[psycho d]

King of New York (1990). Abel Ferarra did a wonderful job with this solid entry into the crime drama genre. Having Christopher Walken as your lead never hurts, though, and Walken does a fabulous job in his portrayal of ice cold evil that is simultaneously consumed with charity for the poor. With lots of great performances from soon to be greats such as Caruso and Snipes and Buscemi, it was Laurence Fishburne that take the cake as Walken's fiery and extirpative sidekick. The story was nothing new, but the way in which it was told came across with aplomb. Plus, there is nothing hotter than smokin' hot gangster chicks sprayin' the competition with machine guns. Fun stuff.

Layer Cake (2004). This turned out to be your fairly typical, in all of the right ways, British crime drama. Daniel Craig plays the lead, a portrayal that was at first almost too perfect, but then the more human side comes to fruition such that he becomes believably flawed like the rest of us. With lots of intrigue and deals gone bad, this is a simple story that is rather convoluted. Lacking dark humor, this one is almost better for it. Most impressive was the stylistic but never overbearing camera-work. Producer turned director Matthew Vaughn does a great job at the wheel of this fun crime drama. Mercie beaucoup.