"Palm Springs" and "Eurovision"

I've never appreciated summer comedies so much, and streamers Netflix and Hulu have delivered this year. Some mild spoilers lie ahead.

Let's start with the off-kilter romantic comedy "Palm Springs," starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti as Nyles and Sarah, who are both attending a wedding. Sarah is the maid of honor and sister of the bride, Tala (Camila Mendes), while Nyles is the boyfriend of Misty (Meredith Hagner), one of the bridesmaids. Nyles and Sarah are, of course, on a collision course with each other, though there are some considerable personal issues they have to work through. Nyles is stuck in the mother of all ruts, bored with his existence, and largely just does what he wants without any thought of consequences. Misty's life is a mess, and she can't escape a series of terrible choices she's made. Both of them are pretty terrible people, but the type of terrible people who are a lot of fun to watch.

"Palm Springs" is the latest production of Lonely Island, and it's the first feature for both the screenwriter, Andy Siara, and the director, Max Barbakow. The filmmakers manage to take a premise we've seen over and over again and give it some new twists, largely through the use of meta elements and a lot of absurdity. Nyles and Sarah's demented courtship gets them into all sorts of unexpected situations, from barfights and dance routines, to tangling with a very persistent, revenge-minded fellow named Roy (J.K. Simmons). There's a lot of unexpected detail to characters' patterns of behaviors which have some great payoffs and punchlines. Keep in mind that while this is ultimately a romantic comedy at its core, it's the comedy that gets all the attention, and its very much Lonely Island style snark with a bit of a mean streak. Samberg and Milioti make a good pairing, but their characters are both very prickly and the actual romance is kept to a bare minimum. And that's just fine.

Now on to "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga," which is a genial spoof on the annual televised international song competition that most Americans have never heard of. Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams star as Lars Erickssong and Sigrit Ericksdóttir, the members of the band Fire Saga. They're Icelandic Eurovision hopefuls who are your typical small town kids with big dreams - though rapidly approaching middle age. Lars is obsessed with Eurovision, desperate to overcome his reputation as a failure and prove himself to his disapproving father Erick (Pierce Brosnan). One thing leads to another, and Fire Saga gets their shot. On the international stage, they encounter new friends and rivals, including the sexy Greek contestant Mita Xenakis (Melissanthi Mahut), and the sexy and very suspicious Russian, Alexander Lemtov (Dan Stevens). Longtime BBC presenter and Eurovision commentator Graham Norton is also on hand, of course.

"Eurovision" falls in line with Ferrell's prior comedies like "Blades of Glory," "Anchorman," and "Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby." "Eurovision" is a little less crass and a little more family friendly, but Ferrell is doing his usual overgrown manchild schtick despite serious diminishing returns. Rachel McAdams is more fun, and I'm glad that she's getting more comedy roles, because she's delightful in these kookier, sillier parts. And "Eurovision" is a deeply, deeply silly movie. It totally plays up the camp value of the show and the usual rising star tropes, while adding all sorts of wacky elements like Lars being haunted by the ghost of a former contestant, and Sigrit earnestly believing in elves. Dan Stevens frequently steals the show as the flamboyant Russian who is hiding a big secret very badly. The film is fairly well written with a bunch of solid running jokes and a nice, heartfelt finale.

It's a "Eurovision" movie, so expect plenty of songs and performances. Many of the numbers are surprisingly catchy, and make for good earworms. Most of the actors had their singing dubbed by professionals, and there are a few fun cameos from prior Eurovision contestants and other entertainers. And Eurovision fans need not worry - everyone is in on the joke, and the show is treated with loving affection by the filmmakers. I wouldn't be surprised if the contest actually picked up some new fans because of this.

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