My faves:
Jim Jarmush “Dead Man”
Oliver Stone “U Turn”
Wim Wenders “Until the End of the World”
Also, very good dialogues in Bladerunner, Gladiator and The Matrix.
For artificial witty dialogue that supports a good movie too, I love All About Eve.
For realistic dialogue, I often think to a not-very-good movie called The Real Blonde with Matthew Modine, Catharine Keener, and Daryl Hannah. As I said, the movie isn’t very good but there is one scene where a couple gets into an argument and it just flows perfectly to how I’ve experienced those stupid arguments only couples can have. Albert Brooks’s Lost in America also did that in the scene at Hoover Dam.
I don’t know why but seeing a movie realistically capture that kind of argument gives me a thrill and sticks in my brain for a long time.
The 70’s Jack Nicholson classics…films he did before he became a caricature. A few examples…The Last Detail…Five Easy Pieces…Chinatown…One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest…Carnal Knowledge.
A lot of films have been mentioned already, so I’ll throw in a couple that haven’t yet:
To Have and Have Not
The Maltese Falcon
The Big Sleep
and for a dark horse selection
The Matrix
and for writers in general, I’ll throw in David Mamet. And speaking of the Matrix, yeah, The Wachowski… Siblings(?) what do they go by now?). Not up there with the Coen Bros, but good stuff as well.
And the greatest line of dialog ever…
“My name is Pussy…Pussy Galore.”
Joss Whedon (The Avengers, Firefly, and lots of TV shows) and Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, The American President, and TV shows like West Wing) are frequently praised for their snappy dialogue.
I don’t think a one-liner can ever qualify as dialogue. For something to be a dialogue, it has to be an exchange between two or more people, that’s why it’s called dialogue. If all you remember is something that one person said, it can’t be great dialogue, it’s just a great line in what perhaps might be otherwise not very noteworthy dialogue.
Bull Durham.
Not yet mentioned:
Hopscotch
Silver Streak
I think Mike Leigh is a good example of what you’re talking about. The dialogue isn’t not necessarily snappy or witty (although it certainly can be), but very realistic and helpful in building character and illustrating why they behave like they do.
ETA: Suggested movies: Secrets and Lies, Happy-Go-Lucky, Topsy Turvy, Another Year.
I’d go with pretty much anything by the Coen Brothers.
Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight were all exceptionally well written.
1776
The Women - The original, not the recent remake.
All About Eve
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Inherit the Wind
The Lion in Winter
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
I’ll go ahead and 2nd or 3rd or whatever anything by Tarantino and Coen brothers as great examples of good dialogue.
The first movie that came to mind for me was the previously mentioned A Few Good Men. I think that movies made from plays tend to have some of the best dialogue, since the playwright can’t use movie tricks and must rely almost entirely on the dialogue to convey his story. A Few Good Men started as a play, as did Glengarry Glen Ross and Inherit the Wind among others.
Man I don’t understand why people like Tarantino. I think there’s a good reason most movies don’t have the characters blather on about mcdonalds and irrelevant s— for 30 minutes
I’d say more monologue than dialogue but that’s just getting into semantics. Or is it?
And that is because most people aren’t capable of writing that so that lots of people will enjoy listening to it.
He doesn’t always succeed but he does more than most others.