Super 8

Very Speilbergian with its 'normal people encounter something strange and mysterious' combined with a bit of Abrams 'giant evil conspiracy' to it. Plus a big, scary monster that isn't revealed right away. Which is a bit of both of them. Good film with the kid actors really being the showcase of it. Nice soundtrack as well, though the score was very heavy handed in the emotional tagging...

25th Hour

Ed Norton is Monty a drug dealer with just over a day of freedom before he goes down for 7 years. In addition to Norton you've got a great cast with Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Barry Pepper, Rosario Dawson, Brian Cox and a slutty teen-age Anna Paquin. Though director Spike Lee does get a little heavy handed with the 9/11 imagery at one point, otherwise an excellent piece of film...