Two Canadian boys in LA, Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel, head off to a party at James Franco's house. But the apocalypse intervenes, with giant explosions and earthquakes and other things killing off large chunks of LA's mid-level celebrity douchebags, and now, between cabin fever, reduced rations and one surprisingly deceptive Harry Potter star, survival is anything but inevitable.

With every cast member playing, essentially, a horrible version of themselves, the question is not ‘is this going to become self-indulgent’, so much as ‘does the self-indulgence matter’? And the answer is – largely no – the performers are very much mocking themselves throughout, behaving like terrified idiots in the face of increasing disaster. There's all manner of anti-social behaviour (drinking, drug use, a little bit of nudity) and some quite hilarious shenanigans as these pampered celebrities cannot help but bump egos even in the face of impending doom. For anybody expecting deep and dark exploration of the end of the world – go rent Lars Von Trier's Melancholia. For shits and giggles, watch this.

If you have not seen this movie, this could well be your last chance to correct this egregious error you have made with your life. OK, so it probably isn’t, but you never know, right? Think about it. Come and see this movie. You can thank me later.

This is a movie about the threat of nuclear annihilation. It is also a comedy. And it is funny. You will laugh. You will also be mildly terrified and taken on an emotional roller-coaster that will leave you rocking back and forth in a foetal position, giggling gently at the insanity of it all.

Released during some of the darkest days of the cold war, only two years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kubrick had originally intended to make a more conventional ‘race against time’ thriller. Finding that, to maintain this tone, he had to continually gloss over increasingly absurd aspects of this story about the prevailing ‘balance of terror’ he eventually just threw in the towel and made a full-blown comedy instead.

I love this movie. I love that it’s the only race against time movie I know where you genuinely have no clue whether we’ll make it. I love how emotionally manipulative it is – you’ll be alternately screaming support for the brave bomber crew and recoiling in horror for doing so. I love so much more about this movie; they’re just the first two things that jumped into my head just now.

For the love of God, see this movie.