If you’re trying to justify taking a few hours away from your writing desk to go to the movies, I recommend these two.  There may be more worth recommending, but I don’t get out much.  Anyway, here’s my reasoning:

Doubt is a masterpiece of characterization.  Even the minor players are rich with personality, and the three main characters areas wonderful and complex as you can get.  After I walked out of the theater, it felt like I had seen a movie that described the world it specifically portrayed, but also showed us a bit of the human condition, and a bit of all of ourselves.  Setting, tension, plot – all good.  Characterization:  great.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button:  Well – it hits all my speculative fiction reader cookies.  But beyond that, it was an example of getting deep emotion into a movie about a fantastical situation.  I cried.