3. Slumdog Millionaire - Danny Boyle
Previously known for: Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Sunshine Danny Boyle has proven himself to be a cinematic chameleon over the course of his increasingly varied career and Slumdog Millionaire is a film that really sticks out in his repertoire. It bears none of the usual existential dread that hovered over his earlier movies Shallow Grave and Trainspotting, while it also shys away from the doom laden tone that he gave to 28 Days Later and Sunshine. Slumdog Millionaire does feature many moments of darkness, but it ultimately resolves in a way that no other Danny Boyle film has. The movie's main characters, Jamal and Latika, are reunited just as Jamal wins the 20 million rupees he had been competing for. The ending has such a happy resolution that Boyle went so far as to even include a Bollywood inspired dance number that plays out over the credits. The Bollywood influences not only set the film apart from anything else made by Danny Boyle, but also from anything else to be released in America and Great Britain in 2008. The visuals are also brighter and more vivid than Boyle's other films. He has always given his directing a visual flair but here he uses the full spectrum of colour to tell his story in a way that is truly unique.