The Stoning of Soraya M. This is a Persian movie that follows a French journalist into a small village. A woman tells him she must expose the corruption of the village, and secretly arranges a meeting, where she reveals the story of the stoning of her niece. It's an incredibly visceral movie, graphic in parts and beautiful in others. A caveat when watching: don't assume all of Iran is this way because of the horrible workings of one village. Iran has issues of its own, but just as America has retarded, bigoted, sexist small town folk, so does the Middle East, and it plays out in a big way in this film.
For me, Breaker Morant. "Shoot straight you bastards, don't make a mess of it..." The visuals, as well as the writing, were superb.
Sin Nombre: Set in El Salvadore, it deals with immigration and gang life. It is predictable in parts but there are some extremely intense moments. The gang in this movie is MS-13. If you don't know what that is, Google that shit. Truly scary people. I watched it last night, and spent today at work thinking about how lucky I am to have been born in America. This is on Netflix watch instantly.
I watched Inside (À l'intérieur) earlier today. I didn't think it bothered me much until I tried to go to sleep. It's not really scary - just very, very unnerving. Well put-together and beautifully shot and thankfully lacking one of those ridiculous twist endings the French so love (I'm looking at you, Haute Tension). A must-see if you like simple, gory, violent films. Make sure you get the unrated version though. I know Netflix has it because that's how I saw it. I'm almost tempted to keep it and watch it again but I don't think my nerves could handle it.
Crazy, a French movie about a young man, the fourth of five boys, who struggles to come to terms with his sexuality. A cliche idea, but it is executed very well, with a good sound track, story, and everything else for the most part.
I've posted about all of these before, but not in this thread. Some of my favorite aussie movies. He died with a Felafel in his hand - one of the most quoted movies amongst my real life friends. It's a great story full of really compelling moments. Candy - Heath Ledger proving he could act. Dark, but amazingly powerful addiction story. Geoffrey Rush's performance was amazing and Abby Cornish was pretty good as well. Chopper - Eric Bana's break out move from sketch comedy and career mediocrity to the big screen and enough money to actually one day own a house. Reasonably close to the true story of Mark 'Chopper' Read, a gangster and murder turned writer and stand up. Funny, and fucked up. Kenny - There's a lot of poo and fart jokes, but it is a really funny and compelling story about a guy with a dirty job.
Got to add some more classics. Most if not all are musicals, as is the Indian way. Amar Akbar Anthony - three brothers, each of a different religion, unite to find their father and discover the reason he abandoned them. A great old-school action movie. Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham - Your prototypical Bollywood melodrama. Big-name stars and well-done overall. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai - Boy meets girl, etc. Again, quite famous. Devdas - Bollywood tragedy/love story/period piece featuring Shah Rukh Khan. This movie is great. Sarkar - A Godfather tribute about the underworld of Mumbai, India's biggest city. Stars the father-son duo of Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan in the title roles. Gritty and awesome. And Tamil cinema (aka Kollywood), the second largest film industry in India, has these: Salangai Oli (The Music of Chains) - the story of an aspiring classical dancer (played by Kamal Haasan) who struggles to follow his principles all his life. Really good. Moondram Pirai (Third Day's Moon) - The story of a brain-damaged girl and the man who rescues her from prostitution. Another classic Kamal Haasan movie. Padaiyappa - This is "Superstar" Rajni Kanth's most famous role and probably his best movie, as he plays the titular patriarch beset by family troubles but resolved in his principles. (He's the guy in the ridiculous fight scenes on Youtube.) Kadhalan - Nuff said.
Anything by Akira Kurosawa specifically: Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Ikiru , Rashomon, The Hidden Fortress.