Unknown (2006)

Somebody came up with a terrific conceit for a B-movie -- the pitch probably went UsualSuspects/Memento/Twelve AngryMen/ReservoirDogs/Cube/Saw -- and then apparently let a couple of bright high school kids write it and shoot it.

Sherrybaby (2006)

Maggie Gyllenhaal is always the best part of any movie she's in (see Criminal, or Mona Lisa Smile)

Sherrybaby is all her show, and she doesn't hit a wrong note.

(Also with Danny Trejo!)

Lady Vengeance (2005)

Vengeance is hers: I'll never get those two hours back.

You Kill Me (2007)

Ben Kingsley and Tea Leone have some nice scenes together early on – as they flirt, they take turns reacting to each others’ clever lines by suppressing a laugh – but the shaggy-dog mobster storyline is too shaggy by half, and Phillip Baker Hall and Dennis Farina are thrown away.

The Long Good Friday (1979)

London gang boss Bob Hoskins is finalizing a development deal that will make him and his associates wealthy and legit - once they secure some big money from the American Mafia - when he finds himself a target of some bloody acts of revenge.

Hoskins is great playing a guy absolutely dumbfounded to discover that, after a decade of graft-induced peace and prosperity, someone could have the nerve to try and muck up his big deal.

He shakes off his daze once the machetes come out, and rediscovers his inner gangster...but he also finds out that prosperity has left him a step too slow.

(Be forewarned: The synthesizer 'n' saxophone score has not aged well.)

3:10 To Yuma (2007)

Director James Mangold made a terrific Western years ago. It was set in New Jersey, and the title was Copland.

If there were acting awards that meant anything, Sylvester Stallone would have one for Copland.

3:10 To Yuma is not in the same league.

Although it features some fine acting, little in the movie makes sense, right from the beginning.

And if you disagree, remind me never to rob a stagecoach with you.

Shooter (2007)

It's a bad idea to seek conventional medical attention for a gunshot wound when you are the subject of a nationwide manhunt. Most movies that introduce such a scenario elide the real complications that would ensue.

Shooter is dumb in a lot of ways, but all I ever want from a flick like this is something I haven't seen before, and an action hero spending half an hour trying to treat a wound is nothing if not unique.