Gangs of New York

Martin Scorsese delivers his biggest film to date with this gigantic epic about rival street gangs in 19th century New York. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a greasy punk bent on taking revenge for the murder of a loved one, and this is his best work in years. Daniel Day-Lewis is frighteningly good as Bill the Butcher, a knife wielding, bushy-mustached psychopath with an intolerance for immigrants. This film was a long time coming for Scorsese, and perhaps it will help him score something that has also been a long time coming—an Oscar, a long-overdue reward for one of the best directors ever to create a film.