When a movie doesn't warrant much exposition on its own ...

... you get yet another roundup, this time of a few films I had never heard of but sounded intriguing for one reason or another.

I'd like to buy a Val, please: "Blind Horizon"

Now this was a weird deal. When I saw who was in this movie and how recently it came out (2003), I couldn't figure out why I had never heard of it. I mean, Val Kilmer may not be an eight-figure star, but he's not straight-to-cable ... yet. As it turns out, I'm not sure this movie was in theaters, at least in this country. Looks like some film festival thing.

In any case, the story has amnesiac Kilmer waking up in a small Southwest town after being shot in the head and suspecting that there's a plot to assassinate the President. Oh, and that he may be involved. Talk about a hangover.

While the plot sounded decent, what drew me to this was the cast: Kilmer, who usually breaks a sweat; Sam Shepard as the sheriff; Neve "Where Has She Been?" Campbell as Kilmer's wife; Amy Smart as a nurse/love interest; Faye Dunaway as a mysterious woman; and Noble "That Guy" Willingham as the deputy sheriff. Not saying these are all good actors -- yeah, I'm looking at you, Smart -- but I knew the names, which made me again wonder why I never heard of this movie.

Verdict: Could have been worse, but not anything great and downright silly in places.

If they had just stuck to funnel cakes: "The Funhouse"

We're going back a quarter-century for this one, a horror movie about kids who spend the night in a carnival funhouse. The whole thing is quite quaint, really. I mean, in this "Saw/Hostel" era of rampant gore, the idea that bad stuff could happen in a clapboard building with spiderwebs and skeletons and all that is pretty funny.

I'll confess that the No. 1 reason I watched this was that it was about 90 minutes long and in high-def. If it had been two hours, no way. But get a load of this: The director was Tobe Hooper of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" fame. As IMDB reveals, Hooper turned down the chance to direct "E.T." because he was working on "The Funhouse." Good call!

Yeah, this movie was kind of dumb and definitely dated. My apathy was such that when the DVR cut off the last couple of minutes, I wasn't upset at all.

The little engine that couldn't: "The Yards"

If I did hear of this movie when it came out, I must have forgotten it right way. Kind of surprising, since this cast is the best of the three movies in this post. Yes, even "The Funhouse!"

Mark "Planet of the Apes" Wahlberg is just out of jail in Queens and trying to work with his aunt's husband's company, which repairs and rebuilds subways cars. James Caan is the company head, and Marky Mark's pal Joaquin Phoenix is on the payroll. The Artist Formerly Known as Leaf Phoenix also is dating Wahlberg's cousin (Caan's stepdaughter), the incomparable Charlize Theron. (Her character is named Erica Stoltz. I might have gone with something else, unless this were a Cameron Crowe movie.)

Rounding out the cast: Ellen Burstyn as Wahlberg's mom, Faye Dunaway (again) as Theron's mom, and Steve Lawrence(!) as a crooked elected official. Not a bad lineup. Also, it turns out the director, James Gray, hasn't done much, but he did direct "Little Odessa," which wasn't bad.

Unfortunately, the story comes up short, or at least I was left wanting. Wahlberg plays the tough turned noble, but he didn't sell me. Phoenix was entertaining but nothing great. Even Theron, while giving us a boob shot from a distance, wasn't as luminous as she normally is. I mean, "Monster," man ... she was smokin'.