10 Movies Perfect for College Movie Nights

Starring the boyishly charming Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller, this movie follows our main character's attempts to skip school one final time before graduating high school. His goal is to have the best day in the city with his best friend, Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck), and his girlfriend, Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara). Unbeknownst to them, their high school principal Ed Rooney, played by a hysterical Jeffery Jones, tries to catch the trio in the act and nail them for skipping school.

It may seem strange to recommend a movie from 1986 to a bunch of college students now, but Ferris Bueller's Day Off is eternal. It has such an effortless sense of humor that has aged gracefully, unlike similar flicks from its age, and every cast member makes their scenes the peak of comedy. There is no movie with a broader range of appeal. The film also explores deeper themes of struggling to figure out what you want to do with your life, which will resonate well with a college audience. This movie is at the top because it's not a generic suggestion, and numerous movie-suggestion lists, somewhat amazingly, fail to mention it.  It's truly a  perfect film to watch with a new audience.

Neighbors is the perfect college movie as it follows Mac (Seth Rogan) and Kelly (Rose Byrne) as they get used to parenting a child with the Delta Psi Beta fraternity moving in next door. What ensues is the hilariously swift rise and fall in their relationship with the fraternity brothers, who Zac Efron leads. The film escalates until the parents and the fraternity are in open conflict.

If this film had a different set of actors and a different script, it wouldn't work half as well. To see that, you don't have to look further than its disappointing sequel, Neighbors 2. Luckily, this film has a tremendously gifted set of actors and a hysterical script. Efron, Rogan, and Byrne are all pitch-perfect. They never miss a beat, and their lines are the perfect blend of surrealist comedy and heartfelt character beats. Play this flick at your college movie night, and you won't regret it.

An Oscar-winning film made the recommendation list for your college movie night? Yes, you read that correctly. Parasite follows the journey of a low-income family in South Korea as they hustle their way into the good graces and employ of an extremely wealthy family, the Parks. The movie takes a sharp twist when the family discovers the Parks' beautiful house has a dark secret.

Parasite is not only an incredible film with deep social and political comedy on the class divide, but it is so much fun. In many ways, Parasite is the perfect dark comedy. Watching this film with a group of people is a riveting and insane experience. You will laugh, you will gasp, and you will sit in shock at the end of the movie. The only caveat is that this movie is in another language, so you must read the subtitles. Most people in college are comfortable with that now, but dyslexic friends may struggle.

You might get whiplash to see the list jump from an R-rated Oscar-winning dark comedy to a barely PG-13 Disney movie, but Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a very well-constructed and humourous film. It follows the blacksmith Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) as he tries to save his friend and not-so-secret love interest Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) when pirates kidnap her. Will and Elizabeth's separate journeys intertwine with the wild yet calculating Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), and the film is the perfect blend of comedy, adventure, and romance.

Honestly, this is another timeless film. It is hard to get better than swashbuckling pirates and daring adventures. The best aspects of this film are the characters and the script. Every trio member has moments of cunning and bravery. Elizabeth, Will, and Jack all show agency and never fail to be entertaining to watch. A surprising amount of college students have never seen this flick or watched it a long time ago in childhood, so a college movie night is a perfect time to revisit it.

21 Jump Street follows the odd friendship of two cops, Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum), after they fail at a mission and get sent to the Jump Street unit as punishment. The goal of the Jump Street unit is to send cops that look young enough to be high schoolers undercover to do drug busts. What follows is a hilarious take on how high school has evolved over the years and surprising exploration of moving on from childhood insecurities.

This movie delivers Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill at their prime. The pair have great chemistry and know what to do in their respective roles. The film rides a lot on its premise, and for the most part, it utilizes it very well. The plot will drag a bit in a few spots, but the movie more than makes up for it in the final act.

She's the Man is a cult classic movie, which makes it the perfect funny film to throw on during college movie night. The movie advertisements describe the plot as "Duke wants Olivia who likes Sebastian who is really Viola whose brother is dating Monique so she hates Olivia..." This very long and confusing sentence is the perfect plot summary. If you're overwhelmed with the list of characters, don't worry, the movie does a great job introducing everyone and carrying out this hijinx-filled plot. It is a movie loosely based on the story of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Viola disguises herself as a boy and replaces her brother at another school so she can play soccer because her team got removed. Everything else in the movie happens because of this wild deception, and miscommunications abound.

