Inspired by other lists I've seen on Letterboxd, this is what I consider the best feature film by every director I've seen at least five feature films from. With that in mind some movies will be on this list that I don't like since I've somehow seen five films directed by a particular director. Some of my absolute favorite films will not appear on this list because some directors have more than one of my favorite films or because some directors have directed fewer than five movies or have directed other movies I never really want to watch.

The purpose of this task is to help me consider directors' bodies of work and to take note of meaningful directors who I would like to look into more of their work. I have written a brief blurb in the notes section on why I like these movies the most.

I have ordered the list by the directors I've seen the most movies of to the least, alphabetically, and have noted their top four rated movies I have not yet seen.

I will continue to amend this list as I watch or rewatch more movies. I think I will constantly have to reconfigure this list as I watched a lot of movies earlier in life when I wasn't paying close attention or didn't have as good an understanding of movies or life as I do today. Just for memorial's sake I will keep a list of all updates here:

Before publishing: On rewatch replaced The Big Lebowski with A Serious Man, The Shining with 2001: A Space Odyssey (watching it in an IMAX theater instead of on a small computer screen in a well-lit library may have helped), and The Breakfast Club with Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

12/27/19: Replaced Meet the Parents with Bombshell.

4/14/20: Replaced Hot Fuzz with The World's End after rewatching the Cornetto Trilogy and Scott Pilgrim vs the World.

4/29/20: Replaced 3:10 to Yuma with Girl, Interrupted.

11/21/20: Replaced Touch of Evil with Citizen Kane after rewatching Kane for the first time in over a decade.

8/8/21: Replaced Young Frankenstein with Blazing Saddles after rewatching it for the first time when I could fully concentrate and appreciate it, compared to my initial watch on a small TV set while traveling.

8/18/21: Replaced Manhattan with Annie Hall after watching Manhattan again and not finding it nearly as charming or relatable as I used to. The characters are a bit too immature, in my view.

12/31/21: Replaced Eraserhead with Mulholland Drive after rewatching both of those films, along with Blue Velvet for a second time.

3/10/22: Replaced The Godfather: Part II with The Godfather after watching the trilogy for a second time.

3/12/22: Replaced Belle de Jour with The Young and the Damned.

5/26/22: Replaced The General with Steamboat Bill Jr. after rewatching both.

6/6/22: Replaced Autumn Sonata with Through a Glass Darkly.

7/21/22: Replaced Fort Apache with The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance after rewatching The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

10/13/22: Replaced The Young and the Damned with Belle de Jour after rewatching Belle de Jour.

11/9/22: Replaced Witness for the Prosecution with Sunset Boulevard after rewatching Sunset Boulevard, The Apartment, and Double Indemnity for a second time.

4/4/24: Replaced The Quick and the Dead with Spider-man after rewatching both within two years of each other.

5/27/24: Replaced Modern Times with Monsieur Verdoux after rewatching several Chaplin movies including Modern Times.

7/4/24: Replaced Blade Runner with Thelma & Louise after rewatching Thelma & Louise.

8/3/24: Replaced Catch Me If You Can with Jurassic Park after rewatching both movies.

11/12/25: Replaced The Thing with They Live after watching They Live for the first time.

5/7/26: Replaced The Holiday with It's Complicated after watching It's Complicated for the first time.