The Perfect Film

Ha!
Who can argue with this? Read somewhere that when Samuel L Jackson got the script to read he immediately dug the title and agreed to do the movie. He was told they were going to change the title to ' Flight Trouble' or something equally inane and he had to make a big stink about it.

 

Vince Gilligan is a good writer, but if "El Camino" is any indication of his ability as a director? Forgetaboutit.

 

We've seen so many films in the past 10 years alone - and so few in the mainstream - I dunno if I could begin to narrow down "perfect".

 

It's not about being narrow at all. What film is perfect entertainment to you?

 

Film in general. You need a more exact answer...the inability to narrow it down may keep you waiting awhile...

 

I have to agree with those who mentioned “Back To The Future”. Here are a few others that I would like to mention.

The Wizard of Oz
The Exorcist
Blade Runner
The Graduate
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
The Empire Strikes Back

 

oh, you want a plot.

Motherless Brooklyn.

< also, music!

< A Most Wanted Man was tight, too

 

That's good, too!

Everyone certainly has their own story of film.

 

Comedy is always a difficult one. I enjoy very few of them because most just don't make me laugh. Still, there are a few standouts:

• Woody Allen's Sleeper & Play it Again Sam
• State and Main
• I Heart Huckabee's
• Mystery Men
• Brutal Massacre

To name a few. I could watch these over and over.

 

But if you had to bring ONE to a desert island, which?

 

Mystery Men.

 

I may have to go back to Hugo, for that.

nahh- Brother Where Art Thou. Lack of plot complexity and all.

< Panama likes the dance numbers

 

Thanks. Cool streamer. We all need a few laughs!

 

Although it may be seen as a documentary, this is my pic:

 

Thanks. New you me. The Internet Archive has it streaming has it streaming in several formats.

 

Dark film, even more so than Bergman's The Seventh Seal. Max Von Sydow is good but Sven Nykvist's brilliant camerawork is the star of this one to me.

 

Hellboy. and Tropic Thunder

 

You've not seen this one? If you do watch, you are in for a treat.

 

The Third Man is my favorite film, and yeah I think it's pretty perfect. Maybe its only flaw is the finale has a few repetitive scenes. The music, the setting, the way they dont give subtitles so we the viewer are a bit out of sorts like Cotten was. The dialogue has lines that took me a few viewings before I picked up the sly dry cracks "such a good cover I think" "callaway not callahan, I'm english not Irish", "just a scribbler with too much drink" "the strip tease, sir - ah yes the hindu dancers", the way Valli keeps calling him Harry. And that final shot, perfection.

 

I think Chinatown is a perfect film. Every element - acting, screenplay, direction, editing, score, production design - is superlative. The consistent point of view, often literally, of seeing and discovering everything at the same time as the detective protagonist is remarkable and extremely engaging. The care they took in production, often to film in late afternoon as a metaphor for the story's moral twilight, elevated the film beyond even the producers considerable ambitions. A noir told in bright sunlight is even more haunting.

Not a wasted frame. And a devastating ending, perhaps one of the most disturbing ever put on film. Moreover, its the rare film that actually seems to grow stronger and more resonant in repeated viewing. L.A. we hardly knew you.

I don't know there that is any one 'best' film, but it hard to think of a better one. If you haven't yet seen it, I envy you. If you have, check out Sam Wasson's new book "The Big Goodbye" It’s ‘Chinatown,’ Jake. On Second Thought, Don’t Forget It.

 

Wizard Of Oz and A Hard Days Night come to mind.

 

Ha. I think the infamous ending is neck and neck with that other iconic movie (that set fashion trends in the 60s) involving Faye Dunaway, Bonnie & Clyde. But, yeah, in terms of style, it's one of the classic Hollywood films.

 

I honestly got so worried I was going to have to write this post. Page 4? That’s four pages too far.

 

The Driver starring Ryan O'Neill.
70's film noir is fantastic. Other great movies of this genre are Gloria and Atlantic City.