Amanda Bynes as Viola is at her most expressive in this film, and it is largely her performance that carries the entire premise. Opposite her is a young Channing Tatum, who also plays his part perfectly. In the flick, they are roommates, so their relationship and dynamics are a core aspect of the movie. Luckily, they work well together throughout the film, and you can see their interactions evolve. Overall, this movie works because the script knows the premise is completely ridiculous, and they treat it with the perfect amount of self-awareness and earnestness. The large cast of supporting characters all significantly add flavor and sincerity to this world. Plus, this flick has one of the best soundtracks of all time.

Who doesn't love a heist movie? With a cast like this, it's impossible not to be charmed and amused by Ocean's 8. Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett star as Debbie Ocean and Lou, respectively. Together, they plan the heist and steal the show, but they get help from a large, entertaining supporting crew. Sarah Paulson, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, Awkwafina, and Mindy Kaling all shine in their respective roles as they plot to steal a necklace off someone's neck in the middle of a gala. Other stars include Anne Hathaway as the unwitting model the crew plans on using to get the necklace and James Corden as the detective on the case. Ocean's 8 is a film that never stops engaging the audience, making it a great blend of comedy and action for your college movie night.

The best heist movies are ones with a twist, stakes, and a plot that doesn't stop trying to exceed audience expectations. Ocean's 8 manages to do all that with an intelligent script and a star-studded cast. Every actress and actor puts their best foot forward, and charisma practically drips off the screen. Because of the twists and turns the script takes, this is also a great movie to rewatch because all the clues you missed the first time start to leap out from their hiding spots. This movie is part of a larger universe, but it is very self-contained, and seeing the other movies is not required.

Released in 2011, Fast 5 is aptly named as it's the fifth installment in the Fast and Furious franchise. When Fast and Furious is at its best, it's an action-packed, ridiculous, and even touching time at the theaters. This movie is Fast and Furious at its best. Fans widely consider Fast 5 to be the height of the franchise in terms of quality. Like Ocean's 8, it features an ensemble cast of Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, Matt Schulze, Sung Kang, Tego Calderón, Don Omar, Gal Gadot, Joaquim de Almeida, and Dwayne Johnson. It is a high-stakes movie featuring a heist and the subsequent fallout.

Like Ocean's 8, you do not need to watch the previous installments to enjoy Fast 5. While the knowledge will help, the direction and scriptwriters designed the movie to hit the ground running, and most of the plot is accessible for any viewer to pick up. If you and your friends are in the mood for a fast-paced, action-packed movie, this is the one to watch. Fast 5 has everything you could want in a film, with exciting, dramatic action choreography and intriguing, gritty characters.

Ponyo will be the most confusing pick for a college movie night, but it's also one you will not regret. Ponyo is a beautifully animated Japanese fantasy movie. It is a Studio Ghibli film written and directed by the incomparable Hayao Miyazaki. While there is a plot summary for Ponyo, it is far more fun to go into the experience completely blind. If you have to have an overview, here's a short explanation. The plot follows a young boy who finds a goldfish with magical properties. It focuses on the bond they develop and the surprising evolution of the fish, who he names Ponyo, as she realizes she wants to become a human girl and uses magic to achieve this. 

You should go into Ponyo with as little outside knowledge as possible. This film is perfect for a casual college movie night where everyone feels like commenting and having a wild time because Ponyo is one of the funniest movies to watch with a group of people who know nothing about the plot. While the movie is absolutely stunning in terms of animation, the actual events that occur in the film are so unexpected and unique that it becomes entertaining in very ironic ways.

Last but certainly not least, this list had to include Superbad. Superbad has a reputation for being one of the best comedic movies of all time. It stars Jonah Hill and Michael Cera as two teenage boys, Seth and Evan. They are on the precipice of graduation and have felt invisible throughout high school, having only each other. The plot follows their insane night as they attempt to party and lose their virginity before college as various hijinx ensue from their crazy actions.

Michael Cera and Jonah Hill are incredible castings for the two leads. It is impossible to imagine this movie without both because they balance each other out comedically, each serving unique functions in the script. Superbad is a movie with top-notch physical comedy, but it's also very clever and hits at a lot of feelings of teenage confusion and anxiety. It is a cult classic for a reason, and as the night continues, more and more unexpected things start to unfold. Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg wrote the script with a distinct style. A strong supporting cast includes comedic forces such as Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Emma Stone. Still, the heart of the film comes from the incredible performances of Cera and Hill as they portray the motivations and give seemingly shallow characters emotional depth.