In the weekly column Extra Credit, Charles Bramesco recommends supplemental viewing for moviegoers whose interests have been piqued by a given week’s big new release.

I recently visited Los Angeles for the first time in my life, and I was surprised to find that there weren’t finely attired criminals and haggard beat cops engaged in tense shootouts around every corner. The movies had led me to believe that the City of Angels would be wall-to-wall crime sagas, tautly constructed tales of obsessive pursuits and last-ditch capers as far as the eye can see. Things are considerably quieter than that, but we can still enjoy a rich tradition of on-screen schemes set in and around Hollywood.

The latest of which is Den of Thieves, a new entry in this illustrious tradition that casts O’Shea Jackson Jr., Pablo Schreiber, and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as a triumvirate of elite crooks who band together to put one over on expert officer Gerard Butler and rob Los Angeles’ most heavily protected bank. The trailer alone outs the film as having drawn from a long line of predecessors, five of which we’ll revisit below. For assorted reasons, I have relegated some favorites the Honorable Mention category: Drive and Pulp Fiction (you‘ve already seen them), Southland Tales (it’s about so much more than crime!), and Training Day (it unleashed David Ayer onto the world). Without further ado, strap up and lock in:

Gallery – The Best Action Movie Posters:

 

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