Sugar, Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck, 2008

Boden & Fleck's would-be sports film is an ambitious, if flawed, effort. In framing the anxiety and isolation of a non-English speaking immigrant baseball prospect, the filmmakers unwittingly lose the momentum of their narrative, resting the film on an utterly passive and ultimately frustrating protagonist.

Anvil: The Story of Anvil, Sacha Gervasi, 2008

Gervasi's film begs comparison to Chris Smith's 1999 filmmaker doc American Movie. Like teh unforgettable Mark Borchardt and Mike Schank in that film, Anvil's Steve Kudlow and Robb Reiner share an ill-fated, lifelong passion for their art. Unfortunately, Gervasi isn't nearly as successful as Smith at coaxing humor and humanity from his subjects.

Duplicity, Tony Gilroy, 2009

Gilroy's corporate espionage yarn diverges from the conventional thriller by swapping in consumer products behemoths (think Johnson & Johnson, Unilever) for warring nations, their wares (frozen pizza, shampoo) likewise standing in for WMDs. The result is a goofy, limp melange that fails equally as consumerist satire and spy thriller.