The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring(2001)

The Sept. 11 attacks have created a climate in which fantasy tales of good and evil have special resonance. This, the Oscar-winning adaptation of the first of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy of novels, magnificently captures the transcendent dimensions of this kind of conflict. The action takes place 7,000 years ago in Middle-earth, a land populated by men, hobbits, elves, dwarfs and wizards. A hobbit named Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) has a golden ring coveted by the dark lord Sauron. The wise wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) understands that evil is also an interior moral struggle and insists that Baggins give it to his nephew, Frodo (Elijah Wood).

Gandalf and Frodo join forces with a pan-species fellowship of seven warriors to return the ring to its place of origin. They embark on a picaresque journey filled with fantastical and dangerous encounters. Director Peter Jackson dramatizes their quest with moral precision. The grandeur of his achievement will elevate your spirit.

A League of Their Own(1992)

Sports films usually hinge on a series of clichés that revolve around making the team and winning the big game. A League of Their Own breathes fresh life into the genre. The time is World War II, and most of the men have been drafted to fight. A savvy promoter (Gary Marshall) decides to a launch a women's baseball league. Recruited to the Rockford, Ill., team is an Oregon farm girl, Dottie Hinson (Geena Davis), who can catch and hit but won't leave without her sister, Kit (Lori Petty).

Their coach is Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks), a former home-run king whose career was wrecked through drinking. Kit has a falling-out with Dottie and joins a rival team. In the season's climactic game, the two sisters find themselves playing against each other. Director Penny Marshall (Big) and writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel pepper the action with clever gags and one-liners. Although there really were such all-girl teams back them, the story is fictional.

Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

Many film buffs think Singin’ in the Rain is the greatest musical ever made. Co-directors Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen (Charade), along with screen-writers Betty Comden and Adolph Green, set their comedy in Hollywood in the late 1920s as sound movies are replacing the silents and a whole generation of stars is being discarded. Most of the delightful songs (“You Were Meant for Me,” “Beautiful Girl” and others) are from the same period.

Don Lockwood (Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) are the silent era's most popular on-screen couple. Lamont wants their romance to become real, but Lockwood falls for Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), who is hired to dub Lina's screechy voice in the first Lockwood-Lamont talkie. Lockwood's former song-and-dance partner, Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor), gets caught up in the intrigue. The dazzling pace and improvisational air make you want to sing and dance along with the characters. Most exhilarating is the movie's TITLE song, with Lockwood wearing his yellow slicker, stomping through puddles and swinging his umbrella in joy.