This isn't the first list in which I've singled out Forman's warm, wise, perfectly wayward comedy of parental irresponsibility, but it remains an underexposed classic worthy of repeated scrutiny. The perfect bridging point between the wry communal minimalism of his Oscar-nominated Czech breakout features "Loves of a Blonde" and "The Firemen's Ball" and the more polished humanism of his Oscar-bedecked follow-up "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Taking Off" studies a generation of adults unwilling to relinquish their youth just as the 1970s was struggling to let go of its predecessor's more naive ideals -- casually peppered with live musical performances, it's a time capsule that remains oddly, potently universal.