Two-Lane Blacktop (Criterion Collection)

Drag racing east from L.A. in a souped-up '55 Chevy are the wayward Driver and Mechanic (singer/songwriter James Taylor and the Beach Boys'Dennis Wilson, in their only acting roles), accompanied by a tagalong Girl (COCKFIGHTER's Laurie Bird). Along the way, they meet Warren Oates's Pontiac GTO driving wanderer and challenge him to a cross-country race the prize: their cars' pink slips. But no summary can do justice to the existential punch of TWO-LANE BLACKTOP. With it's gorgeous widescreen compositions and sophisticated look at American male obsession, this stripped-down narrative from maverick director Monte Hellman (THE SHOOTING) is one of the artistic high points of 1970s cinema, and possibly the greatest road movie ever made.