’s script is as wacky and hilarious as you’d expect, and a cast of games keeps it running smoothly throughout. Between Two Ferns: The Movie is basically the citizen kane of completely unnecessary feature film adaptations of joke web shows.—garrett martin
19. the incredible jessica james
year: 2017 director: jim strouse stars: jessica williams, lakeith stanfield, noël wells, taliyah whitaker score by tomatoes rotten : 88% rating: nr runtime: 85 minutes
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jessica williams stars as jessica james, a 20-something theater fanatic trying to produce one of her plays while also dealing with a breakup. the ex? Damon, played by the equally wonderful Lakeith Stanfield (atlanta, short term 12), who can’t stay out of Jessica’s dreams. when she meets a new adventure, played by the comically refreshing chris o’dowd, she begins to reevaluate her love life as she clings to her life goals. when do you know you’ve achieved? As light-hearted as the film may be, it is rooted in an exploration of the deepest questions any artist, or person, grapples with. williams is hilarious, which we all know from her time on the daily show. she’s also incredibly powerful, displaying a feminine strength that’s so crucial to this generation and a passion for her craft that’s the opposite of the nonchalance often associated with millennials. the movie is perfect for a night of popcorn and beer with the girls and the boys. —meredith alloway
20. to all the boys i’ve loved before
year: 2018 director: susan johnson stars: lana condor, noah centineo, janel parrish rotten tomatoes score: 97% rating: nr execution time: 100 minutes
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To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, the teen scene’s latest runaway hit, is an absolutely excellent film. not great “for a teen movie”. not great “for a romantic comedy.” is excellent for a movie. tatbilb completely inverts the 80/20 relationship: in the first 20 minutes, the five deeply private love letters that our dreamy and emotionally repressed protagonist lara jean (lana condor) has written to her crushes from the childhood over the years have been stolen and mailed, including that of her neighbor and best friend, Josh (Israel Broussard), who just so happens to also be her older sister’s just ex-boyfriend. This quick puncture of any prolonged emotional dishonesty that Lara Jean could have hoped to indulge in, well, forever, leaves the last eighty minutes of the film free for her to embrace some truly radical emotional honesty. the significance of lara jean and her sisters being half korean, and the majority of the cast (along with mahoro) not being white, is hard to overstate, but it’s not the most impressive thing about the cast for a long shot. In a genre where her characters often lean too far into the cartoon, Lara Jean’s world is populated by teenagers, and through them, love, in which you can believe. —alexis gunderson
21. little evil
year: 2017 director: eli craig stars: adam scott, evangeline lilly, bridget everett, clancy brown, sally field, owen atlas rotten tomatoes score: 92% rating: nr duration: 94 minutes
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seven years after he gave us tucker & give him vs. evil, one of the best horror comedies of recent times, director eli craig is finally back with another netflix exclusive horror comedy, little evil. An obvious parody of the omen and other “evil boy” movies, little evil wears its influences and references on its sleeve in ways that, while not particularly clever, At least they are loving. . adam scott is the sad dad who’s somehow caught up in a whirlwind of romance and marriage, undeterred by the fact that his new stepson is the kind of kid who dresses like a pint-sized young angus and goes on. track the catastrophes behind him wherever he goes. Evangeline Lilly is the cunning mother of the boy, whose motives are always suspect. Does she know that her child is the spawn of satan, or like her mother, is she deliberately blind to the obvious evil growing under her nose? The film can boast a pretty impressive supporting cast, from Donald Faison and Chris D’elia as step-dads, to Clancy Brown as a fire-and-brimstone preacher, but it never fully commits to its jokes or attempts to scare. the last 30 minutes are the most interesting as they drive the plot in an unexpected direction that redefines the audience’s perception of the demon child, but still results in a somewhat uneven execution. tucker & dale this isn’t, but it’s still a useful return for craig. —jim vorel
22. pets
year: 2016 director: christopher guest stars: jane lynch, parker posey, fred willard, christopher guest, ed begley jr., jennifer coolidge, harry shearer, zach woods rotten tomatoes score: 49% rating: nr duration: 120 minutes
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“diminishing returns” may apply to christopher’s guest mockumentaries more than anything else in the world, but when you start from the unparalleled heights of waiting for guffman and best in show there is a long way to plummet. Namely: mascots, his latest film, is still full of great performances and good jokes. much of his returns from the stock company for the netflix exclusive (parker posey, jane lynch, fred willard and ed begley jr. still stand out), and although the absence of eugene levy and catherine o’hara is palpable, the set it is still full of capable improvisers. The satire isn’t as sharp as his previous films, but there’s still an endearing silliness at the heart of the film.—garrett martin
23. wine country
year: 2019 director: amy poehler stars: rachel dratch, ana gasteyer, amy poehler, maya rudolph, paula pell, emily spivey , tina fey, jason schwartzman, cherry jones rotten tomatoes score: 65% rating: r duration: 100 minutes
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As much a vacation for its cast as it is a movie, amy poehler’s wine country is a low-stakes sketch of a movie that manages with charisma and sweetness. Poehler and a team of Saturday Night Live veterans, including Rachel Dratch, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer and Tina Fey, as well as former SNL writers Paula Pell and Emily Spivey — play with a group of friends traveling through California wine country on a 50th birthday trip. they’re each dealing with their own midlife crises and disappointments in their own way, and the ways they discuss and relate to them are funny and down-to-earth. It’s essentially a woman’s version of the kind of frumpy comedy Adam Sandler has been doing with his friends for decades, and with the necessary differences in taste and perspective you’d expect from that comparison. wine country is perfectly fine.—garrett martin
24. eurovision song contest: the story of the fire saga
year: 2020 director: david dobkins stars: will ferrell, rachel mcadams, dan stevens, pierce brosnan score by tomatoes rotten : 64% rating: pg-13 runtime: 121 minutes
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Eurovision Song Contest: The Saga of Fire story is, let’s be honest here, a bit thin and a bit confusing. she has enough sincerity to undermine her own satirical impulses and enough complacent sarcasm to undermine his own sincerity. He lasts long and leans into one trope, Ferrell’s master trope and the common denominator in most of his best performances: the lovable but fundamentally clueless and self-centered man-baby who can’t get out of his own way. It’s a trope that, thanks to Ferrell himself, we’ve gleaned quite a bit from comedy over the last few decades. And yet, despite the fact that the eurovision song contest makes a number of puzzling moves in its two-hour-plus runtime, you can’t help but root for it, and its main characters, because his refusal to be cynical works as a vital and oxygenating escape hatch at this time.—amy glynn
25. vampires against the bronx
year: 2020 director: osmany rodriguez stars: jaden michael, gregory diaz iv, sarah gadon, shea whigham, method man, chris redd rotten tomatoes score: n/a rating: pg-13 duration: 85 minutes
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Vampires have historically been used as a metaphor for just about any social evil imaginable on film, but “vampire as an allegory for gentrification”? now that he is a new one. and that’s what you’ll see in vampires vs. the bronx from netflix. makes its political message very clear. these are, in fact, vampire real estate developers, intent on taking over properties like the neighborhood courthouse, which is immediately reimagined as a luxury condominium development titled “the courthaus.” a little on the nose, maybe, but a lot of fun at the same time.—jim vorel
