3. Alejandro González Iñárritu
Iñárritu is a filmmaker that burst onto the world stage with his magnificent first film, Amores Perros (2000), then sort of got caught up in making were all connected movies, one of which was great (2003s English language 21 Grams), and the other of which was a bit overindulgent (2006s multi-lingual Babel). But he returned to form with 2010s Biutiful, a smaller, intimate look at one mans attempt to live a good life with the time he had left. Perhaps Iñárritus best skill as a director is his ability to pull incredible performances out of his cast. Like Bier, many of his films run the risk of falling from drama into melodrama, but while Bier embraces that, Iñárritu uses raw, rich performances from his cast to keep his films grounded. That's important, because many of his films go to some very tough places personally, and having the ability to get those performances keeps the film's progression feeling unforced and natural. Having moved from large, interconnected stories early in his career to the more personal level of Biutiful, it will be interesting whether he stays on a small scale or goes back to working on bigger pictures. As a side note, Iñárritu also directed Nikes Write the Future commercial for the 2010 World Cup, which was maybe the most entertaining sports commercial ever. Start with: Amores Perros. Its a pulpy, dirty and thought provoking film about three very different lives all connected by a car crash in Mexico City.