3. Goodfellas (1990) (Dir. Martin Scorsese)
For Goodfellas, American auteur Martin Scorsese brings together an entire career’s worth of technique, innovation and personal touch to create a perfectly-rendered tapestry chronicling one man’s life in the Mob. Henry Hill (played by Ray Liotta) narrates his own rise and fall with just the right amount of smug charisma. With effortless grace, the picture moves forwards without ever seeming to slow down or hit a bump in the road, combining music, performance, camerawork and story into one fluid whole. Many young filmmakers have attempted to imitate Scorsese’s natural flair for moving his camera about the scene, but nobody has ever managed what its director makes look so easy in Goodfellas.