The Machine isn’t done sprinting yet. For this 5-For transmission, Truman and Landen are handed five studio comedies that orbit Tag (2018)—movies where grown adults, respectable jobs be damned, are dragged into escalating games, schemes, and misadventures that test friendship, masculinity, and the limits of insurance coverage.

The Machine’s Five Selected Films

According to the Machine, these films share a common DNA: high-concept premises, ensemble casts, and the quiet fear that adulthood might already be over.

• Game Night (2018) – Murder-mystery stakes collide with suburban friendship dynamics
• Date Night (2010) – Marriage, mistaken identity, and chaos after bedtime
• Horrible Bosses (2011) – Workplace rage filtered through cartoonish criminal logic
• Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) – Male nostalgia weaponized into a sci-fi party comedy
• The Hangover (2009) – The modern blueprint for friendship-based disaster comedies

Why These Five?

Together, these movies map out the late-2000s and 2010s studio comedy boom—where adult responsibility was repeatedly smashed into genre frameworks like action thrillers, crime capers, and sci-fi romps. Seen alongside Tag, they reveal a moment when Hollywood tried to keep the R-rated comedy alive by turning friendship itself into the central stunt.

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