I was thinking about the previous fanpost on music and was thinking along similar lines for music, regardless of format, language, popularity, year it was produced, etc, movies are far more accessible now in the digital age. Most of the movies I list are foreign..the Bourne series was borderline for me, I think that series lifted the bar for spy/action thrillers

Crouching tiger hidden dragon

In the mood for love

Y tu mama tambien

Lord of the rings trilogy

L'enfant

Pan’s labyrinth

The wind that shakes the barley  

The lives of others

28 days later

Documentaries - Farhenheit 911, helvetica, we jam econo