First warning based on two related facts: 90% of my favorites films are viewed as boring, pretentious, and aweful to my friends, and conversely, I never understand majority popularity.
Second warning: I am biased against Hollywood and other mainstreams. I am more tolerant for imperfections in HK movies and "foreign" movies (neither English, Cantonese, nor Mandarin).
Third warning: I have not seen too many films altogether, and the memories of some are faint.
I don't seriously believe in analysis and rationalizations for art
preferences. However, I am amused, fascinated & frustrated by the
variety of opinions people can have for films. So, I will list some
priorities (in decreasing order of importance) with these restrictions
in mind:
1. Interesting and well-acted characters.
2. Messages that are disturbing.
3. Manner in which the film is delivered -- e.g. music,
cinematography, tension, humor, consistency, twists, surprises etc.
4. Irrelevant elements: plots that serve a one-time-purpose and
have little to do with the message, action and pretty scenes that
serve no purpose (like strong sauce in a dish that covers the lack of
substance). Prettiness in the characters coming from good acting is
relevant:)
With these in mind, the following unordered list of films have interesting characters, extraordinary messages, and demonstrate superb story-telling:
Casablanca God Father Natural Born Killers Pulp Fiction The Deer Hunter An Autumn's Tale Four faces of Eve Center Stage Farewell My Concubine Before Sunrise Before Sunset JSA Memories of murder Rope Rear Window Rebecca The Birds Psycho In the mood for love Ashes of Time Days of being wild Happy together Princess Mononoke My Neighbor Totoro Nausicaa Grave of the Fireflies
A long list of movies that are quite good.
Maria Full of Grace Motorcycle Diaries On the Waterfront (1954) 2046 You shoot, I shoot A Short Film About Murder Gandhi Into the Arms of Strangers The Gate of Heavenly Peace To Kill the Mocking Bird When Harry met Sally The Nightmare before Christmas Breadfast at Tiffany's (1961) Apollo 13 (1995) Vertigo The Man who Knew too Much (1956) North by Northwest (1959) A Charlie Brown Christmas Kramer vs Kramer Yi Yi Kiki's Delivery Service Whisper of the Heart My Sassy Girl Fahrenheit 9/11 The Graduate Tootsie Amadeus The Man who Knew too Much (1938) Omen I Double Tap A Better Tomorrow I Now you see love, now you don't Kung Fu Hustle Comrades, almost a love story As Tears Go By ChungKing Express Song of the Exile The Soong Sisters To Live Hero CageMan (Lung Min (1992)) Spirited Away Laputa The Seven Samurai Forest Gump Alien Golden Chicken
The last list consists of movies well-worth 2-3 hours of free time.
Uzak Golden Chicken II Fahrenheit 9/11 Kill Bill (I) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Lord of the Rings I Bowling for Columbine The Pianist E.T. Inner Senses He's a Woman, She's a Man Eat Drink Man Woman In the heat of the sun Flowers of Shanghai Infernal Affairs July Rhapsody,
I am not embarrassed to admit having seen the following: King of Comedy, My Fair Lady, Charade (1963), Sabrina (1954), Notorious (1946), Dial M for Murder (1954), Intermezzo: A Lover Story (1939), All the President's Men, Sleepless in Seattle, Sense and Sensibility, A.I., Catch me if you can, Chicago, Raise the Red Lantern, Full Moon in New York, Rouge, Once a thief, Mona Lisa Smile, Joy Luck Club.
And there are tens of movies that add little to my life, and some 10-20 that I wish I have never seen.