Honorable Mentions:
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith, Superman Returns, 300, Almost Famous, Star Trek (2009), Letters From Iwo Jima
10. City Of God
American gangster films have nothing on this hard core look at life in Brazil. The story of a young man who just wants out and away from the violence is gripping and powerful and resonates with any human with a soul for days.
9. The Departed
Martin Scorsese's masterpiece crime drama about gangsters, crooked cops, good cops, rats, and great acting from DiCaprio, Damon, Whalberg, and Nicholsan.
8. Batman Begins
Christopher Nolan rebooted the Batman franchise with this gritty "real world" look at Batman's origins but still staying true to the comic book roots of where it all began.
7. Black Hawk Down
Ridley Scott's modern war film based on true events is as good as they come. Superb cinematography a fantastic cast, great action and it's all based on real events that happened in the last 20 years so we remember seeing them unfold on television.
6. Open Range
Kevin Costner stared in and directed this great Western about free grazing cattlemen fighting back against a malicious rancher and his thugs. The shoot out at the end is the best in a film since the bank robbery in Heat.
5. Equilibrium
This little seen 2002 sci-fi flick is the work of director Kurt Wimmer. It stars a pre-Batman Christian Bale as a Tetragrammaton Cleric who keep the peace in a society where feelings and emotion are outlawed. The gun-kata fights are amazing and the look of the film is too considereing it was made for about 20 million.
4. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy
Ya it might be three movies but how can you really seperate this decade's Star Wars. The trilogy is a technical marvel and the story is great too. The battles are epic and with The Hobbit films coming in a couple of years now is the time to revisit these.
3. Pan's Labyrinth
Guillmero Del Toro directed this absolutely amazing movie about a young girl whose fairy tale world comes alive. The imagery is unlike any you have seen and the main villian is as evil as they come.
2. The Fountain
I couldn't decide between this or TDK as my #1 film because I really like The Fountain alot. Hugh Jackman stars in three parallel stories about love, death, immortality, and holding on to what is dear to us. Everyone takes away something different from the film and that's what is so great about it. The visuals are superb as are the actors performances, now if it could get a proper DVD release!
1. The Dark Knight
The Batman film I had been waiting my whole life for! Nolan's sequel to Batman Begins is everything you want in a comic book film. But it's also a gritty crime film! Heath Ledger's Joker is crazy scary and well acted, and Eckhart as Harvery Dent is pretty damn good too!
