Inspired by this Christmas Story thread that also mentions Shawshank Redemption and My Cousin Vinnie. What are other movies that are pretty much “perfect”. Let perfect mean Every scene works; plus script, to cast to shots, nothing is wasted, nothing is extra; plus general consensus is positive and it can be watched again and again.
Jaws. All it did was move along, kill extras, and make little Jaws sequels.
It didn’t have a wasted shot in it, all the actors were well-used, all the characters served a purpose and then stopped showing up, and every single scene propelled the plot. The unreliability of Bruce, their mechanical shark, was probably the single best thing to happen to the movie, but everything else went right for it as well. Not bad for a movie that was such a fundamental pain in the ass to shoot it almost didn’t get made.
Jaws made a mint and deserved it. It is simply master craftsmanship in action.
Casablanca hits the sweet spot for me.
Miller’s Crossing. There isn’t a line of dialog in the entire movie that doesn’t forward the plot. Great acting and subplots that usually take a couple of watchings to fully understand. Deep and pretty.
Casablanca, Maltese Falcon (Bogart version), Citizen Kane, Godfather I, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Shawshank Redemption, Chinatown, Snow White (Disney and Fleischer versions both!), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Unforgiven, Groundhog Day
Taxi Driver.
Also:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Forrest Gump
Se7en
Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
The Big Lebowski
Second Shawshank, Raiders and Groundhog day
I’d also add:
Pulp Fiction
Fargo
The Matrix (only the first one)
and more as I think of them.
The Three Kings.
Fight Club.
Second Miller’s Crossing and Se7en.
Galaxy Quest
The Princess Bride
Raising Arizona
The Secret In Their Eyes
I have to put more John Hughes on the list:
Vacation
Christmas Vacation
Ferris Buller’s Day Off
The Breakfast Club
The Color Purple
Finding Nemo
The Incredibles
The Third Man
For me, all of the Coen brothers’ movies; especially The Big Lebowski. I have literally watched this movie three nights in a row. It’s usually playing as a background for whatever else we’re doing around the house.
True Grit-the real one, with John Wayne. I refuse to acknowledge the cheap imitation recently made.
Shane – thank God there’s never been a remake (at least by that name).
So far, I’ve seen all the movies listed and agree wholeheartedly (but the rape/murder in Secret in Their Eyes is awfully hard to watch.
Agreed; the Coen’s movies all seem to have a high rewatch quotient with me.
To Kill A Mockingbird
Boogie Nights