Woody Allen's love letter to New York, ladled with Gershwin's gorgeous 'Rhapsody In Blue' and beautifully shot in monochrome (because that's how Woody saw the city). Put the 59th Street Bridge on the cinema tourism map.
Corrupt cops, opera singers and bootlegging bike couriers all feature in this ultra stylish and surreal thriller from director Jean-Jacques Beineix, the man behind Betty Blue. Yet again, existentialism is the prevailing philosophy du jour.
Our old friends the German New Wavers again. Wim Wenders sees angels above a divided Berlin, just aching to kick back and swig a beer. Columbo makes a surprise revelation, Nick Cave sings 'From Her To Eternity', and the ghosts of Bowie, Lou Reed and Iggy stalk the inky shadows.
The first appearance on this list for one of the coolest directors ever: the platinum-bequiffed Jim Jarmusch, with his playful anthology touching on all things Memphis: Elvis, Sun Records and a cameo from R&B legend Rufus Thomas.
Those suits, that swagger, Stealers Wheel and the Silver Surfer: Hollywood's resident magpie Quentin Tarantino deftly cherrypicks from the classics to furnish his aesthetic. Cool by proxy, perhaps, but cool it remains.
