Key players: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr., Jack Black, Tom Cruise, Danny McBride, Jay Baruchel, Steve Coogan, Brandon T. Jackson, Matthew McConaughey

Why it's great: As a director and screenwriter, films such as "The Cable Guy" and "Zoolander" proved Ben Stiller was a creative force to be reckoned with on the big screen.  It was the ambitious and gutsy "Tropic Thunder" where all of the elements came together.  Very few filmmakers or actors (Robert Downey, Jr.) would be willing to play a white Australian actor playing a black U.S. character (in black face no less), but Stiller and Downey, Jr. turned Kirk Lazarus into a cinematic legend. Moreover, "Thunder" is an R-rated comedy that takes its shots at global politics and Hollywood subtly enough (balancing the inside jokes perfectly) that most moviegoers never realized there was more going on than just your typical action comedy.  It's Stiller's "Blazzing Saddles" and there's not much higher a compliment you can give it than that.

- Gregory Ellwood