#2 Into the Wild by Sean Penn

Sean Penn has for years been an academy favorite as an actor and a critical failure as a director. This past year, however, Penn crafted one of the most assured, beautiful, and moving pieces of cinema to come along and shake the american psyche in years. In the tragic tale of a youth fed up with our culture and his parents we are delivered a shaking powerhouse performance by the young Emile Hirsch who carries us through to the end with such sincerity even though, as an actor he knows his character is doomed, he never lets his character know. We are swept up in the character of Christopher McCandless's passion and the passion by which Penn directs. There is so much power here and so much truth and America just needs to open up their eyes.