I don't know which films you're reffering to as at any given time there are just as many which look backwards then forwards. The fact remains that stuff like Vertigo and The Wild Bunch and The Godfather rank with the greatest American Art in any medium.
There is art and then there is pop art. The art endures [as an art], while the pop art does not. Come back with your movie list in 300 years. Chances are that your list will be the stuff of obscure PhD dissertations.