'Snakes' alive, and other great titles

``Snakes on a Plane" might be a terrible movie. It could be brilliant. But what's inarguable is that it has the best title ever: It simultaneously mocks Hollywood's lack of ingenuity and jabs audiences for being silly enough to pay, all without being smug. Here are some other brilliant movie titles, some less transparent than others. --WESLEY MORRIS

``Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?" (1971): The movie never lives up the title, but there are at least two good moments between suicidal songwriter Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Harris.

``Mother, Jugs & Speed" (1976): No, it's not an Oedipal XXX drug flick. Instead, it's Bill Cosby, Raquel Welch, and Harvey Keitel as the eponymous ambulance drivers.

``The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh" (1979): An astrologer (Stockard Channing) helps a struggling basketball franchise draft an astrologically compatible team! The roster includes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dr. J., and Meadowlark Lemon, plus Jonathan Winters, Debbie Allen, and, as the coach, Flip Wilson.

``Throw Momma From the Train" (1987): Danny DeVito and Billy Crystal are two strangers who agree to kill the annoying woman in the other's life. The title is a command and, where bad taste is concerned, a warning.

``Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood" (1996): This spoof of the 1990s ghetto-drama craze, written in part by Shawn and Marlon Wayans, is the rare movie with a good title that keeps you guessing about which came first, the name or the script.

`SNAKES' ON A WEBSITE Read Ty Burr's review of ``Snakes on a Plane" online at www.boston.com/ae/movies/blog.