OT: - The eight perfectly made films | Page 2 | The Boneyard

OT: The eight perfectly made films

It might not even be on my all time list, but the greatest reaction I ever experience in a movie theater was to "Midway". The theater was full, and after the U.S. got the snot kicked out of them for 1/2 of the movie, the entire audience jumped to their feet when Heston dropped the first bomb on the Japanese aircraft carrier. Amazing reaction, talk about getting into a movie.
 
Stymie said:
THE SEARCHERS—great, great Wayne western.
DAS BOOT—classic submarine/war flick- will have you gasping for breath at times.
GODFATHER 1– have watched I don’t know how many times- will watch it again and again and again...(take the cannolis)
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT—it was REALLY like that back then. Believe me.
DOUBLE INDEMNITY- great story great cast
KEY LARGO- love Casablanca, but deeper cast and also a great plot line.
That’s six of my faves.
Chip shots—
GONE WITY THE WIND- “frankly, I don’t give a damn”.
OUT OF THE PAST—Mitchum
GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER- Spencer’s last movie. Great story.
SPARTACUS—-epic
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Saturday night has become classic movie night for us during the pandemic. During the last year we have watched 5 of the 6 on your list. Last Saturday it was Das Boot the best submarine flick ever. A couple of weeks ago we watched The Quiet Man, one of my favorite Wayne movies. Not PC but a great movie with a great cast.
 
I am a big fan of Casablanca. Must of seen it 70 to 80 times. "Just looking at you kid."

I would add Gone With the Wind and either The Maltese Falcon and Key Largo followed by To have and have not. Probably, all Bogart movies.
 
bbfanLA said:
Aliens is one of my favorite movies ever. I think that it is one of, if not the first, movie where a woman is truly the action hero. I’ve watched it so many times and will watch it so many more. Plus, I think it’s the perfect action movie.
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Well, Alien would be the first, but I’m sure there are others. What I love about Alien and Aliens is how they are different takes on the same subject matter with essentially the same villains and heroine. The movie Alien emphasizes suspense. We barely get glimpses of the creature until the final moments. The movie Aliens on the other hand is a straight up action filled joyride.
 
Ah, a pleasant trip down memory lane:

Dr Strangelove
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Terminator
Predator
For a Few Dollars More
Shawshank
12 Angry Men
To Kill a Mockingbird
Once Upon a Time in the West
Casablanca
There's Something About Mary
Wizard of Oz
Midnight Cowboy
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Back to the Future
The Good, Bad, and Ugly
You Only Live Twice
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Blazing Saddles
The Sting
Jeremiah Johnson
Goldfinger
Jaws
Star Wars (first 2)
Animal House
Alien
American Graffiti
E.T.
Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind
Fish Called Wanda
Das Boot
Heat of the Night
Duel
Eye of the Needle
River of No Return
 
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CL82 said:


Interesting choices. The Godfather and Casablanca would have been on my list. Hitchcock thrillers Rear Window and Vertigo and good entries too.
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I probably like Notorious better than Rear Window or Vertigo, but there is way too much Hitchcock here.

The Godfather and Casablanca are on my list. I need to watch Citizen Kane again. It used to make my lists but I haven't seen it or particularly wanted to watch it since I was in college, which calls that into question.
 
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Trying to think of movies that are perfect for what they are ---
Casablanca
Godfather
Zulu
What's Up, Doc
Almost Famous
No Country for Old Men
O Brother Where Art Thou
Singin' in the Rain
Chinatown
Airplane!
Mad Max: Fury Road
Rio Bravo? - forget which version of this plot I like the best, all starring Wayne.
 
the misfits
toy story
cat on a hot tin roof
all 'perfectly made' tales of the human condition. and speaking of the human condition, not perfectly made but worth a look is that one with 'I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.'
 
vtcwbuff said:
Saturday night has become classic movie night for us during the pandemic. During the last year we have watched 5 of the 6 on your list. Last Saturday it was Das Boot the best submarine flick ever. A couple of weeks ago we watched The Quiet Man, one of my favorite Wayne movies. Not PC but a great movie with a great cast.
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Love Quiet Man. A definite staple on St. Patrick’s Day.
Maureen O’Hara absolutely stunning.
 
