Greed (1924)
Director: Erich von Stroheim
Von Stroheim's silent masterpiece - an honest dentist becomes obsessed with money after winning the lottery - is as obsessive as Kubrick, as epic as Lean and as powerful as Scorsese. Read Review

Killer Of Sheep (1977)
Director: Charles Burnett
A landmark in both black and indie cinema, this is a plotless portrait of an African-American LA family, built around mundane activities but told with wit, pathos and stunning black-and-white imagery. Read Review

Night Of The Living Dead (1968)
Director: George A. Romero
The greatest zombie movie ever made. Stripped of the cackle and glee of modern horror, this plays its emotions and viscera straight, the lo-fi feel adding to the unease. Read Review

The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007)
Director: Andrew Dominik
The kind of satisfying, elegiac Western you thought died out with the '70s. Great performances by Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, but this is truly its director's work. Read Review

Casino (1995)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Originally dismissed as a GoodFellas retread, Scorsese's gangsters-in-Vegas chronicle has improved with age, a complex, terrifying, virtuoso look at Mob minutiae. And Sharon Stone upstages De Niro. Fact. Read Review

Cloverfield (2008)
Director: 394
If this were the 500 Greatest Viral Marketing Campaigns, this would be number one. As it is, this most modern of monster movies is brilliantly handled handheld fun. Read Review

Garden State (2004)
Director: Zach Braff
Among the most likable of indie-slacker-ennui movies, Braff's blank-faced charm and Natalie Portman's kooky energy make this hard to resist. Also gets points for its too-cool-for-school soundtrack. Read Review

Paris, Texas (1984)
Director: Wim Wenders
It's Kramer Vs. Kramer on wheels as Harry Dean Stanton's Travis goes on the road with his son to find his ex. Emotionally restrained, beautifully shot and memorably scored by Ry Cooder. Read Review

Mulholland Drive (2001)
Director: David Lynch
Lynch's best work for 15 years, a dark look at the underbelly of Hollywood with enough impenetrability to support 1,000 theories. Hot girls get it on, too! Read Review

2 Days In Paris (2007)
Director: Julie Delpy
Owing as much to Woody Allen as Richard Linklater, Delpy's French gal-Yank guy relationship piece is less earnest and funnier than the pleasures of Before Sunset/Sunrise. For romantic cynics everywhere. Read Review