1. Landmark Sunshine
The East Village's best theater gets the midnight recipe just right: cult films that audiences can recite. Upcoming: The Shining, The Big Lebowski, and Blue Velvet. (143 East Houston Street; 212-358-0573; $10.)

2. Cinema Classics
Showing eclectic films in an intimate setting, this punky theater encourages you to drink and smoke as you watch anything from Smiths concert footage to Truffaut's The 400 Blows. (332 East 11th Street; 212-677-5368; $6.)

3. Sony Lincoln Square Imax
Is there any better way to see a blockbuster than on the largest screen in Manhattan? Having recently shown Men in Black II and Austin Powers in Goldmember, the theater's just switched to Signs. (1998 Broadway, at 68th Street; 212-50-LOEWS, #638; $10.)

4. The Screening Room
When Hedwig and the Angry Inch began showing at midnight, costumed Hedheads lined Canal Street, and John Cameron Mitchell signed everything thrust before him. Everything. Now playing: David Bowie's The Hunger, and Stripped, a docu about exotic dancers. Bring a Sharpie. (54 Varick Street; 212-334-2100; $9.50.)

5. Two Boots Pioneer Theater
This pizzeria–cum–indie house has run Donnie Darko, last year's twisted cult hit -- think Wizard of Oz meets Heathers -- since January, and the screaming crowds, inside jokes, and projectile popcorn lead us to believe that we've found Rocky Horror's heir. As if it needed one. (155 East 3rd Street; 212-254-3300; $8.50.)

Related:

• Archive: “Top Five”
• Articles by Ben Kaplan
• Table of Contents: August 19, 2002 issue of New York | Subscribe!