How do you sustain tension and keep momentum after a twenty minute opening sequence set-up? You build it. This is without a doubt Scorsese's best film, and best of the year. Astonishing performances from a dream cast, ingenious editing, and real, genuine emotion.
This all-too-real vision of the future is dark as the night, but consistently gives a message of hope for the daybreak. Another emotional triumph this year, and contains some of the most incredibly directed sequences I have ever seen.
As we would say to Helen Mirren at Passover, Dyanu! It would have been enough this past year to revel in her brilliant performance as Elizabeth I from HBO, but twice does she amaze us as the second, and apparently a little white trashy, Elizabeth.
Hands down the most underrated, unseen film of the year, OutKast's long in development, originally for television feature-film is a reinvention of the musical, a statement on post-modernism, and a hip-hop hoot of a film.
And speaking of underrated and underappreciated, Sophia Coppola's amazing follow up to Lost in Translation is an even more personal exploration of identity, change, and the pressures of social expectations. Bravo Sophia, and off with the heads of anyone that booed in Cannes.
Borat is cinema's most lovable anti-Semite since Walt Disney, and the portrait he paints of America in this feature-length laugh-fest is too true and too scary to deal with, so you gotta just laugh (or sue).
A brilliant play translates to a brilliant film, made all the more interesting by the original cast and director.
Capturing exactly the same emotional pull as the original Donner film, this sort-of sequel answers the question "does the world need Superman?" The answer: yes, and a few more sequels would be welcome. 
Are the voices in your head telling you that Will Ferrell couldn't possibly pull off a serious performance, nor could any of his films be considered heartwarming, nor thought provoking? Easily the year's best original screenplay, and an overall fun film.
I don't know a single person who hated this film. It's just a gem, and I think a true contender for the Oscar. and honorable mentions...
