1) SIN CITY director: Robert Rodriguez Shot entirely on a blue screen, Sin City is a film noir on steroids. Strong, potent steroids. Save for a few dollops of color here and there to highlight the blood or car broke lights, Sin City is a black/white film with forties era atmosphere almost dripping off the screen. Relishing in the mysteries at the heart of Sin City in director Robert Rodriguez’s gloomy, foggy, rainy environs here was one of the year’s most distinct pleasures. Read the full length review of Sin City
2) DUST TO GLORY director: Dana Brown Director Dana Brown accomplishes in his documentary, Dust to Glory, what every director on the planet is striving to accomplish: he created a passionate, thrill ride of a motion picture that somehow contains the energy, style and attention-grabbing visuals of the very best trailers that also has a genuine heart, soul and focus. Dust to Glory is the story of the Baja 1,000, a 1,000 mile long race across the Baja peninsula. I cannot fathom how Brown managed to keep the electricity level of this project as consistently high as he did throughout its 98-minute running time. Read Stumped?'s interview with Dana Brown
3) BATMAN BEGINS director: Chris Nolan Batman Begins is a perfect example of what happens when you take a great script, put it in the hands of a determined, talented and creative director in Chris Nolan and give him free reign to do what he sees fit to on the project. Let’s be honest, Joel Schumacher aside, it’s pretty hard to screw up a Batman film. The legend, atmosphere and complicated emotions at the heart of this superhero tale are all exceptionally well honed by now and, recognizing this, Nolan is more than happy to just let them play out. Read the full length review of Batman Begins
4) THE CONSTANT GARDENER director: Fernando Meirelles The Constant Gardener is the epitome of a smart thriller; the bar against which this century’s other mysteries and dramatic adventure films can and should be measured. This end is achieved by never resorting to formula, tackling a complex moral issue and imbuing the proceedings with style and wit. It’s amazing what happens when you take a great script, add a director with grace, panache and story-telling ability, and combine the two with a superb cast (Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Bill Nighy and Danny Huston). Stumped?'s feature on Fernando Meirelles
5) THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY director: Hans Petter Moland I saw director Hans Petter Moland’s film, The Beautiful Country, at the Tribeca Film Festival and the movie stuck with me for days. A powerful examination of the human spirit, The Beautiful Country follows one man (Damien Nguyen) as he travels from the backwoods of Vietnam to America in search of his father (Nick Nolte). Shot on location across two continents, four countries and numerous American states, the scope of The Beautiful Country is enormous and Moland’s camera work stunning. Read Stumped?'s article on Nick Nolte, Moland and Nguyen
6) 11:14 director: Greg Marck 11:14 is a gimmicky film… that actually works (and, wow, does it ever work). Detailing the life changing occurrences that take place to roughly a dozen people at 11:14 PM in the outskirts of LA, writer/director Greg Marck’s film is the first gimmick to work since Nolan’s 2001 smash, Memento. Marck’s knows his material very well and makes sure to keep the moment electrically charged with tales of robbery, sex, murder and mysteriously missing penises. 11:14’s wonderful cast (Hilary Swank, Patrick Swayze, Barbara Hershey, Rachel Leigh Cook, Jason Segel, Colin Hanks and Henry Thomas) performs superbly—Swank in particular—and elevates this film into the upper echelon of the year. Read the full-length review of 11:14
7) The Great Raid director: John Dahl I look at The Great Raid as further proof that William Goldman’s statement “No one knows anything” is spot on in regards to Hollywood. Shot several years earlier, The Great Raid sat around on Miramax’s shelf gathering dust until 2005’s Great Releasing, when the Weinstein’s decided to release all of the films that had been sitting on their shelves before leaving Disney. The majority of these films were awful (see The Brother’s Grimm and Prozac Nation for examples of this). However, concealed in this barrage of garbage flying out at audiences was director John Dahl’s World War II period piece about a unit of Army Rangers in charge of going behind Japanese lines to rescue the members of a P.O.W. camp. Taught, exceptionally well choreographed and incredibly well thought out both technically and emotionally, The Great Raid is another overlooked Dahl masterpiece.
8) The Baxter director: Michael Showalter Writer/director/star Michael Showalter’s film, The Baxter, is on my top ten list for one reason: it is the most undeniably sweet, charming, warm and feel-good picture I’ve seen in months. Never resorting to cheap hyperbole or over-the-top syrup to propel it along, The Baxter is a clever, entertaining and sharp comedy. Other than Brian Herzlinger’s romance with Drew Barrymore in My Date with Drew, there was no on-screen pairing I rooted for more than Showalter and co-star Michelle Williams’. This was a fantastically entertaining film.
9) IMAGINARY HEROES director: Dan Harris Writer/director Dan Harris’ debut film, Imaginary Heroes, is so effortlessly, smoothly, enjoyably and simply made that it effectively raises the bar for other films that shine their spotlight on a slice of Americana. This drama about a middle-class family suffering from the death of their oldest son is instilled with such a quiet grace and elegance and comfortable atmosphere that it is hard not to be pulled into the material.
10) UNDERTOW director: David Gordon Green Director David Gordon Green has been beautifully, poignantly and unpretentiously capturing the lives, stories and surroundings of America’s rural poor on film for the last five years. Undertow marks his first conventionally structured film (with a beginning, rising action and climax) and the result is a unique movie-going experience that almost defies description. How any director can make an actor eating a piece of cake interesting, as Green does here with Dermot Mulroney, is anybody’s guess.
