I'm surprised to see so many picks that I agree with, althoug I hesitate to call these films "utter rubbish." I just don't consider them to be the great films that some people do.
I generally agree with the selections of films by Lucas and Spielberg, and I find most Kubrick films to be fairly soulless, with rather cartoonish characters. Fellini is a mixed bag for me; I didn't like "8 1/2," but I think that "La Dolce Vita" is a very substantial film.
I generally agree with the mention of films that won Academy Awards for Best Picture (or "Picture of the Year," or whatever they call it now). Not necessarily bad films, but sanitized and simplified for mass appeal.
"The Graduate" is an interesting choice. It was my favorite film when I was in my twenties. I think that it loses its hold on many people as they get older, and see Ben as a run-of-the-mill confused and pampered young man instead of a great antihero. Perhaps it's a yound adult's analogue to the adolescent's "Catcher in the Rye." I agree that Mrs. Robinson is the most interesting character, although I can't say that I find her to be especially sympathetic.
"American Beauty" is similar to "The Graduate," I think, although it straddles "The Graduate" by focusing on adolescent and mid-life angst. All in all, though, I still like both films, and Kevin Spacey has some lines in "American Beauty" that really stick with me.
I don't consider "Casablanca" to be a great love story, but I think that it has a remarkably good script. Just think of the great lines in that film. It's like the "Hamlet" of movies.
"Citizen Kane" is not one of my favorite films, but I recognize its greatness. And I believe that "The Birth of a Nation" is a truly great film as well, whatever one thinks of its social views or revisionism. In some respects, those two films tower over others of their respective eras.