The Fog.

It's not my favorite Carpenter film, but it's a comfort watch for me.

Same! Leon was one of the films from my teen years where making films went from a vague dream to "THIS IS WHAT I HAVE TO DO WITH MY LIFE".
A year or two later, I found the original script (not the shooting script) online and it killed my love for the film.
Besson's original vision is pretty fucked

Another book on Kieślowski that I'd definitely recommend is "The Films of Krzysztof Kieślowski: The Liminal Image" by Joseph G. Kickasola.

MUBI is awesome if you use a VPN. Having access to the catalog of any country gives you a huge pool of amazing films to watch.

Same! Late 90s internet was awesome. I spent way too much time hanging out in weird forums, irc and BBS's after school.

I think most writers would be really happy to read your work and give feedback.
Years ago when I was still writing a lot, I started a writing group with some friends/writers and one of the main reasons was to share our work and get feedback. Everyone was always excited to receive other peoples work.

It was screening at a film festival where I live last year, but I missed it and I've been kicking myself ever since. No cinema near me has it on their list of upcoming films, so I have no idea how/when I'll be able to see it.

There's also some John Woo and Ringo Lam films:

Hard Boiled
City on Fire
The Killer
Bullet In The Head
Prison on Fire