Putting together last week's list of my favorite screenplays of the 2000's was relatively easy. I came up with about ten worthy candidates and narrowed from there. When I started putting together this week's list -- my favorite screenplays of the 1990's -- things got a lot more complicated. I had a much larger list of worthy candidates to choose from. It made me realize that a) the 90's, particularly the late 90's, was a genuinely incredible time for film, and b) I was going to have to split my list into two halves: 1995 -- 1999 and 1990 -- 1994.

So, in support of all the great screenwriters currently on strike, what follows is my favorite screenplays produced between 1995 and 1999. Read that last sentence carefully! If you've got movies you'd add to or subtract from my list, I would love to hear them, but make sure your choice fits the criteria. On my 2000's list, I was getting comments like "How DARE you not include Citizen Kane, you freaking idiot?"

Now then, with all apologies to the scripts it killed me to leave off (Office Space, A Simple Plan, As Good As it Gets, Chasing Amy, Lone Star, Three Kings, Swingers, Jackie Brown, Kingpin, I could go on and on), here is my alphabetical list:

Over at quigspot.com is a listing of what the blogger deems the "Ten Most Obnoxiously Overquoted Movies." He says in the intro: "Nothing makes a great movie suck like people quoting it day in and day out for months at a time. It's the go-to route used by individuals who aren't clever enough to come up with their own material, made worse by them thinking (thanks to the select few that laughed at their referencing) they've suddenly become the most hilarious stand-up comedian since George Carlin." I agree to some extent, but while it's true that quoting movies is not the most enlightened form of comedy, it can be a lot of fun. The key is to stick to obscure quotes -- avoid "Luke, I am your father" and "Say hello to my little friend." At a party, an obscure quote that someone else recognizes can help you recognize a kindred spirit, and snag you a new friend or even a romance. Still, there are some movies that get quoted far too frequently, and it becomes particularly hard to deal with once they're embraced by the "frat guy" crowd, as almost all of quigspot's choices are.

The ten selected overquoted films are: 10) Office Space (good call, but the boss' voice is just too much fun to do. Quoting this one simply has to be done sometimes, especially in an office setting), 9) Monty Python movies (disagree -- I don't hear Python quotes much these days), 8) Wedding Crashers (definitely getting obnoxious, especially at bars), 7) Anything with Samuel L. Jackson (Snakes on a Plane, absolutely), 6) The 40 Year-Old Virgin (maybe, but when the lines are that funny, who can argue?), 5) Anchorman (see #6, although "I'm kind of a big deal" has reached the end of the line), 4) The Austin Powers series (yup), 3) Borat (Should have been #1 -- some guy dressed as Borat at a Halloween party I attended stayed in character the entire night and almost drove me to murder), 2) Napoleon Dynamite (absolutely) and the choice for the #1 most obnoxiously overquoted movie is ... 300.

Movies I'm guilty of quoting? 1) Wayne's World -- whenever anybody orders Chinese food, I can't resist throwing in "I'll have the cream of sum yung guy." I'm also a fan of "If Benjamin were an ice cream flavor, he'd be pralines and dick." 2) The Naked Gun series. Endless possibilities really, but my favorite is "Like a midget at a urinal, I was going to have to stay on my toes." 3) Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski -- literally every line of both is gold. Which movies do you love to quote? And which movies do you think get quoted too frequently?

Nothing gets folks worked up like a list, especially one focusing on movies -- a subject everyone has strong opinions on. The latest is a ranking of the "50 Greatest Comedies of All Time," according to the readers of The Guardian. First, let's look at their Top Ten: 1) Monty Python's Life of Brian, 2) Airplane!, 3) This is Spinal Tap, 4) Some Like It Hot, 5) Withnail and I, 6) Blazing Saddles, 7) The Big Lebowski, 8) Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 9) Duck Soup, 10) Young Frankenstein. Not perfect, but a pretty solid bunch. Keep in mind The Guardian is a British publication, which explains the abundance of Python and the high ranking of the funny-but-certainly-not-6th-greatest-comedy-of-all-time Withnail. I must say, I don't know anyone who would put Life of Brian at #1. I don't even think it's the funniest Python movie, that honor would go to Holy Grail. Great to see Young Frankenstein, Airplane! and Lebowski in particular ranked so high, though.

