You could probably tell if you got me on the phone: I had some severe oral surgery just a few days ago. It was a long time coming (stemming from a genetic calcium deficiency, a nasty fall during Labor Day weekend, and years of simple stupidity on my part), it was very unpleasant, and ... it's over. Aside from the healing process, that is, which is often more uncomfortable than the actual procedures. (If you're reading these words, go brush your teeth right now. Seriously. I'll wait.) So since I'll be spending the next several days drinking soup and popping cocktails made of Vicodin and antibiotics, I'll also need a big stack of "comfort movies" to make me feel better. And to make myself feel even better than that, I choose to share those movies with you.

So if you're low, cranky, depressed, ill, miserable, or simply recovering from a dental procedure that makes Marathon Man look like Mr. Mom, try some of these on for size. Odds are you've seen 'em already, but each one has some sort of magical healing power that I'm very grateful for.

Finding Nemo -- This is my #1. Whenever I can't sleep, have a headache, or am convalescing from endodontic agony, there's just something so sweetly soothing about this movie. Perhaps the underwater locale has something to do with it, but Finding Nemo always chills me out. And if you've ever met me, you know how valuable a movie like that can be. I even like the dentist, and that's saying something.

The Fellowship of the Ring -- The early stuff in Hobbiton is so damn beautiful ... and that music! Plus, the idea of starting off on a VERY long adventure reminds me of watching movies as a kid (when every movie seemed four hours long), and that's a very valuable power for a movie to possess.

The Princess Bride -- 'Nuff said.

A few years back everyone was going crazy with the "re-discovery" of Johnny Depp -- just because the longtime performer scored a hit with a big-budget blockbuster. But movie geeks who grew up in the '80s and '90s were left a little bit confused by all the buzz. "Uh," we mused, "Johnny Depp's been kicking ass for over two decades now, and it takes the BOX OFFICE to tell us he's so cool??" And this summer it's Mr. Robert Downey Jr. After his powerful one-two punch of Iron Man and Tropic Thunder (and the Oscar-friendly The Soloist right around the corner), everyone seems to be falling all over the actor.

Granted, the actor's unpleasant history with drugs and prison certainly makes for a great "comeback" tale, and Downey really deserves it ... but even at his lowest and most drug-addled moments, this guy was delivering very good performances. I'll skip the obvious ones of Less Than Zero (his breakout) and Chaplin (his Oscar nom), but just to remind you that there was a lot of life before Tony Stark and Kirk Lazarus, I offer you seven of my very favorite Robert Downey Jr. performances.

Weird Science (1985) -- I distinctly remember seeing this movie during its theatrical run, and during the scene in which Downey dumps a slushee onto the heads of our heroes, I thought "This actor plays a really good jerkface." Little did I know I was watching the future Iron Man bully nerds -- plus his character was the one who recommended that "virtual girl" Kelly LeBrock receive "larger breasts," although that's not a direct quote from the film. (Bonus performance: Bill Paxton as ANOTHER big jerk.)

Yesterday, Scott posted a terrific month-by-month report card looking back the 2008 movie scene from the halfway point. With the interval between theatrical and DVD release dates shrinking steadily, a lot of the movies from January through June are either already available on DVD, or soon will be. For your consideration, here are what I consider to be seven underseen, underexposed, and/or unfairly overlooked gems from the year to date. Something to consider next time you log on to Netflix.

In no particular order:

1. Charlie Bartlett - I'll clamber out on a limb and call Charlie Bartlett the most valuable movie for young teenagers this decade (despite its R rating). Most films for kids and teens unthinkingly implore them not to worry about being popular -- do your own thing! Don't worry about what your peers think of you! Good advice in the abstract, maybe, but completely detached from reality for most school-age kids, who have to, you know, go to school, and eat in the cafeteria. Charlie Bartlett is smart enough to realize this. Rather than imploring kids to "be themselves," it wants to say something about what the ones who are actually popular should do with their popularity. For once, it's a movie with a message aimed not at the misfits but at the leaders: the kids who are smart, charismatic and capable; the schoolyard trendsetters and tastemakers. It powerfully suggests the importance of using that influence for good instead of evil. Oh, and it's bright, sincere, and very funny, with a downright miraculous performance by Anton Yelchin.

