WHat's the least stupid movie?

[Mr. Blue Sky]

As seen in the stupid movie thread, there's a lot of opinions as to what's stupid and what isn't.

What movie can you come up with that could be considered the least stupid?

[RealityChuck]

Most Hitchcock movies fit the bill.

There's also The Usual Suspects and Shakespeare in Love

[LiveOnAPlane]

Well, wow. This seem like SUCH an obvious question, but I never thunk of it even after reading the thread you linked to. I guess that is what denotes genius. What an excellent question!

I'll be thinking about this for days to come...but for now, one that does stand out is "Days of Wine and Roses" with Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick.

I know there are more; forgive me if I post again later.

Man, as much as I rant on about the stupidity, laziness, and just plain trash that they put in movies, this is a great opportunity to give credit where such is due. Thanks again.

[Elmer MuD/PhuD]

Leone's Once Upon a Time in America

[lissener]

Hmm. Define your terms. You mean the movie with the least stupidity in it? Like say Pulp Fiction or The Passion of Joan of Arc or Devil in a Blue Dress? Or, the most complicated movie, that requires a lot of concentration and participation to "get," like Eyes Wide Shut or Last Year at Marienbad or The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover?

(All totally top of my head titles; I reserve the right to go, "oh, I shoulda said The Magnificent Ambersons"!)

[vivalostwages]

The Station Agent.

[Voyager]

2001, a Space Odyssey. Written and directed by geniuses, and so smart the run of the mill reviewers had to see it twice to get it.

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Originally Posted by lissener

Hmm. Define your terms.

As few plot holes as possible - no storylines that are introduced but never go anywhere. If anything seemingly important happens, it should mean something (unless it's a mystery or horror movie - red herrings are okay).

Consistency of established rules (see Star Trek for how not to do this).

...and so forth.

[cmkeller]

I like to think "Holes" meets your criteria. Everything ties into everything else.

[Markus76]

I gotta go with 12 Monkeys

[Push You Down]

Originally Posted by vivalostwages

The Station Agent.

An excellent movie that unfortunately falls on the indie movie cliche that pot magically bonds everyone who smokes it.

[Bippy the Beardless]

I think The 7 Samurai is a pretty good fit to the OP requirements.

[furryman]

If your talking about the most realistic, it was probably one I turned off after ten minutes because I was bored to tears. (Reservoir Dogs?)
If your talking about the least cliches, it would probably be the first movie I saw that featured those particular cliches:
Pink Panther (Humorous chase scene)
Dirty Mary, Crazy Harry (Action movie)
Casabanca (Film Noir)

Gone With The Wind
Nevrending Story
Both follow the books pretty closely maybe thats what you mean.

Definitely Citizen Kane for a number of reasons.

[rjung]

Most recently, The Incredibles. Even the capes make sense!

[vivalostwages]

Shattered Glass.

[Odinoneeye]

Mindwalk, three people wandering around talking about physics.

[Roderick Femm]

OK, the realism is not really an issue (except that Robert Shaw was too thin and healthy-looking to ever convince me he was Henry VIII) but wonderfully well-realized and internally consistent and well-plotted with masterful dialogue:

A Man For All Seasons

Of course, it was from a play, which would account for most of the good bits. Anyway, this is one of the least stupid movies I have ever seen.

[Oregon sunshine]

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser.

[mikeargo]

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

[panamajack]

By the criteria given, I think Uncovered does pretty well. It is at least rather tightly directed, even if it doesn't appear so at first. Pretty much every scene makes sense.

The chess game isn't the greatest, containing some questionable moves (and questionable divination of a situation's 'best moves'. The book it's based on handles this a bit better). Compared to almost every other chess game in the movies, however, it's way ahead.

I suppose movies like the already mentioned Mindwalk or even My Dinner With Andre are far from stupid, but they're not exactly good as movies.

I think a great contender for generic 'least stupid movie' is Primer. Almost all the science/engineering dialogue (outside of a bit of mumbo-jumbo about the time/anti-gravity machine) makes sense, the actions of the characters make sense, and it feels like how something fantastic (time travel) might actually go down if discovered by two guys in a garage. It is extremely confusing, even deliberately so, and that kind of goes against it, but I think it is possible to pull an intelligible story out of it.

[anyrose]

The Princess Bride

I know there are those that say the Peter Falk/Fred Savage scenes are pointless, but I feel it anchors the whole Once Upon A Time stuff

[What Exit?]

I'll go with Schindler's List.

[NDP]

Originally Posted by Roderick Femm

OK, the realism is not really an issue (except that Robert Shaw was too thin and healthy-looking to ever convince me he was Henry VIII) but wonderfully well-realized and internally consistent and well-plotted with masterful dialogue:

A Man For All Seasons

Of course, it was from a play, which would account for most of the good bits. Anyway, this is one of the least stupid movies I have ever seen.

[Mr. Know-It-All Mode]Actually, the casting of the then-healthy Robert Shaw as Henry VIII was not a mistake. For most of his life and during the time the movie took place, Henry VIII was a rather hale and fit monarch. It wasn't until the last ten years of life, after he'd been hobbled by injuries and became physically inactive (and had more time to overindulge in food and drink), that he became a bloated tyrant.[/Mr. Know-It-All Mode]

[euphemism]

I would vote for the Quiet Earth, it really made me think and it was a very engaging film. I haven't seen it in many years and would love to see it again--if only the local video stores carried it...Little Big Man would be up there as well.

[Roderick Femm]

Originally Posted by NDP

[Mr. Know-It-All Mode]Actually, the casting of the then-healthy Robert Shaw as Henry VIII was not a mistake. For most of his life and during the time the movie took place, Henry VIII was a rather hale and fit monarch. It wasn't until the last ten years of life, after he'd been hobbled by injuries and became physically inactive (and had more time to overindulge in food and drink), that he became a bloated tyrant.[/Mr. Know-It-All Mode]

Likely my view was skewed by that old 6 Wives of Henry VIII on PBS in, I think, the late 60's, where they made him bloated much earlier on. You're probably right anyway, as this film covers a period still fairly early in his reign.

So I guess that makes the film without flaw

[Seven]

Originally Posted by rjung

Most recently, The Incredibles. Even the capes make sense!

I saw this after it came out on DVD. I loved this movie. What a great idea for a story and I love how they played it in 1950's style. The animation was great but the music kicked ass. All pieces of this movie just fit together so nicely.

I was well impressed.

[vl_mungo]

Pi
The Sorrow and The Pity

[ultrafilter]

Another vote for Usual Suspects, and I'll put one in for Spirited Away.

Originally Posted by vl_mungo

Pi

Um, no. Pi is definitely in the running for the movie with the most completely unintentional laugh-out-loud bits, but it's not the most intelligent by any stretch of the imagination.

[priapus]

Memento
The Good,the Bad,and the Ugly
The Constant Gardener

[mhendo]

Originally Posted by mikeargo

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

Excellent choice. Great film.

I'm not really sure if it fits what the OP wanted, and it's not without some cliches, but i'm a huge fan of the John Sayles film Lone Star. It just seems like a very intelligent and sensitive take on its subject matter.