Great article with some great films highlighted (including a few of my personal favourites).

Regarding auteur theory, I disregard much of it due to the collaborative nature of filmmaking, as you say. But "auteur" directors, who have a singular style, are not the only great directors. For example, Michael Curtiz was a great director, but you'd have to be psychic to spot any auteurist traits that link Casablanca and The Adventures of Robin Hood (both great films). See also Robert Wise, Richard Donner, and various others. With Wise, The Haunting and West Side Story are both great films, but there isn't really an auteurist link between them. The same goes for Donner with Superman and Lethal Weapon.

Also, one of my favourite pub quiz games to play with people is to see if they can correctly identify the director of films like Mary Poppins, Jason and the Argonauts, The Empire Strikes Back, and so on, given that the overall creative control was clearly not from the credited director. (People generally answer Walt Disney, Ray Harryhausen, and George Lucas to those questions.) :)