The Dish - this maybe isn’t as well known as many of the (great) films in this thread, but it is an absolute gem. All the characters are perfectly drawn and cast, and it is a damned cool story, done affectionally, and funny to boot
I could list a half dozen films that I love (like some seem to be doing here), but I’ve resisted the urge and gave myself a moment to ponder what is a perfect film.
And I came up with Ghost World.
mmm
While I agree with all the other titles listed so far, this was the one I came in to post.
I don’t know how tight the plot is considering the original was about 13 minutes long.
<shot myself in head so that I never have to take the chance of ever seeing that movie again>
Twelve Monkeys isn’t a remake of “the original”, it was inspired by La Jetée, and is a far more intricate story.
FWIW, I’ve seen La Jetée (which runs 28 minutes, btw); for those of us who like Twelve Monkeys, it’s definitely worth watching.
.
*Broken Blossoms *(silent),
*All About Eve.
Some Like It Hot (Why the dearth of comedies in this thread?).
Chocolat.
*And hell, why not The Wizard of Oz?
I agree, but take out RoJ and add in the Phantom Menace.
It’s not to everyone’s tastes, and it could never have lived up to the childhood dreams of grown children, but every scene works perfectly, all of the characters fulfill their purpose(even JarJar the fool/comic relief), each shot has meaning and every word is perfect, and the plot works as both a standalong film and as the first chapter in the hexalogy.
These movies are perfect to me, or very nearly so:
Casablanca - uplifting period drama/romance
Breaker Morant - court-martial drama and military adventure
Raiders of the Lost Ark - sheer adventure
Limitless - technothriller
The Incredibles - superhero fun
Trading Places - buddy comedy
True Lies - action comedy
Aliens - sf/horror adventure
Galaxy Quest - sf comedy
Home for the Holidays.
Bringing up Baby.
Alice Adams.
Dumbo and Fox & The Hound. Casablanca. *Citizen Kane *(Obviously!). Wiz of Oz.
That is a very good point.
To give credit where credit is due, the point was made by Stephen King in Danse Macabre. Roman Polaski later stated that he didn’t know screen writers were supposed to totally redo books to their liking. He went so far as to call Ira Levin and ask him what issue of New Yorker had the advertisement for the shirt Guy bought. Levin admitted he faked it, assuming every issue had a good shirt ad in it. But the issue for the time period of the book didn’t.
Just watched this last night. Extremely silly and extremely entertaining. I agree - best technothriller I’ve seen.
Casablanca can’t be topped.
Mary Poppins would be the perfect kids’ movie but for DvD’s accent and some dodgy musical numbers. Instead I suggest Toy Story.
For spy/action flicks I submit the Bourne Identity. All three of them are superb but the first one has a nod to subtlety the others don’t.
Movies I can watch ANYTIME.
Cars
Both Airplane movies
Starship Troopers
Patton
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
~VOW
Distant Voices, Still Lives
Chinese Roulette
Antichrist
Mulholland Drive
Tokyo Story
3 Women
Not Reconciled
Singin’ in the Rain
Rosemary’s Baby
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover
…just a few that jump to mind. Masterpieces all, and I can’t think of a single change that would make them better.
Finding Nemo. I’m way old, no kiddies around any more, but I find myself watching it whenever it’s on The Family Channel.
Cabaret. It’s beautiful to look at, has wonderful musical numbers, and it isn’t a feel-good frivolous ‘musical’ at all.
Last of the Mohicans. Heartrending music, beautiful scenery, American history, and the beautiful pairing of Daniel Day Lewis and Madeleine Stowe - I can’t ask for anything more.
Master and Commander the Far Side of the World (apart from the stupid title)
The Wicker Man (The real one, not the LaBute abortion)
*A Matter of Life and Death
A Canterbury Tale
*
And a few foreign-language films:
*Les Triplettes de Belleville
Seven Samurai
Delicatessen
Amarcord
*
I saw it when it was released, and loved it. Haven’t rewatched it in decades, and my wife has never seen it. I need to rent it soon and see how it holds up after thirty years.
Another movie from the same year, which I have watched several times, and it just gets better: The Frisco Kid with Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford.
Loved it when it was new, didn’t see it again until a few years ago. We weren’t disappointed- it holds up very well. Still my favorite Malcom McDowell performance.
.
I agree about Campbell, but not so much about Darby. Steinfeld’s interpretation and performance is far more enjoyable to me, but I don’t look at Darby’s performance so much as flawed, but as a different, albeit highly annoying, interpretation.
I respect Bridges for not imitating Wayne and making the character his own, but really, what choice did he have? Both Wayne and Rooster are iconic in American cinema. He couldn’t copy him, and unless he pulled out a Heath-Ledger-as-the-Joker revamp, he was never going to win in that role. In my opinion, he did not, and so Wayne still casts a shadow over that role.
I’d like to see a version with Wayne inserted into the remake. Just remove the part where Damon bites his tongue and talks funny from then on. That pissed me off. We already had Bridges mumbling and grumbling his way through the movie, and then the other guy we were following around almost bites his tongue off. It’s a wonder the Coen bros didn’t have the snake bite Maddie on the tongue.