Love for Loners is our weekly feature promoting awesome work that is currently streaming on Netflix. It is written by resident misanthrope Jon Smith.

If you weren’t aware, I turned 23 yesterday. Yes yes, hooray. From what I’ve heard, 22 is the best year of your life. And since my 22nd year kind of sucked, that means I probably peaked around 19-20, and have already begun my descent into mediocrity. Here are some movies to distract you from your inevitable doom.

The Fifth Element
French people are crazy! Well, not all French people. Luc Besson is though; you have to be to dream up a movie like The Fifth Element. This is one of the most absurd examples of badassery. Chock-full of strange characters, thrilling action sequences and unrealistic weaponry, Fifth Element truly is one of the most original takes on the future of mankind.

True Lies
Before bustin’ blocks with Titanic then disappearing to create his magnum opus, James Cameron directed this action-comedy that pokes fun at the “secret agent” movie genre. Usually, parodies go too far with their mockery, the outlandish scenarios eliminating all believability from the story. True Lies is a great example of a film that simultaneously mocks itself while still getting you to invest in the characters. Even though the cast find themselves in some pretty ridiculous situations, their characters are realistic and imperfect enough to believe in.

Dog Bites Man
Comedy is a troubled beast. What does / doesn’t work depends on so many variables that many times a show will get the axe just as the writers and actors find their rhythm. This is EXACTLY what happened with Dog Bites Man. The first few episodes are alright, but after the third episode, the show gets GOOD. What’s better than four professional comedians posing as a news crew, interviewing the unaware and getting them to say horrible things on-camera? I just wish this show could’ve had a second chance.