Rear Window: it’s a comedy, romance, drama, murder mystery, and horror film all in one. I like how each of the neighbors that Jeff spies on through his eponymous apartment window all have their backstories, and each of them is related back to the issues with Jeff and Lisa’s troubled relationship. Grace Kelly is at her most lovely, Jimmy Stewart is most personable, and Thelma Ritter (as the insurance agency nurse who is drawn into the investigation) is at her most acerbic. There are few movies I would say could not have been improved with a little dialogue doctoring or editing, but I would touch a single frame of this one.
I have three or four movies that I own (as opposed to having Netflix send me when I want to watch them), and I watch them quite a lot. But the one that always makes me the most emotional, the one I quote from, the one I’ll curl up on the couch with a good port with, is Cyrano de Bergerac (Depardieu version).
Someone already named Fargo, so I’ll go with The Third Man. There isn’t a false moment in the entire movie, and it has the greatest closing shot in the history of film.
Grosse Point Blank. When it came out, I was the same age of the characters. I identified with it very much, and it was a total surprise to me because I knew nothing about the plot before I saw it. Some great lines.
The first movie stuck closest to the books, and the books were absolutely marvelous. From using the exact dialogue in some of the scenes and the few changes that actually made sense, this movie has everything perfectly done.
All of my favorites movies of all time have already been mentioned. I’ll have to dig deep and come up with another of my favorite movies of all time…Sunset Boulevard! Don’t own it but I find myself watching at least part of it every time it’s on TCM.
For years, my stock answer has been Pulp Fiction, but I have seen so many movies in the last few years I don’t know if that is any longer true. I have seen most of the movies mentioned so far in this thread and they are good choices for the most part.
Undercover Blues. Great acting, great writing, great location. It’s just an enjoyable, rewatchable film with equal parts comedy and action, with amazing chemistry between the two leads. It’s not a classic or “great” film by any means, but if I was locked in a room for a year with a TV and DVD player, with only one DVD to keep me company, it’d be that one.