10. Sin City (2005)
Dimension FilmsMulti-hyphenate Robert Rodriguez resigned from the Director's Guild of America in order to secure Frank Miller a co-director's credit for their adaptation of the latter's graphic novel series, which is only fair as Sin City is quite possibly the most faithful page-to-screen comic book movie ever made. Rodriguez himself cites the project as a 'translation, not an adaptation' and this visually groundbreaking, violent noir anthology is a stunning realization of Miller's acclaimed series. A sprawling ensemble of recognizable stars fill out the huge supporting cast with Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke and Elijah Wood arguably the standout performers. A triumph of technology, the production only used three sets with Rodriguez primarily relying on the new 'digital backlot' technique, but Sin City is more than just a director playing with his new toys. The monochromatic color palette with only a few splashes of color create a richly stylized environment, while the often-brutal violence, archetypal characters and gritty voice-overs all combine to create a true original; a hard-boiled 1950s-inspired noir masquerading as a comic book movie.