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Things get, if possible, more depressing at number nine, and who better to plumb the depths of human misery than the Dardenne brothers? This French filmmaking duo deservedly won the Palm D'or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival with their film L'Enfant. L'Enfant tells the story of small time crook named Bruno, who has to get his life on track when his girlfriend gives birth. Instead, he does the next best thing: he sells the baby. Not surprisingly, his girlfriend objects and things don't go exactly as Bruno plans them to. The Dardennes have put together a superb filmography telling the stories of the marginalized members of European society, and I highly doubt that any of their films have a happy ending. While not the best movie to play at a baby shower, L'Enfant is a powerful and beautiful film.

Things get a little bit lighter at number eight, one of the few films on this list that was on the original BOP list. Rian Johnson made a dynamite debut with Brick, a modern film noir set in high school. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, his second starring role in a great overlooked film following the previous year's Mysterious Skin. Gordon-Levitt plays Brendan, a high schooler investigating the murder of his ex-girlfriend. He becomes embroiled in a complicated and twisted world that is different from what any of us imagined the popular kids did in high school. Brick is an utterly entrancing film with a few entertaining twists and some darkly comic moments.

Number seven brings back the depression in spades with Philip Noyce's political thriller Catch a Fire. The film is set during Apartheid-era South Africa (for those of you who aren't up to speed, Apartheid is like what they had in District 9 but without the aliens), and tells the story of Patrick Chamusso, a man unjustly arrested on suspicion of terrorist activity. The torture that he endures wakes him up to the injustices of the political system, and he becomes a freedom fighter. Derek Luke is one of the most underrated actors of the decade, and this is one of his standout performances. He stands toe-to-toe with Tim Robbins, who plays the government agent following Chamusso. A poignant and captivating film, Catch a Fire is a wakeup call to everyone who thinks that they can just ignore political injustice and hope it will go away.

For those of you who need a breather from all this death and misery, John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus will come as a relief at number six. The film is a celebration of sex and the power it has to bring people together. Not surprisingly, it received an NC-17 rating, but it is absurd that an uplifting and honest film like this is banned from most theaters while films like Saw and Hostel get away with R ratings. A group of people with various sexual and emotional dysfunctions come together at the Shortbus sex club, named after the kind of bus that takes the "special" kids to school. The film is driven (no pun intended) by a phenomenal cast of amateur actors, including great performances by Sook-Yin Lee as a sex therapist, Paul Dawson and P.J. Deboy as a couple on the verge of breaking up, and Lindsey Beamish as a professional dominatrix. As you can imagine, it is quite a unique film.

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