I'll show them to you and you'll see them shine...

Underappreciated Films

These movies might not be the best of the best, but they either got overlooked by a lot of people or underappreciated by people who write about movies. I’d definitely recommend the following:

5. Animal Factory (2000) – This is Steve Buscemi’s second full-length film as director and although his first, Trees Lounge, is better, I really liked Animal Factory. He’d get points on this one just for having Mickey Rourke in drag and not playing it for laughs.

4. The Deep End (2001) – If you like Hitchcock movies you have to see this one. Also, Tilda Swinton is great. I’ve yet to see her in something bad, but I haven’t seen Constantine though.

3. The Salton Sea (2002) – Give this one a chance. It can seem pretentious and showy, but it’s worth it. After seeing this movie I expected big things from the director. He then went on to do Taking Lives. They can’t all be winners.

2. Open Range (2003) – Kevin Costner gets a bad rap for reasons I’ll never understand. It’s like you can’t make back-to-back post-apocalyptic films where you play strange heroes in bizarrely contrived futuristic situations. Sheesh! Give him a break…especially on this movie. See it. It’s really good.

1. Shattered Glass (2003) – It’s probably bad form to bad mouth someone while trying to talk up another, but who cares? If you are too blind to see the bad acting in the Star Wars prequels, then watch Hayden Christensen in this movie. The guy completely develops the character and makes you feel bad for him despite his unethical decisions. It’s a really great performance. It’s as if the guy directing Christensen in the Star Wars movies didn’t know how to deal with actors…or something like that.