The war in Iraq stalled the release of this stinging satire of peacetime soldiers with nothing to kill but time. Joaquin Phoenix makes a charming rat as Ray Elwood, a supply clerk stationed in Germany in 1989. Ray runs a black market, selling TVs, heroin, even weapons. When a new top sarge (Scott Glenn) cleans up Ray's act, Ray retaliates. Screwing the top's daughter (a smart, sexy Anna Paquin) is just for starters. Adapting Robert O'Connor's novel, director Gregor Jordan slaps us with keen wit and purpose.

“Everyday People”

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.