bbfanLA said:
Aliens is one of my favorite movies ever. I think that it is one of, if not the first, movie where a woman is truly the action hero. I’ve watched it so many times and will watch it so many more. Plus, I think it’s the perfect action movie.
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The first ALIEN movie was the best. When I went to see it in the theater, people were walking out, due to the intensity of the scenes. Arguably the scariest movie ever. The sequels, including Aliens, while entertaining, were not nearly as intense. In the first movie, the Alien was unstoppable, with acid in it's veins. The sequels were all about "how many aliens can we kill," so not nearly as intense.
 
Aluminny69 said:
The first ALIEN movie was the best. When I went to see it in the theater, people were walking out, due to the intensity of the scenes. Arguably the scariest movie ever. The sequels, including Aliens, while entertaining, were not nearly as intense. In the first movie, the Alien was unstoppable, with acid in it's veins. The sequels were all about "how many aliens can we kill," so not nearly as intense.
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I saw ALIEN at a drive-in.
Kept looking out the window for that chest-explosion critter to sneak up on us.
Saw THE EXORCIST while at college. Slept with the lights on for weeks.
Guess I’m a baby......
 
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vtcwbuff said:
I am probably the only human on earth that thinks Citizen Kane is over rated.
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No, you’re not. I always thought “The Magnificent Amberson’s”, even after RKO cut the film down by an hour, was the best of Orson Wells stuff. Also thought several of Hitchcock’s other films were better than “Vertigo”. Rebecca, Suspicion, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and North by Northwest were all better than Vertigo. Actually “Vertigo” should have been titled “The Stupidist Detective”. When you think about it, it had a ridiculous plot.

my eight perfectly made films, in no particular order............

1) How Green Was My Valley
2) Suspicion
3) The Quiet Man
4) Shane
5) North by Northwest
6) It’s A Wonderful Life
7) The Apartment
8) M*A*S*H

if only to round out a top 10, I would add two great perfectly made movie musicals in “Top Hat” and Vincent Minnelli’s masterpiece “Gigi”. Both were made and conceived for the silver screen, neither had prior Stage versions. The “Isn’t This A Lovely Day” number from Top Hat has to go down among the top film sequences ever made, along with the crop duster sequence in North by Northwest, Shirley McLaine running away from Fred MacMurray and back to Jack Lemmon at the end of “The Apartment”, Bogie telling Ingrid Bergman she’s “getting on the plane”, and Vivian Leigh professing her love to Ashley Wilkes for the first time, while Clark Gable is laying on the couch listening to the whole thing.

One little known fact, Joan Fontaine is the only actor that ever won an Academy Award for acting in a Hitchcock film.
 
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Gamecockfan77 said:
Trying to think of movies that are perfect for what they are ---
Casablanca
Godfather
Zulu
What's Up, Doc
Almost Famous
No Country for Old Men
O Brother Where Art Thou
Singin' in the Rain
Chinatown
Airplane!
Mad Max: Fury Road
Rio Bravo? - forget which version of this plot I like the best, all starring Wayne.
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Zulu is a great movie. I haven't watched it in years. The scene where the Zulu and British songs seem to blend into a a singe song, is a great cinematic moment.

No Country for Old Men is an interesting choice. I'd want to think about it. It is a very compelling movie.

A Few Good Men is worthy thinking about as well.
 
and now, a perfect word from the 21st century. ya know, this one.
there will be blood
avengers end game.
signed, 'not anykind of movie expert, have not seen many, just know which ones that i have seen will truly resonate.'
imma big fan of robert downey and brad pitt.
too modern? ok then, 'metropolis,' perfectly freaky. hmmm, 'urban dystopia.' who knew?
Maria_from_the_film_Metropolis%2C_on_display_at_the_Robot_Hall_of_Fame.jpg
 
