Right off the bat, I must say: While I love music in film, I don't like most of the musicals out there. Try as I might, most just inspire me to daydream through the musical numbers. But those that capture me, I adore. I never get tired of the rapid wordplay from Pirates of Penzance. I love most of the music in Moulin Rouge -- especially the inclusions of Lamb's "Gorecki." If it's done right, I'm a fan forever (Evil Dead: The Musical).

Surprisingly enough, there are two films that came out in the last year that I really dug, even though they really didn't hit the mark with fans. They came, they danced, they crooned, and they fell flat. I sat down to watch both of these expecting disappointment, and in one case, I was digging it from the first minute, and the other, I just couldn't stop giggling. In a very brief journey back in time, I give you: Across the Universe and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.

It would be easy to offer you appropriately themed movies for the Fourth of July. There is, of course, Independence Day, plus flicks like Yankee Doodle Dandy, or on a more serious note, Born of the Fourth of July. But what's the fun in that? You could come up with those yourself. I could be snarky and offer only British fare, which is actually very tempting, but I have something else in mind: Independence-themed chills.

The two films for this double feature are not centered specifically on the Fourth of July, but the date is important to both stories -- whether it's the tale of tourists and teeth, or parades and creepiness. Do you see where I'm headed? For this double feature, in honor of the Fourth of July, I give you: Jaws and Cape Fear.

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Whether it's grown men in bunny suits or the addictive giggle of Melissa McCarthy, this week's double feature is all about alternate realities. While I'm not the biggest fan of many science fiction elements, I'm a sucker for a good story about worlds that are just a little bit off. When an eerie twist is mixed into scenes showcasing the life and environment we're all familiar with, a film changes from something we can guess into an intriguing puzzle to figure out, or endlessly argue about. (And it does so without traveling to unrecognizable, fantastical new turf.)

Tonight, we've got a film that really should get more play, plus one beloved cult classic. I give you: The Nines and Donnie Darko.

*Included at the request of a nerd friend of mine.

No more teachers! No more books! No more teachers' dirty looks! When the teacher rings the bell, drop your books and run like hell!

It's the anthem of June, as classes wind down and summer begins. When there's two full months free of school, it's easy to forget the looming dark cloud that is September ... unless you're a lucky college grad (or a high school student not heading off to further your education).

There's a definite twist that happens over those four years, as school falls into a memory. High school grad movies are full of exacerbated partying, getting your last hoorahs, and last chances at childhood love. After college, however, the tone changes a little bit. There's work, the towering pressures from the adults around you, and the bad choices you make in the name of lust and love. The two films for this double feature are almost 30 years apart, but both are classics, known for their stars, music, and adult angst. I give you: The Graduate and Reality Bites.

This week, I have had the fortune of working from a cottage, surrounded by trees, birds, and a large and peaceful lake (as well as insidious horse flies, determined mosquitoes, and about 50 million caterpillars). In between the work and the sun, I've mused about cottages and movies. There's not many cottage-based films out there -- at least not ones that are about the actual experience, rather than something about a scary killer, or maybe a campfire ghost story.

But there are a lot of camping movies. You have color wars, swimsuits, canoes, trees, and all of that big nature-on-the-water stuff. I wanted to include Poison Ivy tonight, the awesome TV-movie camp fest that stars Michael J. Fox and Nancy McKeon, a counselor and camp nurse who team up with the kids to face off against Adam Baldwin's evil Ike Dimick. However, I can't find so much as a trailer for that.

So instead, whip up some smores and check out an old classic and newer gem -- Meatballs and Happy Campers.

It's June, which means the countdown is on until the cute little rugrats and tempestuous teens get released from school to wreak havoc in the home and on the streets. That means that there is not much time left to make use of the long nights of studying, the friendly sleepovers, and the hours at school. In some places, school's already out, and the mayhem has already begun!

So, tonight's double feature is all about getting a night of sweet silence and cinematic sexiness with your partner of choice. There will be no Mulholland Drive, because a few moments of supreme sexiness don't make up for the overall feel. Instead, this is about movies that have more than one saucy scene, and should get you in the mood for post-film shenanigans. Obviously, it's pretty much impossible to pick the best of, because there are so very many good examples -- Bliss, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Nine 1/2 Weeks, The Story of O, Basic Instinct, Dangerous Liaisons, Crash, Like Water for Chocolate...

But I'm going to go with a little bit of bondage, and a little bit of literature. I give you: Secretary and Henry & June.

And this is your obvious warning: What follows has sexual and adult content and language.

I wanted to continue this whole week of Indiana Jones, but we've already given you movies reminiscent of the classic adventure series, and we've already given you retro reviews for each of the three films. So, I started to think about what I like about Jones and my favorite of the three, Raiders of the Lost Ark. One of the best gems of that film is Marion Ravenwood.

So, in celebration of how much Ravenwood rules, I wanted to celebrate women who are more than just damsels in distress. The might find themselves captured. They might get beaten down. But they don't wallow -- they fight back. And even better -- they're both old-school. One comes from the '90s, and the other first kicked butt on the big screen 31 years ago. I give you: Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia in Star Wars.

If there's anyone who has pulled off a wickedly impressive image transformation, it's Angelina Jolie. She used to be the wild child who'd wear bloody tees to her wedding (with Jonny Lee), or bloody vials around her neck (as she did with Billy Bob). Then she did a 180, becoming a goodwill ambassador and starting her own multicultural Brady Bunch with Brad Pitt.

I'm happy for her, but I can't help but miss the good ol' days. She might have been wild, and she might have shocked many -- but she had a great spark, one that seems to have disappeared inside the current carefully manufactured icon she is today.

The gleam might be hidden these days, but luckily we're living in a world of DVD entertainment. We can head back to the past whenever we want to. What follows are my two favorite Jolie gigs. They're far from the best movies, but they definitely embody both the old Angelina, and a certain period of '90s rebellion. I give you: Hackers and Foxfire.

Oh, David O. Russell. The man is completely imbalanced: physical confrontations with George Clooney on set, putting Christopher Nolan in a headlock, going on a tirade towards Lily Tomlin, and arguing with James Caan about whether it's possible to choke and cough at the same time. But say what you will about his stability, he puts out some pretty damn good films.

This week's double feature is all about his deliciously talented imbalance. If you're not up for wildly colorful car racing or crappy-looking weddings in Vegas, maybe some Iraq-set comedy and over-the-top existential intervention is more up your alley. Oh yes, I'm talking about the wildly fun Three Kings and one of my favorite giggle-inducing comedies of all time -- I Heart Huckabees.

This weekend I get to cat sit the two cutest bengals on earth, but the perks of this gig are much more than sitting around, indulging in cable television, and playing with the furry little beasts. It also means I have a huge selection of liquor, wine and beer at my disposal to cook with and imbibe. So, while my mind is scheming up what sort of exotic drink I will make tonight, it's also thinking of alcohol-laden movies.

For this double feature, I'm giving you two of my favorite movies that are completely intertwined with the love of alcohol. One is quirky, but fairly straight-laced, while the other is just insanity, but in the immensely fun sort of way. I give you: Alexander Payne's Sideways and Guy Maddin's The Saddest Music in the World. (If you're looking for even more choices, check out Christopher Campbell's Cinematical Seven from last December.)