6. Lakeview Terrace
As the remake of The Wicker Man was such a steaming mess of a project, it was easy to discredit Neil LeBute as one of the worst, most misguided directors working today. This film of racial tensions in American suburbs sets the stage for one of Samuel L. Jackson's most impactful and barnstorming performances to date. Some laid the accusation that the film was racist as it depicts controversial racial tensions. These critics are plain wrong; it's a film about racism, a fascinating and riveting one at that. Beneath the topical racial themes is a really well mounted, nuts-and-bolts thriller that even with the escalating implausibility doesn't lose itself in the final third. To back up Jackson's showboating role of Abel are thoroughly solid performances from Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington as the catalysts of Abel's sociopathic racial explosion. Look beyond Lakeview Terrace's generic trappings and bask in the glow of Jackson at the very height of his powers.