7) Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney)
As a filmmaker, George Clooney has failed to live up to the early promise: The light, entertaining Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and the multi-Oscar nominated Good Night, and Good Luck were followed by the mediocre Leatherheads, the forgettable Ides of March and, his low point, 2014’s interminably dull The Monuments Men. As a filmmaker, it feels like Clooney has regressed rather than evolved.
Still, Clooney’s second film, Good Night, and Good Luck, proves the King of Hollywood has it in him to make something magnificent. As an actor, he blends in as part of the ensemble, but it’s as director and co-writer that Clooney’s the star of Good Night, and Good Luck, conjuring up a witty, thoughtful and good-looking (the monochrome photography is excellent) movie beyond what most full-time writer-directors can do.