2007 / Sam Raimi > I couldn’t help but have high expectations for Raimi’s latest venture: With the first sequel, he had fired on all cylinders. The emotions were on the dot, as was the action and the romance in-between. It was about Peter Parker, not Spider-Man or the villains. So, the third incarnation could only get better, right? Not exactly: The melodrama here is downright silly at times, and while there’s definitely some fun to be had, it doesn’t really satisfy in the end. In fact, if it wasn’t for Venom’s downright creepy, lingering presence, this would be almost unbearable.

2007 / Mike Binder > In Reign Over Me, Binder continues displaying the skill of creating laughter in the face of tragedy he utilized so effectively in The Upside of Anger. And in doing so, he may have crafted one of the best films dealing with loss since The Sweet Hereafter, while taking an indirect approach towards 9/11 through a perspective that hasn’t yet been fully explored. Sandler is spot on, but Cheadle, as he so often does, steals the show as the man who you know has problems but just can’t face them. Sandler is his foil and while we see him transform, Cheadle follows suit ever so subtly. It has its slow moments and its awkward moments. It’s not brilliant, and it isn’t groundbreaking, but it has the kind of heart that one cannot often find in Hollywood these days.

2007 / Zack Snyder > One thing is undeniable: The film is visually stunning with visceral battle scenes that generally satisfy. However, the faithfulness to Frank Miller’s original work keeps 300 from becoming a cinema classic. There are awkward, boring moments of long narration, seemingly infinite slow-motion sequences and not enough liberty taken to adjust and adapt to the different medium. The screenplay felt weak, with a storyline that tried to be a foundation for the action but instead just felt like a distraction to the meat. It has its moments—notably, the oracle and her mystical movements—and it may just have given birth to another generation of comic book films, but ultimately 300 is a film of enjoyable superficiality that should have been 20 minutes shorter.

2007 / David Fincher > Maybe it’s because of my high expectations for Fincher, but the man’s crafting of this solid, methodical work is lacking the underlying charisma that drove Fight Club and Seven into the annals of film history. Moreover, compared to Bong Joon-Ho’s Memories of Murder, Zodiac’s absence of heart tugs on the length of the film, which clocks in at nearly three hours. When you know there’s no payoff (as both cases still remain unsolved), it’s harder to keep from twiddling in your seat. Fincher’s attempt at losing the gimmicks that some would say have plagued his previous films is successful for the most part: By the end, I felt satisfied, but in retrospect there wasn’t enough to make this nearly as memorable as his previous ventures.

2007 / Nick Cassevetes > I’ll consider myself fortunate to start the year off with two films that were not critically well-received, but have nonetheless given me an abundance of entertainment. Along with Smokin’ Aces, Cassevetes’ seemingly satirical look at the lives of irreverent, hedonistic teens in Southern California is sometimes witty, sometimes outrageous, and almost impossible to stop one’s self from watching. In the right light, his is a tragic mockumentary, filled with polarizing scenes of drug abuse and sex, anger and lack of control.

Emile Hirsch continues to impress and mature, and Ben Foster gives one of the more intense performances (reminiscent of Spud from Trainspotting) I imagine we’ll see all year. Justin Timberlake isn’t great, but is watchable. (The problem with popstars in acting is that you always focus on them, judge them deeply and in the process, forget that there is a film around them; thankfully, it’s not so much the case here.) In fact, much of the acting is to the point, often over the top but fitting for Alpha Dog’s ride through mayhem and madness.

2007 / Joe Carnahan > While a cornucopia of outlandish fun, Carnahan’s follow-up to the critically-acclaimed Narc lacks the subtlety and tension that made his initial directing effort so effective. But that’s not to take away from the fact that for nearly two hours, I was glued to the screen with little thought of what else was around me. Whether the movie has a real point or not is not the point at all, but rather that its sustainability is jaw-dropping. It’s a fine mess, if you will, and a mess that luckily you can leave behind once the credits roll.