True, sometimes it takes time for people to appreciate what someone did on film or how they set a precedent or began a wave of copycats etc (Memento, Requiem of a Dream, PI etc). And then there are ones that just tore it all down and said look at me! And are instant Classics (Schnidler's List, Matrix, The Departed). The most recent one I can think of is actually only a few months old and very few people have seen it, Mad God.