By Tom Lynch

50. “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” Shane Black, 2005

49. “In America,” Jim Sheridan, 2002

48. “The Lives of Others,” Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006

47. “Pan’s Labyrinth,” Guillermo del Toro, 2006

46. “Best in Show,” Christopher Guest, 2000

45. “Michael Clayton,” Tony Gilroy, 2007

44. “The Dark Knight,” Christopher Nolan, 2008

43. “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,” Alex Gibney, 2005

42. “Traffic,” Steven Soderbergh,” 2000

41. “Spider-Man 2,” Sam Raimi, 2004

40. “The Pianist,” Roman Polanski, 2002

39. “The Assassination of Richard Nixon,” Niels Muller, 2004

38. “The Fog of War,” Errol Morris, 2003

37. “Black Hawk Down,” Ridley Scott, 2001

36. “The Queen,” Stephen Frears, 2006

35. “The Station Agent,” Thomas McCarthy, 2003

34. “The Departed,” Martin Scorsese, 2006

33. “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” Julian Schnabel, 2007

32. “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” Andrew Dominik, 2007

31. “Spartan,” David Mamet, 2004

30. “Brokeback Mountain,” Ang Lee, 2005

29. “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” Michel Gondry, 2004

28. “American Splendor,” Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini, 2003

27. “Ghost World,” Terry Zwigoff, 2001

26. “Punch-Drunk Love,” Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002

25. “Milk,” Gus Van Sant, 2008

24. “Closer,” Mike Nichols, 2004

23. “Where the Wild Things Are,” Spike Jonze, 2009

22. “Lost in Translation,” Sofia Coppola, 2003

21. “The 25th Hour,” Spike Lee, 2002

20. ”Before Sunset,” Richard Linklater, 2004

19. “The Proposition,” John Hillcoat, 2006

18. “There Will Be Blood,” Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007

17. “Children of Men,” Alfonso Cuaron, 2006

16. “Collateral,” Michael Mann, 2004

15. “High Fidelity,” Stephen Frears, 2000

14. “Capturing the Friedmans,” Andrew Jarecki, 2003

13. “Mulholland Drive,” David Lynch, 2001

12. “You Can Count on Me,” Kenneth Lonergan, 2000

11. “Mystic River,” Clint Eastwood, 2003

10. “Good Night, and Good Luck,” George Clooney, 2005

09. “Almost Famous,” Cameron Crowe, 2000

08. “All the Real Girls,” David Gordon Green, 2003

07. “Zodiac,” David Fincher, 2006

06. “No Country for Old Men,” Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007

05. “Adaptation,” Spike Jonze, 2002

04. “In the Bedroom,” Todd Field, 2001

03. “The Royal Tenenbaums,” Wes Anderson, 2001

02. “Wonder Boys,” Curtis Hanson, 2000

01. “United 93,” Paul Greengrass, 2006