Could list hundreds, but I'll limit it to 5 as Scott suggested: -The Matrix -Reservoir Dogs -Alien -Good Will Hunting -Black Swan

For comedy: 1. Some Like It Hot. 2. The odd Couple. 3. Death at a Funeral (the UK version). 4. Four Lions.

Well, first of all, you have to have Expendables (Un & Deux)....but, excepting those, in no particular order: 1. The Searchers 2. Casablanca 3. The Usual Suspects 4. Animal House 5. The Third Man

A few of my favs: American Beauty Good Will Hunting (its been referenced, but its a gooder) Bridesmaids (comedy gold: ya girls!) Little Miss Sunshine/Sideways Fargo

Okay, so I'm not following instructions, but I'd like to focus on the writers and give movies as examples. These writers exemplify GREAT screenwriting as I've had the opportunity to read a few of these scripts as well as seen the movie and felt the scripts in some cases were better than the actual movie! (So a lot more than 3-5 movies but only 10 writers if that helps ;) Charlie Kaufman- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich Christopher Nolan- Memento, Inception, Batman Begins Quentin Tarantino- Pulp Fiction, True Romance (Walken & Hopper death/Sicilian dialogue one of the top 10 scenes), Kill Bill William Goldman- Princess Bride, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Ghost and the Darkness Jim Abrahams/David Zucker- Airplane, Top Secret Ethan & Joel Coen- Raising Arizona, Hudsucker Proxy, The Big Lebowski, Fargo, Burn After Reading Peter & Bobby Farrelly- Dumb & Dumber, There's Something About Mary, Shallow Hal Andy & Lana Wachowski- Matrix, V for Vendetta, Cloud Atlas Christopher McQuarrie- Usual Suspects, Jack the Giant Slayer Richard Curtis- Four Weddings and a Funeral (I almost excluded Richard Curtis because of War Horse, but 1) Four Weddings is SO well written (one of my TOP 5 openings) and 2) War Horse if probably a good example of good screenplay, bad execution, but I haven't read the script)

500 Days of Summer: The time aspect, jumping back and fourth throughout the relationship, is something all screenwriters could learn from. Being able to write in different time periods will keep your reader's attention more, as they never know what's coming next. Before Sunrise: The prototype of a condensed, conversational romcom. You can learn so much about dialogue here, how to bring life to your characters through conversation and how to create alternative endings. Annie Hall: This one's all about monologue/voice over. You're always told not to do it. Well, this is how you should. And like Wilder, Allen knows how to end well. Those closing bits of dialogue -- and more importantly, the one-liners -- are a lost art! How many memorable one liners did Wilder have throughout his career? Raging Bull: The best film that displays inner turmoil and a negative character arc. One of the basics of character development is flaws, but what happens when you don't overcome them? This film shows us. It's A Wonderful Life: I can't stand how this always gets bunched together with all the other crappy Christmas movies. I maintain this is still one of the more underrated films of all time. Anything you want to learn about, you can here. But above all else, this film can teach you how to write a script with a great THEME! Too many scripts are lacking theme these days. This one punches you in the face with it. Wildcard: True Romance. It's a fun script, the first one I ever read. And I still think the scene with Hopper and Walken is the best I've ever seen. It's almost perfect. If you're looking for something to learn, this could teach you how to write a great scene.

My film tastes are so far outside the mainstream that I don't know if these recommendations will help (and I don't expect you to use them!) but here goes: Strictly Ballroom: great example of genre bending (it takes the martial arts movie formula and sets it in the world of international competitive ballroom dance); I consider this in a league with The Apartment as a perfect movie Jesus of Montreal: great allegorical writing, how to take pre-existing source material and make it fresh/new/ relevant, how to engage with religious themes in a mainstream commercial movie Four Lions: I second Sabina's recommendation. Absolutely brilliant writing: black comedy, successful comic treatment of serious themes, successful job of engaging with timely/topical material in a way that won't obsolesce, brave & truthful writing that is also incredibly funny The Girl from Monaco: the film is a masterclass in tightly structured, thematically cohesive writing.

I'm usually a lurker here, but given the dearth of classics listed above, I can't resist. Without having seen or studied in-depth each of the below, I don't think an aspirant has any business trying to get into *this* business. These may seem "obvious," but I think many like myself pay lip-service to these films' status without ever taking the time to actually dig around under the hood. Which is a shame, because these are the very definition of "essential". In no particular order: CASABLANCA THE APARTMENT THE WIZARD OF OZ STAR WARS 12 ANGRY MEN A brief note: Citizen Kane, The Godfather, and Chinatown are the obvous omissions here, but many of their strengths are in their specificity, which makes their lessons a bit more difficult to absorb. The movies above are much more universal and the lessons in their construction crystal clear. Bonus movie: ALIENS. It defined Hollywood's bread-and-butter -- the "hi-octane," blockbuster action movie(/sequel) -- and has yet to be surpassed.

1. Die Hard 2. Chinatown 3. The Matrix 4. The Godfather 1 & 2 (okay that's two) 5. Goodfellas

5 Screenwriting Skills and a Script For Each That I Love High Concept: GHOSTBUSTERS written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis Characters: LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE written by Michael Arndt Dialogue: KISS KISS BANG BANG written by Shane Black Humor: BRIDESMAIDS written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo Action Sequences: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK written by Lawrence Kasdan, George Lucas and Philip Kaufman

The Truman Show Jerry Maguire Pleasantville Back to the Future Groundhog Day

I don't see enough movies with big, bold ideas told visually. Too many films rely on dialogue to carry the story and feel like stageplays instead of cinema (it's even worse in television). So my recommendations are all silent movies. The silent era perfected the art of visual storytelling. Screenwriters would have a head startif they approach storytelling as if they're making a silent film. A short list that covers a gamut of styles: The General Metropolis Battleship Potemkin Sunrise Intolerance