Though she's worked steadily since her Oscar-nominated performance as Tina Turner in the 1993 biopic "What's Love Got to Do with It," it's hard to escape the feeling that Angela Bassett is one of the most under-appreciated actresses in Hollywood. Since her big breakthrough, she's appeared in a succession of films that have her playing second-banana roles unworthy of her talents, from lame sci-fi flicks ("Supernova") to treacly inspirational dramas ("Music of the Heart") to head-slappingly awful superhero movies ("Green Lantern"). What she needs is a top-tier director like Tarantino to give her a leading role that can harness the fiery/vulnerable on-screen energy we've seen her deliver in her best work - or at least in the few films that have actually given her something to do. From Pam Grier's title character in "Jackie Brown" to Uma Thurman's Bride in "Kill Bill," complex anti-heroines are a specialty of Tarantino's, and I have no doubt Bassett is more than capable of pulling off a similar role with aplomb.

- Chris Eggertsen