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3. The Aviator: Another extraordinary film by Martin Scorsese, The Aviator captures the brilliant but eccentric personality of Howard Hughes. Perhaps this will bring Scorsese the best director Oscar that he failed to earn for creating Goodfellas, one of the best gangster movies of all time.
4. Ray: This year, Jamie Foxx gave two exceptional performances. The first came in the gritty thriller Collateral, in which Foxx starred opposite Tom Cruise. His second performance - and certainly the best by any actor this year - came in this Ray Charles biopic. In addition to featuring Foxx's convincing turn as the legendary singer, Ray also celebrates the zeal and grace of jazz and soul music.
5. Before Sunset: Richard Linklater's film centers on two former lovers, Jesse and Celine, (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, respectively), who by chance meet again and have time to talk about their lives. This doesn't sound particularly interesting when you consider that the 80-minute movie is essentially a long discussion between these two former lovers. However, the dialogue in Before Sunset manages to be immensely interesting. Jesse and Celine wistfully converse about their past, their failed dreams, and their individual attempts to cope with their current lives - all in poignant fashion.
6. The Incredibles: Pixar demonstrates with this film that their range reaches far beyond the levity of previous successes like Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo. The action sequences are fluid and exhilarating, the animation is aesthetic and more sophisticated than that seen in Pixar's previous projects, and the characters are, as usual, spirited and entertaining. With The Incredibles, Brad Bird (The Iron Giant) reaffirms that he is one of the most adept animation directors working today.
7. Zatoichi: Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi debuted in limited release this year in the United States. Only recently did the film come to DVD and give the general population an opportunity to view this quirky and creative samurai story. Kitano is one of the most interesting and original directors to come out of Japan. In his movies, he utilizes a unique minimalism that defies the conventions of typical American movies. While Zatoichi is in fact an action flick, the fighting is never prolonged, and the ensuing battles are always contemplated later by the combatants.
8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Jim Carrey is at his best when he's given well-written material to work with, as seen in both The Truman Show and The Majestic. In Eternal Sunshine, which has an intricate screenplay penned by Charlie Kaufman, Carrey plays Joel, an insecure and uncertain man. His character seems to represent the anxiety felt by everyone who has regretted a specific moment in his or her past. His anxiety consumes him to such a degree that he looks for a way to forget his past mistakes, which produces surprising - and entertaining - results.
9. The Terminal: Steven Spielberg took an idea that could have yielded a typical romantic comedy and transformed it into something much more interesting. The Terminal plays like individual snapshots from the life of Viktor Nivorski (Tom Hanks) while he is trapped in an airport terminal. Nothing goes exactly how he might expect - characters enter and leave his life at will. The constant, though, is The Terminal's benevolent central character and the charm and kindness that radiates from him.
10. Control Room: More than likely, most film critics will be agreeing that Fahrenheit 9/11 was this year's most important political documentary. But what exactly did Fahrenheit 9/11 accomplish? It did nothing more than widen the fissure between Democrats and Republicans because Michael Moore made no attempt to be objective. However, Control Room is the real deal. Here, director Jehane Noujaim maintains a level of objectivity that is quite refreshing. Rather than constantly talk like Moore did, he remains silent and listens to the opinions of those directly involved in the Iraq war, letting them tell the story.