Looking at the rest of the list, I was glad to see that a lot of my personal favorites made the cut -- Planes Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck (I love me some Candy), Raising Arizona, Anchorman, Kingpin, The Naked Gun, The Blues Brothers, I could go on. I've got some quibbles -- where's Broadcast News? Office Space? Ferris Bueller's Day Off? Animal House? Vacation? -- but only a few of their choices really stood out to me as undeserving. For example, I did a triple take when I saw Meet the Fockers on there. People! Meet the Parents (which didn't even make the cut) sure, but Fockers? What the Fock? Oh well.

Comedy is highly subjective, so a list on this subject is never going to please everyone. A comedy list is extra difficult because it's hard to decide if you're supposed to choose based on number of laughs or quality of the film. (Although, since it's comedy, shouldn't those be one and the same? It seems most don't think so, especially judging by comedy's constant neglect at the Academy Awards). Plus there's the whole generational issue. With some exceptions, what was funny 80 years ago might not hold up laugh-wise today. I'll just come right out and say it -- The General is an important part of film history, sure, but it ain't funny. What would you remove from the Guardian list? And what'd they forget?

"Donny, you're out of your element." "That rug really tied the room together." "Careful man, there's a beverage here!" "Eight year olds, dude." "Nice marmot." "Obviously you're not a golfer." I could go on. I saw The Big Lebowski in a mostly empty theater when it was released. If any moviegoers other than me were laughing, I couldn't hear them. Now, almost ten years later, the film is hailed as a modern classic, it is endlessly quoted, and it even has its own festival: Lebowski Fest. According to the press release, this year's sixth annual event will entail:

•Unlimited Bowling •Costume, Trivia, Farthest Traveled, and Bowling Contests •Celebrity Appearances

•White Russians, Sarsaparillas, and Oat Sodas •Screening of the film •What-Have-You

Lebowski Fest takes place next weekend, on July 20th and 21st, in Louisville, Kentucky. And believe it or not, the fest has gone global. On August 24th, there will be a festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, and on August 30th, one will be held in London, England. Pretty reasonably priced tickets for all events are on sale now, at the festival's home page. Be sure to check out the site, you can also get some great merchandise like T-shirts, posters, and famous quote bumper stickers. There's even a link to Lebowski action figures! As for the celebrity appearances, don't go expecting John Goodman and Jeff Bridges (although Bridges has attended in the past!). It looks like so far it's just James G. Hoosier, who portrayed "The Jesus' bowling buddy Liam." The event sounds like a blast to me, and I guarantee there'll be some memorable characters there. I might have to hit the Los Angeles event this October. Has anyone been to one of these fests before? Is anyone thinking about heading to one this year?

Like most of you movie nuts, I pretty much adore the Coen Brothers. Raising Arizona is the first movie I ever went to see by myself (my friends weren't interested, so screw 'em, right?), and I've watched Fargo and O Brother more times than I can count. I think that The Hudsucker Proxy is criminally underappreciated, that Intolerable Cruelty was unfairly dismissed, and that Miller's Crossing is the Coens' very best film. Now, don't throw rocks at me, but ... I'm also of the opinion that, on the Coen Scale, The Big Lebowski is just a teeny, tiny bit ... overrated?

A very good film, sure. Enjoyably weird and off-kilter? Absolutely. Stuffed with some of Jeff Bridges' finest comedic work? Without a doubt. But for some reason I just wouldn't put Lebowski among the Coen Brothers' top five films. That's just me, and I've seen the thing at least four full times. But now comes a version of The Big Lebowski that just about anyone can appreciate. Well, anyone besides a nun, a kindergarten teacher, or your doddering old granny, perhaps.

The Big Lebowski is currently #11 on the list of movies with the most F-bombs, so some movie geeks went ahead and trimmed the flick down to a manageable 2+ minutes. Can you guess what the most prevalent word of dialogue is? (Hint: It rhymes with duck, and it's also the most prevalent word in the feature-length version of Lebowski.) So if you've ever wondered what The Big Lebowski would look like if someone removed all the dialogue that isn't the effword, click right here. And turn your speaker volume down a little bit. There are kids down the hall!