It's pretty hard to go wrong selecting ten “best” or ten “favorites” from the Criterion Collection, although it might be interesting to select the ten worst Criterion releases (something that, in deference to my friends at Criterion, I will not do). As a longtime cinephille I'm familiar with most of the Criterion catalogue. Rather than select ten favorites I'll choose ten films that I was able to see because of Criterion, films I previously did not know about or were not available.
Biography via Criterion.
The List
1
The Spirit of the Beehive
Víctor Erice
1973
98 min
2
Wings
Larisa Shepitko
1966
100 min
3
Death of a Cyclist
Juan Antonio Bardem
1955
88 min
4
The Face of Another
Hiroshi Teshigahara
1966
122 min
5
The Furies
UnavailableAnthony Mann
1950
109 min
6
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
Mikio Naruse
1960
111 min
7
Mala Noche
Gus Van Sant
1985
75 min
8
Berlin Alexanderplatz
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
1980
60 min
9
Hands over the City
Francesco Rosi
1963
101 min
10
Street of Shame
Kenji Mizoguchi
1956
87 min