Best Movies For A Friday Night

How many times have you come out of a theater after seeing a great movie and said,”oh I want to see that again!?” We all have our favorites that we return to time and time again. Friday night always seems the perfect time too. You’re relaxing after a week of school, activities and work and you unwind with a comfortable favorite film.

WAMG has our own personal favs. You’ll find blockbusters on our list…just because it invokes the fun memories of seeing it for the first time in the theater…with friends/family…then non-stop gabbing about wanting to see it again.

Looking for the perfect movie for a Friday Night? Check out our list below!

MEATBALLS Four words – “It Just Doesn’t Matter!”

THE BURBS Hilarious cast, suburbanites Tom Hanks, Rick Ducummon, Bruce Dern and Carrie Fisher, made up Joe Dante’s comedy about the unusual neighbors next door (Yes, we all have ’em) is required watching, along with munching on popcorn, as you head into any weekend.

THE MALTESE FALCON After watching current films all week, we sometimes like to get back to an old black and white classic from the Golden Age of Hollywood. This quinessential film noir – one of the films to establish the type – is full of plot twists, mystery, shady characters and fine photography. Humphrey Bogart’s Sam Spade is the perfect private eye, setting the type, and everything exists in moral shades of grey in this black and white world. While packed with unforgettable characters and strong acting, the contrast between Spade’s loyal secretary and the mysterious, irrestible Brigid O’Shannessy (we don’t even know if that is her real name) are particularly memorable. A film we enjoy seeing over and over.

FASTER PUSSYCAT, KILL KILL! Opening with a narrator intoning “Ladies and gentlemen – welcome to violence!”, FASTER PUSSYCAT, KILL KILL! (1966) tells the sordid tale of a trio of bisexual amazon go-go girls on a neck-breaking crime spree in the Californian desert. Director Russ Meyer’s audacious sense of eroticism, comic timing, and social satire is off the charts in FASTER PUSSYCAT, KILL KILL!, a movie John Waters once described as “The best movie ever made, and possibly better than any movie that will ever be made.”

SIGNS “Swing away, Merrill. Merrill, swing away.” Perfect for a Friday night, Joaquin Phoenix goes mano a mano with Alien invaders in M. Night Shyamalan’s sci-fi creeper.

GALAXY QUEST Once you’ve finished with SIGNS, this is the next movie you’ll want to pop in and wish there had been a sequel – at the very least a weekly TV show about the intergalactic voyages of the NSEA Protector.

THAT THING YOU DO The “OH-NEEDERS”, better known as the one hit WONDERS, is a musically fun romp back to the 60’s for a Friday evening. Directed by Tom Hanks, and starring Tom Everett Scott, Liv Tyler, Johnathon Schaech and the hilarious Steve Zahn, the film shows a simpler time when being famous was a ton of fun and records were released.

SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE 2 If I’m staying at home on a Friday Night… Slumber Party Massacre 2… Do you love Andrew Dice Clay and the Fonze mixed with a serial killer with a fringe jacket? Then this film is for you! Add the fact that his name is “the driller killer”, as well as one liners such as “I can’t get no… Satisfaction!” and you’ve got yourself a party!!!!

NATIONAL LAMPOON’S ANIMAL HOUSE The perfect flick to kick off the weekend just may be that comedy classic from 1978 NATIONAL LAMPOON’S ANIMAL HOUSE. It’s the greatest R-rated (for raunch) ultimate movie showdown between the slobs (our heroes at Delta) and the snobs(“Douggie and Greggy, and assorted other Hitler youth). It transformed John Belushi from late night TV star to comedy legend. Toga!! Toga!!

JURASSIC PARK Director Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece is one of the most successful films in worldwide box office history and remains a compelling and spectacular experience. This thrilling adventure features Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough. Featuring incredible special effects and action-packed drama, Jurassic Park takes you to a remote island where an amazing theme park with living dinosaurs is about to turn deadly, as five people must battle to survive among the prehistoric predators.

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK Speaking of Spielberg, no Friday night is complete without tag teaming JP to RAIDERS. Show it for the first time to a friend or family member who may still be in need of their Geek card, and watch their face light up during the famous golden idol and boulder scene. The ultimate scene is the showdown in the marketplace between the sword and gun.

DAZED AND CONFUSED Director Richard Linklater’s follow-up to Slacker takes an autobiographical look at some Texas teens (including Ben Affleck and Matthew McConaughey) on their last day of school in 1976, centering on student Randall Floyd (Jason London), who moves easily among stoners, jocks and geeks. Floyd is a star athlete, but he also likes smoking weed, which presents a conundrum when his football coach demands he sign a “no drugs” pledge.

STAR WARS Hollywood prodigies George Lucas’ and Steven Spielberg’s films were in a continual state of one upping each other at the Box Office during the 1970’s. The Grandfather of all Summer Blockbusters, JAWS, was released in 1975 and was a huge hit with audiences and at the Box Office – until STAR WARS came along in May 1977. With too many familiar quotes to count, this is the ultimate Friday Night Movie. “If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine,” is still so gut-wrenching to watch.