11. Lincoln (2012)
Easily Spielberg's best film since 2005's Munich, Lincoln shows just how much the director has matured and grown since he made Amistad almost 15 years ago. Lincoln tells a similarly historically important story, but it does so with such a refreshing sense of energy, if I didn't know any better I would think a different director were behind it. Far from the "stuffy history lesson" many people make it out to be, Lincoln is actually an incredibly funny and endearingly honest depiction of one of the great historical characters of our time. Working off of one of the finest screenplays of any of his films courtesy of playwright Tony Kushner, Spielberg assembled one of his very finest ensemble casts, led by the greatest actor of this generation, Daniel Day-Lewis. Kushner's sharp, witty dialogue rolls off these thespian's tongues like a cascading waterfall, and the result is a restrained, breezy, character-driven procedural deconstructing myths and presenting an honest, entertaining depiction of a fascinating series of events. Where old Spielberg would indulge and sensationalize, new Spielberg lets the characters and the writing do all the legwork here, aided by gorgeous cinematography and production design courtesy of Spielberg's regular collaborators.