I watch a lot of music movies, so the obvious one is Purple Rain. Still the only artist to have the Number 1 movie at the box office, the number 1 album, and the number 1 single all at the same time. Not even Madonna or Michael Jackson ever did that.
Aside from that I’d probably pick The Godfather. Genre-defining and damn near flawless.
The Hours
Which makes me cry like a baby every time I watch it, all three lead actresses are incredible. I once fell out with a colleague for a week because she argued with me about what it meant - she’d decided Meryl was playing a movie of the book adapted by Julianne Moore’s character or some nonsense and I got angry. It’s just three overlapping stories about how Mrs Dalloway affected their lives. Also the novel its based on is incredible, so much happens despite it being such a short book.
The Birdcage
Which I still find hilarious, years after first seeing it, and it feels like there are more jokes every time I watch.
Michael Clayton
I think this is where I fell in love with George Clooney, and Tilda Swinton. (It’s a running joke with my friends that whenever her name pops up, I have to tell them she lives in my home town in north Scotland) The whole film is intense, it gives me chills, you need to watch it a few times to see all the strands coming together. I love the script, the music, the direction, it’s perfect.