5. Noah (2014)
Paramount PicturesDarren Aronofsky's $125m Biblical epic overcame rumors of behind-the-scenes troubles and pre-release controversy to earn almost $360m at the box office. Despite working with a blockbuster budget for the first time, the director retains his artistic vision to create something truly unique; a complex character study in the guise of a CGI-heavy effects movie. Although the director's grandiosity can sometimes border on pretension, Noah offers plenty of visually stunning and thematically rich sequences, although several of the underlying messages are a little too on-the-nose. Russell Crowe gives his best performance in years as the title character, a man chosen to be a savior who also has no problem in letting thousands of innocents die in the process. An art movie wrapped up inside a studio blockbuster, Noah won't appeal to everyone but it stands as one of the most original pieces of big-budget filmmaking to emerge from Hollywood in years.