Your "perfect" films

[Fading Fast]

My idea of a perfect film is 1) good interior scenes because I love interior decoration
2) Beautiful outfits and hairstyles
3)Great plot or even a decent plot if the first 2 criteria are fab
4) actors I like

And a couple of films that you think fit your criteria are?

IMHO
"Christmas in Connecticut" hits on points 1,2 and 4 of your list
"Laura," "Holiday," "In Name Only," and "Vertigo" hit on all of them

 

[Benzadmiral]

One I hadn't thought of before is Second Hand Lions with Michael Caine, Robert Duvall, and Haley Joel Osment (and the lioness, of course). A film perfectly calculated to send you out of the theater saying, "Dang, that was good."

 

[Fading Fast]

I don't think we mentioned this one before in this thread, but "Twelve O'Clock High" is a pretty darn perfect war movie that has almost no combat scenes in it as its theme is the stress and strain battle and command decisions put on men especially over time.

The cast is spot on with Dean Jagger driving the movie in a marvel of low-key acting and Gregory Peck and Gary Merrill putting in some of the best work of their careers.

I have seen this many times and there are no boring scenes, no wasted scenes and so many nuances and layers that you are always engaged.

 

[2jakes]

Sidney Lumet’s 12 ANGRY MEN (1957)

Powerful performances that made me forget my
dislike for enclosed places.

Reginald Rose’s screenplay was initially produced for television on CBS
“Studio One” (1954)
A complete kinescope of that performance considered lost was discovered
in 2003.
Would be nice to see that one.

 

[2jakes]

Mervyn LeRoy’s No Time for Sergeants (1958)

Never a dull moment.
With the only exception being that there weren’t many scenes
with the great Don Knotts.
He’s one of my favorite comedians I enjoyed on the Steve Allen Show
and later on the Andy Griffith Show.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Chinatown.A film in which everything just clicked. The performances by the stars and supporting players, the script by Robert Towne, possibly the most elegant ever written, the cinematography, the music and the direction by Roman Polansky who, whatever you think of him, is one of the most accomplished directors ever. It singlehandedly kicked off the neo-noir trend, which in time brought us "Body Heat" and "Blood Simple." Altogether an iconic film and very nearly perfect.

 

[2jakes]

Chinatown.A film in which everything just clicked. The performances by the stars and supporting players, the script by Robert Towne, possibly the most elegant ever written, the cinematography, the music and the direction by Roman Polansky who, whatever you think of him, is one of the most accomplished directors ever. It singlehandedly kicked off the neo-noir trend, which in time brought us "Body Heat" and "Blood Simple." Altogether an iconic film and very nearly perfect.

I might get rotten tomatoes thrown at me for saying this and there’s no comparison with Chinatown.

But I like the sequel, The Two Jakes.

 

[MisterCairo]

One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing

Just noticed this now.

You're the only other person I've ever come across who's familiar with this movie! Apparently it's not available on any medium for purchase.

Here's another: Peter Sellers in "Murder by Death"...

 

[Edward]

Just noticed this now.

You're the only other person I've ever come across who's familiar with this movie! Apparently it's not available on any medium for purchase.

I don't think it ever has been; it's only in very recent times, from what I'm aware, that Disney has gotten into the home video market, and of course by the ninties certain elements of this film - in particular, Peter Ustinov playing Chinese - had become viewed as, well.... rather of their time. It used to be on TV regularly at Christmas, back in the eighties. I always enjoyed it. Only recently did I discover it was based on a book, aimed at a much more adult level and set in NYC...

 

[rocketeer]

Kes.
A British film about a boy growing up in the north of England during the 1960s. No special effects to speak of, no big name actors, just real people who look like real people. But most of all, a great story and a great script makes it all work. It is so true to British life back then.
Spoiler:
If you want a film with glamour and action where things blow up or millions of £££$$$ are the theme forget this one

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

City Lights (1931)
M (1931)
Guys and Dolls (1955)
The Ladykillers (1955)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
The Godfather (1972)
The Sting (1973)
Somewhere in Time (1979)
The Shining (1980)
The Right Stuff (1983)
Bachelor Party (1984)
Eight Men Out (1988)
Memphis Belle (1990)
JFK (1991)
Casino (1995)
Richard III (1995)

 

[Fading Fast]

Recently watched "His Gal Friday" form '39 and have to add it to the near-perfect-movie list.

It's as if Rosalind Russell is shot out of a cannon at the start and just keeps flying through the movie - gatling gunning out dialogue with putdowns and snide asides from start to finish, physically pushing past and over slower-witted and slower-moving men and generally firing up the entire energy and enjoyment of the movie.

She almost meets he equal in Cary Grant who also snaps out paragraph-long speeches in record time while barking orders at everyone (and into an inordinate number of telephones) - but Russell knows how to belay his orders and own each scene and the show.

