Pretty much everything from IMDb's Top 250, Letterboxd's Top 250, and Phi Phenomenon. See also List of films considered the best, Metacritic's top movies, Rotten Tomatoes' Top 100 movies of all time, and The 50 Greatest Films of All Time.
- Sans toit ni loi (7.8)
- The Hidden Fortress (8.1) (recommended by @ebruchez)
...
- 21 Grams (7.7)
- The Holy Mountain (7.9)
- Endless Poetry (7.7)
- Andrei Rublev (8.2)
- Nostalgia (8.2)
- The Sacrifice (8.1)
- The Mirror (8.1)
- Ivan's Childhood (8.1)
...
- Dunkirk (8.0)
- The Elephant Man (8.2) (already seen)
...
- Ma nuit chez Maud (8.1)
- 4 aventures de Reinette et Mirabelle (7.9)
- Le genou de Claire (7.8)
- Le rayon vert (7.8)
- L'amour l'après-midi (7.8)
- Fanny and Alexander (8.1)
- Cries and Whispers (8.1)
- The Virgin Spring (8.1)
- Through a Glass Darkly (8.1)
- Winter Light (8.1)
- Shame (8.1)
...
- Breaking the Waves (7.9)
- Europa (7.7)
- Roger & Me (7.5)
- Talk to Her (8.0)
- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (7.6)
- Bad Education (7.5)
- Flight (7.3)
- The Tragedy of Macbeth (7.5)
- short films (9 from 1955-1962, one from 2009, one from 2012)
- Adaptation. (7.8)
+ Lost in La Mancha (7.4) (a documentary about "Terry Gilliam's doomed attempt to get his film, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, off the ground")
- Edward Scissorhands (7.9) (already seen on TV)
- Frankenweenie (7.0)
- Hannah and Her Sisters (8.0)
- Crimes and Misdemeanors (8.0)
- Love and Death (7.8)
- Zelig (7.8)
- The Purple Rose of Cairo (7.7)
Misc
- Ben Affleck, Argo (7.7) (recommended by colleagues)
- Alejandro Amenábar, Abre los ojos (7.9) (Vanilla Sky is a remake of this movie)
- Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Home (8.6)
- Jaume Balagueró & Paco Plaza, [Rec] (7.5)
- Marie-Dominique Dhelsing, Pierre Rabhi : Au nom de la terre (7.4) (recommended by @caryl_jones)
- Federico Fellini, 8½ (8.1) (recommended by @ebruchez)
- Richard Fleischer, Soylent Green (7.1)
- Paul Haggis, In the Valley of Elah (7.2)
- Lasse Hallström, Chocolat (7.3)
- Dennis Hopper, The Hot Spot (6.4) (for the Miles Davis soundtrack)
- John Huston, Moby Dick (7.4)
- Barbara Kopple & Cecilia Peck, Shut Up & Sing (7.7)
- Ken Loach, It's a Free World (7.0)
- Kevin Macdonald, Touching the Void (8.1) (recommended by @caryl_jones)
- Jessie Nelson, I Am Sam (7.6)
- Robert Barry Ptolemy, Transcendent Man (7.2) (documentary about Ray Kurzweil)
- Michèle Rosier, Mon coeur est rouge (6.4) (some music composed by Keith Jarrett)
- Patrick Savey, Marcus (available on iTunes)
- Jacqueline Veuve, La petite dame du Capitole (already seen at the cinema, bought on DVD)
Selections from 25 Spectacular Movies You (Probably) Haven’t Seen
- Richard Schenkman, The Man from Earth (8.0)
- John Carney, Once (7.9)
- Stephen Chow, Kung Fu Hustle (7.8)
- Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris (7.7) (seen in 2011)
- Zach Braff, Garden State (7.6)
- Cary Fukunaga, Sin Nombre (7.6) (seen in 2009)
- Sean Ellis, Cashback (7.3)
- Gaspar Noé, Enter the Void (7.3)
Selections from 25 Spectacular Movies You (Probably) Haven’t Seen Pt. 2
- Juan José Campanella, The Secret in Their Eyes (8.3)
- Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis (8.0)
- Tarsem Singh , The Fall (7.9)
- Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive (7.8)
- Shane Black, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (7.7) (seen in 2005)
- Rian Johnson, Brick (7.5)
- Milos Forman, Man on the Moon (7.5)
- Raymond De Felitta, City Island (7.4)
- Kim Jee-woon, The Good, the Bad, the Weird (7.3)
- Steven Spielberg, The Terminal (7.3) (seen in 2004)
- David Slade, Hard Candy (7.2)
Selections from 25 Spectacular Movies You (Probably) Haven’t Seen Pt. 3
- Joshua Oppenheimer, The Act of Killing (8.2)
- Ki-duk Kim, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (8.1) (seen in 2004)
- Jaco Van Dormael, Mr. Nobody (7.9)
- Jacques Audiard, Un prophète (7.9)
- Anders Thomas Jensen, Adams æbler (7.9) (seen in 2006)
- Kinji Fukasaku, Battle Royale (7.8)
- Paolo Sorrentino, The Great Beauty (7.7)
- Pan Nalin, Samsara (7.7)
- Tom Ford, A Single Man (7.6)
- Hans Weingartner, The Edukators (7.6)
- Dennis Gansel, Die Welle (7.6)
- Tom Tykwer, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (7.5)
- John Carpenter, They Live (7.3)
- Antonio Naharro & Álvaro Pastor, Yo, también (7.2)