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EVITA (dir: Alan Parker, PG) - Bart says, "Other than HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, which really belongs in a category unto itself, EVITA is undoubtedly the best musical of the past 30 years. The film got a flurry of attention when it was released and a few savvy critics got past knee-jerk Madonna-bashing (she's actually pretty good) and gave it rave reviews. But today, even with musicals more popular now than they have been since the 60s, EVITA is unjustly neglected. Perhaps the subject matter is more complex and political than most people want from a musical, or maybe the irony dripping from every lyric is too much for sincere emotion-lovers. But the rock opera score is unforgettable - way better than anything Andrew Lloyd Webber has written since 1976 (when EVITA was originally performed) and its cult-of-celebrity storyline seems more relatable to our current times than ever before. Rediscover it, if for no other reason than to remind yourself why everyone used to think pre-Melanie Griffith Antonio Banderas was the most charismatic actor on the planet."   
BOTTLE ROCKET (dir: Wes Anderson, R) - Michelle says, "His image is slightly tarnished by the Kate Hudson break-up, which set off that whole Elliot Smith-soundtracked suicide attempt. But before Owen Wilson rocketed to big nosed Hollywood royalty as a romantic douche, he was actually a cool writer and producer of some Wes Anderson (THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS) projects, the first of which is this light-hearted, fun movie. Like Francis, a later incarnation of the overbearing but well-intentioned jackass in Anderson’s THE DARJELLING LIMITED, Wilson’s Dignan is an abrasively upbeat leader of an unraveling trio, one who projects his goals onto the entire group. And though that goal in this story is to become a band of successful criminals, which is less ambitious than Francis’s goal of finding spiritual enlightenment in India, both roles feature Wilson at his best, playing Type-A personalities that just about alienate you one moment and charm you the next."
SPACE JAM (dir: Joe Pytka, PG) - Thom says, "I saw SPACE JAM in the theater, I owned the soundtrack (which introduced me to both Barry White and Chris Rock), I had the action figures, I wore a Monstars jersey - I lived this movie for about a year and a half. Recently, Aly and I re-watched this masterpiece and found ourselves giggling and grinning ear-to-ear, throwing out other gems from our lost childhoods. And what else is better than remembering that everything great has already happened and all this generation will have growing up are pictures of Miley Cyrus in the shower?"
A SUMMER'S TALE (dir: Eric Rohmer, Not Rated) - Bart says, "Whenever anybody asks me what my favorite film of all time is, I automatically reply, 'CLAIRE'S KNEE.' While I do love that film, it's really a shorthand way of saying that the filmmaker whose oeuvre I've most obsessively watched and re-watched is Eric Rohmer, and his 1970 'moral tale' is the film I most connected with early on in my obsession. It's hard for me to say which of his films I actually like the best, but it could possibly be this later work about a young musician on a seaside vacation (as many of Rohmer's protagonists are) who finds himself in the midst of flirtations with no fewer than three girls at the same time. It's a delicate look at love and companionship and how we rationalize our choices, so fans of French sleaze need not apply."
THE DAYTRIPPERS (dir: Greg Mottola, R) - Bart says, "Remember way back in 1996 when American independent cinema seemed fresh and exciting, and none of us could wait to see the next Miramax film because we knew we'd be getting something mind-blowing that a big Hollywood studio would never ever make? Well, it's 2009 now, and it's harder than ever to tell when a film's actually 'independent' or not, and most of those little 90s movies now seem pretty unadventurous and lackluster when we look at them now. But THE DAYTRIPPERS, now there's a film that is both a perfect example of the type of movie I'm talking about and also so perfect a piece of cinematic storytelling that it belongs to the ages as much as it does to the specific time and place in which it was made. Greg Mottola's recent ADVENTURELAND is the only other film he's both written and directed, and from what I hear it also achieves indie perfection, even without Parker Posey in the cast." 
BREAKING THE WAVES (dir: Lars von Trier, Not Rated)
CITIZEN RUTH (dir: Alexander Payne, Not Rated)
CRASH (dir: David Cronenberg, Not Rated)
FARGO (dir: Joel Coen, Not Rated)
LONE STAR (dir: John Sayles, Not Rated)
SECRETS & LIES (dir: Mike Leigh, Not Rated)
WALKING AND TALKING (dir: Nicole Holofcener, Not Rated)   
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