Casino Royale's titles were pretty good.

More discussion on the Catch Me If You Can titles.

Monster's Inc. had some fun titles.

Panic Room's titles got a lot of praise when it was released (and the technique has been ripped off many times since)

kinetic type

this wiki entry doesn't explore just film titles, but links to several resources on type in motion.

Not necessarily typographic:
Very old: The Pink Panther
Newer: Seven
Basically: Saul Bass, inventor of artistic movie titles.

Lucky Number Slevin has some cool ledger-sheet inspired titles. The individual letters of names cycle in and out like bits of code.

Wordplay

Napoleon Dynamite

Though the title sequences aren't examples of spectacular type use, Wes Anderson is always very conscious with his use of type. It plays a definite role in the overall look + feel of the film.

The Royal Tenenbaums

I just love the title sequence from Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding, and the rest of the film is great too.

thanks for all the replies guys, this was my first post and i'm astounded by the quantity and quality of posts. some great examples here, most of which i'm familiar with - particularly love the napoleon dynamite's opening sequence, which coupled with 'we're going to be friends' by the white stripes, perfectly captures the innocence of the film.

i'd seen a lot of the work of Saul Bass before, without really realising it was his, and its stunning. part of the titles to 'the man with the golden arm' were copied for the white stripes 'hardest button to button' single sleeve. (you may have noticed i'm a white stripes fan!) Love Wes Andersons work, his attention to detail, and his love of futura (like Kubrick), which is most noticeable in the Royal Tenenbaums...along with Helvetica for the book covers featured in the film.

I've got a lot of ideas, just struggling to come up with a cohesive title/proposal for my dissertation, and a strong direction, but keep these coming!

on a related note: Opening credits sequences

Stranger Than Fiction has a really cool opening and Thank You For Smoking is really well done.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet's films usually have very nicely done opening sequences with typography embedded in objects. Most recently Amelie Poulain, but early Delicatessen is quite a classic.

a few films come to mind..

anything by Saul Bass >> Vertigo // Man With The Golden Arm // Anatomy of a Murder // (i believe he did also do Catch Me If You Can) //

others

Seven // SpiderMan // MonstersINC(i think done by Amanda Visell?)

"Lucky Number Slevin has some cool ledger-sheet inspired titles"

which reminded me of the "Dead Man On Campus" credits (done in the theme of bubble-fill-in test sheets)

Hi there, very interesting topic, I notice this thread began as a consult for a dissertation back in 2007. Where you able to complete it? is it published online?