The Best Crackle Movies

Image via Getty/Warner Brothers

True Romance has it all: a love story, drugs, murder, and a cross-country road trip. The 1993 movie starts when a pop culture geek and call girl serendipitously fall in love—and he ends up killing her pimp. After accidentally stealing a large duffle bag of cocaine and heading out west to California, the new couple finds themselves on the wrong end of a mob hunt. Trust us when we say the movie provides a wild and entertaining ride.

The third movie in the legendary American Pie franchise is one of its best. Now adults, Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) decide to get married after a couple years of dating, and Jim entrusts his two best friends to ensure the wedding goes off without a hitch. However, Jim quickly learns this is something that is easier said than done when party boy Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott) comes back in town.

Featuring a stellar, character-driven performance from Adam Sandler, Reign Over Me tells the story of a grieving man who rekindles a friendship with a former college roommate. The two men bond over the strain and agony of life’s hardships and help each other find the strength to carry on when the going gets tough. It’s a beautiful story that speaks to the healing power of friendship and how it can help people move forward in the face of tragedy.

Perhaps one of the most iconic movies of the sci-fi genre, Alien vs. Predator is the first film in what would turn into a global, mega-successful, spinoff franchise.  A wealthy industrialist sends a team of archaeologists, drillers, and guides to Antarctica in hopes of verifying a mysterious source of heat that has been detected. When the team uncovers the source, they find themselves caught in the middle of a war between two extraterrestrial species—with no easy way of escaping.

A white American orphan boy is adopted by ninjas when he randomly shows up in a Japanese village. As the boy grows up, it quickly becomes clear he is possesses no real combat skills and is way too clumsy to ever be a great ninja—despite having a lot of heart for the craft. As an adult, he winds up in Beverly Hills where he finds himself in the midst of a murder mystery while protecting the beautiful woman who has hired him. Just go with it.

Set entirely around a graduation party, Can’t Hardly Wait manages to touch on all the stereotypes of high school without ever getting dull: The popular girls, football jocks, and nerdy kids all come together for one major blowout. Having that many different teenagers in the same room is a surefire sign you’re in for both drama and laughs. Some are there to seek revenge against a longtime bully, others are hoping to lose their virginity—but mostly everyone just wants to party.

We can’t pretend that Joe Dirt is one of the best comedies ever made, but the charm of the story makes it well worth a watch. David Spade stars are the namesake character, a janitor with a love for mullets and denim, who is on a lifelong quest to be reunited with his parents after being separated as a child. Thanks to a random appearance on a radio show, Joe quickly becomes a media sensation and, as an entire city roots for him, he moves forward on his own personal journey.

Who doesn’t love a good buddy cop movie? Blue Streak stars the likes of Martin Lawrence and Luke Wilson, and has all the trappings of a great action comedy film. After serving a short stint in prison, Miles (Lawrence) returns to the scene of his crime to look for a diamond he had previously left behind—only to find the location has since been transformed into a police station.