Garden State is a really beautiful film. I rented it out a while back and I really enjoyed it. (It was a very moving piece.) It definitely belongs up there in the top 10 list somewhere but being as I don't have room I still reccommend anyone go see it if they can.
Ick. I always felt Garden State was such a disgustingly overrated movie. It was insanely pretentious, horrible written, cliche, melodramatic. The plot took a back seat to all of Braffs "oh look how clever and surreal I am" scenes. The film treated the audience like morons, like we didn't need to see enough of Braffs badly acted poker face in order to understand he feels nothing, we have to see him in an empty white room (blatant symbolism for "my emptiness," of course), staring the ceiling. It was really bad. I couldn't understand why people were telling me the movie was amazing.
But I also heard this film was a bit of a love/hate kind of thing. So you know, to each his own really I guess.
1. The Trial
2. Asphalt Jungle
3. Der Himmel über Berlin
4. Rashomon
5. Citizen Kane
6. The Third Man
7. Being There
8. Treasure of Sierra Madre
9. Brazil
10.To Kill a Mockingbird
I'm also pretty amazed that someone had Wings of Desire on their list. That movie is a sign of taste. Brazil was brilliant too. I've always loved some of Gilliams stuff, although personally I've never exactly been a fan of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which is probably his most popular film. I've only seen The Third Man once, but never really saw what was so great about it in that viewing, other than Orson Welles being super fun to watch. I was thinking of maybe renting it again, as my opinion on movies tends to vary quite a bit as I grow older.
4. All About Lily Chou-Chou
Starring: Hayato Ichihara - Shûgo Oshinari - Ayumi Ito - Takao Osawa - Miwako Ichikawa - Izumi Inamori - Yû Aoi - Kazusa Matsuda
Director(s): Shunji Iwai
Synopsis
Life isn't easy for a group of high school kids growing up absurd in Japan's pervasive pop/cyber culture. As they negotiate teen badlands- school bullies, parents from another planet, lurid snapshots of sex and death- these everyday rebels without a cause seek sanctuary, even salvation, through pop star savior Lily Chou-Chou, embracing her sad, dreamy songs and sharing their fears and secrets in Lilyholic chat rooms. Immersed in the speed of everyday troubles, their lives inevitably climax in a fatal collision between real and virtual identities, a final logging-off from innocence.
Now, this is the hardest film to describe. It's a teenage-drama, just filled with suicide, murder, rape and so on. I think the only word to describe this film is traumatic. It's not sad, it's really difficult to watch. The rape scene is really difficult to watch. But there's some dark beauty behind this, possibly from the mellow piano playing over most of the scenes. But this film is an experience, and definately a good one.
Awwww. I always felt this movie was a bit of a secret for most film fans. I would seriously recommend it in a heartbeat. Very emotionally instense and suspenseful. The cinematography is simply amazing, especially for digital. The vacation sequence was insanely original, and the ending was very moving, in my opinion.
I'm kind of surprised I didn't find any films by Lars von Trier on some of your lists. Albeit it, some of his films can surpass a tasteful level of pretension, most are heart wrecking dramas. You would have to have a stone heart to finish one of his movies and not be emotionally drained.
I would recommend
Dancer in the Dark
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168629/Dogville
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0276919/Both are very unusual, yet still accomplish the most fundamental goal of film: They make you feel and empathize with the characters in ways you never would normally.
I'd also recommend a few films by Krzysztof Kieslowski, another master of emotional dramas. Some particularly amazing films by him are
A Short Film About Love
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095467/A Short Film About Killing
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095468/Although his Three Color Trilogy is what Kieslowski is most remembered for, I always personally found these two films better. Then again, I really haven't seen Blue, White, or Red in a long while, so my opinion might change later. In A Short Film About Love I found myself particularly able to empathize with the main character, creating such an emotional impact during certain scenes I was on the verge of crying, which doesn't happen to often.
.... also, sorry for the long post, I tend to carried away sometimes. :/