This was a list I made several years ago, it's a good starting point.

I just
now put an asterix next to some movies in particular that you should watch.
FAVORITE CINEMATOGRAPHY BY DECADE
Silent Era:
Broken Blossoms (1919)
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)
The Last Laugh (1922)
Nosferatu (1922)
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
Sparrows (1926)
Metropolis (1927)
Sunrise (1927) *
Wings (1927)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
1930s:
Alls Quiet On the Western Front (1930)
Morocco (1930)
Dishonored (1931)
Scarlet Empress (1934)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Midsummer Nights Dream (1935)
Garden of Allah (1936)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Alexander Nevsky (1938)
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
Gone With The Wind (1939) *
Wuthering Heights (1939)
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) *
1940s:
Grapes of Wrath (1940)
The Long Voyage Home (1940)
Rebecca (1940)
Citizen Kane (1941) *
How Green Was My Valley (1941) *
Casablanca (1942) *
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
Henry V (1944)
Jane Eyre (1944)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Mildred Pierce (1945)

Spellbound (1945)
Beauty and the Beast (1946)
Duel in the Sun (1946)
Great Expectations (1946)
A Matter of Life & Death (1946)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Black Narcissus (1947) *
The Fugitive (1947) *
Out of the Past (1947)
Hamlet (1948)
Oliver Twist (1948)
The Red Shoes (1948) *
The Third Man (1949) *
1950s:
Rashomon (1950)
An American in Paris (1951)
Moulin Rouge (1952) *
Othello (1952)
Singin In The Rain (1952)
Ugetsu Monogatari (1953)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Seven Samurai (1954) *
Night of the Hunter (1955)
Pather Panchali (1955)
Aparajito (1956)
Lust for Life (1956)
Moby Dick (1956)
The Searchers (1956) *
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Seventh Seal (1957) *
Throne of Blood (1957) *
Wild Strawberries (1957)
Touch of Evil (1958)
Vertigo (1958) *
Apur Sansar (1959)
Ben-Hur (1959)
1960s:
Psycho (1960)
Spartacus (1960)
El Cid (1961)

One-Eyed Jacks (1961)

Yojimbo (1961) *
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) *
Cleopatra (1963)
8 1/2 (1963)
Hud (1963)
The Trial (1963)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
I Am Cuba (1964) *
Dr. Zhivago (1965)
Help! (1965)
Red Beard (1965)
Bonnie & Clyde (1967)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1967)
In Cold Blood (1967)
Hell in the Pacific (1968)
Romeo & Juliet (1968)
2001 (1968) *
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) *
The Wild Bunch (1969)
1970s:
The Conformist (1970) *
Patton (1970)
Ryans Daughter (1970)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
The Devils (1971)
Fiddler On The Roof (1971)
The French Connection (1971)
Klute (1971) *
The Last Picture Show (1971)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) *
Cabaret (1972) *
Cries & Whispers (1972)
Deliverence (1972)
Fat City (1972)
The Godfather (1972) *
Last Tango In Paris (1972)
The Exorcist (1973)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
Paper Moon (1973)
The Three Musketeers (1973)
Chinatown (1974)
The Godfather, Part II (1974) *

Lucky Lady (1974)

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
The Sugerland Express (1974)
Barry Lyndon (1975) *
Day of the Locust (1975)
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
All the Presidents Men (1976)
Bound For Glory (1976)
Network (1976)
1900 (1976)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)
Robin & Marion (1976)
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) *
The Duelists (1977) *
Eraserhead (1977)
The Exorcist II (1977)
Jesus of Nazarith (1977)
Days of Heaven (1978) *
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Interiors (1978)
Superman (1978)
Agatha (1979)
Alien (1979) *
Apocalypse Now (1979) *
Dracula (1979)
Manhattan (1979)
1941 (1979)
Tess (1979)
1980s:
The Elephant Man (1980)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Heavens Gate (1980) *
Raging Bull (1980)
The Shining (1980)
Stardust Memories (1980) *
Chariots of Fire (1981)
Excalibur (1981) *
Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Reds (1981) *
True Confessions (1981)

Blade Runner (1982) *

Das Boot (1982)
E.T. (1982)
One From the Heart (1982)
Sophies Choice (1982)
Fanny & Alexander (1983)
The Right Stuff (1983)
Rumblefish (1983) *
Wagner (1983)
Yentl (1983)
Amadeus (1984)
Dune (1984)
Greystoke (1984)
The Natural (1984) *
1984 (1984)
Brazil (1985)
The Color Purple (1985)
Ladyhawke (1985)
Legend (1985)
Mishima (1985)
Out of Africa (1985)
Ran (1985)
Blue Velvet (1986)
The Mission (1986) *
A Room With A View (1986)
Angel Heart (1987)
Empire of the Sun (1987) *
The Last Emperor (1987)
Red Sorghum (1987)
Someone to Watch Over Me (1987)
Baron Munchausen (1988)
Tequila Sunrise (1988)
Tucker (1988)
Born On the Fourth of July (1989)
Fat Man & Little Boy (1989)
Mountains of the Moon (1989)
1990s:
Akira Kurosawas Dreams
Dick Tracy (1990)
Ju Dou (1990) *
The Godfather, Part III (1990)
Hamlet (Zefferilli) (1990)
Henry & June (1990)

Memphis Belle (1990)

Millers Crossing (1990)
The Sheltering Sky (1990)
Barton Fink (1991)
Bugsy (1991)
Delicatessen (1991)
The Doors (1991)
JFK (1991) *
Raise the Red Lantern (1991) *
Terminator II (1991)
Tous Les Matins Du Monde (1991)
Batman Returns (1992)
Bram Stokers Dracula (1992)
Far & Away (1992)
1492 (1992)
Jennifer 8 (1992)
Howards End (1992)
Like Water For Chocolate (1992)
Unforgiven (1992)
The Age of Innocence (1993)
Little Buddha (1993)
The Piano (1993)
Remains of the Day (1993)
Schindlers List (1993)
Searching For Bobby Fischer (1993) *
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
Legends of the Fall (1994)
Natural Born Killers (1994)
The Secret of Roan Inish (1994)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) *
Wyatt Earp (1994)
Braveheart (1995)
Casino (1995)
City of Lost Children (1995)
Crimson Tide (1995)
Flamenco (1995)
A Little Princess (1995)
Nixon (1995) *
Seven (1995) *
A Walk in the Clouds (1995)
The English Patient (1996)
Evita (1996)
Fargo (1996)
Michael Collins (1996)

Amistad (1997) *
Character (1997)
Kundun (1997)
Titanic (1997)
A Civil Action (1998)
Dark City (1998)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Tango (1998)
The Thin Red Line (1998) *
The Matrix (1999)
Sleepy Hollow (1999) *
Snow Falling On Cedars (1999) *

David Mullen, ASC

Los Angeles
http://www.davidmullenasc.com