I might have the opportunity to screen 1 or 2 movies at a get together soon. Crowd is generally chill people but not all comrades. past features (chosen by others) have included Shaun of the Dead, Rear Window and They Live, but I’m up for anything, I just want it to not be a complete downer, at least the first one, and ideally have communist themes or undertones.
Inglorious Basterds honestly is on the list as a fallback, always a crowdpleaser, but I’d go for something higher-brow if I could think of anything
Sounds like you want to stay in the comedy-action-horror triangle, maybe with a little bit of room for a thriller. I wouldn’t overthink it.
If everyone liked Rear Window try Under the Silver Lake. Male loneliness + Hollywood exploitation + Billionaire conspiracy. The movie itself has hidden messages and codes in it. Nothing subtly communist though. More like 70s paranoia but for today.
The Blob (1988) is supposed to be a nice inversion of the original, and counter to cold war sentiments of the time. I can’t vouch because I have yet to watch it.
Enemy of the State, classic 90s Will Smith and Gene Hackman being an unofficial older version of his character in The Conversation. It has a faster pace and a bit more action than The Conversation. It got a jump on the post-9/11 surveillance state stuff.
None of these are particularly communist. However they might incept your friends with the idea that the government and elites are corrupt and dangerous.
The Blob (1988) is an absolute blast, and yes, it puts some very deft twists on the original