The Criterion Collection

America Lost and Found: The BBS Story

apstilwell: “The best Criterion box set since the Cassavetes collection.”

Summer with Monika

Ingmar Bergman

Being John Malkovich

Spike Jonze

apstilwell: “The best surrealist film since 8 1/2. Funny, intellectual, entertaining, offensive. I love it.”

Cul-de-sac

Roman Polanski

apstilwell: “This is lesser when compared to Repulsion, but it's still a fine film by Polanski. I'll generally love nearly anything with Donald Pleasance in it.”

Two-Lane Blacktop

Monte Hellman

apstilwell: “This film is, without a doubt, endlessly re-watchable. A sublime cast, classic cinematography, a simple journey in America. It's perfect.”

3 Women

Robert Altman

apstilwell: “A lovely -- if overtly strange -- Altman film. Sissy Spacek is my favorite aspect of it.”

Picnic at Hanging Rock

Peter Weir

apstilwell: “This is the creepiest film I've seen. The sense of dread amidst such pristine natural beauty is unmatched in any cinema.”

The Killing

Stanley Kubrick

Eclipse Series 9: The Delirious Fictions of William Klein

William Klein

World on a Wire

Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Godzilla

Ishiro Honda

Three Colors

Krzysztof Kieślowski

Kiss Me Deadly

Robert Aldrich

Something Wild

Jonathan Demme

Antichrist

Lars von Trier

The Night of the Hunter

Charles Laughton

The Darjeeling Limited

Wes Anderson

Paths of Glory

Stanley Kubrick

The Thin Red Line

Terrence Malick

Crumb

Terry Zwigoff

Dillinger Is Dead

Marco Ferreri

Wings of Desire

Wim Wenders

Repulsion

Roman Polanski

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

David Fincher

Wise Blood

John Huston

The Exterminating Angel

Luis Buñuel

Europa

Lars von Trier

Trafic

Jacques Tati

Vampyr

Carl Th. Dreyer

Patriotism

Yukio Mishima and Domoto Masaki

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

Paul Schrader

Days of Heaven

Terrence Malick

Les enfants terribles

Jean-Pierre Melville

Ivan’s Childhood

Andrei Tarkovsky

apstilwell: “This was the first Tarkovsky film I saw, and in many ways still my favorite. The imagery is as pristine and the metaphorical content is provoking.”

Army of Shadows

Jean-Pierre Melville

apstilwell: “Melville's masterpiece. So complete that to make a film about the French Resistance would be futile.”

La haine

Mathieu Kassovitz

apstilwell: “A brutal film about the nature of society. One of the best films of the 90s.”

Fires on the Plain

Kon Ichikawa

apstilwell: “A perfect antidote to jingoistic American war pictures of the time. Kon Ichikawa's film is lyrical and horrific. A reminder of Japan's WWII experience”

Symbiopsychotaxiplasm

William Greaves

apstilwell: “A very funny Documentary. One of the best "meta" films, it also asks much of its viewer. Great study material for a young filmmaker.”

The Double Life of Véronique

Krzysztof Kieślowski

apstilwell: “A tragic film made more tragic by the realization that its maker was taken too soon. Kieslowski understands emotion unlike any filmmaker out there.”

The Spirit of the Beehive

Víctor Erice

apstilwell: “A perfect film for me. It truly made me fall in love with movies again and Victor Erice made a mesmerizing tale of daydreams and nightmares.”

The Bad Sleep Well

Akira Kurosawa

apstilwell: “Kurosawa's bleak Corporate Noir. It's like Mad Men meets Hamlet by way of Film Noir.”

Ran

Akira Kurosawa

apstilwell: “This might be better than Seven Samurai, but nobody knows for sure. Kurosawa takes on King Lear with a bold sweeping epic of a production.”

Le Samouraï

Jean-Pierre Melville

apstilwell: “The coolest movie I have seen. Alain Delon is like a cat, and the photography is like a Neo-Noir dreamscape. Unmissable for Crime Cinema fans.”

The Man Who Fell to Earth

Nicolas Roeg

apstilwell: “Another film most are bound to hate by Nic Roeg, but David Bowie is truly otherworldly and Candy Clark and Rip Torn are great. Read the book too!”

Bad Timing

Nicolas Roeg

apstilwell: “A dirty movie to watch by yourself because most people are bound to hate it. I love the way Nic Roeg edits his films.”

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Wes Anderson

apstilwell: “Wes Anderson's best Action film. The shoot-out on the boat is up there with John Woo's Hard-Boiled.”

Short Cuts

Robert Altman

apstilwell: “An unbalanced Altman film that is sweet, funny, melodramatic, and sprawling. Many of the stories within this film really shine, but overall it lacks.”

Tanner ’88

Robert Altman

apstilwell: “Not a favorite Altman product of mine but it shows an interesting glimpse of HBO's future as one of the best producers of cutting-edge television.”

Videodrome

David Cronenberg

apstilwell: “Cronenberg's best film of the 80s. Debbie Harry is a babe and James Woods is brilliant. Extraordinary effects and a real mind-bending story.”

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse

Fritz Lang

apstilwell: “Everyone loves Lang's M but Dr. Mabuse is like The Godfather of German Expressionism. Long and challenging, but there are images here which inspire. ”

Naked Lunch

David Cronenberg

apstilwell: “I can't wrap my mind around why people gave Cronenberg money to make this surreal fever dream but I'm glad they did. A truly inspired film.”

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Terry Gilliam

apstilwell: “Is this movie good? It's tough to say but I always have a ball watching it and Johnny Depp portrays Hunter S. Thompson as he truly was. Love Gilliam.”

Solaris

Andrei Tarkovsky

apstilwell: “Impenetrable but perhaps that's always been the point. Tarkovsky makes films which shouldn't exist in the waking life, but he managed and I'm thankful”

The Royal Tenenbaums

Wes Anderson

apstilwell: “More Salinger-influence from Wes Anderson. Not as tight as Rushmore, but equally rewarding and often more funny.”

In the Mood for Love

Wong Kar-wai

apstilwell: “A film one gets lost in and never wants to return to reality. Wong Kar-Wai is a Master, he is simply unbelievably great and this is one of his greats.”

That Obscure Object of Desire

Luis Buñuel

8½

Federico Fellini

apstilwell: “I could never tire watching this. Fellini and Mastroianni are gods of the cinema and Claudia Cardinale is the most beautiful woman. A perfect film.”

Withnail and I

Bruce Robinson

apstilwell: “Richard E. Grant steals this movie. It's a grimy, alcohol-infused tale that is witty, mad, but also poetic.”

Playtime

Jacques Tati

apstilwell: “The most visually-inspired Comedy I have seen. Jaques Tati is a master of his craft. This film was well worth his trouble.”

The Last Temptation of Christ

Martin Scorsese

apstilwell: “As a lapsed Catholic, this film puts me through an emotional bender. I feel it's the most honest depiction of the man Jesus Christ. An incredible film”