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Wow - strange list and not sure what their criteria was in the OP but a few I am surprised about not seeing:
The African Queen (and another Huston The Treasure of the Sierra Madre)
Psycho
Which Howard Hawks to include? Bring up Baby, His Girl Friday
The Philadelphia Story (Grant, Kat, and Jimmy)
The Thin Man (and My Man Godfrey)
The Third Man (My Orson Welles movie, though I do like Citizen Kane, too)
Which one for the other Hepburn? Sabrina (1954 vintage), Roman Holiday, Charade, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Wait Until Dark
Can't chose just one Fred and Ginger, can chose one for Kelly: Singing in the Rain

And one obscure one - very very early and non Bergman Bergman: Smiles of a Summer Night

Too many others could be on this list.
 
Hmmm, it's way too ambitious for me, but what if we broke it down by category and took the top nominees and dropped them into a poll? It could even be set up March Madness style. Now that I think about it, I think someone did do something like this a few years ago on the men's board. It was fun.
 
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Stymie said:
I saw ALIEN at a drive-in.
Kept looking out the window for that chest-explosion critter to sneak up on us.
Saw THE EXORCIST while at college. Slept with the lights on for weeks.
Guess I’m a baby......
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My first job, at 16, was as a movie theatre usher. We got "The Exorcist". First theatre in DC area to get it. We had to empty the theatre after each show, constantly had to clean up, monitor people. A real job. I thought I could just watch movies and eat popcorn and occasionally yell at a smoker. They lined up around the block to get in. And I had to watch that movie out of the corner of my eye three times a day. Stained me for life!
 
Beemer said:
Gone With The Wind
The African Queen
The Lion In Winter (Hepburn/O'Toole version)
Airplane!
Saving Private Ryan
Star Wars
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Hated Gone With the Wind as a kid. Despise it as an adult. But glad a Colorado woman won an Oscar for best supporting actress.
 
In no particular order:

Animal House (STILL mad at John Belushi)
Casablanca .(my dad was in Morocco during WW2)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
The Wizard of Oz
Tombstone
King of Kings
Field of Dreams
Rio Grande
Braveheart (a lot of holes, historically, but, it's Scotland!)
The Sands of Iwo Jima
 
Gamecockfan77 said:
Trying to think of movies that are perfect for what they are ---
Casablanca
Godfather
Zulu
What's Up, Doc
Almost Famous
No Country for Old Men
O Brother Where Art Thou
Singin' in the Rain
Chinatown
Airplane!
Mad Max: Fury Road
Rio Bravo? - forget which version of this plot I like the best, all starring Wayne.
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I think every aspiring action movie director should watch Mad Max: Fury Road just like how the Chinatown screenplay is always talked about in screenwriting classes. No silly subplots. No cheesy dialogue. Just pure action from start to finish that never lets up.
 
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I love 12 Angry Men. It is just a great film. Thanks for the heads up.
 
I actually didn't think Casablanca was that great.Maybe because I was never a big Bogart fan, liked James Cagney more.Met Cagney years an years ago in a drug store in Providence R.I..Two things stood out..he was really sociable and how short he was.".Angels With Dirty Faces "starring Cagney and the Dead End Kids was a great movie
 
The Princess Bride
Airplane
To Kill a Mockingbird
Young Frankenstein
Shane
High Noon
The Third Man
Showboat
The Wizard of Oz
 
Zorro said:
The Princess Bride
Airplane
To Kill a Mockingbird
Young Frankenstein
Shane
High Noon
The Third Man
Showboat
The Wizard of Oz
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Good list.....

my wife reminded me of The Wizard of Oz and To Kill a Mockingbird, another I had thoroughly enjoyed when I first saw it, “A Passage To India”, which of all the classics he directed, was David Lean’s personal favorite. It was a monumental undertaking, with many saying E.M Forster’s novel could never be filmed.
 
veryolddog said:
I am a big fan of Casablanca. Must of seen it 70 to 80 times. "Just looking at you kid."

I would add Gone With the Wind and either The Maltese Falcon and Key Largo followed by To have and have not. Probably, all Bogart movies.
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You have to include my favorite movie with you Bogie movies: Treasure of Sierra Madre.
 
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