Combining violence and comedy isn’t new, exactly, but it’s certainly a genre that has been tried and tested inside Hollywood. Nobody and its sequel, Nobody 2, are two brilliant examples of the way that genre has continued to evolve and change, even as Hollywood has evolved right alongside it.
If you liked Nobody 2, the sequel to Bob Odenkirk’s surprising action comedy, then we’ve got five other movies that are worth checking out. These movies all mix comedy and violence to interesting effect, although some lean heavier into one element or the other.
Jack Quaid has proven to be a uniquely likable screen presence, and Novocaine is the perfect showcase for what he’s so good at. Whereas Nobody is about a regular guy who turns out to have some surprising fighting skills, Novocaine is about a guy with very few fighting skills, but has the advantage of not being able to feel pain. When the girl of his dreams is kidnapped, he decides to use that skill to his advantage to take on the criminals who took her. Light on its feet, wildly violent, and featuring a remarkably game Quaid performance, Novocaine is the kind of movie we should want six of every year.
You can watch Novocaine on Paramount+.
In part because it was released straight to Apple TV+, The Instigators didn’t the recognition it probably deserved. Featuring an all-star cast that is headlined by Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, the film follows two unlikely allies, one a desperate father and the other a thief, who join forces to pull off a heist for money that both of them need. When things go wrong, though, they have to try to avoid capture. While it has a sense of real stakes, The Instigators is mostly light entertainment, the kind of movie that you’ll mostly find yourself delighted by as you breeze through it.
You can watch The Instigators on Apple TV+.
One of the great undersung movies of 2023, Hit Man tells the story of a philosophy professor who moonlights as a fake hit man for the New Orleans Police Department. When he meets a woman who wants a hit man to kill her husband, he begins to form a bond with her that extends well beyond his persona. Anchored by the remarkable chemistry between Glen Powell and Adria Arjona, Hit Man is a lightly philosophical movie that is a heck of a lot of fun. While it has its moments of violence, the movie is mostly a romantic comedy, and a delightful one at that.
You can watch Hit Man on Netflix.
The movie that Nobody is most directly indebted to, the original John Wick tells the story of a retired assassin who finds himself coming out of retirement after his dog is killed. This movie, which launched an entire franchise, is smaller than you might remember, but features some of the most remarkable, and remarkably violent action sequences in recent memory. Just as crucial, though, is Keanu Reeves’ central performance, which is both steely and more vulnerable than you might remember.
You can watch John Wick on Hulu.
Perhaps the best comedy that Melissa McCarthy ever made, Spy tells the story of a CIA analyst who has spent her entire career behind her desk. When the agent she supports is assassinated, though, she wrangles her way into the field for the very first time, and a wide array of hilarity ensues. Spy is an out-and-out comedy, but it’s an exceptionally good one, and maybe the fullest example of her immense comedic talent. Just as great, though, is Jason Statham playing essentially a parody of the characters he normally plays, and a damn good one at that.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.