Somewhere in the world, there are probably people who don't understand why Mike Myers's character, Wayne Campbell, is funny—which is too bad. Granted, the laughs are often cheap and silly, but there's no one who can embody a comic character and riff within that character the way Myers does. Wayne and his pal Garth (Dana Carvey) were fixtures on Saturday Night Live before the unexpected success of Wayne's World, which is about what happened when they tried to take their local cable-access show citywide. This time, they want to stage Waynestock, a mammoth rock festival in their little Chicago suburb, even as Wayne copes with girlfriend Tia Carrere's interest in record-company exec Christopher Walken. For extra fun, Garth gets involved with the babelicious Kim Basinger. Yes, the humor is scattershot and the plot is lame—but you'll find yourself laughing nonetheless. —Marshall Fine

John Travolta traded in disco duds for a cowboy hat in this corny love story about a working man who breaks up with his girlfriend (Debra Winger), then plays out their relationship's turmoil inside a huge honky-tonk called Gilley's. The story essentially parallels Travolta's prior hit film, Saturday Night Fever, in its blend of ordinary life, incomplete relationships, and personal pride channeled into niche stardom at a neighborhood club. But for all its regional flavor, Urban Cowboy never enjoys the immediacy and urgency of Fever, and after awhile you can't help but feel bemused by the macho silliness of ongoing "mechanical bull" competitions (basically a faux rodeo device only brave men can master at great chiropractic risk). The Travolta-Winger relationship is pure soap, as well. But this film really is a kind of time-capsule piece on a lot of levels—notably Travolta's career and late '70s Western kitsch—and while it's silly, it's certainly not disagreeable. —Tom Keogh

Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Tomas, the happily irresponsible Czech lover of Milan Kundera's novel, which is set in Prague just before and during the Soviet invasion in 1968. Lena Olin and Juliette Binoche are the two vastly different women who occupy his attention and to some extent represent different sides of his values and personality. In any case, the character's decision to flee Russian tanks with one of them—and then return—has profound consequences on his life. Directed by Philip Kaufman, this rich, erotic, fascinating character study with allegorical overtones is a touchstone for many filmgoers. Several key sequences—such as Olin wearing a bowler hat and writhing most attractively—linger in the memory, while Kaufman's assured sense of the story inspires superb performances all around. —Tom Keogh

Depending on how you liked this romantic comedy, you just might find more laughs in the delightful banter between the director and his two stars on the commentary track. Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant join writer-director Marc Lawrence for a lively 102 minutes of conversation. Not much movie magic is discussed, but the three talents will sacrifice all for a good joke. It's best to watch the commentary track with the "Two Bleeps Notice" viewing option: when a heart appears on-screen, you can immediately view outtakes from that stage of the film. The flubs, on-set antics, and jokes are all guaranteed to bring a laugh. Other extras include two additional scenes (the wedding finale was judicially cut) and a HBO puff-piece on the making of the film. Yet the disc is a must-have for any fan of Bullock or Grant because it offers a chance to listen in on them; they're just as charming off-screen as on. —Doug Thomas

In this crowd-pleasing 1983 comedy of high finance about a homeless con artist who becomes a Wall Street robber baron, Eddie Murphy consolidated the success of his startling debut in the previous year's 48 Hours and polished his slick-winner persona. The turnabout begins with an argument between super-rich siblings, played by Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche: Are captains of industry, they wonder, born or made? To settle the issue, the meanies construct a cruel experiment in social Darwinism. Preppie commodities trader Dan Aykroyd (perfectly cast) is stripped of all his worldly goods and expelled from the firm, and Murphy's smelly derelict is appointed to take his place, graduating to tailored suits and a world-class harem in record time. Eventually the two men team up to teach the nasty old manipulators a lesson, cornering the market in frozen orange juice futures in the process. Director John Landis (The Blues Brothers) doesn't have the world's lightest touch, but he hits most of the jokes hard and quite a few of them pay off. Trading Places is also a landmark film for fans of Jamie Lee Curtis. —David Chute

Words cannot capture the delights of The Triplets of Belleville, an astonishing animated movie from the mind of French director Sylvain Chomet. In fact, there are only a few spoken sentences in the entire film; most of the soundtrack is a mix of squeaks, barks, and the jazzy music of Benoit Charest. A bicyclist is kidnapped from the Tour de France by mysterious gangsters; his grandmother travels to the city of Belleville (which has a sardonic version of the Statue of Liberty in its harbor), where she tracks him down with the help of a musical trio gone to seed, the Belleville Triplets. This hand-drawn movie is unlike anything you'll see from Disney; every scene mixes the silent comedy of Jacques Tati and Buster Keaton—in which the world of objects subtly fights with living beings for mastery—and the bouncy hop of Betty Boop. Unique and mesmerizing. —Bret Fetzer

François Voisin a quarante ans et il passe aux yeux de sa famille pour un simple réparateur de lignes téléphoniques. Il est, en fait, un des meilleurs agents secrets français. Mais lorsqu’il apprend que sa femme pourrait bien avoir un amant, le paisible espion sort de ses gonds. La Totale ou le film qui inspira True Lies de James Cameron. Mais loin des époustouflantes pétarades de Schwarzy, l’inépuisable Claude Zidi préfère réunir, lui, une belle brochette de comédiens (Lhermitte, Boujenah, Mitchell, Miou-Miou…) autour de cette histoire de filature et de mari bafoué. Plus de dix ans après sa sortie, La Totale fonctionne toujours ! —George Maubeuge

In between the disaster movie satire Airplane! in 1980 and the hardboiled cop show parody The Naked Gun in 1988, the comedy crew of Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker put together a picture that's almost as funny as their better-known hits. Top Secret! sends up spy movies and cheesy teen rock & roll musicals. Val Kilmer stars as swivel-hipped American rocker Nick Rivers, a sort of blonde Elvis whose secret weapon is Little Richard's tune "Tutti Fruitti." On tour behind the Iron Curtain, Nick strikes blows for democracy overtly and covertly, with his music as well as his espionage skills. In short, this is a very, very silly motion picture. Some great gags, including a subtitled scene in a Swedish book shop, and an inspired bit with a Ford Pinto that not everybody may get anymore. (The Pinto, you may or may not recall, was notoriously prone to gas tank explosions when rear-ended.) —Jim Emerson