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Don’t miss the best movie of 2007 thus far. Scott Frank’s crime thriller is actually more of a character study. Star Joseph Gordon-Levitt solidifies his place in the upper echelon of young actors. This taut story is driven by a strong central character and filled with a fleshed out supporting cast. Director/writer Frank, who makes his directing debut with this film after writing such films as MINORITY REPORT and OUT OF SIGHT, makes us believe in his protagonist’s life and clearly allows us to understand his motivations. It ranks up there with films like FARGO and A SIMPLE PLAN.

Chris Pratt (Gordon-Levitt, TV’s THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN) was a cocky, high school hockey star in his small Mid-Western town before a car accident killed his friends and left him scarred and mentally and emotionally damaged. Now working as a janitor at a bank at night, Chris has trouble remembering things as well as sequencing events. He is prone to emotional outbursts and lacks impulse control. He lives with a sardonic, blind man named Lewis (Jeff Daniels, THE HOURS), who is his best friend. They hope one day to open a restaurant, but a visit to the Pratt house for a holiday meal, shows us how little faith they have in Chris now and how much denial is still present regarding who he has become.

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Nominated for Best Documentary at the 2007 Academy Awards, this film peeks into the lives and the politics of a section of the three major ethnic groups in Iraq — the Sunnis, the Shiites and the Kurds. Director James Longley took two years filming in Iraq to gain a perspective of how the American invasion has changed the lives of its citizens.

In the first section, we watch a fatherless, 11-year-old, Sunni boy as he tries to attend school after having failed for four years previously while working for the domineering owner of a Baghdad garage. In the second part, Moqtada Sadr followers in two Shiite cities enforce Islamic law at the point of a gun. In the third section, a family of Kurdish farmers welcomes the U.S. presence, because it has allowed them hope.

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Mixing genres can sometimes revitalize both genres in the end. Cowboys and vampires is not a bad idea, but executed poorly and it could be a joke. Adding the gang metaphor to the mix as well, NEAR DARK handles the tone fine, but is a near miss in most other departments.

Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar, TV’s HEROES) is a cowboy who picks up the pretty stranger Mae (Jenny Wright, TWISTER) one night. He thinks she’s different from all the girls of his small Texas town, which is true because she’s a member of a roaming gang of vampires. And when Adrian wants to neck with her right before dawn, he’ll get bit, turning him into a creature of the night. Now Caleb has a choice — get his head lobbed off or join the gang. However, to join the gang, he has to kill and drink his victim’s blood. The other gang members, which include leader Jesse Hooker (Lance Henriksen, THE RIGHT STUFF), wild Severen (Bill Paxton, FRAILTY), punked out female Diamondback (Jenette Goldstein, ALIENS) and loose canon kid Homer (Joshua Miller, RIVER’S EDGE), don’t think Caleb is cut out for the immoral, immortal life. As Caleb struggles with the draw of the gang, his father Loy (Tim Thornerson, WHO’S HARRY CRUMB?) and little sister Sarah (Marcie Leeds, BEACHES) go on the road searching for him.

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