So a neighbor was giving away some Commodore monitors so naturally I took one. Now I need a Commodore to go with it! Any advice on which model of C64 is good/what accessories I would need?

Regarding the model this blog might be helpful.

When it comes to the disc drive I would recommend the 1571.

And this is just a matter of taste but I always prefered the sound of the old 6581 SID.

I would say you would be pretty much good with any version of the C64. The only thing you might want to look out for are the floppy disk stations. I would go for "newer" models there. But I'm no expert so take it with a grain of salt.

Your gonna need some sweet joysticks! I don't even know the model numbers, but I used to love the feel of some of them. I used to change my controller depending on the game I was playing. What works well for Track and Field, doesn't necessarily work well for an Astroids rip off.

I'm excited for you.

Oh right, joysticks... I mostly used Quickshot 2, Competition Pro or the Konix Speedking.

Ohhhh my, just had flashbacks at the mention of Quickshot 2 :D

If you're looking for something simple in the joysticks department, then I can recommend the Quickshot 131.

Wow! I didn't expect so many responses so quickly! Thanks duders! So select the right model, joystick, and floppy disk drive. Since I have your attention, what are some of your favorite games? :-)

On the top of my head:
New Zealand Story

Wonderboy

Bubble Bobble

The Great Giana Sisters (Super Mario Bros. rip-off, that almost everyone owned a pirated copy of since it was so rare. The music in this game is amazing.)

Impossible Mission

On top of my head:

Bubble Bobble (because the C64 port was pretty awesome)

Great Giana Sisters (Mario with superior Music, don't hit me!)

Elite (just because)

Maniac Mansion & Zak McKracken (Old Lucasfilm Games glory)

Archon: The Light and the Dark (because I wear the box art as tattoo on my calf... and it was a pretty good game too, for us it was basically the holo chess from Star Wars)

Emlyn Hughes International Soccer (Microprose Soccer was the better game, but we played countless tournaments with EHIS)

Paradroid (to collect street cred with the c64 crowd ;))

Pretty good site for information/reviews concerning C64 games is Lemon64.

@harlechquinn: Archon is fucking awesome. Totally forgot about that game.

Jumping back a bit, found this quite enjoyable video, that youtube dude Ashens did on old joysticks. Might want to check it out.