Been putting this off forever because I'm a film buff and own 2000+ movies. No way I can do a Top 10, but here's 20 off the top of my head that I really like (in alphabetical order):
Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (Zatôichi) - I own all the Zatoichi films and this is my favorite, if (but not) only due to "Beat" Takeshi Kitano.
Capernaum (Capharnaüm) - The only Lebanese film I own and one of two child acting movies I can watch over and over again.
City of God (Cidade de Deus) - Hoodlum kids growing up in Rio slums breathtaking? That and a whole lot more. Yeah, this is the other one.
District 9 - Action sci-fi thriller without over-the-top special effects, which aren't needed when the story is this good.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - A Jim Carrey movie among my favorites? Can't take him in anything else, but this one is so good.
Handmaiden (Ah-ga-ssi) - So many great Korean movies, but this one stands out. Nuff said. Not giving anything away.
House of Games - David Mamet at his best. Never trust a con man. Duh
Incendies - Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049) films are amazing and this is my favorite (at least until I see Dune later this year).
The Nest (Nid De Guepes) - Best action/suspense film ever? You bet! Samy Naceri at his best.
Nine Queens (Nueve Reinas) - Argentine thriller with twists and turns that actually make sense and you don't see coming.
Oldboy (Oldeuboi) - BRUTAL! But so good. Warning - stay away from the remake.
Once Upon a Time in the West (C'era una volta il West) - Although quite a long saga, no finer Sergio Leone spaghetti western (The Good the Bad and the Ugly, A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More).
Our Lady of the Assassins (La virgen de los sicarios) - Gay teen Colombian assassins might be too much for many, but so engrossing.
Parasite (Gisaengchung) - Too many great Korean movies, but this one rules!
Raging Bull - So many great collaborations (Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Casino, etc.), but this is Scorsese's and De Niro's best.
Requiem for a Dream - Best drug addiction film of all time and easier to re-watch than Trainspotting.
Roma - Alfonso Cuarón's (Gravity, Y Tu Mamá También) love letter to Mexico City, even though technically only one neighbourhood. Too slow for many.
To Live (Ikiru) - I love Kurosawa (Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Hidden Fortress, Bad Sleep Well, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, High and Low, Red Beard, Kagemusha, etc.), but Ran is overrated and this one is so underrated.
Twilight Samurai (Tasogare Seibei) - Not what you would expect from a feudal Japan era samurai film, but my favorite by quite a margin.
Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin) - Never had a feeling like leaving the theater after this one. Wim Wenders and Bruno Ganz at their best. Peter Falk isn't bad either, even though he's playing himself. German cinema isn't for everyone.
Missing are films from some of my favorite directors (with my favorite films from each): Francis Ford Coppola (Godfather, Apocalypse Now); Alan Parker (Midnight Express, Mississippi Burning); Atom Egoyan (The Adjuster, The Sweet Hereafter); Shohei Imamura (Pornagraphers, Vengeance is Mine); Terry Gilliam (Brazil, 12 Monkeys); Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, American Gangster); John Woo (Hard Boiled, The Killer, Bullet in the Head); Luc Besson (Léon: The Professional, La Femme Nikita); Jim Jarmusch (Stranger Than Paradise, Down by Law); Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Shape of Water); Kenji Mizoguchi (Ugetsu, Sansho the Bailiff, Life of Oharu), Kathryn Bigelow (Near Dark, Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty); Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho, Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest); John Huston (Man Who Would Be King, Prizzi's Honor, Fat City + his classics), Takashi Miike (Audition, Dead or Alive, Ichi the Killer, Thirteen Assassins); Wes Anderson (Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom, Isle of Dogs); Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing, BlacKkKlansman): Pedro Almodóvar (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, All About My Mother): Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman, Amores Perros, The Revenant): Hiroshi Inagaki (Musashi Miyamoto samurai trilogy); Coen brothers (Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing, Big Lebowski, O Brother Where Art Thou, No Country for Old Men); Christopher Nolan (Memento, Inception, Dunkirk, Tenet); David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Lost Highway); Yasujiro Ozu (Tokyo Story, Floating Weeds, Late Spring, Early Summer, An Autumn Afternoon); Stanley Kubrick (Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Clockwork Orange, The Shining) and Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, Hateful Eight, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood).
And no comedies (my favs, but obviously not into the box office biggies): Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Monty Python's Life of Brian, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Big Lebowski, Dr Strangelove, My Name Is Nobody (Il mio nome è Nessuno), They Call Me Trinity (Lo chiamavano Trinità), Trinity Is Still My Name (Continuavano a chiamarlo Trinità), Manitou's Shoe (Der Schuh des Manitu), The Visitors (Les Visiteurs), Taxi (Luc Besson), Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire), The Goat (La Chèvre), In Bruges, A Fish Called Wanda, Grand Budapest Hotel, Hangover, Naked Gun and Airplane.
Nor Animations: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Ghost in the Shell (Kôkaku Kidôtai), Isle of Dogs, Millennium Actress (Sennen joyû), WALL-E, Akira, Ratatouille, Anomalisa, Summer Days with Coo (Kappa no Kû to natsuyasumi), Persepolis, Another Day of Life, Your Name (Kimi no na wa), Iron Giant, Heavy Metal, Princess Mononoke (Mononoke-hime), Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi), Ponyo (Gake no ue no Ponyo), My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro), Kiki's Delivery Service (Majo no takkyûbin), The Wind Rises (Kaze tachinu), My Life as a Zucchini (Ma vie de courgette), Triplets of Belleville (Les triplettes de Belleville), Steamboy, Renaissance, Vampire Hunter D (Kyûketsuki hantâ D), Samurai X (Rurôni Kenshin), Blood: The Last Vampire, Paprika (Papurika), Ninja Scroll (Jûbê ninpûchô), Wizards, Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no haka) and Mr Hublot - a short film.
But most of all, none from my favorite genre - film noir: Night of the Hunter, Detour, Double Indemnity, The Big Heat, Asphalt Jungle, Touch of Evil, Kiss Me Deadly, In a Lonely Place, The Big Sleep, Out of the Past, The Killing, Naked Kiss, The Third Man, Raw Deal, They Live By Night, While the City Sleeps, They Drive By Night, On Dangerous Ground, The Big Knife, The Hitch-Hiker, The Wrong Man, Stray Dog (Nora inu), High and Low (Tengoku to jigoku), Branded to Kill (Koroshi no rakuin), Cruel Gun Story (Kenjû zankoku monogatari), Pale Flower (Kawaita hana), A Colt is My Passport (Koruto wa ore no pasupooto), Shoot the Piano Player (Tirez sur le pianiste), Elevator to the Gallows (Ascenseur pour l'échafaud), Le Samouraï, Breathless (À bout de souffle), Night Moves, Killing of a Chinese Bookie, The American Friend (Der amerikanische Freund), Blood Simple, Lost Highway and Chinatown.
Too much for most of you to read and much more than I planned on writing, but maybe there's one or two other film nuts like myself in this community that appreciate what occupies my time when I'm not out and about or watching sports. And yes, I did mention Raging Bull, The Godfather and Clockwork Orange, but no Shawshank Redemption, Schindler's List, Citizen Kane, etc.
