8. Alejandro González Iñárritu
Directed Memorable Performances In: Amores Perros (2000), Babel (2006), and
Biutiful (2010)Best of the Best: Naomi Watts in
21 Grams (2003) Possessing a unique gritty style and penchant for non-linear story-telling, Iñárritu along with fellow auteurs Guillermo Del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón, ushered in a renaissance for the Mexican film industry in the 21st century. Beginning with his feature film debut in 2000 with
Amores Perros, he completed with his so-called 'Death' trilogy with
21 Grams and
Babel setting an international standard for visual storytelling. Although I personally feel that he has never topped the sheer ferocity of his first feature, one cannot deny Naomi Watts fearless performance in his in-spirit 'sequel'
21 Grams. 
Watts plays a woman who has lost her entire family in an accident caused by a drunk driver, played by Benicio Del Toro. She is adrift in a wave of emotions of anger and depression, becoming obsessed with only one thing, retribution. Watts has proven herself a tour-de-force performer in many, many varying roles, but has never been more powerful than in
21 Grams. Completely throwing herself into the role, her character descends into the darkest depths of despair and anguish with terrifying realism. Symbolic of the rest of the filmmaker's work as a performance-driven director.