Booksmart (2019)

Booksmart is hilarious, endearing, heartwarming, and necessary. Following in the footsteps of The Edge of Seventeen, Lady Bird and Eighth Grade, we now have the raucous teenage girl coming-of-age comedy we needed. Olivia Wilde shows remarkable artistry for a first-time director. The slick editing and bold musical choices scream style. The writing is smart and funny and relevant. And the actors nail every line. Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein are a revelation. Their buddy cop chemistry is palpable. Dever reminds me of a young Natalie Portman. And naturally, Feldstein reminds me of her brother Jonah Hill. This had me laughing out loud nonstop, probably the most enjoyable time I've had at the theater all year.

7 Days in Hell (2015)

In the vein of This is Spinal Tap, this mockumentary details a legendary match at Wimbledon that never happened.  Kit Harrington and Andy Samberg (in a role that just screams Andy Samberg) play two rival tennis players in a ridiculous match that lasts for seven days.  The documentary features clips from the "match," a voice-of-God narrator, "home footage" and talking head interviews with tennis stars and comedians, like a real genuine documentary.  Andy Samberg plays the adopted brother of Venus and Serena Williams in a "reverse blindside"--that is the most brilliant moment in the whole short movie.  Overall, it is so funny because the premise of this match is so preposterous. So long as you don't question anything too much, it is quite enjoyable. And who knew Kit Harrington and all these athletes could do comedy?

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013)

I'm a sucker for puns and this movie is just chock full of them, one after another.  The food that once rained down from the skies comes to life, each as a different appropriately named animal.  It's kind of like the animated food/animal version of Jurassic Park.  They create their own ecosystem and of course we can leave it to the evil corporations to destroy it.  There are some funny jokes but as far as animated flicks go, it does not have the emotion that you'd find in a Pixar movie or even in its predecessor.  The original was...well, original (though based on a book).  The sequel was less so, and not really necessary.