1. Van Damme... Proves He Can Really Act (JCVD)
Action stars generally aren't highly regarded as actors, often with good reason. I mean how many times has Steven Seagal or Chuck Norris being nominated for an Oscar? Amongst the action hero group Van Damme has always had a little more depth going on, but it came as a complete surprise to most when he starred in the Belgian crime drama JCVD and they saw just HOW good he could be. In the film Van Damme plays a fictionalized version of himself, a fading action star with money problems, a fractured family life and a past drug habit. He gets caught up in the robbery of a post office and is taken hostage, which of course attracts media attention, who want to see how he'll deal with a real life crisis. The answer is...not very well. A film that's much more of a dark comedy than an action flick, JCVD mines most of its humour from Van Damme's willingness to send himself up. Now the cynical out there might question how difficult it would be for an actor to essentially play themselves, but the shatteringly honest and raw performance he gives here should silence such whines. The most memorable scene in the film is a six minute monologue where Van Damme looks directly into the camera and bares his soul, talking about his failures as both an actor and a human being, and it's some of the finest acting work of the last decade. It's the kind of performance that makes you wish he was given some juicier dramatic roles, because based on the evidence here he's more than up to the challenge. Just as long as he gets to do the splits at some point.