Photo Credit ( Freepik )

Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse in the 2007 film Superbad

Thanks to its wonderfully matched stars, Jonah Hill and Michael Cera, Greg Mottola’s teen comedy masterpiece Superbad is plenty of laughs and a perfect example of the Apatow tradition of telling ultimately lovely stories in a raucous hard-R atmosphere.

Every page of the script is filled with tried-and-true content, having been refined over ten years since Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg started writing it as 13-year-old high school students and didn’t find a Hollywood company to produce it until their mid-20s.

Groundhog Day (1993)

In the movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray drives a smiling groundhog.

Bill Murray plays a news reporter in Harold Ramis’ Groundhog Day who falls in love with his producer while he’s trapped in a time loop. Furthermore, in the COVID era, a film about reliving the same day feels more timely than ever.

Groundhog Day is worth seeing a few times because it explores some lofty philosophical issues and spans a period of 10,000 years. Not to mention, Bill Murray’s portrayal of the classic grumpy guy with a pure heart never gets old.

The 1994 film Pulp Fiction

In Pulp Fiction, Samuel L. Jackson plays Jules, a diner patron who is carrying a gun.

Pulp Fiction, a very different kind of criminal movie by Quentin Tarantino, is perhaps one of the best dark comedy ever created. It features a boxer who becomes locked in the subterranean sex dungeon of a sadistic pawn shop owner and two mob hitmen who argue like Jerry and George in Seinfeld.

While practically every scene in Pulp Fiction is iconic, the film’s nonlinear structure, frequent cultural allusions, and profusion of Easter eggs make it difficult to understand on first viewing.

Spinal Tap (1984) is this.

This is Spinal Tap, featuring the band performing live.

This is Spinal Tap, the renowned mock-rockumentary directed by Rob Reiner, was condensed from hours of cast-improvised material to a short 82-minute running length.

While everyone can recall iconic scenes from shows like “Hello, Cleveland!” and “These go up to 11,” not everyone understands every joke in This is Spinal Tap the first time around. Many excellent moments are buried in the background the first time around because of the genuine documentary style.

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Shaun of the Dead’s core actors acting like zombies

Shaun of the Dead, a funny parody of the zombie genre, is a stand-alone zombie film directed by Edgar Wright. Starring as two flatmates who, following a night at the bar, sleep through the zombie outbreak and wake up hangdogs in a post-apocalyptic world are Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

Shaun of the Dead, like all of Wright’s Cornetto films, masterfully employs foreshadowing. Frost gives a whole story synopsis in one of the film’s opening scenes, but audiences won’t notice it unless they’ve watched the film previously. These small tributes to devoted followers can be seen throughout Shaun and its spiritual follow-ups.

Airplane (1980)

In the airplane, Dr. Rumack requests not to be called Shirley.

An ridiculous retelling of the plot of the made-for-TV disaster film Zero Hour!, Airplane!, has a veteran fighter pilot called in to assist with a plane’s landing when food sickness strikes the cabin crew.

Jokes of all kinds, including wordplay, slapstick, visual gags, movie references, and small background details, abound in this classic parody. It’s not feasible to see them all in one sitting.

The 1995 film Toy Story

In Toy Story, Woody is shown laughing at Buzz in Andy’s room.

With Toy Story, Pixar created the first-ever feature-length computer-animated film, a distinction that is not to be overlooked. Pixar’s pioneering work is the only reason computer-animated films are now considered a blockbuster genre.

Aiming to bring an impeccable, painstakingly written narrative to life, the animators of Toy Story’s ground-breaking animation incorporated scores of small elements that viewers may overlook on their first viewing, such as The Shining’s carpet in Sid’s home.

The Holy Grail and Monty Python (1975)

In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, King Arthur and his knights

The Pythons created their first original feature-length film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in 1975, following their success in reinventing sketch comedy with their television series Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

This film’s humor functions on several distinct levels. Although it appears to be a collection of well written Python sketches that are largely based on the Arthurian legend, it also pokes fun at the artifice of film, with humorous opening titles, several breaches of the fourth wall, and an incredibly disappointing conclusion. Even devoted followers of the cast will find something fresh and entertaining to see each time, which is why it’s so enjoyable to watch repeatedly.

1998’s The Big Lebowski

The Big Lebowski’s Dude at a bowling alley

One of the mainstays of cult cinema is the stoner noir film The Big Lebowski, directed by the Coen brothers and a classic hard-boiled story of mistaken identity seen through the eyes of a dope-smoking slacker. It’s so rewatchable that it’s really given rise to an entire religion.

The movie doesn’t get overly engrossed in the plot because it isn’t that significant. Rather than focusing on one plot element at a time, viewers can unwind with a White Russian while taking in the Dude’s seemingly aimless, drug-addled journey across Los Angeles, where he encounters some of the funniest, most colorful personalities the city has to offer. And it never gets boring, regardless of how many times one watches.

1985’s Back to the Future

In Back to the Future, Doc and Michael test the DeLorean

Back to the Future, a timeless time-travel comedy directed by Robert Zemeckis, continues to remain popular today. In it, Marty McFly uses his friend Doc Brown’s new time machine to accidently travel back to 1955, where he unintentionally stops his parents from meeting. In order to travel “back to the future,” he must work with a younger Doc, all the while attempting to keep his parents together for his survival.

Co-written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, the script is full with nuanced foreshadowing that first-time viewers are likely to miss. Thus, the early scenes in 1985 are crucial to notice because they are full of setups that come together in the later scenes in 1955.

Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse in the 2007 film Superbad

Thanks to its wonderfully matched stars, Jonah Hill and Michael Cera, Greg Mottola’s teen comedy masterpiece Superbad is plenty of laughs and a perfect example of the Apatow tradition of telling ultimately lovely stories in a raucous hard-R atmosphere.

Every page of the script is filled with tried-and-true content, having been refined over ten years since Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg started writing it as 13-year-old high school students and didn’t find a Hollywood company to produce it until their mid-20s.

Groundhog Day (1993)

In the movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray drives a smiling groundhog.

Bill Murray plays a news reporter in Harold Ramis’ Groundhog Day who falls in love with his producer while he’s trapped in a time loop. Furthermore, in the COVID era, a film about reliving the same day feels more timely than ever.

Groundhog Day is worth seeing a few times because it explores some lofty philosophical issues and spans a period of 10,000 years. Not to mention, Bill Murray’s portrayal of the classic grumpy guy with a pure heart never gets old.

The 1994 film Pulp Fiction

In Pulp Fiction, Samuel L. Jackson plays Jules, a diner patron who is carrying a gun.

Pulp Fiction, a very different kind of criminal movie by Quentin Tarantino, is perhaps one of the best dark comedy ever created. It features a boxer who becomes locked in the subterranean sex dungeon of a sadistic pawn shop owner and two mob hitmen who argue like Jerry and George in Seinfeld.

While practically every scene in Pulp Fiction is iconic, the film’s nonlinear structure, frequent cultural allusions, and profusion of Easter eggs make it difficult to understand on first viewing.

Spinal Tap (1984) is this.

This is Spinal Tap, featuring the band performing live.

This is Spinal Tap, the renowned mock-rockumentary directed by Rob Reiner, was condensed from hours of cast-improvised material to a short 82-minute running length.

While everyone can recall iconic scenes from shows like “Hello, Cleveland!” and “These go up to 11,” not everyone understands every joke in This is Spinal Tap the first time around. Many excellent moments are buried in the background the first time around because of the genuine documentary style.

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Shaun of the Dead’s core actors acting like zombies

Shaun of the Dead, a funny parody of the zombie genre, is a stand-alone zombie film directed by Edgar Wright. Starring as two flatmates who, following a night at the bar, sleep through the zombie outbreak and wake up hangdogs in a post-apocalyptic world are Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

Shaun of the Dead, like all of Wright’s Cornetto films, masterfully employs foreshadowing. Frost gives a whole story synopsis in one of the film’s opening scenes, but audiences won’t notice it unless they’ve watched the film previously. These small tributes to devoted followers can be seen throughout Shaun and its spiritual follow-ups.

Airplane (1980)

In the airplane, Dr. Rumack requests not to be called Shirley.

An ridiculous retelling of the plot of the made-for-TV disaster film Zero Hour!, Airplane!, has a veteran fighter pilot called in to assist with a plane’s landing when food sickness strikes the cabin crew.

Jokes of all kinds, including wordplay, slapstick, visual gags, movie references, and small background details, abound in this classic parody. It’s not feasible to see them all in one sitting.

The 1995 film Toy Story

In Toy Story, Woody is shown laughing at Buzz in Andy’s room.

With Toy Story, Pixar created the first-ever feature-length computer-animated film, a distinction that is not to be overlooked. Pixar’s pioneering work is the only reason computer-animated films are now considered a blockbuster genre.

Aiming to bring an impeccable, painstakingly written narrative to life, the animators of Toy Story’s ground-breaking animation incorporated scores of small elements that viewers may overlook on their first viewing, such as The Shining’s carpet in Sid’s home.

The Holy Grail and Monty Python (1975)

In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, King Arthur and his knights

The Pythons created their first original feature-length film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in 1975, following their success in reinventing sketch comedy with their television series Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

This film’s humor functions on several distinct levels. Although it appears to be a collection of well written Python sketches that are largely based on the Arthurian legend, it also pokes fun at the artifice of film, with humorous opening titles, several breaches of the fourth wall, and an incredibly disappointing conclusion. Even devoted followers of the cast will find something fresh and entertaining to see each time, which is why it’s so enjoyable to watch repeatedly.

1998’s The Big Lebowski

The Big Lebowski’s Dude at a bowling alley

One of the mainstays of cult cinema is the stoner noir film The Big Lebowski, directed by the Coen brothers and a classic hard-boiled story of mistaken identity seen through the eyes of a dope-smoking slacker. It’s so rewatchable that it’s really given rise to an entire religion.

The movie doesn’t get overly engrossed in the plot because it isn’t that significant. Rather than focusing on one plot element at a time, viewers can unwind with a White Russian while taking in the Dude’s seemingly aimless, drug-addled journey across Los Angeles, where he encounters some of the funniest, most colorful personalities the city has to offer. And it never gets boring, regardless of how many times one watches.

1985’s Back to the Future

In Back to the Future, Doc and Michael test the DeLorean

Back to the Future, a timeless time-travel comedy directed by Robert Zemeckis, continues to remain popular today. In it, Marty McFly uses his friend Doc Brown’s new time machine to accidently travel back to 1955, where he unintentionally stops his parents from meeting. In order to travel “back to the future,” he must work with a younger Doc, all the while attempting to keep his parents together for his survival.

Co-written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, the script is full with nuanced foreshadowing that first-time viewers are likely to miss. Thus, the early scenes in 1985 are crucial to notice because they are full of setups that come together in the later scenes in 1955.