Spike Lee’s provocative if problematic chronicling of the last day in the life of a convicted drug dealer (Edward Norton) before he’s sent to prison. The movie proceeds with a gripping sense of dread, even if it never quite comes into focus. Especially arbitrary are intermittent homages to a post-Sept. 11, 2001, New York. Lee

A dramatization of Eminem’s early days in Detroit, 8 Mile doesn’t justify the hateful violence in the rapper’s lyrics, but its depiction of his bleak background helps you understand where that rage comes from. As an impoverished factory worker struggling to make a name for himself in the hip-hop scene, Eminem doesn’t rap so much