A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article on what I thought were the best movies for a college student to watch. This week I’ll narrow my focus on one (very important) facet of college life: partying. You’re not usually going to be watching a movie during a party (because that would probably be a pretty boring party) but it’s not a bad idea to have one going on in the background of a pregame, or even to watch one before a pregame to get you pumped up and excited. Here are some of the top films you can watch to get you excited for going out.
Project X: An obvious choice but a necessary one as well. A movie that is made by having thousands of people film the parties they throw deserves to be on this kind of list. There are hundreds of shots of people showing how little inhibition they have, whether it be because of drinking, drugs, lack of caring, or some combination of the three. Of course, I’m not suggesting you do any of the things the main characters did in this movie, least of all lock a temperamental dwarf in an oven, but it’s a fun watch.
Superbad: Who hasn’t seen this? If you haven’t, stop whatever you’re doing and go watch it immediately because you’re probably the only person left on the planet who hasn’t. It’s a fairly worn topic, high school senior boys trying to lose their virginity, but it’s done in a hilariously fresh way. It’s an unapologetic exaggeration of the mindset of every high school guy, and every basic plot point involves the main characters doing something illegal as a means to do something else illegal. Not that Hopkins pregames ever consist of anything illegal.
American Pie: (See first two lines of previous movie.) It’s strange that all of the pregame movies on this list focus on high school seniors on the brink of college, but in many ways their extreme efforts for a wild and hedonistic last hurrah make for better party movies than many college films. This movie begins and ends with parties, and involves one nerd getting back at his jock friend by sleeping with his mom, along with a defiled pie, a leaked webcam vid, and plenty of other comedic gems.
Weird Science: If you’d like to see a party where furniture disappears into a fireplace, a missile blows through a living room floor and a gang of mutant bikers shows up then this 80’s flick is for you. I can guarantee you’ve never been to a party as crazy as this and you probably never will. Just watch it and you’ll see what I mean.
American Graffiti: This one isn’t made up of one party; rather it has a lot of socializing in general. The movie is bittersweet in its celebration of youth. The atmosphere presented makes it seem like the kids in the film, driving from place to place and meeting people they know, are part of some town-wide party. It’s a classic in its own right, and certainly not something you should only watch before going out, but it definitely has value there as well.
The Hangover: Viewers could interpret this movie in two very different ways. They could take it as either a way to get really excited for an upcoming night out or as a warning to take heed of the dangers and consequences (however exaggerated) of drinking and drugs. Most college students will likely view it as the former, for many different reasons including the fact that it is one of the funniest movies to come out in the past twenty years. It’s unashamedly forward and graphic comedy was as refreshing to audiences then (back when it was released) as it is today. Plus, who wouldn’t love being able to tell the story of blacking out and waking up with Mike Tyson’s tiger in the bathroom, with a random baby in your arms and a tooth missing?
There are plenty of other movies you could watch to get yourself riled up for a night out on the town, and this is but a small sample size. Hopefully this list will be enough to get you started. However, if you get through the top six too quickly, movies like Dazed and Confused, House Party, and Bachelor Party make for fun experiences as well. And on a final note, insert the obligatory “don’t try to do what you see in these movies” line here.
