Forget Hero — that cult hit was just Zhang Yimou's warm-up for this martial-arts fireball that throws in a lyrical love story, head-spinning fights and dazzling surprises. Two Tang Dynasty officers — pretty-boy Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and rough-hewn Leo (Andy Lau) — try to trick Mei (Zhang Ziyi), a blind dancer, into leading them to the Flying Daggers, a group of insurgents. Jin and Mei fall in love while Leo simmers with unrequited lust. The director of Raise the Red Lantern, a former insurgent himself in China, proves himself a poet of bamboo-forest fights and duels in the snow that could make a tiger crouch. Prepare your eyes for popping. And don't be fooled by Zhang Ziyi's delicate beauty — this babe can kick your ass.

“My President”

Young Jeezy teams up with Nas on this track, in which he compare his own success with the idea of an African-American winning the Democratic Party's nomination in the 2008 presidential election. "When I pulled up in my car, that s--- was unbelievable to people in my neighborhood because they were like, 'We grew up with him. How the hell did he accomplish this?'" he told Rolling Stone. "I feel like it was the same way with Obama. I grew up all this time, but I've never seen a black man this close to running this country."