I think for the last 10 years the most brilliant and creative stuff coming out of Hollywood has been the films from Clint Eastwood. In addition to others already listed on this thread, he directed a movie about 8 or 9 years ago which was about the battle of Iwo Jima from the Japanese point of view and it was a masterpiece.
"...he directed a movie about 8 or 9 years ago which was about the battle of Iwo Jima..."
That would be "Letters from Iwo Jima". He also directed "Flags of our Fathers" at the same time. The second film was taken from the USMC perspective, centered around the guys who raised the flag on Mt. Surabachi. Both of those films were masterpieces, IMO.