8. The Fountain
Sure to be one of the most contentious entries on this list, The Fountain is by many accounts Darren Aronofsky's worst film, but what's clear is that every frame is dripping with an insane level of ambition, even if not everything quite seems to cohere in the end. The picture, a romantic drama which includes the mind-boggling mix of fantasy, historical fiction and sci-fi, has Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz play three sets of characters throughout time, in somewhat similar fashion to the Wachowski's recent curio Cloud Atlas. Is it quite as successful? To be honest, it's hard to care when the film looks this amazing, especially considering the budget was only $35m. The key to cost-cutting was in abandoning a visual effects suite that would cost millions and instead hiring a macro photographer for $140,000 to shoot various fluids and shapes in extreme close-up, giving the film's space scenes their distinct and otherworldly feel. The only major effects shots were set extensions and digital mattes to composite everything together. Aronofsky, through the necessity of having his budget slashed in half, found a way to change the game without sacrificing his integrity, even if the film remains extremely divisive. If anything though, I think most will concede that it's a beautiful, ethereal experience.