Sure, there's a love triangle, a death-row escape, political corruption, cynical journalism, the Red-scare and some other stuff in there, but it's a nearly perfect movie because of Russell's kinetically perfect performance.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Not perfect but some of the films I have found most aesthetically satisfying over the years are:

Sorcerer
Withnail and I
Touch of Evil
Network
All That Jazz
Citizen Kane (sorry, what a cliche)
Psycho
Stardust Memories
Night of the Hunter
Barfly
Walkabout
Taxi Driver
The Third Man
Natural Born Killers
Mad Max Two (The Road Warrior)
Delicatessen
Chinatown
The Hudsucker Proxy
Blood Simple
Sunset Boulevard

Just noticed this now.

You're the only other person I've ever come across who's familiar with this movie! Apparently it's not available on any medium for purchase.

Here's another: Peter Sellers in "Murder by Death"...

I have it on DVD, found it at Kmart 5 years ago. Alec Guinness is terrific.

 

[HanauMan]

If by 'perfect' you mean a film that I can watch over and over again then two come to mind for me, though, of course, it is a purely personal choice only.

My absolute favorite film of all times is Winchester '73, starring James Stewart, a swell Shelley Winters, tragic Charles Drake and bad guys Dan Duryea and Stephen McNally. The best part of the film, for me, is the Tascosa robbery scene and the great climax, the shootout between Stewart and McNally on the rocky outcrop. Strong characters and a strong story line, unlike many Western movies of the time.

My second favorite 'perfect' film is the 1985 version of A Room With a View starring an impossibly sexy Helena Bonham Carter and Julian Sands. I really lose myself into that Edwardian dream world. I always see myself as being the Julian Sands character but, in real life, probably am more like Cecil Vyse!

 

[KY Gentleman]

In no certain order here are my picks:

American Graffiti
Summer of ‘42
Jeremiah Johnson
No Country For Old Men
Casablanca
Godfather 2
Coal Miners Daughter
The Killing
DOA
Kiss Me Deadly

I watch these movies over and over without tiring of them.

 

[vitanola]

"Radio Days" (1987)
"Make Way for Tomorrow" (1937)
"Lonesome" (1928)
"Sunrise" (1928)
"Gold Diggers of 1933" (1933)
"Broken Blossoms" (1919)
"Ernst Thälmann" (1954)
"The Blue Angel" (1930)
"Show People" (1928)
"The Cheat" (1915)
"The Smiling Lieutenant" (1931)
"Monseur Verdoux" (1947)

 

[2jakes]

Casablanca...near perfect!

If Ilsa had stayed with Rick...”Perfect”.

 

[Fading Fast]

Casablanca...near perfect!

If Ilsa had stayed with Rick...”Perfect”.

I didn't always feel this way, but I think now I like that Ilsa didn't stay with Rick. Sure the noble-self-sacrifice thing and all (and being married to oh-so-perfect Lazlo would be a sacrifice) is impressive and, of course, Rick has to go fight in the war to bring a severe beat-down on the nazis and save the world for freedom, but the real reason is that, for Rick, I think Ilsa will be a better memory than a life-long relationship.

We all have those few women (and, I assume, women have those men) that we dated in our lives - the connection, the passion, the sex, the moment, the frisson was all perfect, all toe curling, all, well, all. Maybe we broke up and got back together (like Rick and Ilsa, for one night of everything), but then it was truly over.

You look back on those as some of life's perfect vignettes - perfect even in their, sometimes, messiness. They are all bookended nicely in your memory. You can go there, feel them, relive them and put them back on the shelf. They don't have to evolve, change, grow, adapt or compromise - they are over, but they are all yours forever. That is what Ilsa will always be for Rick - a perfect vignette, a perfectly messy and wonderful moment in his long life.

 

[Blackthorn]

Last of the Mohicans (1992)

Seabiscuit

Casablanca

Cinderella Man

Left Hand of God

Braveheart

Hondo

The Cowboys

The Shootist

Goodbye My Lady

 

[2jakes]

I didn't always feel this way, but I think now I like that Ilsa didn't stay with Rick. Sure the noble-self-sacrifice thing and all (and being married to oh-so-perfect Lazlo would be a sacrifice) is impressive and, of course, Rick has to go fight in the war to bring a severe beat-down on the nazis and save the world for freedom, but the real reason is that, for Rick, I think Ilsa will be a better memory than a life-long relationship.

We all have those few women (and, I assume, women have those men) that we dated in our lives - the connection, the passion, the sex, the moment, the frisson was all perfect, all toe curling, all, well, all. Maybe we broke up and got back together (like Rick and Ilsa, for one night of everything), but then it was truly over.

You look back on those as some of life's perfect vignettes - perfect even in their, sometimes, messiness. They are all bookended nicely in your memory. You can go there, feel them, relive them and put them back on the shelf. They don't have to evolve, change, grow, adapt or compromise - they are over, but they are all yours forever. That is what Ilsa will always be for Rick - a perfect vignette, a perfectly messy and wonderful moment in his long life.

You're right FF, but I can't help it....
Captain Renault would say I'm a "rank sentimentalist"!