6. Moon
Being released the same year as Star Trek, District 9, and Avatar definitely didn't help Moon stand out among the crowd. Its box office numbers are infinitesimal compared to the other three and yet, with a budget of only 10 million dollars and a first-time director at the helm, Moon is every bit as quality a film as those three. Anchored by a dynamite performance from Sam Rockwell, who is the only actor to appear on screen, Moon is the most humanistic of the three, portraying a man who is faced with questions that have wide-ranging implications. It is also one of the most grounded of the three, realistically depicting life on the lunar surface, giving a real scientific reason for Rockwell's character to be there, and is a very smartly written film overall. Moon looks very good as well, and although there's nothing inherently "great" about it, Duncan Jones manages to make a film that is very good in just about every respect, being well constructed, thoughtful, and poignant all at once.