Oliver Stone has devoted himself so loudly (if often brashly) to the cause of political filmmaking that it would be almost churlish to deny him a spot on this list. But where some of his more militant films have evaporated into hot air over the years, the restless curiosity and daring of his self-professed “counter-myth” on the Kennedy assassination still burn bright. Assorted dull critics and political pundits attacked Stone for brazenly expressing his theories, missing his point that history can be interpreted as well as absorbed; this vast, thrilling lightning rod of a movie discourages viewers from passively accepting given truths.