In my view, this is an age of great filmmaking. But the gems won’t be found among the mass market garbage. Let me add to Borges’ list:
Lost in Translation
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Synecdoche, NY
Hotel Rwanda
Million Dollar Baby
Grizzly Man
Jonestown
Still Life
Adaptation
Her
No Country for Old Men
Encounters at the End of the World
My Winnipeg
Slumdog Millionaire
Of Gods and Men
Inside Llewyn Davis
Boyhood
I literally recognize 5 of those, but I will look them all up for sure.
Lots of Coen Brothers in that list. If you’re looking for original (that sometimes hits great and sometimes doesn’t) that’s always a good place to start. Note the spelling, there’s a couple of guys named Cohen (with that H) that aren’t as good (not entirely bad, but they ain’t the Coens). Another great place to look for original that can hit great is Wes Anderson, which of course brings up the post “big hit” Bill Murray who does a lot with Wes but does a lot of equally interesting stuff without.
Also good places to look are Magnet and Magnolia. They’re 2 indie film distributors. Magnet is mostly horror with a bit of sci-fi (pay special attention to Monsters and Tucker and Dale vs Evil). Magnolia is more non-genre.
The praise for ‘Her’ was baffling. If the OS character was just a girl it would be a routine romantic comedy. Bland as all get out.