This is going to be pretty subjective.
What are those movies that you watch that are pretty much perfect? I'm not talking about good movies, at least as most people would define a good movie.
But if you have posted at least once at this site, you know your taste in movies is, how shall I say, a bit different.
I have a few movies that flip all of my buttons every time I see them.
GREMLINS 2
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD
ONE CRAZY SUMMER
and newcomer SHAUN OF THE DEAD
Yeah, I know. But every time I watch these movies I get the sense that somebody reached deep down inside my brain and made a movie based on what they saw there. How else would somebody make something ripped from my brain that made me happy to be alive?
I know what I look for in movies. Mayhem!
So what movie is pefect for you? What movies describes everything you look for in movies?
"As I ransack their homes they want to shake my hand."
Flash Gordon
(http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/6583/flash3ml.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
Without a doubt.
Tremors! (the first one). For me the most finely crafted monster movie ever. Each and every plot element is precisely where it should be. Perfect pace, perfect structure.
Transformers: The Movie
Boogie Nights
Citizen Kane
A Clockwork Orange
There are probably a few others, but these are the ones that really jump out at the moment.
I gotta 2nd DC on Boogie Nights.
Awesome flick!
Road Warrior
Terminator
Robo Cop
Sin City
Batman Begins
Pi
Fight Club
Night Of The Creeps
Bad Taste
Goodfellas
Pulp Fiction
Versus
Battle Royale
and as Mofo said: Shaun Of The Dead
There are many many many more, but these are the ones that I can watch over and over without ever growing tired of them.
Return of the Living Dead (Still looking for a girl like Trash)
Warriors
Robocop 1,2
Ichi the killer
Ghostbusters 1,2
Alien and Aliens
Road Warrior
The Thing
Tremors
Flash Gordon
If by "perfect" you mean provide as much enjoyment the 27th time as they did the first, here's my list:
The Wizard of Oz
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Strange Brew
The Fifth Element
The Forbidden Zone
Better Off Dead
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (23 times in the theater alone!)
Movies that are not perfect, but that I can't seem to look away from:
Labyrinth
Josie and the p***ycats
The Triplets of Belleville
The City of Lost Children
These are some that immediately come to mind. I'm sure there are others, but I think this is enough for now.
Tough subject.
I'll agree on these films that have already been mentioned:
Return of the Living Dead
Road Warrior
Tremors
Also I really enjoy:
Conan the Barbarian
The Magnificient Seven
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Fistful of Dynamite
Pacing is important. There are alot of good ones with great pacing that are more subtle in a classic film sense, but of course we are probably talking about ultimately insane perfect movies.
Return of the Living Dead (this film hits the spot)
The Seventh Seal
2001: A Space Odyssey
Beauty and the Beast (1942/Cocteau, not Disney)
Frankenstein(1933)
Horror of Dracula(1958)
Heavy Traffic(1972)
Cries and Whispers
The Seven Samurai
Battleship Potemkin
Plan 9 From Outer Space
Attack of the Crab Monsters
O' Lucky Man (1973)
Yellow Submarine
Dr. Strangelove
Dr. Zhivago/Lawrence of Arabia/Bridge on The River Kwai/Great Expectations/Olvier Twist -- basically the whole David Lean enchilada --
Die Blau Angel(The Blue Angel.1930)
Steamboat Bill Jr.(1923)
Modern Times/City Lights (The 2 great Chaplins)
King Kong (the Jackson remake-2006)
* * * *
Given the criteria of the question, I think this is accurate por moi. These are films that I have watched repeatedly & each time they manage to pack the same wallop & speak to something within me --
Oh, I did leave out Citizen Kane and It's a Wonderful Life. Bad me --
I leave off the films of Fritz Lang not because I don't love them, but because they always make me upset and sorrowful in the end, even his "happy" ones.
I own The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, but I fall in and out with that one.
peter johnson/denny crane
I can't name all of the movies I think are 'perfect movies'.
First time I've ever seen "Plan 9 From Outer Space" and "The Seven Samurai" mentioned in te same breath...
Clockwork Orange to me is the pinnacle of perfection. The remake of The Thing was pretty good, too.
Near misses: Snow Falling on Cedars, GMK, and the remake of Cape Fear.
I like Citizen Kane and The Third Man, but I can only watch them in parts. If you get a chance to hear Orson Welles broadcast of the War of the Worlds, you'll hear what is in my opinion the radio equivilant of perfection.
The original War of the Worlds braodcast was so perfect that many people believed it. That night was referred to as 'the night America panicked'. People have tried to replicate the formula without much success....
I can't say I've ever seen a perfect movie, although K-Pax, Arsenic and Old Lace and Ladyhawke come close, IMHO
Twelve Angry Men
The Godfather
And, of course, The Princess Bride.
A Tree Grows in Broklyn (1945)
Ms. 45 (1981)
Rumble Fish (1983)
Seven Samurai and Plan 9 should ALWAYS be mentioned in the same breath in THIS website!!
I mean, c'mon people: Who are we? We are BADMOVIES!!
Clockwork Orange is certainly exacting -- Pauline Kael said it was if a science fiction film were to be made by a German Expressionist pornographer.
I'm reminded of others from the other posts here --
"Curse of The Cat People"(1942?) by Val Lewton. This sequel to the original "The Cat People" is a perfect study of lonely children and their imaginations, as well as a great sidebar on dementia in the old and the most perfect snowfall at night photography I've ever seen in any movie ever, old or modern.
"Five Million Years to Earth"(1965) Hammer. aka Quatermass and The Pit. Martians, God, Satan, magic, spaceships, giant bugs, mental telepathy, visions, dreams, ghosts, old books, World War 2, mass insanity and things blowing up real good. Has to be seen to be believed.
Every time I see it is like the first time, or better. The perfect science fiction film.
peter johnson/denny crane