most of these are obvious, but damn you cybermike for giving away a couple of my lesser known reccomendations (ravenous and walkabout)! 25th hour was mentioned, and is real good, but compared to do the right thing it pales my friend
. its lee's best film. Federico Fellini was an italian director and his best (and most controversial work) in my opinon is la dolce vita. truly wonderful. chinatown was mentioned and has one of the best screenplays ever. you need to see Truffaut's film the 400 blows. cant really describe how this movie has affected me. seven samurai is my favorite kurosawa film, but also check out rashamon. brazil is one of my favorites, will blow you away. wild strawberries, persona, and the seventh seal are my favorite bergman films. all of these people have influenced modern movies so much that once you see them you will recognize the influence regularly. hmm what else ... going more recent i dont know if youve seen the royal tenenbaums but its one of my favorite comedies and doesnt get enough attention imo. boyz in the hood is another great fairly recent movie, i wish singleton would have just stopped after this one. dont know if you have seen any of paul thomas andersons films, but i think he is really doing something with modern cinema. boogie nights, magnolia, and punch drunk love are so skillfully done and every detail is perfect. he makes average actors extrodinary. all i can think of now sorry about the jumbled mess i just woke up.