Beerfest

Beerfest arrived August 25, 2006, directed by Jay Chandrasekhar and starring the Broken Lizard comedy troupe: Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske. The troupe had become DVD-era cult heroes with Super Troopers, and Beerfest was their biggest swing since—an ensemble comedy with built-in quotability.

The premise sent brothers Jan and Todd Wolfhouse to Munich to spread their grandfather's ashes at Oktoberfest, where they stumbled into Beerfest, an underground international drinking competition. They return home to assemble an American team—including Phil "Landfill" Krundle and Charlie "Fink" Finkelstein—to challenge the German champions. Jürgen Prochnow played Baron Wolfgang von Wolfhausen, the aristocratic villain; Cloris Leachman appeared as Great Gam Gam. The signature imagery was Das Boot, a giant glass boot that anchored the climactic competition.

Made for $17.5 million, the film grossed $20.4 million, and reviews were middling (41% on Rotten Tomatoes). The troupe closed the film with a card teasing "Potfest," which they later admitted was a publicity joke; it never happened. Yet, like Super Troopers, Beerfest found its true life on DVD, passed around in dorm rooms and at parties, rewatchable and quotable by design.