Must-own DVDs

Schizopolis...I will always tout that film.

The Passion of Joan of Arc
Badlands
Days of Heaven
Fast Company (actually, I don't know if this is any good, David Cronenberg racing movie that just got released on DVD with two shortish features as a bonus)
Annie Hall
Manhattan
Love & Death

Less 'respectable,' but fuck a bunch of respectability:
Cruel Intentions
Crazy/Beautiful
Election
Freeway
Josie & The Pussycats
Go
Scream
Tank Girl

are you looking only for film quality or are you up for tons of extras?

inexpensive w/o extras: chungking express, night of the hunter, my life to live, nashville

expensive, but loaded with extras: rules of the game, ikiru, once upon a time in the west, any of the warner brothers chaplin collection films, esp gold rush, modern times, city lights, and the great dictator.

i just got that chaplin collection and its the best thing ive bought in the longest time.

yeah, i bought the region 2 complete thing from amazon.co.uk and it is absolutely wonderful. pricey but wonderful

The entire Criterion Collection is pretty much a "must own". My favorites from Criterion are the amazing "By Brakhage" set, the wonderful 3-disc set for "Brazil", and the most-watched two discs in my collection, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"

My other "most watched" disks--Jem Cohen & Pete Sillen's "Benjamin Smoke", "Family Guy Seasons 1-3", and several "homemade" DVD's of my favorite short experimental works.

I'm still waiting for Godard's "Weekend" and Kenneth Anger's films to be officially released on DVD.

Wow, Jay, Weekend and Kenneth Anger, you are quite the Renaissance man. I second the Criterion Co. suggestion. The Wes Anderson releases are extra packed and The Royal Tenenbaums is pretty cheap.
Some other releases with fab extras: Band of Outsiders and Down By Law.

The MGM musical DVD releases are pretty great if you go for that kind of thing. I've watched Singin' In the Rain over and over since I got it, and Meet Me In St. Louis is pretty great as well.

I think the "must own" releases coming up for me are the new Dawn of the Dead: Ultimate Edition (Anchor Bay) coming out Sept. 9th and Freaks (Warner) coming August 10th. I salivate and await the end of summer.

oh hell yes, I await that Dawn of the Dead edition eagerly. Also excited about the new GoodFellas, which I'd held off on buying because no way was I gonna get a flipper disc (same reason I don't own The Wild Bunch).

God, flipper discs. The only one of those I have is Robocop. I remember thinking 'what the hell was the point of a digital revolution if I have to get out of my chair, turn over a disc, and play the other side?' Sheer folly.

You can't beat the Disney/Pixar set. You never know when someone will arrive around with small children who require entertainment and the last thing you need is them taking your Lego apart or putting on some godawful rubbish like Balamory. Monsters Inc. is my favourite.

What's wrong with Balamory??? :P