Whether or not shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force or The Simpsons succeeded in translating their television dynamics to the big screen depends on your point of view, but the release of Speed Racer this weekend raises a more specific question about the viability of turning an animated series into a live action spectacle on the big screen. The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Underdog both suggest how this goal can go wrong -- namely, by imploding on its absurd conceits. You may disagree with the inclusion of some of the following titles, all of which culled their material from animation, but it's fair to say that each of them takes its subject matter at face value, allowing the natural ingredients of the original sources to remain intact. Well, maybe not Super Mario Bros., but that one is a special case (fire away, if you must). Until somebody makes an Animaniacs movie with real actors, I'm sticking to this list.

1. Popeye (1980)

Robert Altman's offbeat ode to the famous Fleisher cartoon starring the spinach-eating strongman and his darling Olive Oil is the great misunderstood work of the director's career. Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall manage to bring utterly ridiculous characters into a realm of believability that you could never imagine when watching the show. Suddenly, Popeye made sense -- goofy, almost surreal sense, but sense nonetheless -- in the real world. Thanks to veteran adult cartoonist Jules Feiffer's screenplay and a soundtrack so catchy Paul Thomas Anderson borrowed from it twenty years later in Punch-Drunk Love, the classic status of Popeye can't be denied.

A good comeback is like a great third act in American lives; it's the triumphant return, the end of the story. James Cagney retired in 1961, then made a triumphant comeback in 1981 with Ragtime. But a good movie never deals with the aftermath of the comeback. Just as often as not, the comeback leads to nothing. Cagney died a few years after the hubbub. Though we all love a good comeback, the following is a list of comebacks that weren't the end of the story, and didn't provide the inspiring coda that they could have.

1. Sylvester Stallone in Cop Land (1997)
Stallone's is one of the most fascinating, dramatic careers in cinema. His fame is so huge that his name and face -- or at least his characters -- are known the world over. He had a fairytale rise to fame with Rocky (1976), complete with tales of writing it in a weekend. He has a lot of charisma, and earned an Oscar nomination for acting. He has directed eight feature films and contributed to the screenplays for nearly twenty. People whisper about how smart and savvy he is behind the scenes.

The critics loved it, the audiences seem to dig it even more, and the sequel has officially claimed a 2010 release date already: This weekend we're all about the Iron Man. (I was gonna say "This weekend we're all about the iron, man," but it was way too corny.) So while we've already been promised the arrivals of characters called War Machine, Mandarin, and Nick Fury, I hope that the fine folks at Marvel Entertainment will consider tossing a few of these guys into the mix:

Alloy Boy -- Desperate to become Iron Man's first sidekick, young Alfred Loye decides to build himself a suit made of several disparate components. A big fan of TV dinners and collectible unicorns, Alfred fuses tin with pewter and creates an outfit that proves to be as effective as a suit made of tissue paper and smoke. His demise at Bessemer mansion inspires Tony Stark to avoid future sidekicks.

Irony Man -- Although he and Tony Stark shared similar talents for pith and witty banter, Irony Man proved to be an undeniably difficult ally to deal with. The two heroes had a massive falling out after, in a fit of rare sincerity, Irony Man referred to Stark's newest suit as "quite nice, actually." Irony Man was killed by Lord Caustic of Sardonica. His remains are buried in Sarr Chasm.

Vitamin Gal and the FEmales -- After depleting their planet of iron (in a matter of weeks) and fully convinced that Tony Stark is Earth's very source of the vital element, the five young women descend upon the tycoon's mansion and have one hell of a weekend. After learning that iron is in fact one of this planet's most prevalent components, they beat the living hell out of Stark, leaving only Vitamin Girl to hang out for a while. (She would eventually leave him for Centrum executive Frumay Tuzinc.)

One of the scenes in Forgetting Sarah Marshall that people will be talking about over the virtual water cooler next week is the one that involves Jason Segel doing full frontal nudity. Yes, he lets it all hang out, and what's admirable is that he does it purely for the sake of a joke. That takes courage! That takes guts! That takes ... well, you know.

This isn't the first film to use nudity for laughs, of course. Comical naughty bits have a rich history in Hollywood. Here are seven movies with hilarious nudity.

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
What's funnier than a naked dude? A naked FAT dude. And what's funnier than a naked fat dude? A naked fat dude wrestling a naked skinny dude in a hotel room, and a hotel hallway, and a hotel elevator, etc., etc.