Criterion has been around since the late 80's, and if I recall their objective has always been to present films of note across all genres. I'm guessing that Jerry Bruckheimer Blockbusters is now a genre unto itself.

I have many Criterion laserdiscs, and some of them, including The Rock (which for some reason is not listed on the Wikipedia list of LDs) and Chasing Amy, fall oustide of what most of us would generally call "significant films". Like him or hate him, Michael Bay knows how to make things blow up, and he explains it in wonderful detail and more humility than you might expect.

Some of my other faves that I own, based mostly on the commentary, are Monty Python & the Holy Grail, This is Spinal Tap, and Brazil. Hearing the Pythons or Christopher Guest/Harry Shearer/Michael McKean riff on how they made these movies is sometimes funnier than the movies themselves.

My favorites for just the movies themselves are the John Woo selections already mentioned, Ivan the Terrible, The Killers (which has both the 1946 and 1964 versions), Mon Oncle (great French physical comedy, and almost silent), Sullivan's Travels, Notorious, Rashomon, and Wild Strawberries. The transfer quality, along with the commentary, adds an awful lot to one's film education, even if the movie is arguably not so good, such as with Salo, Bram Stoker's Dracula, or Sweet Sweetback's Badass song.

There are probably 75 or so that I want to see or want to see again. NetFlix doesn't regularly stock them, which means having to buy them outright, so it gets pricey.