15 Comedies to Catch on Streaming Before They Disappear at the End of the Month
Nobody goes through life without at least a few regrets, be they failed relationships, bad investments or failed relationships with investment bankers who were secretly screwing you out of a bunch of money. But the bitterest of all regrets, perhaps, is that of missing out on a movie or TV show after it’s been unceremoniously booted from a streaming service as if it were a common heckler at a funeral.
Fortunately, some streaming services routinely give us a heads-up about what’s soon to disappear from their library, and it turns out that there are several great comedies on the chopping block this month. But not unlike Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas morning, it’s not too late for you to change your ways — you can still catch these titles before they’re banished to streaming purgatory forever until someone else licenses them.
If you’ve already binged Wednesday multiple times and thrown your back out dancing to The Cramps in your living room, there’s always the 1993 Addams Family sequel that somehow still holds up. In addition to Wednesday Addams’ gloriously destructive summer camp anarchy, Joan Cusack is a highlight as the duplicitous, and possibly murderous, Debbie.
While the story of a grown man hanging out in classrooms full of small children may seem a tad less fun if you’re now an adult with kids of your own, Billy Madison is still pretty great. Arguably the crowning achievement of Steve Buscemi’s career.
Mamma Mia! (Hulu) Long before Glass Onion, we got another mystery set in the Greek Isles, based on the popular stage musical, based on the ABBA CDs your parents kept in the car at all times. At least this one doesn’t break all the laws of space and time like its sequel. You’re Next (Peacock) It’s primarily a horror story, but there’s a lot of black humor to be found in Adam Wingard’s slasher flick — like that extremely uncomfortable dinner scene. The charming Oscar-nominated French animated film recently got a sequel — so there’s no better time to catch up with the original, lest you lose track of the ECCU (Ernest & Celestine Cinematic Universe). Back in the days when action movies were seemingly cast by throwing darts at an issue of TV Guide, we got Running Scared, starring Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines as badass Chicago cops trying to take down a drug dealer before taking an early retirement. Borrowing Stanley Kubrick’s alternate title for Eyes Wide Shut, this raunchy 2011 comedy may not be perfect (or even good), but it’s still worth checking out for the all-star cast, which includes Jason Sudeikis (still in his smooth-talking dirtbag phase), Lake Bell, Nick Kroll, Will Forte, Lucy Punch, Martin Starr and David Koechner. Phil Lord and Chris Miller of The LEGO Movie and not making a Han Solo movie fame surprised everyone with their delightful adaptation of the mostly storyless children’s book concerning a town plagued by apocalyptic food-based weather. Bill Hader is great as the lovable mad scientist-esque hero. Oh, and once you’ve watched the original, the sequel’s good too! Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson may have seemed like an unlikely combo, but Shanghai Noon somehow worked, as does the London-set sequel. There’s still time to make a third movie in which the pair open a used record store in Chicago: Shanghai Fidelity. Wes Anderson’s third movie remains one of his best — sure, you’ve probably seen it already, but Gene Hackman’s performance is endlessly rewatchable (even if he was a total dick behind the scenes). This fresh take on the zombie comedy finds an elementary school teaching staff fighting for their lives after a batch of funky chicken nuggets turns the students into bloodthirsty monsters — starring Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson and Alison Pill. Whether you’re in the mood for a Kenneth Branagh movie or just looking to cheat on a high school English assignment, 1993’s Much Ado About Nothing is a lot of fun. Memorably, Michael Keaton shows up at one point and does a Shakespearean take on Beetlejuice. A lot of people love it, but Can’t Hardly Wait kind of sucks. That being said, as an unfiltered dose of pure Smash Mouth and Third Eye Blind-filled 1990s nostalgia, it can’t (hardly) be beat. One of Adam Sandler’s best early comedies, Happy Gilmore gave us so much comic greatness, from Carl Weathers’ one-handed mentor to Ben Stiller as the two-faced nursing home manager to the iconic melee between Happy and Bob Barker. You (yes, you) should follow JM on Twitter (if it still exists by the time you’re reading this). Ernest & Celestine (Hulu)
Running Scared (HBO Max)
A Good Old Fashioned Orgy (Hulu)
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (Peacock)
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 (Peacock)
Shanghai Knights (Hulu)
The Royal Tenenbaums (Hulu)
Cooties (Peacock)
Much Ado About Nothing (HBO Max)
Can’t Hardly Wait (Hulu)
Happy Gilmore (Peacock)
