Perfect Films

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deckard24

New member
http://chud.com/articles/articles/20075/1/FIVE-PERFECT-MOVIES-1/Page1.html
This is a great article over at CHUD, and I really think it offers plenty of potential for some interesting discussion. So, what do you consider to be perfect films, and by perfect they don't have to be critically acclaimed masterpieces, ie. Citizen Kane, The Godfather, 2001: A Space Odyssey, but movies that are perfect because of all their little flaws.

It's important to realize that just because a movie is perfect doesn't mean it's great, and just because a movie is great doesn't mean it's perfect. A perfect movie can be perfectly terrible, in fact. It just has to be done absolutely right so that you wouldn't want to change a thing
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The article mentions films like Groundhog Day, Starship Troopers, King Kong(1933), Grease, and The Apartment, so that is a good indicator of the various types of films to be considered.

Here are a few picks off the top of my head to get things rolling:

Jaws
Halloween
Raiders of the Lost Ark(duh!)
The Princess Bride
Big Trouble in Little China
Videodrome
Bullitt
Robocop
Twelve Monkeys
 
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Gear

Gear

New member
Raiders of the Lost Ark would defiantly be a pick of mine, and not simply because I like it. The original War of the Worlds too.

Do music videos count? The one that I think of was shot on film after all.
 
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deckard24

New member
Gear said:
Raiders of the Lost Ark would defiantly be a pick of mine, and not simply because I like it. The original War of the Worlds too.

Do music videos count? The one that I think of was shot on film after all.
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Yeah Raiders is a gonna pop up a few times on this thread!;)

The original War of the Worlds is a great choice, campy and fun.

As for music videos, I don't know? Thriller?
 
Forbidden Eye

Forbidden Eye

Well-known member
There's not a single thing I would change about American Graffiti. Along with Raiders, it's the only Lucas film I think comes close to perfection if not perfection.

There's also not a thing I change about Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space.
 
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deckard24

New member
Forbidden Eye said:
There's not a single thing I would change about American Graffiti. Along with Raiders, it's the only Lucas film I think comes close to perfection if not perfection.

There's also not a thing I change about Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space.
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American Graffiti is pretty great as is, which is funny, considering it shows that Lucas actually had range as a director outside of the first Star Wars. It makes you wonder what else he might have done if SW hadn't come along?

You know sadly I've not seen any of Ed Wood's movies, let alone Ed Wood by Burton.
 
Gear

Gear

New member
Yellow Submarine is another I'd have to add. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) too.


deckard24 said:
As for music videos, I don't know? Thriller?
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That's a good one, but I was thinking of Take on Me by Aha

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qFAycZQsEMQ&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qFAycZQsEMQ&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Also, the Smells Like Teen Spirit music video. Great use of light, editing, and effects that go in harmony with the music to give an overall vibe of angst and darkness.

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kPQR-OsH0RQ&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kPQR-OsH0RQ&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
 
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deckard24

New member
Those are both awesome videos, next to Thriller, Take On Me might be the best video of the 80's!

Smells like Teen Spirit is pretty much one of the best 90's videos period. The director Samuel Bayer, is actually at the helm of the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street.
This deserves a nod as well:
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qiSkyEyBczU&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qiSkyEyBczU&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

As for more films, Ghostbusters comes to mind, as does True Romance.
 
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deckard24

New member
Fight Club for sure!

Maybe I'm just shark obsessed, but Deep Blue Sea comes to mind.

Some Like It Hot is another one I've missed out on. It's got Jack Lemmon in it right?
 
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AlivePoet

New member
deckard24 said:
Some Like It Hot is another one I've missed out on. It's got Jack Lemmon in it right?
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For sure! It's an absolute classic, and one that you should see very soon. Every line in the comedy is gold, the story is stellar, and the premise is perfect for a changing-with-the-times theme of the late 50s. And the best part? It's timeless! The sexual innuendo is rife, even for this age!
 
sandiegojones

sandiegojones

New member
Chinatown
L.A. Confidential
The Deer Hunter

Certainly Fight Club!

Maybe Se7en too. I love David Fincher.

Perhaps E.T., Close Encounters, The Empire Strikes Back, Godfather Part II.
 
Niteshade007

Niteshade007

New member
I know it's not really in the spirit of the thread, but I have to say that there isn't a single thing I would change about Casablanca. Some Like It Hot is also great.

Trying to keep in the spirit of the thread, I will say that I find Halloween to be a great slasher, probably my favorite. Love Actually is pretty amazing in my opinion, and I love the first Pirates of the Caribbean. I don't know that I would really consider those last two perfect films, however. I'll have to think about that.
 
Attila the Professor

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
<I>The Apartment</I> is a dead-on inclusion. There are films that are greater, more epic, on some level, on my list (<I>The Searchers</I>, a flawed masterpiece of Shakespearean proportions, comes to mind), but the Wilder film has not a wrong note in it. "He was certainly one of the greatest directors of humans on screen," CHUD writes - I couldn't have put it better myself.

Also, for something more recent, I think <I>Ratatouille</I> is a flawless film.
 
DocWhiskey

DocWhiskey

Well-known member
Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Dark Knight, Back to the Future, Spider-man 2, Gran Torino, and Little Children are quite perfect for me.
 
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Nesmrtelnost

New member
I would add to this interesting list the masterpiece There Will Be Blood. We could add No Country For Old Men as well. And one of the most amazing adaptation, Watchmen. It seems people did not really like it but it is definitely as flawless movie
 
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deckard24

New member
AlivePoet said:
For sure! It's an absolute classic, and one that you should see very soon. Every line in the comedy is gold, the story is stellar, and the premise is perfect for a changing-with-the-times theme of the late 50s. And the best part? It's timeless! The sexual innuendo is rife, even for this age!
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It's now been added to my ever growing list.


Another few came to mind:


Blade Runner (How that didn't first make my list, I don't know?)
Ghostbusters
Witness
Casablanca
Rear Window
The Empire Strikes Back
They Live
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The Quiet Man
This is Spinal Tap
City of God
 
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AlivePoet

New member
ResidentAlien said:
Casablanca.
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You fit the ten-letter quota with a period to spare! :hat:

I agree, though, it is a masterpiece.

Attila the Professor said:
Also, for something more recent, I think Ratatouille is a flawless film.
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Brilliant film. The Pixar film that comes closest to perfection for me is WALL-E, but that's due to the thematic elements and implied message it contains. While its lack of verbal dialogue didn't really allow for a bad script containing awful lines, it could certainly have suffered from a lack of story. But this wasn't the case, and the geniuses made the art of pulling off a story with so little spoken dialogue utterly poetic.

Also, Walt Disney's Bambi.
 
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